Get some creativity, game designers (or writers). You always (almost) use the same chessy words over and over and over again.

Whether for titles, places, things, or NPCs…

Here are the 20 Overused Words for Game Names

1. Age
2. Blade
3. Command
4. Darkness
5. Dawn
6. Dead
7. Eternal
8. Hero
9. Legend
10. Mario
11. Origin
12. Party
13. Red
14. Shadow
15. Space
16. Star
17. Super
18. Unleashed
19. War
20. World

Via Gamedaily

A Russian teenager was killed over a game of Counterstrike. Egad!

A teenager from the Russian city of Novosibirsk has been killed by a friend after a heated evening of Counter-Strike, Russian court documents reveal.

Apparently on May 19 of last year, the victim was playing CS against his “friend” in an internet cafe when things got nasty. Two separate fistfights broke out between the pair, and when they eventually left, the accused set upon the victim, beating him in the head and torso until he died at the scene.

The boy was found guilty of intention to inflict grievous bodily harm, and sentenced to four years detention in a juvenile prison.

Source: Planet Half Life

If this service stays true on their promise, we will see a rovultion for the industry.

Imagine this – you either have a TV set or a PC (or Mac). Second, imagine that it’s an old PC or laptop – something slow and couldn’t possibly run games such as Left 4 Dead or Crysis.

Now, there’s a new technology that allows you play the games via a service called Onlive. Onlive claims that you don’t need all the processing power: RAM, harddrive or even video card juice, the Onlive services computes all the graphics algorithims in THEIR server and just streams it to you. Thus, you DO NOT need a fast computer or even the latest consoles such as the Xbox 360 or PS3 to enjoy all the games you wish to play. All you need is a (fast) Internet connection and an account.

If this becomes succesful, it WILL revolutionize the gaming industry.

Oh, did I tell you that downloads will also be kept at a minimum? Read on….

OnLive, Inc., the pioneer of the on demand era of video games, today emerged from seven years of stealth development within the Rearden incubator to unveil The OnLive Game Service and OnLive MicroConsole™ at the 2009 Game Developers Conference. OnLive is a revolutionary, on demand video game platform delivering the latest and most advanced games instantly, on any TV via a sleek, inexpensive MicroConsole, or on almost any PC or Mac.

OnLive is supported by many of the top names in the video games industry including Electronic Arts, Ubisoft, Take-Two Interactive Software, Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment, THQ Inc., Epic Games, Eidos, Atari Interactive and Codemasters.

“OnLive is the most powerful game system in the world. No high-end hardware, no upgrades, no endless downloads, no discs, no recalls, no obsolescence,” said Steve Perlman, Founder and CEO of OnLive. “With OnLive, your video game experience is always state-of-the-art.”

Designed for gamers of all skills and ages, the OnLive Game Service is easy to use. The elegantly designed OnLive MicroConsole—about as small as a deck of cards—easily connects any TV and home broadband connection to the OnLive Game Service and is operated by an OnLive wireless controller. Gamers can enjoy the same experience on almost any Internet-connected PC or Mac via a small browser plug-in from OnLive.com—even entry-level computers will play the highest performance games. Whether on TV, PC or Mac, OnLive provides instant access to the most advanced games in the world, solo and multiplayer.

“OnLive combines the successful components of video games, online distribution and social networking into one affordable, flexible platform that offers a new way for game fans to access and enjoy content,” said Mike McGarvey, COO of OnLive. “By substantially lowering the barriers between content and consumers, OnLive has created an environment that is highly beneficial for every facet of the video game ecosystem. With OnLive, gamers can play what they want, when they want, how they want. That level of freedom has never been possible until now.”

HOW IT WORKS

The secret? Decompressing algorithms.

Normally, all the graphics and interaction is processed by the client (the computer you are viewing this post right now). With Onlive, all the processing power and the games are hosted in Onlive’s high performance game servers and your PC (or TV) will just “accept” the processed data without need for any major data processing.

The result will be mind-blowing, imagine playing games such as Crysis or Devil May Cry on an old Pentium 4 computer or, with the Onlive gadget, straight on your TV set.

This may hurt the console hardware industry but Onlive will certainly be a big blow to the nefarious pirate syndicate. You can even demo games before paying for it. There is no official word yet from the online gaming or MMORPG industry on how Onlive may impact operations.

Pricing on the service is yet to be determined.

To summarize,

• You don’t need a fast PC
• You just need a TV (with the Onlive gadget), Mac or PC and a FAST Internet connection
• Play any game you like, anywhere
• Choose from a list of hundreds of games supported by leading major developers
• You can try before you buy
• Service will launch initially in the United States
• Downloads are kept at the minimum since you get streamed, processed information and game data

RELATED LINKS

• Onlive Official website
• Onlive demo video
• Onlive Press Release
• Onlive feature article on venturebeat.com

Via gmtristan.com

Interplay has announced that it is teaming up with Masthead Studios for a seemingly big MMO title. Take a guess.

According to a post at Kotaku,

Interplay announced their intentions to create a massively multiplayer online game based on the Fallout property back in December 2006, having retained that particular portion of the rights to the franchise after selling the rest to Fallout 3 creators Bethesda Softworks. Now they’ve teamed up with Masthead Studios, the team behind post-apocalyptic MMO Earthrise to complete work on the mysterious Project V13, which Interplay has been designing and developing since November 2007.

If we had to guess, we’d say V13 stood for Vault 13, which is where the Vault Dweller from the original Fallout originated. Not enough to say that they are official working on a Fallout MMO, but come on, what other MMO would Interplay be working on? Earthworm Jim?

Are you a WoW player? If you’re looking for a job, don’t put THAT on your resume.

Recently, recruiters were told to avoid World of Warcraft players.

A new post at Kotaku said that “there is a belief that WoW players cannot give 100% because their focus is elsewhere, their sleeping patterns are often not great.”

Dang! But you know what? I have to agree.

If you game, you have to strike a right balance at being responsible with your REAL LIFE as well. If you can level that Shaman to 80 in a couple of weeks, surely you can finish that spreadsheet in no time, right? Are your spells and skills better than your real-life skills?

Think about that.

This trailer has got to be the best trailer for 2008. An epic tale of war and battle. Hats off to WAR.

When I first saw this trailer, I secretly wished they’d do a full-length film on it. Heck, they could make more money than the online game, right?

The new fantasy MMORPG from Mythic Entertainment, the creators of Dark Age of Camelot™. WAR features next generation Realm vs. Realm™ gameplay that will immerse you in a world of perpetual conflict for years to come.

What’s that OTHER game you say, World of Warcraft? Bah. Watch and be converted.

WAR (Warhammer Online: Age of Reckoning)

Here are more images from the game

Related Links

• Official Website
• Bigger version of the trailer here (for broadband)

A newly opened restaurant in Beijing, China is themed after World of Warcraft

The restaurant’s entrance is a real-life re-creation of the opening animation from the game, The World of Warcraft. The dining area is called the Hall of Snow Storms.” Here, an immense plasma screen displays action from the game. There’s a towering tree at the centre of the dining “portal,” creating a pleasing ambience for leisurely diners. Most patrons are fans of the multi-player game.

Check out the full report here for more photos and even a video

It’s official. WoW: Wrath of the Lich King is the fastest selling PC game of all time.

In 24 hours, World of Warcraft: Wrath of the Lich King sold 2.8 Million copies. Blizzard broke the previous record held by another WoW expansion, The Burning Crusade, which sold 2.4 million copies back in 2007.

That’s a mighty achievement.

“We’re grateful for the incredible support that players around the world have continued to show for World of Warcraft,” said Mike Morhaime, CEO and co-founder of Blizzard Entertainment. “Wrath of the Lich King contains some of the best content we’ve created for the game so far, and we look forward to seeing even more players log in to experience it in the days ahead.”

Lich King was released worldwide last November 13, 2008.

Source

We here at Geekzkrieg love zombies… you name it: zombie movies, zombie toys, and zombie games. This game, Boxhead the Zombie Wars (in flash) is one of the best.

The designer, Sean T. Cooper writes about his game:

Boxhead: The Zombie Wars is the 5th game in the series. It comes with new graphics, new enemies (lots of them) and Zombie Wars brings a new feature to the series, now you can construct your own base with turrets and barricades. In this mode you will be required to keep your base operational at all times otherwise the might of the Zombies and there allies will crush you.

Jon Bambo is the star of this game and he is alone. Equipped with an awesome arsenal of weapons including the new minigun, placable turrets and airstrikes, he will need to use these wisely as the enemy has multiplied 10 fold and are hard than ever.

Screenshots

Check out the official trailer

 

Now, are you READY TO PLAY THE GAME?

>> Point your mouse here and click.

Reason? It “never achieved the player population” they hoped for. 

Here’s the official announcement as posted at the Tabula Rasa site

To the Tabula Rasa Community,

Last November we launched what we hoped would be a ground breaking sci-fi MMO. In many ways, we think we’ve achieved that goal. Tabula Rasa has some unique features that make it fun and very different from every other MMO out there. Unfortunately, the fact is that the game hasn’t performed as expected. The development team has worked hard to improve the game since launch, but the game never achieved the player population we hoped for.

So it is with regret that we must announce that Tabula Rasa will end live service on February 28, 2009.

Before we end the service, we’ll make Tabula Rasa servers free to play starting on January 10, 2009.

We can assure you that through the next couple of months we’ll be doing some really fun things in Tabula Rasa, and we plan to make staying on a little longer worth your while.

Stay tuned for more information. We thank you for your loyal support of the game and encourage you to take us up on the benefits we’re offering Tabula Rasa players.

The Tabula Rasa Team