Zynga's abrupt closure of mildly popular Facebook game "Street Racing," and the reactions of players who'd spent real money while playing it, serve as a cautionary tale to folks who spend money on virtual goods and downloadable games.
During a recent opportunity to play "Rock Band 3," I got to sing on a stage in front of a roomful of people, plus struggle on keyboards as a cameraman filmed me. No wonder bands lip sync during video shoots. It's nerve-wracking stuff.
With the summer lull officially on, it's a great time to head to the Old West and catch up on Rockstar Games' "Red Dead Redemption." It's too bad it's so buggy, though.
Nintendo is running a nationwide, team-based competition to see who the country's best Wii players are. If you're on the North Coast, your best bet is to form a team and get yourself to Six Flags in Vallejo. Top teams will compete in a national event in Los Angeles in September.
Like "Deathsmiles" on the Xbox 360," "Sin & Punishment: Star Successor," a sequel to a much-loved Japanese game, is all about shooting everything in sight as quickly and efficiently as possible. Scorehounds take note.
A couple of old-school shoot-'em ups dominated my week. Plus, I prepare for the next season of my "Culdcept Saga" league and close the book on the first "Puzzle Quest."
This week's highest profile releases are yet another time-travel themed first-person shooter with middling reviews and the umpteenth Lego-themed platform-jumping title geared toward kids. So I'm just gonna lead with the weird Japanese "bullet hell" game featuring what the marketing materials refer to as "gothic Lolitas."
A Transformers game that doesn't stink tops this week's new releases.
With "Rock Band 3" set to release soon and only a handful of tracks announced thus far, it's time to take a look at what we'd like to see in the game. These 10 tracks all feature either keyboards or vocal harmonies, two features this game has that "Rock Band 2" didn't. One of the 10 is brutally difficult and would give players of the new "pro" mode a run for their money.