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Hidden Chronicles Drive-in Theater: Our guide to finding every item

admin — Mon, 06 Feb 2012 00:00:11 +0000

As part of Hidden Chronicles’ Valentine’s Day celebration, you’ll have the opportunity to unlock three new exclusive scenes through a series of quests that sees Jeremy trying to learn how his grandparents fell in love. Apparently, their first date took place at a drive-in movie theater. You’ll need to complete some new quests before you can unlock this particular scene, so check out our guide to doing that right here.

We’re here with a guide showing you where to find the scene’s many items, so if you’re working on building up your combo points or just on the scene’s individual mastery scale, make sure to check out our images below!

Note: The items you’ll receive will just be a selection of all of those pictured below. If you’re looking to find a particular item: Hit Ctrl +F (or Command + F if on a Mac) and type in the name of the object you’re looking for. This will take you directly to its image.

Set 1:

Tractor Beam
Bicycle
Skyscraper
Dog
UFO
French Fries

Set 2:

Lemonade
Popcorn
White Booking
Lunchbox

Set 3:

Burger
Dice
Red Cup
Fence
Horse
Yellow Rose

Set 4:

North Star
Vinyl Record
Cards

Set 5:

Drum
Coin
Scarf
Flag

Set 6:

Monster
Notebook
Purse
Watch

Set 7:

Ear Muffs
Battery
Fried Egg
White Bread
Tennis Shoe

Set 8:

Chocolates
Roller Skate
Pink Rose

Set 9:

License Plate
Rop
Moon
Wallet
Bell

Set 10:

Portable Radio
Diamond
Pen

There are a handful of items not pictured above, as the game generates each set of items randomly, and unlocks new items to find as you earn more and more mastery trophies. This will help you get started on the first three mastery trophies in the game, and we’ll make sure to update this space as we find more and more items to help you out along the way.

Check out the rest of our Hidden Chronicles cheats and tips right here.

What do you think of this first of three Valentine’s Day scenes in Hidden Chronicles? Sound off in the comments.

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Hidden Chronicles Drive-in Theater: Our guide to finding every item via http://blog.games.com/2012/02/05/hidden-chronicles-drive-in-theater-item-location-guide/Games.Com

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FarmVille: Best Buy Christmas Plushies now on clearance

admin — Sun, 05 Feb 2012 00:00:12 +0000

Back in November and December, FarmVille players had the chance to purchase real world FarmVille stuffed animal ornaments from Best Buy, and receive virtual versions of those animals back in their farms. If you never purchased any of those animals, but are now interested in doing so, you can pick them up on clearance either online or even at your local Best Buy stores (if your own store still has any in stock).

The online price has been slashed from $9.99 per animal to $2.99 per animal. If you happen to find some in your local brick and mortar Best Buy, they look to be priced $0.99 across the board. Remember, for that price, you’ll receive the actual stuffed animal, 10 Farm Cash, and a Mystery Game Dart. If you happen to redeem your codes during an in-game Farm Cash promotional period, you’ll have a chance at receiving extra Farm Cash or items respectively. Needless to say, if you pick up some animals for a buck each, you’re getting a ton of items for your purchase price.

To be especially clear, there’s no guarantee that your own store will still have any of these plush animals in stock (even if Best Buy’s website says that it does), but it’s worth at least calling to find out, don’t you think? Good luck completing your collection!

Did you complete the full plush animal collection back at Christmas, or will you check your stores for clearance animals now? Sound off in the comments.

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FarmVille: Best Buy Christmas Plushies now on clearance via http://blog.games.com/2012/02/04/farmville-best-buy-plush-clearance/Games.Com

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Dead Drop on iPhone, Android brings the mafia wars to the streets [Video]

admin — Sat, 04 Feb 2012 00:00:12 +0000

Location-based social games are always intriguing at first, but end up missing something. It’s that tie to real-world locations that services like Foursquare do so well that games tend to miss. Dead Drop, a location-based spy game for iPhone, Android and PC made by two brothers Lind, promises to incorporate just that directly into the play hook.

While it offers a single-player campaign mode (what’s the fun in that?), Dead Drop sets friends against each other using GPS technology within smartphones in an all-out death match. Players can create their own individual games with friends, and be provided with missions to tackle in real time as their completed. But what’s most interesting about Dead Drop is the concept of “safe houses.”

Safe houses, once the game launches “within the next 30 days,” will be real-life businesses that serve as protective areas for players in which they can’t be attacked by enemies. The idea is that safe houses will both drive gameplay to specific areas and business to those locations. However, exactly how Dead Drop will get these local businesses to participate is a concern.

“Dead Drop represents a labor of love for us, and also a huge opportunity to bridge smartphone-based gaming and marketing in a way that goes beyond check-ins and deals,” Dead Drop founder Jeff Lind said in a release. “What we’re most proud of is creating an experience that’s legitimately fun for gamers, and presents real engagement value for marketers. Just watch your six, if you know what’s good for you.”

After the game’s release, the Lind brothers plan to introduce plenty more updates, like new weapons, disguises, play modes, mini-games and augmented reality features. Check the teaser below:

Are you psyched by the idea of a location-based that drives players to places? Do you plan on trying Dead Drop out when it hits? Sound off in the comments. Add Comment.

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Dead Drop on iPhone, Android brings the mafia wars to the streets [Video] via http://blog.games.com/2012/02/03/dead-drop-iphone-android/Games.Com

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Kinect for Windows hardware now shipping

admin — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 00:00:18 +0000

Microsoft has begun shipping the Kinect for Windows hardware, opening the door for a wave of motion-based applications for PCs.

The newly-developed peripheral is now available for £249, although Qualified Educational Users, can get a $100 discount later this year.

The launch of the Kinect for Windows hardware accompanies the release of version 1.0 of the commercial SDK and runtime to enable developers to get to work on new applications.

New features

The official launch of the SDK brings several improvements on Beta 2, which was released three months ago.

Among the new features is support for up to four peripherals on the same computer, improved skeletal tracking and the new Near Mode which allows the sensor to track objects as close as 40cm from the device.

The full list of new features can be viewed on the Kinect for Windows blog.

Wednesday’s launch lives up to CEO Steve Ballmer’s recent promise to make the devices and software available on February 1st.

Forget Kanye: Gene Simmons says KISS Angry Birds is coming

admin — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 00:00:17 +0000

KISS wears face paint and breathes fire on stage. The Angry Birds launch from slingshots into wooden pig houses. In the grand scheme of all things entertainment, it kind of makes sense, right? Gene Simmons, front man of KISS and recent reality TV star, has confirmed that he’s working with Rovio to create an Angry Birds game in conjunction with the KISS brand.

“So while the gaming world is waiting for the KISS games that are going to explode, we’re busy taking the brand to places where no band has gone before,” Simmons told IndustryGamers. “So Hello Kitty is one of the biggest brands on planet Earth. Now there’s KISS Hello Kitty, which we’ve already launched in 90 countries. We’re talking with Angry Birds, KISS and Angry Birds, which will become a deal.”

At this point, we’re just going to make a ‘You Can’t Make This Stuff Up” folder in the office. It was recently rumored that hip hop icon Kanye West was in talks with the Finnish Angry Birds maker, so it’s clear now that Rovio looks to celebrity world to grow its flagship brand. Simmons has outright confirmed that an Angry Birds-meets-KISS game is in the works, but it’s unknown how far this game is along in development, if at all. We’ve reached out to Rovio for comment.

Are you excited for a KISS Angry Birds game? Do you think this is a smart move on Rovio’s part? Sound off in the comments. Add Comment.

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Forget Kanye: Gene Simmons says KISS Angry Birds is coming via http://blog.games.com/2012/02/02/angry-birds-kiss-gene-simmons/Games.Com

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In Depth: 802.11ac: what you need to know

admin — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 00:00:14 +0000

802.11ac: next-gen Wi-Fi

If you thought Wi-Fi couldn’t get much faster than 802.11n, think again.

802.11ac, dubbed 5G Wi-Fi, promises ridiculously fast wireless connections, better range, improved reliability, improved power consumption and a free horse. (OK, we’re lying about the horse.)

802.11ac is the latest evolution of Wi-Fi, and it should be particularly good for gaming and HD video streaming.

So how does it work, does it live up to the hype, and how long will you have to wait before you can get your hands on it? Let’s find out.

Your 802.11ac speed could break the gigabit barrier

The fastest current 802.11n Wi-Fi connections max out at around 150Mbps with one antenna, 300Mbps with two and 450Mbps with three antennas. 802.11ac connections will be roughly three times faster – so that’s 450Mbps, 900Mbps and 1.3Gbps respectively. Netgear, brilliantly, illustrates this with two pictures of motorways: the first picture, showing "Today’s Wi-Fi", is normal, but the one labelled "3x speed with 802.11ac" is really blurry.

Your 802.11ac speed won’t break the gigabit barrier

As with previous Wi-Fi standards, the speeds quoted on the box and in the promotional materials are theoretical maximums, not the speeds you’ll actually get: so far devices with potential top speeds of 1.3Gbps have topped out at around 800Mbps. That’s still blisteringly fast, of course, but there’s still a gap between advertised speeds and real world ones. 802.11ac connection speeds will be reduced by numerous factors: network overhead, which is the chatter your hardware needs to keep the connection going; interference, congestion and physical obstacles; distance; the number of simultaneous connections; and whether the router is running in compatibility mode so that older wireless kit can still connect.

802.11ac video and gaming

Because 802.11ac has bandwidth to spare, it should be great for HD video streaming and for gaming. According to Netgear [PDF], you can say bye-bye to buffering: "802.11ac will significantly enhance the user experience by improving the playback quality to any point throughout the house. With 802.11ac, for the first time wireless will provide similar performance as wired Gigabit connections."

802.11ac routers use more antennas

To improve range and reliability, 802.11ac routers can use more antennas than existing 802.11n kit: your next router may have as many as eight antennas inside it.

802.11ac routers will use "beamforming" technology

Wi-Fi is omnidirectional, but 802.11ac routers will be able to use directional transmission and reception technology dubbed "beamforming". The router will be able to identify the rough location of the device it’s talking to and strengthen the appropriate antenna(s) accordingly. The idea is to reduce interference.

802.11ac Wi-Fi uses the 5GHz frequency band

Older wireless kit uses the 2.4GHz frequency band, which is fairly crowded: your kit is potentially sharing radio frequency with next door’s baby monitor, your cordless phone and even your microwave. Like high performance 802.11n kit, 802.11ac routers will use the less cluttered 5GHz band where there’s considerably more room for data transmission. 802.11ac hardware will use two kinds of channels in that range: 80GHz ones and 160GHz ones.

802.11ac routers will be backwards compatible

You won’t need to throw out all your old wireless-capable kit as 802.11ac routers will be backwards compatible with your existing Wi-Fi kit. For example, at this year’s CES Buffalo demonstrated an 802.11ac router that operated on both the 2.4GHz and 5GHz frequency bands and that promised to play nice with 802.11a, b, g and n hardware.

The 802.11ac release date is now, sort of

As with 802.11n, hardware is coming out before the 802.11ac standard is actually finalised. That’s going to happen later this year, but manufacturers are readying their products now and they’ll be everywhere by the summer, with minor software updates addressing any changes that might happen to the standard before it’s finalised. We’d expect 802.11ac prices to be steep initially, as they were with the first 802.11n kit, but those prices should start to fall almost immediately.

Apple’s putting 802.11ac into everything

Apple’s a key early adopter of wireless technology – it helped popularise Wi-Fi in the first place and was quick off the mark with 802.11n support. According to AppleInsider it’s going to be quick off the mark with 802.11ac too, sticking the technology into "new AirPort base stations, Time Capsule, Apple TV, notebooks and potentially its mobile devices."

802.11ac hasn’t skipped lots of letters

The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE), the body in charge of the 802.11 standard, isn’t skipping lots of letters: while major WiFi standards have jumped from 802.11n to 802.11ac, the IEEE didn’t just skip 802.11o, p, q and so on. Successive versions of the 802.11 standard can also denote amendments to existing standards, so for example 802.11i introduced improved security and 802.11j introduced extensions for Japanese networks.

In Depth: 802.11ac: what you need to know via http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/techradar/gaming-news/~3/wGbO7PKSvJc/story01.htm TechRadar Games

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PopCap goes deep with next possible Facebook game, Solitaire Blitz

admin — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 00:00:12 +0000

You probably expected that PopCap’s next Facebook game would keep the Blitz name strong, but did you expect it to go off the deep end? No, the Bejeweled Blitz creator didn’t go insane, it went underwater with its newest social game, Solitaire Blitz. Currently in a testing phase on Facebook, we’ve found that the next game to don the “Blitz” moniker applies the familiar friendly leaderboards, energy and power-ups to the classic single-player card game.

Solitaire Blitz, in its current state, tasks players with running down stacks of cards in the ocean to reveal buried treasure. Of course, players do this by choosing cards that are either one above or below the value of the card next to the deck above. Do this in a timely fashion and without screwing up, and you’ll earn some hefty score multipliers for your skill. As with all of PopCap’s social games, several power-ups–like time extensions, instant bonus multipliers and free Jokers–serve to mix things up.

We say that Solitaire Blitz is PopCap’s “next possible Facebook game,” because the developer has live-tested its games in the past only to choose against supporting them. (Who remembers that adorable gem Pig Up?) At any rate, this soft release, so to speak, falls in line with recent rumors that the EA-owned developer would get into casino-styled Facebook games. This is one blast of a polished test game, so cross your fingers that it sees official release.

Click here to play Solitaire Blitz on Facebook Now >

Are you psyched to try out what could be PopCap’s next big Facebook game? What do you think of the recent casino craze on Facebook? Sound off in the comments. Add Comment.

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PopCap goes deep with next possible Facebook game, Solitaire Blitz via http://blog.games.com/2012/02/01/solitaire-blitz-facebook/Games.Com

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Rovio boss: Angry Birds piracy "may not be a bad thing"

admin — Wed, 01 Feb 2012 00:00:12 +0000

Speaking at the Midem conference in Cannes, Rovio Mobile’s chief executive Mikael Hed claims that the company has learned from the music industry’s mistakes when dealing with piracy.

"We have some issues with piracy, not only in apps but also especially in the consumer products," said Hed.

"There is tons and tons of merchandise out there, especially in Asia, which is not officially licensed products."

He went on to say that Rovio believes it’s a waste of effort to take pirates to court, except in cases when the pirate products are harmful to the Angry Birds brand or cheating fans.

"Piracy may not be a bad thing: it can get us more business at the end of the day."

Free advertising

Instead, the company sees the products as a way of getting the Angry Birds brand greater coverage. Even though the money made by the pirated products doesn’t go to Rovio, it’s also money that Rovio potentially doesn’t have to spend on advertising.

This is Rovio’s favoured approach after taking note of "the rather terrible ways the music industry has tried to combat piracy."

However, it has also followed the music industry’s approach in other ways: "We took something from the music industry, which was to stop treating the customers as users, and start treating them as fans. We do that today: we talk about how many fans we have," Hed said.

"If we lose that fanbase, our business is done, but if we can grow that fanbase, our business will grow."

Rovio has also been in talks with music labels about promoting music content through its apps, referring to Angry Birds as a "channel" that can be used for cross-promotion.

Farmerama maker Bigpoint amasses over 250 million registered players

admin — Wed, 01 Feb 2012 00:00:11 +0000

By our ~~wild, sarcastic speculation~~ math, about a few thousand of those are Battlestar Galactica fans. (Ooh, doesn’t that burn?) Bigpoint, the Hamburg, Germany-based publisher and developer of free-to-play online games like Farmerama and Battlestar Galactica Online, announced that it has garnered more than 250 million registered players.

“Since 2002, we’ve strived to bring high-quality games and experiences to the widest possible audience,” Bigpoint CEO and founder Heiko Hubertz said in a release. “With players hailing from every corner of the globe, today’s milestone underscores our success – and we’re not done. We’ll continue to challenge the notion of what online games are and can be.”

Keep in mind, however, that this figure specifically refers to “registered players,” which may not equate to, say, monthly or daily players. Regardless of whether all of those registered are currently playing Bigpoint games, it’s quite the feat. Bigpoint also claims to attract over 250,000 new players to its most popular games daily.

Bigpoint says that it introduced us Americans to what’s now become a free-to-play craze in 2002 with a game developed personally by Hubertz, IceFighter. The company has since launched over 60 games ranging from casual releases like Farmerama to more “hardcore” games, such as sci-fi MMO (massively multiplayer online game) Dark Orbit. And Bigpoint plans to release even more games based on major Hollywood franchises in 2012. Between Bigpoint and the likes of Spil Games, wooga, and King.com, it’s clear that Western social gaming has swept both coasts of the Atlantic.

Are you a fan of Bigpoint’s games? What types of games would you like to see the company release more of: action-packed or casual? Sound off in the comments. Add Comment.

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Farmerama maker Bigpoint amasses over 250 million registered players via http://blog.games.com/2012/01/31/farmerama-bigpoint-250-million-players/Games.Com

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EA’s Madden simulation predicts Giants Super Bowl win

admin — Tue, 31 Jan 2012 00:00:14 +0000

The New York Giants will defeat the New England Patriots in the Super Bowl on Sunday if EA’s annual Madden simulation proves to be accurate.

The game publisher matched-up the two teams in a single game of Madden ‘12 on Xbox 360, with Eli Manning’s Giants emerging victorious 27-24.

EA was able to simulate the game using the masses of in-game stats, artificial intelligence and even respective injuries to the two teams.

Believe in Eli

The test-run for this Sunday’s showcase encounter saw Giants quarterback Manning complete 29 of 35 pass attempts, while throwing for two touchdowns.

The game will be won by a field goal with 3 seconds left in the fourth quarter, according to the simulation.

Manning’ opposite number Tom Brady will throw for 327 yards if anyone is looking at the over/under bet.

Giants fans have reason to take heart from the latest Madden-based encounter. The simulation has accurately predicted the Super Bowl winner in six of the last eight seasons.

You can see ‘highlights’ from the game in the video below.

YouTube : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tqq96Dh3H8s