Humble Indie Bundle comes with free Minecraft play until Aug. 14

As if the 5 included games and portion of the money going to charity isn't enough. If you buy the Humble Indie Bundle you will now get free access to play Minecraft until August 14. Not bad for the few people who haven't bought Minecraft already.

Nintendo's negative financials; the reality is, it's not that bad

As most of us know by now, Nintendo posted a very negative financial quarter. The hysteria that has come with it from many corners is deeply misguided, however.

The long and short of it is this – the value of Nintendo’s stock dropped in value by around 20 per cent, the company posted huge loses ($323 million), and has spurred the company’s management to accept pay cuts. Economic firms, such as JPMorgan and Nomura Holdings have lowered their ratings on Nintendo’s stock as well.

Review: Let's Golf 3D (3DS eShop)

That old guy in the middle is just creepy

Here we go again. Another platform, another avenue for Gameloft infest with its gimmicky tripe. Hot on the heels of its DSiWare support, which threw terrible and unnecessary camera integration into each and every game, Gameloft has kicked off its 3DS shovelware campaign with pointless and poorly implemented 3D effects.

Let’s not make the mistake of calling Let’s Golf a good game. It’s going to sell plenty of copies because it’s the first 3D downloadable game (not including classics) on the 3DS, but it’s a very, very bad game.

Import Review: Kyuiin (PSN)

... That's all that can be said, really. Just ...

Are you tired of uninspired entries in stale and stagnant franchises? How about firing up the old vacuum cleaner and going for a ride? With its clean look and fresh concept (even now, all these years later), Kyuiin is one of the most ingenious contributions to the shoot-’em-up genre and delivers a breath of fresh air.

3DS price drop: It's good to see Nintendo admit when it's wrong

Some breaking news tonight that makes the looming competition between the Nintendo 3DS and the PlayStation Vita a little more exciting: The 3DS is not only getting a massive price slash (down $80 to $169.99 in the US and $100 in Australia to $249.95), but existing 3DS owners will be treated to 20 free NES and Game Boy Advance games (and good ones too, such as Metroid: Fusion, Mario Kart Super Circuit and Ice Climber) as a reward for being an early adopter.

From Dust Available Now on XBLA

The ambitious (and very Populous-like) Summer of Arcade title, From Dust, is now available for your downloading pleasure on the Marketplace.

From Dust takes place on a harsh and unforgiving planet where a lone shaman (that's you) must guide his tribe of humans through trial and tribulation by bending the very forces of nature to his will. Easy!

Avatar Kinect Ready for Connecting Avatars

More of a 'take a look at the possibility here' than an actual product, the newest Kinect Fun Labs offering is nonetheless a very interesting development.

Kawagames set to be a new Mecca marketplace for indie games

Spanish marketplace, Kawagames, is opening its marketplace up to independent developers to find another avenue to market.

The Humble Indie Bundle 3 is now available

For a third year in a row the Humble Indie Bundle is back and as usual you choose how much to pay and how to split the revenue between the developers and the charities they are donating to. It's awesome to get to choose an amount to spend and support the indie scene as well as the charities. Child's Play and the EFF are reaping the benefits of this generous undertaking and we are always happy to support a good cause.

Until the launch of Humble Indie Bundle 3 the organisers have managed to raise over a million dollars from these events but so far today they have raised over $340.000 in only five hours.

Sales and special offers all-over

It seems like Steam is not the only platform that's having ridiculous sales this summer. There are endless discounts to be had if you look hard enough.

Right now, Paradox is having a sale on what appears to be all of its published titles over at Gamer's Gate. All games are 50 per cent off or, even better, Pride of Nations is 65 per cent if you get the DLC with it. We especially recommend that one. The sale ends in five days so no rush. Take your time and read through our reviews and pick what fancies you most.

Review: Dead Block (PSN)

Breaking news: Zombies are a popular theme for developers to base their game around. Some might even say it’s clutch for them to garner attention at this point because we writers sure appreciate the opportunity to point out how tired it is. Now, I’m not the biggest fan of zombie games but I do enjoy them (as much as any other game for that matter) if they bring something fresh/new/interesting to the table. That is not the case with Dead Block.

I have played through the whole campaign, which took me little more than two hours. Being a sucker for the instant gratification of cheap trophies, I wanted to go back and finish picking up the rest of the prises but I just can’t bring myself to fire up the game again. That’s saying a lot especially when considering I have the platinum for UP!

Ultimate Marvel VS Capcom 3 new characters confined to disk release

Scheduled for release in November, Ultimate Marvel VS Capcom 3 will add 12 new characters, new stages, new modes, and adjust balancing issues with the previous version. Due to the fact that the game was announced just 5 months after the release of the first, some fans anticipated that the characters would be available as DLC. Unfortunately, any hopes of a downloadable release were dashed today, by the statements of producer Ryoto Niitsuma in an interview:

Use your iPhone as a light gun? Namco Bandai says yes

Namco Bandai has released a free application for iPhone 4 and iPad 2 called iGunCon. This would be fairly dull news if it was a regular free app, but this one seems like a lot of fun - it allows players to use their devices for lightgun shooters Time Crisis 2nd Strike on iPhone, iPad and Mac.

By downloading the application, you can link it with another iOS device running the game, and it will turn your device into a light gun. You'll move one device to aim and fire, while the other device will display the action and the crosshairs.

In addition to Controller Mode, the app has a standalone feature called Toy Mode that allows gamers to recreate the shooting sounds from Time Crises games, which should be a fun way to piss off your friends.. Players can pick their favorite version, and tap the on-screen buttons to play the sounds of the in-game handgun, machine gun, shotgun and grenade launcher.

Review: Connectrode (iPhone)

Connectrode is a new puzzler from Deep Plaid Games that ticks all the right boxes for entertainment, addiction, challenge and value. Taking a novel approach to the “matching” puzzle style, Connectrode offers a unique experience to owners in terms of gameplay by forcing them to think a few moves ahead, a strategy that is necessary to being successful.What first appears as just another matching puzzle game quickly proves that it can stand on its own merits, quite apart from the usual games found in this genre. Instead of flipping or moving blocks to create a connection which will remove them from the screen, Connectrode starts you off with a randomly generated board stacked up with different coloured “chips”. Depending on which of the four difficulty settings you've chosen, the number of chips on the board will vary, as will the amount of room you have to work with. To remove the chips from the board you have to link them together with “Connectors”; create a chain of connectors between two (or more!) chips and watch the whole package get fried off the board, leaving you more room to play.

Got $1 million to spare? Get a rare game!

One of the rarest games of all time has gone up for sale. The Sega Mega Drive version of Tetris was quickly pulled from sale following a legal dispute.

There are few remaining copies - some estimate as few as 10. But that's not all. This version that has gone on sale at eBay has also been signed by the man who invented Tetris, Alexey Pajitnov.

That's a double whammy of collectible right there. The asking price? A cool $1 million, though the eBay auctioneer suggests he's willing to consider other reasonable offers.

I have $90 in my bank account. Do you reckon that's close enough?

If you can outbid me, check out the auction here.

Please, Marvellous, don't give up on Harvest Moon

There's been some news on the Marvellous front recently that has upset me greatly. Specifically, that the 3DS would be seeing a Rune Factory game shortly.

This follows on from the fact that the PS3 is also getting a Rune Factory game, but has so far no Harvest Moon game. These two cases are the first time Marvellous has released Rune Factory games on a console before Harvest Moon games (not difficult considering the Rune Factory series is so new, but still). In fact, while there seems to be quite a strong Rune Factory production line in action, Harvest Moon has now become a very sporadic series.

Trainz Simulator now available on Android

N3V Games' Trainz Simulator has been available on the iPad for quite some time, and has enjoyed considerable success, despite not being out favourite game in the world.

Essentially it's the toy train collector's digital dream, providing plenty of opportunities to play around, and even drive, their favourite trains. It takes some work to get used to, but once you do it's all good fun.

Buoyed by that success, the game is now available for download to Android tablets as well. The game looks much the same as the iPad game, so if you're into this kind of thing, then you're sure to have some fun with this.

Wow has XBL Arcade had a good half year

Microsoft has announced the top ten selling XBLA games for the first half of 2011, and a staggering fact: the Arcade has grown to be worth $US66.2 million in revenues (in the US).

That's a growth of 41 per cent over the same time last year. 18 games saw revenue estimates of over $1 million in the period, also a record for the service.

The top selling games are:

Editorial: Why video games are related to Norway killings, but not responsible for them

This is a bit philosophical, but I always find myself shocked by how simple the press is when it comes to pointing the finger and casting blame over tragedies such as these. This is my attempt to set the record straight.

I'll start straight up and say that no, it is not fair to blame video games for the tragedy that befell Norway over the weekend (so please don't attack me in the comments below, or, at least, read this whole article first). The theory that there is a direct link between violent activity and video games has been proven false, and I believe the science to be correct.

However, the video games industry is indeed a reflection on a natural flaw in humanity, and it does take advantage of that flaw. So, as a result, the association when human nature goes wrong is a natural consequence. As much as the tragedy itself, the video games industry is a reflection of a society that glorifies violence, solves problems with guns, and believes in aggressive resolutions to problems.

Review: One Epic Game (PSN Mini)

Say what you’d like to, but gaming has become a big pile of clichés: World War II, Alien Invasions, Zombies, Post-Apocalyptic, Fantasy Worlds, etc. These clichés dominate our gaming worlds and sometimes take themselves way too seriously about it. 

Well, what would happen if you combined all of these gaming clichés into one game, threw in a bunch of guns and jetpacks, and featured a radically subpar hero that is as much a cliché himself as the environments? You’d get One Epic Game, and Grip Games has performed this unthinkable feat and slammed the game on the PSP Mini service for 3.99 USD/ 2.99 EUR while they were at it too.

Why the hate for White Knight Chronicles?

I read the reviews for Level-5's White Knight Chronicles series with some distress. From the middling, through to the downright horrific, critics seem to consider this fledgling franchise as mediocre at best.

I honestly don't see where that's coming from. The critics that slaughter these games will often, a breath later, laud the likes of Final Fantasy VI as a great game. Which it is, but the White Knight Chronicles games are also great, and for many of the same reasons.

Preview: Sengoku; the Total War killer

Paradox Interactive had guts to green light Sengoku. Coming hot on the heals of The Creative Assembly's Total War: Shogun 2, the publisher is going to have its work cut out for it in terms of marketing to convince people to sign up for another dose of Japanese history. Luckily, the game is shaping up to be far more interesting than what the Total War game was.