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Retro shooter Expendable launching on Android, remade and 'Rearmed'

Expendable, Rage Software's shoot ‘em up title, will be remastered and re-released as mobile game Expendable: Rearmed, according to developer Retrobomb's site. Retrobomb, a company that revives notable games from older consoles for portable devices, will release Rearmed for Android. According to their site, the remake will be a "re-imagined, remade, intense arcade shooter experience made true to the original ideals of ‘one more go' with lives and high scores." Expendable first released in 1998 for PC, followed by a Sega Dreamcast release in '99 and a PlayStation edition in 2000. It featured arcade gameplay, with players running on credits and the option for a player to join at any time. The company released an official trailer featuring the title's classic run-and-gun gameplay....
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Rockstar weekend sale offers two mobile Grand Theft Auto games for $.99 each

To celebrate Grand Theft Auto: Vice City's 10-year anniversary and mobile ports, Rockstar Games is now offering Grand Theft Auto 3: 10 Year Anniversary Edition and Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars for only $.99. Grand Theft Auto 3 is available for iOS and Android, while Chinatown Wars can be purchased on the iPhone, iPod touch or iPad. Both games will be available at sale price until Monday, Oct. 29. Vice City's 10th Anniversary celebration will continue with new videos, unreleased images and more.
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EA discounts 10 iOS games in a Very Scary sale

Electronic Arts' second annual Very Scary sale is going on now, offering discounts of up to 85 percent on select iOS games, according to the EA Daily Deals website. The deals include: Battlefield: Bad Company 2 on iPad for $2.99, a 70 percent discount Real Racing 2 on iPhone for $1.99, a 60 percent discount Madden NFL 12 for iPhone for 1.99, a 60 percent discount Madden NFL 12 on iPad for $2.99, a 55 percent discount Plants Vs. Zombies on iPhone for 99 cents, a 66 percent discount Plants vs. Zombies on iPad for 99 cents, an 85 percent discount Real Racing 2 HD on iPad for $2.99, a 55 percent discount Mirror's Edge on iPad for $2.99, a 70 percent discount Battleship HD on iPad for $2.99, a 40 percent discount Burnout Crash! on iPhone and iPad for 99 cents, an...
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Xbox SmartGlass app released for Android smartphones

Microsoft has released the Android smartphone version of its Xbox SmartGlass app via the Google Play App Store, allowing Android users to use their touchscreen devices to interact with the Xbox 360. Xbox SmartGlass also launched today for Windows devices alongside the release of Windows 8 and Microsoft's new Surface tablet line. An iOS version is announced, but does not have an official release date. SmartGlass allows Xbox 360 owners to navigate the console's dashboard, type messages, change their Avatar and control select applications. The app works with the recently launched Internet Explorer browser for Xbox 360, as well as Xbox Video and Xbox Music apps. Games that will work with SmartGlass in the coming months include Dance Central 3, Forza Horizon and Ascend: New Gods. Halo...
Culture
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The future of arcades is wet, huge, tiny, communal and impossible on a console

At the inaugural DNA U.S. Conference, creators shared game experiences they labeled Arcade 2.0 or the Next-Generation Arcade, games that ranged in size from small cellphone apps to games played inside a movie theater to massive theme park experiences. Other games were played with spotlights and water fountains or inside immersive domes with special projectors capable of displaying games on spherical ceilings. The goal of the DNA Conference was to focus on emerging trends in "interactive frontiers in leisure facilities," where gaming experiences are migrating beyond the home, beyond traditional arcades. Those types of multiplayer, arcade-style entertainment experiences, ones "unachievable at home," says Kevin Williams, conference founder and co-author of The Immersive Frontier:...
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A classic adventure series avoids the Grim Reaper

A successful Shadowgate could pave the way for new Deja Vu, other MacVentures

Three games from that series, which started on Macintosh computers before being ported by Japanese publisher Kemco, made their way to the NES: Deja Vu, a gritty detective story full of pulp, intrigue and murder; Uninvited, a haunted house horror story; and the series' most popular entry on the system: Shadowgate, a fantasy title that cast the player as a highborn hero, who must face the perils of an enormous castle to end the reign of the evil Warlock Lord. It's that unique genre monopoly that David Marsh and Karl Roelofs — former ICOM developers who co-founded their own studio, Zojoi, earlier this year — are counting on to make their Kickstarter drive to fund a "re-imagining" ofShadowgate for PC and Mac (and, a bit down the line, tablets) a success. "Shadowgate has this huge NES...
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Need for Speed Most Wanted launch trailer starts some trouble

Need for Speed Most Wanted comes out next Tuesday, and publisher Electronic Arts released a launch trailer today to prepare fans. Need for Speed Most Wanted, developed by Criterion Games, launches on Oct. 30 on PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, PC, PlayStation Vita, iOS and Android. A Wii U version is set for release in 2013.
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Penny Arcade 3 out today on Mac, Android and iOS, Lair of the Seamstress DLC live

Penny Arcade Adventures: On the Rain-Slick Precipice of Darkness Episode 3 is now available on Mac and for Android and iOS devices, developer Zeboyd Games announced today. All versions, including the Xbox Live Indie Games and Steam PC versions, will receive the free Lair of the Seamstress downloadable content pack today. The pack includes an additional dungeon for characters above level 40, along with a zombie-themed costume pack in time for Halloween. The three new ports are also getting the Fanfiction Pack released earlier this year for the XBIG and PC versions, which swaps characters' genders or turns them into anthropomorphic animals. Episode 3 is the third installment in the Penny Arcade Adventures, an episodic action game based on the Penny Arcade webcomics. The games mixes 2D...
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Shadowgate remake hits Kickstarter, adds new rooms, graphics and music to original adventure

Shadowgate is being remade and "re-imagined" for PC, Mac and tablets by developer Zojoi, who is seeking to fund the game's development on a Kickstarter page which launched today. The remake, which was quietly announced on Zojoi's official site this past summer, is not a direct port of the original adventure game. It features a number of new puzzles and rooms for the player to explore, and almost certainly be killed by. The 8-bit halls of Castle Shadowgate have been revamped with animated, high resolution artwork, and the memorable soundtrack from the NES version of the game is now presented in a fully orchestrated score — though slaves to nostalgia can listen to the original soundtrack while playing, as well. In an interview with Polygon, Zojoi co-founder (and former designer at...
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Grand Theft Auto: Vice City coming to iOS, Android for 10th anniversary

Grand Theft Auto: Vice City turns 10 years old next week, and Rockstar is marking the occasion by announcing iOS and Android ports of the Miami-themed open-world classic. The touch-controlled ports, which Rockstar says will "[bring] the full experience to mobile devices, featuring native high-resolution graphics and several enhancements unique to the iOS and Android platforms," will be available "later this fall." Last year, Rockstar highlighted the 10th anniversary of Grand Theft Auto 3 in the same way, with updated versions for iOS and Android that launched in mid-December. In a press release announcing the news, Rockstar Games co-founder Sam Houser called Vice City "a defining moment in the series," and added, "we're delighted to be celebrating its 10th anniversary this year with a...
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Borderlands Legends imagines the franchise with fewer guns, less loot and more characters

Borderlands Legends, a single-player action game for iPhone and iPad, is intended to capture the essence of the Borderlands universe. The game lacks some of the franchise's most beloved features — loot drops, for example, are limited to cash — but its creators might win over fans with a number of unusual hooks. The game stars the four adventurers of the first Borderlands. It takes place between the original and this year's predecessor, Borderlands 2. In a twist exclusive to Legends, one player controls the entire quartet of renegades at the same time. "We wanted to make sure people understood that this was still tied with the original game," James Lopez, Producer on Borderlands Legends at Gearbox Software, told Polygon, "and that these vault hunters were legendary as they opened...
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NGmoco co-founders Neil Young and Bob Stevenson step down from mobile games studio

NGmoco co-founder and CEO Neil Young and fellow co-founder Bob Stevenson have stepped down from their respective roles at the mobile games studio, owner DeNA announced. Replacing Young as CEO is former head of studios Clive Downie, who previously worked as VP of marketing for EA as part of his 15 year career with the company. "We couldn't be happier that Clive, our long time colleague and friend is taking the reins of the Western business by becoming the new CEO," said Young in a written statement. "Our confidence in Clive and the momentum of DeNA's business in the West makes this the right moment for us to move on to our next adventure." Young will continue to serve on the company's board of directors. Japanese mobile gaming giant DeNA bought the North American developer for...
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Waking Mars coming to Windows, Mac, Linux and Android next month

Tiger Style Games' action adventure space game on iOS, Waking Mars, is coming to Windows, Linux, Mac and Android devices next month, the studio announced on Twitter. The developers said on Twitter that the Android version of the game will only use touch controls, while the PC version offers keyboard and mouse controls. "You'll definitely get to enjoy the art more, now," the studio added. Tiger Style Games is yet to confirm when the game will be available on these platforms, but Joystiq reports that it will be a part of the next Humble Indie Bundle coming in November. Waking Mars is currently available from the iTunes App Store for $4.99. The game is currently listed on Steam Greenlight for PC, Mac and Linux.
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Combat Arms: Zombies goes free-to-play on iOS, adds new arena and weapons

Combat Arms: Zombies, the iOS adaptation of Nexon's PC shooter Combat Arms, became free-to-play today with an update that also brings new weapons and a new map, the developer announced this morning. Built in Unreal Engine 3, the mobile shooter is based on the Fireteam Mode in Combat Arms and equips players with an arsenal of over 300 weapons — including the 20 added today — to fight against waves of zombies. The game's previous update brought Game Center support, more than 60 achievements and 15 leaderboards. Before its free-to-play transformation, Combat Arms: Zombies cost $1.99.
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Majesco goes mobile with free-to-play RPG Legends of Loot

Legends of Loot, a free-to-play dungeon crawler, launched on iOS today as game publisher Majesco's first foray into mobile titles, reports GamesBeat. Majesco began its expansion into the market when it purchased Massachusetts-based studio Quick Hit, developer of the popular social game Quick Hit Football, in June 2011. Studio head Jeffrey Anderson came on to serve as senior vice president of social and mobile games at Majesco, and he told GamesBeat, "The company realizes the console market is going through a cyclical change and new platforms are emerging." Legends of Loot offers touch-controlled puzzles and mazes set in a variety of eras and regions, including ancient Egypt and medieval Europe. According to Anderson, the game "is the kickoff of the all the work we have been doing over...
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Wizardlings free role-playing game on iOS today from Square Enix

"Casual tap adventure" role-playing game Wizardlings is out for free on iOS today, publisher Square Enix announced this morning. Players step into the shoes of a fledgling wizard or witch on a mission to save a fantasy world plagued by darkness. Along the journey players can collect loot and ingredients to brew higher-level spells, as well as challenge enemy creatures in combat. World navigation uses a tile system. As players tap new tiles to advance through the world, a new treasure, piece of information or enemy is uncovered. Players will have to utilize spells that have been collected and recorded in their in-game spellbook or brew special potions to defeat opponents and complete quests. Wizardlings is compatible with iPhone and iPad, and will be available on other mobile devices...
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How He-Man was revived as a mobile gaming hero

In the last 30 years, Optimus Prime has starred in 20 video games. In that same span, He-Man has been in just five games, the last of which was 2005's abysmal Defender of Grayskull. It comes as no surprise, then, that Mattel officials weren't exactly champing at the bit to revive the franchise for another game. Nick Torchia started working as a producer at Mattel in the middle of 2010. At that time, he was asked to investigate which franchises could be reborn through the company's next video game. "We were going through the vault of all the IPs that Mattel has," he explained to Polygon in a phone interview. "I realized, 'Wait, you guys have He-Man and the Masters of the Universe. Why aren't we doing anything with this?" He-Man's struggles with gaming the past were likely the...
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Portal designer working on iOS puzzle game due out Oct. 29

Airtight Games – a studio led by the level designer of Portal, Kim Swift – has launched a mobile division which is currently working on an iOS puzzle game called PIXLD. Described as "addictive" and "deceptively simple", the iOS game is the first to release under Airtight's mobile division. The game requires players to match and destroy blocks against a ticking clock. It aims to allow players to "experience the joy of video gaming on their mobile telephones." "Seriously, have you seen these things?" PIXLD's creative director, Kim Swift said in a statement, gesturing to an iPhone 5. "They're like tiny computers. Tiny computers you carry in your pocket. So I'm all like, 'I know this sounds nuts, but guys, let's put some games on there.' And they did. Bam." PIXLD is due out on the...
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Flavor Monsters aims to prevent youth smoking by revealing the truth about tobacco

It's hard to prevent a person from doing something without telling them not to do that thing, especially when that person is young. It's even harder when that something is smoking. The nonprofit American Legacy Foundation has taken on that challenge ever since 1998, when it was established out of the landmark Master Settlement Agreement between 46 states and the nation's four largest tobacco companies. Now known as Legacy, the organization seeks to "build a world where young people can reject tobacco and anyone can quit," according to Patricia McLaughlin, assistant vice president of communications. I spoke with McLaughlin on the New York Comic Con show floor, at a colorful booth ostensibly built to promote a line of candy with 45 flavors. The booth's walls sported faux-vintage...
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Zombies, Run! fights for the rights of stories in games

Speaking in a recent interview with Polygon, Alderman stated the industry is experiencing a self-fulfilling prophecy in which game designers do not believe good narrative can be achieved within the structure of a game and therefore fail to ever make it happen. 'It's basically a two cultures problem' "It's basically a two cultures problem," says Alderman. "People who are making games have been sitting in a science and technology building since they were 18 and people who write stories have been sitting in an arts and humanities building since they were 18 and never the twain shall meet." The result is a system within studios that engenders a lack of communication between writers and designers throughout the development process, she explains. "So often in game design not only are the...
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iPad mini will deliver a better gaming experience, developers say

Earlier this week, Apple’s senior vice president of worldwide marketing, Phil Schiller, unveiled the iPad mini, an entirely new 7.9" version of the company’s popular tablet. With each iteration of iOS devices, game developers face new opportunities and challenges as Apple unveils products with new internals like CPUs and display resolutions. In the wake of the announcement, Polygon spoke with several iOS developers to get their reactions on the new device, the possible drawbacks of a ever-more fragmented iOS device ecosystem, and satisfying customers across a broad range of devices. Melvin Samuel of Halfbot, developers of The Blocks Cometh, Super Crate Box and I Don’t Come in Peace, told Polygon that each new device forces trade-offs for the small company. "One of the great...
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Sherlock Holmes: The Awakened heading to iPad this year

Sherlock Holmes: The Awakened, developer Frogwares' sleuth-centric game adventure game, is headed to iPad later this year, according to a post on the developer's website. The game puts players in the role of the titular detective, solving logic puzzles in a world "that melds Holmes’ rationalism with H.P. Lovecraft’s supernaturalism," according to the developer. Frogwares writes that the game, which sees Holmes and Dr. Watson solving a kidnapping case in London, Switzerland and New Orleans, will be available in Q4 2012, which ends Dec. 31, 2012. Check out a trailer for the remastered PC version, which added a third person view, below.