We all know that Angry Birds is a big thing with everything from stuffed Angry Birds to talk of a movie about the feathery creations, but I’ll bet you didn’t know that the game is now all the rage among robots.

Called the Bitbeambot, it resembles a mad Meccano creation and is the current front runner in the – believe it or not – Robots that Play Angry Birds Leaderboard with a comfortable lead over a Terminator T-100 robot that is apparently linked to a joke Twitter account.

Here’s some videos of the Bitbeambot playing Angry Birds

via Cnet

Even robots get bitten by Angry Birds [Video] is a post from: The Inquisitr

Google finally launched its most recent try at a social network around a month ago now, and as a disclaimer I have been using it since day one, and even though it is still in what Google calls extended field trials the response has been pretty good.

One of the things that has been rumored during this field trial is that Google would be expanding it to include games which met with a pretty resounding NO! from the people using the social network.

Well prepare for the whining to get even louder because Google rolled out the games addition to Google+ today with quite a line-up of games. You can access the games section of Google+ by clicking on the button besides the Find People search box.

Games included in this roll-out include:

Google+ launches its social games. Get ready for the whining to start. is a post from: The Inquisitr

For those of you not familiar with the term cosplay it refers to people who dress up at their favorite character from a movie, a game, or as in the case with steampunk as an alternate universe that could have been.

In many cases though the term generally refers to some pretty incredible real life look-a-likes for everything like anime characters to comic characters. I get to see a lot of different images that people post of themselves while in character but this one of a woman dressed up as Lara Croft and hanging from a rope near a waterfall has to be one of the all time best.

There is CosPlay and then there is Lara Croft is a post from: The Inquisitr

There has never been any doubt that when you walk into a store and plonk down your money, then walk out with your purchase you can do anything you want with it. You don’t have to ask the store where you bought the item. You don’t have to ask the company that manufactured the item, and you don’t have to ask permission from the person who might have created the item in the first place.

This is because all physical goods fall under what is commonly referred to as first-rights doctrine which means you buy it and you can do what you want with it.

As much as we might want to believe that this applies to everything we buy the reality is that nothing could be further from the truth. We don’t and especially so with it comes to electronic goods like e-books, software, videos, or music.

This is something that I have mentioned many time before but it is sometimes hard to convince people that this is indeed the case. You don’t own the goods – you ‘own’ a bunch of legalese that can change at any time.

Ed Bott over at ZDNet’s Microsoft Report has an excellent post that breaks down and looks at the legalities of iTunes, Amazon, and eMusic when it comes to your rights when you buy music from their services.

If you buy a digital album from an online service such as the iTunes store, Amazon MP3, or eMusic, you have no legal right to lend that album to a friend, as you could if you had purchased a CD. If you decide after a few listens that you hate the album, well, tough. You can’t resell it. You can’t even legally give it away.

When it comes to software things become even more convoluted. Over at WinExtra I wrote a post about this back in November of 2009 where I talked about this:

The problem is that those EULAs are sneaky and on more than one occasion they have been found to contain more than one type of gotcha. With the exception of a rare breed of computer users who do indeed examine each and every EULA of every piece of software they install most of us just click on I Agree and carry on our merry way. It is only later we find out that maybe we should have read that EULA after all.

In this case however, unlike with things like music, books or movies, this post was about a piece of software you can download that will scan those nasty EULA that we never read. The point was, like Ed’s, that we are very quickly becoming a world were owning something is becoming a figment of our imagination.

If you don’t think so take a moment and read Ed’s post and as he says at the end:

The moral of the story? If you really want to own your music, forget about downloading and buy a CD. You might even save some money compared to a digital download.

Never has caveat emptor meant more.

So, You think you own that software, book, or movie you downloaded eh. Think again. is a post from: The Inquisitr

Ever wonder what happens once you’ve paid for all those virtual goods in thos silly ass social games that you waste your life away playing in Facebook and the company diceds the game isn’t popular enough, or making enough money?

Well wonder no longer, just ask the people who played Street Racer by social gaming favorite Zynga. The short end of the story is that you get screwed.

Yup, come August 2 Zynga will be shutting the doors on a game called Street Racer with no explanation as to why or refunds for any money spent in-game.

According Rob Crossley at Develop-Online customers will be offered credits to be used in other games

Zynga, which has been valued at $5 billion by independent analysts, did confirm that it will not be refunding its fans. It will instead be offering free credits that can be used in a selection of its other money-making titles.

“As an acknowledgment of the inconvenience these changes may have caused, we have offered credits to all players who have made a purchase in the last 90 days,” read a company statement sent to Develop.

While Speed Racer may not have been a well known game from the company that brought you such mind-numbing time wasters like FarmVille or FrontierVille  I still think this is a pretty lousy way to treat your customers. Would it really have hurt to offer them a choice of a cash refund or credits?

image courtesy of joystiq

Zynga says screw you to its customers is a post from: The Inquisitr

Looking for a gamer-friendly alternative to the iPhone? The competition is certainly hotting up, and here are five powerful possibilities…

This article was written by Keith Stuart, for guardian.co.uk on Friday 2nd July 2010 12.45 UTC

Sure, the App Store may have two billion titles (perhaps a slight exaggeration), and the iPhone remains the tech poseur’s handset of choice, but quietly and determinedly, the competition to provide a smartphone with true next-gen gaming potential is hotting up. Google’s Android platform is now attracting some serious attention from both indie developers and major games publishers, and fascinating alternatives like Samsung’s Bada and the Linux-based MeeGo are pulling in plenty of formative interest.

So which of these new devices should you consider if you’re after an iPhone alternative? I put the question to several game makers as well as mobile industry veteran Julian Jones, who now advises iPhone developers on transferring their titles to emerging smartphone platforms. Here’s what we all came up with…

Samsung Wave 8500S
This quirky, leftfield handset, sporting Samsung’s own Bada OS, has proved popular with all the developers I spoke to, thanks to its rich, vibrant ‘super AMOLED’ screen, responsive touch controls and powerful 1GHz processor. Although not as heavily populated as the Google and Apple offerings, the Samsung Apps store has plenty to offer gamers, including a decent version of EA’s Need for Speed: Shift, Gameloft’s Real Football and some interesting exclusives. The ethereal woodland puzzler, Glo, from UK developer Mere Mortals, looks lovely (there’s a video here). “Having spoken to Samsung they are promising more titles and a growing list of publishers supporting the platform,” says Julian Jones. “Playing Need for Speed is a joy – it’s full screen, fast and full of action. The graphics are on par with, if not slightly better than, the iPhone.”

Nexus One
Built by HTC but branded as Google this has been billed as the flagship Android smartphone. It’s another one with a big 480×800 display, as well as good touch screen (now that multi touch is supported), accelerometer and a powerful Qualcomm QSD 8250 1Ghz processor. Despite packing plenty of oomph, it’s extremely svelte at just over 11mm thick. And of course, it provides access to the 30,000 or so apps on the Google Android store, including the engrossing RPG Zenonia, I-Play’s frantic Diner Dash style title, Turbo Subs and the addictive ‘tower defense’-style strategy romp, Robo Defense.

Motorola Milestone
With its harsh, angular design and slide out QWERTY keyboard, Milestone (or Droid as it’s preferably named in the US) is something of a design iconoclast amid a range of super slim, curvaceous contenders. But it’s another strong Android handset with a large screen, ARM Cortex A8 550-Mhz processor and 5-megapixel camera. “Like the Samsung’s Wave, the Motorola Droid features a stunning screen, fast CPU and GPU, along with a GPS, Compass and Accelerometer,” says Jones. “All these have to be present if your going to enjoy the cooler mashed up, 3D and augmented reality apps that make these platforms hum.” You might want to hold off on this one though. Not only has it been arguably outpaced by the Nexus One, but Google has just officially unveiled its successor, the Droid X, which features a 4.3-inch display and 8-megapixel camera. No word on a UK release date though.

SonyEricsson Xperia X10
I took one of these to E3 and it’s a very solid, feature-packed smartphone, with a lovely 480×853 screen, 1Ghz processor and impressive 8-megapixel camera. I downloaded the Twidroid app and found it dead easy to take snaps on the show floor and get them up online, while the Timescape and Mediascape apps, which manage your social networking and audio-visual activities, are an interesting addition. As for games, it’s another strong performer, especially with that enormous four-inch screen. For those who find it a little too cumbersome, though, there’s the smaller, cuter Xperia X10 mini, complete with a teeny slide-out QWERTY keyboard.

Windows Phone 7
Okay, so Microsoft has just ditched its Kin series of phones, but the forthcoming handsets built around the corporation’s new Windows Phone 7 technology should be more interesting. “At a recent Microsoft developer day I got play with the new WinMo 7 and it pleasantly surprised me,” says Jones. “It looks to be a complete reboot in terms of philosophy. Microsoft are driving the user experience hard – this is not ‘Windows on a phone’ in any sense…” Most importantly, the OS features a games hub, which allows users to access their Xbox Live account, checking up on achievements, game invites, downloads, etc. The handsets will also support Microsoft’s XNA development kit, which means many Xbox Live Indie games (and a few commercial Xbox Live Arcade titles) will be easily transferable to the platform. It’s the most interesting interplay between phone and console since Sony’s Aino handset, which offered (very complicated) access to your PS3 content. Could this finally be Microsoft’s victorious entry into the previously troublesome smartphone arena? We’ll find out when the first compatible handsets are released this autumn…

guardian.co.uk © Guardian News and Media Limited 2010

The five best iPhone alternatives for gaming is a post from: The Inquisitr

There appears to be something very interesting going on over at Valve these days in the leas up to 2010 Game Developers Conference. It seems to have started with some new updates to their Portal game and now followed up with some rather interesting add.

In of itself ads from gaming companies aren’t anything too special but given the obvious direction these Valve ads are going it sure seems like the company is looking to expand its horizons beyond the PC gaming market.

With an obvious nod toward iconic Apple products – mashed-up with Valve game characters – one has to wonder if Valve is going to be announcing a slew of game for the Mac. The ads include plays on the I’m A PC John Hodgman and Justin Long, an Apple emblazoned Gordon Freeman. Besides being sent out to the typical gaming sites on the web MacRumors, a premier Mac blog, has also received copies.

via Boing Boing

Is Valve gunning for the Mac with their Steam game store? is a post from: The Inquisitr

Tetris is one of the most simplistic games thought up by developers in the last 20 years, yet it also continues to be one of the most popular and that fact was solidified this week with the realization that 100 million downloads of the game have been acquired since 2005.

Those download numbers come from EA who purchased the mobile rights to the game in 2006, of course they also probably include some downloads by users with multiple phones over that period, but regardless, 100 million downloads are 100 million downloads regardless of how you look at it.

While those download numbers are impressive, it should be interesting to see how much higher they climb over the next 10 years as mobile devices continue to integrate more into our society. [Joystiq]

Tetris: Most Popular Mobile Game Of All Time, Reaches 100 Million Downloads is a post from: The Inquisitr

Again, I must admit I’ve never played FarmVille.

I don’t know if it’s any fun, I just know my enjoyment of Facebook skyrocketed by exactly 167% when I hid all FarmVille notifications. Some people seem to like it. And by some people, I mean all of my aunts. I’m not even really that interested in new games because I’ve been trying to beat Kid Icarus since like 1987.

If FarmVille had a commercial, it might look like this:

Like gaming? Hate fun? Try FarmVille! is a post from: The Inquisitr

I like both games but then I’m cheap and usually patch together several different thrift store purchases to make up one working game. However if I was ever to really want to go all out and get all fancy I’d definitely consider these really dressed up versions of Scrabble and Monopoly from Zontik.

Scrabble – $3,955.00

Here’s some of the reasons for that jaw-dropping price:

• Silver or gold embossing under a nickel plated grid
• leather bound letter racks
• felt drawstring letter bag
• letter squares made of butterfly bridle-hide
• mounted on a concealed Lazy Susan base.

Monopoly – $4,290.00 to $7,570.00

Damn that’s hurtful on the pocketbook but then I guess if you are ordering this you shouldn’t be asking the price. Some of what you are getting for your money:

• each of the 70 inlays are embossed in silver or gold
• felt lined game piece storage under the playing surface
• Game pieces available in: pewter, sterling silver or silver-gilt
• leather dice cups
• leather bound bank boxes

Bet your Scrabble and Monopoly doesn’t look this classy is a post from: The Inquisitr

Valve’s Steam Store is well known for having some great game sales, even if they always seem to show up when my PayPal account is near zero. This Christmas holiday season is no exception with both package deals and individual daily specials that are running up until January 3 2010.

With deals from companies like Ubisoft and 2K there are savings of 33% to 66% off of either complete packages ala Codemasters or 60% of of Ureal collections through to 2K giving you 33% of of individual games like Borderlands (this is the one I really want to get for myself as a fun Christmas present – talk about making it tempting)

Ureal

Indie Games

Rockstar

Ubisoft

THQ

Eidos

Atari

Codemasters

2K Games

Now if that isn’t enough to entice you into fulfilling your gaming fix over the holidays Steam is also having daily specials with some great pricing on top name games. The only thing is you will need to check back daily to see if there is anything that wets your gaming appetite.

Don’t forget you can also gift games to people through the store as well which could make for some nice Christmas morning surprises.

Have fun and try not to wear out your gaming fingers over the Christmas holidays.

Steam goes game sale crazy for the holidays is a post from: The Inquisitr

Wow. Talk about what was old is new again.

In this day an age where everyone and their brother it seems is snuggling up on things like Facebook and playing all kinds of social games it seems that there is a new kind of social going on. It has nothing to do with computers, coding or poking people and you manically respond to friend and follower requests.

No, this kind of social is all about a close knit group of people getting together by invitation only and sharing a few beers or a bottle or two of wine and play Settlers of Catan. Not the computer game by that name but rather the original board game that was launched in 1995 by Germanboard-game maker Klaus Teuber. Within companies like StumbleUpon and Facebook there are regular planned get together’s with Settler competitions.

It is a deceptively simple game that consists of a board with 19 hexagonal cardboard tiles that you arrange to form an island. The people who are playing the game then take turns rolling real dice in order to gather real resource cards from the island. These resource cards consist of ones for sheep, brick, ore, wheat and wood and are used to build settlements. The first one to 10 wins the game.

So who’s playing this game that is taking Silicon Valley by storm?

Well there’s Reid Hoffman (LinkedIn), John Lilly (Mozilla), Auren Hoffman (Rapleaf), Mark Pncus (Zynga Games) and that is only a start as many more have been brought into the game by these Web 2.0 leaders. The game has also become a regular event that is planned for at companies like StumbleUpon and Facebook.

It has become the new meetings on the golf course where introductions are made and deals start to develop just ask Glenn Kelman the CEO of Refin where even the mention of Settlers of Catan to Greylock Partners’ Mr Hoffman provided some instant bonding. Two months later Redfin raised $10 million in funding with Greylock being the main investor.

The new meeting ground is becoming so persuasive that high tech executives who don’t play are beginning to feel left out.

Ben Elowitz, a co-founder of online jewelry store Blue Nile Inc. and now CEO of Web start-up WetPaint.com Inc. in Seattle, says he recently heard about the board game from several Internet CEOs. Interested to learn more, he tried to get the group to teach him how to play but has repeatedly been denied because he’s a newbie.

“I feel like I have to pledge to see if I can be accepted into playing Settlers,” says Mr. Elowitz, 37. “I’m definitely on the outside looking in.”

To learn the game in a hurry, some Silicon Valley executives have fallen back on their usual crutch: technology. After start-up investor Aydin Senkut was trounced at his first Settlers match last year, he was so upset that he resorted to playing an online version of the game for practice.

“I didn’t have a base to play the game well, so I told myself I was going to get there in a week,” says Mr. Senkut, 40, a former Google Inc. executive. Jousting with other Settlers fans online, “I ended up playing 200 online games in three nights.”

Source: Wall Street Journal

You know for all our love of technology and the hype that surrounds Social media and social networks when it comes right down to there is nothing better that real people getting together  and having real fun with friends. Beats the electronic version anytime.

Techies chill out playing an old school game is a post from: The Inquisitr

Buried in a beachhead bunker, players must demonstrate courage, quick reflexes and decision-making ability to stand their ground against the attacking enemy. They play as the last units remaining at the critical line of defense where they fight against ever growing hordes of soldiers, shattering tank fire, and strafing gunfire from fast moving fighter planes. Bonus crates parachute in bringing extra health or more ammo. Players must use precise aim and fast reflexes to suppress the attacking waves and win the chance to fight another day.
Players can choose among three weapons of destruction:

*AA Machine Gun – the primary gun for taking out the enemy. This gun has unlimited ammo and is easy to master.

*Artillery Cannon – firing explosive shells this gun is most effective against troops. One well-placed shot can wipe out a dozens soldiers.

*Rocket Propelled Grenade – the definitive tank killer but also effective on planes or hordes of soldiers.
“We wanted to capture the thrill and action of a war game in a way that was suitable for our mass market customer. WW2 Beachhead does this in a way that will seriously get your blood pumping!” – said Anthony Campiti, president and founder of Sunstorm Interactive Inc.

Sunstorm Releases WW2 Beachhead Game for iPhone and iPod Touch is a post from: The Inquisitr

The Daily Show went into the trenches of douchbaggery to find out which fans are the douchiest.

While Yankees fans held their ground, Philly edged ahead to snag the douchiness cup.

[Via Huffington Post]

Whose fans are douchier, Yankees or Phillies? is a post from: The Inquisitr

I never played the original Dungeons & Dragons board game even though it was probably one of the biggest ‘social’ games of its time but it seems that even this venerable classic has been bitten by the lure of the modern social world.

Now I don’t play games on Facebook but given the popularity of the platform and the long standing popularity of Dungeons & Dragons it would surprise me to see that Wizards of the Coast’s Dungeon & dragons: Tiny Adventures becomes a big hit.

According to Todd Jordan at The Broad Brush blog the adventures are short, include only your character and are scripted.

Adventures are solo, and players have no interaction with the plot other than choosing to take a potion or equip/unequip items. This is not like the select an option and that chooses your path adventures.

There is one element of cooperative play. Players can buff and heal friends’ characters. Buffs last for a few encounters. Healing can only be done between encounters.

Dragons to slay and dungeons to explore – on Facebook is a post from: The Inquisitr

In what was start as a spoof of the 1996 Summer Olympics the Redneck Games has spread across the national landscape of the United States. The games take place in July and include such things as:

• Redneck Idol
• Battle of the Bands in Redneck Land
• Bobbin’ for Pig’s Feet
• Redneck Toilet Seat Horseshoes
• Mud Pit Belly Flop

Here’s a few pics to let you know what you are missing.

hat tip to Fresh Pics

Revel in your redneckness – The Redneck Games is a post from: The Inquisitr

Over the last little while Valve’s Steam store has been adding LucasArt’s game titles to their store and today they’ve announced that their most recent addition is a package of Star Wars games. To celebrate the complete package of five games are being offered for a special price of $19.99. Included in the package is:

• Star Wars Jedi Knight II: Jedi Outcast
• Star Wars Jedi Knight: Dark Forces II
• Star Wars Jedi Knight: Jedi Academy
• Star Wars Jedi Knight: Mysteries of the Sith
• Star Wars: Dark Forces

As well they are having a special on their LucasArts Adventure Pack which will get 4 games for $9.99. The games in that package are:

• Indiana Jones and the Fate of Atlantis
• Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade
• Loom
• The Dig

Get your gaming deal on with Steam and Star Wars is a post from: The Inquisitr

It never fails that when something new comes along the scientists and researchers start sharpening their funding money in order to decide whether the shiny new thing is good or bad for us. When it comes to social media services like Twitter and Facebook it is no different with study after study being written to warn us about the good and bad.

The newest one is from Dr. Tracy Alloway, from the University of Stirling in Scotland, and suggests that things like Twitter and YouTube could be weakening out working memory. This is the memory that involves the ability to both remember information and to use it.

Apparently the instant nature of texting as we see with Twitter is not healthy for working memory.

”On Twitter you receive an endless stream of information, but it’s also very succinct,” said Dr Alloway. ”You don’t have to process that information.

”Your attention span is being reduced and you’re not engaging your brain and improving nerve connections.”

Source: Telegraph – Facebook ‘enhances intelligence’ but Twitter ‘diminishes it’, claims psychologist

Interestingly enough though video games that involve planning and strategy, such as Total War, may also be good training for working memory. As well games like Sudoku and keeping up with friends on Facebook are good for stretching your working memory.

Twitter weakens working memory, Total War may enhance it is a post from: The Inquisitr

Batman: Arkham Asylum hit stores today after a rather pervasive TV marketing campaign.

Wikipedia has a breakdown of the game plot:

The game begins with Batman capturing the Joker after his latest plot and escorting him to Arkham Asylum for imprisonment. Due to the Joker’s recent attack on Gotham City’s Blackgate Prison, a large number of sane convicts have been transferred. Shortly after arriving, however, the Joker, with the help of Harley Quinn, frees all the inmates and locks down the Asylum with Batman, Commissioner Gordon, and much of the staff still inside.

After fighting some enemies on the first level, Batman makes his way to locate the Joker. Soon Batman learns that there is trouble in the pacification room. Batman learns that Zsasz has escaped and has captured one of the guards. Batman manages sneak up on Zsasz and take him down with a glide kick. Batman then gets a transmission from Harley Quinn that she has captured the wardenfor the Joker. Batman learns from Oracle that Joker has placed bombs all over Gotham threatening to detonate them if anyone enters Arkham. Batman contacts Oracle telling her that Joker has taken control of the cell block transfer corridor. Batman takes out the inmates there. At the intensive treatment lobby, Batman encounters Joker who unleashes an experimental human on him.

The game currently has a 91% positive rating on both Metacritic, and most other reviewers have it rated consistently at 9 out of 10 overall. If you’re not ready to plunk down between $50-70 on the game for XBox 360, PS3 or your PC, you can watch someone else playing it below:

Video, Batman: Arkham Asylum is a post from: The Inquisitr

If you are a gamer and you want to score yourself some great games over the next week, and holiday weekend, then you need to head over to Valve’s game store and start prepping your download folder for incoming.

Starting of the specials we have the complete 2K Huge Game Pack which includes the following

• Bioshock
• CivCity: Rome
• Civilization IV: Warlords
• Civilization IV: Beyond the Sword
• Freedom Force
• Freedom Force vs. the Third Reich
• Prey
• Railroad Tycoon 3
• Railroad Tycoon II Platinum
• Shattered Union
• Sid Meier’s Civilization IV: Colonization
• Sid Meier’s Pirates
• Sid Meier’s Railroads
• X-COM: Apocalypse
• X-COM: Enforcer
• X-COM: Interceptor
• X-COM: Terror from the Deep
• X-COM: UFO Defense

Now if you were to buy all those games separately you’d be looking at forking over $229 but if you buy the complete pack you can get them all for $59.99. Not only that but if you really hurry their giving another 10% off until July 7th.

On top of all of that goodness there is an even better deal that is only on for the weekend. For those of you that really like the good old FPS type games (with maybe a bit of RPG thrown in) the Steam store has Fallout 3 on a half-price special. So instead of forking over $49.99 you only need to dip into your wallet for $24.99

For those of you that are maybe a little more sports oriented there’s a special running until July 10th that will let you pick up Virtua Tennis 2009 and save yourself 10% on the store price.

So what are you still doing here .. git … it’s the weekend … it’s gamer time .. git.

Gamers: Time to score big – specials galore on Steam is a post from: The Inquisitr