fuel-industries
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Documentary's excavation of supposed Atari E.T. graveyard still being negotiated
Fuel Industries' planned excavation and documentation of a New Mexico landfill which would, in theory, unearth a burial of E.T. cartridges for the Atari 2600, is currently in negotiations for a dig permit. The Alamogordo Daily News reports that the New Mexico Environment Department has rejected Fuel Industries' waste excavation proposal, saying that it was too "generic" as well as lacking in site-specific details. Those details aren't just bureaucratic red tape, either. According to the Daily News, the NMED called for further testing of the Alamogordo landfill in 2004, when studies showed increased chemical levels at the site. Twenty-two "compounds of concern" were noted at the time. Imagine cracking open the soil of a landfill to hunt down a video game graveyard only to have noxious fumes and chemicals poison you, like you'd opened up a pharoah's tomb and suffered the mummy's curse. It's unclear how the delay will impact the development of Fuel Industries' documentary, which was planned to air on Xbox this year. The NMED stated that their findings were sent to Fuel Industries on February 27, but as of March 17, they had not seen a revised proposal. [Image: Atari]
Sideway: New York review: Urban blight
It had to happen sometime. With the veritable explosion of videogaming across all media, on all platforms and within all demographics, there simply had to come a game - at some point - to which one could un-ironically attach the label "urban." That time is now, and that game is Sideway: New York. Sideway is a funky and hip (almost too hip) platformer in which you play as Nox, a young graffiti artist who enters the world of Sideway to rescue his girlfriend from the evil villain Spray. In so doing, he becomes a part of the gritty graffiti landscape of New York City, adventuring across the walls and rooftops of the urban jungle, collecting tags and eliminating the spray-painted obstacles in his way. It's a novel concept that's amazing to look at, and, unfortunately, that's just about where the praise ends.
Canadian company launches girls' gaming portal, plans girls' MMO
It's full of hearts and the color pink. It frequently alludes to shopping and fabulous hair. It's AllGirlArcade.com, the casual gaming portal for -- you guessed it -- girls. The glitzy website and girly games are just the beginning, though. Fuel Industries (the Canadian company behind AllGirlArcade.com) plans to release an MMO this fall. It too is intended specifically for girls.There's a whole Sci-Fi-esque mythos underlying the site. At the core of that mythos is The All Girl Star Squad -- animated female heroines, each of whom has a favorite game genre. While Fuel Industries has announced precious few details about the upcoming MMO's gameplay, it has said that those heroines and the universe they live in will be the game's focus. The company has already released webisodes to set the stage.The site's FAQ notes that AllBoyArcade.com is coming next year. Don't worry, though; if your son really, really wants to play in the girls' arcade (and MMO) instead, Fuel Industries says that's A-OK.
