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Square Enix Coreonline offers top-tier games on the web for free -- if you feed the ad meter
It's not hard to see that offering high-quality games through the cloud has its pitfalls, not the least of which is getting customers to pay. Square Enix may have licked that last problem through its new Coreonline web gaming service. Players can still pony up for the full-priced games or even single levels if they want unfettered access, but the cleverness comes through Coreonline's parking meter approach to ad-supported free play: the more ads you watch and the longer they run, the longer you'll get to play without spending a single coin. As our colleagues at Joystiq found out, however, the current level of OS support is inconsistent. Windows gamers can use Chrome, Firefox or Internet Explorer to start playing, but their Mac-owning friends have to lean on Chrome for some games and can't even consider running the marquee title, Hitman: Blood Money. Square Enix's library of eligible games will start expanding in October; while there's no guarantee the Final Fantasy series or many other dream games will make it to the roster, Coreonline's approach might just be viable enough to spare us a few raids on the bargain bins.
Amazon launches its own game studio, goes social with Living Classics on Facebook
Amazon is committing itself to gaming much more seriously than providing a storefront: it just launched its own game development house. The simply titled Amazon Game Studios is starting out gently by producing a Facebook hidden object game, Living Classics, that lets the socially inclined dig around through scenes from well-known literature -- what else would you expect from the Kindle's creator? While the free, me-too game isn't going to give Microsoft or Sony any frights just yet, the company has the ambition of making "innovative, fun and well-crafted" titles. Amazon is actively recruiting more help for the studio as we write, so we'd expect more grandiose work before too long.
Big Fish Unlimited lets gamers resume play on mobile, PC and TV, stay distracted at all times (update: HTML5 explained)
The perpetual crisis of casual gaming is that need for just one... more... turn. After all, those 29 levels of progress aren't coming with you to the office, are they? Big Fish Games wants to ease our consciences (or at least our egos) with Big Fish Unlimited. By using HTML5 to constantly save progress, the cloud service remembers exactly where a player was and ports it to the next device: it's possible to hop from a Android tablet, to a Roku box, to a Windows PC's browser without having to replay anything. The nature of the streaming games themselves won't give OnLive players second thoughts, but their lighter footprint won't demand as much from an internet connection, either. Most of the intended audience will appreciate the price -- the now active service costs $8 a month for access to more than 100 games from the full catalog, and free play is on tap for 20 of the games as long as you can endure periodic ads. Whether or not coworkers can endure another round of your hidden object games is another matter. Update: We've since talked to the company directly, and it turns out that the HTML5 is more for the cross-platform support; it's the server that tracks progress whenever you quit a given app.
Angry Birds Heikki: because F1 and fort-breaking games are like peanut butter and chocolate
We've seen Angry Birds go into strange places both figurative and literal, but Formula 1 racing? That's a less natural mix than a peanut butter cup. As a way of backing race driver and fellow Finland native Heikki Kovalainen, Rovio has crafted Angry Birds Heikki, a free web game themed all around its namesake's escapades during the F1 race year. The gameplay changes are more cosmetic than functional, although that leaderboard matters a little more in spirit than it might otherwise. Perhaps the biggest draw is simply that your gameplay schedule is intrinsically linked to Heikki's: new sections only unlock as the real-world races get near, so you'll have an incentive to keep coming back until the Sao Paulo race determines the F1 championship on November 21st. Let's just hope that there aren't too many road hogs spoiling either Heikki's fun or our own. [Thanks, Rodrigo]
Mythic and Kongregate team up for Warhammer Online contest
What do you get when you pair Mythic Entertainment with Kongregate, the site that provides over 11,000 free web games? Apparently, you get a Warhammer Online contest called the WAR Series Challenge, where 5 winners will receive a copy of Warhammer Online: Age of Reckoning and a 6-month subscription to the game. In order to win, you need to achieve goals in three of Kongregate's games: Hit level 5 in Sonny Store up 50 gold in Talesworth Arena: Death Watch Slay 10 enemies in Hands of War If you think that's easy, then don't wait to jump in and hit these goals to enter the sweepstakes, as you've only got until January 22, 2009 to rack up these achievements.
Rock the Ashram with Love Guru's web game Sitar Star
While we're not sure what to make of Mike Myers' latest farce The Love Guru (we hear it ranks up there with the likes Dana Carvey's The Master of Disguise), there is a pretty fun Guitar Hero parody Sitar Star available on the film's website (play it here). You can choose from two songs ("Rock the Ashram" and "Don't Stop Bhagavan"). Same Guitar Hero rules apply, you can hold down any number of frets to the left of the note. Give the game a spin; if the reviews are any indication, it might be the best thing to come out of the movie.
Doom-cum-point-and-click adventure game
Doom is quickly joining Mario in the race to be the most referenced, recycled and remixed video game property ever. We've got Doom the movie, the comic, the RPG, even the frickin' radio play! Now add point-and-click adventure to that burgeoning list.PainNation is a Flash re-imagining of the influential first person shooter; just look at the screen above and feel the nostalgia wash over you ... exploding barrel, imp-gore covered nostalgia. A warning to interested parties (and those with delicate "space" keys) the first zombie space marine mini-game is a bitch![Via CVG]
