Latest Articles
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[Hands-On] Call of Duty: Black Ops - Multiplayer!
Sitting in the California Science Center in the packed IMAX theater, we await the worldwide debut of the Treyarch-powered Activision title Call of Duty: Black Ops. AC/DC’s Back in Black fills the hall as the demo kicks off with a trailer of the game in action. Team Deathmatch kicks off the fun. The map has a large space shuttle launching in the background as the player earns rank for stabbing an enemy in the back, spearing an enemy with the crossbow, and even uses the RC vehicle as a mobile explosive. Executive Producer Dan Suarez takes the stage to talk about the game. Before we get started on ...
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Spider-Man: Shattered Dimensions Hands-On
Spider-Man has had a bit of a resurgence lately, with a couple of cartoon and comic spin-offs. It's not too surprising though, as his popularity has shot up since the movies came out, especially after Spider-Man 2. With another short-lived animated series and talk of a new set of Spider-Man movies, it's not surprising that Activision would want to continue to make games featuring everyone's favorite web-slinger. When Spider-Man: Shattered Dimensions was announced, the approach of having four different Spider-Man universes in one game and making them all work seemed like a tall order, but developer Beenox seems to be up to th...
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[Review] Hands-On with the Hauppauge PVR
I’ve been doing game reviews for North of a decade at this point, and one area where I think we’ve always lacked was video reviews and previews. I’ve looked into how the “professionals” are doing it and it usually involves dedicated hardware that costs several thousand dollars. There are quite a few challenges to overcome, not the slightest of which is quality. Hauppauge, ATI, Diamond, Pinnacle, ADS, Dazzle and others have tried to come up with a low cost solution for video capture, and until recently have met with decent results for a small list of applications – unfortunately absent from...
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DSiWare Review Roundup
Recently the DSiWare scene has had more and more releases. Most of the games are made by smaller developers whom you may have never heard of before. So it’s hard to pull the trigger on a game made by a company who you know nothing about. Today we’re going to take a look at three of the more recent releases that are actually worth your time, with Maestro! Green Groove, Soul of Darkness, and Viking Invasion: Maestro! Green Groove {image1:left}First up is Maestro! Green Groove developed by Neko Entertainment. The game is a platform-rhythm game. I have never played a platform-rhythm game before this one and I suspect that most ...
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TrendCast #65 -- Interview with Tommy Tallarico
{image1:left}If you have enjoyed the music in video games, then you probably have Tommy Tallarico to thank. He has composed a large amount of video game music. He is also the driving force behind Video Games Live. I interviewed him before E3 to talk about Video Games Live and his upcoming PBS special. For more information on Video Games Live go to the Video Games Live website.{image2:right} Host: Keith SchleicherGuest: Tommy Tallarico 00:00 -- Intro00:45 -- Creating Video Games Live02:03 -- Getting support03:07 -- Tommy's Involvement in Gaming05:24 -- What Makes Good Video Game Music?07:39 -- Technology changes09:10 -- The Melody Is Wher...
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Hands On Review with Accell UltraAV
We don’t do a ton of reviews on hardware here at Gaming Trend, reserving that specifically for gaming related products. That said, every once in a while we run across a product that can help productivity as well as gaming. This time around we’ve gotten our hands on the UltraAV DisplayPort Multi-Monitor Adapter from Accell. The Ultra AV is meant to solve a very simple limitation – the single DisplayPort found most commonly on laptops. Sure, you can dock your system with a port replicator, but even those commonly have one DisplayPort and a VGA port. Configuration can be a pain, and you are still l...
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Inside Metroid: Other M
Nintendo had a lot of their older IP return to the forefront at their press release. One game that was mentioned at last year's Nintendo press conference and was brought to the forefront this year was Metroid: Other M. I am a Metroid fan boy and was ecstatic when I heard we will be able to view the game and then actually be able to play it. After being taken over to the demo Wii at Nintendo's booth, Keith took charge of the reigns and jumped right into the game. The thing that we both noticed is that it seems to be very story driven with a plethora of cut scenes that explain more of lore in the Metroid universe. One of the biggest chang...
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Hands (and Feet) on with Dance Central
It isn’t all midi adapters and pro modes over at Harmonix this year – they also have a new trick up their sleeve. Harmonix wasn’t always about Guitar Hero and Rock Band – they came up with a title called FreQuency and another called Amplitude that featured a very Rock Band-like interface with a small spaceship sliding from side to side to hit the notes on screen. They also put their hat into the ring with Karaoke Revolution and EyeToy: Antigrav. This year they revisited the full-body concept put forth by Antigrav with a brand new title called Dance Central. {image1:left} Dance Central is a dan...
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Spider-Man: Shattered Dimensions E3 Preview
Although the last few Spider-Man games have not been huge successes (Spider-Man: Friend or Foe - 58%, Spider-Man: Web of Shadows - 61%), the latest entry in the web-slinger videogame genre has generated plenty of interest. I'm talking about, of course, Spider-Man: Shattered Dimensions (SM:SD). This time around Canadian developer Beenox is taking a shot at bringing the webbed wonder to life, and they've got a very interesting take on things. {image6:left} While many of the details about the game are still a secret, I was recently able to talk to Thomas Wilson at E3. Mr. Wilson is the creative director in charge of the new g...
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Ivy the Kiwi? E3 Preview
When I first heard of Ivy the Kiwi?, I had to wonder about the title. It seemed odd to title a game with a question mark at the end. However, when you see that the main character of the game fell from the sky and no one knows who his mom is, wearing the shell that everyone mistakes for a kiwi, it makes sense. What I wasn't expecting was the kind of game Ivy the Kiwi? is. Ivy the Kiwi? is unique in the fact that you don't directly control Ivy. Instead, Ivy walks quickly throughout the level at full speed. Your job is to provide a path for Ivy to get from the beginning of the level to the end. You do this by...
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