Postmortem Bioshock

http://www.gamasutra.com/view/feature/3774/postmortem_2k_boston2k_.php
"

[Gamasutra is proud to be publishing notable Game Developer magazine postmortems online for the first time - starting with project lead Finley revealing the creation of 2K Boston/Australia's seminal BioShock.]

The story of developing BioShock is an epic one and isn't easily expressed in 10 postmortem points. The team and the game changed remarkably over the course of development. A company was acquired. The team size doubled. The product focus changed from RPG hybrid to shooter.

It's easy to talk about the processes we used to develop the game, but it's harder to describe the creative spark that somehow managed to turn the most unlikely of premises (a failed underwater art deco utopia set in the 1960s) into a marketable shooter. It took a visionary to make the creative choices to guide the game, and an incredibly talented and hardworking team to bring that vision to life."

New York Times: Shigeru Miyamoto

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/25/arts/television/25schi.html?ex=1369281600&en=ba45b9fad6e8e092&ei=5124&partner=permalink&exprod=permalink
"IT’S O.K. to liken Shigeru Miyamoto to Walt Disney.

When Disney died in 1966, Mr. Miyamoto was a 14-year-old schoolteacher’s son living near Kyoto, Japan’s ancient capital. An aspiring cartoonist, he adored the classic Disney characters. When he wasn’t drawing, he made his own toys, carving wooden puppets with his grandfathers’ tools or devising a car race from a spare motor, string and tin cans."

It's Shocking, We're Pissed, Wii Fit Sorta Works

http://kotaku.com/362216/its-shocking-were-pissed-wii-fit-sorta-works
" Let's get this out of the way: Wii Fit does work. Why wouldn't it? It's based on time-trued exercises. Stuff like doing sit-ups, push-ups and jogging. Well, jogging in place. But, to what extend does it work? For the past month, I've used Wii Fit on nearly a daily basis. Wii Fit isn't something you can review in 8 or time hours of play. You need weeks, months even! My Wii Fit workout was interrupted by two breaks: One for when my wife was sick (and I then got sick) and another when my wife was sick again (Nintendo, please make Wii Healthy, kthanxbai). Like with most things, results do vary from person to person. For me, some of it worked brilliantly. And some of it not.

"...when I started regularly going to the swimming hall, my weight dropped quite a bit, and it felt like my overall fitness had increased as well. I started thinking that getting fit could actually be fun."
—Shigeru Miyamoto

Last year, I began power walking. This writing job involves a great deal of sitting. And since I work at home, there's not much impetus for me to leave the house. (Getting dressed is a challenge most days as well.) Back before I got married and I spent my time talking to semi-pretty women and getting in bar fights (no, really), I weighed in at a meek 130 pounds. Know: I'm 5 foot 11 inches. I was super model thin, and shopping at chic Japanese boutiques was no problem. Then I got married, decided to quit smoking two packs a day and get very, very fat. I jumped up to 177 pounds. Blame Mrs. Bashcraft's delicious cooking or being able to down a half a bottle of sake. A big bottle. All of my super swank designer clothes were too small. I suffered a horrible embarrassment at a Paul Smith boutique, where I used to shop regularly, where none of their sizes could fit me. Hello fat American! But, as I approach thirty, the slow realization has set-in: We don't live forever. (That, and you can buy big designer clothes in America.)"

Joystiq: Wii Head Tracking

http://www.joystiq.com/2008/02/21/gdc08-boom-blox-to-include-head-tracking-seriously/
"At the end of the "Creating Boom Blox" session at GDC, executive producer Lou Castle revealed that you can use two Wii remotes on your TV (and some form of do-it-yourself LED headset) to control the camera in Boom Blox with your head. Seriously.

Speaking briefly to Joystiq after the session, Castle explained that it was more of an easter egg inclusion and they weren't planning to actively promote the feature. We'll have more from the Boom Blox session later this week. After the break, a video of do-it-yourself head tracking."

Nintendo: Iwata Asks: Super Smash Brothers Brawl

http://us.wii.com/iwata_asks/ssbb/vol1_page1.jsp
"Hello, Everyone. My name is Satoru Iwata, President of Nintendo Co., Ltd. Beginning today, I would like to deliver an interview that explains the vision and the development process behind the creation of Super Smash Bros. Brawl. But before we begin, I would like to offer an apology.
With the completion of the game falling behind schedule, we were unable to keep our promised release date, despite our greatest efforts in attempting to release this game on time. I would like to extend my most sincere apology to all of our customers that are anticipating the title’s release, and also to our retailers.
I have asked Mr. Nagata from "Hobo Nikkan Itoi Shinbun" (a webpage hosted by famed copywriter Shigesato Itoi), who is a fan of Smash Bros. himself, to take on the role as the editor for this Iwata Asks interview. The last time he helped us was with the Iwata Asks series before the Wii launch, but I feel like I have asked the perfect candidate to convey the appeal of Smash Bros.
I hope you enjoy this interview."

Ars Technica: EA revamps Battlefield with free, ad-supported online title

http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20080121-ea-revamps-battlefield-with-free-ad-supported-online-title.html
"PC gaming is a business where it is becoming increasingly hard to make a dollar. The rise of consoles, the threat of piracy, and the ever-increasing cost of development all lead to an environment that doesn't welcome innovation or, for that matter, profit. EA is beginning a new approach with the upcoming Battlefield Heroes, a cartoonish and lighthearted take on its popular Battlefield series of war games. The catch? The game will be released for free and will support itself through in-game advertising and microtransactions.

"[Ads] wouldn't work inside the fictional world. Instead, adverts will appear on the website and the 'front-end' of the game," Ben Cousins, the senior producer at DICE, told BBC News."

Battlefield Heroes

http://battlefield-heroes.com/home.asp

• Battlefield Heroes™ is a brand new Play 4 Free™ game from the people that brought you the multi-million selling Battlefield 1942™ and Battlefield 2™
• It's a fun cartoon-style shooter which caters to players of all skill levels – easy to pick up and play, but with deep character development
• It will be released for the PC as a free download in Summer 2008

Nitrome: Flash games

http://www.nitrome.com/
Nitrome: Flash games

Escapist Magazine: Zero Punctuation: Super Paper Mario

http://www.escapistmagazine.com/articles/view/editorials/zeropunctuation/2563-Zero-Punctuation-Super-Paper-Mario
"Yahtzee is a British-born, currently Australian-based writer and gamer with a sweet hat and a chip on his shoulder. When he isn't talking very fast into a headset mic he also designs freeware adventure games and does the occasional feature for Australia's Hyper Magazine. His personal site is www.fullyramblomatic.com."

Magic Tricks for iPhone

http://www.hottrix.com/software/index.shtml
"

Hottrix is the professional entertainer's leading supplier of wacky magic gimmicks and magic software titles. The instant download online shop accepting all major Credit Cards, our strong warranties and excellent customer support as well as the instant download section guarantee, that you will break the ice performing magic as successfully as thousands of satisfied magicians over the past decade.

"

Frenzic

http://frenzic.com/
"You are about to embark on a frenetic journey that will heighten your reflexes and get your pulse pounding. Minutes to learn and months to master, Frenzic is an all new puzzle-based game for Mac OS X.

• A fast-paced, addictive game that makes Tetris look like child's play
• Compete against your personal best or other players via the Internet
• Complete power-ups for increased abilities
• Climb through seven levels of Devotion from Newbie all the way to Frenzic Grandmaster!"

Austin Heller's Blog: 10 Things Nintendo Should Do in Mario Kart Wii

http://www.austinheller.com/2007/07/things-nintendo-should-do-in-mario-kart.html
"So after the fun week that was E3 (more like "min-E3"! LOL!), the newest game in a franchise that I hold dear to my heart was given new light, and that was, of course, Mario Kart Wii.
In case you've been living under the video gamer's equivalent of a rock for the past two weeks, the game will feature single car-style driving, new characters, new levels and, yes, online play. Shocked? Surprised? Yeah, me neither. Still, for a game of its caliber, there is quite a bit of stuff that could make it totally, completely awesome, so here's my 10-item list:"

Mac Mame: Mameintosh

http://mameintosh.com/
"MAMEintosh is a resource for MAME enthusiasts looking for tips and tricks how to build their own cabinet. This site is based on my experiences of building a MAME cabinet.

Details about the first cabinet are available in the "MAMEintosh v1" section on the left. A second version of the cabinet is in the works which will be a cocktail style cabinet in a very neat and small form factor.

I'm working towards converting the machine(s) into kit form so you can easily build your own without having to go to complete efforts of building from scratch."

Some great free games (via Digg)

100 Free Full Games to Download Online
http://downloadfullversionpcgames.com/blog/2007/06/17/100-of-the-best-legal-full-version-games-you-can-download-online/

Alien Arena 2007
http://games.internode.on.net/content.php?mode=news&id=1375

Flash game: Shuffle

http://www.shockwave.com/content/shuffle/sis/shuffle.swf
"Use your mouse to aim and shoot the red balls and knock the yellow balls off the board. Remove all the yellow balls from the board before the red balls are eliminated, and you'll advance to the next level."

Potion Panic (Flash game)

Addictive little game where you mix potions and throw them at baddies.
http://www.ninjakiwi.com/potionpanic.html

Bagunk Blog: Top 10 things to do with your Wii while you’re waiting for AAA games.

http://www.bagunk.com/blog/?p=104
"Well, it’s been about 6 months since the Wii’s launch. I’ve already played through the few AAA games that have been released, and now the Wii’s been getting a little stale. There are a ton of great games in the pipeline, but those aren’t coming for a few months. What am I going to do with my system until that time comes?"

Related: http://cube.ign.com/articles/772/772300p1.html

Red 5 Studios

http://www.red5studios.com/
"Let me welcome you to our little spot on the net. I’d like to introduce myself and tell you a little bit about our new company, Red 5 Studios.

We left Blizzard® and founded Red 5 shortly after we finished working on World of Warcraft®. I was the Team Lead, and Bill Petras was the Art Director on that project. Taewon Yun was the Co-Founder of Blizzard Korea, and the rest of us all had long, multi-year careers there. We loved Blizzard, but we left because we felt the industry was changing, and WoW had opened up a new platform and medium for games that was profoundly different."

More Bloons: Fantastic Flash game

http://www.ninjakiwi.com/morebloons.html

Flash game: Top Figures

http://www.vivalagames.com/play/topfigures/