gaming

After an aborted launch last Halloween, the WikiPad Android gaming tablet looks ready to finally hit the market. So says WikiPad Inc., anyway, who this morning declared that its unique gaming device will finally hit shelves this coming Tuesday, June 11 (aka the first official day of E3).

This new WikiPad, you may recall, is a shrunken edition of the 10-inch behemoth (itself an update of the original 8-inch version) the company was showing off last year.

This new model, which came to light this past February, has the same core features as the 10-inch model -- removable standalone Android … Read more

You just got a new TV, and the picture looks great. Then, when you pop in your favorite shooter, you notice your kills going down, your aim a step slow, and your sterling record taking hits like a noob wandering through the kill zone.

Do you all of a sudden suck at COD? Maybe. But perhaps your newfound lack of feel is caused by input lag introduced by your otherwise awesome new TV. Input lag is the delay, in milliseconds, between a TV receiving a signal and the results of that signal appearing on the screen.

Those milliseconds don't … Read more

Hoping that further cost cuts will right its heeling ship, social-gaming company Zynga said Monday it is cutting 18 percent of its workforce and closing various offices.

Zynga posted the news on its blog. Zynga must shrink before it can grow again, CEO Mark Pincus told workers in his memo, a situation that somehow nobody at the 5-year-old company "ever expected to face."

He also said the Zynga "brothers and sisters" will be getting generous severance packages along with their "painful goodbyes."

AllThingsD reported that Zynga would shutter its offices in New York, Los … Read more

Leaked from today's 404 episode:

- Film crew to dig up Atari landfill site, maybe score 3.5 million copies of E.T.

- The opposite of standing desks: the computer workstation for the person with everything.

- Unlocking The Truth is the most brutal sixth grade metal band ever.

- Hatebeak: a death metal band fronted by a parrot.

- Ex-military snipers called into shoot feral goats from helicopters to protect Galapagos Tortoise population.… Read more

The E3 gaming conference that kicks off later this month might turn out to be a boon for deal-seekers.

In a note to investors Monday, Wedbush analyst and long-time gaming industry evaluator Michael Pachter said that he expects Nintendo, Sony, and Microsoft all to announce console price cuts at the show. He believes that Sony and Microsoft will both cut prices on their PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360, respectively, by "at least $50." Pachter also believes that the Wii will drop to $99 -- down from the $129.99 the company is currently selling some bundles for.

Perhaps … Read more

Some videogame worlds are just incredible. From Hyrule to Columbia, from the instant you set (virtual) foot inside, you'd be happy to stay there forever.

Although the Aperture Science laboratories aren't necessarily on the same scale, the world and backstory of Portal are rich, and the character of Chell so full of possibility and strength, that we couldn't blame anyone for wanting to spend more time there.

Especially a fan who goes by the Reddit handle BlondeChell. After acquiring her own home where she could do whatever she liked, her penchant for interior decorating and Portal led her to create her very own Portal-themed room. … Read more

Yowza. This might be the best name-your-own-price game bundle I've ever seen. And I've seen lots of them. Lots and lots.

For the next five days or so, the Humble Weekly Bundle gives you a seven-game Telltale Games bundle for whatever price you want to pay. And if you beat the average (currently a paltry $4.19), you get an eighth title.

That's crazy. The combined value here is well in excess of $100, and the games themselves (most of which are available for both PC and Mac) rank among the best adventures of recent years. They … Read more

Tetris creator Alexey Pajitnov has launched a new game designed exclusively for mobile devices.

Dubbed Marbly, the title is available for both Apple's iPhone and iPad. The game's description in Apple's App Store says that it's an "easy to get, but tricky to master real puzzle game" It comes with over 180 puzzles that users must work their way through.

Pajitnov has been developing games for decades, but he's best known for creating Tetris -- the massive hit for Nintendo's Game Boy.

Marbly is available now as a free download in Apple'… Read more

If you know anything about the new hit iOS game Dots, which has already logged 3 million players and more than 250 million total plays, you know that for any serious player, it's all about high scores.

So I've been a bit upset over the last 24 hours after noticing that the Dots high score system had gone awry. On the one hand, my entire personal high score list had disappeared. But perhaps more troubling, the all-time high score list had regressed, with someone's world-beating score of 800 simply having vanished.

If this is all Latin to you, then take a trip over to the iOS App Store (Android users, help is reportedly on the way) and download Dots. Before you do that, though, clear your schedule for the next week so that your inevitable new obsession doesn't interfere with important meetings, dates, dinners, or even sleep. Now you're ready. … Read more