If you're having some trouble whittling your Brain Age down to that elusive 20-year-old benchmark, a clever player named Ryuto has developed a sure-fire method of lowering that all important number: Cheat. Or, better yet, cheat while drawing fun doodles of Nintendo trademarks.

Continue reading Three plus eight equals Yoshi: How to cheat at Brain Age

Three plus eight equals Yoshi: How to cheat at Brain Age originally appeared on Joystiq on Sat, 10 Jul 2010 22:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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China's Ministry of Culture is once again cracking down on the online game industry in an attempt to limit the amount of "unwholesome" content the sector produces. According to a report from China Daily, the nation's officials are prohibiting the use of sex, violence or gambling to market Chinese developers' online games. Like the other regulations under this initiative, these restrictions will be effective as of August 1.

According to the government's report on sexually-charged advertising, hiring adult film stars to serve as spokespeople for online games is a surprisingly common practice in China. Over here, we get Mr. T and Ozzy Osbourne. That's a pretty fair trade-off, right?

Report: China to ban violent, sexual marketing of online games originally appeared on Joystiq on Sat, 10 Jul 2010 20:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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The fine folks over at Hothead Games appear to be a pretty thoughtful bunch, taking time out of their busy schedules to shoot the following treatise into the massively metaphorical gates of 360Sync.com. After ensuring no-one had been maimed by the renegade retort, we decided to post it here so that you peasants might better prepare yourselves for DeathSpank‘s arrival on Xbox LIVE Arcade on July 14th.

WARNING: bouts of manly giggling may ensue, seeing as how the game is the brainchild of Monkey Island designer Ron Gilbert.

For the curious amongst you, DeathSpank will be available for download at 1200 Microsoft Points, and has apparently been rated “T” for teen by the ESRB.

Promethium Marketing Group's Twitter-enabled tower defense title, Tweet Defense, will be very on sale tomorrow for just 24 hours. Like, as on sale as anything could possibly be. Both the iPhone version and recently launched iPad version of the game will be downloadable for free from FreeAppaDay.com on Sunday, July 11.

The game usually retails for $2.99 on iPhone and $7.99 on iPad, so we's suggest taking Promethium up on this temporary offer. Unless, of course, you're one of those people who thinks that every time you Tweet, part of your soul gets siphoned away. You guys should probably go play something else.

Continue reading Tweet Defense free on iPad and iPhone this Sunday

Tweet Defense free on iPad and iPhone this Sunday originally appeared on Joystiq on Sat, 10 Jul 2010 18:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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We've discussed some of the unique weapons you'll be wielding in Ron Gilbert's upcoming XBLA and PSN title, DeathSpank, but you really can't get a good feel for them until you see them in action. It's like, you can read about the Demon Poop Hammer all day, but you've really got to see it swing.

Continue reading DeathSpank trailer previews some unorthodox armaments

DeathSpank trailer previews some unorthodox armaments originally appeared on Joystiq on Sat, 10 Jul 2010 16:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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The schedule for San Diego Comic Con 2010 was updated earlier today, adding a few game-centric panels focusing on titles like Guild Wars 2, Red Faction Armageddon, Epic Mickey and more to Saturday's proceedings. However, one panel in particular caught our eye: "Video Game Reveal: Maxis Studio." According to the event's details, the panel will see a handful of members from the Maxis dev team unveil "a brand new, Sci-Fi Action-RPG based on the DNA of Spore."

This sounds like it could be the Spore title referenced in EA's Q3 2010 investor's briefing, the name for which may have surfaced in the company's recent trademark of "Darkspore." We might just learn what happens when good Spores go bad when the panel unfolds Saturday, July 24.

Maxis' Spore-based action-RPG to be announced at Comic Con originally appeared on Joystiq on Sat, 10 Jul 2010 15:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Though his last potential outing on Apple's mobile platform was denied for being too "unpleasant," Yoot Saito is taking another stab at the App Store. According to TouchArcade, a rough translation of Saito's blog reveals that the idiosyncratic developer is bringing his skyscraper-crafting sim, The Tower, to the iPad.

For those unfamiliar with the series, The Tower (or, as its sometimes titled Sim Tower or Yoot Tower), is reminiscent of the SimCity series, only more ... vertical. Players are tasked with the construction and management of a tower, all the while pursuing that prestigious five-star ranking. We've got our fingers crossed for a U.S. release. Or, for that matter, any kind of release -- though we don't see how strategic building maintenance could be considered too off-putting for Apple's lofty standards.

Yoot Saito's 'The Tower' headed to iPad originally appeared on Joystiq on Sat, 10 Jul 2010 13:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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According to Kotaku, an amended version of the lawsuit filed by 38 former and current Infinity Ward developers against Activision was recently submitted to a California court. The suit uses a bit stronger language when describing the policies of the monolithic publisher, claiming its agents created a "police state" atmosphere while IW worked on Modern Warfare 2, and would regularly conduct "interrogations" of the studio's members. Despite the increased intensity of these claims, the group has reduced the amount of punitive damages and unpaid bonuses sought from half a billion dollars to $216 million.

A trial date for the Infinity Ward Employee Group's case against Activision (and possibly West and Zampella's case, should the judge decide to consolidate the suits) is currently set for May 23, 2011.

Report: Infinity Ward suit updated, claims Activision created 'police state' originally appeared on Joystiq on Sat, 10 Jul 2010 11:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Viral Secrets Revealed? How do we know when we're being marketed to or not?

A little news flash for RWINGS: When you don't play game consoles, they hurt. This blog is here to tell you about the hurting. Make it stop please. Thank you.