General Discussion

Just a friendly reminder to those of you who have yet to submit your names for the giveaway, time is ticking down. You have until January 22 which is only 17 days away to get your name into Siren. This includes contestant entries and donations. The prizes we have this year are huge so if you have yet to submit your entry please do so to siren@gamercide.org or send a PM through the forums to Siren. For more information on our Annual Giveaway including how to’s and rules, you can join in on the discussion at Gamercide’s Forums. View the full article

Electronics giant subpoenas Google, Twitter, PayPal, more for information that can be used to identify console's jailbreak contributors. Last month, Sony unleashed its legal department on George Hotz and the fail0verflow group, better known as the hacking consortium which released security keys allowing people to run unauthorized software on their consoles. Thus far, that investigation has largely centered upon Hotz, who has been ordered by the court to forfeit his computers, hard drives, and other storage material to Sony's legal team in the interest of discovery. The PS3 remains an open platform…for now. Now, Sony is seeking to expand its search for incriminating inform…

Xbox Live Arcade is throwing a party and you are invited! The Xbox Live Arcade House Party begins on February 16th with the release of the prequel to Contra: Hard Corps, Hard Corps: Uprising and ends on March 16th with Full House Poker that is replacing fan favorite, 1 vs. 100. Other games being released during this XBLA shindig are: February 16 Hard Corps: Uprising, 1200 Microsoft Points February 23 Bejeweled Blitz, 800 Microsoft PointsMarch 2, Beyond Good & Evil HD, 800 Microsoft PointsMarch 9 Torchlight, 1200 Microsoft PointsMarch 16 Full House Poker, 800 Microsoft Pointsvia Major Nelson View the full article

Yes you did indeed read that correctly. This Dumbass of the Day hails from Sony’s camp and is the fictional PR man that Sony made up for commercials and gave “Kevin Butler” his own Twitter account. Unfortunately for whoever is running the Twitter account, they might be at the unemployment line today. Tweeted back as a reply to what was assumed to be a Battleship joke was the hack code for the now fixed “jailbreak hack”. Sony has been trying to keep the details of this hack a secret for an ongoing court battle as they attempt to locate all of the hackers that have used this code. The tweet has since been deleted and it looks like Sony will need to create a new face for …

Ignition Entertainment and Zombie Studio’s XBLA downloadable title, Black Light: Tango Down is this week’s, Deal of the Week. Released on July 7, 2010, Black Light: Tango Down focuses on online multiplayer where you can find yourself playing the standard mulitplayer shooter staples, Team Deathmatch, Deathmatch, and Control Point. Ignition and Zombie tried to add a co-op element into the game, but unfortunately the co-op mode “Black Ops” received mixed and mostly negative reviews. Black Light: Tango Down released for 120o MS points and is being discounted to 600 MS points until Monday, February 21. via Major Nelson View the full article

We know that Duke Nukem has Balls of Steels, but what about a Big Package? Video game retailing giant, GameStop is offering the “Duke’s Big Package” pre-order special which includes an in game EGO boost, Big Head mode, and t-shirt pack. Also getting in the pre-order bonuses is Wal-Mart. If you pre-order the game through Wal-Mart you will receive a Duke Nukem Forever trucker hat for your pretty little head. The long awaited and extremely overdue Duke Nukem Forever hits a gaming shelf near you on May 3rd, 2011. via Duke Nukem Forever View the full article

Ok, so I know this is a video, but check this out. Microsoft is doing R&D work to see what they can do with their Kinect systems and facial recognition to create Avatars which look like you. Most importantly also, they want to create something which will facially animate properly and look like it's actually speaking rather than lyp-syncing.<br><br><br> Get ready to enter, if not pass directly through, the Uncanny Valley. <br><br><br> <object id="flashObj" width="486" height="412" classid="clsid:D27CDB6E-AE6D-11cf-96B8-444553540000" codebase="http://download.macromedia.com/pub/shockwave/cabs/flash/swflash.cab#version=9,0,47,0"&…

Two airmen were shot and killed today and another two were seriously injured when a gunman made his way onto a chartered bus taking the soldiers to their next deployment as security forces. No real info has surfaced yet as to why the shooting occurred and whether or not it was a terrorist act. http://www.cnn.com/2011/WORLD/europe/03/02/germany.shooting/index.html

Gamertags that are in use and have been considered abandoned are now being resurrected so that gamers who want a gamertag change can now use them. According to Major Nelson the process will take some time and that gamers should check back regularly to see if a name that they would like is now available, because they are adding newly revived gamertags daily. via Major Nelson Tweet This Post View the full article

This is interesting. Only thing is, why the limitation? Nintendo recently said that the 3DS is going to use flash carts capable of holding up to EIGHT GIGS. LoL Sure, most games on the 3DS wont use the full 8, but why the limit? It's strange. On a side note, it's said that the cards will be writable so instead of internal storage your saved games and patches will write directly to the game cart. Pretty cool.

http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/messenger/main/index.html Some Twitter accounts to follow, too. https://twitter.com/#!/MESSENGER2011 https://twitter.com/#!/NASAKepler

http://feeds.wired.com/~r/wired/index/~3/yIJpX1eeXcU/ Pretty crazy when you think about it, but you can help map out how polluted the night sky is with artificial light. You can also see the results of others. http://www.globeatnight.org/

Speak Simlish? Check. Have a green jewel floating above your head? Check. Don’t have The Sims 3? Then make sure to check out the EA Store this weekend. Beginning on March 25 and lasting until March 27, the EA Store will be having a 33% off all Sims 3 games that are digital downloads to your PC. This includes expansions for The Sims 3 and the game itself. Tweet This Post View the full article

Wondercon 2011: http://www.comic-con.org/wc/ The Bonnie to my Clyde, the wonderfully talented Karen Krajenbrink is going back to Wondercon this year in San Francisco. Last year I had the awesome ability to go with her to this "little brother" of the larger San Diego Comic-Con. It was a blast. This year she's going to have a table again (look for the Small Press area, SP-17) and I'll be walking the floor, checking out the publishers both large and small, as well as sitting in on (hopefully) some very anticipated panels. These panels include looks at Warner Bros.: Green Lantern with Ryan Reynolds and other guests, a screening of the animated Green Lantern: Emerald Knights A…

Chris from The New Hobbyist decided that he wanted to upgrade his home security and in doing so created the “Attack Creeper”. The “Attack Creeper” is mostly compiled from cardboard, an RC Car, and the guts being different electronic items ranging from a motion sensor to an Aurduino board that you can purchase pre assembled or you can put it together yourself. <br> <br> To see more such as pictures of the process and to check out the places where Chris hides his “Attack Creeper” to scare people like the bathroom tub, please check out The New Hobbyist. Tweet This Post View the full article

Do you love watching the sweaty bare chested men of the UFC duke it out in the Octagon splattering blood across the mat and found yourself wishing that you could do that without having to leave your living room? Thanks to THQ, now you can. THQ announced that they are launching UFC Personal Trainer for the PS3, Wii, and Xbox 360 sometime this June. The mixed martial arts trainer was designed by the National Academy of Sports Medicine and three MMA trainers including Mark DellaGrotte, Greg Jackson and Javier Mendez who throughout their training careers have worked with top UFC fighters gave their input to the excerise based game. According to Lead Designer Troy Sheetz, i…

F2P games or Free to Play games have seen much success in the world of PC gaming especially lately with social games such as Mafia Wars and Farmville where you can play the game for free, but in order to enhance your gaming experience you need to purchase special items or upgrades. How would you like F2P games to come to Xbox Live? According to IGN that might be happening very soon. A trusted source close to IGN is claiming that Xbox Live will be adding these style of games soon which will “allow publishers and developers to release games through the service for free where users can then purchase additional content, such as weapons, experience points, in-game currency, …

As you may or may not know, Dejobaan Games has been making quality games for over 75 years. They have released several PC games full of oddball humor and wackiness, held together by smooth gameplay. These include The Wonderful End of the World, AaAaAA!!! – A Reckless Disregard for Gravity, and their very recently released game, 1… 2… 3… Kick It! (Drop That Beat Like an Ugly Baby). The latter two compete for alphabetical superiority in my Steam library. 1… 2… 3… Kick It! was technically released as an alpha, which can be bought and will be supported and updated over time with the aid of user feedback, much like Minecraft. It’s a music based game along the lines of Audi…

What the future of PC and Console graphics may look like in the Next-Gen.

Lace up your running shoes and stretch those muscles, because Rare is looking for you to race into the record books. On Saturday, April 23 gamers from all over the world will have one chance to break the Guinness World Record for “the most people running a virtual 100m dash at one time.” All you have to do to participate is download your entry in the form of a free Xbox Nations gamer picture. Turn on your console on April 23, make sure that Kinect is running, pop in Kinect Sports, and complete a sprint mini game. Rare has stated that if you choose the entire Track & Field event, it will not register. For those of you who complete the sprint mini game during the spe…

Have you been trying to train Fido to go bring you a can of beer from the refrigerator so you do not have to leave your couch during an intense session of gaming? Or has your wife become your personal beer grabbing waitress over the years allowing you to beat that level you were stuck on for weeks? Fido and your wife can now relax thanks to the Octane 120 Driving Pro Beer Arcade. Designed by Dream Arcades, this frothy gaming brew beast can hold two five gallon beer kegs and contains a cup holder that is perfectly placed with a tap above for an easy refill. The at home arcade is mainly designed for gamers who love racing games and the 1080p HD projector arcade itself com…

The always under fire and controversial website, Wikileaks have released documents regarding Al Qaeda’s plot to use Sega Cartridges to kill high profile individuals including Bill Clinton and Pope John Paul II. “Detainee discussed remote-controlled firing devices (RCFDS) which were found during raids in Karachi in September 2002. These RCFDS were built inside black Sega videogame cassette cartridges to protect the RCFDS and to make them appear innocuous.” – Department of Defense Records Still want to find that Sega Genesis game that you have been searching for to add to your classic collection? via Game Politics Tweet This Post View the full article

If you are participating in the Gears of War 3 Beta then listen up. You have the chance to earn up to five “Buddy Tokens” that you can give out to your friends to join you in playing the beta. You have until May 4th to complete one of the following taks or if you are a true Gears fanatic then all five: Purchase Gears of War content on the MarketplacePlay the Gears of War 3 beta for 20+ hoursPurchase a 12 month Xbox Live subscriptionPlay 100 hours of any Gears titlePlayed one game of Gears of War 3 in the betaIf you complete any or all of these tasks, you will receive your tokens via email on May 8th that you can give out to your eager Gears of War friends. The tokens …

After the new Assassin Creed reveal many were left trying to figure out the quick flashes and somewhat blurred image that appeared to be Altair’s blade from the original Assassin’s Creed. Ubisoft has released yet another fuzzy reveal that has further complicated the minds of many, however thanks to one quick thinking Turkish website, the locale for the new Assassin’s Creed game may have been figured out. Oyungezer analyzed the flashing photos down to the numbers and images in the background and discovered that one image appears to be the historic Hagia Sofia, another image that flashes briefly across the screen highly resembles the Ottoman Tughra which the official seal …

The fine folks at Zen Studios are holding a tournament for fabulous prize packs going to the top 3 scorers on the new Mars table for Pinball FX2. There will also be random entrants for prizes like Mars candy bars, DVDs, and game codes. Take a look at the full press release below and go check out the new table. Be sure to let us know what you think of the table in the forums. Also, be on the lookout for our forthcoming reviews of Zen Studios games. Pinball FX2 Mars Tournament April 29 – May 13 Finding life a little lonely on Mars? The Red Planet is about to get invaded by pinball wizards seeking a SuperScoreRocketBoost and Martian themed prizes. Download the Mars tab…