Game achievements have come to affect our favorite pastime on many levels. Achievements are being added to a growing list of game genres, and their rise is leading to raging debates on both industry and enthusiast fronts: What in-game objectives ought to merit achievements? How can games best be designed with achievements in mind? What further rewards can be tied to achievements to enhance their effective use in games? How much worth do game achievements truly have? In order to better approach these and other questions, GameCyte consulted a professor of psychology and a game designer, whose research into defining player types and motivations in modern gaming may help us all understand why achievements have become such a massive phenomenon.
Continue reading...Thursday, September 4, 2008
Harmonix and MTV Games have confirmed which songs Rock Band players will be able to export from the original disc into Rock Band 2 as DLC. Until now, the companies have merely promised that we would be able to export “most of” the original disc library, and that much appears to be true; players will [...]
Continue reading...Wednesday, July 30, 2008
GameCyte reviews the most explosive geometry-themed game there is, and thoroughly enjoys the mathematical massacre.
Continue reading...Monday, July 28, 2008
The wait(s) are nearly over! Microsoft has confirmed dates for five Xbox Live Arcade titles this morning, including two of the most eagerly anticipated titles that gamers have been waiting patiently for. Or, perhaps posting angrily in forums about. Some of you aren’t quite so patient. Well, to make it up to you, Microsoft is [...]
Continue reading...Friday, July 25, 2008
You might have heard GFW LIVE subscribers have been freed from financial bondage, but did you know that Microsoft is offering that freedom retroactively? Perhaps you knew that the updated GFW service sports a new UI — but have you seen it? While we wait for our own opportunity to interview Microsoft’s Kevin Unangst about the [...]
Continue reading...Tuesday, July 22, 2008
This just in: Games for Windows — LIVE is now free. Cross-platform multiplayer? Free. Matchmaking? Free. Voice chat? Free. Friends list? You betcha. And there’s more GFW functionality on the way.
Continue reading...Tuesday, July 22, 2008
We’ve known about Microsoft’s XNA and the Creators Club for a while now: Microsoft previewed the XNA suite of development tools and middleware back in 2006, and the game studio tools were released at the end of 2007. Today, however, at Microsoft’s Gamefest 2008 conference, the company detailed what it is now calling “Xbox Live [...]
Continue reading...Monday, July 14, 2008
While Microsoft’s E3 2008 press conference revealed a veritable stockpile of bird dung exciting titles for core gamers and a few key partnerships that may make the Xbox 360 your media center of choice, vice president of Xbox LIVE John Schappert took time out to explain how Microsoft plans to enhance the social experience [...]
Continue reading...Monday, July 14, 2008
Microsoft’s Don Mattrick was not pulling any punches this morning when he described Xbox Live’s growing marketplace business to E3 attendees. He cited a PricewaterhouseCoopers forecast, right off the bat, which declared games to be the top entertainment sales leader, predicted to do more business than movies, music, DVD sales, or anything else. Microsoft, he [...]
Continue reading...Monday, July 14, 2008
Roughly halfway through his excited explanation of the Xbox 360’s new community features and curious new system of user representation, a few game titles were unveiled. The head of the Live Services team, John Schappert, announced four new titles coming out for Xbox Live Arcade — some as soon as next month. I know two [...]
Continue reading...
Tuesday, September 9, 2008
5 Comments