As mentioned told you last time, you can already get this game for iOS devices from the iTunes App Store for $5.99(USD).The Android version will arrive in early 2012.

Here’s the game in action, prefaced with a lesser hack. (If you don’t care about TicTacToe, jump to 2:10):

Click to View Embedded Video Clip

Granted, it’ll take a longer time to play the game because the pen only has a one line display, but it’s still borderline magical. Do a D&D hack next chipos81!

[via Engadget]

According to the developers, they’ve fine-tuned the character animations to much more accurately react to context. Instead of just having a set of generic animations for the main characters, they’ll have nuanced variants for each scenario they encounter. So for instancei, if Drake steps on fire, he stomps his foot to put put it out. Or if he’s walking towards an open flame, he shields himself from the heat and light. Different levels and scenes will have different contextual animations. It’s all very subtle stuff, but if you watch the example in the demo footage below, you can see the improvements if you’ve got a good eye.

Click to View Embedded Video Clip

Sure, it doesn’t seem like an earth-shattering innovation, but it’s this type of attention to detail that makes the difference between a good game and a great one. Plus, it’s just great to see a little bit of the game play footage any time I can get it. I for one am really looking forward to playing Uncharted 3 when it hits stores next November.

Apparently, Brian Gaines was a big Zork Fan back in the day too, so he and his high school pal made this excellent Zork stained glass art to show their fanboy ways all the way back in 1983. I have to say it looks mighty fine after all these years.

All I want to do now is type in “>GET STAINED GLASS WINDOW”, but I know that my computer will just say “I don’t know the word ‘stained’,” or maybe “You can’t see any window here!”. Go ahead, try it for yourself.

[via Make: via Neatogeek]

You can see the whole set here or visit Stefan’s Flickr album. It’s definitely worth checking them out. I like the ones where they are beating up Playmobil toys!

Stefan also constructed a loose storyline, in which the two stormtroopers, TK479 and TK455 travel through the world, reporting back to Darth Vader, staying clear of the infamous wookies, and writing hate mail to Luke Skywalker. I think that took place in Episode 37.

[via Design You Trust]

This is probably the first and only time we’ll ever see the Blue Screen of Death as a hero. The real surprise? There are zero pixel penis heroes. Good job, gamers!

[3D Dot Game Heroes Hall of Heroes]

In Nier: Gestalt, players take the role of a father searching for a cure for his daughter, afflicted with a virus known as “Black Scrawl.” In the other version, Replicant, players have the chance to take on the role of the girl’s brother.

But here’s what we do get: a bloody action-adventure with a reportedly intricate storyline, and with the choice of platforms, the missing protagonist doesn’t seem like a huge loss. And who knows? Maybe Replicant is just lagging behind in localization.

[via Siliconera]

So far, the Atari Arcade includes web-playable Flash versions of four arcade classics: Asteroids, Battlezone, Crystal Castles, and Lunar Lander. Hopefully, they’ll add more games in the not-too-distant future. I want my Dig-Dug and Paperboy! They’ve also thrown in versions of a couple of classic 2600 games, Yar’s Revenge and Adventure. Each of the games is a faithful recreation of the original, with the addition of a global high score leaderboard.

So what are you waiting for? Head on over to the new Atari Arcade, and play without fear of ever running out of quarters again.

Really, how can you not love a game with instructions that read: “The primary objective of the game is to break a path through the shield, and destroy the Qotile with a blast from the Zorlon Cannon”?

[via Kotaku]

Oh well. At least we’ll be treated to more of the game’s beautiful art… and it’s not like there’s anything wrong with the title Hotel Dusk!

The sequel is due in Japan in January, and of course, there’s no word yet on localization, but the first game was well-received and developer Cing has a following here. Nintendo published the first game themselves, so I’d be willing to bet someone will take a chance on bringing the further mysterious adventures of Kyle Hyde to parts outside Japan.

[via NeoGAF]

The Marionette is a lush 2D adventure that follows the strange events surrounding a sculptor named Martin who awakens in a strange location after opening a mysterious package. It’s up to you to point and click your way through to the truth.

The game is packaged in a pretty big file, but you can always poke around the website for character information and more while you twiddle your thumbs… and if you’re less patient, you can always just try the demo.

[via Indie Games]

If you’ve seen the trailers before then you’re probably familiar with the graphics, but I believe this is our first glimpse at the HUD and controls of the game. Also, BIG-ASS SWORD!

I don’t know why this dude and his MegaBastard Sword only appears at the very beginning of the game – although it seemed like whoever was playing could control Sir Huge Sword here, note that the HUD is absent – but according to 1UP‘s Kevin Gifford, players will be able to customize and  swing huge swords. But of course, even heroes have to start somewhere – here’s the puny little fight stick the king gives the hero as he starts on his quest:

According to the same 1UP article that I linked to above, players will be able to choose from three archetypes – the Hero, the Prince, and the Adventurer. If you like none of those three, you can make your own hero, dot by dot, and even customize its animation. Going back to the footage, here’s the world map, which is very reminiscent of Link’s Map in the first Zelda, except that this one is pseudo-3D:

All in all, the game does have a very old school feel, but the cute graphics will probably lure in kids as well. Gamersyde is have bandwidth problems so they’ve disabled embedding for now, meaning I can’t post the video here, but all you have to do is go here to watch the high quality version, and here for the low quality one. You can also download the video if you want.  The Japanese version of 3D Dot Game Heroes just dropped this week; a North American release is coming, but we don’t know when exactly.

Alice is Dead is an episodic adventure that starts off in the rabbit hole with Alice’s grisly corpse and the staple of all adventure games, a witty narrator who comments on everything you click. In fact, everything here will be familiar… but it’s all twisted just a little to the left of normal.

This first episode is quite short, but even so, there’s a walkthrough available for the desperate, so there’s absolutely no excuse not to try to figure out what happened to Alice, and whether or not there’s a way through that blue door. You know you want to open it. But can you? Go give it a shot. After all, it’s free.

[via The Escapist]

In Awakener, players step into the sandals (wait, is he barefoot?) of Fadi, a young boy off to visit his tavern-owning aunt. The only problem is that some guy is snoozing out front, and you’re gonna need to help wake him up. It sounds a little silly, but Awakener is also a look at the way children (and some of us adults) love to dramatize and inflate even the most mundane situations. And then actual interesting stuff happens, too, so it turns out Fadi’s attitude was spot on.

All of Awakener can be completed in moments–fifteen minutes, or maybe longer if you get distracted. It’s beautiful, funny, and best of all, free–and, Mac owners? Runs like butter in Crossover, so you are not denied this short experience.

[via IndieGames]

Gregory Weir’s How to Raise a Dragon offers very simple choices, but every one seems to have an effect, and there’s a lot you can do with your dragon in such a barebones game. Color and abilities are set early on, and after that… well, I don’t want to spoil things for you.

How to Raise a Dragon is an excellent browser-based diversion with a lot of replay value, and that alone would be enough to set it apart from many similar games. And it’s about dragons. Really, what more do you need?

[via IndieGames]

Morbid kicks off with a very dark introduction that invokes plague-infested Europe in times of old, and the black and white art style (with its occasional hint of color) really suits the game’s atmosphere. Odd little touches like this don’t hurt, either:

As mysteries go, Morbid isn’t terribly complicated, and the clues aren’t always the best. But it’s a very satisfying short adventure despite a few flaws, and the sound is often a nice touch. It’s worth a try–completing the entire game won’t take long at all.

[Morbid via IndieGames]

Judith looks like an old DOS adventure game, and it’s only a “game” in the sense that it’s somewhat interactive. The visuals aren’t going to blow you away. The story isn’t literature. But there’s something compelling in the overall package that makes this a worthwhile experience.

Perhaps best of all is the fact that Judith is available for just about every computer under the sun, so operating system is no excuse.

[Judith via 1UP]

The developers revealed, before the game’s release in Japan, that a great deal of effort and money went into polishing Fragile, so it isn’t altogether surprising the title is being given a chance to recoup more of that expense. But whatever the reason, gamers outside of Japan are the ones who’ll benefit here.

There are even rumors of a Japanese language track in addition to full English voice acting, a much-desired yet rare option for many games. But even without the original voice acting, Fragile will be a game to watch (and, uh, play).

[via ThatVideoGameBlog]

Look at all those items you can use there. Four! Add a cunning use of the DS’s dual screens and you have something that will be shut down before completion that looks like a pocketload of portable fun. Creator BassAceGold even promised achievements of sorts.

Click to View Embedded Video Clip

[via Tiny Cartridge]

To get in on the action, just type:

mail lozbeta@joltonline.com

Though, since such basic commands usually don’t work in the real world (alas), you might try sending an e-mail regarding your request in a more conventional manner. Legends of Zork is being billed as an online (non-MMO) game for casual, timewasting play.

[Game|Life via GayGamer]

If your response is also a resounding “what?”, then just wait–it gets better. “The time is right for the world of interactive entertainment to adapt this literary masterpiece, and to re-introduce Dante to an audience that, until now, may have been unfamiliar with the remarkable details of this great work of art,” said Jonathan Knight, executive producer for Dante’s Inferno. “It’s the perfect opportunity to fuse great gameplay with great story.”

Somehow, epic poems that form a cornerstone of classic literature need “third person action adventures” to serve as their introductions. It’s not at all a bad idea, guys, but please, roll back on the hubris. Y’know. For the (uneducated) children.

Click to View Embedded Video Clip

EA’s teaser trailer is certainly evocative of Dante’s hell, but I’m gonna guess, from this footage, that the game will have considerably less fainting and fewer political overtones than the source material. EA  has not yet announced any consoles, release dates, or really anything other than the fact that the game exists.

[Dante's Inferno via 1UP]