Casual Aesthetic Search Results

How To: How Much Advertising Can a Free Game Site Have and Still Be Considered Indie?

Mediocre free Flash game websites are all too common. Many of them thrive off peddling the same few popular games to fans who have slim cause to pick one over the other. They thrive off the indifference of casual gamers and an environment that does not have to stand out to survive, only appeal to the lowest common gaming denominator with tower defense clones and brightly colored Peggle knockoffs. In that context, what Nitrome is doing seems downright commendable.

News: Friday Indie Game Review Roundup: An Amnesiac Retrospective

Three years ago, Double Fine productions held an in-house event called the Amnesia Fortnight. The company was split into four teams, each of which set out to spend two weeks developing an idea for a small game and present it to the other groups at the end of the duration. All of the ideas turned out to be winners, and founder/owner Tim Schafer secured publishing deals for all four games to be released on a combination of XBLA and PSN. In honor of the excellent Trenched becoming the third game...

AudioSurf vs. Polynomial: The Battle Between Psychedelic MP3 Games

In 2008, Audiosurf came out on Steam, creating the psychedelic music game genre. If you haven't played it in the intervening three years, you're missing out on one of the coolest things in video games. The player selects any MP3 on their computer, then the game builds a unique level based on that song, which the player must then navigate whilst playing a block-matching, Tetris-like puzzle game. It's an incredibly compelling audiovisual experience, one with immense replay value and surprisingl...

News: Are You a Mac Yuppie or a PC Nerd? Find Out if You Fit the Stereotype

With over 60 commercials, chances are you've seen one of the Get a Mac spots run by Apple, which brands Mac as intuitive and hip, compared to their boring and clunky PC counterpart. You also probably saw Microsoft's response in their I'm a PC campaign. But who are Mac and PC users really? Do jeans and hoodie-wearing yuppies really use Macs? Are the suit-and-tie types strictly operating PCs?

News: Let's Get To Cookin' !

So you love the idea of delicious dinners from farmers market finds, but that idea isn't going to cook itself! Maybe your mama was one hot Italian lady but she only knew how to push the power button on the microwave. No matter the challenge or limitation have no fear, local cooking classes are here to help. Here is a list of some great classes that come highly recommended from friends across the country. So put down that take out menu and pick up your phone and get to cookin! Happy Eating!

News: May feels like November

A November release week in May It used to be that games marked to be blockbusters (expected to sell more than a million in their first month) would always be released during the holiday September to December season. November was always the month companies chose to release their best game. This release model worked fine until the last few years, when too many games were being released in November and companies started to see diminishing returns on their titles because of the release rush.

How To: Get an Official SCRABBLE Rating to Play in Tournaments

Many new players wonder how one actually gets a rating in SCRABBLE. Now, we're talking about an official rating, not one you would get on SCRABBLE Beta or with the ISC WordBiz player — I mean an "Official SCRABBLE Rating". A rating that allows you to play in the National SCRABBLE Championship (NSC), which is held once every year (sometimes two).

News: Scaredive

You start a casual conversation about skydiving with someone afraid of heights, you suggest to them a good prank would be to dive from a plane blindfolded and find your friends (who are also falling) so they can put on your parachute guided via a radio headset. While they tell you about how much they think it is a bad idea your buddies pounce from behind, blindfold them, tie them up and make out like your going to try the stunt.

News: Secure Your Wireless Network from Pillage and Plunder in 8 Easy Steps

Wireless networks. Nowadays, everyone uses 'em, but most don't secure 'em. On average, I can drive up and down any block in my city and find at least one or two open or semi-open networks on any given day. With some changed MAC addresses for good measure, an attacker can use your network as a spring board for who knows what. When the police come a few days after, they are coming to your door—and not to talk about how nice your lawn is. Don't be that guy.

News: Minecraft, Meet Terraria

Minecraft was first released just a few years ago, but when a paradigm-shifting piece of media comes along the rest of the world is quick to take inspiration from it. The absolutely terrible XBLA knock-off FortressCraft was the first, and last month a much more interesting game called Terraria came out on Steam for $9.99. It is clearly inspired by Minecraft, and there is a long checklist of identical features. It is, nonetheless, a very different product, and just might be called the first in...

Adult Swim Games: It's Not Just for Aqua Teen Anymore

The days of having to pay for video games are over. Generally, retail games are better because they're made with more effort and care than their free counterparts. But free browser-based game sites are insanely popular, specifically Kongregate, Armor Games, and the grandaddy of them all—NewGrounds. Despite not receiving funds directly from the players, they’ve become a profitable niche in the games industry. And that popularity has attracted more talent and money to the production of web game...

News: The Who Owns My Heart lyrics by Miley Cyrus

Here we have a unique piece of work. Miley Cyrus, the girl that started out as a 12 year old acting on Hannah Montana, is now 17 and showing some skin. Do we care? Apparently, parents do. So it seems as if if Cyrus wasn't able to do what she wants in her music videos because of these complaints parents are making. Of course, those complaints are natural, I mean, 8 year old girls look up to her, which really pressures her being a role model.

News: Opening game in 3D. First impressions.

I've been curious to watch one of these famed '3D' games for a while now. Last April at NAB, I attended several 3D panels and folks from ESPN suggested that one of the strongest experiences that would bring 3D into the home would be live sports. I've missed opportunities to watch the PGA Masters broacasts, and NCAA games, but being a hardcore Soccer (Futbol) fan, I've been most excited about this possibility. It did not disappoint, but not without some concessions. I will be as detailed as po...

Books: Digital vs. Analog

Since the invention of the printing press, books have been a dominant and iconic paradigm in our culture and throughout the world. During my years in elementary and high school, the digital world was on the rise sparking the conversation: Are Books Obsolete. Over the last year (or 2 at the most) that the term "Book" has started to make the shift from a physical object to the concept of a written work.

News: The Basics of Facebook Privacy Settings

Just how private is your Facebook profile? To some extent, that's up to you. Many Facebook users share and poke their days away, never knowing about the plethora of custom privacy settings that lie just a click away. Facebook's privacy menus can look a little complicated to the newcomer, so today I'm going to give you a basic look at what lies under the hood.

News: Do the Do!

We are embarking upon a new year. As usual, some of us will make "resolutions." There isn't anything wrong with setting goals for the year. It's actually a good idea. It may help focus the energy we bring to life.

How To: Make a Sonobe Jasmine Dodecahedron

Math Craft admin Cory Poole posted instructions on How to Make a Cube, Octahedron & Icosahedron from Sonobe Units, plus some great complex models in his article, How to Make a Truncated Icosahedron, Pentakis Dodecahedron & More. These models use the standard sonobe unit and a coloured variant.

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