Lavasoft ShieldPowerUp Blog

Minecraft

Wolfa — 30th September 2010

Minecraft is a block building (think Lego) game combined with resource and mining management in first person. Created by the swede Markus Persson, aka Notch, it is a recent buzz topic in the indie gaming world.

You start the game in a randomly created world with only you bare hands to start with. The first day you have to build some shelter for the night. The idea is to chop down a tree (with your hands :), pick up the wood and turn it into planks and sticks. From there you can create tools and weapons, for instance a shovel or a pick that will let you break stone blocks. With your pick you can mine out a little cave in the mountain wall where you can hide during the night. If you find some coal you can combine it with a stick to create some torches, so you will be able to see in the dark.

When the night arrives you will be hunted by monsters, such as jumping spiders, skeletons and lurkers. You will have to create a sword and try to fight them, or maybe find a little hole where you can hide the dark out. The next day you can continue on your work, maybe build a house or start farming. Before you know it you'll have your own little kingdom that you have built from scratch. There is also a creative mode were you skip the whole game part and can instead focus on building things.

The game is very addictive. A good sign of this is that even though the game is still in alpha, and exists in a free version, it is selling for about $350,000 a day. Persson said:

-It all feels unreal. I thought I could make a living from the game, but I did not expect to become rich.

The game is currently going out for €9.95 which is a 50% discount. However, it will start to sell at full price as soon as the game goes into beta.

Game more at http://www.minecraft.net.

Game Crush

Question Mark — 31st March 2010

Game Crush - bringing the oldest profession into the online social gaming realm.

Okay, so let's get this straight right out of the gate.
The soon-to-be open social networking service according to their press page "introduces an entirely new interactive social gaming experience allowing gamers to meet, match and pay to play online games with other users (PlayDates)".

Okay, so PlayDates (who will now be referred to as a woman, since no men will be PlayDates) is a huge red flag for me here. This whole service is based around men paying to interact with a woman (does this remind you of another profession?).

Now this to me raises a whole wealth of issues ranging from the terms "PlayDate" (Playboy Bunny anyone?) and "Player" (do I need to say anything?). Are we back in the eighties here? Also the whole issue of men paying to play with women, and that the women get paid to play with the men."Also the whole issue of men paying to play with women, and that the women get paid to play with the men." Now this is going to sound harsh and it is my personal opinion here, but doesn't this scream of prostitution to you? I can see the ideal behind a site like this which is to bring more women to games and also to promote interaction between sexes in an online space, but let's call a spade a spade, shall we?

This is how it works: to register is free, and this lets you search and view profiles to see if a particular woman matches your... well, your what exactly?

What are you looking for here? Playstyle, types of game in common, is she a noob at Starcraft or are you just going to try to find the best looking girl you can find? You can chat and interact with the women through a MSN-like chat service with video - presumably to make sure that the profile picture of the buxom 19-year-old from Sweden you spent thirty-five minutes searching for is not in fact Mr. Roberts from across the road trying to make some extra cash.

So you have registered, searched and found a woman via their profile and you know via the webcam that it is not Mr. Roberts. You are now all set to take that next step which is to play some online poker together with your new "friend" or to team up and frag some locusts in Gears of War 2. Now, paying the woman to take this step is what makes the whole experience dirty for me. It's the same as prostitution or any of the thousands of adult webcam sites on the Internet and it just creeps me out.

I can also see "less reputable parties" getting involved in this business, like for instance the people who run the webcam sites, turning the service into another way for them to make money.

All in all I hate the whole thing. Taking money from lonely men and creating a potential to exploit yet more women on the net can't be a good thing in my opinion and this has all the potential of heading in that direction.

Don't take my word for it though, here is a link to their press site so you can read for yourselves what it is all about and see if I have blown this out of proportion. Mark out.

http://gamecrush.presslift.com/gamecrush-spices-up-online-gaming-with-new-site

Have you been a victim of the 2 AM Worm?

Mattias — 12th March 2010

New security threat only targets drunk users.

The Onion reports of an insidious worm that makes unauthorized purchases when the user is drunk.

The worm, dubbed the "2 A.M. Worm", is reported to only target drunk users, making it one of the most segmented Internet threats to date and also appears to be immune to traditional malware protection.

But there is hope!

One technique that is rumoured to halt the worm in its track is Mail Goggles - an old Gmail feature from Google Labs that forces the user to solve a few simple math problems before sending an e-mail late on Friday and Saturday night.

We are looking into implementing this feature into the next version of Game Edition, and are interested in your feedback. Please leave a comment at the bottom, your opinion might save thousands of drunk users all over the world!

Alien Assault

Wolfa — 21st February 2010

Alien Assault is a free turn-based strategy game from indie game developer TearDown. Set in an age thousands of years in the future, this game is about cold isolation. You control a squad of elite soldiers that are sent to giant derelict starships that have drifted around in space for decades. Your mission is to clear out the ship of any alien infestation and to retrieve lost information and artifacts.

Each level of the game is a mission that has several victory goals. The directives vary from escort, defend, deliver, etc. During each turn, every soldier you control will have 4 action points to spend on stuff, like walking, shooting, reloading, etc. and also a common pool between 1 to 6 points to use as you wish. However, your turn is also under time, so there is not much time to think; you will have to go on instinct.

The monsters you fight first appear as blips on your radar. Not until one of your soldiers actually has seen one of the blips do you find out how many monsters were held within it. Between the missions you will also see the current status of your squad and you will be able to outfit your men with several different weapons. They will climb in rank and receive several achievements.

This game was first released back in 2008 under the name Space Hulk, based on the cult-declared board game, with the same name. However, as word on the net travelled, the copyright holders of the board game, Games Workshop, also heard about it. They forced TearDown to remove the download, claiming the rights for all Warhammer 40K related games are owned by THQ. According to the developers, they tried to negotiate a launch of the game through THQ, but they refused. Therefore, TearDown choose to redo some of the graphics and name the game Alien Assualt instead, thus clearing themselves from a possible lawsuit"clearing themselves from a possible lawsuit".

Since the last print of the board game Space Hulk ran out in 1998 (please don’t quote me on that, I cannot find a good source, but it was around that time ), this whole incident started to stir up some buzz in several forums. This not only added to Games Workshop’s bad reputation within the board game community, but questions also arose on why they would not allow the development of a free game based upon a game that they have clearly announced they will never release again. The questions were answered September 5, 2009, when they relaunched Space Hulk in a limited collector’s edition with huge production value (and price as well).

Now, once more, Games Workshop has stated that they will never again launch the board game, so unless you already own a copy, I recommend that you download Alien Assault and find out why this board game has been played for over 20 years"find out why this board game has been played for over 20 years".

Also, know that it is really easy to find the 2009 edition of Space Hulk in mint condition on eBay, if you are willing to pay up a few more bucks than the in-store selling price . There are also a lot of the 1989 and 1996 versions available as well, but in used condition.

Glitch is looking for Alpha testers

Mattias — 9th February 2010

Glitch, a new browser-based casual MMO from Tiny Speck, is now looking for Alpha testers.

Glitch looks fairly promising even in its pre-alpha, teaser trailer state. The main reason why it is creating a buzz is that Tiny Speck, the developing studio behind the game, was founded by the co-founder of Flickr, Stewart Butterfield.

Public sign up for the alpha testing round is now available through the official site for Glitch, by using Facebook Connect or simply leaving your e-mail.

According to a TechCrunch interview with Butterfield, the alpha testing round will use a fairly interesting new methodology Tiny Speck calls "strobe testing" - testing with smaller demographically selected groups in 24-hour bursts with world resets in betweeen. Tiny Speck will closely watch the results and draw conclusions on how different demographics reacts to certain features.

Using Flash as the game engine is a very predictable move"Using Flash as the game engine is a very predictable move", since most browser-based games depend on Flash to do animation and interaction.

However, with Apple stubbornly refusing to include Flash support for their newly unveiled iPad, a potentially big new gaming platform that might be big with the casual game audience, the choice is looking a little more iffy.

We'll just have to see who budges first, Apple or Tiny Speck.

More info about Glitch

Madden curse decides Superbowl, Colts win

Mattias — 5th February 2010

A simulated Superbowl game in Madden NFL predicts Saints as the winner but fails to factor in the Madden curse.

EA Sports' annual video game simulation of the Superbowl predicts the New Orleans Saints will upset the Indianapolis Colts by a score of 35-31, and since the simulation has accurately predicted the last five out of six Superbowls, it may very well be right this time too.

However, this fails to take into consideration the most important factor of the Superbowl final: the fear of the dreaded Madden curse"the fear of the dreaded Madden curse", the strange mysterious force that cause whatever athlete that EA selects to graze the covers of the next Madden NFL to get injured or underachieve in the following season.

Our prediction is that the fear of playing well enough that they'd get picked for the cover and thus suffer the Madden curse will cause players on both teams to take a lot of strange decisions and turn in "good but not great" performances, causing Sunday's game to be a bland and quirky one.

Only Peyton Manning will overcome his fear, throw for 330 yards and three touchdowns and then pay the prize of a busted knee in the 2011 season, effectively ending his stellar career (albeit on a high note).

You heard it here first, folks.

11 tips on how to protect yourself while gaming

Mattias — 3rd February 2010

Getting fragged from behind sucks, getting malware on your machine is worse.
The researchers at Malware Labs here at Lavasoft has compiled a list of the top things you need to know to stay safe in online games and virtual worlds:

Play only on legitimate and trustworthy game servers. Cutting corners by using free games provided by rogue servers can result in low game quality, support problems, and a higher prevalence of theft and fraud.
Use complicated, "non-dictionary" passwords. Compose passwords that are at least 10 characters long, and are made up of a mix of letters, numbers and symbols (read Erin's great blog post for more tips on passwords).
Use common sense when you're approached for information or given a suspect call to action. Exercise caution with e-mail and in-game messages, and never give out your account information.
Use real-time anti-malware protection and scan your hard drive frequently, like Ad-Aware Game Edition.
Update the definitions file of all security software constantly. This will ensure the threat database is up-to-date and that the program is prepared to catch the latest threats as they are placed into detection.
Use Hosts file protection to help avoid redirections to malicious servers.
Keep your operating system updated with the latest security patches, along with any other potentially high-target third party software, like Adobe Acrobat Reader.
Install and run applications that support rootkit protection. Many computer users like to run a variety of different scanners to help find infections. Still, use caution when choosing new programs in order to make sure to use reliable, respected security software.
Keep your main web browser updated with the latest patches. Browser vulnerabilities may be used by criminals on specific gaming sites and forums to download MMORPG malware.

As a bonus (we promised 11 tips, right?), the Swedish download site Mjukvara.se contributed two more tips in their article about antivirus solutions for gamers (Swedish), my translation:

Don't download files from sites you don't know well.
Use a good e-mail service, for example Gmail. E-mail is still one of the most common ways to spread malicious code. The big webmail companies scan your e-mails and filter the bad stuff for you.

(Pic courtesy of Jeb Ro, just had to use it. If I'd ever make a game, I'd call it Cabbages & Condoms.)

Games with HTML5, Canvas and JS

Mattias — 19th January 2010

Browser games doesn't necessarily mean Flash anymore. Get lined up for HTML5 and the canvas!

Google Chrome, as well as Safari 4 and Firefox 3.5, supports the new web coding standard of HTML5. The most noticeable changes for a non-technical user will be the <canvas> tag which will allow the browser to directly use the graphic processor (think Flash without Flash"think Flash without Flash"). As an example, this can be used to be able to view a video without having Flash installed or handle sprites, a core component of game development. There is also true drag-and-drop support (oooh!).

Sure, all of this does not sound impressive. Well, frankly it isn't. Web development has always been hindered by the slow rate that users get their browsers updated and the need for backwards compatibility.

But that doesn't stop creative developers from trying to push the boundaries of what the browser can do. Check out some of these nice games developed with this technology.

Before you do, make sure your browser is up-to-date - if your browser icon is a blue "e" you might want to slip into something more comfortable...

Games developed in HTML 5, Canvas and JavaScript
Another World JS
Impressive and faithful clone of this classic game (also known as Out of this World).

Twitch
One-click browser window game. Clever (and more fun than it sounds).

Chain Reaction
Click once. Get points. Second try. Click again. Get more points. Get addicted. Sit there clicking and swearing for the rest of the day. Don't say we didn't warn you.

Crystal Galaxy
Experimental 2D space shooter game demo with quirky controls, developed using a pure JavaScript / DHTML game engine.

Why not develop your own game?
If you want to try out game development with Canvas and HTML 5 yourself, Matthew Casperson has written a nice tutorial on game development with HTML5, Canvas and JS over at Brighthub.

Update for Ad-Aware Game Edition released

Mattias — 10th December 2009

A new update (8.1.3) for Ad-Aware Game Edition is now available.

You can get the update by hitting "Update" in your Game Edition, there is no need to reinstall the software.

What's changed in version 8.1.3?

Japanese manual was updated
Some text changes in the tray application relating to Game Mode
Improved in-product messaging

Continuity - Great Flash Puzzler

Mattias — 5th December 2009

The simple, yet elegant new Flash puzzler Continuity has captivated us.

Similar to critically acclaimed indie games like Braid and the soon-to-be-released VVVVVV, Continuity is a new Flash platform puzzler that twists the game medium and requires you to think outside of the box - literally.

The guys behind this gem of a student project is Ragtime Games: Elias Holmlid, Dmitri Kurteanu, Guy Lima Jr. and Stefan Mikaelsson - all students of Chalmers University of Technology and Gothenburg University.

Graphics may be sparse (by choice) but the puzzle design is rock-solid and the use of two modes for the background music is extremely creative.

So the only question that remains is: when will the MMO hit the shelves? ;)

Our advice for the weekend: Play Continuity

The Electronic Playground

Wolfa — 4th December 2009

Ever felt a strong connection to movie characters playing games?

When I was a kid I admit that my movie and cultural taste could easily be won. Basically, any crappy movie could be saved with a 2 second long clip of a cool arcade game. I remember, for instance, watching WarGames and going berserk when Matthew Broderick is seen playing Galaga. That made the movie for me (talking computers helped as well). And let's not forget about the Wizard...

Anyhow, if you ever feel the urge to find out what games John Conner is playing in Terminator 2 (the image), head over to the Electronic Playground, which has a "games featured in movies"-database. Kind of like imdb.com, only much more useful.

TrackMania Nations Forever

Wolfa — 30th November 2009

TrackMania Nations Forever (TMNF) is a neat, free, racing game. Forget about “Need For Speed”, “Forza” and “Gran Turismo” before you start this game though. It's not about super-realistic gear shifting and how many collision rays you can fit in one game. Ever played Stunts (or 4D Sports Driving as it is known in some countries) back in the old days when you could keep the polygon count on your left hand? TMNF is about crazy jumps, building your own tracks and, of course, the competition"TMNF is about crazy jumps, building your own tracks and, of course, the competition".

TrackMania is a racing series that has been in the heat since 2003, developed by Nadeo. In 2006 they released a free version that was supposed to promote the Electronic Sports World Cup as one of the events, TrackMania Nations (TMN). The game was basically a stripped version of the former games. There was only one car model available and one kind of scenery (stadium, compared to desert, snow etc.). It contained 100 single player tracks, ranging from beginner difficulty to pro. However, it was called a multiplayer game, since there were online scoreboards and you could download ghost cars from other players.

The problem with TMN was not in the game, but what came with the game. It is called StarForce. StarForce is a software copy protection mechanism developed by Protection Technology. The software was installed with the game (even though it was free!) and was set to run on your computer even when you were not playing. When you uninstalled the game, however, StarForce was left, still running in the background"When you uninstalled the game, however, StarForce was left, still running in the background", on your computer. As if that wasn't bad enough, the software itself was pretty unstable and was said to cause a lot of computer crashes and hangs. In 2006, the popular blog Boing Boing called StarForce malware, claiming that it to degraded disk drive performance and weakened the security of the operative system.

In April 2008 , TMNF was released, without any borderline copy protection and with multiplayer support. However, compared to other racing games, the competitors' cars act like ghost cars (so you can drive through them). This may feel strange at first, but when the difficulty level starts to increase, you realize how hard it would be if those other 30 cars could bump you off the track. Still, you can follow the other players' cars and see how they take on that impossible left-turn-screw-jump.

And, I'm proud to say, in the last World Cyber Games (which ended November 15 of this year), Sweden, home of Lavasoft headquarters, not only come in second place in medal count but managed to take both Gold (Jesper Karjalainen aka KarjeN) and Silver (Kalle Mortlund Videkull aka FrostBeule) in TMNF. Way to go guys!

Go get the free racing game!

Dreamhack, the world's largest LAN party

Kalle — 27th November 2009

Dreamhack, the world's largest LAN party, opened it's doors for around 10,000 attendees yesterday in J�nk�ping, Sweden.

Over the last couple of years things have really changed at Dreamhack. When I was there five years ago, people were just playing games, now e-sports is growing into the new "cool" thing. This year SVT (Swedish Public Service Television) is even covering the event, which they will send live today at 14:00 CET. The finals of today will be Quake, 21:15 and Street Fighter 22:30, and tomorrow WOW, 19:00 and Counter Strike, 22:00.

Having arranged Starcraft tournaments here at Lavasoft, we would have loved to be there to try out the preview of Starcraft II, but unfortunately we have to work. If you are at Dreamhack, please try it for us and leave a comment below, and remember �4.8, you may not sleep under the table :P.

New game - Monster Ball

7th January 2010

Monster Ball is a turn based strategy game with the simplicity of checkers without getting as complex (*ehm* and boring) as chess - chinese checkers on steroids.

Fight to dominate the bedroom floor in the most intense and humorous turn based game of the year.
The game has two game modes - annihilation and capture the base.
Battle on more than 10 different maps in full 3d glory, and download additional maps free of charge.
Tons of special tiles to help you (or not!) to achieve victory in the most humorous way possible.
Single player, Head-to-head or competitive online multiplayer action!
Unlockable trophies for obliterating your foes in amusing ways.
Online multiplayer is compatible between iPhone, PC and Mac version!

New game - Harvest: Massive Encounter

27th November 2009

Construct buildings, gather resources and prevent the alien horde from destroying your base!

Harvest: Massive Encounter is the award-winning real-time strategy game from Oxeye Game Studio. Build power plants, mineral harvesters and defense towers and make sure they have sufficient energy to fend off endless hordes of evil aliens. The game offers a vast array of possible strategies with these simple rules, and will compel you to try new and better base designs every time.

Your objective is simple: Stay alive for as long as possible. Compete on the extensive online high-score lists, form player groups that battle against other groups, or simply try to beat your own record on each of the game's planets. With two scores to beat, three planets to explore and four high-score enabled game modes, you will have a lot to do!

Survival Real-Time Strategy Game with Epic Proportions
Unique Resource Management that Requires Planning and Creative Thinking
Beautiful Rendered 2D Graphics
Five Game Modes Ranging from Relaxed to Insane
Three Worlds with New Challenges and Discoveries
Ten Distinct Enemy Alien Types
Five Building Types with Unique Abilities
Extensive Online High-scores
More than 45 Achievements to Unlock!
Mod Support for Scripts Written in Lua

Ad-Aware Game Edition on YouTube

Mattias — 18th November 2009

Wanna know more about the features of Ad-Aware Game Edition? Then watch this YouTube video!

Patrick from the Customer Experience department here at Lavasoft has created an awesome video walkthrough for our newly released Ad-Aware Game Edition.

Why is it awesome? Because it includes:
* An overview of Ad-Aware Game Edition
* The Game and Fantasy skins and how to change between them
* The "falling bomb" sound
* Irish

And now, the video in all its glory:

Final Fantasy XIV = token security

Mattias — 16th November 2009

The next big Japanese MMORPG will continue to rely on physical security devices, for better and worse.

In the wake of the crazy hype that surrounds Final Fantasy XIII with its recently announced US and EU release date of March 9, it is easy to forget that the MMORPG Final Fantasy XIV is also scheduled for release in 2010 (the exact date hasn't been announced yet).

FF XIV is the sequel to Final Fantasy XI, the first MMORPG released by RPG giant Square Enix. FF XI has had a steady following in Asia since its release in 2002, and given the vast amount of Final Fantasy fans in the world, the FF XIV looks like a guaranteed success and will surely attract enough players to be a very profitable revenue stream for Square Enix.

However, a large user base also provides enough incentive for malware creators to write custom keyloggers and other forms of malware, specifically targeted to extract password credentials for one particular game.

Square Enix' attempt to reduce the malware threat against Final Fantasy XI was to release a physical device that you used to log in to your account, a security token. Similar devices has long been used by banks and provide fairly reliable security but at the price of a less smooth experience for the user. Unfortunately, physical devices also suffers from other problems such as running out of battery or simply getting lost.

For better or worse, Square Enix has announced that Final Fantasy XIV will use the same kind of security tokens as its predecessor. At least it is one more reason to get one of those awesome Final Fantasy key rings.

Cave Story

Wolfa — 14th November 2009

Dōkutsu Monogatari, as it is known in Japan, is one rare gem and probably one of the best games I have ever played. It is an action-adventure platformer, and even though it is free, Cave Story outclasses Super Metroid and Contra"Cave Story outclasses Super Metroid and Contra". Released in 2004 with a development time of 5 years(!) by Daisuke Amaya, aka Pixel (visit his personal page). It looks and plays like a game on the old Nintendo 8-bit system.

It all starts with you, a super deformed little manga boy, waking up in a cave, without any memory. You'll jump around and explore the cave. It feels very strange to start with. You do not really know where to go, what to do or what the actual game is about, or even what the gameplay is about. But it won't take long until the mystery starts to unfold.

You'll get a gun. There are a total of nine weapons to find through the game. Each weapon can get experience, from golden pyramids that falls out of the enemies you destroy, and level up. Leveling usually gives the weapon a better focus on what it is best at (think spread weapon gets wider spread angle) and do more damage. But each level usually adds A LOT of it. Some weapons can be close to useless, get one level, and they become weapons of mass destruction. There is a catch though, whenever you take damage your active weapon loses experience. The higher the level of the weapon the more experience it loses. If you max a gun and take a tiny hit, be prepared to lose that hard earned last level.

You will also meet up with a rabbit-like people, the mimigas, and learn about the new threat they are facing. I do not want to spoil more of the story, but let me say there is a lot of it, and it is good! Some scenes are played out with animations but mostly you dwell deeper into your past and the cave world by talking to other characters.

Be prepared to die. The difficulty curve always goes up. It becomes really hard in the later stage of the game, but the controls are good enough to make you feel that it is actually your skills that lacks rather than the limitations of what your avatar can do.

And Cave Story is free!"And Cave Story is free!" And there are ports to all major operative systems: Windows, Mac, Linux, Nintendo DS, PSP and there is a redux coming out soon for the Wii on Nintendo's WiiWare. So if you have not heard of this game, there is really no reason for you not to grab it!

Best Gaming Podcasts - EpicBattleAxe

Question Mark — 10th November 2009

After reading Mattias' blog on Idle Thumbs I decided to weigh in on this podcast battle with my choice for best gaming podcast.

EpicBattleAxe's self proclaimed mission "To cut through the crap to deliver the gaming news you really want" is exactly what they do week in and week out.

The three-strong team of TheAxeWielder - Daniel Kayser, VikingBrent - Brent Adams and EpicBattleCaster - Tony "GriceMan" Grice deliver a show so different to any other. Yes, they do cover the same games and industry news as all the other podcasts in the genre, but their passion for not waxing lyrically about how bad a game, games company or publisher is, makes for a highly refreshing and very entertaining listen.

This passion for reporting and Brent Adams and Tony Grice's feigned dislike for Daniel Kayser (at least I think it's feigned) make every episode a must-listen.

Get the podcast:
http://epicbattleaxe.com/

Sunday Service is back!

Mattias — 9th November 2009

Our favorite game music request radio show is back!

If you like good music - and with good music we of course mean C64 SID tunes and game soundtracks - you probably already know of SLAY Radio (http://www.slayradio.org) - one of the premiere sites of game music on the interwebz.

The station features both a constant stream of game music as well as multiple hosted shows (including BBB hosted by Boz, a Lavasoft employee and star of Internet phenomenon Mastering Swedish).

My personal favorite show is Sunday Service, which features a highly skilled musician (Reyn Ouwehand) that takes requests for game tunes and then plays them live in the style requested by the listeners. With clever use of looping and a room (in a church!) full of instruments, the result is simply magic.

New episodes of the show comes out very sporadically, with the first show since June being aired yesterday. Check it out!

Taterf worm still plaguing MMORPGs

Mattias — 5th November 2009

The worm Taterf is still going strong, infecting over 4.9 million gamers in six months, according to BBC and Microsoft.

Taterf is a password-sniffing worm targeted at MMORPGs such as World of Warcraft and Lineage, that records and steals passwords for financial gain without the gamer knowing about it.

"It's all about the login credentials", says Cliff Evans - head of security at Microsoft UK.

He's right.

Getting that password sniffed sends you spinning in that downward spiral that Yoda tried to warn you about:

Leaked login credentials lead to account breach.
Account breach leads to your equipment getting sold off.
Losing your equipment leads to anger, hate and ragequitting WoW.

Don't be the naked guy on your server, use protection.

Best Gaming Podcasts - Idle Thumbs

Mattias — 5th November 2009

Idle Thumbs is (soon was) one of the funniest and best podcasts out there. Period.

When listening to Idle Thumbs you get that feeling that you are really listening to a few of your funniest, most insightful friends discussing your favorite topic. The occasional swearing fits right in with that relaxed atmosphere. Plus they have one of the catchiest intro tunes ever to set the mood for the podcast.

The experienced crew of Idle Thumbs (Chris Remo, Jake Rodkin, Nick Breckon plus friends and guests) know and love their games. Highly recommended if you love games too!

Unfortunately, it looks like episode 50 will be the last one so hurry to get your podcast while it's still fresh or listen through their extensive library of past episodes.

Check out the podcast:
http://www.idlethumbs.net/

Peggle Review

Wolfa — 11th November 2010

Peggle is an action puzzler with a colorful mix of Break Out and Puzzle Bubble.

At first I was skeptical to Peggle, I would not try it until a friend of mine recommended it to me. It reminded me of one of those games were you drop a metal ball into a standing board, it will bounce around and then fall into a hole which giving you a total score. I must say that I was not totally wrong, Peggle still reminds me of that, but it is a lot more fun to play.

The idea is: with a cannon on top of the screen you have to shoot all orange blocks on the level with a set number of balls. There are several ways you can earn extra balls, for instance, you can get a certain amount of points in one shot or hit a moving platform in the bottom of the screen with the ball. There are 10 characters you can choose to play with that give you an extra power. You can activate their power by hitting a green block with you ball (there are usually two in each level). The powers differ a lot but they are a bit unbalanced. All of them come in handy when you play the single player campaign game, but when you duel the computer or a friend, picking the wrong character will make you lose the game.

Yes, there are several game modes: the single player campaign, a challenge mode and a duel mode. The challenge mode is levels from the campaign, only varied in some way. The challenge ranges from a simple duel with the computer to that you have to beat the level with one ball only. The duel mode pits you against the computer or a friend, hot-seat. In this mode you do not actually have to finish the level, it is all up to the scores you get.

I love Peggle. It is a neat game that I can play whenever I have a couple of minutes over or when I get the cravings for circular collision estimation. It is a really solid game with a very polished finish. There is details and effects that still makes me smile, and I have never had any hang or likewise with it (which is always nice the days). You may question some of the trick shot awards, and some of the levels are really hard, but that is about it. I only wish there was an infinitive mode, like Tetris, I tend to enjoy that kind of stuff.

Two thumbs up for Peggle!!

ShieldPowerUp.com - Why, What, How?

Mattias — 3rd November 2009

ShieldPowerUp.com - the Clank to Ad-Aware Game Edition's Ratchet - just went live!

First the What:
ShieldPowerUp.com is the official companion website for Ad-Aware Game Edition, a security software application developed by Lavasoft. ShieldPowerUp.com is fully operated and maintained by Lavasoft.

Then the Why:
When we looked at how we would present Ad-Aware Game Edition to the world, putting it up on www.lavasoft.com next to Business Edition felt a bit like the PC and Mac commercials - rather weird for both parties. But on the other hand, we *really* didn't want to do a "tongue-in-cheek", Flash-based launch site that would be left to die two weeks after the launch, roaming the web like a zombie taking a wrong turn out of Left 4 Dead.

So in the end we decided:
If there would be any point to creating a separate site, we needed to find a way to provide long-lasting value to the customer and visitor. So that is what we did.

And now the How:

Protection made for gamers - Ever gotten one of those annoying popups just as the Mutalisks starts picking off your SCVs? We sure have, that why we saw the need for a Game Edition of Ad-Aware. Game Edition handles all your events and notifications while you are playing and informs you after you're done instead. It's keeping your system safe without slowing it down. If life was Team Fortress 2, we'd be happy to be your Medic.
Free games - We have worked hard at getting some sweet deals in place so we can provide you with award-winning games free of charge together with your purchase of Ad-Aware Game Edition. So get yourself some free Peggle, Bejeweled 2 or Ranch Rush when you pick up Ad-Aware Game Edition. Priced at only $24.95, we think that getting full-blown protection together with a kick-ass, 20-dollar game is pretty sweet value indeed.
The ShieldPowerUp Blog - Now, we will never be first with breaking news about games - that's what you have Joystiq, Kotaku or 1Up for. But we will give you our honest opinions as gamers and share our knowledge on how you can stay safe online so you can concentrate on your stuff and let us worry about protecting you.

New game - Peggle

20th November 2009

Ready, aim... bounce! Clear the orange pegs from 55 fanciful levels as 10 whimsical teachers guide you toward Peggle greatness. Wield mystifying Magic Powers, rack up huge bonus points and make shots you'll smile about for weeks. Amidst all this fevered action, only one question remains: Can you become a Peggle Master?

It's an epic blend of luck and skill that msnbc.com calls one of the "Top 5 most addicting games of all time!"

New game - Bejeweled 2

2nd November 2009

Play the sequel to the classic gem-swapping puzzler! New features include 4 entrancing play modes and explosive new gems. With amazing planetary backdrops and 3D-accelerated special effects, Bejeweled 2 is dazzling everyone.

A mode for every mood: Classic, Action, Puzzle or Endless
Create explosive jewels: Power Gems, Hyper Cubes and time bombs
Rise up the ranks and save your high score
Can't quite spot that next match? Use hints-on-demand for a quick tip!

New game - Ranch Rush

27th November 2009

Cash in on crops, tend your animals and rack up trophies in this exciting race to turn 3 acres into a thriving ranch!

80 Challenging Levels
2 Modes of Game Play
20 Trophies to win
4 Clever Upgrades
4 Animals to tend
Bountiful crops to harvest
Machines to make jam, bread and more!
Plus, Farmer's Market Mini Games!