133w ago - Today Fire Hose Games Creative Director Eitan Glinert has sent a call out for Slam Bolt Scrappers PSN Beta Testers in Boston.

To quote: How many times have you said to yourself "Self, I wish I could see some of these awesome upcoming indie PlayStation Network titles before their release date"? Today is your lucky day.

You see, we're opening up the Fire Hose Games and extending a personal invitation for you to come by and play Slam Bolt Scrappers before it is released!

Slam Bolt Scrappers is a genuine, bona-fide genre-twisting mash-up of brawling and building where one to four players clash in an all-out brawl while simultaneously creating weapon packed towers that fight alongside them.

Gameplay centers on assembling colored blocks into powerful weaponized turrets while defending against enemy attacks and mobbing creeps. The game presents a deep battle mode with tons of replayability and a fast and frantic co-op campaign filled with deviously charming baddies, epic bosses, and fun, cartoony levels.

Duke it out and crush your enemies in the competitive battle mode by building massive towers of weapons...Or work together as a team to protect Slam Bolt City against hordes...

203w ago - Although the original article is quite dated, we haven't posted on this here yet... so for those who didn't already know:

Similar to Skype, Jajah is a VOIP service which has modified its interface to allow gamers to make calls using the PS3 browser.

According to this report, users will be able to make "free or cheap" phone calls, though the number has to be pre-configured.

To quote: "Jajah now brings free or cheap calling into the living room and away from computers. Initiating a call with Jajah can now be done while lounging in front of the TV with no need to fire up the computer," said Roman Scharf, a Jajah co-founder.

"This means that the whole family, regardless of interests or technological skills, can make cheap or even free calls from their normal home phone."

213w ago - The judge in the much noted Pirate Bay trial could have been biased and a retrial may be issued. According to public radio SR is Judge Tomas Nordström member in several associations treating copyright issues.

To quote: It is my belief that the judge should have resigned from the trial. It is a clear situation of conflict of interests, says attorney Leif Silbersky to public radio SR.

Judge Nordström is a board member the Swedish Association for the Protection of Industrial Property and member in the Swedish Association for Copyright, where other members are Henrik Pontén, Peter Danowsky and Monique Wadsted who all represented copyright owners in the Pirate Bay trial.

The association says to be "a meeting place for qualified discussions on copyright".

I have judged in the trial since I have evaluated that there is no conflict of interests. What is said about my membership in the Swedish Association for Copyright is no ground for conflict of interests. It is an association that shall foster knowledge about copyright and be a place for discussions. I am a member because I want to follow the development...

255w ago - When the PlayStation 3 launched with a $600 price tag for the full 60GB version, many began to question if the price of video game hardware had suddenly gotten a bit out of control. Now, though, the $400 price tag for the PS3 and 360 is far more agreeable, and the Wii retails for an even cheaper price.

Recently, we've seen plenty of evidence to indicate that consumers are having less difficulty with the price of consoles (especially the PS3), but Activision still thinks it's all too expensive.

According to a Times Online interview with Activision CEO Bobby Kotick, one of the world's leading game publishers holds firm to the belief that console price cuts are essential, especially in this economy. He did admit to seeing a "real demographic expansion with the industry's customer base," but at the same time, the cost for running out and picking up a game console is still "prohibitive."

Kotick does add, however, that the game industry tends to do very well in slower economies for the simple fact that more people tend to stay home (it just gets too expensive to go out). This much, the NPD has all but proven in recent months, and games like Grand Theft Auto IV and Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots have helped to spur hardware sales.

But you'll still find plenty of gamers...

257w ago - We didn't even see this one coming, one of the longtime creators of Electronic Arts, Neil Young, has left the company for an "new project." I have never reported about some leaving a company before so I really don't know what to say, I'm kind of at a lost of words right now.

But, anyway just forget about me a lets get back to the story. As I was saying, Neil Young was working at Electronic Arts for about or even more than 11 years.

He worked on games like The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers, following that Young was put in charge of Maxis during the production of Sims 2 before being promoted to vice president and general manager of EA Los Angeles. When in Los Angeles, Young supervised Medal of Honor Airborne and Boom Blox.

"Neil Young has decided to leave EA to manage his own company. Neil is an 11-year EA veteran who has created a lot of great games and many good friendships at EA. We wish him the very best on his new project. Neil will always be welcome at EA."