Brick Gamers 26 - Spore

...and that is why Electronic Arts' (EA) latest simulation game, Spore, doesn't have a multi-player option - at least to BrickGamers! Sure it has a quasi/pseudo multi feature, where it interacts with other players creations in the Spore universe, but you don't directly interact with another player - perhaps to avoid the above scenario from happening! Well, not literally maybe, but not many kids are going to be happy being assaulted by the dreaded phallus creatures!

Scrap that, make it their parents aren't going to be happy! We're pretty sure EA doesn't want to be sued! However, they are getting problems from their DRM (Digital Rights Management) issues used in Spore to prevent piracy - so much so it has resulted in the cracked (hacked) version of Spore being available as a torrent to download! Talk about in-your-face protest!

Gaming Is A Skill

A lot of new wannabe gamers think they can be gamers just by buying the best gaming hardware, but the truth is that, all the money in the world can't make you a good gamer if you lack the leet skills to be one. It takes passion to succeed, and many pro gamers are such not because of the hardware they can afford, but because of the time and effort they put into it to become a pro gamer today.

If you want to earn the big bucks and respect pro gamers get, don't start by getting expensive hardware to show off, start by honing your skills in gaming - you can afford the hardware later once you start to make it big. Or, you could always stick to the tried and true hardware you've used that made you a success! Spend the money elsewhere!

For the die-hard gamers who have yet to be recognised, it's good to know rich noobs can be upstaged by your hardcore skills and truly, not always money can buy everything!

Good Games Distract?

There's a certain saying that goes in the gaming community that if the game is good enough, it should distract you from everything else. While this sounds stupidly insane, it's just as stupid if a game is so boring, you get easily distracted by other things too!

So the onus lies on the player to be in control of him or herself - when playing a really good game that can distract you. You know what they say - it's not guns or bullets which kill people - it's people. In this case, the gamer missed his stop!

A Brick is Missing!

Brick Boy Toys (brickboytoys.com.my/forums) Lego Forumers might have noticed the Forum has gone offline - this is because the BBT site itself is temporary off the air. While Brick Gamers manages the Forum, we're not sure why the site itself has gone missing so we're trying to get in touch with Alan of BBT to find out. Till then, hang in there!

Please note that The Malaysian Lego Vignette Contest (a short descriptive Lego assembly focusing on a particular local scene), organised by BG and sponsored by BBT, is still on - we haven't packed up and ran off with the prizes - yet! Just kidding! Stay tuned and we'll update!

The PS3 - Cheap Bluray Player?

You have to admit it, when Sony released the PlayStation 3 (PS3) with Blu-ray Disc (BD) drive, it was more than just a next-generation gaming console, it was also a cheap BD player !

Considering most BD players are more expensive - and they don't play games - this makes the PS3 not only a cheap BD player - it's also offers extra value by being able to play games too!

The PS3 is now available in Malaysia for RM1600 (yeah it's RM1,599 but we all know that it means it's RM1600 but reduced for the psychological effect) with 80GB of hard drive storage (which you can actually upgrade to 120GB - or more - if you know how).

If you didn't know about the recent launch - or go for it to win cash and prizes - you can buy your own "cheap BD player which plays games as well" from Sony shops.

Left 4 Dead Lego billboard

Left 4 Dead is an upcoming zombie game from Valve and this Lego billboard in a Lego City at the recent BrickCon (conference) 2008 in Seattle captured gaming into the world of Lego! The scene is part of a Zombie Apocafest group project - a giant urban zombie apocalypse made from Lego! See more pictures of this game-turned-Lego world on the Left 4 Dead Blog.

Yes, that is a Lego Starbucks cafe you see there!

Source : Brothers Brick

The Working Gamer

If you're like us, chances are you're a working gamer who juggles between work and play. Which means there are times when new games come out (we can think of the upcoming anticipated Fallout 3, and Halloween's Red Alert 3, before the titan StarCraft 2 comes out!) and we have to start sacrificing out work for the later hours of play...in which case...this might happen to you...

Anyone out there guilty of this as well? Anyone anticipating Fallout 3 or Red Alert 3 to have this effect? It goes without saying StarCraft 2 (when it's out depending on Blizzard Entertainment's fancy!) might have this effect!

Open Sesame...anywhere!

Harrison's work will remind the folks who bought Valve's Orange Box about the time they spent running through DIY man-made Portals. The trans-dimensional fun! If you haven't played Portal, try the free (albeit 2D) Flash-based version here. It's about 8MB so it will take some time to load over a slow connection.

Source : Brothers Brick