Tomorrow will mark the 30th Anniversary of the arcade game Pac-Man. In celebration, Google have changed their logo but, instead of the usual way they change the Google logo, to mark the Pac Man anniversary the logo is an “interactive doodle”, aka a playable logo. Yup that’s right, head over to Google.com and you can play Pac-Man from within the logo. The word Google makes up some of the walls you’d find in the traditional game. Senior user experience designer Marcin Wichary worked with Google doodler Ryan Germick to create the finished Google doodle. The game marks the first interactive doodle from the company and features 255 levels, with a 256th kill screen.
Despite being 30 years old and not as advanced as other games such as Halo, Call of Duty etc, it’s still very popular. Over the years, various versions of the game have been released, including Mrs Pac Man and even a Pac Man platformer. Today the game is also available on Apple’s iPhone and iPad amoung other devices. Initially the game was released in Japan by Namco Bandai but, was rejected by the US as the original name was Puck Man and the US were worried that the P “would chip off the cabinet and look like an F”.
I know it’s been a while since I last posted here (sorry) but, this blog post got my attention and I had to share it. A new site has launched allowing girls to sign up for gaming sessions with guys. Sounds fair enough at first, even an idea I’d thought of for GirlGamers but, GameCrush, requires the guys to buy credits to game with you. Each session, or as GameCrush call it a “PlayDate”, lasts for 10 minutes and costs 400 credits, with an option of tipping 100 credits at the end. For 500 points/10 minute session plus tip, will cost ‘players’ $8.25. The money doesn’t all go to the site, with 60% going to the girls.
Currently, Modern Warfare 2, Gears of War 2, GTA IV and Halo 3 are supported on the Xbox 360, or you can also play flash games, such as checkers, pool etc. Would any of you girls sign up for the service, or give it a miss altogether. While it sounds nice to get paid for gaming, I can’t help but feel that, many of the girls may end up with an Xbox Live stalker and no one wants that.
If you’re in the mood to pick up some more games, check out Game online. All purchases between now and the 31st October will be entered into a competition for one winner per day to be picked, to win the whole basket for £5. There will be a draw each day. The winner will receive they’re whole basket for £5 no matter the value. The terms and conditions also don’t state if any product is excluded, meaning you could buy the console you’ve been looking to get now and have a chance of winning it for a fiver!
Or if you’re waiting till pay day, or don’t fancy purchasing anything you can still enter. You can send a postcard into Game, telling them what games you’d get, up to the value of £200 (there isn’t a maximum purchase price) and you’ll be entered into the daily draw.
For a limited time only, a “femme fatale” fightstick is available to purchase from GameShark. The fightstick brings in a pink and white casing along with the ladies of Street Fighter IV. Only 1000 are being made, distributed between the PS3 and Xbox 360. The PS3 will receive 350 while the 360 gets 650. The fightstick will work with most fighting games. The 360 version will also work on PC fighting games that support 360 controllers.
The Femme Fatal fightstick is currently retailing for $159.99 from GameShark.
The competition is over for the Girl Gamers Steam Group avatar and a winner has now been picked from all the entries.
Congrats to .xDizzy whose entry you see below.
Well the time’s come for the winner of the Steam group avatar competition to be decided. All members of the Girl Gamers steam group can vote for their favourite entry. Head on over to the voting thread to make your vote.
We’ve now got our very own group for GirlGamers.co.uk on Steam. You can join the group here.
As the group is new, we’re looking for an avatar for the group and we’re running it as a competition. The competition for an avatar will end June 30th and will be judged by the group members. The winner will receive a game worth £20 ($30).
The competition is being held on GamerStyle.com, where you can submit your entry and view the rules of the competition.
A recent article on the Official Xbox Magazine website has interestingly revealed that videogame girlfriends never seem to make it to the end of a game alive. By the way, if you’re planning on clicking the link to the article, be aware that there are possible spoilers.
It is true though, but why? Why can’t the girlfriend survive to the very end of a game? In most games, if she dies early on, the boyfriend usually goes on a revenge killing spree, taking down anybody who may have been involved in her death…but surely this is getting too reptitive now? A little boring maybe? Is it pointless even having girlfriends in the story if all they’re going to do is die! It would be great if the girlfriend turned out to be some ninja specialist and made sure nobody tried to get the better of her.
What do you think?
‘The Market for Computer and Video Games (MCV)’ recent research has revealed that the average salary for women working in the UK games industry is £33,260 per year, which is £2,000 higher than an average male salary working in the same industry.
Since joining up here and interacting with several other girl gamers, I have learnt that I’m not the only female who can sit and play a game for hours on end and enjoy that feeling of accomplishment when you finally finish a game. It’s common knowledge that the gaming industry and all things game related is a mans world. But what I’m writing about today is how being a girl gamer can sometimes cause problems when playing online. I’ll also be sharing afew of my experiences of being a girl gamer.