Motocross videogames are far and in between and I’m glad to see that Black Bean Games has taking on the genre with their newly released MUD FIM Motocross World Championship game for Playstation 3, Xbox 360, and PC. Without a doubt the game looks absolutely gorgeous and provides the a great mix of racing and unique Unique trick battles.

Milan, 4th May 2012 – Youthstream, Milestone and Black Bean Games are pleased to announce that MUD FIM Motocross World Championship is now available in stores for PlayStation®3, Xbox360® and entertainment systems for Microsoft and Windows PC.

MUD FIM Motocross World Championship is the only videogame that exclusively features the FIM MX1 and MX2 World Championships, as well as the amazing Monster Energy FIM Motocross of Nations, which is a massive and internationally recognised worldwide motocross annual event, in which the top riders of the world race for their country to obtain the highly prestigious Chamberlain Trophy. With teams made up of the top three riders from each country, this is a season ending challenge that features only the very best stars of the motocross world.

To help tempt you into grabbing MUD FIM Motocross World Championship, check out the video below featuring the new trick battle feature.

Justin:

After graduating in May 2007, none of us were really sure what form the show would take. Instead of the cushy, padded recording booth in the CWRU library, we would suddenly be chatting through Skype with hundreds of miles between us. Luckily, we were in it for the long haul. We rebranded ourselves as The Rumble Pack — Kaz’s non-copyright-infringing suggestion, I believe — brought Tony on board and here we are now.

There have been a few bumps along the way; my year in China, Tony’s first year of medical school and of course Nick’s new Sony gig all come to mind. Even so, the inside jokes, gaming anecdotes and crappy movies have made our weekly gatherings worth all of the hassles. If nothing else, the past 200 episodes have provided countless memories, and below, we share some of our favorites with you.

Tom: One of my favorite Rumble memories is kind of a cop-out — it doesn’t include the entire cast and it didn’t even happen while recording an episode. However, the feat detailed herein is too heroic to remain untold. Consider it a Rumble side quest.

King Tony and I had decided to attend a local meet known as the Cleveland Classic Console & Arcade Gaming Show for the first time after hearing about it in a local newspaper; to call the event a “show” would be erroneous. After arriving and paying our $3 entry fee we were shepherded into a room at a local VFW containing long tables stacked end to end with merchandise. Each table was what you secretly hope for whenever you stop for a garage sale in an unknown neighborhood: the chance to buy someone’s shattered childhood dreams for pennies on the dollar. Instead of typical garage sale fare like baby clothes and worn-out shoes, the treasures we found must have come from some dethroned supernerd’s coffers. Arcade marquees, game carts in all shapes and sizes, posters and pretty much every cheap piece of plastic to ever have a mustachioed plumber’s face grace its surface were all available. Pale, bearded men stood wringing their sweaty hands behind each table ready to haggle away this precious nostalgic cargo. And haggle they would…

However, there is something just stupefying about this one. A group of very (very) dedicated Minecrafters have set about recreating Tolkien’s Middle-earth—albeit on a reduced scale—and have led Jesse Cox of OMFG for episode 6 of Outside the Blocks on a partial tour of everything they have so far, which is everything from the Shire to Moria (check out minute 33) and it’s all totally impressive.

Even though it’s incomplete, you’ll notice that what the group has finished is massive. Around minute 27, you can see the incredibly expansive Weather Hills that lead up to Rivendell which, as stated in the video, was all done before mods and tools had been created for Minecraft. That means every single block was placed there by hand.

The MME group does tours and videos every once in a while (or, rather, whenever they finish a major milestone), so check out their website and join if you feel like you have the time, passion, and/or insanity.

via Kotaku

Raptr has unveiled their new website and the site has a bunch of new features for you to take a look at. One thing in particular we would like you to take a look at is the Platform Nation page once everything is up and running you will be able to submit P*N content to our page on Raptr. Now the site is still updating and soon you will be able to simply copy a URL from your favorite article on P*N and add it to Raptr, think of the new Raptr’s site as a mix of Facebook meets N4G.

Raptr Homepage

Raptr homepage for logged-out users. New users simply provide at least one piece of information about the games they like, or their gaming identity, ie. Xbox Gamertag, PSN ID, or Steam ID. Raptr then creates a personalized experience based on the info the user gives.

Raptr Dashboard
The logged-in user’s home page. No two dashboards are the same, as content and user activity are unique to each person. This is the default landing page for all registered users, and contains timely, personalized content based on the user’s gaming activity as well as relevance of the content as filtered through our algorithm. In addition, the dashboard provides suggested games that a user may also find interesting as well.

Raptr Game Page
This is where users can find info about and follow a game. While the dashboard showcases the hottest stories from a mix of gaming content, each gaming page will showcase any post submitted for that specific game. The community can submit, vote and comment on each story from here as well.

Here is more about the new Raptr platform:

Raptr to Rollout New Platform to Over Eight Million Users

San Francisco – May 26, 2011 – Raptr, the leading social network for gamers, has launched a social news platform, adding a significant new dimension to its popular service. The milestone expansion will enable users to submit stories that are then voted on by the community and automatically targeted based on a person’s gaming profile and gameplay activity. The evolved Raptr goes live today with its more thaneight million user base at http://raptr.com.

“At Raptr we’re reinventing the way people stay connected and informed about the games they care about”, said Dennis Fong, CEO of Raptr. “We’re excited by the launch of the new community-driven website because it builds upon the success of our existing service and provides a new way to discover and share content.”

Raptr now intelligently delivers the most relevant content based on the games and platforms you own, your recent gameplay, and what your friends are sharing. Raptr also helps players discover additional content by determining your gaming preferences, such as gaming genres, developers, and publishers that interest you. Users can submit and share a mix of content including news, videos, screenshots, status updates, and reviews.

Today, Raptr’s full feature set includes:

Personalized news feed
Community-curated content
Expanded topics to include all things related to gaming
Suggestion engine to help you discover new games
Automatic gameplay and achievements tracker on PC, Xbox 360 and PS3
Centralized buddy list and friend tracker
In-game chat and web browsing for PC games

More than eight million people already use Raptr to track their gameplay and connect with their friends across PC, console, and web games. Raptr tracks more than 23 million gaming sessions and over abillion minutes of gameplay each month, providing users real-time insight into what’s hot in gaming.

About Raptr
Created by a world-class team led by CEO and founder Dennis Fong (co-founder of Xfire, Lithium, and Gamers.com), the award-winning Raptr service provides gamers with a central location to connect with both friends and the games they play. Since 2007, Raptr has raised more than $27 million in funding from investors Accel Partners, Founder’s Fund, DAG Ventures, and Tenaya Capital.

For more information about Raptr, please visit http://raptr.com.

Be sure to follow Platform Nation’s page on Raptr and help make P*N the most popular community on their site and be sure to post P*N’s awesome content, it is as easy as copying the URL from your favorite article on P*N and pasting it in the Submit a Link box on Raptr.

Title: Action Comics 900
Publisher: DC
Writer: Paul Cornell, Richard Donner, David Goyer, more
Artist: Pete Woods, Jesus Merino, Dan Jurgens, Norm Rapmund, more
Colors: Brad Anderson, Blond, Ryan Sook, more
Letters: Rob Leigh, John J. Hill
Release Date: 04/27/11
Price: $5.99

900 issues is a hell of a milestone. Especially when compared to today’s comic book world where a new series is lucky if it reaches issue 8 before it’s cancelled. It is a testament to the quality and popularity of Superman. Issue 900 celebrates Superman’s legacy while at the same time adding to it. I’ll be honest, Superman isn’t my favorite character. I’ve never disliked Superman but the character never drew me in. I started reading Action Comics when Paul Cornell took over and the series focused on Lex Luthor’s quest for power. Action Comics 900 is the conclusion of that quest for power and it marks Superman’s return to the book after his hiatus. After the main story of the comic concludes there are some great short stories that further explore the character.

Spoilers abound in the coming paragraphs so watch out!

Paul Cornell’s run on Action Comics has been fantastic. Lex Luthor is an extremely interesting character and his staring role let Cornell explore many of the DC Universe’s villains. During DC’s last big event Lex Luthor got his hands on a Power Ring like Green Lantern’s. Unlike a Green Lantern ring though, Lex’s ring was fueled by his avarice. After Lex’s ring was taken away he became desperate to regain the power he held for just a few precious moments. In issue 900 he succeeds in gaining near limitless power. Of course, the first thing he has to do is confront his most hated enemy, Superman.

Instead of Luthor using his new power to simply fight Superman though, he tries to break his enemy’s will. Luthor makes Superman relive all of his greatest failures. It helps if you know your Superman history. Some of the things Lex shows Superman I had no idea about. Lex wants to torture Superman with his failures and at the same time prove that Superman doesn’t feel like a real human being feels. How could someone who has traveled the universe, defeated titans, and save planets thousands of times feel sadness over something as small as a person dying. Lex’s plan backfires though. It reinforces the fact that Superman, despite his immense power, is just as human as the rest of us. Superman isn’t some smug alien who thinks he better than us. He cares about everyone. Superman was given amazing powers and he uses them every day to save people. He doesn’t want fame or money or anything in return. He does it because it’s the right thing to do. Lex can’t understand that. Eventually Lex snaps and tries to simply kill Superman with his limitless power.

Before Lex can destroy Superman though, the source of his power becomes sabotaged. Lex is left with a very interesting choice. I won’t spoil that choice or his decision, you’ll have to read the book to find out.

Alongside this main story celebrating Superman’s character and exploring his past, there is the set up to Superman’s next adventure. Nearly every other person that wears the Superman “S” on their chest has been rounded up and imprisoned with the greatest physical threat Superman has ever faced; Doomsday. After Superman deals with Lex he rushes to find his friends. When he finally reaches the place where they’re imprisoned he finds something that could kill them all. Doomsday has been cloned and modified to be even deadlier than before. The next story arc in Action Comics will be the Reign of Doomsday. It’s a nice contrast to have Lex, Superman’s greatest mental threat and Doomsday, Superman’s great physical threat back to back.

After the main story there are a few short stories. I liked every single one of them. They show the many sides of Superman’s character. His relationship with Lois, his universe spanning adventures, his job as a superhero. There has been a controversy about one of the stories. In the story titled ” The Incident,” Superman renounces his US citizenship. Just reading the headline “Superman renounces US citizenship!” doesn’t give you the proper context for his actions. Superman goes to Iran and peacefully protests with Iranian citizens. His actions are thought of as an act of war by the Iranian government because of his US citizenship. Superman wants to help everyone and he doesn’t want anyone to get dragged into his battles. Renouncing his citizenship will let him do what he thinks is right anywhere in the world without any red tape. This makes perfect sense to me. Renouncing his citizenship is not a slam on the United States. Superman belongs to the world.

After reading this issue and just finishing All Star Superman for the first time, I am ready to admit I was wrong about Superman not being an interesting character. With Superman you can tell anything from an epic space opera to a night out with the wife. You can tell a story about how human an alien can be or how someone with the power of a God deals with everyday life. As long as writers like Paul Cornell keep this level of quality, I will keep buying Action Comics. I know issue 900 is a little late to jump on board but I’m now a Superman fan.

Rating: 9/10

Via Joystiq

TheHunter, the online PC hunting game acclaimed for its realism and vast hunting environments has now more than 500 000 registered players, announced Expansive Worlds, developer and publisher of the game.

“We’re proud to have reached this milestone together with our extremely dedicated community of players” said Stefan Pettersson, CEO at Expansive Worlds. “This is just the beginning, this year will bring the most extensive additions to the game yet as well as exciting partnerships with the hunting industry.”

Since debuting in 2009, theHunter has been continuously developed with new content and features added on a regular basis. The game is free to play with additional content available through membership or purchases using virtual currency.

For further information and to play the game, please visit the game’s official website at www.thehunter.com.

Ever wanted to feel the thrill of the hunt but the thought of actually stepping foot into the woods terrifies you say hello to The Hunter online. Will you become one of the more then 500, 000 players that have so to say bitten the bullet? Originally in 2009 when I first tried the game I did not find much enjoyment in what they had to offer. Now with some time behind the title it would be nice to see how things have changed with some patches and fixes.

In this episode, we talk about Bulletstorm, Marvel vs. Capcom 3, Dead Space 2, You Don’t Know Jack, the New Halo: Reach Maps, Blizzard’s Plans for the Future, the PS2′s Big Milestone, the Jersey Shore, the Knicks, The Mechanic, Survivor, We Answer Your Listener Mail and More!

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Game Review: Gamestar Mechanic
Release: October 2010
Genre: Adventure / Educational
Developer: E-Line Media / Institute of Play
Available Platforms: Web Browser Based
Players: 1
MSRP: Free
Premium Membership: $5.95 US / Month
ESRB Rating: Not Rated
Website: www.GamestarMechanic.com

So your kid wants to be a game designer.  Where does one start?  If this is on your mind, or the mind of any “tween” you know, send them (and yourself) to check out Gamestar Mechanic where the basics of game design can be explored – for free.  Keeping the emphasis on design instead of programming allows Gamestar Mechanic to be fun and inviting to children.

As the character Addison, you enter the world of Factory 7 – where game designers rule – and where trouble is afoot.  An elite game designer has stolen rare and precious sprites and gone rogue!  You (Addison) are looking to join the League of Game Mechanics and partner with each of the Schools of Game Design to develop the skills you will need to catch the thief, recover the sprites and save Factory 7 from those trying to destroy the gaming way of life!  And thus the first quest “Addison Joins the League” begins.

The quests are presented in anime-steampunk comic-book panels with simple animation.  It’s nicely done and lends to the site being mainly for children.  As the player proceeds through the story there are mini-games that have to be completed.  These vary from top-view style games to side scrollers but stop short of getting into 3D rendering or modelling.  They are all “flat” sprite based games that feel a bit retro in style but make a wonderful foundation for learning design.

Each mini-game serves a purpose in teaching game design and acts as a milestone to earn components (sprites) that can be used later to build your own games.  For example, one of the early games is just as simple as walking through a simple maze to make sure the path from the entrance to the exit can be traversed.  The reward for completing 3 levels of this mini-game is the sprite used to create the walls and barriers in a level.  I found the approach of “you must learn how a thing works before we let you have it” a refreshing and motivating approach or building a library of sprites.  This assures you will know the purpose, usage, and pitfalls of each element available to you for your own designs.

Don’t expect to jump right in and start throwing game levels together.  Until the first five levels (chapters) are completed, constructing a game isn’t even an option.  The focus is on learning what each sprite does, planning a level and even learning to spot design mistakes in levels and fixing them (such as walls making some treasures uncollectable).  Once able to access the workshop, your games that you have designed can be played by friends and family.  The icing on the cake is that the entire experience can be managed via a parent account.

I found the site to be a great introduction to the thought processes behind designing video games as well as an entertaining adventure with an age appropriate storyline.  For a second opinion, I went to a member of the target audience, my fifteen year old son, Dakota.

Dakota has expressed interest in game design for several years.  It began with level editors in games like Halo 3 and learning what works and what doesn’t through trial and error.  He soon moved into working with the Doom engine and creating levels for a retro PC game, Chex Quest, to play online with his friends.  (There really is an underground fan base for this FPS based on Chex cereal.)  So, he’s a little farther along than a beginner (he has done some fantastically elaborate levels for Halo and Doom) but still within the target age.  Dakota had this to say about his time with Gamestar Mechanic.

“Gamestar Mechanic is a neat online game and a good start for those who want to have more insight on the structure of games. The game has a Quest mode in which for every few (or so) levels, you earn a sprite.  It can either be a playable character for your game, an enemy, piece of scenery, etcetera, in which you can go into the workshop and create your own games with. The quest was quite fun, as were the additional bonus levels in which one can earn more sprites.

When creating games in the Workshop, you can choose whether the game has a Top-Down Perspective, or if it has a Platformer (Side-Scroller) Perspective.  As far as enemies go, you can edit their properties, and modify how much damage they deal, how much health they have, their paths and speeds.  You can also choose what type of character you control with settings for jumping or shooting, as well as the health and the speed levels.

Overall, Gamestar Mechanic is a good place for one to start if they want to know more about creating video games.” – Dakota Forbis

Gamestar Mechanic and its “Play, Design, Share” concept is the brain child of Eric Zimmerman who wrote the original proposal in 2006.  With generous funding from the MacArthur Foundation, the project originally called “Game Designer” became a reality, finally launching in October 2010.  The project survived the closing of Zimmerman’s GameLab (Creator of Diner Dash) and is now in the watchful hands of the Institute of Play, also founded by Zimmerman and his GameLab partner, Peter Lee.   These are some seriously creative people, working on new ways of combining play and learning, and Gamestar Mechanic is a shining example of how entertainment and education can be blending into an immersive adventure that can keep children engaged.

While only the first quest of Gamestar Mechanic is free, it is more than enough to show what the game has to offer to children and parents.  Additional quests and features are available to premium members at $5.95 US per month or $49.95 US annually.

Premium subscribers can review data about how others play the games they design.  This allows young designers to see what players find to be fun about the games they create and what may need to be improved.  Additional quests, sprite collections, backdrops and soundtracks are also available only to premium members.

If you have a child or teen – or know one who wants designing video games to be a part of their future, turn them onto Gamestar Mechanic.  It will give them a glimpse of what it takes and who knows, it might just inspire them to pursue a career in gaming to create new and innovative games for all of us to play.