Adventure

The Godfather II teaser trailer reveals what the next game look like. The art and narration stay true to the classic 1970's movie's style. Ultimately, the goal will be to think and act like a mobsters in the true Godfather tradition. Being a Don requires a lot more smarts than being an average thug, but all that power and prestige generally brings a shortened lifespan with it.

Download the Godfather II HD Teaser Trailer (79 MB)

The newest Saints Row 2 trailer introduces the Sons of Samedi Gang - another rival gang competing against the Saints for power. The Sons of Samedi, led by a violent and sociopathic figure, have the stranglehold on the drug market in Stillwater. In come the Saints to undermine their power.

Download the Saints Row 2 Sons of Samedi Gang HD Trailer (39 MB)

Eidos has announced their participation as the latest publisher to support the Novint Falcon, a controller that claims to give gamers a greater advantage in three-dimensional video games by applying tactile control.

What sort of touch sensations will the Novint Falcon offer Eidos titles? "Simply imagine the feel of sandstone in your palms or the weight of a gun in your hand, and you've got the general idea," writes 1UP. Eidos plans support for Tomb Raider: Legend, Hitman: Blood Money, 25 to Life, Just Cause, BattleStations: Midway, and Kane and Lynch: Dead Men by the end of 2008.

In June, developer Valve announced future Novint Falcon support for The Orange Box, a collection containing Half-Life 2, Half-Life 2: Episodes One and Two, Portal, and Team Fortress 2. The Falcon will reportedly allow gamers to feel the weight of holding different objects with the gravity gun, the recoil of guns, and more.

Gamasutra sister publication Game Developer magazine contains an in-depth look at the making of Penny Arcade Adventures: On the Rain-Slick Precipice of Darkness, the new episodic series from the minds behind the recurring Penny Arcade web comic.

Hothead COO Joel DeYoung wrote the postmortem, which is a fascinating examination of many game development aspects. The piece opens with DeYoung writing that seeing a half-finished Penny Arcade Adventures was quite shocking for Mike 'Gabe' Krahulik and Jerry 'Tycho' Holkins. As a developer, DeYoung was quite used to seeing game assets in a non-complete state; but for the popular comic creators, "it was much more of a shock to see their characters and world in a half-finished state.

Gamasutra hosts an overview of the article, which is recommended for anyone interest in game design.

"Hey," my brother-in-law, Tony, whispered to my brother, Daniel, and myself as we sat, bored, at the "kids" card table during Thanksgiving 2003. "You guys wanna watch some Homestar?"

"Yeah," Daniel whispered back.

"What's Homestar?" I asked.

"Something awesome," Daniel replied, as Tony nodded and said, "Come with me."

After looking around to make sure the rest of our apparently more adult relatives sitting at the "adult table" were too busy refilling their plates or groaning and holding their bellies, we snuck out of the kitchen-dining room and into the adjacent computer room. Tony sat in the office chair and punched in a web address as Daniel and I gathered behind him.

"So what is this?" I asked again as a pasty cartoon character wearing a red shirt and blue propeller-topped hat appeared on the monitor.

"Trust us," Daniel said as Tony navigated to a screen where a squat character wearing boxing gloves and apro wrestling lucha libre mask sat in front of a computer monitor of his own. "You'll love this."

The newest Saints Row 2 trailer takes a break from comparing itself to other games and goes more in-depth on the story, specifically in regards to how the Brotherhood gang fits into the big picture.

Download Saints Row 2 "Brotherhood Gang" HD Trailer

The wait is over, and Strong Bad's Cool Game for Attractive People has finally premiered, ready to grace our screens. Download the first episode demo, entitled Homestar Ruiner, today! The demo let's you play through the tutorial and the first parts of the game.

Download the SBCG4AP: Homestar Ruiner Demo

Sometimes a game is just plain weird. There's no escaping that sometimes you just want to play a game that confuses you to no end. Look at how popular the Metal Gear Solid series is, after all! Stench Mechanics, a new adventure game by cactus, definitely falls into this category. Featuring cactus' minimalist pixel art, surreal and confusing plot, and multiple endings, it's definitely an interesting entry into the freeware adventure game scene. Much like most of cactus' games, it's little more than a concept, but that's not a bad thing. It's very well done for a game made during a casual get together of Scandinavian developers.

[Via IndieGames]

We've been waiting a little while for news on the release of Strong Bad's Cool Game For Attractive People and today developer Telltale Games has announced that the first chapter of the multi-part adventure game will be made available for download on Monday, August 11. The first chapter's title is called Homestar Ruiner and is of course a play on word on Homestar Runner, the name of the web site that first launched the Strong Bad character.

Pre-orders for the game are being taken now on Telltale's web site for $8.95 or you can buy all five chapters for $34.95. The first chapter will see, " . . . Strong Bad's plans to beat the snot out of his rival Homestar Runner backfire, and he ends up with an unwanted houseguest cramping his style. Now he needs to get life back to normal, by any means possible." New chapters will run monthly through December.

Shacknews is reporting that Good Old Games, CD Projekt's digital distribution source for classic PC games, will be delaying its beta, which was supposed to launch on August 1. Additionally, GOG marketing VP Tom Ohle has said that, due to a "huge response to the site announcement," GOG has been forced to rethink its beta plans -- namely, the beta has been changed from closed to open, and should launch in a few weeks.

Though anyone who signed up for the beta will receive access to the GOG site, Ohle is hesitant to confirm whether or not all participants will receive a free game. "We're not sure if we're going to be able to offer everyone in the beta a free game, but ...we're definitely offering everyone who's signed up early access to the site."

GOG is still taking sign-ups for the beta, so if you haven't submitted your email address, do so now -- you'll get beta access at the very least, and possibly a free classic game of your choice.

Big Download recently interviewed Ohle, who divulged a thorough explanation of all that GOG will offer. With its line-up of classics such as Fallout, Fallout 2 and Descent, GOG is still scheduled to launch in September.

NPD has released computer game sales results for the week ending July 26, which you can view after the break. No longer king of the list, Blizzard Entertainment's Diablo Battle Chest has slipped two spots to number six. That's still impressive, considering its contents, those being Diablo, Diablo II and Diablo II: Lord of Destruction, were released in 1997, 2000 and 2001, respectively.

In addition to the sixth spot on NPD's list, Blizzard's World of WarCraft: Battle Chest sits pretty at number four, World of WarCraft holds at number seven, and the first WoW expansion, The Burning Crusade, rests at number eight.

Also seeing receiving renewed interest is Sid Meier's Civilization IV, possibly due to the recent release of Sid Meier's Civilization Revolution on Xbox 360, PS3 and Nintendo DS. Reigning supreme is Nancy Drew: The Phantom of Venice.

Gamers interested in a stylistic approach to 2D platforming should note the arrival of Eternity's Child on Valve's Steam digital distribution service. Even better, the visually appealing platformer developed by SilverSphere Studios is currently marked down 10 per cent from its standard price of $4.99, weighing in at only $4.49 until August 7.

Boasting "quirky" hand-drawn 2D graphics, Eternity's Child should be a breath of fresh air for gamers tired of the seemingly never-ending swarm of photorealistic shooters. Graphics can only look so realistic, but games such as Team Fortress 2 and Eternity's Child, which feature a unique stylized approach, can seem fresh due to the unique approach to aesthetics.

Just as you can't make an omelet without breaking some eggs, so too is it impossible to merge two gaming juggernauts without losing a few games -- and studios. News that the recent Activision Blizzard conglomerate will see many Sierra titles become casualties is well known at this point, but should the legendary Sierra studio itself be put out to pasture?

Though the idea may seem blasphemous, it may not be such a bad thing. In fact, EDGE magazine writer Kris Graft thinks it would be better to remember the studio for its memorable contributions to the industry (especially many PC gamers' favorite adventure titles) rather than be thought of as a shadow of its former self.

Such fond memories also seem preferable to Al Lowe, venerable designer of the Leisure Suit Larry series. Lowe feels that the once great development house let Sierra become nothing more than a logo on box fronts. "It was 'Sierra' in name only. They allowed the brand to wither into meaninglessness," lamented Lowe.

The article is a great read and recommended for all Sierra enthusiasts, as well as PC gamers as a collective. From this writer's own perspective, I agree with Lowe. Sierra has long been one of my favorite studios, and I'd rather remember it for some of my favorite gaming memories (King's Quest and Gabriel Knight, I'm lookin' at you!) than a broken, feeble brand that no longer remembers what its name once represented.

Most gamers will tell you not to expect much from a twenty dollar, old-school, point-and-click adventure game. Although we've seen some very good adventure games lately, Art of Murder: FBI Confidential definitely needs some low expectations to enjoy. While the game has very low system requirements along with some generally decent art and animation, the game elevates itself from an annoying game to being a dull one.

Continue reading Art of Murder: FBI Confidential in-depth after the jump...

Telltale Games reveals a first look at its new upcoming series of upcoming episodic games, Wallace & Gromit's Grand Adventures. The trailer doesn't show much besides the fact that the series will be based on the successful British animated series that features a whacky inventor and his extremely intelligent dog. Although we can't tell what gameplay will be like, or what kind of of adventure the two will find themselves in, the art style and humor is very faithful to the series.Telltale has yet to reveal a release date for the game series.

Download Wallace & Gromit's Grand Adventure HD Teaser Trailer