 So, I checked the IndieGames Weblog yesterday, and their freeware game of the day was a game called Rom Check Fail.
Just what is Rom Check Fail? Turns out this game was made for a competition on another site I lurk, The Indpendent Gaming Source (aka: TIGSource). This competition was to make a game based on whatever title this video game name generator chooses. However, the creator of the game decided to break the rules of the competition and do what he calls a "video game generator".
Rom Check Fail is like a broken emulator that glitches by throwing in random music, characters, levels, and gameplay. The object of the game is to defeat all the enemies in a level, however that will not be easy because every five seconds or so, the gameplay, music, and characters will change on you. For example, you could start out as Pac-Man trying to eat the power dot and turn Asteroids into ghosts, then the next second you could be Link trying to stab some Goombas, and then finally Mario trying to jump on some Space Invaders. Sometimes, what the game does may not work out, but that's ok because it's randomly generated combinations.
If you love games, which I assume you do, then you've got to check this game out. It's free and is a small 2.6 MB download. You can get it at Farbs.org.
While I'm at it, I'd like to feature some of the other standout games entered in this competition.
Emo Harvest on the Oregon Trail
Morbidly Obese Workout Man
Planet of the Forklift Kid
Furry Punching Nitro
Extreme Bedtime: The Next Generation
Super Mario vs Programming In China (made by someone so indie he doesn't need computers to play. And create games.)
I haven't played every game, but I enjoyed or got a laugh out of those games I just listed. If I find any other great ones, I'll post them in the comment.
You can view every entry in the competition, including the ones I just listed, at TIGSource. Monocles are optional.
[Source: IndieGames.com - The Weblog]
 Brace yourself, EA did something great here...
EA has just announced a new installment of DICE's Battlefield series. It's called Battlefield Heroes, and it's yet another World War 2 first person shooter...but wait a minute, it's a cartoony game. Hmm, I wonder where EA got that brilliant idea from. Regardless of whether or not they totally ripped off Valve's style, it's pretty cool to see that they are trying something new in the WW2 FPS genre.
However, the biggest news about this game is that EA is doing something that could change the game industry as we know it. They are going to be giving the game away for free! THAT'S RIGHT! EA IS PUBLISHING A GAME FOR FREE! How will it be funded though? Well, it will make use of every gamer's favorite new gaming trends: in-game advertising and microtransactions. The exact nature of the in-game ads and the microtransactions are unknown at this time, but I wouldn't be shocked if EA charged you for bullets. Hopefully it will be at least pretty well featured without having to download or pay for any add-on content. The other huge concern I have about the game is that they are saying "Battlefield Heroes™, an all-new Play 4 Free cartoon-style shooter that will bring classic Battlefield gameplay to an all new mass audience." I just hope that advanced gamers will be able to enjoy it too.
And apparently, this is only the beginning of EA's venture into free games. In the press release announcing the game, they kept referring to this new business model they have called "Play 4 Free". No other games are known to be part of this plan, but I am very interested to see where EA takes this in the future.
Nothing else is known at this time, but more about the game will be revealed in the March issue of Games for Windows magazine.
Who says EA isn't innovative?
[Battlefield Heroes website]
 This is by far the most important Free Game of the Week feature I've ever done. Read on...
Alright guys, the on-demand gaming service Gametap (which just added its 1000th game, by the way), has added the Tim Schafer classic, Psychonauts, to its free service until December 31st. If you know me, you'll know that Psychonauts is easily one of my five favorite games of the 2000s.
In Psychonauts, you play as Raz, a ten year old boy with psychic powers who was raised in the circus. The game revolves around Raz and the other children at the Whispering Rock Psychic Summer Camp in which Raz has run off to. Along the way you'll meet a large cast of characters, each with their own very unique and hilarious personalities, and uncover a deviant plot to steal the minds of these young children and use them for evil purposes.
But don't take my word for how great this game is, check out this video review of the game by The Escapist's Yahtzee Croshaw. I apologize in advance for any pain inflicted by this review.
All you need to do in order to get free access to Gametap is download the client (click here: 35mb download), install it, and create an account. Once you've done that, launch the client and start downloading Psychonauts (about 4GB, so sorry those of you with dialup). And while you're at it, check out some of the other great games up on Gametap for free. Right now some of the games up for free are Hitman: Codename 47, Hitman 2: Silent Assassin, Hitman: Contracts, Bloodrayne, Second Sight, Myst Online: Uru Live, Bubble Bobble, Legacy of Kain: Blood Omen 2, realMYST, Metal Slug, last week's free game of the week: Sam and Max: Episode 4: Abe Lincoln Must Die, and many many others, all for free. A listing of all the games available for free can be viewed here.
So, you have a long Thanksgiving weekend coming up. Why not spend some of it at the Whispering Rock Psychic Summer Camp and get to know Raz, Dogen, Lili Zanotto, Agent Cruller, Sasha Nein, Bobby Zilch, and all the other people at the camp? Oh and don't forget about the milkman, who's milk is delicious.
I know I've been slacking lately, but the thing is that I've been so busy with school and everything else that I haven't had time to post any of these articles. However, starting now, I'm going make this an actual weekly feature. I may not write as much about each game as I did before, but I will still give you a good overview of the game and share my thoughts on it.
Anyways, the theme for this week is free episodic games. Episodic games have been a controversial subject in the games world. Many people argue that it costs more for the average gamer, while others argue that episodic games are better because developers can release many episodes in the same length it takes to release a full game. Regardless of where you stand on commercial episodic games, there are many great free games on the internet that have new content added often.
 The first game featured this week is a web-based adaptation of the popular PC quiz show game, You Don't Know Jack. If you've never played You Don't Know Jack before, you're in for a treat. YDKJ is a quiz show video game franchise that appeared on PC, Mac, Playstation, in book form, and had a short-lived ABC TV series (hosted by Pee-Wee Herman himself, Paul Reubens) in which you were asked questions in which "high culture and pop culture collide". The game remains unchanged in the web version, however, new episodes consisting of five normal questions, one Dis or Dat, and of course, a Jack Attack, are released every single Monday. In addition to the weekly episodes, a new Dis or Dat question is added every Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday. So, no matter what day of the week you go to the site, there will always be something new for you to play. A far cry from the hundreds of questions in one of the CD-ROM games, but still, it's enough to keep you busy for a few minutes a day. Also, before you go, I should warn you that YDKJ "contains mature content, including suggestive sexual references, language and font treatments that may not be suitable for children. Besides, they won't get it anyways."
 The other game of the week is the aptly titled Platform. You guessed it, it's a platformer game! However, Platform is far from your typical platform game. What's unique about this one is that you have to play two characters and get both of them to the exit of each screen, many times using different routes for each character or using both characters to solve puzzles. This mix of puzzle solving and platforming makes for a very fun game and something worth checking out every Sunday, which is when new episodes are added.
So, now you have a new game to play every day of the week except Saturday! All without paying a single cent. Well, except for internet access, but that's besides the point. Make sure you give these games a try.
This is the article that would be going up on Thursday, but Knytt Stories was released early, so I put it up now.
 Nifflas. Who is Nifflas? Nifflas is the nickname of Nicklas Nygren, a 24 year old independent game developer and musician from Sweden who is responsible for a few of my favorite games of this decade. Today, he released his latest work, Knytt Stories, the sequel the critically acclaimed freeware game, Knytt, released last year. Like its predecessor, Knytt Stories is a 2D platformer with a focus on simple gameplay, atmosphere and exploration rather than having a large amount of enemies and very complex gameplay. Your goal is to roam this large world in search for a few items.
However, instead of simply recommending Knytt Stories, I want to dig a little deeper into his games. So, I am going to give an overview of all ten games he has released, along with links for you to download them. So, hit the jump for more on the games of Nicklas Nygren.
Continue reading Free Games Of The Week: Nifflas Special Edition
Another week, another great set of free games for you to download! This week, I've got an addictive mathematical action puzzle game, a fun destructive game, and a platformer that will drive you insane.
 First up this week is one of the most addictive puzzle games I've played in my entire life. It's called Blocksum and it's by a small studio based out of Japan named Circle Infotech. The premise is extremely simple, clear all of the numbered blocks by linking together blocks of the same sum. For example, if you have a block with the number 5 in it, you need to use the blocks adjacent to it to make a sum equal to 5. You could do this by using a 3 just to the right of the 5 and a 2 above the 5. That would make an L shaped block that is equivalent to 5. Now, you must find 4 other ways to make 5 adjacent to either the 5 block you started with or the L shaped one you just made. It's hard to describe in words, but once you try it, it's simple. The game starts out simple enough, however, it gets a lot more difficult when the numbers in the blocks get larger and come faster.
Here's a hint for you. Try and go for large combos of large numbers. For example, try and clear all the blocks by making sums of 4 or 5, you get a multiplier for each additional sequence you make.
Sound confusing? As I said, just go download it. A word of warning for those of you with slower connections, the download is 32 megabytes.
 Next game up this week is Death Worm. The game is simple, but oh so fun. You play a killer worm, and all you have to do is eat humans, animals, and cause general destruction while not getting shot by soldiers or hitting mines. Very simple concept, but very addictive! Download it at the Game Maker Community forums (3.5 mb).
 When you get done punishing humans and animals, punish yourself with the aptly titled platformer, Punishment. This is an extremely hard game but not because the jumps are hard, but because the game plays tricks with your mind. Levels rotate as you move, touching an eye icon will screw around with your mind, touching the Democrat/Republican will do something that will just make you scream in anger, and of course the pixilated backgrounds that become clear as you get to the top of the level are distracting as well. You will hate this game with every last ounce of your being...however, you won't be able to stop playing. Also, notice the special guest appearance in the second screen (the one you start on). I think many of you will recognize who it is.
 If you think that's all the punishment there is, you'd be wrong...dead wrong, because Messhof Games just released the sequel, Punishment: The Punishing, last week. The sequel does not play as many tricks on your mind, but it has its fair share of mind trickery (just wait until you get to the third screen in the game). Oh, and this game has one added twist that drive you up the wall more than ANYTHING in the first game. I can't say what it is because I want you to scream out obscenities when you discover it. Again, this game will drive you insane, but it's so addictive.
So, that's it for this week. Comment on the article with your thoughts on the games, high scores you wish to share, or total frustration with Punishment.
One more thing before I go. Mark August 30 on your calendar because I have an extremely special article planned for that day, and you will not want to miss it. It's so special that I'm going to start working on it this week.
Until next time, keep it on channel 3!
The internet. In addition to being a great resource for funny videos, email pyramid schemes, and pr0n, is a great place to find games. This series will feature the best in free and independent games from all over the web, and bring you up to date on indie studios who are bringing their work to consoles.
 The first free game of the week is called 3D Logic by Alex Matveev, and can be found at this site. The object of the game is to link together every pair colored squares on the cube. For example, in the screenshot, you have to link orange to orange, purple to purple, blue to blue, and so on. Sounds simple right? WRONG! Later levels will require you to think outside of the box and use very indirect ways of linking them together. I've been able to reach level 18, but after that I get stumped. Thank God for the continue feature.
 Our next game this week is Amberial by OddGoo, a rather fun platformer with very simplistic controls. All you need to do in this game is move left and right to reach the goal. However, you must use your ability to bounce to help you reach your destination and avoid obstacles. This is one of the most enjoyable Flash games I've played in a while. It's not entirely original since there are a billion platformers on the net, but this one is different because you must actually use your environment and the objects in it in order to reach the end of the level. There is also added challenge if you try and collect all the Ace symbols. I must caution you however, this game is addictive as crack, so make sure you have some time you can easily waste before playing this.
 The internet is full of clones of other, more famous games. Flash Flash Revolution is one of the most well-known and well-regarded clones on the internet. As you could figure out, it is a clone of Konami's Dance Dance Revolution series, developed in flash. There are three different versions of FFR on the site, and all of them have something different to offer. Try fooling around with all three of them, and make an account if you want. With an account, you can keep track of the scores you get and buy songs using credits you earn in the FFR store. The only downside of the game is that many of the players have crazy skills, and a lot of the site is kind of geared towards them. However, for us who will never be as good as this guy, there are a bunch of easier songs to get you used to playing. Check out the Arcade section of songs in the first FFR version on the site for a bunch of fun game remixes to play. I'm signed up on the site as tondog38. If you sign up, shoot me a message there and we can set up challenges or something.
 In honor of 300 coming out on DVD, Blu Ray, and HD DVD last week, the final game of the week is the aptly titled SPAAARTA!!! It's not the best game in the world, but it's cool if you're a fan of 300, mainly so you can kick some Persians into the hole and scream THIS IS SPAAAARRRTAAAA! The controls are simple, move around with the arrow keys, kick some ass with the S key, and do a little dance with the A key. All you need to do: kick the Persians into the hole and inform them that THIS IS SPAAAARTA all while not kicking your fellow Spartans.
Keep it on channel 3 for more fun, free games next week. Until next time, have fun.
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