[’Game Mag Weaseling’ is a weekly column by Kevin Gifford which documents the history of video game magazines, from their birth in the early ’80s to the current day.]

The report’s been a-going around for a little while, originally being rumored way back in December — Ziff Davis selling the 1UP digital network to the Hearst Corporation, owners of UGO.
The deal was reported on earlier today by paidContent.org (in an article that since got taken down but has been mirrored elsewhere).
But the thrust of it has since been confirmed by sources in and around the company itself. In addition to GSW sources broadly agreeing, ex-Ziff editorial supremo John Davison has noted that “details will be forthcoming as to the validity of the story by tomorrow morning.” So we’ll find out officially then.
[UPDATE: The EGM closure announcement is now official, and Gamasutra has it, plus the CEO email to staff, […]

Original Post By Google News editors@gamesetwatch.com (Kevin Gifford)

[’Game Mag Weaseling’ is a weekly column by Kevin Gifford which documents the history of video game magazines, from their birth in the early ’80s to the current day.]

The report’s been a-going around for a little while, originally being rumored way back in December — Ziff Davis selling the 1UP digital network to the Hearst Corporation, owners of UGO.
The deal was reported on earlier today by paidContent.org (in an article that since got taken down but has been mirrored elsewhere).
But the thrust of it has since been confirmed by sources in and around the company itself. In addition to GSW sources broadly agreeing, ex-Ziff editorial supremo John Davison has noted that “details will be forthcoming as to the validity of the story by tomorrow morning.” So we’ll find out officially then.
According to this report, Electronic Gaming Monthly, the last print publication Ziff produces after PC Magazine closed last […]

Original Post By Google News editors@gamesetwatch.com (Kevin Gifford)

[GameSetWatch sister publication Game Developer magazine has revealed the winners of the eleventh annual Front Line Awards for game tools, and we reveal ‘em here. Neat stuff - watch for the full article on the awards to be posted onto Gamasutra soon.]
The editors of Think Services’ Game Developer magazine have named the winners for the 2008 Front Line Awards, honoring the best tools used to make video games.
This is the magazine’s much-revered eleventh annual evaluation of the year’s best game-making tools in the categories of programming, art, audio, game engine, middleware, and books.
As well as the regular award-winners, revealed below, the magazine has chosen the Unreal Engine series, Epic Games’ popular multi-platform game engine, as this year’s inductee to the Front Line Awards Hall of Fame.
Each year, the honor, which makes that product ineligible for regular categories in that year, is bestowed upon a product that has […]

Original Post By Google News editors@gamesetwatch.com (Simon Carless)

[’Diamond In The Rough’ is a regularly scheduled GameSetWatch-exclusive column by Tom Cross focusing on aspects of games that stand out, for reasons good and bad. This week, Tom explores the new Prince of Persia game, and why it sets a new standard for creating characters you care for.]
It’s not exactly a secret that I’m a fan of games with strong narratives, and am often willing to sacrifice a certain amount of gameplay and interface quality in the pursuit of interesting characters, stories and dialogues.
When I started playing the newest Prince of Persia, I suspected that I’d found one of those rare games that was completely willing to subject itself to the rigors of actual storytelling and narrative substance. I was correct, and had one of the most enjoyable experiences I’ve ever had playing a game.
Imagine my surprise, then, when it became apparent that most of the gaming press […]

Original Post By Google News editors@gamesetwatch.com (Thomas Cross)

[Every week, we sum up sister iPhone site FingerGaming’s top news and reviews for Apple’s nascent — and increasingly exciting — portable games platform, as written by editor Matt Burris and guest editor Danny Cowan.]
This week’s notable items in the iPhone gaming space, as covered by FingerGaming, include the debut of Hudson’s Crayon Physics Deluxe, the announcement of the IGF entrant Edge’s impending release, and a word from indie developer Luc Bernard on future iPhone possibilities.
Here are the top stories:
New App Store Release: Crayon Physics Deluxe
“Hudson has released the iPhone version of Crayon Physics Deluxe. Winner of the Grand Prize Award at 2008’s Independent Games Festival, Crayon Physics challenges players to create freehand drawings in order to solve physics-based puzzles.”
Top Free App Downloads for January 2nd
“The winter-themed Crazy Penguin Catapult Lite has remained a consistently popular download throughout the holiday season, but it remains to be seen whether […]

Original Post By Google News editors@gamesetwatch.com (Simon Carless)

[Continuing this series of Todd Ciolek interviews for GameSetWatch, a personal pick of mine - an engaging chat with pinball veteran and game design genius Pat Lawlor, the creator of classic pinball machines from Fun House to The Addams Family and beyond.]
Few people have defined the modern era of pinball like Pat Lawlor has. In the late 1980s, he emerged as a leading designer in the industry with innovative Williams titles like Earthshaker and Whirlwind.
In 1990, Lawlor and Larry DeMar hit it big with FunHouse, a pinball game in which an animatronic head named Rudy taunted players and dominated the playfield. Lawlor and DeMar went on to create The Addams Family for Bally and watched as it became the best-selling pinball machine in history.
Lawlor’s design work continued throughout the 1990s, as he unveiled such pinball titles as No Good Gofers, Red and Ted’s Road Show, Safecracker, and […]

Original Post By Google News editors@gamesetwatch.com (Todd Ciolek)

I did something about a week ago that I deeply regret, I purchased a copy of Fallout 3. Now I haven’t seen my wife for weeks and I’m struggling at work, because all I can do or think about is playing the damned game.

I should have known better. The original Fallout became an obsession of mine to the point where I decided to break out of playing Fallout 2 early in the game, because I knew that progressing any further would only end up with me sitting next to Gary Busey in rehab. Both Fallout: Tactics and Fallout: Brotherhood of Steel were enough to quench the deadly Fallout thirst, while at the same time being crappy enough that I didn’t lose my mind.
Fallout 3, on the other hand, is deep enough and close enough to the original that it retains all it’s awesomely addictive properties. It’s got a […]

Original Post By Google News Paul

[From now until early January, our sister site IndieGames.com: The Weblog will be counting down the best indie titles of 2008, and we’ll be reprinting the best here on GameSetWatch for your viewing and playing pleasure.]
The seventh of the 2008 Best Of Features here on the IndieGames.com blog, we’re proud to present twenty of the best freeware shoot ‘em ups released in 2008.
Fans of Galaga, Space Invaders, Warning Forever, and Everyday Shooter, step right up. Only a courageous pilot would stand any chance of saving Earth from being enslaved by an invading alien race, once again. Leave your Zero Wing quotes behind, because you will need every ounce of your arcade skills to make it through our picks for the best twenty freeware shoot ‘em ups of 2008 alive.
Here’s the top freeware shoot ‘em ups of the year:
Best Freeware Shoot ‘em ups 2008
  1. Alien Assault
  2. Nobody Shooter
  3. Debrysis
  4. Harpooned
  5. Pasta […]

Original Post By Google News editors@gamesetwatch.com (Simon Carless)

[’Game Mag Weaseling’ is a weekly column by Kevin Gifford which documents the history of video game magazines, from their birth in the early ’80s to the current day.]
Happy post-holiday malaise! I’m feeling it in full force, and so is my postmaster, apparently, because he only gave me three mags to write about in this installment. Let’s get straight down to business, the three mags that hit newsstands in the past two weeks:
PC Gamer February 2009 (Podcast)

Cover: Diablo III
Staff-shuffling time at PC Gamer! EIC Kristen Salvatore is stepping down (but apparently “moving to a different spot on the masthead”), and in her place is coming Gary Steinman, formerly of PlayStation: The Official Magazine and also, coincidentally, my ex-boss at Newtype USA. Joy! I look forward to tormenting him endlessly about PC topics instead of PS3 topics in the future.
A pretty basic 2009-preview issue, one spiced up by MMO Extra, […]

Original Post By Google News editors@gamesetwatch.com (Kevin Gifford)

[GameSetLinks is GameSetWatch’s daily link round-up post, culling from hundreds of weblogs and outlets to compile the most interesting longform writing, links, and criticism on the art and culture of video games.]
Spooling out of the weekend and in to a week that’s sure to be busy (with Game Developer Front Line Award winners and IGF Main Competition finalist announcements from us alone, blimey), this set of GameSetLinks continues to noodle around some of the more alternative 2008 ‘best of’ and 2009 ‘going to be best of’ charts, thanks to Steve Gaynor and Auriea Harvey respectively.
Also in here - Six To Start’s Dan Hon gets a little inflammatory, Jason Scott pokes around in Adventure International’s mail order catalog, and Erin Hoffman talks about what makes a game designer a game designer.
Fabulous prizes:
Adventure International - Taking Inventory
Jason Scott: 'When people think “text adventure company”, a lot of people think Infocom, but others […]

Original Post By Google News editors@gamesetwatch.com (Simon Carless)