If you were already a geek back in the mid-90s, then here’s something for you. Programmer Aditya Ravi Shankar has posted a working, playable version of the original Command & Conquer (or “CnC” to you old-school geeks) that anyone can play online, using only a browser.
Who would’ve thought this would happen? See, we never thought Nintendo would be putting out anything for the iOS and Android platforms – basically major threats to their porta-gaming business, thanks to cheap apps on mobile devices that a lot of people already own – but here it is. The gaming giant has announced that they’ll be putting out a Pokemon-themed game for both iOS and Android sometime this summer. And it’s going to be free.
It seems all you need to play Angry Birds these days is a device with a screen, a means of input, and a popular operating system. That was made more true last month, when Rovio made a Flash-based version of Angry Birds available for free via the Chrome Web Store. The Chrome version didn’t seem to be all that handy to play though, because it needed an internet connection to work. But if you wanted a version of the game you could play anytime on your netbook or desktop? Well, Rovio’s serving that version up too. They just put out a full Windows version of the original Angry Birds and Angry Birds Rio games (Seasons is still listed as “coming soon”) here. Unlike the free Chrome version. you won’t need an internet connection to play these, but you’ll need $5 to activate the full game.
Curious about what the upcoming Sony NGP has to offer? Well, so is everyone else. Or at least everyone who’s into handheld gaming. We all thought we’d have to wait until E3 to get some game previews, but Sony decided to whet our appetites early when they held a private event at the Sony Pictures soundstage in LA to show off some of games lined up for the NGP. The headlining title will be Uncharted: Golden Abyss (shown above). Other games shown include Hustle Kings, Sound Shapes, Super Stardust Delta, and a game that may or may not be called Wipeout (it’s a working title). Check out the preview videos for Uncharted, Sound Shapes and Wipeout after the break.
Here’s what just went down during day two of Google’s I/O 2011 keynote: the Chrome Web Store has expanded to 41 languages to give more people access to the apps, and they also mentioned that they’re only getting five percent of app revenues, so 95 percent of the app’s price goes to the developer. That’s all good and well, but what does it mean to the average Joe? Unfortunately, the announcements won’t make much of a difference to you if you use Firefox or IE to surf the web. But here’s something that might make you want to switch: Angry Birds just jumped to the web, letting you sling these unhappy avians towards green pigs like you would on a smartphone or tablet using your browser… if you don’t own or don’t have access to a smartphone or tablet. Awesome if you’d rather use a mouse to play the game, and good news if you don’t own an Android or iOS device. Best of all, it’s totally free, as long as you’re running Chrome. (Actually, it looks like the game will be able to run on other browsers that supports WebGL, but Firefox 4 is currently not supported… yet.)
