Clive Thompson has concluded that the Weight Watchers online tool turns weight loss into a form of RPG.

An interesting concept, and here’s why he thinks that:

Think about it. As with an RPG, you roll a virtual character, manage your inventory and resources, and try to achieve a goal. Weight Watchers’ points function precisely like hit points; each bite of food does damage until you’ve used up your daily amount, so you sleep and start all over again. Play well and you level up — by losing weight! And the more you play it, the more you discover interesting combinations of the rules that aren’t apparent at first. Hey, if I eat a fruit-granola breakfast and an egg-and-romaine lunch, I’ll have enough points to survive a greasy hamburger dinner for a treat!

Even the Weight Watchers web tool is amazingly gamelike. It has the poke-around-and-see-what-happens elegance you see in really good RPG game screens. Accidentally snack on a candy bar and ruin your meal plan for the day? No worries: Just go into the database and see what spells — whoops, I mean foods — you can still use with your remaining points.

And those 35 extra points you get every week? They’re like a special buff or potion — a last-ditch save when you’re on the ropes.

And people have long thought that weight loss couldn’t be entertaining. Well, perhaps it’s time to re-think that.

Via | BoingBoing

Image courtesy of SXC

Find out with the new demo and trailer released on Friday from Canuck developer Silicon Knights and Microsoft Game Studios. The action/RPG game, allows you to god mode without annoying fellow gamers, as you play Baldur, a big, tough cybernetic god who is trying to save mankind from an on-slaught of machine armies bent on their destruction.

The demo will be available on Monday, July 14th at 6pm GMT, exclusively on Xbox LIVE for Gold membership holders and will feature part of the first level of the game.

The E3 trailer shows what players can expect from the epic adventure based around Norse mythology. I think they’ve got a ways to go yet to sharpen up the quality of the game, but really, it’s a pretty cool take on things despite reliance on the quickly-becoming-old “machines take over the earth” line. Check it out:

And who says gaming can’t have it’s benefits?

Japanese based Tomy has created a piggy bank and game combo that encourages, nay, rewards kids for saving their allowance. On the front of the castle style piggy bank is a mini RPG game, but it’s not as cheap and simple as it looks…

For every coin that an aspiring millionaire puts into the piggy bank, their in-game RPG character is rewarded with in-game gold that the player can spend on weapons, items, and armor. So the bigger your savings in the bank, the more powerful your avatar in the game.

I almost want one for myself. Go Bankquest!

Via | BoingBoing.net

See mouth? Insert foot.

Not that Majestic Studios could’ve have foreseen the amount of poo being flung at them as a result of accusations of “borrowing” environments from other games for their Limbo of the Lost ( Oblivion and Thief predominantly), but looking back as some of the interviews and press materials that preceded this kerfuffle, it’s apparent that they were quite content to claim the work as their own.

In an interview on May 2nd, one of the three Majestic Studios devs was quoted as saying “Between the three of us we researched, wrote, designed, animated, scripted and developed the whole game from home”. Since the publication of that interview, cracks started to appear in that story, first when a writer noticed similarities between Limbo and Bethesda’s Oblivion. This naturally led to a frenzy of instance-seeking and plagaristic sequences have been claimed for Thief 3, UT2004, WoW, Vampire: Bloodlines and Crysis.

Majestic is keeping tight-lipped at the moment, to the point that it sounds like even their distributor Tri Synergy is having difficulty getting ahold of them, but I’m very interested to hear what they have to say for themselves when they do respond for the calls for comment.

Via | CaVG.com

There’s a demo over at Greenhouse that I really think you should have a look at if you’re looking for something a little bit different than the big blockbusters on the shelves. Bearing the weighty name of On the Rain-Slick Precipice of Darkness, Episode One you can bet that it features big and weighty topics like three storey fruit-humping robots, teriyaki-filled fire hydrants, and

The game, the brainchild of the twisted minds behind the Penny Arcade comic empire, brought to life by the equally mad developers at Hothead Games is:

Based on the popular web comic …this an episodic RPG-Adventure game set in the deranged 1920s universe of New Arcadia.

I gave it the old college try, skeptical that a pair so deeply in tune with the guts of the industry could find something fresh to present to their fans, but I was pleasantly surprised. The narrative base to the whole affair, styled in the well-known, well-loved irreverent banter of Gabe and Tycho keep the game lively and well, pretty damn funny to boot. The interface and ease of play was combined with familiar elements like Final Fantasy style battles and a few twists and turns, like the Mortal Kombat-esque combos required to execute special moves. From the demo it looks like a wild ride, and with a Mature rating, you can bet that typical Penny Arcade lashings are due for an appearance. Thoroughly enjoyable, stylistically refreshing, and totally engaging.

Available for almost any operating system you could ask for, this is fun fun for everyone. And frankly, at $19.95 for a full version, digital download game…the price is more than right.

Leaving it off the list of possible selections would have biased the poll to an unacceptable degree, but at the same time, is anyone surprised that World of Warcraft came out on top in the latest Play-Girlz poll, which asked:

Who Best Epitomizes Their Genre?

Over a third of you (35% to be exact) felt that World of Warcraft best characterized its genre. To call WoW a game might actually be downplaying the influence and immense reach of the Blizzard title. Phenomenon might be a better descriptor. It single-handedly exploded the MMO genre and brought not only these online games into the mainstream, but brought renewed interest from different sectors of the popular media and pop culture to the video game industry.

Hot on the heels of WoW was Final Fantasy, which 26% of respondents felt best represented a “genre definer” for its continuing, impressive grip on the scene. The franchise’s incredible stamina, identifiable characters and high profile releases have made it come to mind almost instantaneously when RPGs are mentioned.

Third up was a tie between the most well-known game of all time, and one near and dear to my 80’s child gaming heart. Receiving 10% each of all votes cast Super Mario Bros. and Doom have obviously made their mark on the Action/Adventure and FPS genres respectively.

Rounding out the list were:

• at 9% Command and Conquer (RTS) and Madden (Sports)
• at 1% Bejewelled (Casual) and EverQuest (MMORPG)

In the responses to the last poll, franchise loyalty and genre preferences played a large role in your buying decisions. So, let’s combine those and see who you think is the most iconic franchise in a given genre, and who best characterizes the qualities you love.

Here are your basic choices, feel free to add others:

• Mario Bros. (Action/Adventure) — while these games may have progressed from the simple 2D side-scrollers, there’s no doubt that the Mario Bros. crew was, and continues to be one of the most influential names in gaming
• Final Fantasy (RPG) — time after time, the anticipation for the next title in the franchise is at the rabid level within the RPG community
• World of Warcraft (MMORPG) — do I even need to say anything about this one? It’s big, real big.
• Doom (FPS) — Mixing sci-fi and legions of hellish demons, there was nothing more satisfying than squeezing that shotgun trigger. Not surprisingly, this game came under intense fire for its violence and gore.
• Command & Conquer (RTS) — I’ve lost track of what number in the series they’re on now, but it doesn’t really matter…this one is still going strong. For those who love to micromanage, and who enjoy a good war game, C&C is at the fore for RTS games.
• Madden (Sports) — Every year this title comes out and every year sports game fans are slavering hounds just waiting to pounce.
• Bejewelled (Casual) — Casual gaming exploded across all strata of the gaming community thanks in part to large portal sites and this little game that involved nothing more than matching colours. Frighteningly addictive!

Box art courtesy of EA Games.

Microsoft has announced new content for the RPG Blue Dragon. The new content features new items through the “6 Treasures” download on Xbox Live.

You can get the package for 200 Microsoft Points.

Via | Punch Jump

I haven’t played a new RPG from beginning to end in years. They always lose me somewhere in their winding paths, either from an unnecessarily overdone and complicated story line, clunky mechanics, shoddy graphics, or just plain boredom. Upcoming release Witcher though, is one that I’ve been coddling on my buying list for years.

I met the guys from CD Projekt at last year’s GDC, and sat through a little screening of what they were working on with regards to The Witcher, and how the game development was progressing. I even posed next to an eerily hanging, bloody-covered corpse at their booth. Nice guys, great looking game, with that dark, brooding, Gothic-style feel to it that adds, for me personally, plenty of purchasing impetus.

GameSpot has a nice gallery of Witcher images to peruse through, as well as a hands-on look, and all of the game lore and background can be found the official The Witcher website. Loosely based on the written works of Andrzej Sapkowski, a critically acclaimed Polish series, The Witcher blends legend and creativity into one of this years PC releases to watch in Q4. Check out the teaser trailer below.

RPG fans looking for a free fix might want to check out Atari’s upcoming Silverfall. Due to hit the US shores in March of this year, the game plays to the traditional strengths of the genre by pitting seemingly opposing sides (nature versus science in this case), fanciful creature versus fanciful creature, and all in a landscape the likes of which we can only dream.

Interested gamers around the globe can take a stab at the 1.4 Mb demo, available for download from FilePlanet and a variety of other kind-hearted hosts.

Via | ve3d