Scribblenauts Sued Over Cat Memes!?

Will the world never stop being absolutely and utterly stupid? As you may have guessed by the title, Scribblenauts creators, 5th Cell are being sued over the use of Nyan Cat and Keyboard Cat by the people who created them. My brain can't even... WHAT IS THIS!?

Kotaku dug up the lawsuit, which I found on Rock, Paper, Shotgun and it reads as follows:

“Plaintiffs accuse Warner Bros and 5th Cell of including, without any licenses or authorizations, the Keyboard Cat and Nyan Cat characters in their original Scribblenauts videogame released in 2009, the 2010 Super Scribblenauts, 2011 Scribblenauts Remix, and the 2012 Scribblenauts Unlimited.”

“Defendants are accused of shamelessly using identifying ‘Nyan Cat’ and ‘Keyboard Cat’ by name to promote and market their games. Plaintiffs claim that Warner Bros and 5th Cell’s trademark infringement was willful and intentional and are requesting an award of treble damages and requesting the case be deemed exception under 15 U.S.C. § 1117(a), thereby entitling Plaintiffs to an award of reasonable attorneys’ fees.” 

Warner Bros. and 5th Cell are of yet to make a statement, but this lawsuit comes at a really strange time considering the memes in question have been Easter eggs in various Scribblenauts games for years. But maybe they weren't copy-written until recently? Who knows, not me. We will try to keep you posted as this story unfolds.

I, for one, hope nothing comes of this because I absolutely love Scribblenauts, and everyone else should!

Rusty Hearts Online - Weird Name, Great Game

Over the course of the last week I have gotten back into PC gaming and there is one game I found in the course of my searching for new games to play that has had me more hooked than any other. This game is the ludicrously titled "Rusty Hearts".

Developed by Stairway Games and published by Perfect World Entertainment, was released way back in 2011, with the first expansion Rusty Hearts: Reborn dropping in July 2012. Even though the game its self is a couple years old now I still felt compelled to review it and give it some exposure because this game is mind blowing.

Rusty Hearts is a free to play anime inspired hack and slash MMORPG, taking influence from games such as Castlevania, Persona and to a certain extent, Diablo. Personally I feel like the games biggest influences are the newer Castlevania games and the Stylish system from Devil May Cry, as each area you fight through is scored on a style rank from F to SSS.

I can only speak for one character, Frantz - The Vampire Knight, in this review so if you have played RH:O and think I am covering something wrong or with not enough depth, that's probably why. I should also note that I haven't been paying too much attention to the story but then again, I wasn't planning on writing this article and I was just enjoying the combat sections so much.

Controls: Movement is done with either the arrow keys or clicking with the mouse. I don't know if you can click to move in the dungeon sections as I haven't tried, but you can in the over world. Your combat skills are bound to A,S,D,F,G and H and X is standard attack. Z is guard and C is grab. Consumables such as potions are used with the number keys. The keys are fully configurable in case you fancy trying something different.

The Combat: I only really have one word for the combat in RH:O and that is "Yes." RH:O absolutely nails combat, it's fast and fluid and the combos you can pull of using the skills at your disposal are amazing. I'm not that great at it and I'm using a keyboard and mouse (partial game pad support is available) but I can still clear dungeons on the Very Hard setting pulling off 80 hit combos without even trying, and as the enemies level up and can withstand more damage that number will only get higher.

Rusty Hearts provides a reasonable challenge but there are some quests that have you retrace your steps. It never feels grindy and there is always something to do. If you like hitting things fast and lots with swords, scythes, gauntlets or guns then Rusty Hearts could very well be for you. Don't let the age put you off, it still looks gorgeous, as gorgeous as an anime game can be. The controls are tight and the combat is nearly perfect. What are you waiting for? Kick some ass.

Rusty Hearts can be found on Steam or here. 

Bethesda Announces The Evil Within

After days of posting cryptic videos on their Vine account, Bethesda have today (Friday) announced that the game they were teasing at, sadly was not Fallout 4 or even a new Wolfenstein shooter, but a collaborative outing with the Resident Evil creator Shinji Mikami, entitled The Evil Within.

The Evil Within will be released on current and next gen consoles and PCs in 2014, that's as much of a ballpark as we can give you just now, but this is such an exciting venture that you can be certain we will keep you as up to date as we can.

I am interested to see what two great creative minds can come up with, Bethesda make great (but admittedly a tad buggy) games, and Mikami's name is attached to other great games, not just Resident Evil, but titles such as Dino Crisis and God Hand. This is also the first game from Mikami's new studio "Tango Gameworks."

The trailer, a live action trailer none the less, is below. We hope you enjoy it and let is know what you think the game will turn out to be like. I am reasonably excited for The Evil Within but admittedly I'm not a big fan of horror games... I'm a bit of a scaredy cat really.

Far Cry 3: Blood Dragon

If like me, you thought Far Cry 3: Blood Dragon was a wacky April Fools joke then it would appear that we were wrong. It just seemed too different from anything else tied to Far Cry 3 to be real. But it is, and it looks amazing.

Although it still hasn't been officially announced, there is plenty of information to be found on it all over the internet, and even some leaked footage if you know where to look and can get there before it gets taken down by Ubisoft for copyright violation.

Blood Dragon is set in a dystopian 2007, but it is also the future. You are Sergeant Rex Colt (voiced by Terminator and Aliens actor Michael Biehn.) Tasked with defeating a rogue cyborg army, getting the girl and saving the world. What's not to love?

It is clear from all the promotional materials surrounding Blood Dragon that it is a wild spin off and is shaping up to me absolutely insane in all the best possible way. Like the Mad Hatter's tea party with Charles Manson, Michael Myers and Ted Bundy. But without them murdering you.

Blood Dragon will be a stand-alone download for PC, PS3 and Xbox 360 and is touted for a May 1st release

Slendytubbies: Who Needs Sleep Anyway?

Who wants to ruin their childhood in a matter of minutes? Well that is exactly what Sean from Zeoworks set out to do. Thus Slendytubbies was born! I bet you are saying to yourself right now “Slendytubbies? Pah, sounds like a game for a toddler.” Well, you are very wrong.

Slendytubbies is a re-make of the infamous indie game, “Slender”. The concept is the same, but instead of good old Slenderman following you, it is a deranged, possessed Tellytubby. Sounds messed up, I know.

You walk around Tellytubby Land, searching for 10 bowls of Tubby Custard. Seems harmless enough. Well, you also have to avoid being caught by the Slendertubby and the various traps set out to get you. You can't help but feel like you are constantly being watched. The eerie ambiance to the game combined with the innocence of Tellytubbies provides a terrifying experience.

Slendytubbies proves that what you are being chased by is not always what causes fear. Simply turning a harmless character like a Tellytubby into a killer maniac can be enough to creep out even the best of gamers.

If you don't believe me, or want to prove how courageous you really are, why not download it for yourself. After all, they are only Tellytubbies, fictional characters from a kids program. Nothing to worry about... right?

Opening the Valve: Portal, The Key To Success.

When Valve released the Orange Box way back in 2008, I doubt they realised the future popularity of their new puzzle-platform game, Portal. We can all agree that it was thanks to Portal, the Half-Life franchise and Team Fortress 2 that Valve became the well known corporation that they are today. The quirky first person shooter consists of escaping from a facility that challenges you with various puzzles that require, well, common sense and a lot of patience.

You play as the “dangerous mute lunatic” test subject called Chell who battles through Aperture Science's 20 test chambers, designed purely to leave you questioning your sanity. Your only weapon is the hand-held portal gun which can shoot portals onto the white “moon rock” painted walls. And if that doesn't seem confusing enough, you also have to fight against turrets, avoid acid pits and most importantly try not to get killed by deadly neurotoxin. Seem interesting enough yet? Well don't forget the main antagonist GlaDOS. Her job is to lead you through your pleasant testing experience and guide you to the so called end of testing.

The game is fast moving, clever and witty and can be at times simply sadistic. It's no surprise that all those who have played cannot seem to get enough of it. Unfortunately, it can sometimes be too fast. By the time you finally get into the game, it seems to be all coming to a unwanted and premature end. The first 15 levels are a piece of cake and can be finished within the hour if you take your time. You are left feeling unsatisfied, an unquenchable thirst for more demanding puzzles.

Despite Portal primarily beginning as a mere add-on for the Orange Box, it has expanded and developed a name for itself, quickly becoming one of the most creative and original games of its time. It has certainly pushed Valve into the limelight and the popularity of the game allowed them to create the well-known sequel, Portal 2 which helped to answer the questions that players were left asking themselves upon completing the first game.

All in all, it's an excellent stepping stone into Valve's vault of awesome games and I hope that there will be many more like it in the future.

Aren't Stealth Games Great

The New York Times said once of stealth games "Once upon a time, stealth in games was rare. This began to change in 1998." They hit the nail right on the head there, for as far as I could tell, the only games before 1998 that had a heavy stealth element were Castle Wolfenstein (1981) Metal Gear (1987) and it's sequel; Metal Gear 2: Solid Snake (1990).

Then in 1998, the success of Tenchu Stealth Assassins, the first 3D stealth game, and a couple of months later the runaway success train that was Metal Gear Solid very probably revolutionised stealth games forever. Not to forget Thief: The Dark Project which pioneered stealth games on the PC, also being the first, first person stealth game and being dubbed a "First Person Sneaker."

The main difference between other action games and stealth games is that the player is tasked with avoiding combat and striking from the shadows, often there will be numerous ways to achieve your goal either completely avoiding combat, subduing your enemies or if you feel inclined you can still take out your enemies with lethal force, but in games such as Dishonored, it won't necessarily lower your score or anything but it just might effect your game in other ways.

When using the darkness to your advantage is one of the gameplay elements, light and dark become integral to level design, allowing players to disable light sources to create new shadows to hide in and strike from. Not only is light and dark utilized but so is sound. Taking your time in a stealth game, not running around like a headless chicken, making sure you don't make too much noise. You make too much noise and you will be swamped by enemies and very probably killed. Not good.

Speaking of enemies, the AI in stealth games needs to be ignorant of certain parts of the game world and they operate on a line of sight mechanic as well as being able to hear you, if they see you or hear you they will be on you, and on more than one occasion you will find yourself heavily out-gunned and have to rely on your skills in stealth to make sure you don't get iced.

Stealth games will always have a special place in my heart, my top five favourite games list contains 3 stealth games, being Dishonored, Metal Gear Solid and Metal Gear Solid 3, and you may ask why is this article coming out now? I will tell you exactly why. The new Thief title, releasing on "PS4 and other next gen consoles" and PCs in an undisclosed time in 2014. Developed by Eidos Montreal and published by Square Enix. 

Thief (2014) is a reboot of the Thief series and it may be the highest draw for me so far to buy a next gen console, especially after all the news about how the new Xbox will require a constant internet connection and connection to the Kinect 2.0. 

As news about Thief filters through, we will endeavour to keep you posted with it.

What is your favourite stealth game? let us know in the comments.