Play Games Against The Woman In Black

In “Haunted Memories”, fans must try and save their Facebook friends in a card game playing against the Woman in Black. But be warned, she plays by her own rules. Click a card to flip to over and match pairs of cards to free your friends. One pair of cards belongs to the Woman in Black. If you pick only one of her cards, she will shuffle the deck. Choose both Woman in Black cards to remove her from play before the round. There are three levels and each level has more cards than the previous level.

In “Puzzling Visions”, fans must try and fit together pieces of a puzzle and see if they can find out what they saw, who will be next and when will she stop Three puzzles of three shifting visions have been created by the Woman in Black. Assemble the pieces and complete the puzzle to watch the full video with sound. Click and drag each puzzle piece to the correct spot on the pad. When placed correctly, the piece snaps in place and cannot be moved again. Solve each puzzle to see and hear the entire clip.

Planetarium Game Takes Us To Space

Space Cruiser is a game that is played by the audience in New York City’s American Museum of Natural History. This test video shows how such a project works and it looks great!

Mass Effect Art Book Gets DLC Bonus

The Art of Mass Effect Universe is coming out from Dark Horse very soon. Because nothing that’s Mass Effect related can go without some pre-order DLC, so for everyone that orders the game before February 20 from Barnes & Noble will receive a code for Mass Effect 3 content.

“This product contains a code that can be redeemed for bonus content for Mass Effect 3 multi-player including character boosters and the deadly Collector Assault Rifle to give you a leg up on the Reaper invasion,” said Dark Horse. “Visit social.bioware.com/redeem for instructions on how to unlock your new upgrades.”

“The Collector Assault Rifle uses the same principles as a human assault rifle, but its organic components clearly set it apart,” they noted. “Its power source appears to be an internal organ with biotic capacitance; its ammunition resembles pellets of metallic enamel that strip shields off enemies with deadly efficiency.”

Source: darkhorse.com

Netflix Won’t Be Renting Games

Netflix has announced that they will not in fact by renting games by mail. While it was originally part of the plan to include game disks in the Quikster service reserved for its DVD movies, though that plan was quickly quashed.

The decision was no doubt motivated by the margins on physical products as opposed to streaming (roughly five times greater). Right now, streaming only customers outnumber those getting DVDs from Netflix at a rate of 2 to 1, a discrepancy they expect to grow as more opt for streaming and drop the DVD service (2.76 million DVD subscribers were lost in the last quarter alone).

Darksiders II: Death Through The Ages

Images of Death are omnipresent in our culture and the Pale Rider has long been an ominous symbol. To add a sense of eternity to death, the hero of Darksiders II has been transplanted into several classic pictures in a montage of war and strife.

Lara Croft Visits Finland

While Eidos has said that it will never hold real life modeling of Lara Croft again, that isn’t stopping tributes. The Miss Finland competition recently had some contestants go out in the freezing cold and take some Lara Croft themed pictures (one contestant named Sara Chafak is a particular ringer for Lara).

Source: iltasanomat.fi

Google Uniting Consumer Platforms, Causing Privacy Concerns

Google recently announced plans to condense its 70 consumer platforms into one “main policy.” This will allow the company to collect anonymous advertiser information across Android phones, Google’s desktop apps, Gmail, search and Google+, which is good for their marketing partners but a concern for the government over privacy issues.

“Companies are struggling with how to make privacy data security more tangible to consumers,” said Amy Mushahwar, a data and privacy attorney with Reed Smith. “As for the specific information collection enhancements for Google products and services, Google understands that industry and consumer advocates are watching their every move.”

Google argues that this will make for a more streamlined experience. Privacy advocates, however, are worried that this might create an opt-out precedent rather than opt-in.

“Google’s new privacy announcement is frustrating and a little frightening,” said James Steyer, the CEO of Common Sense Media. “Even if the company believes that tracking users across all platforms improves their services, consumers should still have the option to opt out, especially the kids and teens who are avid users of YouTube, Gmail and Google search.”

“If you want to take your information elsewhere, you can,” argued Google’s director of privacy, product and engineering, Alma Whitten. “We don’t sell your personal information, nor do we share it externally without your permission except in very limited circumstances like a valid court order. We try hard to be transparent about the information we collect and to give you meaningful choices about how it is used—for example, our Ads Preferences Manager enables you to edit the interest categories we advertise against or turn off certain Google ads altogether.”

The danger for Google is that consumers will just say no to them. “People can’t opt out. It’s my way or the digital highway,” said Jeff Chester, the executive director of the Center for Digital Democracy. “What regulators can do at this point is questionable, but Google is in danger of tarnishing its reputation and that is troubling for the company in the long run.”

Source: AdWeek

Rovio Veteran Goes Over To Big Fish Games

Big Fish Games has announced that it has hired Wibe Wagemans to lead their push in the mobile market. The former senior vice president at Rovio will help the company tackle over 150 exclusive development partnerships.

“Wibe is a data-driven brand steward who understands the distinct needs of mobile consumers and how to scale a growing portfolio of first and third-party content to mobile fans worldwide,” said Jeremy Lewis, chief executive officer and president of Big Fish. “With the addition of Wibe, we add another tremendously skilled member to our team.”

“Big Fish has a trusted entertainment brand 10 years in the making and huge further potential as it extends its 2500+ game catalog to capitalize on the worldwide growth in mobile gaming. I am delighted to be joining such a strong and well-positioned company,” said Wibe Wagemans. “We have an exciting 2012 content lineup in the works from Big Fish Studios and our hundreds of talented development partners.”

Mass Effect 3 Figurines To Carry DLC Codes

Mass Effect 3 is getting a set of four figurines from BigBadToyStore. The Miranda, Garrus, Mordin and Legion figures range from between 6.7-7.25 inches high, with individual figures costing $17.99 or $67.99 for a case of all four.

“Each character includes updated photos, character bio, storyline, and logo, and is packaged with Mass Effect 3 branding,” says BigBadToyStore. “This product contains a code that can be redeemed for bonus content for Mass Effect 3 multi-player that could include powerful weapons to take on the Reapers. The pack could also include character boosters, weapon modifications, and weapon upgrades to make your multiplayer squad stronger.”

Source: bigbadtoystore.com