Author Archives: Chris Morris

Donkey Kong: Through the Years

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Nintendo’s donkey-kong-jpg_191640famous gorilla has come a long way since his 1981 arcade debut. Initially a mortal enemy of Mario, Donkey Kong’s trajectory changed when Super Mario Bros. came along in 1985, bringing with it a new bad guy, Bowser, who promptly took over princess snatching duties in the Nintendo universe. Laid off from that gig, DK became a much friendlier mascot, keeping himself occupied with his family, saving hordes of bananas, taking up the bongos and wearing a tie.

His latest adventure, Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze, arrives this week for the Wii U. It’s being hailed as another winning game for the big ape, though how will it ultimately stack up against his greatest hits?

Read more at Yahoo! Games

Report: Video games make better baseball players

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As baseball-video-game-studythe first full workouts of 2014 Spring Training begins this week, Major League Baseball managers may want to give their players gamepads instead of gloves.

A study by the University of California at Riverside, which was published in the current issue of Current Biology, suggests that playing video games can make you a better ballplayer.

Read more at Yahoo! Games

Georgia teen shot for holding Wii controller

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The teen-killed-wii-remotefamily of a 17-year-old Georgia student who was shot and killed by police last Friday is claiming their son had a Nintendo Wii remote in his hand — not a gun, as police have stated.

Christopher Roupe was shot when police in Euharlee, GA (about an hour northwest of Atlanta) showed up to serve a probation violation warrant for Roupe’s father. The officer says Roupe pointed a gun at her when he opened the door, but the family argues otherwise.

Read more at Yahoo! Games

80,000 people share a game of Pokémon

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I twitchplayspokemonchoose you, Pikachu! And so do about 80,000 other gamers.

A user of the online video streaming service Twitch launched an interesting social experiment last week, letting as many people who are interested attempt to control a single Pokémon trainer in the classic Pokémon Red/Blue — at the exact same time.

Read more at Yahoo! Games

BioShock creator Irrational Games is closing its doors

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Irrational irrational-closureGames, the developer of the hit games BioShock and BioShock Infinite, is calling it quits.

Ken Levine, head of the studio, announced the stunning news Tuesday, saying all but 15 employees would be let go as he and a core team begin a “smaller, more entrepreneurial endeavor.”

Read more at Yahoo! Games

Sony sells 5.3 million PlayStation 4 systems, extends console war lead

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The sony-playstation-4-signPlayStation 4 is fast becoming a juggernaut.

In a statement early Tuesday, Sony announced that sales of their flagship next-gen console have topped 5.3 million units worldwide through February 8. That’s significantly ahead of schedule, as the company was predicting sales of 5 million by the end of March 2014.

Read more at Yahoo! Games

10 high-tech gadgets to pamper your pet

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No pet gadgetsmatter how rough times get economically, we still love to pamper our pets.

Americans spent more than $61.4 billion on their pets in 2011 (the most recent figures available), according to a report by the U.S. Department of Labor. The average household spent more than $500 (beyond the typical amount for alcohol and men’s clothing). And tech companies are looking to get a slice of that pie.

Read more at CNBC.com

Critics praise The Last of Us: Left Behind

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The Ellie-attacks-cannibal-png_194010Last of Us ranks as one of the greatest games of the last generation and was our pick for the 2013 Game of the Year. But while the solo campaign had a very definite ending, developer Naughty Dog wasn’t quite done with it.

Enter The Last of Us: Left Behind, a long-awaited slice of new single-player content. Like the full game, it’s being warmly embraced by critics. Arriving today, the PlayStation 3 DLC currently boasts a Metacritic average of 86, with several outlets giving the expansion a perfect score.

Read more at Yahoo! Games

How to train like an Olympian

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It’s wearable tech-olympianhard not to assess your own physical state as you watch the athletic feats in Sochi from your couch. And while few of us will ever get to a state of fitness close to what we’re watching on our TVs, technology is making it easier for people to push their fitness efforts further.

Connected wearable technology—such as Google’s Glass or Samsung’s Galaxy Gear smartwatch—is still largely a niche product category today, but in the world of exercise, it’s a bona fide movement. There are dozens of devices designed to help people track and improve their workout routines, with more coming every day.

Read more at CNBC.com