Are you one of the bzilions of geeks who enjoyed the two Batman games by Rocksteady Studios? I know I am. Now, are you also a huge TMNT geek? I thought so. There is a rumor going around (sadly not very substantiated) that Rocksteady Studios could be developing a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles game next. When you think about it, it makes a lot of sense. It could be dark and gritty like their Batman games, and the combat could be very similar. Insert the Foot Clan, the TMNT rogues gallery, and a healthy bit of nostalgia, and I’m sold.

This rumor is so awesome I actually avoided any Bebop and Rocksteady puns.

I doubt it’s true at all, but it made me happy just thinking about a TMNT game made by the fine folks at Rocksteady, and I thought it was worth posting if only for discussion’s sake. So, what would you like to see in a TMNT game in the style of the Arkham Asylum series? The Party Van? Pizza power-ups? Ace Duck?

There’s no shortage of ways to enjoy retro video games these days. Most people these days pay to download games on their game consoles or play digitally acquired ROM files with emulators on their computers. Either way, it sucks playing retro games with a mouse, keyboard, or any game controller that wasn’t designed to play that game.

I’ve seen plenty of USB adapters that allow you to connect your NES, SNES or Genesis controllers to your computer, but the Retrode is a unique gadget. It has slots that take SNES and Genesis game cartridges, as well as plugs for controllers. If you have emulators on your computer, you can plug it in and play the games from the cartridges via the Retrode’s USB interface. At first I didn’t understand the appeal, if you still need an emulator, what’s the point?

I guess the Retrode is a tool for people who still have lots of retro games and hardware laying around but don’t want to rely on a 25 year old console to keep enjoying them. One of the best things about the Retrode is how it doesn’t need any drivers to work on your computer.

The Retrode is cool, but it will run you $85. If you’ve got some old controllers and copies of Yoshi’s Island or Comix Zone laying around, it might be a cool gadget to try out.

‘Tis the season for giving and apparently EA is feeling very generous. All of their games for the iPhone and iPad are on sale for either 99 cents or free. The discount even includes “big ticket” items like Madden NFL 12 for the iPad which regularly sells for $12.99.

I’m looking to pick up a few of their games I don’t have yet, like The Sims 3 and Trenches II. Even though I don’t have an iPad (yet) I’ll probably buy a few of those enhanced apps. I also recommend the very entertaining Spy Mouse HD. The cat-and-mouse puzzle game is a ton of fun. Touch Arcade has an abbreviated list of the EA games included in the holiday sale along with their regular prices for comparison.

If nothing excites you in the EA catalog, try Gameloft. This publisher is also doing a 99 cent sale. They’ve got some good licensed games like Spider-Man: Total Mayhem, James Cameron’s Avatar, Fast Five the Movie: Official Game and Iron Man 2. Once again, we give a tip of the top hat to Touch Arcade for providing a list of all 17 Gameloft games included in the sale.

The 48-hour, rapid game development event known as Ludum Dare is wrapping up its twenty-second event this weekend. Ludum Dare, from the latin phrase “to give a game,” is a video game development competition started by Geoff Howland in 2002. Participants must produce a game from scratch in just two days time. Each entry must come from a single person and tie into the event’s theme. The theme of the most recent competition which ends on Sunday is “Alone.”

Entries can be found on Ludum Dare’s website. There are over 700 submissions in the main competition. You can also follow along with the #LD48 hash tag on Twitter. Contestants come from all walks, from students to professionals. While all entries in the 48-hour event are open source, there’s also a 72-hour “Jam” competition where contestants can keep their source code private. The Jam competition isn’t as strict and even allows team creations.

Minecraft founder Markus Persson, a.k.a. Notch, made a game called Minicraft. It looks like a NES or Gameboy Advance version of his wildly successful world-building game. Like many of the submissions, you can play his Java-based game online. Others have to be downloaded to be enjoyed.

Another notable entry comes from Shaun Inman who made Sinkhole, a HTML5 game. Inman previously developed the popular iOS game The Last Rocket. Rusty Moyher of Box Cat game fame, made an interesting little game called Audire. It’s a Flash-based game so don’t try playing this one on your iPhone or iPad.

While this is my first brush with Ludum Dare, I’m excited to experience the other submissions and see who will be championed winner. The 48-hour competitions happen three times a year. The next event will be held in April.

Apples to Apples has come pretty far since it first got published in 1999. It’s currently the (give or take) third best selling board game on Amazon, and you can’t go to a department store without seeing the red boxes overflowing from the shelves, especially around the holidays. Well, the Apples to Apples empire just grew even larger, because now you can buy it on Xbox Live Arcade, and it’s a pretty nice digital version of the game.
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