Games Hive

Thousands Play Banned Video Game

2007-10-17T09:44:00.000-07:00

Thousands of gamers are using the internet to get their hands on a video game banned because of its graphic scenes of torture and murder.
Grisly game roused censors' wrath Manhunt 2, which features a character who goes on a gruesome killing spree in a mental institution, is the only game to have been banned by British censors in the past 10 years.
The British Board of Film Classification refused to allow it to go on sale because of its "relentless violence" and "casual sadism".
But the game was leaked onto the web - and anyone with a little technical knowledge can download it and play it on a modified games console.
Manhunt 2 was originally refused a classification by the BBFC in June because it "constantly encourages visceral killing".
Manufacturer Rockstar carried out changes to the game but last week it was once again refused a rating.
No-one of any age is allowed to play the game, and yet our investigation found thousands of people downloading it.
Gaming expert and journalist Rob Fahey told Sky News: "What's disturbing about the game is you play a killer.
"There's no victim to sympathise with, there's no particularly complex storyline; you simply go around killing people in extraordinarily violent ways... there's no moral framework around it."
The original title in the series, Manhunt, was withdrawn from sale by a number of high street retailers after the parents of a schoolboy murdered by a friend blamed it for the killing.
Warren Leblanc, 17, savagely beat and stabbed to death 14-year-old Stefan Pakeerah in Leicester in February 2004.
Violent: Grand Theft Auto
Stefan's parents later said Leblanc had been obsessed by the game, which awards points for brutal killings.
However, police and standards bodies rejected the link.
Rockstar Games says the content of Manhunt 2 is "in line with other mainstream entertainment choices for adult consumers".
It accepts the game was leaked onto the web by an employee of a different company who had access to the preview copy. That person has been sacked.
Rockstar is appealing against the British board of Film Classification ban.
The firm, which also produced the smash hit ultra-violent Grand Theft Auto series, says it has every right to make such games - even if some find them unpalatable.
It argues that it is parents' responsibility to supervise what games children play, and what they see on the internet.

(source: Sky)

Gears of War Userbars

2007-10-01T03:57:00.000-07:00

Userbars from Gears of War game:

You can check out more free userbars at free-userbars.blogspot.com

Harmonix’s feat. Metallica and The Who

2007-07-12T12:43:00.000-07:00

Harmonix, the leading developer of music-based games, MTV Games, a division of MTV Networks which is a division of Viacom, has released some solid and very pleasing details regarding its much awaited Rock Band game title.

They've made a deal with a rock mega bands like Metallica and The Who. The incomparable metal song “Enter Sandman,” will ship on the game’s disc this holiday season.

“Metallica is one of the best loved bands in the world and their albums redefined hard rock and metal. Its one of the bands we had to bring to the Rock Band experience,” said Alex Rigopulos, co-founder and CEO of Harmonix. “Rock Band will allow gamers to jam with the guys through their long, successful career, from young, raw talent to mega stars, playing the hard-rocking sounds that the band is known for.”

“Our goal was to bring a deep musical experience to Rock Band by providing not just one song by a player’s favorite artist, but a carefully-chosen career-spanning array,” stated Paul DeGooyer, MTV’s Senior Vice President, Audio, Home Video and Games. “Metallica has never been afraid to let their fans get closer, and now those fans will be able to inhabit this incredible music in a completely new way.”

Also, they have revealed that The Who’s album ‘Who’s Next’ is all set to become the first full length album to be available as a digitally distributed game level. The album Who’s Next will be the first album that will be able to be purchased by Rock Band players soon after the game is released.

For more information visit www.harmonixmusic.com.

Sony's PlayStation Portable Slim

2007-07-12T11:53:00.000-07:00

Sony is about to release new PlayStation Portable Slim in september this year. It's going to be 33 percent lighter and 19 percent slimmer than the original PSP model, with a faster UMD drive, used to load games and some movies, and features improved battery life.

There will be several versions of PSP Slims: limited white one, which will be selled with a Star Wars game, black and silver PSP Lite and PSP Entertainment Pack which will be packed with 1Gb memory card and games Sony is about to buy for this purpose.

Starcraft II Official Trailer

2007-06-07T07:32:00.000-07:00

Though it came out half of month ago, I can't afford to miss it on GamesHive just like you shouldn't afford not to see it. First one is an official Blizzard's trailer and second one is a part from demo gameplay.

Silent Hunter 4: Wolves of the Pacific

2007-06-07T05:31:00.000-07:00

New Silent Hunter is bringing us and our favorite submarine, back to Pacific in World War II.
Submarine Sim games are quite specific sort of games; while the other war games are mainly concentrated to make something highly exciting and filled with action, these games do probably the longest and most boring type of fighting.

Visually, Silent Hunter 4 looks great if we forgive them one small bug with resolution. Graphics, sound and gameplay are above expected, as you can see on screenshots.

Developing Silent Hunter IV - how it all looked like before it was released:

Blizzard Announced Starcraft 2

2007-05-23T10:02:00.000-07:00

After 10 years of anticipation Starcraft fans finally have something to be happy for. Blizzard's producer Chris Sigaty officially anounced that in nearby future we can expect the release of the Starcraft II, followed by screenshots and video trailers.
Gamers, buckle up because the Zerg are about to attack again! Here are some pictures (screenshots) for now:

Sims 2 Cheats

2001-01-01T18:56:00.000-08:00

To access the 'Cheat' window press Ctrl + Shift + C then enter the following codes:

List cheats:
Help -all

Expands or contracts Cheat window:
Expand

Closes Cheat window:
Exit

Clears all cheat codes on the screen, but codes are still in effect:
Clear

Increases game performance but lowers graphics:
Vsync (on/off)

Windowed mode:
-w

Start with desired resolution (in pixels):
-r(width) x (height)

Fullscreen mode:
-f

Disables sound:
-nosound

Get 1000 Cash:
Kaching

50,000 Simoleans:
Motherlode

Puts the game in slow motion. Enter any number that 0 through 8 (0=fastest and 8=slowest):slowmotion

Makes your Sims larger or smaller:
StretchSkeleton

Allows you to change elevation of floor tiles:
Boolprop constrainFloorElevation false

Disables the ability to change elevation of floor tiles:
Boolprop constrainFloorElevation true

Turn on aging:
Aging on

Turn off aging:
Aging off

Turns off facial bounding limitations. It prevents the normal corrections the game will make for two parents with very different facial structures:
FaceBlendLimits (on/off)

You can invite more people to your parties:
IntProp maxNumOfVisitingSims 8

Takes off censoring:
Intprop censorgridsize 0

You can tell what social reaction will happen before you do it:
Social_debug

Turns Postprocessing on:
BoolProp enablePostProcessing true

Turns Postprocessing off:
BoolProp enablePostProcessing false

Set to true and cars will have more detail in neighborhood:
Boolprop carsCompact (True/False)

Set to true to show lot information:
Boolprop lotInfoAdvancedMode (True/False)

Set to false to place floor tiles outside lot:
Boolprop locktiles (True/False)

Set to false to remove removes water (ponds) from lots:
Boolprop lotWater (True/False)

Set to false to remove floorpainting on lot:
Boolprop lotTerrainPaints (True/False)

Set to false to remove props like rocks and towers from neighborhood:
Boolprop displayNeighborhoodProps (True/False)

Set to true to light up objects continuously instead of only when used:
Boolprop allObjectLightsOn (True/False)

Set to false to remove roads from neighborhood:
Boolprop displayNeighborhoodRoads (True/False)

Set to false to removes trees/plants from neighborhood:
Boolprop displayNeighborhoodFlora (True/False)

Set to false to remove water from neighborhood:
Boolprop displayNeighborhoodWater (True/False)

Set to false to removes house graphics from neighborhood:
Boolprop displayLotImposters (True/False)

Set to false to remove bridges from neighborhood:
Boolprop displayNeighborhoodRoadsWithModel (True/False)

Set to false and lots will not light up when highlighted in neighborhood:
Boolprop lotTerrainLighting (True/False)

Set to false to remove removes shadows on objects outside house:
Boolprop objectShadows (True/False)

Set to false to remove shadows on objects inside house:
BoolProp guob (True/False)

Set to true and walls will no longer cut away from selected Sim:
Boolprop renderSelectedSimLevel (True/False)

Set to true to see the path where the selected Sim walks to:
BoolProp displayPaths (True/False)

Set to true and blocks appear on Sims faces and on parts where Sims look at:
Boolprop displayLookAtBoxes (True/False)

Toggle shadows on/off for Sims:
BoolProp simShadows (True/False)

In neighborhood, shows filename of house when lot is highlighted:
Boolprop ShowLotPackageFilename (True/False)

You can place objects outside the grid:
BoolProp snapObjectsToGrid (True/False)

Moves objects and deletes you couldnt before:
Moveobjects (on/off)

Lets you know if theres a patch:
Autopatch (on/off)

Sitcom flashback blur effect (# = 0.0 to 1.0) (require postprocessing on):
Bloom rgb #

Blurry bits at the edge of the screen. (# = 0.0 to 1.0) (require postprocessing on):
Vignette # # #

Makes the screen grainy. (# = 0.0 to 1.0) (require postprocessing on):
FilmGrain #

Adds a letterbox effect to the view. (# = 0.0 to 0.4) (require postprocessing on):
LetterBox #

Remove every Sim from the neighborhood (neighborhood view only):
DeleteAllCharacters

Toggle between the two terrain types (neighborhood view only):
TerrainType (desert/temperate)

Debug Mode:
Press Ctrl + Shift + C to open the Cheat menu then enter the following:
BoolProp testingCheatsEnabled true.

While in Create-a-Sim press Shift + N before creating your first Sim to enable skintones, clothes, and hairstles that would normally be used only by NPCs.

Press Shift + M to disable it. Bring up the Debug menu by presssing Shift + Click on a Sim while in Live mode.

Hangman

2001-01-01T05:08:00.000-08:00

Let's play something different. An old guessing game that used to require only pen and paper. Now requires a computer like you have :) Just joking, of course; just a time waster anyway... Enjoy

Space Invaders

2001-01-01T04:41:00.000-08:00

A well known Space Invaders in retro style is now available for our web pages. Of course you can play it in here too ;)

Pacman

2001-01-01T04:33:00.000-08:00

God bless google for they really know how to cheer me up :)
I've decided to put some of their great game gadgets on my blog, so we can all play it directly from here. Here is good old Pacman, enjoy!