firehose

Flappy Bird knock-offs proliferated almost as soon as Flappy Bird became a (blessedly short-lived) phenomenon, and it seems that Apple and Google are both fighting back. The companies have started rejecting submissions with the word "flappy" in their names, reports TechCrunch, citing tweets from developers.

Games are being rejected from the Apple store with the company saying that they're attempting to "leverage a popular app." Google, more obtusely, is rejecting flappy applications from the Play Store as "spam."

At this time, neither company appears to have removed Flappy Bird clones that they've already authorized, so any developer that got in to the various marketplaces quickly enough now has an advantage over latecomers. As the bandwagon continues to roll on, these games remain popular and appear to be capitalizing on flappy branding: top of the iOS free games chart is Splash Fish—the Adventure of a Flappy Tiny Bird Fish, for example.

Hi all, My business partner and I get to come to Portland for some meetings, and we're very excited about it. But - gasp! - the Ace Hotel doesn't have rooms for the dates we need. Can someone point me towards a place on par with the Ace, if not better? I went to the Jupiter Hotel's website, and was completely put off by the font/clutter/blaring music. That should give you an idea of just how insufferable we are. Thanks!

The NBA All-Star Game is today, meaning the best players in the world have gathered together to do dozens of interviews, hang out for a bit, and then play a game with absolutely no defense unless it turns out to be close in the final 3 minutes. It’s a good time.

It also means there is ample opportunity for every manner of product placement and cross promotion, and comics were almost certainly going to get in on the action. This time it’s in the form of a custom comic, as the Justice League visit the set of Inside The NBA to hang out with Ernie Johnson, Kenny Smith, Charles Barkley and Shaquille O’Neal. But the team who put this comic together made one embarrassing gaffe: Shaquille O’Neal and Steel are seen in the same room at the same time, and we all know that’s impossible, as they are the same man.

O’Neal, the former number one pick, four time NBA champion, and metal clad, hammer wielding super hero, seems unfazed by the situation. So how is he pulling this off? Perhaps, knowing that this could someday happen, he made a contingency plan for an ally, aware of his secret identity, to cover for him in the Steel armor — à la Spider-Man and the Prowler, or Daredevil and about a dozen other heroes at some point or another —  thus keeping his secret safe. For the answer to this and other burning questions, you’ll just have to try to get your hands on a copy of The Justice League Goes Inside The NBA: All-Star Edition, which is being handed out for free all weekend at the All-Star Game in New Orleans.

[Via Entertainment Weekly]

• Sweden is known for a very progressive RPG scene and Fenix magazine has collected over 500 articles over the year. The articles making the cut are the very best articles that are non-game specific. Campaign settings etc.
• Amongst the material are several stand alone games (PRG + card/boardgames) by different game designers.
• International PRG heavy-hitter Kenneth Hite is contributing several articles in every volume.
• Bernard the Barbarian (Birger Barbaren in Swedish) - swedens funniest PRG-related comic strip is features in every volume. Excellent in any language and probably NSFW in a number of countries (it's swedish after all).

Four years ago, DeviantArt artist gavacho13 imagined the worlds of Sesame Street and Street Fighter merging as one. Now, you can play an actual HTML5 game based on that brilliant idea. While Sesame Street Fighter is light on actual gameplay — you just type a few words on screen — the mashup elements are nicely done with animated characters, a backdrop, and music that clearly incorporate both sources of inspiration. Watch Blanka the Grouch pop out of his trash can, and C. Monsta throw cookie crumbs into the air before a match. It's just a shame that, despite all the Russian words you'll end up typing, wrestler Zangief isn't represented. Find the game right here.

Shame on you, super lame (about as lame as being in a scooter gang, oooooohhhhh , j/k...). It wasn't like you just barely made it through on a yellow, more than half of you rode right through a red light on Lombard at 10:20 PM. Only one of you stopped at a red light. I am sure one of you is a Redditor, please be aware of your actions.