Bored at work right now? Don't worry! The long weekend is almost here. You can pass the time by playing this brand new inFamous Flash game. The 2D side-scroller has you jumping and using electric powers -- just like in the PS3 game -- choosing between acts of good or evil. We're guessing this'll tend to evil if you're still at work.

It may not be the deepest of games, but it'll certainly pass the time before the full game comes out. To give the inFamous Flash game a whirl, you can check out Agame.com.

Hey, how's it going? Having a nice day? Got a busy schedule, huh? Lots of work to do, right? We're sorry to hear that -- see, here's how we see the next week or so playing out:

1. You'll fire up this recent, spot-on Flash port of Doom, Heretic and Hexen.
2. You'll play them until you're about to starve to death.
3. You'll eat.
4. You'll repeat steps 2 and 3 until, regrettably, you forget to do step 3.

Seriously, folks -- a Newgrounds Flash aficionado (simply named "Mike") has created one of the most accurate, free-est ports of three of id's gibbiest shooters (or wand-ers, in Heretic and Hexen's case). We highly suggest checking them out.

[Via Rock Paper Shotgun]

The other game is also noteworthy, but only because it doesn't make a freaking lick of sense. In Swine Flu: Hamdemic, players must slingshot infected pigs across the U.S. - Mexico border, using a six-shooter to keep said pork suspended in the air. Ah, yes. Of course. The origins of this potent malady have at long last been discovered.

If done correctly, quitting your job can be the absolute coolest thing you could ever do. When else do you get to air out hostilities you've harbored for countless years, impress cohorts with theatrical gesticulations and possibly, depending on the awfulness of your workplace environment, relieve yourself in a coffee pot?

One Mr. Jarrad recently took a less disgusting route to resignation from his position at 2K Australia -- he programmed a short (but sweet) Flash game, one which informs his employers that he's putting in his two week notice with grace and politeness. Also, with Mario. It may lack the panache of tainted Folgers, but it's still pretty darn amusing (and, more importantly, legal).

[Via superannuation]

Metro.co.uk has dug up some religious outrage over an aging, online game called Faith Fighter. The Flash-based title, released in January 2008, allows players to control various deities battling for ... "intolerance" of one another. In the "censored" version of the game, Muhammad's face is covered by a black circle. The Metro piece gives voice to certain representatives of various religions who are offended by the game, which does pre-load with this (perhaps sarcastic) disclaimer:

"This game is not intended to be offensive towards any religion in particular. Its aim is to push the gamers to reflect on how the religions and sacred representations are often instrumentally used to fuel or justify conflicts between nations and people ... If you feel that such a depiction [of Muhammad] would be offensive ... don't play the game at all."

Interestingly, Adult Swim's Bible Fight is essentially based on the same concept and has been playable since May 2, 2007. Granted, that game only picks on Judeo-Christian icons. Still, if we were a religious group expressing outrage (hint, hint), we'd at least direct our disgust at a mega-corporation (see The Church of England vs. Sony), you know, uh, to recoup some damages. Seriously, how do you expect little old Molleindustria.org to respond to the Faith Fighter backlash? Our best guess: a sequel starring new challenger Haile Selassie I.

[Via GamePolitics]

Nicalis's Tyrone Rodriguez went to a "secret developer summit" for Nintendo developers in Los Angeles this week, bringing back news of an important new announcement for WiiWare game creators: Nintendo has now made it possible to develop Wii games entirely using Flash -- something that is presumably most useful for WiiWare. We will probably hear more about this new WiiWare Flash functionality at GDC -- it seems an appropriate venue.

"This should open up the Wii to a lot of web developers who already can do killer Flash games," Rodriguez said. You may think of this as enabling more quick shovelware, but we think of it as enabling Dolphin Olympics 2.

In other news, The Escapist has posted an interview with Rodriguez and Cave Story creator Pixel that provides some insight into the kind of DLC planned for Cave Story. Rodriguez said that the structure is being designed to allow "all sorts of fun stuff like Boss Rush Mode or other fan-requested modes."

Each week Mark Methenitis contributes Law of the Game on Joystiq ("LGJ"), a column on legal issues as they relate to video games:


We're all somewhat familiar with the endless stream of Flash games featuring some famous person: Presidential Paintball, Super Obama World, Whack Britney Spears, Paris Hilton Jail Escape, etc. An interesting question was posed to me the other day about these games: Is there a quarrel over the right of publicity related to Flash games? Obviously, retail games featuring certain public figures, such as professional athletes, are paying for the use of those celebrity likenesses. Flash games, however, are positioned much differently, and it's one of the more complex relationships between differing legal theories I've seen in the gaming sphere.

While we've discussed the right of publicity before, it's worth reiterating that the concept is basically the equivalent of a trademark for a famous person's likeness. Think of it like a brand name helping to sell a product. A lot of people will buy a game just because it's made by Nintendo. Similarly, a lot of people might buy a game that appears to be created or endorsed by someone; be that a particular game developer or a celebrity. How many people initially bought Madden Football because of Madden's attachment to it? Probably quite a few. There's certainly a good strategy in using celebrity to sell a product.

Wow, what a milestone. After, like, eight months of doing the Joystiq Free Game Club, we finally have a sequel to a game we've previously featured. Wow, it looks like one semi-regular feature is all grown up. Ladies and gentlemen, please, give a big hand to our guest of honor, The Several Journeys of Reemus: Chapter 2.

Sadly, on this proud, proud day, we don't have a whole lot to add to the discussion that we didn't say about the first one. We're still following exterminator Reemus and his purple bear buddy Liam as they travel the countryside fighting vermin. It's still lovely to look at and the point-and-click puzzles are still as well-conceived as they are amusing.

More to the point, though, it's still free, free, totally free -- so what are you waiting for?

Continuing the trend of DICE 2009 speakers casting chicken bones and reading crystal balls in order to divine the secrets of upcoming movements in the gaming industry, Dave Perry (founder of the now defunct Shiny Entertainment and all-around industry veteran) possessed a unique, unsettling vision for the future. He explained that as the technology supporting remote storage and processing improves, the need for gamers to own hardware and software will naturally disappear, ushering in a gaming era where free-to-play online titles reign supreme.

As totally awesome as a world where all video games are sans-price sounds, Perry cautioned that this scenario means that "the days of single-player games are numbered." Equally alarming is the fact that this new business model would make it extremely difficult for traditional developers to compete against their uncostly competitors. Worst of all, think of the impact the rise of Flash games will have on poor ol' GameStop! That part alone is going to prevent us from getting any sleep tonight.

Chances are your Thanksgiving holiday (or plain old half-week) was not spent obsessively refreshing your PlayStation 3's "System Update." Chances are your spirit did not diminish with each passing day that firmware v2.53 was not released. Chances are you forgot all about it.

We happily report that the latest incremental update to leave your PS3 looking a lot like it did before the latest incremental update has arrived. Only ... what's this? Full-screen Flash videos in the web browser! It is a new PlayStation experience. Truly.

The official PlayStation website might have leaked information regarding firmware 2.53, but it was clearly very wrong about the date. The update didn't drop on November 26th, as the website suggested, but is instead available right now. Honestly, it's true. Go check for yourself.

The latest firmware adds full screen functionality to embedded Flash videos in the web browser, as well as generally "improving the way the Flash Player works with the internet browser." Meaning more websites will now work. Overall, a nice, if slightly anemic, firmware update. It's all free though, so we can't complain. Go on commenters, prove us wrong.

[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]

Here's the thing: A lot of different people read Joystiq. We once met a 142-year-old woman who read Joystiq every morning before heading out to hunt for her meals. Then, there was that 3-month-old infant whose uncanny ability to read the site was only surpassed by his 6-digit gamerscore. What we're saying here is that we've learned to never pigeonhole our audience. And with that lesson in mind, we bring you the following: A Flash version of Mirror's Edge – titled Mirror's Edge 2D (beta), naturally – built by Mr. Fancy Pants Brad Borne himself.

We're sharing this with you since we know the info would appeal to several totally distinct groups. Group A: Fans of Mr. Borne's Flash-based indie platformer, Fancy Pants Adventure. Group B: Those of you are interested in anything with the words "Mirror's Edge" on it. Group C: Those of you stuck inside the claustrophobic confines of an office cubicle, reading this on your dimly lit office CRT, yearning to try out some of those moves you learned playing Mirror's Edge last night. Lastly, Group D: Those of you who get simulation sickness and vomit just seeing the words "Mirror's" and "Edge" strung together. Don't worry folks, this is 2D. Like that Flash Portal game. Oh, and sorry about this:

Mirror's Edge.

The internet browser on the PS3 got a nice facelift in firmware 2.50. The addition of Flash 9 support makes browsing on the web much more entertaining, as many sites that implement Flash video can be properly viewed on the console. Apparently, implementing Flash 9 on the PS3 was quite a challenge, as it required the use of one of PS3's SPUs.

The use of additional processing power should help enhance the browsing experience, making it less sluggish than before. Sony also made changes to the way the browser implements JavaScript, with a 280% increase in performance there. The changes are so drastic that SCE's Shinji Noda believes the PS3's internet browser beats Internet Explorer 7.

While this may be an achievement to the Sony firmware team, we're doubtful many use their PS3s regularly to browse the web. Regardless, we're glad these changes were made: it's so much easier to browse PS3 Fanboy on firmware 2.50.

[Via IGN]

If you're a fan of Flash games at all, you've no doubt visited Kongregate, which makes web games even more delectably clickable by adding achievements and other rewards. Now you can be a crack dealer err, creator of Flash games with a tutorial section of the site just launched called "Kongregate Labs."

By walking you through creating a game of its own design, the site says it can take complete Flash newbies and have them making complete games of their own by the last of the eight tutorials (or "Shootorials" as the site calls them). Oh, and the best mod to its template game could win some cash. We're sure that pales in comparison to the gift of bringing joy into people's lives, but, hey, it doesn't hurt.

If you find yourself unable to wait until the Aug. 31 release of Mercenaries 2: World in Flames, we may have the perfect soothing balm for you: Armor Games and EA's Mercenaries 2: World (Nearly) In Flames. It's exactly like the console versions of Mercenaries 2, except it's free! (And it's made in Flash. And it's two dimensional. But other than that? Exactly the same.)

OK, so maybe it's not as technically impressive, but we could think of many worse ways to kill some time until the real release than with this solid, old-school diversion. Enjoy.