In today’s video gaming news, learn more about Trombone Champ, a musical computer game, has gained more than 20,000 downloads since last week and went viral in social media. Meanwhile, Security researchers have determined that Minecraft is the game most frequently exploited by hackers, who use it to trick unsuspecting gamers into installing malware. Lastly, the mention of something related to Suikoden is causing fans to become enthusiastic, but they might be let down.
How Trombone Champ Became a Viral Hit
Original Source: ‘It’s a joke first and a game second’: how the delightful Trombone Champ went viral
Trombone Champ, a musical computer game, has received more than 20,000 downloads since last week. Gameplay videos show beloved songs ruined by bad trombone playing.
It’s like Guitar Hero with your mouse as a trombone. Up and down simulates the slide, and clicking blows the horn. Play Beethoven’s Fifth, Hava Nagila, and Take Me Out to the Ballgame.
The game is a joke first and a game second, says creator Dan Vecchitto, who is “surprised and happy” at the popularity. I don’t know why there’s not more comedy in games, because they’re funny.
Also hard. It’s harder than it sounds to align your cursor with the flying notation, especially since you can’t hold the mouse button down forever – that will make your character out of breath. On the A-F scale, I got a C. My virtual trombone playing sounded like a third-grader practicing for a recital, honks and squawks ruining an otherwise flawless backing track. The game’s joy is how silly it sounds.
When you start, a voice says, “One day you will rip the fabric that binds this land… but until then, you must toot. Toot your trombone, brave soul, and you may become Trombone Champ. A mysterious “baboon” mode rewards deeper investment in the game – baboon is a “naturally funny word,” says Vecchitto – and players can summon a “demon.”
Vecchitto, 38, isn’t a trombonist but a musician. Instead, he was struck by a mental image of an arcade-game cabinet with a rubber trombone, where people would “flail around” and make bad music. Later, he mimicked the trombone with a mouse.
His wife, Jackie Vecchitto, contributed art, and Max Tundra added a musical track (most of the music is public domain material). He thought the project would take six months; it took four years, including working around his day job as a UX/UI web designer. Half of 2020 sucked.
During his work, he worried that others wouldn’t understand. “It’s hard to sell a game if the concept is: you can’t do it well,” he said.
He “never expected a breakthrough” Before Trombone Champ, Holy Wow Studios had made a few games that were “decidedly small,” he says. It was “surprising that it’s leaving its niche”.
I’m glad the game made people laugh and smile.
He hopes his success will let him focus on game development. Others have suggested it would work well in VR. He wants to create an arcade version of the game. He plans to add more songs and make a Mac version of the PC game.
Vecchitto was worried about how trombonists would react. They loved it, so he had nothing to fear. I didn’t know trombone streaming was so popular. I was contacted by three trombone streamers, which I didn’t know was a thing.
Indeed, Colleen Wheeler of the International Trombone Association (ITA), a 4,000-member community of trombone players in 74 countries, says, “This is the finest game ever created.” She notes that the game is “impeccably timed” for the ITA’s 50th anniversary, which it hopes to use in its celebrations.
If having the time of your life counts, it’s the same, Wheeler wrote in an email.
I recommend everyone on earth get the game and practice immediately. We hope you can’t resist the siren call and purchase a trombone. She added, “Your best days will be making music.”
Why not add a trombone to your life if this game brings you joy?
Hackers Use Minecraft to Hide Malware
Original Source: Minecraft is hackers’ favorite game title for hiding malware
Security researchers found that cybercriminals use Minecraft to trick unsuspecting players into installing malware.
The security firm found that between July 2021 and July 2022, Minecraft-related files accounted for 25% of malicious game brand abuse files, followed by FIFA (11%), Roblox (9.5%), Far Cry (9.4%), and Call of Duty (9%).
Other games with high abuse rates include Need for Speed, GTA, Valorant, The Sims, and GS:GO.
Mobile distribution volumes were much lower than PC gaming. Still, Minecraft dominates this category with a 40% share, followed by GTA (15%), PUBG (10%), Roblox (10%), and FIFA (5%).
Compared to 2020, Kaspersky reports a 30% drop in distribution volumes and a 36% drop in affected users.
Why hackers use game lures
Some recent examples of hiding malware in game cheats, installers, keygens, or games themselves are as follows:
Minecraft alt lists dropping Chaos ransomware
NPM packages posing as Roblox libraries deliver ransomware, password stealers
Microsoft Store games with malware loaders
Valorant cheats on YouTube drop malware
Because game titles attract tens of millions of people, hackers use them to lure victims.
Modern games almost always involve in-game economies, so promises of “easy progress” through hacks, valuable items, and cheats are enticing to users.
Kaspersky highlights fraudulent in-game stores that cloned originals, tricking players into paying for items they’ll never receive and phishing their account credentials.
People who can’t afford games often turn to pirated versions. Other games are in closed beta, excluding many interested users and forcing them to seek alternative ways to play. Hackers offer pirated versions of fake beta testing launchers.
Many game mods, cheats, and tools are unofficial one-person projects and face false positive security detections, so developers warn users to disable antivirus before installing them.
So, gamers may ignore AV warnings and run malware on their systems.
Files dropped
88.5% of all detected infection cases are downloaders, according to Kaspersky.
Adware (4.2%) and trojans that steal user data or allow remote access to the host machine (3%).
Downloaders take the lion’s share because they pass security scans but fetch riskier payloads when the user runs the program.
According to Kaspersky, info-stealers, cryptocurrency miners, or both are dropped on victims’ computers.
Always be careful when downloading free software from the Internet.
Moreover, if a developer says you must disable antivirus to run the program, stay away from it because malicious behavior is limitless.
Suikoden Fans May Be Disappointed by an Announcement
Original Source: Fans are getting excited about a Suikoden announcement, but they might be in for disappointment
Tokyo Game Show Konami event has become a Rorschach test for video games. Everyone looking at it sees something different: surely it’ll be about Metal Gear remasters or Silent Hill remakes, or maybe they’ll port Symphony Of The Night to PC (it won’t be this, but it should be).
Slowly growing circumstantial evidence has one neglected community excited for a new entry in a series that’s been silent for a decade. Suikoden hasn’t seen a new game since 2012’s Suikoden: Woven Web Of The Centuries, but fans hope the “world-loved series” getting a new game at TGS will be the JRPG cult classic.
Reasons abound. First, Yuki Kaji, a prolific voice actor, will host the Konami show to represent fans of a popular series. Kaji has appeared in three Konami games, two of them Suikoden games (and the third of which is not “well-loved around the world”). Second, VGC reports the announcement will be about a “smaller project” than Metal Gear and Silent Hill.
The success of Eiyuden Chronicle’s Kickstarter campaign may have reminded Konami it still owns the game’s license. The Eiyuden Chronicle raised $4.5 million, nine times its initial $500,000 goal. It’s due next year.
No smoking gun. The announcement won’t be about Suikoden just because rumors say it won’t be about Metal Gear. Eiyuden’s Kickstarter was successful in part because of Yoshitaka Murayama and Junko Kawano. Yuki Kaji is there to “represent fans,” so he may not be involved in announcing the game. Recent reports that the series’ trademark was renewed don’t tell us much either, as they only pertain to Mexican merchandise (opens in new tab).
But it’s the brightest spark of hope the Suikoden community has had in a while, and subreddits are already abuzz with arguments about what this could mean. I hope they’re excited because I’ve wanted to play Suikoden for years and the potential for heartbreak is too much to bear. Remakes and remasters of Konami’s most famous franchises seem inevitable, but niche classics like Suikoden could be forgotten. We hope a monkey’s paw doesn’t curl and deliver a microtransaction-filled Suikoden game for iOS and Android next week.
Summary of Today’s Computer Gaming News
Overall, Trombone Champ, the musical computer game, has gained over 20,000 downloads since its release a week ago, and gameplay videos depicting beloved songs destroyed by horrible trombone playing have spread around social media. In truth, “it’s a joke first and a game second,” says the game’s designer, Dan Vecchitto, who is “surprised and delighted” by the outpouring of support. I don’t understand why there isn’t more comedy in video games, because they are so funny.
On the other hand, security researchers have determined that Minecraft is the most frequently exploited game by hackers, who use it to trick naive gamers into installing malware. According to data collected by the security firm between July 2021 and July 2022, Minecraft-related files accounted for almost 25% of dangerous files transmitted through gaming brand abuse, followed by FIFA (11%), Roblox (9.5%), Far Cry (9.4%), and Call of Duty (9%).
Finally, slowly increasing circumstantial evidence has one neglected group ready for a new episode in a series that’s been silent for a decade. Suikoden hasn’t seen a new game since 2012’s Suikoden: Woven Web Of The Centuries, but fans hope the “world-loved series” getting a new game at TGS will be the JRPG cult classic. Just because rumours say the announcement won’t be about Metal Gear doesn’t mean that it will be about Suikoden. But it’s the brightest spark of hope the Suikoden community has had for some time, and the subreddits are already abuzz with arguments about what this could mean.
