The 2009 PAX, or the Penny Arcade Expo, a nerd-gathering and social gaming destination held in Seattle over the summer was a grand hit. It drew thousands of guests who came to play games, listen to music, and join in the general revelry of the event.

We went and wrote all the hands-on previews you could read, but if you desire a documentary-style DVD of the happenings, PAX has you covered.

The DVD collection, with over 10 hours of content on six discs, will arrive in the PAX Store later this month.

And keep an eye out for PAX East, a mammoth-sized event landing in Boston in late March.

The end of the year is rapidly approaching and with that end comes the inevitable and plentiful “….of the year” lists.

Today, Google compiled and released the top-selling and highest-rated iPhone/iPod Touch games for the year and there’s some surprises on it.

The top-selling list is just as you’d expect. Established franchises and big-name publishers, with the exception of Firemint’s Flight Control, but on the highest-rated side of the chart it’s a different story.

From DOOM Classic to Zemonia, these ones are all over the place. Have a look.

How many of these do you own?

Source: Kotaku

The 2009 G8 summit in L’Aquila, Italy was a massive letdown. Personally, I didn’t expect much more. The G8 operates under the guise of real leadership, when really the summit has become nothing more than a glorified vacation for the world’s most powerful leaders. But as we’ve seen in the past and present, power does not equal intelligence.

Empty threats were issued toward political powers in Iran. The very foundation of democracy is threatened in the divided country, but the world’s “saviors” offered nothing.

The strong foundation of the worldwide economic recession shook not one bit; no economic plans were laid out. In the worst economic crisis in about 80 years, the richest offered no solutions.

In perhaps the largest disappointment of the summit the leaders made such a wavering, uncommitted “commitment” to climate change, simply declaring that the eight superpowers had agreed to “substantially reducing global emissions by 2050.” Weak. Those who have been lambasted and forced to be environmentally-friendly were flipped off by their own leaders.

The plan drafted in L’Aquila, according to the LA Times, specifies no real interim targets either, just that global emissions reduction progress will be reviewed every so often.

Sadly enough, the recession will hinder climate control progress as well as the ability of developing countries to adapt to changes that have already occurred. Some groups predict that as much as $150 billion is needed every year to aid regions in developing countries that have already been affected by climate change. No one has that money, and may not any time soon since no solid economic revisions were drafted.

Other countries have demanded the G8 dramatically reduce their emissions by as much as 40 per cent. From these eight leaders however, there was no urgency. No commitment. No sense.

In 2010, the leaders meet in Muskoka, Ontario. By then, even more criticism will be launched their way. Hopefully it knocks some sense into them.

Nintendo announced today a list of over 120 games that will release on the Wii, DS, and WiiWare within the year. ‚ Still high on their podium from 2008′s monetary and cultural successes, the Japanese video game company in 2009 aims to keep momentum and enthusiasm behind their brand name.

A new iteration of the globally dominated Nintendo DS, the DSi, debuts in early April, and if that doesn’t excite you enough, because it should, then at least you have 120 other reasons to look forward to this year.

Nintendo published titles are almost always a sure bet, and this year will be no different.‚  The long awaited Punch Out!! ‚ will launch May 18 and will finally continue the NES classic.

Excitebots: Trick Racing builds on the epic Excitebike and Excitetruck franchises.‚  Limited details only speak to changing environments, fun minigames, and crazy tricks.‚  Personally, I loved ExciteTruck, bought it on launch day, and still play.‚  I am doubtful, but I would love to see online play included in this title, and I think you would too.‚  We will see, when Excitebots is released April 4^th.

Finally, Donkey Kong Jungle Beat, famous on the Gamecube, will release May 4^th with new added motion controls.‚  I thought the original was very unique and entertaining, pounding on my bongo’s to complete each level is an experience only Nintendo would think of.

Sadly, the next installment of epic franchises Mario and Zelda are nowhere to be found on the list for 2009.‚  But hey, maybe we’ll be treated to an announcement at this years E3.

Nintendo’s lineup below:

Wii

2K Sports
Major League Baseball‚® 2K9 – March 3
Don King Boxing – March 31

Activision
X-Men Origins: Wolverine – May
Ice Age 3 – June 30
Transformers^TM: Revenge of the Fallen – June

Aksys Games
Guilty Gear XX Accent Core Plus – May 12

Atari
Ready 2 Rumble Revolution – March 17
Backyard Baseball 10 – March 31

Capcom Entertainment Inc.
MotoGP^TM – Spring

Codemasters Inc
Overlord Dark Legend – Summer

Conspiracy Games
Real Heroes: Firefighter - April

Deep Silver, Inc.
Professor Heinz Wolff’s Gravity – April
Fritz Chess – May

Disney Interactive Studios
Hannah Montana The Movie – April

Electronic Arts
TRIVIAL PURSUIT^TM – March
MySims^TM Party – March
EA SPORTS Active^TM – May 19
Tiger Woods PGA TOUR‚® 10 – June
BOOM BLOX^TM Bash Party – Spring
MySims^TM Racing – Summer
Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince^TM – Summer
G.I. JOE^TM The Rise of Cobra – Summer
EA SPORTS Tennis (working title) – Summer

Hudson Entertainment
Help Wanted – Summer

Konami Digital Entertainment, Inc.
DanceDanceRevolution‚® Disney Grooves – April 2
Yu-Gi-Oh! ^TM 5D’s Wheelie Breakers – May 19

LucasArts
Indiana Jones‚® and the Staff of Kings^TM – Late Spring

NAMCO BANDAI Games America Inc
Klonoa‚® - Q2

Nintendo
New Play Control! Pikmin^TM – March 9
New Play Control! Mario Power Tennis^TM – March 9
Excitebots: Trick Racing – April 20
New Play Control! Donkey Kong Jungle Beat - May 4
Punch-Out!! – May 18

SEGA of America
Virtua Tennis^TM 2009 - May
The Conduit^TM – June
Let’s Tap^TM – June

Southpeak Interactive
Roogoo Twisted Towers^TM – April 7
Pirates vs Ninjas Dodgeball^TM – April 21

Zoo Games, Inc.
M&M’s Beach Party – March 10
Puzzle Kingdoms – March 31
Garfield Gets Real – April 7
Pennzoil’s Build-N-Race: “Speed Demons” – April 14
Jelly Belly Ballistic Beans – April 21
Smiley World Island Challenge – April 28
Garfield’s Pet Force – June 9

DS.

2K Sports
MLB‚® 2K9 Fantasy All-Stars – March 3
Don King Boxing – March 31

Activision
X-Men Origins: Wolverine – May
Ice Age 3 - June 30
Transformers^TM: Revenge of the Fallen – June

Activision/RedOctane
Guitar Hero‚® On Tour: Modern Hits – June

Aksys Games
Jake Hunter Detective Chronicles: Memories of the Past - May 26
Rockin’ Pretty – June 23

Aspyr Media, Inc.
Treasure World^TM – June

Atari
Backyard Baseball ’10 – March 31
My Horse and Me Riding For Gold – March 31

Atlus U.S.A., Inc.
TrackMania‚® DS – March 17
Tokyo Beat Down^TM – March 31
The Dark Spire^TM – April 14
Dokapon Journey^TM – April 14
Steal Princess^TM – April 21
101 in 1 Explosive Megamix – April 21
Super Robot Taisen‚® OG Saga:Endless Frontier^TM – April 28
Knights in the Nightmare^TM – June 2
Shin Megami Tensei‚®: Devil Survivor^TM – June 23

Capcom
Mega Man Starforce 3 Black Ace – June
Mega Man Starforce 3 Red Joker – June

Codemasters Inc
Overlord Minions – Summer

Deep Silver, Inc.
Pet Vet: Down Under - March
Professor Heinz Wolff’s Gravity – April
Elite Forces: Unit 77 – April
DJ Star – May
Fritz Chess – May
The Humans – May
Horoscope DS – May

Disney Interactive Studios
Hannah Montana The Movie – April

DreamCatcher
Dreamer: Shop Owner – April 21
Dreamer: Babysitter - April 21
Dreamer: Teacher - April 21
Prank’d - May 19

Electronic Arts
Zubo^TM – March 10
Henry Hatsworth in the Puzzling Adventure^TM – March 17
MySims^TM Party – March
SCRABBLE^TM - March
LITTLEST PET SHOP Spring^TM – March
MySims^TM Racing – Summer
Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince^TM – Summer

Hudson Entertainment
Miami Law – Summer

KOEI
Monster Racers^TM - June

Konami Digital Entertainment, Inc.
Magician’s Quest: Mysterious Times^TM – May 5
Yu-Gi-Oh!^TM 5D’s Stardust Accelerators World Championship 2009 – May 19

LucasArts
Indiana Jones‚® and the Staff of Kings^TM – Late Spring

Majesco Entertainment
Puffins: Island Adventure – April 14
Powerbike – April 28
Drama Queens – May
Marker Man Adventures – May
Hot ‘n’ Cold – May
Dawn of Heroes – June

MumboJumbo
Crazy Chicken Star Karts – March 31
Crazy Chicken Atlantis Quest - April 28
Crazy Chicken The Pharaoh’s Treasure – June 2
7 Wonders II - June 30

Nintendo
Rhythm Heaven – April 5
Personal Trainer: Walking – May 25
The Legendary Starfy – June 8

PopCap Games, Inc.
Peggle^TM Dual Shot - March 3

Rockstar Games
Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars – March 17

Southpeak Interactive
Roogoo Attack^TM – April 7

THQ
Desktop Tower Defense – April 29

Ubisoft
Imagine‚® Makeup Artist - May 5
Imagine‚® Music Fest - May 5
Imagine‚® Boutique Owner – May 26
My Healthy Cooking Coach – June 2
Petz‚® Fashion: Dogz and Catz - June 9
Jake Power Soccer Club – June 16

Valcon Games
History Channel: Great Empires: Rome – March 17

Zoo Games, Inc.
Yamaha Supercross – March 10
Hands On!: Tangrams – March 24
Puzzle Kingdoms – March 31
Garfield Gets Real – April 7
Jelly Belly Ballistic Beans – April 21
Smiley World Island Challenge – April 28
Garfield’s Pet Force – June 9

About Nintendo: The worldwide pioneer in the creation of interactive entertainment, Nintendo Co., Ltd., of Kyoto, Japan, manufactures and markets hardware and software for its Wii^TM and Nintendo DS^TM systems. Since 1983, when it launched the Nintendo Entertainment System^TM, Nintendo has sold more than 2.8 billion video games and more than 485 million hardware units globally, including the current-generation Wii and Nintendo DS, as well as the Game Boy^TM, Game Boy Advance, Super NES^TM, Nintendo 64^TM and Nintendo GameCube^TM. It has also created industry icons that have become well-known, household names such as Mario^TM, Donkey Kong^TM, Metroid^TM, Zelda^TM and Pokƒ©mon^TM. A wholly owned subsidiary, Nintendo of America Inc., based in Redmond, Wash., serves as headquarters for Nintendo’s operations in the Western Hemisphere. For more information about Nintendo, visit the company’s Web site at www.nintendo.com.

Sony has big, no, make that huge plans for 2009 with the PSP.‚  If you’ve felt deprived of gaming goodness on-the-go, this year will renew your faith in the handheld system.

According to Sony Blog ThreeSpeech, today at Sony’s annual Destination Playstation event, LittleBigPlanet, Motorstorm, and Rock Band titles were announced for the PSP for release in 2009.

LittleBigPlanet on the PSP will feature the same creative and unique features found in the PS3 version and deliver them effectively to the portable gamer.‚  No mention of PSP to PS3 functionality at this time, but it must be in the works.

On the racing front, MotorStorm Arctic Edge will feature a brand new location set in the breathtaking yet lethal regions of Alaska. ‚ Check out the glorious screens in the gallery and the trailer below.

According to Kotaku.com, Rock Band Unplugged will be hitting the PSP featuring Wi-Fi support and a fully-featured in-game store for downloadable content in the North American and Europeans markets.‚  With no Rock Band 3 on the horizon in 2009, Unplugged looks to fill that void and challenge Guitar Hero: On Tour in the handheld market.

Kotaku reveals Rock Band Unplugged

ThreeSpeech

“Slumdog Millionaire,” actress Kate Winslet and mini-series “John Adams” raked in the accolades at the 66th Annual Golden Globe Awards on Sunday.

“Slumdog” won best picture in the drama category at this year’s Globes, held at The Beverly Hilton in Los Angeles, and telecast live on NBC. The film won every category it was nominated in, which included Best Director (Danny Boyle), Best Screenplay (by Simon Beaufoy) and Best Original Score (by A.R. Rahman).

It was also a good evening for Kate Winslet, who snagged a Best Performance by an Actress award for her portrayal of a desperate housewife in “Revolutionary Road” and Best Performance by a Supporting Actress for her role in “The Reader.” When she won for “Revolutionary Road,” Winslet thanked both co-star Leonardo DiCaprio and her husband Sam Mendes, who directed the film, in her acceptance speech, calling them “two incredible men who are such special people in my world.”

One of the big surprises included Mickey Rourke’s triumph in the Best Performance by an Actor category for drama, for his role as a down-and-out fighter in “The Wrestler.” Rourke’s career had been considered dead before this performance, now one of the most critically acclaimed of the year.

“It’s strange,” Rourke said in a press conference after winning the award. “I was out of the game for so many years. I really appreciated the second chance to work again.”

It surprised no one, however, to see Heath Ledger’s postmortem win for his role as The Joker in “The Dark Knight.”

“After Heath passed on, you saw a hole ripped in the future of cinema,” said Christopher Nolan, the film’s director, who accepted the award on behalf of Ledger. “But with the extraordinary response to his work that we’ve seen all over the world, I for one start to look a little bit less in that gap in the future and a little bit more at the incredible place in the history of cinema that he built for himself with his talent and his dedication to his artistry.”

In the television categories, the HBO mini-series “John Adams” emerged as the biggest victor of the night, winning Best Mini-Series or Motion Picture Made for Television. Paul Giamatti, Laura Linney, and Tom Wilkinson also won for their performances in the biopic.

The NBC comedy “30 Rock” was the other big television winner with three awards, including Best Television Series in a Musical or Comedy, a best actress accolade for Tina Fey, and best actor win for Alec Baldwin. Actor Tracy Morgan spoke for the show as they accepted their award.

“Tiny Fey and I had an agreement that if Barack Obama won, I would speak for the show from now on,” Morgan said. “Welcome to post-racial America. I am the face of post-racial America- deal with it, Cate Blanchett!”

“30 Rock” was the only network winner this year, with all of the other television awards going to cable programs on either HBO or AMC.

In television drama the awards were more mixed. AMC’s “Mad Men” won Best Television Series, but failed to garner wins for either lead actor Jon Hamm or actress January Jones. Anna Paquin won Best Performance by an Actress for her role in the new HBO vampire soap opera “True Blood,” and Gabriel Byrne won for his performance on HBO’s “In Treatment.”