38 Studios let go of all its employees on Thursday

Blast Magazine has confirmed from industry sources that 38 Studios, the video game company founded by former Red Sox pitcher Curt Schilling laid off all of its employees Thursday and shuttered Baltimore arm Big Huge Games.

The financial difficulties of 38 Studios, which recently put out its first game, Kingdom’s of Amalur, have been well documented in recent weeks.

News of the closing of Big Huge Games, which was integral in creating the action RPG released earlier this year, came first, followed by a rumor, which Blast quickly confirmed, that 38 laid off its staff.

RI Gov. Chafee spoke to the press recently and said that an investor could rehire the 38 Studios staff, however he is “not here to share good news.”

In an email sent to employees, 38 Studios said that ”the company is experiencing an economic downturn. To avoid further losses and possibility of retrenchment, the Company has decided that a company-wide lay off is absolutely necessary. These layoffs are non-voluntary and non-disciplinary.”

Charles Dane, 38 Studio’s Lead Community Manager has also tweeted: @Historian Yup and now on the market. I had an awesome run with@38Studios but this dream is now ending.

Big Huge Games has been shut down

Sean Andrew Murray, Principal Concept Artist for 38 Studios and Big Huge Games has taken to Twitter as well to say his goodbyes: @Muttnhead: “In other news: I am now actively seeking fulltime and/or freelance employment!” … “Thanks, Big Huge Games, for 5+ amazing years. Hope everyone lands on their feet.”

Earlier this month it was reported that 38 Studios missed a $1.25 Million payment on its $75 million state-backed loan, leaving the company in default. The studio attempted to make a payment, only to have their check bounce, the loan was paid later, but not without having to let go of a number of employees.

Big Huge Games was no stranger to near death experiences, thee studio was close to being shutdown by former owner THQ before being bought by 38 Studios.

Blast has contacted both 38 Studios and Big Huge Games for comment, we’ll update this story if we hear anything.

Ivan Favelevic, John M. Guilfoil, and Giancarlo Saldana of the Blast Staff contributed to this report.

Stop me if you’ve heard this one before, 2K Marin’s first-person-shooter reboot of the classic X-Com franchise has been delayed. Now, it looks like we won’t see it until sometime between April first of next year and March of 2014. yes, 2014.

The news came today in the form of Take-Two’s fourth quarter fiscal earnings report, where the studio listed the game, and it’s new release date very nonchalantly, saying “2K Games now expects to release XCOM, its shooter version of the franchise that is in development at 2K Marin, during fiscal year 2014.”

This, of course, isn’t the first time the game has been delayed. Officially announced at E3 2010, the game was first scheduled to release in 2011, before being pushed back to mid 2012. Earlier this year it was announced that the game would release in 2013, with the latest sending it to a ways off.

Yes. Call of Duty: Black Ops 2 will have a zombie mode. Please stop filling our inboxes with questions about it.

Confirmation comes in the form of an interview with Treyarch studio head Mark Lamia, which aired on today’s episode of X-Play, the only gaming centered show left on the formerly gaming centered channel.

“And then there’s zombies, the return of a co-op mode we created here at Treyarch for Call of Duty, and that’s going to come back in a big way,” Lamia said. “There’s a new world that we’re creating just for zombies players with all kinds of new gameplay.”

Black Ops 2 will release on November 13, 2012, and you’re going to hear a lot about it.

Last week we brought you news that Sony confirmed Kratos’ return in God of War: Ascension, a prequel to the popular PlayStation exclusive franchise. Now we’re getting our first look at the game’s multiplayer suite — a first for the franchise.

The announcement came earlier today via a live announcement on the PlayStation Blog. Though not many details were made available, it looks like the new modes will be an integral part of the new game.

Look for more info on God of War Ascension during E3, June 5-7 in L.A.

It would have been almost too easy for Telltale’s The Walking Dead game to be a major disappointment. The zombie genre is of course overdone, and the once-proud developer has had a string of so-so releases in the past few years (I’m looking at you Jurassic Park: The Game). Yes, it would have been easy to make The Walking Dead another shoot first and ask questions later type of game, but thankfully Telltale has captured the spirit of the franchise and given us a poignant and almost touching tale of human desperation under the veil of a zombie apocalypse. It may not be perfect — in fact, there’s some very distinct problems lying here, but Telltale’s zombie soap opera is a return to form for not only the developer, but the genre as well.The Walking Dead tells the story not of the group of survivors we’ve all come to know, but of Lee Everett, a man being carted off to jail for a murder he either did or did not commit. As luck would have it, his trip to the big house is interrupted by a pesky zombie in the middle of the road, which sends the police cruiser he’s being driven in tumbling down a hill, killing the officer and thrusting him into a different kind of world than he was in just minutes ago. In the first episode, Lee discovers the walkers, meets some new survivors and adjusts to this new way of life — at least he tries to.

There are going to be plenty of people who are going to be disappointed that they’re not jumping into the boots of Sheriff Rick Grimes and unloading rounds into hordes of the undead, but perhaps that’s for the better. The Walking Dead aims to recapture the spirit of the original property and does a damn fine job of it. You’ll find yourself actually caring about the people you meet and the decisions you make. For example, when given the choice in games, I usually take the good guy approach, but with The Walking Dead, there were several moments when I was making decisions based purely on the emotion I was feeling rather than how I wanted the game to turn out.

This is thanks in large part to the fact that your decisions are all timed, and they’ll have less impact when you take longer to make them, meaning that you’re going to go on your first instinct more often than not. Compare this to a game like Mass Effect, where you have all the time in the world to sit and think about what you’re going to say to almost telegraph the game the way you want it. The result is a game that plays much more from the heart than the brain.

That’s not to say though that The Walking Dead doesn’t have it’s fair share of the undead, they’re just used more sparingly, which gives them much more of an impact. No, this isn’t Dead Rising, where you’ll be fighting your way through thousands of zombies, each encounter will actually mean something here. There’s a very important moment where one of your recently met survivors meets their untimely end and it actually holds a lot of weight. As opposed to the developer’s more recent games, The Walking Dead does a great job portraying action using context sensitive quicktime events, and the few zombie encounters found in episode one where great fun to play.

By now you’ve probably heard all about Kinect Star Wars. You’ve heard about the delays, the Rancor..the dancing. You’ve probably also heard about how nearly everyone who’s played it has been worried that it’s going to disappoint anyone with a love for one of the world’s most beloved franchises. It can’t be that bad can it?

Yes. Yes it can

The sad news is that Kinect Star Wars is just as unimpressive as you feared it would be; in fact, it’s pretty bad. There are some wonderfully entertaining moments here, but they’re far outnumbered by frustrating control issues, terrible gameplay choices and uninspiring campaign moments. Star Wars and Kinect seem made for each other, but sadly it just plain doesn’t work.

I’ll admit that when I first popped in Kinect Star Wars, I was hopeful, Terminal Reality and Lucas Arts appeared to have found a comfortable place to tell a new story, while still fitting in with the franchise’s cannon. The game opens with C-3PO and R2D2 telling the player that Luke Skywalker has charged them with reorganizing the Jedi Library, and they find the lost story of a young Jedi master and her padawan trainees. For what it’s worth, the game does a fairly decent job leading you through the tutorial levels and into the main story.

The problem though is that the game does little to create an identity of its own and relies on new versions of your favorite (and not so favorite) Star Wars moments to fill its content and presents them as its own. Like the speeder bike chase from Return of the Jedi? It’s here…sort of. Same thing goes for the second death star attack and a few other key Star Wars moments.With all of this, you’d think Star Wars Kinect was aimed at Star Wars fans who grew up with the original trilogy, but the game is clearly made for the Clone Wars generation; awkward sounding CGI looking Yoda and all.

None of this matters though if Kinect Star Wars did what we all hoped it would, make us feel like a Jedi. You know, let us swing a lightsaber or two, force choke a few guys and perform a Jedi mind trick along the way. Instead, we get the frustration of feeling like Star Wars kid.  The vehicle sections perform well enough, but it’s the on foot sections that cause the majority of the problems. Your lightsaber is mapped to your right hand, while force powers are mapped to your right. Sounds simple enough right? Somehow Kinect Star Wars still manages to screw up your inputs all too often. Want to jump? Be prepared to dodge — right into that ditch. You may have wanted to swing your lightsaber at your opponent’s head, but the game knows that you really wanted to swing low…right where they’re blocking. Worse yet, none of the force powers feel even close to as rewarding as they should be.

What you’ll likely find most annoying about Kinect Star Wars is just how much it takes control away from the player. We’ve seen Kinect games like the Gunstringer handle on rails sections brilliantly, but Lucas Arts and Terminal Reality are insistent on not just showing the players how the game works — but taking their hand and almost walking them through it at every step. You’ll clear one section..then go through a mini movie..repeat ad nauseum and you have what the majority of the game feels like.

From a presentation standpoint, Kinect Star Wars feels incredibly unfinished more often than not. There are times when the game looks great…but there’s even more times when the characters animate funky, the frame rate drops and pieces of art just plain old disappear. We know that Kinect Star Wars was delayed more than once for polish..why didn’t they finish it?

So, let’s talk about those dancing scenes, shall we? For those who aren’t aware, the game not only features several dancing scenes, but also allows you to control some of your favorite characters, like Han Solo and Boba Fett to dance as well. Now I was ready to start out this review by completely going off about it — but you know what, they’re some of the game’s most fun moments. Yes, it’s weird to see these badass characters that I love dancing, but if you can get past that and let things go..it’s not all that bad.

The Blast Factor: It’s gotten to the point in recent years that it’s tough to take Star Wars seriously, and that actually helps Kinect Star Wars, as it’s similarly hard to take the game seriously. Yes, there are some enjoyable moments here — but they’re far outnumbered by the under-performing mechanics, shoddy presentation and missed opportunities. For all of you who have been waiting to feel like a Jedi — keep dreaming.

Question: How does a talented game company manage to raise over $3 million to create a new title with no publisher?

Answer: “Crowd Funding.”

Crowd funding is the latest buzzword on gamers’ lips. Spearheaded by the relatively young company Kickstarter, crowd funding is the idea that the consumers donate money to an idea or project to get the ball rolling, who are then given better rewards, treats and perks depending on how much they donate.

Anything creative can be submitted to Kickstarter; including films, board games, comics, theatre productions and more recently, video games. It works on an all or nothing basis, whereby the artist or designer pledges a specific amount of money to be raised by a specific date. If the pledge is not met, then nobody who donated will be charged and the project is cancelled. People are allowed to donate as much as they like, but there are different rewards for meeting specific ‘donation milestones’. As an example, donate $1 and you will likely get a copy of the game when it’s released. Donate $15,000, however, and you could be receiving a signed copy of the game while sitting in a fancy restaurant dining with the developers…

The nature of Kickstarter allows companies to become creative with their rewards: donating $2000 towards Auditurium 2, (A musical game byCipher Prime) for example, will get your face on a large poster, framed and hung in their head office. Unique and strange rewards like this are what set Kickstarter and crowd funded companies apart from the traditional funding methods. Consumers feel a part of the product, and can gain a lot more from donating compared to what a collectors or limited edition game might provide.

Kickstarter’s poster child of what crowd funding can achieve is Double Fine Adventure. Pledged by the company Double Fine Productions (whose owner is Grim Fandango mastermind Tim Schafer), Double Fine Adventure was submitted to Kickstarter with an original pledge of  $400,000.  Thanks to some great marketing and an honest team, Double Fine Adventure met the $400,000 pledge within 9 hours. After 24 hours, the total donations had reached 1 million dollars. By the end of its set pledge time frame, Double Fine Adventure had received over 3 million dollars in donations. An incredible feat for any company, Double Fine Productions solidified the theory that crowd funding is possible and profitable.

However, it’s all well and good for Triple-A developers who can back their pledges with years of experience, but what does this mean for Indie developers and start up companies? In truth, it’s not as easy as Double Fine Productions makes it look. In 2011, only 46 percent of all Kickstarter’s projects were successfully funded, with the film and music categories having the most number of successful pledges. In addition, the website isn’t open to just anyone: every project must go through the Kickstarter staff who judge whether it should go online. Finally, if you do manage to be approved by the Kickstarter staff and your project goes on the website, the ‘all or nothing’ approach means that the project could still be cancelled at the last hurdle if it doesn’t receive enough funds. It takes months to properly plan and submit a project to Kickstarter, which could be spent developing, so there is always a risk in submitting.

It’s not all gloom and doom though. There are hundreds of video games that have been successfully pledged, most by small one or two-man teams.FTL: Faster Than Light (a spaceship management game) has been pledged by just a programmer and an artist, and has had nearly 6,500 supporters donate via Kickstarter at the time of writing. Not only that, but has exceeded it’s original pledge by 1,346%. It seems that no matter how large or small a company or team is, people are willing to pay if it is a good idea.

Even for game developers with no previous experience, Kickstarter seems promising. For example, Bacillus is a science-based bacteria game pledged by biologist John Halter. With no previous industry experience, Halter managed to raise $3,797 in donations at the time of writing; this is over half of his original $1,500 pledge. When I asked how he felt, he admitted he was surprised: “I only expected between 40-50 people pledge, now it’s closer to 200 people”. The fact that so many people are willing to donate to projects that don’t have the professional backing that comes with a company (such as Double Fine Productions) is encouraging, especially for new developers.

Is crowd funding the promised land of game development? Quite Possibly. Crowd funding seems to be on the rise. Kickstarter claims that its total number of visitors in 2011 was 30,590,342. That is an incredibly large increase from 2010, which according to Kickstarter was only 8,294,183. If the facts are true, then Kickstarter’s popularity has increased over 3 times in one year. With projects such as Double Fine Adventure, this is certain to only increase further. However, it is interesting to note that while the website’s popularity increased significantly, a pledge’s chance of success only increased by 3% from 2010 to 2011. Will we see a limit to people’s generosity? Or was this just because people needed to learn how to propose a successful pledge on Kickstarter? Time will tell, but what Kickstarter has proven is that crowd funding can work and is here to stay; the only question is in what capacity.

Blast Magazine is giving away one  PC boxed copy of the highly addictive and fun MMO World of Tanks. Want to win? All you’ve got to do is follow Blast Magazine on twitter @BlastMagazine, and tell us what you would do with a tank for a day.  

One random winner will be selected one week from today — next week Wednesday, April 3.

Good Luck!

EA Sports should take it as nothing short of divine intervention that mere hours before the release of Tiger Woods PGA Tour 13, the game’s much embattled cover boy won his first tournament in years; guaranteeing that  he, and thus the game will be on every news cast, sports show and gossip monger’s lips for weeks to come. Truth be told though, the game didn’t need the extra stroke of publicity luck; unlike Woods himself, his golf series has been a long standing benchmark not just in golf games (slim pickings there), but in sports games in general. Sure, if you’re an every year player, the changes may not seem that revolutionary, but the amount of detail and depth found in this year’s Tiger title makes this a must play — for most people.

The biggest addition to this year’s game is the new Total Swing Control system, which adds an incredible amount of depth to the game. You’ll still tee off with the right thumbstick, but now, speed, tempo and control are all taken into account, and actual talent comes into play. It took me quite a few times to adjust to the new control scheme, but after while, it becomes very natural and fluent. Total Swing allows for a lot of strategy, and perfecting is means dropping shots just where you want them, while struggling with it means hooking shots and bending a ton of clubs.

PGA Tour 13 also gives players freedom over just where they hit the ball, adding even more depth to an already stellar experience. Need some height? Aim your shot for the bottom of the ball. Need a line drive for distance? Aim for the middle. This combined with the Total Swing Control System makes for an incredibly deep, system that’s still fun to learn. One could make the case that it’s almost too deep, that it requires an abnormal amount of skill, that its akin to actually being skilled at the game, but PGA 13 does a great job easing you in to its more depth features in a way that it never seems like it’s too much at one time. Everything you’re doing feels like the next logical progression of what you did before it. Does that mean I was any good at it? As in my real golf game — god no.

On top of that, PGA Tour 13 does a great job taking control for players who aren’t quite catching on. Using the caddy system, you’re able have the game line up your shots, select your clubs and do just about everything from take the shot for you. The team at EA Sports has done a remarkable job taking a deep gameplay system and making it accessible for all types of gamers. Is this Hot Shots Golf accessible? No, but it’s still a big step and it will make the game playable by a lot more people.

The game also features full motion support for both platforms, and while Move support has been around for the last few years, this is the first time Kinect is fully supported by the title. It’s functional enough, and the first few times, it’s really cool to swing in real life, but it gets old, especially when you take into account how twitchy it can be. The voice control works well, I was able to change clubs on the fly and was able to ask my caddie for assistance — and it was very responsive. Just take one piece of advice for me — don’t try to use Kinect to navigate the game’s menu system. Tiger Woods always seemed like one of the most natural fits for the peripheral, and it’s good to see it implemented, even if it doesn’t always work as it should.

PGA Tour 13 is easily the best looking of the series thus far as everything looks phenomenal. As a yearly Madden player (go ahead — flame), I found myself getting jealous at how good some of the players looked in the game. How come Tiger Looks so much like Tiger, but we get an Aaron Rodgers that looks like a whacked out freak? That doesn’t compare to the courses though, which are filled with sweeping vistas and remarkable lighting effects.

Unfortunately, the new modes available in PGA tour 13 are less than stellar. There’s the Legacy Mode, which finds you recreating the career milestones of the game’s coverboy, and is very underwhelming and oddly uneven. Why am I sinking a putt on national TV before I even practice in my dad’s backyard? There aren’t any real “money moments” that are worth writing about, and my guess is that the legacy mode will be a last ditch effort for most of the game’s core players. The online suite also allows players to create their own country clubs, which will appeal to those who really enjoy the experience, but it will be lost on those who don’t. Plus, you can’t create Bushwood authentically — I tried.

The Blast Factor: Like any good golfer, Tiger Woods PGA Tour 13 capitalizes on its errors and accounts for them to create a complete game. It’s deep, yet accessible. It takes skill, but never loses it’s fun.  Tiger Woods PGA Tour 13 is easily the best of a remarkable series. It may not be a hole in one, but its a solid birdey.

Always feel like you’re out of the loop when it comes to MMOs, or just don’t care for it? Well, the Weekly MMO Blast is here to change all that. Each week we deliver the screen-shaking headlines that will keep you up to speed on – and maybe even caring for – what happens in this alt-happy gaming niche.

Definitely the highlights of the week were the two simultaneous beta tests for ArenaNet’s Guild Wars 2 and Blizzard’s World of Warcraft: Mists of Pandaria expansion.

Guild Wars 2 took on a protective stance of their sequel MMO release, warning unauthorized beta players that breaking the NDA might lead to a publisher-wide ban. Reports are coming in that beta screens are peppered with the e-mail address of the one playing it, allowing for easy tracing on who smuggled out the screenshots and videos. Talk about high security. But it makes sense given that they’re now testing the Guild Wars 2 microtransactions store, whose future revenues can seriously tank under negative early flack.

Meanwhile, World of Warcraft players got a looser leash when it comes to beta testing the new Mists of Pandaria expansion. So don’t be surprised to see a sudden flood of WoW news to flood the interwebs over the weekend, including countless mug shots of newbie pandaren performing kung-fu monk tricks (pandas are the latest to join the existing menagerie of animal-inspired races).

Just for fun, which of the two games are you most excited for? Sound off at the comments below!

Plus here are other notable tidbits you’d want to chew on:

• New video footage of Aion 3.0 also known as the expansion that Aion went Truly Free™ anchored by its head producer Adam Christensen. [LINK]
• Final Fantasy XIV hosts an adorable meta contest: Why is the most interesting Moogle in Vana’diel the most interesting? Confusion and cuteness ensue: [LINK]
• More details on the much-awaited Legacy System in Star Wars the Old Republic, which binds toons under one united surname. Virtual Kardashians anyone? [LINK]

Looking for something to while you pass the time waiting in line for the Hunger Games midnight showings tonight? Why not take your own turn as Katniss and try to find your own way home with The Hunger Games: Girl on Fire — available now for iOS devices.

The game let’s you control the Hunger Games heroin as she fights her way back home and features many locales and characters from the movie. While you’re at it, check out our review of the Hunger Games here, and then get all fanboy (or girl) as we talk about how it’s way better than those sparkly vampires in Twilight.

We here at Blast liked the original Epic Mickey, but we had some concerns, and apparently the game’s lead developer, industry legend Warren Spector was listening, as he tells gamesindustry about a slew of improvements that will come with the game’s recently announced sequel, expected to arrive later this year.

Think the sequel is something the developer isn’t taking seriously? Far from it, in fact, Spector told the website that the team behind Epic Mickey 2 is not only much larger than that of the original, but also larger than that of many big budget AAA titles. “With Mickey 1, we built a team – we went from 13 people to about 180?, Spector pointed out before going on to claim, “we have over 700 people around the world working on our new game now.” It’s been well documented that Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 had roughly 200 people on it’s development team.

So why is the improvement of the original engine such a high priority for Spector and Disney?  Contrary to some grievances, the game did well, selling over 2 million copies in North America. ““It did exceptionally well for Disney. It was the best-selling single-platform game the company has ever done.”

Warner Bros has announced the voice cast for their upcoming zombie slasher Lollipop Chainsaw, and it includes alums from Arkham City, Smallville and several other projects. Tara Strong who you’ll best remember as Harley Quinn from Arkham Asylum and City will voice the game’s main character Juliette Sterling, while Michael Rosenbaum who played Lex Luthor in Smallville  will play Juliet’s boyfriend, Nick. Michael Rooker from The Walking Dead, Linda Cardelleni from Freaks and Geeks and Shawnee Smith from the Saw series will also be featured.

If you’ve yet to hear about Lollipop Chainsaw, it’s an action game where from Suda 51 (No More Heroes) where you slash zombies as a cheerleader. Just think of that for a bit. Here’s a trailer.

If you’re one of those people who love achievements, get ready – Microsoft announced this morning that the cap for Xbox Live Arcade games will be doubling next month.

“Starting next month (April 2012) all new Xbox LIVE Arcade games will have the option to increase from 200 to 400 Gamerscore points, with the addition of up to 30 Achievements,” Xbox Live’s Major Nelson wrote on his blog. Even better, this Gamerscore increase will be required in all new Xbox LIVE Arcade games starting in June 2012.”

The announcement comes on the heels of a report this morning on Xbox360Achievements.org

Late in 2001, DC Comics teamed up with Stan Lee, the legendary co-creator of such Marvel heroes as Spider-man, The Incredible Hulk and Captain America to do a series of comics where Lee created his own version of the famed DC heroes. The “Just Imagine..” line was supposed to be a cross between what’s great about both comic companies — it wasn’t. Superman was an alien cop who couldn’t hack it on his home planet, Wonder Woman was a hipster activist, Batman was a pro wrestler and Aquaman was a sketchy guy who mixed his DNA with that of a dolphin — no, really.

Why do I bring up a comic book from over ten years ago that I would much rather forget? Playing through Street fighter X Tekken, the new crossover fighter from Capcom — I got the same feeling. The differences may not be as striking as Lee’s creations, but it comes off as much more of a “What if Yoshihiro Ono (the man behind Street Fighter IV) created Tekken” rather than a celebration of the two long running fighting franchises — and that’s okay because of the eventual Tekken X Street Fighter that’s been announced putting the creative duties in the hands of Capcom, but one has to wonder — is it enough?

If you’ve played any of Capcom’s recent fighting games, Street Fighter X Tekken is sure to look incredibly familiar, it follows the same visual style of Street Fighter IV and the same basic mechanics as the Marvel VS Capcom series. There are a few differences here, like how you’ll play as a team of two rather than three, but the idea remains the same; play as a team of fighters from either one franchise or the other and brawl your way through a ladder of opponents. This is a development team and franchise that knows it’s bread and butter and pulls it off well. Flashy combos, intricate combo maneuvers and quick tags are the name of the Street Fighter X Tekken game, and fans are sure to gobble it up.

One of the game’s biggest strength’s lies in the sheer amount of characters that are playable from the start. Both sides of the conflict are well represented here, with Street fighter legends like Ryu, Ken, Chun Li and Guile making appearances and fighters like Kazuya, King and Kuma (Bear Fight!) appearing for Tekken. I did enjoy the amount of second tier characters that made the cut, like Kuro the cat from Tekken.

The arcade mode of Street Fighter X Tekken serves as the game’s story mode, and I use that term in the loosest of terms. There’s a mysterious object crashing to Earth and both sides want it because it’s got powers. Don’t pay much attention to that vague description, as the game does even less to develop the plot. It serves merely as a jumping off point to get you to fighting — which is what you’re here for anyways.

I’m always amazed that more fighting games haven’t stolen directly from the latest Mortal Kombat title and it’s stellar story mode. Rather, at the start of the story you’ll get a non moving, slightly animated animation, and in between the fights, you’re going to have banter between both sides, but that’s about it. I did appreciate that the majority of the fighters have a reason to be teaming together, and it’s not a random two players. But can someone please explain why Capcom made some of the non Japanese fighters speak English, but characters like Guile from America and Vega from Spain still speak Japanese?

Street Fighter X Tekken does a great job of catering to it’s core fan base, while still remaining extremely accessible for new players thanks to a great degree of customization options. There’s the new gem system that allows players to divide up skill points to their fighters to help beef up their strengths. There’s also a number of cool one touch controls that allow newer users to become more familiar with move sets.

A lot of players are going to go into Street Fighter X Tekken looking to play online — but they’re going to be severely disappointed, as though the game does feature a pretty robust and dedicated online suite, the reliability of the connection speed are less than impressive. You’ll get a ton of match requests, but you’d both better have stellar connections, or the game is most likely to be dropped. Hopefully Capcom can fix it before long.

The Blast Factor: For all that it does wrong, Street Fighter X Tekken is still a lot of fun to play with some buddies on the couch and spend an afternoon duking it out. The engine may be starting to show it’s age, but it still works well when it needs to, and it still knows just what it’s fans want. Now let’s just see what Namco can do with the Street Fighter characters later this year.

When Alan Wake’s American Nightmare hits Xbox Live Arcade later this month as part of Microsoft’s Xbox Live House Party, you won’t be visiting the same old woodsy locations. Rather, the folks at Remedy have taken everyone’s favorite darkness fighting author and put him into a haunted desert location. Check out these new screen shots to see check out some of the game’s new locations, weapons and enemies.

It should come as no surprise to regular readers of Blast that I’m openly waiting with childish anticipation for Valve to even mention the words Half, Life and the number 3 in the same sentence, but they just don’t seem to be ready to spill the beans. When protests, mailings and sluething don’t work? What’s an anxious gamer to do? Well, apparently play the latest game in the series.

A group calling themselves “A Call for Communication” has organized a massive event, where over 30,000 people have pledged to sit down and play Half-Life 2 — all in an effort to get more communication from Valve. “We have decided to gain Valve’s attention by delivering a basic message: Your oldest and longest running fanbase would like better communication,” said one posting.

The event happens this Sunday from 11am-11:30Am PST. Now that’s my kind of protesting.

Look, I love Skyrim as much as the next guy, but there’s no denying it would be better with a bit of madness. In the above video, a modder replaced the dragon in the game with a weird half-dragon, half Macho Man Randy Savage creature. Yes, it’s as cool as it sounds, and its good to know that the former World Champion is gone but not forgotten.

In an interview with Wired, Activision’s Publishing CEO Eric Hirshberg described the company’s new aggressive DLC and update strategy for its Call of Duty franchise. Describing the million dollar shooter series as a much more “persistent franchise” than in recent years, Hirshberg talked about the publisher’s plan to deliver much more frequent DLC throughout the year.

“The idea behind giving people constant incremental, playable content and making it so you’re never more than a few weeks away from the next new experience within the Call of Duty universe is part of what we’re experimenting with,” Hirshberg told Wired. “This franchise doesn’t really behave like most franchises. It’s become something of a year-round activity for a large percent of our player population.”

What Hirshberg didn’t go into was just how the company plans on achieving this strategy. Will we see more DLC and map packs throughout the year? The safe money is on seeing the same amount of map packs and DLC in between smaller updates and tweaks to modes like Spec Ops.

In the last 24 hours, the gaming internet has been on fire with talk of the PR Nightmare that caused Ocean Marketing’s Paul Christoforo to lose his job. The story is up on the main page, but the basics go like this; a customer emailed Christoforo regarding the status of an order, which led to some very snippy responses from the rep, including name dropping the Mayor of Boston, and the editors of IGN and Kotaku. Christoforo then name dropped online gaming comic Penny Arcade, which led to the site’s Mike Krahulik to respond by banning the company from PAX East. It may be sad that it had to come to this, but the whole situation reveals a lot about who we are as gamers, and how far we’ve come when compared to other industries like movies, TV and music.

Every year the gaming Industry converges on Los Angeles for E3, and every year it’s met with more excess and bigger budgets. Huge elaborate displays, no doubt well compensated models and over the top stunts (two years ago THQ turned an entire city block of downtown L.A. into a territory occupied by North Korea for Homefront — just think of all of the expenses and permits associated with clearing that with the LAPD). Then there’s the parties. I remember very specifically when I wrote for a different site, hanging out on top of a high rise just blocks from the convention center during a party for Atari’s Test Drive Unlimited 2. Let me paint you a picture, free booze, everything covered in white, dancers grinding on each other, thumping music and what I could only assume was food. Notice something missing? Oh yeah, video games. After looking around, I found that there was one big screen, running the game, which was totally available the entire time I was there tucked far into the corner.

Now, I don’t bring this up because I hate parties, or drinking or free stuff (they gave away noise canceling headphones and Atari towels), but that I went back to my hotel worrying that the industry I’ve loved since I was a kid was becoming what we always feared. We were becoming another one of those excess first industries where we don’t know anyone’s name, and worry more about the ahem….”glitz and glamour” of the business instead. Then, the next day all hope was restored when I was sitting in the PlayStation VIP demo booth checking out the newly announced PlayStation Move with Ted Price of Insomniac Games and Ken Levine of Irrational Games. It reminded me that we still haven’t gone completely to the darkside yet, and there’s still a ton of unity within even the industries bigger names.

This whole Ocean Marketing Situation is much the same. Think about it. Penny Arcade has become a major player in the gaming industry. Not only do they have their own comic strip, but they’ve also got their own game, convention and charity. They did not have to get involved in something like this. Imagine if this happened with the movie industry, and someone name dropped a famous director like Spielberg or Robert Redford, actor and founder of the Sundance Festival. Do you really think either of them would give a shit about somebody being an ass to a customer, let alone responding? Saying nothing about their character, it’s hard to believe they would, the movie industry has gotten almost too big, and it may seem cliche; but no one cares about the little guy anymore. Krahulik stepping up and not only defending the customer, but taking action and letting the res of the world know that this type of behavior is not going to be tolerated, and banning the guy from PAX is a prime example of just how in the face of so much excess, we’re still focusing on what’s important (but come on guys, those death threats you’re sending his way are making this entire column look bad.

Oh and hey, here’s a funny video someone did of the incident.

  The 2011 World Series between the St. Louis Cardinals and the Texas Rangers kicks off tonight at 7 PM ET, but why watch it when MLB 11 The Show already knows who’s going to win — The Texas Rangers.

The award winning baseball sim gave credit to the red birds for sticking around for a six hard fought games (including a surprising game 3 win in Texas), but in the end, the Rangers couldn’t be denied for a second year in a row.

Check out the whole video over at the PlayStation Blog, and speaking for all Milwaukee Brewers fans — go get ‘em Rangers.

Say, would you like to play Ratchet and Clank: All 4 One? What’s that you would? Then you’re in the right place.

We’ve got two beta codes that need a home, and want that home to be with you.  How do you win? Easy, just comment below and tell us who your favorite character from the game is, and why. Only one comment per user will be counted. Winners will be chosen September 16 at 5pm.

Good luck!

LOS ANGELES — Blast Gaming Editor Joe Sinicki and Blast Editor John Guilfoil are in The Los Angeles Sports Arena for Sony’s press conference. Stick with us for up to the minute updates.

We open to a rather long video, then Jack Tretton shows up, he’s talking about the PSN hack. He days you’re welcome to the press and thanks well…pretty much everyone.

Consumers are the lifeblood of the company. He apologizes for the hack.

Triton encourages those who left or who are afraid to embrace it as a result of the hack to open up to the brand.

Sony will soon be offering free access to cinema now.

Naughty Dog is now on the stage to talk Uncharted 3. Its new footage not seen anywhere else. A boat level where Drake is constantly swaying and yes, it’s gorgeous.

Water effects are fantastic.

Like previous Uncharted games, the scale on this game is astounding.

As you’d expect, very cinematic, very cool.

Multiplayer beta begins June 28.

New contest will give people first access to entire game.

New level features Drake scaling an airplane as it takes off.

Marcus Smith from Insomniac is up to talk about Resistance 3.

Were seeing new footage from the St. Louis section of the game.

It, like most other games in the lineup is on 3D. Not completely sold on the tech, but it works well here.

Were now talking PlaystAtion move. Were getting a bundle with everything you news for the move, the sharpshooter and r3.

God of war, ice and shadow of colossus are getting 3d treatments.

Two new 3d products, one a 24 inch display. It will be able to let two people see two distinct 3d images. Were also getting a more affordable pair of 3d glasses. There’s also a bundle with the monitor, glasses And resistance for $499.

2k sports is now up to talk NBA 2k12 with the move.

NBA on the move will allow easy play with move controller.

Kobe Bryant is here. He’s going to show how easy it is to play with the move. He doesn’t seem to be doing so well.

Kobe calla the game so realistic it’s frightening. It comes out October 12.

Were now seeing medievmoves, a new move game from the team that made sports champions.

No inventory system, what weapon you use depends on what motions you use.

This reminds me of sorcery from last year. Wonder what happened to it.

It features pretty impressive 1-1 motion.

It’s available this fall.

Were looking at infamous 2. Yeah, we know it comes out tomorrow.

The game gets user created content and move support this fall. Little big planet 2 gets further move support as well.

Starhawk is up next. Great reaction from the crowd.

Jack is now talking about a return, it better be… It is…. Sly Cooper is back!

Sly Cooper: thieves on time coming next year.

Dust 514 only for PS3. Will combine with Eve Online.

The ability to create one persistent world is awesome. Dust looks great too.

Closed beta hits this fall.

Bioshock infinite is shown. Incredible.

Looks so much different than any other game on the series.

Ken Levine talks about the move and his doubts. He talks how Sony has made him a believer by allowing new people to experience his games.

Yes, Bioshock infinite will feature move functionality.

Bioshock is also coming to the NGP.

Saints row 3 will feature brand new ps exclusive content. So will the new Star Trek game.

New phaser peripheral coming.

At an alpha stage. The game looks impressive.

SSX will feature exclusive content, as will need for speed: the run.

Battlefield 3 on PS3 will include bartledie 1943 on ps3 only.

Kazuo Hirai is up to talk about NGP.

Playstation suite will allow ps content to be available on android smart phones and tablets.

It’s official. It’s PlayStation Vita. It’ll be working with AT&T for 3G versions. The crowd laughed and booed at that.

Near is a streetpass like system for vita.

Uncharted Golden Abyss is being demonstrated.

So wait, is there only touch controls for combat?

The game is very heavy on touch control.

Next were talking about Ruin, a social action rpg compatible with the vita and ps3. So far…kind of underwhelming.

Saves will work on PS3 via cloud tech.

Mod Nation Racers is coming to Vita.

Where is Kevin Butler?

Mod Nation Vita will feature a cool track editor that you can trace with your fingers. Even the lighting can be changed.

PS3 tracks will work with Vita Mod Nation Racers.

Little Big Planet Vita is coming. Will revolutionize portable gaming. Rather cool ways that the features work with already in game mechanics. It will allow you to use textures from pictures as well as the PS3 game.

Sf x Tekken is coming to Vita.

Cole from Infamous joins the game.

Vita will be available this holiday. Wifi only retails for $249. The 3G model goes for $299.

How do you know when your gaming studio has “made it?” When a fan sends you art of your characters in pornographic situations.

It’s been a different road than most for Austin, TX based indie developers Twisted Pixel, but it’s that road perhaps that has given them the freedom to create as they want to. Known for their quirky sense of humor, original characters, art and story, this is the true story of Twisted Pixel Games.

Things weren’t this way for the studio though. Founded by industry veterans  Michael Wilford, Josh Bear and Frank Wilson, Twisted Pixel was originally doing contracted work for the now defunct Midway Games (remember Blitz: The League 2 and NBA Ballers? Yep, those were Twisted Pixel). It wasn’t until 2008 that the studio announced that their focus was shifting, to digitally distributed titles based on their own intellectual properties.

The first of those releases came on January 21 of the next year with The Maw about a pair of aliens who crashland on a foreign planet, the idea for which was actually born years before. “ Years ago, Josh and I used to meet in our free time and just have a lot of fun creating different game ideas and stories while we ate things,” Twisted Pixel’s art director David Leung said in an interview to promote the game.”  After playing Ico, I was really inspired to create a game with story and characters that evoked empathy from players, so Josh and I started building on this idea and ended up with The Maw.  It’s something we just did for fun assuming nothing would ever come of it, so I was very surprised and excited when Josh called me up and told me that he pitched the game and that it was actually going to happen.”

Reception for The Maw was overly positive, but it wasn’t until later that year that the studio would have its first major hit. ‘Splosion Man was one of those titles that just came out of nowhere and it’s likely you heard of it first from your friends than many gaming publications. An addictive 2.5D platformer, ‘Splosion man followed the story of a being created in a laboratory and made completely of explosive material.  Players would use the character’s ‘sploding powers to reach new heights, escape the laboratory and of course…turn the scientists holding you captive into steaks.

A screenshot from Twisted Pixel's smash hit 'Splosion Man

Much like The Maw before, ‘Splosion Man was created based on random ideas and story thrown around the Twisted Pixel office. “Sean Riley  (lead designer at Twisted Pixel) thought it would be funny to make a game where a dude splodes in a world only made of glass, since we love the idea of glass shattering all the time,” Twisted Pixel’s COO Josh Bear said of the game.  “From there, everyone joked about that concept until it was fleshed out into what is now on Xbox Live Arcade.” ‘Splosion Man was an undeniable hit for Twisted Pixel, selling over 39,000 copies on Xbox Live and getting the honor of being bundled with other games from the summer of arcade line as a full retail box title. And unfortunately becoming the center of a controversy with Capcom mobile.

“We are very proud of our characters and the little world we have built around them,” Jay Stuckwisch Twisted Pixel’s Marketing Director and 2D artist told Blast. “The nice thing about that is we can intermix things from past games into new ones, like little cameos here and there.  I think the advantage to this is that it keeps games new and fresh, and expands our universe, rather than constantly focusing on cash in sequels.”

Both The Maw and ‘Splosion Man, as well as the entire development team made an appearance in Twisted Pixel’s next game, Comic Jumper: The Adventures of Captain Smiley. Though it still featured the studio’s trademark art style and humor, Captain Smiley was something completely different for Twisted Pixel.  Following the adventures of the titular Captain Smiley and his genetically attached wisecracking sidekick Star, the game requires player’s to jump in and out of other comics to gain more popularity and features mechanics never before seen in a Twisted Pixel game including quicktime events and what many call the studio’s best writing to date.

Even with all of the success of their various characters, none one at Twisted Pixel would single one out as their personal favorite. “Our games are like our kids, we can’t love one over the other,” Stuckwisch told Blast slyly.

One would almost expect The Twisted Pixel offices to be one of comic insanity and constant shenanigans, much like Bart Simpson expected the Mad Magazine office to be when he visited New York City, but they too would be disappointed says Stuckwisch. “A day at TPG is a long one.  Granted we get to start a little later than most “everyday” jobs, but the nights can get pretty long, especially around crunch times.  Sometimes we are here until 2am or later.  A lot of time people work from home too.  I think the thing that may surprise readers most is that the studio is actually a very quiet place.  Everybody is so focused and working so hard that you could hear a pin drop most times.  However right now we are remodeling, so the sound of jackhammers and wall pounding is a little deafening.”

The staff at Twisted Pixel Games hard at work. Stuckwisch claims that the office is sometimes so quiet you can hear a pin drop.

2011 will be an interesting year for Twisted Pixel , as with their two new games, they’re both looking forwards and backwards. For the first time ever, Twisted Pixel Games will be releasing a sequel (though it’s sort of a spinoff) to one of its properties with Ms.’ Splosion Man, but Stuckwisch assures Blast that it’s not just ‘Splosion Man with a bow and it’s more of a labor of love for the project. “Ms. Splosion Man has been an awesome project for us to work on.  We had double the time to work on this game so we get to put all the stuff we wanted to in Splosion Man but didn’t have time for.” With the studio’s other project, it’s more uncharted territory, as the company announced that The Gunstringer will make full use of Microsoft’s motion sensing Kinect camera.

In Gunstringer, players take the role of a wild west marionette skeleton, controlling his movement with the left hand and gun with the right (though certain sections require both hands to be used as guns). “Gunstringer has been great, but a little intimidating,” said Stuckwisch. “ It is new territory, but the designers and programmers have been amazing with it and done some pretty cool things.”

Be sure to follow Twisted Pixel on Twitter @Twisted_Pixel for up to date news and contests!

ORLANDO, Fla. — There’s nothing quite as whimsical and charming as entering the gates of Walt Disney World. Just the very sight of the welcome sign leaves you with a unique excitement and undeniable giddy feeling. Disney’s ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex in Orlando, Florida was the home to the first U.S. based GT Academy national finals. I accepted an invitation to attend the event on behalf of Blast Magazine with no idea what I should really expect of the event. George Nicholson, an avid gamer and simulation programmer, also attended the event with me. Little did I know, during our brief visit to the academy, I’d get to observe and interact with 32 grown men chasing little boy dreams.

The GT Academy events started back in 2008 in Japan, but this is the competition’s first visit to U.S. soil. 32 competitors are narrowed to 16 finalists and those finalists will proceed to Silverstone, a course in in the UK. At that point, they’ll go through very rigorous training, physical and mental conditioning to prepare them to compete in actual race cars. It’s a little like the scene in Armageddon when they’re training the unsuspecting oil rig workers to be astronauts (which is awesome, in my opinion).

The event was appropriately hosted in the PlayStation Pavilion. Upon our arrival, we were met by a warm PR rep for Sony and escorted into the Jostens Center where the event was already in motion. We made our way down the stairs and were greeted by a couple of names you may already know – the Nissan Nismo Z and the GTR. Well, hello there! We’ll go ahead and file those under “do want”.

The Nissan Nismo

After making our way through the makeshift entertainment hall, we found ourselves in the center of the competition circle. Eight racing stations stocked with their very own barefoot racers. I couldn’t help but notice that everyone driving in a racing station had their shoes sitting next to them. Apparently, these guys are above the law. Rules of my road say that I have to keep my feet enclosed in proper shoe attire. Pretty sure I’ll be writing my congressman about this.

The intensity in the racing circle (which I lovingly refer to as Racing Row) was incredible. Every racer was extremely focused — despite the many professional photographers, videographers and fuzzy microphone covers in their faces. That kind of focus is a highly coveted skill where I come from. I’m just sayin’. After a short stint in Racing Row, I meandered back to the lounge area gratuitously provided by Sony.

In the lounge area, there were several couches individually placed in front of their own 40” (if I had to guess) TV. These gaming stations were equipped with PS3s and the latest Sony titles, of course. Two GT Academy finalists were focused on LittleBigPlanet 2. I sat and took in the sights with Darryl from Lima, Ohio.

After we discussed the fact that neither of us could understand what was going on in this game of LittleBigPlanet 2, we talked a little about racing. Darryl works in the automotive parts industry and participated in “some drag racing” in Lima — but never anything like what the GT Academy was offering. “We’re all gearheads” was what Darryl told me. According to what he knew, almost every competitor had some kind of leg into the automotive world — be it racing, simulation racing, automotive industry workers, etc. He was the one who kindly educated me on the types of cars on display and some other aspects of the competition.

After making my way back to Racing Row again, the intensity drove me out yet again! I’m pretty sure that the guys in the black shirts that said “official” across the back that were holding clipboards had a lot to do with my discomfort. There just seemed to be too many bodies in this small area (and let the record show that I’m not claustrophobic OR afraid of hugs). So, in sneaking away, I saw in my peripheral an interview taking place with an extremely enthusiastic young competitor. That’s when I met Christopher Roberts. The charisma and excitement from this guy was incredible. You’d think he just won the Super Bowl kind of excitement.

The National Finals top 16 (photo credit: gran-turismo.com)

“I’m still on cloud nine. I had goose bumps and my heart and adrenaline was pumping.” The mechanical engineering student has been playing Gran Turismo since he was eight years old. He was gifted a PS3 and GT5 from his girlfriend for Christmas which is what allowed him to practice for the GT Academy competition. Best gift ever? I think so. Between his dad’s love of cars and his mom’s competitive nature, this scene doesn’t seem inappropriate for the Champlain, New Yorker at all. He’s been racing other driving simulators for a while now (iRacing, Forza Motorsport). He also raced RC cars with his little brother. So glad this kid made the top 16. His charisma, skill and energy earn him my support — Christopher Roberts is officially my favorite.

We also had the pleasure of meeting Lucas Ordonez, the first season winner of the GT Academy competition who was presently in Florida racing in Sebring (which he eagerly informed us of placing second in the race). Another high-energy character, Lucas will soon be moving on to practice for the Le Mans 24 Hour. I have respect for anyone who puts off an MBA to pursue a career of passion as a racecar driver. Though I was excited to hear about his recent successes, a little of his personal history and his upcoming races, I really had just one question: Based on your observation, which competitors have what it takes to really race? Ordonez said he saw some fast ones this time around, but that fast wasn’t necessarily what it took. Anyone can make a fast car go fast — “what is really most important is staying calm and focused”. He points to Emerson Trimble and Jose Sebastian Cedeno. “Those two over there in the caps (referring to their hats). I think they are very good.”

Congratulations to the final 16:

1. Bryan Heitkotter (GTZf_CudaMan)

2. Christopher Roberts (Dr_3Wide_Skills)

3. Jason Miller (R1600Turbo)

4. Andre Gomes (FixByWire)

5. John Wilding (SpecMiata-JSW)

6. Christopher Morton (Z06Fun)

7. Kris Norris (Appalachian_Kris)

8. Gregory Russell (Gar529)

9. Connor Clifford (ConMan_Skills)

10. Phillip Arscott (Doctor_ILL)

11. Nick Fontana (BlindSideFive0)

12. Rich Pratt (ZeroLM)

13. Glenn McGee Howle (Glenn_McGee)

14. Steve Driscoll (Choate51)

15. Sean Johnston (GTP_TheCheef)

16. Jose Cedeno (SebaF1)

Blast correspondent George Nicholson contributed to this report

Apple’s highly anticipated iPad 2 releases at 5pm tomorrow. We’ve already heard about how thin it is, how much more powerful the processor is and all that, but what we really want to know is — how will it serve as a gaming machine?

Developers seem to think so. In a recent interview withGamezebo, Andrew Stein, Senior Director of Mobile Business Development, PopCap Games (Plants VS Zombies, Bejewled) was very excited about the possibility of developing for Apple’s new tablet.

“We’re always excited about new, more powerful technology. Although the iPad was a powerful device, we found ourselves running up against some limits as we were adapting our games to the iPad,” said Stein. “The Introduction of the camera, the gyroscope, etc on iPad 2 means that there’s now feature parity between iPhone 4, iPod Touch 4^th gen and iPad 2. Consistent availability of features makes it much easier for us to start thinking about how we could incorporate those into gameplay. We’re also pleased that the resolution isn’t changing, so we don’t have to rework our existing games to be supported on the iPad 2.”

But is that enough to make you go out and buy an iPad 2 tomorrow? Marc Saltzman of The Game Hunters Blog seems to think so. Saltzman, of USA Today have been playing around with the iPad 2 for just over a week now and say that the new feature set create an impressive gaming machine. Speaking about the iPad 2′s more powerful processor, Saltzman notes that there’s simply no comparison between the two machines. “Memory-intensive games like Infinity Blade and Back to the Future Episode 1 HD play very smoothly, too. In fact, Apple says graphics performance is up to 9 times better than its predecessor — and while that number seems awfully high, you can see a marked improvement. As a test, I launched and played the same games on the iPad and iPad 2 side-by-side, and there’s no comparison.”

The iPad 2 hits stores Friday March 11 at 5pm.

Video was strictly outlawed during this morning’s Sony presser. God bless rebels.

One daring attendee filmed the montage showing off the demo footage of games coming to Sony’s new NGP (can’t wait until I can just say PSP2). Included is footage of the new Uncharted, Killzone and Resistance titles as well as a few new IPS. Check it out before Sony finds it!

If you told me a year ago that we’d be looking at Duke Nukem Forever being released within the quarter, I would have punched you in the face. But here we are.

The often delayed Duke Nukem Forever will be hitting shelves on May 3rd of this year,” Gearbox Software President Randy Pitchford revealed to Game Informer.

“The moment fans all over the world have been waiting for is almost here,” says Christoph Hartmann, president of 2K. “May 3, 2011 marks Duke’s return as he unleashes his brash and brutally honest wit on the world. His return is going to be epic and one that will make video gaming history!”

The saga of Duke Nukem Forever is a much publicized one. First announced by 3D Realms in 1997, the title was delayed countless times, which prompted the studio to tell fans that it would be released “when it’s done.”  In mid 2009, 3D Realms was downsized and eventually closed down and the project was presumed dead until Gearbox announced at this year’s PAX that it would be resurrecting and releasing the title.

Remember last month when we were supposed to get a brand new Gears of War reveal at Spike’s Video Game Awards, but it was pulled at the last second? If a brand new trademark filling, recently spotted by Siliconera means anything, we may have our first clue as to what it was meant to be.

The filing, which was accompanied by the image to the right, lists that it will be used for “video game software,” a “series of computer game hint books and instruction manuals,” and/or “t-shirts.” Gotta have those t-shirts I guess.

So just what is Exile? While there’s still no official word, the smart money says it’s either that Gears of War Kinect game we’ve been hearing about for some time now, or some sort of downloadable content similar to Dead Rising: Case Zero, which series producer Cliff Bleszinski has shown interest in.

Stick with Blastmagazine.com for more on Gears of War Exile and Gears of War 3.

Guybush Threewpood is now Shortplank Hardwood. Yeah, you know where this is going.

Independent developer Grimmstone is readying a add-on pack for it’s X-rated Tetris title (yep, that totally exists) with the name “The Secret of Spunky Island” Essentially, you play the role of a porn director who needs to fill roles in his porn parodies by ahem, positioning …umm ..actors into roles as they fall from the screen.

If you’re really interested in the game and it’s artistic qualities, you can find out more at the developer’s official site, which features NSFW content obviously.

SOURCE

The long wait is over, Nintendo announced today that its highly anticipated 3DS handheld system will be hitting American retailers on March 27 (two full days after Europe gets it) and will retail for $249.99. The announcement came during a press event Nintendo held for the new system.

“Nintendo 3DS is a category of one – the experience simply doesn’t exist anywhere else,” said Nintendo of America President Reggie Fils-Aime. “You have to see Nintendo 3DS to believe it. And it’s like nothing you’ve ever seen before.”

Also revealed was the fact that the company plans to kick off an aggressive marketing campaign for the new system, including a multi-city demo tour that will allow gamers to play the system before it’s release.

The system will come packed with a telescoping stylus and a fair amount of digital software packed in. Nintendo also announced a slew of games that are expected to hit with the system sometime this year including Pilotwings Resort, Nintendogs + Cats, submariner Steel Diver, Ocarina of Time 3D, Kid Icarus: Uprising, Dead or Alive Dimensions, Madden, Super Street Fighter IV 3D, Asphalt 3D, Combat of Giants Dinosaurs 3D, Lego Star Wars III The Clone Wars, Ridge Racer 3D, Resident Evil The Mercenaries 3D. Fils-Aime said that he expects near 30 games to be available for the system by June.

Editor’s Note: Each week in December we’ll be unveiling another nominee for Blast’s 2010 Game of the Year Award, here’s our this week’s — Bioware’s space masterpiece Mass Effect 2. Keep checking back each week until the final week, when we reveal the winner along with all of the yearly award winners.

The release of Mass Effect in November 2007 was the beginning of a cult following and the birth of a wonderful RPG franchise from Bioware. The major aspects of Mass Effect that made the first title shine weren’t just your typical answers like beautiful graphics and fun gun play (some opinions were the combat was clunky). The story of Commander Shepard and the characters that joined you along the way made this title the epic RPG that it was. The universe that Bioware introduced us to had the depth and creative story to suck gamers in and have them wanting more. The announcement that your game save from the first title would have a direct impact on the sequel left the gaming community waiting in even bigger anticipation.

The level of excitement for the release of Mass Effect 2 made me a little skeptical for a few reasons. The promises that Bioware made in assuring gamers a more developed story and revamped combat for the sequel had me worried. The balance between RPG elements and combat are tricky and I was afraid if Bioware went to much in one direction the franchise would lose its RPG roots and epic story. The announcements of voice over contributors such as Martin Sheen and others had me worried as well. I didn’t want to see Mass Effect go the route of say, the Call of Duty franchise, with huge explosions, big name voice over talent, and a sub-par story (not to mention a new game every 6 months). I wanted my thirty plus hours I put into the first Mass Effect to mean something, and for the sequel to blow me away.

On January 26^th 2010 Mass Effect 2 was released and Bioware delivered on every promise made with a sequel that I can say, is an almost perfect action RPG. The game was an instant game of the year contender for many reasons. There is one fact that had been true since I had been a young lad and even rang true in the first Mass Effect. When you have an RPG, the combat will be turn based and not as smooth as say, an FPS title. That wall has been torn down thanks to Bioware. Mass Effect 2 has a smooth FPS like combat in a RPG setting. The dreams of gamers being able to duck and take cover after blasting an enemy in the face with a rocket launcher, or look down the sights of a sniper rifle in slow motion in an RPG, were answered. This successfully brought in the interest of gamers that have never even purchased an RPG before. The core fans of the franchise like myself didn’t cringe at this new combat system or the FPS elements either, because of the story and in depth character detailing. The universe that Bioware had developed in the first title was back, and better than ever.

The evolved combat, epic story, or improved graphics are not the only aspects that awarded this title a game of the year nomination by Blast Magazine. The choices you made in the first title had a deep impact in the sequel, just as Bioware promised. This was the first time a sequel actually took a game save from the first title and made you deal with the consequences. For example if you (as I did) decided to have Wrex take a bullet in the first title he would not be around in the sequel. The blank slate that is Commander Shepard and the tools Bioware has given you to mold him or her into your own hero or anti-hero are nothing short of amazing. This game keeps you coming back for replay after replay and just playing as a different class warrants another play through.

The main factor that really sets this franchise apart and brings Mass Effect 2 to the top is the characters you meet that join your mission along the way. There are a lot of RPG’s or action RPG’s out there that have characters that join the main character along the way. These characters help you fight or play a part in the story but in most cases you never really get to know their back story, and many won’t hold your interest for very long. This is what sets Mass Effect 2 apart from the rest; I had such a blast getting to know every character in this game, and their back-stories. The team at Bioware did such a great job with these characters. Besides them having special combat abilities, they also have great stories and you feel a real connection to them. My two favorites were Jack the wild, emotionally-disturbed, biotic-powerhouse, and Mordin the scientist who would talk a thousand words per minute, and even break into song at moments.

. The gaming market right now has so many titles out there that have over priced or lack luster DLC. I can’t tell you how many times I have shelled out 800 Microsoft points for a couple weapons in a game and been highly disappointed. The DLC market in my opinion has felt like a way for developers to make a little more cash, not quality additional content for the gamer to enjoy. There has never been a game that offered armor, weapons, characters, and expansions for such fair prices. The sheer amount of DLC support this game received was phenomenal especially since the game is quite large to begin with.

I’m what you might call a cynic. I’m not one for handing out praise and gooey words to games unless they really deserve it. Yet, I can’t say enough about Donkey Kong Country Returns. It’s epic, it’s fun, it’s gorgeous – it’s the best platformer you’ve played in a long time.

Strangely enough, Retro studios didn’t look to new technology or fancy new features for their attempt to restore faith in the once prominent franchise, theymerely returned one of Nintendo’s oldest heroes to his roots and in the process have surpassed everything Rare has done with the original.

Life is hard for Kong, he’s finally gotten rid of those pesky Kremlins, but now he’s got to worry about his fellow jungle animals running off with his banana horde. You see, the animals are under the control of the evil Tikis known as the Tiki Tak Tribe. As you’d expect, your goal is to traverse the jungle, defeat the Tik Tak Tribe and get yourself some potassium goodness in the process.

In essence, returns is the formula from the original Donkey Kong Country boiled down to its most simple assets. Anyone who remembers the last few games in the series will remember that they were filled with increasingly annoying King family members and stale gameplay. Save for our ape protagonist and Diddy (along with a few appearances by Cranky Kong), the extended family sits this one out in favor of a more streamlined story and classic gameplay.  Everything you remember is here, from the vine swinging, to collecting the gold K-O-N-G letters, the key here is that Retro Studios, the same team that revitalized the Metroid series with Metroid: Prime was able to make the gameplay feel fresh, without adding too much.

What’s most striking about Donkey Kong Returns is just how impressive and creatively brilliant the level design is throughout the entire experience. From striking set pieces like riding on the back of a whale to the series trademark mine car sections, every second of Kong’s latest adventure seems lovingly crafted to get the absolute most entertaining experience. Sprinkled throughout are clever nods to the original series, like characters and hidden rooms. It’s clear that Retro were fans of the original game.

That level design though isn’t just for show though, it also adds a world of difficulty. While it may not look as menacing as it is, there are sections of Returns that are unforgivingly hard. Much like the original, you’re going to gain a lot of lives, which will lure you into a false sense of security, but you’re likely to use them all during these punishing sections. More often than not, these sections will either be the boss fights or include them. Strangely enough though, the game feels instantly accessible and inviting even for those without an emotional attachment to the big monkey on the cover. Also aiding in helping frustrated players is the Super Guide. Much like in New Super Mario Bros, dyeing eight straight times leads to the option to see a prerecorded run through of the level.

For the first time in the series, Donkey Kong Country Returns includes co-op simultaneous gameplay, and while at times it can be a bit frustrating in the same way the multiplayer of New Super Mario Bros was, it mostly works. As you’d expect, Donkey Kong is more of a brute type character who uses mostly melee combat, while Diddy is quicker and uses projectile weapons. Undoubtedly, my favorite part of the co-op experience was the ability to have Diddy jump on Donkey Kong’s back, so it’s easier for less skilled players to advance while playing with a stronger partner.

The biggest letdown? Why no classic controller support? No don’t get me wrong, the Wii controller works fine in most cases, but growing up playing this very franchise on Super Nintendo and N64 and not being able to use a similar controller just feels wrong. There is some motion functionality in the game, by shaking the Wiimote, DK will perform a ground pound, but in some cases, the game confuses this motion for an attempt to get DK to roll, and it’ll likely cause you one of your lives.

The Blast Factor: With Donkey Kong Country Returns, Retro Studios proves that its talents aren’t just limited to first person shooters. The newest Donkey Kong adventure is a breathtakingly creative and fun instant classic that everyone will be able to appreciate. Whether you hold an emotional attachment to Nintendo’s monkey hero, or your experiencing the franchise for the first time, Donkey Kong Country Returns is one of the best games you’ve played all year.

Greg Hastings Paintball 2 is an interesting departure from the typical shooter. It’s a strictly team-based title that is designed to be a hardcore, real-world paintball sim. There is a single player campaign that takes you through a series of real paintball tournaments and allows you to build a team of up to 10 shooters, while consistently unlocking new equipment and upgrades with money earned from the various events.  There is also a robust, highly customizable local multiplayer mode – and a map editor for folks who want to design paintball scenarios from the comfort of their couch.

It was a new experience for me to play a shooter where your opponents don’t get traditionally “killed” but are rather eliminated by taking a paint spec. What is not immediately obvious about this detail before you get into GHP2 is that it affects play by allowing users to periodically “cheat” and wipe paint off when they’re hit. It is a calculated risk to try, and best to do in deep cover. If the refs see you, the team loses two players instead of just one. Do it too many times in a match and you’ll be hitting the pine in hurry.

The other interesting game mechanic introduced here is the ability to slide. GHP2 features 3 vertical positions like CoD: prone, crouched or vertical. If players are vertical and hit the crouch button while on the move, they’ll perform a slide that stays low and puts them right up against cover if performed at the right distance. It certainly adds to mobility and can be used effectively to avoid danger in certain situations.

Screeshot is from HD version

When I agreed to review GHP2, I had the choice of either Xbox 360 or Wii. I decided on the Wii version because I wanted to know if a game like this could really handle itself with the Wii’s motion controls. If indeed that were true, it might be really fun. Several shooters, like The Conduit and Red Steel 2, are amazing on the Wii and I was hopeful this would also be the case with GHP2 – especially since it is one of the few to incorporate online play. Unfortunately, these hopes were quickly dashed.

First off, the Wii Zapper controls are so bad. Having to reach up to the Wiimote position and tap A to zoom from the Nunchuck position is a ridiculous chore – a deal-breaker really. You can’t win playing this way because you don’t have easy access to the whole host of game controls. Using the Wiimote/Nunchuck combo without a Zapper is slightly more manageable (although you should keep Zapper controls on), with easier access to the A button for zooming in and out. You will still have to hunt for buttons, however.

Unfortunately, all forms of motion controls in GHP2 are just entirely too spastic to provide any sense of real accuracy or room for effective strategy. Your slightest movements outside the field of view and most snap-back reactions will send you spinning wildly out of frame. If this happens while you’re running, diving or otherwise maneuvering, you’ll typically end up leaving yourself exposed in the worst of possible places. I gave the motion controls my best shot for a day or two. I really did. Ultimately, they were just too unforgiving for what is basically a stealth/ cover shooter though. You can widen the Wiimote’s dead zone so that aiming in the corners of the screen is more possible without the whole view changing – but it is still extremely frustrating to use.

Once I strapped up the Classic Controller, I started to enjoy GHP2 a little and understand the game of paintball. I have never played in my life, so a level of education was necessary.  Although GHP2 does not do a tremendous job of explaining the mechanics of the real game step-by-step, especially when it comes to equipment considerations and game types, it is really the best way to learn about the sport I can think of without actually going out and doing the real thing. After playing the GHP2, I feel like my first couple of moves on a real paintball field might not be all that terrible.

Screenshot is from HD version

GHP2 offers an absurd level of customization in both single-player and local multiplayer modes, and the incorporation of  real-life players, locations, equipment and even crowd noise all go a long way toward making the experience feel authentic. Fans of the sport will likely be at home with the title and have natural instincts on how to best cover territory and with which loadouts. Another interesting equipment wrinkle introduced here is the weight factor. You can pimp your gear out to the gills if you want, but it will cause you to suffer in the mobility department. It would literally take months to master all the various loadout options in GHP2, as you work to equip your team of (ultimately) 10 players with all the right stuff.

Blast Factor: While I did have fun with this game, there was rarely a moment when I didn’t wish I was playing something else. I liked the environment and gameplay variety. The sad fact here though is this is just not a good title for the Wii platform. It becomes playable and somewhat interesting once settling on a Classic Controller, but this is really just an argument for playing the game on another platform. If you have a 360 or PS3, don’t even think about this title for Wii. First off, it’s virtually impossible to find a game online, so that aspect of it might as well not even be there. Second, the graphics on the Wii version are really limited and present functional problems when trying to track your shots. You account for wind and gravity in GHB2 – which is cool and relatively original – but it doesn’t add much when you can’t see where the paintballs are going and the splotches you do see vanish almost immediately. The AI is nothing to sing about either. Your teammates are straight garbage.

For real fans of paintball, I might recommend this title on 360 or PS3. But definitely rent it first. If you do end up buying, you will get a free paintball pass for two that is valued at up to $300. If you use the voucher, I suppose you could say the game pays for itself.

This week, the United States Supreme Court will hear the case of The State of California vs. The Entertainment Merchants Association. The landmark case, which marks the first time the Supreme Court will hear a case regarding video games is an all out debate on whether the content of violent games is protected under first amendment rights. Here’s a quick breakdown of what you need to know:

Why Should you care?

Be they entertainment, art, or consumerism, video Games are a growing medium, if the State of California is victorious in this case, violent video games like Grand Theft Auto will be treated much like Pornography, and it will be illegal to sell them to minors.

But, kids staying away from these games is a good thing right?

Of course, but the big question here is whether the government has the right to regulate the gaming industry. As of right now, it’s technically not illegal to sell an M-Rated game to kids, just as it’s technically not illegal to let a child watch an R Rated movie. If the law passes, these games would be viewed much the same as X-rated movies with strict penalties for those letting kids play them. Is parental control and the ESRB enough to deter kids from playing these games?

Who’s proposing this bill?

Arnold Schwarzenegger, The State of California and a few other states. They’ve been trying to get this law on the books for almost a decade now, but each time the games industry has sued, and won. California Assemblyman Leeland Yee wrote a bill which would fine a retailer $1,000 for selling a violent video game to a minor, which was signed the by the Governor but promptly delayed and struck down by a lawsuit.

So, just what makes a game violent?

It’s tough to say. Most hearings, those for the law are showing pretty edited tapes of games like Grand theft Auto and Postal 2. While they’re not going after bigger games like Call of Duty, it’s really only a matter of time before they do so. The law does however clearly state what criteria it would use for determining whether a video game is viewed as violent:

A) Comes within all of the following descriptions:
(i) A reasonable person, considering the game as a whole, would
find appeals to a deviant or morbid interest of minors.
(ii) It is patently offensive to prevailing standards in the
community as to what is suitable for minors.
(iii) It causes the game, as a whole, to lack serious literary,
artistic, political, or scientific value for minors.
(B) Enables the player to virtually inflict serious injury upon
images of human beings or characters with substantially human
characteristics in a manner which is especially heinous, cruel, or
depraved in that it involves torture or serious physical abuse to the
victim.

Alright, what can I do?

While gamer advocacy groups like The Entertainment Consumers Association and the Entertainment Software Association have launched awareness campaigns (including one featuring a mass mailing of controllers to law makers, there’s no much you can do at this point. The hearing starts on Tuesday, November 2 at 10: 00 AM Et; which is also the Fall general elections. Stick with Blast as we’ll keep you updated throughout the day on this monumental case.

If you’re a gamer who was born in the late 90s, chances are you ask your older brother one question. “Why does your generation like that stupid blue hedgehog ?”.

Yes, indeed Sonic is now considered a flop, but there was once a time when Sonic was the arch nemesis of Mario, both of them were the most successful characters in the video gaming industry, Sega even created a subsidiary development team called Sonic Team, Sonic was on fire!

Nowadays though, it seems that Sonic is on life support, the shift from 2D to 3D wasn’t too kind to the hedgehog, with SEGA releazing one terrible Sonic game after another, and creating many useless characters along the way, such as Silver the hedgehog, and that dreadful Werehog in Sonic Unleashed. The quality of Sonic games have declined considerably over the years, the blue hedgehog no longer felt on par with Mario, but rather felt like some generic, mediocre mascot.

However, that was then and this is now, SEGA have decided to take Sonic back to his roots, and have released Sonic 4, the sequel to Sonic 3, and a game that fans have been waiting 16 years for. The question that many people will ask, is it good? And the answer, finally, is a “Yes”.

Sonic 4 Episode I is the best Sonic game in a very long time, it took SEGA over a decade, but they finally got it right. The gameplay in Sonic 4 feels like that of a true Sonic game.

The game starts out fairly simple, you find yourself in Splash Hill, an almost updated replica of Green Hill Zone, you play the first level in the game and pass with absolute ease, and then you are taken to the screen where you get the complete freedom to choose which zone you want to choose, and which act you want to choose from that zone.

While Sonic games usually didn’t let you choose the zone or act you wanted to be in, this feature doesn’t exactly give or take much from the game, just like past Sonic games you take on the boss of each zone after finishing all three acts.

The graphics in Sonic 4 are gorgeous, the game stays true to the Sonic 2D formula while updating it with HD graphics and a constant framerate that never drops, the great news to Wii owners is the fact that the game looks exactly like the PS3 and X360 versions, only in 480p, which isn’t a dealbreaker at all really. In fact, the game felt more at home on the Wii than the PS3 and X360, having the game next to other Sonic titles new and old in the Wii library made it feel like this is where it truly belongs.

Some fans have wondered what Sonic’s appearance is like in Sonic 4, does he resemble Sonic of yore? Or does he resemble the modern day Sonic? While playing Sonic 4, we played Sonic 3 and Super Smash Brawl alongside it, seeing how the best 2D sonic models of past and present are featured in said games. Sonic’s model resembles the modern day Sonic more than that of the old Sonic during SEGA’s golden era, with his long legs being the most distinctive feature.

The music in Sonic 4 is a step in the right direction, it surpasses the music in the majority of the 3D Sonic games, the downside is the fact that the music sometimes doesn’t feel like that of a Sonic game, the music is slow, and at times it’s too slow, it just doesn’t mesh with the sprinting hedgehog at times.

The gameplay in Sonic 4 adds nothing new to the franchise, and that is probably one of the greatest things in this game, seeing as how every time SEGA adds a new element to the game (like that God damned dreadful werehog), the game turns out to be a disaster. The new feature in the game is the homing attack, while this feature isn’t new in the Sonic 3D games, it’s new in the Sonic 2D ones, when Sonic is in mid-air and near an enemy, a lock-on appears and Sonic can attack that enemy, this feature actually fits in with the gameplay quite well, and is also crucial at times to progress through a level.

While the gameplay is solid, it does have some issues of it’s own. For instance, the only power ups available are the temporary invincibility and the ability to breath under water, features such as the fire ball and electiric ball were present in Sonic 3 almost 16 years ago, SEGA not including them now is an awkward strategy on their behalf.

Another issue that is noticed almost immediately is the speed of the game. It is obvious from the get go that Sonic 4 is slower than previous iterations in the Sonic franchise, especially in 2D sonic games, add the fact that you will be stopped from progressing in certain levels later on in the game until you perform some minuscule tedious tasks, and the sense of momentum in the game falls flat. It’s not as bad as it sounds, but it stops the game from being truly great.

The final, and perhaps most annoying aspect of the gameplay is the difficulty settings. Usually in video games the game becomes harder gradually, helping the players adjust to the gameplay and introduce new enemies and challenges at a reasonable pace. Sonic 4 throws this strategy right out the window and disorients you in a way like no other.

You spend the majority of the game unchallenged, quite literally breezing through the leves, by the time you reach the final zone, you’ll have around 20 lives and the only real challenge you’ll have faced is the boss of zone 3, during the three acts in the final zone, you will die around 6 times (assuming you get lucky and pass certain frustrating parts of the game quickly), then you will face the final boss of the game. Here you will die over and over again, in one of the longest boss fights in a Sonic game, at times the fight will be hard, and not in a modern day game hard, but in a Mega Man hate yourself kind of hard. And the most frustrating part about the final boss, is the tempo of the level. It is so slow it hardly fits a Sonic game.

The biggest downside for Sonic 4 isn’t the game itself, but it’s the price. Sonic 4 Episode I is priced at $15, the game can be finished in less than 3 hours if you’re dedicated enough to finish it in a single session. It has good replay value, and you can even unlock Super Sonic, but it’s not enough to slap a $15 price tag, especially when there are games like Castle Crashers, and Lara Croft and The Guardian of Light that offer mad replay value and multiplayer gameplay for the same price.

The Blast Factor: It’s almost hard to believe this, but this might the first time in over a decade that Sonic fans get two great Sonic games in a single year (assuming all goes well with Sonic Colors), this could be the year Sonic fans celebrate after all. If you’re a Sonic fan who’s been dying to play a great Sonic game, Sonic 4 is well worth the 15 dollars, if you’re hesitant and wondering if it’s worth the investment or not, you might wanna check Other PSN/XBLA titles first, like Castle Crashers and GoL, or Wii Ware titles like Cave Story.

Bethesda confirmed earlier this morning that they have released a patch to fix some of the technical issues found in the PS3 version of Fallout: New Vegas. When this update will be available for the console edition of the game is still unclear.

” We’reworking hard to make this update available for the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360,” reads the official Bethesda blog.

Blast reviewed Fallout: New Vegas this week, and cited the game’s surprisingly high amount of technical errors as one of the game’s major downfalls.  Stay with Blast for more on the upcoming patch.

In the two years since its release, Bethesda has kept Fallout 3 relevant thanks to a steady stream of downloadablecontent that expanded the game universe. Now however, it seems to be hurting the franchise more than anything else.

Fallout: New Vegas is a difficult beast to review. On the one hand, it adds to the experience first seen in Fallout 3 wonderfully, but on the other, that experience is nearly three years old.  The world is as massive and creative as ever, but playing through the latest chapter in the critically acclaimed franchise grows incredibly familiar and tiring all too quickly.

As you’d expect, New Vegas takes place in the year 2281 in a post apocalyptic Las Vegas, Nevada. Much like the Washington DC setting of Fallout 3, the map of New Vegas is incredibly large and impressive. In fact, the wasteland setting in New Vegas is easily one of the game’s best features. Actual landmarks like the Hoover Dam and the Helios Solar Energy Plant dot the landscape, which is tons of fun to explore. Playing through and exploring the world New Vegas presents is incredibly rewarding and the more you play, the more you’re sure to appreciate. Case in point – when you get to the actual Vegas area and see swing entertainers and the lights of the strip – it’s a truly awesome sight when you realize that up until this point you’ve been staring at a barren wasteland.

As a living  artificial world, Fallout 3 is nothing short of fascinating, but as an interactive experience, it’s a bit more thin. What worked so well before, often feels old hat here, and rather than feeling like you have complete control, it’s not uncommon to feel like the game is limiting what you can do.  Everything you’ve come to expect from the engine is here, just in a different form – while Fallout 3 began with you choosing your traits at birth, New Vegas does so after you regain consciousness after being brutally attacked and forced to dig your own grave.

While much of New Vegas’ gameplay is showing its age, the citizens of the wasteland are a different story altogether. In previous Fallout games, the factions were easy to navigate; one was good – one was bad – and so forth. Here, many of the factions come off as neutral forces, perpetuating ideas rather than stereotypical responses. This makes the game incredibly more fun to navigate, as you’ll have to really identify and choose which faction you want to align yourself with.

Each time I would get into the action of New Vegas, a technical glitch or troubling design choice halted any interest I had in the game. Several times, I had to restart my game as it caused the entire 360 to lock up. Furthermore, when the action starts to pick up, you’re left with a chugging framerate and some embarrassing textures. The worst aspect though by far is the game’s obscenely long load times. Even those wouldn’t be much of an issue if they didn’t happen so frequently. Going into a building? Load screen. Leaving a building? Load screen. It’s obviously annoying and has a tendency to take you out of the game, especially when your quest has you going through different buildings.

Those looking for more of a challenge with Fallout: New Vegas are pushed towards the new hardcore mode which severely amps up the difficulty and realism.  In Hardcore mode, stimpaks (the  game’s health system) heal over time rather than instantly, severe injuries require additional medical assistance and players must eat, drink and sleep to avoid starvation, dehydration and exhaustion. Yes, it’s as hard as it sounds, but it’s incredibly satisfying for dedicated Fallout players.

The Blast Factor: If Fallout: New Vegas were an expansion pack or DLC, it’d be instantly worth the money, but asking gamers to put down $60 for a title that adds almost nothing new, yet is chock full of technical issues is a bit much. Still, those who love The Fallout games are sure to find much to love in the Mojave Wasteland. Fallout: New Vegas isn’t the masterpiece many thought it would be, but fans are sure to enjoy one more romp with their pipboy.

ATT has announced that its U-Verse IPTV platform will be hitting the Xbox 360 in the United States this Friday, October 15 and Windows Live phones next month. The service allows for users to watch, record and manage TV content from major networks directly on the Xbox 360.

The service is a bit pricey though, as those wishing to set-up service on the Xbox 360 will be required to $99 for a startup kit ($55 for those who already have service but would like to extend it to the console) along with AT&T’s monthly service fees.

The service is the first live TV service to hit the console in America, but European gamers have had a similar service in Sky TV for the last few years.

I’ve always viewed Half Life, and it’s sequel as the much anticipated Citizen Kane of video games. It’s complex mixture of interactive entertainment and artistic expressionism are everything video games can, and should be. It’s one of those properties that should never become a movie, like the videogame version of Watchmen. Wait, scratch that last part.

There are exceptions to every rule however, and Marc Spitoni’s teaser trailer for “I am the Freeman” is enough to change my tune. Spitoni, who works for WETA, the fine folks who did much of the special effects for the Lord of the Rings movies and District 9. Yep, it’s that good.

“I’ve always been in love with the PC game ‘Half-Life,’ so I decided to work out a project that would have been a trailer for a hypothetic feature film of Half-life,” Spitoni said of the project. ” The whole thing is pretty faithful to the game and based on HL2.”

“I am the Freeman” gives hope to the fact that someone could do a Half-Life movie right, but they won’t. Spitoni points out on his website that he won’t be making a full movie, just a longer trailer. Let’s just hope Valve is watching.