The Salt Lake City Tribune is reporting that Eat Sleep Play co-founder and the man behind such mega hits as God of War and Twisted Metal, David Jaffe will be stepping down and leaving the company following next week’s release of Twisted Metal for the PS3.

The report suggests that Jaffe (UPDATE: jaffe has confirmed he will leave the company) will be staying around for the game’s release, along with a bit of testing and polish, and then will segway into a new position,and a brand new company, which will focus on “big next gen ideas.”

As for Eat Sleep Play, the studio will reportedly transition from console games like Twisted Metal to more casual iPhone and iPad games. “”It’s a platform that is in our pockets almost 24/7. It’s kind of the size and types of games we’re playing,” said other co-founder Scott Campbell to the Salt Lake Trib. “You can certainly reach a lot more people. That’s pretty exciting for us.”

The company has also confirmed that as a result of the move, that they will see a number of layoffs in the near future. Here’s hoping all of those folks land on their feet.

Here’s your first look at MLB 12: The Show, courtesy of our friends over at IGN. Featuring new broadcast style presentation and move controls, MLB 12: The Show hits the PS3 on March 6.

Well that came out of nowhere. It seems that Obsidian, the folks behind Fallout: New Vegas, and Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic II are teaming up with THQ to create an RPG based off of South Park

Okay, Okay..I hear your groans, but it the developers swear that this isn’t a cash in like the other games that featured the characters. As unveiled in this month’s Game Informer, the game will reportedly follow the show’s four main characters, Stan, Kyle, Cartman and Kenny as they defend their town from various threats.  The game gets immediate points for having Man-bear-pig on its first image.

South Park: The Game is due out in the second half of next year for the PS3 and Xbox 360.

The internet has been buzzing lately with talks about Metal Gear Solid 5 possibly being announced soon, so naturally everyone seems really excited. You know who doesn’t seem excited though? The game’s creatorand producer Hideo Kojima. In an interview with The UK’s official PlayStation Magazine, Kojima gave a less than enthused answer when asked about the possibility of a new Metal Gear game.

“I think we’ll probably have to make it at some point, but what that will be, we have no idea,” Kojima told the magazine. The designer also downplayed his role in the project as with any future metal gear game, ” “As far as my involvement in the project is concerned, [it] probably won’t be as much as it was with MGS1 – maybe I can do just one stage! For MGS1 I made the maps myself, laid out the enemy routes myself, did everything hands-on – that level I can’t do again.”

But wait…that’s what he said about Metal Gear Solid 4.

“I intended to take it to a certain point and then hand it off, but that didn’t work,” Kojima said regarding is work on MGS 4. ” It’s hard to convey the concept to other people then have them take the reins and carry on and preserve that vision.”

Some games just have a deeper feeling to them. They penetrate the mind and dig deep, stimulating thoughts of curiosity, awe and wonder. Team Ico is one of the few that can pull off such feats in the creation of their games. They seem to know what they’re doing, even if it’s just re-releasing old titles in high definition. With the Ico/Shadow of the Colossus Collection re-release, the company has successfully inspired and re-inspired an old adventure that’s worth re-visiting.

Considering there are two games bundled into one, it’s only fair to give two separate mini reviews with an overall judgment at the end. First up to bat is Team Ico’s first release, conveniently titled Ico.

ICO – Ico is a double edged sword for me. It’s a moving and revolutionary game that has definitely altered how people will look at puzzle/adventure games. On the other hand, it’s frustrating and border line obnoxious at times. The story begins with soldiers taking a boy with horns to a large prison fortress. Apparently deemed “a bad omen” because of the horns protruding from his skull, the boy is locked away and sealed into the fortress by magic.  The soldiers leave, thinking the boy is sealed away for good, and his prison pod comes crashing to the ground after a tremor shakes the castle, releasing him.

The boy, named Ico, wanders the castle and eventually stumbles upon a caged girl named Yorda. After some navigation and platforming, you free Yorda from her prison and together you search for an escape.

After freeing Yorda, shadowy figures come from the floor and attempt to kidnap Yorda from you. Your task is to keep her safe from the creatures and lead her through the puzzles and rooms of the fortress.

The game has a healthy mix of puzzles and combat, although the combat is incredibly simple. As Ico, you’ll continually beat down the shadow creatures as they attempt to grab Yorda and pull her into the black abyss.

A lot of love is sent Ico’s way due to the pure simplicity of it all. It’s straight forward and lacks a lot of explanation, but that’s absolutely okay. It’s minimalistic on purpose, and it hits home. It’s a boy-and-a-girl story through the perils of a seemingly abandoned castle. And that’s all you need to know.

The game is designed beautifully, and with the HD makeover, it’s even more so. The textures of the tiles and bricks, the smudgy look of the shadow creatures, the light vs. dark complexion, it’s all stunning. The design, despite the emptiness of it all, is full of beauty and things to simply admire while navigating bridges and passageways.

It’s a unique game which Team Ico set the bar with for adventure games. Yes, it’s an escort mission through and through, but between its minimalistic approach and gorgeous layout, Ico has truly put a new spin on adventure games.

On the other hand, Team Ico could not have made Yorda more annoying. At times, she’ll follow you at a normal pace, but at other times, she’ll stop dead in her tracks. Yorda needs to be tugged around on occasion by grabbing her hand, she can’t climb things, and seems pretty inept in the ways of basic survival. It gets to a breaking point when all you want her to do is just stay away from the hordes of shadow creatures. But no, she’ll just stand there. Sometimes she’ll move around a bit, but she doesn’t put up a fight.

It’s hard to move past Yorda’s obvious lack of survival television shows in her life, but if you can, the game is fantastic. It’s beautiful and open, a type of game I had never played before.

But moving onto Ico’s sibling title…

SHADOW OF THE COLOSSUS – I’ll be completely honest with you right now, and let you know from the get-go that this has been and continues to be in my Top 3 favorite games of all time. The re-release just continues to inspire all my love for it.

Shadow of the Colossus (or SOTC for short) holds true to be the epitome of adventure. It’s a game that demands bravery and intelligence, and defines ambition and imagination.

The game begins with the protagonist, Wander, riding his horse, Agro, with a seemingly lifeless girl riding on the back. He travels to a forbidden land with a stolen enchanted sword, hoping a higher power will breathe life back into his loved one. The story is sparse, but moving, told mostly through visuals and the straight forward quest handed down to you by the deity Dormin. You are told to defeat the 16 colossi roaming the forbidden land, and then the girl, Mono, will be resurrected.

Equipped with only your sword and a bow with arrows, you travel with Agro, your only companion throughout the game.

Like its predecessor Ico, SOTC centers itself with a minimalistic concept. Defeat the 16 colossi. The world you travel in is vast, visually stunning, and for the most part vacant. Occasionally, there is a hawk in the sky or a lizard scurrying on the ground, but, in the end, it’s just you, Agro and the colossi.

Although empty, the game’s setting has truly been mastered by Team Ico. The designers take into consideration the importance of light. In the sunlight, Wander has the ability to raise his sword to create a compass in order to locate each colossus. In the shadows, however, the sword struggles to gleam and will fail, leaving players to use their own intuition to find their way. When fighting colossi, players can also use the light to locate the “sweet” spots on each boss. Some are much harder to locate than others. But in the sunlight, a ray of light can uncover a symbol where Wander should plunge his sword into on each colossus.

Beyond the light, the sounds are extremely immersive. When galloping through the sand, crunches will be heard, the wind can be heard howling over thing bridges and rocks can be heard crumbling under Agro’s hooves.

And the soundtrack deserves its own paragraph. An orchestral soundtrack further promotes the intensity and epic feeling of each boss battle. Sprinkled throughout gameplay, each movement of the orchestra is just as beautiful as the visuals. Shadow can absolutely claim to be fully immersive to the senses (when it comes to gaming, so obviously disregard taste and smell), which only adds to its already high regards.

But the best part of SOTC would be the most obvious: The battles with each colossus.

The first time I happened upon a colossus, I was left staring at the television screen with a stupid look of amazement on my face. All I could do was gaze upon the marvel of the massive being in front of me and ask myself, “How the hell am I supposed to beat that?”

After 10 play-throughs of SOTC, gamers will still look forward to the challenge.

But nothing amounts to the first play through. Fighting each colossus for the first time is an incredible journey that forces a player to drastic measures requiring brave moves and out-of-the-box thinking.

Approaching each colossus triggers a cut scene, where Team Ico proudly boasts their earth and rock creations as they slowly begin to move and approach Wander. Hulking in size, the colossi are mostly unique from one another (I saw mostly because two are strikingly similar to each other, the environment is just different), each built differently with different weak spots. The task will seem impossible at first as the massive beings attempt to crush you with their feet, clubs, wings, etc.

The battles are beyond exhilarating and require a puzzle-like way of thinking to come out victorious. Each colossus will have their own environment, their own build and their own attacks The ground shakes as you approach, dirt is kicked up and the screen blurs as players move the camera quickly. In the bottom right hand corner, a pink circle represents Wander’s grip gauge. This gauge is dire to the game and notifies players how long they have before Wander will completely lose his strength and let go of the colossus he is trying to scale (or hold onto for dear life).

You’ll struggle and explore the environment you’re in to find the best route of attack against your goliath of an opponent. Sometimes you’ll have to scale walls, jump from bridges, swim through lakes, all in efforts to just reach the colossi. Each setting usually adds to the experience, whether it’s a sand worm jumping at you from the ground, or a lizard-like colossi scaling the walls and spitting lightning breath.

The trait of bravery is needed to succeed in these battles. You’ll be standing underneath a downward moving hoof four times your size, aiming at a glowing weak spot with your tiny bow. Completing such feats gives players a rush that is experienced over and over again. It’s absolutely invigorating.

Upon defeat of a colossus, however, there is a twinge of sadness and regret. Since there is a lack of explanation, I ended up wondering why I was killing these creatures. They made no moves to hurt me. The story itself is an emotional ride that definitely forces a player to look at the acts they are committing.

No game is perfect, however, and SOTC is no exception. Getting lost on the large map is annoying if it happens, and considering there’s nothing except colossi, a journey can quickly turn from gorgeous to miserable.

In the end, when it comes to SOTC, the combination of story, visuals, soundtrack and colossus battles make the game one of the best I’ve played ever. SOTC is another unique game that the videogame world has yet to see again. Such a game stands alone, unchallenged and has stood the test of time. The re-release is an even better excuse to live or re-live the journey. The magnificence and awe are almost impossible to do justice to in a review and I strongly encourage you to experience it for yourself.

The Collection disk also offers a few things that the original PS2 games did not that deserve recognition. Obviously there were no trophies on the PS2 versions, but they are added and a nice touch to the PS3 collection. Extra features are also included on the disk which allows players to take a closer look at the development of both Ico and SOTC. There is even a concept video they had for SOTC before it existed that involved online cooperative play to take down a colossus. To be honest, Team Ico should continue to pursue such a project, it would probably do well considering how much thought and time goes into the creation of these games (aka I’m still waiting on The Last Guardian…). There is a small fault with the disk, being you cannot change games after picking a title to play. You’ll have to restart your PS3 to switch between games.

BLAST FACTOR: In the first season of Mad Men, Don Draper pitches a product called The Carousel. He said, “…in Greek, nostalgia literally means ‘the pain from an old wound.’ It’s a twinge in your heart, far more powerful than memory alone.” It’s safe to say that the Ico/SOTC Collection is a powerful blast of nostalgia. I smile at the travels of Wander and Agro, although with a small sense of sadness as I cut down each majestic colossi all in the name of love. I fondly remember the massive spiraling staircases and the brief interactions of Ico and Yorda. These are definitely games of the past, but they’ve been etched into gaming history. I used to keep my PS2 plugged in, so when I felt the yearning for Team Ico’s masterpieces, I could pop them in whenever. The re-release of both titles was beautifully amped with high definition graphics, making already visually stunning games look even better. Although Ico can be a bit much at times with Yorda’s constant lack of commitment to survival, SOTC reigns tall as the perfect re-release. It’s a great excuse to replay these games (not that you really need that), and a huge reason for Team Ico newbies to dive in. Buy this collection. It’s worth every second. And on top of that? Three words: The Last Guardian.

Final Grade:

A lot of people are starting to ask when we’re going to see new consoles from Sony and Microsoft, but not Ken Levine. The creator of Bioshock says that he’s “not aching for new consoles” and that the current ones still have “a lot of juice.”

“It’s clear there’s still a fair bit of juice left in these machines,” he said. “You look at Arkham City, Uncharted and Gears of War and you’re starting to see that these games don’t look old to me. They look very current. I was playing Batman the other day and he’s flying over this huge city, the snow is landing on the wings of his cape and you can see it hitting and melting… they still retain the power to visually amaze me.”

Levine is currently working on the hotly anticipated Bioshock Infinite which is set to release next year.

“From a gameplay standpoint absolutely there’s a tonne of juice left [in current consoles]. There are lots of things to explore. That doesn’t mean it’s not challenging to build on what you’ve done – obviously Infinite is a very large step up in terms of technology from BioShock 1.”

Check out the entire interview here.

The first time I died I was crushed to death by an ugly club-toting prison guard demon.

The second time, death came to me as I was shoved off a cliff. The third time skeleton warriors wielding cleavers overran me. The list continues: I was burnt, impaled, frozen, pummeled, squished, eaten, poisoned, slashed open, cursed, stunned, bashed, stuck full of arrows, you name it.

And it was all a painful, aggravating but ultimately rewarding learning experience.

I was being educated.

Enter Dark Souls, From Software’s follow up to Demon Souls. And I can easily say it’s the hardest game I’ve ever played.

The third person action RPG dungeon crawler Dark Souls is a fickle beast, one that doesn’t care if you’re good or not, the epitome of hardcore and the gatekeeper of victory and happiness. Its tagline, “Prepare to die,” is no joke. Even in the tutorial, you will die.

Sounds terrible, right? Wrong.  Not only is Dark Souls the hardest game I’ve ever played, but also the most unique and rewarding.

Through death, a player learns survival. This doesn’t quite make sense, I’m sure. It can be compared to touching a hot plate. With your hand burnt from the contact, you know not to touch it again or, perhaps, to hold it with a cloth to reduce the heat. It is no different when dying in Dark Souls. When an enemy parries your attack and returns it with their own instant-kill thrust, driving a large sword through your torso, you now know you should not attempt such a route when fighting said enemy. It’s all a huge lesson on versatility and thinking outside the box, a game that will keep your mind spinning and your heart pounding with every encounter.

Dark Souls furthers the intrigue by its openness and lack of direction. Once out of the Undead Asylum tutorial, the world is open for you to explore and scavenge. Players are merely told to ring bells and “something will happen.” Pretty vague, right? The story is sparse and barely described, although the opening scenes and cut scenes are beautifully done and graphically stunning. The story is weak, however, as you find yourself wandering, sometimes aimlessly, through broken down churches, dark forests, poison swamps, tombs and underground villages. But that doesn’t matter. The story is far from important. Dark Souls is just one epic and massive adventure when it comes down to it.

The game will push you in a basic direction by the difficulty of the demons you encounter. I knew immediately that going through the poisonous Blighttown before I rang the first bell was not the smartest move, mainly because I was too weak to handle the beasts within. Then again, it’s completely arguable. Some may think one section is harder than the other merely based on the fact that their stats are distributed differently. It really is open for debate.

With its refusal to hold your hand, Dark Souls makes gamers’ hearts pump faster and sweat build on their brows. As they enter a dark unknown area with no idea what is around the corner, they’ll either march proudly and arrogantly or inch their way through with their shield up and a strong paranoia sinking in. The tutorial is brief and lacking in description, forcing players to figure it out on alone. Once brought to the Firelink Shrine, the official starting place in Dark Souls after the escape from the Undead Asylum, the world completely lacks a linear path. You are given a simple objective, how you accomplish it is up to you.

This beginning is vast and intimidating. Words like “overwhelming” don’t seem to do it justice. The start of your exploration will invoke awe due to its size. As you further your escapades and plunders, however, you’ll find small shortcuts, making each area interconnected. By the time you make it halfway through, you’ll have paths to so many areas around the Dark Souls realm, it will make travel easier. The realization of shortcuts were always a huge victory when I was playing, and I found myself rejoicing each time I found my way back to the Firelink Shrine. Being a safe haven, it was always comforting to know that the Shrine wasn’t as far away as it seemed.

Again, death is stressed to be the ultimate teacher. You’ll find through error and exploration what enemies are weak against and their attack patterns. You’ll learn that some enemies are weak against fire, while others are immune. You’ll find that divine forged weapons will halt the revival of skeleton warriors, opposed to struggling as you battle the reanimating bastards over and over again for no gain. There isn’t a moment that the game isn’t teaching you something. Players must be wise enough to take note when things happen, especially in combat and death.

In no way is Dark Souls a hack ‘n slash game. Running into a crowd of undead soldiers with your sword drawn may seem like a fun idea at first, but will lead to your inevitably quick death. The game is about patience and testing your limits. With an endurance bar acting as both your defense and your strength, players must truly come to balance with their actions. Swinging a heavy weapon could use up half your endurance bar, leaving you susceptible to an onslaught. To attack or not to attack, that is the question.

But the combat system is the heart of Dark Souls and is extremely unforgiving for beginners. I think I died far more in the beginning trying to get used to the combat than later. The learning curve is brutal, and can push players into fits of anger as they attempt to figure out their hero’s limits and the attack patterns of their enemies. But as time progresses, you’ll get stronger, level up and conquer. It’s all a matter of taking risks and knowing when to pull back from a fight.

The gamble is a huge playing point in Dark Souls. To act or not to act. Play it safe and miss out, or take a chance and risk annihilation? It’s a rush every time and players are faced with it frequently.

Scenario: There is an item on top of the roof a structure. The gap between you and the structure is quite large. Falling into said gap is a most certain death. Having no idea if the item is worth the jump, do you take a chance anyway, risking all your collected souls and progress in the area?

Let’s say you jump. You don’t make the gap and plummet to your demise. “You have died” shows up on your screen and then fades to black. You respawn at the last bonfire you rested at. This sucks, but is the norm. You can, however, try try again, which eventually will lead to success, and a swelling rush of pride.

Bonfires are a player’s saving grace, their haven, the light in the pitch black. Bonfires are scattered few and far throughout Dark Souls, acting as a checkpoint where you can level up, change your spells, replenish you spell count and safely re-arrange your inventory. You’ll recover your health and refill your estus flasks – potions that heal you out in the world. But it comes with a price, as does everything in the Dark Souls universe.

By resting at a bonfire, the enemies slain have respawned (except for some of the tougher enemies like the Dark Knights or bosses). After tirelessly clearing out an area of blood-thirsty beasts, it might not be worth the risk to rest a bonfire if you don’t need to. Then again, players will learn to expect death everywhere, so it may be worth cashing in on the souls you’ve collected.

Souls act as currency. Killing an enemy will yield a specific amount of souls. These souls can be used to level up at bonfires, where players can up their stats. They are also money, in the sense that you can use them to purchase items or services from merchants and blacksmiths. There, you can forge new weapons, repair weapons and armor or enhance your belongings with materials found throughout the world. The game is especially difficult and, at points, unfair, with it’s distribution of souls through victories.

Perhaps it was the developers’ way of discouraging grinding, but it is tedious and risky to attempt it. Even some of the (respawning) toughest demons only provide a few hundred souls, making it more and more difficult to level up or ascend weapons and armor as the game progresses. There are some areas of the game that seem to be made for soul farming, but they’re spread far and thin in between.

Not only that, but weapons and armor have durability stats, meaning that you can only hack away at enemies for so long before your sword breaks. Just adding to the difficulty, Dark Souls? Yeah, I’d say so.

Be prepared to die. A LOT.

Playing Dark Souls makes you feel small and insignificant. Your hero will face creatures 1,000 times their size, with a bleak chance of survival. But yet, it’s all possible. It makes the victories a million times better. I distinctively remember standing up and dancing after I defeated the Bell Gargoyles (giant stone creates with huge lances, axe tails and breathe fire) and rang the first bell. Winning has never felt so good.

But as small as you are, you are not alone. The most genius part of Dark Souls is the online world. Playing it on a PS3, I was always connected to the Internet, which made for a fantastic gaming experience. Often, players will see ghosts of other players briefly running through an area or fighting an invisible enemy, but then they will disappear. Glowing orange markings on the ground are also left by online players, which provide hints (or sometimes trolls provide fake hints) that help your hero prepare for the worst. Although the specific player who wrote the note won’t show up in your game play, their message will, creating a strong sense of unity.

Even better is the act of summoning. White writing on the ground can give players the prompt to summon spirits to aid their adventures. These spirits will be other heroes that are online, willing to provide their services to defeat difficult bosses. Together, you’ll work silently by the side of a stranger to face nightmares you’d hopelessly be crushed by if you were by yourself. Once you defeat the creature, the summon will disappear, and you’ll most often never see them again. Whenever I utilized this option, it gave me a warm feeling that I wasn’t alone as I thought I was.

It’s a strange sense of unity that the online game play brings into Dark Souls. You’re all in this together, and you’re all just trying to survive the worst.

There is also the option to become a phantom yourself, helping out fellow heroes to take down bosses you’ve already slain. By writing on the ground with a white soapstone, you can be summoned by someone and reap the benefits of victory together.

Again, this wouldn’t be Dark Souls if there was not a yang to the ying. With online game play enabled, it gives gamers the option to invade other worlds. Being completely honest, invasions are terrible. Players will invade other’s games with the one purpose of massacring the other player. At one point, I was invaded four times within an hour, hopelessly fighting off much stronger foes, and dying with each invasion. It was probably the most frustrating thing I experienced.

But this leads to the idea of covenants, a brilliant side quest-like option in Dark Souls. Players will meet NPCs throughout game play, and can be offered to join different covenants. Each have their perks and their specific purposes. One secret covenant has the single mission of invading players who invade players. Every time a person chooses to invade another’s game, they are sinning. These sins are recorded in a Book of the Guilty by Dark Souls. It was quite the cool experience.

Dark Souls is truly a massive game that gamers can pour their heart (and many, many hours) into. It’s something I’ve never quite experienced in a videogame. Some of the battles gave me a sense of Shadow of the Colossus, where the enemies were just so massive success seemed out of the question. The victories were made so much sweeter because of it.

Graphically, Dark Souls has an incredible way to pull the gamer into the mood it’s conveying. There are moments where players will have a chance to gaze at a beautiful landscape and truly appreciate the texture and time put into their surroundings. Other times, players will be begging to see grass again as they crawl through the Depths filled with giant undead rats and cursed demon frogs. The game’s environment finds a way to dig under your skin and give you a feeling of loneliness, claustrophobia, fear, or, at times, comfort. Just another genius aspect, I suppose.

Not everything about Dark Souls is innovative and wonderful though. As said before, the learning curve is outrageous. The first 10 hours or so of game play is so harsh, it could make even the most hardcore gamer quit. Leveling up is especially difficult because there isn’t a marker telling you how many souls it will take to improve your stats. It’s impossible to know when you have enough, you can only estimate. Some of the scenarios breach the intense difficulty to the “completely unfair” zone too. Many times Dark Souls was turned off from my television in a flurry of cuss words and rage. Luckily, my controller is still intact, although it did fly across the room once or twice.

It’s a give and take kind of game that really is not for everyone. Those who expect a linear, baby-steps, simple game need not apply. It takes grit, patience and time to make it anywhere in Dark Souls. Not every gamer prefers that, and that’s fine, but for those up to the challenge, it’s beyond worth it. The adventure is epic and far too hard to turn down.

BLAST FACTOR: Dark Souls is only for the select few that want to put the time into it. It’s harsh on all levels and extremely difficult in the beginning especially. Getting past the amount of times death overtakes games is where players will find solace. It’s a genius learning game, forcing you to think outside the box. It defies the new wave of gaming that is all quick time events and only 12 hours of game play. Dark Souls is visually beautiful, terrifying and will completely take over your emotions. It’s an epic journey where only the bravest and wisest succeed. It would be a shame to pass up such an experience, but with its insane difficulty level it’s completely understandable. Dark Souls has breached my favorite game titles and definitely made it into my top five. I wouldn’t pass it up.

Uncharted 3 doesn’t hit shelves until this Tuesday, but that hasn’t stopped Naughty Dog from talking about the eventual Uncharted 4.

“There are a ton of Drake adventures out there and we haven’t told all of them yet, and as long as fans want the games and as long as we find something that’s interesting and will push the medium forward, we’ll continue to make them,” director Justin Richmond told the Official UK PlayStation Magazine.

Though Richmond didn’t talk about where Drake’s next adventure may take him, he did joke about Drake going in to space….nahhhh…too far.

I’ve been playing an unhealthy amount of Uncharted 3 over the last few days. Look for our review soon.

I first started playing Ratchet and Clank: All 4 One late at night. Sitting in front of the big screen, the opening cinematic started — all the conditions were right for a superb Ratchet and Clank experience. Then something strange happened; I found myself not exploring the world, but lumbering around, almost falling asleep in my chair. The next morning I jumped back in to the game with a few others and had a completely different experience – this was more like the Ratchet and Clank I knew.

All 4 One is a rare change from Insomniac for one of their most well known franchises, both in terms of design and quality. It’s two different games, a bad – -almost terrible single player endeavor and a frantic and mostly fun multiplayer romp. Perhaps most dissapoitingly, with graphical hiccups and glitches, All 4 One doesn’t live up to the past pedigree of previous games with superb production values. That being said, there’s still some value in this off the wall title featuring some of gaming’s most underrated characters – especially if you’ve got the friends to fill in the ranks.

Things start off remarkably well in All 4 One. We open to Ratchet and Clank being interviewed and lamenting their adventurous lifestyle, talking about how they want to leave the heroics to a professional – Like newly elected President Captain Quark (or anyone else). Before long, Dr. Nefarious returns, but in the middle of his attempt at revenge, the four are face to face with a powerful new enemy and are transported to an alien planet, and most work together to get home. This leads to perhaps the game’s most endearing quality; there are plenty of heart-warming moments and in-jokes as the former enemies must find a way to work together. It’s hard not to crack a smile at some of the moments, especially when the voice work is done so incredibly well.

Much like previous Ratchet and Clank games, All 4 One attempts to blend a multitude of gaming mechanics and traditions to create one experience; unlike previous games, they aren’t widely successful here. The main draw of All 4 One as opposed to the previous games in the series is that here, you’ll be doing everything you normally do, from platforming to solving puzzles, but this time you’ll have up to three of your friends by your side. Right from the character select screen, I was instantly brought back to my days of bumming around in arcades playing classic coin-op coop’s like The Simpsons and X-Men. That vibe persists throughout the entire game, and the game proves to be a complete blast when it really starts to gain momentum. It becomes a fast and frantic smash and grab co-op beat ‘em up that is worth more than its fair share of beat-‘em-ups.

The downside too all of this is that some of what makes the Ratchet and Clank series so remarkable in the first place seems to have been compromised for this feeling. The previous games, especially the phenomenal  A Crack in Time weren’t exactly open world, but they did encourage exploration throughout its worlds, in that regard, All 4 One feels remarkably shoe-horned and linear. You and your motley bunch will follow very set paths as you smash through crates, and jump from platform to platform. I couldn’t help but think to myself; this is a Ratchet and Clank game, I should be able to see what’s behind that wall! It’s pretty disappointing, especially to long time fans of the series.

All 4 One also employs a pretty robust set of weapon upgrades you’ll obtain by playing through the game. Each character has their own set of weapons and each is fully upgradable by purchasing them at bolt machines scattered throughout All 4 One’s maps. It’s a lot of fun to go through and get these upgrades, but I constantly found myself pining for the system of old where you upgrade your weaponry would need to be used significantly before you could upgrade it. Sure the new way seems like a much more streamlined and easy to use, but the previous way almost demanded depth and experimentation with the game’s weaponry.

All 4 One is also missing the polish that Insomniac Games has made a staple of the Ratchet and Clank universe. There are occasional visual hiccups throughout the game, like mudded-out textures and boring color schemes (when compared to the bulk of the game), but by far the most frustrating presentation aspect is how crappy the camera system is. All 4 One employs a much more zoomed out camera to adapt to the new 4-player system, but it also locks at all the wrong times and frequently cuts off things like enemies and power-ups until everyone on the screen is ready to move on.

The Blast Factor: It’s a tough business being a console mascot; one wrong move and you’re doing starring roles on your former rival’s party games.  All 4 One may not be that wrong move (if anything, Secret Agent Clank takes that spot), but it’s still a step backward for the franchise. It can be frantic and fun when played with the right people, but just don’t let it be anyone’s introduction to the Ratchet and Clank franchise.

Harrison Ford is Han Solo. He’s also Indiana Jones, which means he’s pretty much the most awesome man in the world, so it only makes sense that he’d play Uncharted 3, one of the most exciting games of the year. The above video shows the actor experiencing the game for the first time — and it’s kind of awesome.

Shot for a Japanese ad, the video shows Ford playing and reacting to the events of game (fair warning, if you’ve been steering clear of spoilers, you may just want to skip this one). Ford is very impressed with the game, praising it’s cinematic qualities amid more than a fair amount of “wow’s” and “fantastic’s”

Uncharted 3: Drake’s Deception releases November 1 for the PS3.

  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.

I try not to be too pushy with my reviews and let you readers make up your own minds about which games you’re going to buy, but there’s really no other way to put this – you need to play NBA 2K11.  Played last year’s game? Doesn’t matter – this year’s game trumps everything that came before it. Don’t like sports games? You’ll appreciate the level of depth and production values that the development team put in the game.  Simply put, NBA 2K12 isn’t just a great sports game, with all it has going for it — it’s a great game in general.

For the second year in a row, 2K spotlights arguably the greatest player to ever grace the hardwood  — his airness Michael Jordan, but this time he’s not alone. 2K12 celebrates the complete history of the sport with players like Larry Bird, Magic Johnson, Patrick Ewing and Scottie Pippen all unlockable and playable.  This opens up an incredibly awesome mechanic in 2K12; the ability to match up the best young stars of today with the greatest of all time. How would Jordan’s Bulls, in their prime match up with the Lakers’ dynasty? This year’s Miami Heat? Or what about a battle of the big-men, pitting an in his prime Shaq against someone like Dwight Howard? It’s here that NBA 2K12 really begins to establish its own identity; if Madden is a sports simulation, this is an all out love letter to a sport, its history and most importantly, its fans.

Of course, NBA 2K12 does not rely on the past, as its real strength, much like in previous years, is in its core mechanics. Most of last year’s game remains intact, but the developers have included little tweaks that make the game better, including addressing the faults from last year’s game. Chief among these faults; at least for most gamers was the AI, which had a reputation for being absurdly cheap, it’s been addressed this go-round, and even though it still happens, it’s much more rare. To the developers credit, they didn’t just dumb down the AI more, instead, they gave you more control; control over your players movement and your offense, but be warned, the AI is incredibly realistic and aggressive and will pounce on any weakness you show.

NBA 2K12 comes packed with a ton of depth, and each is sure to appeal to a different type of player. I for instance am a franchise player, it’s always the first mode I go to in any sports game I play, and in NBA 2K12, it’s incredibly rewarding. Unlike other franchise modes, 2K12’s Association Mode truly puts you in control of a team – through the good times and the bad. Play as a team just coming off a losing season and you’re playing to practically empty arenas, but start winning and watch the fans start to come back in.  For example, I took the Milwaukee Bucks, who had a so-so season last year, and through a series of business decisions, free agent signings and a lot of wins, I was able to turn a good profit.  The coolest addition to this year’s Association Mode is the ability to take it online and complete a whole season.

My Player also returns to this year’s game, and though much of it remains unchanged, it’s a much more streamlined endeavor than in years past.  You’ll still create your player, but instead of dropping in to a few pickup games to prove your worth, you’ll be dropped in to one game and then go into an interview to prove your mental wits and then it’s off to the draft.  Hearing NBA Commissioner David Stern call out your name (if you’ve given him a somewhat normal name), but the real payoff comes from the amount of time and depth you’ll put in to the mode. Your long term goal is to make it to the NBA Hall of Fame, and you’ll do that by reaching goals on both the per-game and season basis.  It’s not an easy task, but a rewarding one none-the-less.

Far and away though, NBA 2K12’s most remarkable feat is in its astounding production values. Of course, there are some hiccups, like some of the lesser known players still having weird alien like faces, but the big names, the Lebrons and the Kobes have all received a face lift and look much more like their real life counterparts.  Even the crowd, an aspect most sports developers have had a hard time with looks remarkably lifelike. The players, and arenas are impressively detailed and everything feels crisp. NBA 2K12 also features what could be the most lifelike commentary of any sports game, as while there is a bit of repetition, still feels remarkably fresh even after countless games.

 The Blast Factor: NBA 2K12 isn’t just a great basketball sim, with all of its depth and superb presentation; it’s a phenomenal game in general.  The perfect combination of accessibility and realism, NBA 2K12 tops every basketball game before it – becoming one hell of an experience in the long run. Simply put – it doesn’t get much better than this.

The apocalypse fascinates us. Tales of a grim future of desert wastelands, horrible mutations, and rampant violence have long proven to be a successful formula for movies, novels, and, especially, games. Id Software’s long-awaited Rage certainly seems to have been crafted with an exacting eye for wasteland standards. It’s a game that definitely succeeds on a technical level, but from a design and gameplay perspective might require players to lower their expectations.

Rage opens in a familiar manner. Just before a giant meteor strikes Earth, a select few are given a reprieve in the form of cryogenic status chambers in protective “Arks”. Fast forward a hundred years, and it’s clear this plan wasn’t bullet proof. The player awakes from cold storage to find themselves the only survivor of their ark, and is immediately thrust into a violent world of dusty landscapes, burned out structures, and well-armed buggies.

Comparisons between Rage and other wasteland games like Borderlands and Fallout 3 are inevitable. How Rage distinguishes itself however, is that it is undoubtedly an Id-made game. There are no role-playing elements here and no greater strategy beyond kill-or-be-killed.Anyone expecting another Fallout will be disappointed by the sheer shallowness of the gameplay.

Rage also lacks the deeper cooperative play experience of Borderlands and the sense of humor of either game. It seems to be a game that takes itself too seriously, even though players will be hard pressed to discern why. There’s no cliché left unturned and despite the initial appearance of an open world, even this is merely an illusion.

Players have no control over even the basics of character development. You can’t change the look, gender, or any physical aspect of the ark survivor, and the only real commodities in the game are money and race tickets. Both of these currencies are used to buy weapons, equipment, ammo, and vehicle parts.

Rage is divided between two distinct play styles. The standard first-person shooting elements will make veteran gamers feel right at home. The indoor levels have a distinct Doom feel to them, with tight corridors and much the same imagery and design techniques used in the developer’s past games. Even the horror elements are cribbed from so many other sci-fi horror games. Despite the apocalyptic mutant theme, the game throws in the whole growing biomass cliché that makes little sense in such an environment.
The driving portions will delight fans of arcade-style combat racing. The physics are over-the-top with an eye for fast action not realism. So, you can still steer in the air, for instance, and there’s a decided focus on making crazy jumps. There’s plenty of opportunity for extra points by destroying objects in mid-air and skillfully dispatching foes.

So long as you understand exactly what kind of game Rage is, however, there’s no denying that it’s fun to play. The whole game is just one errand run after another. Talking to the various non-combative denizens of the wasteland frequently leads to a new task (usually either a fetchin’ or killin’ mission), which you just go and do. It’s not deep, creative, or complex, but this formula provides plenty of action, which has always been Id’s design focus.

Enemies have decent AI and tactics, with excellent movement abilities. Bandits and mutants will use free-running skills to leap over things, run along walls, and be generally hard to hit—frequently too hard to hit, since the game’s auto-assist is suspect. There’s a wide array of bad things to shoot, including some impressively large boss creatures.  Bandits are divided into themed tribes. There are redneck cannibals, technologically-advanced soldiers, and British punk-rocker wannabes. Ultimately, their specific look and dialogue is irrelevant, since outside of the few “safe” towns, everyone is merely fodder for your guns.

Beyond bandits, there’s the so-called “authority” that make life in the wasteland a nightmare for anyone who crosses them. To go along with these tyrannical would-be rulers, there’s also the pre-requisite resistance for the player to join. The story is just there to service the shoot ‘em gameplay though, and it’s clear that the minimum amount of effort was put into the writing and non-shooting and driving mechanics.
Thankfully, as expected, the shooting and driving is satisfyingly entertaining. There are enough missions to occupy hours of violence and, for action lovers, that’s a fine reason to enjoy this romp through the wasteland. The other major draw is the multiplayer, which brings multiplayer car combat front and center.

Id definitely has a handle on great death matching and Rage’s vehicle-centric online play is terrific. Totally ignoring the first-person shooter elements, the competitive play is fast-paced and well-designed. There are a handful of entertaining game modes fought in superb and spacious arenas. The downside of the multiplayer is the four-player limit, which is too small given the expansive scope of the maps. There are also two-player cooperative “legend” missions, which are fun, if shallow, but not really a replacement being able to play the main single-player game with a friend.

Id Software has always been known for their technology, and the latest iteration of their graphics engine takes the core visual style of Doom 3 and expands it to vast open spaces. Despite some graphic glitches on the console versions, Rage is a beautiful game with a solid frame rate and nice variety of indoor levels. The audio is also superb, with powerful surround effects, solid voice acting, and a decent musical score.

Blast Factor: Ultimately, the best way to sum up Rage is shallow, but fun. There’s virtually nothing here that hasn’t been seen before with more depth. Even when the game threatens to evolve beyond its own shallowness, it just can’t make it. Taken as a straight-forward, mission-based shooter, there’s plenty to like. Yet, after so long in development, the game has an almost half-baked feel. The presentation, the environment, the combat… almost all the parts are in place to make Rage an epic post-apocalypse adventure, but the sum total is ultimately less than these pieces.

I know. I know you’re excited for Uncharted 3 next month, but come on guys — doesn’t it feel a bit weird to watch the game’s main character in the video below? Watch as the man who searched for lost cities, buried treasure and the fountain of youth try to hold on to his soda…

Uncharted 3 comes out in just over a month, but if you’re really anxious, you’ll be able to experience the game’s full multiplayer suite this Saturday; and all it will cost you is a soda.

As announced at this year’s E3, Sony’s Uncharted 3 multiplayer giveaway will allow those who buy a specially marked 32 ounce sodas will receive a code to access the entire multiplayer portion of the game. The service will shutoff once the full product launches on November 1, but all saved data will transfer over to the final retail game.

If you’re hungry, subs and chips will also have codes for Uncharted themes, in-game cash and multiplayer skins.

In a move that’s going to surprise no one, it was confirmed at this year’s E3 that all Modern Warfare 3 DLC will be timed exclusives to the Xbox 360.  You didn’t expect Sony to take that lying down did you?

It was announced today that beginning with the already announced Road to Karkand,  all DLC for Modern Warfare 3′s closest competitor, EA’s Battlefield 3 will be exclusive to PS3 for one week before it hits Xbox Live.

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!

Users who subscribed to the NFL Sunday Ticket service, which costs over $300 per season have reported a slew of technical problems including terrible feeds and picture quality that are preventing them from watching games on the first week of this NFL season.

Gaming website Gouki.com followed up with DirectTV, the provider of the service, who said that the problem is wide spread, and that their engineers were working to fix the problem. The reps also said that an update will be coming to fix a good majority of the issues with the service.

Anyone on Blast using the service and having issues?

Anyone who has ever played Warhammer 40,000 has dreamed of strapping on the Space Marine Armor and digging into a horde of Orks. To command a squad into battle, to rev up the chainsaw sword. THQ and Relic understand this and thus created Warhammer: 40,000: Space Marine; the most intimate and gritty look at the longstanding universe.  Space Marines isn’t perfect or innovative, but it is a fun and deeply satisfying new way to look at world that so many have been in for so long.

You are Captain Titus, leader of the Ultra Marines; a squad featuring the best of the best of the Space Marines. You and your small contingent are sent to eliminate an overwhelming presence or Orks from a hostile planet. It’s not the most interesting or original story, but it does feature enough twists and turns to keep even those unfamiliar with the universe interested throughout. What it does do however is give one of the most intimate and gritty looks at the franchise yet. Warhammer has always been more of a passive experience – you command your  table-top troops from a distance above, in Space Marines however, you are the Commander, and you’re right in the mix of the battle with your fellow soldiers – and it’s just as satisfying as you would imagine.

You and the Space Marines are armed with a few weapons at the outset of your quest, and chief among them is your chainsword. The first time you equip it and walk right into a swarm of Ork soldiers, sword swinging, the weapons feel extremely weighted and satisfying. Space Marines is a bloody and violent game, and it’s not afraid to show it; it’s a regular occurrence to be up against a ton of enemies one minute, only to be lost in a sea of blood the next.  As you progress through the game you’ll unlock new weapons and abilities to tailor the commander to your play style.

The gameplay in Space Marines isn’t anything revolutionary, but it is built on strong gameplay elements that make Warhammer entertaining throughout.  The majority of the game is a mix of melee combat and gunplay, and to be successful you’re going to have to switch between the two pretty regularly.  The game has frequent supply drop boxes where you can switch out weapons, spread throughout the game, a nice tough given the fact that you’ll often go into a battle unknowingly with the wrong weapons for the job.  These supply boxes allow you to try again – from a different route.

For all that it does right; Space Marines has a nasty habit of stopping its own momentum. The game’s story isn’t anything to write home about, but Relic seems intent on making it work via a series of incredibly intrusive cut scenes. It’s often that you’ll clear one section, trigger a cut scene and then walk five feet to trigger another one. These cut scenes take you out of the game in a major way. There’s also an issue with Relic being obsessed with its own game’s beauty, as there are a number of sections where you’ll be walking down long corridors without any enemies to fight, and it seems like it always happens when the game’s environments are at their best.

Warhammer’s campaign isn’t obtrusively long, but it’s not incredibly short either. That being said, the game’s legacy will be made through its online suite. The game modes aren’t that surprising,  but adding in real players to the game’s frantic mix does wonders for the formula. In the week since the game’s release, the servers have been very busy and with any hope a solid community will spring up around the game.

The Blast Factor: Space Marine could have been a mess of a genre transition, but Relic and THQ have done a great job in giving you a different and much more intimate look at a long established franchise. There’s nothing revolutionary here, but Warhammer is a game that’s built on solid mechanics and thought out progression. Perhaps the most important aspect, it feels like the start of a brand new franchise.

They say that football is a game of inches. That it’s won and lost in the trenches, and not by the flashy plays that make the highlight reels. The same could be said then for Madden. The long running football series is built year after year by small improvements, rather than game changing new features (I’m looking at you quarterback vision cone).  This year’s game is no different, new features like Dynamic Player Performance are a welcome addition, and it’s still a satisfying game of pigskin, but there isn’t much new here to separate it from last year’s offering. Though it may be more Kerry Collins and less Peyton Manning, Madden NFL 12 is still a great time for fans of the sport.

The biggest addition to this year’s game is unquestionably the Dynamic Player Progression system. Essentially, it helps players act more like their real life counterparts. Player’s ratings are now effected by everything from the hits they take, to the flow of the game and even how they’ve been playing in the last few games, meaning you won’t be able to constantly rely on the same plays to the same players all season long. For instance, if Green Bay Packer tight end Jermichael Finley is on a cold streak and has been dropping open passes lately, I may want to look elsewhere when driving down the field for that come from behind drive. These ratings are pretty true to life, as players like Manning, Rodgers and Brady have remarkable poise in tense situations, yet rookies and those known for being rattled easy like Jay Cutler will begin making dumb mistakes if you don’t change your game plan up quick.

Dynamic Player Progression is a big part of this year’s Madden feeling much more realistic than previous editions ; as does the presentation – mostly. This year, EA has put an obvious emphasis on recreating the same camera angles and production aspects you’d see on TV and in stadiums around the league. The first few times you see these new angles, you’ll be impressed, but when they happen every single game, they get old rather quickly. The stadium specific introductions are well done, though shortened; really, teams only introduce two to three starters per game.

The biggest question though? Why stop there? Being the only licensed NFL game on the market and the only game that can use the ESPN license could be a huge deal, but the Madden series continuously throws the opportunity away. Where are the ESPN video packages? ESPN branding is almost nonexistent in this year’s game.  On top of that, why not take advantage of being the only actual NFL game on the market? Why not use the ESPN logos, tickers and graphics for games? I understand it would be hard to get the licenses for packages for each of the networks that carry NFL games, but how hard could it be to give me actual ESPN Monday Night Football presentation to make these games feel that much better. Hell, why not show me NFL network video packages?

Another disappointing aspect of the presentation of this year’s game is undoubtedly the commentary. Last year I applauded the addition of Gus Johnson, but somehow this year it just feels like it’s too much. Yes, it’s great when a remarkable, game changing play takes place and he shows true emotion, but Mr. Johnson is very excitable and makes every play, even short five yard passes seem like the best thing to ever happen to the game. Oh, and Chris Collinsworth? You may want to look into why they’re turning you into the game’s comedic value – I’ve had to listen on multiple occasions how you told me how great Greg Jennings’ arm strength is, and how he can riffle passes into tough spots. Yeah, Jennings is a receiver. I’m calling it – next year I want Joe Buck.

All of that aside, Madden’s core football gameplay is incredibly satisfying. Perhaps that’s as a result of the game’s hardest difficulty being ramped up to include smarter AI and better play recognition. The defense will pick up on tendencies and exploit them, and you better have a good adjustment plan.  New defensive animations and tackling systems makes that side of the ball a ton more satisfying to play. I honestly couldn’t get enough of wrecking guys with guys like Clay Matthews and BJ Raji.  With all of its downfalls, you can take solace in the fact that yes, Madden NFL 12 is still great fun to play.

Blast Factor: Madden NFL 12 may not be the best of the series, but it is a satisfying and fun football experience. The dynamic player performance system is an interesting addition the established formula, and should change how you at least play franchise mode. If Madden NFL 12 were an NFL team, they’d be the team that misses the playoffs, but only slightly.

Sony has announced that effective today, the 160GB PlayStation 3 model will retail for $249, $50 cheaper than it’s previous price. The 320GB console will also drop $50, going for $299.

While the announcement will no doubt spark a firestorm of “OMG PS4 to be announced!” headlines, the price drop is likely done to compete more directly with the console’s direct competitors, the Xbox 360, which retails for $199 ($299 with Kinect) and the Wii, which goes for $150 with Mario Kart bundled in.

Team NINJA and Tecmo Koei announced this morning that its upcoming action slasher Ninja Gaiden 3 will feature full Move support when it launches on the PlayStation 3 early next year.

“We are really excited to announce this fantastic news at one of Europe’s most prestigious game events that is Gamescom”, stated the leader of Team NINJA Yosuke Hayashi in a press release. “Ninja Gaiden 3 is all about slicing and chopping through flesh and bone and PlayStation Move bring players even closer to the game’s protagonist Ryu Hayabusa.  The game will be compatible with all Move peripherals and it will feature full compatibility with this exciting new hardware.”

Ninja Gaiden is set to launch sometime next year on the PS3 and Xbox 360, no word has been given on Kinect support for the later.

Series co-director and creator David Jaffe has announced that the highly anticipated Twisted Metal revamp won’t be making it’s expected October release date and has been pushed back to sometime in 2012. But don’t worry, Jaffe says it’s a good thing.

” I know. A lot of dedicated, supportive, passionate Twisted Metal fans have been waiting for the return of Calypso’s demented contest for a long time but the truth is: we’re just not ready yet,” Jaffe wrote on the Official PlayStation Blog. “Anyway – it sucks bad when games miss their announced launch dates. We’re gamers too and we know how annoying it is. It’s disappointing and frustrating and it really takes the wind out of your sails if you’re a fan that has been looking forward to playing a title for a long time. Thing is, you gotta trust me when I tell you that – with this extra time for tuning and polish – the game is going to be so much better than it already is. And if you played Twisted Metal and liked it at E3 or Comic-Con, or if you get to play it (and you enjoy it) at one of the August shows, just imagine how much more fun the final game will be with some extra time, polish, and love”

Jaffe closed out the post with a quote from legendary game designer and Mario creator Shigeru Miyamoto; ‘A late game is only late until it ships. A bad game is bad until the end of time.’

EA Sports announced today that it will offer a premium subscription service, dubbed EA Sports Season Pass for all of the publisher’s major sports franchises. The Season Pass program will kick off this year with Madden for $25 as well as NHL and FIFA later this year, with Tiger Woods PGA Tour and NCAA Football next year.

The biggest draw of the pass is the ability to download a full  digital version of the latest EA Sports titles a full three days before they release to the public. Here’s the catch though, after those three days, the digital copy becomes void, and you’ll still have to head to the store and pick up a full retail version of the title (though save versions from the digital version will work with the physical versions).

The Season Pass also gives those who buy it a 20% discount on DLC for EA Sports titles, but the discount is very selective over what it covers.  First, it doesn’t cover DLC for previously released games; meaning that if you buy it for Madden, you won’t be able to use it on NCAA Football 2012, which was just released a month ago. Also, the pass is sold on a per console basis, so you won’t be able to use it on multiple systems to cover multiple games. The discount also doesn’t work with the Online Pass service, which is required for gamers to play online, but free with new copies of its games.

So, will you be buying the pass from EA?

One of our favorite game’s from this year’s E3 was Starhawk. The PS3 exclusive quasi western-space shooter featured an original concept and more importantly was incredibly fun to play.  Now, here’s a new look at one of the game’s cinnematics, which introduces us to Mercenary Emmet Graves.

StarHawk is expected to launch later this year on the PS3.

You really can’t say Sega and Next Level games didn’t try. For Captain America: Super Soldier, the game loosely based on this summer’s big
budget adaptation of Marvel’s long running comic series, they took obvious inspiration from Batman: Akrham Asylum; widely regarded as
the best comic book video game of all time.  Unfortunately, they only borrowed the game’s ideas, and failed to capture what made the caped crusader’s latest adventure so memorable. That being said, it’s not all bad, and it may not be saying much, but Captain America: Super Soldier reaches heights that other Marvel games could only dream of.

Much like most video games based on comics book movies, the adventure in Captain America: Super Soldier takes place within the universe of the movie but doesn’t follow the events precisely.  This isn’t an origin story so you won’t have to take Steve Rogers from scrawny Brooklyn kid to National Hero, instead much like Arkham Asylum, the entirety of the game takes place in one location, a castle high in the Bavarian mountains.  It’s a sprawling complex, and it’s also home to scientist Armin Zola and his ruthless creations. Your job of course is to go in to the castle, stop Zola and destroy pretty much everything in the process.

What separates a game like Captain America from one like Arkham Asylum is simply how engrossing it is, and this is the game’s first misstep; as much of the game’s six hour campaign is incredibly dull and forgettable. Go into an area, punch a bunch of guys in their face, whip out the shield and move on. Of course, there are some moments that break up this monotony, but they’re few and far between.  Of course, the combat is not only responsive, but surprisingly rewarding, but even it’s not enough to break up Captain America’s monotony of bleak browns and grays.

That lack of detail also spills out into just how the game is designed. While playing the game, you feel the sprawling castle should be explored, but thanks to the tedious and dull level design it’s never quite as satisfying as it should be. It’s almost as if the developers realized this halfway through as they included a sewer system that goes underneath pretty much the entire castle to streamline travel and give you an option other than retracing your steps constantly through the castle. For what it’s worth, there’s a ton of collectibles you can find throughout Captain America, but none of them are things you’ll want. Beer steins? Whatever. Why not give me collectible comic book covers I can view, or movie art, or something other than random crap?

Captain America does its best to imitate a free-roam game, but is really a linear experience in every sense of the term. There are platforming sections that give the illusion that you’re free to explore and free to go about the game your own way, but in reality you’re still just moving from narrow corridor to narrow corridor. This has a definite effect on just how you’ll play through the game as you’re bound to get frustrated as you feel like you should get to that item, but it’s always just out of reach.

Captain America did nail one of the aspects from Batman: Arkham Asylum, the fact that you’ll never really get a quality boss fight with the one you’ve been waiting to take out for the entire game. Oh, there are some pretty frequent boss fights with some of Cap’s most famous recurring enemies like Iron Cross and Madame Viper, but you’ll never get that face with Red Skull you’ve been waiting the whole game for. You play through the entire game, slogging through tedious boss fight after tedious boss fight, waiting to get to the epic battle, but it never comes – it’s really all quite cheap.

There’s also something to be said for just how clean Captain America really is. Strangely, you’re playing as the same character who punched Adolf Hitler in the face on the cover of one the comics, but there’s absolutely no mention of Hitler, the Third Reich or the Nazi party. Instead, the soldiers with the goofy German accent are Hydra soldiers. I understand that putting such touchy topics in a game that kids will undoubtedly play, but these same topics are discussed in the movie, why hide it? Why make the game so squeaky clean?

The Blast Factor: Clocking in at just about 5-6 hours with no multiplayer, Captain America is slim on content and features, but that doesn’t mean it should be avoided at all costs. At the very least, it’s leaps and bounds ahead of Thor, Iron Man and other Marvel movie tie ins and that came before it, even if that’s not saying much. Still though, one of Marvel’s biggest names deserves better; there’s always The Avengers.

In this modern era of HD presentations and multi-million dollar budgets, we seem to have forgotten something – video games, above all else are supposed to be fun.  And call me crazy, but shooting a giant ant in the face with a bazooka is all kinds of fun.

Earth Defense Force: Insect Armageddon is the direct sequel to the cult favorite Japanese B-movie shooter Earth Defense Force: 2017. Though the game came with an installed fan base, Insect Armageddon was never a sure bet, as it was developed by a new American team, rather than the team that made the original so enjoyable. Though some things have been changed, thankfully the heart and soul of the franchise are intact here and it’s still absurdly fun and stupidly satisfying to play – especially when busting bugs with friends.

If you’ve never experienced an Earth Defense Force game before, it’s a pretty simple equation really; run around in third person and blast giant friggin’ bugs with heavy artillery. There’s not much in terms of story or character progression, but that’s not really what you’re here for. You’re here for the mindless stupid fun that comes with being a member of the EDF. The levels are constantly over run with giant enemies, so you’re never out of things to shoot, and even when you miss, its fun as everything from buildings and monuments to trees are fully destructible. Though there’s not much depth to it, it’s easy to lose yourself in the campy action.

The biggest change from previous Earth Defense Force games is the addition of classes. Before each level, you’ll select from a number of classes with different abilities and weakness. The trooper for instance carries a shield and a large amount of health while the jet trooper has the ability to use a jetpack to move quickly across the map but doesn’t have a lot of health or armor. I’d be remised if I didn’t mention the battle armor class, which turns your soldier into pretty much a walking tank. As you progress through the game,  you’ll be able to level up and unlock new weapons and abilities, which is cool, but it takes away from the random loot you would find spread throughout the maps in past games.

There was a bit of worry (myself included) when it was announced that development duties for Insect Armageddon would be handled by American based Viscous Cycle Software rather than the Japanese developer Sandlot. While the setting has changed from Japan to New Detroit, and the soldiers tend to scream rather than chant, it still feels like Earth Defense Force, and that’s important. To be honest, my biggest complaint from Earth Defense Force: Insect Armageddon, and I know this may come off as nitpicking a bit, is that the bugs disappear when shot, unlike previous games when they just laid around. Yeah, that’s it.

Insect Armageddon isn’t the longest game in the world, in fact, you could probably play through the game’s 15 levels in a day, but there’s much more here than just the campaign. You can play with up to three people in cooperative play via either split screen or online play.  There’s also the brand new survival mode, which strips away all of the mission structure and sees just how long you can hold out against a never ending stream of bugs. The coolest mode in the game though is unquestionably he remixed levels, which changes up the structure and enemies in a level.

Blast Factor:  Earth Defense Force: Insect Armageddon is a cheesy and (sorry for the pun) buggy affair, but looking at the history of the franchise, you shouldn’t expect anything else. Just as satisfying as you remember, Insect Armageddon is a shamelessly fun and entertaining romp, especially when played with friends. It won’t take over for your favorite shooter, but it could become your newest guilty pleasure.

Check out the water effects on this brand new Uncharted trailer from E3. Is it November yet?

UK based magazine PlayGamer is reporting that Sony is  hard at work on a sequel to 2007′s PS3 exclusive Heavenly Sword.

According to the magazine, the sequel will be set ten years after the events of the original and feature a sandbox style world with replayable missions. The magazine also reports that the titular Heavenly Sword won’t be available at the beginning of the game, but rather you’ll spend the majority of the game in search of it.

Released in 2007, Heavenly Sword has sold over 1.5 million copies was one of the first major exclusives for the PS3.

Last year’s God of War 3 wrapped up the trilogy that told the story of Kratos and his quest for vengeance against the gods, but it appears we may be seeing more God of War rather soon, if the latest issue of PSM3 is to be believed.

“PSM3 has heard from another source that God of War 4 is coming, and will hit in September 2012,” the latest issue of the respected UK Magazine states, “ ”Our source works closely with the God of War universe, and let slip he’d be working on a related project at the same time.”

The rumor comes hot off the heels of speculation that the next God of War game will feature online multiplayer following a job posting looking for a programmer with multiplayer experience to join the God of War team.

Since the end of God of War 3, Sony has stated that there will be further God of War titles released, could we see a reveal at E3?

With the launch of Call of Duty: Black Ops just a few months away, Activision has recently announced new, elaborate (and expensive!) special editions to go along with the regular edition. As you can see in the above photo, the “Prestige Edition” comes with a working remote control car, complete with a camera that provides TFT color video and audio to the person controlling it.

In addition to this remote control car (that’s clearly going to be used for no good by a pervert, eventually) those who purchase the “Prestige Edition” will get the pictured Black Ops medallion, an Xbox Live Avatar outfit (yes, there’s going to be something similar for Ps3 users) and four co-op multiplayer maps. The Call of Duty: Black Ops “Hardened Edition” will include everything listed above, with the exception of the RC car.

Neither edition has been given a price at this time, and more information on Call of Duty: Black Ops, check out the official website, after the jump.

If the seemingly 14 different permutations of the television drama CSI aren’t enough to satiate your crime solvin’ fix, Ubisoft and CBS Consumer Products will attempt to give you your fill with two CSI related games this fall.

The first game, CSI: Fatal Conspiracy features five new connected cases written by the same writers from the television series CSI: Crime Scene Investigation. Gamers will experience an authentic crime-solving videogame with real CSI characters, heart-pounding interrogations and enhanced graphics. A unique story structure that unveils the truth piece by piece brings a new level of suspense and intrigue to the top-selling franchise.

Developed by Telltale Games, CSI: Fatal Conspiracy will continue the crime-solving gameplay of Ubisoft’s CSI video game series and bring it to a whole new standard, and it will be available in October for the Wii, Xbox 360, Windows PC and PS3.

The second game, CSI: Crime Scene Investigation: Unsolved! will be exclusive to the Nintendo DS and DSi. According to the press release, CSI: Crime Scene Investigation: Unsolved! will make the most of the DS touch screen for an improved pick-up-and-play experience. Players will get to join forces with their favorite CSI characters from the show and solve five original murder mysteries, such as the death of a young pop star on stage or the discovery of a mummified body in the desert.

For more on these games, check out the official websites.
Here and here.

The successor to the Gothic series, Arcania-Gothic 4, is going to be released on current-gen consoles for the first time, along with PC’s as well. Unfortunately, Ps3 owners are just going to have to wait a while longer to play it.

Arcania-Gothic 4, will be released for PC and Xbox 360 on October 12 2010. The Ps3 version won’t come out until the very vague “sometime in 2011″ thanks to the game’s developer, DreamCatcher Games, wanting to make sure that it passes all of their levels of quality assurance.

For mor information on Arcania-Gothic 4, go to the official website: www.arcania-game.com

Come summer 2011, after you’re done watching the impossibly chiseled Ryan Reynolds as the Green Lantern on the big screen, the super hero’s adventures will continue on your home gaming console of choice (Xbox 360, PS3, Wii, Nintendo DS) in Warner Brother’s Green Lantern: Rise of the Manhunters.

Unfortunately, not much is known about the actual game as of this point, but as you can tell by the name and image that was sent out with the official press release, it’ll no doubt conjure up some bright neon green nostalgia for the first time you fired up the original Xbox, about ten years ago.

When Test Drive Unlimited 2 cruises into stores this fall, gamers and hardcore car nerds will be able to get behind the virtual wheel of one of many of the world’s finest automobiles. And now, there’s news today from Atari that they’ve also added one of the rarest, most coveted cars on the planet to the game’s already stocked roster.

The Aston Martin One-77!

Scheduled for a limited run of just 77, Aston Martin’s One-77 exists at the intersection between a limited edition artwork and pure technological innovation. The 77 (no doubt filthy rich) customers who will be lucky enough to purchase one of these cars will be treated to a culmination of Aston Martin’s modern era; V12 power, lightweight construction, modern materials, craft skills, design excellence, raw beauty, and pretty much a guarantee to get laid anytime they drive it.

Considering that you’re more than likely not one of these aforementioned 77 (and if you are, why the hell aren’t you reading Forbes or some shit like that?) you’ll just have to settle for fake driving one in Test Drive Unlimited 2, when it’s released on September 21.

For more on the game, check out www.testdriveunlimited2.com

This fall, for the first time in it’s 11-year history, Medal of Honor will be leaving the WWII theater, and enters the modern day shitstorm of Afghanistan told through the lens of a small band of fictional characters. This new version of Medal of Honor will introduce gamers to the Tier 1 Operator, an elite warrior and relatively unknown instrument of the U.S. Military that operates under the National Command Authority, taking on missions that no one else can handle.

Take THAT, Navy Seals!

Anyway, in celebration of this game’s release, EA has announced that a limited edition of Medal Of Honor will also be available, and that this version will grant players exclusive access to the MP7, a unique weapon used by Tier 1 Operators in the field. Limited Edition owners will also benefit from day-one access to the TOZ-194 and 870MC2 shotguns, while others must rank up to get these weapons unlocked.

The Limited Edition of Medal of Honor hits stores on October 12, 2010 for the Ps3, Xbox 360, and Windows PC.
You can pre-order now at www.medalofhonor.com at no additional cost.

Vogel’s www.vogels.com, the leading European market leader in Audio/Video & TV mounting solutions, announced today TwistDock www.twistdock.com, the highly-anticipated new essential docking station for the Sony PlayStation3 (PS3) gaming and entertainment system. TwistDock connects, docks, expands, and charges the PS3, keeping cables and controllers organized and neat for a home entertainment center that looks clean, stylish and sexy. A must-have for all PS3 users, TwistDock will be shown in the U.S. for the first time at E3 Expo, June 15-17, 2010 at the Los Angeles Convention Center, Los Angeles, CA

Controllers Always Charged & Ready to Go — Even when the PS3 is Off

Already the winner of the RetailVision Europe "Best Accessory Award" May 2010, gamers will love TwistDock’s ability to keep controllers organized at their fingertips and always charged, since stopping to re-charge a controller can mean the difference between winning and losing a game. With TwistDock, controllers are always ready for action, continuing its high-speed charge even when the PS3 is turned off.

Docks PS3 Original & PS3 Slim — Additional 2-6 USB Ports Keep Peripherals Always Connected

The first product in Vogel’s new line of essential gaming products and accessories, TwistDock esthetically blends with the PS3′s sleek design, docking both the PS3 Original and the PS3 Slim models for a beautiful entertainment center that enhances a home’s d©cor. TwistDock expands on the PS3′s capabilities, keeping PS3 USB peripherals (such as an extra hard drive) always connected with TwistDock’s additional 2 USB charging ports, as well as its optional 4 USB Hub accessory. In addition, there is an optional TwistDock CableSet accessory for an extra set of high quality cables that are designed to blend with the PS3.

"TwistDock is a must-have for the gaming enthusiast, who will love its combination of style and functionality that makes the PS3 even more enjoyable to use," said Albert Zeeman, VP Innovations and Alliances, Vogel’s. "TwistDock expands and charges more peripherals, keeping the PlayStation 3′s unsightly cables neatly concealed in TwistDock’s sturdy pedestal. With the introduction of TwistDock, Vogel’s is launching a whole new line of gaming accessories to complement its successful worldwide product line of TV and mounting solutions."

TwistDock — Essential Docking Station Features for the PS3:

CONNECTS:

• Easily connects all cables, including HDMI port to TV
• Keeps controllers and gaming area neat and organized

EXPANDS:

• Keeps USB peripherals always connected, no need to plug and unplug peripherals
• Features 2 USB charging ports
• Optional USB Hub features 4 additional USB ports for connecting more peripherals

DOCKS:

• Docks PS3 and controllers for a neat esthetic display
• Works with both versions of PlayStation 3: PS3 Original and PS3 Slim

CHARGES:

• High-speed charging of controllers and USB peripherals for continuous play — even when PS3 is off
• LED indicators show charging status

TwistDock pricing will be available summer 2010 with product availability in the U.S. starting 4Q 2010 in time for the holiday season.

Guitar Hero’s vast catalog has been steadily growing and 2010 is looking like a very promising year for track releases.

January looks like it will have something for everyone with planned releases for: Vampire Weekend, Creedence Clearwater Revival, up-and-coming blues artists Tyler Bryant, Joe Bonamassa and Scott McKeon and metal bands Shadows Fall, Amon Amarth and Dethklok.

Today marks the release of Guitar Hero’s New Blues Masters Track Pack featuring:

- Tyler Bryant’s “Who I Am”

- Joe Bonamassa’s “Lonesome Road Blues”

- Scott McKeon’s “Broken Man”

Jan 11 – Vampire Weekend’s new album, Contra, drops in stores, so to celebrate Guitar Hero is releasing “Holiday”, “Cousins” and “The Kids Don’t Stand a Chance”

Jan 21 – The Metal pack is released so that Metalheads can play Shadow Fall, Amon Amarth and Dethklok on their consoles.

Jan 28 – Creedence Clearwater Revival comes to Guitar Hero with “Proud Mary”, “Bad Moon Rising”, and “Travelin’ Band”

For more information about the game and future track releases and pricing, visit their website.

EA, in conjunction with GGL and AutoTrader, announced the Need For Speed Shift Gaming Competition on December 4th. The Competition will run through March 7th and challenge the top video game racers in the world to compete in the ultimate driving competition. The Top 4 players will play in a live final at Black Box’s studio in Vancouver.

Why should you care? Well, if you’re a racing fanatic, there are $40,000 in prizes to be won and the grand prize winner will receive $30,000 for a car on AutoTrader.com! The top 4 finalists will receive a trip to Vancouver to compete!

If you’re interested, you should totally sign up. Need more info? Check out their website to learn more. Good Luck!

On Jan 12 we’re going to be able to experience Army of Two: The 40th Day in all it’s glory. As a special treat for everyone looking forward to the game, EA has released a new trailer highlighting the 4 co-op modes available: “Warzone”, “Co-op Death Match”, “Control”, and “Extraction.” The modes will pit players against other teams for intense game play.

For those unfamiliar with Army of Two, the story focuses on a two-man private military team:  Salem and Rios. Trapped in a besieged city, the pair must put their skills to work and help each other fight against a horde of enemies.

The trailer definitely sets the game up as a kick ass adventure for friends who like teaming up to go head to head with a horde of enemies. Check it out and let us know what you think!

Army of Two: The 40th Day will be available on 360, PSP and PS3.