To clarify, we’re talking about Super Mario Kart, the one from the SNES era, Pilotwings, again, the SNES version, and, much to my personal delight, the Nintendo 64 Smash Bros.

According to the report, Mario Kart will release this Monday and the other two at the cryptic “sometime this holiday season” timeframe.

I feel the only appropriate statement to be issued here is “It’s about freakin’ time!” But really, I’ll never be satisfied, as Goldeneye will likely never show up.

Source: GameSpot via Kotaku + Joystiq

So of course, when Left 4 Dead 2 was released, not even a spinal chord injury could keep me from playing.  Much to my delight I found the gameplay mostly unchanged; you’re still controlling four immune survivors through five campaigns filled with Hannibal Lecter cosplayers.  The major changes are the new campaigns and an expanded library of weapons, medicines, ammunition, and enemies.

The South is a trendy setting, and luckily it jives well with the series sense of the absurd.  You’ll be fetching snacks for hillbillies in exchange for rocket launcher cover, driving through plate-glass windows in a stock car ala the Dukes of Hazard, mowing down killer clowns with your trusty banjo, and all-in-all enjoying a game that takes itself much less seriously than the average FPS.   From a carnival of death to a rainy swamp, the new environments are–frankly put–amazing.  They’re atmospheric and diverse, and are sure to provide hours of creepy delight.

The series displayed its flair for the cinematic in the Dead Air plane crash of the first release; moments like these are sprinkled throughout all campaigns, and my first play-through dropped my jaw more than once.  I never thought I could be so excited about fetch quests, but there are great strategic mini-missions that force you out of the “shoot everything that moves” mentality.  The levels are much less linear this time around, with multiple routes to the safe-house, adding another layer to strategy.  There are even moments where you benefit by breaking the cardinal rule of the Left 4 Dead Series: NEVER split up.

Multiple new weapons and items have been introduced to aid your zombie-killing efforts.  I’m very much a barbarian when it comes to weaponry: if it kills things, I’ll use it until it breaks or runs out of ammo, then I’ll just pick up whatever is closest.  Guns still fall into three categories: things that shoot a lot but hurt a little, things that shoot a little but hurt a lot, and sniper-type rifles.  Laser sights are fun add-ons, but they’re more flair than substance.  Incendiary rounds and Boomer Bile are best saved for big enemies, but as I stated, I’m a big fan of good-old-fashioned lead.  Defibrillators are an implausible but fantastic addition to your medical arsenal, allowing you to revive even long-dead party members.  Adrenaline, which will increase your speed, is only useful in very specific situations, and I find the pain pills to be a more practical inventory item.  While the expanded choices aren’t uniformly useful, they certainly increase your strategic capabilities.

Unfortunately, with increase in tactical abilities, the intelligence of your companions seems to plummet.  I remember fondly that I could count on Zoe to snipe the roof-top Smokers while I was busy spraying friendly shotgun fire onto Louis and Francis.    Man, those were the days!  Perhaps they gain competency when playing on easier modes, but on advance they felt a bit dopey, especially in the missions that required more action than just firing guns.

Of the new special infected, we have the Spitter, the Charger, and the Jockey.  I only really loved the idea of the Jockey, which will take control of you and steer you off of cliffs and into traps; the Spitter overlaps a bit too much with the Boomer for me, but perhaps he’ll grow on me.  The Charger, however, was a waste of programming.  It’s the annoying little brother of the pants-wettingly frightening Tank, and it fills no function that the Hunter doesn’t.

Perhaps the only disappointment I feel with this release is the loss of the feeling of simplicity and lightness that came with so few options.  You had health packs, pain pills, pipe bombs, molotov cocktails, and that’s was it!  Now with defibrillators, adrenaline, Boomer bile, laser sights, axes, crowbars, baseball bats, samurai swords, three more kinds of special infected, and multiple variants on common infected, the game has lost the simplicity that made its balance so apparent and so appealing.  Since it’s such an appealing party game, I regret that my more casual gamer friends may have difficulty keeping track of all these new toys.

I also detect a small downgrade in the intuitiveness of the game’s flow.  Music cues that both helped the gamer and enhanced their excitement have suddenly become as slow as the AI.  Character movement feel less vetted, and I found myself firing often at Nick, whose silhouette I found indistinguishable from the zombie masses.  Almost invisible features, such as auto-crouching to enter low spaces, has been done away with.  You know–small things that made the game faster, easier to learn, and gave you fewer scrambling-for-the-right-button moments.  I definitely feel some of the additions were superficial: padding added to justify the release of a new game rather than additional content for the first, especially when so many of the game elements are identical.

Blast Factor: Overall, I probably would’ve been happier with additional content for the first game, or a greater amount of time and thought put into balancing the sequel as well as its predecessor.  But despite some issues, this is still a great game, and I’m sure myself and my friends will be pouring as much time into this one as we did the last.  The new campaigns are the stars of the show, and they alone make this title well worth owning.

Left 4 Dead 2 is available on the Xbox 360 and the PC, and retails for $59.99 and $49.99 respectively. A copy of this game was purchased for the purposes of reviewing.

Logano goes for his sixth win of the season tomorrow in Florida, (televised on ESPN 2 at 4:30 p.m.) and you can watch this 200 mph. advertisement drive in loops all evening, if you’d like.

I think it’s kind of funny how the M for Mature ESRB rating icon is tagged on there as well. Nice.

I dated a girl once whose family enjoyed NASCAR. We broke up. You fill out the rest.

An appropriately ominous name if I do say so myself. But by the looks of them in this trailer, I’d say they do more “killing” than “watching.”

Have a look, let us know what you think, and enjoy your weekend!

Source: Capcom Unity Blog

That’s right, the second showing, “The Duel,” will come to Xbox Live’s Halo Waypoint tomorrow, and will be available for all to view, but only for 24 hours, at which point the episode will sadly disappear.

Here’s the synopsis, as told by 343:

“The Duel” takes place thousands of years in the past at the dawn of the Covenant. The story follows a shamed Elite who defies his role as an Arbiter to take a path of revenge against those that stole the only thing that mattered to him. This ancient Arbiter must fight his way through ever-growing groups of former allies (Grunts, Elites, Hunters and more) until he finally stands face-to-face with the Elite who betrayed him.”

Sounds like drama only comparable to high school! I’m ready, are you?

And as a reminder, the Halo Waypoint, where the Legends films will be shown, is available for both Gold and Silver members right now, but after this weekend, Silver subscribers get the boot, sorry.

For you collectors, the Halo: Legends series will come, in its entirety, to DVD and Blu-Ray, in Feb. 2010.

I wasn’t kidding when I described the gameplay above. That’s the bulk of the experience. You get missions to do from job boards in towns and settlements, or from talking to certain people scattered across the expansive game world. When you finish a mission, you return to wherever you earned it and pick up a reward, in the form of items, experience and money. You can take on as many quests as you want at a time, and can complete as many as you want before you ever return to claim your prize, so you don’t need to run back and forth constantly. These missions do fall into a somewhat small set of categories though–kill this thug, kill this beast, collect these items, kill this guy and collect these items, etc. You don’t really mind though, because each kill means experience, and experience means leveling, and that is the metaphorical crack pipe upon which addiction to this game relies.

Even within the first area of the game, there are certain sections you are not going to want to visit until you have sufficiently leveled. You may find some of these places in your random travels though, and when you do, you could very well be killed, and fast. You want to be very close to your enemy’s levels when you engage them, so the missions become important so you can always stay ahead of the curve, or at least with it.

Plus, you get more stuff. There’s a never ending supply of stuff for you to pick up. Some of it is better than your current stuff, much of it is worse, but it can all be sold so you can buy even better stuff. Certain characters use certain gun types better than others, meaning that when you play multiplayer, stuff should be shared for more reasons than just fairness.

The single and multiplayer experiences are similar in many ways. You still run around completing missions, leveling up and collecting loot, but now you get to do it with a buddy (or a stranger, but that’s not as much fun, especially in a game where picking up items is so pivotal). If you play with someone over Xbox Live, whoever hosts the game is going to be the one whose story is played, meaning you can replay missions you may have already completed in order to boost your character’s levels further. You can also keep multiple characters saved to your hard drive at once, meaning you can play online with a friend using one of the four character classes while playing alone on your own time with another. All of the items, experience and money you acquire in multiplayer carries over to your single-player experience, so even if you have to replay certain sections later, at least you will be well armed.

Each class is, at the simplest level, different thanks to their special skill. The Soldier drops a shielded turret, the Hunter has a war hawk that can attack far off enemies or those behind cover, the Siren can turn invisible and invincible for short periods of time, letting out a wave of energy when the shift occurs, and the Berserker, which, as you may have guessed, excels at being a damage absorbing tank that can punish enemies with melee.

There is more to the class differences than that though, as you earn skill points that can be used to differentiate them further. There are three separate paths to take, and you don’t need to stay within a single one–you can also cash in all of your skill points and re-align yourself however you wish, for a small cash fee. Let’s use the Hunter as an example. One path has him becoming more of a pistol wielding gunslinger, while another has him becoming more of a sniper. If you take the Sniper path, you will earn bonuses through skill points for things like experience bonuses on critical kills, faster reload times on rifles, or shield penetrating bullets. If you take the gunslinger route, you can get some similar bonuses, but also some very revolver/pistol exclusive ones, like chance to fire two rounds with one press of the trigger on pistols. You can customize them into all three groups and get an all-purpose blend, or you can focus heavily on one section–each time you upgrade a skill five times, it opens up the next level of skills for that designation. Shield penetrating bullets don’t come for the Sniper until you’ve used at least 15 skill points on Sniper related skill, which means 15 levels (20, really, as you don’t earn any skill points your first few levels) in a game with 50 tops. As I said though, you can get them back for a cost, so don’t fret if you change your mind 15 hours in.

Blizzard announced today the “Pilgrim’s Bounty” event happening in the land of Azeroth.

Running from Nov. 22 through Nov. 28, gamers can partake in Pilgrim’s Bounty feasts at major towns by sitting at a Bountiful Table and enjoying the delectable delights found there.

These Bountiful Tables are loaded with food and surrounded by interactive chairs used to consume and share food with friends.

Every chair at the table has an unlimited amount of food and are specifically labeled.

The Sweet Potato Chair, The Turkey Chair, The Stuffing Chair, The Cranberry Chair, and The Pie Chair.

Additionally, if you consume five helpings of a certain food you’ll gain bonuses specific to that food and best of all, if you eat five servings of every food, you’ll earn the Spirit of Sharing, which lasts one hour and increases reputation gained by 10%. Woo hoo!

There’s also cooking quests, special items, and achievements to unlock by joining in the Turkey-Day merriment. Have a look, and be sure to check out the official Pilgrim’s Feast page for more information.

A survey of over 1,000 random wishes, conducted by online gift-giving site Lottay, found that, for both dudes and ladies, the Wii topped the list of most popular holiday wishes.

Can’t say we’re too surprised about that. Now at $199, and with a helluva strong software lineup available today, we’d expecting nothing less, but we are a tad surprised by what Lottay also found.

According to their survey:

· The Wii is wished for twice as much as Sony and Xbox 360 combined.

· Top wished for consoles, in order of popularity: Nintendo Wii, Sony PlayStation 3, Xbox 360.

· People are also wishing for more Wii accessories and games than for other consoles.

· The most wished for game that appeared along with a Wii console is Super Smash Bros.

· The hottest new game is Left for Dead 2.

· The most popular accessory is the Wii Fit.

· Top product wishes are the Nintendo Wii, Wii games and accessories.

· Top wishes for men include the Nintendo Wii, cash as a gift, travel, love and sky diving (tied), iPod, and a car.

· Top wishes for women include the Nintendo Wii, travel and vacations, cash as a gift, massage, iPod, and boots.

PlayStation 3 more wished for than Xbox 360. Now that’s interesting.

What do you make of this list? Reasonable? Not so much? Jackie?

The Team Racing Pack, Shift’s first DLC release, hits Dec. 1 and 10 for Xbox 360 and PS3 respectively, and brings five new vehicles, and the new Team Racing Mode into the racing fray.

In this mode, team of up to six racers must work together, because, as EA said in its press release “Individual driving strategy and playing it safe won’t work.”

No real mention was made of just how you’ll have to work together, but when the DLC hits next month, we’ll find out, won’t we?

Here are the new autos yuo can add to your garage next month as well, followed by them imaged.

· 1967 Chevrolet Corvette Stingray 427

· 1967 Shelby GT-500

· 1969 Dodge Charger R/T

· 1971 Dodge Challenger R/T

· 1998 Toyota Supra Mark IV

Space Invaders is the same way; I have no idea where I first played it, but it sure wasn’t in 1973, and it sure wasn’t in Space Invaders Extreme 1.  Cultural osmosis has somehow made it one of my favorite arcade-style games, and when Space Invaders Extreme 2 first booted up, it’s busy screen and lurid colors made me cringe in anticipation.  But low and behold, it turned out to be an awesome little game!

The basics are the same: you control a tiny ship at the bottom of your screen and you have to blast endless waves of alien invaders to kingdom come before they can land their ships on Earth.  In the style of Geometry Wars, the game is updated to a much faster pace and given a psychedelic paint job and thumping electronic soundtrack.  The design is a bit too gaudy for me; I found myself reaching for tissues to dab my bleeding eyes after playing this for half an hour.  But after a certain point you grow accustomed to it, and more-or-less learn to ignore it.

The gameplay is downright addictive, though I admit I had to put the game down several times because it was making me too stressed.  The incrementally increasing speed of the ships has always turned me from a cool cucumber into a nervous nelly, but the speed of this game–even in early stages–made me downright frantic.  It’s not a soothing game to be played on the train to work, as I found out when my fellow passengers backed away from my frantic button mashing.  I particularly enjoyed a Tetris-like color combo bonus.  It added an element of strategy to the game that made my inevitable death seem more avoidable and gave me a greater feeling of control over the game.

I’ll just come out and admit that I was unable to beat the game.  Not even close.  One speed-up too many had me squealing like a hamster stuck its tubing, and I cracked under the pressure.  But I learned from others that the game only has five stages, which makes it quite short for those of you who don’t experience my chase-induced emotional trauma.  But it wouldn’t do for a game like this to drag on.  It’s a fun diversionary game–something to get addicted to, conquer, and put away.

Blast Factor: This is my first experience with Space Invaders Extreme, and it was a surprisingly fun remake of the treasured classic.  As I’ve noted, it’s a game that really got my heart racing, which admittedly doesn’t happen much, even in big beautiful console games.  Minus the screen-savers-on-drugs backgrounds and graphics, this is a great little game to grow addicted to and pass around among your friends.

Space Invaders Extreme 2 is available on the Nintendo DS for $19.99. A copy of this game was given to us by the publisher for reviewing purposes.

“If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it” is a hard axiom for most developers to follow, but Majesco has done admirably little to change core gameplay.  You’re still playing catchy mini-games to cook food with Engrish-speaking Mama, and these games still have enough charm to appeal to casual gamer and veterans alike.  They’ve only been improved by streamlining the process to keep frustration at bay; there are some points where rather than starting over, you’ll be given the option to save yourself and soldier onward.  A cookbook full of new recipes will make you feel like you’re actually able to make creme brulee, but don’t let it go to your head–you can’t.  I checked.

The biggest new feature is Shopping.  You must battle your way through frustrated salarymen, women with screaming babies, overeager salespeople to capture your desired ingredients.  If you’re too slow, you’ll have to play a mini-game to escape.  It’s a very cute feature, though it isn’t well-integrated with the game as a whole, and sometimes employees are particularly difficult to escape, and repeating mini-games is not my favorite thing to do once I’ve mastered them.

Blast Factor: This game is so charming–and has such a high replay value–that I can’t help but give it an excellent review.  Mama always manages to defrost the icy leftovers of my heart, and this may in fact be my favorite installation in the series.  If you’ve ever panned this title, now is the time to reconsider.

Cooking Mama 3: Shop and Chop is available on the Nintendo DS for $29.99. A copy of this game was given to us by the publisher for reviewing purposes.

Clarkson’s “Miss Independent” marks her first tune in any music-game, and though it’s not the “Since U Been Gone” I’ve been dying to play for years now, it’ll do just fine.

But for those who don’t see the world through the eyes of a 12 year-old girl, Tom Petty and his six live tracks, basically his greatest hits, are yours to enjoy next week as well.

Here’s the full list and dates of availability.

Available on Xbox 360 and Wii (Nov. 24) and PlayStation 3 system (Nov. 26):

• Go-Go’s – “Our Lips Are Sealed” +
• Kelly Clarkson – “Miss Independent” +
• P!nk – “Who Knew” +
• Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers – “A Thing About You (live)” +
• Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers – “American Girl (live)”
• Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers – “Even the Losers (live)”
• Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers – “Here Comes My Girl (live)” +
• Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers – “Mary Jane’s Last Dance (live)”
• Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers – “Refugee (live)” +

+ these ones are also available in the family-friendly LEGO: Rock Band store. “Mary Jane’s Last Dance”? What’s wrong with that one? Oh, I see.

The Tom Petty six-pack will also be available as a bundle by the name of “Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers Live Anthology Pack 01″ for $9.99/800 MS Points.

What does that mean to you, frugal gamer?

There’s deals to be had, provided you forgo sleep and enjoy a sweaty crowd of incessant shoppers in the cold.

Anyway, GameStop’s Black Friday ad recently surfaced, and while it doesn’t contain face-meltingly amazing deals, it does have some gems in it, namely some sweet Xbox 360 and PS3 bundles.

Check out the gallery, and click each image to make super huge awesome large. Also, stayed GLUED to BlackFridayAds for absolutely everything deal-related. It’s the best best best site out there for this kind of thing.

Source: Kotaku

The catalogue of games in the Games on Demand library, when these two hit next week, will jump to nearly 50, with the likes of Oblivion, Fable II, Mass Effect and loads more in its ranks.

Now, LEGO Indiana Jones II released Tuesday, but if you’ve yet to take down block-foes as Indy, a great place to start is the first one. The word fun barely even scratches the surface of that game.

Source: Kotaku

That pistol is SO huge

That’s right, beginning in 2010, gamers can purchase (for a to-be named price) downloadable content for the game, which includes new outfits, two new episodes, and a new “THE MERCENARIES REUNION” mode, featuring 8 new playable characters and weapon load outs.

But if you feel downloading all that would put too much stress on your fingers, Capcom is also releasing all the DLC and the game itself by the name of Resident Evil 5: Gold Edition at retail, in a box, like you like it.

The Gold Edition will run you $49.99 and on PS3 will come on one Blu-Ray disc and 1 DVD and download token for Xbox 360 fans.

The downloadable content hits first, in February, and the Gold Edition lands in March. We’ll make sure to keep our beady little eyes on this developing story as it…develops.

Source: Unity Blog

For $99, or $89 for PC, gamers can expect a smorgasbord of BioShock goodies, the full list, revealed below.

Now, to join in the fraggin’ mayhem, you had to reserve the title, but anyone, anywhere, can revel in the awesomeness of this trailer. Have a look, and excuse me as I bolt over to GameStop to throw $5 down.

That’s not to say anyone can’t play and enjoy being a virtual DJ here. The game caters to all skill levels, but to really get the most out of the mix table peripheral, you’ll need to master the higher skill settings. Regardless of which difficulty level, DJ Hero is amazingly fun.  Almost 100 mix tracks come with the game and it’s the first music game since Dance Dance Revolution to especially appeal to the techno crowd. The mixes cover the musical spectrum though—plenty of rap, hip hop, Motown, and pop from the last 30 years. But the magic is how the game mixes two tracks together to create something new.

Nowhere else could you hear Marvin Gaye crossed with the Gorillaz, the Beastie Boys and Queen, the Killers vs. Rihanna, David Bowie and 50 Cent, and an impressive and entertaining number of other great mixes. It’s not a stretch to say that this eclectic, dance-centric line-up is the best yet for a Hero game and it makes the color-coded button pressing gameplay feel more distinctive than ever.

The mix table controller is a cool new addition to any gamer’s stash. The main focus is on the turntable, which both spins and has three colored buttons. On the medium difficulty level and below, this is all you’ll really need, and the game plays just like any of the Hero/Rock Band games. Color-coded circles stream down three trails on the screen and the object is to hit the appropriate button at exactly the right time. At times, you’ll have to spin the turntable up or down based on the onscreen cues. The concept is simple, the execution is fun, and the presentation is bright, colorful, and quirky.

Once you get comfortable with the basic gameplay and switch to a higher level, the crossfader becomes a major part of the game. This slider bar is at home in the center, but at times, you’ll have to slide it right and left in time with the music trail, while keeping pace with the button presses and spins. The crossfade bar adds an interesting level of challenge in general, and adds some great variation to the music. On the downside, it can be a bit unruly. Despite have a bit of feedback, when the game is in high gear, paying attention to the current position of the bar without having to actually look at it can be frustrating.

There’s little in the way of onscreen prompts to keep track of the slider’s position as well, making the learning curve a bit steeper than it could have been. Another feature that is great in concept, but still in need of some work is the overlap with Guitar Hero. Some of the tracks allow for a guitarist, yet few of them felt particularly optimized for this feature. Usually the guitar tracks end up being painfully repetitive. Still, it’s a nice bonus feature that could use improvement in the sequel.

The overall presentation is much like other music game, with the moving gameplay tracks taking up most of the screen acreage, and stylized graphics of your on-stage DJ, the crowd, dancers—all reacting to how well you’re doing. The pumping soundtrack is especially awesome for home theater-equipped systems, but as expected, it sounds great in general.

Blast Factor: Without a doubt, DJ Hero is the most distinctive and original music game on the market. While the game is enjoyable for all skill levels, it takes on a whole new level coordination for the hardcore crowd. The packed soundtrack is phenomenal and mix table controller is responsive and fun to use. The  main problem for DJ Hero is the steep asking price. $119 is a lot to spend on one game with only a single controller. If you don’t mind the cover charge though, this is the coolest virtual rave in town.

Another Take — Bradley Ouellette

Activision’s latest Music game is an interesting new twist. They have taken the well-known style of the Guitar Hero franchise, and instead of playing a guitar, the player spins a record, and acts like a DJ mixing tunes. The Music in the game always consists of two pieces that the player has to mix together, fading between the two pieces and adding other effects including scratching, freestyling, and cross fading.

The game plays similar to any other Guitar Hero style game, moving the cross fader to select the track, scratching, or pressing the buttons to cause different effects to the music. When the player gets all of a lit up section correct the game gives a charge to the Euphoria button–this is the same as star power.

The scoring in DJ Hero feels different than the scoring in Guitar Hero also. The multipliers earned from rows of correct notes is very important since if you don’t hit 4x multiplier for a while in the game, you pretty much can’t score more than 3 stars. So hitting an extra note that isn’t there can kill your rating. Also if the player gets enough notes correct in a row, there is a rewind button that will show up in the display. This looks like the regular rewind button on a remote. When that’s on the screen, spinning the turntable back one full turn will rewind the song, and let the player replay a section to increase their score. This can be especially fun, if in Emode, when there is a bunch of cross fading back and forth, since it will allow the player to get a huge score with little effort. That being said, the rewind mode can also kill the score, since while it rewinds it’s easy to mess up a note and lose the multiplier.

Over all, I loved the game. I thought it was a neat new twist in the music genre; whereas the guitar band games haven’t had as much innovation lately, this was completely new. I found that game played smoothly, except for the cross fader. Even with the issues of the cross fader, loved the game, and will highly
recommend it if you generally like music games.

DJ Hero is available on the Wii, Xbox 360 and the Playstation 3, and retails for $119.99. A copy of the game was given to us by the publisher for reviewing purposes.

“We are very proud of the phenomenal launch of Dragon Age: Origins and we’re pleased to announce the next installment of downloadable content that will be available to fans of the game,” said Ray Muzyka, Group General Manager, RPG/MMO Group of EA, and Co-Founder, BioWare. “The Return to Ostagar DLC pack is a prime example of BioWare’s commitment to give fans a game that continuously offers new experiences and further enriches a storyline that has already received critical acclaim and positive feedback from the players.”

The first two packs of DLC were solid additions to Dragon Age–you picked up some exclusive items and abilities, and also got a chance to earn some more experience for your party, something that’s definitely useful on harder difficulties. I won’t turn my nose up at more of DLC, especially at a $4.99 price point. It gives me an excuse to go in with both of my characters too, especially since they play and act so differently. There’s no set date yet, but it’s releasing this holiday–somewhat vague, but at least we know it’s soon.

This is very clearly a tribute to Zelda by From Software, the company that brought us what is potentially 2009’s best RPG in Demon’s Souls. Sure, there are other titles that this game is pulling from, but even the imagery in this trailer reeks of Zelda–I’m not complaining though, because if you’re going to find your inspiration in gaming’s past, you may as aim as high as you can.

Sony plans on implementing the full-on 3D support via a simple firmware update available for all current PS3 consoles, and will also release titles in 3D that’ll likely blow our minds.

You’ll have to wear a fruity pair of glasses and look like an Agent from the Matrix to play the games, or buy a 3D-supported television to enjoy these games, but the way I see it, 3D has to be the next step in gaming/television, right?

Here’s Sony’s strategy, imaged. Let us know what you think!

Source: Kotaku

Those of you who have picked up a copy of Need for Speed: Shift, you may have high hopes for NITRO. However, Shift and NITRO are two completely different experiences. Where Shift was in the vein of a racing simulator, NITRO returns to Need for Speed’s Arcade roots. You drag race through the city while trying to beat other racers and avoid the police. The more damage you do while driving, combined with your position in the race, will draw more police attention. So if you’re in first place and causing a large amount of damage to your surroundings, watch out. The challenge makes the game interesting and makes it feel like you’re racing in the Fast and the Furious (not an opinion everyone may share).

The game play is definitely designed for casual racers instead of hardcore racing fanatics, so this game will probably not appeal to racers who enjoy realistic racing. The racing itself is very cartoonish, which doesn’t take away from the game, but makes it rather endearing. You drive with acceleration and braking and also use Nitrous to speed up the car for a competitive edge. The difficulty levels are just right so that it’s not insultingly easy but not soul crushingly hard (sorry to disappoint all you masochists out there). You play in either Arcade or Career mode and use the Wii remote to drive. However, you’re not limited to using only the Wii remote – you can also use the classic controller (a personal favorite), the Wii Wheel from Mario Kart and even a Gamecube controller! That was a great relief for when I tried out multiplayer with my friends and found that all four worked on the game.

There are 30 cars that are available to use but you have the ability to customize them however you wish. The 30 cars are separated into three tiers: Supercars, Balanced Performance and Commercial vehicles. Supercars are fast racing cars while Commercial vehicles are slower but sturdier. You can paint your cars in whatever way you like in order to make it more interesting. While you can drive around, you can’t total your car. That doesn’t mean there aren’t consequences for reckless driving. If you crash too many times, you end up losing your nitro meters, which can cost you the race.

Visually, the game is very cartoonish and animated in a way which makes it interesting to look up. Unfortunately, the game’s variety limits its potential. The game has very few levels and only 30 cars. Even if you increase the difficulty of the levels, there’s little incentive to keep playing when you know what the tracks are like. This incredibly repetitive game play is a big disappointment of a fun game to kill time with. This is surprising given the fact that the game’s simplicity would have seemed like the biggest letdown.

Blast Factor: Need for Speed: NITRO is a fun arcade racer which suffers from a very repetitive set up. The cars are interesting, as are the visuals, but that doesn’t really improve the lack of courses to race through and the fact that there are only 30 cars. This isn’t a bad game, and it is perfect for fans of casual arcade racing games but it isn’t something which would appeal to hardcore racers. If you want something silly for the kids this is definitely a game for you to pick up.

Need for Speed: Nitro is available on the Nintendo Wii and Nintendo DS, and retails for $49.99. A copy of this game was given to us by the publisher for review purposes.

“Rise of the Pirate God”, the fifth and final episode in the Tales of Monkey Island series hits Dec. 8, but nothing can prepare us for the drama that will unfold in this final chapter.

Where are we in the story? Guybrush, the game’s main character is believed to be dead after the events of chapter 4, but really, he’s gotta pull a Jack Sparrow and live to swashbuckle another day, right?

“He wanted what every young man wants – to loot, pillage, and sail the high seas in search of further looting and pillaging opportunities,” said Dave Grossman, veteran Monkey Island game designer and writer. “It’s a great tragedy to see such a productive life seemingly cut off prematurely. And I’m not just saying that because he owes me money.”

In honor of Threepwood’s life death who knows, Telltale made each  preceding episode available as singular download at $8.95 instead of the normative package deal of $34.95 for all five.

Hop on over to the Tales of Monkey Island official page for lots more.

Enter Left 4 Dead: The Retro NES Version.

Yupp,the popular zombie-slaughterfest has been “de-made” into an outdated 8-bit style, complete with similarly appropriate chip tunes, outdoor environments, and mindless undead.

I’m just going to go ahead and say it. This. Is. Awesome.

Sure, someone has loads of extraneous time I envy on their hands, but when a product this fine comes out, I can’t help but smile.

Here, enough rabble, take a look.

Source: I Heart Chaos [Not Safe For Work Material has been know to show up on the site. We warned you]

Now, this video is more than likely viral marketing on Activision’s account, but why would we complain when we get to sit back and watch a dog ride and skateboard?

Have a look.

Source: Kotaku

Starting next month, when a new update launches, Herm Edwards, Jerry Glanville, Marv Levy and Marty Schottenheimer will join Cowher, Billick, Johnson, Landry and Reeves, as the latest four NFL Legends to be added to the free-to-play game.

“Our users tell us they love testing their football skills against the true style of real coaches.  We’re all about coaching and strategy, and these four new coaches will bring even more authenticity to the single player experience,” said Jeffrey Anderson, CEO at Quick Hit.  “We’ve worked hard to weave both coaches and players into the fabric of the game, which has created a unique and exciting experience for football fans who want to face off against former gridiron greats.”

Check out Quick Hit Online and peruse our hands-on preview for everything about the you could imagine, unless you’re imagining dancing, magical fairies, we don’t write about those here.

Geoff Keighley of Spike TV, the channel hosting the event, Tweeted, just minutes ago this juicy little detail about the 2009 show.

The world premiere of HALO: REACH happens only at the 2009 Video Game Awards, Live 12/12 on Spike.

There you have it. We’ll likely see some sort of trailer for Bungie’s “last” Halo game at this year’s awards show, and wouldn’t it be nice if the video wrapped up with “multiplayer beta begins tonight!” I mean, we were promised access to the Reach multiplayer beta with our ODST purchase in September, so it’d be nice to see that promise come to fruition.

Source: Twitter

On the heels of Microsoft’s 2009 Fall Dashboard update, which also brought the ole’ Fbook to Xbox gamers, Sony said this move is “the first phase of a variety of new features to further connect and enhance the online social experiences of PlayStation®3 (PS3™) computer entertainment system owner.”

Download the new firmware and let us know what you think about stalking keeping track of spying on staying connected with your friends now on your TV via your PS3.

Source: Joystiq

That said though, these tattoos, across this dude’s chest, do look very well drawn, but still, the idea of that kind of permanence frightens me a bit.

At least he didn’t do this..

Source: Lionhead Blog

Sorry Halo 3, but you did have a freakin’ spectacular run, and don’t fear, because we’ll see you again when Reach debuts in 2010. But until then, if MW2 drops from the top spot I’ll be both amazed and disappointed.

Here’s the full list.

Xbox 360 Top LIVE Titles for the Week of Nov. 9

1    Modern Warfare 2
2    Call of Duty 4
3    Halo 3
4    Call of Duty: WaW
5    Left 4 Dead 2 – Demo
6    GTA IV
7    Gears of War 2
8    FIFA 10
9    Halo 3: ODST
10   Madden NFL 10

Source: Major Nelson

After the wild and bizarre viral teaser video that surfaced last week, we kind of almost saw this coming, and now that it’s official, our assumptions are validated and we’re about as ancy as you are to get our hands on it.

The game will release under the Eidos brand and will feature “a new visual experience … inspired by documentary filmmakers and the user-generated era.”

Look for Dog Days on PC, Xbox 360, and PlayStation 3 sometime in 2010.

Source: Joystiq and Kotaku

That’s right, the once Wii-exclusive franchise, with Travis Touchdown, his glorious catchphrase (NSFW) and killer katana, will make the jump to high-def consoles PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360.

The sequel, supposedly known as No More Heroes: Heroes Paradise is a likely choice for Xbox 360 and PS3, as both system’s will soon have motion-controlling capabilities, what made NMH work so well on Wii, by the name of Natal and “Sphere” respectively.

I loved No More Heroes on Wii, and can only imagine how freakin’ sweet the blood, gore, and action would look and feel in HD.

Take a look at these shots leaked from the magazine and stay with us for continued coverage of this developing story.

Source: Kotaku

Well, Modern Warfare 2 ended up being extremely well reviewed, even by us, and, as Activision reports today, set a new five-day sales record and took in approximately $550 million in that time.

Here’s some impressive stats to wow your friends/family/dog with. Enjoy.

Modern Warfare 2 toppled the following:

– The largest reported five-day opening worldwide box office gross

figures, held by Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince ($394 million)

– The largest reported five-day opening domestic box office gross figures,

held by The Dark Knight ($203.8 million)

– The largest reported five-day worldwide video game sales record,

previously held by Grand Theft Auto IV (6 million units, $500 million)

– The largest reported opening first-day domestic box office gross

figures, held by The Dark Knight ($66.4 million)

– The largest reported first-day book sales in dollars, held by Harry

Potter & The Deathly Hallows ($220 million)

– The largest reported first-day worldwide video game sales record,

previously held by Grand Theft Auto IV (3.6 million units, $310 million)

Additionally, MW2 set some extreme Xbox Live records.

More than 2.2 million unique gamers logged over 5.2 million multiplayer hours on day-one and unlocked a staggering 11 million Achievements that day as well.

   --  More than 5.2 million multiplayer hours were logged playing Call of

        Duty: Modern Warfare 2 on the first day alone.

    --  More than 2.2 million unique gamers played Call of Duty: Modern Warfare

        2 in one day on November 10th. A new one-day record for Xbox LIVE.

    --  More than 11 million achievements were unlocked on Call of Duty: Modern

        Warfare 2 on the first day.

The first thing you will notice after popping A Crack in Time into your PS3 is the graphics–this is highly polished, very colorful, very creative stuff. During cutscenes, it looks and sounds like a cartoon, maybe even something Pixar would have made. During the actual gameplay, the physics, explosions, guns and the worlds you play on will also impress, as the game is loaded with graphical effects (heat coming off of lava, snow and rain falling from the sky, etc.) that really pop thanks to the PS3. Enemies animate wonderfully, while living and while dying, everything just flat out works. It’s one of the better looking titles on the system thanks to strong art direction and wonderful animation.

Gameplay wise, there’s plenty to love. With Ratchet, you have multiple modes with which to play. The first of these is somewhat standard to the series, as you have different levels on different planets, each with its own distinct look and feel. These planets have a fair share of shooting along with platforming–while the platforming in these areas never gets to be too difficult, the number of enemies (and the difficulty of said enemies) increases as you go through the game enough that you don’t get bored. If you’re playing this game on Hard, you will need to be on top of your game in the later levels, or you will die fast.

The second Ratchet mode reminds me of two different Mario experiences–Super Mario Sunshine and Super Mario Galaxy. When you land on the moons that are scattered throughout each solar system, you have the opportunity to collect more mods for your weapons, rare items and Zoni–all of which will be explained in detail later. These moons is where you will find the platforming challenge, as they are designed to be more skill-based than the planets themselves. The Sunshine reminder comes from their increased difficulty and variation from the standard gameplay–remember the hidden stages in Super Mario Sunshine, where you no longer had the water pack and had to do things the old fashioned way? The Galaxy portion comes from the spherical levels–yes, I know Ratchet & Clank have had spherical levels before, but the design reminds me of Galaxy in many ways. While optional, these are worth your time, and not just for the rewards that they hold. Completing them is a reward on its own, given the increased challenge and lengthening of the gameplay experience.

Last, and very much least, you have space. You fly around in your ship from planet to planet (with pit stops at moons along the way), but there are side missions for you to complete that are sometimes worth it, like towing a downed ship in order to get a few thousand bolts (the game’s currency). Most of the time though, you can’t be bothered. There is very boring fighting in space, as you just hold R1 and L1 to fire beams and missiles in the hopes of hitting something and getting back to the good stuff. The enemy ships don’t do much to fight back either, and they don’t do a very good job of getting out of the way of your shots; it just wasn’t necessary. Maybe space will evolve into a worthwhile frontier in another Ratchet & Clank game, but A Crack in Time is not the one where this happens. Thankfully this is the portion of the game you will spend the least amount of time on, especially if you just quick jump from place to place.

Besides Ratchet’s ever-present Omniwrench, which is both weapon and tool, you have a massive arsenal of guns at your disposal. You’ve got your basic laser gun, grenades, a rocket launcher, a shotgun, and then you’ve got the guns that let Insomniac show off their imagination. How about the equivalent of a space pig with a trigger that burps enemies to death? Or a chargeable ball of electricity that you can roll around effectively using Six Axis controls while you run from danger? Maybe a sniper rifle with a bioscope that marks enemy weak points for you–shooting stuff in the head isn’t always the answer, you know. There are tons of guns to choose from, and also plenty of ways to improve them. You can pick up Constructo Mods, which alter the way your weapon fires, whether it explodes on impact or not, the type of damage it will cause, etc. You can also level up your weapons by using them–this increases damage, rate of fire, area of effect, ammo capacity and the like. Once a weapon reaches level five, it morphs into an even more powerful version of the previous weapon. Your grenades get schrapnel, for instance, while your rocket launcher fires three rockets per round rather than one.

The strange thing is that I would find myself moving on to another gun despite creating a super powered one, because I wanted to see what else it had to offer me through use. There’s nothing that can be pointed at as useless in Ratchet’s arsenal–you will find a place for everything, even in the weapons that may seem odd at the point of sale.

Clank’s levels may be the best portion of the game though, as they are time-bending puzzles that will require you to take off that Lombax battle armor and instead use that robotic intellect. It’s somewhat tough to visualize, but here is Clank’s gameplay in a nutshell: you have puzzles where Clank needs to be in multiple places at once in order to open the door out of the room. There could be anywhere from one to three door opening switches in the room, plus additional switches that open up pathways to reach those door switches. Each of these switches works only when Clank is standing on them though, which is why he needs to be in multiple places at once.

In order to do this, you need to use the Timepads to record Clank stepping on the switch–after recording, you can play it back, and a copy of Clank will perform the action you just recorded while Clank goes off to a different time pad to record yet another instance of platforming. Early puzzles are simple–there’s one switch and two Timepads, so make a copy to get on the switch while you run through the door. The later ones though require a lot of trial and error in order to progress, as you will need to make copies that open up pathways that lead to switches that lead to new pathways for previous copies so that they can step on a switch that clears a path, and so on. These are very satisfying to complete, and are just the right level of difficulty where you want to keep trying at it without wanting to throw your controller elsewhere. My biggest issue with them is that there were just not enough of them–Ratchet is still the star, despite Clank’s superior gameplay. That’s not a knock on Ratchet either, but it goes to show you how fun Clank’s sections are.

When you combine the multiple Ratchet elements with Clank’s puzzling, you end up with a fine Ratchet & Clank game that makes you want to play often. The game features multiple difficulties as well as a challenge mode, and with loads to collect in the form of Contructo Mods, gold bolts and the Zoni that upgrade your ship’s weaponry and abilities, there’s plenty to do outside of the standard levels. The Argonian tournaments may be my favorite part though, as they throw you into some ridiculous gladiator challenges that will require a full knowledge of your weaponry and enemy weaknesses if you want to win. The rewards–bolts, weapons and upgrades–are worth the price of admission, but you’ll find yourself here just for the challenge too. Plus, the game is just funny, no matter which character you use, so it’s worth it to you to extend the game to find all of the humor in it.

Blast Factor: While there are still some things to iron out in the form of space, and Clank could have stood to get a little more spotlight, Ratchet & Clank Future: A Crack in Time holds up as the definitive Ratchet & Clank experience, one that should delight fans of the series while also converting holdouts and making them believers. It’s a quality title that should not be overlooked in this busy holiday season, and despite its cartoon appearance, it’s a game that people of all ages can enjoy.

Ratchet & Clank Future: A Crack in Time is available exclusively on the Playstation 3, and retails for $59.99. A copy of this game was given to us by the publisher for reviewing purposes.

This week’s breakdown:

WiiWare: Pokemon Rumble, BIT.TRIP BEAT (Demo), Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles (My Life As A Darklord Demo), NyxQuest:Kindred Spirits (Demo), World of Goo (Demo)

Virtual Console: Indiana Jones’ Greatest Adventures and Street Fighter II:Champion Edition

Nintendo DSiWare: Art Style:DIGIDRIVE, Arcade Bowling, Robot Rescue

Fans of puzzle games will love Art Style: DIGIDRIVE and Robot Rescue. Both games focus on shifting puzzles and the application of logic. Art Style: DIGIDRIVE lets the player take on the role of a traffic controller. You move cars in order to create fuel to keep going through the game. Robot Rescue lets you play as a robot who needs to rescue his comrades from 45 different labyrinths. But when you move through the dungeon you move all robots so strategy is key.

Arcade Bowling is a straight forward bowling game for the DSi which will entertain fans of portable bowling.

Indiana Jones’ and Street Fighter II are the classic releases (from SNES and Capcom respectively). Indiana Jone’s Greatest Adventures takes scenes from his best movies (no Crystal Skulls here) and allows the player to play as Indy as he searches for fortune and glory (kid).  Street Fighter II needs no introduction: the fighting game we know and love, on virtual console!

And now onto WiiWare!

Pokemon Rumble allows players to battle against other Pokemon in order to gain access to the Battle Royale and fight multiple Pokemon at once. Sound interesting? While the game is available for purchase, there’s also a free demo, so check it out before you buy it so you know it’s a game you’d like.

The rest of the releases are demos for upcoming Wii games which may or may not interest you. Here’s the breakdown for each game:

BIT.TRIP BEAT: A rhythm game which uses the Wiimote to play out beats in this retro game. Check it out if you were a fan of Bop It! or other rhythm games.

Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles (My Life As A Darklord Demo): We all love Final Fantasy, so this new game was automatically on our list of games to check out. The demo lets you play as the Darklord’s daughter as she explores her castle and installs traps while fighting monsters. The objective is to protect your Dark Crystal from the explorers who want to destroy it.

NyxQuest:Kindred Spirits: Nyx, a winged girl, comes down heaven to look for her missing friend, Icarus. With the help of the other gods, she looks for him while flying above Ancient Greece.

World of Goo: a physics based construction game in which construct things. Out of Goo. The Goo Balls who inhabit the game don’t know they’re in a game. Or how delicious they are with crackers.

Any of these games sound interesting to you? Check them out and let us know how you like them.

It’s simple. Pre-order Lost Planet 2 at any North American GameStop location and you’ll earn a code to download the skin of Resident Evil’s iconic character, Albert Wesker.

Not good enough? For slapping $5 into the hands of a GameStop employee for the reserve, you’ll also score yourself Wesker’s firearm, his revolver, which we can only expect will come in handy somewhere down the line.

Lost Planet comes to Xbox 360 and PS3 February, 23, 2010.

The number of respondents I believe was in excess of 28,000. See, I voted “Xbox360″ then hit “show results” and the number of participants sadly disappeared upon refresh. I guess Facebook is smart to not show me a poll I’ve already voted in.

Anyway, what does this data show us? First off, PS3 is getting its cute little backside kicked, but also that the parity between Xbox 360 and PC is significant, unlike many multiplatform titles out there today.

Anyone who spots this poll on the ‘ole Fbook, please pass the participation figures along and I’ll update the story.

Thankfully, both questions paired up nicely with answers today as Atlus of America, the blokes behind Demon’s Souls, revealed they’ll publish the game and set it free for all PS3-toting gamers May 11, 2010.

The game will bear a $40 price tag and can be reserved today at all the places you already know of.

What’s scary is that this figure represents 14% of all American homes, not just those with Internet access (not everyone has it, believe us).

The stat is comprised of all titles where the gamer must pay to continue his or her enjoyment, so we’re talking everything from World of Warcraft (likely a very large percentage), to Xbox Live, and even other MMOs like Age of Conan and Lord of the Rings: Online.

“Despite concerns that the recession would cause consumers to reduce spending on entertainment subscription services, most forms of subscription entertainment are doing just fine,” NPD’s Russ Crupnick said in a press release. “Consumers are clearly looking to the value offered by entertainment subscriptions and like what they get for their money.”

Well, let’s see now. I’m currently surrendering monthly payments to Microsoft for Xbox Live, Blizzard for World of Warcraft, and EA and Harmonix for my Rock Band DLC purchases, which I do on a monthly basis.

What about you? What’s your monthly expense, and to whom, to continue gaming?

Source: Kotaku

The update, which popped up in the wee hours of this the November the 17th, has been available for those in the Preview Program for weeks now, but having entered my information incorrectly, I missed out on the pre-release fun.

However, now that the update’s gone live for one and all, there’s no excuse not to jump in on the new available social avenues from the seat of your pants on your Xbox 360.

Facebook, Twitter, and Last.fm integration works pretty simply. You quickly enter your credentials from each of the three social-networking sites and within seconds you’re up and running, stalking friends, listening to music, and writing 140 character snippets of your life for all to enjoy.

A cautionary note: Using all three services demands typing, and as you know, the Xbox 360 controller is a b*tch to type with. Thankfully, USB keyboards (as well as the standard issue Messenger Pad), work just fine.

Right now? I’m enjoying listening to varied tunes streamed for me via Last.fm as I type this. Very, very nice!