halo: reach will debut at spike awards

Some guy from GameTrailers.com has announced via Twitter (Of course! Is there any other way to announce anything these days?) that the Spike TV Video Game Awards will be held live this year on December 12th. One of the more major news stories going along with this revelation is the announcement that Halo: Reach will have its official world premiere during the Video Game Awards. Reach is of course a first-person shooter slated to be the last game in the Halo franchise developed by original game developers Bungie; future Halo games (you know it's not ending any time soon, hello Spielberg movie?) will be handled by Microsoft game subsidiary 343 Industries. With all the awesome titles that launched in 2009 it should be a cool year for video game awards, with Batman: Arkham Asylum, Left 4 Dead 2, CoD: Modern Warfare 2, Uncharted 2 and Assassin's Creed 2 all receiving nominations for Game of the Year. Sounds like this year's VGAs are worth catching, if only to see which of the many deserving game titles ends up running away with GotY this year.

World Premiere Halo: Reach at Spike Video Game Awards

modern warfare 2 controversal leaked footage

Gameplay footage of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 (launching on November 10th) has hit the internets and has incited more controversy over the presence of realistic violence in popular video games. You can check out some of the footage here courtesy of Game Trailers. Modern Warfare 2, the follow-up to Infinity Ward's insanely popular first-person shooter fourth installment of the Call of Duty series, apparently opens with a disturbing scene of heavily armed terrorists killing unarmed civilians in a setting that looks suspiciously like Los Angeles' LAX airport. Thanks for that comforting idea right before the start of the holiday travel season! The game's developer defends the scene saying that it establishes the true evil of the Russian terrorist group that the player ultimately must defeat to win the game. A game like this is bound to get some people riled up but this does seem a little... overkill? I mean, every day we wake up to new reports of deadly attacks and terrorist scares - aren't video games where we go to escape that scary reality? I guess some gamers get their kicks taking on the role of our country's military defenders; me personally, I find comfort in fantasy universes, colorful and vivid world depictions, and rolling a giant katamari ball around picking crap up. Then again, that is the beauty of video games - there truly is something out there for every gamer's interests!

Call of Duty Modern Warfare 2 leaked footage set to ignite controversy

demon's souls on ps3

We are very excited for Uncharted 2 which debuts next week, but until then our latest PS3 acquisition has been getting a lot of play: Sony exclusive title Demon's Souls. An RPG with as much customization as you could ask for, Demon's Souls is a dark fantasy-themed game involving a land corrupted by demons and beasts that you of course need to save. The graphics are very nice to look at and the online integration is cool and innovative. You can leave notes along the way that others connected to the Playstation Network can view and rate as helpful or not. If the note is found to be unhelpful it disappears, but if your note gets voted as helpful then you even get a health bonus in your own game! Cool stuff. There is a lot to look forward to on the newly-cheaper PS3 and Demon's Souls is definitely one to try if you like RPGs with a lot of good fighting in them. Most reviews I've read have been very positive, like this one from PSXextreme that goes into quite a lot of detail. IGN even gave it a 9.4 "Outstanding"!

anti-violent gaming advocate sues facebook

You may have heard of Jack Thompson, an activist who has taken a stand against violence and sexual themes in video games, speaking out publicly about the dangers of games like the Grand Theft: Auto series and other violence-heavy game titles. He notably responded after a case where a kid killed several people and cited the GTA games as inspiration, which Thompson called a "murder stimulator". Well, people on Facebook apparently don't like Thompson too much and called for all kinds of mean actions directed at him, and he has now taken legal action against the 300-million-users-plus social networking site. It's an interesting case that involves a lot of digital media and the questionable legality of censoring a site's user comments. This should be an interesting case to follow as Thompson proceeds with his efforts to get Facebook to halt what he finds to be threatening and harmful messaging directed at him and his efforts.

Jack Thompson Sues Facebook after Video Game Backlash

dissidia final fantasy

I have played a Final Fantasy game here and there and was never drawn into it but there is no denying that it is one of the most popular and lasting video game franchises out there and arguably has one of the most loyal fan bases when it comes to buying new franchise titles upon release. So of course it is no wonder that Square Enix's latest release Dissidia Final Fantasy, a fighting game featuring only Final Fantasy characters from across the franchise's history, is proving to be a popular seller to FF fans. Whether it will sell to anyone not already engrossed in the franchise is another story, but hey, there's also a limited edition silver PSP bundle! Dissidia Final Fantasy is getting solidly good reviews and is just one of many big fighter-game releases over the next year.

call of juarez: bound in blood review

Anyone who reads here can probably tell I'm not a huge fan of the shooter genre of games but I try to at least stay on top of what's good, what's selling, that kind of thing and shooters certainly are one of the more popular and wider-selling game genres out there. This week will see the release of Call of Juarez: Bound in Blood, the followup to the Western-themed FPS from a couple of years ago. As I said I'm not a fan of shooters but I am a fan of Westerns so I've been enjoying watching the development of this game as it gets closer to market. The animation style looks beautiful and from initial reviews it's sounding like it could be pretty cool. This review calls it "a thrilling, wild ride down a road that remains surprisingly less traveled". Could be a fun one to try out sometime.

duke nukem apparently still in the works

If you were ever a fan of Duke Nukem 3D back in the day you may have been paying attention to the never-ending saga that is the development of Duke Nukem Forever, the supposed next installment in the franchise. Well, it turns out that developer 3DRealms is in fact still planning on finishing and releasing the project, which has been in development for years now. The road to finishing the game has been paved with bitter legal battles between 3DRealms and publisher Take-Two Interactive, who are understandably pissed about the decade-long process of trying to get this game to market. Will Duke Nukem Forever ever actually make it to store shelves, and if it does, will it ever make enough to cover what it has cost 3DR so far? I guess only time will tell at this point..

Duke Nukem Forever Still in Development

scary video games and stephen king

I love pretty much anything scary: books, movies, video games; if it makes me jump out of my skin I'm there. Lately I've been allowing myself to really get immersed into Fatal Frame and it's paying off by raising my heart rate over and over again with scary ghosts and intense J-horror style scenes. My love for scary stuff extends to many of the works of Stephen King and as such, I'm surprised that I never thought about how well some of his stories would translate to video game format. Lucky for me, this guy did, and decided to detail his feelings on transitioning King novels and short stories into different genres of video games. One idea that occurred to me after reading the article was a survival horror interpretation of Pet Sematary - how sick would that be?? The final boss could be the evil baby and then, surprise twist, your undead wife! The wealth of character and plot in King's works certainly lends itself to some interesting game ideas. Check it out.

Stephen King's work and video games

e3 showcases bloody upcoming games

Have you felt like the gore level in your video games has been lacking lately? Well, good news for you because there are several highly anticipated upcoming title releases that feature no shortage of carnage, violence and blood-spilling. Though this list is far from complete as far as scary and violent upcoming games go, it's enough to whet any hardcore gamer's appetite. Get your IDs out and ready for these ultra-violent M-for-mature releases including God of War III and Left for Dead 2 (oh yeah, and Wii Sports Resort, LOL) on a variety of console systems to suit any gamer's thirst for blood.

IGN: E3 2009's Most Violent Games

e3 shows industry's devotion to hardcore gamers

Many outspoken gamers like to criticize the video game industry and major game developers for pandering in recent years to the growing market for casual games and family-oriented gaming. However, this year's E3 convention told a different story with regards to future game development as many of the revealed projects and titles were shooters and action games aimed at the hardcore gaming contingent. Companies may make a lot on "novice gamer" titles but nothing sells units by number like a well-made online multiplayer shooter, as evidenced by the success of game franchises like Call of Duty, Halo and Killzone. So, fans of "traditional" video gaming need not worry as the games they like are still top priority to many developers.

Video Game Makers Keep Focus on Core Market

this game sounds... well, just awful

It's not every day a game manages to come to market at $60 on the 360 and PS3 and at the same time get reviews in scores usually saved for the worst shovelware on the Wii. This is indeed the case with Damnation, which came out last week. Damnation explores the alternate future of an extended American Civil War where both Union and Confederacy have found steam technology and it has drawn out the war another 40 years. This is certainly an interesting concept but apparently pretty much errrrvrything is wrong with this game from the horrible animation to the awful voice work to the shoddy physics and more. I would guess we'll see this one dropping in price like a stone over the next few months. Check out the review at IGN, which gave Damnation a 2.5 "Terrible".

game news from all over

The Sims 3 is charming people left and right. Read what this New York Times writer has to say about The Sims 3, in stores today. When I get home I'm playing this game for hours.

Halo: Reach trailer debuts after ODST demo. Microsoft unveiled the next game in the hugely successful Xbox exclusive Halo franchise after showing off their demo of Halo 3: ODST, out this fall, at their E3 presentation.

"Rape games" are now officially officially banned in Japan. Can't say I have any kind of problem with this.

Microsoft unveils new video/motion capture controller. The device lets the player control characters in a game by moving their arms and legs. Personally, I like sitting on my couch, but that's just me.

Sega's E3 booth lineup of games includes The Conduit, Aliens vs. Predator, and Mario & Sonic at the Winter Olympic Games. And the crowd goes "meh".

infamous getting rave reviews

There are so many highly anticipated games being released in 2009 and more than a few of them are Playstation 3 exclusives. Of these, Infamous has been one of the most talked-about, and now it's getting great reviews after its launch this week. The 'shocking'/'electrifying'/'sizzling' puns are running rampant! IGN gave it a 9.2 and Gamespot a 9.0 while the AP calls the game "an electrifying experience", of course. Kotaku goes more in-depth (and calls it "electric") with some excellent discussion points on the game's physics, open-worldness, morality scale and more. Looking forward to checking this one out.

marvel vs. capcom 2 on xbla and psn

Anyone who loves fighting games knows Marvel Vs. Capcom 2 is one of the hardest to find out there due to its limited run after Capcom losts its licensing of the Marvel franchise. Anyway, you can still find copies for the Playstation 2 and Xbox out there but they're expensive, so instead, you'll be able to download this classic 2D fighter on Xbox Live Arcade or on the Playstation Network. The game will cost $14.99 and will feature a few game changes and upgrading graphics.

One nifty bit of trivia that we learned is that the original 3D backgrounds for Marvel vs. Capcom 2 were created at a higher resolution than the arcades or home consoles could handle at the time. Those assets were saved, which means this new version of the game will have the best looking backgrounds yet seen in Marvel vs. Capcom 2.

Marvel vs. Capcom 2 Lives

new 360 elite bundle

Rumor has it that Microsoft has a new Xbox 360 Elite bundle on the way. Priced at its usual $399, this one comes with not one but two games, and both fairly desirable ones at that. The black console with a 120GB hard drive will be packaged with Halo 3 and Fable II, both Xbox 360 exclusives. If you've never owned a 360 before this is actually a pretty damn good deal, if you're the kind of gamer who needs the big hard drive. Personally I have yet to come close to filling up my 20GB but we don't download much stuff. Anyway, the black 360 is pretty cool looking and the games come close to a $100 value, so you're pretty much getting the black console and the extra 60 GB for the price of the regular Pro 60GB system. I still think Microsoft needs to come out with a rainbow spectrum of color options for 360 cases! That would definitely stand out against the black PS3 and the white Wii.

godfather 2 is pretty cool

We picked up Electronic Arts' recent release Godfather 2 and have been enjoying it so far. The graphics are very nice and we haven't seen much clipping or graphical issues yet despite some reviews mentioning problems there. We haven't gone very far but one of my first impressions is how awesome the character design system is. There are tons of customization options for hair, eye color, face shape and clothing. Even on the extreme ends of the x-y axis sliders the faces all look believable and lifelike. It actually made me wonder if EA borrowed from new character design in the Sims 3 for this game... I was very impressed with how much you could custom-create a character and it really felt very Sims-like to me, so if Sims 3 delivers a character design system as good as the one in Godfather 2 I'll be very happy!

halo encyclopedia to be released

Because clearly the six novelizations of the insanely popular game franchise Halo were not enough, publisher DK and Microsoft are teaming up to release a Halo Encyclopedia later this year. The tome will contain everything you ever needed to know about Master Chief and the Spartans, the bad guys, the weapons, the environments and really anything else ever mentioned in the Halo series. Do you see yourself buying the Halo Encyclopedia when it is available later this year?

ea sends out promotional brass knuckles, recalls them

It's just like the headline says. Electronic Arts sent out promotional kits to game reviewers for Godfather II which launched last week and included were "novelty brass knuckles" that EA is now asking reviewers to send back. Apparently brass knuckles even of the novelty variety are not so legal in several states where reviewers recieved these clever but misdemeanorizing press kits. EA of course had nothing very interesting to say regarding the issue. Godfather II got a 7.7 from IGN and seems like it might be pretty fun, but hopefully EA didn't spend too much money on brass knuckles...

left 4 dead sells 2.5 million in stores

Still more cool news out of the GDC - not counting digital copies sold through distributor Steam, Left 4 Dead has hit the 2.5 million mark! Pretty impressive, although when you're talking about a game that appeals mostly to the multiplayer audience it's not hard to imagine normal numbers doubling and tripling. I have to admit I still haven't played Left 4 Dead but I'm happy to see horror/zombie games doing awesomely well and hope to see more and more of them coming out.

resident evil 5 = the shiz

We picked up Resident Evil 5 yesterday after much back and forth about it since Friday and I have to say, I don't know what we were worried about. It's pretty gosh-darn fun and looks truly amazing on the HD monitor. The voice acting is good and the ambience and environment is quite creepy so far even though it's all been daytime. I haven't tried out the AI single player so I have no idea whether Sheva is useful or runs into enemy fire on her own accord. The 2-player co-op is extremely fun and flows smoothly using a balance of shooting, hand-to-hand combat and cooperative moves like breaking down doors and stuff. The zombies/infected are pretty freaky and there is a wider variety of character models so you're not fighting the same 4 villagers over and over again like in RE4. I think we'll get a lot of enjoyment out of this game, plus eventually I'm sure we'll get the DLC mercenary mode that lets you compete to blast the most zombies with a friend locally or over xbox live. If you haven't checked this one out and especially if you're a fan of classic Resident Evil (if you love run-and-gun shooters, surprise! You can't shoot and run at the same time. Get used to it). Storyline seems promising although at least on our machine the loading screens disappear far too quickly to read the historical tidbits they give you. Too fast loading times - can't really complain there. Check it out!