All the nominees for the 2011 VGA’s have been announced along with a interesting piece of info in regards to Zelda being the first franchise to be inducted into the hall of fame. Guess Link has paid his dues. You can even bet your points on the VGA game of the year ! Now on with the nominees. Studio of the Year Bethesda Game Studios Naughty Dog Rocksteady Studios Valve Best Xbox 360 Game Batman: Arkham City Forza Motorsport 4 Gears of War 3 Portal 2 Best PS3 Game inFamous 2 Killzone 3 LittleBigPlanet 2 Uncharted 3 Best Wii Game Epic Mickey Kirby’s Return to Dream Land Lost in Shadow The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword Best PC Game Battlefield 3 Minecraft The Witcher 2 Portal 2 Best Handheld/Mobile Game Ghost Trick: Phantom Detective Infinity Blade Super Mario 3D Land Jetpack Joyride Best Shooter Battlefield 3 Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 Gears of War 3 RAGE Best Action Adventure Game Assassin’s Creed: Revelations Batman: Arkham City The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword Uncharted 3: Drake’s Deception Best RPG Dark Souls Deus Ex: Human Revolution Dragon Age II The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim Best Multiplayer Battlefield 3 Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 Gears of War 3 Portal 2 Best Individual Sports Game Fight Night Champion Tiger Woods PGA Tour 12: The Masters Top Spin 4 Virtua Tennis 4 Best Team Sports Game FIFA Soccer 12 NBA 2K12 NHL 12 MLB ’11: The Show Best Driving Game DiRT 3 Driver: San Francisco Forza Motorsport 4 Need for Speed: The Run Best Fighting Game The King of Fighters XIII Marvel vs. Capcom 3 Mortal Kombat WWE All Stars Best Motion Game Child of Eden Dance Central 2 The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword The Gunstringer Best Independent Game Bastion Minecraft Superbrothers: Sword and Sworcery EP The Binding of Isaac Best Adapted Video Game Back to the Future: The Game Batman: Arkham City Captain America: Super Soldier LEGO Star Wars III: The Clone Wars Best Original Game Bastion Batman: Arkham City Deus Ex: Human Revolution Portal 2 Best Graphics Batman: Arkham City L.A. Noire RAGE Uncharted 3: Drake’s Deception Best Performance By a Human Male J.K. Simmons as Cave Johnson – Portal 2 Mark Hamill as the Joker – Batman: Arkham City Nolan North as Nathan Drake – Uncharted 3: Drake’s Deception Stephen Merchant as Wheatley – Portal 2 Best Downloadable Game Bastion Insanely Twisted Shadow Planet Stacking Trenched Best DLC Fallout: New Vegas – Old World Blues Mass Effect 2 – Arrival Mortal Kombat – Freddy Krueger Portal 2 – Peer Review GameTrailers.com Trailer of the Year Assassin’s Creed: Revelations – E3 2011 Trailer Batman: Arkham City – Hugo Strange Reveal Trailer Dark Souls – Ignite ’11 Debut Trailer Dead Island – GDC 11 Cinematic Trailer Deus Ex: Human Revolution – Purity First Infomercial The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim – In-Game Debut Trailoer Hitman: Absolution – E3 2011 Trailer Prey 2 – E3 2011 Trailer Tomb Raider – E3 2011 Trailer Uncharted 3: Drake’s Deception – E3 2011 Trailer Best Song In A Game “Build that Wall (Zia’s Theme)” by Darren Korb – Bastion “Exile Vilify” by The National – Portal 2 “I’m Not Calling You a Liar” by Florence + the Machine – Dragon Age II “Setting Sail, Coming Home (End Theme)” by Darren Korb – Bastion Best Original Score Bastion Batman: Arkham City Deus Ex: Human Revolution Portal 2 Most Anticipated Game BioShock: Infinite Diablo III Halo 4 Mass Effect 3 The Last Guardian Game of the Year Batman: Arkham City The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword Portal 2 Uncharted 3: Drake’s Deception Personally Im not happy with the line up in a few of the category’s but what are we gonna do. Below is the official press release NEW YORK, Nov. 16, 2011 /PRNewswire via COMTEX/ — Spike TV today announced the creation of its first ever Video Game Hall of Fame Award. This annual honor will recognize the most memorable and innovative video game franchises in history. The inaugural recipient, “The Legend of Zelda,(TM)” is one of the most influential and beloved gaming franchises of all time. The legendary series will take its rightful place as the first entry into the Video Game Hall of Fame, with a special tribute at the 2011 “Video Game Awards” (#VGA) – the network’s ninth annual live televised event to celebrate the best in games. Telecasting from Los Angeles, CA and featuring some of the most notable names in video games, Hollywood, music, sports and more, the two-hour event honoring the outstanding achievements within the video game industry over the past year will premiere LIVE on Spike TV, MTV 2 and Spike.com on Saturday, December 10 at 8:00 PM ET/5:00 PM PT. “The ‘VGAs’ always celebrate the best games of the year and previews the future with world premieres,” said Casey Patterson executive producer of the “VGAs” and executive vice president of event production for Viacom Media Networks Entertainment Group. “Now our Video Game Hall of Fame will recognize the game franchises throughout history that have brought the industry to where it is today.” “It is only natural to start with ‘Zelda,’” said Geoff Keighley, executive in charge, publisher relations, Spike. “‘The Legend of Zelda’ is a franchise that inspired many of us to see the potential of games when it debuted 25 years ago, one that has successfully transitioned from one game console generation to the next and has continually shown the narrative and artistic potential of the medium.” “All of us at Nintendo are truly honored to have ‘The Legend of Zelda’ as the first inductee into Spike’s Video Game Hall of Fame,” said Scott Moffitt, Nintendo of America’s executive vice president of sales & marketing. “As we mark the 25th anniversary of the ‘Zelda’ series, we look forward to the December 10th ‘VGA’ event as a very special way to celebrate with fans and SPIKE viewers around the globe.” The 2011 “Video Game Awards” will feature world premieres of the most anticipated games of 2012 and beyond. In addition to the previously announced exclusives debuts of BioWare’s next project, the next “Alan Wake” game and “Metal Gear Solid: Rising,” this year’s viewers will get the first look at footage from “Tom Clancy’s Rainbow 6 Patriots,” “Transformers: Fall of Cybertron” and Most Anticipated Game nominee, “BioShock Infinite.” Additional exclusives will be announced in the coming weeks. For additional information about other “VGA” world exclusives and announcements, fans can log onto VGA.spike.com and get updates via Twitter @SPIKE_TV as well as the hashtag #VGA. Leading the way with 12 nominations is “Portal 2″ by Valve. Rocksteady Studios’ second adventure featuring the Dark Knight, “Batman: Arkham City” garnered 10 nominations, while the third chapter in the Nathan Drake adventure, “Uncharted 3: Drake’s Deception” by Naughty Dog and independent game “Bastion” rounded out the top most nominated games with 9 and 5 nods each, respectively. Nominees for Spike TV’s 2011 “Video Game Awards” were determined by the VGA Advisory Council, made up of a group of some of the most well-respected video game journalists from media outlets such as Entertainment Weekly, USA Today, Game Informer Magazine, Kotaku, Joystiq, GameSpot, IGN and WIRED. Below are several of the nominees and categories for Spike TV’s 2011 “Video Game Awards.” For a full list, please go to VGA.spike.com. GAME OF THE YEAR”Batman: Arkham City” (Warner Bros Interactive / Rocksteady Studios)”The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim” (Bethesda Softworks / Bethesda Game Studios)”The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword” (Nintendo)”Portal 2″ (Valve)”Uncharted 3: Drake’s Deception” (Sony Computer Entertainment / Naughty Dog) STUDIO OF THE YEARBethesda Game StudiosNaughty DogRocksteady StudiosValve BEST SHOOTER”Battlefield 3″ (Electronic Arts / DICE)”Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3″ (Activision / Infinity Ward / Sledgehammer Games)”Gears of War 3″ (Microsoft Studios / Epic Games)”Rage” (Bethesda Softworks / Id Software) BEST INDEPENDENT GAME”Bastion” (Supergiant Games)”Minecraft” (Mojang)”Superbrothers: Sword and Sworcery EP” (Capybara Games)”The Binding of Isaac” (Edmund McMillen) For the first time, Viacom Media Networks will broaden the reach and impact of the 2011 “VGAs” by simultaneously airing the show LIVE on both Spike TV and MTV2, as well as on Spike.com. Internationally, the “VGAs” will air in over 100 countries and territories around the world. In addition, the show will include unique interactive opportunities only available to viewers during the initial live broadcast. Further details will be announced in the weeks to come. Mark Burnett, Casey Patterson and Carol Donovan will serve as executive producers of Spike TV’s 2011 “Video Game Awards.” The presenting sponsors for the 2011 “Video Game Awards” are the all-new Chevy Sonic, Dr Pepper TEN and KFC Hot Wings. Energizer® Ultimate Lithium is the associate sponsor, with AXE and Mission Impossible-Ghost Protocol serving as digital sponsors.

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2011 VGA Nominees Announced

Halfway point has been reached and thus the retail releases start to pile up along with some digital stocking stuffers of Christmas past and present (sorry, nothing from Christmas future yet. Will get back to you on that one ASAP) that want to fight it out for our end of the year gaming budget. The new Assassin’s Creed brings us a nice bonus thanks to the huge amount of space available on Bluray discs: the original Assassin’s Creed is included, absolutely free! Dead Space 2 gave us a port of the excellent Wii entry of the franchise (Dead Space Extraction) and Bioshock Infinite will give us a free copy of the first Bioshock (which is great since I didn’t get the DLC challenge rooms last time and now I can finally get 100% of all trophies). What did you pre-order? How much are you willing to spend this week? Full list of releases after the break: PS3 RETAIL RELEASES You Can Buy Assassin’s Creed Revelations Right Here! You Can Buy Saints Row: The Third Right Here! Or maybe you want to ride with the Platinum Edition? You Can Buy Need for Speed: The Run Right Here! You Can Buy Ultimate Marvel vs Capcom 3 Right Here! You Can Buy Rayman Origins Righ Here! You Can Buy Dynasty Warriors 7: Xtreme Legend Right Here! You Can Buy uDraw Gametablet with uDraw Studio: Instant Artist Right Here! You Can Buy uDraw Marvel Super Hero Squad: Comic Combat Right Here! You Can Buy Medieval Moves: Deadmund’s Quest Right Here! You Can Buy Eyepet 2: Eyepet and Friends Right Here! You Can Buy Carnival Island Right Here! PSN RELEASES You can Buy Red Dead Redemption Right Here! And You Can Add Undead Nightmare As Well! You Can Buy Hasbro Family Night 3 Right Here! PSOne Classics minis

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Releases for the Week (November 14th-20th)

While today’s gamers sit in front of their televisions with our eyes glued to the screen and hands affixed to their controller we may forget just how video games all started. Long before PlayStation and the Xbox become house hold names in 1972 Ralph H. Baer , a.k.a “Father of Video Games” invented the first home video game console, the Magnavox Odyssey, which also pre-dates the Atari 2600. At the age of 89 Baer has witnessed the evolution of gaming first hand as video games have made the huge technical leap forward from Pong to Uncharted. And while players may be impressed with the changing face of video games over the decades, Baer isn’t too happy with what the industry has become. I think it’s a disgrace,” Baer stated in a recent interview. “What I created got abominated. You can see the same thing in music, literature, art — any form of art,” he added. Despite his dissatisfaction with the entertainment medium he helped create nearly 50 years ago, Ralph H. Baer is still proud of his contribution to the video game industry. In the late 80s Baer created the first motion controller for the Nintendo NES system ( which Nintendo rejected at the time ) that involved a camera mounted on a television which tracked a player’s movements. Sounds a lot like the Eye Toy doesn’t it? Via

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The Father of Video Games Calls Current State of the Industry a “Disgrace”.

The Marbians have crash landed in Roswell, New Mexico and need your help to get them home in this retro, marble-themed puzzle game. Fling and Flick the marble-encased aliens through 72 puzzling levels to get them back to their UFOs and on their way home! The Marbians is a physics-based interactive game, where players will send Marbians careening off walls and around obstacles to collect moon rocks, rack up points and bonuses, and reach their UFO homes. Smack your Marbian off walls at high speed for more points, collect all the moon rocks you can, and see your alien friends safely home! Things start of very easly since you’re only required to get to the UFO that will take you away from the level and it’s usually a very easy shot to make. One shot is all you get for each Marbian available under your control (only one at first but this number continues to go up every couple of levels) and it’s that situation which makes the second element introduced to each level a very compelling one: blue orbs. You can collect each one of the three blue orbs on each level to work towards winning each of the in-game trophies AND truly be able to get 100% out of your gaming purchase. All you have to do to control the action is move the analog stick back so you can decide how strong you want to “hit” the Marbian so it goes flying in the opposite direction. An arrow will make this hassle free as you’ll always know in what direction it will move to. As the levels get more and more complicated you start to realize you must make some very incredible fantasy shots to bounce of 2-3 walls while grabbing all 3 blue orbs and making it to the UFO with almost no momentum at all… and it’s in moments like this that the game truly shines. While playing the game I was, for some reason, reminded of Cut the Rope. My guess is that it was because they’re both very fun games that are easy to play and enjoy but hard to truly master. It could also have something to do with the “collect 3 before finishing the level” side of things. Either way, The Marbians made me smile more than once when I just couldn’t even GET to the UFO shot after the shot after shot until I realized I was doing things wrong. You don’t always need to shoot AHEAD since sometimes bouncing back against a wall gives your shot the speed and angle you require to get to the exit. I also learned that making a full strenght shot is NOT the way to do things all the time since said shot could end up bouncing back on a wall and missing the UFO because I was supposed to hit it at a different speed to skip over one of the hazards in the game (more on that later). Level 11 introduces a 2nd Marbian for us to control which changes things a bit. If one Marbian hits the other it will transfer its speed and momentum and send it bouncing in reaction to the force applied to said body’s mass.. but it will stil be able to move since it hasn’t spent his turn. You can hit the X button to make it stop and better set him up for the last shot for the finish line or just let things flow and see where he ends up before making your move. This is helpful for moving a fully stopped Marbian back into play (even if it has already been moved by the player) since as long as one gets to the UFO you’ll clear the stage. Hazards are introduced later on to spice up your life. A hole is deaaaadly since falling in its grasp spells instant doom (like, at the exact instant you touch it). But wait, there’s more! notice those moving parts that like to make you bounce around AND are sometimes actually helpful? Well, they’re dangerous! If one moves you near to a wall it WILL crush you without remorse, making the Marbian go pop! And to top things off we have spinners, wonderful objects that once hit will spin around, an action that can in turn send you spinning in any direction if you don’t plan ahead. Want more things to look out for? Ok, just because we aim to please! You’ll also find oils spills around several levels and this is another thing to avoid as it will make you slip and could take you away from your goal… but but come to think of it Oil will also help you move faster for a bit so be sure to use that to your advantage! On the other side of the equation you’ve got glue which is veeery sticky and will quickly slow you down and this is NEVER a good thing. We then have teleporters, a quick mode of transportation in which you enter one and see where it takes you! They can save you since they have a bit of a pull and will send you out on the other side with full speed (hopefully towards the goal). Finally, we have Green and Red Magnets. The Green ones will attract the Marbians to them and eventually cling on and never let go (time to restart!) while the Red ones will do everything they can to send you flying far, far away from them, usually into a hole or into other hazards. The Marbians is a great minis that can be enjoyed by all thanks to its easy control layout and quick to learn mechanics. There’s enough content for you to justify a purchase and going for a 100% in the game (by collecting all three blue orbs on each level) will double your total playtime. Review Pros Cons Easy and fun game Over 60 levels in all Tricky shots required to collect all 3 blue orbs in some levels Rating 82% Published by Nordisk Film Interactive Cost – €3.99 (Only available in EU at the moment. US release and price coming soon!) Other Information Disclaimer – A copy of the game was provided by the publisher for this review. – Game was completed before writing this review. – Total amount of time played: 3 hours.

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[Review] The Marbians (minis)

Buy Dead Island, right here for only $39.99. Hurry, because we don’t know how long this will last. …or, you can try to win a copy here!! Also, don’t forget to read my review of this great game.

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Dead Island Only $39.99

Hyperkin’s Remotext is designed to be everything to everyone: gaming controller, media remote, and full QWERTY keyboard. Unfortunately, certain design flaws hinder Remotext’s performance in the first two areas. And as the controller is really only successful as a keyboard, it’s difficult to recommend this product to anyone who wants more than a mini keyboard. Remotext is light – perhaps lighter than Sony’s media remote – and I appreciate the rubberized texture of the remote. Oriented vertically, Remotext looks like a typical media remote with readily accessible buttons for play, pause, fast-forward, and so on. Oriented horizontally, Remotext could be used as a gaming controller. It sports the typical face buttons, d-pad, and two analog nubs. Your DualShock controllers needn’t fear for their place in your household, though, as it’s exceptionally difficult to play games with Remotext for a number of reasons: It’s awkward to hold Remotext for any length of time (it’s shaped like an NES controller with four times as many buttons). The analog nubs are stiff, unresponsive, and lack the L3/R3 click functionality. The only shoulder buttons present are L2/R2. L1/R1 are mapped to “previous/next chapter” on the vertically-oriented media remote portion of the layout, so these buttons that should be shoulder buttons are very difficult to reach. When used as a media remote, Remotext is perfectly serviceable. All of the most useful buttons are immediately accessible, and the remote isn’t cluttered with hoards of useless buttons, like Sony’s PS3-branded media remote. Still, I sometimes have to press a button twice before it registers, and some of the hard plastic pieces (most notably the analog nubs) have a tacky bevel of sharpish plastic that one would probably do well to sand down before use. Such design touches lower my expectations of the product. Also, whether I hold the remote in my left hand or right hand, I invariably accidentally depress the R2 shoulder button, which hasn’t done anything undesirable so far (like exit Netflix, or cause a blu-ray disc to self-destruct), but it’s annoying to click frequently an undesired button. The best feature of Remotext is its face’s ability to slide upward to reveal a hidden QWERTY keyboard. It’s nice to have a keyboard: I use it for searching for movies via the PS3’s Netflix interface and occasionally for messaging friends. If I still hung out in my Fat Princess clan’s private text chat room, well, the Remotext would be invaluable there as well. (Yes, I used to be in a Fat Princess clan – just one of my many, manly qualities that have all the girls in a tizzy.) So I appreciate the keyboard, but again, I have some complaints about it: The keys are tiny, tiny, tiny, and rather stiff. Now, I’m no ballerina, but I would hazard that even those who have digits that are more slender and elegant than mine might occasionally punch an unintended key on this pad. A few final gripes: First, this controller does not support Bluetooth. It requires a USB dongle to function. This could well be a deal-breaker for many, especially those with the PS3 Slims, which sport only two USB ports natively. Second, the Remotext registers with the system as a game controller rather than as a media controller. I have my system set up to automatically turn off gaming controllers after ten minutes of inactivity, so Remotext is likewise turned off. I was annoyed a number of times as I watched a movie and tried to pause with my Remotext, only to recall that, of course, the system had turned off the controller, so I’d have to spend a few seconds resyncing the controller before I could pause. Sure, I could change my system settings, but all things considered, I’d just as soon stick to my Sony PS3 media remote, which doesn’t have a similar issue. Third, the Remotext charges via mini-USB just like a typical gaming controller. But the system doesn’t register Remotext’s battery life, and the controller itself has no indication of its charge, either, so Remotext might well run out of juice unexpectedly. In sum, if you are on the market for a small (well, tiny) wireless keyboard for your PS3, and you don’t mind devoting a USB port to the device, then Remotext may well be a good option for you. If you principally want a media remote (or a gaming controller!), then I’d advise you to keep shopping around. With an MSRP of 30 USD, Remotext’s price isn’t unreasonable, but it’s value would have been much higher if it did certain things better. In fact, I’d suggest to the manufacturers that they drop the gaming controller stuff entirely and devote whatever resources are thus freed up to increasing the quality of the product. Remotext would be great if it were just a well-designed and well-produced media remote / keyboard hybrid.

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Product Review: Remotext Remote Control/Keyboard

Top Ware Interactive and Techland’s Dead Island became one of the most anticipated games of the year, almost immediately after the release of this trailer: The emotion and intensity of this trailer had everyone raving about it and anticipation for the game shot through the roof. A first person, melee, open world, role playing game, with zombies, that also has 4 player co-op? This is going to be great! Well, did Dead Island live up to the hype? Dead Island takes place on the fictional island of Banoi, near New Guinea. The island has become prey to a vicious zombie creating virus. You play as your choice of one of four characters, two male and two female, who just happen to be immune to this disease. Each character comes with their own brief history about how they came to be on the island, as well as their weapon specialty which changes the skill tree. The story goes along the same, regardless of who you choose, even going so far as to have many cut scenes involving all 4 characters, even though they are not with you while playing. As you progress in Dead Island, you will gain experience points (XP) by completing quests and challenges, as well as damaging and killing zombies. As with all RPGs, when you gain enough XP, you will level up. With each new level, your stats rise, and you can choose one skill from the three different skill trees. The three skill trees are: Combat, Survival, and Fury, or Blood Rage for Xian. The Survival tree is the same for each character, adding more health, defense, etc., while the Combat tree is different with each character, and focuses on their weapon specialization. The Fury, or Blood Rage, tree is similar for everyone, and upgrades a special attack, that turns your character into a “zombie death machine” for a short duration. This special attack uses fury points that you accumulate while attacking zombies. The main objectives of the game are to stay alive, help as many people as you can, and get off of the island. Dead Island’s main story is somewhat linear, but the numerous side quests greatly expand the game. Dead Island is an open world game, and you are free to travel pretty much at will, except some areas require you to progress in the main story line before opening up. The island is pretty much in a post apocalyptic type situation. You will come across vacated huts, shops, and other buildings, as well as many people in hiding. These people are the ones who often send you on a side quest. There are also vacant vehicles, some which can be driven. The driving in the game isn’t near perfect, however it does add a lot to the game, and is necessary to cut down on the traveling time. Oh, I almost forgot. There are also zombies. Many, many, zombies, everywhere. Not so many that it seems unnatural, but there are a lot. Some of the fun of Dead Island comes from the anticipation of running into a zombie. Many times you see them from afar, but at other times, you don’t know what to expect. When you enter a door, you’re never sure if there will be one, or possibly many, waiting for some fresh meat. Sometimes you’ll hear a growling sound, but that could be coming from literally anywhere. Once I was standing on the growler and didn’t realize it. Other times you’ll be scavenging through a group of suitcases for useful items and a zombie will plow into you, having run from somewhere nearby. While playing, I was even startled a few times. There are also many items and weapons scattered throughout the island. Many of the items are components that you can sell, or use to modify a weapon. The weapons are, for the most part, melee based weapons, which include everything from broken planks of wood, or oars, to knifes and swords. The weapons are labeled from flimsy or weak, to reliable or strong. They are also color coded, showing their rarity. There are guns, however they are in short supply, and the ammo is pretty scarce. The guns, honestly aren’t near as effective against the zombies anyway, and are best suited to defend against human gangs that are around the island. Weapons are not eternal, and actually become damaged pretty quick. It is a realistic type of wear and tear on a weapon, forcing you to change weapons, or repair your favorites pretty often. This isn’t a criticism, however, because it allows for a lot of diversity in your attacks. Sharp weapons will cut off body parts, while blunt weapons will knock down and bludgeon more. Every weapon in the game can also be upgraded at a work bench, allowing for more damage and better durability. There are even weapon modifications that you can make once you have found a recipe. For example, the first modification you actually get, is in the Prologue, and is called the Nail’d Mod. "Thanks to a couple of nails you'll turn any kind of wooden club into a deadly mace. Just follow the instructions below and you will have a chance to put holes in many human flesh mongers." The Nail’d Mod adds nails to clubs and maces, adding 5% damage, but slightly decreasing durability. It also changes the look of the weapon, by adding, you guessed it, nails to the weapon. After modifying a weapon, the player will actually turn the weapon in their hands admiring it for a couple seconds. The combat in the game is a lot of “Aim and Hit” button mashing, however it fits perfectly in the game, and I never seemed to get bored with it. There is also an analog stick combat option, that allows for more specific attacks, where you swing yours arm with the analog sticks movement. It was however difficult to get used to, and I only used it enough to get the 100 kills with analog trophy. It is nice having that as an option for varied game play. Visually, Dead Island is pretty good, and the audio is great. The music really added drama to the game, and the voice acting was varied and right on. Dead Island is definitely worth your gaming dollars. The game easily takes 40 hours if you don’t rush through it, skipping all the side quests. The re-playability of the game is also pretty good, as you can continue playing through the game again after completing it, either continuing to level up your character, or choosing someone else to play as. The main re-playability aspect comes in the up to four-player online cooperative mode. You can set the game to allow anyone to join your game at anytime, or join other players at will, as well. This drop-in, drop-out feature really works well with Dead Island. The more people that join, the higher level the enemies will become, scaling to the number of players, as well as their current level. Quests are set to the hosts current quest position, and won’t count for other players unless they are in a similar quest. The game does a great job of letting you know if somebody is near your progression in the story before joining their game. It was fun, just joining with someone for a bit and helping them smash zombies. It was also fun creating a new character and progressing alongside another player, especially my son and friends. If you like having a “bloody” good time, solid combat, exploring an open world, upgrading and collecting weapons, or just like zombies in general, then Dead Island will keep you entertained for countless hours. It was a very fun and enjoyable experience playing through Dead Island, and I actually can’t wait to get back to it. Review Pros Cons Graphics are Good Great Musical Score and Sounds Lots of Action Hours and Hours of Gameplay Still Some Glitches Driving Could Be Better Rating 93% If you would like to see 20 min of gameplay, here is a good video, even though it is on the xbox.

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[Review] Dead Island

Mmm, how long will publishers be able to keep up this schedule? Once January 2012 is with us I’m pretty sure we’ll be lucky to get 6 releases in all between retail and PSN as, for some reason, publishers are still stubborn and decide to release ALL their games between the last two weeks of october up to the holidays in an effort to get as many of them $$$ for their bank accounts. Funny how that works since last time I checked we actually buy games ALL YEAR LONG since we don’t do our gaming just during the november-february period, right? As for this week, we’ve got a total of 23 releases (yep, almost a full two dozen!) that are as follows: 9 at retail, 9 PSN, 4 minis and 1 PSOne Classic. Care to find out what is being considered for each of these categories so you can plan your gaming budget for it all? Then come on in! PS3 RETAIL RELEASES You can Buy Ratchet and Clank: All 4 One Right Here! You can Buy Everybody Dance Right Here! You can Buy Batman Arkham City Right Here! Or Maybe you want the Collector’s Edition! You can Buy Rocksmith Right Here! You can Buy The Sims 3: Pets Right Here! You can Buy National Geographic Challenge Right Here! PSN RELEASES PSOne CLASSICS RELEASES

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Releases for the Week (October 17th-23rd)

Greetings loyal minions! Once again it’s time to huddle around your computer monitors warming glow and bear witness to another top notch live blog for Soul Calibur V! Coming this Monday starting at 2pm PST, follow your lil’ old pal FooBear408 as he ventures forth into the foggy city of San Francisco. Always trying to come up with new and exciting ways to keep the “Foo Army” entertained – I’m going to introduce a little segment I call “FooBear Keeps It Real”. Armed with my trusty cameraman, I’ll be hitting the streets of fog city and get random gamers takes on the upcoming schedule of big games releasing and other topics – posted right to the live twitter feed via my iPhone 4! You’re probably thinking – “genius!” – right? You’d be right, because it hasn’t been done before on any live blog before I’ve done. On top of the usual interviews from developers and production gurus for the game, I’ll be able to get keen insight for any fans of the Soul Calibur series. You’ll pay for the whole live blog seat – but you’re only going to need the edge! Our fearless leader Tosh will activate the blog at 2pm PST and make sure you subscribe, that way you’ll be privy to all the insider game info that I can squeeze out of this little gaming nugget. I’ve got other aces up my sleeve as far as prizes given during only the live blog – so this one is not to be missed! Crossing fingers for a return of my homie Darth Vader and everyone’s favorite green guy – Yoda! See you Monday, true believers! Register fora Live Blog after the jump! Soul Calibur V Event

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Soul Calibur V Event – Live Blog This Monday!

Atlus has just made some very loyal Demon hunters extremely happy. We all know that Atlus loves its fan’s and it appears our hunting days are not over any time soon! They announced today, that the Demon Souls server has had its support extended into 2012. The press release can be read in full below. THE TRUE DEMON’S SOULS STARTS HERE: ATLUS EXTENDS ONLINE SERVER SUPPORT INTO 2012 Only $19.99 for one of the most influential games of all-time! IRVINE, CA — SEPTEMBER 22, 2011 — ATLUS today announced plans to again extend its online server support for the award-winning hardcore multiplayer action RPG Demon’s Souls™ for PlayStation®3 computer entertainment system, ensuring that the game’s acclaimed online functionality is available into 2012. The title’s network features, considered among the most memorable and innovative such feature sets in gaming history, go far beyond any previous RPG, allowing players to leave hints for each other, replay death scenes, cooperatively revive dead players, or invade another player’s game to wreak havoc. Far from an add-on feature, the multiplayer possibilities in Demon’s Souls are vast and uniquely focused on changing and intensifying the single player experience. “While it comes at significant cost to us and although it has been over two years since the game revolutionized the notion of multiplayer and online functionality in an RPG,” commented Aram Jabbari, Manager of PR and Sales at ATLUS, “Our commitment to the game and the fans that turned it into an incredible success remains as strong as ever. While the reality is that one day the servers will ultimately close due to operation and maintenance costs, that day is not today, nor will it be this year. We’re excited to continue to support one of the most significant, influential games in recent memory into its third year, and we’re planning to hold more tendency events for our loyal, beloved fans. If you’ve been waiting to try Demon’s Souls or held off with concern that it was too late to join in, the truth is that there’s never been a better time to see what all the talk and awards are all about.” When asked if the fact that a Flamelurker had been spotted guarding the door to the server room had anything to do with the decision to extend the online functionality, Jabbari politely excused himself, muttering something about his mother calling him. In addition to their continued commitment to the game’s unmatched online functionality, ATLUS also today revealed plans for Pure White and Pure Black World Tendency events for the holiday season, the details of which would be disclosed at a later date. Demon’s Souls is out now for PlayStation 3 system for the bargain MSRP of $19.99. For more information, visit the game’s official website at http://www.demons-souls.com. About ATLUS ATLUS has established itself as one of its industry’s most consistent, celebrated companies. With proven success across a variety of genres and platforms, including enthusiast-oriented games like the Shin Megami Tensei franchise of award-winning, fan beloved roleplaying games (including the hit Persona sub-series of games and the prestigious Nocturne), the groundbreaking, genre-defying Catherine, and Demon’s Souls, ATLUS provides quality critically acclaimed interactive entertainment to a wide spectrum of customers. ATLUS has published games for every major video game console and handheld system, including the PlayStation®3 computer entertainment system, Xbox 360® video game and entertainment system from Microsoft, Wii™, DS™, PSP® (PlayStation® Portable), and PC. ATLUS is a brand of Index Corporation and its privately held subsidiary Index Digital Media, Inc. For breaking news, special promotions, insider info, and more, visit http://www.atlus.com/faithful to join the ranks of the ATLUS Faithful! Twitter: www.twitter.com/AtlusUSA Facebook: www.facebook.com/AtlusUSA ©2009 SONY COMPUTER ENTERTAINMENT INC. Licensed to and published by Atlus U.S.A., Inc. Demon’s Souls has been rated “M” for Mature with Blood and Violence by the ESRB. Source:Press Release

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The True Demons Souls Starts Here!