It’s a shame how poorly Game Republic’s action-adventure Folklore sold considering how fantastic the story and the sixaxis implementation are. After seeing its abysmal lifetime sales from the NPD, I felt compelled to give this gem a little justice. If you’re one of those PS3 owners who neglected this game, continue reading on as Folklore is one of the hidden gems the console has to offer.

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Those of you following the Team Fortress 2 update blog will have no doubt read all about the new unlock system, which is supposed to provide a more level playing field to all players by changing the weapon unlock system from being achievement based to being random. “Random” insofar as you are randomly given an unlockable weapon, irrespective of whether or not it is usable by your current class, and irrespective of what you are actually doing in the game.

The theory is, this will enable all players to have an equal chance of gaining the unlockable weapons, without having to play a class you may not like, and without having to do silly things like perform 1,000 double-jumps.

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There are those days when you sit back and reflect on a headline you’ve just typed and wonder: “what the…?”

This is one such occasion that I have looked at a collection of words for a few seconds and tried to make sense of what is going on around me. Is this really something I should be bothering my life with? “Yes” is the answer to that, because sometimes it’s nice to make no sense of something. I can’t make head nor tail of Noby Noby Boy, quite literally. But that’s why I love it so. And, apparently, so do many others – he’s just got to Mars! Hit the jump for a mindf*** of a video.

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This is probably one of the best and/or worst kills you will ever see in an online match. Taken from a game of Call Of Duty: World At War, the following video depicts one player realising what may have been a lifelong dream and another living through the kind of nightmare that nobody ever needs. Hit the jump to find out just what went down. But, whatever you, don’t “turn around”.

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[This is a review of the import version of Demon's Souls. For another take on the Atlus localization, click this link]

Games are a growing, diversifying medium. Expanding beyond their arcade roots, most modern games are no longer expressly designed to suck quarters or tokens out of a player’s pocket. Games can get by on their narrative, complex systems, deep characters, and immersive worlds.

Unfortunately, difficulty has tended to form a barrier between games that rely on those factors, and their intended audiences. Players can hardly be expected to care about a game’s rich cast and twisting plot if they can’t actually make it that far.

As a result, many newer games have been seeing their difficulty toned down, challenge traded for accessibility. From Software’s PS3 title Demon’s Souls is not such a game. In fact, it prides itself on being as difficult as possible, punishing players for their missteps and kicking them in the teeth when they get knocked down. This might sound terrible, but this uncompromising brutality is actually what makes the game one of the most satisfying, challenging play experiences around, provided you have the will to persevere.

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This explosive new trailer for Call of Duty Modern Warfare 2 is just about enough to wet the appetite of any fan and make him scream out for more! E3 is coming, and I’m sure it will be a highlight. You’ve probably already hit the jump and watched the trailer, I’ll shut up now!

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Although this is my first soapbox I’ve decided instead of taking the usual rant direction of a soapbox, I will take it in the opposite direction… asking for help.

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There was once a time when the title “Gamer” wasn’t treated like a badge of honor. To be a gamer was to be a geek, or a nerd – the type of person who enjoyed summer afternoons before a glowing array of pixels instead of the great outdoors. Gaming was a hobby that was best enjoyed in secret, like your sister’s Nsync album, or a fresh batch of pornography. As such, I find it odd that we often feel the need to defend the title from those who would wish to use it without having “earned” it.

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Take a quick look around your room.  What do you see?   Besides your furniture, consoles, games, and television you may notice a plethora of game controllers.  How about a dusty Wii Zapper?  Perhaps a couple bulky plastic guitars?  A cumbersome drum kit?  There is evidence in your domicile that plastic pistols and replica rifles are being sorely neglected in the technologically advancing world of video games.  This is a call to artificial arms. Read more… »

In this soapbox, I will be discussing moaning about a multitude of petty grievances with gaming of today, proving that no matter how good we have it, there’ll always be some killjoy out there taking it for granted, so call me Buzz Killington and let’s get it started. Read more… »

The trailer is a wonderful piece of marketing. Not only does it allow the content producer to give the consumer a look at certain aspects of their product, it can be as ambiguous or unrelenting as it likes. It’s a fantastic tool that blends music with video and can even provide an emotional response. So, yes, it’s pretty obvious that I love the often despised short video.

The teaser, mind you, is the horrible bastard child. A completely useless mechanic that does nothing but push hype to a point where people actually write blog posts analyzing them, all 20 seconds and all. I think they need to go.

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I absolutely stink at Halo 3. It isn’t that I am bad at first-person shooters, but the fact that I so poorly execute anything in Halo 3 leaves me with little desire to play it. If I pop in Call of Duty I can hold my own and do much better, so why is it that I absolutely suck at Halo?

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