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I continue to be astounded by the things that people say. It seems that whenever a videogame company announces a new product, or announces a price to go along with it, angry people come frothing forth hoping to get a slice of the “I’m a spoiled brat” pie.

This week, official news of Microsoft Kinect’s final price point appeared, and at $149.99 USD, absolutely no one was surprised. But pissed, yep, they were definitely pissed. The funny thing? The vast majority were, and are, pissed for stupid reasons, and it’s just getting pathetic.

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Let’s face it, anything made of LEGOs is cool. But when you take one of the most popular RTS games and combine it with LEGOs, that is just plain epic. Even if you aren’t a fan of StarCraft, you will still appreciate the video.

The four and a half minute animation, created by Kooberz Studios, portrays all of the qualities we know and love from StarCraft. I don’t know about you, but watching SCV resource collection has never been more enjoyable. Anyhow, back to learning my way around StarCraft 2 (I r noob). Read more… »

Remember way back in February, when my buddy Curtis told you about a new Worms titles coming to Steam? Well, today Team17 announced that Worms Reloaded will hit the digital distributor on August 26.

With the series spanning more than seventeen titles, a lot of you are probably wondering what’s so special about Reloaded. According to the press release, there will be: “over 60 single-player missions (including new Warzone Campaign and Bodycount Mode), a fully featured landscape creator, 45+ plus weapons spanning the entire Worms series and a huge currency based customization system – all wrapped up in HD quality visuals.” Read more… »

I have only pirated one game in my life. I had picked up the Xbox version of the Star Wars game Republic Commando, expecting it to work in my new Xbox 360. That’s when I discovered that the 360 hadn’t been updated yet such that Republic Commando was backwards-compatible, and there was no information about when the next title update was coming which would allow me to play the game. Angry and frustrated, I downloaded a copy of Republic Commando for PC from a bit torrent site. Just a few days later, the Xbox 360 received the needed update to allow me to play the console version, and I deleted the pirated PC version from my hard drive.

The only way I was able to deal with the qualms of Catholic conscience generated by pirating Republic Commando was that, in my mind, I’d already given the appropriate parties my money for the privilege of playing the game – and I was angry. It’s easy to justify this sort of thing when you’re angry.

I was discussing Starcraft II with a friend last night, and he told me that it wasn’t a game he’d be willing to buy, but he might pirate it. As the owner of copyrighted material, myself (a trio of screenplays written in my sordid youth), I am generally in favor of the arguments against piracy. Anyone who works hard to produce a product should be paid for the right to use said product.  In this case, however, I found it difficult to chastise my friend, because I understand his perspective.
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Joy of joys, why it’s another new map pack that isn’t really a new map pack for Battlefield: Bad Company 2 released in quick succession after the last. White Pass is now finally unlocked for Rush games and Nelson Bay (my least favourite map of the lot) can be played in Conquest.

Check out the trailer above for a glimpse of these “new” maps you will have already over the past four or so months.

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Following in the footsteps of the previous Call of Duty titles, today Activision revealed that a “companion” title for Call of Duty: Black Ops will be released on the Nintendo DS. The newly revealed shooter will be hitting stores along side the PC, Xbox 360 and PS3 releases on November 9, 2010.

Developed by n-Space (the guys behind Call of Duty: Modern Warfare: Mobilized), Call of Duty: Black Ops promises to put gamers in various combat situation ranging from “taking the controls of an attack helicopter to flying an experimental stealth fighter jet.” Read more… »

For my older brother and I, Duke Nukem 3D was a staple of our childhood. Not only was it one of the first FPS games that I became completely enamored with, but it was also quite possibly the first time I saw a pair of tits, virtual or not. With superb gameplay and a script that kept any prepubescent boy laughing for hours, it was sheer genius in our eyes, and as we all know, it has become the stuff that legends are made of.

Duke Nukem: Manhattan Project first released on the PC in 2002, ten years after the original sidescroller first saw the light of day on IBM PCs. Now, after nearly a decade, the King has made his way to the XBLA. Is it hail-worthy after so many years have gone by? Read more… »

As made public last week by Capcom the two largest fighting series are finally going to collide “sometime” in 2012 in the form of Street Fighter x Tekken.

Not much real hard information has been forthcoming since then but that’s hardly surprising if the game is still two years away.

What we have been treated to are a load of new shots from the game and it is looking seriously awesome.  Having never been much of a Street Fighter fan my loyalty lies with the Tekken franchise.  My initial concern is how the team would deal with the different art styles but a few moments with these screens has put my mind at ease.

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For those of you willing to tear yourselves away from Starcraft 2 today, you will find the PlayStation Store update to be, yet again, underwhelming. Unless of course you are a football fan or a PS+ user. To the former, I applaud you. To the latter, there are some that question your taste (just so you know).

This week there is my personal favorite: Madden NFL 11 demo. For those PS+ users, you can enjoy Critter Crunch, FREE! Last and certainly least, Kane and Lynch 2 demo is available – just in case you feel like torturing yourself. Anyhow, hit the jump for the full list. Read more… »

After playing Panzer Dragoon Saga, I found myself a bit torn. Here was a game from the Sega Saturn widely heralded by RPG fanatics as one of the greatest games in the genre, and it didn’t completely blow my mind. It’s my own fault;  no one is immune to the unstoppable force of the hype machine, and I came into the experience with preconceived notions after hearing for years that it sits pretty amongst the best games in the genre. I’ve recently replayed Final Fantasy 7 – the other ‘big deal’ JRPG of that console generation – and though it’s not a personal favorite, it’s easy to see how it maintains its place as one of the best JRPGs ever made. I have trouble saying that PDS withstood the test of time as well as other RPG greats.

And yet, there’s no doubting that Panzer Dragoon Saga is a very good game. It’s easily the best RPG I’ve played on the Saturn, and one of the best RPGs of its generation. As the third installment of a series that started out (and continued afterward) as rail shooters, PDS combines unique gameplay with its own brand of original storytelling and style. You’ve probably never played anything quite like it, and unfortunately you probably never will. Unless, of course, you’re playing this very game.

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Today retail giant GameStop announced that it will acquire the indie game community site Kongregate in a deal that is expected to be signed on August 1. Kongregate, which “hosts 10 million monthly players who spend approximately 23 million hours per month on the site,” will to operate as a wholly-owned subsidiary.

According to the press release, “Acquiring Kongregate strengthens GameStop’s digital platform and its commitment to become the gaming aggregator of choice.” GameStop CEO J. Paul Raine added, “Kongregate advances GameStop’s digital strategy by providing a gaming platform for casual, mobile and browser games that can be promoted and played by our existing gamers.” Read more… »

In true Activision form, Capcom will be pumping out approximately 30% more hit titles every year. How will they accomplish this? By outsourcing to Western studios, Capcom has figured out a way to significantly cut development costs. In fact, they’ve already enlisted the help of Canadian developer Blue Castle for Dead Rising 2: whether the tactic paid off or not is yet to be seen.

Is there too much Activision in your Capcom, or are you happy to see more big name titles from one of the biggest developers of all time? Can Capcom achieve complete global saturation? Sound off below. Read more… »