All Topics Gaming older than one year ago

We really think Tommy Tallarico missed his calling in life by becoming a composer. If the first Gamer Warz and this followup are any indication, the man was meant for comedy. Gamer Warz 2 (watch it after the break) is a collaboration between Tallarico and lulz-factory Mega64 that really gets to the heart of the elitism and console preferences of the gaming community at large in a surprisingly civil and educated way.

Don't get it twisted: we certainly love Tallarico's music, but this may be the funniest video we've seen in a long time.

#review The follow-up to the incredibly addictive puzzle game Picross DS, Picross 3D moves the picture finding gameplay into the next dimension, a game of block breaking and brain teasing that's also one of the best Nintendo DS games of the year. More »

#sports Last week EA Sports declined comment on a rumor that NHL 11 would include all top-flight juniors teams from the Canadian Hockey League. The Canadian Broadcasting Company is now reporting the inclusion as fact. More »

Auction here Sega Letter Jacket with Sonic Game of Year Patch NINTENDO MYSTERY AUCTION NES SNES N64 GBA GB GBC Super Nintendo (japanese) plus Super Wildcard DX Nintendo GDEV Gamecube Dev Hardware Nintendo Power sign

#xbox360 After a brief delay (and scary sounding update) in the flow of updates to Microsoft's Game Room virtual arcade for Xbox 360 and Games For Windows, things appear to be officially hunky-dory. More »

MMO developer Icarus Studios has been restructured in order to maintain support for its game Fallen Earth. Set in a post-apocalypse Grand Canyon, the FPS/RPG hybrid was co-developed by Fallen Earth LLC and released in September 2009.

James Hettinger, CEO of Icarus Studios, shared the announcement on the game's official website, noting that "the steps were taken to maintain the growth, continued development and profitability of Fallen Earth." The two combined companies will retain core members of staff, reduced from 110 to 35 (excluding general managers and customer support). "We have a core team comprised of folks from the departments, and we're eager to push forward on our goals and milestones," marketing manager Jessica Orr told Massively.

Orr also confirmed that Fallen Earth's patch development, community service and scheduled events will continue as planned. The effect on other projects -- such as the resurrection of Sam Suede -- will likely be more pronounced (dead?). We'll let you know as soon as we hear more.

#maps Much as I want to headline this as a "free map download," that would be misleading. Because these aren't playable maps, but they are high resolution overhead shots of the 10 used in Battlefield: Bad Company 2's multiplayer. More »

Because WoW players needed more ways to get their daily Azeroth fix.

Nintendo really wants to make sure you know how to play Super Mario Galaxy 2, so in addition to the Cosmic Guide feature of the game (which will play for you past the hard parts, if you so choose), it'll also be releasing a bonus DVD in Europe with video tutorials of how to pull off some of the game's toughest tricks.

We'll skip right over the irony of Nintendo releasing a bonus disc that can't be played on the Wii (since it's just a standard DVD), and tell you that we've contacted Nintendo of America to see if those of us in the States will have this same option. In the meantime, you might want to grab a copy of the first Galaxy and start practicing, because with all of this extra help that Nintendo is offering, SMG2 must be really, really hard.

Nintendo platforms may not be the first place fans of the Civilization series think of when pondering the franchise, but there have indeed been some installments throughout the game industry’s history. One would think that the Wii would be perfect for a Civilization game, but that’s yet to happen. At least the DS [...]

Thanks to NintendoWiiBoy and CoffeewithChess for the heads up!

Eventually, this is all going to come to an end. There won't be any more Xbox Live and the world will be overrun by the undead. It's, like, scientifically proven and stuff. In the meanwhile, game it up -- and what better to play than Zombie Apocalypse, a game that teaches you how to kill your inevitable enemy, the undead!

Major Nelson is the individual who turned us on to this week's Xbox Live deal, which sees 50 percent of the price for Konami's end-of-days sim gnawed off for all Gold members, bringing it down to a more manageable 400 ($5). Hopefully this will allow more of us to receive the vital training we'll all need someday.


Xbox.com: Add Trials HD to your Xbox 360 download queue ($5)

Blizzard's mega-popular MMO may soon be portable.

#crime One man's efforts to give away the original Assassin's Creed to pirates for free will ultimately cost him $25,000 and three months in a halfway house. More »

One of the best DS puzzle games heads to another dimension.

#dlc Tomorrow on Xbox Live Marketplace, two bucks will get you a set of tricked out armor for Mass Effect 2, that turns Commander Shepard into "The Equalizer," and we don't mean this guy. More »

Looking to bolster your map count in Modern Warfare 2? Tomorrow, the Stimulus Package DLC deploys on PSN for $14.99, bringing with it five additional maps -- three brand-new; two return from Modern Warfare. For a quick rundown of the locales straight outta Robert "fourzerotwo" Bowling's mouth, check out his post on the PlayStation Blog.

If you haven't managed to scrounge up enough change from under the couch cushions, don't fret: Infinity Ward is also turning on double the XP this week. So, even if you can't afford a stimulus package of new maps, you can at least whet your appetite for delicious experience points.

On a crusade for some fresh Avatar gear? A couple of new Dante's Inferno items just popped up in the Avatar Marketplace, including the cuddly little Phlegyas Pet you see above. Look at the 'lil guy, ain't he cute?

On top of that, there's also a branded tee and hat, as well as the full outfit Dante sports in the game. Hey, it's gotta be better than watching your Avatar sew some thread through its flesh, right?

Hot on the heels of this morning's announcement, Nintendo Week -- the weekly show documenting the content available on the DSi and Wii on the Nintendo Channel -- gets its hands on the new black Wii console. You know, the one coming May 9? They don't show it off for long but, as you can see in the image above, we now know this: it's extremely glossy.

Head past the break for the rest of this week's content.

Beast moans, or an exercise in the experience of time.

Craig returns from vacation but hasn't got a clue. Also, some reader mail makes the second half better than the first.

#xbox360 Ready the Microsoft Points, Xbox 360 owner, for this week's Xbox Live Arcade update promises to be a big one, with first-person brawler Zeno Clash and top-down shoot 'em up Raystorm HD arriving this Wednesday. More »

Baseball fans –

Last up on our divisional predictions series is the American League East. Here’s a stat for you, the AL East has sent a team to the World Series in nine out of the past 12 seasons, pretty ridiculous! It’s no surprise that the Yanks are the obvious favorite. With all of their A-listers back along with the additions of Curtis Granderson and Nick Johnson, the defending champs will once again be the team to beat. The Red Sox have finished in second place 10 out of the last 12 seasons, but are hoping to change that in ’10. With newcomers like Adrian Beltre added to their core group of All-Stars, they’re looking for their third title in 7 years. The Rays unfortunately couldn’t duplicate their 2008 magic in ’09, failing to make the playoffs, but with great athletes like Carl Crawford and Carlos Pena, don’t sleep on Tampa, they’ll be hanging around come the fall. And then we have the Orioles, who have a solid Rookie of the Year candidate in catcher Matt Wieters and a talented young outfield, but are going to have a tough time competing with the Yanks, “Sawx,” and Rays. Same goes for the Blue Jays who have some bright spots in Adam Lind and Vernon Wells, but have a lot of work to do if they want to contend with the big boys.

Here’s a look at our final AL East predictions video showing you which teams will come out on top this October according to MLB 10 The Show.

Welcome to The Show!

Did you realize that the Disney Sing It franchise was now in its fifth iteration? We didn't realize it had been that prolific, but then, we don't always keep up with the Hannah Montanas and High School Musicals and other recent Disney Channel fare. However, the latest version of the karaoke game, due this summer for Wii and PS3, might be enough to turn the franchise from an unknown quantity to a guilty pleasure -- even if it's a pleasure so guilty that most of us wouldn't mention it.

Disney Sing It: Family Hits is a collection of songs from Disney films like Aladdin, Sleeping Beauty, Mary Poppins, and Toy Story. It's designed with big gatherings in mind, with a "Family Mode" for passing the mic between up to 8 players. And if you're not ready to take on the classics, it also includes some vocal instruction and exercises led by The Princess and the Frog's Anika Noni Rose.

Admit it: you started humming some Disney movie tune the second you learned what the game was about.

CCP's deep space MMO keeps getting bigger.