All Topics Gaming older than one year ago

#gamescom2010 As I crossed the finish line after my fifth run through the latest Motorstorm Apocalypse track in 3D, I raised my arm in the air and let out a resounding, "Woot!" What did I have to celebrate? More »

Though the dynamic duo behind Penny Arcade received some negative responses to the strip, voters in the last Weekly Webcomic Wrapup poll couldn't get enough of the MMO-parodizing comic "The Sixth Slave." It managed to rack in 35 percent of the vote, handily beating out comics with less ... inflammatory subject matter. Congratulations, Penny Arcade!

Second and third place went to ActionTrip's "A Certain Type of Rush" and Virtual Design's "Intelligent Design," respectively. If you've got a favorite strip you'd like to see in the next Wrapup, drop a link in the comments, or send in a tip!

#left4dead Valve revealed today The Sacrifice, a new expansion for the Left 4 Dead series that will be compatible with both the first and second games in the series. More »

#metroid Looks like somebody at Nintendo HQ has been looking at the way Halo is marketed and thought, yes, that'll work for Metroid, too. More »

#tellusdammit Hi. How are you? I'm okay. There was this time that I wasn't okay. I was bummed out. Perfect fodder for, you guessed it, Tell Us Dammit. More »

#portal Oh man. If you were wondering how co-op would work in Valve's upcoming Portal 2, wonder no more. It works a little something like this. More »

Two parts of GSC Game World's eerie FPS series -- set in an alternate-reality Chernobyl following a second nuclear meltdown -- can be yours on the super cheap. Both the original S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Shadow of Chernobyl and follow-up S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Call of Pripyat are bundled together for only $10 on Steam through Monday. (The S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Clear Sky prequel game is not part of the bundle; but it's is available separately for $10 on Steam.)

The full-on S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2 sequel was recently announced and scheduled for release in 2012. While that gives you plenty of time to get to caught up, this weekend Steam sale might just be the excuse you were looking for to book your first trip to Chernobyl. That whole nuclear meltdown incident made it quite a lovely place for scavenging, trespassing, adventuring, loner-ing, killing, exploring and robbing. See what we did there?

#pc THQ has revealed the first playable race for the upcoming massively multiplayer online game based on the Warhammer 40K universe. And you'll never guess who it is. More »

#microsoft As expected, Microsoft has begun selling standalone hard drives for its new Xbox 360 S systems, and as expected, they're ridiculously expensive. More »

You've had more than enough time to get up, come on get down with the sickness (haven't we all?), so this coming week's worth of other tracks from Disturbed in Rock Band should be quite pleasing. And hey, three tracks from Universal's Motown Republic label were thrown in as well for good measure.

Namco-Bandai is banking quite a bit on Enslaved: Odyssey to the West, the action-adventure game from Ninja Theory -- at least, in Europe. MCV reports that Namco-Bandai has revealed it'll back the game with a massive marketing campaign leading up to its October launch, one that will even eclipse marketing efforts for the studio's previous big AAA release, Tekken 6. Big deal, thy name is Enslaved.

"We really want this title to stand out amongst the crowd as not just a brilliant gaming experience, but also as one of the greatest stories told within an interactive universe -- if it doesn't win awards then I'm going to eat my joypad," said PR and marketing manager Lee Kirton. Frankly, we don't know why he thinks eating joypads is a bad thing. How else are you supposed to get your daily allotment of plastics and dyes?

"Enslaved really is the cream of British talent uniting for an epic video gaming experience. Ninja Theory is a truly brilliant studio that has done a remarkable job creating a totally believable story in this futuristic post-apocalyptic world," he added. Despite Kirton's confidence in the game, it's certainly got its work cut out for it, what with Dead Rising 2 and Halo: Reach launching in September and a little game called Call of Duty: Black Ops following in November. But, hey, if there's anything that can get it done, it's teamwork -- Enslaved's got that in spades.

#clips Earlier today, RockBandAide.com picked apart a Gamescom video interview with Harmonix and posted a list of 38 more songs believed to be in Rock Band 3. Asked for confirmation, Harmonix provided it. Hilariously. More »

#psp We haven't seen much lately of The 3rd Birthday, the next game in the Parasite Eve series. Released on phones in Japan in 2007, it's coming to PSPs. As Ashcraft wrote, this game's all about Aya Brea and her guns. More »

A picture is worth a thousand words, no? The intrepid journalists you see above -- our very own Kyle Orland and Alexander Sliwinski (from left to right) -- were caught on camera in the usual convention coverage state: exhausted, overburdened and still working non-stop. At the very least, our diligent duo got snapped by Killer 7 and No More Heroes creator Suda51 and blasted onto Twitter in such a state.

We know what they'll be playing this weekend (read: catchup on Gamescom coverage), but what about the rest of our staff? And how about you? Hmmmmm?!

#ratings David DeMartini - Metacritic score predictor extraordinaire - is at it again, confidently telling Eurogamer Crysis 2 is going return 90 ratings, upland territory that all publishers crave for big games but few acknowledge so boldly before release. More »

Assistant producer Tomoaki Ayano is hinting at the inclusion of at least one new character in the arcade release of Super Street Fighter IV. Well, we say "hinting," but these hints are delivered with all the subtlety of a Sonic Boom. In a post on the official development blog, Ayano points to a picture with the words "Here Comes New Challengers?!" and shares a screenshot from the arcade game, with an extra, mysterious character slot. Ayano said, "It looks like the arcade Super Street Fighter IV won't be ending with just a 100% port!!!"

If this were 1993, we'd be totally bummed, because an updated arcade Street Fighter game would have meant our home version was now obsolete, and we could look forward to spending another $70 on a cartridge in six months. These days, though, there's the possibility of DLC, so we'll save our dejection until we need it.

"A new Goldeneye has arrived," the trailer below matter-of-factly states, "so what are you going to do?" That, Mr. Trailer, is an awfully open-ended question. We imagine we'll stick to our usual routine of waking up at noon, then turning on whatever television station is currently running an America's Next Top Model marathon, but -- oh, we see. That's one of those rhetorical questions. We're supposed to say "multiplayer, of course," and then you show a bunch of clips from Goldeneye 007's multiplayer component. Sorry for the confusion.

Check out some new-but-familiar maps (hey, it's the Facility!), guns (hey, it's the RCP90!) and features (hey, it's Paintball Mode!) in the trailer posted after the jump. Or, if you're interested in the game's single player campaign for some reason, you can check that out in the nifty galleries posted even further after the jump.

#review In 1996, Lara Croft burst onto the scene with the first Tomb Raider. Time hasn't been so kind, and over the years, her popularity has dipped. But with spin-off title Guardian of Light, is she back with a vengeance? More »

#gamescom2010 Namco gave Tekken and Street Fighter fans in Germany an unforgettable presentation at Gamescom this week in the form of a live action match between fighting game characters Ryu and Kazuya Mishima... and a cross-dressing Chun-li. More »

#gamescom2010 When a Capcom public relations manager brings his A game to my Gamescom Marvel Vs. Capcom 3 session, my only possible line of defense is Squirrel Girl, a Marvel character so powerful she doesn't appear in the game. More »

#gamescom2010 Let me start by dashing your hopes, crushing your expectations: Despite the setting, the heroes, and the town building, Sims Medieval is still very much a standard Sims game. More »

#commercials This is the Metrod Other M commercial, showing us a live-action version of heroine Samus. We showed it to you earlier, but it begs to be compared to other live-action Metroid spots. More »

#gamescom2010 Insomniac Games' newest Ratchet & Clank title originally began life as a two-player game, but eventually grew into something bigger. Ratchet & Clank: All 4 One is a PlayStation 3 action-adventure that rewards cooperation, but also encourages griefing your teammates. More »

#gamescom2010 At this year's E3, I played each and every available Mortal Kombat contestant. At Gamescom, I played the two newly added classic killers Cyrax and Kitana, a chance to slice the head off my boss. More »

#preview The Ace Combat franchise generally has seen its jet combat supremacy unchallenged. Ubisoft changed this with its May 2009 release of Tom Clancy H.A.W.X. So it was time for change. More »

#impressions Assassin's Creed Brotherhood doesn't come out until mid November, but you may have already played the multiplayer, or a form of it. More »

#thq In May, THQ put UFC Undisputed 2010's online access behind a one-use code, included free in retail copies, or $5 sold online. The same now goes for WWE Smackdown vs. Raw 2011, and the code's price raises to $10. More »