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A portion of a Omnigamer interview with Luis of Pencil Test...

Omni: Speaking about the expressiveness. Do you think there’s a sort of essence or flair that stop-motion brings out to it? Why did you choose claymation over traditional 3D animation?

Luis: That’s something we talked about a lot actually. Something we’ve talked about over the years. You know that feeling you got when you watched the Harryhausen stuff?

Omni: Absolutely.

Luis: And no matter how raw that was, because he was basically inventing the art form or surely elevating it to a place no one had kind of seen before. Even looking back at that stuff, there’s a magic in stop-motion animation. We talk about it a lot. What is it? I can only speak for myself. There’s something about the human element in stop-motion. We’re not computers. Our movements aren’t perfectly timed and precise and they’re not generated by an algorithm that says start here and start there and there. And then that curve between the start and end spot isn’t really smooth as human beings. It’s kind of what makes your personality. You can watch two people walking down the street and you can tell a lot about them by the gait of their walk: the little subtle imperfections, the subtle differences, their swagger. There’s something about the way they move.

I find that with stop-motion, because you’re touching it with your hand, you’re moving it with your hand, there’s something about seeing things animate and the locomotion of that animation is generated by a human being pushing things around that you don’t get any other way. You just don’t. And you’re either a fan of it or you’re not. It either speaks to you or it doesn’t. But for the people that it speaks to, that it touches, I feel like stop-motion brings a human element that you can identify with. I know I sure do and the guys do and we’re in love with it. [...] Animation isn’t a job, it’s a craft, and stop-motion is like the niche, exotic rare cousin of this craft. It really is that human element, those slight expressions that come out when a human being pushes those little objects around and it translates.

GameFly has launched a blowout sale on its used games catalog, dropping prices for a wide variety of previously-owned releases for the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360.

Standout multiplatform deals include Saints Row 4 for $14.99, BioShock Infinite for $9.99, and The Bureau: XCOM Declassified for $8.99. PlayStation 3 owners can pick up Vanillaware's fantasy-themed brawler Dragon's Crown and Swery65's mind-bending horror epic Deadly Premonition: The Director's Cut for $19.99 apiece, while a used copy of Gears of War: Judgment for the Xbox 360 rings up at $8.99.

A full list of featured games is available at CheapAssGamer.

[Image: Vanillaware]

Is the Lego Movie Videogame for you? It probably is if you can bring yourself to enjoy the following politically-controversial, looping video:Read more...

A portion of a Nintendo Life review...

Spot the Differences is a disappointing game. With its lack of content and premium price point — $9.99 is completely unreasonable for a product with one mode that can be found for free elsewhere — we don't recommend Spot the Differences to anyone other than fans of good photography. Even then, there are cheaper alternatives.

Full review here

- Ryosuke Takahashi will have multiple versions of his card ranging from Rare to Ultra and even Super Rares
- cards get slotted into the cars you have
- Ryosuke Takahashi is the leader of the Project D team and drives a Savanna RX-7 Infinity III FC3S
- Ryosuke's younger brother Keisuke Takahashi is known to be able to drive without having to think too hard and relying instead on emotions and feeling
- he drives a yellow RX-7 Type R FD3S
- Koichiro Iketani worked at a gas station and was the head of the Akina SpeedStars
- he drives a Silvia K’s S13
- Itsuki Takeuchi is a bit of comic relief and drives a Corolla Levin SR AE85

Another Tony Hawk game is en route, with Hawk providing motion capture for an unspecified developer.

Monolith Productions is doing "whatever we can" to ensure feature parity between the Xbox 360, PS3 versions of Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor and the Xbox One, PS4 offerings. But the developer admits this may be an impossibility and reveals the game's core hook, the Nemesis system driving its procedurally-generated enemies, will likely lack some complexity on Xbox 360 and PS3 when the game launches this year.

"To break it down, some of the stuff we're pretty confident will still be very similar on current gen: the core mechanics, like combat, stealth, ranged and movements; the basic control and gameplay, that should all be really solid," Monolith Design Director Michael De Plater told IGN. "What it won't have is the same level of depth and variety and simulation within the 'Nemesis system.'" De Plater added that the Nemesis system is "just so huge in terms of content, calculations and AI we'll just have to try and get as much of it in as we can."

The Nemesis system is the mechanic driving Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor's core gameplay loop. Protagonist Talion, on a mission of revenge, explores Mordor and isolates Orcs in order to extract information on Sauron's army. This information reveals not only Orc hierarchy, but also the vulnerabilities and strengths of individual Orc commanders, each of which are procedurally-generated by the game.

We were able to go in-depth with Shadow of Mordor's Nemesis system last month, though admittedly all we saw was the next-gen version running on a high-end PC. Monolith was unwilling to discuss the planned Xbox 360 and PS3 versions at the time. [Image: Warner Bros.]

Take a closer look at how combat unfolds in Yaiba: Ninja Gaiden Z

Can't get over Parks and Recreation's Andy Dwyer playing the buff Peter Quill in Guardians of the Galaxy? You are not alone. Youtuber AwesomenessX put together this little video to help fans of both properties cope. Read more...

A portion of a C3 review...

Weapon Shop de Omasse is worth a play not just from rhythm fans. It's worth playing by almost any gamer, as it succeeds in delighting in many ways, be it the gameplay, story, the characters, the jokes, the quality art and sound, or just the interesting mashup of genres and ideas.

Full review here

A portion of a Dtoid review...

Inazuma Eleven is one of the best role-playing experiences I've had in a long time, and more importantly, rekindled a youthful feeling I've grown to miss.

Full review here

A portion of a Kotaku review...

The Lego Movie Videogame is my second favorite Lego game ever behind Star Wars III, with Marvel a contender to shake up these rankings.

Full review here

Way back in the mists of 2011, when the world was newly formed and virgin to such ideas as “crowd funding” “early access” and “XBOX One”, our very own John Walker gave his honest thoughts on The Book of Unwritten Tales. Despite translation flaws, his younger self enjoyed it, summing up with “An adventure this long is such a rare treat. One this enjoyable at the same time is almost unheard of.” Now developers King Art have returned to the series, after various departures, with a Kickstarter. The twist is that their game is already funded and slated for an early 2015 release. What this money is for is to improve it, a task usually left to stretch goals and bonus rewards. Their hilarious kickstarter video and some details on how it’s going are below.

… [visit site to read more]

A portion of a Dtoid review...

Weapon Shop de Omasse is a breezy rhythm game, brimming with humor targeted at JRPG fans. I realize that's a niche within a niche, and it certainly won't be for everyone, but I loved it. And if that bizarre concept sounds even vaguely interesting, I bet you'll love it too.

Full review here

Alfredo and Greg storm the battlefield while taking a closer look into Greg's favorite Titanfall weapons.

We've talked about how Titanfall's NPCs make sure there's always something happening and there's always someone to shoot. But the "grunts" also have their own dialogue, and it's something more reminiscent of Halo than Call of Duty. Read more...

[360] Grand Theft Auto V (Rockstar) - 500.000
[ALL] Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag (Ubisoft) - 500.000
[ALL] Call of Duty: Ghosts (Activision) - 500.000

[3DS] Pokémon Y (Nintendo) - 200.000
[3DS] Luigi’s Mansion 2 (Nintendo) - 200.000
[PS3] Gran Turismo 6 (Sony) - 200.000
[360] FIFA 14 (Electronic Arts) - 200.000

[3DS] The Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds (Nintendo) - 100.000
[360] Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag (Ubisoft) - 100.000
[PS4] Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag (Ubisoft) - 100.000
[360] Minecraft (Mojang) - 100.000
[PS4] Battlefield 4 (Electronic Arts) - 100.000

We've just released a WHOLE ALBUM of Cid theme arrangements from Final Fantasy 2 through 12, Type-0, AND Mystic Quest! #nothingbutcid!!" Thanks and props to Taylor "Mirby" Brown for directing the album and securing lots of cool artwork of several different Cids as well!

Grab the free album here! http://ocremix.org/info/Audio_Engineering:_A_Tribute_to_Cid
More background here! http://ocremix.org/forums/showthread.php?t=46360

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.@IGN You think I’m cranky? Check out some of the message boards out there!

— Nintendo of America (@NintendoAmerica) February 20, 2014

Just a reminder that Nintendo is having some Cranky Kong silliness on their official Twitter account. Keep tabs on it to see what old Cranky has to say throughout the day.

@BrianandOso We don’t currently have plans for WiiU.

— Octodad (@octodadgame) February 17, 2014

@Samus2008 We’re not sure to be honest.

— Octodad (@octodadgame) February 20, 2014

This video contains special footage that reproduces the field of view of various animals. These visuals may cause discomfort in some viewers. Small children and viewers who are easily susceptible to motion sickness or similar ailments should take caution when viewing.