James Cameron's Avatar - Screens and Video We've all been bored with the speculation. We've all been bored with the waiting for any information about this game. We've all been bored by listening to James Cameron babble on about what may or may not be included in the game for his next big block buster. Can you honestly say you were not bored and let down by everything that came up about Avatar before the huge trailer showing at Comic Con? I didn't think so. Read More...

Toys, pack-ins, gimmicks, add-ons and peripherals are all words that are not unknown or unheard of to Nintendo Wii owners’ ears.  Since the console’s launch in 2006, a great many guns zappers, dance pads, microphones, etc., have been bundled with Wii games filling living rooms to capacity -- especially with the onset of rhythm games.  Even Nintendo’s best-selling game, WiiPlay is merely a controller with a $10 tech demo, and there has always been a premium attached to the bundles that have exceeded the normal price point for a Wii game at $49.99. Read More...

Crysis 2 Teasers Ok, well it isn't really for sale. At least not in the real world. But from watching the below video clips you could think otherwise. Well kind of. Well maybe if you were a little bit special, and not the kind that mom use to say you were. But I digress. Crytek and EA are starting with the viral-ish type promotions a bit early here. They utilize a well-worn concept  used back when the first Resident Evil film was starting to be pimped out. A nice little video or two showcasing something that looks like a real product just to entice fans and anyone really interested in the game. Read More...

For villains of the Marvel Universe, the phrase “It’s clobberin’ time!” is the signal that Aunt Petunia’s favourite blue-eyed nephew is ready to start laying a beating on someone. Growing up on Yancy St. in New York, Benjamin Grimm had a rough early life. His older brother died while Ben was just eight years old and he was sent to live with his Uncle Jake & Aunt Petunia. Ben earned a football scholarship to Empire State University where he met his future best friend and teammate Reed Richards. Following graduation, Ben went into the Air Force and trained to become a test pilot. Read More...

Last week I discussed my feelings about downloadable content which is one of two things that have drastically risen in the last few years to become a common site in the video games industry. Today I want to take a look at the second which are Special Edition releases. Before I actually get to the different pieces that are actually packaged within, I’d like to share what I think should be the definition of various special editions because I’ve seen several different variations in my time. Obviously these are the Special Edition, Collector’s Edition, and Limited Edition. I know that for many people there really is no difference, but I disagree. Read More...

Jean Grey is a great many things. She is one of the original five X-men. She’s a mutant possessing Omega-level psychic abilities. She’s contains the power of the Phoenix Force within her. She’s smoking hot and she’s dead. Being one of the original X-men, Jean went along with the team to Krakoa, the Living Island. When they were captured, Professor Xavier put together a second team comprised of mutants from across the world to rescue his students. Following their return from Krakoa, Jean left the team for a time. Read More...

I guess when you’re a hot shot like Johnny Storm, pyrokinesis seems a little on the nose. But when you’re dealing with cosmic radiation, sometimes you just have to play with the cards you’re dealt with. At the age of 16, Johnny went along with his sister Susan as a member of the crew for Reed Richards’ experimental interstellar ship. Of course the ship was bombarded by cosmic radiation which altered the genetics of the four people inside. As a direct result, Johnny developed the ability to ignite himself and generate fire. Read More...

Today is the 20th Anniversary of the launch of the Sega Genesis (Mega Drive) here in North America. I’m sure you’ve seen plenty of articles on the birth and rise of the Genesis, its bitter fight against Nintendo and the eventual downfall with the addition of the Sega CD and the 32X. Most of them are tongue-in-cheek, which is unfortunate. Here is a humble recollection of a console that I never owned until recently. After my parents bought me an Atari 2600 when I was born, the next console I got was the PlayStation 2 I bought myself just after college. Read More...

Normally when I write a new installment for this series I tend to focus on a specific video game that I would like to see come to fruition. For the next two weeks though I’ve decided to change it up a little and discuss more general subjects. This week I’d like to discuss downloadable content with next week shifting focus to collector’s edition. Both are areas of video gaming that have become staples over the last few years and both have given us distinctive examples of what works and what doesn’t work. We’ve seen so many DLC packs and limited edition releases that I think you could create a perfect stencil that every developer and every publisher should follow because it would deliver the best extension of a game every time. Read More...

Lead Designer at Raven Software Offers To Pay For Wolfenstein In a stroke of what could be seen as marketing genius, or insane offerings by an over worked designer, the offer has been thrown out to get your copy of Wolfenstein paid for. All offered by the game's Lead Designer, Manveer Heir, over his Twitter account in the early hours of the morning on the 11th of August. There are a few catches that go along with this, but he swears he will pay for your copy if all the requirements are met. What would those requirements be? Read More...

Dante's Inferno: Gluttony Developer's Diary Continuing down the path of Hell from Lust, Visceral Games keeps with their fun and dark developer's diaries. This time they cover the third level, Gluttony. A level that should be as gruesome as the scene from Se7en and starts to look that way with some of the concepts they show in the video. One thing that kind of bothers me though is the fact that they talk a lot about defecation, feces, and poop in the video. A lot. Read More...

Continuing to add to the exclusivity of its new DJ Hero franchise, Activision today announced that The Scratch Perverts and DJ Yoda created exclusive mixes for the upcoming release. I think this new release of information shows us two things: Activision wants the fans to know that they are really putting it all into this title and they are also shrewdly telling any competition that may spring up, "Yeah, don't bother, we got this." Not exactly a bold move on the large corporation's part and it's hardly a new concept. Create barriers to entry for your competition even before it exists by firmly planting in the consumers' minds that you are "the one and best. Read More...

Three Incredible Capcom® Hits For The XBox 360® In The Affordable Platinum Hits Triple Pack Looking for a great deal on some great games that you may have just rented or borrowed from a friend in the past? Like a really great deal. We're talking three AAA XBox titles for less than the cost of a Wii title. $39.99 for three XBox games. Read More...

I guess when you grow up living a hard life it’s easy for a good person to turn bad. Throw in hanging out with the wrong crowds and the decision pretty much makes itself. With her mother being imprisoned for a robbery attempt and her father a drunk, Melissa Gold ran away from home at an early age. Living on the streets, she developed a “harder” personality she named Mimi. As Mimi, she was taken in by a group of female wrestlers known as The Grapplers. Read More...

From the articles I have written or hearing me on the Aggrocast, you probably know I'm excited for a little title called Darkest of Days. Well today independent game developer, 8monkey Labs, and Phantom EFX, a leading developer and publisher of entertainment software, has announced today that on August 11th 2009 a demo of Darkest of Days will be available on the PC. Aaron Schurman, Chief Executive Officer at Phantom EFX had this to say: "Custer's infamous last stand at the Battle of Little Big Horn, and the Battle of Antietam, the bloodiest day in American history… these are just a few of humanity’s darkest days, and you can dive into both of these in the Darkest of Days demo. This hour-long demo lets players experience unrivaled carnage and to experience what it’s like to use futuristic weapons in period settings and see what happens when you alter history while fighting against hundreds of enemies during some of man's greatest struggles in History! Read More...