Videogames Lead to Behavioral Addiction Mike Tyson’s Paparazzi Punch-Out!! Video GameStop Buys Majority Stake in Video Game Digital Distributor Jolt Miyamoto: 3D Isn’t Everything Are You A Video Game Junkie With Mad Writing Skills? Write For Ripten NFL Super Bowl Champion Steelers Connect with Soldiers in Iraq for Guitar Hero Competition

A Neogaf forum post (containing the image above) implies that Infinity Ward will be disabling the party chat function of the Xbox 360 in some if not all of their online multiplayer modes.

Assuming the post is not a hoax, the general consensus is that party chat allows for cheating in multiplayer contests. For those that own a Microsoft Xbox 360 and don’t have a clue as to what “party chat cheating” is, good for you. As for the rest of you … you should be ashamed of yourself (snicker). Read more…

In a short four weeks after its release, Battlefield Heroes has managed to get one million players, which isn’t surprising, considering the positive impressions of the game during the beta. EA & DICE’s stylistic Battlefield sequel is also free, which I can only assume helped to entice said one million players.

If you still haven’t signed up for the game, you should probably go do so now- maybe you can be a part of the second million. We got a chance to play the game during the beta, and even with its numerous delays, it was a lot of fun. The game’s multi-player only, so don’t count on a gripping story line or emotionally connected characters- but if you’re all about blowing stuff up and shooting foreigners, this is so the game for you.

Bioshock was one of 2007’s best games and best in my opinion, but the only thing it lacked was an online multiplayer of any kind, unlike Shaun White Snowboarding: Road Trip. But 2K Boston’s next game won’t have this pitfall, as it seems that the project 2K Boston is currently working on is a multiplayer first-person shooter.

In a resume posting for Lead Designers and Lead Engineers for 2K Boston, they detailed a few key points of their next project, which you can find after the jump. While it’s not completely out of the question that this listing is for Bioshock 2: Sea of Dreams, I’m thinking it’s not likely. However, we do know that the FPS in question runs on the Unreal 3.0 Engine, and will most likely be released on the PS3, PC, and Xbox 360… whenever it appears. Read more…

Savage 2: A Tortured Soul, S2 Games’ multiplayer battlefield game, is now free (as in beer). Just download the game, create an account, and you’re off. Why bother, though? Well, it’s a pretty well-received game, especially by users. The main reason, though, is the main gameplay mechanic- one player on each team acts as a “general” of sorts on the battlefield, and plays the game like an RTS. The other 62 players act as the units, and play the game as an action RPG/ FPS (i.e. they do the fighting). Not bad for a free game, especially as Windows, Mac, and Linux users can all enjoy it.

Look, I’ve been reading a heap of articles lately citing both the Eurogamer and GI.biz sit down with Frontier Developments’ founder, David Braben, and I simply couldn’t take it anymore.

For those of you that missed the hoopla, Braben’s gripe is that the used game market will eventually kill the single player aspect of games and force all developers to focus instead on multiplayer due to its high replay factor. While I agree that multiplayer does offer a much higher replay value, I certainly don’t agree with his proposed fix.

My argument is that for every game there are two versions. One is personal, not for resale and it’s made abundantly clear you can’t sell it. And it’s made available for something like GBP 25 [$40]. And a resale and rental copy, which in film is actually about GBP 80 [$130].

Huh? That has got to be the most ass backwards solution I’ve ever heard of. I understand the need for a developer to generate higher revenue, but handcuffing a consumer to their product is not the answer. Read more…

Two off-screen videos featuring Gears of War 2 multiplayer gameplay footage have made their way onto the web. Imagine that.

From memory, it appears that the scope design when zooming in for a sniper shot has been redone, but that may just be the lack of any recent Gears 1 gameplay speaking.

The sequel packs a decent amount of new features, and for that reason, I am really excited about the upcoming release of the game — but to be completely honest, these two videos did very little for me. The meat shield is utilized early on in the first clip and the second features some snazzy arcade machines, but other than that the gameplay looks a lot like the original.

Hit the jump to see for yourself. Read more…

Marcus Fenix would not be caught dead wearing that shirt

I have been busy adding some new features to the site based on your feedback as readers, so please continue sending me your feedback about annoying ads, broken links, and pretty much anything you think can help us to improve the site.

That said, I am just NOW getting a chance to sit down and watch the leaked UT3 Xbox 360 Gears of War 2 exclusive multiplayer video. The footage was originally intended to be a bonus, available only to those who bought the upcoming Unreal Tournament 3 game for the Xbox 360, however as things often do, it found its way on to the web.

If you haven’t seen the video yet, here’s your chance to process it along with my impressions after the jump. Read more…

The Wii Fit Girl video has been around for a while now and has brought in millions of viewers, thanks in no small part to MTV’s Total Request Live. Lauren Bernat, the Wii Fit Girl herself, and her marketing boyfriend, Giovanny Gutierrez, showed up on the show this week to discuss their now infamous video. Hit the jump to watch the clip and read Ripten’s thoughts. Read more…

If you don’t get this picture, please leave now.

If you are anything like me, you spend a great deal of time visiting virtual worlds, i.e. playing videogames. If only there were some way to more fully immerse yourself in that world and have real life just disappear. Enter… the Vuzix! (please pretend you just heard some dramatic kung-fu music and perhaps a gong). Read more…

A fourth (and fantastic looking!) GTA IV trailer is now available if you aren’t already begging for its release April 29th, and Rockstar has announced a new online social club for Xbox Live and PSN that will track all kinds of usage data surrounding the game– plus more in the future. Read more…

Want to be one of the first to test out the multiplayer aspect of MGS4? No problem, the official Sony Playstation Blog confirms that those who pre-order the game will be guaranteed access to the MP beta. Read more…

Prototype is what Crackdown would be if you were a bad-ass instead of a superhero. Crunching cars beneath your feet, running up buildings, literally smashing peoples’ heads into the ground, and absorbing dead bodies into your own — just some of the things you will be doing as Prototype’s main anti-hero, Alex Mercer. Read more…

With GDC just around the corner, the rumour mill is running at full speed. Normally most of these rumours turn out to be nothing more than falsities or let downs, but this one seems to be carrying some weight.
Read more…

Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare was just awarded Overall Game of the Year at last night’s 11th Annual Interactive Achievement Awards Show. See, we were right!

In addition to Game of the Year, Infinity Ward’s hot little number also called in an airstrike on Console Game of the Year, Action Game of the Year, and Outstanding Achievement in Online Game Play. Activision rejoiced at the kill streak and called in a helicopter. Read more…

For all of those waiting to play Lost Planet on their Playstation 3s, your wait is over. Read more…

In yet another attempt to bring together the worlds of Mountain Dew and videogames, PepsiCo created the DEWmocracy. This Massively-Multiplayer Online game casts players as “an anonymous hero that rebels against the the forces of uniformity and seeks a new world, and a new elixir, that will change everything”. That must be pretty interesting because hundreds of thousands of gamers have already begun doing the Dew. Read more…

Halo 3’s multiplayer mode, along with Microsoft’s entire strategy for domination in the console wars, can be summed up in two beautiful words: Endless replayability.

This is a desert island game–assuming you had an HDTV and Internet connection on the island, and didn’t use team chat to send out an SOS. It’s a game that you could easily spend weeks, months, and years perfecting without getting bored. The online matchmaking system ramps up the challenge so smoothly that after you learn the ropes “powning noobs” you’ll be experiencing a much greater difficulty playing against Halo experts. Read more…