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

Mario and Sonic at the Winter Olympic Games, like Mario and Sonic and the Olympic Games before it, combines the plethora of sports associated with the events with the somewhat madcap world of Nintendo and SEGA mascots. This provides a welcome relief from the charmless sports games that are often released around these major sporting events; the vibrant and less-than-serious world of Mario and Sonic certainly adds something to the sports game formula, but does it work as a game in its own right?
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“Stalin vs. Martians” just about sums this game up. There’s not much to this game. That’s why there aren’t that many words in this review. Go ahead, hit the jump.
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Confession time: I’ve never actually played any of the Metal Gear Solid games. Well, to completion anyway; I own a copy of MGS2: Substance for the Xbox, but I’ve never actually played it past the the first level. I got confused towards the end of it, and I just never picked it up. When Konami announced Metal Gear Solid Touch, I thought it would be a great way for me to finally get into the MGS franchise.

I knew they’d worked hard on it, because they mentioned how Kojima actually scrapped the entire game and started from scratch halfway into development. Konami said it wouldn’t be a lot like the console games, and I didn’t expect it to, but with such a great legacy, how would Metal Gear Solid Touch live up to the Metal Gear games before it? Would it finally get me into the Metal Gear series? Hit the jump for the full review.
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The world of Sonic is a world of fast platforming and loop-de-loops. So how well does it fare when inserted into the RPG mould? Can BioWare break the current trend of Sonic games and make something good? Hit the jump for the full review. Read more…

Health regulations held it back, but in the end nothing could stifle the return of WipEout; the futuristic racer accentuated by unnecessary punctuation. Gorgeous Britishness and stunning presentation underscore the virtues of this high definition remake. Read more…

The latest Massively Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Game hit seems to be FunCom’s Age of Conan: Hyborian Adventures.  With already an impressive 700,000 subscribers, AoC appears to be a worthy challenger to the MMORPG throne on which World of WarCraft currently sits.  I spent the past 30 days with Age of Conan and my avatar, Bewbs, chomping the bandwidth of my otherwise smooth-running PC, and I’m now ready to tell my tale.  Prepare to hear the lamentations of my womens. Read more…

In the not too distant future, videogames have become routine.  The marketplace is controlled by commercial enterprises, publishing the same fast paced action year on year.  FPS game follows FPS game, bald space marines give birth to bald space marines, EA merges with Ubisoft.

Yes, in the not too distant future, videogames haven’t changed at all.  What’s worse? We’re none the wiser.  Feeding off of these adrenaline pumping experiences, we praise them for their apparent innovation, their direct and exciting plot, their “next-gen” graphics. We’ll feel happy with the cards we’ve been dealt, comfortable in our past time, but for all our contentment we’ll never know how it could have been. Never know how it should and would have been if we had taken notice of Solid Snake.

Our only hope to free ourselves from cookie-cutter experiences pumped out by profit driven companies, is to learn the lessons of Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots and build a safer future for interactive entertainment.
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Cake Mania 2 was recently released for the Nintendo DS, and it is basically an update of the original Cake Mania. Once again, players are thrown into a bakery and must make custom cakes for demanding customers. If you’re a casual game or puzzle fan, you’ll probably be salivating at the chance to make cakes at a frantic pace.

There are some twists this time around. In the story mode, Jill’s dream of revitalizing her grandparent’s bakery has fizzled, and she wants to move onto better things. Coincidentally enough, she receives two requests – her friend from college wants help with a city bakery and her ex-boyfriend wants help with a bakery at his undersea amusement park. So players get to decide Jill’s fate – will she work for love or for fame. Read more…

After moving houses just a few short days ago, and with no internet to speak of, I was settling down to a nice relaxing week away from the daily buzz of the net to get some quality time with Beijing 2008, which Sega kindly sent me to review. However, it appears Microsoft had other plans. Read on for my full review of System Error – E 74. Read more…

After a solid two weeks with Dark Sector, I feel fully qualified to make this statement with absolute certainty: I played Dark Sector. That’s honestly as objective as I can be, but if you want to know my true feelings of the game, please continue. Read more…

If you’re wondering whether or not you should pick up God of War: Chains of Olympus for the Playstation Portable, ask yourself these simple questions:

1. Did you play either of the first two God of War games?
2. Did you enjoy them?

If you answered “yes” to both these questions, go out and get yourself a copy of Kratos’s latest adventure. Go on! The internet will still be here when you get back. For those uninitiated into the world of hacking, slashing, gouging, piercing and general fatal maiming, hit the jump for more. Read more…

If you felt a little cheated by the cliffhanger ending of the original Rainbow Six Vegas, you may be surprised, frustrated perhaps, to find out that Vegas 2 doesn’t pick up immediately where the previous game left off. In fact, it’s set before, during, and after the events of the first game. Read more…

Emo Nero takes centre stage

In order to meet the expectations of newcomers and hardcore devils alike, the first next-generation Devil May Cry had a lot to live up to. It would be wrong to reform for the casual audience, but Capcom have made some successful changes to make it more accessible to the less proficient gamer.

In the end Devil May Cry 4 brings the series to more gamers than ever before, using perfect artistry and impressive graphics to create the canvas for an addictive and challenging experience that is only marred by some unfortunate flaws. Read more…

To coincide with the European release of Unreal Tournament III, I gave it a spin to find out whether it’s worth your cash. I’m a hardcore console gamer– always was, and always will be. So when Midway announced that Unreal Tournament III was going multi-platform instead of staying PC exclusive, I was one happy camper. Read more…

It would be predictable for this review to start with, “The Playstation 3 needs some killer A-class games to justify its price tag, and Uncharted is it.”. But I won’t (even though I ironically just did start with that…hmm), because it simply isn’t true. No one game should justify the purchase of a console, but Uncharted is a AAA title and it should tempt you to buy a PS3. Naughty Dog’s first PS3 game is the definition of epic, and will make you say “wow” out loud more often than a pubescent teenager in a strip club. Read more…

The notoriously critical UK Magazine has revealed its December edition scores. Another 10 is given, but not to a PS3 or Xbox360 game. Interesting scores this month, with Assassin’s Creed and Mass Effect getting the same score. Find out after the jump. Read more…