Episode 47: The Great Outdoors

As predicted, summer is gone and fall is here and I have FINALLY had some time to game. I played a few hours of Diablo 3 on Sunday and it was great. I hated taking such an extended break but the game is much smoother either due to less players or upgraded servers or both. Anywho, let's look at what's new in the world of video games, shall we?

Medal of Honor: Warfighter hits Xbox360, PS3, and PC this week. It's the sequel to the Medal of Honor reboot from 2010 and expands the story of Preacher, Mother, and Voodoo as they battle across the Philippines and Somalia. Multiplayer gives you control of 12 elite units from around the world like British SAS, Russian Septznas, and our own Navy SEALs. 

Forza: Horizon is the big Xbox exclusive for the week. It's the 5th installment in the super realistic racing franchise with new features like destructible environments, night racing, and the ability to race against planes and helicopters.

Just Dance: Disney Party is on Xbox360 and Wii this week. Dancing game to a track list of 25 Disney songs from various old and new Disney movies and TV shows.

Cabela's Dangerous Hunts 2013 and Cabela's Hunting Expeditions both land on Xbox360, PS3, and Wii this week. The first is based off a story by Andrew Kreisberg and the second uses a new Strategic View to plan your hunts.

Another game you may want to check out isThe Unfinished Swan for PS3. Not sure exactly what's going on here but it looks pretty amazing visually.

Also in gaming news, a live-action CGI trailer for Halo 4 is out and shows Master Chief's mind being invaded by a new enemy who sees memory of his transformation into a Spartain super-soldier.

So there you have it, some great games to get into now and Halo 4 and other big releases to come as the holidays grow closer. Until next time, get out there and get your game on!

Episode 46: Multipayer Mayhem

The flood of new games continues as the holidays creep ever closer and this week has a ton of great multiplayer games for you and your friends to enjoy.

007 Legends makes it's way to Xbox360, PS3, and PC this week. This one has a unique story that pulls elements from "Moonraker", "License to Kill", "Goldfinger", "Die Another Day", "On Her Majesty's Secret Service" and the upcoming "Skyfall" and features 6 on 6 multiplayer and 4 player split-screen.

Doom 3: BFG Edition lands on Xbox 360, PS3, and PC this week. This badboy is fully remastered and includes a "Lost Mission" that includes seven new single player levels.

Silent Hill: Book of Memories comes to Vita this week. This is the FIRST Silent Hill game to feature multiplayer and actually focuses on co-op gameplay.

Dance Central 3 is a Kinect exclusive coming this week. This game features Usher teaching his moves from some of his biggest songs as well as over 40 new songs.

Zumba Fitness Core will be on Xbox360 and Wii this week. This one features 40 new songs and 30 dance styles to tighten those abs.

Last on the list this week is Skylanders Giants for Xbox360, PS3, Wii, and 3DS. This is an expansion for Skylanders: Spyro's Adventure and features over 40 new figures, some of which are double the normal size!

Growing up with a little brother, we were always big fans of good multiplayer games and there's quite a few hitting the shelves this week. Find some friends, grab your controllers, and enjoy. Until next time, get out there and get your game on!

Episode 45: Get Kinected

This week has quite a few Kinect based games hitting the market but let's start from the top of the list and work out way down.

First up this week is Dishonored for Xbox360, PS3, and PC. You'll use supernatural skills like stopping time, teleportation, and the ability to possess creatures in this first person assassination game.

Our first Kinect (and other motion systems) game this week is Just Dance 4 for Xbox360, PS3, and Wii. This one features tracks from Justin Bieber, Nicki Minaj, Maroon 5, and more.

Also for Kinect this week is Harry Potter for Kinect. You enroll in Hogwarts and use your hands and voice to cast spells using magic words and proper hand movements.

Fable: The Journey takes the Fable series to Kinect exclusive on Xbox360. You'll use your hands to cast spells in this one.

Last game for Kinect this week is Dragon Ball Z for Kinect. This fighting game will be more like a personal workout as you punch and launch fireballs as your favorite DBZ characters.

Back to controllers and keyboards, Port Royale 3: Pirates & Merchants lands on Xbox360, PS3, and PC with 16 different types of ships and 60 cities to trade with.

Old school gamers like myself will want to check out the remake of Spy Hunter coming to Vita, 3DS, and DS. The legendary red sports car is back and can now off-road and turn into a boat! 

Last on this GIGANTIC list is XCOM: Enemy Unknown for Xbox360, PS3, and PC. This is a strategy game where you lead a group of Earth's finest against invading aliens.

And that wraps up our list for this week. As you can see, the holiday flood has begun and the new releases will continue to pour out as the year rolls on. Until next time, get out there and get your game on!

Episode 44: Black & White & Dead All Over

My drought of console or PC gaming rolls on BUT I have found a couple of decent app games that have been keeping me busy: Blood Brothers and Quests and Sorcery. Both are very easy to pickup and play (Q&S has been a little tougher but not bad). Both are stripped down RPGs but very fun and simple. Anywho, on to the new stuff...

First up this week, NBA 2K13 lands on Xbox360, PS3, Wii, PC, and PSP. Jay-Z is one of the executive producers and brought the idea of having the 1992 "Dream Team" available to play this year's Olympic team.

Following the release of the newest movie, Resident Evil 6 hits Xbox360 and PS3 this week. The T-Virus created by the evil Umbrella Corporation has spread across the globe and even infected the president.

Our last big sequel of the week is Pokemon Black and White Version 2 for DS. Use your best Pokemon to discover the mysteries behind the Black Kyurem and White Kyurem.

Carrier Command: Gaea Mission makes its way to Xbox360 and PC this week. It's a strategy game where you fight over land, air, and sea to control the islands of the moon-planet Taurus.

And, what may be my favorite game title of 2012, Hell Yeah! Wrath of the Dead Rabbit lands on PS3 this week. You play as a jet pack drilling rabbit who goes insane after paparazzi blow the whistle on his bath time antics with his rubber duckies.

In other gaming news...

The entire Ezio trilogy which started with Assassin's Creed 2 will come out on PS3 as a bundle on Nov. 13th. Assassin's Creed 3 will hit stores on Nov. 20th.

Mass Effect is also getting bundled. All three games will come out as a bundle for Xbox360 and PC on Nov. 6th. PS3 will get their bundle later on.

And that wraps it up for this week, lots to play and more to come! Until next time, get out there and get your game on!

Episode 43: Soccer, Sherlock, & "Sensual Graphics"

The flood of big releases continues this week with 5 big releases and a big expansion!

First up, The Testament of Sherlock Holmes hits Xbox360 and PS3 this week. This one got an M rating from violence (sweet!) and you play as Sherlock and Watson and have to decide who to interview and what clues to examine yourself.

The first of 2 soccer games out this week is FIFA Soccer 13 for Xbox360, PS3, Wii, 3DS, Vita, and PSP. This version has smarter AI when you are on offense, more realistic collisions, and a dribbling feature to give you the edge in 1-on-1 matchups.

The other soccer game dropping this week is Pro Evolution Soccer 2013 for Xbox360 and PS3. Graphics and AI got an upgrade this time and they added a MyPES feature that links online and offline players.

The game famous for it's bouncing boobies is back with Dead or Alive 5. If you don't know, it's a fighting game series that puts a lot of focus into "realistic" boob physics. This version makes more use of the environments.

The big expansion I mentioned earlier is World of Warcraft: Mists of Pandaria for PC. This is the 4th expansion thus far and adds the new Monk class, increases the level cap to 90, and adds the first ever NEUTRAL RACE... the Pandaren.

For you gamers with kids (or who are big Disney fans) Disney Princess: My Fairytale Adventure hits Wii, DS, and PC this week. It features dancing, gardening, decorating, and fashion games while exploring the worlds of Cinderella, Ariel, Belle, Tiana, and Rapunzel.

And if you're looking for a good party game, Wipeout 3 hits Xbox360, Wii, and 3DS. It's based on the ABC show and features 12 new course themes.

In other gaming news, I mentioned this last week but Bad Piggies, starring the green pigs from Angry Birds, hits iOS and Android this Thursday. 

The flood of games continues so find something that sparks your interest and get out there and get your game on!

Episode 42: Open The Flood Gates

Unsurprisingly, as we inch ever closer to the holiday season the new releases are finally starting to pour in more than one at a time!

First up, the highly anticipated Borderlands 2 hits Xbox360, PS3, and PC this week. Up to 4 players can team up or face off.

Racing fans rejoice, F1 2012 lands on Xbox360 and PS3 this week. This time weather will affect your driving and claims to set this game apart from other racing games.

Not a NEW game but possibly the biggest boxed set of the year, Street Fighter: 25th Anniversary Collector's Set comes to Xbox360 and PS3. This bad boys has 15 DISCS including Street Fighter X, Super Street Fighter IV Arcade Edition, Super Street Fighter III Turbo HD Remix, and Street Fighter III: Third Strike Online Edition... and that's just the games! It also has a Blu-ray documentary, all the animated movies and TV shows, an 11 disc soundtrack, and a few collectibles!

Also got several downloadable games coming this week including Kinect Sports Ultimate for Xbox360. This combines 2 games in the series for a total of 13 playable sports.

Tochlight II will be available for download on PC this week. It's a hack & slash adventure where you fight randomly generated baddies for loot.

If you're looking to buff up, Harley Pasternak's Hollywood Workout lands on Xbox360 Kinect and Wii.

Kinect Sesame Street TV and Kinect Nat Geo TV for Xbox360 will be available tomorrow but aren't games, they are part of Kinect's "TV Experiences".

And for those who are eagerly awaiting the release of the Wii U here's some info:

- On sale date is November 18th
- The basic set will cost $300 and includes 8GB of storage, the console, and one Gamepad
- The Deluxe set will cost $350 with 32GB of storage, the console, one Gamepad, a charging dock for the Gamepad, and a copy of the game Nintendo Land
- Extra Gamepads will NOT be available at release because no games will be available that require more than one
- Call of Duty: Black Ops II will be released for Wii U

And that about wraps it up for this week, plenty of new games, some info on the Wii U, and more to come as the year rolls on. Until next time, get out there and get your game on!

Episode 41: There's No I In Team

I'm excited to start this blog by saying I FINALLY PLAYED VIDEO GAMES AGAIN! It wasn't for long but I did get about an hour or so of Skyrim in over the weekend. I wanted to check out the new content but didn't have the Microsoft points and money's a bit tight but soon I'll be fighting vampires and building houses. Anywho, let's get to the good stuff.

First big release of the week is NHL 13 coming to Xbox360 and PS3. This time around you'll be able to create an online league with friends and replay action from the NHL season with the players on the game using NHL Moments Live.

Coming to Kinect this week is NBA Baller Beats. This is basically a hybrid of Kinect dance games and dribbling drills where you work on dribbling skills to the beat of tracks from Gorillaz, Them Crooked Vultures, Run DMC, and more.

Last major release coming this week is one I'm pretty excited about, Tekken Tag Tournament 2. It follows the standard Tekken formula but this time you'll be able to customize the appearance and moves of the characters in the game!

Not a major release but Finding Nemo: Escape to the Big Blue is coming to DS and 3DS this week in conjunction with the 3D rerelease of the movie. It's a collection of 30 mini games you play with characters from the movie.

In other gaming news...

The release date of the Nintendo Wii U may have been leaked. A video that has since been pulled from YouTube claimed it will hit stores on November 11th.

The green pigs from Angry Birds are getting a spinoff game called Bad Piggies that will be available for Android, iOS, PC, and Mac on Sept. 27th.

The guys over at CollegeHumor.com made a pretty awesome video of what The Wire would look like as an old school RPG game.

And some guy dressed as an assassin from Assassin's Creed made a video doing parkour through some city and set it to music from the game and it looks super badass!

And that wraps it up for this week. I've got a busy weekend ahead but hopefully I can squeeze in some time with Diablo 3 or Skyrim again at some point and start getting gaming back into my schedule. Until next time, get out there and get your game on!