Monday Night Combat Sends In the Pros

Whenever Monday Night Combat hits, I’m either going for the meathead powered-armor heavy or the wiseass sniper. I know they’re stereotypes, but dammit, those classes have these reputations for a reason. This four-minute video gives you a look at all six classes’ primary and secondary weapons, plus skills and grapple moves, in the upcoming Xbox…

Modern Warfare 2 Map Pack Pricing Doesn’t Bother 2.5 Million Xbox 360 Owners

Activision and Microsoft are exploding with joy over the performance of the new Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 “Stimulus Package” map pack, proclaiming today that the downloadable add-on “shattered Xbox LIVE records” to the tune of 2.5 million sold. One million of those purchases and downloads occurred within the first 24 hours, according to…

UPS Turns to Video Games for Training

Troubled that its trainees were flunking out at a rate of 30 percent, United Parcel Service turned to video game simulations to train rookies how to spot sales leads and not drive over little kids. The Wall Street Journal looked at UPS’ training methods, conducted at a facility outside Washington, that drill driver cadets on…

Good Advice From One Nintendo Creator To Another

Game Boy creator Gunpei Yokoi’s philosophy on what it takes to make a game, as explained to Metroid co-creator Yoshio Sakamoto, who went on to design Wrecking Crew for the NES and, most recently, WarioWare: D.I.Y. for the Nintendo DS. Upon hearing that from Yokoi, Sakamoto recalls, “I remember thinking, ‘Well, if my boss says…

Dr. Horrible’s Sing Along Blog: The Video Game

The man known as Dr. Octoroc, previously featured for his 8-Bit Jesus collection of Christmas chiptunes, re-imagines Joss Whedon’s “Dr. Horrible’s Sing-along Blog” project as “theoretical Nintendo game.” It looks way better than Goonies II. After watching the best 8-bit version of Neil Patrick Harris you’ll ever see, head over to Dr. Octoroc’s official site…

Modern Warfare 2 Multiplayer Celebrates 200,000-Year Anniversary

Via Twitter, Infinity Ward’s Robert Bowling just mentioned that Modern Warfare 2 gamers have logged more than 1.75 billion hours in the game, just on Xbox Live. That’s nearly 200,000 years. Other fun equivalences on the jump. Two Hundred Thousand Years is Equal To: • The combined lifespan of everyone living in Hettinger Co., North…

He Who Controls the Spice…

To: Bash From: Crecente Re: Don’t Deny It, Suspenders Are Great! You know what’s great? Dune, that’s what’s great. The book? Absolutely! The movie? So very, very bizarre. So strange I love it. That is all. What you missed: Go Monster Hunting in Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker With Snake Crecente’s 1/10 Of A Second…

The Best Modern Warfare Fan Film $209.42 Can Buy

Take seven of your spare minutes today to watch Modern Warfare: Frozen Crossing, a tribute to the Call of Duty: Modern Warfare series, if only to see how much fan film $209.42 USD can buy you. Of course, that sum doesn’t take into account the value of the talent involved in putting together this Modern…

Lara Croft: Snow Day

It’s Spain vs. Italy When World Cup Demo Releases Tomorrow

EA Sports tucked news of tomorrow’s global release of its FIFA World Cup 2010 demo inside some marketing copy about the game’s soundtrack, which no one cares about. Talk about burying the lede. The demo matches Italy and Spain, who last met with big money on the table in the quarterfinals of the 2008 UEFA…

The Thoughts Behind Miranda’s Behind in Mass Effect 2

Aside from the lack of homosexual characters, I had the chance to ask Mass Effect 2 project lead Casey Hudson at last month’s GDC about one thing my friends (both male and female) and I have noticed when we first got the game: Miranda’s ridiculously tight outfit. Here’s part of our conversation from the brief…

Hacker Claims To Have Linux Working (Again) On PS3

On April 1, Sony removed one of the PlayStation 3’s original features, the option to install an alternate operating system such as Linux, with its latest firmware (version 3.21). Today, one man claims to have reinstated that feature. Hacker George “Geohot” Hotz says he has, as promised, implemented a workaround that will let users enjoy…

Marvel Vs. Capcom 3 Unveiling Soon?

Word of a new Marvel Vs. Capcom game could be heading our way in the coming months if rumors from website Team Spooky can be believed. And here’s why I think they can: The poster over on Team Spooky saying that Marvel Vs. Capcom 3 is inbound is the same person who last summer leaked…

New Xenoblade Trailer Is Personal, Positive, Pretty

Our previous look at Monolith Soft’s upcoming Wii role-playing game Xenoblade—formerly known as Monado: Beginning of the World—may not have convinced you that the game is worthy of carrying the “Xeno” prefix. But what about this new trailer? Sure, this one’s in Japanese, just like the last one, so the finer points of the story…

Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker’s Other Big Crossover? Front Mission

If you thought Konami and Kojima Productions’ collaboration with Capcom’s Monster Hunter series was a bizarre fit, you’ll likely find the Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker tie-in with Square Enix just slightly less weird. Kojima Productions announced in Tokyo earlier today that Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker feature some level of interactivity with Square Enix’s…

Zynga Man Withstood Your Calls And Our Farmville Innocence On Today’s Podcast

You can download our newest podcast today and hear a few firsts: 1) Me trying a game live on the show 2) A caller asking a developer how it feels to have about four million people hate his game 3) A man from Zynga, makers of Farmville, admit that a Farmville movie would be terrible.…

This Week In Comics

A couple of big-brand video game comics series end this week, but I can’t stop shaking my head at the Superman series that feels like it should never have started. You all know the origin of Superman, right? Krypton. Rocket. Smallville. Superpowers. Metropolis. Every too often, the powers at be at DC Comics decide that…

Modern Warfare 2 Goes Free On Steam This Weekend Only

Want to see what all that Modern Warfare 2 fuss is about, PC gamers? Then play the game’s multiplayer mode for free this weekend, courtesy of Activision and Valve’s Steam service. That “weekend” starts a little early, as the free Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 multiplayer action starts Thursday, April 8. You can pre-load…

Left 4 Dead 2: The Zune

Chet over at Valve just sent us this sweet personalized Zune with fancy Left 4 Dead 2 engraving to give away on the site. But how?

New Word For The Day: Scrotality

Scrotality: name of the Achievement awarded to players of this month’s upcoming Dead To Rights: Retribution should they make the game’s playable dog chomp a bad guy’s groin. I committed this maneuver — in the game! — this morning. It’s some frightful business. As is Shadow’s ability to rip a guy’s throat out when he…