Don't expect the PS4 anytime soon.

• Next Xbox not coming out in 2012, Sony waiting on Microsoft before announcing PS4:  Microsoft’s French marketing manager Cedrick Delmas recently told French news website Le Point.fr that the next Xbox won’t be released in 2012, noting that “The cycle of the Xbox 360 is by no means complete.”  Meanwhile, in an interview with the same French website, Sony Computer Entertainment Europe’s Phillipe Cardon says that Sony will be the last to announce its next system.

-Nick’s take:  Games like Battlefield 3prove that current-gen consoles need to be replaced.  With the next Xbox not coming out until at least 2013 and Sony’s PS4 not being released until after the next Xbox, however, it looks like gamers will have to stick to their current systems for now.  Expect Microsoft to at least drop hints about the next Xbox at E3 in June.  All eyes will be on the release of Nintendo’s upcoming Wii U (slated for an end of 2012 release) to see if there is consumer demand for new consoles.

THQ had a very rough week.

• THQ had a very rough week:  After vowing to ditch the family game market in favor of pursuing core gamers with franchises such as Saint’s Row and WWE, THQ had a terrible week that went from bad to worse.  On Tuesday, THQ was issued a warning from the NASDAW global securities market that its stock had been valued at less than $1 for more than 30 days and was now facing a delisting if THQ’s stocks don’t rebound to $1 or more by July 23.  Then, early Wednesday morning, the head of the International Game Developers Association (IGDA) Mobile Special Interest Group said that THQ had cut 170 employees.  That figure proved to be optimistic, however, as THQ noted later in the day that it had actually lain off 240 employees.  As a result, THQ CEO Brian Farrell will be taking a 50 percent pay cut.  Finally, on Thursday we learned that THQ had a horrible 2011 holiday quarter, with a total net loss of $55.9 million.  In a statement, Mr. Farrell noted that “Sales of the uDraw GameTablet and related software, and other titles in the kids, family and casual category were far weaker than anticipated, substantially reducing our financial results for the quarter.”

-Nick’s take:  Things weren’t all doom and gloom for THQ, as it was revealed that Saint’s Row the Third shipped 3.8 million copies so far and WWE ’12 has shipped more than 2 million copies.  Still, THQ is in trouble right now, and I’m not sure that focusing on the volatile hardcore market is the right way for THQ to rebound.  With solid franchises like Saint’s Row, Darksiders, and WWEunder its belt, however, maybe THQ can turn things around with a bit of luck and a new hit IP or two.

Bungie's website will no longer be updated with players' Halo data come March 31.

• Bungie.net ending Halo updates/features on March 31:  After Bungie officially handed the reins of the Halo franchise that it created to new Microsoft studio 343 Industries last year, fans could at least still go to Bungie.net for updated Halo player stats.  Come March 31, however, that will no longer be the case.  Bungie.net will still store all legacy Halo player data, however.  In addition to Halo player stats, the Bungie Pro service that gave hardcore players unlimited data storage for saving Halo videos and gametypes will no longer function starting March 31.  343 Industries—come March 31—will handle all updated Halo stats via its Halo franchise app, Halo Waypoint (available as a free download on Xbox Live).

 -Nick’s take:  This bit of news affects me personally, as Halo has been my favorite video game franchise ever since I first played Halo:  Combat Evolved back in 2001.  Bungie is working on what I believe to be an MMOFPS for next-gen consoles, so it’s understandable and expected that they would have to pass the burden of stat-tracking on to 343 at some point in time.  Halo seems to be in good hands at 343, but Bungie will always be the main reason Halo has been such a successful franchise.

Due to DRM, many PC/Mac Ubisoft games will be unplayable next week.

• DRM-equipped Ubisoft games to be unplayable on PC next week:  DRM (digital rights management) continues to be a hot-button topic in the PC gaming world.  Publishers and developers use DRM in an effort to combat piracy, while gamers argue that DRM doesn’t work and actually hurts legal customers of those games.  The anti-DRM crowd is getting another reason to hate DRM, as many of notorious DRM supporter Ubisoft’s PC and Mac DRM-equipped games—such as Might & Magic:  Heroes 6 and the Mac version of Assassin’s Creed—will be unavailable for play starting next Tuesday (February 7) due to server updates.  Ubisoft does not yet know when these games will become available for play again, either.

-Nick’s take:  Punishing legal video game purchasers is a big no-no, yet that’s exactly what DRM supporters like Ubisoft do.  It’s not like pirates haven’t already figured out how to crack the DRM and leak copies online before a game’s release, anyway.  This should be a wakeup call for Ubisoft; stop including invasive DRM in your games!

In Oklahoma, games with this sticker may soon be taxed.

• Oklahoma representative proposes new tax on violent video games:  Oklahoma state representative William Fourkiller wants to place a one-percent tax on any game rated “T” for Teen or higher by the ESRB.  The tax money would go towards programs aimed at preventing bullying and childhood obesity.

-Nick’s take:  “Violent video games contribute to some of our societal problems like obesity and bullying,” according to Mr. Fourkiller.  In other words, this tax is based upon one man’s opinion that is backed by very little (often contradictory) scientific data.  Preventing bullying and childhood obesity are noble goals, but they seem like red herrings meant to distract people from the shoddy science that is the very reason for this tax.  Taxing video games doesn’t make sense and always seems like a money grab, especially in this case where Teen rated games would be taxed.

New Sony president/CEO Kaz Hirai

• Kaz Hirai named president and CEO of Sony:  Current president of Sony Computer Entertainment International Kaz Hirai will replace current Sony president Howard Stringer as president and CEO of Sony on April 1.  Hirai was instrumental in launching the PS2 and PS3 for Sony, as well as infamous for giving the world the “Rrriiiidddge Racer!” meme at E3 a few years back.

-Nick’s take:   Congratulations to Mr. Hirai for his big promotion.  He’s been instrumental in the PlayStation brand’s success at Sony and will surely put video games near the top of Sony’s priorities going forward.

1.  L. A. Noire:  I gave L. A. Noire a perfect “10″ review score earlier in the year and said that it was the best game I’d played up to that point in time.  I was fairly certain that something would topple it–Uncharted 3 or Skyrim, perhaps?–but nothing in the latter half of the year eclipsed L. A. Noire.  This is the game that, when I look back on the year, really sticks out for me.  It’s unlike any game I’ve ever played; there are action scenes, sure, but they’re not the main focus of the game.  In fact, players can skip over action scenes entirely after failing them a few times if they just want to experience the story and characters.  The main focus of L. A. Noire lies in actual detective work.  As detective Cole Phelps, you search for clues at crime scenes and then interrogate witnesses/suspects.  The whole process feels like an evolution of the old-school PC point-and-click adventure titles of the ’90s.  The now defunct Team Bondi’s amazing facial capture technology allows for real facial movement and expressions when interrogating people–it’s like you really are interrogating someone.  The entire thing is woven around a pitch-perfect recreation of 1947 Los Angeles, too.  Those expecting another Rockstar game along the lines of Grand Theft Auto or Red Dead Redemption are bound to be disappointed, but open your mind a bit to something new and you’ll have a unique experience you’ll never forget.

2.  Portal 2:  The original Portal released back in 2007 as a small part of Valve’s The Orange Box compilation.  The game was short and weird, so Valve wasn’t sure if Portal would be a success as a standalone release.  As we all know now, of course, Portal was a breakout success, outshining even Half-Life 2:  Episode Two and Team Fortress 2 as the best reason to own The Orange Box.  When Valve announced that Portal 2 was going to be a standalone full-priced release, many gamers were skeptical.  The first game was great, true, but it was also extremely short and didn’t exactly seem like a game that needed a sequel.  Thankfully, Portal 2 is an unquestionable success that outdoes its predecessor in every way.  Portal 2 is much longer than the first game and features even better puzzle design built around new gameplay mechanics, but that’s not what makes it such a standout game.  Instead, it’s the story that reveals much of Aperture Science’s history and the hilarious new characters that really make Portal 2 rise above many other games released this year.  The hilarious and treacherous Wheatley–deftly voiced by British comedian Stephen Merchant–alone is enough to earn Portal 2 the #2 spot on my list.

3.  Battlefield 3:  Ask most gamers about Battlefield 3 and they’ll most likely say something about the game’s graphics.  It’s true that Battlefield 3–especially on the PC–is the best-looking game I’ve ever seen.  However, it’s the large-scale online battles that truly make Battlefield 3 a must for any FPS fan.  You haven’t experienced anything quite like Battlefield 3‘s enormous 64 player battles that mix infantry and vehicles together with outstanding gameplay and the best audio/visual presentation around.  Call of Duty is downright boring next to the dynamic chaos that occurs all around you in Battlefield 3‘s biggest skirmishes.  Those seeking a tighter focus can play smaller infantry-only Team Deathmatch and Squad Rush modes, too, meaning there’s something here for every multiplayer FPS fan to get into.  The bland campaign and afterthought co-op are disappointments, for sure, but Battlefield 3‘s outstanding competitive multiplayer offerings more than make up for any of its deficiencies.

4.  Deus Ex:  Human Revolution:  When I sat down to write this list, I knew right away what my top three games would be.  Coming up with number four, however, was tricky.  I knew it’d be an RPG–but which RPG?  There were a ton of great RPGs this year, including the extraordinarily popular critic darling Skyrim.  Yet, the RPG that I had the most fun with this year–and one of only two I’ve finished so far–is definitely Deus Ex:  Human Revolution.  Deus Ex isn’t even a good RPG in many ways–its story is generic, its characters are uninteresting, and the voice acting is absolutely horrendous.  Yet, Deus Ex is a ton of fun and allows you to mold protagonist Adam Jensen any way you see fit.  Want to focus on sneaking around and hacking into computers?  Feel free to do so.  Want to go in guns blazing like Rambo?  I don’t recommend it, but you can if you’d like, particularly later in the game.  Want to talk your way out of most situations?  You can do that, too.  Deus Ex:  Human Revolution allows you to play the game however you’d like while having a lot of fun doing so–and isn’t that the main point of an RPG?

5.  Dark Souls:  ‘Oh, come on now Nick, this is getting absurd.  Another RPG beats  Skyrim?  And it’s a ridiculously hard RPG that only the most masochistic gamers are going to enjoy?  This list is utter nonsense and I’m done reading it.’  Wait, impatient reader, hear me out!  Skyrim will be next on this list, I promise.  Besides, Dark Souls is a better game than Skyrim.  Why?  Simple; Dark Souls is better-looking, more unique, more challenging, and ultimately, more fun to play.  Sure, it’s not as massive as Skyrim, but Dark Souls has a truly unique open world that is gorgeous to look at and features a smorgasbord of incredible environments to explore and creepily designed enemies to fight.  Just wait until you see the hideous bosses that await you in the depths of Dark Souls‘ deepest sewers, castles, and forests.  Dark Souls‘ Lordran is infinitely more creative and impressive to behold than Skyrim‘s generic Nordic-inspired world.  Better still, Dark Souls features easily the best combat in any RPG.  In fact, I’d go as far as to say that Dark Souls has combat that is on par–if not even better–than an action game like God of War or Devil May Cry.  The barrier to entry is extremely steep thanks to a merciless difficulty level and deep systems that aren’t explained anywhere in the game or in the game’s manual, but those who are brave enough to take up the challenge that Dark Souls provides will find the most creative and memorable RPG in years.

6.  The Elder Scrolls V:  Skyrim:  The popular choice for best game of the year, Skyrim needs no introduction.  Everybody knows what to expect heading into this game–a massive world, deep RPG systems, streamlined leveling, hundreds of hours worth of great gameplay, and dragons.  Skyrim is so massive that you can put 200 hours into it and still not have seen everything the game has to offer.  The combat is much improved over previous games in The Elder Scrolls series, too, having some sense of weight and allowing for dual-wielding of weapons and spells.  The flipside of all this–and the thing that nobody seems willing to admit–is that Skyrim can be downright boring.  In other games, I almost always have something fun to do.  In Skyrim, though, I spend an ungodly amount of time aimlessly wandering around and searching for something to explore.  I’ve spent somewhere in the neighborhood of 30 hours playing Skyrim so far, and at least 15 hours of that time has been spent either wandering the world in search of adventure or talking to the boring townsfolk that inhabit the game’s cities and villages in the hopes of picking up a new quest.  When Skyrim gets exciting, though, it gets really exciting; dragons swoop down out of nowhere and attack, frost trolls chase you up mountains, and a cave may be a secret vampire lair.  Skyrim is a game that is the very definition of the word ‘massive:’  I just wish it was also the very definition of the word ‘fun.’

7.  Uncharted 3:  Drake’s Deception:  This one really hurts me.  Seriously, the amount of emotional pain I feel over Uncharted 3 is downright depressing.  It’s not because Uncharted 3 is an emotionally downbeat game, either; the pain I feel is that of disappointment.  No other game in 2011 disappointed me as much as Uncharted 3 did, not even Crysis 2 (which didn’t make this list for a reason).  Uncharted 3‘s direct predecessor–the phenomenal Uncharted 2:  Among Thieves–is the closest thing I’ve ever experienced to a perfect game and probably the best game released last decade.  It really was this good; if you ask me what needed changing in Uncharted 2, I’d give you a blank stare for a couple minutes while eventually stumbling out with “….um, the final boss could have been better, I guess?”  Ask me what could have been better about Uncharted 3 and I’ll talk to you nonstop about frustrating enemy encounters and pathetic enemy A.I..  Remember the awesome-looking cruise ship level that Naughty Dog demoed at E3?  It’s not fun at all thanks to a bunch of combat scenarios that involve lots of heavily-armored enemies that require multiple magazines worth of ammo to take down and seemingly-endless waves of enemies in tight locations.  The cruise ship section isn’t the only part of the game that is this frustrating, either; the entire middle half of the game is this way.  The entire game suffers from what may well be the worst enemy A.I. I have ever seen–these morons run back and forth in straight lines in the open when tons of cover is right next to them, begging to be shot.  It’s a complete shame, too, as Uncharted 3 manages to look even better than the last game and has some of the best scenarios I’ve ever experienced in a game, including an amazing sequence where Drake wanders the desert and the best chase sequence in any entertainment medium.  The characters, dialogue, puzzles, climbing sections–all are top-notch and put every other game to shame.  When Uncharted 3 is firing on all cylinders, no other game can touch it in terms of spectacle and fun factor.  It’s a shame that the atrocious A.I. and extremely frustrating difficulty make this my least favorite Uncharted game.

8.  The Witcher 2:  Assassins of Kings:  The last RPG on this list–and the last one worth playing this year–The Witcher 2 is every PC fanboy’s dream come true.  Exclusive to the PC for now (an Xbox 360 port is supposedly coming next year), The Witcher 2 leverages the power of gaming PCs to produce stunning visuals with the best character models ever seen.  The lighting effects and environment design look great, too.  The game suffers a bit from being generic high fantasy–it’s The Lord of the Rings with more sex– and there are quite a few annoying bugs (every time I tried to play the dice poker minigame, the game would crash on me), but the characters and dialogue are well-written and feel real.  The combat is supposedly inspired by Demon’s Souls‘, but it’s not nearly as good or as challenging.  It’s fun, though, and extremely deep.  In fact, The Witcher 2 is easily the deepest RPG I’ve yet played–there’s no pointless streamlining here.  Alchemy, crafting, magic, combat, skill trees, dialogue choices, decisions that literally change the game you experience; it’s all extremely deep and obviously made for a PC audience who grew up with classic BioWare RPGs such as Bauldur’s Gate.  It’s a bit tough to get into, sure–the tutorial throws everything at you at once, and there’s barely any time to get adjusted before you’re fighting for your life–but this game isn’t Dark Souls and won’t require constant dying on your part once you get the hang of things.  If you want to experience the deepest RPG around and have a decent gaming PC, The Witcher 2 is what you’re looking for.

9.  Gears of War 3:  The final part of Epic’s fantastic trilogy, Gears of War 3 isn’t terribly innovative; instead, it improves upon what’s already in the franchise.  Thought the story and characters of the first two Gears games were boring and flat?  Not so with Gears 3–this game has the most touching and heartfelt moment I’ve experienced in a game this year.  Seriously.  The graphics are even better than in the last two games, making for one of the best-looking games you can buy.  The cooperative Horde 2.0, four-player co-op through the campaign, and new Beast modes provide the best co-operative gameplay of the year.  The competitive multiplayer is unbalanced and keeps the game from placing even higher on this list, but everything else the game does is topnotch.  Even if you weren’t a big fan of the previous Gears of War games, you owe it to yourself to play Gears of War 3.

10.  Rayman Origins:  The last slot on my list could have gone to any number of great games released this year, including Dead Space 2 and Mortal Kombat.  Instead, I chose to highlight the best game that’s going to get buried under the avalanche of huge holiday releases, Rayman Origins.  Rayman Origins is a beautiful 2D platformer that features extremely creative level design and gorgeous graphics.  It’s also challenging–just the way I like my platformers–and has great replay value thanks to four-player co-op and a huge amount of secrets to find.  The game’s a bit short to be a full-priced $60 release, but GameStop is now offering the game for sale at $30 brand new.  If you like games like New Super Mario Bros. Wii and Donkey Kong Country Returns, you’ll love Rayman Origins.

The star of NBC’s show Chuck, Zachary Levi, was the host of the VGAs this year.  He proved to be a decent choice; he seemed to know what he was talking about and even cracked a few funny jokes.  Sure, his opening video sketch was terrible, but these things usually are, right?  At least Spike didn’t go with some completely random host like they sometimes have in the past.  Artist Deadmau5 was on hand–complete with goofy mouse headgear–to provide some techno music (I think it’s techno?) to fade to commercials with.

The first award of the night went to Batman:  Arkham City.  The game won for best action/adventure against stiff competition from the sequel to 2009′s game of the year, Uncharted 3:  Drake’s Deception.  Next up was a big reveal trailer for PS3 exclusive The Last of Us.  When I first heard of the game’s existence, I was praying it wasn’t just another zombie game.  Well, it is another zombie game…from developer Naughty Dog (the Uncharted series).  No actual gameplay footage or details were shown, but judging by the CG trailer, the game appears to be heavily inspired by the Will Smith movie I Am Legend.  The Last of Us seems to focus on survival in a world overrun by the undead (hence the movie similarities) and is being developed by one of the best video game developers in the world, but do we really need another zombie game?

Mass Effect 3 was announced as the winner of the viewer’s choice most anticipated game award (not BioShock Infinite?).  A new trailer was shown featuring in-game footage that focused on a Reaper–the giant alien/machine hybrids that are the main threat in the Mass Effect series–fighting a giant worm reminiscent of the sand worms from Dune.  The game looked action-packed, but Mass Effect 3 is supposed to be an RPG–where are the role-playing elements, BioWare?  BioWare also revealed its new project to be Command and Conquer Generals 2.  A very brief CG trailer was shown that revealed the game will use the Frostbite 2 engine that powers Battlefield 3 and that Generals 2 won’t be releasing until 2013.  No other details were announced.

Tom Clancy’s Rainbow 6:  Patriots was also given a brief CG trailer with no gameplay footage.  I feel bad for anyone watching the VGAs just to see Rainbow 6 footage–what a complete letdown.  A new game that we got a much more intriguing glimpse of is Alan Wake’s American Nightmare, an upcoming downloadable Xbox Live Arcade game.  Incorrectly rumored to be named “Alan Wake:  Night Springs,” American Nightmare looks like a full-blown sequel to the underrated Xbox 360 exclusive horror/thriller Alan Wake, no matter what developer Remedy Entertainment has said.  If you haven’t played the original game, I suggest you do so; it plays like a Stephen King novel with third-person shooter gameplay.  Maybe American Nightmare won’t be as long or as in-depth as the original Alan Wake game, hence it not being called a direct sequel?  Regardless, I’m really excited about Alan Wake’s American Nightmare and was pleasantly surprised by the quality of the gameplay footage shown at the VGAs.

Legendary game designer Shigeru Miyamoto (The Legend of Zelda, Mario, Donkey Kong, Pikmin–how’s that for a resume?) walked on-stage to induct the Legend of Zelda series into the “Video Game Hall of Fame.”  I’m fairly certain that other video game halls of fame exist, but Zelda is apparently the first inductee into the VGA Hall of Fame (?).  Despite my confusion, it was great to see Miyamoto-san on-stage, especially in light of all of the rumors concerning his position at Nintendo this past week.  A trailer for open-world movie game The Amazing Spider-Man was next.  It….looked like a Spider-Man game.

Pro wrestler Hulk Hogan was on-hand to introduce a video package showcasing a whole bunch of awards that were quickly glossed over.  Among these,  Uncharted 3:  Drake’s Deception won for best PS3 game and best graphics–apparently, no one voting on these things has played Battlefield 3 on a decent computer yet.  In fact, Battlefield 3 also lost the coveted multiplayer game of the year award–seemingly a shoo-in for Battlefield 3–to….Portal 2?  What the…?  Rock band The Black Keys (who?) then performed a song.  The best part of the performance was the reaction shots of Miyamoto-san and actor/comedian Seth Green, who looked confused as to why a video game awards show had a rock band performing who have nothing to do with video games.

The 2011 Video Game Awards were broadcast live on Spike from 8-10 p.m. Eastern on 12/10/2011

Leggy ex-WWE Diva Stacy Keibler (I’m a big wrestling fan, so I know who these people are) was on stage next to show off a CG trailer for the upcoming game Transformers:  Fall of Cybertron.  The game is being billed as the sequel to last year’s third-person shooter Transformers:  War for Cybertron and is unrelated to the Michael Bay films.  Completing the VGA shutout of excellent first-person shooter Battlefield 3, Call of Duty:  Modern Warfare 3 took home the award for best shooter.  Look, I know that video game tastes are subjective, but Modern Warfare 3 is almost identical to Modern Warfare 2, whereas Battlefield 3 brings multiplayer shooters to a whole new level.  Battlefield 3 is generally considered to be the far-better game by those who’ve played it, especially the PC version; maybe it lost due to it’s polarizing campaign?

Infamous developer Cliff “CliffyB” Bleszinski (Gears of War) took the stage to show off Epic Games’ new IP Fortnite.  In stark contrast to the gory shooters like Gears of War and Unreal that Epic is best known for, Fortnite looks cartoony and less violent.  Epic didn’t share many concrete details about the game, but CliffyB made Fortnite sound similar to PC indie sensation Minecraft.  Next up was the oddly named Gamer God award, presented to Blizzard Entertainment.  A montage video showed off the developer’s many successful franchises–World of WarCraft, StarCraft, and Diablo.  A few members of Blizzard then took the stage to show off the stunning CG opening cinematic for Diablo III.  I was never a big fan of Diablo or Blizzard’s other franchises, but the Diablo III cinematic was stunning.

Stunning female video gamer/celebrity Felicia Day next went on-stage to show off an amazing trailer for Irrational’s highly-anticipated BioShock Infinite.  The game wowed critics at E3 with its amazing demo, and it wowed the VGA audience tonight, as well.  After BioShock Infinite, the publicly voted award for character of the year went to Mark Hamill’s gleefully sadistic portrayal of The Joker in Batman:  Arkham City.  I think the absolutely hilarious robot Wheatley from Valve’s first-person puzzle game Portal 2 (voiced by British comedian Stephen Merchant) should have taken the award, but The Joker’s win video showed a teaser for Arkham City‘s possible sequel, Batman:  Arkham World.  Is this merely a joke from developer Rocksteady Studios or a hint at what’s next for Batman?

The last–and biggest–award of the night was Game of the Year.  There were five nominees, all great games:  Batman:  Arkham City,  The Elder Scrolls V:  Skyrim, The Legend of Zelda:  Skyward Sword, Portal 2, and Uncharted 3:  Drake’s Deception.  Only one game could win the award, and Bethesda’s massive open world RPG The Elder Scrolls V:  Skyrim was that game.  While I haven’t played it yet, Skyrim has become an addiction for millions of gamers and has even managed to best big-name FPS games Call of Duty:  Modern Warfare 3 and Battlefield 3 in a number of key areas relating to popularity.  The game is selling like hotcakes at retailers and is the talk of the gaming world right now.  I predicted that Skyrim had the greatest chance of winning game of the year, but I also thought that Batman and Uncharted had legitimate shots, as well.

The VGAs wrapped up with a new look at the renamed Metal Gear Rising:  Revengeance.  Kojima Productions’ head honcho and namesake Hideo Kojima took the stage to awkwardly introduce the trailer.  Kojima-san doesn’t speak English very well and seemed nervous, but the trailer was awesome.  Developed by Platinum Games (Bayonetta, Shadows of the Damned, Vanquish), Metal Gear Rising is an extremely violent and over-the-top action game that seems to have shades of Tecmo’s Ninja Gaiden franchise.  I’m not a fan of previous Metal Gear Solid games, but Metal Gear Rising looks like a ton of fun.  It’s too bad that the Metal Gear Rising trailer leaked online hours before the VGAs started, as it was supposed to be the night’s biggest reveal.

Overall, I’d say the VGAs were a mixed bag this year.  I like Skyrim as Game of the Year, but why shut out Battlefield 3 and have celebrities that have nothing to do with gaming taking up so much air time?  A few stupid skits went on far too long, too; this time would have been better spent focusing on the smaller awards.  Some games’ reveals really disappointed, as well.  It could have been better, but the 2011 Video Game Awards also could have been much worse (as it has been in previous years).  If you haven’t seen it yet on TV, I’d say don’t bother–now that you’ve read my thoughts on the event, look up the reveal trailers online and skip all the filler stuff in-between.

*list of 2011 VGA (Video Game Awards) winners:

• Game of the Year:  The Elder Scrolls V:  Skyrim
• Studio of the Year:  Bethesda Game Studios (The Elder Scrolls V:  Skyrim)
• Best Xbox 360 Game:  Batman:  Arkham City
• Best PS3 Game:  Uncharted 3:  Drake’s Deception
• Best Wii Game:  The Legend of Zelda:  Skyward Sword
• Best PC Game:  Portal 2
• Best Handheld/Mobile Game:  Super Mario 3D Land
• Best Shooter:  Call of Duty:  Modern Warfare 3
• Best Action/Adventure Game:  Batman:  Arkham City
• Best RPG:  The Elder Scrolls V:  Skyrim
• Best Multiplayer:  Portal 2
• Best Individual Sports Game:  Fight Night Champion
• Best Team Sports Game:  NBA 2K12
• Best Driving Game:  Forza Motorsport 4
• Best Fighting Game:  Mortal Kombat
• Best Motion Game:  The Legend of Zelda:  Skyward Sword
• Best Independent Game:  Minecraft
• Best Adapted Video Game:  Batman:  Arkham City
• Best Song in a Game:  “Build that Wall (Zia’s Theme)” from Bastion
• Best Original Score:  Bastion
• Best Graphics:  Uncharted 3:  Drake’s Deception
• Best Performance by a Human Male:  Stephen Merchant as Wheatley in Portal 2
• Best Performance by a Human Female:  Ellen McLain as GlaDOS in Portal 2
• Best Downloadable Game:  Bastion
• Best DLC:  “Peer Review” for Portal 2
• Cover Athlete for EA Sports’ NFL Blitz:  Ray Rice of the Baltimore Ravens (public vote)
• Character of the Year:  The Joker in Batman:  Arkham City (public vote)
• Most Anticipated Game:  Mass Effect 3 (public vote)
• GameTrailers.com’s Trailer of the Year:  Assassin’s Creed:  Revelations E3 2011 Trailer

The real gem of this video is the debut gameplay from the newly designed Spec-Ops “Survival” mode in which players fight wave after wave of increasingly difficult enemies. Even Simon Pegg, another of Fallon’s guests got in on the action with a character named “Private Pegg” Fallon and Pegg proceeded to fumble their way through the first wave of enemies before the segment ended. But getting a good look at the engine and some unseen gameplay was worth it only being a short demonstration.

All in all it was a nice little segment. Modern Warfare 3 launches November 8th in the US.

Kinect

As predicted, Microsoft was in full Kinect mode this year, laying out an amazing selection of games and features to improve the Kinect and make it more relevant to a hardcore audience.  It was actually quite a nice surprise to see so many games and developers coming forward with uses and pledges to make Kinect games. In a not altogether shocking turn of events, Mass Effect 3 will make use of the Kinect in a variety of ways (we were really only shown the voice control) but the star of the Kinect show had to be Ghost Recon: Future Soldier’s Gunsmith Mode, it wowed and amazed everyone who saw it.

While there were games targeted towards a younger audience like Disneyland Adventure or Sesame Street: Once Upon A Monster (Funnily enough they were the worst looking games for the Kinect, actors clearly faking the performance, much like the Star Wars game last year.) Kinect really did shine when it came to the more hardcore element, reaching behind you in Ghost Recon: FS to reload your weapon, or yelling for Liara and Garrus to move up in Mass Effect… this is exactly what the Kinect needed, exploring it to its full potential and making it relevant to hardcore gamers.

Xbox Media

One of the biggest announcements of the conference was that Bing, Youtube, and Xbox TV will be coming to 360 owners in the coming year. Bing will allow users to search for any and all media and content available on the 360 or the media networks its already associated with. An example of Bing’s search on Xbox 360: Just finished playing LEGO: Pirates of the Caribbean and want more? Search Pirates and have all of the movies and games  available at your fingertips.

Accompanying these additions will be a dashboard overhaul, giving the 360 a much cleaner and organized look. The new dashboard is broken up into nine tabs, Bing,  Home, Social, Live TV, Video, Games, Music, Apps, and Settings. This new look really does improve the overall feel of the system, I was getting tired of the dashboard anyway so this is a marked improvement.

Of course, all of these components and additions are Kinect compatible, like voice searches for Bing.

Halo

It’s back! Not only are we getting an HD updated version of Halo: Combat Evolved, but Halo 4 is up for release next year. The anniversary edition looks great, but it was completely forgotten the moment the Halo 4 trailer came up on screen. At the very end of the conference, Don Mattrick came back on stage to announce a new trilogy, the lights dimmed, the trailer appeared on the screen, and gamers faces slowly went from casual boredom to utter disbelief and excitement.  Halo 4 will be the first real Halo title not to be made by Bungie, so clearly all eyes are on 343 studios to make something amazing out of this trilogy.

Sony

PSN Outage

As expected, Jack Tretton took the stage and spent a good deal of time apologizing to consumers, partners, and retailers alike for the inconvenience brought on by the PlayStation Network outage. While you may not realize it, Sony’s PSN going down was far more of a problem for the many companies that sell via the PlayStation Store, this outage cost them millions, so I can understand Tretton giving them a serious apology on stage. According to Sony, 80 titles are currently being developed for the Vita and are scheduled for release.

PS Vita

Fans of the PSP rejoice, Sony’s newly unveiled Vita (Previously codenamed the NGP) is truly a thing of beauty. The only real description of the Vita that needs to be made is how well it runs Uncharted: Golden Abyss, this game blew minds. Graphics were just out of this world for a handheld, and the functionality of the front and back touch screens allowed for some seriously cool actions. Possibly the best thing about the Vita? The price. At only $249 for the standard model, and $299 for the model with 3g coverage, this new system is both extremely powerful and perfectly affordable.

Nintendo

All Things Zelda

With its 25th anniversary just around the corner, half of today’s show was Zelda related.  Zelda: Links Awakening is the first title available on the 3DS Virtual Console, and is now ready to download. Ocarina of Time 3D will launch next week, sure to amaze fans like myself.  Zelda: Skyward Sword will launch this holiday for the Wii, and will come with a gold Wii remote to celebrate their 25th anniversary. Zelda: 4 Swords will be available to download for free this September. Not to mention the exciting series of 25th Zelda Anniversary Symphony Concerts that will be going in on around the world.

Wii U

Turns out the rumors were true. Nintendo dazzled the crown with the unveiling of their new console, the Wii U (and its remote). The first console of the Next Gen series, the Wii U boasts some fairly impressive hardware for a Nintendo system, this hardware will allow Nintendo fans to play games like:

• Arkham City
• Darksiders 2
• Tekken
• Assassin’s Creed
• Ninja Gaiden 3
• Dirt
• Ghost Recon Online
• Metro: Last Light
• Aliens Colonial Marines

All of the games above were shown and look amazing, even Aliens: Colonial Marines.

Nintendo released a spec list shortly after the conference, so here you go, drool over the wonder.

Release: 2012

Height of about a width of about 46mm × 172mm × Depth 268.5mm (excluding protrusions)

The new controller is 6.2 inches, 16:9 button controller that combines what is familiar and the touch screen, slide the two pads is attached.

This rechargeable controller power button, HOME button, arrow pad, A / B / X / Y Buttons, L / R buttons, ZL / ZR is attached to the button. In addition, accelerometers, gyroscopes, vibration function, camera, microphone, speakers, sensor unit is equipped with a stylus.

Wii Remote (or Wii Remote +) can simultaneously connect up to 4. Classic Controller and Nunchuk, Classic Controller PRO, and Wii Balance Board, or any input device that corresponds to the Wii controller.

New hardware for high-density optical and 12cm, Wii can play for a 12cm self-loading optical disc (disc type will automatically draw) with a single drive.

1080p, 1080i, 720p, 480p, 480i compatible. HDMI, Component, D terminal, S-terminal, corresponding to each of the composite cable.

AV Multi-output and output from the HDMI output terminal supports 6CH PCM linear.

In addition to the internal flash memory, SD memory card or external USB can be extended by using the hard drive capacity.

Multicore-based IBM Power ®

4 USB 2.0 has a single pin.

The new hardware backwards compatible Wii games.

L.A Noire was released this past week, and to nobody’s surprise it went over remarkably well with critics and consumers alike. It scored an average of 9/10, as low reviews were in short supply.

Some major gaming site scores for L.A Noire:

IGN – 8.5
Destructoid – 9
Eurogamer – 8
GameSpot – 9.0
GamePro – 5/5
Joystiq – 4.5/5
Nowgamer – 9.3
Digital Spy – 5/5
The Guardian – 5/5
Giant Bomb – 5/5
1UP – A
SPOnG – 90
Videogamer – 10

Conduit 2 Developer High Voltage Software stirred up a bit of controversy this past week when they Amazonbombed Joystiq reviewer and published author T. Michael Murdock for his negative review of their game.

In the review Mr. Murdock states:

“The graphics are a mess. Faces are badly pixelated, even in cutscenes. The only smooth, 2011 graphics are in the final cutscene. It’s the only one fully-rendered. I’m absolutely not joking.”
…
“The creativity of the level design is … well, it’s non-existent.”
…
“I didn’t spend much time in multiplayer, if only because the sheer thought of ingesting more of this game made me want to sob uncontrollably.”

It’s an amazing review, really one of the best I’ve had the pleasure to read in years.

Unfortunately the folks over at High Voltage Software didn’t find it nearly as entertaining as I did, and decided to get some revenge.

In retaliation of the review, High Voltage Creative Director Matt Corso sent out an interdepartmental email encouraging High Voltage employees to essentially leave a negative review on Amazon for Murdock’s book.

Frankly this is just a scumbag move on their part. While they have the right to leave a negative review if they’ve read the book (Which I doubt), doing it solely for the purpose of revenge is both petty, spiteful, and deserving of the utmost contempt.

Head over to the Escapist for the full story.

I feel the need to make up for my absence, so tune in tomorrow when I’ll be covering the upcoming week or two of releases and rumors.

The VGAs were rather disappointing this year, though I find my self saying that every year and watching them anyway. Technical screw-ups from the get-go, attempts at humor that didn’t really take off, awful live music, and a host that just didn’t work. Ive got nothing against NPH, he’s the man… but he just wasn’t right for the role. I think the most annoying part of the show though, was the lack of a show. More than half of the awards were skipped for commercials, so if you weren’t in the crowd you’d have to look up the winners online.

Character of the Year -
Ezio, Assassin’s Creed: Brotherhood
Kratos, God of War III
Srgt. Frank Woods, Call of Duty: Black Ops
John Marston, Red Dead Redemption

Winner – Srgt. Frank Woods, Call of Duty Black Ops
My Pick – John Marston, Red Dead Redemption

Studio of the Year -
BioWare
Blizzard Entertainment
Bungie Studios
Rockstar San Diego

Winner: Bioware

Best Xbox 360 Game -
Alan Wake (Microsoft/Remedy)
Fable III (Microsoft/Lionhead Studios)
Halo: Reach (Microsoft/Bungie Studios)
Mass Effect 2 (Electronic Arts/BioWare)

Winner: Mass Effect 2

Best PS3 Game -
God of War III (Sony Computer Entertainment/SCE Studios Santa Monica)
Heavy Rain (Sony Computer Entertainment/Quantic Dream)
ModNation Racers (Sony Computer Entertainment/United Front Games)
Red Dead Redemption (Rockstar Games/Rockstar San Diego)

Winner: God of War III
My Pick: Heavy Rain

Best Wii Game –
Donkey Kong Country Returns (Nintendo/Retro Studios)
Kirby’s Epic Yarn (Nintendo/Good-Feel)
Metroid: Other M (Nintendo/Team Ninja/Nintendo)
Super Mario Galaxy 2 (Nintendo/Nintendo)

Winner: Super Mario Galaxy 2

Best PC Game -
Fallout: New Vegas (Bethesda Softworks/Obsidian Entertainment)
Mass Effect 2 (Electronic Arts/BioWare)
Sid Meier’s Civilization V (2K Games/Firaxis)
StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty (Blizzard Entertainment/Blizzard Entertainment)

Winner: Starcraft II: Wings of Liberty

Best Handheld Game -
God of War: Ghost of Sparta (Sony Computer Entertainment / Ready At Dawn Studios)
Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker (Konami / Kojima Productions)
Professor Layton and the Unwound Future (Nintendo/ Level-5)
Super Scribblenauts (Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment / 5th Cell)

Winner: God of War: Ghost of Sparta

Best Shooter -
Battlefield: Bad Company 2 (Electronic Arts/DICE)
BioShock 2 (2K Games/2K Marin)
Call of Duty: Black Ops (Activision/Treyarch)
Halo: Reach (Microsoft/Bungie Studios)

Winner: Call of Duty: Black Ops

Best Action/Adventure Game -
Assassin’s Creed: Brotherhood (Ubisoft/Ubisoft Montreal)
God of War III (Sony Computer Entertainment/SCE Studios Santa Monica)
Red Dead Redemption (Rockstar Games/Rockstar San Diego)
Super Mario Galaxy 2 (Nintendo/Nintendo)

Winner: Assassin’s Creed: Brotherhood
My Pick: Red Dead Redemption

Best RPG -
Fable III (Microsoft/Lionhead Studios)
Fallout: New Vegas (Bethesda Softworks/Obsidian Entertainment)
Final Fantasy XIII (Square Enix/Square Enix)
Mass Effect 2 (Electronic Arts/BioWare)

Winner: Mass Effect 2

Best Multiplayer Game -
Battlefield: Bad Company 2 (Electronic Arts/DICE)
Call of Duty: Black Ops (Activision/Treyarch)
Halo: Reach (Microsoft/Bungie Studios)
StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty (Blizzard Entertainment/Blizzard Entertainment)

Winner: Halo: Reach
My Pick: Battlefield: Bad Company 2

Best Individual Sports Game -
EA Sports MMA (Electronic Arts/EA Tiburon)
Shaun White Skateboarding (Ubisoft/Ubisoft Montreal)
Tiger Woods PGA Tour 11 (Electronic Arts/EA Tiburon)
UFC Undisputed 2010 (THQ/Yuke’s Media Creations)

Winner: Tiger Woods PGA Tour 11

Best Team Sports Game -
FIFA Soccer 11 (Electronic Arts/EA Canada)
Madden NFL 11 (Electronic Arts/EA Tiburon)
NBA 2K11 (2K Sports/Visual Concepts)
MLB ‘10: The Show (Sony Computer Entertainment/SCE Studios San Diego)

Winner: NBA 2K11

Best Driving Game -
Blur (Activision/Bizarre Creations)
ModNation Racers (Sony Computer Entertainment/United Front Games)
Need For Speed: Hot Pursuit (Electronic Arts/Criterion Games)
Split/Second (Disney Interactive Studios/Black Rock Studio)

Winner: Need For Speed: Hot Pursuit
My Pick: Blur

Best Music Game -
Dance Central (MTV Games/Harmonix)
DJ Hero 2 (Activision Publishing/FreeStyleGames)
Def Jam Rapstar (Konami/Autumn Games / 4mm Games)
Rock Band 3 (MTV Games/Harmonix)

Winner: Rock Band 3

Best Soundtrack -
Def Jam Rapstar (Konami/Autumn Games /4mm Games)
DJ Hero 2 (Activision/FreeStyleGames)
Guitar Hero: Warriors of Rock (Activision/Neversoft Entertainment)
Rock Band 3 (MTV Games/Harmonix)

Winner:  DJ Hero 2

Best Song in Game -
“Basket Case” by Green Day (Green Day Rock Band)
“Black Rain” by Soundgarden (Guitar Hero: Warriors of Rock)
“Far Away” by José González (Red Dead Redemption)
“Goldeneye” by Nicole Scherzinger (GoldenEye 007)
“Replay/Rude Boy Mashup” by Iyaz & Rihanna (DJ Hero 2)
“Won’t Back Down” by Eminem (Call of Duty: Black Ops)

Winner: “Far Away” by José González (Red Dead Redemption)

Best Original Score -
God of War III (Sony Computer Entertainment/SCE Studios Santa Monica)
Halo: Reach (Microsoft/Bungie Studios)
Mass Effect 2 (Electronic Arts/BioWare)
Red Dead Redemption (Rockstar Games/Rockstar San Diego)

Winner: Red Dead Redemption
My Pick: Mass Effect 2

Best Graphics -
God of War III (Sony Computer Entertainment/SCE Studios Santa Monica)
Heavy Rain (Sony Computer Entertainment/Quantic Dream)
Kirby’s Epic Yarn (Nintendo/Good-Feel)
Red Dead Redemption (Rockstar Games/Rockstar San Diego)

Winner: God of War III
My Pick: Heavy Rain

Best Adapted Video Game -
LEGO: Harry Potter: Years 1-4 (Warner Bros. Interactive/Traveller’s Tales)
Scott Pilgrim vs. The World: The Game (Ubisoft/Ubisoft Montreal/Ubisoft Chengdu)
Spider-Man: Shattered Dimensions (Activision/Beenox)
Star Wars: The Force Unleashed II (LucasArts/LucasArts)
Transformers: War for Cybertron (Activision/High Moon Studios)

Winner: Scott Pilgrim vs. The World

Best Performance by a Human Male -
Daniel Craig as James Bond (James Bond 007: Blood Stone/Activision)
Gary Oldman as Sgt. Reznov (Call of Duty: Black Ops/Activision)
John Cleese as Jasper (Fable III/Microsoft)
Martin Sheen as Illusive Man (Mass Effect 2/Electronic Arts)
Nathan Fillion as Sergeant Edward Buck (Halo: Reach/Microsoft)
Neil Patrick Harris as Peter Parker/Amazing Spider-Man (Spider-Man: Shattered Dimensions/Activision)
Rob Wiethoff as John Marston (Red Dead Redemption/Rockstar Games)
Sam Worthington as Alex Mason (Call of Duty: Black Ops/Activision)

Winner: Neil Patrick Harris as Peter Parker/ Amazing Spider-Man
My Pick: Sam Worthington as Alex Mason

Best Performance by a Human Female -
Dame Judi Dench as M (James Bond 007: Blood Stone/Activision)
Danica Patrick as Herself (Blur/Activision)
Emmanuelle Chriqui as The Numbers Lady (Call of Duty: Black Ops/Activision)
Felicia Day as Veronica (Fallout: New Vegas/Bethesda Softworks)
Jennifer Hale as Commander Sheppard (Mass Effect 2/Electronic Arts)
Kristen Bell as Lucy Stillman (Assassin’s Creed: Brotherhood/Ubisoft)
Tricia Helfer as Sarah Kerrigan (StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty/Blizzard Entertainment)
Yvonne Strahovski as Miranda Lawson (Mass Effect 2/Electronic Arts)

Winner: Tricia Helfer as Sarah Kerrigan

Best Downloadable Game -
Costume Quest (THQ/Double Fine Productions)
Lara Croft and the Guardian of Light (Square Enix/Crystal Dynamics)
Monday Night Combat (Uber Entertainment/Uber Entertainment)
Scott Pilgrim vs. The World: The Game (Ubisoft/Ubisoft Montreal/ Ubisoft Chengdu)

Winner: Costume Quest
My Pick: Monday Night Combat

Best DLC -
BioShock 2: Minerva’s Den (2K Games/2K Marin)
Borderlands: The Secret Armory of General Knoxx (2K Games/Gearbox Software)
Mass Effect 2: Lair of the Shadow Broker (Electronic Arts/BioWare)
Red Dead Redemption – Undead Nightmare (Rockstar Games/Rockstar San Diego)

Winner: Red Dead Redemption – Undead Nightmare

Best Independent Game -
Joe Danger (Hello Games)
Limbo (PlayDead)
Super Meat Boy (Team Meat)
The Misadventures of P.B. Winterbottom (The Odd Gentleman)

Winner: Limbo

Most Anticipated Game -
Batman: Arkham City (Warner Bros Interactive Entertainment/Rocksteady Studios)
BioShock: Infinite (2K Games/Irrational Games)
Gears of War 3 (Microsoft/Epic Games)
Portal 2 (Valve/Valve)

Winner: Portal 2

Game of the Year-
Call of Duty: Black Ops (Activision/Treyarch)
God of War III (Sony Computer Entertainment/SCE Studios Santa Monica)
Halo: Reach (Microsoft/Bungie Studios)
Mass Effect 2 (Electronic Arts/BioWare)
Red Dead Redemption (Rockstar Games/Rockstar San Diego)

Winner: Red Dead Redemption

]]> http://www.gamingmoments.net/2010/spikes-vga-winners/feed/ 0 http://www.gamingmoments.net/2010/1736/ http://www.gamingmoments.net/2010/1736/#comments Mon, 15 Nov 2010 11:44:46 +0000 doclotto http://www.gamingmoments.net/?p=1736 There are a thousand reviews for Call of Duty: Black Ops out there, I figure it would be nice to take a look at a different aspect.

The Call of Duty series has gone through a great many changes over the years, and with every new installment we see improvements and alterations that will forever impact future games in the franchise. So lets take a look at a few of these changes and how they’ve affected the games that followed.

The original Call of Duty (2003) was definitely not the first World War II shooter, but its thrilling plot and unique take on realistic combat blew the competition out of the water. The original CoD multiplayer was fairly simple, a few game modes, a nice selection of weapons, and the ever-exciting killcam the kept players coming back for more time after time.

The importance of the original CoD can’t be overstated, it’s true legacy is the influence that it had on future games. Call of Duty became the game to beat (it’s pretty much stayed that way too) and developers started to emulate them by creating more realistic and gritty games.

Call of Duty 2 followed up on the original with more explosive action and an even better story, the real gem however was the multiplayer.  Call of Duty 2′s singleplayer captured the hearts of gamers and the multiplayer (while really just an improved version of the original’s)  kept us glued to our seats for hours on end. I still go back and play CoD 2 from time to time, and I can honestly say it’s one of my favorites in the series.

Call of Duty 3 was the first in the series developed by Treyarch (Big Red One was really more of an expansion), it’s also arguably the worst in the series. Multiplayer on the other hand had it’s upsides. Call of Duty 3 introduced a class system to the multiplayer system that while limiting, was key to the development of the games that followed.

Gamers love choice, the more options a game gives us, the easier it is for players to personalize the experience and play the game the way we want to play it. Call of Duty: Modern Warfare was the bright light at the end of the Call of Duty tunnel. The multiplayer had an extensive class creation system and introduced the perk system which allowed players to customize their gameplay experience and tailor it to exactly the way they wanted to play. The addition of Killstreaks completely altered the way people played, finally players were rewarded for killing sprees in a fashion that actually matters.

Call of Duty: World at War brought us back to WWII but kept the additions and improvements from Modern Warfare, unfortunately the multiplayer was riddled with bugs and glitches that completely offset the flow of gameplay. On more than one occasion I killed a guy only to watch him spawn directly behind me and shoot me in the back on the killcam. The best thing to come out of World at War was undeniably Nazi Zombies, it added a cooperative aspect that Call of Duty had previously been lacking.

Modern Warfare 2 once again pushed the engine to its limits while further improving on already established elements of multiplayer, killstreaks became customizable so new or casual gamers could still achieve them while hardcore gamers could end the game with a 25 killstreak tactical nuke. While not competitive in nature, the spec-ops missions reinforced the continued effort to bring coop into the mix.

Black Ops hasn’t really added all that much to the series in terms of gameplay mechanics, instead the folks over at Treyarch took a more aesthetic approach to the customization factor by giving players the chance to change the way both they and their guns look. While choosing the color of your scope reticle and putting your clan-tag on your weapon may not seem like much in the way of improvements, what they really give the player is more choices, again letting players customize the game and their character to the exact way they want to look and play.

We heard a great deal of speculation regarding a complete character creator for Modern Warfare 2 and Black Ops (its just one of those things that players talk about) but in the end neither panned out. With the addition of aesthetic customization seen in Black Ops, perhaps we’ll get a taste of full customization in the next Call of Duty which is already underway.

- Nick Barker

While I’m not the biggest Wii fan, I think that milking gamers for an extra $25 just to get an accurate gaming experience is just wrong. Third party controllers have offered built in Wii Motion Plus for quite a while now, so its really about time that Nintendo got on the wagon.

FlingSmash and the Wii Remote Plus will be released on November 7th in the US, check back for more details between now and then.

-Nick Barker (Dr Strange Lulz)

Best RPG: Deus Ex Human RevolutionOn any other day I would give this to Fallout, but the variety of ways you can complete a mission and long term consequences depending on how you do is far more important to me than the name of a developer (The same reason I’m not falling all over myself about RAGE). Fallout: NV looks nice but it’s the exact same engine as Fallout 3, gameplay hasn’t really changed, and to me it just seems that they’re playing this one safe.

Best Sports Game: NBA Jam

Best Racing Game: Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit.

Best Shooter: Medal of Honor

Ok Ok, don’t shoot me, let me explain myself. The guys over at Treyarch displayed a decent amount of footage at E3, the problem I found was that none of it actually looked fun… at all. It just seemed like they were trying to one up Infinity Ward and coming up short (“Modern Warfare 2 had a nuke? Ya… well… we nuked the whole planet, this game takes place on a terraformed Mars, booya! Ya we went there!”) So you’ve got a chopper, sweet. But I know from experience with every one of your games that the gameplay footage shown was on the easiest mode possible, and that you almost died… every time you showed it off. Anyone who’s ever played World at War will tell you that Veteran mode is one of the hardest things they’ve ever done.

Medal of Honor footage was entirely multiplayer and frankly, 30 seconds of multiplayer footage looked a hundred times more fun than the idiotic chopper level in Black Ops. Medal of Honor seems like it will be the perfect balance between COD and Battlefield, while maintaining some of the scope of the Battlefield games they’ve also managed to introduce the close quarters intensity of COD. Take a look at the beta on June 21st.

Best Platformer: Kirby’s Epic Yarn

Best Fighting Game: Marvel vs Capcom 3

Best Action Game: Assassins’ Creed: Brotherhood

Take one-part Assassin’s Creed add one-part Multiplayer and you’ve got a winner folks. The multiplayer for AC: Brotherhood remains true to it’s origins, allowing players to do all the things they would normally be able to do in singleplayer and then using those abilities to kill your friends. Scarily awesome.

Unfortunately I actually forgot to get my press registration in on time this year otherwise I would have been there, luckily I’ve learned my lesson and I guarantee I’ll be there next year.