Watch This New Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim Trailer

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Read the title. There's nothing I can say about the greatness of this trailer that isn't already totally self-evident when you watch it. I am completely nonplussed. Well, I guess I can say a couple of words about it...

F***ING AWESOME.

That is all. Have a nice day.

Nintendo Announces Launch Day Games for 3DS in America

At long last, Nintendo has revealed which games we'll be able to play on launch day (March 27th, in case you've forgotten) and not just in the "launch window". There are 16 games in all (not including the built-in AR games or separate versions of Nintendogs), 3 of which are from Nintendo themselves. They are:

• Pilotwings Resort
• Steel Diver
• Nintendogs + cats
• Super Street Fighter IV 3D Edition
• The Sims 3
• Madden NFL Football
• Pro Evolution Soccer 2011 3D
• LEGO Star Wars III: The Clone Wars
• Ridge Racer 3D
• Super Monkey Ball 3D
• Bust-A-Move Universe
• Samurai Warriors: Chronicles
• Asphalt 3D
• Combat of Giants: Dinosaurs 3D
• Rayman 3D
• Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon Shadow Wars

From what I've seen around the interwebs, a lot of people are unhappy about this lineup. The reason, I'm guessing, is because there isn't that AAA marquee killer-app super-awesome hyperbole title like a Zelda or a Mario. I, on the other hand, am perfectly content with this lineup. Allow me to explain.

Nintendo knows a thing or two about how to print money. They know that with as much hype as there is surrounding the 3DS, they don't need to have a major franchise ready right from the start in order to move units. In fact, it's better that there isn't one big title hogging all of the spotlight. This allows the wealth to be spread around to all of the other launch games, which means higher sales for third parties, which means more interest and investment in the 3DS from third parties (which is one of the main goals Nintendo had for the 3DS to begin with). Never doubt the business savvy of the Big N.

Also, at least in my opinion, there are indeed some good titles available. I'm very excited for Steel Diver, which could be a great sleeper hit. I'm not much of a Nintendogs fan, but I appreciate that it's a quality title as well. And then you've got Super Street Fighter IV, which (at least from what we've seen so far) is a console-quality port which makes use of a lot of the 3DS' new features.

Of course, if you think that the lineup is lacking, then that's fine too. There's no harm in waiting out the launch mayhem and buying a 3DS when some games you like start to roll around. For me, however, I'll be there March 27th with a 3DS in hand and eyes gazing into the aether... if I can get one on launch day. It'll probably be pretty hard, ya-know?

Thanks to GoNintendo for relaying the info.

Graphing Calculator Runs a Legit Port of Doom

There have been knock-off versions of games like Tetris and Mario running on graphing calculators for as long as there's been bored students in stats classes, but an actual, functioning, honest-to-goodness port of a game? Well, a group from coding enthusiast community Omnimaga is working on doing just that with the original Doom.

It's still in beta and it crashes every 20-60 seconds, but still, it's very impressive. Obviously there's no sound, it being just a graphing calculator after all, so here's something to listen to as you watch the video.

New RAGE Trailer Will Make You Wanna Rage... Right Now

(For those of you who aren't SF Giants fans, this is what I was referencing in the title.)

Is it "Rage" or "RAGE"? Either way, it's 3LL's 6th most anticiapted game of 2011, so it's always nice when a new trailer comes out.

Prepare to rage come September 13 on the PC, Xbox 360, and PC.

New, Bloody, Kick-ass Shadows of the Damned Screens

If you didn't already know that Shadows of the Damned, the Grasshopper Manufacture project helmed by the team of Suda 51 and Shinji Mikami, is going to be incredible, then allow me to point you in the direction of some kick-ass new screens. There's one up above, and you can see the other 9 over at either Kotaku or Joystiq.

You may recall that Shadows is 3LL's 4th most anticipated game of 2011, so yeah, I'm pretty pumped for this one. I'll be on the lookout for more info and media from the game to share with you guys, so stay tuned.

Duke Nukem Forever Balls of Steel Edition is as Awesome as the Duke Himself

image from Kotaku.com

Damn, this special edition is looking good.

For a mere $99, true Duke enthusiasts can enjoy all of the goodies provided in the new (and appropriately named) Balls of Steel Edition of Duke Nukem Forever. The centerpiece of the package is a handsome likeness of the Duke, which any true connoisseur of ass-kicking and gum-running-out-of will proudly display on their mantel. The full package includes:

• Collectible bust of the greatest alien ass-kicker of all-time
• Numbered, limited-edition certificate of authenticity
• 100-page hardcover book: The History, Legacy & Legend: Duke Nukem Forever Art from the Vault
• Duke Nukem Forever postcard series
• Duke Nukem Forever radioactive emblem sticker
• Duke Nukem Forever collectible comic book
• Duke Nukem Forever foldable paper craft
• Duke Nukem Forever poker chips
• Duke Nukem Forever mini-card deck
• Duke Nukem Forever radioactive emblem dice

The only thing missing is a pair of actual balls of steel.

New Crysis 2 Trailer Shows Off Multiplayer Details

When it was released in 2007, Crysis probably became known more for being the bane of weak-hearted PC rigs everywhere than for anything relating to the game itself. Having played the original, I can attest that while there were a lot of cool ideas in there, some questionable design choices left me frustrated (zero gravity alien level, being confined to hallways when all I wanted to do is run around the jungle and be a badass, etc.). One thing that I felt was lacking in the original was the multiplayer. It was probably too ambitious for its own good, providing players with huge maps and a vast array of weapons to buy from an in-game shop. Basic, primal fun seemed to fall by the wayside.

On March 25, EA and Crytek will bring us Crysis 2. Above, you'll see a new trailer that explains some of the new features and ideas that are being put into multiplayer. It all looks kind of cool on the surface, but it seems like balance could become a big issue. I don't want to head into a multiplayer server, only to constantly get my ass handed to me on a silver platter by some guy with a ridiculously powered-up Nanosuit. Hopefully that won't be an issue, because the multiplayer here looks like it could potentially be pretty good. Potentially.

Activision Pulls the Plug on Guitar Hero

 (2005 - 2011)

Guitar Hero, we hardly knew ye.

It doesn't seem all that long ago that Guitar Hero was a cultural phenomenon. Now, as has been confirmed by Activision themselves, the franchise is no more. As Kotaku points out, sales of the series have been on the decline for a while now, so it shouldn't come as much of a surprise that the series was axed.

From where I'm sitting, there's a couple of different reasons why the series died. First, Activision more or less flooded the market with, essentially, the same game over and over. In classic Activision form, they took a popular franchise and tried to squeeze every last dollar out of it by cranking out games as fast as they could. Second, I think people got tired of having to buy and store those plastic instruments. Lastly, perhaps the entire genre was merely a fad that has finally passed. It's easy to see how people could become disenchanted with the game when you consider my previous two points.

So fare thee well, Guitar Hero, it was fun while it lasted.

New Screenshots and Art from The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim

Skyrim Skyrim Skyrim Skyrim Skyrim... Skyrim. It's ridiculous how much I'm looking forward to making a return journey to Tamriel later this year (if all goes well... big bucks no whammies no delays STOP!). We got some cool details about the new game engine earlier, but now the Official XBox Mag has some delicious new screenshots and artwork for your perusal. Dragons and yetis and mammoths, oh my!

First Official Look at the Playstation Phone

If you're a loyal reader of this blog (and I know none of you are, but humor me for a second), then you know I kind of completely skipped over the reveal of the NGP / PSP2. Kind of big news, but I was busy and I just never got around to writing about it. I apologize.

That being said, here's the long-rumored Playstation Phone, officially know as the Xperia Play. We don't know much about it now, but at least we've got a picture. We'll know more about it Sunday Feb 13, so stay tuned.

IGN has coverage of the device here, and Kotaku as well here, so thanks to both of them.

Awesome GTTV Interview with Reggie Fils-Aime About the 3DS

Video Games | Nintendo 3DS | Reggie Fils-Aime Extended Cut

Xbox 360 | PlayStation 3 | Nintendo Wii | PC Games

Geoff Keighley from GameTrailers recently got together with Nintendo of America Prez Reggie Fils-Aime to talk about the upcoming 3DS game device machine, which you may have heard about. The Regginator is in fine form here, knocking "disposable" iPhone games down a peg and (more or less) saying "haters gonna hate" with regard to people complaining about the 3DS' software lineup. Other topics include digital content, the eShop, AR games, retail game prices, future announcements, and an awesome Bowser backpack.

Look Back: The Music of Square SNES Games

Without a doubt, my favorite game system of all time is the SNES. It had an absolute abundance of amazing titles, too many for me to even attempt to list them all. And where there's great games, great game music is sure to follow. For this blog post, I'm going to focus particularly on the games of Square (now Square Enix).

Some game developers, in my mind, become almost synonymous with certain systems because of the library of awesome games they create on those systems. Rare with the N64, Valve with the PC, and Square with the SNES are some examples for me. The SNES was a hotbed for amazing RPG games, and Square was right in the thick of it, developing a number of incredible RPGs for the venerable console. Below, I've embedded a song from six different Square RPGs for the SNES. Each game had so many great tunes that I could have easily picked 7 or 8 per game, but I've got to stop myself somewhere, right? Enjoy!

Final Fantasy IV

Boss Battle Theme - composed by Nobuo Uematsu



Secret of Mana

What the Forest Taught Me - composed by Hiroki Kikuta



Super Mario RPG

Nimbus Land - composed by Yoko Shimomura



Secret of Evermore

Ivor Tower (The Town) - composed by Jeremy Soule



Chrono Trigger

600AD (Yearnings of Wind) - composed by Yasunrori Mitsuda



Final Fantasy VI

Locke's Theme - composed by Nobuo Uematsu