We announced our five nominees for Game of the Year 2010. Which of the five is your favorite? Which game is your personal GotY for 2010?

The official Destructoid iPhone App is live, Jim debuts his App Attack series, Conrad debuts his new Live show series, win a PSP, Sega is releasing a Dreamcast collection, Jimmy Fallon plays Uncharted 3 and more happened on 12/14/10.

Destructoid Originals:
Come help me get through Uncharted 2 on Backlog!
App Attack: Infinity Blade, Game Dev Story, N.O.V.A 2
The nominees for Destructoid Game of the Year 2010
Get the free Destructoid iPhone App
New releases: X-Men: The Arcade Game, lilt line and more
Destructoid Live: Gran Turismo 5

Community:
Community blogs of 12/08
Forum of the day: 2010 Destructoid Secret Santa

Contests:
Win a PSP, Lord of Arcana, and your own framed artwork!

News:
Prince of Persia Warrior Within HD on PSN today
CES 2011: Microsoft planning to reveal iPad rival?
SEGA has three major Sonic announcements in 2011
Dreamcast collection confirmed by Sega
Mortal Kombat Kollector's Edition is HOLY CRAP DO WANT!
US and UK Singstar stores merge
UFC sues Ubisoft over Fighters Uncaged
Free Kinect Sports Party Pack now available
Square Enix announcement event set for January 18th
GameStop listings leak new Dragon Quest Monsters titles?
Sony: Kinect will 'hit a wall'
New Humble Indie Bundle unveiled, available now
SEGA and Platinum teaming up for another new game
JP PSN gets Chrono Cross as a Twitter follower reward
Sony finds digital distribution confusing
Cypress Hill 'star' sues Rockstar over GTA: San Andreas
GOG discounts almost 300 games, offers a freebie
Free App of the Day: Pocket Frogs
ESRB launches a mobile app, IDs games from photos
Codies: Pre-owned market is 'causing the industry pain'
Sunsoft's Galaxy Fight coming to PSN Import Store
Two Worlds II box art and a pre-order bonus
Infinity Blade update coming next week, multiplayer soon
Chair is no longer working on Ender's Game
Steam has Just Cause 2, Beat Hazard, and more on sale

Offbeat:
Demo of Super Smash Land demake releasing this Friday
Now Kinect can put a keyboard almost anywhere
Modern War Gear Solid part three brings in the mechs

Media:
A rock with wings? Yep, this is definitely Rock of Ages
Watch Jimmy Fallon play Uncharted 3 a year before you
New Raskulls trailer and screenshots
Catherine screenshots feature climbing, blood & climbing
Explodemon! gets a new trailer, me likey
This Homefront trailer is kind of chilling
New Okamiden trailers charm the savage soul

Section:

The Black Friday ad from the only store that deals exclusively in games is finally here. GameStop has a massive, and I mean massive Black Friday sales ad. There is something in here for everyone. GameStop discounts games, bundles, accessories and even makes console purchases more appealing.

It’s hard to pick out my favorites out of everything GameStop will have. I think the red and green DSi handhelds are unique for the holidays. The PS3 bundle that comes with the God of War trilogy is also tempting. If I were in the market for a PS3, I would be really excited right now.

There’s just so much here, I don’t know where to begin. So we’ve taken the liberty of listing almost every deal listed in GameStop’s ad. Remember, GameStop’s door busting deals start at 5am and lasts until 12pm on November 26, 2010.

Consoles and Accessories

• GB Xbox 360 bundle with Madden 11 or Medal of Honor - $199
• Wii bundle with Just Dance, Wii Sports, Wii Sports Resort - $199
• 160GB PS3 with God of War Collection and God of War III - $299
• Limited Edition Mario Party DSi Bundle (red or green DSi) with Fossil Fighters or The Legendary Starfy - $149
• 25th Anniversary Super Mario Bros. DSi XL - $179.99
• GameStop Holiday Bundles (PS3, Xbox 360, Wii) - $29.99
• PS3 Bundle includes wired controller, USB headset and HDMI cable
• Xbox 360 bundle includes wired controller, HDMI cable and corded headset
• Wii bundle includes Wii Remote, Play-chuck and steering wheel
• Xbox Live Messenger Kit - $19.99
• Xbox Live Wireless Headset - $29.99
• PSP LittleBigPlanet/ Karate Kid Entertainment Pack - $149
• Buy 2 Get 1 free all pre-owned games and accessories

Console Games

• Final Fantasy XIII - $19.99
• UFC Undisputed 2010 - $19.99
• Battlefield: Bad Company 2 - $39.99
• Medal of Honor - $49.99
• MySims Sky Heroes (PS3) - $39.99
• The Sims 3 - $49.99
• Dragon Age: Origins Ultimate Edition - $49.99
• The Beatles: Rock Band - $14.99
• Guitar Hero World Tour - $14.99
• Guitar Hero Smash Hits - $14.99
• Sonic Sega All-Stars Racing - $19.99
• Naruto: Ultimate Ninja Storm 2 - $49.99
• Fallout: New Vegas - $39.99
• Select EA Sports titles from 2011 - $49.99
• Harry Potter Years 1-4 - $29.99
• Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit - $49.99
• Super Street Fighter IV - $29.99
• Sniper: Ghost Warrior - $29.99
• Splinter Cell Conviction - $19.99
• The Beatles: Rock Band Limited Edition Bundle - $99.99
• Fable III - $39.99
• Halo: Reach - $39.99

3 Day PS3 Sale 11/26-11/28

• inFamous - $14.99
• Killzone 2 - $14.99
• Ratchet and Clank Future: A Crack in Time - $14.99
• Uncharted: Drake’s Fortune - $14.99

PC Games

• World of Warcraft Battle Chest - $9.99
• World of Warcraft with $5 gift card - $4.99 (November 26 only)
• Fallout: New Vegas - $29.99 (11/26-11/28)
• The Sims 3 - $19.99 (11/26-11/28)
• Supreme Commander 2 - $9.99 (11/26-11/28)
• The Sims 3: Late Night - $29.99 (11/26-11/28)
• LEGO Universe - $19.99

Via [Blackfday] Read [Black Friday @ Gamertell]

 

Full Story » | Written by Jeremy Hill for Gamertell. | Comment on this Article »

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Section: iPhone / iPod touch / iPad, iPad, iPhone, iPod touch, iDevice Apps

iPhone, iPod and iPad product updates and announcements for November 16, 2010:

• Apps
• Accessories

Apps

• AppHome has announced SYSTEM Manager 5.0 for the iPad. Created as a practical mobile solution to monitor and manage any user’s mobile device, this powerful utility boosts device performance, ensuring smooth operation by allowing users to effectively track running processes and sweep memory usage to increase their device’s free memory space. This application is fully compatible with iOS 4.2 and perfectly compliments the operating system’s multi-tasking capability.
• The Calendar Alarm app is the long awaited feature missing on the native iPhone Calendar: an alarm that rings long and loud instead of the given soft and short beep beep. Calendar Alarm syncs with the native calendar and adds an alarm with a sound of your choice.
• 24x7digital has announced TeachMe: 1st Grade, the third installment in the popular TeachMe series of educational apps for the iPhone and iPod touch. TeachMe: 1st Grade teaches four age-appropriate subjects to first grade children: sight words, addition, subtraction and spelling. TeachMe: 1st Grade’s unique TeachTech character recognition engine interprets a child’s written answers, helping to reinforce writing skills while teaching math and spelling.
• MileBug for iPhone is on sale at 33% off for Thanksgiving through the end of November. MileBug helps those driving their own vehicles for business, or other reasons receive their reimbursement and/or tax deduction, and was featured in What’s Hot this January as it rose to #2 in Finance. From small to big business, from realtors to direct sales consultants, MileBug continues to serve those needing a mileage tax break.
• ComboApp has announced the release of Appraisal Skills and Assertiveness, the publisher’s two newest learning applications powered by their recently launched Combobook educational system. Both of these learning apps will be available for the iPad. Appraisal Skills is geared towards teaching professionals how to effectively assess the work relationships within their businesses while Assertiveness outlines the proper ways to communicate clearly within the workplace.
• Paul Gee today announced that from Tueday November 23 to Thursday December 23 all profits from the Doctor Who iPhone news app WhoNews will be donated to the Make-A-Wish Foundation, an organisation which grants wishes to children and young people with life threatening conditions. WhoNews collates the latest news on Doctor Who, Torchwood and the Sarah Jane Adventures from over 30 of the top Doctor Who websites every 15 minutes, 24 hours a day.
• Penpower Technology has announced WorldCard Mobile 3.0, their award-winning business card scanning application for iOS devices. WorldCard Mobile uses state of the art OCR technology to instantly transfer information from business cards to the user’s native iPhone contacts. Version 3.0 includes new functions that maintain WorldCard’s status as the leading business application while introducing features to enhance contact optimization.
• SEGA of America, Inc. has announced the launch of free-to-play MMO Kingdom Conquest for iPhone and iPod touch. Developed by SEGA of Japan exclusively for iPhone and iPod touch, Kingdom Conquest puts players in the shoes of an adventurer with an eye on the empty throne of Magna, the Land of Monsters. Players must carefully ally with—and defend against—other would-be kings, expanding their territory through resource management and combat in two distinct game modes: Simulation Mode and Action Mode. Savvy players also have access to Charge Points via in-app purchase that help boost progress in a wide variety of ways, such as increased treasury storage capacity and speedy resource gathering.
• Mobiata has announced a newly updated version of the popular app FlightTrack. In response to user comments and feedback they have completely redesigned the userface and included news features such as airport terminal maps and the ability to find your seat using SeatGuru. Existing users can upgrade to the new version directly from their phone at no cost. In addition to new features launched this week, and in celebration of the second anniversary on November 17th, Mobiata will partner with a charity that helps families dealing with illness and transportation issues. Starting at 12:01 a.m. Eastern Wednesday, November 17, 2010 and ending at 11:59 p.m. Tuesday, November 23, 2010, Mobiata will donate 20% of all profits made from FlightTrack and FlightTrack Pro to the “Mercy Medical Airlift” nonprofit.
• Jason Ballard and Josiah Peters just want to add a little love to the world. The two Canadians have teamed up to create DateBank—an iPhone and iPad app which features a year’s worth of creative date ideas, descriptions, and tips.
• BulkyPix has announced Battlestar Commander HD for iPad. The state of humanity is in peril. The dying sun, Earth depleted of resources, our galaxy is no longer capable of sustaining life. Deep in the little-explored regions of space, luckily we have found a world that could be our saving grace. Battle the opposing forces for control of this uninhabited world. In Battlestar Commander you act as a defender of your base. Using an array of ships at your disposal you must destroy as many planes of your enemy as possible and eventually the base itself as well.
• Krehol Games has announced Momo Alien Star Catcher 1.0, their new game for iPhone and iPod touch devices. Momo Alien starcatcher carries on with that tradition offering unique original gameplay and challenge. The goal of the game is to avoid meteors both large and small. The game is simple enough to pick up and play for casual iPhone gamers, yet offers enough content for serious iphone gamers as well.
• App Apps has announced Thought Bubbles 1.0 for iPhone and iPad. Thought Bubbles allows users to create real life speech balloons using a completely gesture driven interface. Choose from a variety of bubbles and fonts to fit your mood and message. Show the world what you really think! Everything from traditional cloud bubble styles for your private thoughts to Japanese style manga bubbles. Great for parties and a fun way to take photos.
• Pushpins, Inc., has announced the launch of its flagship mobile coupon and rewards app on the App Store. The free app, called Pushpins, delivers instant coupons and rewards to shoppers when they use their iPhone or iPod touch to scan UPC barcodes at the grocery store. Pushpins is currently supported in more than 2,000 stores nationwide, including Safeway, ShopRite, Vons, Pavilions, Dominick’s, Randalls, Carrs, Genuardi’s, and Tom Thumb.
• Since launching on the App Store this year,  Worms 2: Armageddon has helped gamers create a whole lot of wormy destruction; with the release of the new Battle Pack, however, things are about to get a whole lot more explosive for our favourite invertebrates. The Worms 2: Armageddon Battle Pack is a downloadable content pack from Team17 containing new weapons and utilities, a new single-player campaign, tons of crazy new customization features, new trophies/awards and an all-new game mode amongst other upgrades to the original smash hit.
• Eyedip has announced Game Center integration for its high-flying balloon game, Flight Doodle, available for iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad. Flight Doodle players can now view achievements and compare best scores on global leaderboards within the Game Center community. In addition to the new social sharing options, the latest update of Flight Doodle also features a brand new “bomb” power-up, revamped boost mechanics, and exciting new balance changes.

Accessories

• Designed for today’s iPod/iPhone music generation, the white “mod style” Denon N7 system—composed of the RCD-N7 CD Receiver and SC-N7 Stereo Loudspeakers—lets users enjoy all their favorite music from multiple content sources in high-quality 2.1-channel audio. Adding even more user flexibility, content accessibility and convenience, the RCD-N7 receiver offers AirPlay music streaming capability.
• There’s no doubt the newest generation iPod touch is at the top of wish lists everywhere this holiday season. Just in time for the big shopping crunch, Speck has introduced more than a dozen new iPod touch 4th generation cases to help stylize and protect each and every one.
• To celebrate the recent launch of its Facebook and Twitter accounts and to kick off the holiday season early, MacConnection is launching a sweepstakes where one winner will receive 2 Apple iPads. The “One for You, One for Who?” contest, meant to tap into the season of giving, adds a fun twist. MacConnection wants to know: If users win, would they give one iPad away? If they could give an iPad to anyone real or fictional, living or dead, who would it be and why?

   

Full Story » | Written by Kirk Hiner for Appletell. | Comment on this Article »

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---Quote--- Hi Everyone – It’s time for the weekly PlayStation Store Update. This week’s Spring Fever highlights celebrate puzzle games! Find echochrome (PS3) on sale for $4.99 (regular price $9.99) and echoshift for $7.49 (regular price $14.99). Offers good through 4/7/10. *_Price Updates_ *Cuboid Sale (now $4.99, original price $9.99) Digger HD Sale (now $4.99, original price $9.99) Magic Orbz Sale (now $4.99, original price $9.99) Mahjong Tales: Ancient Wisdom Sale (now $4.99, original price $9.99) Mushroom Wars Sale (now $4.99, original price $9.99) Smash Cars Sale (now $7.49, original price $14.99) Interpol: The Trail of Dr. Chaos Sale (now $4.99, original price $9.99) UNCHARTED Eye of Indra Motion Comics Bundle (Includes episodes 1-4) ($2.49) Bonus: Buy the bundle and get (2) Free Multiplayer skins (Rika Raja & Daniel Pinkerton) for US in the multiplayer modes. *_Qore_* Qore Episode 23: April 2010 ($2.99) Episode 23 of Qore: Presented by the PlayStation Network brings viewers an in-depth look at God of War III, races at breakneck speed with Split/Second: Velocity, gets nostalgic with 3D Dot Game Heroes, and explores the tech behind 3D gaming. File size: 1.55 GB Qore Annual Subscription: April 2010 ($24.99) Qore: Presented by the PlayStation Network is a monthly interactive video production covering the world of PlayStation. Qore provides its audience with exclusive behind-the-scenes access to developers and their games, from both the SCE Worldwide Studios and the third-party community, where the audience member can freely navigate through the content. File size: 1.55 GB *_Downloadable Games_* NBA Unrivaled ($14.99) Paying homage to the old school look and feel of the arcade classics, NBA UNRIVALED brings back all of the intensity and pulse pounding action—AMPLIFIED! Featuring the 2009-2010 NBA season’s team and player rosters with current stats, logos and jerseys. Ball your way up to the top of the league with unthinkable slams and outrageous plays to get the crowd pumped for momentum on your side! ESRB Rated E File size: 175 MB The Tester The Tester Episode 7 On hand to evaluate who’s got all the right moves is God of War III’s Director of Product Development, John Hight. A industry veteran with dozens of titles to his credit and a Cinematic Arts Professor at USC to boot John’s got an excellent eye for talent. File size: 413 MB (SD) 986 MB (HD) *_PSone Classics_* TNN Motorsports Hardcore 4×4 ($5.99) Things are sure to get dirty in this off-road racing game. Drive six vehicles through snow, sand, and more in a grueling test to the finish line! ESRB Rated E File size: 89 MB *_Add-on Game Content_* LittleBigPlanet April Fools – Fragrances Costume (free) A new costume for Sackboy! File sizes: 1.04 MB Heavy Rain: Chronicle One – The Taxidermist ($4.99) Featuring investigative journalist Madison Paige, this prequel lets you take part in one of her first cases tracking down a serial killer. File sizes: 907 MB Army of Two: The 40th Day Chapters of Deceit DLC ($9.99) Army of Two: The 40th Day – Chapters of Deceit contains two all new campaign levels entitled “Collateral Damage” and “The Assassination”! File size: 400 MB Dante’s Inferno Godlike Pack ($2.99) This pack includes the ‘Heavens Embrace’ holy magic ability as well as the ‘Serpent of Thieves’ relic that unlocks a special scythe move. File size: 100 KB Dragon Age: Origins Feastday Combo Pack ($2.99) Throughout Thedas, the great holiday of Satinalia is marked by sumptuous feasts, wild celebration, and naming the town fool as ruler for a day. Amid the feasting, it is customary for friends, lovers, and traveling companions to exchange gifts and pranks. File size: 1.59 MB Dragon Age: Origins Feastday Gifts ($1.99) Throughout Thedas, the great holiday of Satinalia is marked by sumptuous feasts, wild celebration, and naming the town fool as ruler for a day. Amid the feasting, it is customary for friends, lovers, and traveling companions to exchange gifts. File size: 799 KB Dragon Age: Origins Feastday Pranks ($1.99) Throughout Thedas, the great holiday of Satinalia is marked by sumptuous feasts, wild celebration, and naming the town fool as ruler for a day. Amid the feasting, it is customary for friends and traveling companions to play pranks on each other. File size: 818 KB Dragon Ball: Raging Blast Ultimate Warriors Pack 3 (free) “Dragon Ball: Raging Blast” Character Pack #10 is now available! The tenth release is the “Ultimate Warriors Pack 3!” This pack contains Vegeta (Scouter), Vegeta, Trunks (Sword), Vegito and Super Saiyan 3 Vegeta! The long-awaited warriors finally enter the arena! Prevail against the life-and-death battles and become the strongest warrior in the universe! File size: 116 KB Dynasty Warriors: Strikeforce HD Quest Pack 3 (free) Quest Pack #3 – Enhance your Strikeforce experience with these new missions and challenges. Also includes all previous Quest Packs. The following quests will be added to the city’s “Noticeboard”. To learn more about this pack and about Dynasty Warriors: Strikeforce go to www.tecmokoeiamerica.com/strikeforce. Defense of Yi Battle of Tong Gate Martial Contest 3 File size: 101 KB Sonic & SEGA All-Stars Racing – Ryo with Forklift Character ($4.99) Drive as Ryo Hazuki from Shenmue in his signature forklift truck. Download this exclusive vehicle. File size: 100 KB Guitar Hero 5 For all song credits please visit www.guitarhero.com. “Freebird” by Lynyrd Skynyrd ($1.99) “Gimme Three Steps” by Lynyrd Skynyrd ($1.99) “Simple Man” by Lynyrd Skynyrd ($1.99) Lynyrd Skynyrd Track Pack ($5.49) – Downloadable Track Pack featuring “Freebird”, “Simple Man”, and “Gimme Three Steps” by Lynyrd Skynyrd. Please Note: Many songs are available both as singles and as part of a Track Pack, so please carefully consider your purchases before downloading. File sizes: 44 MB – 86 MB (singles), 192 MB (track pack) Rock Band Build your Rock Band library by purchasing these song game tracks. For song credits, visit www.RockBand.com. “Up from the Skies”— The Jimi Hendrix Experience ($1.99) “Spanish Castle Magic”— The Jimi Hendrix Experience ($1.99) “Wait Until Tomorrow”— The Jimi Hendrix Experience ($1.99) “Ain’t No Telling”— The Jimi Hendrix Experience ($1.99) “Little Wing”— The Jimi Hendrix Experience ($1.99) “If 6 Was 9″— The Jimi Hendrix Experience ($1.99) “You Got Me Floatin’”— The Jimi Hendrix Experience ($1.99) “Castles Made of Sand”— The Jimi Hendrix Experience ($1.99) “She’s So Fine”— The Jimi Hendrix Experience ($1.99) “One Rainy Wish”— The Jimi Hendrix Experience ($1.99) “Little Miss Lover”— The Jimi Hendrix Experience ($1.99) “Bold as Love”— The Jimi Hendrix Experience ($1.99) “Valleys of Neptune”— Jimi Hendrix ($1.99) Axis: Bold as Love (Album) – The Jimi Hendrix Experience ($19.99) – Build your Rock Band library by purchasing this song game album: Axis: Bold as Love (Album). File sizes: 13 MB – 34 MB (singles), 223 MB (track pack) *_Game Videos (free)_* Pulse 4/1 Edition Join host Christina Lee for PULSE presented by the PlayStation Network. In this edition, we drop into the action of Section 8, get geared up with a free MAG add-on, investigate a new chapter of Heavy Rain, preview Qore Episode 23, and show off the top downloaded dynamic themes. New video releases include The Blind Side, Sherlock Holmes, and UFC 111. File size: 233 MB (HD) 404 MB (1080) Patchwork Heroes Trailer File size: 43 MB (HD) 77 MB (1080) MLB 10 The Show Road to the Show Trailer File size: 66 MB (HD) 111 MB (1080) God of War III – Machinima.com’s Art of the Game EPISODES 1 – 5 File sizes: 224 MB (HD) – 268 (HD) Kane & Lynch 2: Welcome to Shanghai Trailer File size: 63 MB (HD) Major League Baseball 2K10 Opus Trailer File size: 122 MB (HD) Mafia II: Boom Boom Trailer File size: 62 MB (HD) *_PS3 Themes_* Patchwork Heroes City Theme (free) File size: 3.96 MB Battlefield: Bad Company 2 Theme 2 (free) File size: 6.12 MB Beez Pleeeeze Theme ($0.99) File size: 2.69 MB Geisha Hook-Ups Theme ($1.99) File size: 3.53 MB Jungle Girl Hook-Ups Theme ($1.99) File size: 3.4 MB Warhawk Dynamic Theme ($2.99) File size: 8.36 MB 40’s WWII Pinups Premium Theme ($1.99) File size: 7.13 MB *_Wallpaper (free)_* Patchwork Heroes Warship Wallpaper File size: 325 MB (SD) 1.26 MB (1080) *_PlayStation Store for PSP Downloadable Games (also available from PS3 Storefront)_* BUZZ!: Master Quiz ($15.99) Take the popular game show host on the road with BUZZ!: Master Quiz for the PSP system! BUZZ!: Master Quiz includes over 3,000 unique questions on topics including music, celebrities, TV, sports, science, nature, movies and more. Put your knowledge to the test at home or on the move, and challenge others in three multiplayer modes. ESRB Rated E10+ File size: 436 MB Dead or Alive Paradise ($29.99) Indulge in some fun under the sun activities with the sexy girls from Dead or Alive! On your own private island, you are free to mingle, flirt, play and take snapshots of these beauties. Store them in your one-of-a-kind private album along with video clips for viewing and editing later. Your own private paradise in the palm of your hand. Take your girls anywhere…and play with them anytime. ESRB Rated M File size: 572 MB BlazBlue Calamity Trigger ($24.99) Take the ultimate 2D fighting game on the go! BlazBlue features all of the console modes—Arcade, Versus, Score Attack, Training, and Story…in addition to the all-new Shop and Legion modes, where you control your own party of fighters in an attempt to conquer the world of BlazBlue. ESRB Rated T File size: 879 MB *_Add-on Game Content (also available from PS3 Storefront)_* THE EYE OF JUDGMENT LEGENDS Card Expansion Pack 1 ($1.99) Expand your digital card collection with this add-on card pack! Give your duels an upper hand with 5 cards not found in the full game, including rare and ultra rare cards. Add these cards to your deck for unique combinations to win battles against the computer, or head-to-head online against other players. Unlike other cards, these can’t be traded or earned any other way. File size: 1.51 MB LittleBigPlanet PSP Island Costume (free) PLAY, CREATE, SHARE…Everywhere. LittleBigPlanet’s critically acclaimed “PLAY, CREATE, SHARE” experience, makes its way to the PSP system with a completely new Sackboy adventure. Get these free costumes from the Islands Theme Pack. NOTE: Manual Update required File size: 2.41 MB LittleBigPlanet PSP Island Theme Pack ($2.99) PLAY, CREATE, SHARE…Everywhere. Download a new set of costumes and CREATE materials to create your own Islands levels! The Islands Theme Pack includes 3 Costume items, 13 CREATE Materials, 15 Stickers, 1 Music kit, and 1 Background. NOTE: Manual Update required File size: 2.57 MB *_Game Videos (free)_* The Tester Episode 7 File size: 177 MB Pulse 4/1 Edition File size: 40 MB Patchwork Heroes Trailer File size: 7.94 MB *_PSP Themes (also available from PS3 Storefront)_* Patchwork Heroes Enemy Theme (free) File size: 401 KB Geisha Hook-Ups PSP Theme ($1.99) File size: 310 KB Jungle Girl Hook-Ups PSP Theme ($1.99) File size: 371 KB Beez Pleeeeze PSP Theme 1 ($0.99) File size: 438 KB Beez Pleeeeze PSP Theme 2 ($0.99) File size: 327 KB The AK PSP Theme 1 ($1.49) File size: 522 KB The AK PSP Theme 2 ($1.49) File size: 513 KB 40’s WWII Pinups PSP Theme 3 ($1.49) File size: 583 KB 40’s WWII Pinups PSP Theme 4 ($1.49) File size: 561 KB Abstract PSP Theme 1 ($1.49) File size: 541 KB Abstract PSP Theme 2 ($1.49) File size: 617 KB *_PSP Wallpaper (also available from PS3 Storefront) (free)_* Patchwork Heroes Warship Wallpaper File size: 150 KB ---End Quote--- Reposted from the Playstation Blog (http://blog.us.playstation.com/2010/04/01/playstation-store-update-130/).

Men (and bears) in tight bikini briefs invade the Nintendo Download this week, bringing Dark Void Zero, Starship Defense, The Secret of Shinobi, and more along for the wild ride.

Namco Bandai's Muscle March (500 Wii points) is one of the oddest titles to hit the WiiWare service so far. Thieves have made off with the protein powder the game's muscle-bound protagonists need to stay in shape. The bandits smashed through walls to escape, so if you want to catch them, you'll need to be in the correct bodybuilder pose in order to fit through the conveniently bodybuilder-shaped holes left behind. If that's too wacky for you, perhaps its WiiWare companion, Wahoo Studios' brain trainer The Amazing Brain Train! (600 points), can take you to a safe place where the thong bears can't get you.

DSiWare gets the lion's share of the new downloadable games this week, with Capcom's 8-bit tribute to the upcoming Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 title, Dark Void Zero (500 DSi points) taking the lead, followed by Q-Games' Starship Defense (500 points), which is essentially tower defense in space. EnjoyUp Games brings Chronis Twins to the DSi this week (500 points), following last week's release of Chronos Twins DS for WiiWare. Gameloft brings up the rear with Me and My Dogs: Friends Forever (800 points), a pet trainer in which you choose between a Chow Chow, Labrador, or Beagle, playing with them, giving them love, and then entering them into competitions to see if your love paid off. It's just like real dogs, only without the smell!

Shadow Dancer: The Secret of Shinobi for the Sega Genesis (800 Wii points) is this week's sole Virtual Console release, definitely strong enough to stand on its own four legs, thanks to the introduction of Yamoto, Joe Mushashi's faithful hound.

What looks good this week? I mean, aside from Muscle March, of course. That one's a given.

WiiWare

Muscle March
Publisher: NBGI
Players: 1-4
ESRB Rating: E 10+ (Everyone 10 and Older) – Comic Mischief
Price: 500 Wii Points™
Description: Muscle March is a quirky Japanese action game stuffed full of macho bodybuilders. The all mighty protein powder has been stolen, so it's up to Tony and his muscle-bound crew to catch the thieves. Choose from a variety of perfectly molded superstars and bring these terrible villains to justice. As the thieves attempt escape, they will smash through walls while making a variety of poses. You must match these poses to fit through the holes and catch up to the thieves. The protein powder will be yours again! Flex your muscles by yourself or with up to three friends in turn-based macho excitement. Posing for a few minutes not enough? Enjoy Endless Rush mode until your muscles bulge and explode! Muscle March will also be the first WiiWare title to offer a polar bear in tight swimwear!

The Amazing Brain Train!
Publisher: Wahoo Studios
Players: 1
ESRB Rating: E (Everyone)
Price: 600 Wii Points
Description: All aboard! Power up your intellect and embark on an epic quest aboard The Amazing Brain Train! Fueled by your mental energy, Professor Fizzwizzle's Brain Train will take you on a brain-boosting adventure. Put your mighty mind to the test and see how far you can go.

Nintendo DSiWare

STARSHIP DEFENSE
Publisher: Nintendo
Players: 1
ESRB Rating: E (Everyone) – Mild Fantasy Violence
Price: 500 Nintendo DSi Points™
Description: STARSHIP DEFENSE takes the tower defense genre into outer space. Defend your space fleet from wave after wave of enemy attacks by equipping a variety of weapons and using a combination of strategic skills and resource management. Attach weapons to your ships using the touch screen, making sure to place them for maximum effect when planning your defense. If you don't, the relentless nature of your enemies could overwhelm you. Increase your chances of success by using energy collected from defeated enemies to install new and more powerful weapons, destroying particular enemies to obtain weapon upgrades, and watching for rare power crystals that unlock advanced attacks, including a devastating black hole. And if you still find yourself in trouble, select an SOS card to call on a special kind of assistance. You'll have to defend your fleet across 30 intense sectors, some with specific challenges, while advancing your rank from lowly recruit all the way to fleet admiral. Are you up to the challenge?

Dark Void Zero
Publisher: Capcom Entertainment
Players: 1
ESRB Rating: E (Everyone) – Fantasy Violence
Price: 500 Nintendo DSi Points
Description: As the '80s were drawing to a close, the developers at Capcom began work on a top-secret project that aimed to set new standards for the platformer genre. That game was called Dark Void. Alas, Capcom suspended development on Dark Void as it began to evaluate the SNES™. Before long, the game was shelved and drifted, unnoticed, into the annals of gaming history. Dark Void became a legendary "lost project" at Capcom. Now, nearly 20 years later, Dark Void is back! To commemorate the game's humble origins, Capcom has commissioned this recreation of the original 8-bit classic, now re-titled Dark Void Zero, on the Nintendo DSi™ system. You play as Rusty, the first human born in the Void, who must take on the Watchers in a quest to stop their domination of Earth. With the aid of Nikola Tesla and his state-of-the-art rocket pack, Rusty must take down the Watchers and their minions across three intense levels of action and intrigue.

Chronos Twins
Publisher: EnjoyUp Games
Players: 1
ESRB Rating: E (Everyone) – Fantasy Violence
Price: 500 Nintendo DSi Points
Description: Enter into the original world of Chronos Twins, where you'll live a fantastic adventure full of innovative ideas never seen before in any game. Thanks to its Dual Gameplay game system you'll be able to control Nec in two temporal scenarios at the same time. Chronos Twins mixes action, platforms, adventure and puzzles to challenge your intelligence and ability. If you like games with a real challenge, there's no doubt that Chronos Twins is the game you're looking for.

Me And My Dogs: Friends Forever
Publisher: Gameloft
Players: 1
ESRB Rating: E (Everyone) – Comic Mischief
Price: 800 Wii Points
Description: Have you always dreamed of having a cute dog to cuddle? Thanks to Me And My Dogs: Friends Forever, you can have up to three of the cutest pups imaginable at the same time and take them with you everywhere you go. Choose from friendly Labradors, playful Chow Chows and smart Beagles. Like real dogs, you'll have to take care of them, feed them, wash them and give them lots of love. Play with them at the park and teach them lots of tricks or train them for competitions at the stadium. You can even call them like in real life thanks to the microphone.

Virtual Console

Shadow Dancer: The Secret of Shinobi
Original platform: Genesis
Publisher: SEGA
Players: 1
ESRB Rating: E 10+ (Everyone 10 and Older) – Fantasy Violence
Price: 800 Wii Points
Description: Easy to play, hard to master, Shadow Dancer: The Secret of Shinobi, first released in 1987, is the sequel to the original Shinobi arcade game, and is one of the only games in the Shinobi series to feature true arcade-style game play. Play as Joe Musashi, the master ninja known to his enemies only as "The Shinobi." This battle is not one you must fight alone, as this is the first game in the Shinobi series to feature your ninja attack dog, Yamoto, who will charge foes on command, leaving them open to a powerful drop kick. Use your mastery of ancient ninja technique to topple the crime syndicate – the Neo Zeed Corporation – and free the foreign dignitaries they have taken hostage in New York City. Good luck, and may the ninja spirits help guide you in your journey.

Today sees some interesting downloadable games being released from Nintendo.  Not only does today finally mark the release of Dark Void Zero, but we are also finally getting the release of Muscle March!  WiiWare is also getting the Amazing Brain Train.  On top of Dark Void Zero, DSiWare is getting the DS version of Chronos Twins, some dogs, and a new tower defense game.  And for the Virtual Console, Shadow Dancer.

WiiWare™

Muscle March
Publisher: NBGI
Players: 1-4
ESRB Rating: E 10+ (Everyone 10 and Older) - Comic Mischief
Price: 500 Wii Points™
Description: Muscle March is a quirky Japanese action game stuffed full of macho bodybuilders. The all mighty protein powder has been stolen, so it's up to Tony and his muscle-bound crew to catch the thieves. Choose from a variety of perfectly molded superstars and bring these terrible villains to justice. As the thieves attempt escape, they will smash through walls while making a variety of poses. You must match these poses to fit through the holes and catch up to the thieves. The protein powder will be yours again! Flex your muscles by yourself or with up to three friends in turn-based macho excitement. Posing for a few minutes not enough? Enjoy Endless Rush mode until your muscles bulge and explode! Muscle March will also be the first WiiWare title to offer a polar bear in tight swimwear!

The Amazing Brain Train!
Publisher: Wahoo Studios
Players: 1
ESRB Rating: E (Everyone)
Price: 600 Wii Points
Description: All aboard! Power up your intellect and embark on an epic quest aboard The Amazing Brain Train! Fueled by your mental energy, Professor Fizzwizzle's Brain Train will take you on a brain-boosting adventure. Put your mighty mind to the test and see how far you can go.

Nintendo DSiWare™

STARSHIP DEFENSE
Publisher: Nintendo
Players: 1
ESRB Rating: E (Everyone) - Mild Fantasy Violence
Price: 500 Nintendo DSi Points™
Description: STARSHIP DEFENSE takes the tower defense genre into outer space. Defend your space fleet from wave after wave of enemy attacks by equipping a variety of weapons and using a combination of strategic skills and resource management. Attach weapons to your ships using the touch screen, making sure to place them for maximum effect when planning your defense. If you don't, the relentless nature of your enemies could overwhelm you. Increase your chances of success by using energy collected from defeated enemies to install new and more powerful weapons, destroying particular enemies to obtain weapon upgrades, and watching for rare power crystals that unlock advanced attacks, including a devastating black hole. And if you still find yourself in trouble, select an SOS card to call on a special kind of assistance. You'll have to defend your fleet across 30 intense sectors, some with specific challenges, while advancing your rank from lowly recruit all the way to fleet admiral. Are you up to the challenge?

Dark Void Zero
Publisher: Capcom Entertainment
Players: 1
ESRB Rating: E (Everyone) - Fantasy Violence
Price: 500 Nintendo DSi Points
Description: As the '80s were drawing to a close, the developers at Capcom began work on a top-secret project that aimed to set new standards for the platformer genre. That game was called Dark Void. Alas, Capcom suspended development on Dark Void as it began to evaluate the SNES™. Before long, the game was shelved and drifted, unnoticed, into the annals of gaming history. Dark Void became a legendary "lost project" at Capcom. Now, nearly 20 years later, Dark Void is back! To commemorate the game's humble origins, Capcom has commissioned this recreation of the original 8-bit classic, now re-titledDark Void Zero, on the Nintendo DSi™ system. You play as Rusty, the first human born in the Void, who must take on the Watchers in a quest to stop their domination of Earth. With the aid of Nikola Tesla and his state-of-the-art rocket pack, Rusty must take down the Watchers and their minions across three intense levels of action and intrigue.

Chronos Twins
Publisher: EnjoyUp Games
Players: 1
ESRB Rating: E (Everyone) - Fantasy Violence
Price: 500 Nintendo DSi Points
Description: Enter into the original world of Chronos Twins, where you'll live a fantastic adventure full of innovative ideas never seen before in any game. Thanks to its Dual Gameplay game system you'll be able to control Nec in two temporal scenarios at the same time. Chronos Twins mixes action, platforms, adventure and puzzles to challenge your intelligence and ability. If you like games with a real challenge, there's no doubt that Chronos Twins is the game you're looking for.

Me And My Dogs: Friends Forever
Publisher: Gameloft
Players: 1
ESRB Rating: E (Everyone) - Comic Mischief
Price: 800 Wii Points
Description: Have you always dreamed of having a cute dog to cuddle? Thanks to Me And My Dogs: Friends Forever, you can have up to three of the cutest pups imaginable at the same time and take them with you everywhere you go. Choose from friendly Labradors, playful Chow Chows and smart Beagles. Like real dogs, you'll have to take care of them, feed them, wash them and give them lots of love. Play with them at the park and teach them lots of tricks or train them for competitions at the stadium. You can even call them like in real life thanks to the microphone.

Virtual Console™

Shadow Dancer: The Secret of Shinobi
Original platform: Genesis
Publisher: SEGA
Players: 1
ESRB Rating: E 10+ (Everyone 10 and Older) - Fantasy Violence
Price: 800 Wii Points
Description: Easy to play, hard to master, Shadow Dancer: The Secret of Shinobi, first released in 1987, is the sequel to the original Shinobi arcade game, and is one of the only games in the Shinobiseries to feature true arcade-style game play. Play as Joe Musashi, the master ninja known to his enemies only as "The Shinobi." This battle is not one you must fight alone, as this is the first game in theShinobi series to feature your ninja attack dog, Yamoto, who will charge foes on command, leaving them open to a powerful drop kick. Use your mastery of ancient ninja technique to topple the crime syndicate - the Neo Zeed Corporation - and free the foreign dignitaries they have taken hostage in New York City. Good luck, and may the ninja spirits help guide you in your journey.

_{[Editor's Note: We're not just a (rad) news site -- we also publish opinions/editorials from our community & employees like this one, though be aware it may not jive with the opinions of Destructoid as a whole, or how our moms raised us. Want to post your own article in response? Publish it now on our community blogs.]}

I get the feeling it may stay that way for another year. Several bandwagons seem to have developed over the past year as to what the "next big thing" in gaming is going to be, and to be honest, I'm sick of hearing about all of them. Not one of these "revolutionary" concepts hasn't been done before, in some cases more than once, and all of them have been abandoned every time before living up to any real potential.

2010 is going to be yet another parade of gimmicks, and if anything amazing does come to pass, it's not going to be due to any of these. 

Motion Control

Sony is finally getting around to ripping off Nintendo's Wii remote, and all I can think is, "Why?" For starters, every time I see footage of the Gem, or whatever they're calling it, this comes immediately to mind:



Beyond that, how much decent use has waggle gotten on its home system in the first place? Certainly not enough to warrant duplication. Sure, it's great in several of Nintendo's first-party titles, but the bulk of those titles that do interesting things with the Wii's motion control capabilities break it down into quaint little mini-games, such as the Wii Sports games and WarioWare. Several games eliminate the appeal of what motion control they have by making it completely optional; for instance, Mario Kart Wii's steering wheel accessory is quickly tossed aside by veteran karters once they realize they can get more familiar and more accurate control by plugging in a GameCube controller.

Even in No More Heroes, a game in which you are running around and swinging a sword, which could have been tied into the waggle, opted to keep the attacks mapped to buttons rather than assigning them to controller movements. The only instances where motion control really comes into play involve jerking off your sword to recharge, flicking trash (or scorpions) into a can on your back, swinging at baseballs on a couple of missions, and using the (mostly unnecessary) wrestling moves on occasion. Nothing's been done to raise motion control beyond the status of gimmick.

You'd think Sony would've picked up on this already, seeing as how the most compelling use of the SixAxis' limited motion capability has involved jiggling a character's breasts onscreen.

It's not like this hasn't been tried before with equally disastrous results. The NES had the U-Force, which was supposed to translate hand motions into gameplay, in such a fashion that it did not work with anything, ever, and the Power Glove, which had all of two games released for it before people went back to not caring. Sega's Activator, an octagonal kick and punch sensing ring, fared just as poorly.

Video-based Control and Player Integration

On a similar note to motion control, Microsoft's trying to get everyone hard about Project Natal, their glorified Xbox Live Vision camera with some games that might have more effort put into them than TotemBall.



I can only see this lasting so long, and garnering a stack of similar games before Natal's two quarters in the spotlight are up, and Microsoft moves on to more practical things. Gesture recognition has just as heinous a record as motion control, when it comes to not going anywhere and losing the support of its creators.

The most extensive foray into camera-based controls I can recall, prior to Natal, was the EyeToy on the PlayStation 2, which graced the black beast with all manner of flailing-based minigame compilations. The PlayStation 3 take on this nonsense, the PlayStation Eye, has proven just as underimplemented. Beyond the ability to slap a picture of your face on a character in a handful of games, you can use the Eye to play a card game with your console and an obscene amount of setup, or subject yourself to interaction with the stuff of nightmares:



Until someone finds a way to tie player video into console gaming in a compelling fashion, console cameras are just going to be the fastest way to show off your testicles to people on your friends list.

Console Multitasking

It seems like all the rage to purport a system can do almost/just as much as a PC, and to continue walking down that path by adding more and more PC-esque bells and whistles to home consoles. But do we really need it, and does anyone really care?

I'll admit there are plenty of great ideas that have graced consoles this past year, and seem to be in the pipeline for 2010 as well. Enabling access to Netflix's instant queue feature for devices that are constantly plugged into televisions already was a no-brainer, and... okay, Netflix on consoles was pretty much the only good idea I've seen on this front. Not that I'm dissing PS3's Blu-ray capabilities or the ability to play DVDs on disc-based systems; those, however, come expected as part of the package (except on the Wii because Nintendo's been lapped by Modern Day several times over now) and therefore do not apply.

Most every other neat thing you can do on a console that was inspired by PC functionality comes so crippled, it's not worth the bother. Xbox's Last.fm setup is kind of neat, but its lack of integration with the custom soundtrack function gives little incentive for anyone to turn to their 360 for tunes when they could just fire up their PC's music player, or in many cases, stream music over their phone. Twitter's and Facebook's functionality are both horribly gimped in their forms on the 360 as well, and I can't imagine the latter being much better on the PS3, especially if you have to pay for it with Sony's forthcoming subscription plans.

And why is it that every console and its mother's dog has a web browser on it? Access to keyboard hardware has made this slightly more viable on home consoles than on handhelds, which are just begging for eyestrain, but the PS3 is the only one of the trinity with any real mouse support. The Wii remote tries, but isn't made for scrolling in any great fashion, and the Wii's lower graphic capabilities make browsing on an HDTV that much more pointless.

Side applications are cute, and fun to play with when they come out, but for the most part have little staying power on things people are buying primarily on which to play games.

Are things really that bleak?

Not necessarily, but the gaming realm really needs to step it up if any of these approaches are going to stop being as forgettable as they currently are. Any gimmick can become a staple if it's properly integrated and supported with what's already there. This is especially in the case of new control technologies, where things aren't going to go anywhere until they get some serious backing.

Give us compelling games that actually require using some of these new features, rather than just compiling tech demos. For example, while they basically turn the remote into a glorified lightguns, some great on-rails shooters have been released on the Wii, which wouldn't have been possible with a more standard control scheme. Natal has a chance to provide incredible immersive experiences where the player's movements translate into his or her exploration of a game's world, but it'll never happen (or be noticed if it does) should the concept be squandered on finding new and different ways for you to bounce balls around the screen. And have the stones, please, to stop giving people old options to fall back upon. When I can play Super Smash Bros Brawl with a Gamecube controller, why would I bother thinking of the Wii as anything more than a trumped-up Gamecube?

As for expanding a console's range of uses, more options are great so long as they aren't merely frivolous. I've already mentioned how Last.fm on 360 would be that much better if it could be used as an in-game soundtrack, perhaps with the control bar tucked in one of the system menus. Being able to post screencaps directly to Facebook or Twitter while playing a game, or even just posting some sort of update as to what I'm playing with minimal effort, would be a lot more interesting than just having my avatar stand next to my friends' posts.

Web browsing on a console may be silly, but given the access to keyboards on all the consoles, why not scale things back, and perhaps make direct access available, respectively, to each system's official forums? Not only would it give gamers a more direct way to share in a dialogue someplace they know they'd find others with similar interest, it would actually give those poor no-man's-lands some traffic.

I guess what it comes down to is that I see the future, at least 2010, bringing little to nothing of interest if the industry doesn't sit down and actually think about what some of these crazy ideas can do for their games, rather than thinking about what they can pass off as new and zany for a quick buck.

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Imagine a device which would empower you with the ability to select almost any single game in existence and play it within seconds. Take a moment to process just how blissful the premise sounds -- universal access to any game, instantly; and this could be done regardless of what console or platform it was originally meant for.

To most gamers this would seem like Heaven on Earth, a virtual paradise. But many of us are already living there because we've gained entry to the awesome world of console and arcade emulators. But like most Utopias, paradise isn't all it's cracked up to be.

Most of us also know that along with all of the virtues and wonderful advantages we get from emulator's , they also bring with them some very significant and frustrating drawbacks. In this column I'm going to discuss all of the things worth loving and hating when it comes to emulators. 

Love: The power to satiate nostalgia: Want to revisit that long lost arcade classic or play that old NES game you remember from your childhood? Emulators make that possible. You can get the instant gratification you crave and relive all of those meaningful memories.

Hate: Some memories just aren't meant to be revisited. I once eagerly loaded up a ROM of the NES game Rygar only to be sorely disappointed by how bland it was, it turned out the game was nothing like the epic adventure I remembered from my youth. Sure some games are timeless -- replaying classic games like The Legend of Zelda or Super Metroid can be just as exhilarating as playing them for the first time. But that's because those games were always exceptional, the nostalgia factor is just an added kick. Sadly, the majority of games simply cannot live up to the heights of our imagination. The fact is that they just weren't as well put together as the true classics.



Love: A tool to explore gaming history: Not all of us have been playing games since the Atari 2600 or the NES days. Even if you owned a couple of the old legendary consoles or computer systems, it's very unlikely that you owned all of them.

In this case, emulators give us the means to discover those old games we either missed the first time around or were too young to experience. They serve as a kind of museum of video game history; preserving the past for new gamers and allowing some of the old timers to turn back the clock for a few hours. Even if a system is no longer manufactured or a game goes out of print, you can be sure that someone will emulate it and the game ROMs will be made available.

No game ever becomes obsolete, forgotten or lost; this is definitely one of the most important benefits emulators provide.

Some examples: A young gamer who loves Oblivion could discover the roots of western RPGs by checking out the Ultima series. A person who could only afford a Super Nintendo when he was young, can finally play some Sega Genesis games and experience the awesomeness of 'Blast Processing' firsthand. The avid game enthusiast who keeps hearing about that one classic game that influenced his favorite designers and keeps appearing in 'best game ever' lists on websites can now find it, play it and finally see what all the fuss was about. (For me it was the Commodore 64 game M.U.L.E. and more recently Panzer Dragoon Saga for the Sega Saturn.)

Hate: Legality Issues: Despite all of the merits that Emulators and ROMs can provide when it comes to preserving the history of gaming, the fact remains that it's illegal to own a copy of a game and play it on an emulator if you do not currently own the original. Some of us choose to do it anyway; we download over 4000 arcade ROMs despite the fact our apartment, let alone a real arcade, could not contain that many cabinets.

This is a deal breaker for a lot of people and with good cause. So far it seems the industry has turned a blind eye. I have not heard of anyone ever being threatened with legal action for owning ROMs but I imagine this can change at anytime. It would really suck to have to go to jail and explain to hardened criminals that you're there for pirating vintage video games. Still, some of us feel the risk is well worth it and do it anyway.

Let's face it, this law sucks. The fact that many of these games are just impossible to play otherwise and may have disappeared into obscurity if not for emulators should be incentive enough to re-examine the law. In my opinion, a lot of these games should be considered public domain and efforts should be made to make them available legitimately.

There is also a reasonable concern that developers may not get paid for some of these old games. The truth is a lot of them are just happy to see their games are still being played - in the case of those popular games which are still re-released, it may be a genuine concern. Luckily, this generation of consoles has begun to re-release many older games that can be played through their own emulators at an affordable price through services like Virtual Console, X-Box Arcade and The PlayStation Network. This is definitely a step in the right direction and a great legal alternative. However, it's doubtful that any consoles will ever release old games at the same scale as their outlawed counterparts. Unless something dramatic happens, it seems to me that the traditional (IE: Illegal) method of utilizing emulators and ROMs is going to be around for the foreseeable future.



Love: The joy of discovery: Nothing can be more satisfying than finding that unexpected gem. A lot of us usually play games we're familiar with, whether its revisiting an old favorite, or checking out something we heard about. But having access to such a huge library allows us to dig through a whole bunch of forgotten artifacts; if you're patient enough to wade through the trash (see below) your bound to come across something you never heard of but absolutely love. I received a big rush once by hitting the "Select Random Game" option on my arcade emu and discovering this amazing surreal Beat-em-up called Pu-Li-Ru-La. The gratification of finding something so unique and fun was immense to say the least. Since then I've been hooked, now I repeatedly find myself 'Rom Diggin' (Vinyl collectors will totally get this reference) in the hopes of repeating the experience.

Hate: A lot of the old games stink: Having such a wide selection of games at your fingertips seems like a godsend until you start playing them. Then you start to realize that the majority of games just aren't that good. This is the biggest hazard for a "Rom Digger." For every Dragon Warrior you find, there are about a hundred games the same quality as Deadly Towers. As a rule this applies to every single platform. For every System Shock 2 you come across on the PC you will find a thousand Daikatanas waiting to discourage you. I can go on, but I think you get the idea. It's like searching for a pea sized gold nugget in a bucket full of shit.

Hate: Emulator syndrome: A lot of us are familiar with emulator syndrome, it's the uncontrollable urge to stop playing a game after a few minutes no matter how good it is just so you can load up a different one to check out. It's extremely difficult to really appreciate or enjoy a good game when you're robotically jumping from ROM to ROM. It takes a lot of effort to commit to just one game no matter how good it is. If I had to pick one thing I hate most about emulators this is totally it.

Love: Translations: The first game I ever played on an emulator was a fan translation of Final Fantasy V. It was actually the reason I became aware that emulators existed in the first place. Fan translations are probably one of the coolest things to happen in gaming, they allow us to play many of those awesome Japanese games we heard about back in the days but were never released in the U.S. Without them many gamers would not be able to experience games like Hideo Kojima's Policenauts or the extremely popular Mother 3.

Hate: Nothing to hate here: I dare you to come up with something to hate about people dedicating countless hours and working hard as hell to translate the games that we're all dying to play. These guys are heroes to the gaming community.



Love: Convenience and advantages over the original hardware: Some readers might be surprised to hear that there are quite a few ways emulators can actually improve on the original console.

There are tons of smaller features which a few people find indispensable. Some of these include screen captures and the ability to record videos while you play. Additionally, Save States are probably one of the most beloved of these small features, but I won't talk about them just yet, I reserved a special section just for them

Visual improvements are the most common. The option to upscale the resolution and smooth out the graphics on many of the older consoles is a pretty handy feature. Emu's are also a helpful solution if you just bought a new HDTV which isn't compatible with your old systems. You won't need to plunk down some cash to buy special cables or attachments.

Portability is another factor. You can throw all of these systems and games on one laptop and take it anywhere instead of carting around a bunch of consoles and handhelds. Also, the fact that ROMs do not take up any physical space is a pretty big deal - imagine how much room every NES cartridge would end up consuming in your house. Some of us just don't have that kind of space.

Emulators actually helped relieve some of the annoyances of the early handhelds. A friend of mine said his first-generation Game Boy Advance's screen was so awful that he just ended up playing a lot of his GBA games on an emulator instead.

Hate: Emulators just can't replace the real thing: One of the best experiences I've ever had at an arcade was the day me and my kid brother first stumbled upon a Street Fighter (Part 1) machine. Yes, I know this is probably known as the worst entry in Capcom's venerated fighting series but I believe this is only because not many people have played it the way it was meant to be played.

You see, the original Street Fighter cabinet didn't have the standard Jab, Strong, and Fierce buttons. Instead, it had two extremely big buttons one for punch and one for kick. The trick to it was that you had to actually PUNCH the button. That's right you were actually encouraged to give the machine a physical beat-down! The strength of your characters punch or kick depended on how hard you punched the thing; for example: a wimpy punch would provoke Ken to 'Jab' but a powerful jump up and smash the button with your elbow style attack would incite a 'Fierce' attack. I have to admit, the game is nowhere near as good as later entries in the series and yeah, the 'punch-em' buttons were a cheap gimmick, but this is probably one of the funnest experiences I ever had with a video game. Me and my bro mercilessly unloaded a barrage of HULK-SMASH style punches on that poor machine until we exhausted the very last of our quarters. The story does have a sad ending however, the next day when we arrived at the arcade ready to expose our inner Mike Tyson's can you believe the machine was broken. Yup, it seems like Capcom underestimated the physical strength of gamers.



This long-winded story is just one of myriad examples detailing why emulators are poor replacements for the real thing. Those absurd yet amazingly fun punch buttons on that old Street Fighter machine can never be replicated, neither can many of the other awesome peripherals found on arcade machines. Even if you build your own cabinet with trackballs and arcade style joysticks for your emulator, you can never get Punch Out's superfluous double screen, Sega's ridiculous rotating R-360 contraption or the legendary Discs of Tron's upright cabinet with it's cheesy attempt at an immersive environment. There are plenty of other examples of how emulators just can't measure up.

Probably the most important thing missing is the arcade environment itself. The bleeping sounds and music from all of the other games surrounding you, the person watching over your shoulder waiting for you to lose, the crowd around the Street Fighter II machine, the music playing over the radio. All of these things may seem minor, but the environment and the social interactions that occurred among the players is probably the most important part of the arcade experience. Sadly arcades are almost nonexistent these days so at least emulators are there to provide access to the games if nothing else.

These limitations aren’t just restricted to arcade games, console gamers will also miss out on a lot. The feel of the old NES controller in your hand, the ritual of blowing into a cartridge before shoving it into your machine, the touch of the power button at your fingertips – these are just a few of the things that can’t be emulated. Sure you can plug a PS3 controller into your PC's USB slot but it just can't replicate the visceral joy of playing the real thing.

Even PC owners are affected. Despite the fact that the mouse/keyboard interaction is usually more or less the same on games for all computer based systems there is still a lot to be sacrificed. For instance, back in the days the software was just a small part of the entire experience. The game itself was actually just a component in dense, elaborate and richly conceived packages. Take a look at all the stuff that came along with Infocom's classic text adventure A Mind Forever Voyaging. Due to limitations the designers used to actually provide much of the interactive and narrative based elements through the printed documents and several unique toys. This stuff just can't be replaced with emulators in the same way.

Perhaps the biggest drawback is that sometimes emulators don't always run as well on your PC or console as on the original hardware. Of course, nowadays we are pretty spoiled with near perfect emulation for many consoles but there are still some games and systems that will display graphical glitches, noticeable slowdown or shoddy sound. Even some of the 'professional' efforts fall short as anyone who has played Sonic's Ultimate Genesis Collection can attest

Love: Save States: Instant save is another amazing feature many gamers love. The ability to save anywhere, at any time, makes many of those old impossible 8-bit games tolerable. No longer do you have to restart at the beginning of the level (or gasp, the entire game if you lost all your lives) if you missed that one lousy, totally unfair jump in Ninja Gaiden. You can just save the game's state before the jump and restart right from there if you die. Sure, it's kind of like cheating but we all know a lot of those games cheated too!! And now we have the power to do something about it. Remember those infamous 40+ character passwords back in the NES days, forget about them - instant save spares you the agony.

Hate: Easy Mode is for Sissies: Save states are awesome but the temptation to rely on them too heavily can do a lot to ruin your fun.

As frustrating as they were, some of those old games were just meant to be played a certain way. Starting the entire level over is part of the fun. That intense feeling you get when you have one man left and no continues is worth something and should be savored. If you can fallback on save states it just cheapens the moment.

Let's be honest, we all like to share our hard earned victories. Nothing beats braggin' rights but let's face it, no matter how unfair some of those old games are you just don't get the same level of self-satisfaction for completing a nearly impossible segment when you use save states - it's taking the easy way out. Your friends that slaved through the game the old fashioned way just won’t respect your ‘half-assed’ triumph.

My personal solution is to use save states only as a last resort. If you start getting the urge to smash your keyboard or throw your controller at the nearest wall then its probably time to either take a break or throw in the towel.

And with that, my discussion on the joys and tribulations offered by the world of emulation ends. Is there anything I missed? Do you have any emulation stories of your own to share? Please me fill me in via the comments section.

Please note I intentionally neglected to mention the name of any of the emulators or provide links of where they could be found. I did this because I do not want Destructoid getting into any trouble on my account. So if you’re looking to satiate your emulation needs you’re on your own - a few Google searches should get you pretty far. On the other hand if you want to check out a site that mentions plenty of games worth exploring I highly recommend you check out Hardcore Gaming 101.

The 90s marked some truly revolutionary moments for gaming, not the least of which was the leap to 3D games. As the first decade of the 21st century folds, there’s been no shortage of pivotal moments for the gaming industry. Some of them seem fairly evident. Most of them functioned as a smaller spark that led to a bigger explosion. Would Xbox Live be where it is now had Bungie not incorporated so many features into Halo 2? Was the Wii really the sole turning point for casuals to start playing games, or was Brain Age the kick-off? Put on your tinfoil hats, kids. Here are ten turning points of the 2000s:

2000: PlayStation 2 launches in North America.

Why did this event change the course of the gaming industry? In October 2000, the average DVD player cost $300, as much as a PlayStation 2. The PS2 was a console designed as an entertainment machine. It helped Hollywood transition from VHS to DVD by hitting a movie-buying demographic. Not only were standards set for the Xbox, it ultimately came to decide the next wave of console hardware five years later. Backwards compatibility and movie playback were suddenly important features that every console needed (even if you need to hack the Wii to get it to happen).

Ripples you can see today: You can see so many of the Xbox 360’s success in the PlayStation 2: get to market first and secure (timed) exclusive games, faulty hardware be damned. Sony took a similar gamble with the Blu-ray format (is The Dark Knight to Blu-ray what The Matrix was to DVD?). And multimedia integration, from Internet browsers to Netflix, wouldn’t be conceivable without our game consoles providing us with entertainment outside of videogames.

2001: Sega withdraws from the hardware market following the failure of the Dreamcast.

Why did this event change the course of the gaming industry? Sega’s demise in March of 2001 served as a testament to Sony’s power at the time (the PS2 crushed the Dreamcast in Japan well before it even touched US shores) and served as a warning to Microsoft, which was releasing the Xbox a few months later. Would consumers have tolerated a four-way dance between console manufacturers? It seems rather doubtful. Also, Sega’s lucrative exclusive franchises -- Sonic, 2K Sports -- became ubiquitous, at least, for a few years.

Ripples you can see today: One could argue that pre-Halo 2 Xbox Live resembled the best elements of SegaNet, and that fundamentally, the Xbox modeled itself after many facets of Sega’s machine. After Xbox? Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games. Sonic vs. Mario in Super Smash Bros. Brawl. A litany of botched attempts to resurrect 16-bit classics for contemporary tastes.

2004: Halo 2, World of Warcraft, and Half-Life 2 all launch in the same month.

Why did this event change the course of the gaming industry? These three games came to define the way we played games for years to come. Bungie’s sequel was a shot in the arm for Xbox Live subscriptions and previewed many of the features that would set the standard for Microsoft’s online service on the next machine. Blizzard took a previously niche genre, added some baking soda and boiled it down to a solid, quickly consumable mass. You see where this is going. Despite a rocky launch, Valve’s sequel brought in millions of new Steam users, which gave it the install base for its real strategy: digital distribution of PC games.

Ripples you can see today: A great deal of today’s Xbox Live was established on the shoulders of Halo 2, and Microsoft’s commitment to online gaming has been key to its dominance. As PC games lose physical retail real estate, Steam has become the dominant force in PC game sales. Thanks to the widespread popularity of WoW, MMOs are mainstream fare. Loot and experience points have moved out of role-playing and into other genres. Think about that when you hit Prestige.

2004: EA snatches up the rights to the NFL license.

Why did this event change the course of the gaming industry? On the heels of Sega/Take-Two’s price slash on NFL 2K5, EA’s aggressive takeover of Madden didn’t endear them to legions of nerds who hate sports. Aside from the awkward position it put the publisher in from hardcore gamers, it sparked a pissing contest over the arguably most lucrative game genre for publishers. Sega ultimately withdrew from sports sims altogether and sold its Visual Concepts studio to Take-Two. Take-Two quickly responded to EA by shoring up an exclusive deal with Major League Baseball to secure exclusive third-party rights.

Ripples you can see today: Aside from FIFA, Madden could very well be the reason why EA’s been able to withstand a litany of big duds over the past year. Although exclusive deals hurt gamers on the surface, there have been some less-discussed benefits. Sony regained its footing in first-party sports games with MLB: The Show, which is quietly one of the best exclusives on the PS3, and a continuous top-seller on PS2. Can you find a better sim-centric baseball experience on console? Debatable.

2005: Hackers find a sex mini-game in the PC version of Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas. Rockstar Games claims that it’s a user-created mod, which holds water until someone uses a cheat device to unlock the minigame on console versions. Hilary Clinton gets involved and suggests regulating the gaming industry. Congress passes a resolution to find out whether Take-Two (Rockstar’s parent company) intentionally deceived the ESRB in submitting San Andreas for rating.

Why did this event change the course of the gaming industry? Moreso than any disbarred Florida attorney’s lawsuits and Game Politics forum trolling, “Hot Coffee” forced the industry, from retailers to marketers, to police themselves with a stringency never seen prior. In order to prevent government interference in regulating mature content, the ESRB has taken a heavily proactive stance, including an agreement with the software industry to restrict M-rated trailers and demos from consumption by minors. The organization ducked another potential debacle less than a year later, as The Elder Scrolls: Oblivion was re-rated from “T” to “M” following news that users had modified the code to allow nudity.

Ripples you can see today: It’s harder for youth under 17 to buy an M-rated game than to get into an R-rated film or buy a CD with explicit content. Instead, it’s easier for them to convince their asleep-at-the-wheel parents to buy them Modern Warfare 2 and ruin the multiplayer experience for the rest of us.

2006: Nintendo releases Brain Age, which extends handheld gaming beyond a niche audience.

Why did this event change the course of the gaming industry? Some argue that Nintendogs was the pivotal moment for the Nintendo DS. Although Brain Age didn’t have the lasting power of a virtual Chihuahua, it opened up the market beyond Pokémon-playing tweens and grown men who unironically wear Mario t-shirts. The last time a game reached this level of critical mass on a Nintendo handheld was Tetris, which Nintendo bolstered with an ad campaign showing businessmen playing it.

Ripples you can see today: Brain Age marked the advent of lifestyle games on the DS -- previously a Japan-only niche -- for Western audiences. Now you can buy cookbooks, language software and math tutors for your DS. Wii Fit doesn’t seem so crazy once you consider how much Nintendo has iterated on the idea of everyday life as a metagame for its software.

2006: Activision purchases RedOctane for shy of $100 million.

Why did this event change the course of the gaming industry? Six months after the release of Guitar Hero, Activision snatched up RedOctane and the rights to the Guitar Hero name. Harmonix remained independent until September 2006, when MTV purchases the Boston-based developer. A year later, the music game wars ignited.

Ripples you can see today: Amidst a decade of tumult and reluctant transformation for the music industry, video games have proven to be a lucrative source of exposure for artists.  There have been unforeseen consequences  -- witness Warner Music Group’s boycott of music games over royalties or the numerous lawsuits levied at Activision regarding its liberal use of musician likenesses -- but the genre has undoubtedly had a profound impact on the music industry. Guitar Hero has made Activision one of the world’s biggest publishers, while some have argued that Rock Band has been a money pit for EA and MTV Games -- analysts have said that even with The Beatles: Rock Band’s critical success and public awareness of the product, it will likely struggle to break even.

2006: E3 marks a massive changing of the guard.

Why did this event change the course of the gaming industry? After years of anticipation for the PlayStation 3, Sony reveals a handful of games, a controller sans rumble, features that were arguably vestigial at the time, and a price point that was hard to swallow during better economic times. It was an exercise in how to collapse from grace.

The following morning, Nintendo showed off Wii, shook off the struggles of the GameCube, and pointed to a bright future filled with new ways to play games.

A few hours later, Cliff Blezsinski took the stage to show off a live demonstration of Gears of War at Microsoft’s press conference. It was followed by the announcement of Grand Theft Auto IV and exclusive downloadable content for Xbox 360, as well as the announcements of Fable II and Halo 3.

Also, the Expo itself was so insanely jam-packed and crowded that the ESA tinkered with the formula twice before restoring it to a slightly slimmer state in 2009.

Ripples you can see today: It has taken years for Sony to recover from two hours of awkwardly-lain presentation (and several firmware updates). Microsoft ripped several pages from Sony’s playbook and executed them to a tee, which has been at the root of the company’s success up to present day. Nintendo set the stage for a fantastic year of gaming that catered to both new gamers (Wii Sports) and its core audience (which has sputtered out following Super Mario Galaxy). E3 went through a crazy diet to trim the fat, but now it’s a sleeker, slimmer spectacle filled with the same media buzz.

2008: Apple launches the iPhone App Store, which enables software developers to make applications to sell on the wildly successful iPhone.

Why did this event change the course of the gaming industry? After years of venture capitalists espousing the gospel of mobile gaming amidst a veritable Tower of Babel of handsets and carriers, the ubiquitous appeal of the iPhone provided indie game developers with the opportunity to unleash their games on a wider platform.

Ripples you can see today: Smartphones are taking over as the norm, and with platforms narrowing, Apple and Google-branded operating systems are becoming a legitimate platform for handheld gaming, complete with user-friendly digital distribution. Games that flop on traditional portable platforms could find a new wider audience on iPhone or Google phones. Rockstar Games appears to be making the leap (GTA: Chinatown Wars did lackluster numbers on both DS and PSP); will it be the only publisher?

2008: Activision and Vivendi-Universal/Blizzard merge and become the world’s biggest game publisher overnight. Literally.

Why did this event change the course of the gaming industry? It came on the heels of Activision’s revival as a serious and legitimate threat to EA’s dominance as the top third-party publisher in the world, following a year that delivered Guitar Hero III, Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare, Spider-Man 3, Shrek the Third, and Transformers. Laugh at those last three if you want; they filled Bobby Kotick’s coffers handsomely. Blizzard, at this point, had a mammoth share of the PC market with World of Warcraft.

Ripples you can see today: The combination of uncertain economic times and rapid globalization of the industry has led to more mergers, such as Square-Enix and Eidos, which gives the Japanese publisher even more leeway in Western markets. Also, seven music game variants in one calendar year.

Ripples you will see tomorrow: An abundance of plastic instruments piling up in landfills. What will cultural anthropologists think of us hundreds of years from now?

Honorable Mentions

The Three-Year Cycle (2001, 2004, 2007): A glut of AAA titles every three years, thanks to the arduous process of creating huge blockbusters. Funny enough, there’s been a Halo every one of those years (and a Metal Gear Solid in two of them).

Jason Hall’s Metrics Speech (2004): Before the former WB executive’s speech, no one really talked about tying performance bonuses to game scores. Now, metrics rule the way games are made and developers are paid.

The Economic Downturn (2008): Publishers like EA have been battening down the hatches, Midway is an afterthought, and the effects are still being seen.

PS3 Downloadable Games Puzzlegeddon ($9.99) Demos Gran Turismo 5 Time Trial Challenge Army of TWO: The 40th Day TV Show King Guitar Hero Van Halen Diner Dash Puzzlegeddon PSone Classics Final Fantasy VIII ($9.99) Add-on Content PAIN Red Jimmy Character ($0.99) SOCOM: U.S. Navy SEALs Confrontation Cold Front ($9.99) Brutal Legend Hammer Of Infinite Fate ($4.99) NBA 10 Holiday Shoe Pack (free) Guitar Hero 5 "Hi-Speed Soul" by Nada Surf ($1.99) "Sister Jack" by Spoon ($1.99) "Cut Your Hair" by Pavement ($1.99) Indie Rock Track Pack ($5.49) - Downloadable Track Pack featuring "Hi-Speed Soul" by Nada Surf, "Cut Your Hair" by Pavement, and "Sister Jack" by Spoon. Rock Band: Rock Band Weekly Update Videos ModNation Racers "Express Yourself" Trailer SOCOM: Fireteam Bravo 3 Dev Diary #1 Critter Crunch "A Barf in the Night" Trailer Mushroom Wars Trailer 2 High Velocity Bowling Jarvis & Ginger Trailer Red Dead Redemption Trailer 2 Planet 51 Launch Trailer NBA UNRIVALED Trailer Themes and Wallpapers Smash Cars Theme (free) Digger HD Theme (free) Mushroom Wars Theme (free) Smash Cars B&W; Theme (Free) Gravity Crash Theme (Free) Guitar Hero Van Halen Theme (Free) Assassin's Creed II Ezio Theme ($0.99) Bianca Premium Plus Theme ($1.99) Lindsay Kaye Theme ($1.99) The Hangover Theme ($1.99) Transformers 2 Theme ($1.99) STAR TREK: TOS Dynamic Theme Dual Pack $4.99 STAR TREK: TOS Blue Edition Dynamic Theme ($2.99) STAR TREK: TOS Red Edition Dynamic Theme ($2.99) Gaze Theme ($1.99) Tropical Paradise Theme ($1.49) UNCHARTED 2: Among Thieves Wallpaper 3 Gravity Crash Sun Wallpaper PSP Content Downloadable Games BUZZ! Quiz World ($19.99) Sega Rally Revo ($15.99) Metal Gear Solid: Portable Ops Plus ($9.99) Metal Gear Solid: Portable Ops ($14.99) Metal Gear Solid Digital Graphic Novel ($9.99) F1 2009 ($39.99) Ridge Racer ($14.99) PSone Classics Final Fantasy VIII ($5.99) PSP minis Heracles Chariot Racing ($4.99) Spot the Differences! ($2.99) Game Videos Tekken 6 PSP Trailer Assassin's Creed: Bloodlines Gameplay Sizzle Trailer Assassin's Creed: Bloodlines Launch Trailer PSP Themes Tropical Paradise PSP Theme ($1.49) Pinball Heroes: High Velocity Bowling PSP Theme (free) Pinball Heroes: Uncharted PSP Theme (free) Gaze PSP Theme 1 ($1.49) Gaze PSP Theme 2 ($1.49) Off the Beat - Pursuit PSP Theme ($1.49) Off the Beat - Hang Out PSP Theme ($1.49) Transformers 2 PSP Theme ($1.49) The Hangover PSP Theme ($1.99) Pinball Heroes: High Velocity Bowling PSP Theme (free) Pinball Heroes: Uncharted PSP Theme (free)

So much to see and do this week on the North American version of the PlayStation Store. But what to do first? Download the Gran Turismo 5 Time Trial demo? Final Fantasy VIII? Rubber Soul? Argh!

I suppose it's up to you to decide whether the Army of Two: The 40th Day demo takes precedent over downloading Pavement's "Cut Your Hair," but now PlayStation 3 owners can do both. The good news for PSP owners is that a ton of UMDs have made the jump to digital download, including a trio of Metal Gear Solid titles.

Even better are new deals on games like GTA: Chinatown Wars and Holy Invasion of Privacy, Badman! What Did I Do To Deserve This? All of these things can be pondered while scanning the list below.

Games & Demos For PlayStation 3
Puzzlegeddon ($9.99)
PSone Classics: Final Fantasy VIII ($9.99)
Gran Turismo 5 Time Trial Challenge
Army of Two: The 40th Day demo
TV Show King demo
Guitar Hero Van Halen demo
Diner Dash demo
Puzzlegeddon demo

Games & Demos For PSP
BUZZ! Quiz World ($19.99)
Sega Rally Revo ($15.99)
Metal Gear Solid: Portable Ops Plus ($9.99)
Metal Gear Solid: Portable Ops ($14.99)
Metal Gear Solid Digital Graphic Novel ($9.99)
F1 2009 ($39.99)
Ridge Racer ($14.99)
PSP minis: Heracles Chariot Racing ($4.99)
PSP minis: Spot the Differences! ($2.99)

Expansions & Add-ons
PAIN Red Jimmy Character ($0.99)
SOCOM: U.S. Navy SEALs Confrontation Cold Front ($9.99)
Brutal Legend Hammer Of Infinite Fate ($4.99)
NBA 10 Holiday Shoe Pack (free)

Guitar Hero 5 tracks

• "Hi-Speed Soul" by Nada Surf ($1.99)
• "Sister Jack" by Spoon ($1.99)
• "Cut Your Hair" by Pavement ($1.99)
• Indie Rock Track Pack ($5.49) – "Hi-Speed Soul" by Nada Surf, "Cut Your Hair" by Pavement, and "Sister Jack" by Spoon

Rock Band tracks

• "Gives You Hell" by All-American Rejects ($1.99)
• "This is War" by 30 Seconds to Mars ($1.99)
• "Kings and Queens" by 30 Seconds to Mars ($1.99)
• "Christian's Inferno" by Green Day ($1.99)
• "Last of the American Girls" by Green Day ($1.99)
• "¡Viva la Gloria!" by Green Day ($1.99)
• Green Day Pack 2 ($5.49) - "Christian's Inferno," "Last of the American Girls," and "¡Viva la Gloria!" by Green Day.

The Beatles: Rock Band tracks

• "Girl" by The Beatles ($1.99)
• "In My Life" by The Beatles ($1.99)
• "Michelle" by The Beatles ($1.99)
• "Norwegian Wood (This Bird Has Flown)" by The Beatles ($1.99)
• "Nowhere Man" by The Beatles ($1.99)
• "Run For Your Life" by The Beatles ($1.99)
• "The Word" by The Beatles ($1.99)
• "Think For Yourself" by The Beatles ($1.99)
• "Wait" by The Beatles ($1.99)
• "What Goes On" by The Beatles ($1.99)
• "You Won't See Me" by The Beatles ($1.99)
• Rubber Soul Album ($17.99)

Game Videos
ModNation Racers "Express Yourself" Trailer
SOCOM: Fireteam Bravo 3 Dev Diary #1
Critter Crunch "A Barf in the Night" Trailer
Mushroom Wars Trailer 2
High Velocity Bowling Jarvis & Ginger Trailer
Red Dead Redemption Trailer 2
Planet 51 Launch Trailer
NBA Unrivaled Trailer

Themes & Wallpapers
Smash Cars Theme (free)
Digger HD Theme (free)
Mushroom Wars Theme (free)
Smash Cars B&W; Theme (free)
Guitar Hero Van Halen Theme (free)
Legion Theme (free)
Assassin's Creed II Ezio Theme ($0.99)
Bianca Premium Plus Theme ($1.99)
Lindsay Kaye Theme ($1.99)
The Hangover Theme ($1.99)
Transformers 2 Theme ($1.99)
Star Trek: TOS Dynamic Theme Dual Pack $4.99
Star Trek: TOS Blue Edition Dynamic Theme ($2.99)
Star Trek: TOS Red Edition Dynamic Theme ($2.99)
Gaze Theme ($1.99)
Tropical Paradise Theme ($1.49)
Uncharted 2: Among Thieves Wallpaper 3
Gravity Crash Sun Wallpaper

Price Drops & Sales
Beaterator Price Drop (was $39.99; now $19.99)
Grand Theft Auto Chinatown Wars Price Drop (was $39.99; now $29.99)
Holy Invasion of Privacy Badman Price Drop (was $19.99; now $9.99)
Brain Challenge Price Drop (was $9.99; now $4.99)
Unbound Saga Sale (regular price $9.99; sale price $4.99)
Tetris Sale (regular price $9.99; sale price $6.99)
Burn Zombie Burn (regular price $9.99; sale price $4.99)

[Continuing our 2009 retrospective, Ryan Langley of sister site GamerBytes ranks the Top 5 Console Downloadable Games of 2009 from his perspective. Previously: Top 5 Biz Trends, Top 5 iPhone Games, Top 5 Controversies, Top 5 PC Games, Top 5 Handheld Games Of 2009, and Top 5 Major Industry Events.]

Do you remember the launch of Microsoft's Xbox Live Arcade for the Xbox 360 back in 2005? On offer, it hosted games like Gauntlet, Joust, Smash TV and Bejeweled 2 -- titles that most of us had played before and all limited to their 50MB file size.

But there was a little gem stuck in there called Geometry Wars, and that addictive little top-down shooter has shaped what the Xbox Live Arcade -- and digitally downloaded console games -- have become today.

Four years later, PlayStation Network and WiiWare have joined the mix -- as well as DSiWare and PSP Minis. We’ve got games hitting 2GB in size, we’ve got a digital-only Battlefield game that has sold well over a million copies, and we’ve got individual indie guys like James Silva (Dishwasher: Dead Samurai). The industry has certainly changed its perspective.

And just the leaps in quality are amazing. Just try to go back and play Jewel Quest on Xbox Live Arcade – it’s a mess of an interface, limited by the ideas of the time and the file size. We’ve come a long way. Just for consoles, we’ve seen over 250 games this year for Xbox Live Arcade, PlayStation Network and WiiWare.

And 2009 has been a testing ground of sorts. Xbox Live Arcade began the year with a test of player’s wallets with the rise of the $15 game -- producing variable results. The PlayStation Network showcased many stylish games, with Flower and Noby Noby Boy headlining the world of the strange, while WiiWare’s arguably best tactic was mining our childhood memories with Contra Rebirth and Excitebike: World Rally.

Now, as the year comes to an end, we're choosing five favorites. Every person will have a different experience, but these 5 titles were the ones we had the most fun with:

5. Defense Grid: The Awakening (Hidden Path Entertainment, Xbox Live Arcade)

Sure, Defense Grid first came out on the PC late last year, but it’s still one of the best 'tower defense' games that has been released, and its XBLA conversion is excellent. The mixture of strict placement levels and levels with path creation were a ton of fun. It becomes a puzzle game in some respects, but can also be played in all kinds of ways, depending on what you're in the mood for.

I’ve played many Tower Defense games this year – South Park Let's Go Tower Defense Play! for XBLA, Ninjatown on DS, Defender Chronicles, 7 Cities, Star Defense, geoDefense Swarm and The Creeps on my iPhone, and I still feel Defense Grid beats them all.

Even though you don’t control a guy on the field like PixelJunk Monsters, the controls for Defense Grid fit great with a console controller. The stages were challenging without feeling unfair, and the game is filled with plenty of modes to keep me interested.

And I haven’t even mentioned the raspberries.

4. Peggle and Peggle Nights (PopCap Games, Xbox Live Arcade / PlayStation Network)

Yes, Peggle came out back in 2007, but the Peggle spirit lives on, and made a perfect transition to consoles this year.

What makes the XBLA and PSN versions even better is online Leaderboards. People have been addicted to besting scores on the PC by trading YouTube videos, but nothing beats the simple Leaderboard structure that the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 allows.

Another huge addition was Peg Party mode, a four-player variant of Peggle which again makes you think more about hitting those pegs as best as you can -- something not usually supported in PC games of this style.

3. ‘Splosion Man (Twisted Pixel, Xbox Live Arcade)

A simple platformer is exactly what I’ve wanted for the longest time on Xbox Live Arcade, and Twisted Pixel delivered. The keep-it-simple-stupid mentality of Sonic The Hedgehog has long been lost on Sega, but indie darling Twisted Pixel was able to find that magic with ‘Splosion Man.

‘Splosion Man is just what an Xbox Live Arcade title should be – it makes no attempts to emulate a retail title within a smaller package, has a simple and interesting control scheme -- and of course, is just really fun.

2. Shadow Complex (Chair Entertainment, Xbox Live Arcade)

Chair Entertainment’s Undertow on XBLA was a bit of a downer – a simple underwater shooter that wasn’t really that entertaining for me. It’s amazing to see how far they’ve come with the release of Shadow Complex.

A game that harks back to the days of Super Metroid and Castlevania: Symphony of the Night but with a next-generation twist, Shadow Complex delivered in spades, and it was a lot of fun along the way.

It's just little things that keep you going -– like showing how well your friends are doing at booting robots across the room, or seeing that rocket canister in the background that you know you’ll be back for later.

1. Trials HD (Redlynx, Xbox Live Arcade)

Before Trials HD came out, I was tester at a video game company. I had access to pre-release games on Xbox Live Arcade via a test system, and one of those games was Trials HD. When we stayed back late to test a build, we would bide our time by playing Trials. When our game was basically finished, the artists had a brief quiet period, so they started playing Trials HD. All day.

RedLynx has created one of the most addicting, fun and frustrating games ever, and you don’t get bored of it. You may press that restart button 300 times, but that’s not going to stop you from beating that level.

The Leaderboards integration is fantastic, showing off everyone in your friends list in the corner so you can make sure you’re that little bit ahead of them. It’s addicting to try and beat your own score as well as your friends'. And with the level editor and downloadable content coming, RedLynx is able to pile on the replayability over time -- even more reason to vote it our top console downloadable game of the year.

Honorable Mentions

Battlefield 1943 (DICE / EA Games, XBLA / PSN): For those like me who’ve never tried a Battlefield game before, 1943 is a fantastic way to test the waters, and now has me far more interested in Bad Company than I ever was before.

Banjo Tooie (4J Studios / Rare, XBLA): The Nintendo 64 did its best to make Banjo Tooie playable, but the framerate was so iffy that I didn't want to complete the game. The XBLA version fixes everything and adds more to the game -- and is a blast the whole way through.

Swords & Soldiers (Ronimo Games, WiiWare): Conceptually, real-time strategy games sometimes have issues on consoles, but wonderful, cartoony art direction and a really clever gameplay adaption, this WiiWare title from the original creators of De Blob was decidedly slept on.

Critter Crunch (Capybara Games, PSN): Though not my favorite puzzle game this year, Critter Crunch is notable for making the puzzle genre actually look striking. No “blocks” or “gems” -- you’ve got your bugs and your Biggs and that instantly makes me more interested.

Death Tank (Flat Games, XBLA): I was a huge fan of the original Death Tank on the Sega Saturn, and the new version certainly delivered. Its only problem was the lack of players, likely due to the higher (1200 MSP) price, which is kind of sad.

Bit.Trip series (Gaijin Games, WiiWare): Amazingly, all of the first three titles in this series from the Santa Cruz-based indie were released during 2009, and while they're bite-sized, they're also adorably retro, well-constructed, and a lot of fun to play through.

Dishwasher: Dead Samurai (Ska Studios, XBLA): Proof that one guy can do just as well as a full studio. Solid design and excellent entertainment twinned – can’t wait for what’s next from this guy.

Flower(ThatGameCompany, PSN): Certainly one of the more interesting games this year – you’ll be seeing it in a lot of Top 10 lists in the next couple of weeks. It does what it intended to do, but I feel there were more fun games out there over the last 12 months.

LostWinds: Winter of the Melodias (Frontier Developments, WiiWare): While it does simply expand on the mechanics of the original Lost Winds, it’s still one of the few Wii games out there where I really enjoy the Wii remote controls. Plus, it’s also still the best-looking series on WiiWare.

Marvel Vs. Capcom 2 (Capcom, XBLA / PSN): My favorite fighting game finally goes online, and was a ton of fun – until you run into a Sentinel / Cable / Storm combo, of course. It’s still as delightful as it was back in the early 2000s.

The Maw (Twisted Pixel Games, XBLA): Twisted Pixel’s debut game brought a solid 3D platformer to the Xbox Live Arcade, and much like ‘Splosion Man, it knows exactly what it is – a well-crafted $10 game.

Mushroom Wars (Creat Studios, PSN): A very simple strategy game which really surprised me. It has a particularly addictive quality to it, and plays like I like my real-time strategy games – rushing the enemy.

Bonsai Barber (Zoonami/Nintendo, WiiWare): Martin Hollis' debut title for WiiWare wasn't what you might expect from the GoldenEye co-creator - but a really interesting 'few minutes per day' play style and time-unlockable elements meant that it was both innovative and beguiling. Good use of Wii controls, too.

Red Alert 3: Commander’s Challenge (EA Games, XBLA / PSN): Surprisingly ignored by the general populace, Red Alert 3: Commander’s Challenge is the perfect way to get console players to try RTS controls on their system. For $10, you can get a quick taste. It certainly proved the series on console to me, and I will be eying a copy of Command & Conquer 4 for the Xbox 360 next year.

Shatter (Sidhe Interactive, PSN): A fantastic revision of the classic bat-and-ball game that brings it to the next generation from the New Zealand-based dev. Arkanoid Live was a disappointment, but Shatter exceeded my expectations.

Trine (Frozenbyte, PSN): A wizard, a thief and knight must bind together through some beautiful side scrolling action. An evocation of classic gameplay styles with some intelligent updates.

Today's Dealzmodo brings more free holiday MP3 tidings and a multitouch laptop to take your Facebook poking to a new, literal level. Also, find big savings on the Spykee spy robot to take your stalking to a new, robotic level.

Top Deals:
• 14" Lenovo ThinkPad T400s Laptop with Multi-touch for $1,699 with free shipping (normally $2,145 - use coupon code: USPHOLIDAY).
• Spykee Spy Robot w/ VOIP and Webcam for $120 plus free shipping (normally $299).
• 20 Song Holiday Sampler Album for $0 at iTunes.

Computing and Peripherals:
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• 15.6" ASUS G51j-A1 Core i7 Gaming Laptop for $1,454 with free shipping (normally $1,499.99).
• 15.4" Lenovo ThinkPad R500 Laptop for $585.65 plus free shipping (normally $929 - use coupon code USPHOLIDAY).
• 15" Dell Inspiron 15z Laptop with Pentium Dual Core SU4100 1.3GHz for $659 plus free shipping (normally $900).
• 14" Lenovo ThinkPad T400s Laptop with Multi-touch for $1,699 with free shipping (normally $2,145 - use coupon code: USPHOLIDAY).
• 13.3" MacBook Unibody (White) for $869.99 plus free shipping (normally $955).
• 13.3" Dell Vostro v13 Intel Celeron ULV Laptop (3.5lbs, .65" thin) for $449.00 (normally $499).
• 10.1" Lenovo S10-2 Netbook (White) for $279.99 plus free shipping (normally $315 - use coupon code SHINE20).
• Western Digital WD TV Live Media Player with Internet Streaming for $99.99 plus free shipping (normally $129 - use coupon code: PAYPAL20).
• Logitech ClearChat PC Wireless Headset for $44.99 plus free shipping (normally $71 - use coupon code logi_pcchat_1299).
• 1 TB Seagate USB 2.0 External Hard Drive for $79.99 plus free shipping (normally $103 - use coupon code EMCMNML26).

Gaming:
• Nintendo Wii Gaming Console for $179.00 plus free shipping (normally $199 - use coupon code: PAYPAL20).
• Nintendo Wii Fit Plus Game with Balance Board for $85.99 plus free shipping (normally $99).
• X-Men Origins: Wolverine (Wii) for $16.99 plus free shipping (normally $39).
• Tiger Woods PGA Tour 10 (Wii) for $36.78 plus free shipping (normally $46.17).
• Conduit (Wii) for $12.99 plus free shipping (normally $27.99).
• Wario Land Shake It (Wii) for $19.99 (normally $28.94).
• Silent Hill Homecoming (360) for $12.99 plus free shipping (normally $18.99).
• Halo 3 Legendary Edition Xbox 360 Game for $39.99 plus free shipping (normally $79).
• Brutal Legend (360) + The Saboteur (360) for $89.98 plus free shipping (normally $101 - use coupon code BEMERRY).
• Timeshift (360) for $7.99 plus free shipping (normally $19).
• Medieval II: Total War (PC download) for $4.99 (normally $13).
• The Sims 3 for $29 with free shipping (normally $49.99).
• SEGA Genesis Firecore System with 20 Pre-Loaded Classic Genesis Games for $24.99 plus free shipping (normally $43.99).

Home Entertainment:
• 55" LG 55LH40 1080p 120Hz LCD TV for $1,479.99 plus free shipping (normally $1588).
• 50" Panasonic Viera TC-P50C1 720p Plasma TV for $769 plus free shipping (normally $835).
• 46" Samsung Un46B6000 1080p 120Hz LED HDTV for $1,619 with free Samsung slim Wall Mount (normally $2499.99).
• 46" Samsung LN46B530 1080p LCD HDTV for $879 with free shipping (normally $1,199.99).
• 46" Sharp AQUOS LC46LE700UN 1080p 120Hz LED LCD HDTV for $1,218 plus free shipping (normally $1,319).
• 42" LG 42SL80 1080p, 240Hz LCD HDTV for $1053.95 plus free shipping (normally $1399).
• 42" Sharp LC42SB45UT 1080p LCD HDTV for $579.00 plus free shipping (normally $699).
• 32" Toshiba 32AV502R 720p LCD TV for $349.99 plus free shipping (normally $379).
• 22" Vizio VA220E 720p LCD HDTV for $204 plus free shipping (normally $249).
• Seinfeld – The Complete Series for $84.99 plus free shipping (normally $132).
• Mission Impossible - Ultimate Missions Collection on Blu-ray for $37.99 with free shipping (normally $84.99).
• The Ultimate Matrix Collection (Blu-ray) for $49.99 with free shipping (normally $129.99).
• James Bond 10-Pack (Blu-ray) for $98.49 plus free shipping (normally $159.99).

Personal Portables and Peripherals:
• Canon PowerShot SD1200 IS 10MP Digital Camera for $129.00 plus free shipping (normally $149 - use coupon code PAYPAL20).
• Logitech Mm32 Portable iPod Speaker System for $25.99 plus free shipping (normally $60 - use coupon code logi_mm32_1279).
• Denon DN-HD2500 Hard Disk Media Player plus DJ Hero Full Game Bundle for $299.99 plus free shipping (normally $500).
• Sony Walkman NWZ0S639FBLK 16GB MP3 Player w/ FM Tuner for $89.99 plus free shipping (normally $129).
• Garmin nuvi 285WT GPS for $139.99 plus free shipping (normally $179).
• Samsung DualView TL220 12MP 4.6X Digital Camera w/ Dual LCDs for $229.99 plus free shipping (normally $279 - use coupon code: PAYPAL20).
• Celestron 127EQ PowerSeeker Telescope for $99.99 plus free shipping (normally $128).
• Sony Walkman S Series 16GB Video MP3 Player for $89.99 plus free shipping (normally $161).
• Trendnet TVP-SP2 VoIP USB Speakerphone for Skype for $9.99 (normally $47.99).
• Spykee Spy Robot w/ VOIP and Webcam for $120 plus free shipping (normally $299).

Hobomodo:
• 20 Song Holiday Sampler Album for $0 at iTunes.
• Burger from Whataburger Today for $0.
• 60-Day Trial Membership Offer at BJs Wholesale Club for $0.
• Silent Night by House Of Heroes (MP3) for $0 (download here).
• Holiday Smash (iPhone) for $0 (normally $1.99).
• Free 2010 Delallo Calendar (use this form).
• Free Forbes Investor's Guide (use this form).

If a deal looks too good to be true, investigate the store and see if it's a good, reputable place to buy. Safe shopping!

[Thanks TechDealDigger, Dealzon, Logic Buy, GamerHotline, Cheap College Gamers, CheapStingyBargains and TechBargains.]