[Read the rest of this entry…]

Lets turn the clock back to 2006. It was one year into the Xbox 360’s life cycle, and consumers were either stabbing and shooting each other in order to get their hands on the newly released PS3, or lining up for hours to get their hands on a Wii. Meanwhile, Xbox 360 gamers were still waiting the proverbial ‘killer app’ for the system. While games like Oblivion, Fight Night Round 3, and Saints Row did a good job or keeping players tied over, many of them were just higher resolution versions of games on the original Xbox. What gamers really wanted was Halo 3. Meanwhile, Epic had something brand new up its sleeve. Making use of the brand new Unreal 3 graphics engine, a lifelike alternate world, and unique gameplay features, Gears of War was unleashed on the scene, and it redefined the rules of the shooter genre.
[Read the rest of this entry…]

Just a friendly reminder to He-man/Masters of the Universe (MOTU) collectors, MOTU Classics Webstor goes on sale today on MattyCollector.com at 12:00 EST (noon)!

No, it’s not Season 2 yet, but fear not! As we march inexorably forward toward the premiere, we thought we’d share a little treat with you off the new Season 1 DVD!

Check out the Famicom Dojo Video Netcast for a peek at the extras in store with the DVD version of Episode 1 — with commentary! Just a sample, though, since this is 1/6 of all the commentaries we have to offer, but far from the majority of special features.

(Watch the episode after the jump)

[Read the rest of this entry…]

Noted for Dirty Dancing, Ghost, Roadhouse, and the above SNL clip, Patrick Swayze finally succumbed to Pancreatic Cancer today, at the age of 57. He was given only weeks to live, but toughed it out for over a year and a half.

Source: ‘Dirty Dancing’ star Patrick Swayze dies at 57 [AP]

Since the alphabet is the building block of our language, the Powet Alphabet is the building block of what makes us geeks.

Back in the gaming days of yore, the multiple genres of video games defined what type of gamer the person playing would be. You had your RPG gamers, your FPS gamers, your sidescrolling-adventure gamers, and your sports gamers, to name a few. (Though the sports gamers are considered a completely separate category from the rest and its fans are often rejected as being gamers at all. You know what I’m talking about) There was also the highly competitive fighting gamer. Despite one-on-one fighting games existing prior to its release, Mortal Kombat and Street Fighter helped shape the genre into a more standardized style and gained it a following. It also found a niche in the arcade scene, and soon arcades across the nation were featuring fighting games left and right. However, MK and SF couldn’t carry the genre alone. Games like Primal Rage and NightWarriors soon popped up to satisfy the masses. Midway saw the goldmine that Mortal Kombat had brought in, and decided to try another fighting game in order to bank on the growing success. This game was Killer Instinct.
[Read the rest of this entry…]

When this arcade shooter from Konami was released in 2001, it was way ahead of its time. The arcade cabinet was lined with infrared sensors that tracked your every movement, so you could duck and dodge and take cover. Years before the Wii, Police 911 got players in the game like no other game could do so. Playing as either a Japanese police detective or an American police officer, your job was to stop a Japanese crime syndicate. You made your way through several stages, shooting enemies while avoiding fellow officers and civilians. There is a timer not unlike Time Crisis, so it’s best not to dawdle in an area for too long. You can increase your rank and earn bonuses by completing the levels without killing civilians. A sequel was released, featuring more characters and levels. This game would be a perfect fit on the Nintendo Wii, as the Wiimote and the balance board make a perfect substitute for the arcade cabinet’s infrared sensors.