I was out of town for the weekend, and imagine my surprise when I caught up with GameTrailers on Spike that the first in game footage of Gears Of War 2 had been released. No short cutscene or render, this is gameplay from the third chapter of the first act called Assault. Gears master and geek pinup Cliffy B introduces the game, which looks great.

Looks great. Can’t wait to play it. The main game of the first Gears was spectacular, and tossing in some new mechanics like using enemies as a shield and chainsaw duels will only make the new one better. Graphics looks the same, but thats hardly a complaint. Delta Squad returns in November.

As promised, I’m back with part 2 of our special wrestling edition of the $20 Game of the week. In this edition, we’ll take a look at WWE Smackdown vs Raw 2008, as well as three other wrestling games that you can find on the cheap. So say your prayers and take your vitamins, because it’s time to walk down the aisle and go one on one with the great one. Remember, to be the man, you gotta beat the man! WOOOOOOO!
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This week marks the second anniversary of our popular $20 Game of the week column. We’ve certainly come a long way, yet it seems like only yesterday I started this thing off by raving about Outlaw Tennis. Now it’s two years later, and we’re still here. So what better way to commemorate my second anniversary than with one of gaming’s most prolific companies? Read on after the jump to learn about one of the great masters of 2-d fighting, SNK. Or rather, SNK Playmore as they are known as these days.
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SpikeTV’s GameHead took their entire episode this week to honor Shigeru Miyamoto. In addition to Geoff Keighly interviewing the man himself, they also took comments from the editors of Kotaku and GoNintendo, the cast of Mega64, and the GameJew. Charles Martinett, the voice of Mario, provides narration between segments.

Its an interesting retrospective, but the secretive Nintendo hero doesn’t give much of a look forward other than the tease that a once cancelled game may still see release.
Watch now: Quicktime / WMV

This is not Morgan Webb. This is not Adam Sessler.

X-play is the gold standard. Its still the most popular show on G4 and was one of the most popular on its previous home TechTV. Why not? When gamers turn off their boxes, they often turn to game news in magazines and on the internet, so its only appropriate they be able to see games on TV too.

But its hardly without competition, and it many cases its surpassed. If you’re still watching X-Play religiously because you think its the only show on TV talking about games (G4’s clusterhump “Attack Of The Show” does not count), you’d be missing out on more informative, more balanced, and in some cases, funnier shows. Allow me to focus on some of X-Play’s direct competitors, shows with similar production values and connections to the industry.
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The Game Developers Conference is right around the corner, and with it the industry’s awards ceremony. Unlike embarassing Spike and G4 Productions, the GDCA’s academy is made up only of developers and not 13 year olds with access to the internet.

With that in mind, a lot of the same names are still garnering praise, with Okami and Oblivion each earning 4 nominations, including best game. Gears Of War, Twilight Princess, and Wii Sports round out the list. Tim Schafer, the mad genius behind Psychonauts, will host the event along with performances from MC Chris and Mega 64. Why can’t they televise this show?

Visit the GDCA site for the full list of nominees. The awards will be presented on March 7th at the Game Developers Conference in San Fransisco’s Moscone Convention Center.

Major League Gaming will finally gets its televised debut as the MLG Pro circuit is broadcast on the USA Cable Network starting November 11. This will be 7 pre-recorded events of the Halo 2 Championship.

For more info see USA Network’s page or MLGpro.com

So far the show looks a lot more tasteful than SpikeTV or even G4 has ever presented Pro gaming. Could MLG be the next World Series of Poker? Is a pro like Walshy the next Tiger Woods?

SuperHeroHype brings us lots of updates on comic-based movies coming out.

• Ron Perlman and Kelly Hu are joining Samuel L. Jackson on the Afro Samurai project for Spike TV.

  • The five-part animated series is produced by Japanese studio Gonzo in association/partnership with GHK K.K. and FUNimation and premieres on SPIKE Thursday, January 4, 2007

• I just noticed that IMDB is listing Kelly Hu as Yuriko Oyama in the Wolverine movie, listed as ‘in pre-production’. So expect to see a rematch of Wolverine vs. Lady Deathstrike, or at least some interesting flashbacks.
• A Superman sequel looks like a go with Bryan Singer on board to produce and direct.
• Superman Returns hits 200 million domestically, clearing an obstacle for a sequel which already looks to be given the go ahead now.
• Fourth Spiderman 3 villain revealed to be Bruce Campbell?
• Marvel’s Moon Knight property is heading for a TV series!

[UPDATE – CRAZY: Just noticed that IMDB is listing Kelly Hu as ‘rumored’ for Wolverine and not yet confirmed.]