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"Pangya: Fantasy Golf" arrived in the mail today, and while I have a taste for cartoon, arcade-style golf games, I think things have gotten a little out of hand. Here we have the box art for "Pangya."

Now I've taken the liberty of using some high-end technology (read: Photoshop) to enhance one portion of the image.
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Tags pangya: fantasy golf, tomy

Josh Horowitz, Movies Editor for MTV News, is an intrepid fellow. Despite knowing Christian Bale's reputation as being, well, curt, Josh pressed him on his interest in video games, specifically his love of "Metal Gear." His response is brief, to the point and basically without any substance whatsoever, but hey, at least he didn't call Josh amateur.

Tags christian bale, metal gear, metal gear solid

San Francisco is the hub of the gaming events world, but once a year, we band of brothers (and sisters) in NYC trump our West Coast friends. That time of year is usually right around now, when all the publishers come into our fair city to show off their wares to the publications planning holiday guides (since prep for those starts about now). It means that the slowest time of the year for game releases is usually one of the busiest, work-wise. I'm not complaining, mind ya. It's great to check out the games and have developers come to our doorstep.

Anyway, tonight Microsoft is throwing a shindig downtown and, as much as I want to go home and tear into the heart of Fallout's new DLC, "Point Lookout," it'll have to wait until after the event. Hopefully I'll get some juicy new info for ya, but if not, you can be assured that I'll spend much of it playing (and replaying) "Left 4 Dead 2."

Tags fallout 3

Despite it being near the end of June, a notoriously slow time for video games (though nothing beats July for the video game dry season), this week has a pretty solid selection of releases.

Pick of the Week: Fight Night Round 4
This isn't a huge shock, but it's good to see EA making some healthy (if minor) gameplay changes to their already-solid boxing game. Simplified blocking and mid-round minigames makes the game more approachable to newbies, while the supremely slick graphics and added variety of fighting styles makes it worth another purchase. Bad news for achievement boosters, though. Getting 1000 this time around is much harder.
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Tags fight night round 4, overlord 2, the conduit

By Adam Rosenberg

Will Wright’s “Spore” is many things, but ‘ambitious’ trumps them all. The evolution simulator sometimes stumbles beneath the weight of its too many lofty goals, but what it nails it does so with wild abandon. The scope of everything, the ability to share created content of every type across a unified, solo player-focused network, the God-like act of creation… these are all things that work marvelously well. If the majority of gamers out there have any complaint, is that there’s somehow not enough depth to satisfy a more experienced player.

“Spore Galactic Adventures,” the first major gameplay expansion, is an effort to change that. “Spore” has an endless late-game; players who are able to reach the final Space Stage with their created species see the galaxy open up before them into thousands – perhaps more – of discrete star systems, each with planets that can be colonized, explored or simply obliterated. There’s a trade economy between galactic empires, a variety of recycling ship-based missions to tackle and an overarching – but admittedly distant – directive to find a lost race at the center of the galaxy. Despite all of that, many seasoned video game lovers continue to take issue with the simplicity of it all.
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Tags ea, maxis, spore, spore: galactic adventures, strategy

Although you can already get a crapload of Pearl Jam songs in "Rock Band" (including the entire album, "Ten"), there's still more coming your way in July, thanks to a track pack. The pack will include "Brother," a live version of "Alive" (natch) and a live version of "State of Love and Trust." It'll run you 2 bucks if you buy each song separately, or $5.50 if you pick up the bulk of 'em.

It's pretty interesting that "Rock Band" is staying away from the band-centric releases that have done rather well with the "Guitar Hero" franchise. Apart from "The Beatles: Rock Band," they're really not going that route, instead opting to release massive track packs rather than full-on games (see: "AC/DC Live"). Will the floodgates open after "The Beatles" drops? We shall see in September.

Tags pearl jam, rock band

As you probably know, MTV's headquarters is stationed smack dab in the middle of Times Square, so my daily commute involves trudging through the masses to get to the office. Alex Mercer, the hero of "Prototype," must do the very same thing, but in his world things are a little more hectic. I thought it might be fun to compare our two views as we make our way out of the subway and walk two blocks north to 1515 Broadway.

This is the view I see when I walk up the stairs from the subway. "Prototype" has no subway, but the layout is pretty much the same.
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Tags prototype

The final list has been decided, and here, according to a pack of 30 judges from around the games journalism community (yours truly included), here's your list of the best games of E3 2009. Can't say I disagree with any of the picks...they were all in my list of nominees. Some minor disagreements here and there, but overall this is one giant list of kick ass games for you to look forward to.

Best of Show
Uncharted 2: Among Thieves
(Naughty Dog/Sony Computer Entertainment America for PlayStation 3)

Best Original Game
Scribblenauts
(5TH Cell/Warner Bros Interactive Entertainment for Nintendo DS)

Best Console Game
Uncharted 2: Among Thieves
(Naughty Dog/Sony Computer Entertainment America for PlayStation 3)

Best PC Game
Star Wars: The Old Republic
(BioWare Austin/LucasArts)
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Tags e3, uncharted, uncharted 2

This morning I stopped on by the CNET offices here in NYC to appear in The 404, a podcast run by Jeff Bakalar, Justin Yu and Wilson Tang. Despite the fact that 2/3rds of them know about as much about video games as my grandmother, they seem to enjoy my company, with this being my fifth (I think?) appearance on the show.

Subjects this time around focused on "Project Natal," "Ghostbusters: The Video Game," "Prototype," and that woman who got fined 1.8 million for downloading "Paradise City."

Anyway, you can listen to it here, and revel in the fact that you needn't hear me talking each and every day. It's my gift to you.

Tags cnet, the 404

Now that the iPhone 3G S is out and about (and selling one million units in the first weekend), I was kinda wondering what the future of iPhone gaming might look like. And who better to fill in the blanks than Neil Yong of ng:moco. His company has been innovating left and right on the platform (most recently with Plus+, the iPhone's answer to Xbox Live). But he's got more in store, and it involves the 3G S and it's new capabilities.

"I think compass and video are really important, if you wanna build augmented reality games, which I think could be a really exciting category in New Mobile. You can start to make games that sit on top of the real world."

Keep in mind this doesn't mean ng:moco will be leading the charge with this games. After all, Young has already said that they have no plans for 3G S-exclusive titles. But the prospect of new technology seems to make his imagination run wild:
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Tags ngmoco