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This year's XBLA Summer of Arcade line-up is one of the strongest yet ("Bastion," "Insanely Twisted Shadow Planet," "Fruit Ninja Kinect," "From Dust" and "Toy Soldiers: Cold War,") but I was disappointed upon seeing the list. Something was missing. Something rogue-like. Where was "Spelunky" on XBLA? We've been hearing about the game for almost two years now and it seemed like summer would've been a great fit for the indie title. But it wasn't too be. Mossmouth Games has said that they "still have a few more months to polish up 'Spelunky XBLA,'" (possible holiday XBLA Game Feast participation?) but instead of letting us twist in the wind, they've released a new trailer showing off the game in all its adorable HD glory.

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Tags mossmouth, spelunky

Attention "Call of Duty: Black Ops" fans: Activision and Treyarch aren't done with last year's "Call of Duty" title just yet. As we reported yesterday, pictures of a GameStop poster allegedly showed promotional materials for a third map pack. This morning, Activision officially announced the next "Black Ops" downloadable-content, called "Annihilation."

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Tags activision, call of duty, call of duty: black ops, treyarch

Right now, Kinect remains an unproven entity. Most people don't have the space to use it, and those that do generally find that there aren't enough games to justify the purchase. Microsoft clearly wants to turn the tide, as they dedicated the vast majority of their E3 press conference to showing the future of motion gaming. Despite that, they managed to skip my favorite Kinect game on the show floor: "Fruit Ninja Kinect."

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Tags fruit ninja, fruit ninja kinect, halfbrick studios

By now you've probably heard that game critics have not been loving "Duke Nukem Forever" en masse. The current Metacritic score is sitting at a paltry 57, and the general buzz from those who have played the game ranges from unfun to offensive. (Sidenote: Our reviewer is making his way through the game, with our review scheduled to go up on Friday.) Apparently some of the negative critical reactions were not fondly received by The Redner Group, a third-party PR firm tasked with representing the game. Last night, at around 11PM EST, Jim Redner updated The Redner Group's Twitter account in response to the negative reviews with the following tweet:

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Tags 2k games, duke nukem, duke nukem forever, gearbox software

A couple weeks ago, Electronic Arts relaunched their digital distribution portal. Previously called the EA Store, the service's name was changed to Origin on June 3. The EA-only service also included a download client, which is easily comparable to Valve's own Steam store. There has been some question as to how Valve would respond to EA's new digital distribution service, and today only has me scratching my head more.

EA and Crytek's "Crysis 2" has suddenly disappeared, "Alice: Madness Returns" is nowhere to be found, and there's no pre-order option for "Battlefield 3."

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Tags alice: madness returns, battlefield, battlefield 3, Crysis, crysis 2, crytek, dice, ea, origin, Steam, valve

2011 is starting to feel like the year of the hacker. Following a security breach that left millions of PlayStation users wondering about the safety of their personal data, it seems like every day brings more news of yet another attack. While there has been speculation that internet activists Anonymous may have had something to do with the Sony debacle, another hacker group, LulzSec, is actually taking requests through a call-in phone line.

Their most recent targets include "Minecraft," "EVE Online," and The Escapist.

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Tags CCP, Eve Online, minecraft

Just because Activision has started promoting the next installment its uber-popular shooter franchise, "Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3," doesn't mean that we've seen the last of new content for "Black Ops." In fact, a leaked Gamestop flyer appears to have spoiled the surprise on the next map pack, which is rumored to be titled "Retaliation." Update: Now officially known as "Annihilation."

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Tags activision, call of duty, call of duty: black ops, treyarch

As I walked out of the Nokia Theater in Los Angeles last week, following Nintendo's yearly E3 press conference, I was a bit confused. Sure, the demonstrations of the company's new Wii U controller looked really interesting, but where in the world was the actual console unit? Nintendo focused so much on their touch-screen peripheral, yet announced next to nothing about the hardware specifications. Luckily, it seems as though details on the little white box are slowly starting to trickle out.

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Tags nintendo

There are two schools of thought when it comes to dollar games on iOS. The first, charge a dollar because anything more than that would feel like a rip-off. The second, charge a dollar for something worth way more than a dollar to boost sales and interest. I'm pleased to report that "Machine Gun Jetpack," the latest from Halfbrick Studios (the creators of "Fruit Ninja") falls into that second school of thought.

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Tags halfbrick studios, machine gun jetpack

Last year, THQ and 4A Games released a creepy video game adaptation of Dmitry Glukhovsky's Russian novel, "Metro: 2033." The game's intense, atmospheric environments and engaging story earned it praise from many critics, but it was definitely more of a cult hit among consumers. Honestly, if you skipped that game, you missed out on one of the most interesting first-person shooter experiences I've ever witnessed. Now, THQ is hoping you're willing to go back underground with the upcoming release of "Metro: Last Light."

The great news is that the "Metro: Last Light" demo I checked out at E3 was every bit as eerie and atmospheric as the original game, but the combat itself is already looking better.

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Tags 4a games, metro 2033, metro last light, thq