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I've tried to consider some kind of devil's advocate post to the one you'll find here, some ironclad defense of Quick Time Events as a whole that could neatly justify their existence. Some shield of reason that might otherwise protect this go-to mechanic from—what is for me—what is becoming a ceaseless tide... well not rage, but frustration. For a while now, I been been somewhere in the continuum between "bored with" and "resigned to" the idea of QTEs pervading lazy and slapdash game experiences, but I think the last straw, the one that put me in the "fed up" zone was encountering it in a game that I liked, that otherwise had the mechanical and technical chops to keep me engaged.

It felt like the game in question stumbled or perhaps even lurched across the finish line, like one of those runners whose nervous systems go haywire at the end of a marathon. Not to sound overly-dramatic, but increasingly, when I encounter a QTE, it feels like not only a poorly-articulated piece of game design, but also a break in the contract established up to that point between the player and the developer.

Allow me to elaborate.
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Tags 3DS / DS, activision, Battlefiled 3, call of duty modern warfare 3, capcom, dice, Dragon's Lair, ea, infinity ward, PS3, Quick Time Events, resident evil 4, Wii, Xbox 360

The software giant essentially explains that they have better things to do with their time in January.
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Tags CES, microsoft

After the Starbreeze-developed title was refused classification by Australia's ratings and classification board, EA skips a release in the territory altogether.
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Tags Australia Classification Board, ea, PC, PS3, Starbre, syndicate, Xbox 360

It has only been a month or so since Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 took control of our gaming consoles, but Infinity Ward has already revealed that the first batch of DLC will be clogging our download queue as early as next month.

Speaking to gamers via the Call of Duty ELITE TV program, “Roll Call,” (which is exclusive to paid ELITE members) Infinity Ward's Robert Bowling stated the "full season of content for Modern Warfare 3 kicks off for Elite subscribers January 24th on Xbox Live." From the sound of things players who don't subscribe to ELITE may have to wait a little longer to get a chance at the new content. Read more...

Tags call of duty, DLC, modern warfare 3, Xbox 360

Fans of the Blue Bomber have a new game to check out on their iPhone and/or iPod Touch today as Capcom has announced that Mega Man X is now available for download via Apple's App Store.

The classic game features Dr. Light's final creation, X, as he fights off Sigma and his army of reploid followers across multiple levels. The game brings in new controls for touchscreen-based gameplay and offers up a few new features to “enhance the action” on iPhone including optimized graphics, difficulty options, rankings and Game Center support. Screens and more past the break! Read more...

Tags capcom, iOS, iphone, Mega Man X, Mobile

Spending a good half hour with the Doctor—well, his companion, at least—in the new Three Rings-developed MMO.
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Tags BBC Worldwide Digitial Entertainment and Games, doctor who, Doctor Who: Worlds In Time, PC, Three Rings Design Inc.

New maps, skins, and Prestige-style functionality coming to the next chunk of Gears DLC.
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Tags epic games, Fenix Rising Map Pack, gears of war 3, microsoft game studios, Xbox 360, xbox live

The video apps for Xbox 360 just keep on coming as Microsoft has taken another eight off the dashboard's “coming soon” list. In the U.S. Xbox 360 users now have access to Wal-Mart's streaming movie service Vudu and a loads of face-bashing entertainment from UFC On Demand. Head past the break for a full list of the newly released video apps. Read more...

Tags Dailymotion, microsoft, ufc, Video, Vudu, Xbox 360

A prettified Dante will be available on PS3 and the 360 in April.
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Tags capcom, devil may cry, devil may cry 2, devil may cry 3: dante's awakening, Devil May Cry HD Collection, PS3, Xbox 360

By Jason Cipriano

One of the bigger surprises as this year's VGAs was a look at the next game staring Alan Wake, which turned out to be "American Nightmare." Earlier this week the team at Remedy pulled back the curtain on the game's Fight 'Till Dawn mode, as well as what gamers can expect when the game hits Xbox Live Arcade early next year. While it isn't a complete 360 from "Alan Wake," there are a variety of gameplay tweaks and lessons that were learned that developers Oskari "Ozz" Hakkinen and Matias Myllyrinne helped shed some light on at a recent game demo. Below are ten of the most noteworthy developer insights.

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Tags alan wake, Alan Wake: American Nightmare, microsoft, microsoft game studios, remedy, Xbox 360