Minecraft: Xbox 360 Edition

With so many aliens to blast, vehicles to destroy, thugs to shoot, zombies to impale, robots to dismantle and buildings to blow up, today's gaming climate makes it easy to forget how much fun it can be to actually create something. Most of us spent our formative years learning to create, from drawing, painting and writing to building castles using blocks, running endless variations of railroad tracks for model trains, or even creating elaborate scenarios for your action figures. Then the hordes of digital enemies came-a-knockin' and we collectively switched gears and went into kill mode without consciously realizing that a shift had even taken place. Minecraft taps into that little dormant nugget of creativity that most people have long forgotten about, and the possibilities are only as limited as your imagination.

Avatar: The World's Oldest Profession

 

For achievement/trophy hunters, it's been said that "Every Point Matters".... It's also been said that if you're looking for quick and easy gamerscore, the unequivocal, axiomatic go-to game is 2007's Avatar: The Last Airbender - The Burning Earth. What's discussed far less often, however, is what the psychological effects of this caliber of achievement whoring can have on the human psyche. Thus far I've successfully avoided the temptation of this shameful 1000gs gimme, but journalistic duty commands that I compartmentalize my pride, swallow my dignity, and finally descend into the belly of the beast in an effort to see if holds up to the hype.

Putting the 'RC' in Racing: MotorStorm RC Review

Model trains, Lego cities, remote control airplanes--I've long been captivated by small-scale versions of everyday things. Growing up without the allowance to maintain those expensive hobbies, I turned to Hot Wheels and Micro Machines for my fix, and when Codemasters' released their 1991 Nintendo classic Micro Machines at the height of the diminutive toys' popularity, my pint-sized obsession joined my other great love: video games. That childhood wonder resurfaced all these years later when Evolution Studios--the developer responsible for the full-sized Motorstorm series--released the first trailer for Motorstorm RC. Tiny cars buzzed around dirt tracks and launched off skate park ramps, and in those 80 seconds the game went from unknown to must-buy status for me. Now that I've finally gotten my hands on it, let's see how it fairs against my admittedly high expectations.

Jumper

You know, in some ways it's tough reviewing video games, or any intellectual property for that matter, be it music, film, literature, art, or any component therein. We all have our own tastes; things we like and things we don't. Sure, some franchises will appeal to the masses while others fly under the radar and only achieve limited recognition. Even if you loved something, the guy next to you might have hated it, and in that scenario neither of you would be wrong. Nearly everything in life that you can form an opinion about is subjective, and forming differing opinions on topics or products is, in my opinion, an important part of what makes us all unique as sentient beings. And while it's easy to condemn something you didn't personally enjoy, appreciate, or understand, it's arrogant and presumptuous to present your opinion as fact.

Saints Row: The Third - DLC: The Trouble With Clones

The Trouble With Clones is the third and final mission based downloadable content for Saints Row: The Third, and unlike the first two releases it endeavors to build upon the primary story from the main game. Not only does this mean you'll be interacting with familiar characters rather than novelty creations (as was the case in the last release), but it also equates to the storyline of this DLC being a bit more grounded and set within reality. Obviously that's a relative statement when used within the Saints Row universe, but upon loading up these missions you'll notice a marked difference in tone and setting versus the last two mission packs. Additionally, this story focuses on the pseudo-resurrection of the most recognizable and celebrated character of the Saints Row narrative, who has been auspiciously absent from this most recent entry.

Saints Row: The Third - DLC: Gangstas In Space

Gangstas In Space is the second mission-based DLC released for Saints Row 3, and in contrast to the previously released Genkibowl VII, this is a series of story missions rather than an extra set of free roam activities. As an extension of one of the final missions of the disc game (titled "Gangstas... In Space!"), this content follows your character from one movie set to the next, where you'll be filming and starring in a sci-fi action film based on everyone's favorite Third Street Saints in... you guessed it, an intergalactic adventure.

Saints Row: The Third - DLC: Genkibowl VII

If you're familiar with the "Professor Genki - Super Ethical Reality Climax" side missions from the main game, you can expect an extremely exaggerated and over-the-top iteration of those activities in the form of four new games: Genki Apocalypse, Super Ethical PR Opportunity, Sexy Kitten Yarngasm, and Sad Panda Skyblazing. The irony here is seemingly intentional; for anyone who's played the original Genki activities, the notion of anything MORE preposterous seems implausible, but in an unceasing campaign to add more layers to the cake of absurdity that is Saints Row 3, Genkibowl VII is successfully the most delightfully nonsensical and wonderfully inexplicable portion of the game, downloadable content or otherwise.