Last night I asked my husband to go pick up a movie for us to watch. As always, when I send him out to get a movie for “us” he comes back with some lame looking guy action movie with a hot chick on the cover. I rolled my eyes and settled in on the couch prepared to watch what I told him looked like a really stupid movie. Boy was I wrong. It was as if someone took all of the things I love about my favorite racing game and made it into a movie, except with a lot more blood, cursing, and hot chicks getting slashed in half while riding in fast moving death traps covered in steel and guns. Hit the jump to hear why I think that Death Race would make a great video game, if games were allowed to be that nasty. (more…)

Have you ever kept yourself up at night, unable to sleep, wondering what American Football (yes, I DO require the “American” prefix), would be like if it were played by fantasy races in an inconceivably brutal manner?

Well wonder no more! As Cyanide Studios have been generous enough to create a video game based on that very principle.

There’s an SG Review coming your way, after the touchdown!

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With motion control looming on the horizon (and already here in the case of the Wii!), I wanted to discuss the future of gaming control. Perhaps a scary subject for those of us that had come to love the humble joypad controller. With Nintendo having changed it almost beyond recognition and Sony, who already have motion sensitivity in their existing control pads, seeking to take it one step further with their answer to motion control, it truly looks like the end for the classic joypad. What’s more, Microsoft, with Project Natal, are looking to do away with them altogether! Are we losing control?

To discuss what I thought of the matter I found it was best to fully explain my position. It turned in to a personal journey through the history, present and future of controller design. It is not a list of dates and facts and figures about controllers. It is a lot of personal opinions about how I have interacted with various controllers over the years. I very much doubt you will agree with everything I have to say, and I will be keen to hear where your opinion differs to mine, just try to comment without losing control…

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We knew it was coming. Unlockable clothes for your Xbox Avatar. There’s been speculation from a number of sources about it being paid content and others claiming it’s linked to achievements; regardless, we haven’t heard a word about if these will totally suck or not.

I, having some time on my hands now that the missus is off gallivanting in a foreign country (The ongoing saga of Gamer Girlfriend will continue in two weeks!) came up with some ideas for clothes that might not be terrible.

Take heed, developers. Read the article, everyone else. (more…)

Brightly hued button pummeling news now, with Brian Hayes, a producer on Fight Night Round 4, teasing (via interview) that face button controls could be coming to the rollickingly realistic slugfest simulator. All the details can be found in a rather handy compartment, located after the jump.

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Well, dudes and dudettes, I’m going to be going off the radar for a few days while my wife and I move into a new house.  So no new articles for me for a few days while I get my mancave command center up and running again.

Before I unplug, I figured that since the forum vote came back a resounding 12-3 for me in favor of me doing another reviewsical, I would crank one out prior to be going offline.

So without further ado, I hope you enjoy! Enjoy the reviewsical of Damnation over the jump.

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Back in 1993, a Maths (yes, I’m British, we don’t remove the ‘S’) professor collaborated with Wizards Of The Coast to create a Collectible Card Game that would go on to be the most popular, and most complex card game ever thought up. That game was Magic: The Gathering. This past week, Duels Of The Planeswalkers was released on Xbox Live Arcade. The game is based on M:TG, and it’s had me hooked for three straight days. I’ve pulled myself away from my Xbox 360 long enough to write up this review, however. So cometh all ye Planeswalkers, and check out my literary ramblings of a card game with no cards, after the Planeswalk.

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Many of you are probably aware that the much-anticipated Ghostbusers: The Video Game has finally been released, and today Sarcastic Gamer’s own Havok Saunders did a great review of the title.

What you may not realize is that I also consider myself to be an amateur “Ghostbuster,” or “Ghost Hunter” as the case may be. This inspired me to present to the community a look at “Games vs. Reality,” from the perspective of today’s most popular Ghost hunting group, TAPS (The Atlantic Paranormal Society) from TV’s “Ghost Hunters.” For those of you not in the know, they have a very popular weekly show on Sci-Fi channel, now with its own “International Ghost Hunters” spin-off.

If you find this remotely entertaining, let us know! I hope to make this a regular feature on SG, to help keep us gamers grounded in reality.

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Life is hard for a Ghostbuster. You get calls at all hours of the day, you are constantly getting slimed by spirits, and you have to deal with that pencil-necked clod, Walter Peck. Even worse, people complain when you accidentally rearrange their dining room during a job. Do they actually think that a phantasm will just jump into a trap?

At least we don’t have to compensate the city for the damage that we cause. It is all straight profit, which goes toward hookers and booze. Alright, in actuality, the money funds our operation and allows us to purchase upgrades for our existing weapons. It really is a shame. We could have one hell of a night in the red-light district.

So why do I do it? Why do I risk my sanity chasing ghouls and ghosts? I think you know the answer. Because busting makes me feel good.

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Hear ye, hear ye!  In the first of what we at Sarcastic Gamer hope is a new weekly section, the writers and editors found Zvolen’s well thought out review of Terminator: Salvation and decided that it was worthy of front page material. Take it away, Zvolen!

Terminator Salvation is yet another movie tie-in game that was recently released on May 19, 2009 in conjunction with the movie of the same title. This action/shooter game was developed by Halcyon Games, a recently created subsidiary of Halcyon Company who bought the rights of the Terminator franchise, as well as Swedish developer Grin who just developed Bionic Commando and Wanted: Weapons of Fate. In Terminator Salvation players control John Conner in a story which takes place two years before the current movie, in a desolate and decimated Los Angeles. While trying to escape the area John gets a transmission of a resistance team that needs help and against strict orders decides to attempt a rescue mission.

Can this movie tie-in game escape the clichés that fall upon most titles, or should this simply be terminated? Read on to find out.

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[Yamster's note: Havok originally wrote this up on his own Sarcastic Gamer Community Blog but we figured it'd be cool to share it on the front page too as it's a pretty good point of view. Of course, we encourage you to get in on the act and write up your own opinions in your own community blog too!]

I am generally supportive of the ESRB, as I believe the group provides a number of valuable services to the games industry and to parents. In addition to rating all retail releases in the U.S. and Canada, the non-profit organization works with public officials to promote its letter-based ratings. All this to ensure that kiddies, tweens and teens play games that are appropriate for their age. Though, as we all know, young ones still manage still get their mitts on violence-laden titles.

That said, there is a moment or two where they get right under my skin, like today. Read why over the jump.

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Question: What do inFAMOUS, Red Faction: Guerrilla, Wolverine and Prototype all have in common?

Answer: They’ve all been put on hold thanks to a certain PSN title that came out last week.

Follow the magical jump to find out which downloadable release has halted my progress on the biggest games of the last two months, and why that trend is set to continue.

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This winter, Electronic Arts will be releasing the follow up to the “love it or hate it” third person shooter, Army of Two, called Army of Two: The 40^th Day.

One of the major complaints from the original game was that the protagonists, Rios and Salem, were in fact a generally unlikable pair of douchebags with little in the way or morals or conscience.

How is EA handing these two this time around?  Fist bump with me after the jump.

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