The fact that I still hold out hope for Sonic titles speaks directly to just how much of an impact the original Genesis titles had on me as a lad. For two decades, I’ve played Sonic titles. Even though Mario has a more consistent track record of quality, Sonic’s high points have been bigger and better than Mario’s across the board, in my opinion. I think what I’m trying to say is that, in spite of how hard Sonic tries to make it otherwise at times, I am definitely a Sonic fan. Read the full story

Dragon Ball Z is nothing short of a cultural phenomenon. I first experienced it in high school, but if I had been of an elementary school age, I can guarantee that along with pretending to be superheroes and G.I. Joes on the playground during recess, we would have thrown in the Z Fighters. I’d have run around that playground shouting Kamehameha and arguing the effects of my attacks until I was blue in the face. Of course, doing that in high school would have branded me as an even larger nerd than I already was, so it’s probably for the best that I refrained. Read the full story

I moved to California during the summer of 1997, the summer immediately prior to my freshman year of high school. My bedroom was pretty awesome back then, with a built in corner desk for my computer, and a great entertainment area for my TV and consoles. Some of my fondest memories in that room happened when everyone else was asleep, and the lights were off. Yes, a young teenager, alone in a dark room with access to the Internet and a TV. It should be obvious that I did what anyone in my situation would have done: watched TV, hung out on IRC, and played video games. Read the full story

Hot on the heels of the completion of the Ghost Recon: Future Soldier multiplayer beta completion, and slipping in just before the retail launch, Ubisoft has announced a multiplayer beta for their upcoming title, Far Cry 3. Similar to the original timeline for the Ghost Recon: Future Soldier multiplayer beta, the Far Cry 3 multiplayer beta is scheduled to run for two weeks, sometime this summer. It will be a closed beta, with access granted through multiple methods: Read the full story

We’re getting to the point where counting down to the Ghost Recon: Future Soldier launch in hours doesn’t result in some crazy huge number. In fact, we’re just over 111 hours away from any potential midnight launches of the title. Ubisoft has worked up a lot of tie-ins to this one, both internally and externally. From the short film and Ghost Recon Network to third party accessories like the TRITTON headset and Mad Catz controller, it looks like they’re aiming high. Now, another layer has been added to this big pile of nachos: GUNNAR Optiks. Read the full story

Earlier this year, an announcement I had been hoping and waiting for longer than I care to admit was finally made: Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater would be reworked into a downloadable title based off of the original games. THPSHD will feature classic levels from the first two Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater titles, chosen by the fans and by Tony Hawk himself. Today, we learn that post-launch DLC for THPSHD will feature levels from Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 3. As with the level selection process for the main game levels, fans can participate in determining which THPS3 levels will make their way to THPSHD as DLC via the game’s Facebook page. Read the full story

I’m going to be punching bears left and right once Assassin’s Creed III comes out. I may spend an entire day just running around punching bears. In “One BILLION Dollars!,” Episode 029 of Marooners’ Talk, we discuss the Assassin’s Creed III gameplay trailer, the successful marketing efforts of the Assassin’s Creed III team in involving the community, the diametrically opposed awful “Team Ghost” marketing campaign for next week’s Ghost Recon: Future Soldier, The Avengers surpassing the worldwide $1 billion mark, the PS Vita’s lackluster performance, and what we’re looking for out of E3 this year. Read the full story

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With one week to go until I find myself dashing from cover to cover in my own house, much to my wife’s inevitable annoyance, Ubisoft has released the launch trailer for Ghost Recon: Future Soldier. See what it is that sets the Ghosts on their path of destruction this time, and see them get to work in the trailer below: Read the full story

Last week, our review for Prototype 2 went live. In that review, we equated Prototype 2 to a movie like The Expendables. Specifically, “you didn’t watch The Expendables for the gripping romantic subplot, and you’re not going to play Prototype 2 for the tragic tale of loss and revenge. You watched The Expendables because they blew shit up, and you’ll play Prototype 2 to blow shit up.” Prototype 2 is unapologetic over the top action. With the recently released Colossal Mayhem DLC, Prototype 2 takes its crazy action and turns it up to 11. Read the full story

Last week, we got the first teaser look at Ubisoft’s live action Ghost Recon Alpha. A 25 minute film, Ghost Recon Alpha shows the four playable characters from the upcoming Ghost Recon: Future Soldier video game in a prequel/tie-in story to the events of the game. Watch the trailer below. Read the full story