First and foremost, I am a Lord of the Rings geek. I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again until the day I die. If I’m ever forced to swear an undying allegiance to a single geek focus, it would be Lord of the Rings. A close second, however, would be Star Trek. I got Lord of the Rings: War in the North last year, and it was fantastic. Next year, I get Star Trek, and from everything I saw at E3 and what we’ve seen since, I have no doubts that it will be an incredibly satisfying and entertaining experience. Check out the newest teaser trailer and concept art for what may end up being my favorite game for 2013. Read the full story

I’m not a huge fan of first person perspective in video games, to be perfectly honest. I like being able to see things from a third person perspective. I like seeing my surroundings and I like seeing potential dangers from all angles. I even played through Skyrim completely in the third person perspective rather than the first person perspective I’m sure most people played. Where even Skyrim failed to sway me from my third person preference, Bethesda and Arkane Studios’ upcoming first person action game, Dishonored, may succeed. As you’ll see in the debut trailer below, Dishonored seems to take place in a supernatural steampunk world, with you as a skilled assassin. Read the full story

Sorry, no news this week just me ranting.  So if you come here for the news and not my writing style now is the time to turn around.

Now that it’s just us, why don’t you grab a seat up here at the bar and I’ll pour you all some free drinks while I tell you about the way things used to be.  More likely I’ll just complain about whipper-snappers and how they pollute my fictional game worlds. Read the full story

Trials Evolution has made a large bullet point of its editor. It has been presented as a very in depth, powerful editor allowing you to create tracks, maps, and more that would boggle the mind and defy the natural laws of our universe if constructed in reality. So, you know, we’re excited as shit about it. Take a closer look at the Trials Evolution editor system in this latest trailer, and get ready to strap your helmets on for its release next week at the head of Arcade Next. Read the full story

The multiplayer beta for Ghost Recon: Future Soldier is now exactly one week away. Hopefully by now you’ve either found your copy of Splinter Cell Conviction, pre-ordered the game, or made sure you were a PlayStation Plus subscriber in order to secure access to aforementioned beta. If not…chop chop. A Ghost’s most valuable weapon is preparation. With time slipping away, we’re given a look at the competitive and co-operative multiplayer aspect of Ghost Recon: Future Soldier. Read the full story

Today, along with confirmation that Bethesda is currently “hard at work” putting together the first Xbox 360 wave of new quests, locations, and more, we learned that, sometime this month, we will be receiving a free patch update to Skyrim with some big additions. Well, I suppose you could say one big addition that affects multiple aspects of the game, but either way, voice commands via Xbox 360 Kinect are making their way to Skyrim. Aside from the highly desirable, and somewhat obvious ability to speak in the Dragon’s tongue and activate Shouts, you will be able to issue ally commands, quickly change your left/right/dual equipped items, navigate your level constellations, quick save/load, sort items, navigate the map, and more. Curious to see it in action? Check out the video below: Read the full story

Welcome back for another happy hour at MMO’s Tavern.

In keeping with tradition, Blizzard announced something as soon as that week’s MMO’s Tavern is posted.  Since last Friday, Blizzard sent out another 450,000 beta invites for the Mists of Pandaria beta test.  I just want to reiterate what I said on the first week, always check your battle.net account page to see if you have gotten beta access.  Times like this are a phisher’s delight and they will be out in full force.  That said, new beta testers can experience the Pandaren starting zone, the Wandering Isle, as well as one of the intro zones for the new continent of Pandaria, the Jade Forest.  Players can also venture into the Temple of the Jade Serpent, the first new 5-man dungeon of the expansion.  Below is a video of the dungeon including boss encounters and strategies.  I know I said I’d do a video of the Pandaren starting zone but I lied.  Besides, this is a lot better than a bunch of people running around with punny panda names. Read the full story

The term “two weeks” is very powerful. For Tom Hanks and Shelley Long in the 1986 classic The Money Pit, “two weeks” was the timeline for home completion…for months. Now, I’m going to say it. Two weeks. My “two weeks” has two meanings. First, it’s the time until April 19th, which marks the beginning of the Ghost Recon: Future Soldier multiplayer beta. Second, it’s the running time of the beta, which will end two weeks later, on May 2nd. So, be excited that the multiplayer beta is only two weeks away (or that you still have to wait two whole weeks for it), but be sad that it will only last for two weeks. Read the full story

One of the highlights of this year’s XBLA House Party was Alan Wake’s American Nightmare. It made me want to play the original Alan Wake, a title I had skipped because of my lack of interest in its genre. High praise, from me. The game has been out now for well over a month, but a new trailer has been released. Normally, I find that a review is the best purchasing advice I can give, and anything beyond that aimed simply at increasing sales is extraneous. Mr. Scratch, however, reeks of effort and charm, and I think his super effective sales pitch should be heard. Read the full story

Slip on your legwarmers and Jellies, because Majesco Entertainment and WayForward are going to take you back…to the 80s! Double Dragon Neon, tentatively due this summer on XBLA and PSN, will not be a simple rehash or remake of classic Double Dragon. No, this will be a most excellent love letter to Double Dragon and the 80s as a whole, to the max. Step into the shoes of Billy and Jimmy Lee as they work to save Marian again from the Black Dragon Clan and their baddest leader ever, Skullmageddon. Double Dragon Neon will feature drop-in/drop-out online “Bro-Op” multiplayer, and a totally mint 80s soundtrack. I am genuinely excited.