E3 finished a little over a week ago, and there are so many games to catch up on and learn more about. How many new games are you excited for? How much are you looking forward to? Honestly, speaking for myself, there were so many announcements that I know I won’t have enough money to purchase all of the games and accessories that I want to get my hands on, and that’s just talking about the rest of this calendar year. What really stood out high on my list of games, though, was the footage from the upcoming Metro: Last Light, which will be a 2013 release.

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When Ubisoft pushed out PowerUp Heroes last year, I immediately saw it as a shovelware title. There was little promotion in the lead-up to it, and it was just suddenly released at a budget price point. When the title showed up at my door, I gave it a try, and found myself pleasantly surprised. I immediately felt like I was back on the playground during recess, running around pretending to be super heroes fighting each other. The mechanics were good, the graphics were fun, and the game as a whole was an unlooked for success. Now, Ubisoft is bringing the same concept of PowerUp Heroes to a AAA property: Marvel’s Avengers. Marvel Avengers: Battle for Earth is scheduled for a Fall 2012 release, and will be available for the Wii U and the Xbox 360 Kinect. Read the full story

Initially, “The Most Authentic Podcast Ever,” the 32nd episode of Marooners’ Talk, was going to focus solely on the wrap-up of E3 2012. The day before we recorded, however, Tom McShea’s “interview” with Greg Goodrich on Medal of Honor Warfighter for GameSpot came to our attention. Tom McShea is a “video game journalist” holding the position of “Associate Editor” for GameSpot, a “games website.” He is also completely ignorant of what a video game is, and should feel bad. Congratulations, GameSpot: your support of Tom McShea and his style of “journalism” has earned you a coveted spot on our Beefs list, alongside such esteemed company as Kotaku and Polygon. Read the full story

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Castlevania Lords of Shadow – Mirror of Fate, the bridge title between 2010′s Castlevania: Lords of Shadow and 2013′s upcoming conclusion to the Lords of Shadow saga, Castlevania: Lords of Shadow 2, was previously confirmed to feature both Trevor Belmont, the son of Lords of Shadow protagonist and Lords of Shadow 2 antagonist(?) Gabriel Belmont, and the fan-favorite Simon Belmont. Yesterday, a new playable character was announced and revealed in an extended version of the game’s E3 2012 trailer: Alucard himself. Read the full story

MadCatz is entering the Wii U peripheral arena with a range of compatible devices that are expected to ship in time to support the console’s launch. The product line includes the TRITTON Kunai stereo gaming headset, the PowerUp ChargeDock, and the FlipStand protective cover. There is no pricing announced, and obviously no solid release date. See the gallery below for some images of the products. Read the full story

MadCatz has had a very good run with gaming headsets across multiple platforms, and has now made a move to have a presence on every big name gaming device you can get your hands on, from consoles to hand-helds. The TRITTON Kunai line of stereo gaming headsets will be available this holiday for the Wii U, the 3DS, the PS Vita, and the PS3. See below for a gallery of images that reveal each of these four iterations. Read the full story

See, because it’s revenge…and vengeance…Revengeance. Ok, so ignore the fact that “revenge” and “vengeance” are synonyms with nearly identical definitions. Think of it as just a really badass sounding name, and when you think of it that way, you’ll realize that it doesn’t HAVE to make sense, it just HAS to sound badass. Which it does. Regardless, Konami gave us a look at Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance at this year’s E3, and I like what I see. Do you want to know why I like what I see? Two words: Platinum Games. Read the full story

Last year’s Pro Evolution Soccer 2012 was a strong effort on Konami’s part, but fell just short of its perennial competitor, FIFA, in terms of polish and gameplay. With Pro Evolution Soccer 2013, Konami seems to be making a determined effort to close the gap and match, if not overtake, the monster in its closet. Their E3 2012 showing for Pro Evolution Soccer 2013, due this fall, has really managed to excite me about its potential, and I’m looking forward to getting my hands on it to compare both to its predecessor and to its competitor. Read the full story

Like I said, my first look at the Castlevania: Lords of Shadow 2 trailer came with no knowledge of Castlevania: Lords of Shadow – Mirror of Fate’s existence or storyline. I was certain that the warrior challenging Dracula at the end could be none other than Alucard, and as I did a bit of research, I discovered similar speculation revolving around a title called Castlevania: Lords of Shadow – Mirror of Fate. Now, Konami has given us a deeper insight into Mirror of Fate and how it ties into the tragic Belmont tale. Read the full story

Even now, nearly two years after its release, Castlevania: Lords of Shadow is a beautiful game. I watched my wife play through the entire game, through the ending (which I have to assume has been sufficiently spoiled by the new Lords of Shadow 2 trailer released by Konami in the lead-up to E3 last week). Since 2010, I have been slowly making my way through the game, a chapter at a time. As we touched upon in the most recent podcast, the game feels very long (because it is long), and I can’t bring myself to sit at it longer than I do in order to beat it. That’s more my fault, than the game’s, though, and seeing what lies in store for us with Castlevania: Lords of Shadow 2 has reignited my desire to finish the first before next year’s release. Read the full story