(Posted by: Eric Rees)

If you're a fan of Top Gear, you are quite aware of the sarcastic tone that the large host Jeremy Clarkson likes to take whenever he's talking about anything. I didn't think that it could get any MORE sarcastic, but that's what happens when you ask the British TV star to do a monologue talking about an SUV adapted for war, that doesn't really exist. 

Forza Motorsport 4 is coming with an "Autovista" mode where you can walk around your car and generally take in all the beauty of the machine that the game is all about, but the mode also features a short monologue by Clarkson on each car. In true Microsoft fashion, they have crossed their two first party titles over and the Warthog is available to look at in Autovista. Clarkson's speech about the car is something to be heard, and can be found in the link after the break.

(Posted by: Harrison Milfeld)

Remember how the original print run of The Legend of Zelda on the NES had the game’s cartridge in gold paint? Oh, and how about Nintendo doing the same with select copies of Ocarina of Time and Majora's Mask years later? Yeah, those cartridges were indeed special to us kids. It was as if our purchases were more valuable than before, despite the fact that it was just gold paint.

Well, with disc-based media now the standard (and with digital downloads becoming the next wave of game distribution), the subtle joy of gold-painted cartridges is a thing of the past it seems. However, today Nintendo officially announced a limited edition bundle for The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword, which will include a gold Wiimote complete with a sweet-looking Triforce engraving. Sure, it’s just a controller with a gold paint finish, but it’s the thought that counts, people. Plus, some people (including myself) never really bought a Motion Plus peripheral at the start. Whoops!

The Skyward Sword bundle will retail at $69.99 and will also include a CD with select recordings from the Legend of Zelda 25th Anniversary concert tour. The tour is slated to begin this fall. The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword is slated for release on November 20, 2011.

So, with this Zelda bundle officially announced, does this further make it a first day purchase?

(Posted by: Harrison Milfeld) 

ESPN on Xbox Live will be getting a major makeover come the beginning of college football season, which is almost a week away. However, those who have an Xbox Live Gold account are free to the download the massive update immediately.

Aside from the obvious aesthetic changes to ESPN home menu, the popular service on Xbox Live will now include a bevy of new features (highlighted in the video above). These features range from subtle to major, including some that were requested by Xbox Live Gold users. For starters, while watching a game in progress, you will now have access to a mini guide that will allow quick and easy access to various sporting events in progress. If multitasking is your kind of thing, then the split-screen option will give users the option to watch two live event at once. In addition, you’ll be able to control whether to watch either a live or taped game via split-screen.

The new update will also include a live scoreboard and a My Sport feature that will give you the option as to which of your favorite sports or teams you want to watch. Now, if only this update had the option to remove Colin Cowherd from SportsNation. 

(Posted by: Eric Rees)

Full disclosure: I have worked at Gamestop before for quite a while working behind the counter and doing many other things.

Here's the long and short of the news story so I can get to the editorial piece about this: Square Enix paired up with OnLive, a digital distributor of games, to package a free copy of Deus Ex: Human Revolution into every copy of the game that was sold at Gamestop. Therefore, Gamestop employees have been told to open the new games and take the codes out, and sell them as is. 

So here's the stitch. It's widely known around the industry that Gamestop has been planning a digital distribution model for a long time now, and this would give you a good idea why Gamestop isn't too happy about this. But everyone is up in arms at Gamestop for doing this, and when I mean up in arms, I mean very very agitated. But why does everyone get so angry so quickly whenever the nations largest brick and mortar game retailer does something they don't like?

(Posted By: Alex Deckard)

Playstation Home is getting an upgrade.  Or a downgrade.

Some kind of grade.  It depends on your point of view.

Yes, the much maligned, completely useless service that no one apparently likes is getting much more than a facelift.  It's being expanded to appeal to "core gamers".  The new areas will be Action District, Adventure District, Sportswalk and Pier Park.  Pier Park will have theme park rides and games.  Sportswalk will have sports scores and various sporting things.  God only knows what Action and Adventure district will be, as Sony isn't talking real specifically about them.  Look for the update this fall.

(Posted by: Eric Rees)

First off, let me say that anyone who hasn't looked into From Dust should do it right now. Seriously, go and do it and I'll wait.

Alright, now that you're back I'll tell you what has got PC fans of the game hot and bothered. When the game came out, Ubisoft said that reports of DRM (Digital Rights Management) that mandated players keep the game connected to the internet at all times were false. 

But, it seems like Ubisoft was wrong and or lying. They deleted the post saying you didn't need the connection and replaced it with one that admitted yes, you do have to be connected to the internet otherwise you can't play your awesome game. People got mad. People don't like this kind of DRM. It's a good protection against piracy but most gamers feel that it's a little too intrusive for their tastes. So steam went so far as to offer refunds to people who misinterpreted the DRM stance.

But now Ubisoft is looking to make amends. One of their forum managers responded to the crisis with this statement, "Our tech teams are working on a patch that should release in approximately two weeks that will eliminate the need for any online authentication. This development time is required as we are working to ensure that those who have already started the game, and who's progress is currently saved on our servers, will receive and save their game information locally. Once the patch is ready, players who already have the game will automatically receive the update on their next login and subsequent game sessions will be 100% offline." Looks like the gamers got their way, and made their point. The point not being that they don't like DRM, even though most of us don't, but it's the point not to lie to try and appease your fans.

(Posted by: Eric Rees)

Notch, the creator of the cult-hit Minecraft, has recently been in some hot water with one of the larger more beloved developers in the game industry, Bethesda Softworks. The trouble all started about a year ago when Notch tried to register the name "Scrolls" for something that he'd eventually use in Minecraft. Well the problem is that Bethesda is mainly known for their game "The Elder Scrolls." Oh, and did I mention that Notch set the retail release date for Minecraft on the exact same day as the new Elder Scrolls: Skryim game? 

So therein lies the issue, but Notch fresh off of a wedding ceremony doesn't want there to be bad blood between the two companies. This morning he challenged Bethesda to a Quake 3 duel. On his blog he lays the thinking out as such: two twenty minute rounds, each level chosen by the opposite team, 3 players each and whoever gets the highest frag total across both levels wins. Notch said the idea came from "Game of Thrones" where "Tyrion chose a trial by battle in the Eyrie."

Genius? Or making fun of a serious situation? I'm not sure. Notch says if they win that Bethesda will drop the lawsuit, and if Beth wins, Mojang will change the name of Scrolls to "something you're fine with." Is this the way to go about a legitimate legal claim? We'll see if Bethesda takes up arms for this duel.

(Posted by: Eric Rees)

Hey hey, let's take one of the most addicting games ever, and make it available on your mobile phone so you can have it wherever? Sounds like cash money to me. Mojang has released their little darling onto the Android Market today but with a catch, you have to have Sony's Xperia Play to use it.

The game will be expanded to other android phones here in the future but this is a good sign for the Play that gaming companies are willing to back it a little bit rather than letting it fall flat. 

There are 36 different kind of blocks, randomized worlds and even local multiplayer built into this little gem and as with the original Minecraft, there are promises to keep it updated going down the line. If you have an Xperia Play, go pick this up from the market at a very, very reasonable $6.92. 

(Posted by: Eric Rees)

Well readers, it seems to be the summer of betas for your reporter here. First I got invited to Google Music, then Google+, then the holy grail: I got to play the Alpha and will be playing the beta for the upcoming FPS, Battlefield 3. 

But now, I have been invited to dive headfirst into Call of Duty's new web-browser based service, simply called "Elite." Attached are only going to be a few pictures but there will be lots of description and my take on the whole thing. Hit the break to get "elite" with me.

Posted by: Kyle Boedeker

 I don’t think I’m alone in the core gaming community when I say I didn’t buy a Wii because there are very few games on the system I’d care to play.  So far, history is repeating itself with Nintendo’s latest entry into the handheld market; The 3DS. To be fair it’s still very early in the hardware cycle, plus, time has proven that Nintendo really is king when it comes to handhelds, but I’m relatively certain that with Sony’s PS Vita hitting the market at such a competitive price, Nintendo will need more than cheap hardware to keep the 3DS at the top.

It’s the same thing we’ve all been saying for years about Nintendo: where’s the third party support? The first party titles, even as predictable as they’ve become lately, (Mario, Zelda, Donkey Kong etc), are by far the best games available on any Nintendo platform.

So what about the price drop? Nintendo recently lowered the price of the 3DS from a reasonable  $249.99 to the bargain price of just $169.99. Why the drop? The pleasant surprise for the rest of world that was the $249.99 price point of the PS Vita wasn’t such pleasant news for Nintendo. Nintendo knows the 3DS hardware can’t compete with the PS Vita at the same price point and was forced to react.

                                                          (Check out Sony's marketing strategy after the break)