Today's screenshot is brought to you by a small indie game called Below.  Adventure calls deep within the earth.  Are you brave enough to answer?

Do you love building things in virtual worlds?  Do you love it enough to pack your bags and head into the steamy jungle heat of Florida?  If you answered yes to these questions, Notch has some good news for you.  Minecraft's yearly convention, Minecon, will be hosted in Orlando, Florida this year -- as announced through the video below.  Having once lived in Florida, I can say that it seems like a good choice for a convention, especially for those on the East Coast who also like combining their convention going with theme park visitation.  It makes sense, considering the last Minecon was held at Disneyland Paris, the most French of the Disneyland parks.

There's not much else to say about this video.  We'll let it speak for itself after the jump.

The sun is shining, the birds are chirping, and a new month has begun.  What better way to start July 2013 than a friendly neighborhood Game Geex discussion?  

Today I'm interested to hear about what games you're looking forward to this year.  The next generation of consoles is upon us, and quicker than you know it the time will be here for us to belly up to the Gamestop and start purchasing the games that will start off this new console cycle.  We have already started this discussion in Ohan's post about his personal list of top ten upcoming games, but now's your turn:  What is on your watch list for the upcoming game release season?  

I'll start you all off with my list.  It's still shifting around, because as I learn more about titles my interests change.  Also, this is just my list based on what I saw at E3, and it's not in any particular order:

Good morning Geex!  I'm sorry, perhaps your particular Sunday isn't worth an exclamation point. Maybe this morning is just a comma morning, a semi-colon morning at best.  Well, we here at Game Geex aim to fix that, and do so by combing through the best of this week's webcomics and providing you with something funny, thoughtful, or fascinating to start your day off with.  

If you aren't acquainted with any of these comics, now's the perfect time to start reading them.  Hit that jump for this week's webcomic buffet of awesomocity.  Yeah, it's a word now.

Last week I was invited to interview the incomparable Martin Ouellet, founder and CEO of Genia Games, for the closed beta launch of Genia's new social RTS Brain Storm. Ouellet’s company is unknown for now, but he’s no stranger to starting from scratch. He built his first startup, Taleo, through daring strategy, eventually leading the industry in cloud computing and human resource management software. After Oracle’s monumental acquisition of Taleo, Ouellet and a portion of his team formed Genia Games, plunging into unfamiliar territory armed only with a willingness to learn and a visionary concept that would become Brain Storm.

In the unspecified future, humanity has found an alternative to fossil fuels: Genium, an unknown mineral fed by knowledge and capable of producing infinite energy. The world's realistic response is to erupt in conflict and greed--the player's goal is to build their city, make alliances, steal knowledge from their enemies, and win the game by creating the ultimate knowledge repository. With a team wholly new to game development and a concept out of this world, Brain Storm promises intelligent entertainment and innovative edification. Check after the jump for the full interview.

It looks like this guy is having a bad day, like a Christine sort of bad day.  This image is from LocoCycle, a game where you don't control the driver, you control a sentient motorcycle named I.R.I.S.  The driver is actually a weapon you use to whack your enemies and score points.  Yes, you're right, that is awesome.

LocoCycle is being developed for Xbox One and Xbox 360 by Twisted Pixel, and is expected to launch Winter 2013.  Hit the jump to see the full image.

I know, I know -- we tallied up the game announcements from E3 2013 and told you that the Xbox One will have more exclusives than the PlayStation 4.  It sounded strange to me, knowing how strong Sony was during the current console generation, but I swallowed that gut feeling in the face of facts.

Turns out we didn't have all the facts.  Sony was, once again, holding out on us.  They spilled the beans to Gamereactor in a video interview during E3, letting them know that there will be 20 exclusives coming to the PS4, 12 of them launch titles.  This is in addition to another 10 games that will launch on the system, for a catalog of over 30 titles in the first year. 

“I’m sure you heard from [SCE Worldwide Studios boss] Shu [Yoshida] that he has—just his studios—he has 30 games in development,” he said. “Twenty of them are going to ship within the first year of the console’s life, and of those, 12 are new IP. So there’s a lot going on, it’s just that we need to keep stuff back. We’ve got Gamescom for us Europeans—we need to have something to show at Gamescom, don’t we?”

Today Amazon UK has put up images that show off the box contents for the PlayStation 4.  While this isn't huge news normally, keep in mind that we didn't even see the actual console until E3 just a little bit ago, so having pictures of what we'll be getting when we plunk down our $399.00 is a big deal -- at least in my mind.

I had a chance to hold the controller for the PS4 during E3 (I suppose I should be grateful I was playing games on an actual PS4), and it felt pretty weird.  I didn't realize that it had a headphone jack on the bottom, then again I was too busy being weirded out by the lack of start and menu buttons on the front.  We're hearing from sources that the Xbox One will not come with a headset, since Microsoft is pushing Kinect voice controls. Not that I'm saying that a non-stereo headset is of equal value to the Kinect.

So what comes with the PlayStation 4?  Hit the jump to see.

How many people does it take to fill an oil painting?  Turns out the answer is 137, or at least that's the answer according to Ubisoft's Defy History contest.  European fans of Assassin's Creed 4: Black Flag can submit a picture of themselves "with as much emotion and passion as [they] can muster," for a chance to be immortalized in oil on canvas.

Alas I am but nothing but an American, so I cannot submit my piratey battle cry Instagram I took last Summer, but I can assure you it is highly emotional.  Perhaps I will simply head to France and visit the Museé de la Marine gallery to see this Beaux-Arts masterpiece between November 4th and December 3rd.  Or I can hit up social media and 'like' the faces I prefer the not-spending-a-fortune option.  

Head on over to the Defy History page for more information.  Or hit the jump to watch the Defy History trailer right here. Are you feeling defiant yet?  I should hope so.

E3 2013 might be over and done with, but its influence will be felt for months,perhaps even years.  Personally, I've been thinking about the games I saw at the show, and what these titles say about where game design is headed.  Each year we are introduced to the front runners of the industry, the big titles that will drive trends in gaming for 2014.  This year is even more influential because we are going to be witnessing a whole dirth of launch titles, models for how other developers will approach the new consoles from Microsoft and Sony.

So here are the trends that I noticed during my time at the Los Angeles Convention Center.  I expect to see many developers implementing these mechanics and themes in their games going forward on into 2014 and 2015.  It's important to note that this is based on the games I got a chance to see, not on a comprehensive list of games at E3.  

So many games have been announced at the Electronics Entertainment Expo. The primary question is, which game should I pay the most attention to. I've decided to make a list of my top ten must-buys of upcoming games:

10. Project Spark

It's a game where you build your game, literally! Project Spark is all about your imagination, you build your own world however you'd like it. The best part is that your options are limitless. My world would probably consist of bad guys and explosions everywhere. I hope to see more of this game really soon!

So it's official: Microsoft has announced they are removing their much-hated DRM policies and with it, their hopeful future for a digitally-distributed console world. Now down the line this could be something they could revoke, again, but let's leave it as gone for everyone's sake. But what I don't understand is... Why? Because of a bunch of Internet whiners that want it their way, oh and their friend's ways... Oh, and their favorite forum's ways? Facebook's way? Sony's way? Did I forget anything..?

Judging by all the forum posts and the #XboxWon(s) i'm seeing afloat, it would appear that by lifting their highly-controversial Xbox One DRM policies, Microsoft has caused one of biggest, knee-jerking turn-arounds I've ever seen. As I've said for quite some time, I'm sure MS could easily revoke any of their policies, at least since the console was designed around the Cloud, and you would have to be flexible as that technology grows and changes. This is already a sign that they've thought ahead...

According to a headline by The Deadline, it would appear co-founder of Irrational Games, Ken levine, will be creating the screenplay for the remake of "Logan's Run". If you know the story of the book as well as 1976 movie rendition of it, you'd know that there's no one more fit for the job then Mr.Levine here, considering the premise of Bioshock.

When I first walked into the Los Angeles Convention Center on Sunday to pick up my media badge, I was greeted by a slew of banners promoting something called Plants vs. Zombies: Garden Warfare.  Intrigued, I bided my time until the Microsoft Press Conference, where we got a chance to see a trailer for Popcap's new action title, and watch the plants dance around the screen fending off multiple lanes of zombie incursions.  Being a massive PvZ nut (perhaps a Tallnut is more accurate), I made sure I got a chance to see the theater presentation while I was at E3 2013.  

Popcap is touting this as an Action Game, and as confusing as that genre classification sounds, it's also pretty appropriate.  In Garden Warfare you team up with four of your buddies and take on the role of one of the iconic plants in the game.  There is no single player content -- the gameplay is entirely multiplayer match based. In that way it reminds me of Left4Dead, but with MUCH cuter zombies.

Thanks to Pastebin, we were able to get the details on the whole DRM fiasco Microsoft is trying to sell with it's upcoming console, The Xbox One, from an anonymous Xbox Engineer. He explains a whole lot of things in his tale and it's definitely worth a read for anybody interested in next-generation gaming regardless of your plan to even purchase the console or not.

If there's anything I learned from E3, it's that developers and engineers enjoy what they do, and explain everything a lot better than the people higher-up in the bracket. I guess that's all because it takes a lot more vision and heart to make the product versus telling others to do it for you, but I digress. Still, this rather annoyed Engineer is very blunt about all of his claims and even though there seems to be a bit of bias here (he's an XBOX ENGINEER), his words have a lot of backing and he acknowledges the competition.

The full statement can be viewed after the jump:

We know the games and we know the goods. But just in case you can't quite tally the number of exclusives each next-gen console has in their line-up, we did it for you. The Xbox One has quite a few on the list here, is that enough for you to over-look their bad marketing? The Playstation 4 has a few big-named ones as well. The good news in the equation is that's an extremely large multi-platform list!

Click the jump below for the full list:

Final Fantasy XIV so far has been a great game. Good gameplay, perfect mechanics, and amazing story... but could it also have a golden community?

Over at Square Enix, people on the show floor were given the opportunity to try out Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy XIII. Oh Lightning how I missed thee. Seriously, it's very satisfying to destroy your enemies as a character described as a melee, DPS, tank, mage, caster. No seriously, it's like every class in one character. And she looks better than ever while doing it! Talk about no compromise.

A few days ago we brought you first-hand information about Behaviour Interactive’s announcement of Warhammer 40K: Eternal Crusade and the details left you clamoring for more. Hot on the heels of the game’s announcement, Game Geex got to talk Eternal Crusade with Behaviour's Online Studio Head Miguel Caron as he shared his vision of a grim future. With E3 excitement winding down, Eternal Crusade's Creative Director David Ghozland contacted us to clarify some of the more dramatic points.

You’ve been asking so we’re here to answer! Check after the jump for Eternal Crusade satisfaction on features like PvE content, premium incentives, and game balance.

Ryse: Son of Rome is a game that has peaked my interest since its announcement. It stays true to the historical accuracy of brutal ancient warfare and at the end of the day, makes you feel like that Roman badass you've always wanted to be. I will warn you though, this game is not for the feint of heart.

Before I move on; an interesting fact about this game is Crytek had originally created it to be a Kinect game, but the idea was scrapped in favor of a controller. I'm actually glad they did as such.

E3 2013 was a hectic convention but I managed to be tenacious enough to get a good majority of fan questions answered! The way the Square Enix booth operates, particularly with Final Fantasy: A Realm Reborn is an interesting one. A lot of the people in the "I survived a meteor polo" aren't really developers of the game itself, but were part of teams from other Final Fantasy or SE games. In some ways, SE is like a family, that shows up to support and see a new comer.

Unfortunately, I couldn't get a true one-on-on interview with anybody specific, but there were enough brilliant FF minds at the booth, whom include names like Naotoki Yoshida and Toshio Murouchi, to appease my needs for intel. I wish I could personally thank every SE employee who was helpful to the cause, as there were several who were able to answer different question; but alas, I can only thank the company as a whole. Not every question could be answered, or brought to an appropriate person as I had a lot to do, so forgive me if your Q isn't answered here -- really, it came down to who happened to be at Square Enix (FATEs!), how much time I had, and where I needed to be. I hope your questions were answered, good luck!

NOTE: All Q&A that appear in the post were answers that came directly from the E3 2013 show floor. Answers came from people that either work with, directly, or know a great deal about Final Fantasy: A Realm Reborn. These questions are NOT in chronological order.

* = personal note

Xbox One has a large showing this year, but one of the more advanced arcade games to be present on the show floor is a flying-shooter, Crimson Dragon, which was among my visual highlights of the day. The game is interesting. You play as a dragon, whom you get to control with barrel rolls and minor turns, use two different types of "weapons" for the demo; your target-based cannon and lighting breathe all while flying across beautiful set pieces beating bosses and slaying anything in your path. If I had to describe this game in one phrase though, it would have to be "the game is Panzer Dragoon."

During the Sony PlayStation press conference, we were treated to a small sneak peak of The Dark Sorcerer: A Next Gen Comedy, a tech demo running on PlayStation 4 hardware and created by Quantic Dream. In what we saw, the titular Sorcerer found himself having a bad time getting into his villainous role, and his goblin henchman's comments were of little consolation. As it turns out, that sneak peak was only a tiny fraction of the entirely awesome 12 minute long performance.

Hit the jump below and watch the full video in all it's next generation glory (mild language warning!). Keep in mind, this was all rendered on the PS4 in real time, and is not a pre-rendered cinematic. If this is what they can do with Sony's brand new hardware, I cannot wait to see how games look after a few years of the developers getting used to the system.

Hot on the heels of Behaviour Interactive's announcement that they are in fact making an MMO based on the Warhammer 40k franchise.  I got the chance to sit down with studio head Miguel Caron to talk about Warhammer 40,000: Eternal Crusade. 

I had a nice set of safe questions ready. I'd stayed up so late preparing, checking, refining; nothing could have prepared me to face the incredible passion of Miguel Caron for the Warhammer 40K universe. “There is only war!” He exclaimed numerous times before I realized that was my answer. To Caron, that phrase is not a gimmick or sales tactic; it embodies the essence of his team's ultimate universe.

He asked me to call him Miguel as his smartphone crackled in and out. “I'm hiding under an escalator to get enough signal to talk with you!” I offered to get on Skype, but he informed me the internet availability was worse than the cell signal. We made some awkward small talk, then I asked that fateful question: “Can you describe this MMO to me in a nutshell?”

There is only war.

E3 2013 was quite a mind-numbing day but somehow I survived! But that's not all I survived. The highlight of my day, on the floor at least, was being chosen to play the Final Fantasy XIV Ifrit Challenge at the Square Enix booth -- only because it was full and I originally wouldn't have gotten my chance till the next day-- and win. As you all now, I both follow and love Final Fantasy, and as much could be said about XIV.

It's funny, because in a double stroke of luck; not only did I get to play, I got the EXACT combination of character I wanted (for a play-test at least): Playstation 3, Lalafell, Conjurer. I was really curious about how the controller played out in-game that I skipped out on being a Marauder on keyboard.

NOTE: I know this is E3 week, but the NDA is still technically still up. Video, inappropriate screenshots, or information that cannot be disclosed will not be in the article. I was told this during playtime.

Here it is folks! That "epic" new Final Fantasy XIV trailer you all were waiting for. Day two opened up with the Square Enix conference and at the half way point, this epic short was unveiled.

From the get go, we see things seen in 1.0 made way better and more devastating in 2.0. Those primal fights looked way cool and don't even get me started on the crazy skills all your favorite classes will get.

I'm going to shut up now. The trailer says it all. You can view it below.

When at first we heard that Nintendo had cancelled their press conference for E3 2013, many of us in the industry wisely nodded our heads and assumed they are conceding defeat in the Next Gen console war.  After all the WiiU is already out there in the world, and it hasn't exactly set the world on fire as its predecessor did.  However, just a few days ago Nintendo started inviting the press to a Games Showcase to be held Tuesday morning before the E3 show floor opens, so it seems that they are not completely on the ropes.

Today we will hear about Nintendo's plan for this coming year, what games we can expect in 2014, what is awesome about the software lineup and how it sets them apart from Microsoft and Sony.  I expect another jab at Microsoft used game policy, some more touting of the social experience the WiiU provides, but most importantly I expect big IP news.  It's time for a new Zelda, one built for the WiiU.  It's time for another Mario Galaxy, or better yet something completely new for our little friend the plumber.  It's time for some new blood to be injected into the old Nintendo machine.  Hopefully we'll come away from this presentation energized and eager to learn more.  <

We have a couple of hours until the event. What do you hope Nintendo shows us?

[UPDATE] Nintendo Direct @E3 2013 "virtual" press conference video linked after the jump, with a glimpse of all the games they showed off today!

Sony took the stage on Day One of E3 2013, and they definitely left quite the mark at the largest gaming event of the year. A handful of highly anticipated titles, a kick-ass console reveal, and an unbelievable price point? Everything you need to know about the Playstation 4 is right here, just read on:

Truly unique, next-gen, online, open-world, RPG, and amazing are just some words to describe this upcoming Ubisoft title. When all you need is one video to impress someone, it's generally a feat of accomplishment especially at E3. Introducing Tom Clancy's The Division, an open-world survival game that sort of combines Future Soldier and The Last of Us all in one go. I'd say Watchdogs as well but I didn't see anyone drive a car off a bridge.

The premise of the game involves some sort of pandemic; since it's a Tom Clancy title, there's actually a lot of thought into it. Sick twisted though, but still. Since everything is collapsing, being infected, and resources are running out, it's up to you as the player to survive and figure out what happened:

The highly-acclaimed, historically-accurate tank battle game is headed its way to Xbox! World of Tanks is being made for consoles and the trailer they put out for it was quite good. I'm usually reluctant on PC to console ports because there are just something that are better with a mouse and keyboard and vice versa. This on the other hand looks incredibly fluid. Good for Wargaming! Bravo.

It’s Monday afternoon and time for Ubisoft to throw their hat into the E3 press conference ring. Let’s see if Assassin’s Creed Black Flag has any surprise brothers or sisters hiding in the game release closet.

We're definitely going to see a rise in Indie Developers with great ideas big enough to get top-tier publishers, like EA, to bite. Meet Respawn Entertainment, the company who is about to bring us a new IP known as Titanfall, which is an Xbox One exclusive. I've only seen it for a few minutes and i'm already entertained by the way it looks and plays. I am a big fan of action games, so don't mind me.

The EA conference had a strong line-up, but the crowd went wild, and so did I, for one highly-anticipated title. The next generation of Star Wars: Battlefront was announced earlier this morning under the banner of DICE and I am INCREDIBLY excited for it!

This year Electronic Arts will offer 11 games for next gen consoles.  There wasn’t much of a preamble, so I won’t spend much time building it up and will instead let you read about the games for yourself.  If you haven’t had a chance, read through our coverage of the Microsoft E3 Press Conference posted earlier, and check back here as we add images as we find them.

The Microsoft E3 Press Conference for 2013 has just finished and boy howdy have they brought the games!  Here is what they presented this morning.  We’ll have more information as well as images and videos as we find them.  

Keep in mind this information is hot off the press, so not everything will be 100% accurate and solid.  And speaking of ‘solid’ we start off the conference with Metal Gear Solid 5: The Phantom Pain.

As we head into E3 2013, the first voice we here on the subject of gaming will be Microsoft.  This is significant because the Xbox One unified living room message seemed to almost completely alienate gamers.  When you focus on media streaming and fantasy football interaction, the core demographic who will be buying your console feel justifiably left out.  It will be interesting to see what Microsoft does to pull the gamers back into the fold, right at a time when many are eyeing the PlayStation 4 as a reasonable alternative in the Next Gen console market.

We know that Microsoft has four titles they will be announcing at E3.  If they are smart these will be exclusive IPs to the Xbox One and so tantalizing people would buy the box just to play the games.  I know it worked for the PS3 with Metal Gear Solid 4, so it is possible that all the hardware wars will ultimately come down, once again, to a software comparison.  These days so many games are released for all three consoles that it's rather hard to decide on which console to favor.  If Microsoft pulls some big exclusive news out of their shiny black hat then perhaps they'll recapture the audience.

In a few short minutes the Microsoft E3 Press Conference will begin.  I will follow up shortly thereafter with analysis and thoughts on the presentation.  If you want to watch along, head on over to Xbox.com to view the livestream.

Activision and Infinity Ward decided to kick off the Electronic Entertainment Expo early this year with Call of Duty Ghosts game play. This supposed new and improved Call of Duty will feature a brand new engine. That's about all you 're getting folks.

It has been ten years since the first Call of Duty release and boy am I disappointed. The first thing I wanted to talk about is graphics. This new engine has better graphics than the last Call of Duty but it doesn't seem very next gen. It looks as though it's releasing for the Xbox 360.

Call of Duty Ghosts has a more dynamic feel to it by adding in sliding and jumping over cover. Playing Black Ops 2, I started getting burnt out after the first 30 levels' even though you can dive like a dolphin.

When Red 5 Studios built their first game, they wanted to create an MMO for a wider audience. Instead of  focusing on those elements that we would normally associate with an MMO, they created Firefall, a game that feels more like a persistent shooter.  Does this succeed in today's online gaming market, or is it too new, too soon, and not enough substance? I spent fifteen minutes with  the game to find out.

Deep Silver wants you to learn the power of democracy in the new Saints Row 4 collector's edition. In this "Super Dangerous Wub Wub" edition, you are given the power to nuke everyone with a dubstep doomsday button and dubstep everyone to death with a dubstep gun. This special edition is getting to my head, literally! I can't get Skrillex out of it.

I love what Deep Silver is doing to add on to the over-the-top-ness that Saints Row usually brings us. This bass dropping contraption is the greatest weapon I've ever seen. As you shoot the gun, everyone starts dancing to it while you kill them. In my opinion, Saints Row is one of the greatest game because of how much over the top features it provides. The game is literally every genre; from fighting, shooting, carjacking, down to role playing and choosing your path throughout the story.

Saints Row 4 will be releasing August 20, 2013 for the Playstation 3, Xbox 360, and PC. If this collector's edition doesn't make any sense to you, stop thinking so hard and watch these:

Ok, this one isn't actually during the event itself but it's pretty freakin' close. On June 11th, my life is over because Nintendo Direct is going to aire and all the announcements will kill me. Yup I said it. But one of the most anticipated titles to be debuted by Nintendo is their infamous ace-in-the-holes, Super Smash Bros. Wii U & 3DS. And yes, they're showing gameplay. And yes, I think I just passed out.

I've heard a lot of rumors regarding this title, but much like any rumor, it's a RUMOR. Custom characters and skill set slots? Dear lord, I hope they don't stray too far from their roots here. Still, it's a Smash Bros. game and only lord, and the whole world, knows it's going to be a blast. As for new characters, I believe the new Mewtwo is in heavy consideration if not already confirmed and we all know they have to add in minimum, 216 playable characters from the next generation of Pokemon, X & Y. What? Gotta have all dem' Pokemon.

This time around, they can do so much for the game. Might as well charge my card now if Nintendo plans to implement their Nintendo Store to the game (more DLC, please?). I'm going to stop talking here and leave it to Nintendo to confirm everyone's dreams or nightmares, if any.

E3 2013 is coming up next week and it's going to be quite the hassle to cover most of it but here's to hoping for a good start and a great show!

It was revealed that Square Enix will be present to showcase their upcoming revamp of FFXIV, Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn. Expect to see the reveals of both The Summoner and Scholar class jobs as well as higher-level gameplay reveal. I say that because a rather cool prize is handed out to all groups victorious during a certain playable battle demo at their booth, should you attend the event. Aside from that, the most desired thing that a whole lot of people are waiting for is their new "epic" trailer for the game, since "good" wasn't enough. If it's anything like the phenomenal "End of an Era" trailer they put out a year ago, this is something to anticipate even if you're not a FFXIV fan.

You heard it here folks. If you're waiting on A Realm Reborn goodness at E3; expect class reveal, endgame/lore reveal, and a sexy new eye-candy in the form of a Final Fantasy calibur cinematic. Stay-tuned for more E3 anticipations as they come by! The video is in!

The best part of FFXIII by far was Lightning, the game's main character.  Unfortunately she seemed to all but disappear in the game's sequel, being instead relegated to a pay-for DLC content.  She's been sleeping it seems, and is about to wake up and return with a vengeance. It's not FFXIII-III, it's Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy XIII.

Lightning awakes 500 years in the future, having witnessed a vision about the end of the world.  She has 13 days to rewrite destiny or life as they know it will perish.  Seems to me they are taking the name of the game literally: She returns, and there is a final event happening in 13 days.

No pressure, eh?  While the dialog in this trailer seems a little overwritten, that's pretty standard for this set of Final Fantasy games. How all these characters are still alive after five centuries is a bigger mystery to me than how the world will end, but I have yet to finish FFXIII-2 so that might be on me.  

Konami confirmed today in their pre-recorded E3 press conference that Kiefer Sutherland will play Naked Snake in Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain. Kiefer is no stranger to voicing edgy action heroes with his best known role being that of agent Jack Bauer on the TV series 24. Of course I prefer the creepy Kiefer we came to know and love in Dark City, but then again I'm a strange one. I'm pretty sure if you googled Kiefer Sutherland Naked Snake before today it would not have been a very pleasant search, well unless you're into that kind of thing.

We all know about the disastrous launch of Final Fantasy XIV and I'm sure most of us have seen A Realm Reborn's "End of an Era" trailer which launched in late-November of last year. What most of you don't know was that the trailer was the true ending to FFXIV and was revealed to the players of 1.0 prior to its global launch.

The bittersweet trailer originally went live the moment the servers went down as players gathered with their linkshells, friends, and guildmates on November 11th, 2012 to watch the final moments of the game and the inevitability of Dalamud plummeting down and annihilating Eorzea as they knew it. The creators of the game weren't kidding when they said their favorite part of FFXIV 1.0 was "blowing it up in a blaze of glory." I mean, killing off your game by crashing a moon -- which holds a dragon the size of a city-state inside of it might I add -- onto the surface of your creation? Genius... Deathwing doesn't have anything on Bahamut here.

Here's a video created by youtuber, PwerlvlAmy, which manages to show the horror of doom rain down on her land. Check it out below. I think if a game had to go, it has to be done like this:

Aion was definitely one of those games I was excited for back in 2009 but unfortunately, it ended up in the dust of all my other MMOs. It only took three years and a few "new classes" keywords to spark my attention once again and Aion 4.0, so far, is looking quite great. This expansion will add two new classes at launch -- The gunner and the Bard --  which both look incredibly fun or fruity, however you want to look at it on top of the new dungeons, skills, level cap increase... Basically all the things you'd expect in an expansion pack.

As you may or may not know, Sucker Punch is busy building their next installment of the Infamous franchise, Infamous Second Son.  Today they released a dev diary focusing on the motion capture acting and graphics capabilities that they have developing for the PlayStation 4. Check out the video after the jump.  Extra points if you can count the number of dots on the actor's face.

For those who haven't heard about this game, I'm also including the announcement trailer so you can meet Deslin Rowe for yourself.

Legendary Pictures has recently spoken up about the filming of the World of Wacraft movie.  It appears that we will actually get a chance to see this movie before the game dissipates into the annals of game history -- perhaps as soon as 2015.

The movie's producer Chris Roven told Slashfilm that they will begin filming the MMO-based movie next year.  “First quarter 2014 we’re going to shoot that movie,” Roven told Germain while discussing Legendary’s plans. “We’re moving forward; obviously Legendary is making that film and I’m having a great time with Duncan.”

At this point I think the clamor for this movie has passed along with Sam Raimi's involvement.  Yes I love the game and yes I will be happy to see it, but I think 2009 was when this movie should have come out.  Back when everything about the MMO was still new and the player base had not become so jaded.  Now it seems likely that we won't see the movie until after the last expansion hits, and that means even less people will be interested in seeing it. Will poor timing on Blizzard's part mean failure at the box office? Elune only knows.

Today Popcap announced that Plants vs Zombies 2: It's about Time will be releasing on July 18th exclusively for iOS devices.  That means that if you have an Android phone or were looking to play the sequel to PvZ on your console, you're outta luck.  I, however, am such a fan of the first game that I would probably go out and buy an iPhone or iPad just to play PvZ 2.  If there is a version of the game out there, chances are I have played it until the Tree of Wisdom divulged all his secrets.  

The biggest part of this announcement comes when you realize that Plants vs Zombies 2 will be completely Free to Play.  That's right folks, all the Crazy Dave antics, all the plant growing fun, all the zombie destruction you yearn for -- all for the low, low price of free.  

If you can't wait to play PvZ2, might I suggest the social game they just launched on Facebook, Plants vs Zombies Adventures.  They've gone isometric with this little gem, which adds a new dimension (see what I did there?) to the gameplay as the zombies beset you from all sides.  Personally I find it less like a social game and more a tower defense RTS.  And that is a very, very good thing.  Hit the jump to watch the PvZ2 announcement trailer.

Not content to rest on the success(?) of the 17" Razer Blade Pro Gaming Laptop and Razer Edge Pro Gaming Tablet, Razer reveals the 14" Razer Blade, an insanely thin slice of gaming tech awesomeness.

While a price has not yet been announced, I can only assume this thing costs roughly the same as a small car. These sleek black beauty is thinner then the diameter of a dime (dime-ameter?), is rocking a Core i7 processor, nVidia GTX765M graphics chip, three USB3.0 ports and an HDMI port for pumping video out to an HDTV or secondary monitor.

To view the announcement video for the Razer Blade, check after the jump. Just try your best not to cut yourself.

Behold Brian Henderson, your future ruler -- well sort of.  Henderson has just had his life changed by 22cans, the company Peter Molyneux started last year.  The developer's first game, Curiosity: What's In The Cube has just concluded, with Henderson being the lucky person to destroy the last cubelet.  So what exactly was inside the Cube?  The answer isn't all that surprising.

Essentially Curiosity is one huge promotion for Godus, 22cans' next game.  They say that now that Henderson has won he will become the god of Godus, making the rules and sharing in a portion of the profits of the game.  Molyneux promised the contents of the cube would be life changing, but I'm not sure how much a small residual on what amounts to an indie title will affect.  Certainly Henderson is getting a good amount of press, so perhaps this 18-year old from Scotland will have his life changed by this after all. My guess is that his life wasn't nearly as exciting before he clicked on the cube two days ago.  

Henderson had only been playing the game for an hour or so, having registered that morning for the 22cans app,  before he won.  This after people have been working collectively since November of last year to win the game.  Now they will have their morals built by this chap -- and Brian help us.

A lot of people have been waiting a long time for this and it's finally been unveiled. Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn will be hitting the shelves worldwide on August 27th, 2013 for both the PC and PS3. Gamers who have some more moolah to spend and prefer a little more bang from their game purchases have the option of grabbing the collector's edition. Here are all the details you need:

According to a rather stylish feature put up on the Wired, The Xbox One will feature dedicated servers on all of its multiplayer games. What is this liquid forming in my eyes? Tears!? Will I never have to here a lag complaint ever again? Well, here's to hoping!

As a competitive gamer, I try my best to ignore host advantages but no matter what I do, it still exists and you have to put up with it. It's honestly not the biggest deal but when you there's only win or lose, any advantage is unfair. This makes online practice not the best means of determining where you stack up with the rest of the world because there are players who are just better on LAN and those who are better online. "Online Warriors" if you will.

Of course, the ultimate question will come down to whether or not this big feature will increase the costs of Xbox Live. That's up for debate, considering they are going from 15,000 servers to 300,000 extremely powerful ones via Microsoft Azure. Are you guys happy about this move? I sure am! Does it justify the lingering rumors of cost increases? Comment below your thoughts!

The Xbox One reveal has come and gone but just incase you didn't quite catch all the action, we've put together a summary of what to expect in Microsoft's next-generation system. Based on what we've seen on the console itself, Microsoft has put a heavy emphasis on the "on-going" which i'll explain later as well as full control of the living room. As a contrast to Sony who put on a great show regarding new social interaction services, Microsoft put a heavier stand on hardware and what exactly you could do with their console. Here's a rundown on all the features of the Xbox One:

Microsoft just finished up their massive console reveal press conference moments ago, and my head is still buzzing.  As you may recall, the company spent a good amount of money in subterfuge over the last couple of weeks, leading us to believe that the name of this console would be Fusion, or as some others suggested, Infinity.  Instead we learned they are sticking with their numerical naming convention, and we were introduced to Xbox One.

This device is heralded as the only item you will need in your living room aside from the TV itself.  With 8GB of ram, a Blu-Ray drive, HDMI in/out, USB 3.0 and 5 billion transistors, this is definitely a beast for gaming.  Some of the more interesting aspects of the system include always on Cloud connectivity, a revamped OS that ties in the best of Xbox Live and Windows UI to bring you content tailored to your tastes, a more sensitive Kinect camera that can even read your heartbeat and a controller with joystick sensitivity I don't yet understand.  Also impressive is the fact that Xbox Live will have 300,000 servers supporting their new architecture, compaired to the 15,000 they have online today.  We'll learn more about the console and the infrastructure supporting it at E3 next month.

I knew that Microsoft would blow Sony out of the water when it came to their console reveal presentation, not that the bar was set that high.  I like what I see out of Xbox One, but I don't think 15 exclusives will be enough to make this the only console in my living room.  They'd have to buy Nintendo and steal away the Sony exclusives for that to happen.    What do you think about the new Xbox?  Lame name, or slick nick?

One of the roles I enjoy in most MMOs is the one who just buffs and debuffs things in interesting ways. One of the most common roles to do this in a lot of games is the Bard, the class who uses instruments as a tool for combat. In Aion 4.0, we got a look at the infamous gunslinger class but now, NCSoft aims to pull you in with their music through the Trabadour class.

This class is rather elegant in its movements but I actually spent more time laughing at this video if anything. This rendition of the music-using support role is probably the fruitiest i've seen yet. If I went back to Aion, would I play it? Heck yes, though, not sure about male asmodians shooting out a rainbow unicorn of glory into their adversaries... but I can work with that. See Square Enix? THIS is a Bard! (I guess).

Aion 4.0: The Dark Betrayal will be headed its way to PC in June. You will then proceed to enjoy the new Gunslinger or Bard role should you choose! Check out the preview video below and brace for color!

It's actually been awhile since i've tried to catch-up on my Aion intel. Much to my surprise, they're coming up on "Aion 4.0: the Dark Betrayal" which will bring the game a whole lot of new features including new classes. The class that got my attention was, surprise surprise, the Gunslinger. One, it's got guns and two, the male version looks like Dante.

The Gun Slinger class looks fun! On top of that, Aion's combat looks vastly improved from when we last met, which honestly was around the time of its launch. Perhaps, this is a good time to return to the game.... Live stream anyone?

Aion 4.0: The Dark Betrayal launches in June, which is around the time Final Fantasy XIV will enter Open Beta. The pressure is on and the title of MMO of the year could go to anyone! Thoughts on what Aion was, or at least what you hope it will be? Comment below! Click the jumper below to view the class preview video as well.

There's some controversy regarding Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn's rendition of the classic Bard class. The famous job will now make it's debut as the advanced version of the Archer role. I take it this is due to their desire to amp everyone's damage and ability to solo-level up to a higher point in the game. Of course, there are those, much like myself, who prefer the instrument-wielding, pure support role that is the original Bard.

Not every class in an MMO needs to do damage but until Square Enix sort this out, enjoy a skill-medley created by a Monk with a passion for beats. This video was amusing enough for me to share!

Final Fantasy XIV relaunches during the summer, when it's "hot." Stay tuned for more details about the game on June 11th-13th during the week of E3. Click the jumper below for the video!

Ships will sail, supply lines will be cut, and a murderous Warchief will be brought to justice -- all this and more rounds out Mists of Pandaria when Patch 5.3 lands in the World of Warcraft on May 21st.  From the very moment I learned about the culminating battle of this expansion I have been on pins and needles for its arrival.  Yes I love new worlds, but story progression in Azeroth is really what makes my heart pitter patter.  

This patch will come with some really interesting content, including four new scenarios,  a new battleground, a new arena, a world event -- and that doesn't even include the new Heroic Scenarios available or the Escalation questline.  There's all sorts of things you can do to get ready for this content, including getting yourself to ilevel 480 or above.  If you are still chugging away on the Wrathion quests (you're not the only one *shamed*) you will still need to complete everything up until patch 5.2 in order to reveal the next step in the story.  This means you won't miss out on anything, but you will probably have to mute your friends in guild chat who decide they need to "share."  Or hire a hitman -- whichever is more your style.

We have only a few short days until Escalation lands on the shores of Durotar.  Yes the Pandaren have taught us that war only leads to bad things, but that was only on Pandaria right?  Nothing bad could happen when we decide to bring war back to Kalimdor, right?  Right?

Probably one of the biggest questions in all of League of Legends: What do junglers do when all the lanes are losing?

This is actually a scenario I’ve come across more often than not, especially when I’m jungling (seems to always happen, right?). It’s a situation where all hope is lost, the flame wars begin, and trolls come out of hiding. Obviously, if you have the drive and desire to win, you at least want to know the best possible move to make. Perhaps you can even put some morale back into your team. I’m going to list down all your options and what doing them can potentially do for your team.