Canada using video games to boost morale

A while back, the Canadian military had a garrison outside of Montreal opened a requisition for $25,000 (Canadian, that would be nearly $24,800US) worth of video games. People in the military scratched their heads in confusion wondering why they would ask for such an unusual proposal, but the info has now been made public. They're gifts for soldiers stationed in Afghanistan.

Canada's Ministry of Defence (that's how it's spelled) followed up with the Canadian Press, who reported the story about the earlier experience, to inform the public that they wanted to buy 500 video games

Thanks to everyone that stayed up late with us this past Saturday night for our 12 @ 12 sale. We sold out of all inventory within about 8 or 9 minutes!

We were so happy with the sale we have decided to hold it again on Wednesday, January 12 at midnight Eastern Standard Time. We all know you gamers stay up late and play so a midnight sale should be a piece of cake! Who knows, maybe there might be more controllers this time!

Congratulations to Seth who snagged a Standard controller for $2 and to Jonathon who picked up 2 controllers. With one 12 @ 12 under our belts now, we will have the kinks worked out for next time. No other coupon codes will be valid during the sale and there is a limit of 1 controller per customer.

Thanks again everyone and wishing you all very evil holidays!

Warcraft's latest Expanion, Cataclysm!

World of Warcraft (WoW) isn't a bad thing, it's actually an extremely well designed game. Perhaps too well designed. The problem with WoW is that it's too good at doing it's job. As gamers we tend to forget that gaming is a business. Sure we get the occasional title that's a lot more then that, like our Braids, Portals, and Okamis, but over the course of a two year development window the point of the team is to make a game that's going to make the player feel as though their $60 investment was worth it. With a game like WoW and any MMO (Massively Multiplayer Online Game) is that the game has to be worth it's $15 dollar monthly charge.

Christopher Nolan, the director of films like The Dark Knight and Inception, recently confirmed the rumors about a video game adaptation of Inception. How exciting! The movie was certainly a blockbuster this past summer, and as someone who loved the film I am definitely looking forward to be able to take the concept into my own hands.

Apparently, Nolan is going to be playing a big role in the development of the game. As quoted on IGN, Nolan stated, I always imagined Inception to be a world where a lot of other stories could take place. He denied any possibility of a movie sequel, saying that they would rather channel new potential stories through gaming instead. Inception could potentially make for a great video gaming franchise, complete with a variety of different characters, scenarios, and potentially different outcomes based on different decisions made in game play. I'd love to see an Inception game with vastly different endings based on varying choices and actions, perhaps a

Before now there were apps for Black Ops multiplayer that would tell you about stats and basic information. They would run you about 99 cents on average. But if you spend a bit more, you can get an app with more details and advantages for your online play, its called VC for Black Ops.

The VC for Black Ops app has features that are to be the remedy to a lot of headaches to those who stay glued to the game (like a lot of us, myself included). Example, not happy playing with randomly selected people who spend most of the time trying to figure out how a claymore works (or keeps running into their own)? Use the match finder to set appointments with fellow app users. Need to build your clan to dominate online

Kratos to be performing Mortal Kombat Fatalities!

Could the God of War be the newest fatality performing combatant? Kratos has slain, decapitated, and mauled enough of his enemies that he would certain feel right at home in the Mortal Kombat universe, but is this just a Sony fanboy's dream or a reality?

As it turns out, this rumor could actually end up being true. David Jaffe, the creator of God of War has since posted the following message through his twitter @Twitter.com/davidscottjaffe:

"LOVE that Kratos is in the new MK. So bummed he's not in

Games & High Scores

It seems as though the older I get the more I appreciate games where the main objective is to achieve a high score. There's something about trying to out perform your previous attempts that can make a fun game highly addictive.

My first experience with shooting for a high score comes from the days of Dance Dance Revolution (DDR). The days when whole groups of socially inept gamers would learn how to interact with one another on Friday and Saturday nights at their local arcade. While it may not have been the golden age of arcade gaming like the 90's was with Street Fighter 2. We did have Soul Caliber, NFL Blitz, and DDR. In those days, waiting for your turn on the stage could take between ten and thirty minutes,

Mobile Phone provider not doing so well service-wise

Bummer for you, iPhone users. According to a recent Consumer Reports study, AT&T is ranked the worst cell-phone carrier in the United States when it comes to customer satisfaction.

Consumer reports surveyed 58,000 readers, and of all major United States carriers, fell dramatically from last year and now ranks far behind all others. The detailed report has yet to be released, but, essentially, there was little chance for AT&T.

Ranking highest in customer satisfaction is U.S. Cellular

Industry News - Console's memberships are 50% Paid

Most people that have a Xbox 360 are likely to be connected to the internet. What you probably don't know is that most of them aren't on the Gold subscription list for Xbox Live.

Yep, half of them are Silver according to a quote from Microsoft's Dennis Durkin at the Credit Suisse Annual Technology Conference here in Arizona.

"Of our 25 million members, about half of them are subscribers to the business and pay us about $60 dollars a year for that. It's a very large business for us and our partners."

While he is emphasizing the GOLD membership's revenue being great, people are wondering exactly what is the internet-based breadwinner in this part of Microsoft.

What are the Most loved motion control games out there?

Kinect games are good examples of the specific limbo that motion controlled games are in. Most of them fall into the casual party-game genre. They're sufficient to show the capabilities of the hardware, but never really push them to their limits nor ask the gamer to test them to their full potential. For a pre-Wii generation, this would be acceptable, but we've had a Wii for a few years now, where are our motion controlled Gears of War or non-Nintendo made Mario Galaxies? Where are the triple-A titles with motion controlled gestures.

Warren Spector the guy behind the upcoming Epic Mickey (Wii) and made famous by his PC game