Red Steel 2

Right, it’s that time of year again. No one wants to write about the “best Wii games of 2010” so they get ol’ Nintendo fanboy Elston to cobble a list together. Well, you know what? Screw you guys. Wii takes a lot of shit from all sides, but that doesn’t change the fact that there are outstanding games coming out (almost) every month. C’mon, once you get past the shovelware, the needless motion controls, lackluster online support and sub-HD graphics, there’s… uh, OK yeah that sounds awful.

But even with all those setbacks, these 10 non-Nintendo titles managed to create interesting worlds, new ideas and memorable stories that so many of us “real” gamers passed on...

If there were a list of Rules for Videogames, the #1 rule would have to be, “Always make cutscenes skippable.” But the number two rule may very well be, “Don't play games based on movies.” It's a truth that's been self-evident rarely without exception ever since ET stunk up the Atari 2600.

But Rule #2's been in for some revision lately, as GoldenEye-shaped aberrations and Butcher Bay-escaping anomalies defy the “movie games are crap” truism. Maybe the way to make a non-terrible adaptation is to hold off until you're sure you have a classic property on your hands. Given movie games’ review history, the simple act of getting them to a stage where people say they’re “well-executed” or “worth the price” is a pretty big step...

GR's Week of Hate climaxes with Hitler, media morons, South Park, your tales of nerdom, and oddly enough, a Wii game we actually don't dislike

Up until now I've been sharing years-old tracks from games that are long since gone. Today I was able to grab a couple of brand-new cuts from composer Tom Salta, who worked on Red Steel 2's surprisingly strong Wild West-meets-feudal Japan soundtrack. It's rare that a Wii-specific game gets this kind of audio splendor, so soak it up.

Full song after the jump!

Imagine you're a hot shot game developer. Maybe a sexy lady one that is helplessly attracted to thirty-something video game journalists. You've spent the last three years pouring your heart and soul into a brand new game. It's received with critical and commercial success. It's high-fives all round. But when the back-slapping is done, you realise that you're expected to do it all again for a sequel. Only problem is, you've used all your best

Christmas '09 is cancelled, but early next year looks amazing.

The end of summer means the beginning of the game season, and today is the last Friday before the game industry’s big holiday push. Publishers jam the fall with games to challenge the true worth of your credit card – a double dog dare in the uncertain economy of 2009.

Gamescom is unquestionably more low profile than E3’s explosive LA shindig. But that doesn’t mean there aren’t plenty of reasons to get pumped up for the upcoming event in Cologne. Hell, we can think of, oh, at least 23 examples why you should give a damn about the ‘European E3.’ And they all take the form of potentially amazing games. Below you’ll find a line-up of some of the most exciting titles due to

Back in January of this year, we switched on our doom-and-gloom machine and predicted which of 2009’s most anticipated titles would inevitably be pushed back to 2010. We didn’t want to be right. In fact, we spent the next six months wishing, hoping and praying that the industry would prove us wrong. It didn’t.

Last week we weren’t entirely sure what games to expect from the big three console pushers. Oh, we knew a couple of certainties, but overall the slate was wide open, ready to be filled in during their respective press conferences. Today, post-E3, we know exactly what’s in store and what their battle plans are.