Go ahead right now and call up your bookie, or call someone that will take a bet on anything because here are the winners for Spike TV's VGA 2009. If you are wondering where these results came from so early, Doc Brown hopped in the DeLorean and stole Biff's Sports Almanac, inside we found the results and cool directions on how to make our very own hoverboards.

GAME OF THE YEAR
Assassin's Creed 2 (Ubisoft / Ubisoft Montreal)
Batman: Arkham Asylum (Eidos Interactive - Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment / Rocksteady Studios)
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 (Activision Publishing / Infinity Ward)
Left 4 Dead 2 (Valve)
UNCHARTED 2: Among Thieves (Sony Computer Entertainment / Naughty Dog)

Winner UNCHARTED 2: Among Theives

STUDIO OF THE YEAR
Infinity Ward
Naughty Dog
Rocksteady Studios
Valve

Winner ....

Leave a comment if you agree or disagree or don't care..
» Read More 

411mania talks about this week's game releases. Highlights include Holy Invasion of Privacy, Badman!, Unbound Saga, Ys I & II Chronicles, and Awatama. They also talk about some of the past week's releases, including Trine and Street Fighter IV PC.
» Read More 

411mania talks about this week's game releases. Highlights include BlazBlue, Hatsune Miku: Project Diva, Diabolik, Treasure World, Street Fighter IV PC, and Roogoo.
» Read More 

Determined to grasp victory, two warriors step onto an airfield unconcerned that a nearby military transport plane maneuvering to take off may disturb their encounter. On the right is Rufus, a fighter whose undulating belly and spandex outfit masks his deadly potential. On the left is Ryu, a wandering fighter from Japan who can toss enough fireballs to make Super Mario jealous. He charges up and tosses one at Rufus to begin the fight. Rufus counters with a flurry of punches. There were ninety seconds on the clock, but they're clicking away with every block, every connect and every second of fierce determination.
» Read More 

Gamervision takes a look at the now pre-orderable Phazon Suit Samus along with the San Diego Comic-con exclusive Dead Space, Gears of War 2 Locust, and SF4 Guile Figures.
» Read More 

TGS writes: "Capcom have always hinted at a Wii version of this year's biggest fighter Street Fighter IV and in a recent messageboard Q&A, Capcom's Christian Svensson decided to tease the idea a little more."
» Read More 

411mania gives a rundown on this week's game releases. Highlights include Phantasy Star Portable, The King of Fighters '98: Ultimate Match, and Sukashishipanman DS: Shokotak Koto Nakagawa Shouko Produce!

-- -- -- -- --

Phantasy Star Portable (PSP)
With Phantasy Star Portable, Sega basically took Phantasy Star Universe, fixed a lot of the problems people had with it, tweaked it to be more single-player friendly, and added more story elements. Some of those who hated PSU are actually saying that they like this version of the game. I find that hard to believe, but it's possible. If anything, this will at least give us something to do while waiting for Phantasy Star Zero.

Here is what you can expect from PSP:

- New story missions that take place between the original Phantasy Star Universe and Phantasy Star Universe: Ambition of the Illuminus
In Phantasy Star Portable you will team up with a Cast named Vivienne as she investigates recent terrorist attacks on the colony as well as animal outbreaks on the surface of some of the planets. Space adventure and mayhem follow. I thought that PSU's story was ok; it wasn't groundbreaking or very memorable but it was still decent. So, if Sega was able to craft a story that is at least on par with the first game's, these missions could be worth plaything through at least once.

- Local as well as online play (with the help of a PS3 or your PC)
As expected, you can play with three other friends locally using the PSP's ad hoc mode. Those wishing to play over the Internet have two options - one that requires a PS3 and another that requires a computer. To use your PS3 you have to download the Ad-Hoc Party application from the Japanese PSN store and do a little tinkering. You can find instructions on how to do this at the PSO-World forums here. If you want to use your PC there's XLink Kai. Note that these two options work for the Japanese and English dem...
» Read More 

411mania gives a rundown on this week's game releases. Highlights include Legacy of Ys: Books I & II, Dead Rising: Chop Till You Drop, Stoked, The King of Fighters 2002 Unlimited Match, 50 Cent: Blood on the Sand, and Street Fighter: The Legend of Chun-Li.

Legacy of Ys: Books I & II (DS)
Ys I and II have seen many ports and remakes since the first one came out in 1987; they've seen the light of day on such systems as the PC-8801, Famicom, Master System, DOS, Apple II, Saturn, and PS2 to name a few. The most widely-known versions are contained in the TurboGrafx-CD compilation, and for years that release was considered the best. It's place at the top was eventually challenged by Ys Eternal as it sported upgraded graphics, effects, and artwork as well as extras like new characters and scenarios. Unfortunately, Eternal didn't include voiceovers and some say that the remixed music was not as good. Apparently, enough people weren't satisfied so another update known as Ys Complete, which is said to have better graphics but an inferior soundtrack, was unleashed. Despite my best efforts, I could not find any agreement amongst Ys fans as to which official release is the definitive version since each of the three does at least one thing better than the others.

Preferences aside, there is one thing that fans of the first two Ys games can agree on no matter which version they've played - Ys I and II have some of the best music you will find in a video game. Every place I visited for info makes note of how awesome the soundtrack is. Knowing this, I questioned whether or not it was a good idea to play the games on the DS for the first time when I could just as easily track down the PC version and patch it or download the Wii VC one. Granted, Legacy of Ys comes with a free soundtrack if you preorder and it is portable. Maybe it would be easier to just flip a coin...

-- -- --

Dead Rising: Chop Till You Drop (Wii) ...
» Read More 

Gamerdeals.net writes:

"For the week of February 24, 2009, Halo Wars continues to takes the top spot on the cross-platform Gamefly Top Ten 'Most Queued' list. Following close behind is Street Fighter IV (PS3/Xbox 360), and Killzone 2 (PS3). MadWorld is at the top of the Nintendo Wii Queue as well...

Queue up the complete Gamefly Top 10 most requested lists:"
» Read More 

411mania gives a rundown on this week's game releases. Highlights include Prinny: Can I Really Be the Hero?, Street Fighter IV, DoDonPachi Daioujou Black Label Extra, Shooting Love, Fire Emblem: Shadow Dragon, Metroid Prime Wii.

Prinny: Can I Really Be the Hero? (PSP)
Prinny: Can I Really Be the Hero? is one of the best platformers I've played in years thanks to it's tight controls and above average presentation. However, this game is definitely not for everyone. In fact, I'm pretty sure that only hardcore platformer junkies and people with infinite amounts of patience will get past the first three or four stages without developing a desire to throw their PSPs at a wall in rage. But if you can hang on, getting through the game can be quite satisfying and is an achievement that is worth bragging about.

Street Fighter IV (PS3, 360)
It isn't necessary for me to go in-depth since every other site is already doing it. I will, however, bring to your attention one of the coolest features SFIV has - the Arcade Request system. Basically, instead of watching a static screen while waiting for someone to challenge you online, this system allows you to play against the computer and seamlessly accept a challenge when one comes your way. It's like going to an arcade and playing against the CPU until someone gets the nerve to plunk down fifty cents to take you on. If you set it to accept only Player Matches (unranked) you can keep things going by rematching or, if you don't want to play the person again, you can quickly and easily go back to arcade mode after your match and continue on with the CPU until you get another challenge. It's hard to believe that it's taken Capcom this long to implement such a system. I can only hope that SNK does the same thing in its home version of KOF XII.

DoDonPachi Daioujou Black Label Extra (360 Import)
Every shooter needs its own hook to stand out. While Trigger Heart has its grapple syst...
» Read More 

Gamasutra's regular round-up of worldwide video game releases, "Release This!", takes a look at every game title we know to be shipping to stores this week, in an exclusively compiled list.

This week brings Capcom's Street Fighter IV stateside, as the Nintendo DS hosts awaited localizations of Dragon Quest V: Hand of the Heavenly Bride and Fire Emblem: Shadow Dragon. Europe will get an early look at 50 Cent: Blood on the Sand, as Japan receives Star Ocean: The Last Hope and DoDonPachi Daioujou Black Label Extra.
» Read More 

GamerDeals.net writes:

"Hightlights this week include Street Fighter IV (PS3/Xbox 360), Grand Theft Auto IV: The Lost and Damned (Xbox 360), Prinny: Can I Really Be The Hero? (Sony PSP), Fire Emblem: Shadow Dragon (Nintendo DS), and Warhammer Dawn of War II (PC).

Check out the full list of new video game releases (USA) for the week of February 15, 2009 on Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, Nintendo Wii, Sony PS2, PSP, Nintendo DS, and PC!"
» Read More 

411mania gives a rundown on this week's game releases. Highlights include Retro Game Challenge, Onechanbara: Bikini Samurai Squad/Bikini Zombie Slayers, X-Blades, and Sonic's Ultimate Genesis Collection.

Retro Game Challenge (DS)
The challenges do not require you to finish each game. However, all of the games are complete, so you can if you want to. They can take up to eight hours or longer to beat and are not what I would consider shovelware - there is some depth to all of them. One of the action games, for example, has its own power-up screen where you can use certain items you've collected to improve your character. Abilities such as jumping higher and throwing more projectiles are essential for getting further in the game. Another example is how one of the racing games has a very cool drifting mechanic which makes it much more interesting than most of the others that I played in the 80s. So, at the very least, some of the games offered here rival those that were actually released back in the day.

Onechanbara: Bikini Samurai Squad (360) / Onechanbara: Bikini Zombie Slayers (Wii)
This week's releases of Bikini Samurai Squad and Bikini Zombie Slayers mark Onechanbara's first official appearance in the US. It originally started out as one of D3's Simple Series games in Japan. History lesson: The Simple Series is made up of mostly budget titles that rip off other successful games. The low-budgetness isn't always a bad thing though, as it gave the developers some freedom to experiment, which is probably how Onechanabara was born. I mean, where else would they have gotten the idea for zombie-hunting bikini-and-cowboy-hat-wearing girls with swords? Somehow, Onechanbara was popular enough to break away from its Simple Series roots and has spawned quite a few sequels.

X-Blades (PC, PS3, 360)
After playing the retail version I can safely say that this game is fun for a hack-and-slasher. There isn't anything new or...
» Read More 

Gamerdeals.net writes:

"For the first time in the history of the Gamefly charts, a PS3 exclusive title has taken sole possession of the top spot.

For the week of February 9, 2009, Killzone 2 takes the top spot on the cross-platform Gamefly Top Ten 'Most Queued' list. Following close behind is Street Fighter IV (PS3/Xbox 360). House of the Dead: Overkill is at the top of the Nintendo Wii Queue as well...

Queue up the complete Gamefly Top 10 most requested lists:"
» Read More 

Fighting game enthusiasts can look forward to competitively duking it out in every major fighting game from Street Fighter IV to Marvel Vs. Capcom 2 at this year's EVO. What won't they be playing this year? Super Smash Bros. Brawl.
» Read More 

Gamerdeals.net writes:

"February always seems to bring in some great games, and '09 is no different!

Highlights this month include Killzone 2 (PS3), the glorious return of Street Fighter with Street Fighter IV (PS3/Xbox 360), Dead Rising: Chop Till You Drop (Wii), Grand Theft Auto IV: The Lost and the Damned Expansion (Xbox 360), plus many more...

Check out the full list of February 2009 game releases:"
» Read More 

Gamerdeals.net writes:

"For the week of January 27, 2009, F.E.A.R. 2: Project Origin takes the top spot on the cross-platform Gamefly Top Ten 'Most Queued' list. Following close behind is Skate 2 (PS3/Xbox 360). Mario Kart Wii is at the top of the Nintendo Wii Queue as well...

Queue up the complete Gamefly Top 10 most requested lists:"
» Read More 

Gameplayer are reporting that Capcom has ditched their Australian distributor and are currently in limbo putting the release dates of their key franchises in jeopardy.
» Read More 

Violence, murder, and Queen-referencing RPGs - it's been an interesting day. TGR reads off the news so you don't have to.
» Read More 

Following the massive layoffs at 1UP.com, former Editor-in-chief of EGM magazine, James "Milkman" Mielke, details in a recent blog post:

"This is actually not "that" blog, either, but I wanted to give you guys a peek at the final day of EGM's proactive existence. I know it will live on in everyone's memories as the best gaming magazine of the last twenty years, nearly as old as this favorite hobby of ours, but as of now it is no longer in publication or circulation. That said --and to clarify on what I stated in my previous blog-- the final, secret, unpublished issue of EGM will show up here on 1UP shortly in the near future. You will be able to read every hi-res page, ads and all (last time I checked at least) on 1UP, to see the beautiful job that crew did, even with the guillotine hanging over our heads every minute of the day. I'm only posting the cover to it for now, but as you can tell, it's quite an eye-catching, dynamic cover. I hope you enjoy the full, final issue."

The rest of the blog post details the last day of the 30+ journalists who were laid off following 1UP acquisition to UGO.
» Read More