I am truly disturbed…

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New Ninja Gaiden II screenshots were released today - but not just a few. No, Microsoft went all out and released more than 40 new screenshots to prepare you for the game’s release on June 3 (June 6 for you European folk).

These screenshots show plenty, from various creatures, enemies and werewolves (and flaming werewolves) to different environment and even boobs. And blood. Lots of blood. If there’s one thing almost all these screenshots have in common, besides featuring Ryu Hayabusa, it’s the extravagant and over-the-top blood spraying and spattering from every slice on every thing that can bleed. It’s surprising some of theses things even have that much blood in them - I would imagine by the time they’d lost as much blood as is seen leaving their bodies, they would be paper-white and entirely lifeless.

But this game obviously isn’t about realism - what would be the fun in that? Extravagant blood and gore has its place, and it seems to fit quite nicely in Ninja Gaiden II.
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Downloadable content for games is a sensitive subject. If handled correctly it can enrich and expand a game, opening up new options, or if it’s free it can be a reward to loyal fans. Then there’s the opposite, when it costs more than it should considering the content and is only a tool for game publishers to make some quick, easy money. Like when gamers were charged $2.50 just for some horse armor - or, in this case, ninja armor.

The current offender is Microsoft, who is planning on charging 200 Microsoft Points, or $2.50, for downloadable armor in Ninja Gaiden II. While ninjas are certainly more awesome than horses, it’s still a pretty high price to pay for “new and never before seen looks,” especially when that’s the kind of stuff that most games include free, right on the disc itself. Plus, since the game isn’t even out, this could easily be included as part of the game, but instead they’ve chosen to charge for it.

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No, Mr. Glenn Beck, you’re the fucking loser.

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D2C Games announced SPOGS Racers a few days back, and the press release went totally ignored. The release of this video, however, did get my attention. Not because I’m excited for SPOGS Racers, but because it looks incredibly horrible. The graphics look awful, the “personalization” looks like ass, and the generic rock music makes everything look 10 times worse. This is what WiiWare games should NOT be like.

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Browsing on Digg today, I saw this video review I thought I’d share with you all. It’s highly informational, extremely entertaining, and completely dead on. This post is for you who people out there that didn’t exactly agree with my views on Turok being an absolute shitfest of a game.

Hail Yahtzee.

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You can’t unscrew the pregnant woman.

Late last month a story surfaced about a gamer by the name of Nathaniel who sent his Xbox 360 in to Microsoft for repairs after it got the infamous red rings. However, his console had special significance because it was covered in unique signatures and custom artwork. He was at first hesitant to part with it, even if it was only to be temporary, but he eventually decided to send it in instead of attempting to fix it himself. He even took precautions like calling ahead and sending a letter with his console to ensure he received the exact same one and the marker wasn’t smudged or removed.

When he got it back, while it was his exact console like he had requested, all the signatures and artwork was gone. Despite his call, letter, and the fact that the permanent marker was obviously meant to be there, someone had cleaned it all off before returning it to him.

Fortunately for Nathaniel, however, Bungie and Microsoft have decided to do whatever they can to help. While they can’t replace the permanent marker that once covered his case, they can shower him with even more, and that’s what Bungie has done already and Microsoft plans on doing.

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I’m aware that this is old news by now. So, why hasn’t it been posted about yet on MEGATONik? Because after I read about it yesterday… I fainted.

Really, just think about it: a game featuring an Italian plumber and his brother competing in Olympic events against a blue hedgehog and his “whore a franchise into the ground” friends has sold five million copies between the Wii and DS versions.

Isn’t that just completely ridiculous? Never before has our “WHY??” tag felt more appropriate to me.

[Via CVG]

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A study by Nottingham Trent University revealed that over half of the males who play MMOs play as female characters, and nearly three-quarters of females play as male characters. 70% of the females polled said they played as males, because they didn’t want guys to know that they had breasts and vaginas and because they seemed to get treated better. Chief researcher Zaheer Hussain explains:

It seems that women gender swap for a variety of reasons, such as to avoid unsolicited male approaches on their female characters, or because they felt male characters were treated better by other males during the course of the game

By that logic, it seems male MMO players enjoy “male approaches on their female characters” and like to be treated bad, because 54% play as females. That, and looking at a hot pixelated night elf follow your commands for 8 hours straight is a lot easier on the eyes than watching a virtual man do the same.

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Yesterday, I told you guys I would be buying LOST: Via Domus no matter how horrible it turned out being.

After an annoying experience at Best Buy and sixty dollars emptied from my wallet, I’ve kept true to that promise and the game is sitting on the title screen as I type this.

Now, I won’t be reviewing it … so how will you know how bad (or good, but that is really less likely) it is? Well, in what I hope turns out to be a regular feature by our various editors, I am going to liveblog my journey (followed by a brief summary) through LOST: Via Domus right here and right now for you guys. As I play through the game, this post will be updated as frequently as humanly possible. Lets begin, shall we?

Updates will start flowing in a few minutes.

*WARNING: SPOILERS*
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Let me admit something - I’m a rabid LOST fanboy. I believe it’s the greatest thing to ever air on TV and every week I tune in and obsess over just what the hell is happening on the island.

When Ubisoft first announced a game based on the show using the Far Cry engine, I was skeptical. Months went by with practically no new info, up until a month ago when Eurogamer and Gamespot both posted positive previews of the game. I’ve had high hopes for it ever since reading those previews, but the game releases tomorrow and now that some people have gotten their hands on it, things aren’t so pretty. Just take a look at the above (hilarious) video.

Yeah, it’s looking to be shit, but the fanboy inside of me who would probably suck JJ Abrams off to get the answers to LOST is going to f*cking buy it tomorrow… and I’ll probably delude myself into thinking it’s the best game ever.

P.S.: Yeah, I’m pathetic.

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(Unsexy Update: Apparently, Microsoft still believes in its little engine that could, the HD DVD player. Gamerscore Blog recently had this to say about rumors circulating that HD DVD was officially dead:

We do not believe the recent reports about HD DVD will have any material impact on the Xbox 360 platform or our position in the marketplace. As we’ve long stated, we believe it is games that sell consoles and Xbox 360 continues to have the largest next-gen games library with the most exclusives and best selling games in the industry. We will wait until we hear from Toshiba before announcing any specific plans around the Xbox 360 HD DVD player. HD DVD is one of the several ways we offer a high definition experience to consumers and we will continue to give consumers the choice to enjoy digital distribution of high definition movies and TV shows directly to their living room along with playback of the DVD movies they already own.

Ah, well, I guess we won’t be seeing a Blu-Ray add on anytime remotely soon. -backflip)

You guys have heard that Netflix, Wal-Mart, and most recently Toshiba, who is the main backer of HD-DVD, are completely dropping the format, right?

Well, it looks like Microsoft is ready to put the final nail in the coffin by releasing a Blu-ray add-on for the 360 as soon as May ‘08. According to Smarthouse.au, Microsoft has pretty much finished developing the thing and it can be released to stores within around 3 months.

I just want to say that this is totally unconfirmed and from what I can tell, a completely unknown source, but it’s something I was discussing with backflip earlier today and it definitely sounds plausible to me.

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The trailer for Uwe Boll’s Far Cry movie showed up on Youtube today, and guess what? It looks pretty good! HA, not really! It looks f*cking awful.

Mr. Boll, immature humor can be really damn funny (see: Superbad), but when you make “is that a gun in your pocket or are you happy to see me” jokes in the middle of an already terrible action movie that has nothing to do with its source material after making 246 terrible movies before it, it just makes you look like even more of a f*cking talentless hack.

It releases this Spring and includes a coupon for a free castration with every ticket. Great deal!

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You hardly ever see a movie compared positively to a game, although critics usually don’t seem afraid to bash a movie for being just like a video game. However, the Arizona Daily Star compared Rambo to Call of Duty 4 in their review of the movie, and if you’ve played the game you should know that’s quite a compliment. The reviewer, Phil Villarreal, calls the movie “a nasty, Call of Duty 4 style shoot ‘em up that kicks down the door, rips out your throat and inserts a Claymore where your jugular used to be,” and judging by the general consensus that’s probably one of the best things that has been and probably will be said about Rambo. Having seen the movie and played the game I’m not sure I see the similarities besides lots of shooting and explosions, but since that’s the only reason to see the fourth Rambo movie I guess it is an apt comparison. If you want to read more, here’s the full review.

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Not only does the Halo series promote violence, but now it’s starting a new trend with school kids: teabagging. The Asbury Park Press reports that in Point Pleasant Beach, kids are teabagging each other outside of school grounds.

The report states:

A group of boys has been involved in bullying others, and officials said their actions have included physical attacks, taunting and sexually harassing victims by making their crotches touch other boys’ heads while fully clothed — something apparently inspired by the Halo video game series, in which players can perform a posturing move over a defeated enemy.

Jane Chmielewski said her son, a seventh-grader, was assaulted by a pack of boys who then sexually harassed him. However, since that incident took place outside school grounds, district officials said they were not able to investigate the situation or punish those involved.

Jane Chmielewski’s son was apparently approached by 10 boys, put in a headlock, and teabagged. He was also recorded with a cell phone camera. Before this incident happened, another altercation occurred, in which the boy was thrown to the ground, kneed, and got a garbage can placed over his head.

Schools classify this as sexual harassment, and that this new teabagging trend is most likely inspired by the Halo series. The Board of Education has introduced a new policy that allows them to punish students bullying outside of school grounds. The punishments range from verbal warning, to expulsion.

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