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During E3 2014, Microsoft managed to surprise everyone in the audience by announcing that the irritable squirrel, Conker, will be returning – albeit not in the form many had hoped for. Instead of a true sequel to the beloved Nintendo 64 title, it was announced that the character would be appearing as a prominent addition to Project Spark on Xbox One and PC. The latest trailer highlighting the Rare property in the creation-centric title, however, may get fans of the long dormant franchise even more excited for the content....

Next week, Counter-Strike: Global Offensive will be unleashed on the masses, marking not only the first Counter-Strike release in eight years, but the first time the series will launch on consoles. As we inch towards the impending release, Valve has revealed a new “Cinematic” trailer. To the dismay of some gamers, the trailer is comprised entirely of CG footage - though let’s be honest, fans are probably quite familiar with Counter-Strike gameplay by now....

The origin story of DayZ sees its humble beginnings as a fan-made mod of Bohemia Interactive’s ARMA 2 - a mod so popular that it dwarfed the active player counts of the game it was based on. It was a broken, but unique, community-driven survival experience where players craft their own stories through their own adventures and interactions with others. Much of that had to do with people robbing, helping, torturing or escorting other players found out in the wilderness of the fictional post-Soviet state of Chernarus....

The Forza Motorsport series, first introduced in 2005 on Microsoft’s original Xbox, has gotten better and better with each successive iteration, culminating in last year’s unimpeachable Forza Motorsport 4 (read our review). Still, after four essentially similar games, the time for change has come. Enter Forza Horizon. Developed by Playground Games in collaboration with Turn 10 Studios, Horizon takes the Forza series into an open-world for the very first time - specifically, a fictionalized, imposingly large rendition of Colorado....

There was plenty to be excited about when Sony and Microsoft introduced the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One to the world, respectively. But it wasn’t all good news. For all their advertised differences, both consoles shared one annoying drawback: they weren’t backwards compatible, so players had to hang on to your PlayStation 3 or Xbox 360 if they wanted to keep playing those games. Thankfully the trend of high-def remakes was already on the rise in the previous console cycle, bringing modern facelifts to classics like the God of War, Tomb Raider, and Silent Hill games....

Although the bulk of excitement over Sony’s exclusive franchises has been focused on the slate of games for the upcoming PlayStation 4, racing fans still have one game on the PS3 to look forward to: Gran Turismo 6. After being announced just last week, Polyphony Digital’s next entry in the ‘real driving simulator’ series will mark the franchise’s last on the current generation of consoles. Luckily, new concept video of GT6 has appeared online; while it’s no surprise to see the visuals are still leading edge for the hardware, it’s good to know the developers are pushing the PS3 to its limits....

Although Grand Theft Auto 5’s story mode is the main reason it was on so many Game of the Year lists in 2013, the Rockstar game has managed to build a pretty immersive online world as well. GTA Online launched full of bugs and missing features, but in the year since the game’s initial release the experience has come a long way. Even still, there are always a few cheaters around looking for an exploit that can ruin the fun for everyone....

Halo 4’s creative director, Ryan Payton, one of the producers for Metal Gear Solid 4, has left 343 Industries, citing he was not “creatively excited” by the title anymore. We can’t really blame him - there are so many Halo games and it’s a tough balance to change things up without ruining what fans like about the previous iterations. For the worried fans of this potentially blow to the game’s production and quality, Payton’s departure has not affected development of Halo 4 in an adverse way, according to 343 Industries’ franchise development director, Frank O’Connor....

It appears to be a bit of a golden age for reboots and revivals, and it looks like the minds behind Fox’s King of the Hill may be gearing up to join Dexter in producing a proper continuation. At least, that’s what series writer Brent Forrester seems to think, if his enthusiastic reply to a fan question is to be believed. During a recent AMA (ask me anything) on Reddit, Forrester answered one particular query with a surprising lack of the PR speak one might expect....

While Minecraft started as a smash hit for PC gamers worldwide, the creative game got so many people punching trees that Mojang then decided it was time to bring Minecraft to mobile devices (along with an upcoming Xbox Kinect version), with the Xperia Play scoring a large period of mobile phone exclusivity. That period, folks, is about to end, and users of Android phones can rejoice. For those with iPhones, Mojang still says you’ll get your version by the end of the year....

Though Call of Duty Elite members received it last week, today marks the official release for Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3’s new Face Off mode, and so we thought it best to give a few impressions on the multiplayer shooter’s new, more intimate offering. For those that might not know, Face Off allows teams of two or three, or just a single player, to do battle with opposing forces of the same number....

To nobody’s surprise, Mortal Kombat X is a wild success. Against all odds, the highly anticipated fighting game lived up to its massive hype, and was crowned the best-selling game of April. Not only that, but it continues to sell extremely well. Before release, NetherRealm and WB Games anticipated Mortal Kombat X’s success, and the two companies planned an extensive post-launch campaign for the title. The first DLC add-on for the game, the Horror Pack, features Friday the 13th movie icon Jason Voorhees, as well as horror-themed skins for some characters on the playable roster....

Project Cars has had quite the tumultuous journey through development. The developers at Slightly Mad Studios have an obvious passion for the sport of racing, and they want to create the ultimate racing experience for fans. Sometimes, in the world of video game development, creating the best possible product means that developers need to make the tough decision to delay their game. That’s happened to Project Cars multiple times. It all started when the game began life as a crowdfunding superstar....

Fans of platforming and vibrant color palettes have reason to get excited, and not just for the release of Rayman: Origins on an ever-growing list of platforms. File this under the ‘rumor’ section for the time being, but an online marketing survey has apparently confirmed that a sequel to last year’s Rayman: Origins is at least in the planning stages at Ubisoft. The sequel may not be confirmed, but it seems that Rayman and his accomplices may soon find themselves in a world of mythological locales and monsters....

Street Fighter X Tekken might be completely broken (alright, maybe not completely broken) but that isn’t going to stop Capcom from making a few extra bucks off some DLC offerings. The first of the new additions to the game comes in the form of some new gem packs that will be retailing for $1 or 80 MS Points apiece. Gem packs, for those that might not know but who care, provide additional boosters to character’s stats, and ostensibly add a new dynamic to online or offline play....

Three months ago (from the time of this writing), The Amazing Spider-Man developer, Beenox, teased a new gameplay mechanic, “Web Rush,” which would help ensure that the upcoming webslinger game wasn’t just another hum-drum movie tie-in (we’re looking at you Battleship). While Beenox had teased the Web Rush mechanic before as providing players with “real-time navigational and combat choices,” the latest trailer (which you can check out above) presents a number of intriguing ways that the mechanic could be implemented - especially in the massive New York City open-world....

Out of Square’s entire library of games, before they merged into Square Enix in 2003, Final Fantasy VII was definitely at the top. Cutting it into multiple parts isn’t exactly ideal, but even if the whole thing doesn’t pan out, it will be an interesting standalone experience to explore Midgar in a new light. An adjacent thought also popped up in this one’s mind. What other games deserve to be remade in some fashion like this?...

The good news for any fans of Dungeons and Dragons video games is that Baldur’s Gate 3 is now on the way. The bad news is that it won’t be ready for quite a while because the developers are making sure that the quality is top-notch, as is the tradition for games based on Dungeons and Dragons rulesets. Speaking of which, there are already a ton of games like that. These can keep fans occupied for the time being so they don’t actually die from anticipation and excitement for the upcoming Baldur’s Gate 3....

There are so many amazing game franchises out there that span a variety of genres, ensuring that all players are spoiled for choice when it comes to choosing their next game. When it comes to some of these big-name franchises, it’s all too easy to forget where they started. Many of the games we know and love today began their life on Sony’s second-generation console, the PlayStation 2. While some of these franchises have since fizzled out of existence, others are still going strong....

Due to its flexibility, the Nintendo Switch is the ultimate device for killing time. Whether laying on the couch at home or on the bus heading to school, the Nintendo Switch is a viable source of entertainment. Certain games are not designed with longevity in mind, and there is nothing wrong with that. Sometimes, an experience is better served lasting a dozen hours rather than 50. On the other hand, some other titles can consume months of a person’s life....