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The call sheet for Call of Duty: Black Ops II features plenty of big names, many that will instantly resonate with fans of 2010’s Black Ops - Frank Woods, Alex Mason, Jason Hudson - but the team Activision/Treyarch has assembled to create the game is equally esteemed. Contemplating the cultural emergence of video games in the mainstream and their growing ability to lure talent from a wide range of industries, the latest trailer for Black Ops II takes us behind the scenes to interview two of its prominent additions: Nine Inch Nails frontman Trent Reznor and The Dark Knight Rises co-writer David S....

Now that it’s officially out, Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War is being embraced by the Call of Duty crowd. That doesn’t mean it’s without problems though, including glitches in its Zombies mode that players have been using to boost their weapon levels. Zombies is a time-honored tradition in Call of Duty by this point, and has been since debuting in Call of Duty: World at War. The mode in Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War has come a long way since then, both in complexity and its strange storyline....

Winner! Congrats to Joseph Martin for winning our Xbox 360/Cartoon Network Punch Time Explosion XL Giveaway! Prizes are on their way in two separate shipments. What kid hasn’t dreamed about pitting two of his or her favorite cartoon characters against one another in a no-holds-barred battle to the end? Sure, the characters may change through the years, but the dream remains the same. In that very spirit, Crave Games and Papaya Studio present Cartoon Network: Punch Time Explosion XL, the game that finally answers the question: if Captain Planet had to face off against the Powerpuff Girls, who would prevail?...

Destiny continues to be an extremely popular shooter, with no sign of slowing down. In fact, the game’s second major expansion pack, House of Wolves, is set to release within a matter of weeks. Just recently, Bungie took gamers on a tour of some of the new content, primarily showcasing the new social area The Reef. The Reef will feature plenty of fresh bounties, gear, and other content for players to explore....

Sometimes the road to perfection is paved with good intentions, but every once in a while those good intentions spawn some pretty nasty results. Case in point: a recent patch for Fez, the brain-busting puzzler from developer Polytron and eclectic game designer Phil Fish (a game that received the coveted 5-out-of-5 from Game Rant). In an effort to fix some of the nagging issues, namely those associated with poor game performance, in Fez, Polytron issued a patch over Xbox Live, but unfortunately, along with potentially improving the game experience, the patch also corrupted many a save file....

One month back, we started hearing semi-official details that suggested fan-favorite basketball legend (and brand icon) Shaquille O’Neal was working on a sequel to his universally maligned fighting game, Shaq Fu. Then, at CES 2014, O’Neal outright confirmed Shaq Fu 2 was in development - promising that the sequel would feature “crazy graphics,” among other things. At the time, it was unclear how far Shaq Fu 2 was in the production pipeline - and there was always the possibility that the championship winning center was simply trying to get a rise out of industry reporters (it was a tech convention after all)....

Since its out-of-nowhere reveal two weeks ago, South Park: The Game has quickly become one of next year’s most anticipated titles. South Park creators Matt Stone and Trey Parker are involved every step of the way, and their work is clearly paying off. The first screenshots of the game have hit the web, and they look just like the show. Along with the first screenshots, South Park: The Game lead designer Matt MacLean dropped some new details on the game’s combat, weapons, and class system....

In this generation of gaming, so-called ‘reboots’ or spiritual successors and re-imaginings are certainly common, with a wide range of successes and failures. While large franchises and serialized shooters have improved upon an established formula one release at a time (to massive financial success), the once-beloved snowboarding genre has sadly been relegated to a supporting role. That’s all set to change with the release of SSX, one of if not the most revered names in snowboarding gaming to date....

Dark Horse is finally introducing The Art of Super Mario Odyssey to the west. Dark Horse is no stranger to video games. The comic book company has brought over a number of hardcovers from Japan, such as The Art of Splatoon, and recently the Super Mario Bros. Encyclopedia. Now, it’s been confirmed that The Art of Super Mario Odyssey is going to see a stateside release. According to Dark Horse, The Art of Super Mario Odyssey will be coming to North American retailers in October, and the price will be $49....

It’s odd to consider that it’s been the better part of a decade since the initial release of Valve’s digital distribution network, Steam. Over the years, the service has become ubiquitous for PC gaming, both for direct distribution of titles and for management of online communities. In 2008, Valve launched the Steamworks developer package–a suite of tools designed to closely integrate games with Steam and its attendant services. While many developers have taken advantage of Steamworks for individual tools (such as voice-chat and anti-cheating measures), it looks like its highest profile user will roll out in November....

As promised, Naughty Dog has unveiled the latest DLC bundle for The Last of Us, which we now know is titled the ‘Grounded’ bundle. Provided any last minute announcements, we suspect this is the last piece of post-release content for That Last of Us, and as ND as previously announced the bundle will be packaged in with The Last of Us Remastered on PS4. Strangely, the ‘Grounded’ bundle for The Last of Us is a piecemeal offering, with each element (gun, weapon, map, ability) carrying a different price tag....

For a game to market itself as a movie tie-in is, in most circumstances, an admittance of mediocrity. Sometimes though, the line isn’t quite so black and white. As of late, the Transformers series has found a great amount of success with its titles that act independently from Michael Bay’s cinematic universe. It looks like the two worlds could find themselves colliding in a very real way with the recently-announced Transformers: Rise of the Dark Spark....

In sad news, development of the massively multiplayer online battle royale game Mavericks: Proving Grounds has been canceled. Development is being halted following the studio behind the game, Automaton Games, running into financial issues. Mavericks was far enough along in development to be running alpha tests, with its most recent test running on July 26. A public beta had been planned for November. It just goes to show just how sudden and surprising Mavericks’ cancellation is for everyone involved....

Spider-Man: Miles Morales is a title by Insomniac Games and it is a follow-up to the positively received Spider-Man game of 2018. This game serves more as an expansion rather than a full sequel but that doesn’t mean it does not provide a whole new universe on its own. Despite being smaller in scale and length, Spider-Man: Miles Morales still serves up quite a few great locations casual gamers will not immediately notice....

With each passing year, video games become more complex. Especially within the past decade, open-world games have proven to be a pretty general canvas for many different types of experiences. The possibilities are virtually endless. A large amount of open-world games these days are RPGs, filled with complex stats and skill trees. However, there are many that fall outside of the classification of role-playing game. Some of the best take a vastly different approach....

The fourth generations of consoles, which took place, roughly speaking, between 1987 and 1994, saw the emergence of the 16-bit consoles. These consisted of the TurboGrafx-16, the Sega Genesis, and the Super Nintendo Entertainment System. The early years of video games were not like they are today, especially when it comes to licensed games. Licensed games were not only widely accepted but were also some of the best games on their respective system, with Disney games being the prime example of this....

God Of War has become somewhat of an icon in the gaming community, bludgeoning thousands of enemies from minions to gods. The combat is what makes Kratos’ journey so engaging, with such a wide variety of attacks and defenses throughout the series. The boss battles throughout changed the scenery of gaming. Lengthy, chaotic clashes that will fully demonstrate the capabilities of the player’s infuriated avatar. From man to god, Kratos always manages to impress with either blade or magic....

Fans of FromSoftware titles such as the Dark Souls series admire the devs for their take on challenging titles. After all, the Souls popularize the gaming adage of “git gud,” and its fans always felt challenged to dominate every FromSoftware release since. However, some fans also admire the Souls series for its captivating lore. Outside the stressful and technical battles, players can relish in discovering the true nature of Souls in the story....

Released in 2017, Cuphead is the perfect blend of retro run and gun action and fresh new ideas. The game is both an homage to the classic genre and to old cartoons from the 1930s. The gameplay is so smooth and addicting, you are probably looking for something more to play after finally beating all the bosses. Play any of the ten games below for similar thrills. Most of them are side-scrolling, but a few take the hectic action into a 3D space or top-down perspective....

Destiny 2’s latest expansion, Beyond Light, is the next step in Destiny 2’s story, and with it comes new content and a plethora of changes. Destiny players certainly appreciate engaging new content, but it’s worth remembering that the game has a history of not exactly being the most sensical. With its latest expansion, the same still holds true. While the new content may be a clear shift in a new direction for the first-person shooter RPG, there are still some things in Destiny 2: Beyond Light that just don’t make any sense....