AMD Game! Initiative

AMD has partnered up with some other major players (Logitech, Microsoft, Alienware, Dell, HP, and others) in the PC gaming hardware arena to simplify the consumers' search for gaming-compatible PCs. Essentially, they're arguing that 2/3rds of all PCs that were sold last year were not capable of running current-generation games and that this travesty has to stop. I blame their choices of video cards. Yes, it keeps the pricing of computers down, but when you go to Best Buy a lot of gamers want to buy a PC capable of running current and upcoming games at least decently well. A choice would be nice, as well. Meaning, the stores and brands have to offer AT LEAST two models capable of playing games. I applaud this initiative and I hope it builds upon the PC gaming experiences in the near and far future. See this article for more information.

New ZeroPunctuation Review: GTAIV

Watch the new Zero Punctuation review of GTA IV!

GRID demo online

For those of you that don't know, the GRID demo is now available for download via Playstation Network and XBL. I got my hands on the PS3 version of the demo, and I must say, for someone that loves racing games and plays them quite a bit, this demo is difficult on the regular difficulty. Despite the steep learning curve, the game shows a ton of promise. The physics constantly keep the player in check. On the BMW touring level, damage plays a huge role in how your car handles. Also, once your car slides off the track into the dirt, it is likely you will completely lose control and spin out in a plethora of unintended directions, with beautiful clouds of dirt swirling around your vehicle. Yes, the screenshots that we have all seen from this game (some below) really show some beautiful images. And yes, the game looks even better in motion! If you haven't yet, download the demo now and play it a couple of times. It's worth it!

Gears of War 2!!!

For all you game fanatics, I'm sure you are aware that Epic is planning to release GOW2 for this holiday season, chock full of fantastic new technology that allows all sorts of cool gameplay. Check out some gameplay footage below:

Metal Gear Solid 4

It's been a couple of weeks, but I'm back and ready to keep you all up to date on all of the gaming goodness that interests me. Right now, Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots is looking better than any other MGS to date. According to Kojima, the camera issues have been eliminated for this installment. My major gripe with the series is the unrelenting stress that the camera angles would induce upon the player. Instead of having a free-flowing third-person camera behind the avatar, the previous MGS games had a much less user-friendly camera setup. If that issue is fixed, I bet this game is the best out on the PS3 this year (with some stiff competition from SOCOM and Resistance 2).

Check out the video, courtesy of Gamespot:

Sierra's on a roll!

Sierra appears to be on a roll with the new games! Prototype looks fantastic, and hopefully it will provide hours of open-world fun and superhuman abilities that I enjoyed with Crackdown on the 360. Here's a couple of links to previews: at Gamespot, at 1up, and at IGN.

Bad news is that Prototype is scheduled to release on June 15th, which is three days after Metal Gear Solid 4.

Who YOU gonna call?

Despite all of the GTAIV mayhem that's occurring nationwide this week, I'm still looking at other games that interest me and I've found a great video of an interview with the president of Terminal Reality, Mark Randall. Terminal Reality, as it turns out, is developing the new Ghostbusters game for Sierra.