I've seen the standard "burning home village" and "chosen one prophecy" reasons for embarking on a grand adventure plenty of times -- but "poked in the chest by a giant dragon" is a first for me.

Video Blips:

• Dragon's Dogma occurs when a Japanese flair for the dramatic combines with horny kings, talking dragons, and a medieval coat of paint. I'd be just as speechless as the protagonist if all hell broke loose just because I took a breather in a river.

Continue after the break for executing tangos in Ghost Recon: Future Soldier, an introduction to the squad members of Resident Evil: Operation Raccoon City, and the Vita visuals for the handheld version of Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3.

• This trailer for Ghost Recon: Future Soldier successfully includes all the necessary ingredients for a military shooter ad: frequent explosions, whooshing noises, and Steve Blum's voice. And I didn't even have to pick up a controller. The future of gaming right here, folks!

• The specialized squad members in Resident Evil: Operation Raccoon City ostensibly seek to turn each other into corpses while simultaneously fighting off undead corpses. I haven't seen such a celebration of death since that Cannibal Corpse concert I "stumbled" into.

• The PlayStation Vita version of Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3 brings the same level of crossover madness it always has -- but on a tinier screen. This consequently might result in one of those rare instances where flailing fingers actually harms your performance.