Editor's note: Jeff's history lesson provides a sobering -- and hilarious -- look at the history of gaming peripherals. It's a must-read for anyone excited about Project Natal or Sony's wand controllers. -Brett

---

Maybe you've seen them at your local video game shop: piles of odd looking plug-ins, add-ons, and thingamajiggers in the corner collecting dust, over-excited proclamations screaming from their worn boxes -- "FULL BODY ACTION!" "Everything else is child's play!" "Now nothing comes between you and the game!" 

What are they? Gaming's forgotten history, that's what. A history that could possibly repeat itself with the heaps of futuristic peripherals coming out from Sony, Microsoft, and Nintendo.

Not that I blame them for trying to sell gamers on the future. The positive perception of any video game company is fueled by technophiles in lust. However, if the technophiles would stuff their e-boners back into their file and think back a decade or two, they might remember that while the tech has improved, the promises haven't changed much.

And if they don't remember, I'm here to help: Here are five gaming technologies that were ahead of their time -- and the lessons companies can learn from them today.

> Read more

We finally get to kick ass in ancient Greece, sans whatever type of  proto-bubblegum they had back in those days.

News Blips:

The demo for God of War 3 is now available on the PlayStation Network. The download contains the same content showcased at last year's E3, to remind players just what all the fuss is about. Don't forget to stop and "assist" any suggestive-looking ladies on the way to CHAOS. [PlayStation Blog]

Bungie: not making PlayStation 3 games (at least not yet). While the team is busy working on the upcoming Halo: Reach, community manager Brian Jarrard says that the decision to go forward with any potential PS3 titles is "undefined right now." I'd love to see a Metal Gear Solid remake with Master Chief somehow shoehorned into the zany plot, but they probably aren't taking suggestions. [CVG]

Blizzard opposes account sharing during the Starcraft 2 beta test. While the punishment doesn't necessarily involve a permanent ban, community manager Stefanie Gwinner reminds testers that "sharing your account is not allowed." [Inc Gamers]

At a press event held yesterday, Nintendo VP of Sales and Marketing Cammie Dunaway said that she doesn't expect a successor to the Wii "anytime soon." While the Wii currently sits in more households than the PlayStation 2 did at the same point in its life cycle, Dunaway is confident of finding "a big audience out there that [they] can access with Wii." You're not fooling me, Dunaway: I know world-domination plans when I see them. [GameSpot]

> Read more

Editor's note: Sometimes, it's not just a rushed release that hurts a licensed product. Kevin takes a look at all the factors that were working againt Avatar: The Game from the very start. -Shoe

---

Ubisoft loses money on an Avatar gamble and now says it will reduce its investment in movie licenses because AAA films' stringent release schedules do not mesh with the needs of AAA game titles.

But it wasn't a single factor that saw Avatar: The Game fail. Mismatched media goals, technology, and game identity all had a hand in its demise.

> Read more

Let's hope this General Knoxx thing turns out better than Mad Moxxi....

Video Blips:

• Those Geabox guys sure know how to make a trailer. I have no idea what that narrator lady was even talking about in this Borderlands: The Secret Armory of General Knoxx DLC teaser, but I am in. [GameVideos]

Continue after the break for an iPhone-ified Street Fighter 4, a Metal Gear: Arcade trailer, a peak at some of the more cunning moves in Red Steel 2, and a preview of the new Army of Two: The 40th Day DLC.

> Read more

Editor's note: Brian shares with us how he gained confidence as a writer. It's a moving piece, and I hope it inspires those of you who may have doubts about your own writing prowess. It's hard to improve if you don't actually write, after all. -Jason

---

Nine years ago, when I was 8 inches shorter, I received a paper from an imposing figure. This piece of paper -- my first essay of the year -- was on the transition from nomadic to agrarian societies. Despite my best efforts, I received a D on my 10th grade history paper. At the time, I thought my writing career was over.

I'd grown accustomed to receiving As before that point -- in part because I went to a low-income middle school that didn't value its students. At my school, we didn't receive instruction in elementary grammar; we were left to fend for ourselves in a brutal world of paper and pens. Sadly, my math education wasn't any better.

During the sixth grade, I was one of the four students in prealgebra because I excelled in arithmetic while in elementary school. The teachers didn't have room for us, however, so we were left to study on our own in the hallway. As you can imagine, we got nothing done, but somehow we passed despite not knowing the fundamentals.

Unfortunately, this caused me to miss out on a number of important algebraic techniques, so I didn't understand certain concepts in future classes. I went from being someone who was extremely confident with math to someone who absolutely hated it. The reason I mention this is because my writing experience was similar.

> Read more

It's hard to believe that this great piece of filmmaking was done by someone who wasn't even born when Super Mario Bros. 3 was released for the NES. A 21-year-old YouTuber named smartkid82504 used some cardboard, paper, glue, and colored pencils to recreate the first five minutes of one of the best platformers ever released [Technabob via Gearbox]:

The author only needed 36 hours to set up this one minute of video. With the same tools and amount of time, I might be able to come up with a movie of two stick figures shooting each other with L-shaped pistols.

> Read more

Page 1: #-E

---

#

---

 

3D Dot Game Heroes -- The Hero's Tomb

3D Dot Game Heroes -- Water Temple

The 7th Guest -- The Game

The 7th Guest -- Skeletons in My Closet

 

---

A

---

Ace Attorney Investigations: Miles Edgeworth -- Shi-Long Lang: Speak Up Pup!

Achievement Unlocked -- Main Theme*

Actraiser -- Bloodpool Theme

Actraiser -- Offering 

Actraiser -- Peaceful World

The Addams Family -- The Portrait Gallery

Advance Wars -- Grit's Theme

Advance Wars: Dual Strike -- Lash's Theme

Afterlife -- Track 2

Air Zonk -- Cyber City

Aladdin -- Arab Rock

Alan Wake -- Up Jumped the Devil by Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds

Alien Hominid -- Main Theme

Amped 3 -- Menage a Brahs Rap

Animal Crossing -- K.K. Ballad

Animal Crossing -- K. K. Soul

Apollo Justice: Ace Attorney -- Troupe Gramarye 

Aquaria -- The Light

Aquaria -- The Traveler

Aquaria -- Undiscovered Waters

Art Style: Light Trax -- Spectra 1*

Assassin's Creed 2 -- Ezio's Family 

Assassin's Creed 2 -- Venice Rooftops

Astyanax -- Stage 1 

 

---

B

---

 

 

Bad Dudes -- Stage 2

Baten Kaitos: Eternal Wings and the Lost Ocean -- Violet Storm

Banjo-Kazooie -- Gobi's Valley

Banjo Tooie -- Jiggywiggy's Temple*

Batman -- Stage 2*

Batman -- Streets of Desolation

Battlefield Heroes -- Main Theme

Beyond Good and Evil -- Home Sweet Home

Bionic Commando -- Bionic Commando (Rusko Remix)

Bionic Commando -- Stage 1

Bionic Commando Rearmed -- Main Theme Remix

BioShock -- Beyond the Sea by Bobby Darin

BioShock -- Cohen's Masterpiece

BioShock -- Welcome to Rapture

BioShock 2 -- Waking Up in 1959

Bit.Trip Beat -- Transition

Black Sigil: Blade of the Exiled -- Parting Ways

Blaster Master -- Area 1 Music

BlazBlue: Calamity Trigger -- Rebellion (Ragna's Theme)

Blue Dragon -- Waterside

Blueberry Garden -- Valse by Daduk

Body Harvest -- Indoor Music*

Boom Blox -- Main Theme

Boom Blox -- Tiki Sacred Honor

Borderlands -- Ain't No Rest for the Wicked by Cage the Elephant

Borderlands -- No Heaven by DJ Champion

Braid -- Downstream

Brave Fencer Musashi -- Allucaneat Palace Theme

Breath of Fire 2 -- Fly Pudding

Breath of Fire 2 -- Windia

Brütal Legend -- Die For Metal by Manowar

Brütal Legend -- Girlfriend 

Bubble Bobble -- Main Theme (NES Version)

Bully -- Main Theme

Burning Rangers -- We Are Burning Rangers

Burnout Paradise -- Paradise City by Guns N' Roses

Bust a Groove -- 2 Bad

Bust a Groove -- Natural Playboy

Bust-a-Move -- Theme (Arcade Version)

 

---

C

---

 

Call of Duty -- Call of Duty

Call of Duty -- Red Square

Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare -- The Coup

Canabalt -- Main Theme

Capcom vs. SNK -- Sign

Castle Crashers -- Forest Entrance

Castle Crashers -- Race Around the World

Castlevania -- Vampire Killer

Castlevania: Symphony of the Night -- I Am the Wind

Castlevania: Symphony of the Night -- Lost Painting

Castlevania: Symphony of the Night -- Wood Carving Partita

Cave Story  -- Mischievous Robot (REMIX)

Cave Story -- Eyes of Flame

Cave Story -- Moonsong

Chime -- Brazil by Philip Glass Ensemble

Chip 'n Dale: Rescue Rangers -- Stage J

Chrono Cross -- Dream of the Shore Bordering Another World

Chrono Cross -- Dream of the Shore Near Another World

Chrono Cross -- Magical Dreamers

Chrono Cross -- Magical Dreamers: Wind, Stars, and Waves

Chrono Cross -- The Scars of Time

Chrono Cross -- Star-Stealing Girl

Chrono Trigger -- At the Bottom of Night

Chrono Trigger -- The Brink of Time Track 1 (REMIX)

Chrono Trigger -- Chrono Trigger

Chrono Trigger -- Corridors of Time

Chrono Trigger -- Guardia Millenial Fair

Chrono Trigger -- Schala's Theme

Chrono Trigger -- To Far Away Times 

Chrono Trigger -- To Far Away Times (REMIX)

Chrono Trigger and Chrono Cross -- Chrono Trigger/Chrono Cross Themes by Play! Symphony

Chu Chu Rocket -- Theme

Civilization 4 -- Baba Yetu

Clay Fighter -- Title Screen

Command and Conquer: Red Alert 3 -- Hell March 3

The Company of Myself -- Theme*

Conker's Bad Fur Day -- Great Mighty Poo

Conker's Bad Fur Day -- Windy

Contra -- Stage 1*

Contra 3: The Alien Wars -- The Final Gauntlet (Part 1, 2, & 3)

Courier Crisis -- Keep Your Hands on the Boogie by Hot Chicken Stew

Courier Crisis -- What You Believe by Big Drill Car

Crazy Taxi 2 -- No Brakes by The Offspring

Croc: Legend of the Gobbos -- And So the Adventure Begins

Cruis'n Exotica -- Menu 1

 

---

D

---

 

Dark Cloud -- Main Theme

Dark Cloud 2 -- Rainbow Butterfly Woods

Dark Void -- Main Theme

Darksiders -- Darksiders Theme

Darkstalkers 3 -- Fetus of God

Darkwing Duck -- Title

Daytona USA -- Let's Go Away

Deadly Premonition -- FBI Special Agent

Deadly Premonition -- Life is Beautiful

Deadly Premonition -- The Woods and the Goddess

Déjà Vu -- Theme of Ace Harding*

Deus Ex -- Main Theme

Deus Ex: Human Revolution -- Theme*

Devil May Cry -- Flock Off!

Devil May Cry 3 -- Devils Never Cry

Disgaea: Hour of Darkness -- Beautiful Rondo

Donkey Kong Country -- Aquatic Ambiance

Donkey Kong 64 -- DK Rap

DonPachi -- Stage 1*

Doom -- Main Theme

Dr. Mario Online Rx -- Fever

Dr. Robotnik's Mean Bean Machine -- Password Screen*

Dragon Quest VIII -- Overture 

Dragon Warrior -- Battle Theme

Duck Tales -- The Moon

 

---

E

---

 

Earthbound -- Giygas' Theme (Pokey Means Business)

Earthbound -- Kraken of the Sea

Ecco the Dolphin -- Opening Theme

Echocrome -- Prime 5

Einhänder -- Street

The Elder Scrolls 3: Morrowind -- Theme

The Elder Scrolls 4: Oblivion -- Harvest Dawn

The Elder Scrolls 4: Oblivion -- King and Country

The Elder Scrolls 4: Oblivion -- Main Theme

Embodiment of the Scarlet Devil -- Beloved Tomboyish Girl

Enemy Zero -- Agony

Eternal Darkness: Sanity's Requiem -- Gateway to Destiny

Eternal Darkness: Sanity's Requiem -- The Gift of Forever and Ram Dao 

Eternal Sonata -- Pyroxene of the Heart

> Read more

Editor's note: The state of Japanese game development is an interesting subject. It's weird that, right now, I'm enjoying two very different RPG experiences -- one from Japan (Demon's Souls), and one from American (Dragon Age). And I'm really digging the Japanese game. Are you troubled by the state of Japanese development? -Jason

 

---

The 2009 Tokyo Game Show's over and done with, and very little big news came out of the event. Sadly, instead of returning to the U.S. excited about what's on the horizon from the country that used to be the de-facto leader of the gaming world, the press slunk back, seemingly dismayed at the state of development in Japan.

Even with huge titles like Final Fantasy 13 and The Last Guardian on the way, a pall hovers above the Japanese horizon because their leadership in the games realm seems to be coming to an end.

In a September 28 post, Brian Crecente of Kotaku.com said that this year's TGS revealed "an industry scrambling to stay relevant in an increasingly Westernized gaming world."

Crecente's story went on to say that "Capcom's famed developer Keiji Inafune, the man behind such hits as Mega Man, Onimusha, and Dead Rising, warned that Japanese game development has one foot in the grave."

 

> Read more

Editor's note: In the grand tradition of Folgers instant coffee commercials, I plan to switch out the innards of this multimillion dollar medical device with a Boong-Ga Boong-Ga arcade cabinet. Let's see if he notices the difference! -Demian

 

---

Pilots are one thing -- you know, since they shoot the "enemy" -- but now doctors will benefit from video game playing, as well? I came across the above scan in a promotional flier at a local hospital in Redlands, CA earlier today. Personally, I don't know if I'd trust a doctor looking into the first iteration of Nintendo's Virtual Boy to cut me up...would you?

> Read more

Editor's Note: Get confused whenever you get ready to fire up one of your favorite multiplayer games or when you're trying to figure out if you have enough Xbox Live Points to buy the latest downloadable treat? Andrew Hiscock shares some of the things he feels are most confusing about games today. -Jason

---

Videogame players have a remarkable ability to decipher complicated phenomena. Take your average videogame website. If you can navigate IGN.com, you deserve an honorary degree in geography. These skills are developed in dealing with our chosen hobby. User interfaces, hardware connectivity, and even the very games we play have developed a new tier of problem solving for humanity.

Should the world at large ever take these skills seriously, they would find a readily available segment of the population ready to be air-traffic controllers, IT consultants, and mediators for Middle East peace talks. If you can figure out any of the phenomena listed below, you'll be able to impress any old professor of quantum mechanics.

> Read more

Welcome to Bitmob.com, your resource for the hottest companies in [insert your city here]. Whether looking for a long-term relationship or something to spice things up on the side, you'll find a videogame company that offers deep connectivity and intuitive user interfaces, no matter who you are! Good luck, and happy merging, acquisitioning, and buy-outting!

Sega
Likes: What Nintendon't, Retro style, Pachinko
Dislikes: Console Manufacturing, Long dev times, New IPs
"Hi, all out there. A while ago I broke up with consoles, and now I'm playing the field. I'm happy where I am, and I'm not looking for commitment, just a night on the town and we'll see what happens. I'm a restless spirit, but don't call me whore, I'm just living my life!"

> Read more

Editor's note: Poindexters, set your brains to "analyze." Andrew Hiscock comes back with another ridiculously researched piece that is quite interesting if you take the time to follow it through. Which you should! -Greg

---

If you've checked out some of my more statistics-focused articles (NeoGAF charts and Critically Acclaimed Retail Bombs), you know that I enjoy playing around with numbers. My last such article had me knee deep in gamerankings.com numbers. This work made me ask a series of questions that were irrelevant to my purposes at the time, so this time out, I decided to see if I could find those answers. First, I wanted to know how the games for each console are doing four years into the current generation. Secondly, I wanted to know how these games are doing over time. With this in mind, I ran out and got the gamerankings scores for every single current generation console game (with 5 reviews or more), and played around with the numbers a bit. The results are below.

Aggregate Aggregator

Fig. 1: Average review aggregate scores by console, year by year

The first figure represents the average review aggregates for all games (5 reviews or more) in a given year for each console. This includes everything for each console that has received 5 or more reviews -- retail releases, downloads, retro games, everything. The raw numbers are given below.

> Read more

Editor's note: Andrew whips out the TI-86 graphing calculator again and turns its withering, number-crunching gaze on the biggest sales disappointments of this console generation. Armchair analysts will find some pretty fascinating stuff in here, especially in the genre breakdowns after the jump. -Demian

 

---

Concluding my series of articles on top bombs for the current generation of consoles, I will now round up all the titles to compare the biggest bombs from this generation. Using the AURA index ("Achieved Under Review Aggregate", click here for more info on this scoring system), I have balanced scores and sales data to look at the biggest commercial bombs that were critical hits.

A brief introduction, if you haven't seen my earlier articles. The better the review score, the higher the AURA score. The lower the sales as a ratio to a console's install base, the higher the AURA score. An example of how it works: When comparing two games with equal sales, the game with the higher review score will be the bigger bomb. Likewise with sales: When comparing two games with an equal review scores, the lower-selling as a factor of console install base will be the bigger bomb. And a final clarification, if a game has a higher review aggregate, it can sell more copies while still remaining a bomb, under the assumption that games with higher scores will sell more. The rule: the larger the AURA score, the larger the bomb.

Follow the links to see the previous lists featuring console-specific bombs: Top Ten Wii Bombs, Top Ten Xbox 360 Bombs, Top Ten PS3 Bombs.

The following list was created using data from gamerankings.com and vgchartz.com. The 228 games across all platforms that scored an 80 or above on gamerankings.com (an arbitrary line that denotes "consensus critical hit") were scored using the AURA system. And for the sake of continuity, I have two lists, one with sports titles, one without.

TOP 25 CURRENT CONSOLE GENERATION CRITICAL HITS/RETAIL BOMBS
25. MLB Power Pros - Wii - .69
24. Guitar Hero: Metallica - Wii - .71
23. Pinball Hall of Fame - The Williams Collection - Wii - .75
22. Virtua Fighter 5 Online - Xbox 360 - .82
21. Sonic's Ultimate Genesis Collection - Xbox 360 - .83
20. Okami - Wii - .87
19. Tales of Vesperia - Xbox 360 - .87
18. Eternal Sonata - PS3 - .98
17. Punch Out!! - Wii - 1.00
16. Viva Pinata: Trouble in Paradise - Xbox 360 - 1.18
15. NHL 2K7 - Xbox 360 - 1.24
14. Bully: Scholarship Edition - Wii - 1.25
13. The House of the Dead: Overkill - Wii - 1.26
12. The Chronicles of Riddick: Assault on Dark Athena - Xbox 360 - 1.26
11. The Chronicles of Riddick: Assault on Dark Athena - PS3 - 1.44
10. Zack & Wiki Quest for Barbaros' Treasure - Wii - 1.46
9. Mad World - Wii - 1.47
8. FlatOut: Ultimate Carnage - Xbox 360 - 1.60
7. Geometry Wars: Galaxies - Wii - 1.70
6. Pro Evolution Soccer 2008 - Wii - 1.81
5. MLB Power Pros 2008 - Wii - 1.88
4. Rune Factory Frontier - Wii - 3.91
3. Boom Blox Bash Party - Wii - 4.38
2. Klonoa - Wii - 5.35
1. Pro Evolution Soccer 2009 - Wii - 8.75

> Read more

Editor's note: We were fully in the grip of E3 when this mock profile of Mario was first posted, so we totally missed it -- in case you did, too, we're promoting it now. (Oh, and if any lawyers are reading and it's not already completely clear, this is a parody.) -Demian

 

---

I'm standing at the intersection of Warp Pipe and Vine, and I can hear the subject of my latest interview before I see him. About a block away, I can hear his 150 cc golden car power slide through a red light, and the characteristic slot machine sound of a power up queuing up as he bowls through an Item Box. He skids to a halt directly in front of me as I jump back from the curb.

"Get the fuck in, I got a Golden Mushroom here, and we got to let the lead out." The attitude is betrayed by a singsong farce of an Italian accent.

I jump into the back seat and with a "Let's a-go!" we are gone with a perfectly timed starter boost.

For better or worse, this is a day in the life of videogames' most famous character, Mario.

> Read more

Editor's Note: We're still trying to figure out how Brainiac here had the time to dissect the Big 3 press conferences from E3 2009 like this. Andrew's thorough, final conclusions are below (click "Read more" for the full report). And if you missed them, don't miss his individual studies, too -- very interesting info in each of them. -Shoe

Nintendo press conference report
Microsoft press conference report
Sony press conference report

---

Click here to see the full size graph

First and foremost, you'll notice in the above graph that there are no "event landmarks." Due to the amount of landmarks across all press conferences, I've removed them from the graph, as it would be completely useless. If you would like to reference the landmarks in the above graph, please see the individual graphs below (click the image for full size):

Reaction to the Nintendo Conference

Reaction to the Sony Conference

Reaction to the Microsoft Conference

Abstract: After the totals of neogaf.com forum members' reactions for each one-minute interval were tallied and charted, we now have a basis on which to compare the reactions to each conference. We can also see patterns in the responses that can offer insight that will allow us to predict future responses to press conferences, or offer guidelines on how to develop press conferences that will impress NeoGAF, and perhaps by extension, hardcore gamers. If that's what you want to do (Nintendo probably doesn't, for one).

Comment Totals: "Who won E3," a consistent theme appearing in the threads studied, is beyond the scope of this informal study. Only the immediate reactions were tabulated, and plenty of discussion has occured in the week following the press conferences. But we can still take the sum total of comments for each press conference. The results are below:

> Read more

Abstract: The online community at NeoGAF.com focuses its attention almost exclusively on videogames. The conversations can be indecipherable to outsiders, even those familiar with videogames. This passionate group of fans is one of the most influential in the industry. During live events, specific threads provide insight into the reactions of the community. It is the intention of this study to reveal their real time reactions to such an event, Nintendo's E3 press conference held on June 2, 2009.

Methodology: In order to chart these reactions, I assigned a score to each comment. If a comment was optimistic or positive, it scored +1. If it was negative, it scored -1. NeoGAF time stamps each post to the minute, so for every minute interval during the press conference, the sum total of response scores were charted.

A Positive Remark: Any remark that was positive in nature, either optimistic for events that may happen within the conference or approving of events as they happened. These were restricted to the actual conference happenings.

A Negative Remark: Any remark that was negative in nature, either pessimistic of what was to come, or disapproving of events as they happened. These were restricted to the actual conference happenings.

> Read more

Editor's Note: More limerick awesomeness from Andrew We-Wonder-If-That's-His-Real-Last-Name. Also see his: Microsoft recap, Sony recap. -Shoe

---

There once was a company from Japan
Who had the casual market in hand
They left the hardcore
Wii Fit is a bore
Now Girl, age 12, is the average fan

Four-player Mario is unveiled
"The next hardcore title" it's hailed
PR spokeswoman Cammie
Her delivery uncanny
But in the game she actually failed

Wii Fit Plus was on display
Housewives thought it was okay
But they don't know
That it's just all show
And their cellulite won't go away

DS RPGs were aplenty
Because grinding is very trendy
There was no shock
And no excited talk
Because we knew about them already

The DSi and popular Facebook
Are now in connected cahoots
Snap and upload
But what of friend codes?
Pedophiles will finally get a look

Super Mario Galaxy was quite the hit
It made the executives all shit
Another core title
From Nintendo's idol
But they ask "Can it be like Wii Fit?"

Then President Iwata ran amok
With his replacement for the nunchuck
The Vitality Sensor
Electronic relaxer
And everyone asked, "What the Fuck?"

But there was one last game to reveal
One with some hardcore appeal
Team Ninja's "Project M"
It's Metroid again
Third or first person, what's the deal?

Haikus

Cammie Dunaway
She's slick, PR spokeswoman
Needs Style Savvy

Reggie shoots the ball
Keeping it real for the peeps
No! White men can't jump

Third parties win
So claims Nintendo's research
Shovelware still reigns

C - O - P Recruit
New open world DS game
Generic, thy name

No Miyamoto
He's still very embarrassed
Wii Music nightmares

> Read more

In other FAB-u-LOUS news, the Internet has uncovered more gameplay footage of Wiiware title Muscle March, the highly-anticipated (by me and maybe a couple other people) game about bodybuilders desperate to recover their jar of stolen steroids. I mean vitamin supplements. I mean amyl nitrate. Whatever, who knows what's in that magical jar? Just tackle that guy!

 

> Read more