GamerFeed

It's a CO-OP roundtable on what makes multiplayer shooters so special. Why do some succeed and others fail? Join as we go over some of the biggest shooters of this year and yesteryear and try to get to the bottom of what makes some stick while others flounder. Also, big thanks to Astro Gaming for providing the freakin' awesome 5.1 headsets used in this week's show. - GamerFeed

While PlayStation 3 owners have had ample time to try out EA's Dante's Inferno demo for most of December, Xbox 360 gamers had to wait till Christmas Eve to "Go to Hell". Feel free to drop your thoughts on what the Visceral Games project feels like to you. Is this a promising new series on the rise? Or just a phantom of God of War? Or perhaps something in between. If you haven't had the time to take a stab at the game with the busy holiday weekend and/or massive glut of quality games already out, we've taken the liberty of capturing the 360-version of the demo for you below.   Watch Larger Version | Watch HD Version - GamerFeed

Here's one from the rumor-mill: Word on the internet is EA is creating a new football game for the Wii, but it's not a Madden title. Instead, "NFL Trainer" aims to get players to participate in football exercises and workouts. It will give you advice on how to throw passes and, presumably, do other football-style actions. Rumor has it the game will come with a pigskin shaped attachment to add realism. Supposedly, the game will be officially announced in January. I think this is a fantastic idea -- games that use the Wii to inspire people to exercise seem to appeal mostly to women, so using the Wii for male gamers who want to get a little exercise would actually work really well... That's assuming it's Wii Fit for football fans, but if it's just a collection of Wii-centric football mini-games, that's cool too. Football is good, and EA trying to expand their position as the home of video game comedy makes perfect sense. Rumors that the Oakland Raiders are investing in this game for its... - GamerFeed

According to website TorrentFreak, the most pirated game of 2009 was Modern Warfare 2, crushing all the competition. The game was reportedly downloaded 4,100,000 times for the PC and 907,000 times for the 360. As for the Wii, the most downloaded title of 2009, by far, was Super Mario Bros. Wii which was downloaded 1,150,000 times. As far as illicit downloading itself: It's going strong, sadly. This year, the most downloaded titles more than doubled last year's numbers, equaling the growth in uTorrent users. Please understand, pirates, if you continue stealing content in this way, eventually, the budgets of games will have to be cut, honest consumers will be forced to put up with more Draconian anti-piracy measures, and game companies will lose money. No one wants that, do they? When you've finished contemplating the moral implications of your hobbies, click the "Source" link for the full list of most torrented games of the year. Source: TorrentFreak - GamerFeed

Evan Wells is co-president of Naughty Dog, and right now he's got to be feeling pretty good about life. His studio has been racking up awards for their stellar Uncharted 2: Among Thieves, the follow-up to their PlayStation 3 debut Uncharted: Drake's Fortune. On the day that they received X-Play's award for 2009 Game of the Year, he made some extra time to talk with us about Uncharted 2's development cycle, including what they were (and weren't) happy with, how difficult it is to design a game's ending, the decision to include multiplayer, and the inherent coolness of trains. G4: In the first official meeting to discuss the sequel to Uncharted, what did you guys sit down and talk about? What decisions were made? Evan Wells: One of the first things we did was we generated a list of the touchstones of what we thought the Uncharted franchise was, and the things that we wanted to make sure to honor while we were trying to expand and grow and bring a new experience to the players. So we hit... - GamerFeed

Duke Nukem is like the worst girlfriend you ever had: The short time you spent together was amazing -- maybe the best time of your life -- but then she's gone. Every time you start to get over her, an email, phone message or Facebook update brings her memory back into focus, and you miss her all over again. Today's Duke Nuke message: According to 3D Realms' CEO Scott Miller, there is more Duke on the way. "The next few years should see a strong resurgence in Duke," Miller says in the first issue of Gamesauce. "There are numerous other Duke games in various stages of development, several due out this year. We are definitely looking to bring Duke into casual gaming spaces, plus there are other major Duke games in production... Almost all of these [projects] are unannounced," Miller said. The games Miller alludes to are likely a pair of iPhone games (yay?), the release of the Duke Nukem Trilogy for the DS and PSP, and. just maybe, Duke Nukem Forever, the game that's been in development... - GamerFeed

Three live Paul McCartney tracks will be arriving as Rock Band and Rock Band 2 DLC on Jan. 5th. The “New York City Pack 01” in the Rock Band Music Store contains a trio of tracks recorded during the former Beatles' historic three-night musical christening of New York's Citi Field. This is McCartney’s solo debut on the Rock Band platform. Here are the tracks: "Band on the Run (live),” “ Jet (live)” and “Sing the Changes (live).” These tracks will be available Jan. 5 for the Xbox 360 and Wii and Jan. 7 for PlayStation3. They will cost the usual price of $3.99 for the whole pack and $1.99 if you buy 'em one song at a time. What do you think? Are you excited for these tracks, or is this more like music your grandparents listen to? - GamerFeed

Microsoft's Xbox Live director of programming, Major Nelson, will be our guest host on the Kotaku call-in podcast this week, filling in for ... me. The good Major joins Crecente live, Wednesday, ready to field your live calls. Major Nelson will talk about anything Live-related that you can dream of. Such as: Why is there no Xbox Live Platinum membership? (I'm sure you can do better!) He follows the Kotaku Talk Radio guest-appearance trail-blazing of Amy Hennig, Ken Levine, Tim Schafer, Cliff Bleszinski, Jeremiah Slaczka, and Randy Pitchford. And that was just 2009. On Wednesday at 11am Kotaku Time (that's 1pm ET, 10am PT), you will be able to call in and ask Major Nelson anything you want. Look for a reminder post about the podcast at 10:55 AM mountain time (12:55 ET) on Wednesday. The post will include call-in info so you can ask your questions. The show will be live at 11am MT, 1pm ET. I'll expect to hear you calling our switchboard then. - GamerFeed

The PlayStation 3 might be only about halfway through its 10 year cycle, but that isn't stopping some from making predictions about the inside of the PlayStation 4. Technology writer Hiroshige Goto thinks Sony will be dropping the Cell processor from the PlayStation 3 in favor of a "PC-like multicore setup." Goto's guess is based on some inter-industry conversations between Sony and game developers in which Sony asked what they wanted to see in the next-gen Sony system. After, I assume, careful consideration, Toshiba and IBM teamed with Sony to address the wants and needs of publishers. The result, according to Goto, may be a PS4 without a cell processor. As for when we might see this Cell-less PlayStation 4, Goto predicts it could come as early as 2012. He says that because Sony, Microsoft and Nintendo, are looking into architecture solutions now, the next generation will come in two years because it takes 24 months to take a system from concept to production. Source: Andria Sang - GamerFeed

Capcom has recently outsourced a number of projects to western developers, including the upcoming Dead Rising 2. It appears that they will continue with that strategy going forward, but with more defined roles for western development houses and Capcom's in-house teams. In a Q&A on the company's investor relations site (via Joystiq), a Capcom representative writes that the Bionic Commando reboot "demonstrated the difficulty of outsourcing the development of [a] new title to overseas companies." Developed by the now defunct GRIN, the reboot received mixed reviews when it was released earlier this year. In light of that experience, Capcom is considering giving franchises with "well-established characters and universal themes" to international developers. Should they go forward with this new strategy, it wouldn't be surprising to see the likes of Resident Evil outsourced to western studios. - GamerFeed

Paul McCartney starred in Citi Field's inaugural concert back in July, an event which was later released on the live album Good Evening New York City. Selections from that album will soon be making its way to the Rock Band Music Store, marking McCartney's solo debut on the platform. Harmonix will release New York City Pack 01 early next month, with the three available tracks including "Band on the Run (Live)," "Jet (Live)" and "Sing the Changes (Live)." The pack will be available through both the Rock Band and Lego Rock Band music stores. The tracks will be available individually for $1.99, or as a pack for $5.49. Look for it January 5 on the Wii and Xbox 360, and January 7 on the PlayStation 3. - GamerFeed

We're looking backwards over 2009, and pulling up some of the funniest videos X-Play ever brought to you. You're welcome!Please enjoy part one of "Sess Rider," in which X-Play host Adam Sessler finally gets out of the studio and into a talkative car. Watch Larger Version of this Video - GamerFeed

You'll be in for one helluva fight in the upcoming Mass Effect 2. The latest trailers out of EA and BioWare offer visually-detailed (full cinematic trailer below) views with a close-up the assassin Thane and savage Grunt on the finer points of why they're joining Commander Shepard's latest sortie. Watch Larger Version | Watch HD Version Click through for the Grunt and Thane "Why They Fight" videos. Watch Larger Version | Watch HD Version   Watch Larger Version | Watch HD Version - GamerFeed

Rock Band is gearing up for another batch of country DLC this week. The "Going Country Pack 02" will include many of the songs that were previously exclusive to the standalone Rock Band Country Track Pack disc. Xbox 360 and Wii owners can start their downloads tomorrow, December 29. PlayStation 3 owners will unfortunately have to wait until Thursday, January 7 for their country western fix. Individual tracks are set for the usual $1.99 (160 Microsoft points; 200 Wii Points) apiece, while the seven-track bundle will set you back $10.99 (880 Microsoft points). The full list of upcoming DLC follows: "Good Time" by Alan Jackson "Cry Lonely" by Cross Canadian Ragweed "She's Country" by Jason Aldean "I Told You So" by Keith Urban "The Gambler" by Kenny Rogers "This One's For the Girls" by Martina McBride "Any Man of Mine" Shania Twain - GamerFeed

.dots { border-bottom: 1px dotted #666; clear: both; } ul.item { margin: 0px; padding: 0px; list-style-type: none; } .item li { margin: 0px 0px 10px 0px; padding: 0px 0px 10px 0px; display: block; width: 190px; float: left; } .item li img { width: 190px; height: 100px; } li.padding { padding: 0 25px 0 25px; } The Best of 1UP 2009 The best features, videos, podcasts, and reviews from 1UP, all in one convenient location. By 1UP Staff We put out a lot of content in a year, and it's hard to condense that down to the best of the best, but that's exactly what you've got right here. The biggest news stories, buzz-generating reviews, and thought-provoking features all in one easy-to-access location. You can also catch-up on a few of our can't-miss videos and poscasts. But one of the things we're most excited about is still the site iself. From the front page to our blog editor, we made some big improvements to the site this year. We've not only got the highest quality gaming content on the... - GamerFeed

When NVIDIA unveiled its next-generation, DX11 GPU this past October, it was clear that part, codenamed Fermi, was headed in the same direction as Intel's "Larrabee"—i.e., a fully programable, many-core, through-put oriented processor with some graphics-specific hardware tacked on. If the latest rumor out of Taiwan is to be believed (in this case, it probably is) the similarities with the oft-delayed, effectively cancelled Larrabee product don't end at "many-core and programmable"—Fermi is being pushed back another whole quarter. Originally slated to launch this past November, then delayed until CES, Fermi is already late. But if NVIDIA really is pushing back the Fermi launch until March 2010 (the company hasn't responded yet to our inquiries), that will give AMD/ATI's "Evergreen" GPU family some three quarters of uncontested DX11 leadership. A multi-quarter delay in the launch of a flagship product is always bad news under any circumstances, but this development strikes NVIDIA at a... - GamerFeed