Going above and beyond their own call of duty, GameTrailers.com breaks down the latest Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 trailer depicting a heated multi-player match of capture the flag (new to the CoD franchise). The highly anticipated sequel to 2007’s CoD: Modern Warfare, Modern Warfare 2 will hit stores November 10, 2009.

[Gametrailers.com]

Due to the highly anticipated release of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2, many publishers have decided to postpone other notable titles until the Q1 of 2010 (Splinter Cell: Conviction, Bayonetta, Red Steel 2, among others). The full-on marketing blitz of MW2 advertises four different editions, the most elite “prestige” version sporting CoD branded night vision goggles.

Industry analysts expect MW2 to be one of the highest grossing entertainment releases to date, possibly surpassing Grand Theft Auto IV’s record currently held at slightly over $500 million in the first week.  This first look highlights the AC130 Killstreak which rewards players with their own plane.

Watch all the way to end…

Explosions coming from every corner of the frame? Check. Torched cars barreling through the air? Check. Dozens of bullets blanketing the screen? Check. Could this perhaps be the latest action-packed film from Michael Bay?! No, surprisingly its not. Its Gamer from directors Mark Neveldine and Brian Taylor. You know, Neveldine and Taylor. The gentlemen who brought us Crank and Crank: High Voltage.
Didn’t see them huh? Don’t sweat it, neither did I. That’s not to say they weren’t any good…I just never got around to seeing ‘em.

The duo’s latest film, Gamer, takes place in the not too distant future and follows Kabel (300’s Gerard Butler), one of many death-row inmates forced into participating in “Slayers”: an ultra-violent multi-player online game created by the reclusive twisted billionaire, Ken Castle (Michael C. Hall).

In Slayers inmates are controlled remotely through by high-paying participants using a pseudo-virtual mind control interface. To Kabel’s highly-skilled controller Simon, and the other paying customers, the inmates are nothing but disposable sacks of flesh that serve as a form of entertainment. Not only for them, but for the millions who tune in to watch Slayers online each week. However, to Kabel, Simon’s skill might be the key he needs to put a stop to Slayers and eliminate Castle.

Now if the core premise of inmates being forced to run a gauntlet of death and destruction in exchange for huge ratings sounds at all familiar to you, that’s because its been done before. You may recall a little film from 1987 called The Running Man which is based on the Stephen King novel of the same name.

Rather than sit around twiddling your thumbs while you wait for Lionsgate to release Gamer into theaters later this year on September 4th, perhaps you can ponder some of the following questions:

Pending Gamer warrants a sequel, I’ll bet dollars for donuts that they use a videogame-related term(s) in the film’s title. I can see the possibilities now: Slayers: Time Extended. Or Gamer: Powered-Up.

[FirstShowing.net]
[Gamer - official site]

This one really brings back some fond memories of my youth: Penny Racers! I must have owned at least two dozen of these cute little super deformed vehicles. The premise was simple: place a penny in a slot located on the back of the vehicle, wind its motor up by pulling it backwards along the floor and let it go. Now they were said to perform numerous different tricks, but for some reason I could only get the darn things to pop wheelies. In retrospect perhaps it was all about the placement of the penny.

At any rate, no longer are the days where I need worry about penny placement. No longer shall I plant my face on the living room floor, with a flashlight in one hand and a ruler in the other, as I attempt to recover my racer from underneath the couch. Those days are all but a memory. I have since moved on from playing with toys (instead I collect them), and have found an enjoyable alternative that doesn’t necessarily require the use of a penny and most likely won’t end up lost underneath my couch. That alternative is Penny Racers Party: Turbo-Q Speedway for the Nintendo Wii.

Hit the jump to join me as I rekindle the flame of my youth and to read my review of Penny Racers Party: Turbo-Q Speedway.

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What do you get when you mix 2-parts RPG with 1-part adventure and 4-parts multiplayer party game? You get Dokapon Kingdom: a unique title that sets out on a quest to surprise gamers of all ages by raising the bar on the party game genre.

Without question Dokapon Kingdom is definitely a unique game. Its as if developer Sting decided to play the part of Dr. Frankenstein and began to lop off the best bits and pieces from the gaming universe; a little from genre A, a little from genre B and little from genre C and then proceeded to fuse them all together. The end result is a cute and colorful title that is sure to provide you with hours upon hours of entertainment and laughter.

So if you feel like kickin’ some serious monster butt, humiliating your soon to be ex-friends and hording ridiculous amounts of gold as you spin your way to victory then follow me as we hack-n-slash our way through Dokapon Kingdom.

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