Unless you’ve been living under a rock lately, you’ve probably at least heard of the quirky little Java-based adventure game known as Minecraft. Created by Markus Persson, aka Notch, Minecraft has to be one of the most addictive and fun games I’ve ever played.

Read more!

Cream gravy.

After months of watching and waiting, Valve has FINALLY kicked off the last of Team Fortress 2’s class updates with a very interesting proposition. See, last week, the fanbase located some very interesting information in the game files that hinted at a very interesting modification of a stock weapon: the Golden Wrench, an implement imbued with the powers of Midas himself, able to turn your foes into valuable golden statues with only a few swings. So, here’s Valve’s proposition: Craft something before Thursday, and you’ll make an extra roll at one of these shiny babies. As with every other deal, though, there is one very large caveat: There’s only 100. Every time someone finds the 25th, 50th, 75th, and final wrenches, Valve has pledged to release another chunk of juicy Engineer Update details. As of posting this, 33 people have received their shiny implement of golden awesome, so get on TF2 and get crackin’!

On the Engineer Update side of things, Valve announced the shotgun replacement we saw back in the Mac Update trailer, which might just have the coolest damn name ever: Frontier Justice. Instead of firing off random crits, this little number grants you bonus crits based on how your sentry is doing. A sentry kill nets you 2 crits with your shotgun, while assists with it gives you one dose of critical justice. What makes it even better is that the shotgun gets 2 bonus crits whenever your sentry dies, meaning that it’s pretty useful for getting the heck outta dodge when things get hot, or protecting your newly built sentry when some big mean mother runs up and blows your old one to pieces. Oh, and you get those bonus crits even if you were the one that did the blowin’ up part. Nice.

The update hits the internets on Thursday night. Stay tuned for more information once it’s out.

[TF2 Blog: Engineer Update!]

Ahh, summer. What a magical time. Swimming pools, camping trips, and Mario Marathon. The Ustream gaming event has been going strong for the last 2 years, and they’re at it again for Child’s Play. As of right now, they’ve just started Super Mario 2 and plan on playing every last Mario game, while completing just about all of them. Donations are being taken and when they hit a certain level of donations, they keep going to the next game.

Even if you’re broke, it’s a great watch. Hit it up and see what all of the hubbub is about.

Honestly, who designed that thing?

Anyway, lewd jokes aside, this year’s Sony conference beat the pants off of any of their past instances with plenty of 3D action, actual 1:1 motion control (or really damn close to it), and Kevin mother fracking Butler. Hit the break for the details.

Read more!

[Update]: Anything and everything I just talked about can be found here.

I have seen perfection. And it is good.

This year, Nintendo has not only managed to shock and stun everyone all at once, but also managed to make up for the travesty that was Nintendo’s 2008 conference. Hit the jump to see why I’m so uncontrollably giddy right now.

Read more!

Yup, that about sums it up. See you guys next year.

Okay, seriously though, Microsoft’s conference wasn’t that bad. I’ve seen worse (Nintendo 2008, for example). At least they showed some pretty good looking games. If Nahu’s five line synopsis wasn’t enough for you, hit up the break for the long-winded tl;dr details.

Read more!

So this is what Marvel vs. Capcom 3 looks like in game. And I’m thinking: Tatsunoko vs. Capcom in HD. No bad thing. Tats ‘n Caps was a very nice looking game. The models look like arse up close. But other than that it was a great looking game with superb animation.

These screenshots of Marvel vs. Capcom 3 aren’t doing much for me. Then again; I wasn’t sold on Street Fighter IV‘s style when I first saw screenshots, but was won over once I saw the game running. So I’ll hold out too harsh a judgement until that day comes, which will probably be soon with this year’s E3 around the corner.

It’s nice seeing what the game will look like. But what I really want to know is if Chris Redfield will have a Level 3 super combo attack which see’s him punch and throw a rock 10 feet across the screen with his bare hands. And if he’ll have a Super called I’m a pimp, bitch! whereby he dons his Zebra skin suit (made from a Zebra which Chris skinned himself with his bare hands) whilst Sheva and Jill go mad with the firepower.

Not only did this gamer complete Bayonetta, he owned the whole damn thing by achieving Pure platinum medals on every single stage, on every difficulty, with Bayonetta and the 2 unlockable characters! That right there is some serious skill, love and dedication. Those who have played the game know this is not an easy thing to do; with strict demands to achieve a Pure platinum rank and also that God awful camera being an enemy in itself.

And just to add to the grand achievement: this feat is Hideki Kamiya re-tweet approved.

[Platinum games forums]

Nene Anegasaki’s digital milkshake continues to bring real men to a yard of her’s that doesn’t exist, but some wish did.

After getting married, Nene continued to be the object of another man’s desire. To show his love for Nene, he threw her a one man birthday party (Nene’s birthday is April 20). He went all out for the occassion. Creating a little shrine to Nene complete with: a framed picture of the birthday girl, a DS, a phone strap accessory, bags of cough drops and a lovely little two layered birthday cake with whipped cream and strawberries.

I hope Nene’s husband pushed the boat out for her birthday. Because this mystery man had the gauntlet thrown down at the cough drops.

[Tokyo mango]

With Masashi Hamauzu having departed from Square Enix, it’s a bloody good thing he left a good swan song in the form of Final Fantasy XIII‘s soundtrack. Sure, it’s not as memorable as Final Fantasy VI or VII‘s soundtrack. But it’s solid. Contary to popular belief; Uematsu is no the only man on planet Earth who can deliver a solid Final Fantasy soundtrack, and Masashi has done a pretty good job from what I’ve heard of XIII‘s so far. But my favourite piece (aside from the awesome battle theme) is one of the character themes.

As is customary for Final Fantasy, each of the main characters has their own theme song. And whilst Final Fantasy XIII doesn’t have a collection of themes as memorable and as iconic as those from Final Fantasy VII. XIII‘s leading lady has a pretty damn good one. It’s great from the word go. The piano, the strings, the mood, everything. But once the melody from the battle theme kicks in, it’s just plain awesome.

It’s not the kind of theme you would expect a character like Lightning to have, going on early impressions of her doing nothing but laying smack downs and shooting people in the face. But from what we now know of her character, it sums her up really well.

Listen: Light (Lightning’s theme)

Composed by Masashi Hamauzu
Final Fantasy XIII
© 2008, 2009 Square Enix