2009 Games

A leaked video that is rumored to be someone playing Half-Life 2 with Microsoft’s Project Natal has hit the Internet and it looks pretty cool.

We are taking this leaked video as complete rumor at this point until we hear differently but I would be lying if I said I wasn’t excited about it. I’m sure most people were kind of excited when they first saw the Project Natal footage at this year’s E3, but like us, they wanted to see how it would work with "real" games. Now with this possible leaked footage of someone playing Half-Life 2 we might have just gotten a taste of the possible gameplay options this might open up.

The leaked Half-Life 2 video is pretty blurry but you can clearly tell the guy is controlling the on-screen action with his arm movements. It does look a little like he is trying to conduct an orchestra but it seems to be moving pretty smoothly. It looks like it might be a little tough to control but we will just have to wait and see. I doubt this footage will ever be confirmed as real so hopefully Microsoft will release some new official footage soon. Check out the leaked HL2 footage after the break.Read more…

A trio of Blink-182 hits will be hitting the Rock Band Music Store next week along with one of The Ramones’ biggest hits. The newer of the two punk bands will have "Adam’s Song", "First Date", and "I Miss You" while the iconic punk group will unveil "Rock ‘n’ Roll High School" for download.

Also joining the two bands next week will be Paul McCartney with his own trio of songs and The Psychedelic Furs with two tracks. The full list is below, with asterisks indicating songs available for LEGO Rock Band as well.

Paul McCartney – "Band on the Run (Live)" *
Paul McCartney – "Jet (Live)" *
Paul McCartney – "Sing the Changes (Live)" *
Blink-182 – "Adam’s Song"
Blink-182 – "First Date" *
Blink-182 – "I Miss You"
The Psychedelic Furs – "Love My Way" *
The Psychedelic Furs – "Sister Europe"
The Ramones – "Rock ‘n’ Roll High School" *

[Kotaku]

Considered by many to be one of the best fighter games ever released, Street Fighter III: 3rd Strike can usually be found in bargain bins and the occasional arcade booth. With Street Fighter IV re-kindling the competitive spirit in everyone, fans are left hopeful that previous iterations of the series will return.

Lauded for its extended cast of new and classic fighters (such as Chun Li from Street Fighter II) and its re-vamp of the block/parry control system, 3rd Strike saw ample exposure to gamers during its heyday in mid-1999.

During a small Q&A session on Capcom’s Unity Boards, Vice President Christian Svensson responded to comments on a conceivable re-appearance of 3rd Strike on Xbox Live and the PlayStation Network.

"How would I get a hold of [Street Fighter IV Producer] Yoshinori Ono to ask him, beg him, for a arcade perfect, downloadable version of Street Fighter 3 Third Strike for the PlayStation 3 and XBox 360? You guys re-released Super Street Fighter 2 Turbo HD Remix and Marvel vs Capcom 2, so how about one of the best fighters ever?

"Sven: It’s not up to Ono-san so you’d be asking the wrong person. The Capcom USA board would make that decision and such a project is more likely to be championed in our office rather than Japan given recent history (the two other projects you mentioned were championed by me specifically and produced in our our office). Unfortunately, there’s nothing new to discuss on that front at the moment."

[EventHubs]

It’s the end of the year, so we’re all totally nostalgic for 2009, so please enjoy the final part of X-Play’s Sess Rider series. (Here are parts one and two, if you missed ‘em.)

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This week on the links, a complaint has been filed against Mario & Luigi for their reckless behavior as plumbers. Plus, we see if 2009 was a turning point for music games and examine the best movies of the year.

• Our friends at FilmDrunk list their 10 favorite films of 2009, and make the case as to why you really should see Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans.

• Mario & Luigi are struggling to reconcile their lives in the mushroom kingdom with the real world. You have to see this CollegeHumor vid.

• Who knew mac & cheese could be more than just a delicious snack? Check out these 20 amazing cheese sculptures on SuperTremendous.

• Was 2009 the year that the music game died? Crispy Gamer sure thinks so.

• Uncoached has some pictures of the Spanish bull-leapers or "recortadores," which have to be seen to be believed.

• Crave Online counts down the top 10 athletes of 2010.

Valve has announced the first DLC pack for Left 4 Dead 2 and it will be hitting Steam and Xbox LIVE early next spring.

Left 4 Dead 2 has silenced many critics when it was released in the middle of November. Many people raised some concern when Valve announced a quick (quicker than their usual schedule anyway) follow-up to their best selling zombie game L4D1, but there hasn’t been much criticism once people actually got their hands on it.

Now Valve has announced the first DLC pack for L4D2 and it is called "The Passing". It will take place after the Dead Center campaign and will involve the L4D2 cast meeting up with the L4D1 characters. In addition to the new co-op campaign, the DLC will include new arenas for the Survival, Scavenge, and Versus modes. We will also get our hands on a new melee weapon and a new firearm. A new "uncommon common" zombie class will also be added to the game.

"The Passing" will hopefully be available in early spring for Xbox 360 and the PC. Left 4 Dead 2 is available now for both platforms.

Capcom has decided to keep its new IPs in Japan and, in the process, may move established and well-known franchises to overseas studios, according to a Q&A session on the company’s investor relations site. While no executives are named in the Q&A document, it pertains to a phone meeting with analysts.

"Our experience with Bionic Commando has demonstrated the difficulty of outsourcing the development of new title to overseas companies," a Capcom representative said in the document. "Nevertheless, we cannot develop a sufficient number of titles without using the resources of these companies."

The representative then went on to explain the new responsibilities for the studios.

"We plan to develop new titles primarily in Japan," stated the representative. "Overseas companies may be used mostly to develop titles for existing game series with well-established characters and universal themes. Overseas companies will also handle certain parts and/or lineups of such games."

Someone in the session also asked the representative about Capcom’s decision to delay its major titles into the next fiscal year. All of those titles, including Lost Planet 2 and Super Street Fighter 4, are without an official release date.

"This was a strategic decision," the representative answered. "Capcom uses an approach that combines management and development to reach various decisions. Consequently, we would not decide to postpone the launch of a title for reasons that involve only the game development side of our business."

[Capcom Q&A Session*]

*Source is a .PDF file

Edging closer into milking territory, the Collection Edition of the original God of War features an unlockable movie clip that contains a snippet of backstory pertaining to Kratos’ separation from his brother in childhood, who swears revenge against his demi-god twin.

Judging by the nature of the clip, it’s easily apparent that the narrator sets up a savage rivalry between the forsaken twin brother in the underworld of Hades and the more known Kratos, whose exploits are duly noted throughout the GoW games.

Studio Director John Hight has already hinted at the possible appearance of more GoW games set within mythological Greece that do not feature Kratos as the main character, similar to Hideo Kojima’s hesitance to relinquish the Metal Gear Solid franchise at the conclusion of Solid Snake’s tale.

With God of War III on the horizon, Kratos’ brother appears to be the first step in introducing potential protagonist/antagonist characters that pick up where Kratos left off. What do you think? Would it seem likely that we would see the brother of Kratos as a playable character?

[PS3Center]

You could watch one of the dozens of crappy “year end” specials that litter the TV landscape in December or you could roll with the smart kids and play with this new giftie from your friends at Web Soup.

Web Soup honors the most hilarious and insane viral videos in existence with The Golden Download Awards. Host Chris Hardwick presents the highly coveted (really, they are) “Goldie Award” to a variety of web video stars, in categories such as:

• Finest Achievement in Webcam Ranting
  
• Finest Achievement in Almost Killing Yourself
  
• Finest Achievement in W.T.F.?

Check out Web Soup: The Golden Download Awards, Tuesday, December 29th at 7PM ET.

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We’re continuing to look back over 2009 and bring you the funniest X-Play videos of the year. Below is part two of "Sess Rider!" (Click here for part one.)

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