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In thelast debate, I asked everyone to pick the worst game they’ve ever played, and it was truly horrifying to see how many different responses I received to that question. Valid arguments were made from a variety of consoles from the past, and as I scrolled down the hundreds of votes they just kept getting worse and worse. Plenty ofawful videoswere shared as evidence, and some claimed that Squaresoft poorlyplagiarizedFinal Fantasy VIIfrom the animeBerserk, while others even suggested that newer Square Enix games were deserving of this award....

Inlast week’s debatewe discussed the pros and cons of two of the most loved games in recent years, and both games saw an immense amount of support, with many elaborate posts that I really enjoyed reading. Dtoid readerknutafeven wrote a community blog about the debate! With well over 100 votes cast, it looks like the winner will surely be a strong contender in the massive-sized RPG series tournament that we’re slowly approaching:...

UK retailer GAME has defended its practice of selling used games, declaring the pre-owned market to be a positive, healthy part of the industry. “I think, through conversations with developers and platform owners, that there is a growing realisation that a healthy pre-owned marketplace is good for the whole industry,” said CEO Ian Shepherd. “It has made the mint marketplace more affordable and has kept people in that marketplace. “There has been endless debate over pre-owned versus mint, but my view is that a healthy pre-owned and trade-in marketplace — which we are largely the people who are involved in driving — is good for the whole industry....

Oh for f**k’s sake. Sorry, I know it’s not technically considered kosher to open a professional blog post with “oh for f**k’s sake,” but having justwoken up to the newsthat Prime Minister Gordon Brown is going to stigmatize games even further with health warnings, I don’t think there’s a more appropriate turn of phrase. With Tanya Byron’s report released, Brown has seized the opportunity to slap cigarette-style warnings on games, stating that they can, and I’m not kidding, damage a child’s belief and value systems and desensitize them to violence....

GameStop vice president Tony Bartel doesn’t see downloadable glames as a “threat” – especially the full games available on consoles. In an interview withGamespot, Bartel said that 95 percent of games downloaded on PCs are casual games, while only “about 2 percent of the entire console market is downloaded today.” He also added that the digital sales on consoles are growing at a lesser rate than boxed product. In short, Bartel is convinced that GameStop can survive this latest publisher-to-consumer fad....

Yoshio Sakamoto is a man who needs very little introduction. He is one of the most famous team members from Nintendo’s R&D1 department and has directed such masterpieces asSuper Metroidand theWarioWaregames. It was an honor to be in his audience. Throughout his long career with Nintendo, he has had a hand in games that are polar opposites of one another. He came to GDC this year to share how he is able to make such silly games alongside some very serious ones....

Developer LucasArts isn’t settling for the same list of features for the second Special Edition release of their covetedMonkey Islandfranchise. In a conversation with me earlier this afternoon during the debut event, Lucas producer Craig Derrick said all should expect a few subtle additions on par with the Spiffy the dog insert inMI: SE. Of course, that’s on top of the core set of new features that might make the more memorable, perhaps reflective piece....

Epic’s Mark Rein recently alerted fans on theGears of War 2forumsthatGears 2should be receiving a patch this January. Rein said that the patch would address “bugs and exploits” and add “new achievements related to downloadable content.” Rein went on to give specifics but failed to explain how long it takes to get to the center of a Tootsie Pop. The stuff the patch is said to address should save the sanity of the two rational people still playingGears 2online....

Gears party!Gears party! That’s a thing we still say around the office, or at least the old timers do. Its origins are old — Ron Workman-era old. There was one event way back that we were all at where Ron would not stop talking about an evening Gears of War game party. Every few minutes he’d mention it: He was going to dothisat the “Gears party,” he would talk tothat personat the “Gears party....

Yup,Gears of War 3is the game Cliff Bleszinski premiered for theLate Night With Jimmy Fallonaudience. And depending on what coast you’re on, you may have already seen it. But why turn on your TV? TheLate Night with Jimmy Fallonbloghas posted the trailer(called “Ashes to Ashes”) online, and you’re able to go watch it right now. (It’s about two minutes in.) The trailer shows off an ashen world where the battle continues to rage on between the Locust Horde and Marcus Fenix along with his crew of merry men....

Capcom’s classic DS game,Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney, may possibly be heading to the Wii if Germany’s recent USK ratingis to be believed. The game has been listed for Nintendo’s white waggle box, meaning that players may very well be able to enjoy the defense attorney’s adventures on a home console! Rating boards like the USK and ESRB are often good sources of game information, and have revealed many games in the past....

In an effort to make sure it’s playable on every portable platform known to man, Rockstar has announced thatGrand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars HDis coming to the iPad next week. It’ll be available on September 9, and will cost $9.99 on the Apple App Store. What makes it any different thanGrand Theft Auto: Chinatown Warson the iPhone? Well, it’s in “high definition.” That’s why it’s calledGrand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars HD, dummy....

A nutcase is setting Islamic and terrorist forums alight withhis theorythatGrand Theft Auto IV’s more violent acts are inspired by al-Qaeda tactics. The man, calling himself Abd al-Wahhab, is convinced that Rockstar is emulating terrorists and recognize al-Qaeda as a “killing school.” Abd’s proof comes in the form of five YouTube videos that show off such fun-filled family activities as suicide bombing and car bomb detonation. Despite the fact that these things were possible to do inGTAgames before even the 9/11 attacks, Abd seems confident that Rockstar is copying Bin Laden and his Merry Men....