There is a genre of gaming that has seen little light over the past few years as far as in a mainstream sense, with most big hits today filled with flying bullets, high body counts and forgettable plot lines. After getting a chance to sit down with one of these alternative titles for a while I believe I know the reason-its simply not very fun to play. I speak of the point and click adventure game, a dying breed held over from the original days of PC gaming culture. More specifically, I speak of Sam and Max Save the World, the Xbox Live Arcade port of the furry duo’s episodic PC exploits.

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Big Surf Island gives gamers a new way to experience Burnout Paradise. This stunt driven island will have you catching huge air, hitting multiple barrel rolls and doing things you’ve never been able to do before. The new content offers a brand new island set across from Paradise City and includes 15 new events, 12 new Roads to Rule, 75 Island Smashes, 45 Island Billboards to crash through, 15 Island Mega Jumps to hit, 10 new Freeburn Challegnes, 12 new night and day Bike Road Rules and 9 brand new cars. Having put tons of hours into Big Surf Island I can safely say this is the best DLC given to us from Criterion Games and is definitely worth the $12.99 price tag.

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Not too long ago Guerrilla Games gave Killzone 2 players their first map pack called Steel and Titanium. The two maps were based off of the levels found in the campaign mode. For their second map pack, Flash and Thunder, they wanted to give Killzone players a blast from the past. The two new maps are remakes of fan favorite maps from the original Killzone on PS2. The remakes of Southern Hills and Beach Head both have interesting environments that lead to the name of the map pack. Flash for the nuclear explosion that hits Southern Hills and Thunder for the severe thunderstorm hitting the Helghan Beach Head. Both maps were slightly tweaked from their predecessors to coincide with Killzone 2’s gameplay style. How do these remakes hold up to the standards of the current maps? Here’s the breakdown of the two new maps.

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Ah, Monday, never really a messenger of exciting news on the gaming front. However, there are a few tidbits rolling over from the weekend. Epic games launches a new division in Korea, which is sure to help bring into existence more of what I love, UE3 MMOs. Everquest I and II both having expansions looming on the horizon, although not too much is known at this point. The Obsidian developed Aliens RPG quietly fades into the void, and Trine starts the controversy rolling with wildly differing price points for various platforms and regions. All of this can be found in ALT+F4 today, so check it out after the jump.

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How many times have you walked into an arcade to check out what’s the latest in arcade hits to play just to find the DDR master ramping up 230+ Perfects on something like the cruel, cruel song The Legend of Max? Or to stretch your eyes to the sight of Street Fighter champion Justin Wong single-handedly (he might as well) pummel every single opponent daring enough to challenge him. Or maybe you are not the type to subject yourself to public humiliation. You really want to play, but you don’t want the crowd’s glaring eye to witness your utter failure as you play on Light mode in DDR or want to challenge the AI solo-style in Marvel vs. Capcom. But seeing these elite players do what they do best is what really fuels a player to want to join the ranks of the elite arcade-goers, flexing their skills to the passing crowd. Who doesn’t wish they could play like that? I am only one of the many trying to climb my way to the top.

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Dialogue. You can find it in any game. Whether they are seen or read, every game has quotes; some are memorable, some are easily forgotten. Maybe we experience it while obliterating our friends on Xbox Live, or while we’re being chased by ghouls down a dark hallway with only a baseball bat for defense. Sometimes it waits, hidden in the depths of a game’s menus, quests, inventories, narration-or as easter eggs to be discovered and enjoyed. Any gamer who has ever laughed, wanted to break things, or felt their heartstrings being tugged at while enjoying a particular game was most likely influenced by a demonstration of superb writing.

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As many of you probably do not know, I am a bit of a niche gamer. I am always looking out for new, unappreciated titles. As such, I was immediately interested in Rune Factory Frontier. For those not in the know, Rune Factory Frontier is a life sim that also has some dungeon crawling. This is an interesting mix, and I’m glad to say that they have managed to pull it off pretty well. Of course, you’ll have to read my review to see just how well it turned out.

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It all started in 1990 when Sega introduced Moonwalker to the American arcades. The game was based on the musical film of the similar title. The game is a cult hit, some find the game enjoyable and play it time after time, and some find the game absolutely horrifying and could not even bring themselves to even play the game. The game was a side-scrolling, beat-em-up where you used Michael and his magical dance moves to eliminate his enemies and overall save the children from the terrible Mr. Big. The game eventually made its way to home consoles, primarily the Sega Genesis and Master systems. There were some slight differences with the console version compared to the arcade version of the game, but the overall premise remained intact. The soundtrack was also a very noticeable aspect of the game, some of Jackson’s greatest hits were featured throughout the game as anyone could have guessed.

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Treasure is home to a library of some of the most beloved titles in gaming. When Gunstar Heroes was granted a release on the Xbox Live Arcade via the Sega Vintage Collection label, I shrieked in fangirlish glee. While it should have been released on the Sonic Genesis Collection compilation disc, it wasn’t, and I was severely disappointed. What to do save from playing the original or some shoddy applet online? Straight to the Xbox Live Marketplace I went to download this classic ASAP. All I have to say is one word: co-op.

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The second half of the week has been pretty eventful. There’s plenty of weekend deals to get in on today, if you’re looking for something to play. There’s even something if you’re not willing to part with any hard earned cash right now, with the launch of Battlefield Heroes. Then the nostalgia-o-meter gets set to maximum with the announcement of Serious Sam HD. Get your PC gaming news fix after the jump.

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Why is it that now-a-days no one can release a game that actually works out of the box? The recent release of EA’s celebrated franchise sequel, The Sims 3, was no different. After dodging the DRM bullet, the highly anticipated game was riddled with mediocre reviews by disheartened fans. Among the complaints? Several bugs that hampered gameplay. Well, now you can fix that with a new patch.

The patch fixes several issues, including improving the speed of “Speed 2″ and “Speed 3,” which many had complained caused the game to progress agonizingly slow. Additionally, this fix supposedly enables you to actually use the Turn Story Progression Off button, which means you don’t have to worry about your precious families being deleted by the game’s maliciously cruel AI. Without the patch, apparently this feature doesn’t work, causing you to lose families if you left their household.

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I don’t even have the energy to make any countdown jokes because as old as countdowns are at this point, so are the countless jokes we count down to about them. So here I am to tell you bluntly that our “friends” at Square-Eni(dos?) have supplied fans with a timer ticking down with about 9 1/2 days to go as of this post which will leave you at July 5th (on the East coast).

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Let’s clear the slate here and stand eye-to-eye with this one. This isn’t the game game of 2009, of course that renowned title has already been awarded to Damnation. It’s also not the Brad Pitt or even the Fiddy Cent of retro-styled RPG wannabes who continuously struggle to be the great and the wonderful that we have already had the blessings of partaking in. No, Black Sigil is more like the Adrien Brody [Replace with Pee Wee Herman is you are not familiar with him] of the genre: fatally unattractive as a man so he should really just play the role of “the ugly chick.” Yeah, that sounds about fair. Black Sigil is that “man who plays the ugly chick” of 16-bit “Wish I were good” RPGs. You heard it here first. Now allow me to tell you why…

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Most top ten video game character lists are pretty typical. You have Mario, Master Chief, Link, Sonic, Megaman, Solid Snake, etc. People love these characters either because they’re attractive to play as, or because they’re simply part of long running franchises or nostalgic throwbacks that are difficult to criticize. I am as guilty of Zelda fanboy-ism as anyone living, but it seems like most gamers are fine with playing the same muscle-headed space marine in every … single … game. So what truly makes a great character? Is it just his or her inclusion in something larger? That sure helps; no one remembers even great characters in mediocre games. It’s not enough though. A great character is someone we meet in game and think to ourselves, “I wish this person were real. I want them to step out of this game and tell me how cool I am.” We want to be friends with this character, we even might entertain a geek’s wish of meeting their creator. After all, anyone who created such magnificence has to be wildly entertaining themselves. Right? (I, too, am ignoring M. Night Shyamalan’s existence right now.)

Thus, my list of great characters takes a step away from the norm. It may feature the big games of some of your more common picks, but the choices themselves are based not on inclusion, but rather on strength of personality. The following list, in no particular order, is a tribute to both the characters and their shadowy creators.

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The next few months are going to be filled with sunscreen, swimming pools, and outdoor barbeques. The average nerd will also be indulging in his or her yearly tradition: playing the awesome titles from winter’s past. But unlike most summers, it seems that this summer won’t be quite so dull for all the hardcore gamers out there. There won’t be any of those heavy-hitting blockbusters that we all love coming out any time soon, but there is more than a few shining glimpses of hope to get your great summer game on.

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