Inception has taken America by storm. Everyone is talking about the sheer brilliance of the film. While there are some negative views on the movie, most people agree it is a very good flick, featuring a well structured story, awesome special effects, and some mind bending elements. As I watched the movie (twice), I couldn't help but think that Inception could make a really good video game. Hit the jump for my take on how Inception could be made into a video game.

The Medal of Honor beta has been going on for a few weeks, and Calum and myself have been playing it for sometime. I have it for the PC, and Calum has it on the PS3. We decided to sit down and discuss our thoughts on the game.

Brandon:Medal of Honor has gone modern, and EA has released a multiplayer beta for a few weeks to let gamers get their hands on the game. Personally, I'm torn on the game. While it is fun, I feel like the game suffers from identity crisis. At some points it feels like Modern Warfare 2, and at some points feels like Battlefield: Bad Company 2. What are your thoughts Calum?

Hit the jump to see the rest of our discussion

Since the entire world is glued to their televisions at the moment watching World Cup games, we decided to try and predict the outcomes before they happen. We did it the only way we knew how: with video games. We turned on 2010 FIFA World Cup, set the difficulty to Legendary, let the computer duke it out, and watched the game so we can tell you all that happens. Hopefully our prediction is right. Hit the jump to see who won between the United States and Ghana!

I’ve got to be honest, when Natal was announced last year it reeked of “me too”. Following the success of the Wii both Microsoft and Sony had to make up ground in the race for sales, and both went for developing their own motion controllers. Sony’s Move peripheral is such a blatant ripoff it’s laughable, but Microsoft’s Natal camera, demonstrated first at E3 last year, looked much more promising. Futuristic technology that could fundamentally change the way in which we interact with the console, and could have game-changing applications for hardcore titles. Sound familiar? Well it should. And, unfortunately, so does the next part.

FIFA '10 was released to the public last September to huge praises from both critics and fans. It has a score of 90 on Metacritic.com, and current sits as the 26th best rated game for the 360, and the highest rated sports game on the 360. The closest sports game to FIFA '10 on that list is NHL '10, which sits in 46th place (although it won sports game of the year last year for many publications, but don't get me started on that). But my reasons for FIFA '10 being the best sports game ever is not about ratings or rankings. It is about how the game is the best simulation of any sport, ever.

In my last blog I talked about E3, and while writing that a thought came to my mind. Why is multiplayer such a huge part of games now? And what effects can multiplayer have on a game?

It seems that recently fewer and fewer games come out that are just single player; multiplayer has taken over the industry. I sometimes think that developers worry that if there is no multiplayer in their game, the game will not sell.

Hit the jump to see why multiplayer is such a big deal now.

Well next week its the big gaming expo, E3 the largest of the year, where just about any game in the next year and half will be announced.

Here at Baxy-Z, we haven't told you our thoughts on the recent announcements from EA, THQ, and Ubisoft about charging for online play when a consumer buys a new game. We haven't weighed in with our thoughts because, well we honestly didn't know how to feel about these recent decisions. I sat down last night and really thought about these recent decisions, and I would like to weigh in on the situation.

If you haven't heard, EA, THQ, and maybe Ubisoft will include a code in their games that you must enter to play their games online. The catch here is if you buy the game used, this code will not be in the packaging of the used game. To get online access of said used game, you must purchase a online code from the publisher. THQ is charging $5 for the code, and EA said their codes will cost $10. The first game from EA that will have this implemented is Tiger Woods '11. There are a few reasons behind these new online fees. First off, when a game is bought used these publishers want to see some money off of those used games. Secondly, they may use this tactic to deter people away from buying used games. But why would publishers care if the game was bought brand new instead of it used? There are a few reasons why...

Welcome to the latest installment of Classic Game Review, where we take a second look at games from the previous generation and beyond. This week we look at the classic racing game, Burnout 3: Takedown

Burnout 3: Takedown
Developer: Criterion Games
Publisher: EA Games
Release Date: September 7, 2004

If you enjoy Burnout 3: Takedown, sit there for a second and think how lucky you are that the game was actually released. If you don't know why Burnout 3 was almost canned, let me take you down memory lane. The year sometime before October of 2004. There has been two Burnout games released. While the games were met with decent reviews and decent sales, the publishing company Acclaim closed up shop. Now we have a game that could change the racing genre, yet no one to publish it. Until EA Games snatched up the Burnout series, and the rest is history.

Listen up boys and girls. To celebrate the launch of Steam for the Mac, Valve is doing something completely nuts. They are offering the full game of Portal, absolutely free. If you have Steam installed already, or you need to download it, get Portal right now.

If you have never played Portal, you are missing out. It is one of the best puzzle games ever released. Sure, you can beat it in three hours or so, but the replay value is huge. Plus Valve has released some free DLC for Portal over the years, including a different cutscene at the end of the game. So even if you've beaten Portal 20 times, or you've never heard of it, just download it. For $0, it is worth it.

Here is the link for the download.

As I’ve already mentioned, and it will soon go without saying, I don’t like gaming all that much. It’s really getting to the end of the road with me. Mostly, I play on a social level, with friends and headsets and trolling etc. So I’ve deviated, as it were, from the course of most Interactive Media to reading, listening to music and socialising IRL. Clearly a move that so many people from this site’s intended audience would look down on; but I’m enjoying it, and that’s how I measure life.

So through my idle web-browsing that I do in-between procrastination of work and reading, I came across an interesting topic: Lucid Dreaming. This quite literally means to dream and be aware that you are dreaming. This conscious state in your subconscious mind allows you to control what you dream about. A brilliant concept! Basically a Sand-Box game inside your own head, based on your own thoughts - it just needs a few ‘cheat codes’ to unlock it, is all.

I am not, by any standards, a serious gamer; only on a rare occasion do I game for more than, say, an hour and a half. In my younger years I played games constantly. I sacrificed potential young loves, abandoned the opportunity of experimenting with mind-crippling drugs and ignored the option of taking part in extra-curricular activity to further my educational limits. Instead, I was intent on retiring to my room to scream at a Playstation as though it had killed a close family member, and not just been a shit console that clearly doesn’t understand the commands I input.

So, I bring you to Call of Duty: Modern Warefare2 - possibly the most rage-inducing game I have ever played. I hate it; I hate it like a crack-whore hates her pimp. But it’s a habit I can’t shake. I get home and there it is, inside my XBOX ready to raise my blood pressure and induce a stroke. The gameplay is unbearable, the weapons under powered or over powered (and never in-between?) and the maps are poorly constructed; all of it is just a monument to how you should never make a game. Fuck you Infinity Ward.

I was browsing Metacritic.com today, and noticed that Grand Theft Auto IV is still the highest rated Xbox 360 game out on the market. It got me thinking, "How come GTAIV is the best rated game of the Xbox 360? What makes it so popular?" So I sat down and thought about the first time I played the game, and it made me realize that is why it is the highest rated game. It is an incredible game. Sure, some people think it is a crappy game, and I'll admit it is far from perfect, but the game is still one of the best ever. Hit the jump and I'll tell you why.