With the holidays just around the corner – or passing for those who celebrate Chanukah – everyone is trying to find that perfect gift. However, if that perfect gift is a video game, it may be a little difficult to determine just which game from 2012 or 2011 to choose. Call of Duty: Black Ops 2 and Assassin’s Creed III are great choices, but also rather expensive. Instead, here are some games in the $30 to $50 range that are definitely worth having.

Sleeping Dogs is a game that is available for PC, Playstation 3 and Xbox 360. In this gritty drama the player is Wei Shen, an undercover cop in Hong Kong, who is trying to take down a gang known as the Triads from the inside. However, in order to gain trust and climb his way up the Triad ranks, Wei Shen must take part in their criminal activities. Throughout the game the player is able to explore the city of Hong Kong both on foot and through driving vehicles. Sleeping Dogs got an average 9.2 rating out of 10 on Gamestop’s website.

Resident Evil 6 is the latest incarnation of the zombie-ridden video game series and can be purchased for PC, Xbox 360 or Playstation 3. Several things have been changed since the previous games. There are several new characters, four new ones in total, with two recurring characters: Leon S. Kennedy and Chris Redfield. Additionally, the location and scale of the game has changed. Now, instead of being limited to one location the gameplay is global, taking the players to North America, Europe, and China.

Resident Evil 6 has great co-op opportunities – just as Resident Evil 5 did – so that two players can play together both online and offline. This feature is a definite benefit since the zombies are now more agile and able to use weapons, making them even more of a threat. Additionally, mutant creatures will be formed by the outbreak of the C-virus, creating more unpredictability. Ultimately, the game has gotten bad reviews but there are many new features and it is the next part of the franchise.

The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim is also the most recent game in its franchise, but it has gotten excellent reviews ever since its release in 2011. This incarnation is set 200 years after Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion, and much has changed in the world of Tamriel, both in the story and in game play. Skyrim has a new combat system, new graphics, and a whole open world to explore. The player can also affect the direction of the story; if the player kills an important character that character’s family will try to hunt him or her down, giving the world a very realistic spin. Playing Skyrim is like having another life in a magical world. Skyrim can be purchased from Gamestop, pre-owned for the Playstation 3 or Xbox 360.

Another fantastic game that some players may have regrettably missed is Batman: Arkham City. This game is available on PC, Playstation 3 and Xbox 360 and has gotten incredible reviews. Similar to Skyrim, this latest Batman video game allows the player to explore an entire city while also fighting several different enemies such as the Joker, the Riddler, and Harley Quinn. The gaming world in Arkham city is five times the size of the previous gaming world in Batman: Arkham Asylum. With a 10 out of 10 from ‘Game Informer’ and a 9.4 out of 10 from GameStop customers, this game is a can’t miss for any gamer.

The last game that was particularly noteworthy for the 2011 to 2012 year is Rayman Origins. This game is a great platformer for kids and adults with incredible graphics and sound integrated into the game play. For example, for some of the levels the characters jump off of musical instruments, creating their own music as they jump their way through the world. The game is available for almost every system including Playstation 3, the PS Vita, PC, and Nintendo 3DS.

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The Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences (AIAS) recently announced more confirmed speakers for the 2012 D.I.C.E. (Design, Innovate, Communicate, Entertain) Summit. The event will be held at the Red Rock Resort in Las Vegas, February 8-10, 2012, and feature a line-up of industry leaders, decision makers and visionaries from the disciplines that are shaping the future of interactive entertainment.

Kicking off the conference on Wednesday, February 8, 2012 prior to the Wednesday Keynote Opener, will be the “Hot Topics” sessions co-moderated by Adam Sessler, host of G4′s X-Play and Perrin Kaplan, Zebra Partners. The three debates will feature:

• “Is the Publishing Model Broken?”: Michael Pachter, Wedbush Morgan and Jesse Divnich, EEDAR
• “Mobile vs. Console”: Perrin Kaplan, Zebra Partners and Gabriel Leydon, Addmired,
• “Game Journalism”: Adam Sessler, host of G4′s X-Play and Jamin Warren, Kill Screen Magazine

Additional speakers added to the 2012 line-up include:

• Sefton Hill, Co-founder and Game Director, Rocksteady Games who led the creative direction of the highly acclaimed Batman: Arkham City and Batman: Arkham Asylum.  His session topic is titled, “Escaping the Asylum”
• TJ Galda, Senior CG Supervisor, Electronic Arts leads art production and has worked on two Academy Award nominated films, Over the Hedge, Kung Fu Panda, Fantastic Four, and many more.  His session topic will cover “Nonlinear Story Telling: Crafting a New Genre”

“I can’t think of a better way to set the tone and kick-off the D.I.C.E. Summit than with the big questions that are top of mind for our industry,” said Martin Rae, president, Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences. “This year’s Hot Topics line-up will put some of the most brilliant, opinionated minds in the interactive entertainment industry head-to-head in front of an audience of their peers – and with some of the most provocative topics we’ve seen there’s no telling what we’ll hear!

In addition to this powerhouse roundtable, we have some exciting new speakers to announce that will be especially interesting for our creative community.” The D.I.C.E. Summit 2012 is the home of the 15th annual Interactive Achievement Awards ceremony.  On February 9, 2012, industry leaders and members gather to pay tribute and recognize the individuals and products that contribute to the growth of the interactive entertainment industry. Comedian, actor and spirited game enthusiast Jay Mohr will return as host.

Image Courtesy of   http://www.flickr.com/photos/22904000@N07/

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Hosted by the star of NBC’s “Chuck” and avid gamer Zachary Levi, executive produced by Emmy Award winner Mark Burnett, and featuring cutting edge in-show augmented reality and world premiere footage from hotly anticipated releases, Spike TV’s ninth annual “Video Game Awards” proved to be a night to remember.

Industry giants gathered as the network celebrated the outstanding artistic and technical achievements in the world of gaming over the past year. Internationally, the ”VGAs” were seen in over 100 countries and territories around the world.

A host of the most influential members of the gaming industry, as well as stars from the worlds of sports, television, music, and movies gathered at the biggest night in video games and watched Bethesda Studios release “The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim” receive the highest honor a game can receive when it took home the coveted Vector Monkey after being named Game of the Year.

“The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim” also won Best RPG and garnered Studio of the Year honors for Bethesda Game Studios. Other multiple award winners included “Portal 2,” which won in five prominent categories, including Best PC Game and Best Multiplayer, and “Batman: Arkham City,” which won four Vector Monkeys, including awards for Character of the Year for the Joker, Best Xbox 360 Game, and Best Action Adventure Game.

“The Legend of Zelda” creator Shigeru Miyamoto made a surprise appearance to accept the first ever Video Game Hall of Fame Award on the groundbreaking franchise’s behalf. “We always push ourselves,” said Miyamoto, “and we’re grateful you notice.”

Additional honors included the second ever Gamer God Award, which was bestowed upon Blizzard Entertainment, the creators of the “World of Warcraft,” “Starcraft,” and “Diablo” series.  Original founders Michael Morhaime, Allen Adham, and Frank Pearce were all on hand to accept the prestigious award.

The “VGAs” debuted never-before-seen world premieres of the most anticipated games of 2012 and beyond, including Naughty Dog’s “The Last of Us,” the surprise reveals of “Command & Conquer: Generals 2,” “Alan Wake American Nightmare,” Epic Games’ “Fortnite,” “Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance,” “Tom Clancy’s Rainbow 6 Patriots,” “Transformers: Fall of Cybertron,” “BioShock Infinite,” and the winner for Most Anticipated Game “Mass Effect 3.”

This year’s show included presenters and appearances by major stars from all over the entertainment world, including Charlie Sheen, Brooklyn Decker, Seth Green, Felicia Day, LL Cool J, Jason Biggs, Seann William Scott, Tony Hawk, will.i.am, Anders Holm, game designers Cliff Bleszinski of Epic Games, and Hideo Kojima of Konami.

The show also featured a performance by Grammy Award winning rock duo, The Black Keys, and Grammy Award nominated dance music innovator deadmau5, who helped transform the show with his visual representation of sound into a real life video game experience.

Additionally, NFL Hall of Famer Jerry Rice was on hand to announce the results of the vote for Digital Cover Athlete of the forthcoming “NFL Blitz” from EA Sports, with Ray Rice of the Baltimore Ravens selected by fans who cast their ballot at vga.spike.com during the show.

A full list of winners is included below:

GAME OF THE YEAR
The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim

STUDIO OF THE YEAR
Bethesda Game Studios

CHARACTER OF THE YEAR
The Joker – Batman:  Arkham City

VIDEO GAME HALL OF FAME AWARD
“The Legend of Zelda”

GAMER GOD AWARD
Blizzard Entertainment

BEST XBOX 360 GAME
Batman: Arkham City

BEST PS3 GAME
Uncharted 3: Drake’s Deception

BEST Wii GAME
The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword

BEST PC GAME
Portal 2

BEST HANDHELD/MOBILE GAME
Super Mario 3D Land

BEST SHOOTER
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3

BEST ACTION ADVENTURE GAME
Batman: Arkham City

BEST RPG
The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim

BEST MULTI-PLAYER
Portal 2

BEST INDIVIDUAL SPORTS GAME
Fight Night Champion

BEST TEAM SPORTS GAME
NBA 2K12

BEST DRIVING GAME
Forza Motorsport 4

BEST FIGHTING GAME
Mortal Kombat

BEST MOTION GAME
The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword

BEST INDEPENDENT GAME
Minecraft

BEST ADAPTED VIDEO GAME
Batman: Arkham City

BEST SONG IN A GAME
“Build that Wall (Zia’s Theme)” by Darren Korb – Bastion

BEST ORIGINAL SCORE
Bastion

BEST GRAPHICS
Uncharted 3: Drake’s Deception

BEST PERFORMANCE BY A HUMAN MALE
Stephen Merchant as Wheatley – Portal 2

BEST PERFORMANCE BY A HUMAN FEMALE
Ellen McLain as GLaDOS – Portal 2

BEST DOWNLOADABLE GAME
Bastion

BEST DLC
Portal 2 Peer Review

MOST ANTICIPATED GAME
Mass Effect 3

GAMETRAILERS.COM TRAILER OF THE YEAR
Assassin’s Creed: Revelations – E3 2011 Trailer

EA SPORTS NFL BLITZ DIGITAL COVER ATHLETE
Ray Rice

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With titles like Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3, Battlefield 3, and Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim recently dropping this past week, shoppers may have their hands full. But let’s not forget November 15th, the day when several games on multiple consoles release all at once. The rest of the season seems pretty minor in terms of releases, so fans should take note of these next few titles that are anything but small potatoes.

The fall season appears to be the sweet spot for many game releases. The oncoming holiday season makes it a perfect time to start packing store shelves with games and strategy guides from here to the moon. A veritable gamer’s paradise as far as release titles are concerned, as well as a bit of a headache for anyone shopping with a gaming fan.

Below is a small collection, across multiple consoles, of the biggest games still being released this week that will make fans think twice about their wallets and their time.

Fighters will certainly gravitate to Ultimate Marvel Vs Capcom 3 (November 15). A long-awaited title, this new edition of Marvel Vs Capcom is a fabulous fighter with an enormous range of characters and playing styles that compliment to original Marvel Vs Capcom 3 release back in February of this year.

Similarly, shooters will definitely want to pick up Halo: Combat Evolved Anniversary (November 15). The new Combat Evolved title is a remake of 2001′s Halo: Combat Evolved. Developer 343 Industries is new to the series, taking over where Bungie left off. Combat Evolved will be the first Halo game to include Kinect support and should give fans a clear indication of the style and direction of 343 Industries.

Not to be left out, Need for Speed: The Run (November 15) is also coming out. Running counter to the simulation style of Shift 2 Unleashed or Forza Motorsport 4 this racer’s storyline influence changes the classic arcade racer into a linear race themed movie blazing across the continental United States.

Assassin’s Creed: Revelations (November 15) is the final chapter in the trilogy of Ezio Auditore Da Firenze, an Assassin of the highest caliber. Famed for its huge maps, involving storyline and action intense gameplay, this newest iteration of Assassins Creed seems like a must buy for fans of the Assassin Genre.

For more on Assassin’s Creed: Revelations, check back for our review later in the week on what promises to be an excellent title. PC fans will have to wait longer because Assassins Creed: Revelations is slated for PC release on November 29.

Players unfamiliar with Saints Row: The Third (November 15) will find a game set in the open world sand box style, fictional city of Steelport. The Saints Row Franchise has been compared to Grand Theft Auto before but this game is a different take on a similar format.  Developer Volition Inc. achieves this different gameplay feel using equal parts silly good fun and raunchy mayhem all at the same time.

As if that weren’t enough,(November 15th )gets yet another full featured title for release with Rayman: Origins. Younger players will love this side-scrolling platforming game for its bright colors and rare beauty, while older players will remember their first Rayman game and rejoice in the return of its excellence thanks to developer Ubisoft.

The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword (November 20)has received its fair share of marketing with commercial spots appearing on select TV channels. This Zelda title for the Nintendo Wii is believed by many to be the crowning achievement and is a prequel for the entire series, beginning before Ocarina of Time.

Batman: Arkham City has already been released, but PC fans will have had to wait until November 22. Having received critical acclaim from players and reviewers alike, this iteration of Batman was as well received as its Arkham Asylum predecessor. As with games such as Assassins Creed Batman: Arkham City is also an open world action game, a popular and time tested format these days.

Star War: The Old Republic (December 20), the MMORPG for PC will likely also make a great showing, maintaining a strong fan base despite the late release date. Just days before Christmas, its players will no doubt enjoy a lengthy vacation or at least some time off to play with other friends and family.

This wraps up our look at some of the titles still to be released in the coming weeks. With such fantastic games featured for each genre of gaming, fans will be hard pressed to pick one over the other.

Image Courtesy of   http://www.callofduty.com

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