Video Game Preview

With this next installment in the Battlefield series, producer DICE is aiming to finally take the action-shooter crown from “Call of Duty.” Set in the near future as US military forces continue to police the Middle East, the game will take you through a 6-hour in-depth journey to hell and back as you battle insurgents and organized militias. In the multiplayer realm, expect the usual goodies from DICE: vehicles (tanks, jets, helicopters), unlocks and perks galore, and the ability for up to 64 players from around the world to kill each other again and again.
Already ahead of COD in gameplay, DICE kicks it up another notch in the technology sector, bringing in the latest graphics engines, compared to the 7 year-old ones used in COD games. The only thing better than looking at pretty environments is destroying them, which is what the new physics engine DICE is implementing lets you do.
The bottom line is this: if you like people running around with grenade launchers and 12-year-olds insulting your mother, buy whatever COD game Inifinity Ward rushes to production next. If you enjoy genuine teamwork, blowing up buildings, and the prettiest explosions you have ever seen, then buy “Battlefield 3” when it comes out this fall.

Sequels sequels sequels:

This year heralds the return of many franchises forgotten in the modern era controlled by COD, “Mario Kart”, and FIFA. First on the list of 2011 sequels is “Gears of War 3”. We all know you forgot about Gears, but it’s okay. Just be ready be ready to spend countless hours cutting your friends in half with a chainsaw when it comes out this Fall.
As the alien Reapers finally descend to destroy all intelligent life in the galaxy, it will be Commander Shepard’s job to defeat (or maybe join) them in the action packed and (hopefully) fulfilling and climactic ending to the Mass Effect series in Mass Effect 3.
In April, Valve will release the highly anticipated “Portal 2”, a game that combines the use of portals to beat puzzles, action, and nerdy jokes about cake.
Although the release date is not yet known, Nintendo plans on making a full comeback into modern gaming with the release of The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword for the Wii, which will finally give you the ability to completely control your sword swings as you save Hyrule once again.

Minecraft:

“Minecraft” is a game where you mine, and, well, craft. Each time you enter a world, it is randomly generated full of mountain ranges and oceans, floating islands and caves, deserts and forests. But the thing about this game is that each world is entirely made up of square blocks, like a world made of legos.
It is then your job to mine these blocks, craft tools, and then build whatever you want anywhere you want with anything you want. You don’t even need to have this fun all by yourself––you can join one of thousands of already existing “Minecraft” communities, or make a new one with your friends. In that, the do-whatever-the-heck-you-want factor is the genius of “Minecraft” that makes it worthy of this list. It is a creative playground for the restless mind, and it only gets better from there.
Every few months, the independent developer, a man by the name of Notch, adds new content. This content ranges from an update to make the lighting prettier, to the addition of tamable pet dogs to do your bidding.
The fact that it is also one of the top 100 bestselling games of all time, before its official release, is just another reason to buy this game. It is only 20 dollars, and it gives an infinite amount of play time. Simply put: You. Need. This. Game.