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I'm afraid of heights.

It's not, like, an incapacitating terror. I love all the tallest rides at theme parks. I've done rock climbing and rappelling. I don't freak out if I'm on the roof of my parking garage or anything. My fear is probably no worse than that of any average person. But it's there.

And you know when I feel it the strongest? When I'm trying not to plummet to my death in a video game.

Yes, I know the games aren't real. After I get over the momentary panic and clutching of the controller, I invariably hurl my character off to see what happens. What usually happens is a swift and gruesome death. But that's not the point. The point is to watch the world you've been exploring below flying up to meet you. The sense of size and scale always impresses me.

So here are a few examples of the highest heights I've found, and what it's like to leap off of them:

With the option to make a truly unique-looking multiplayer character in Call of Duty: Black Ops, all I can think is, "Gee, now my teammates will have an easier time recognizing my dead body after I die for the 50th time."

Video Blips:

• From the looks of them, the new customization features for Call of Duty: Black Ops aim to take shooter fans back to their childhoods. You can paint your character's face, decorate your guns with stickers, etc.

Continue after the break for a look at the gorgeous Outland, a teaser for The Sacrifice downloadable content for Left 4 Dead/Left 4 Dead 2, and the debut trailer for Dissidia 012 Final Fantasy.

After slaving over and consuming all of the review, previews, and features available for every game that interested me, I started having the feeling that I get when I watch a movie trailer that's way too revealing. By the time the game actually comes out, I know what its "beats" are, and I know exactly what to expect. Sure, reading keeps me more informed and let's me know whether or not a game is worth the purchase, but it also leaves me with a shallower experience in the end.

Being so well-informed makes a game's flaws more apparent. Something that would have been a mild annoyance -- or perhaps barely notable at all -- becomes an egregious error because I read four different reviews that point out the same "glaring" problem.

Sometime last year I decided to say "screw it," and I started purchasing and playing games using the same criteria I used to when I was younger: my gut.

Quick-time events were made popular in God of War, since they allowed a degree of cinematic gaming that was previously hard to convey. The problem is that QTEs quickly devolved into glorified games of Simon Says.

Thankfully, the QTE trend seems to finally be dying. As a send-off, let's look at this clip from Spider-Man 3, which hilariously shows why forcing players to push random buttons to advance a cutscene was a bad idea in the first place.

John Milius's Conan the Barbarian offers insight into a challenge between myself and Bitmob Editor James DeRosa. In the film, Conan sits before a group of Mongolians. The general asks the table, "What is best in life?" He receives a stern response: "The open steppe, fleet horse, falcons at your wrist, and the wind in your hair."

"Wrong!" shouts the general. "Conan, what is best in life?" The young Schwarzenegger responds, "To crush your enemies, see them driven before you, and to hear the lamentation of their women." Diametrically opposed views from men at the dawn of civilization itself. Who's right?

With the benefit of molding a nation from distant past to the far future, James and I set out to answer that question in separate playthroughs of Firaxis's latest turn-based strategy title, Civilization 5, with James as the pacifist and myself as the warmonger.

We've instituted some self-imposed limitations in order to facilitate each playing style (if you wish to try this out for yourself, see page five of the article for the details) -- I'm essentially playing Civ 5 as if I've enabled Civilization 4's "always war" option, while James has expressively forbidden himself from engaging in unprovoked conflict.

How will we perform? Who will lead his chosen civilization to victory, and who will fail? Is peace or war a civilization's best path to greatness? You've only one way to find out!

At Ubisoft's Digital Day last night, Ubisoft Vice President of Digital Publishing Chris Early laid out the company's plan for a digitally integrated future. It's a future that spreads across Facebook, mobile devices, and consoles with games that feed into each other -- what Early called "companion gaming." One of these companion games is the just-announced Assassin's Creed: Project Legacy for Facebook, which will unlock features in November's tent-pole release Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood and vice-versa.

Bitmob's Demian Linn and I spoke with Early after his presentation to find out more about Ubisoft's vision of digital harmony, the Assassin's Creed series, and whether Project Legacy will finally get hardcore gamers to start playing on Facebook.

Brett Bates: So we wanted to pick your brain a little bit more about the whole connectivity idea that you were talking about earlier...

Chris Early: The “companion gaming”?

BB: Yeah, the companion gaming, and how it works. It’s not really something that I’ve seen, at least to such an extent that you guys are trying to push it at this point, especially when it comes to looking at full retail games like Assassin’s Creed: Brotherhood connecting with a Facebook game. So what was your philosophy behind that? Was it allowing the gamer to connect at any point they wanted to?

CE: Look, I’m a greedy gamer. When I’m playing a game that I like, I want to keep being involved with that game. That’s what makes me stay up too late when I’m playing a game at home, dragging myself into work the next day.

But I know that I can’t sit in front of the console the entire time, even though I still want to be engaged with the game. There wasn’t really a good way to do that. Compound that with the countless games on our iPhones or whatever, and they’re fun for the moment, but they really don’t do anything overall from a gaming standpoint.

Wouldn’t it be great to do something on your iPhone or do something on Facebook and not have it just be a mindless clicking exercise, but actually have it be an additive value to an experience you want to continue anyway? That’s the underlying philosophy.

The Xbox 360's Fall update isn't available to consumers until November 19, but that doesn't mean you can't learn all about it right now. Thanks to early access to the beta program, I've messed around with the new Zune music channel, ESPN 3 integration, and improved Netflix application. I figured I'd share the most-interesting aspects with you via a two-page image gallery. Come on, let's go look at some pictures!

New system boot screen

The first thing I noticed was a snazzy new boot screen. It's swirly and purty, so if you're into that sort of thing you'll be quite pleased. 

Hit the jump for the rest of the grand tour.

A while ago, I wrote a fairly negative article on EA Sports’ first Facebook effort, FIFA Superstars. While I am still playing the Playfish-developed game, I still hold to my views in that first story. In fact, it all holds true, except for one sentiment. I said I would never play Facebook games ever again.

I lied. I'm still playing FIFA Superstars.

So...why am I still playing the worst representation of soccer ever four months after I said I wouldn’t?

I spent $10 on microtransactions, and I was going to get my money's worth, dammit.

The next time I want to harp on the 3DS (and its sleeper agent E3 booth babes), I think I'll keep my mouth shut. I'm a nervous wreck. I can't sleep. The ears of Nintendo are everywhere, listening. Waiting.

News Blips:

Astonished by the 3DS' purported $300 price tag? Don't be. It's all your fault. In a meeting with analysts yesterday, Nintendo head Satoru Iwata explained the pricing decision after someone commented that the handheld's cost might be a little ludicrous. Iwata responded that a "number of factors" went into determining the price -- including "reactions to the system's E3 reveal." This is what happens when gamers get too stir-crazy over 3D virtual puppies. Thanks, hyperbole! [Bloomberg]

Ubisoft announces Beyond Good & Evil HD for Xbox Live Arcade and PlayStation Network. While the true sequel to 2003's cult hit won't arrive anytime soon, Ubisoft hopes the snazzy improvements to the original game will keep players sated in the interim. The new version features refined graphics and sound, leaderboard tracking, and support for Trophies/Achievements. No specific pricing or launch dates were given besides a planned "2011 release." Looks like I can stop staring at that fly-huffing man-pig now. [NetworkWorld]

A massive Team Fortress 2 update released earlier today expands the game's repertoire of tradeable items, including new class weapons and hats. "This brutal, endless war between BLU and RED is, of course, lamentable," said a Mann Co. representative in an official announcement. "So if letting mercenaries buy, trade and sell Mann Co. products helps make this ongoing tragedy more enjoyable for both sides, then we've done our part. The Mann-Conomy initiative is, at the end of the day, a humanitarian effort." Take a gander at some of the new items available for purchase, and remember: If you have a complaint, don't hesitate to make it personal with Mann Co. president Saxton Hale.

Former game journalist Kieron Gillen shares his thoughts on the industry's treatment of quality. In a blog post, Gillen's main point -- the industry doesn't care about quality nor pays for it -- was juxtaposed with words of semi-encouragement to those who've reached the top. "Have some pride. You’ve got talent. You’re using it in a stupid way," he wrote. "And when you smarten up, you’ll go on to do great things." I think I've already "smartened up" on my career path after I found out how math-heavy game programming is.

Got any hot news tips? Send 'em over to tips@bitmob.com.

I have the misfortune to be an enthusiast gamer born in the late '80s. While thousands of older kids played through the inaugural titles of what would become great franchises -- Mario, Sonic, Metroid, Mega Man, etc. -- I was learning basic motor skills.

When I finally figured out how to hold a controller and developed relationships with friends who owned gaming consoles, I enjoyed playing these titles, too. But by the time I played through these seminal series, they had lost their initial thrill due to countless imitators.

I had seen older gamer’s eyes sparkle with nostalgia at game stores and conventions as they recalled memorable moments of these franchise’s beginnings. I had been in chat rooms and forums where gamers gush over the growth of their favorite series. Although I have been playing games for more than a decade, I had yet to experience such reverent nostalgia and felt a little alienated from my fellow gaming enthusiasts because of it.

Until this last week, that is. After beginning a file in Pokémon Black, I finally know what it's like to have a franchise grow up with me.

You'll never guess what Rockstar is adding to Red Dead Redemption. Go ahead. You'll never get this right. Not in a million.... Hey! How did you know it was zombies?

Video Blips:

I think the video-game industry needs an intervention. We've got Nazi zombies, Yakuza zombies, and now cowboy zombies in Red Dead Redemption's Undead Nightmare DLC.

Continue after the break for a look at the new features of the Nintendo 3DS, a unique use for Nintendo's latest party game, and James Bond kicking generic henchmen butt.

The strongest and most common argument for why many console gamers don't play PC games is because they don't own computers powerful enough to run newer titles. But that reason flies out the window in the case of old-school and low-end PC games.  What's left standing are flimsy excuses that recent developments in PC gaming easily annihilate.

If someone wants to have a broad knowledge of gaming, I don't think they can afford to completely ignore the Windows platform. This is especially true now that so many of this generation's most popular franchises find their roots in PC gaming.

Everyone saw BioShock as such an eye-opening experience when it came to the Xbox 360 because they hadn't played System Shock 2. That game accomplished many of the same things -- if in a less refined way -- eight years earlier. PC gamers were getting experiences like 2K Boston's classic back when console gamers were still busy with PlayStation Final Fantasys and the original Medal of Honor.