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The Bitmob Reviews Spotlight is a weekly feature which endeavors to bring attention to the website's most capable writers. While most of your are still enmeshed in the stockpile of recently released titles, these community members have been glued to their keyboards, writing until their extremities grew numb.

A curt shout out was the least we could do for these devoted community members. Here is the fruit of their labor:

Jack Morphy gives his index finger a break and decides to share his opinions on Torchlight, a Diablo-esque role-playing game. Anticipate spellcasting pets and furious mouse clicking.

Sage Knox follows suit with his impressions of The Saboteur. If you're a fan of trippy color transitions and snarky Irish men, be sure to check it out. But if you're not into that sort of thing, Ariel Feist has you covered with an article about Demon's Souls -- a game which has achieved more accolades than I care to count.

For those of you who've missed out on the Blur beta, Garret Staus provides his thoughts on this newcomer to the "battle-racing" genre. Apparently, you haven't missed too much.

Dana Laratta returns with another inspiring Haiku. This time, he directs his poetic prowess toward Double Fine's latest production, Brütal Legend. Remember: Never be ashamed of crying over poetry.  Stay on your toes, because once you've wiped away your tears, Ryan Conway will inundate you with yet another Mega Man review.

Lastly, Chris Whitehead makes the case for Assassin's Creed 2, a game whose intrusive DRM and unnecessarily high price point have concerned many PC gamers.

Torchlight Review
By Jack Morphy
The appeal of Diablo 2's elegantly conceived dungeons and deluge of mana potions overwhelmed any pain which the constant mouse clicking may have procured. Jack Morphy explains how Torchlight capitalizes on that masochistic pleasure. Prepare to sacrifice entire days to this game.

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Full disclaimer: Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures flew me out and put me up in a hotel to see an early screening of the upcoming Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time and to do this interview.

They said I had 15 minutes with Jerry Bruckheimer at 3:30 pm -- right before the premiere screening of this summer’s Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time at the 2010 ShoWest conference in Las Vegas, NV. But what Hollywood wants to do and what Hollywood can do are two different things. After several reschedulings and waiting for TV interviews, photo ops, and other interviews to wrap up, I finally got to meet the famed (and busy!) movie producer around 7:30 pm.

I had a bunch of questions for Bruckheimer about his new game studio, mixing the worlds of motion pictures and electronic entertainment, and, of course, his new film based on the long-running Prince of Persia series. Only one problem: One of the publicists told me my 15 minutes would have to be five. Hey, he has Extra, People magazine, and Robin Leach waiting to talk to him still -- I was amazed he was going to take time to chat with a gaming-enthusiast outlet at all.

That's a lot of pressure, conducting a full Q&A in under five minutes. But amazingly enough, that turned out to be more than enough time. I only needed one minute and 30 seconds to finish up with the most succinct guy I’ve ever interviewed….

Bitmob: So...what does Jerry Bruckheimer know about video games?

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Warning, this Kane & Lynch 2: Dog Days trailer has a censored, naked (digital) lady in it...I don't know if you're into that kind of thing.

Video Blips:

• The way that sources of light show up on screen leads me to believe that this video was "shot" on a handheld camcorder. I'm impressed that whoever filmed this footage for Kane & Lynch was able to keep such a steady hand. [GameVideos]

Continue after the break for a look at Prince of Persia: The Forgotten Sands, Trials HD's amazing/brutal hits and misses, and a preview of Mirror's Edge on the iPhone.

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The PlayStation 3 may claim to cure cancer with Folding@Home, but can games really make the world a better place?

At this year's TED Conference (Technology, Entertainment, Design), Jane McGoniga gave a presentation on how "gaming can make a better world." While playing games and saving the world at the same time may seem to be a little far-fetched, companies such as Foursquare and Gowalla have seen success in turning the monotony of everyday life into metagames.

Would you prefer a more immersive alternate reality or a more immersive reality?

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Papercraft fanatics can do just about anything with their medium. While most projects tend to revolve around blocky, super-deformed, video-game characters, sometimes the crafting obsession meets the keen eye of a sculptor and yields something almost indescribably brilliant. Look at this Game Boy [via Behance]:

My brain is having a difficult time accepting that this is made from paper. Sure, once you look at it for a while you can make out the texture and skillful paper layering, but it is still quite impressive. The back has a meticulously crafted slot that  allows you to insert paper cartridges.

You can find a classic gray version, a couple of cartridges, and tons of folded and pre-folded pictures at Behance. 

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If a manager instructed me to complete a project by "crafting items," I'd back away slowly and call Human Resources.

News Blips:

A university professor believes that translating elements of video game culture into the contemporary workforce serves as an essential form of motivation. By establishing a clear victory condition and an incremental reward system similar to those found in video games -- such as utilizing a World of Warcraft-esque progression style for academic studies -- those workers of the "gamer generation" would be able to easily apply techniques learned from video games. "It will be up to management, often of pre-gamer generations, to figure out how to educate themselves to the gamer culture, and how to speak to it most effectively," said the professor. I wonder what business trips would be called. "Raids"? [ITNews]

Joystiq reports that Microsoft is planning to add USB storage support to the Xbox 360. According to documents received by the website, a Spring 2010 system update will bestow consumers with the capability of storing Xbox Live Arcade and Indie games, Games on Demand, DLC, title updates, and even disc-based games. However, you'll only be able to use 16GB of the free space on your storage device. Way to go, Microsoft: You've caught up to modern times -- sort of!

Google, Intel, and Sony have combined resources to create an ambitious multimedia platform called GoogleTV. Google hopes to establish a niche within the television market by giving consumers easy access to the Internet and applications through the Android-powered GoogleTV. The project includes an entirely new generation of televisions and set-top boxes provided by Sony. How long will it be until we see useless Twitter updates like this: "Hi, everyone! I'm typing this from my TV right now." [NY Times]

An enigmatic website given to players who earn the platinum trophy in God of War 3 hints to yet another addition to the series. Loading up the website doesn't reveal much, apart from a raging thunderstorm and a peculiar symbol reminiscent of a Spartan shield. Speculation so far has suggested a handheld release or the possibility of co-op support. Whatever it is, I want it have a loud-mouthed Spartan yelling about madness and dining in hell. [GamersMint]

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

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The Bitmob Mailbag is back and ready for your questions. If you want to be a part of the fun, submit a query to Letters@Bitmob.com subject: “Mailbag” and you just might get your question answered. There’s even a small chance it will be answered correctly! 

Hey Bitmob,

I thought you guys might get a kick out of the Castle Crashers animal orb coasters my girlfriend and I made. Check 'em out:

Pictures of the individual coasters are located here.

Thanks!
 - Alex

Aaron: I played about ten minutes of Castle Crashers and thought it was pretty dumb. However, I don’t find those coasters to be dumb at all -- they’re really cool! I think I like the angry-looking Cardinal the best, but the Troll is pretty awesome as well. Thanks for sharing, Alex!

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I was overjoyed when I learned that Red Dead Redemption will feature cattle herding. Then I promptly dropped another coin into my "phrases that cause face-palms" money jar.

Video Blips:

• The spaghetti-Western vibe runs strong in this featurette for Red Dead Redemption. Perhaps the next game won't include the standard grizzled loner protagonist with only a gun and a horse to keep him company. [GameTrailers]

Continue after the break for the opening cut-scene to Lego Harry Potter, some gravity-defying chaos in the Just Cause 2 launch trailer, and a commercial for the PlayStation Move that would make Doc Brown proud.

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Editor's note: Brian's choices in this second edition of the Ultimate JRPG Buyers' Guide for RPG Haters show that Japanse role-playing games are more than just grindy dungeon crawls. Never judge a genre by its stereotype. -Jason

One day isn't a long time, so unless you're one of my robot employees, you probably haven't had the chance to complete any of the JRPGs I suggested in the first portion of my Ultimate JRPG Buyers' Guide For RPG Haters. Even if you were able to devote a few hours of your day to Super Mario RPG, Mother 3, or Terranigma, perhaps you weren't as enthralled by those titles as I was.

Fortunately for those of you I've failed, I'm here with another round of unique JRPGs that may temporarily distract you from the antics of Marcus Fenix and Dom.

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If only there was a way to print those digital Final Fantasy 13 pictures, then you could make your own physical art book for under 10 bucks! 

News Blips:

Square Enix releases the Final Fantasy 13 Larger-Than-Life Gallery, a digital art book, for the iPhone/iPod touch. The app features high-resolution images of the FF13 world, a clock and calendar function, and costs $8.99. I'm left a bit confused how something on the pocket-sized iPhone could be considered "larger than life" -- whose life? 

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I'm a little late on this month's top 10, but thanks to Andrew Hiscock (himself a familiar face in the top 10), I now have the 10 most-read community submissions from the month of February.

Did you make the cut? There's only one way to find out!

10) The Not-So-Secret History of Video Game Peripherals -- Jeffrey Michael Grubb   

9) Breaking Mafia Wars: Casual Gaming Meets Hardcore Gamer -- Sam
Bardelson        

8) BioShock 2 Review PS3 -- Michael Wenzel         

7)  Five Time Wasters That Are Worse Than Playing Video Games -- Brian Shirk      

6) Dudebro II: The Birth of a Meme and How NeoGAF Began Its First Video Game -- Andrew Hiscock    

Hit the jump for the rest of the top 10

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If I ever apply for a game-design job, I wonder if I could put WarioWare D.I.Y. down on my resume.

Video Blips:

• This tutorial in making your own microgames is giving me all sorts of Mario Paint flashbacks. Based off of Lesson 2, though, I think that this would all be a little too much for eight-year-old me. [GameVideos]

Continue after the break for the Dragon Age: Origins -- Awakening and God of War 3 launch trailers. Plus, a Battlefield: Bad Company 2 spoof on a controversial Modern Warfare 2 ad.

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