Ah, remember the good ol' days of "GTA clone this" and "GTA clone that"? Nowadays, pistols and carjackings seem to have made way for superpowers and car-smashings.

We still have a little bit of a wait for Crackdown 2, but Prototype and Infamous are here now to fill our open-world superhero gaming needs (dare we call them "Spider-Man clones"? No, we dare not). Community member Trevor Hinkle already did a short comparison piece. But we'd like to hear more from you guys.

Write up your thoughts, reviews, commentary...whatever you want to write about. Then tag your stories "Prototype" or "Infamous" (or both if you're covering them together like Trevor did) so we can find them, and we'll post some sort of post-mortem wrap-up on the two games in a week or so...just like we did with Bionic Commando. Or not. Depends on what you guys come up with.

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Two games have been dominating my time over the past couple months: Punch-Out!! on Wii and the DS' Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars. Both are great games that I'm continually impressed by, and both have me thinking about the way I've been playing them.

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Hey, check out this amazing theory I came up with: Movie-licensed games suck. Bet you've never heard that before. Man, I'm so smart. What's that? You have heard this? Dammit -- way to crush my dreams of actually saying something somewhat intelligent.

OK, well, you may have heard that, but you probably haven't heard this: The videgame based on the horror franchise Saw actually doesn't look like a fun-killer.

Hard to admit, I know, but the Saw game was one of my biggest surprises at E3. Because, as you've already heard, the cliché is that all movie-based games are apparently terrible. Especially ones built around properties that seemingly don't lend themselves to a videogame -- like, say, Saw. But considering I'm actually a huge fan of the movies (and a glutton for punishment), I was curious to see the game. And I'm glad I did.

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Editor's note: Andrew argues that new trends and technology in gaming will reduce the potential for online douchebaggery. Please be right please be right please be right. Lots more after the jump. -Demian

A classic Penny Arcade strip (pictured above) succinctly expressed frustrations many of us have had with online multiplayer games. How many times have you heard someone say "I only play with friends?" How many times have you heard a pre-pubescent voice call you a name-not-fit-for-Bitmob-even-if-Seanbaby-posts-here? This major barrier to online multiplayer is set to change with the introduction of new feature sets, market shifts, and distribution channels that have been the talk of the first half of 2009. I'll take a look at where major players in the industry are trying to steer videogames and how (or if) they will affect the Greater Internet Fuckwad Theory.

First, how did we get to where online multiplayer game are today? It is a mean world out there, but it is something else entirely when you play a game of Halo 3 with strangers. It is vile, depraved stuff, and that's when it's good. To paraphrase Shawn Elliott: the Xbox headset is the worst thing you can put on your head this side of shotgun.

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Editor's Note: Games journalism has always been an important subject for me, so I was happy to read this piece -- and not just because my name's mentioned! I originally had a huge Editor's Note here with my thoughts, but then I realized I was taking too much attention away from Jeffrey's article, so I'll shut up for now and do a separate post later. (Update: the separate post.)

Do make sure to read the comments, though. Jeffrey's fellow community member Andrew Hiscock has an interesting story to share. -Shoe

For those of you who don't know, writing for Bitmob in exchange for my name in lights and a hearty e-handshake is not my day job. During the day I drive to and fro delivering sandwiches for hungry people in the hopes that they will tip me a decent amount of cash money. While doing this I tend to listen to a lot of radio and podcasts. The podcasts are all videogame related except for a few NPR shows, and the radio is a split between politics and sports. Throughout all the hours of listening I've come to realize something. It is good that we bitch about games journalism; it is better than the alternative....

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Hey Bitmobs and Bitmobettes!

This is a new show with a new format, and as you can tell, it is a little rough around the edges. We are stressing a casual approach while we find our legs and our hope is that Video Games AWESOME will prove to be more than just fan service for the Awesome Video Games faithful. So please, give us your input!

The next three parts of our premier episode after the jump. Stay Awesome!

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Trying to keep up with all of the downloadable games and content that's out there these days is enough to make a person cry. But cry no more, because Download Lowdown is here to help. Each week I'll sift through the good, the bad, and the weird to help you get the most from your game system of choice without leaving your house. Plus, if you read now I'll also toss in some choice (usually less-than-helpful) quotes from folks around the Internet at absolutely no extra charge! This week I get in touch with my inner-Mongol, hang out on Big Surf Island, get crushed in Scrabble, save you money on classic Genesis games, and force myself to think about the original Killzone again.

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Crispy Gamer has a funny article up about Maxim replacing unfinished EGM subscriptions called, "I think I'm going to cry." It's not really even an article -- it's just one funny scan (not the one shown here) that pretty much says it all. Go check it out. A monkey is involved if that helps.

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Internet killed the magazine stars. But at least us survivors can live on by reporting about our former livelihood being replaced with hot chicks. Couldn't have asked for anything better, really.

News Blips:

• EGM's soul reincarnated as unrealistically photoshopped woman's breasts. Yeah, we already know original Electronic Gaming Monthly (EGM) founder Steve Harris recently repurchased the mag, but several million readers still have subscriptions to the one that croaked earlier this year. And they still do, actually, only now with a different periodical: Maxim. Pretty good replacement, we think. Except for the part about Maxim barely covering videogames. Meh, who really cares about monthly electronic gaming anyway? [Kotaku]

• WoW -- the Laguna Art museum is nerdy. The Orange County art-viewing establishment is showing its nerd cred by putting up a World of WarCraft exhibit showcasing both official and fan art. Sorry, no guild member discounts. [ocregister]

• Nazis ironically do good; help Call of Duty: World at War sell well. Publisher Activision Blizzard has revealed that last year's Call of Duty: World at War has sold over 11 million units. Impressive. Amount of residuals Nazis will receive from sales: 0. [GameSpot]

• Did you hear that? Air guitar world record broken by Brutal Legend finger-shredders. Well, this is a first: A bunch of gaming fans in England broke the ridiculous-amount-of-people-looking-like-idiots-playing-fake-guitar record at a music festival sponsored by EA. The record of the most amount of people simultaneously playing the air triangle sadly still stands. [Kotaku]

Hit the jump for some video blips, including a MAG video doc, nude zombie-slaying, a ridiculous 360 case mod, and...more.

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I just finished my first game review in a few months -- and big surprise, it was a niche Japanese role-playing game. NIS America's Cross Edge is a collaboration between several Japanese publishers and developers, but it shoehorns so many disparate concepts into a single game that it's rendered practically unplayable as a result. This isn't the first time I've been disappointed in this kind of game, though: Namco Bandai's Tales of the World: Radiant Mythology frustrated me back in 2007 by playing it safe and avoiding practically all of the elements that make the traditional Tales games work. But this got me thinking: Why can't Japanese developers seem to make these "all-star" RPG collaborations -- a seemingly fail-safe concept -- work? As far as I can tell, the answer might lie in their corporate culture, known for its endless bureaucracy.

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Editor's Note: Great photos by Brett Bates from a nerdriffic event. Fellow Bitmob staffer Michael Donahoe actually asked if I wanted to go to this, but I had other (and in hindsight, lamer) plans. Looking at these photos, I wish I would've gone. -Shoe

The Maker Faire -- held yearly at the San Mateo fairgrounds and sponsored by the folks at Make magazine -- is a veritable geektopia of gadgets, gizmos, and other goodies. This year, I saw a remote-controlled giraffe carrying a squealing group of kids down the main boulevard. I witnessed a man-sized version of the game Mouse Trap. I noticed a woman walk by on robotic satyr legs, then marveled at a ridiculous metal contraption that spun tight cylinders of fire. And, yes, I saw plenty of weird and cool things related to gaming.

Click the Read More link for some pictorial goodness.

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E3 2009. You all ready to leave it behind? I sure am. Seems like we've been talking about it for weeks...well, that's exactly what we've been doing. As great a show as it's been, it's time to move on.

Over the past few weeks I've gathered together some stuff from the big three press conferences and broken down what I've felt about Modern Warfare 2, the Hero games, Bayonetta, and more. But with all those specifics out of the way, I still have a handful of other nuggets that just don't fit anywhere else. Read on for Muramasa, wrestler pics, Abbey Road, behind-the-scenes podcasting, and more!

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Editor's note: Andrew whips out the TI-86 graphing calculator again and turns its withering, number-crunching gaze on the biggest sales disappointments of this console generation. Armchair analysts will find some pretty fascinating stuff in here, especially in the genre breakdowns after the jump. -Demian

Concluding my series of articles on top bombs for the current generation of consoles, I will now round up all the titles to compare the biggest bombs from this generation. Using the AURA index ("Achieved Under Review Aggregate", click here for more info on this scoring system), I have balanced scores and sales data to look at the biggest commercial bombs that were critical hits.

A brief introduction, if you haven't seen my earlier articles. The better the review score, the higher the AURA score. The lower the sales as a ratio to a console's install base, the higher the AURA score. An example of how it works: When comparing two games with equal sales, the game with the higher review score will be the bigger bomb. Likewise with sales: When comparing two games with an equal review scores, the lower-selling as a factor of console install base will be the bigger bomb. And a final clarification, if a game has a higher review aggregate, it can sell more copies while still remaining a bomb, under the assumption that games with higher scores will sell more. The rule: the larger the AURA score, the larger the bomb.

Follow the links to see the previous lists featuring console-specific bombs: Top Ten Wii Bombs, Top Ten Xbox 360 Bombs, Top Ten PS3 Bombs.

The following list was created using data from gamerankings.com and vgchartz.com. The 228 games across all platforms that scored an 80 or above on gamerankings.com (an arbitrary line that denotes "consensus critical hit") were scored using the AURA system. And for the sake of continuity, I have two lists, one with sports titles, one without.

TOP 25 CURRENT CONSOLE GENERATION CRITICAL HITS/RETAIL BOMBS
25. MLB Power Pros - Wii - .69
24. Guitar Hero: Metallica - Wii - .71
23. Pinball Hall of Fame - The Williams Collection - Wii - .75
22. Virtua Fighter 5 Online - Xbox 360 - .82
21. Sonic's Ultimate Genesis Collection - Xbox 360 - .83
20. Okami - Wii - .87
19. Tales of Vesperia - Xbox 360 - .87
18. Eternal Sonata - PS3 - .98
17. Punch Out!! - Wii - 1.00
16. Viva Pinata: Trouble in Paradise - Xbox 360 - 1.18
15. NHL 2K7 - Xbox 360 - 1.24
14. Bully: Scholarship Edition - Wii - 1.25
13. The House of the Dead: Overkill - Wii - 1.26
12. The Chronicles of Riddick: Assault on Dark Athena - Xbox 360 - 1.26
11. The Chronicles of Riddick: Assault on Dark Athena - PS3 - 1.44
10. Zack & Wiki Quest for Barbaros' Treasure - Wii - 1.46
9. Mad World - Wii - 1.47
8. FlatOut: Ultimate Carnage - Xbox 360 - 1.60
7. Geometry Wars: Galaxies - Wii - 1.70
6. Pro Evolution Soccer 2008 - Wii - 1.81
5. MLB Power Pros 2008 - Wii - 1.88
4. Rune Factory Frontier - Wii - 3.91
3. Boom Blox Bash Party - Wii - 4.38
2. Klonoa - Wii - 5.35
1. Pro Evolution Soccer 2009 - Wii - 8.75

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Check out a few of our favorite posts from the Mobfeed over the last week or so, and hit the jump to read the rest (including new info on Metal Gear Solid: Rising and Peace Walker, thoughts on Super Mario Galaxy 2, and opinions on the resurrection of EGM).

Intermissions: Sequel 2: Ark's Beginning
Brett Bates chats with I-wish-he-was-real Producer Montgomery McFate about Sequel 2. "When Ubisoft approached us about doing a sequel to Sequel, we knew exactly what we wanted to do: a prequel."

Infamous vs. Prototype: Who Won?
What game that came out within the last two weeks about dudes who suddenly have super powers did you like better, Infamous or Prototype? Inquiring minds, and Trevor Hinkle, want to know.

7 Things Missing from Pokemon Red/Blue
Jack Vishneski has been doing some serious thinking about Pokemons. Hilariously serious.

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We return from our week of E3 shows with a show about...E3. It's a doozy, though, and we use it to bring closure to the great expo of 2009.

Bitmob.com - Mobcast #7:

This week the Bitmob crew tackles E3 2009 one final time to get our lingering thoughts out of the way. Guest Andrew Fitch joins Dan "Shoe" Hsu, Demian Linn, Greg Ford, and Robert Ashley to talk about motion controls, the way we cover E3, and out favorite booths and games of the show.

Zune Link (must use Internet Explorer)

Direct Download (right click save as)

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We've never really cared about the story in a Mario game, but we have always wondered one thing: Is Mario really a certified plumber? Because the dude never fixes toilets. Ever.

News Blips:

• Your pointless plot is in another castle: Super Mario Galaxy 2 not going to have a deep story. No one cares about what Mario's doing anyway, or so says the man who created him, Shigeru Miyamoto. He told Wired that he thinks Mario games don't need silly things like a plot or a backstory, so Super Mario Galaxy 2 will instead focus on the fun. We're cool with this, but we feel bad for the poor fanfic writers -- those guys are really going to have to pull shit out of their asses now. [Wired]

• DJ Hero and Guitar Hero in talks to form PLA (Plastic League of America). Guitar Hero 5 developer Neversoft says future iterations of the Guitar Hero series may include support for DJ Hero's turntable controller. Now all this alliance needs is a proper villain. Def Jam Rapstar anyone? [Eurogamer]

• Wii's price looking shaggy, possible cut imminent. Outspoken videogame analyst and creator of the phrase "Wii-nis envy," Michael Pachter, is predicting Nintendo will be lowering the price of its popular Wii to $199 later this year. Pretty good prediction, Pachter. We have one, too: "The Wii will sell well at this price point." Are we doing it right? [Edge-Online]

• Nintendo thinks you suck at games, will play them for you. Mario creator Shigeru Miyamoto tells USA Today that the New Super Mario Bros. Wii developers are implementing a new feature in the game entitled "Demo Play" that allows sucky players to let the AI to take control and finish the level for them. Geeze, Nintendo -- way to assume your customers are idiots. [USA Today]

Hit the jump for some video blips, including killer Nazis in Wolfenstein, a delicious Fat Princess diary, an Atari wallet, and...more.

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Editor's note: We were fully in the grip of E3 when this mock profile of Mario was first posted, so we totally missed it -- in case you did, too, we're promoting it now. (Oh, and if any lawyers are reading and it's not already completely clear, this is a parody.) -Demian

I'm standing at the intersection of Warp Pipe and Vine, and I can hear the subject of my latest interview before I see him. About a block away, I can hear his 150 cc golden car power slide through a red light, and the characteristic slot machine sound of a power up queuing up as he bowls through an Item Box. He skids to a halt directly in front of me as I jump back from the curb.

"Get the fuck in, I got a Golden Mushroom here, and we got to let the lead out." The attitude is betrayed by a singsong farce of an Italian accent.

I jump into the back seat and with a "Let's a-go!" we are gone with a perfectly timed starter boost.

For better or worse, this is a day in the life of videogames' most famous character, Mario.

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A while ago, while shopping around Best Buy for a new computer monitor, a brilliant idea popped into my head. Between my girlfriend and me, we have two Xbox 360s in the apartment -- why not make the second monitor a second TV, so we could play full-screen co-op games over Xbox Live?

A little shopping around and a few cable purchases later, we were all hooked up. Gears of War 2, Saints Row 2, Resident Evil 5, Mercenaries 2, even Fable 2 (whose co-op was an insult)...we did them all. In order to afford two copies of all these games, I had to steal food from Demian's cupboard whenever I visited his pad, but the only thing more fun than playing online games is playing them in the same room with your partner.

So while walking around E3, we both couldn't help but have our eyes peeled (and wallets warmed up) for more games we'd be playing together in the upcoming months. In the latest Cut Scene, we each pick out our top three co-op games of the show, plus one game that we wish was co-op but unfortunately, isn't.

And if you're still in the mood for more E3 chit-chat after that, I wrap up the expo with the guys from The Fan590 out of Toronto on their Got Game podcast. It's super short, like 12 minutes, so give it a listen!

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Congrats to Joshua McCluskey. We randomly selected his name from the comments in our recent survey/contest to win a free game. Problem is, we just launched, so we're not on all the mailing lists yet, and this is the slow time of year where not many games are coming out, so we don't have anything to give away just yet.

Lucky for us, Josh is an understanding fella. He opted for a pile of gaming-related junk instead of waiting a couple of weeks for us to get a new game in the mail. Sorry, Josh! (That's a sorry for what you're about to receive, by the way...but at least you'll have some new kick-ass outfits to wear out on hot dates.)

A huge thank you to everyone who helped us out by filling out the survey. What did we learn from it? That you guys like winning free games.

Our EA Sports Active contest is still...active...so don't miss out on that.

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In my previous life as a GameSpot editor my job was to review sports games. That meant I got to play lots and lots of yearly sequels. Here's the problem: most games, sports-related or not, don't need to be yearly releases. Activision wisely put the Tony Hawk franchise on the shelf for a year and used that time to totally change how the game will be played. Now people are once again excited for Tony Hawk. But some companies just aren't getting the message that sometimes less is more, so I've put together a list of five games that need to call a time out, take a break, and regroup.

And the nominees/offenders are (see the full list after the jump)....

_____________________________________________________

Tiger Woods
I enjoy the Tiger Woods series quite a bit, but the changes from year to year are barely measurable. EA adds a few courses and golfers and takes away a few courses and golfers. The putting system gets altered a bit, but everyone still shoots 10-15 under par. Then they change a few menus, make a few minor enhancements and send the game on its merry way.

This year we're getting yet another new announcer, more people in the crowd, and thicker grass. That should be a $20 downloadable expansion (if that), not a full-priced game.

My advice to EA is to take a year off, revamp the career mode, double the number of courses, and add a course creator. Then we're talking a must-buy game.

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