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I like blood and guts. Part of that, I have no shame in admitting, comes from my gib-tastic experiences playing Quake and Half-Life as a kid. Another part of me isn't quite as juvenile, however. It yearns for maturity in video games and to see them taken more seriously as an artistic medium, but it still wants more pixilated viscera.

For example, games like Half-Life 2 and Grand Theft Auto IV reward you with a humorous display of ragdoll physics after you shoot a baddie with a rocket launcher. The recently deceased goes flying across the terrain, but where’s the meat? A guy who’s just been hit square in the chest with a rocket launcher should have his entrails strewn all over the place, an arm here and a leg there, and a severed head in the gutter.

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One thing I've never wondered about the Pokémon Bulbasaur is where its vines come from. Busted Tees artist Ryan Mauskopf, on the other hand, has created anatomical charts for the original Pokémon characters that leave nothing to the imagination ... including where Bulbasaur's vines are [via Technabob].

RIght now, Mauskopf only has designs for Squirtle, Charmander, and Bulbasaur, but he plans to release a Pikachu design in the near future. Busted Tees sells each shirt for $20. I'm not sure how interested I am in these, though, since I think wearing them makes you look like a mad Pokémon butcher.

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It’s tough to get motivated to exercise sometimes. If I’m honest with myself, I’d really rather get in one more League of Legends match than go outside and punish my body by jogging.

Exercise is healthy, though, and an hour or so of intense physical activity each week isn’t such a huge sacrifice. I may grumble and groan about it when I’m putting on my gym shoes, but I feel better mentally and physically when I run.

Unlike hobbies like soccer or skiing, video gaming doesn’t have an inherent active component, but there is a way we can bring a piece of our pastime with us while we’re exercising. I’m a huge fan of video game music, and I’ve recently discovered that a lot of it makes for great running fodder.

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I was always terrible at Dr. Mario, as I am at most puzzle games. I can only watch in envy as a player named Sabo creates one of the most ridiculous feats of gaming I've ever seen, filling up almost the entire screen full of pills and swiftly destroying them all with one ridiculous chain.

Of course, medically speaking, this is a horrible way to treat a patient, Mario. That poor person has to overdose at some point. Anyway, watch for yourself after the break.

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The Community Spotlight features some of the best unedited articles that didn't quite make the front page. This week, we move on from a venerable series, wonder if Halo 4 is in the right developers' hands, promote people, and more. Mix your herbs and read on.

Why I'm moving on from Resident Evil games
By Avery Tingle

After playing the demo of Resident Evil 6, Avery was less than impressed. "Resident Evil is starting to feel like the Madden version of the survival horror genre," Avery writes, "a series of just-enough small tweaks and minor improvements with a new number slapped on."

Falling into the wrong hands (possibly)
By Jesse Meixsell

No, this isn't about the news of a Halo 4 leak. Jesse's concerned that Halo 4 was in trouble much earlier, when original developers Bungie handed the reins over to 343 Industries. Jesse looks at similar circumstances in other series...and their mixed results.

People promotion in a faceless world
By Aaron Davies

"Does gaming have a face?" Aaron asks. "Who are the people that most video game fans recognize and relate to?" Aaron argues that it's important for gaming fans to have a real person to identify and associate with a brand. Do you agree?

Microsoft doesn't want free advertising for Halo 4
By Alexander Kraus

Microsoft has rolled out new content policies that prevent fans from uploading their in-game creations to websites like YouTube. And that doesn't make sense to Alexander. "I'm sure the numerous content creators out there will be glad to not give you any free advertising for your games, Microsoft," he writes.

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Resident Evil 6 makes me weep. The series that used to haunt my dreams as a kid is long gone, and something sort of like Gears of War took its place. Amusingly, I’ve tried forcing my way through RE6’s campaigns at least six times at this point, but I always throw my controller aside in frustration.

Why? Because the series gave up on trapping players in labyrinthian monster factories and started imprisoning them in unskippable cinematic sequences and perpetual quick-time events. The scary’s gone, and the disjointed action game that remains just isn’t cutting it.

You can blame several factors for this, like the creator of the original game (Shinji Mikami) leaving Capcom, the fact that over 20 different studios worked on this project, or you can adhere to the misguided belief that Japanese developers just don’t get Western audiences. The real reason is that the franchise is too old and too nebulous to support itself anymore.

We need a reboot, preferably one that breaks away from all the crap mechanics recent developers have “expanded” since Resident Evil 4. Ideally, the team that made Resident Evil: Revelations would take over the series, drop the numbers and home console support, and evolve RE into a portable horror experience.

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On October 5, 1962, Sean Connery introduced himself to audiences in the UK for the first time as James Bond in Dr. No.

Since then, Bond has gone up against murderous megavillains lounging around titanic secret hideouts and an array of equally wicked minions ranging from the metal-mouthed Jaws to Bambi and Thumper.

There are a lot things I find irresistible about the films, whether it's the thrill of Bond's brilliantly narrow escapes, the bizarre plots the villains dream up, or the lovely women that can also turn the tables on expectations by being as tough as he is.

Bond started out in books written by author Ian Fleming, whose experiences in British Naval Intelligence during WW2 provided a healthy diet for Bond's fiction. As the books later became inspiration for the films, the franchise exploded into everything imaginable. Comics, new novels, and kid's cartoon James Bond Jr. made their way down the pipe from new writers in the decades since Bond boiled Dr. No like a lobster. And then came games as varied as Q's gadgets. From board games in the '60s to video games from the '80s, England's gentleman spy has made a place for himself in living rooms and man caves everywhere.

To help celebrate 50 years of Bond, I thought it would be fun to take a brief look on Bond's digital career. Kicking things off, let's head into the era of big hair bands and arcades: the '80s.

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Is it already October? Yes, it is. And do you know how I can tell? Because my wallet's already lighter as the rush of holiday game releases begins. (Hang in there, buddy. It's gonna get worse for you before it gets better.)

Fortunately, our loyal Bitmob community churns out great content no matter the time of year. This month's list has includes analyses, apologies, and anecdotes galore. But sometimes, you've just gotta give it up for Master Chief dancing Gangnam Style. Congrats to everyone!

Here are the most-read community articles for September 2012:

10. Fan-made HD Arwing shows what Star Fox might be like on Wii U by Jan Neves

9. Nudity in gaming shouldn't be a bigger taboo than violence by Mark Willette

8. Why the reaction to Bayonetta 2's Wii U exclusivity is annoying by Ryan Conway

7. Why Borderlands 2 is more exciting than Diablo 3 by William Franklin

6. The Wii U is a stopgap at best by Ethan Clevenger

5. L.A. Noire: A case for the future of gaming by Chris Sampson

4. An open apology to associates and influences by Ryan Perez

3. Papo & Yo: A mirror of my childhood by Louis Garcia

2. Why Portal 2 should really get us excited for the next Half-Life by Justin Raymond

1. Halo's Master Chief puts down his rifle and jams to Gangnam Style by Jan Neves

Do you want to be on next month's list? Here are some tips:

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I received my copy of developer Arkane Studios' stealth-action title Dishonored today. Because I preordered it from Best Buy, I received a special bonus item along with the game: a USB-powered "whale oil lamp." I've written before about all the useless plastic crap I've accumulated over the years, so, hey...here's some more.

I can't fault anyone for wanting to throw a little something extra in with a video game, but what exactly do I do with this thing? I turned to the instruction sheet for some guidance.

"The Dishonored USB Whale Oil Lamp," it reads, "is a fun way of making your computer more attractive and your workstation more inviting."

Huh.

I read the rest of the page looking for anything else that might tell me what to do with it, but all it had to offer were a few safety tips ("Do not cover the lights with paper or cloth") and some extra-helpful troubleshooting tips ("If lights do not illuminate, make sure switch is in ON position").

OK, so it looks like I'm on my own here.

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I've always wondered why adults enjoy turning seemingly innocent toys and games into unspeakable horrors. The original Pokémon titles and even The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask have tons of creepy stories about them now, including haunted cartridges driving players insane and ghostly, disformed sprites that ultimately break your save files.

This month, artist Rebecca Reynolds is turning each creepy Pokémon story into a different image. Her first project tackles the eerie Lavender Town suicides legend where the unsettling music in Pokémon Red and Blue's haunted village drove children to supposedly kill themselves.

Like I said, I really don't understand this obsession with turning something relatively good-natured like Pokémon into some sort of waking nightmare. 

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With the recent re-release of Sonic Adventure 2 and NiGHTS into Dreams on PSN and XBLA, I am reminded of a terror that has kept me away from my childhood gaming favorites for quite some time. This beast lurks in the dark recesses of what I affectionately call my "box of retro gaming."

It is a tormentor. A devourer. It seduces you with fond and wonderful feelings, and when you least expect it, it stabs you in the back and leaves you in a ditch to rot. Few dare utter its name, and I do so here in the hopes that some may be saved from its ferocity.

This beast is known simply as nostalgia.

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Not that long ago (OK, OK ... it was a long time ago!), we announced that VentureBeat had acquired Bitmob. Naturally, since we've been telling everyone the merger would be done in a couple of months, it didn't. It's taken a lot longer than that.

Well, we're almost there now.

The code's finished, and we've done a lot of testing on it. We really, honestly, totally, truly believe that, by the end of October, Bitmob will shut down for good and move completely over to GamesBeat. If we do it right, we'll have migrated all profiles and articles over, and we can do the "business as usual" thing over there.

Phase one of this migration will be missing a few minor features from Bitmob, but it will have gained some new ones, too (especially in the Department of War Against Spam). We'll be improving the site from this upcoming initial launch, but the main hurdle now is just getting the first version of the site up with the ability for community members to post stories.

Please stay tuned!

In the meantime ...

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