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Now that we finally have an official release date -- April 26, 2013 -- for Dead Island: Riptide, I can finally begin to worry less about if, or when for that matter, my favorite zombie slasher will return.

According to publisher Deep Silver, Dead Island Riptide adds “additional gameplay mechanics, all-new gorgeous locales to explore, more types of zombies to provide constant threats, an additional character class and the best co-operative zombie action experience in gaming.”

But this is what I want from the upcoming sequel.

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The Matrix has been irrelevant since those horrible sequels ruined the original's goodwill, but I think the cartoonists at HBruna have found a way to bring some excitement back to the series by adding a healthy dose of Minecraft into the mix.

Seriously, this is a very well-made video for such a silly concept. Although it's not too much of a stretch to imagine all of those addicted Minecraft players losing their grip on reality. You can watch it all after the jump.

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Let me guess. You like video games, and you hate your day job?

You’re not alone. I think everyone would rather get paid to play big-time titles all day than do anything else.

A dangerous misconception exists regarding these dream jobs, however. They're not an excuse to play all day. They're work.

And life is about doing something meaningful.

Does that make sense?

Work makes life worthwhile. To throw your body, mind, and soul at a meaningful task is a human being's source of satisfaction.

To be utterly spent, exhausted, and bloodied while knowing that you’ve accomplished something great is the sweetest feeling.

Now let’s examine the dream of being a games journalist.

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Once again, games journalism has been having an internal spat over the integrity of some of its fraternity. The issue circles around a handful of opportunistic souls who took the opportunity to earn themselves a free PlayStation 3 for using a particular hashtag on Twitter while at the Games Media Awards a couple of weeks ago.

Most of the journalists who received PS3s did something constructive with them (either donating them to charity or using them as competition prizes), but they were still criticized for taking the opportunity that was presented to them.

Now, winning a PS3 was not particularly wrong. The irony comes in the fact that those doing the criticizing were doing so on the grounds that these people were making material gain for providing advertising.

The actual argument was pretty trivial, but it does bring up some interesting questions about the relationship between games journalists and the industry they report on.

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I consider myself a pretty knowledgeable Sonic the Hedgehog fan (at least of everything before the horrible 2006 game), but I have to shamefully admit to not knowing a single one of the interesting facts in Did You Know Gaming's newest video.

For instance, apparently Sega originally designed Dr. Robotnik (I refuse to call him Dr. Eggman) as a hero for another game. Also, Sonic originally had a human love interest called Madonna. That idea was thankfully scrapped by Sega of America for being too "Japanese."

You can learn more bizarre Sonic trivia by watching the video after the break.

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This article contains minor spoilers for BioShock and Fallout 3.

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I finally completed three of the most popular releases in my Xbox 360 collection: Mass Effect, BioShock, and Fallout 3. Although I enjoyed every one of them, I think many reviewers overlooked their many flaws.

Perfect video games don't exisit, even among the biggest blockbuster productions.

As I played through each revered modern classic, I discovered how each game uncovered new capabilities of the current-generation consoles.

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Amateur ghost hunters take notice. You can use the Kinect for Xbox 360 to detect spirits. Well, my girlfriend, her cousins, and I did once. 

We were getting our groove on with Dance Central back when Microsoft's motion-controlled camera device was still fresh on the market.

During one particular session, we noticed something abnormal. Midway through a psychedelic freestyle interlude -- where the player takes a creative break from mimicking the in-game dancers -- we noticed an extra person on the screen ... who was not in the room. The infrared camera inside the Kinect appeared to detect an energy source in the shape of a small child.

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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 examine how PlayStation All-Stars tries to shed the "Smash Bros. clone" tag, discuss David Jaffe's thoughts on video-game storytelling, and wonder why we still get so many sequels. Join us!

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PlayStation All-Stars Battle Royale is trying to separate itself
By Ethan Clevenger

"If you were hoping to play Smash Bros. with PlayStation characters," Ethan writes, "you'll be sorely disappointed. While the general concept is there, the game as a whole is far from a carbon copy, which may be a good or bad thing." I do love some Smash, but I'm looking forward to trying a different style of fight.

Jaffe, you so crazy (or not): Storytelling in video games
By Javy Gwaltney

Javy breaks down Twisted Metal creator David Jaffe's comments on how storytelling "stunts the growth of video games." Javy writes: "What Jaffe is missing out on is the fact that games aren’t trying to be movies but are instead trying to achieve a happy medium that offers interactivity and a cinematic experience." What do you think?

The never-ending year of sequels
By Thomas Bobyn

If it seems like every year could be called the "year of sequels," well, Thomas says you're probably right. He says that sequels are safe bets for publishers trying to turn a profit. But that doesn't mean we have to complain, Thomas argues: "Rather than fighting the barrage of sequels that comes at us 12 months a year, we as a gaming community should learn to minimize the pre-determined bias we have about sequels."

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We're about to enter the crazy period of time in our industry known as the holidays, but check out these reviews for some classic titles and recent releases that you might have missed before all of those triple-A experiences swamp your gaming collection.

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Gravity Rush: More, please
By Billy Guinigundo

Gravity Rush is my game of the year so far. I don't think Billy is quite as enthusiastic as I am, but he still has a lot of nice things to say about this PlayStation Vita exclusive. "The gravity-shifting mechanic created a vertical dimensionality to the play space that was parts disorienting, creative, and, ultimately, exhilirating."

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The best of gaming horror: Evil comes to Raccoon City
By Stan Rezaee

Stan looks back at Resident Evil 2, one of the most popular survival-horror games for the original PlayStation. "Despite its now obvious plot holes and anomalies, Resident Evil 2 still remains a classic example of a good horror game and a sequel that successfully improved over its predecessor."

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Holding up in Grand Theft Auto: Vice City
By Javy Gwaltney

Let's keep the classic vibe going with Javy's review of Grand Theft Auto: Vice City. How does it hold up? Pretty well, according to Javy. "The graphics haven’t aged well, sure, but everything else is just as superb as it was a decade ago."

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According to the Merriam Webster Dictionary, to glorify something is to make it “glorious by bestowing honor, praise, and admiration.”

One of the charges that has always been levied at controversial video games is that many of them glorify violence. Now, there are certain games that I would be hard-pressed to make a compelling defense for, such as Postal; however, there have been certain games that have successfully sidestepped that criticism by giving the player the choice to commit or refrain from violence.

Think about Grand Theft Auto III. To progress through the game, you must kill mafia members and other undesirables, but the game never requires that you to progress through the story to play it. Think about it. You can play taxi driver or cruise around town blasting the radio or just walk about, observing the denizens of Liberty City as they go about their lives. It may be boring as hell, but the option to play the game without maiming a single person is there.

And then we have the middle ground: Hotline Miami. I’m not going to waste time reviewing the game as there are plenty of fantastic reviews out there. I do, however, want to focus on the violence in this game since it’s clearly been one of its selling points.

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Yeah, the game doesn't come out until the 30th. But we just can't wait.

The Assassin's Creed series is finally getting a new numbered entry, and we want you, the noble Bitmob community, to write about it.

The usual rules apply: You're welcome to write up a simple review if you like, but we'd love to see you tap into that famous Bitmob creativity, too. It doesn't have to be long or fancy...anything that tells us how you feel about the game is fine by us.

If you do need a few ideas, feel free to use any of these:

• How does AC3's colonial-America setting change the fundamental gameplay, if at all?
• As new protagonist Connor Kenway, you'll fight foes from both sides of the American Revolution. How does that affect your motivation as a player?
• You'll meet more recognizable historical figures in AC3. How accurately are they portrayed?

Ready to write? Here's how to participate:

1. Write any article related to Assassin's Creed 3. A few hundred words will suffice, although you can go longer if you'd like.

2. Make sure you put Assassin's Creed 3 (note: not III) in the tags for your article -- and don't forget to tag any other games you mention.

3. Submit your articles to the Mobfeed by Wednesday, November 7. We'll publish the collected works the following day.

Sound good? Then grab your gear, Assassin, and get going.

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Developer Capcom unleashed Resident Evil 6, the latest installment in its survival-ish horror-y franchise a couple of weeks ago. I'm almost done with series...favorite(?) Leon Kennedy's campaign (one of three in the game), and while I'm not quite as down on this title as Bitmob and GamesBeat writer Jasmine Rea is, I have spent a lot of my time playing it scratching my head. I assume the head-scratching is out of confusion, but I guess I wouldn't rule out Zombie Flu (which is just like the regular flu, but with zombies).

Regardless, here are a few questions I have about Leon's latest adventures in babysitting. Because escort missions, am I right?

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