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So almost a full year after Bethesda announced the next Fallout title we get a lovely little teaser trailer for Fallout:New Vegas and a Twitter/Facebook contest to win signed posters. I for one can’t wait for this not-a-sequel to hit the shelves. Tons of hours were spent playing Fallout 3 and I expect nothing less from New Vegas!

Check out the teaser trailer here.

Contest details here.

Harmonix amps up the Rock Band franchise with the Rock Band Network, what may one day be remembered as a novel and revolutionary medium for “undiscovered” acts to reach a much larger audience.  Currently in open beta, the Network requires each user to link his or her rockband.com account to creators.rockband.com before the fun begins.  After that you should be free to upload music or review others’ contributions.

The Rock Band Network will also feature tunes you might have heard before, from Billy Idol to Creed and Evanescence.  If that’s a bit too mainstream, more obscure labels the likes of Sub Pop intend to bring contributions from The Shins, Flight of the Conchords, and more.  Add established names like these to untapped homegrown talent and you’ve got quite a playlist for Rock Band and Rock Band 2.

But the road to stardom isn’t easy.

Harmonix reports that you’ll be spending about 40 hours just to shove one of your own tracks into the limelight.  That’s right, fine-tuning your song for the Rock Band Network should cost a whole week’s worth of 9-5 shifts.  Hard work indeed.  This number is an estimate, naturally, as it might take even longer running the gauntlet of PC programs that create, encode, and chart your imminent hit single.

This might scare off a few of the daydreamers out there, but there will be a lot of customization out there for the truly dedicated.  Avatar animations, pyrotechnics, and even the crowd’s cheers can all be tweaked according to the user’s whim.  You control the song as well as the venue.

If you’ve got the next chart topper just waiting to be discovered, this is your lucky break.  Warm up your rah-rah-ah-ah-ahs and your roma-roma-mas, clear your work week, and jump on the Rock Bandwagon.  What’s forty hours of sweat when you can win your fifteen minutes of fame?

Introduction
Bayonetta has been likened to God of War, Ninja Gaiden, Spawn, and even Sonic the Hedgehog. The titular heroine herself has conjured déja-vu in reviewers when compared to (of all people) Sarah Palin. Despite the comparisons and contrasts that will forever accompany the latest big action release, Bayonetta remains a fast-paced and over-the-top title that you simply have to play to believe.
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Introduction

Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, dyin’ time’s here! The first expansion to the roleplaying shooter Borderlands introduced the Zombie Island of Dr. Ned, a healthy helping of Halloween leftovers that debuted closer to Thanksgiving. The ample serving of new enemies, new locations, and new storyline was enough for one or more bounty hunters to tackle. The new content, however, is geared a bit more towards group play.
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It’s a new year in gaming, and there’s plenty to look forward to in this fresh set of months.  Bayonetta is set to ship on the first week of January, starting the New Year with a bang that will usher in the ringing that just left your ears.  For those who wish a bit more flexibility in their gaming, Fable II’s Platinum Hits version (complete with DLC) is due to ship at the same time.  Army of Two: The 40th Day is an early lure for FPS fans; the co-op shooter sequel will ring in the second week of January.  More of a sports fan?  No worries there.  SouthPeak games has a quirky title lined up for you in its unorthodox Blood Bowl, aimed for a spring release.

Controversial Dante’s Inferno looks to be a big title when it ships on February 9th, though it has to compete with the return to Rapture in Bioshock 2, a long-awaited title that shares the same ship date.  The tactical genre has an early showing in the year with Splinter Cell: Conviction popping into stores in the last week of February.  If you want more pewpew and less skulking, Battlefield: Bad Company 2 ships on March 2nd.

Roleplaying games will have a big showing in March, as the month sees the release of both Final Fantasy XIII and Resonance of Fate.  Expect to see lots of gamers hibernating during this month.  Speaking of FFXIII, have you who participated in the event picked up yourfree chocobo yet? 

While that’s just a brief look at the first three months of 2010, there’s so much more out there.  Super Street Fighter IV is set for an April release, Left 4 Dead 2 will receive its first DLC entitled “The Passing”, a setting that amongst other feats unites the Survivors from both titles in the series.  Xbox LIVE might add comics to its growing repertoire of multimedia facets.  And what of Natal?  What indeed.

Rest assured there will be plenty to look forward to in this year, many shiny new toys that will vie for your attention and your wallet.  May your Achievements be many, may your ring stay green, and may your Gamerscore be copious.

Classic fighter Marvel vs. Capcom 2 is on sale today.  Typically 1200 points, if you act today you can snag it for 560 points thanks to Microsoft’s Xbox LIVE Holiday Deals.  While past deals have included similarly discounted Marketplace games, every once in awhile you might catch something clever like the Avatar present prop for free!

Keep an eye out for such features this holiday season.

According to a Capcom release that surfaced yesterday, there might be some bad news for gamers anxious for the Street Fighter IV facelift.  G4tv pointed out that Super Street Fighter IV, Lost Planet 2, Monster Hunter 3, and Dead Rising 2 might be subject to a delayed release for “strategic reasons”.  This delay would mean that the aforementioned titles could now fit into the window of Capcom’s fiscal 2011, or April 1, 2010 to March 31, 2011.

Much like the movie industry rearranges releases in order to avoid stiff competition, Capcom proves that the video game industry displays similar tactics.  Don’t be surprised if Capcom sends out most of its heavy hitters a little later than expected.  Sadly, the waiting game is all-too-familiar to gamers.

Infinity Ward is attempting once again to stamp out those bugs that have infested Modern Warfare 2’s multiplayer mode. Now that the infamous javelin glitch has been addressed and the unlimited airdrop glitch has been fixed, those pesky exploiters have had to find other griefing tactics. Infinity Ward’s Creative Strategist Robert Bowling tweeted that the newest patch for the sixth Call of Duty title will deal with a new batch of problems plaguing multiplayer. Notable fixes include the following:

1887s Balanced
Public “private” Match fix
Infinite Ammo fix
Prestige Hack on PS3 fix
Texture Hack on PC fix (eliminates any edits to IWD files also)

According to Mr. Bowling the patch should hit at 2 a.m. That gives players like the author plenty of time to rack up more deaths and blame them on those dirty exploiters.

Looking for a good deal on an Xbox 360 console?  You might have to wait until after Christmas.  Wal-Mart posted a nice deal on its site that might just lure those imminent recipients of Wal-Mart gift cards. 

If Santa didn’t quite know what to get you and instead opted to stock your stuffing with a Wal-Mart gift card, don’t fret.  The retail giant will be offering the typical Xbox 360 Elite package, complete with a headset, composite A/V cable, Xbox LIVE free trial, Netflix free trial, 120 gig hard drive, Lego Batman and Pure, as well as a bonus $50 gift card.  This bargain takes effect online and in stores starting on December 26th.

So you’ll be getting another gift card.  Just think of it as a free game or two.  If you stretch your dollar, you might even get more than that! 

Don’t be so hard on St. Nick; the guy delivers presents all over the world, so he can’t get it right all the time.