Survival Horror fans: If you’re not too busy, I’d like a minute of your time. I know you’re not really doing anything, because the number of quality releases in the genre over the past few years can be counted with a preschool education.

Though it’s already been there several times in the past, Survival Horror has gone to Hell. Newer titles smother you with health and ammunition. And no matter how revolting, faith-crushing, or vile the Lovecraftian monstrosity back to swallow the world/animated legion of festering corpses/ruinous proof man should never play God regardless of how cool it makes him feel that’s creeping ever closer to you is, your dozens of high caliber firearms assure the abomination will never be referred to as “scary.”

Fortunately, the twisted minds over at Frictional Games are bringing Survival Horror back in a big way. The studio’s recent Penumbra trilogy has all the right elements: an underarmed protagonist, truly vicious enemies, and a story worth reading a bunch of dead people’s journals to unravel.
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Even though it’s eroded grammar, civility, and our reflex to cringe at spectacles most people decry as “unnatural” and “offensive to anyone without a chemical imbalance,” the Internet has done some good to offset decades of depravity.

It was a boon to indie developers, allowing two dudes in a garage to bring their concisely coded masterpieces to the masses. But until recently, producing content for consoles (the platform most people associated with the term “video games”) wasn’t feasible. Unless you had a spot on one of the major development teams, the financial auspices of an opulent entrepreneur, or some super embarrassing beach photos of Howard Stringer, producing a game on Sony, Microsoft and Nintendo’s turf couldn’t be done.

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The world of professional gaming is still struggling to figure out where it fits in. It doesn’t yet command the respect (or the salaries) professional athletes take in stride, and the recent bankruptcy of several major gaming leagues doesn’t bode well for e-sports.

Gootecks, real name Ryan Gutierrez, has been playing Street Fighter professionally for nearly a decade. Recently, he’s been trying to bring all the game’s bruises and badassery to a wider audience by hosting the live event Street Fighter Bar Fights.

GotGame caught up with Gootecks during a rare lull in his travels to ask him about the future of professional gaming.
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In military speak, Zone of Fire means “an area into which a designated ground unit or fire support ship delivers — or is prepared to deliver — fire support. Fire may or may not be observed.”

In Duality ZF, a new 2-D shooter from Xona Games, fire is observed like Flag Day in a Midwestern town. With a full range of gameplay options — from flying the noob-friendly skies to straight up Bullet Hell — Duality ZF has something for everyone.

I chatted with Matthew Doucette, one half of the duo behind the soon-to-be-released Xbox LIVE Community Game, about what’s revolutionary, what’s old school, and what’s just damned cool.
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During lunch hour, they whir to life on computer screens in high schools across the country. They can single-handedly drag down an office’s productivity (funny story about that one).

And while hardcore gamers lament their popularity — likening them to a firing squad casually taking aim at the industry as a whole — they’re still inducting non-gamers into the fold.

Flash games are — without hyperbole — everywhere on the Internet. From the microgames in the banner ads above your favorite Web sites to full-length RPGs that can suck you in for hours without costing a cent (again… funny story), Flash games have developed into a big business over the past few years.
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pro⋅fes⋅sion⋅al

[pruh-fesh-uh-nl]
–adjective
1. Following an occupation as a means of livelihood or for gain: a professional builder.

We all know what the word “pro” means. It’s someone who’s good — nay, goddamned great — at what they do. So great, in fact, they can use those aforementioned skills to pay their bills.

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Some gamers play for the quiescent satisfaction of complete immersion, that temporary suspension of disbelief that allows one to forget their troubles and journey to another world.

Others play for the thrill of competition, that little burst of endorphins released whenever they show another player what’s what with the business end of shotgun.

But some gamers… some gamers play because they’re assholes. From team-killing to spawn-camping to more creative methods of “griefing,” here’s a look at the 5 greatest ways to crush the competition’s spirit.
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RPGs are all about numbers and equations, so it’s no surprise most follow a formula: undertake a quest, find something, kill it, reap the cash money benefits (courtesy of some invisible, omniscient benefactor).

Majesty 2 takes those old school mechanics and rolls them like an 8-sided die. In the new Sim/RTS game from Paradox Interactive, you’re the mysterious guy in the sky posting “Help Wanted” signs and financially rewarding the murderous tendencies of your average adventurer.
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