Lately though, it seems that newer installments of these sports games from companies like EA, Konami, and 2K, have been lacking new features.

Instead, as the 2010 series of sports games come out, I’m afraid that this lack of ingenuity will lead to each successive game being nothing more than a glorified graphical and roster update.

The most simple principles of capitalism states that competition will drive prices and creativity. Unfortunately, competition is an element that is lacking in some sections of the sports genre.

EA and 2K have monopolized the football (American) and baseball markets, respectively; as a result, there is no competition to fuel creativity.

This isn’t to say that EA and 2K have abused their exclusive licensing. Both Madden and MLB: The Show are great series. However, because we’re subjected to one game from only one company, it feels as if each “new” title lacks a distinct feeling that truly makes it each game really “new.”

Any tweaks to game play are generally minor and are things that would be expected in patches updates. A new game should not simply include additions (EA calls them enhancements) that clean up bugs or smooth out game play.

EA knows this, so they release just enough new features to have gamers coming back for more.

Take Fifa for instance. In the ‘08 version of the franchise, EA released the “Be a Pro” feature, which allowed players to create and take control of one player rather than an entire team. They severely limited this feature though by only making it playable for one single season.

It seems completely reasonable to allow users to play out an entire career of their player right? So, in the ‘09 version what does EA do? Well, players can now take control of their player for an amazing four years, just enough time to experience one World Cup.

Now Konami’s ‘09 version of Pro Evolution Soccer (or Winning Eleven to some), EA’s major competitor in the soccer (or football) section, had a similar “Become a Legend” mode. However, Konami allowed users to take control their players for an entire career, which included both club and national teams.

Rather than introducing new ideas and new options to have gamers coming back for more, it appears that EA has opted to just “improve” on certain aspects of their games to have gamers eagerly waiting.

They know the sports genre in itself is limiting. After all how far can anyone take a sports game? The boundaries and game play are clearly defined. Is there really any way to present pitching a baseball, shooting a basket, or catching a pass in an original manner, and if there was, how many variations of that presentation can there be?

Releasing for the Xbox 360, Samurai Shodown: Edge of Destiny is another entry in the revival of the fighting genre on current generation consoles.

Check out the trailer below

From my look of the game at E3, this title looks like it will be the first true to the character translation to video game consoles. With the capabilities of the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360, Batman: Arkham Asylum could be the first must-have for the Fall of 2009.

Batman: Arkham Asylum will launch worldwide on Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 and PC on August 25, 2009.

“Take an in-depth look into Gotham’s home for the criminally insane!

With the new Inside The Asylum behind the scenes video, Eidos Inc. and Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment go deep within the walls of Arkham Asylum to showcase Batman’s most notorious enemies as well as the creators of the Batman: Arkham Asylum videogame.

The all new video features insightful interviews with Game Director Sefton Hill and Lead Narrative Designer Paul Crocker from Rocksteady Studios as well as famed Batman: The Animated Series and Batman: Arkham Asylum writer, Paul Dini.”

Video below!

The most obvious place of ever, in video games themselves. As if you needed another game to bide your time with while already playing a game. Well, to each there own, I suppose.

Honestly, there are more games inside of video games than most of us realize. Rockstar, for instance, is notorious for placing bland satirical cabinet games inside of their controversial endeavors.

Ever invest your in-game time playing Duality, They Crawled From Uranus, QUB3D, Go Go Space Monkey, or Let’s Get Ready to Bumble? Hopefully not so much but if you did, fair game, since they are contained in some of the most addicting games ever, Grand Theft Auto.

Oh, and let us not forget arcade classic ConSumo that is contained within recent Rockstar success Bully.

To be honest, the best form of a game inside of a game is within a loading screen, to avoid long elevator rides and distracting players before loading the next environment/level. Unfortunately, this doesn’t happen enough since Namco holds the US patent for using minigames for loading screen.

That means only Pac-Man and Galaxian while waiting for a load. Oh, and only Namco games, too. Most notably Rally X in Riiiidge Racer!

Speaking of Pac-Man, Prey had a knock-off of the game entitled Rune Man, but players didn’t get to collect too many high scores before aliens came in with their anal probes. Bummer!

And not to mention that Namco Bandai will be invading super mega-hit PlayStation Home this summer with cabinets for man of their arcade classics. That’s in addition to all the other magnificent cabinet games that allow only one person can play at a time. I love waiting!

Especially when it is a super amazing, fun game like Carriage Return! My brain is waiting to be satiated via returning wagons of rich mahogany to their rightful place.

To be real for a second, some of the best games within games lies within Animal Crossing. Why’s that? Being able to play Punchout!! on the in-game NES. Beats collecting bells all day, right?

Nobody knows how prolific coding games inside of games will become, but there are many instances already of this occurring. Even WoW is infected with PopCap-ey goodness. I would much rather play Peggle or Bejeweled than anything in WoW.

Well, besides participating in a dance party. Also, R.I.P. Shenmue and their efforts of providing Sega classics within the games arcades. Outrun for life!

Probably most classic of all was the inclusion of Donkey Kong with in Donkey Kong. Er..what? Oh right, within Donkey Kong 64, that is. A must play for an insanely-totally-makes-sense 101% complete.

Honestly, games inside of games doesn’t really provide much value besides the initial “Hey, cool!” Or WoW’s long griffin rides fulfilling a few extreme fevers.

Although, some are really awesome, like Strong Bad’s Cool Game For Attractive People Episode One: Homestar Ruiner’s Snake Boxer 5. I think we’ve all wanted to box a snake for a long, long time and now those dreams can be fulfilled.

Now excuse me, there is much Duality to be played. Uh, I mean Prototype, yeah, that’s way cooler right now…

GotGame.com will be leaving the black background and white texts for something with a little more pop. We can’t show you just yet, but we promise that the new look of the site will greatly increase the abilities of you, our readers, to have more input in the site as a whole. Don’t be afraid, we’re not deleting anything already on the site. In fact, we’ve been spending the past few weeks testing out new look so when it rolls out, it will be smooth.

Though even with all the testing there will still be a few bugs here and there. Bear with us, because GotGame.com will be the place for community.

Along with the new layout, there will be extra additions coming so look forward to GotGame.com.

Tom Cruise was my first thought when Microsoft announced Project Natal.

Motion sensing technology? For your whole body? Of course I wanted one of the computers Tom used in Minority Report, which he manipulated with his hands, a kind of futuristic touch screen on steroids.

All hopeful imaginings aside, though, real-world applications of gaming technology aren’t so far-fetched. In fact, next-gen consoles have already exerted their power on other parts of our culture, and we’ll only see more of their influence in years to come, whether it’s a Minority Report screen powered by Natal technology or otherwise.

Disney World on the DS

The next time you visit Disney World, a Nintendo handheld could become your best friend.

Map of Disney World's Magic Kingdom on the DS.

Called the “Disney Magic Connection,” this idea allows attendees to rent modified Nintendo DS Lites while visiting Disney World. The little handhelds sport an interactive map, the ability to reserve FastPass tickets and the quickest routes to every ride, as well as how long the lines are.

But why stop with Disney World? What about art galleries, train stations or airports? The everyday uses are endless, and DS’s are already put to such use in some Japanese museums, acting as interactive tour guides. Now that Nintendo has captured a whole slew of casual gamers, the plan is to branch out into more practical areas beyond your daily shoot’em up or beat’em up titles.

Whoever said video games weren’t useful?

Modeling Human Biology

Using the powerful Graphic Processing Units (GPU’s) behind video games, we can now see 3D models of the immune system battling tuberculosis, which is almost as exciting as seeing Kratos tear apart mythological beasts.

A 3D model of the human immune system's response to tuberculosis.

Researchers at Michigan Technological University are aiming to illustrate various models like this one using game technology. But without gamers to drive that technology forward throughout all the industry’s years, this never would’ve happened. So pat yourselves on the back. You’ve contributed to science.

It’s nearly impossible to get hold of a multimillion dollar supercomputer these days, and GPU’s do an even better job running these models than their gigantic counterparts. That means yes, playing your PC games really is that hardcore.

The PS3 Supercomputer

Folks at Stanford University have (miraculously) put the PS3 to good use, and yes, it’s more than a glorified paperweight.

An image of the PS3's handiwork in its computation of folding proteins.

If you own a PS3, you’ve probably seen the Folding@home (FAH) icon on your main menu and know all about it. But for all the non-PS3 owners among us, FAH is, in a rather big nutshell, a project that uses a massive network of PS3’s to study the folding of proteins.

Whenever the PS3 is idle, it performs lightning fast calculations, sending the info via Internet back to Stanford University. With hundreds of thousands of PS3’s contributing to the research, the computing power easily exceeds that of a supercomputer.

Sound nifty? It is, as this research could potentially lead to cures for Alzheimer’s Disease and certain types of cancer.

Final Thoughts

Given that people have already applied gaming technology in other areas, it’s reasonable to assume the technology of Project Natal or the Wii will find its way into public use. In reality, those Minority Report touch screens might not be far off.

Video games also have lots of educational applications, from medicine to the military. Just know that there are far too many to mention here.

In all, it looks like a bright future for video game tech.

I’m sure most of us have read the headlines concerning an interview with Mr. Kotick and The Times concerning the thoughts surrounding the CEO involving his blunt warnings that he may have to pull support to the PlayStation 3, citing poor returns on the console and lack of growth in market share.

But would he really? Would he?

Hell no! No way would Activision cease to produce games for Sony when they are selling just as well as the Xbox 360. With over 20 million PS3s sold worldwide, there would be a lot of people neglected in the event of such a seizure in producing content for Sony.

Even if Activision were to simply break even on a PlayStation version of a game, or even lose a bit and make money on the other systems, they still need to put it on the market. Its pure customer service! This could easily turn into another moment in which PS3-only users could turn up their nose in disgust for the 360 and 360 users to laugh in their fanboy faces with more headway in the number of games column.

But I’m surmising that shit would never happen in the world of gaming. Nope, what this is might just be a swift kick in the ass for Sony continuing to carry a $400 dollar system when compared to the $250 for a Wii or the $199 for a bare bones 360. There is no doubt in my mind that Activision would ever consider stopping developing for the PS3.

There’s been rumors for awhile now about another price drop for the PS3, as well as the slim PS3. Hopefully Kotick’s comments well help speed up information in regards to these two happenings.

However, if Activision were really serious about cutting the PS3 out of their equation, Wii and 360 would be the powerhouse kings of plastic periphs. Wa, Wa, Wa, PS3.

What do you think? Is Bobby serious? Will Sony speed up a price drop based on the CEO’s comments? Let us know!

However, with the Internet so readily available and unimaginable amounts of data so easily accessible, will the disc, and any other physical memory storing device for that matter, eventually give way to a future of online distribution?

The possibility certainly seems inevitable, if only because it makes sense on both a personal and business level — at least when it comes down to PC games.

Gamers beings the lazy bunch of people that we are, convenience is important. It should come as no surprise that online shopping has thrived. After all, why go to the store when someone else could deliver it to you with just the click of a mouse?

For companies, online shopping has probably been a boon as well. Rather than having to store their merchandise within stores, they could just ship products directly to each customer. Of course these companies still have to deal with various delivery agencies that serve as the middlemen.

In the world of gaming though, things are a bit different.

In the 90’s, discs were practically required in order to distribute information. But this is not the case anymore. Information can be downloaded by the gigabyte and stored on any computer, although this may be a long, painstaking process for some.

Many developers have already taken to the Internet as a medium to distribute their games. Valve, being one of the earliest and most notable of these companies, developed the Steam platform to serve this specific purpose. This trend has begun to catch on as multiple companies now host their games for purchasable download over Steam.

Steam is not the only example, of course. In addition, Blizzard has recently allowed users the option of creating a Battle.net account. This option lets users access any Blizzard game that is installed and activated on one specific e-mail address account.

So, if someone got a new computer but could not find the physical copies of the Blizzard games they wanted to install, they could easily download whichever games they previously owned directly from Battle.net.

It’s this level of convenience that makes online distribution ideal for the consumer. There is no need to worry about preserving the condition of your games; there is no need to worry about losing CD keys; and there is no penalty to actually losing the disc itself.

Furthermore, why should these developers deal with middlemen and why should they waste resources on creating discs when neither are necessary? Unless they distribute through a 3rd party, any company such as Blizzard or Valve, can directly deliver their product to the customer at maximum profit.

This also means that independent companies can easily mass distribute their products as well. Riot Games, for example, has planned to supplement the retail release of their highly anticipated title, League of Legends: Clash of Fates, by also opening the game to online distribution.

Honestly, it’s a win-win situation for PC companies and users, and maybe DLC on the consoles will have a similar effect, although I am skeptical about that.

Here is a new trailer featuring some great gameplay.

Breaking from the seriousness of the past few installments, this we we cover some of the more light-hearted stories to break the surface. First, Pikachu wants to be your workout buddy. A real-life giant robot has invaded Japan. And a Hollywood hottie loves to tear out people’s spines!

Play Some Pokemon, Fatty!

Nintendo is all about beating the stereotype that video games keep us from keeping active. Wii Fit brought the gym into the living room, but what about when we (eventually) go outside?

The answer is Pokemon. Or rather, the PokeWalker. This new pedometer develops your pokemon while you burn calories! It will tie in with the upcoming Pokemon Gold and Silver remakes, possibly packed together. The PokeWalker connects to your DS via infrared and you can download one pokemon from your collection at a time. As you walk, the pokemon builds EXP and each step adds “watts” to the device, which you can transfer back to your Gold/Silver game on the DS.

Oh, Crap! Giant Robot!

As I reported previously, a life-sized Gundam has been under construction in Tokyo to celebrate the franchise’s 30th anniversary.

The statue isn’t scheduled for official unveiling until mid-July, but photos are already surfacing of its near-completion. The 59ft tall replica is not only fully assembled, but already has working light effects and motion.

And if you think it looks awesome during the day, you should see it at night.

Flawless…

Speaking of giant robots, Transformers hotness Megan Fox is a gamer! In a recent interview, Fox exposes a bit of herself, confessing to being an avid video game player. Men the world over have had no shortage of spank fuel to draw from Megan Fox; first being in super-geek flick, Transformers, and having the special talent of bending over. This news adds more fuel to that fire.

Her game of choice? Mortal Kombat. How hot is that? She’ll break your heart…but not before ripping it from your chest.