Coming this year for Xbox Live Arcade and Wii Ware is Brian Provinciano’s Retro City Rampage. An 8bit styled game for the new millenium. Retro City Rampage takes it’s cue from all the things we loved about gaming on the NES, and brings it back in a bright beautiful package that is sure to please any ardent Retro gamer.

Watch this trailer to see why.

You can see the developer of the game was hugely influenced by various styles of retor games. If I’m not crazy you’ll notice the bar from Leisure Suit Larry and the Lounge Lizards, a true throwback to the 80s.

Run over pedestrians, jump on them Mario style, swim in the river like a Ninja Turtle, grapple across ledges like Bionic Commando, there’s even a Monkey Island style mission? You can even expect a mini game using red/blue 3d glasses. What can’t you do in this game?

Is this game for everyone? No, not all. Is this game for retro gamers? I’d say that’s a resounding yes. Expect it this summer on XBox Live, and later on in the year on WiiWare.

You basically drive in an intersection (from top view) and try to cause as much damage as possible. Points will be attributed for causing damage to other cars and also, to the environment. The game will feature 3 different modes (Road Trip, Rush Hour and Pile Up Puzzle) and 16 intersections to compete in. This will also use the Kinect features on the Xbox, so you can look like a fool in your living room, driving your car around and jump to make it explode.

Keep in mind that this is a party mode type of game, not a full-blown Burnout title. Personally, the first screens I saw last week reminded me of games like “Death Rally” on the iPad… Racing game from top view… Which is really great on the iPad… They didn’t announced anything for mobile yet, but I’m certainly hoping for a release on mobile soon after the PSN and XBLA release. Check out those screens and see for yourself, this looks like a quick little FUN game to play! There’s not many good new games to play these days, can’t wait to get my hands on this… This Fall.

From what I’ve been reading, I can see that Skyrim will probably become something in those lines too. People already put in like 350 hours and they basically stopped counting… with a ton of dungeons left to visit, more than half of the HUGE WORLD to explore, etc… So that’s what, a 5-600-hour game, if you complete it at 100%? For console gaming, that is insane.

First of all, you can play any type of character and do whatever you want. The story will change dramatically depending on your “behavior” in the game. Hundred of weapons, spells and abilities, possibility of combining spells… A total new game engine for awesome graphics will bring an ENTIRE world to life… No more impossible places to go… All the areas will be open to explore. Dragons baby, DRAGONS and really HUGE ones… As Dragonborn, learn their secrets and harness their power for yourself.

Just that list is making me so anxious to play, it’s driving me nuts that I’m gonna have to wait 11-11-11 to play it. Already started collecting awards for their release; won two Game Critics Awards (Best RPG and Best Console Game).

What if this game is really bad you say? Will my life be over? Well, I will certainly be ALOT disappointed if this games doesn’t live up the hype… But the good thing about that late 2011 release is that, there’s a TON of games coming out starting in October. So, I’ll probably be busy on the other ones… But I would rather put ALL the other games on the shelf for next summer’s down time and play Skyrim from November to July.

This time around, NHL 12 will include alot of features that have been good additions to games like Madden and Fifa, already tested… Here’s a list of different features that will be part of next version of the NHL franchise:

• Full Contact Physics Engine
• Full Balance Control
• Deeper Be a GM mode
• Be a Pro Revamped
• All-New Dynamic Goalies
• All-New Goalie Fights
• Anticipation A.I.
• Presentation (Winter Classic)
• EA Sports Action Tracker
• Better Ultimate Team version
• Online Communities

Full contact physics engine is alot similar to what we’ve been used to in Fifa. Body collisions are alot better than in previous versions, screen the goalie with some physical (but legal) play in front of the net, knock rivals over the boards, shatter the glass, etc. Another very sweet addition is the full balance control. Powerful skaters will be able to recover from those little glancing hits and use their size and strength to gain the advantage over smaller opponents. Let’s hope this will make the game feel more realistic.

Be a Pro revamped is also something that I’m really looking forward too. Looks like your player will have generic tasks in the game to accomplish, but also, this is brand new, tasks assigned directly to your player, on a particular play. For example, if you’re playing center and there’s a whistle for a penalty call and your team will be on the penalty kill, the coach may ask you things like; “I want you to dominate the faceoff circle” and “This is a big PK, let’s get in the shooting lanes”. A quicker way to play the game will also be introduce. Instead of going on the bench for a changeup and have to wait and watch the game go, you’ll be able to simulate the action directly to your next shift on the ice. It will feel like you’re never off the ice. Personally, that’s not the way I want to play the game, but I guess to some people, this feature is pretty interesting. Again, something that you can see in Madden.

Another awesome feature for next season will be the goalies. All about the goalie position will change. You can now get into a collision with a goalie, screen a goalie so he has to look around you to see the action in front of him, fight and you’ll be able to see amazing saves.

A better A.I. never hurts in a game. Better A.I. in NHL means, anticipation. Computer will try to position himself for a long breakaway pass, when the time is proper to do so, drag their skates behind the blue line to stay on side on a rush in the offensive zone, etc.

All-in-all, this looks like the best NHL so far, which is, I guess, a good thing. The game is scheduled for a September 13, 2011 release.

Album Rating: ★★★★★★★¼☆☆ 

The story behind this band actually started in Mexico, when they got arrested and mugged by corrupted cops. They ended up in a bar called the Adelita Bar. It just went from there… Officially formed in Las Vegas, NV in 2005, the 5 men band got signed by Virgin Records in 2008. Later in 2009, they released their first single “Invincible” on the iTunes store and that song became the official song of the WWE Show: WWE Superstars. The song was also featured in the video game WWE SmackDown vs Raw 2010 and in the National Hockey League used when the St.Louis Blues and the Phoenix Coyotes hit the ice. Another song from that album was also on the Saw 3D movie soundtrack.

Adelitas Way sound just like another typical hard rock band like Theory of a Deadman or Hinder, but in my opinion they have an edge; Rick DeJesus. Their lead singer has this beautiful, powerful, melodic voice. His vocals blend into their music like it was meant to be. It’s just little details like that that make me like or hate music these days. There are so many bands that are exactly the same, couldn’t even say who’s who if you heard them on the radio, and that is sad.

The album starts off with this great theme song, “Invincible”, which, in my opinion, was the best way too kickstart this album. Fast pace hard rock song that will let you know right away what you’re getting yourself into. I love sports, and this is the perfect song to put in a locker room before a big game, or simply on your iPod while you’re training… Gets me pumped in a matter of seconds.

There a songs like “Scream” and “Hate Love” that have a great chorus that sticks in your head all day, slower songs like “Last Stand”, “Closer to You” and “All Falls Down” that are all truly amazing. The sound of this album is very good, I really love the acoustics in “Last Stand”. Again, little details that you can hear… Little backing vocals here and there, but at the RIGHT place, you know? The song grid is also well done, well split I should say. All in all, this is one great album.