• Kirby's Dream Land 3, Just Cause, Grid, and Magic Academy round-up This Week in Defunct Games and GameTap.
• It's time to buy that new video card--Here's TheTechLounge's Video Card Price/Performance Guide (Jan 09).
• The first "Ask Cryptic" of 2009 enlightens on Star Trek Online art and ship capabilities.
• Claim a Wind Slayer beta key in their ongoing tests.
• These are the top 5 things Massive Gamer expects to see in MMOs in 2009.  WoW to hit 14 million?
• The EVGA GeForce GTX 295 SLI combines the power of two GTX 200GPUs on a single graphics card.
• Here's your MMO watchlist for 2009--with an honorable mention going to...Dragon Age: Origins.
• King's Bounty continues to pull in accolades.
• The AMD Phenom II X4 940 Processor might reverse the not-so-phenomenal Phenom line's rep.

Thanks to Defunct Games, TheTechLounge, Cryptic Studios, Legit Reviews, IGN, and ActionTrip for today's news roundup.

• Just because you can fit it on a DS doesn't necessarily mean that you should.  Case in point, Guitar Hero: On Tour Decades.
• In choosing the right netbook, the only thing those machines have in common is an ideal.
• Fwd: Review of Kingdom Hearts Re: Chain of Memories.
• In Ghostbusters for the Wii, do not cross the nunchuks.
• Step into the shoes of President-Elect Barack Obama on Inauguration Day.
• The Razer Moray Noise Isolating Earbuds won't convince you to toss away your over-the-ear headphones.
• Techgage takes a look at proper CD ripping practices.

Thanks to Defunct Games, TheTechLounge, AtomicGamer, Commander-in-Chief.net, Tweaknews, and Techgage for today's news roundup.

• Defunct Games draws a startling parallel between Dead Space, Prince of Persia, and Left 4 Dead.  We gotta hand it to 'em.
• It's time I shed my fear of the frighteningly deep strategery in Europa Universalis III.
• The CoolIT Systems Domino A.L.C. Water Cooler fills in the sub-$80 price point.
• Star Trek Online published a timeline updated to the year 2384.
• The current flagship for the ECS Elitegroup is the ECS X58B-A Black Edition Motherboard.
• Spire Torq Laptop Backpacks are practical, roomy, and with "infinite" numbers of pockets.
• It may be time to draw new conclusions on products from this mid-level motherboard roundup.
• If you want groundbreaking aesthetics and design, you want the Thermaltake SpinQ Heatpipe CPU Cooler.
• GameRanger added matchmaking for the Global Crisis expansion for Supreme Ruler 2020.
• AtomicGamer probably doesn't have any surprises in their Top 10 Games of 2008.

Thanks to Defunct Games, Legit Reviews, Star Trek Online, APH Networks, iXBT Labs, Tweaknews.net, GameRanger, and AtomicGamer for today's news roundup.

• Looks like videogames aren't so recession proof after all.  Xbox America discusses.
• Transformers Animated: The Game for the Nintendo DS is apparently ... less than meets the eye.
• Our own Ben Berry is suited up, Lippi Selk'Bag 1-style, ready for sub-arctic temperatures or Best Buy all-nighters.
• The In Win Matrix Chassis (case) is equipped with an 80-plus 300-watt power supply, and is intended for home theater use.
• In Win has another eye-catching creation with the NA USB/ESATA HDD Enclosure.
• Aluminum construction and serious features for cooling, the Cooler Master ATCS 840 case is one of the newest.

Thanks to Xbox America, Defunct Games, BurnOutPC, Legit Reviews, and Tweaknews.net for today's news roundup.

Wired has published their list of Vaporware for 2008 and the list has some interesting selections. Game wise, Starcraft II and Home made the list. I probably don't have to tell you what #1 is though. As if there was any surprise what it was going to be.

The folks at Co-Optimus have posted  their look back at the year in co-op gaming.  With over 100 co-op games released this year there's certainly a lot to consider.  For me the two big co-op games of the year were Gears of War 2 and Left 4 Dead, two games that John and I blitzed through together at various times.  I've learned a bit about the importance of sticking together (flanking only ocassionally works) and it's always weird to play one of these games by yourself after playing them co-op (John is a much better wingman than the AI Dom. by just a bit).

What were your favorite co-op games and/or co-op experiences?  My personal favorite was from Army of Two.  John and I were pinned down by a pair AI guys in the warehouse level towards the end of the game.  One of the AI guys decided to flush us out with a grenade that hit a low wall in front of him and bounced back killing the both of them.  John and I had to pause the game because we were laughing so hard.  Let us know what you think in the comments.

I've met with a few managers who actually like the fact I play video games. Reason being is that video games work on your problem solving skills and a lot of computer programming involves solving problems. Well, it seems some managers aren't liking the World of Warcraft players out there because they think they don't give 100% to their job. Personally, I haven't met anyone who's a big MMORPG person who doesn't put their job first and the game second. Not to say there aren't as you've probably read up on a few stories of marriages, relationships, and jobs lost to those playing an MMORPG too much. To me it's just like any addiction. If the person has a problem whether it be games, drugs, alcohol, or something else they are going to not be the model worker in any case. Managers should look at past work as well as references to judge a person and not by the hobbies they partake in.

Thanks BoingBoing.

It might go something..like..this...

Below are the November NPD numbers and what can you say about Nintendo. When i talked to Chuck earlier he was expecting about a million sales of the Wii. Little did we know that it sold over 2 million instead. The 360 hit a solid 836k in sales while the PlayStation 3... well you can just see for yourself below and make your own assumptions. All consoles saw a boost in numbers but nothing like the Wii and DS. I mean the Wii sold more than 5X the amount of PS3s and a little more than 2X the 360s.

• Outspark announces Snapshot with Santa Screenshot contest.
• IGN dissects GamerDNA in a CEO interview.
• SOE is printing "Station Cash," a virtual currency for EverQuest and EverQuest 2.
• Win one of 30 signed Collector's Editions and Prima Strategy Guide bundles for Warhammer Online.
• Did subscription MMOs rule 2008?
• With Wrath of the Lich King safely out the door, some players wonder:  What next?
• The i3DSpeed project informs you about the performance of a large number of graphics cards in Windows Vista.
• The MSI Radeon HD 4830 512MB OC video card wades into the sub-$125 fray.
• Excellent clearance and cooling mark the Thermaltake Duorb Heapipe CPU Cooler.

Thanks to Outspark, IGN, Massive Gamer, iXBT, Legit Reviews and Tweaknews for today's news roundup.

• The Star Trek Online website has posted their latest Meet the Team feature:  Christine Thompson, Lead Writer for STO.
• iXBT Labs couldn't pass up the Gigabyte MA790GP-DS4H Motherboard.
• No Prince of Persia backlash from The Hachiko.
• ...Though ActionTrip is taking the king of PoP to the middle of the road with their review.
• The latest, little machine from Asus:  the Eee 1002HA Netbook.
• With their first-ever gaming peripheral NZXT introduces the Avatar Gaming Mouse.
• TheTechLounge is still running their huge raffle and giveaway for a great cause.

Thanks to Star Trek Online, iXBT Labs, The Hachiko, ActionTrip, I4U, Techgage and TheTechLounge for today's news roundup.

If you've been watching the new Fox show Fringe (and you should be, it's actually a pretty solid show) you've no doubt noticed that each show has an appearance by the mysterious Observer.  A man in a trench coat who appears in the background  of nearly each show (and was the focus of one show) and observes the goings on of the show.  If you haven't seen it or missed him you should check out this video that shows every appearance of the guy in the show: After watching the video and the show I was a reminded of Half-Life 2's mysterious G-man who also pops up along the way and watches what Gordon Freeman is doing. The two share a few common traits:
 - The both wear dark suits
 - The both carry around a suitcase
 - The both show up when things are about to get interesting.

I'm not going to say the folks behind Fringe have ripped off the character or anything but the two do seem very similar in terms of appearance and how they are used in their respective genres.  Here's a compilation of clips of the G-Man's appearances in Half-Life 2, let me know what you think in the comments and hopefully we can get an answer from someone at Fox through the power of the Internets

• Meeting the Prince of Persia again for the first time.
• Here's an update to TheTechLounge's 1TB Hard Drive Roundup.
• You'll do a double take looking at the AeroCool AeroRacer Pro PC Case.
• Carrying the brand's typical enthusiast charm, it's the Gigabyte EG45M-DS2H motherboard.
• New pets need a home in free-to-play MMO, Fiesta.

Thanks to TheTechLounge, Outspark, Legit Reviews and Techgage for today's news roundup.