The MMO game is hard to break into. There’s the one big scary monster that everyone is both afraid of and attempting to at least do as well as, and then there’s everything else. So what makes Warhammer Online different than the rest? I mean, they too have cartoony orcs and dwarves and keeps and a two-sided war and isn’t it just exactly the same?

There’s something that Warhammer Online will have that WoW won’t have: a mature experience.

Let’s go to WAR after the jump

No, it’s not Professor Layton. Everyone please stop saying that. It’s in fact a platformer game with a very hot catch, and you should keep your eye on this one.

Henry Hatsworth in the Working Title features Henry, a very posh British explorer, trying to track down artifacts that will allow him to control the puzzle world, an area he inadvertently opened up and must not get under control. He can run, jump, and gun in his world, but can also switch over the puzzle world to get rid of hidden dangers and receive power-ups.

Read more after the jump.

I think it’s about time that we have a “free” online game that isn’t obnoxious J-RPG gibberish. A funded Counterstrike with leveling-up and user-friendly customization may be a lot of fun. It’s also about time that someone trivialized WWII. That war’s gotten a free ride since the 1950's.

Battlefield: Heroes is the cartoony, ridiculous cover of the Battlefield series, crafted to appeal to those who both want to shoot things but who don’t feel like taking it seriously. And it plays exactly like it’s supposed to play. Let’s hope that social aspect make it worth everyone’s time.

More after the jump

Ever since the stellar success of Magic: The Gathering and the subsequent child traps of Pokemon and Yu-Gi-Oh, there’s been a everpresent influence of adding a collectible element to games, and recently a push to create an online collectible card game has invaded the scene. The problem with digital CCGs is that if you don’t make them different enough from something you can play on your kitchen table, people will bock at purchasing digital assets.

So, eventually someone thought of making a game that only works with a computer, but adding a collectible element to it. You know, like a RTS. Amazingly, two different groups of people had the same idea; one iteration of this idea is already out there named SAGA, and it has its problems. An EA studio is currently working on their version of the idea, and let’s just say that simpler is better.

Check it out after the jump

We ask that you try to make it on time as we want you to get in your full 30 minutes with the game. We have a full schedule and unfortunately we won't be able to make up for lost time.

Although that little note was prominently displayed in our invitation to check out Fallout 3 at E3, it was completely and totally unnecessary.  After all, wild horses, Kid Icarus Wii, and Jack Tretton himself couldn't have delayed us from our time with one of the most anticipated times of the year.  So we were early, a little TOO early.  But it's OK, because so was everyone else in our time slot.  

Those 30 minutes were filled with pure bliss.  And as someone that tried to enjoy Oblivion and failed after several attempts, I walked away from Bethesda's booth with a lot of surprise at how much enjoyment I'd found. This was then followed by panic, as I went and fired up my laptop and scrambled to my favorite online retailer.  I had a pre-order to file, and time was wasting.  I had to own this game.

We're travelling to a post-apocalyptic wasteland after the jump.

 
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With a *snap-hiss*, the blade of my lightsaber sprang into existence, deflecting blaster bolts left and right.  I was Darth Vader's secret apprentice, Starkiller, a tool of the Dark Side of the Force, kept in hiding as Lord Vader trained me in the ways of the Sith.  Now fully developed, my job was to eliminate the last remnants of the Jedi Order, traitors to the Empire, spread across the galaxy as they fled from Imperial justice.  I would stop at nothing to accomplish my mission, and no one could stand in my way.  There are no 'sides'.  There are no innocents.  If you got in my way, you'd die, in as violent a manner as possible.  It didn't matter where your allegiances lay.

And thus began my 20 minute love affair with The Force Unleashed, the latest Star Wars game from LucasArts. It was brief.  It was torrid.  But when I reluctantly set down the controller and walked away, I was filled with a sense of unique satisfaction and joy, something I had forgotten LucasArts games were capable of.

Strap yourselves in, we're making the jump to light speed.

Screens such as the one above frequently appear in singing games that I play.

At E3 this past week, Microsoft unveiled one of their worst kept secrets:  Lips, a Karaoke style game developed in a partnership between Microsoft Game Studios and iNiS, the developer of games such as Elite Beat Agents.

Despite my reluctance to pick up a karaoke game (and several court orders citing disturbance of the peace issues which forbid me from utilizing them), Lips is actually a lot of fun.  For fans of Karaoke type games, and the vocal tracks in Rock Band, Lips is a perfect game for you.  For people that don't normally enjoy singing games, Lips might be just the game to get you started.

Hit the jump, we've got your first look at Lips.