Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen has somehow wormed its way into America's collective heart, earning mega bucks at the box office. Don't hold it against us that we were a little hesitant at first to check out the movie's video game sibling. We've been burned in the past by movie spin-offs (yeah, Wanted, I'm looking at you) and didn't know if we could take having our fragile little hearts broken again.

However, X-Play's Transformers expert Matt Keil reviewed the game and it wasn't all that bad. From his review: 

"If you loved the movie, and for some reason a lot of people did, Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen is worth a weekend rental. It gets more things right than the first film’s game, but still doesn’t quite rise above the “average” threshold. There’s clearly a good game to be had out of the Transformers property, though, so here’s hoping Activision keeps trying while they have access to the license. Spider-Man: Web of Shadows proved that you don’t need a movie tie-in to make a good licensed game, so maybe next year’s recently announced Transformers title will follow suit."

Click here to read the rest of the written review and watch the X-Play video!

Are your thumbs totally over Street Fighter IV? Are you looking to put your joystick to better use on new fertile ground? 

X-Play's Justin Fassino has a review of BlazBlue: Calamity Trigger which brings the popular title to consoles for the first time:

"As a fighting game, it hits all the right buttons: the action is furious, with combos stringing well into the double digits. The character design has that unique Arc System Works flare, from the morphing demon Arakune to the Hellboy-ish Iron Tager. In fact, one of the strengths of BlazBlue is the differentiation between characters; the roster runs the gamut from sword-wielding anime hero to vampire princesses to ninjas."

To read the rest of the review and watch the X-Play video, click here!

For the last year or so, I’ve asked multiple companies when they thought their next-next-gen systems would be arriving. Everyone seemed to agree this generation will most likely break the mold of the typical 5-year console cycle. Now with Microsoft exec Steve Ballmer dropping word on his company bringing out a "new console" next year, my stomach's getting a little uneasy. Sure, Microsoft as a company is denying it, but Microsoft can keep a secret about as well as TMZ.

Dear console makers: We don’t need new machines yet.

There are a number of things that push the coming of a new generation, the main two being current hardware becoming dated and developers can’t push the hardware any further. The third push comes from companies trying to one-up each other; if one thinks the other is making a new console, the others will follow suit. Last? The consumer is demanding it.

If you’re a Dragon Ball fan, and you have some kind of personal issue with mega publisher Namco Bandai, then you’re not going to like what I’m about to tell you.

For the next five years, Namco will be the exclusive North American distributor of all Dragon Ball videogames. And while the deal doesn’t officially kick in until January 2010, Namco will be publishing three upcoming games based on the popular anime and manga series: DB: Raging Blast for the Xbox 360 and PS3, DB: Revenge of King Piccolo for the Wii, and DB Z: Attack of the Saiyans for the Nintendo DS.

Namco executive vice president Makoto Iwai said via press release:

Who can Michael Thorton trust?

Personally, I don't know yet since Alpha Protocol won't be released until October, 2009 but until then, we can watch the developers from Obsidian Entertainment talk about how they created an authentic real-world RPG full of espionage and action.

Check out the Alpha Protocol Developer Diary below.

Alpha Protocol Developer Diary: The World

During this year’s E3, EA announced EA Sports MMA, a new mixed-martial arts fighting franchise EA hopes will be a major contender against THQ’s UFC series. And while the tension is sure to ramp up once MMA gets closer to release, there seems to already be some preliminary rumbling going on behind the scenes.

Evil Avatar reports that the confirmed word on the street is that any non-UFC-affiliated fighter who signs on to appear in EA’s MMA will “forever be banned for fighting in the UFC.”

Given the critical and financial success of THQ’s recent UFC 2009: Undisputed, it’s hardly surprising that the UFC would want to ensure it maintains first right of refusal with regards to unsigned talent. Plus, UFC is the dominant force for mixed-martial arts, so if prospective fighters want the most exposure, there’s really only one place they can go. And I find it hard to believe that any young fighter would want to jeopardize his entire future just to appear in an EA-published mma game when he could simply appear in THQ’s game and fight on mma’s biggest stage.

 When I contacted EA to find out its take on these reports (which could end up being quite an interesting battle if the UFC stands behind this policy), an EA representative simply said, “We have no comment regarding the alleged UFC threats to fighters as it pertains to EA Sports MMA.”

This response was to be expected, especially for as fresh as these allegations are, and for as potentially damaging this situation could be for EA’s new franchise. Expect to see plenty more about this whole mess in the near future.

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How do gamers pay tribute to the recently deceased Michael Jackson? With machinima, of course! Check out this "Smooth Criminal" tribute using the PS3 version of Ragdoll Kung Fu by Chris Hughes, Anthony Hughes, and Bob Holt.

It's very, very good.

No game franchise makes you feel more inadequate and unsure of your gaming skills than Team Ninja’s Ninja Gaiden series. Last year’s Ninja Gaiden II delivered the most outrageously violent and unforgiving experience in the series’ history, but since it was an Xbox 360 exclusive, PlayStation 3 fans have had to get their NG fix via Ninja Gaiden Sigma, the updated port of Ninja Gaiden for the original Xbox. Well, that will all change this fall when Tecmo releases Ninja Gaiden Sigma 2.

The game is essentially an updated version of NGII, and is apparently noticeably less violent than the game on which its based. Yet despite its more toned down approach, as Team Ninja producer Yosuke Hayashi explains over at PlayStation.Blog:

“This is the most complete Ninja Gaiden game released to date. Team Ninja has put out five Ninja Gaiden games in five years, and we are confident that this is THE one you want to play and own!”

It's an excellent week for summer celebration. Whether you're celebrating Canada Day, the formation of the "We Hate Blair Herter" Facebook club, or America's birthday, there are tons of reasons to party this week. The G4tv.com gang is all set for a weekend of beaches, barbecues, karaoke, and more...but it wouldn't be complete without a healthy dose of gaming. Here's what your favorite writers and editors are playing this weekend. As always, leave a comment and let everyone know what you're playing.

Stephen Johnson: Because I am well known as an American patriot, and because the 4th of July is the most patriotic of all holidays (except Arbor Day) I will be spending my weekend revisiting one of the most blatantly American video games ever made. I’ll be playing Duke Nukem on the Xbox. In keeping with the 4th of July theme, I’m going to follow Duke up with some Oregon Trail on my iPhone and wash it all down with a PC MAME version of Burgertime.

What is going on here?!

Here's something I agree with entirely! Tekken series director Katsuhiro Harada feels that unlockable characters in fighting games are a bit old & busted. Truth!

In a translated interview with VideoGamer.com, Harada-san shares his feelings on the fighting genre staple:

“Why we locked the characters originally was that in the arcades, it was kind of to extend the life of the game by gradually unlocking characters. And also with the home versions as well, because you can rent games or whatever, it was to protect us against that. That’s kind of outdated now though, especially with online play. If we were to have locked characters it would irritate a lot of people, to be playing against others online and to not have all the characters available. So I think it’s no longer useful.”

It took hours upon hours to unlock all of the characters in Street Fighter IV. Many players still don't even have Seth unlocked. Thankfully, Tekken 6's roster of 40 characters will be completely unlocked as soon as the game is booted when it is released on October 27, 2009.

Even Capcom is beginning to realize this as every character will be unlocked at the start for the upcoming XBLA and PSN re-release of Marvel vs. Capcom 2.

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Fans of EA’s wildly popular Battlefield franchise will be pleased to know that the newest installment, Battlefield 1943, will be released on Xbox Live on July 8 (1200 MS Points), and July 9 on the PlayStation Network. Unfortunately, PC players will have to wait until the fall to get their hands on the game, despite their being the reason for the franchise's massive success.

Offering a more stylized take on the World War II FPS, Battlefield 1943 will once again give players the chance to fight on foot, in vehicles, and in the sky across several famous WWII locations in the South Pacific. Throw in destructible environments and a streamlined class system, and you have a recipe for some good old-fashioned WWII mayhem.

Anyone out there looking forward to jumping back into a WWII Battlefield game?

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It doesn’t quite pack the same kind of punch as the mergers and acquisitions we saw last week (Zenimax/id Software, Mythic/BioWare), but it turns out that Warner Bros. has been cleared to purchase famed publisher Midway for the previously submitted bid of $33 million, the Chicago Tribune reports.

In the end, Warner Bros.’ bid was the only one Midway received, which is a bit sad, but when you’re in the midst of Chapter 11 bankruptcy, I guess one bid is all you really need. Apparently, there were some intellectual property disputes regarding several Midway franchises including Mortal Kombat (and the production company that has produced two MK movies) and Wheelman (which Vin Diesel’s Tigon Studios co-produced with Midway). However, those issues have been resolved.

As for the Midway studios that Warner Bros. won't be acquiring (San Diego and Newcastle), Joystiq reports that they will be shut down in 60 days, unless they are purchased in the meantime. Currently, there haven't been any bids for either studio or any of the unclaimed properties.

Mortal Kombat, Spy Hunter and This is Vegas (maybe) are solid properties, but the one Midway franchise that I hope Warner’s takes fullest advantage of is Joust. Midway, please give me a next-gen Joust game, and I swear I’ll never ask you for anything else again.

Am I right people?

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Rocksteady Studio developers (and famed writer Paul Dini) take you behind the scenes of Batman's "...worst night of his life" in this behind-the-scenes developer video for the Eidos-published Batman: Arkham Asylum.

Batman: Arkham Asylum Inside the Asylum

The Batmobile will lose it's wheel when the Joker gets away August 25 on the PC, PS3 and Xbox 360.

During an interview with Fumitsu, Q Entertainment head Tetsuya Mizuguchi, Grasshopper Manufacture CEO Suda 51 and Level-5’s Akihiro Hino were asked what their takeaway was from this year’s E3, and, as Joystiq reports, their consensus was, “Hardware-wise, it was all about Project Natal,” said Suda 51.

For Mizuguchi, Natal represents a fundamental shift in how people perceive and approach games. “It’s not a shift from 2D to 3D or in the number of polygons, but it’s games trying to open an entirely new door.” Mizuguchi went on to say that he is surprised that a technology like Natal has arrived so soon, even if it’s still at least a year from being released.

Could that mysterious Q Entertainment/EA/Grasshopper horror title announced last year end up taking advantage of Natal’s capabilities? Possibly, especially given how enamored Suda 51 and Mizuguchi seem to be with the technology. Plus, the game is slated to be released on the Wii and PlayStation 3 as well, so motion control is possible across all platforms. Just something fun to think about.

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Almost punk rock band Green Day is bringing a trio of tracks to popular music video games Rock Band and Rock Band 2. But that's not all: Cannibal Corpse, Marilyn Manson and the immortal Slayer are all dropping songs for the game too. It's going to be a hard-rocking week, DLC fans. Here's the track list:

Green Day:

• “21 Guns”
• “East Jesus Nowhere”
• “Know Your Enemy"
•  

Others:

• Behemoth “Conquer All”
• Black Dahlia Murder “What a Horrible Night to Have a Curse”
• Cannibal Corpse “Hammer Smashed Face”
• God Forbid “Empire of the Gun”
• Job for a Cowboy “Embedded"
• Marilyn Manson “Disposable Teens”
• Slayer “Black Magic”
• Whitechapel “This Is Exile”

All these are master tracks, and will be available on Tuesday for the 360 Wii and Thursday for the PS3.