Tune in tonight 6:30PM on X-Play as we'll run down our top 7 games for avoiding the Valentine's Day restaurant nightmare, and weigh in on UFC Undisputed 3. Show details below:

• Top 7 Games for Valentine's Day
  Different holidays might have all sorts of rituals specific to them, but for us it's always just another excuse to game. Cancel your dinner reservations and skip the roses, these are the 7 best ways to convince your significant other that it's the couple that games together that stays together.
• UFC Undisputed 3 Review
  Octagon brawler UFC Undisputed 3 arrives with a simplified control scheme and a brand new Pride mode, and we'll weigh in on it all with our review.
• Amy Review
  Amy is the survival horror title that sends you on escort missions to help out your mentally whacked friend. It's a strange blend, and we'll let you know if the game pulls it off in our review.
• Tech Junkie: HORI SoulCalibur V Fight Stick and PlayStation 3 Flight Stick
  The Tech Junkies weigh in on two new products from HORI: the SoulCalibur V Fight Stick and the PlayStation 3 Flight Stick.

Watch X-Play weekdays at 6:30PM ET, only on G4!

Host Blair Butler and frequent guest Brian Compton return for graphic novel reviews. This week you get the ins and outs of Scalped, Monster Truck, Chase, and Secret Six.

Make sure to visit us on Twitter and Facebook.

And for more comic goodness, don’t forget to visit our friends at Comic Alliance or get your free digi-version of Monster Truck from Graphicly.com via the link below.

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Tune in tonight 6:30PM ET on X-Play as we get ready for the PlayStation Vita. We've got one here, and we'll run down everything we like, and anything that's got us worried. Full show details below:

• PlayStation Vita
  We're inside of two weeks of the PlayStation Vita's official launch, but we have our hands on one now, and we'll take you on a thorough tour of what Sony's new portable gamer is set to deliver.
• Tsquared's Battlefield 3 Pro Tips
  Battlefield 3 is all about understanding your strengths and limitations, and pro gamer Tsquared will have pro tips for finding your role, and carrying it out effectively.
• The Darkness 2 Review
  Sequel The Darkness 2 has new developers, new gameplay mechanics, and a reworked art style. We'll weigh in on the results with our review.
• Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning Review
  The wait is over, and the first game from baseball great turned videogame magnate Curt Schilling and his 38 Studios is here. It's action RPG Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning, and we'll have our review.
• X-Play Inbox
  We'll open up more viewer mail in another edition of X-Play Inbox.
• X-Play Recommends - iPad Game Jazz: Trump's Journey
  We'll check out Jazz: Trump's Journey, a jazzy platforming romp through 1920s New Orleans.

Watch X-Play weekdays at 6:30PM ET, only on G4!

Next week on X-Play, the new release season is upon us, and we'll have verdicts on Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning, Twisted Metal, UFC Undisputed 3, The Darkness II, and Amy.

Plus, the PS Vita is almost here, and we'll get one in our hands and deliver our first game reviews for this next generation of portable gaming hardware from Sony.

We'll also get Battlefield 3 pro tips from pro gamer Tsquared, and have our top 7 games for Valentine's Day. All this and so much more when a brand new week of X-Play kicks off this Monday at 6:30PM ET.

If you follow Awards Season, then you know the Grammys are this weekend. Just about a year ago, The Feed featured my thoughts on why video game music deserves a dedicated Grammy Award. In the intervening year, the Grammys have gone through a major overhaul, reducing the total number of categories from 109 down to 78. While this may sound like a bad thing for video game music, it really isn’t. In truth, both original and compilation game soundtrack albums (and individual songs) have been eligible to win a Grammy award, just not in a dedicated category. Be that as it may, if we as game music fans had any say in the nominations or categories, things might be different.

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Happy Thursday, everyone! If you're not too busy donating to a particular Video Game Kickstarter campaign, why not take a moment to watch The MMO Report? This week's episode covers THQ's financial troubles regarding the future of Warhammer 40K: Dark Millennium Online, TERA's Collectors Editions, and reads your e-mails in Uncle Casey's Mail Bag. Now get to enjoying your weekend a little early and press play.

The MMO Report: Thursday, February 9th »

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Tune in tonight 6:30PM ET on X-Play as we'll review Soul Calibur 5, check out Alan Wake's American Nightmare, and unveil an exclusive trailer for indie platformer Vessel. Full show details below:

• On Location: Indianapolis Madden Bowl
  EA hosted its annual Madden Bowl over this past Super Bowl weekend in Indianapolis, and Blair Herter was there to watch NFL star players take their on field battles virtual.
• Soul Calibur V Review
  After a 2011 crowded with big-name fighting games, 2012 starts off with Soul Calibur V, and we'll weigh in with our review.
• Vessel Trailer Exclusive
  With the bigger studios mostly leaving the platforming world behind, smaller indie developers have taken up the mantle and cranked out some intriguing reimaginings of the genre. We'll have an exclusive trailer for an upcoming entry into this group, Vessel.
• Alan Wake's American Nightmare Gameplay Preview
  Alan Wake's American Nightmare is a downloadable stand-alone side story to the supernatural Alan Wake that shifts the emphasis toward action, and we'll get a look.
• Cheat! RAGE's Hidden Wolfenstein, Doom and Quake Rooms
  id Software's RAGE is a gorgeous game full of the future of graphics technology, but that doesn't mean there isn't also a touch of history within. We'll have the cheats and tips you need to find RAGE's hidden rooms of id's past from Wolfenstein, Doom and Quake.
• X-Play Recommends: Indie Games
  We'll round up three great indie games that prove smaller really can be better.
• The MMO Report with Casey Schreiner
  We'll visit Casey Schreiner in The MMO Report studio for all the week's biggest news in MMO gaming.

Watch X-Play weekdays at 6:30PM ET, only on G4!

Despite what you may think, it's no fun to write a bad review. No matter what the outcome may be we all recognize it takes a lot of hard work by a ton of people just to get a game out the door. Adam Sessler's review of Kindgoms of Amalur: Reckoning came out today, and if you've read it you know he was not pleased with the outcome. In this week's Soapbox Adam discusses how difficult it was for him to write a bad review for a game he has such high hopes for.

Sessler's Soapbox: High Hopes and Heartbreaks »

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Tune in tonight at 6:30PM ET on X-Play as we'll review new shooter NeverDead and get an early look at the Yakuza developer's upcoming Binary Domain. We'll also get the lowdown on Valve's Steam app for iPhone and Android, and get pro gamer Tsquared's tips for total Halo "High Noon" map domination. Full show details below:

• NeverDead Review
  In supernatural shooter NeverDead you might get torn apart, beheaded, or both, but you won't die. You'll just have to find a way to play on. We'll weigh in on the action with our review.
• Valve's Steam App For iPhone and Android
  Valve has a new Steam app out now for iPhone and Android, and we'll take a look at everything you need to know.
• Binary Domain Gameplay Preview
  We'll get an early look at Binary Domain, the upcoming third-person shooter from the developers of the Yakuza series that blends in a morality system and voice commands into a story that's all cyberpunk.
• Face Time: Michael Winslow and Wizard Ops
  Police Academy and Space Balls legend Michael Winslow has a new game out, Wizard Ops, in which he performs all the sound effects. We'll get face time and check it out.
• Collector's Edition - The Metagame
  The Metagame harnesses the debate over the best video games and consoles into a competitive card game, and we'll play a few hands.
• Tsquared's Pro Tips - Halo "High Noon" Map
  Pro gamer Tsquared has plenty of tips and tricks for mastering the Halo "High Noon" Map - he's been playing it for over a decade.

Watch X-Play weekdays at 6:30PM ET, only on G4!

Tune in tonight at 6:30PM ET on X-Play as we get ready for tomorrow's Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning launch with an exclusive sit down with 38 Studios' Curt Schilling. We'll also weigh in on Final Fantasy XIII-2, get an exclusive preview of Spec Ops: The Line, and take a look at Xbox co-inventor Seamus Blackley's new foray into the mobile gaming sphere. Full show details below:

• Curt Schilling Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning Exclusive
  Baseball champion Curt Schilling embarks on his new career as a videogame magnate with tomorrow's launch of action RPG Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning, and we'll sit down with the man for a last look and final thoughts before it all takes off.
• Spec Ops: The Line Exclusive
  In Spec Ops: The Line you'll be tasked with hunting down a crazed general in the middle of a blown out Dubai wasteland, and we'll get an exclusive early look.
• Final Fantasy XIII-2 Review
  The linearity of Final Fantasy XIII gets completely turned on its head with sequel Final Fantasy XIII-2, and we'll weigh in on the time-jumping, side-questing results with our review.
• Xbox Co-Creator Seamus Blackley
  Xbox Co-Creator Seamus Blackley has assembled a dream team of classic game developers for his new mobile game start-up, and he'll sit down with Morgan Webb to talk details.
• Ratchet & Clank Pro Tips with James Stevenson
  Getting through Ratchet & Clank: All 4 One from start to finish is great, but it could be that racking up bolts and employing the most ridiculous weapons is even better. Insomniac's James Stevenson will have tips for doing just that.
• Morgan Saves: Great Games, Discount Prices
  We're still in that early time of year when the big game release engine hasn't fully cranked up and some of last season's hottest titles are available at majorly slashed prices. Morgan Webb will round up some of the best deals of the bunch.

Watch X-Play weekdays at 6:30PM ET, only on G4!

Next week on X-Play, we'll have an exclusive interview with Curt Schilling the day before he launches his first foray into video games with Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning.

We'll also review Final Fantasy XIII-2, NeverDead, and SoulCalibur V, and it just might be that one of these titles gives our new 1/2-star rating system its first ever workout. Plus, Xbox inventor Seamus Blackley is making news, Valve's Steam app for iPhone and Android is out, and Police Academy human sound effects legend Michael Winslow has a new game using his voice for its soundscape.

Then, it's more insider news you won't get anywhere else with exclusives of Spec Ops: The Line and upcoming indie platformer Vessel.  All this and a whole lot more when X-Play kicks of an all-new week this Monday at 6:30PM ET!

Happy Thursday everyone! For us, Thursdays are special because we get bagels delivered to our office in the morning, but more importantly we also get to put up the latest episode of The MMO Report. This week Casey will show you what creepy locations are revealed in a new trailer for The Secret World, discuss the merits of marriage equality in Star Wars: The Old Republic, and read your insane e-mails in Uncle Casey's Mail Bag. Now if you'll excuse me, it's time for my third bagel.

The MMO Report: Thursday, February 2nd »

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Want to know how to create Dovahkiin, Skyrim's Dragonborn, in Soul Calibur 5's Character Creation mode? Do you prefer the god of thunder, Raiden, from Mortal Kombat to battle against Nightmare? Then we've got some good news for you! We've created a Soul Calibur 5 Character Creation guide so that you can make several famous video game characters to show off online. Below, you'll find a full step-by-step guide on what equipment, colors, and patterns you should use.

Also, if you would like to share your own Soul Calibur 5 user created characters, just send in your character's picture and information on how to make him or her to donell@g4tv.com and your character might be featured in this guide.

Read More »

Be sure to tune in tonight at 6:30 PM ET on X-Play as we sit down with Darksiders 2, chat with "Man of 10,000 Sound Effects" Michael Winslow, and check out Tim Schafer's next project, Happy Action Theater. The full details are below:

• Darksiders 2 X-Play Exclusive Look
  Death's quest to clear his name takes center stage in upcoming sequel Darksiders 2, and we'll have an exclusive look.
• History of Videogame Sound Effects with Michael Winslow
  "The Man of 10,000 Sound Effects" Michael Winslow stops by to perform a sweeping history of sound effects in videogames.
• Face Time - Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 Voice Actors
  We'll go behind the scenes with the voice actors who bring Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 to life.
• Happy Action Theater Hands-On Preview
  Kicking in buildings, punching helicopters, and leaping from lava are all part of Tim Schafer's upcoming Kinect bonanza Happy Action Theater, and we'll go hands-on for an early look.
• X-Play Recommends: Free To Play Games
  We'll check out some of the best free-to-play games available right now.

Watch X-Play weekdays at 6:30PM ET, only on G4!

In the past year or so it's become very common for new games to include an "Online Pass" inside the box. This code will unlock certain aspects of the game like multiplayer, co-op levels, or future downloadable content. It's pretty obvious that publishers have done this to encourage gamers to buy new games rather than used ones, but Sessler doesn't think it's the best idea. In this week's Soapbox, Adam explains the flaws he sees in this new business model and why the Online Pass may not be around forever.

Sessler's Soapbox: Kingdoms of Online Passes »

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