Oh, hello. I didn't see you there.

I'm Andrew Pfister, your new Senior Games Editor. What I'll actually be doing for the site is in that nebulous and exciting "planning stage," but it will definitely involve writing words about videogames. That much I can promise you.
 
If you've seen or heard my name before, you're either a long-time reader of Electronic Gaming Monthly, a listener of the 1UP.com podcasts (of which I was producer), or you went to high school with me. Sadly, I am not the heir to the Pfister Pfaucet Pfortune, I am unrelated to Academy Award-nominated Director of Photography Wally Pfister, and I am unaffiliated with the Pfister Hotel in downtown Milwaukee, though it is indeed a lovely hotel.
 
Who I am is a guy who paid close enough attention in school (go Bucky), made the right friends, wrote the right things, and found myself with excellent jobs, working with excellent people in excellent places: now that list includes G4tv.com. I'm platform-agnostic (everyone has high points and low points), terrible at real-time strategy but can hold my own in nearly everything else, and I can grow a wicked beard in a matter of weeks. My favorite game is your favorite game -- how crazy is that?!?
 
Oh, I'm also incapable of answering interview questions seriously.

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:

Experience feudal Japan with this gameplay trailer for Muramasa: The Demon Blade featuring two heroes, Kisuke and Momohime, two brave young heroes who must venture across the countryside to gather cursed swords to counter an evil Shogun.

In this gameplay trailer, Kisuke and Momohime wield their blades to battle various gods from the Netherworld. Muramasa: The Demon Blade is set to be released in September 2009 for the Nintendo Wii.

Muramasa: The Demon Blade Heroes Gameplay Trailer

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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We're all patriots here, and before you start scarfing down tubes of meat that were heated on an outdoor fire pit, why not take a moment to check out this week's MMO Report. This week Casey tells you all about the upcoming Final Fantasy XI add-on scenario, the Bioware/Mythic merger, and all the troubles World of Warcraft has been having in China. Be thankful you live in the Western Hemisphere. So sit back, press play, and enjoy your 4th of July weekend!

Subscribe to G4's The MMO Report Podcast by clicking your preferred service:

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.

Microsoft has been sued a lot. It happens. This one could end up costing them a decent chunk of change, however. In 1994, Peter Hochstein and Jeffrey Tenenbaum were granted a patent for "communicating live while playing the same video game in separate locations." The two sued Microsoft in 2004, claiming that Xbox Live infringes on their patent.

Microsoft's defense appears to hinge upon the claim that Xbox Live operates outside of the actual video game. Furthermore, Kotaku notes that the company has resorted to cheap tricks, including holding up the trial for weeks over a type and providing 140,000 documents on the plaintiffs without any index.

Sony was also sued by Hochstein and Tenenbaum over the PS2's network, but Sony settled the case for an undisclosed amount of money. Seems like the reverse of the lawsuit over rumble in controllers. In that case, Microsoft settled and licensed the tech to include rumble on the Xbox 360. Sony was the one that dragged the process out, finally releasing the DualShock 3 after settling the case.

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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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More zombies are a good thing, which is why I'm happy to report that Techland's Dead Island, an open-ended zombie thriller set on what should be an island paradise, is definitely still in development. Who is Techland? It's the studio behind the better-than-expected Call of Juarez: Bound in Blood.

I last saw Dead Island while reporting for 1UP.com way back in August 2007. There hasn't been much word on Dead Island, but Techland told me silence isn't a reason to be worried about the project.

"I can understand how impatient our fans must be to see more news and assets from Dead Island," said Techland international brand manager Blazej Krakowiak in an e-mail. "Unfortunately our agreement with the game’s worldwide publisher imposed a media silence on us. All we are allowed to say is that the game is in development and doing great and that all future updates regarding the game will come directly from the publisher."

Dead Island didn't have a publisher when Techland was showing the game off in Germany, so that's a good sign. The developer was more than happy to show off their layered skin system, though, which let you hack away at multiple dimentions of zombie flesh. Still, Dead Island was a shell of a game at the time, more of a promising zombie tech demo.

"I know it’s not much at the moment," said Krakowiak. "We’re really excited with what we’ll be able to share with fans but for the moment our hands are tied."

Whatever gets me more zombies!