Since first appearing in May of 2010, the Humble Indie Bundle has raised quite a bit of money for game developers as well as charity while providing excellent games to an eager audience at extremely low prices, and DRM-free to boot. The Humble Frozen Synapse Bundle from this past September actually prompted our previous article on the phenomenon. Regardless, the recent release of the newest bundle, The Humble Indie Bundle 4 (actually the eighth bundle in the lineage), bears mentioning. It also bears purchasing. As great as some of these bundles have been in the past, this latest package …

We all know the feeling: You're at work and you take a bathroom break, but you always take your phone with you. Why? So you can pass the time with a quick game of Angry Birds, that's why! Come on, now - no one really expects you to take a bio break bored anymore. For years now, iOS devices like the iPhone and the iPad along with a myriad of Android-based phones and tablets have successfully marketed themselves to the mindset of small-serving, "minute" gaming. It fit the medium perfectly with the hardware limitations of early devices in particular. Mobile platforms - especially smartphones - …

The Fall rush is over and the vast majority of the most talked-about games have seen their releases by now. Many publications have already begun tallying votes for their end-of-year awards. As such, while December seems decidedly quieter than the past few months have been, there are still some major releases trickling through before 2011 is at an end. Mario Kart 7 [3DS] - December 4th We kick things off with another major Mario release for Nintendo’s newest portable console. While last month hosted the launch of Super Mario 3D Land to rave critical reviews, Mario Kart 7 is the newest …

With Thanksgiving behind us, the holiday purchasing spree is in full swing. And whatever our wishlists might look like, there's something each of us wants: to give gifts to our loved ones that they truly want and will make use of. These days, it's safe to assume that we all have at least one gamer in our lives that we'll be shopping for. In order to ease your gift hunt, here are some ideas that might help you scratch some people off of your list: Kontrol Freek analog stick extensions Does your gamer play a lot of games on the Xbox 360 or PlayStation 3? Do they like first-person shooters? Do …

Video games are fast becoming the most profitable form of entertainment in the world, much closer to catching the film industry than one might suspect. The blinding speed in which gaming has progressed from 2-color, one-button gameplay to 2010's Red Dead Redemption has actually managed to outrun the public's ability to absorb its maturation. But as uneducated ignorance dwindles giving way to true appreciation, demand for a legitimate, be-all-end-all annual awards ceremony has grown. Spike TV decided to shoulder this responsibility with the VGAs, starting in 2003. Unfortunately, the awards …

One single week saw two of the biggest gaming stories of the year. This past Tuesday, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 released to millions of rabid fans who clearly couldn't wait to get their hands on the game. In the US and UK alone, 6.5 million copies of Infinity Ward’s FPS sold on day one, making $400 million in sales en route to setting a new record for the biggest entertainment launch in history. This was after the game had already recorded over 9 million preorders. The immediate reaction to the game, however, has been the source of contention in the gaming community. Metacritic is …

Your wallet is gonna hurt. The past couple of months have seen a sharp ramp-up in the amount of big-budget, highly antipicated game releases as we gear up for the holidays. But many would say that no month is more tightly packed with such titles this year as November. It's time to warm up your game systems for a sure-fire top-selling war shooter, a sequel to one of the best RPGs of the last decade, a possibly great and original 3DS title (?!), the continuing tale of an assassin's lineage, and the newest iteration of one of the most storied franchises in the history of gaming. Call of Duty: …

Monday is Halloween, the time of year where everybody goes out of their way to be scared. In the world of video games, there are several places to go to accomplish this, but perhaps nowhere more effective than into the clutches of Amnesia: The Dark Descent for PC. One thing is for sure: The folks at Frictional Games sure do know how to scare you. And at a paltry $4.00 on Steam through October 31st, there's never been a better time to find out for yourself. The small-staffed indie developer had already flexed its survival-horror muscles with the Penumbra trilogy spanning 2007-2008. So when …

  The months of September through December are difficult ones for active gamers. After being spread out in reasonable fashion over the majority of the year, tons of highly anticipated titled are packed into these final months. We're now over a month and a half into the end-of-year rush, and while there are still several huge titles waiting to be released, here are three games that are already on store shelves that you should be playing right now: Gears of War 3 [X360] - Released September 20th Arguably the biggest Xbox 360-exclusive release of the year, Gears of War 3 is the conclusion of the…

The notion that PC gaming is dead has been kicked around for over a decade. Pundits have declared it repeatedly only to have games like Half-Life and Deus Ex re-introduce it as the evolutionary heart of the industry. When it once again began to lose traction, the Steam distribution platform made it easier than ever to find and purchase games for the PC without the hassle of manually patching them. By now, it should be obvious that PC gaming will never be completely dead. There will always be a place for it. Consoles are unlikely to ever have the level of flexibility to allow for the creation …

Independent game development has produced some real gems over the years. Regardless of what is typically a very limited budget when compared to the big-money companies in the industry, indie developers tend to be innovators, relying on original mechanics and pure gameplay to provide a memorable experience. After all, you can't hide behind flashy presentation when you can't afford it to begin with. But that same budget limit often means that these gems might stay buried if not for word of mouth. Downloadable console services like Xbox Live Indie Games and the PlayStation Network have provided …

Fall is here, and it brings with it the beginning of a steady stream of sure top-sellers in the video game industry. October hosts the release of id Software’s first entirely in-house title since 2004, a sequel to one of the most wonderfully sadistic games of the last decade, the Xbox 360 and PS3’s taste of a previously Wii-only dance title, the triumphant return of the dark knight, and DICE’s true sequel to their genre-defining FPS from 2005. Rage [PS3, X360, PC] - October 4th It’s been a long time since id Software has developed a game entirely in-house. 2004’s Doom 3 was the last time that…

Remember what 3-D used to mean? You would don flimsy, paper glasses with one red lens, the other blue. Ye olde complementary color anaglyphs could offer the illusion of depth but at the extreme expense of color diversity. These days, due to new technological developments in both the active and passive genre of glasses, 3D entertainment has enjoyed quite the resurgence. What used to be a once-in-a-long-while, unusual experience only found in select theaters and amusement parks, high-quality 3D imagery can now be commonly experienced at home with the right television, and said televisions are …

Video gaming is an expensive hobby. Soon after you fork over several hundred dollars to buy a console or computer upgrade, you're asked to cough up an additional $59.99 for that high-profile game that you've been eyeing up since before its release. Buying used is a viable option when you're strapped for cash, but even that can be a bit more than the desired investment at times. What if I told you that I could direct you to 5 quality games for only $5.99 or less each? They're out there. You just have to know where to look. And don't worry about how old your PC or laptop is. Chances are very …

It seems like only yesterday that I was ready to proclaim the Nintendo 3DS as the next big thing. And it was, for a hot second. The 3DS was the most preordered game console ever, doubling numbers that the Wii put up. But why did sales drop so sharply only months after its release? What was the big problem? Shiny New Console Syndrome is a temporary ailment. Eventually, the 3D novelty can no longer stand on its own and the settings menu stops being so much fun to look at. You need games to play. Good games. Sure, eventually The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time 3D came out, and that was a big …

For the rest of the year, we're going to see quite a few AAA game releases every month. September kicks off the influx in spectacular fashion with an anticipated 3DS remake, a zombie game that had one of the most popular trailers ever, and potentially the biggest Xbox 360 release of the year. Dead Island [PS3, X360, PC] - September 6th Maybe you remember this spectacular trailer that came out in February? It's clocked over 5 million views and has had a lot of people interested in the game it represents ever since. Dead Island is a first-person horror action-adventure open-world title where …

One of the most anticipated games still to come this year is undoubtedly Rage from id Software. A post-apocalyptic, sandbox, first-person shooter, the game promises to be an eye-popping and engrossing shooter with RPG elements that has drawn early comparisons to games like Fallout 3 and Borderlands (fairly or otherwise).But before this game hits store shelves, let’s take a moment to look back and reflect on four games from the 1990s that reserved id Software’s spot as legends in the games industry:1990: Commander Keen - My fellow old-school PC gamers might remember this one. id Software …

The vast majority of Patch readers are likely to have a Facebook account. USA Today reported last month that the online social networking giant had grown to greater than 750 million active users. Its #2 Alexa Ranking is behind only Google.com. However, when you take into account that Google’s ranking is a combined effort of all its applications (search engine, Gmail, Calendar, Reader, Docs, etc.), it’s quite a feat.Speaking of Google, they clearly aren’t comfortable with Facebook nipping at their heels. They have tried and failed at social networking with Google Wave and Google Buzz (yes, …

After a slow July in game releases, August marks the beginning of the rush of potential blockbusters for the latter half of 2011. Included in this month's releases are an HD remake of an underappreciated Wii game, the newest iteration of a certain annual sports franchise, and a long-awaited prequel to one of the greatest games of all time. No More Heroes: Heroes' Paradise [PS3] - August 16th To kick off this month's list, we revisit one of the best Wii games that no one played. The original No More Heroes came out for the Nintendo Wii in the US in January of 2008. No one heard it drop, but …

The Nintendo 3DS was a veritable hit at E3 2010. Industry previews were glowing. It looked poised to be a must-have unit as soon as it was available. Noticing the buzz, Nintendo got pretty lofty, deciding to price the unit at $249.99 when it was released this past March. The company also went ahead and forecasted profits of $1.4 billion this fiscal year. A decent number of people jumped in right from the start, coughing up the money to get the latest in gadgetry, trusting in Nintendo's track record for delivering on the gameplay front. Unfortunately, those players are still waiting. The …