While many loyal Valve customers were angry at the launch announcement of Left 4 Dead 2, placing the release date “only” one year after the release of the original, I was thrilled at the prospect of new content in my favorite zombie-bashing shooter!

In fact, I  pre-ordered Left 4 Dead 2, pre-loaded it, and played it the moment it was released. I sympathized with most of the points “the mob” was making, but the fact that I was excited about the upcoming product and was very willing to pay for it meant everything.

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I’m not much of a facebook normally, I log on only when I get a notification of a message by e-mail, so obviously I was pretty neutral about the announcement that Facebook was making it’s way to the X-Box 360. Still, I had to give it a try, and I’m sure glad I did!

I was expecting a heavy, clunky, feature-to-feature adaptation of Facebook on the 360. Instead, whoever developped this app was smart enough to strip it off a lot of non-essential bells and whistles and in-so-doing sculpt a mostly enjoyable experience out of a normally mundane one.

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Here’s the deal, my extremely talented good friend Nicolas Girard was returning to his native France for good. So what does he do with his remaining time here in Canada? Why he decides to build his friend (yours truly) the most awesome joystick ever! And so the NEStickle (not to be mistaken for the NES emulator NESticle) was born!

This thing is a new level of awesome, seriously. It has the best Sanwa buttons and joystick money can buy, is compatible with the X-Box 360, the Playstation 3, the Playstation 2, and any PC running Windows, Linux, or even a MAC OS! If I wanted, I could also get an adapter that would make it compatible with the original X-Box! Seriously, if that’s all it was it would still be amazing, but it’s built into and out of an actual, honest to God, Nintendo Entertainment System! Go ahead, lie and say you’re not jealous, I dare you!

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Check out pixelsandpoutine.com‘s newest podcast and you just might recognize your favorite friendly neighborhood game designer’s voice Yup, Simon Prefortaine of Pixels and Poutine fame, a podcast dedicated to the game industry right here in Montreal, has chosen yours truly for an interview on the most recent installment of his podcast.

I must say, I actually sound like I know what I’m talking about Well, don’t take my word on it, check it out and let me know what you think!

With the news that Marvel was just bought out by big brother Disney for a whopping 4 Billion dollars, one has to wonder what kind of repercussions such a buyout would bring to both companies.

Look no further folks, for beyond this point lies predictions on what’s about to come.

A warning is probably in order, the following is ridiculous in nature and is to be read only by those with a sense of humor.

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Since it was announced, but especially since I played Street Fighter 4 and was mostly disappointed in it, I’ve been looking forward to King of Fighters 12. I’ve watched all of the youtube game play videos, read every bit of news about it as it came out, and even managed not to be deterred by the mixed but mostly negative press it’s been getting.

After all, King of Fighters does not share the mass market appeal Street Fighter has over the years and I can see how someone who isn’t a fan of the series (which I have recently become) would deduct automatic points for what they might see as a cheap Street Fighter knock-off.

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For the second year in a row, I’m posting my views on this year’s E3 for your reading and trolling pleasure.

As with last year, I could care less about portable devices and so will only mention any console related info that got my attention. If I left anything out, it’s because I don’t care about it, and you shouldn’t either. This year promised to be a better show but honestly ended up being almost as lackluster as last year’s. Don’t these companies realize all that gamers really want are great new games? Please, no more gimmicks!

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I love being a Canadian! Though I have many reasons for this, today’s particular cause for celebration at being a Canuck was brought on by the X-Box 360′s new live game show “1 vs 100″ being open to all Canadian Gold members for the beta on Microsoft’s experimental X-Box LIVE Primetime.

I hadn’t actually heard about this and so was pleasantly surprised when I turned on my 360 the other day and was met with a “1 vs 100 – Play Now” message.

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Last Saturday I attended my very second Magic the Gathering pre-release event. This time was actually a lot more fun than the last. I came in 6th overall with a record of 3-2-0 and received a foil Path to Exile card with a very nice alternate art and a booster that really didn’t have anything of value in it

I did open a Tezzerret the Seeker and a Meddling Mage so in 2 of my 6 sealed boosters so I was obviously very pleased overall!

Not to mention that I love the new expansion: Alara Reborn. Continuing with the fine tradition of posting card impression, please find following a list of cards that I was either impressed with or disappointed in from the new expansion.

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Everyone pretty much already knows that both Dee Jay and T Hawk or on the way as DLC for Street Fighter 4, but Seth Killian has hinted at 2 other characters would be added as well from Street Fighter’s other franchises. At first everyone assumed we would get some Street Fighter 3 love (God forbid) but apparently Capcom decided to make the 3D experience complete by going EX on us.

You’re seeing it here first folks, enter Skullomania! He’s definitely not my first choice to be added to the roster but he’s also not my last. At least we didn’t get some more crappy Alpha characters like Cody or R. Mika! Well enjoy folks, anyone has any ideas who the fourth character will be?

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