The game was in development by Underground Development in 2007 while Infinity Ward was hard at work on the original Modern Warfare. The game was set in Italy during World War II and utilized more strategic mechanics than COD players are typically used to. Some of these mechanics highlighted in the report include stealth kills, squad-based commands and exploration, and parkour moves that Lead Designer Kyle Brink described as “crazy athletic stuff that goes far beyond the run/duck/shoot stuff you saw in shooters of that era.”

Needlessly to say, the success of Modern Warfare eventually led to the project being officially cancelled in March of 2008 despite positive reactions to a demo of the game. According to Brink, the game was likely a victim of the Vivendi/Blizzard merger in December 2007:

“Here’s what happened: We were ready for our final green light just as the merger with Vivendi/Blizzard was announced. As is normal in a merger, you do everything you can to clean up your balance sheet.” 

Perhaps we will one day see a Call of Duty spin-off inspired by the work done on Devil’s Brigade, which was actually inspired by the real-life Devil’s Brigade. You can check out the full lengthy article over at The Verge or skip right to the pre-production screenshots of Call of Duty: Devil’s Brigade below:

It might just be the guy who pops out from behind pillars and poles to play Jordan Mechner melodies on a dinky Casio keyboard, with a fro straight off the head of Omar Rodriguez-Lopez.  Complete with the original PC music and some old school jazz, it predictably isn’t too long until the ‘ol Prince gets bored, takes a drink of some doogh and gets himself into trouble.

The GeeksAreSexy clip next has him running up and down escalators, getting his ass kicked by security, and basically in a Tehran prison next to Mario all night. Hopefully this means we’ll get to tune in sometime next week to view their trial and execution. Kudos to Karahat for the creation.

A job listing on the Konami website titled, “BIG BOSS wants YOU! THE “NEXT” MGS”, said Konami will be attending the Game Developers Conference in San Francisco next month in search of fresh blood. ” Kojima Productions will be returning to the GDC Career Pavilion (March 6th – 9th) to search for skillful engineers, artists, and game creators…” (booth, #1914 – Career Pavilion)

With Kojima Productions currently working with fellow Japanese Studio Platinum Games on Metal Gear Rising, and its growing interest in collaboration, it seems as though Kojima has decided to create the “Next” Metal Gear Solid both in Japan and stateside.

As for any actual details on what Kojima Productions is calling the “Next” MGS, the only hint we get comes from clicking on a “Classified” graphic on the job listing page revealing Yoji Shinkawa concept art (below).

The image is of a young Snake standing with a dog and a patch on his arm with a dog’s face. From early screenshots of the Fox Engine, as pointed out by GT, it looks as though the “Next” MGS might incorporate dogs or perhaps some sort of companion system. With this next MGS being deemed a game for high-end consoles as well as PCs, and the Fox Engine being directly linked to open world military game “Project Ogre”, could this mean that MGS is stepping into the MMO world?

“Pandora has changed, are you ready?”

The FPS/RPG hybrid shows off a number of details about the game itself and how it will differ from its predecessor. Not only does the trailer tell us that Borderlands 2 “just got bazilliondier”, after what felt like an eternity, we actually get a good look at some of the game in the trailer.

With the brand new character classes revealed– Zero, Axton, Maya and Salvadore– it seems as though Gearbox has really raised the bar this time around. Other notable features include local split screen, 4 player co-op and a deeper levelling system.

“Handsome Jack…this tyrant will be the death of us all.”

You will have to wait until September to take on Handsome Jack. Until then, check out some of the details on pre-order content here including special membership to the Borderlands 2 Premiere Club granting access to the Golden Key, a Gearbox Gunpack, and  the Vault Hunters Relic. The full trailer is below (via Forbes):

and we know another person who’s excited about the game’s release:

But FitPop.com makes its official launch today as one of the only fitness and pop culture sites on the web that is as fun as it is informative. No it’s not delving into the world of stereoscopic 3d imaging, science-fiction, or video gaming, but FitPOP.com might oddly enough remind you of the Jace Hall Show.

How!?!? Enter Todd Roy, the man behind JHS for the past four years and accomplished Twitterer known for conspiracy theories and wide range of scientific idioms. But Todd flexes his Producer/Director/Actor chops in the Cardio World Series, exclusively produced by FitPop.com

See the trailer below for what happens when Producer Todd Roy makes the transition from The Jace Hall Show to a show about fitness…might we see some familiar JHS cast members as the Cardio World Series progresses?

But that’s not all — for 1337 followers of JaceHallShow.com you’re more than familiar with Alicia Marie’s attempts to escalate her toon through Warcraft (update: NZ server, lvl 79 Frost Belf DK – 6 toons 3 different servers). While she continues to hone her craft in World of Warcraft, she’s an expert on developing a nice booty (photo below…not to scale).

The Booty Bible might not be of use to you guys (hopefully) but if you’ve got a girl who’se a workout junkie and has a good sense of humor, it’s worth checking out (no pun intended).

As for FitPop.com, Alicia says:

Health and wellness educators can sometimes take themselves and the information they present too seriously and I feel that physiology and training technique bathed in excessive and lofty verbiage can create barriers for people. FitPOP.com represents an entirely new approach to the presentation of health and lifestyle information. 

So check it out and let us know what you think…send it to your female friends or let Todd know how Todd’s Jace Hall Show inspired Cardio World Series looks. At this rate, Fitness and Pop Culture might not ever be the same again…

Following up on “Cipher Agent Cypher” and “Jedi Nights” from a couple weeks ago — which paid tribute to Star Wars: The Old Republic — “White Reflection” is nothing more or less than an homage to all things Mobile Suit Gundam, in his latest creation, Wing Zero Mixtape.

Set off with the Mobile Suit anime song, Branson drops in with “Destroyin’ all these other rappers in my wing zero/I kill ‘em with my beam rifle/never have to reload“– so you know that even if he’s talking about something as seemingly innocent as anime, he still doesn’t f*ck around. Thus Branson is free to reminisce the way we all often do about the favorite cartoons of our youth:

“I’m really into anime but I even frontin’/thinking of the days when I used to watch Gundam.”

And for a lot of fans, MSG was right up there with Robotech and Akira and some of the best of the best. It’s pretty much as simple as that, complete with a montage of some of the series’ best battles. All I need is a tribute to Minmei and Rick Hunter from this guy, and I could die a happy man. Probably jinxed it, but what the hell.

Sound off in the comments below or hit up Richie on his website.

We wanted to delve a little deeper into exactly what the gaming community thinks about the list, and moreover, exactly what game endings gamers really consider the best of all time.

Not surprisingly, a quick poll of everyone at JaceHallShow.com and our friends within the gaming community have allowed us to come up with a list of our own– most of which consists of games nowhere to be found on the top 50 list from Guinness. We also talked to Guinness to find out exactly how it came up with the list.

Before we jump into our top picks, it’s important to remember that we aren’t talking about the most epic, or cinematic ending of all time. The most memorable ending for you will surely differ from your neighbor. We also wanted to explore exactly how important endings really are to gamers. Should game endings continue to attempt to mirror cinema? Or are we missing the true spirit of gaming by doing so?

We asked Eric Zimmerman– Full-time professor of game design at NYU Game Center, co-author of Rules of Play: Game Design Fundamentals, and Gamelab co-founder– what he thinks about game endings. He said they should be “less premised on a desire to imitate cinema or linear storytelling.”

While comparing games like Asteroids and Street Fighter to Basketball and Scrabble, Zimmerman told us his favorite games are “designed for repeated play – and they don’t have endings.” Here’s what he had to say:

…traditionally games don’t have endings. Games like Basketball, Chess, and Scrabble are activities meant to be repeated, rather than a series of levels to be beaten or a story to be played through. Many digital games, from Asteroids and Tetris to Street Fighter and Smash Bros to Sim City and Civilization are on this model of games designed for repeated play – and they don’t have endings. I prefer these kinds of games, as they are less premised on a desire to imitate cinema or linear storytelling and they are more focused on games as games -as systems of rules that reward deep and repeated exploration. 

For a lot of us, the thrill of trying to reach the end of a game… the accomplishment of ‘beating’ a game, is often part of the experience. Zimmerman has a point, but do you agree games don’t really need endings? If you ask me, Portal’s ending and end credits (involving no actual gameplay) are just as memorable of an experience as solving the game’s hardest puzzle.

As for how Guinness decided on the top 50, we contacted Guinness to find out exactly how it came up with the list. We were told the poll of 13,519 was held for 6 months on its website consisting of both multiple choice and submitted answers. Guinness gaming records manager Freddie Hoff told us, “People do tend to vote for their favorite game, rather than the best ending”:

The Guinness World Records website hosted the poll for 6 months with multiple choice answers including (but not only) Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time, God of War, Red Dead Redemption, Portal, Final Fantasy VII, Heavy Rain, Super Metroid, Shadow of the Colossus and Grim Fandango. Users were able to vote for one of the multiple choice answers or submit their own response. Over 25% of voters submitted their own response and Call of Duty: Black Ops ended up being the most popular write-in and overall answer.

When it comes to our top picks, Portal seems to take the cake with the majority of votes and would definitely top our list, but several Metal Gear titles tie for a close second. However, the rest of our picks didn’t make the Guinness list at all. We start things off with Jace Hall:

Jace: There are a lot, but Dragon’s Lair…it was the one of the first 50 cent arcade game’s that you played and played and it had that awesome animated sequence in the end with the lost levels…has to be one of the best.

J.A. Laraque and our friends over at Obsolete Gamer weighed in with their top pick:

For me one of the greatest video game endings has to be Sonic CD. I mean after the other horrible games from that system anything would look good, but Sonic CD was more than that. From the cartoon beginning and awesome music to the great gameplay and level design, Sonic CD was incredible and the ending… Sonic Boom… I’d get married to that song if I could ever find a date.

Guinness gaming records manager Freddie Hoff’s favorite game ending did make the list and we definitely approve. Here’s what he told us:

My personal favorite game ending is ‘Shadow of the Colossus’ because I felt the story when I got to the ending. It is so sad. Often times playing a game is about the satisfaction of winning or besting the game. With Shadow of the Colossus you feel like the game bested you. It is thinking outside the box. I love that in a game.

Our friend Robert Kovacs-Cohner, editor at GameStar magazine for iPad (free Jan. issue available now), couldn’t decide:

We often think that narrative-heavy games have the best endings. However, both Portal and Portal 2 are fine examples of exceptions… But if I have to choose one of the many, I would say that two adventure games: Full Throttle and Monkey Island 2 had the best endings ever. The former was beautiful in its art design, melancholy and simplicity, and the latter had the craziest ending I have seen during my career…but the most memorable ending sequence I will never forget is the last scenes of Final Fantasy VII – I hadn’t become so invested and emotionally attached to a video game before, and haven’t since. 

As we suspected, Black Ops was likely the top pick on the Guinness list simply because it’s the most recognizable to those visiting the survey. It seems people are voting for the game they like playing, not necessarily their favorite ending. It appears more gamers are of Zimmerman’s opinion… that games don’t really need endings.

For me, and many other gamers, the thrill of completing games like (Insert your favorite game ending here) will always stand out as memorable moments in our gaming careers, second only to the countless hours spent trying to reach the end. 

Perhaps we should now begin work compiling our worst game endings of all time?

Like the last one, “Wheatley” is chock full of Python-esque British accent tomfoolery and features unnecessary subtitles. Done at the hands of some hack, this could have easily turned into a disaster,  but UK’s rendition is pretty damn witty, helped by a tongue planted firmly in cheek here. Extra points for some superbly synched footage from the game and lyrics that go so perfectly with it all, you’d think the video was custom-designed for the song.

So – what’s next for this guy? Some on YouTube are clamoring for “Jack’s Lament,” but you’re welcome to throw your own ideas out there. How about “What’s This?” which can’t possibly be as irritating as the original…

RELATED LINKS:

Meta Knight Gets His Own Christmas Tribute

Geekologie already pointed out that if there’s something that better symbolizes marriage, it’s deception…and we’re hard pressed to find a better argument (or compliment, for that matter) for this ring.

While others have also pressed The Boog to create a ring that transforms (a reasonable request), this ring is pretty impressive as-is. For any geek worth his weight in cubic zirconia — if he finds a broad that accepts a Transformers ring seriously, he should hold onto her like grim death.

And go to TheBoog’s art page here, to check out some of his other stuff — it’s called “Evil Robot Ring” for obvious copyright reasons, but you get the idea. Unfortunately, there’s no matching Autobot wedding band to go with this one, and it’s also been sold (ARGGHH), but you can get a better glimpse at the details there and potentially petition for your own copy.

Hopefully we’ll get to hear about that reaction soon. It’ll either be the best rejection either or give the rest of us robot fanboys hope in settling down into a lifetime of domestication.

RELATED LINKS:

Man Proposes to Girlfriend Using Binary Code (She Said 01)

The SmartGuard is definitely not a toy, packing in a powerful 10% Oleoresin Capsicum (2 Mio SHU) and range of five feet (1.5 meters). Due to its size you’ll only get 6 total 1/2 second shots per canister, but that’s more than enough to take down an attacker with a precisely aimed burst.

The only concern that immediately comes to mind is having to hold a can of pepper spray next to your ear all day while talking on the phone. However it does come with a hard plastic case and safety tab to prevent accidental discharge.

The case is currently shipping in white, black, and pink for 37.50 Euro (a little more for shipping stateside) and is compatible with iPhone 3G and up. You can learn more and get your own through Pixeon’s website here (via TheDrum).