Not meant to bash or anything, but I really found this short clip funny.  Now we know who’s responsible for the dreaded Xbox 360 red rings of death!

In years of gaming, I have defeated countless bad guys, bosses and super villains and I never paid any real attention to them.  Now what if they were real beings, with feelings and desires?  What if they were just like your average Joe?  Would they ever grow tired of being the villain?  

Mauvais Rôle, or Bad Role is a short animated film about a video game bad guy who has grown tired of his role as the game’s antagonist.  His search for a new role leads him to a funny and entertaining adventure.  Enjoy kids!

Hey, even hardcore gamers need a break from mangling other players online, playing God or dorking out in a dank corner of their room. Smell the fresh air… SNIFF… it’s sweet! Drink it all in, friends, for today, the atmosphere is heavily laden with deadly amounts of LOVEEEEEEE. You might also notice that the grass is a lot crunchier, the birds chirpier and the weather a whole lot more forgiving. No, you’re not in the Twilight Zone… well, you COULD say that you are.

Yep, it’s the day of good ol’ Valentine.  Today is the day when the whole world is awash with heart-shaped felt-papers, overly-priced roses that are hawked on the streets, and hearts that beat a million times faster. Suddenly, everyone is a small-time Shakespeare and hopeful Casanovas.

We here at Sumodownload have had our fair share of Valentine’s day shenanigans and now, I’m dedicating precious bandwith to help your day of love become more… memorable.

1. Poetry = win. Do It Yourself = win. Ergo, Poetry + DIY = a healthy, heapin’ pile of love. Nothing melts a heart faster than a well-thought, well-written poem that professes your eternal love for your beloved. Even better, write your OWN poem on a Valentine’s card that YOU made.

2. I’m assuming that you have amassed pictures, memorabilia and mementos of your loved one. Why not make a scrapbook chronicling your relationship? Nothing beats walking down memory lane holding hands with the one you love.

3. If you’re a guy, cook her favorite food. If you can’t cook, TRY. They’ll love you even more for trying (plus they find it cute). If you’re still too stubborn, you can always take her to a restaurant that SERVES her favorite food. Lazy lout…

4. In an era of digital music, making a mix TAPE (yes… a tape. The one that you put in a TAPE DECK. Remember those?) is a cute, albeit a corny way of putting on the love. Even better if you buy your love a new… old boombox. Or anything that has a tape deck. Do they still make those? I don’t know.

5. Lastly, and probably the most important one of all is: Be original. Don’t do stuff that the whole world does. It’s not cool. Your love will think that you didn’t put that much time and effort into scheming and plotting the perfect Valentine’s Day. A high-priced gift doesn’t automatically equate to the most glorious V-day ever. Au contraire. It’s the little things that are remembered.

Be spontaneous, be clever, be smart, be thoughtful but most of all… BE SWEET.

Or you could just print out one of these game-themed cards.

Cute ainnit? For more, you can go to N&B:Art 

While Rock Band and Guitar Hero III are really fun games, but did you know that there was an alternative to paying big bucks for these games?

Enter Frets on Fire, an open source rhythm based game that really looks like Guitar Hero III.  Weighing in at a mere 37MB to download, this client is available as a free download via FileFront’s servers.  Yes that’s right folks!  It’s FREE!!!

The game will allow you to use your keyboard as a virtual guitar.  But fear not, if you have a Guitar Hero controller, that would work too. 

The game is available for Windows, Mac and Linux systems.  Click on the link below to download this fun game!

You might get tired of hearing me say ‘07 was the MOST SUCCESSFUL gaming year in HISTORY with the Xbox360 catering to the hardcore while the Wii stood tall when it came to sales. The PS3 however, was the wall ornament of ‘07. Such a shame.

This year, on the other hand, I’m willing to bet my left nostril that the PS3 WILL make the console war much more interesting. Think of it as the Starcraft of console wars: Zerg (Wii - almost everyone has it), Terran (Xbox 360 - scrappy and cheap) Protoss (PS3, powerful hardware, takes an eternity to get started).

Personally, I believe that ‘08 is going to be the year of the PS3. All the great games that developers promised are coming… the MGS, the GTA, and the DMC (already released). With the blu-ray making the HD look like this generation’s betamax, it’s almost a no-brainer that Sony’s black box will make its presence felt. Fantastic.

Game Trailers posted a great video about what to expect this year. Let it load first, it’s 21 minutes of geek love.

A great point that was raised is "what’s next for the 360?" Personally, I agree with the rationale was behind the question. It IS true that ‘07 was 360’s flagship year and now, what do they do? They seem to have run out of software juice.

‘08 will be the year of exclusives. Ante up.

The Entertainment Consumers Association is not getting involved in the US elections.  According to its president Hal Halpin, not only does supporting a particular candidate goes against the gamers’ best interests but it is also illegal.

According to him:

The ECA is a 501(c)(4) non-profit membership org - an IRS designation that classifies the type of entity that we are and business that we do. It’s significant because that same classification prohibits us from backing any one party or politician. The rules have been further tightened recently, restricting us from promoting anyone (again, relevant because of our publications: GamePolitics, GameCulture, ECA Today, etc. which cover them when newsworthy).

But I don’t know that I would want us to [endorse a candidate] even if we could. The ECA represents ALL gamers, each with their own ethics, morals and perspectives. So apart from educating members about a candidate’s position as it relates to gaming, I’m not sure that it would be our place.

It’s a good idea overall to stay clear regarding issues such as these.  Although some of their sites may be considered political in nature, the ECA must ensure that they remain objective in their views and present the facts as is and not skewed towards or against a particular party. 

People, meet Jediknight12345 - a boy who was arrested for arson. He was charged for burning down a church. In theory, this isn’t game related but read on for the plot thickens.

In the GameFaqs forum, Jediknight12345 made a poll asking readers whether he should burn down this church or not. Of course, a lot of people scoffed at the idea (well some urged him on… for shame) and his post was even deleted by moderators. A few days move on and he makes another post, this time he posts pictures of the fire for sheer bragging rights. He even put up pictures of how he started the fire. A lot dismissed it, a handful cheered. Retards.

Of course, the knee-jerk reaction of his fellow readers was to report him to the authorities.

GG Jediknight12345

Take a look:

I’m not particularly overjoyed every time I’m faced with a puzzle game. I really don’t see the point of playing a game to solve puzzles. In fact, I’d rather cozy up to a nice crossword puzzle in bed with a mug of hot chocolate… with marshmallows and a cookie on the side…

I digress.

Boom Blox is a family game about… building blocks - stacking them up and knocking them down without the fuss of having your parents threatening to disown you after accidentally stepping on one of them in the middle of the night while they’re groggy from work or… drunk. It features kid-friendly characters that are sort of  lego men rip-offs and promises super creative problem solving gameplay (hence its niche in the puzzle genre). It’s perfect for the parent-child bonding sessions that grown-ups soooo desired when they were kids.

Here’s the kicker: Boom Blox is a Steven "I know I’m the best so bugger off" Spielberg - EA Games tag-team project. Although it is public knowledge that people from the movie industry and the video game community NEVER mix, it’s interesting to see what Spielberg and the boys from EA are cooking up.

Without further adieu, here’s Boom Blox’s debut trailer. It’s out May 8.

I’m not at liberty to give out a verdict until I get my long, dorky fingers on it.

IF you MUST know, behind every video game is a whole production crew of programmers, testers, dorks, fanboys, forum moderators, and dreamers.

It’s a universal fact that 2007 was an iconic year for games and the guys over at Develop has concocted a list of the top 25 people of gaming. Oh I’m pretty sure half of the people in the list aren’t even showing up on your gaming radar so… don’t worry. Even I don’t know most of them.

However, the person in the top spot is a no-brainer: it’s Satoru Iwata - Nintendo’s Wii and DS-making, Cash-cow milkin’ top brass. Other heavy-hitters in the list are id’s John Carmack, Hironobu Sakaguchi of Final Fantasy fame, Epic’s Mark Rein and the cute Kim Swift. (At least those are the people I know. Hahaha I should read some more, don’t you think?)

What would Sumodownload be without the obligatory SSBB spazzfest? After apologizing for posting nothing BUT news on Nintendo’s upcoming smashfest, here I stand, barenaked and vulnerable. I’m ready to accept all the jeers and tongue-lashings for what I am about to do.

ANOTHER SSBB VIDEO.

This time, however, it’s a complete 8-minute love-fest of each character’s Final Smash.

It’s all here: Donkey Kong’s bongo-rockin, Sonic’s transformation to his golden, speedy alter-ego and even the Iceclimbers’ uber-cheesy smash.MMMMMMMHHMMMMMM.

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