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MoreHalo 3, lessTelladega Nights— at least that’s what consumer’s wallets are saying. According to Media Control GfK International’s 2008 wrap-up, packaged retail videogames outsold DVD and Blu-ray discs worldwide last year. Game sales hit $32 billion, beating out the $29 million for DVD and Blu-ray movies. Rentals are not included in the report, though. Hollywood, eat this: Games now take up 53 percent of the market, and this boring named company predicts that this number will move up to 59 percent in 2009....

Acclaim just tossed us a press release announcing the beginning of the beta forDance! Online, a game created by Dave “Remember Earthworm Jim?” Perry and, we assume, Satan. The title is a free-to-play online rhythm game, the likes of which I could swear I’ve seensomewherebefore. The hook for this title, however, is that it has access to the Warner Music Group’s vault o’ albums, a collection that includes artists such as Ray Charles, The Talking Heads, and Our Lord Diddy....

Videogames similar to those in theMetroidandCastlevaniaseries can offer serious longevity for players who don’t quite know what they’re doing, but alternatively, they also allow certain other individuals to rush through them in an astonishing few hours. Such is the case for Chair Entertainment’s upcoming Xbox LIVE Arcade title,Shadow Complex. Accordingto MTV Multiplayer, one of the game’s objectives is the “Jason Bailey” challenge, which asks that you beatShadow Complexin under two hours....

Left 4 Dead 2is really bloody good, and if you don’t agree with me then you’re an IDIOT who deserves to be split in twain from testicles to cranium and then fed to your own imprisoned family. My colleague Anthony Burch agrees with me, and just the other daylaid claim to Nick, one of the game’s four playable characters. A fair and noble choice, certainly. However, one man’s trash is another man’s treasure, and while Burch was quick to jump on the suit-wearing, wisecracking pretty boy, he ignored the true prize ofLeft 4 Dead 2....

You may think that turningSesame Streetcharacters intoStreet Fightercharacters doesn’t make much sense as you look overthis collection of Sesame Street Fighter stickers, but for some reason it just works. Bert and Ernie as Ryu and Ken? Duh. Cookie Monster as E. Honda? Clearly. And Big Bird asSagat? I think he’d totally agree with that. Obviously these things are so random and obscure that they make a great gift for any five-year-oldStreet Fighterprodigy....

Can you feel it? In less than one week,the 3DSlaunches. Despite a less-than-desirable line-up of launch games, there’s an undeniable excitement in the air. And even with just the augmented reality cards and other pack-ins, I can see why; technology lust is in full effect. For those in New York City, Nintendo is throwing a midnight launch event. It kicks off at 9:00 PM EDT at the Best Buy in Union Square and promises hands-on 3DS demos, food, music, and giveaways....

Speaking toGamesIndustry.biz, Bethesda’s European managing direct Sean Brennan says that the publisher has some big things in store for E3. Namely, Brennan says that the first-person shooter title they’re set to reveal at E3 — the fruits of acollaboration with developer Splash Damage— will be a “genre-breaker.” Brennan goes on to call the title “a real killer app.” Splash Damage is an award winning UK-studio best known for its work on multiplayer content for id Software titles likeReturn to Castle WolfensteinandDoom 3....

I love borderline viral stuff. Today, Capcom released a new trailer forBionic Commando. It’s called “Lab Report #001” and it’s probably the coolest thing we’ve seen within the last five or so minutes. The video opens and closes with shots of a realistic bionic arm, suspended by cords and cables on some sort of brightly lit table. It’s beautiful, in that disembodied robot arm kind of way. After a few seconds of the initial arm shots, you’ll be shown footage from the game....

The day before its release, videogame analyst and professional blacksmith Michael Pachter accused 2K Games and Gearbox Software of sendingBorderlands“out to die.” He claimed that releasing it in 2009 was wrong, and thatModern Warfare 2andDragon Age: Origins, despite not releasing until next month, were going to “kick its butt.” Looks like Pachter may havebeen wrongon this one. Gearbox’s Randy Pitchford couldn’t be happier withBorderlands‘ launch, which apparently is doing very healthily indeed....

The narrative ofCrysis 2has much more emphasis placed on it than the storyfrom its predecessor, and the reason is because Richard Morgan is writing the game. Morgan is a well-known science fiction writer, the author of such novels asAltered CarbonandBroken Angels, andCrysis 2is his first foray into videogames. It’s an appropriate project for him, since his writing tends to take place in dystopian futures. Crytek approached Morgan, who admits to having a “complete addiction” to videogames, about writing the story ofCrysis 2, and he jumped at the chance....

Say hello to the yearly release of yet anotherMega Man Battle Network-type game from Capcom. Of course, it wouldn’t be aMega Mangame without there being two versions of the same game, yetslightlydifferent, either. At least there isn’t a third version,like last year. My time with the newStar Forcegame was short, but for anyone that has played the series before, you pretty much know what to expect here. Read on for more info onMega Man Star Force 2: Zerker X SaurianandMega Man Star Force 2: Zerker X Ninjaafter the jump....

By now you should already have a good idea of what to expect from the upcoming Xbox LIVE Arcade and PlayStation Network titleSuper Street Fighter II Turbo HD Remix.It’sSuper Street Fighter II Turboin glorious high-definition, with completely reworked art designed by Udon Entertainment. At CAPTVIATE, I had a chance to sit down and go head-to-head with the game’s producer, Rey Jimenez, and there were no surprises. The game is gorgeous as expected, and as it uses the game’s original code, so plays and feels just like you remember it....

We praisedWorld of Goopretty warmly, and we hoped that gamers took that to heart and purchased it back when the game was released. If you didn’t, or you simply missed it, now is your chance — to celebrate the one year birthday of the game, 2D Boy has decided to let gamers make up a price for it and purchase it at that price. One dollar? One hundred dollars? Up to you!...