Game News & Media Morsels

So Black Ops on Xbox360 is currently where I spend my gaming time. It won't hold my attention for too much longer though. Why? Well that's easy. On March 8, 2011 THQ will release the new FPS game Homefront for 360/PS3/PC. I will be getting a copy for my 360. This game isn't in the limelight as much as a CoD game would be or even Battlefield for that matter, but it caught my attention mainly for the reasons outlined in the video below. I think the single-player campaign is going to be great. I will be posting my thoughts on this Friday's coverage by IGN on the multi-player in Homefront. Here is the vid.



Ok so for all of you CoD junkies out there who are counting down to the first map pack release on Feb 1st (360 only) here is Treyarch's sneak peak of what to expect on the multi-player maps.



Zip lines! Yikes! Should be loads of fun for all. Speaking of fun have you seen the commercial dubbed "Your Mom Hates Dead Space 2" yet? No? Well feast your eyes on the vid below. GREAT marketing gimmick. Give EA kudos on that idea.



I love the gore and the scares. Bring it. Alright so on to the next tasty morsel. Last summer a video teaser of a gritty remake of the movie Mortal Kombat was released on YouTube. It starred movie actor Michael Jai-White of Spawn, Dark Knight, and Sucker Punch fame playing Jax as a detective. Some of you may have seen this already, but I just watched it for the first time ever and I was highly entertained by it. I can't wait for the webisodes. Any MK fan old & new should watch this. Comment below.



All of us want better control right? Those guys on the MLG circuit make it look so easy. I am constantly running into uber-CoD players when casually gaming at night. Maybe if I had one of these I could at least stay alive longer right? Maybe? One point for dialing in your resistance on the analog sticks, two points taken away for not being wireless. Click the pic. The jury is out on this one.

Ok so in the lighter side of the news, I wanted to share this fan-friggin-tastic video of a Nintendo inspired Scion xB complete with game console and a projector built into the headlight. I want one.



Lastly, this dope decided it would be cool to tunnel into a game stop after hours and make off with some loot. He was wrong....it is hilarious! I laughed out loud! See ya next time!

Now Playing: Call of Duty: Black Ops, NBA 2K11

Loving the multi-player in black ops. Domination and Headquarters FTW!

One of the best basketball games I have ever played. Challenging too!

Future First Person Shooter

One of the best videos on the internet. Happy New Year!

Last post for 2010, more news and quips from GZ in 2011!

Today's GZ post is a special one. Not only does it ring in the holidays in a style only myself and my loyal readers can enjoy, but it is also the last post of 2010. Next year I will keep reporting on whatever I deem necessary and worthy of being mentioned here and hopefully I get more feedback from my readers as well as more content contributions. I was considering a name change of the blog too, but honestly I can't think of anything better unless I change it to "Games and Zombies" or something. In any case, I won't be winning awards for blog titles and I am okay with that. I do have some gaming news to pass along, but before I do I wanted to say how hilarious today's picture is. Back in 2008 a guy named Sean Bieri released a series of these on the net and I just found them. It's amazing what turns up when you take two seemingly unrelated topics and google search them together. Marvelous. I put a few of his images in the midst of today's post. There is a funny zombie xmas movie I found that is embedded after the news to top it all off. Enjoy and Happy Holidays from Game Zombie!

Da' News

Valve announced, via its blog, that Left 4 Dead community created content is coming to the Xbox360! Previously this was for PC only, but valve is going to pick the best of the best and make it available for 360 players too! Bravo!

Also the moment we have all been waiting for....more Left 4 Dead plushies! A perfect stocking stuffer!

So Dead Space 2 is set for a February 1st release date in  2011. To get your appetite wet the demo was released on Xbox Live yesterday and to get you drooling some more, here are a few videos.





So Red Dead Redemption won the VGA for 2010 Game of the Year and for good reason. I actually ended up purchasing a copy for $30 on Black Friday and I am glad I did. This game will have so much replay value for years to come. For those that missed out, you can get if from Xbox games on demand over Live. $60 though.

Little Big Planet 2 goes gold for January 18th 2011. This game is going to be viral. It will certainly sell more PS3 systems. I love the first one but I barely scratched the surface of what is possible in it. The sequel will blow our minds.

Destructoid posted a preview of Uncharted 3 and all I can say is I want it now. This will be yet another super feather in the Sony PS3 hat.

Well CoD: Black Ops has officially broke 1 Billion in sales. A stunning achievement that will only get bigger. The first DLC dubbed "First Strike" for Black Ops is due to hit Feb 1 2011. No word on pricing yet. The pack will have 4 new multi-player maps and 1 new zombie map. The weekend before will be free multiplayer weekend on Live for those few out there with a silver membership.

So that is the news. Here is the zombie xmas movie I promised you and one more pic from the Bieri collection. See you in 2011!

Zombie News No. 31 - Black Ops Edition

Take that Infinity Ward!

This is a special edition of the Zombie News. Not a ton of content but a few tidbits you may or may not be aware of. I have to pre-face this with the fact that I haven't even loaded the game up yet. I wasn't feeling very good the past two days and playing Black Ops was hard to resist but I owed to myself to be in the best mindset possible so as to give this game the best review possible. Luckily for you, a number of other well-funded and more popular gaming sites have reviewed the game for you. Don't pay any attention to the lack of the Destructoid Black Ops Review. Jim Sterling only reviewed the PC version which is CLEARLY not the platform that Black Ops was intended for. I don't care what the developer said. Sterling's review is jaded in my opinion and therefore I don't include it here. For the record, he gave it a 6.0.

Reviews of CoD Black Ops

Joystiq gives it 4 out of 5 stars and because they have the time they also gave us a short list of reviews from other sites. Check out their gallery of screens from the game too.

• GamePro (5/5 Stars): "The good news is that the game is absolutely worth the investment, and even if you find yourself disagreeing with some of the changes Treyarch instituted or you run into a bunch of morons who are hell bent on ruining a particular mode for you, you have plenty of other options to keep you engaged for a good long time."
• GameTrailers (9.3/10): "Treyarch has closed the gap between its games and the Modern Warfare franchise with boundless customization, a keen sense of what makes the formula a success, and listening to fans."
• 1UP (A-): "When examining this seventh (and therefore odd-numbered) Treyarch installment beside the studio's history, it's apparent that not only does Black Ops show how much Treyarch has grown as a developer, but that it's easily their best title yet."
• IGN (8.5/10): "Call of Duty: Black Ops is a great overall package that has a ton of content to enjoy. The multiplayer modes are largely based on what was established by Modern Warfare, but the twists that Treyarch throws in work well."
• Giant Bomb (4/5 Stars): "Do you want to play more Call of Duty? I'm guessing the answer is yes, and by all means, Black Ops is worth playing. But for all its ambitious steps to set itself apart from the previous games, it flounders in a few too many of those areas to be a total success."

For the ladies, Activision goofed by not including codes for the free outfits in their Hardened and Prestige Editions for female Avatars. So they quickly made some codes and someone in their kindness posted them to the net for all females to use. Here they be: By inputting the code GYVF8-PF7RY-28D7V-VGWV8-CFGRM into your Xbox (or online), you can snag the "SR 71 Flight Suit"; while inputting R76BQ-CR3MF-G2TTF-9G36R-BQWJD will net you a "Woods Outfit."


Secrets in Black Ops? Yes! Treyarch has some easter eggs for us. Check out the vid below.

You Still There?

Have you been playing Black Ops for the last 17 hours? Are you all jacked up on Mountain Dew? If you are, my hat goes off to you. I myself can hardly keep my eyelids open past 2am. Being a little older, I will turn to coffee and food in the wee hours of a gaming night. With the release of Black Ops a little over 32 hours ago, many a adolescent, dorm-dwellers, and cool fathers with the excuse "It's for the kids honey" have been basking in the multi-player glory that is CoD: Black Ops. IGN gave it an 8.5 and mentioned a few problems with AI and questionable multi-player match stability.

I will get my first crack at Black Ops later this week. I haven't updated the blog as much as I would have liked to, but I just couldn't find much that jumped out at me as reportable. This will change though. Well back to the grind people.

Zombie News No. 30

Michael Myers, from the famous 'Halloween' movie and its umpteen sequels and two fantastic remakes by aptly named filmmaker/rocker Rob Zombie, has in my mind always been a bit of a zombie character. He has all the qualities: Nearly impossible to kill, no emotion, doesn't eat food, kills anyone who crosses his path, hardly makes a sound, has the same blank look on his face, and I could go on and on. He is more like a zombie than a human in my opinion. What do you think?

So I haven't posted in about a week. Two reasons, 1) some family matters sprung up, 2) nothing really to post about that I thought couldn't wait. I mean really this rest of the year will be a bit busy for all of us what with holidays, and lets face it the best stretch of gaming releases till the end of the year. Tis the gaming season where we play in our free time away from massive feasts of food and healthy doses of family gatherings. Any good gaming zombie can appreciate more games and food to boot. I know I do! So here is what a I scavenged from the game news.

Da News

Star Wars the Force Unleashed II hit store shelves today and the reviews are in. News flash its a mediocre game. Dtoid and Joystiq give it a 5 and a 6.

The Red Dead Redemption Undead Nightmare disc that includes other RDR goodies is set to release Nov.23

Just for us game zombies and to celebrate Halloween, MS released a zombie costume for your avatar. Neat!

There is actually a CoD: Black Ops edition Jeep Wrangler. Go figure.

Treyarch put the hammer down on Quickscoping in CoD: Black Ops. Dtoid has the report. I say good. Even playing field is funner anyway.

Finally, Dead Rising 2 Solider of Fortune DLC pack is available. Wanna look like Rambo and slay zombies? Go for it.

That's it. I told you  I scavenged for news. One tidbit from my own source, I beat DR2 and really enjoyed my time doing it. Look for a review somewhere down the line from me. I only wish I could capture my own screen shots to show you. Maybe a mini-review later this week. Next on my play list....Black Ops!

Zombie News No. 29

If ever there were such an organization like the one depicted above I certainly would be a proud member of it. The primal man within me would relish the idea of hunting zombies. I gotta say that given the gamut of zombie types out there I would be most interested in hunting the zombies from the movie I Am Legend. They are just plain mean. Anywho, there is some news to cover so I will get things started.

Da' News

Red Dead Redemption Undead Nightmare DLC due to hit October 26th. I really miss playing RDR. The superb add-ons that Rockstar has released are just making me miss it more. I will be securing this title before long methinks. Especially since now they are combining zombies with old west weaponry! And zombie bears!
Check out this gallery of pictures.

The PS3 exclusive top-down zombie shooter Dead Nation will have online and offline co-op. This is a game I may check out depending on its reception by critics and the like. Seems quirky to me.

Joystiq posted their review of Medal of Honor and give it a guarded high-score (4/5) based largely on the single-player campaign. Multi-player was a mixed bag. They also posted the reviews from other sites, which again showed that the scores are primarily on par with the campaign portion.

The fine folks at Co-Optimus reviewed the Playstion Move. I am really skeptical on the whole motion controller wave, but the people at Sony look to have it down pat.

The Dead Rising 2 Psycho Skills Pack released this week. Go get it! It's only like $2. Fun!

Check this hot new CoD Black Ops Trailer!


A great little piece of writing for introducing the just released demo for Star Wars: Force Unleashed II. Hysterical! Go get the demo.

Finally a native application of Netflix for the PS3 is being released on Oct 18th. It manages to one up the Xbox by adding the coveted search feature to the interface. Brilliant.

Ok so with the news out of the way I can add that I will be reviewing Dead Rising 2 soon. I have had a blast playing it so far. Keep on keeping on! Please comment below and let me know what you think. Til'next time.

CoD: Black Ops Zombie Teaser Site

Some time ago a number of gaming journalists at popular companies received a USB stick with a bunch of odd information on it that pointed to website and then back to Activision. Well the website GKNOVA6.com is now updated with new content and is dedicated to CoD: Black Ops. If you go check it out you will see what I mean. This further confirms the inclusion of a zombie mode in the Black Ops game due to release Nov 11th of this year.

I for one can't wait to shot a zombie with an explosive tipped arrow from a crossbow and watch him wander into another couple of zombies and BOOM!!!

Zombie News No.26

Wow so thank all of you for keeping the flame burning here on GZ. I was surprised to see I had a few more followers on Twitter and that the traffic here has remained steady. Granted that was probably credited to only a few people and maybe some blog bots, but hey I can dream right? Well since I have so much to cover in the week since my last post, I am going with a slightly different format here. Basically a list of links with some of my sly comments to the side. The CoD Black Ops train is full speed ahead as it is basically dominating my choice of news here. Don't let that deter you zombie lovers though because I played Dead Rising 2 Case Zero and after this post, I will be typing up my impressions. Want a hint? September 28th can't come fast enough!

Da News

Call of Duty related

 Ed Harris and Gary Oldman to lend voice talent to Black Ops. - Great actors! Heavy price I am sure.

 Black Ops Previews: Dtoid, Joystiq - The critic train for CoD is in full effect. Skepticism followed by praise.

 Killstreak Rewards Revealed - I am all about calling in the attack dogs.

 Training Mode will recruit more players in multiplayer - Wha?! They need more? Yup. Survey says 30% play single-player only. 

Special Edition Tritton CoD headset. - I want them.

Monday Night Combat update and DLC details - So the DLC will be free? SWEET.

Dead Rising 2 Case Zero Reviewed and here too.

Dead Rising 2 Case Zero sells 300k copies in first week - This is how you do a demo/intro to a game. 

Portal 2 Co-Op Video is a MUST see. - I literally might pee my pants when I play this for the first time.

Jim Sterling plays Duke Nukem Forever at PAX 2010.  - Holy f*cking sh*t!!! It's a miracle.

Last week 600 Best Buy retail stores started their game trade-in program. - Great more places to get pittance for old games I own.

Microsoft raising price of Xbox Live Gold subscriptions to $59.99.  - That's because ESPN wanted a piece of the pie. Yes we will pay it, but only because we love Live.

Joystiq gets hands-on with the new 360 controller that sports the revised D-pad. 

Well that's what I picked out of the pile of updates I had for the past week. I am really loving the whole Duke Nukem return and Portal 2 Co-op stuff. Next year will be awesome, and these next few months will churn out some A+ titles too. Sit back and charge your batteries people because gaming is entering its next golden age.

Zombies are back in Call of Duty: Black Ops and the CE Edition Comes With RC Car

So for all you die hard CoD fans who purchased the Modern Warfare 2 Prestige Edition last year and wore the included night vision goggles to spy on the people next door, you will now have something slightly cooler to walk away with when you spring for the $149 Prestige Edition of Black Ops this November. Yes the picture above is of an RC car with a TFT screen built into its radio controller. That's right! Now you CoD loving zombies can actually go outside and play for a change! Ok that last comment was a little harsh (not really), but any geek will love this bundle. This is actually worth the $149 since you get a cool toy, but the jury is out on how well all of this stuff is designed and if it actually works well. The night vision goggles from last year were nothing to write home about and cheaply made. Not that we were expecting anything more than that.

Another tidbit of info is that the developer Treyarch has included a zombie mode in this edition of CoD. This is huge news! Why? 1) because its zombie related, and 2) because killing zombies with a crossbow and exploding RC car is just rad! So get ready!

Call of Duty Black-Ops Multiplayer Footage. Go Crazy!

OK so now that the trailer is out of the way and you are still glued to the screen here are a few things to take away from that video that will really make you pee your pants. First I want you to look at this screen shot of the crossbow. I LOVE that they included this in the multi-player. Adds some strategy to the different game types.

Second, the R/C car is just plain cool. I wonder if you come across someone using it on one of your teammates if he holding a little controller or if he is using a laptop like in MW2.









Lastly, and perhaps most importantly....this picture I nabbed from the trailer shows some recording and playback controls. Know what that means? The captain obvious answer is that this means you can now record your match, play it back, and share it via Live or the web.

I also spotted a ballistic knife? WTF!? I will leave it at that. Now go change your underwear!