In "Assault Heroes," gamers take on the role of the only surviving member of an elite special forces unit searching for a secret underground lab. Gamers may take on the mission alone or fight side-by-side with a friend in the two-player cooperative mode. "Assault Heroes" puts players into a heavily armed 4X4, maneuverable speed boat or trusty military-issue footwear, blasting their way through enemy-infested territory while being assaulted by waves of formidable enemies with unrelenting attacks.

I'll definitely be checking out the demo come Wednesday. Original games FTW!

Nintendo DS

• Fullmetal Alchemist: Dual Sympathy

• Star Wars: Lethal Alliance

Gamecube

• The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess

PC

• Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six: Vegas

PS3

• Blazing Angels: Squadrons of WWII

PSP

• Metal Slug Anthology

Wii

• Super Swing Golf

Xbox 360

• Star Trek: Legacy

It's a bit anticlimactic to announce Alien Crush for Nintendo's Wii Virtual Console, since we here broke the story late last week about it's imminent release. But here we are. There's a few nice titles to go along with the outer space pinball awesomeness that is the Alien Crush. Here's the full press release.

+Ice Hockey (NES®, 1-2 players, 500 Wii Points): Ice Hockey is hard-hitting, fast-action competition that re-creates all the excitement of the sport from faceoffs to penalty shots. Players pass the puck and shoot to score while using defensive tactics, including fake shots and ice brawls to crush adversaries. It's up to the player to find the best strategy to win the game – finesse or power.

+Gunstar Heroes (Sega Genesis, 1-2 players, 800 Wii Points): The Gunstar 9 planet was peaceful for many years until the vicious dictator, Colonel Red, kidnapped the Gunstar twins' older brother and used mind control to make him his slave. Players face many different enemies and bosses while battling to stop the dictator from unleashing "Golden Silver the Destructor" with apocalyptic consequences.

+Dr. Robotnik's Mean Bean Machine (Sega Genesis, 1-2 players, 800 Wii Points):

Dr. Robotnik is stamping out music and fun in Mobius with his giant robotizing Mean Bean Steaming Machine. Before he turns all the citizens of Beanville into robots, players must save the day by gathering up beans in matching colors and defeating Robotnik's guards.

+Alien Crush (TurboGrafx16, 1 player, 600 Wii Points): Alien Crush is a fan-favorite pinball game that features a sinister sci-fi theme. Play through a two-level playing field that comes to life with pulsating alien creatures. Rack up a high enough score, clear the board of these extraterrestrials and discover secret bonus stages. The game features realistic pinball action, complete with a tilt function and two selectable soundtracks. Do you have what it takes to fight back against this alien infestation?

Dr Nick Cherbuin from the Australian National University has been doing some research that suggests that left-handers might be a bit better at games than their right-handed counterparts.

He said that his research, which saw 80 right- and 20 left-handed people performing tasks designed to rely on collaboration between the two hemispheres of the brain, demonstrates that among left-handers their ability to share resource across the two hemispheres of the brain is more efficient.

"Examples might be dealing with multiple stimuli that are presented very briefly or tasks which require interpretation of a lot of information such as talking while driving in heavy traffic, piloting a jet fighter or playing fast computer games.

"As our brain ages we lose processing resources in the two hemispheres but left-handers may be able to cope better because the sharing of resource across their hemispheres is more efficient."

In other words: It's not our fault we're better, we're just born this way.

Read the entire article

Despite the fact that most everyone wrote it off as "just a pack in" long before the Wii ever hit stores, few can deny the impact and success Wii Sports has had in getting the Wii into the hands of gamers and non-gamers alike. It's the game that got my stepfather, who to this day still needs me to hook up his VCR, off the couch and into an arm-flailing game of tennis with his brother. It's the game that's seen too many eager beavers haphazardly toss their wiimotes through their $4000 plasmas. It's the game that has flown off store shelves, becoming the number one seller in Japan in its first week (where they lacked a pack-in title). WiiSports it would seem, is here to stay. But what of the future?

The future, Jim?

Yes reader, the future. I'm pretty sure it's safe to say that WiiSports 2 isn't just a dream, it's an inevitability. Anything that lets me pit "Life Goes On" Corky against "Triumph of the Will" Hitler in a golden gloves fisticuffs match while I hum the theme from Rocky and swing my arms like an hobo hopped up on amphetamines is MONEY IN THE BANK for Nintendo. But we've already seen Boxing, Bowling, Baseball, Tennis and Golf - what other sports could possibly be left to tackle?

I'm going to put this right out there to start this whole thing off, this isn't a game. It's a bunch of tiny tests for how the Wiimote can be used to control what's on the screen, which was then turned into a game. Not that I'm complaining, because it's fun, I'm just saying. If you want to see just about everyway the Wiimote can and will be used, look no further than Rayman Raving Rabbids.

Though I will say, for a proof-of-concept turned game, it's pretty hard to put down. There's alot of Rayman humor to be had, and I never get tired of the Rabbids scream.

There's something for everyone. The game is 90% accessible for the little kids, but there's a few games that will test the patience of even the most seasoned adult gamer. So if you're buying this for the kiddies, just know you're gonna have to help them out here and there.

It's called Winterbells. And it's a simple, serene, beautiful game... and it's the newest crack flash game that'll have you flying higher and higher bouncing your little bunny off bells floating ever higher in the air. I know it sounds stupid, but trust me one game and you'll be hooked. Click here to go check it out.

Worried that the upcoming changes to the Burnout franchise in Burnout 5 might cause the series to jump the shark? Fear not - EA is bringing you a healthy, albeit dated, alternative.

In sharp contrast to the next-gen exclusive Burnout 5, which will forgo seperate tracks and varied locations for one seamless open-ended city a la Need For Speed Underground 2, Burnout Dominator will stick to the tried and true Burnout formula that we've all come to know and love.

From the press release:

"The series was born on the PlayStation 2, and Burnout Dominator is about celebrating the essence of Burnout," said Nick Channon, senior producer of Burnout Dominator. "Burnout Dominator focuses on the reckless skill-based racing and fear of crashing that fuelled the first games."

So it looks like even if Burnout 5 turns out to be an abject failure (and we're all hoping it won't), well can blow the dust off our little black boxes and enjoy one last solid Burnout title.

Oh - and if you haven't sold your PSP at a church bazaar yet, we'll be seeing a version of Dominator on Sony's doomed handheld as well. For anyone who's had the pleasure of playing Burnout Legends, you'll no doubt welcome that news with open arms.

Remember that review of Sam and Max we did a while back? Well before rebooting the Sam and Max franchise, Telltale Games was given the task of bringing Jeff Smith's Bone out from the comics and onto your PC's. The first two episodes, Out From Boneville and The Great Cow Race, have gotten a fresh coat of paint and a bunch of new content just in time for the holidays. The new versions now include;

- A new animated prologue at the beginning of Out from Boneville, which provides backstory and establishes the episode in a larger context.

- Updated voice acting and character model for female protagonist Thorn in Out from Boneville, to more closely resemble her characterization in The Great Cow Race.

- Technical improvements, such as scalable resolutions and better game stability.

- Added dialogue lines to improve story flow and enhance character development.

All in all some pretty lofty improvements for games that got such critical acclaim to begin with. Each episode is available for download from Telltale's website for $12.99, or you can purchase them together in a package for $19.99 until January 7th. If you already own the first two episodes, fear not -- Telltale is offering you a free upgrade to the new versions. And for those of you afraid to try new things (that cost money), there are demos available right alongside the purchases on Telltale's official Bone page.