If you don't love Wallace & Gromit, you are either a horrible person or an anglophobe. And since we're all pretty much afraid of the English anyway, let's suffice it to say that if you don't love this clever pup and his feeble, cheese-inhaling, man-child companion, you are just a horrible person. Now that E3's done, you can focus your attention on a title you might have missed: Wallace & Gromit's Grand Adventures are making their way to Xbox Live Arcade, starting with the first episode, Fright of the Bumblebees. Read on to find out if this installment satisfies like a moist, crumbly Yorkshire Wensleydale or sickens like a piece of Kraft processed cheesefood left out in the sun all day.

Remember the surprisingly good Escape from Butcher’s Bay?  Many gamers had their doubts about the game (myself included) so when the game ended up not sucking, a lot of us were pleasantly surprised. Well, four years and two bad film sequels later and everyone’s shiny-eyed Furyan is back in this hotly anticipated follow-up to the 2004 classic.  But does Dark Athena do justice to this epic sci-fi franchise, or is it left in the dark?  Find out in my review of The Chronicles of Riddick: Assault on Dark Athena.

Ninja Bee’s Kaloki Adventure on the iPhone has been stealing some of my time lately.  Sort of a fast-paced SimCity in space, you travel to various space stations (or in my mind, space truck stops) and help out with various problems.  Some stations need certain things more than others, and it’s your job to provide crucial resource management and get all the aliens happy.  It’s a pretty charming and worthwhile adventure.

Who's crazy enough to release a game during E3 week, when gamers are only concerned about what's coming out in the future? You may have been watching G4 all week waiting for Cammie Dunaway's charming anecdotes about motherhood, but you'll be sorry if you let this game slip through your fingers.

Word from BBPS headquarters for the past year or so has been fairly consistent; the traditional video game is dead.  While we've still played and enjoyed a number of AAA titles since 2008, the one thing has become resoundingly clear to us is that originality in major releases has bitten the dust.  GTA IV was just another in an endless series of GTA releases.  Killzone 2, while an amazing FPS, was still just a brilliant game in a genre that we've seen so many times before.  It was beginning to feel like everything that there is to do in a major title has been done.  That's why we've spent so much love and attention on games like LittleBigPlanet and the Pixeljunk releases; they're fresh, well-polished, and well-deserving of exposure.  While we could still enjoy a major release, we just didn't see it paving the way to any sort of a new future in gaming.

...then we played inFAMOUS.

Rhythm games have been around since the 32-bit era, but the genre really flourished upon the release of Guitar Hero.  Since then, developers have been making their own attempt to break into the music/rhythm game market.  Mevo & the Grooveriders is developer, Red Rocket's (heh heh), recent effort.  While most current rhythm games have focused on licensed music enjoyable to adults, Mevo aims to entertain a younger demographic.  Hit the link for the full review.

Folks who've been criticizing the game for being nearly identical to the previous titles in the series just aren't playing it right.  If you're not playing the game with motion controls, you're not experiencing Punch-Out.  Knowing how to deal with Piston Honda (I refuse to acknowledge your name tweak, Nintendo!!) is one thing -- actually ducking and weaving to defend and deal damage is a completely different beast.  For a review less of the game (which you'll get anywhere) and more of what it did to my aching body, hit the jump.

You can't read it because they are ashamed, but Codemasters published this

Times were simpler when I was a little girl. I blew bubbles, rode a sparkly pink bike with sparkly pink streamers, and really only had one major goal. And that goal was to get a middle-aged man laid.

As a six year old, I played a lot of Leisure Suit Larry with my best friend and next-door neighbor, John Dykes (yes, that is his real name). I don't know where we got the floppies or where our parents were; all I know is I loved the point-and-click adventure gameplay, even if I didn't understand exactly why he wanted to talk to these women so badly. Leisure Suit Larry became one of my favorite series because it was one of my first. As a grown-up, I even kind of enjoyed Magna Cum Laude with Larry's nephew, Jimmy Neutron Larry Loveage. So when Box Office Bust, a new adventure featuring Larry working at his namesake uncle's semi-porno movie studio, was picked up again after being dropped, I was eager to play.

Well, that was fucking stupid. Leisure Suit Larry: Box Office Bust is one of the worst games ever made. It took a dump on the face of the series and then failed to make a semi-clever joke about it. Instead of writing a traditional review, which this game does not deserve, I am going to lay out some B.O.B.-inspired rules in How Not to Make a Game.

It takes balls to put out an old-school styled game, but that didn't stop niche developer/publisher Atlus from slapping Tokyo Beat Down on the table.  Like most Atlus games, some people will love this game while others will find it as fun as getting pulled over and handed a ticket.  Hit the link.  Actually, beat the crap out of it.

And I thought I had to wait for my AARP membership to yell GET OFF MY LAWN!

Back in November, we brought you the exclusive announcement that PopCap was working on a loveable zombie game you might be interested in purchasing. Now's the time to mail those thank-you cards. I also accept PayPal.