This month might go down as the best in history for first-person shooters. Combine these titles with Xbox Live, and you’ll wonder where your free time went soon enough.
Despite the homogeneous nature of the genre, three different publishers have released three different titles that look to present three unique takes on the tried-and-true gaming staple.
Two […]

The all-consuming fire of the Gears Of War marketing campaign has come and gone, leaving a small, shiny disc on the shelf. And now comes the final step in the process, as inevitable as the turning of New England leaves: the backlash. On the forums I frequent (and even here at 5WG), it’s already common […]

Once one of the crown jewels of EA Sports’ empire, NBA Live’s brand of arcade basketball has been a staple of console gaming since what was arguably its heyday on the Sega Genesis in mid-90s.
Since then, however, the quality of the title has steadily declined, reaching its nadir this fall with the abysmal NBA Live […]

No, really - it is - but it’s seemingly quite by accident.
I’m a longtime reader of TIME magazine, and every year, around this time, their writers create a “buyer’s guide” for the upcoming holiday season. This year, when TIME focused on next-gen video game systems, they created the least helpful overview since the last […]

Microsoft’s not-so-surprising announcement that Xbox Live will add iTunes-like video functionality to the Xbox 360 on November 22 - less than a week after the PlayStation 3 launches - is an exciting development in the industry. Certainly, the combination of Xbox Live’s ease of use and the ability to watch downloaded content on your television […]

11 more days, kiddies…

If you don’t have a PS3 pre-order by now, good luck getting a system. And maybe, even if you do have a pre-order, bringing a four-leaf clover to your local game store wouldn’t hurt. While Sony has said that they will ship roughly two million consoles to stores worldwide by the end […]

Just a thought for aspiring game designers: badass things should be badass. It’s not advanced game theory, but a simple reminder of what the gamers want. If you create a game wherein the player has a pet freakin’ dragon who he can call in for building-destroying airstrikes … that should be badass. When raining death […]

Thanks to delays, I’m still working through my personal list of “Games I Bought A 360 For”. Splinter Cell: Double Agent is one of those titles, as the franchise was easily my favorite on the Xbox and I was thrilled at the idea of a truly next-generation iteration. It was a system-seller for me, but […]

Microsoft’s Xbox Live Arcade vs. Sony’s EDI (e-Distribution Initiative). The big duke-a-roo. “The Best from the Pacific Northwest” faces “The Beast from the Far East”! Be there or be square!
Lately, it seems that Sony’s primary rhetoric involves pitting one $400 machine against a $600 one to see who can do the best job bringing downloadable […]

In this monthly feature, the 5WG Collective will take a look at upcoming games and highlight what we’re most looking forward to over the next 30 days. As always, release dates are subject to change.

Gears Of War
Mark Fossen: What can I say? Microsoft’s full-court press has worked its magic on me. Gears of War has […]