Well kids, it’s mid way through December, which means you’re soon going to be seeing a lot of the following three things in particular: 1.) Father Christmas, and/or adults pretending to be Father Christmas 2.) Drunk relatives 3.) Game Of The Year lists So what is 2010’s Game of the Year? More to the point, who cares? I’m calling this one right now; Fighters Uncaged has got this years award in the bag. What’s more …

So, SSX is back! Sort of. As one of my personal favorite franchises on the PlayStation 2, sitting alongside TimeSplitters as an early example of what Sony’s new machine could offer back in 2000, it’s long awaited return should be big news. But 10 years is a long time and much can change over the course of a decade. Just how much can things change, exactly? It would seem quite abit. That most beloved arcade …

Whatever it is, it’s currently packaged and sat in boxes at retailers all around the world, waiting for next Wednesday to arrive. More importantly, it’s finally finished! People are even playing it! It’s no longer just vaporware! Yep, Gran Turismo 5 is almost here. The 5 year wait threatened to reach comedy levels at numerous points in a development cycle that more people doubted the longer it went on, but with less than a week …

Today, I did something I didn’t think I would end up doing this year. Like millions of other gamers around the world, I went into a shop and bought Call of Duty: Black Ops. Why is this strange? Well, it isn’t really, but up until today I’d managed to suppress any desire whatsoever to play Activision’s latest blockbuster. Not for any particular reason. Don’t get me wrong, there are countless reasons why any one person would wish …

If there’s a scenario that defines the phrase “Egg on Your Face,” the opening days sales totals for the much celebrated Rock Band 3 are probably it. Having told Eurogamer “It’s possible that sales of other games in the category are down because people are waiting to spend their money on Rock Band 3” in an interview last week, project director Daniel Sussman may be feeling a little red faced this evening. In case you’re …

Ah, the age old question. FIFA vs PES. For some of us, it really does feel like an age that we’ve comparing and contrasting the two games. As an avid fan and follower of the sport both in its real and virtual iterations, I have personally stuck with and purchased every FIFA and Pro Evolution Soccer instalment for more than a decade. Before Pro Evolution Soccer was even known as Pro Evolution Soccer. Throughout EA’s drought between the years 2000 to 2006, and through Konami’s between 2007 and 2010 equally.  It hasn’t always been an easy ride to look at both games objectively or impartially, either. Try comparing the mighty PES 5 to the lacklustre FIFA 05, or the current title holder FIFA 10 to the whimpering efforts from Konami last year. There is no comparison.

This however is 2011, at least in video game release terms, and things have changed. Take a look at Metacritic and you’ll see a clear winner; an almost unified agreement of who is this years king. But I don’t agree that things are quite that straight forward. Rather than review both games separately or try and justify a score with a quick “X is just better than X” quote at the bottom of a clichéd summary, I’m going to try and look at the two games in direct competition. It’s a bit of a departure from how games are normally reviewed on Tap, but I’ll give it a go anyway.

Yesterday was the 15th anniversary of the Sony PlayStation in Europe. OK, OK, so it may have reached this milestone a couple of weeks ago in the US, and is rapidly approaching its sixteenth birthday in Japan, but as I’m in the UK and have a particular admiration for the good old grey slab of love, we at Tap are going to celebrate it’s 15 years! So, what do you remember most about the PlayStation? What did it …

I think it’s fair to say that the mainstream gaming community isn’t exactly sold on Microsoft’s Kinect just yet. Button-free gaming certainly has it’s sceptics and the specialist press have been quick to criticise Microsoft for the lack of focus on core gameplay experiences with the system. Retailing at £130, the price point also continues to be a sticking point for many consumers, who still harbour concerns over what is essentially still untried and untested …

When was the last time you heard anything about the PSP Go? Introduced last year, Sony’s digital only experiment has been conspicuously absent from monthly sales reports and the mainstream media’s attention pretty much ever since. Even Sony themselves have kept quiet, barely mustering the courage to dare show the doomed device amongst its promotional materials at this year’s game shows. Not even bundling it with 10 – yes TEN free games in the UK …

Uh-Oh. Sony have made plenty of mistakes with the PlayStation 3, but one area where the system has experienced almost unanimous success over the last few years has been in the fight against piracy. Although other consoles have become fraught with widespread problems relating to pirated software, including Sony’s own PSP, the PlayStation 3 has long been regarded as the last safe haven against such activities. There have been warning signs before, and Sony had …

Oh, wowzers! A short while ago, Ken Levine (the master behind the original BioShock) and his team at Irrational Games well and truly blew the lid off their next major project. Although we knew an announcement of some description was due, what exactly the world was about to see has remained a mystery. Until now, that is. BioShock is back, but unlike its direct sequel from earlier on this year, the franchise’s true Big Daddy is …

The original Mafia was a game I always wanted to love but never really did. As something of a fan of popular gangster culture in the film industry, I’ve always wanted 1930s gangland Chicago to translate well to video games. As far as the history of the criminal underworld goes, the era’s rather unique blend of quick talkin’, trilby wearin’, suited and booted, Tommy gun totin’ kingpins should really translate well to gaming. For one reason or another however, it never really has. Mafia wasn’t a bad game by any stretch of the imagination, but despite such a rich abundance of source material to pick up on, it was a game which in my opinion lacked an identity or a unique sell.

Despite mixed feelings on the original however, Mafia II has remained firmly on my radar for some time. Thanks to the pre-release demo launched on Xbox Live, PlayStation Network and Steam yesterday, I’ve finally had an opportunity to get my hands on this long awaited sequel.

The website People of Walmart may be old hat to some. I’m sure many Americans witness scenes like these every week (heck, I assure you some of these fine people would look right at home in the UK’s very own Walmart-owned Asda stores) and I’m fully expecting a call from 2009 to ask for it’s website back, but as an immature Englishman who has only just discovered the site, I’m currently finding People of Walmart …

By now, you’re probably aware of Bungie’s much publicised decision to lay down the law on “Rage Quitters” for its upcoming FPS behemoth, Halo Reach. Speaking to Xbox 360 Achievements, Bungie community rep Brian Jarrard outlined plans to detect and punish those who quit out of games early. Reportedly, these “soft bans” could prevent repeated offenders from joining matchmaking servers for up to 30 minutes and could be smart enough to differentiate between Rage Quitters …

Review by Mat C Limbo Developer PlayDead Studios Publisher Microsoft Game Studios Released 21 July 2010 Available for Xbox 360 Live Arcade Time Played Finished Verdict: 5/5 Gold Star “Limbo is, however, more than the sum of its parts. To wrap it up and put it in a neat and cliched package entitled “puzzle platformer” or the like would be to miss the wider point. This is a rich and engaging story where isolation, death …