Aaah, “casual” gaming. Gaming’s biggest buzzword of the latter part of this decade (which I still refuse to refer to as the “noughties”), it sums up everything from the Wii’s dominance of the party gaming market to the rise of plastic instrument based titles like Guitar Hero and Rock Band.

It’s no surprise then that pretty much everyone in the world of gaming has wanted in on the action, with vaporware kings 3D Realms apparently being the latest to jump on the bandwagon.

That’s right, in an interview with Gamesauce, 3D Realms CEO Scott Miller had this to say on the Duke’s future:

“The next few years should see a strong resurgence in Duke … There are numerous other Duke games in various stages of development, several due out this year. We are definitely looking to bring Duke into casual gaming spaces, plus there are other major Duke games in production.”

Of course, while we should always take Miller’s comments on the future of Duke Nukem with a whole grit truck full of salt, there’s always the glimmer of hope that maybe, one day, we’ll be taking the role of the Duke in something other than a crappy re-release of the now decidedly aged DN3D. Even if that’s in the form of Duke Duke Revolution or Duke Kart 64, that’s better than nothing.

… I guess?

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Pencel Games have just announced their new Xbox Live Indie Game, Gerbil Physics, by press release, and as gerbil lovers ourselves it only seems right that it should get some coverage here on TTB.

The game sees the player destroying buildings made of gerbils in a manner of entertaining and creative ways, although what the press release doesn’t make clear is whether any of those ways involve the gerbil king himself, Richard Gere.

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Another Christmas gone, and now we’re back in action!

So, what better way to kick off the post-Christmas season than with some wonderful gaming-related crafty handywork? This totally sweet tapestry of Mario’s World 1-1 measures 620x40cm, and would look good on anyone’s wall.

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As you may have noticed, we’re all wound down for the festive period here at Team Teabag.

So enjoy your Christmas and new year and we’ll be back in the new year, which is shaping up to be a great one with God of War 3, Halo: Reach, Alien vs Predator, Final Fantasy XIII, Dead Rising 2, Mass Effect 2 and more all coming!

With just over a week to go I’m sure most of you are sitting there surrounded by holly, tinsel, baubles and trees, meanwhile your 360 still has the same old dashboard theme.  Well fear not as Rare have come to the rescue with their spiffing holiday premium theme for the Xbox 360.

Yours for only 240, a small price to pay for some festive cheer, you can add it straight to your download queue from here, and if you need more convincing then check out the screenshots of the theme in action after the break.

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…and so it draws to a close. Telltale’s great episodic Monkey Island experiment has seen many twists and turns, introducing us to mer-people, seeing LeChuck go from bad to good and back again, and telling plenty of people that there’s something behind them that they really need to check out. It’s been Monkey Island through and through, a triumphant return to form for the series, and this reviewer has been more than happy to go along for the ride.

But of course, I’m not here to talk about the series as a whole, as magnificent as it has been. I’m here to talk about the final instalment, Rise of the Pirate God. Will it serve as the epic grand finale that the previous instalments have been hinting at? Does it explain all those unanswered questions from chapters 1-4? Does it attempt to bring the somewhat disjointed tangle of episodes we have seen into a coherent whole?

In a word… No.

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So, I watched this video (with the sound on) and at first I was all like “meh.”

But I watched it some more and when it kicked in I was all like “WTF!”

Totally awesome, like.

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“Blood Bowl, The Game of Fantasy Football”, a tag line that has stuck with thanks to the many long summer months whittled away playing Games Workshops tabletop version of Blood Bowl.  The game infuses GW’s massive Warhammer universe with the game of American football with motley teams of Orcs, Elves, Humans, Lizardmen and more fighting it out, literally, for the ball.

The game is split into 2 distinctly different game styles, either the real-time ‘Blitz’ mode or the turn based ‘Classic’ mode.  The classic mode runs true to the current rules for the tabletop version of the games, meaning dice rolls are simulated for everything from tacking and leaping to running and even picking up the ball.   Handily there is a display in the bottom corner of the screen that shows you the result of every dice roll in an attempt to prove it’s not really cheating when you fail roll after roll.

Blitz mode is an entirely different beast however, gone are the turns and the slow strategic style of classic.  In its place is a fast paced and frantic game that feels more like a Madden game.  I actually completely slated this mode in our review of the PC version of BB, but the real time play system suits the Xbox’s controller far better than a keyboard and mouse setup, however I still found it difficult to get to grips with controlling the entire team on the fly, normally leaving massive gaps in my defense for the opponents to exploit.

The online modes were where the PC version of the game really shined, and is sadly where this version falls down.  Its bigger brother allowed you to export your team from the single player modes to continue to gain star player points (experience) in online play, both as single matches and online leagues comprised entirely of real people.  Unfortunately the online league function has been entirely cut from this version of the game and whilst you can use your team from the single player games, they do not get to keep the points and gold they gain from the matches.

The online modes are not the only place where the console version of Blood Bowl falls down though, as the game is riddled with so many bugs I’m amazed it made it through any kind of testing.  Many times the game removed my choice for small movements such as following up, push back, pass block, etc., or changing my team setup after I have selected to start the match.  Neither of these flaws are the worst though, as you get deeper into the game you will begin to find players skills mysteriously disappearing never to return, usually resulting in having to fire the player and buy a replacement.

So all in all the 360 Blood Bowl would be a good game were it not for the truely gamebreaking bugs that ruin the experience, hopefully Cyanide will address these soon along with including the Dark Elf team that was patched into the PC version before this was even released.  Until they are fixed I’d urge you to get the PC version of the game that we reveiwed a while back, which is not horiblly broken.

5/10

If there’s one person that pops up in the ‘Aliens’ universe more than any then it is Bishop in his many forms, both android and human.  So it seems quite fitting that Rebellion have got actor Lance Henriksen to reprise the role in their upcoming Aliens vs. Predator game.

Lance Henriksen will appear as Karl Bishop Weyland, a descendant of Charles Bishop Weyland, the founder of the infamous Weyland-Yutani corporation from the Aliens universe, lending his likeness and voice to the production.

“They’ve made me look very good,” said Lance, “This is the first time I’ve been fully represented in a game, with my voice and how I look, and the Rebellion guys have done a great job. I might score from this game!”

Aliens vs. Predator is set for release in February 2010 for Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 and PC.

One of the noughties most famous metal acts will finally arrive on Rock Band when De Moines, Iowa’s own Slipknot release a 3 track pack this week.  The pack will feature “Duality” from their 2004 platinum selling album ‘Vol. 3: (The Subliminal Verses)’ along with “Psychosocial” and “Sulfur” from their most recent offering ‘All Hope is Gone’.

Also debuting this week are 60′s icons Simon & Garfunkel with “I Am a Rock” and “The Sounds of Silence” from their 1966 album, Sounds of Silence, but sadly no “Mrs Robinson”.  The freebie joining our 11 freaks this week is “Dreaming of Love” by Lights Resolve, who Rolling Stone Magazine named as their Breakout Band in 2009, saying they “combine the power and theatrics of Muse with the New York flavour of bands like The Bravery”.

The Slipknot pack will be available for the regular 440/£2.49, alternatively all of the tracks will available individually for the usual 160/£0.99 each apart from “Dreaming of Love” by Lights Resolve, which as previously mentioned will be free when it is released on Tuesday via Xbox Live and Thursday on PSN.

See the full tracklisting with video links after the break.

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