If you’ve been playing Mortal Kombat’s exceptional Story Mode, you have (or will soon) face the wrath of Shao Kahn. While many reviews have complained about this boss’ excessively cheap nature, most journalists forget to mention that every fighting game has a cheap fucking boss.

But what makes Shao Kahn so annoying?

Something which is hard for me to be sarcastic about: Sony’s Playstation Network database has been hacked into, and the personal information stored therein has been stolen. Well, fuck.

According to Sony’s official statement on the matter, if you have a PSN account, then guess what the hackers have?

In this “review” of Mortal Kombat, we look at all the reasons you should stop reading this article and go buy Mortal Kombat this instant. Is the game perfect? By no means. But if it represents anything, this Mortal Kombat iteration represents a new direction available to fighting games. Will others follow suit? Get over here and find out why they should.

Since Portal 2 and Mortal Kombat are two of the only games I’ve eagerly anticipated in months, tomorrow’s an exciting day. While you’re reading this site, odds are I’ll be at the store picking up the goriest fighting gem known to Earthrealm or on Steam playing a puzzling round of Portal 2. Realistically speaking, you’ll be doing the same.

While I ooze with nostalgia and try to hold back my personal hype, I would like to issue a stern warning to the gaming community: Please watch the fucking spoilers.

This week, WiNGSPANTT answers questions about console wars, Assassin’s Creed woes, and personal finances.

By now, everyone should know what the term metagame means, but for the uninformed, it generally applies to the current state of stategic focus in a specific game’s community. For example, “4 Gate” Protoss pushes are a dominating factor in Starcraft 2 currently, so much so that most Protoss players will employ 4 Gate themselves to counteract it. On the opposite end of the spectrum, the two point conversion is such an infrequently used tactic in football that no defending team ever considers defending against it, even though actual point-after kicks are rarely blocked.

Like the rest of the known world, I love Portal. Sci-fi setting, Half-Life universe, psychotic computer system, what isn’t there to like? That’s not even considering the spectacular game design choices and other clever workarounds that can be found in the commentary for the game* or the fact that the entire game is pretty much one big tutorial that happens to be incredibly fun.

Following its surprising success, it was no further surprise that a sequel was in the works. but sequels are mysterious beasts who like to swan in and wreck your shit so here are a few things that would, in my opinion, ruin Portal 2. Oh, and if you haven’t played Portal for any reason, there’s likely to be spoilers galore in here.

In Parts 1, 2, and 3 of our Assassin’s Creed: Brotherhood Multiplayer guide, we looked at every friggin’ skill in the game, from the lowly (and terrible) Sprint Boost to the oh-so-tantalizing Poison. With all the game’s abilities covered, there still remain two more aspects of each player’s loadout that should be taken into consideration: Perks and Streaks.

Just as with abilities, so too can players equip two of each category within Perks and Streaks. Perks offer passive or situational abilities, while Streaks grant bonuses if a player is doing particularly well or poorly. While these loadout choices aren’t as important to your overall strategy as abilities are, they can create major advantages in many situations.

Let’s see what kind of mayhem we can get ourselves into.

In a completely unprecedented move by US courts, the governments of eight states -including Wisconsin, Illinois, and Vermont- passed temporary measures last night to prevent the release of Mortal Kombat (Xbox 360, Playstation 3) over concerns of the graphic, violent content it contains. Citing the series gruesome fatalities and disturbing mutilation, several state senators have called Mortal Kombat “the worst game our nation’s children have seen since Mortal Kombat (1992).”

While the proposed legislation does not directly ban M-rated video games, the wording refers to “gratuitous gore or personal harm for the sake of inflicting personal harm” as gaming elements that could cause roadblocks for future releases.

With Ubisoft’s latest Brotherhood DLC available for about a week now, I’ve had an opportunity to delve into the new multiplayer modes, Escort and Assassinate. Don’t misunderstand; the single player experience of Brotherhood (and its predecessors) is exceptionally entertaining, but with tight work constraints and demands from my legions dozens of fans to produce Assassin’s Creed videos, I’ve yet to set aside ample time to explore the game’s single player offerings. As far as I’ve been told, they include an interesting story addition, the gambling games at the thieves’ den, and the ability to punch mimes in the face.

Late last month, I had the opportunity to attend an EA press event with Jay Michaels. I previously featured his group, Pixel Enemy, since their YouTube channel is chock full of gaming strategy segments, and the chance to attend a real-life palm greasing press event was something I couldn’t turn down.  Since it was among [...]

While Top Tier Tactics has previously addressed the requisite skills for tournament play and etiquette for Street Fighter, there wasn’t enough attention paid to the fundamentals that will prevent you from outright losing every match you play. This article explains how to become a mediocre player in as few steps as possible. While this piece is intended for novices, fisticuff experts should probably consult the more advanced Street Fighter Tournament Guide for pro-level tips.