Bioware has announced at their Star Wars: The Old Republic Comic-Con panel that upcoming MMO Star Wars: The Old Republic will feature space combat. It’s being described as a change of pace to the normal story driven and quest heavy gameplay.

The scope of the battles is still  unknown, but Bioware has promised “asteroid fields, enemy fighters, frigates, destroyers, and a variety of other obstacles” for players to blast through. Here’s hoping we’re talking more X-Wing vs. Tie Fighter than Star Wars: Galaxies.

Screenshots and more information on the space gameplay are set to premier in the October issue of PC Gamer.

This week Rock Band brings packs from 2 very different artists starting with Avenged Sevenfold who recently took a further step into Spinal Tap territory by having their drummer die. The songs are:

Scream
Nightmare
Seize the Day

In addition Rock Band brings some Spanish language tracks by Colombian something-throb Juanes to make sure your vocalist puts those high school Spanish classes to good use. They are (with translations in parentheses):

A Dios le Pido (I Ask of God)
Fijate Bien (Good Fajitas)
Gotas de Agua Dulce (Cats of Sweet Water)
La Camisa Negra (The Black Shirt)
Mala Gente (Bad People)
Yerbatero (Yer Bat Arrow)

I didn’t even need google translation baby, that’s all off the top of my head.

Meanwhile Guitar Hero gets ambitious and releases only one song already in Rock Band this week. Their tracks are:

Shinedown – Devour
Shinedown – Sound of Madness
Shinedown – Second Chance

That’s all for this week and remember: spontaneously combusting on stage is funny. Dying of a drug overdose is only kind of funny.

It’s really quite undeniable at this point: motion controls are the future of gaming. With the Nintendo nostalgia machine known as the Wii, Sony’s Wii 2.0 (a.k.a Playstation Move), and Microsoft’s suspiciously family friendly Kinect, motion control has taken a firm grip on the Game Industry. There are some promising games on the horizon, but there are many existing series that need or atleast could benefit from motion control.

In no particular order, here are five games that would do well with motion control.

God of War

The head ripping, blade throwing, impale-everything-in-sight Ghost of Sparta could do with some motion control. Imagine using the Move controller as your own personal Blades of Chaos. The level of control could allow for some amazing combos, and videos of fat guys swinging their arms and pretending to be Kratos on Youtube could be the best marketing ploy ever. The real plus would be replacing all those pesky quick time events and instead of showing what buttons to press, showing how to move the controller. Using both Move controllers could allow players to use the two blades independently, allowing them to strike at opponents on either side of Kratos at the same time. With a little creativity, Kratos could be decimating the pantheon of Greek Gods with a level of ingenuity unsurpassed by current games.

Mortal Kombat

Any who might be on the fence about the idea of a Mortal Kombat game with motion controls need only think about the endless possibilities for Fatalities. Let your viciousness out. The best idea possible would be taking motion control and putting it online. Put your best moves against other MK nerds over the internet. Perhaps a practice mode could be put in place for those who’d rather use Move or Kinect over a traditional controller. Also, each character could have motion specific special moves. Extend your arms toward the screen as Sub Zero to freeze your opponent, or rotate them as Liu Kang to perform a bicycle kick. While this would work well for other big fighting series as well, MK’s limitless brutality and its gruesome style would guarantee the most visceral action.

Left 4 Dead

Who hasn’t dreamed of the zombie apocalypse? Get chased by some overenthusiastic Romero fan, blast them in the face with a shotgun, and throw Molotov cocktails at their headless body in the safety of your home with motion control. Left 4 Dead is a great choice because of its simplicity. Even on rails, the game could prove to be a majorly successful and enjoyable title. Try to imagine the old school House of the Dead arcade games with Left 4 Dead visuals and style all on your TV. Use an assortment of guns, axes, frying pans, chainsaws, pipe bombs, and snarky comments to blast, chop, and otherwise obliterate the mindless hordes facing you.

Grand Theft Auto

Getting drunk, stealing a car, doing a drive by, picking up a hooker, killing said hooker, wrecking the car, and going to town on the wreckage with a baseball bat has never been so much fun. If you don’t think a GTA game with motion control would be fun, you’ve never really played a GTA game. The beauty of GTA being motion controlled is the sheer diversity of the controls. Melee combat such as bats and crowbars, gunplay including assault rifles, rocket launchers and the like, and great driving missions could all be available in the same package. All with the freedom we’ve come to expect from Rockstar. If done right, players could act out all their fantasies of being a hardened criminal without all the real life punishments.

Metal Gear Solid

Now, if the whole point of motion control is putting yourself in the action, the Metal Gear Solid series needs at least one game with it. I want to destroy walking battle tanks with rocket launchers, sneak up on genetically enhanced soldiers, and hide under cardboard boxes. I can do that last one without actually playing the game, but still. Now, playing an entire Metal Gear game with motion control might get a little tiresome, so I wouldn’t want Kojima to get rid of the controller completely. However, working through a mind-bending plot (and I mean actually working through it) would be decidedly awesome. You could actually use your hands to hold guards at gunpoint, and rob them of their dog tags. You could actually get down low to sneak around, or conveniently forget being sneaky, and shoot wildly into the air. Talking in a gravely voice, however, is entirely optional.

If you’re reading this, it’s safe to assume you play video games. Not only can they be a great distraction from your messy apartment or an angry girlfriend, but they can also be a huge source of entertainment. However, on some occasions, games choose to be aggravating as hell. There are a ton of stupid features found in games that will raise your blood pressure. These are gameplay elements that are so trite, trivial, and annoying that they make you wonder just how in the world a developer approved them in the first place. It’s even more unbelievably that they continue to put these same mistakes into games. They are now becoming gaming trends.

It’s unhealthy to go through such aggravation. Beware, for even reading this list might make you go into a blind rage.

Alright everyone, we’re almost done with the switch to the revamped and updated DAMNLAG. It’s almost here in fully. Content will begin being added tonight with a new review, which all others reviews will follow in style and format.

Anyway, enjoy the updates. The site is much more steamlined and cleaned up, and I’m very happy with the final product.

For every bit of joy gaming gives us, there is always that bit of heartbreak that stalls our love for gaming just a bit. Disappointment in the video game world has been around as long as video games themselves and this generation was no different, bringing about some incredibly hyped games with little rewards. Therefore, here are The NPCs’ most disappointing games of this generation, ranging from long awaited platformer sequels, to seemingly flawless new IPs that weren’t what we thought they were. Writers participating in this edition of The NPCs are Steve Bogda, Jaleel Boone, and Josh “Genki” Michaelson.

Sega gave the company, Zone 40, the license to produce a product with the “Sega” name on it. What did they come up with? The Sega Zone. It’s as if the Wii and the Genesis had a baby, except the Wii was on a drinking binge while bearing it.

The Sega Zone isn’t really a succesor to the Dreamcast, but it is heavily rooted with the publisher and its name (beginning with Sega appearing in the title of the console.) The Sega Zone will launch with 16 Sega classics, as well as 30 more games from the publisher. The game comes with a wireless Wiimote replica controller, but it doesn’t look like it will be a legitimate competitor to any of the big three (going for 80$ this summer.)

The Sega Zone looks like a cheap wireless gaming alternative. Also, the console allows backwards-compatibility play of cartridge-based titles for the Sega Genesis, using a port on top of the console. It will be available in the UK this summer for £40. It hasn’t been stated whether the conosle will be available worldwide or not. For some pics, look below:

Yeah … but it is 80 bucks.