When the Glade of Dreams is overrun by “nefurrious” Darktoons, the Fairy Council hastily invokes Rayman to save the day; but the hero of light isn’t quite all there…To help him, Rayman teams up with his best friend, Globox, and two crafty wizards, the Teensies. Together, the world’s most hilarious team of heroes will need to restore peace to the Glade or watch as their beloved home vanishes like a bad dream…

Rayman Origins Demo available on November 9th and in stores November 15th for the PlayStation 3 system, Xbox 360, and Wii.

Here is the make good on our absence…

ZELDA AND LINK ARE COMING TO TORONTO and you can get your hands on the game early if you show up over the weekend to see them (details below).

The first 150 attendees present at the event on Friday, November 18th and the first 150 attendees at the event on Saturday, November 19th will obtain a wrist band (limit one per person) for the opportunity to buy The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword bundle on Saturday, November 19th from 9:00pm-10:00pm at Future Shop Yonge and Dundas.

Disney Interactive Studios continues to roll out new characters for it’s upcoming release Disney Universe. Recent inductees include one of our favorites, Captain jack Sparrow, and others from his the high seas Adventures of the Pirates of the Caribbean: Angelica, Mr. Gibbs, Captain Barbossa and Blackbeard as playable character skins for your in game avatar. Also announced Rapunzel (Disney’s Tangled), Ariel (The Little Mermaid) and Disney’s most memorable Fairy Tinkerbell.

This is quite the cast of characters which was already impressive with earlier announcements that include Tim Burton’s “Alice in Wonderland,” Disney, Pixar’s “Monsters, Inc.” “WALL•E” and Disney’s “The Lion King”.

Having played this game at a preview event this summer I can honestly say that this will be an instant family fun night game that will challenge you enough to take it seriously and entertain you enough to forget your character is dressed as the little mermaid.

The detail that the Ubisoft team put into this game is incredible. Using similar techniques to the city mapping, like in Assassins Creed, you’ll drive around a fully scaled digital representation of San Francisco, and if your at all familiar with the city you’ll be able to visits all your favourite landmarks. I’d tell you more but there are a couple (more qualified) people in the videos below that can share the secrets of Driver with you all… Enjoy!

Dev Diary 1:

Dev Diary 2:

Dev Diary 3:

Driver San Francisco available September 2nd everywhere.

Ubisoft is burning up the dance floor with the Just Dance franchise lining up some great new songs and a number of classics dance tunes. Don’t take our word for it – go look at the set list yourself it includes 80′s classics from A-ha and Bananarama, some 90′s dance beats from the Chemical Brothers and Daft Punk and instant classics like Cee Lo Green’s (the clean version) “Forget you”.

Just Dance 3 will include updated game play and a number of new game features. For example: songs that feature 4-part choreographies, Dance mashup mode, create their own unique choreographies with the JUST CREATE, Just Dance choreographies. But wait that’s not all – all tracks will provide on-screen lyrics to karaoke with the hits while dancing. Don’t you worry Dance fans Just Dance 3 still has everyone’s favourite dance modes like Classic Mode, Duet Mode, Medley, Simon Says, an updated Just Sweat mode with more workout plans, and more!

Tracks available in Just Dance 3 include:

1. 2 Unlimited – “No Limit”
2. a-ha – “Take On Me”
3. Anja – “Dance All Nite”
4. Bananarama – “Venus”
5. Black Eyed Peas – “Pump It”
6. Bollywood Rainbow – “Kurio ko uddah le jana”
7. Cee Lo Green – “Forget You”
8. Countdown Mix Masters – “Beautiful Liar”
9. Daft Punk – “Da Funk”
10. Danny Elfman – “This is Halloween”
11. Donna Summer – “I Feel Love”
12. Dr. Creole – “Baby Zouk”
13. Duck Sauce – “Barbra Streisand”
14. Girls Aloud – “Jump (For My Love)”
15. Groove Century – “Boogie Wonderland”
16. Gwen Stefani – “What You Waiting For”
17. Inspector Marceau – “The Master Blaster”
18. Janelle Monae – “Tightrope (Solo Version)”
19. Jessie J featuring B.o.B – “Price Tag”
20. Brahms by Just Dance Classical Orchestra – “Hungarian Dance No. 5”
21. Katy Perry featuring Snoop Dogg – “California Gurls”
22. Kiss – “I Was Made For Lovin’ You”
23. Konshens – “Jamaican Dance”
24. African Ladies – “Pata Pata”
25. Latino Sunset – “Mamasita”
26. Laura Bell Bundy – “Giddy On Up (Giddy On Out)”
27. Lena Meyer-Landrut – “Satellite”
28. LMFAO featuring Lauren Bennett and GoonRock – “Party Rock Anthem”
29. Madness – “Night Boat To Cairo”
30. MIKA – “Lollipop”
31. Nelly Furtado featuring Timbaland – “Promiscuous”
32. Pointer Sisters – “I’m So Excited”
33. Queen – “Crazy Little Thing Called Love”
34. Reggaeton Explosion – “Boom”
35. Rita Mitsouko – “Marcia Baila”
36. Robbie Williams and Nicole Kidman – “Somethin’ Stupid”
37. Scissor Sisters – “I Don’t Feel Like Dancin’”
38. Sweat Invaders – “Gonna Make You Sweat (Everybody Dance Now)”
39. Taio Cruz – “Dynamite”
40. The Buggles – “Video Killed The Radio Star”
41. The Chemical Brothers – “Hey Boy Hey Girl”
42. The Girly Team – “Baby One More Time”
43. The London Theatre Orchestra & Cast – “Think”
44. The Sugarhill Gang – “Apache (Jump On It)”
45. Tommy Sparks – “She’s Got Me Dancing”
46. Wilson Pickett – “Land of 1000 Dances”

Just Dance 3 will be released worldwide on October 11.

Check out this video taken in a developer meeting with Nintendo showing what could be the next Wii. Xbox like Remotes with digital displays and a new case are shown on the screen…

But is it a hoax or is it real? You decide.

LEGO Pirates of the Caribbean will be incorporating storylines and characters from the first three films Pirates of the Caribbean Films as well as the upcoming fourth film, “Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides.”

Bring on Davy Jones’ Locker!

Those Lego guys are into everything… Space, Brands, Adventure and now the high seas.

Nintendo is going bananas! with Professional eater “The Tsunami” Takeru Kobayashi, the king of competitive eating, as he takes on the Donkey Kong Country Returns banana eating challenge.

Cant wait to get DKCR in your hands then head on down and get some hands on time with the Big Ape and his little sidekick, Diddy, as they launch their latest adventure this Saturday (November 20, 2010) between 1pm – 4pm… and make sure you stick around for the the Banana Eating Challenge with Takeru Kobayashi: 3:00 pm (sharp). See you there!

I almost feel like I need a Banana joke here…

This is certainly an event that will aPEEL to all ages…

groan… it is early, give me a break Think you can do better – leave me a banana joke in the comments.

WHERE:
RioCan Yonge Eglinton Centre
Upper Plaza Level in front of Toys ‘R’ Us
20 Eglinton Avenue West
Toronto, ON M4R 1K8

View Larger Map

The Call of Duty franchise is the very “Defacto standard” by which all war games are measured up to and strive to emulate. None have ever been able to reach the level of praise and distinction that the Call of Duty name has associated with it. In what seems to be an annual series release by Activision, this year Treyarch takes the helm once again from Infinity Ward (Modern Warfare 1 and 2) to take us back to the front lines of war with their own unique story in Black Ops.

The story is told from the vantage point of a few different characters in the game through flashbacks and an interrogation room but the focus is primarily on game protagonist Alex Mason. Instead of using WWII as the backdrop for the story, we jump ahead to the 1960s in the role of Special Forces Operative Alex Mason.

The game starts off with Alex Mason and 2 other operatives during the “Bay of Pigs” invasion of Cuba as a part of “Operation 40” as they try to infiltrate a Cuban stronghold with direction to assassinate Fidel Castro. After the apparent successful assassination, Mason is left behind to protect the extraction plane as it takes off. He’s then captured by Castros troops and handed over to the Russians as a sign of good faith in the new alliance the 2 countries shared where he is then taken to Russian prisoner camp Vorkuta.

The game runs off the same engine that Treyarch used for World at War and I can honestly say that the game looks amazing. The lush jungles of Vietnam to the cold dreary Arctic Circle and the Vorkuta prison all look and feel incredible. The multiplayer maps vary in size with my personal favorite Nuke Town. Treyarch really spared no expense on the sound front. They hired some incredible voice talent in the form of Sam Worthington(Avatar), Ed Harris (Apollo 13), Gary Oldman (Bram Stokers Dracula) and Topher Grace (That 70s Show) to name a few. Couple that with some licensed music by the Stones and Creedence Clearwater Revival and you’ve got a blockbuster.

Fear not, the game doesn’t end there either. Zombie Mode is back and better than ever and of course the multiplayer matches are back but this is where I have a problem. The online match making was more than a little aggravating.

One of my biggest complaints in the CoD franchise is just how difficult it can be to play online with most users if you don’t start playing right away and for hour after hour at a time. The leveling system is annoying because with higher levels, the better the options are for loadouts for more powerful weapons and better perks. This can be extremely annoying because the game doesn’t match player levels very well or even at all. There I was a lowly level 1 in a game full of people level 30+. I was thoroughly annihilated with 4 kills the entire round. By the end of the weekend, I clawed my way to level 7 and was ranked in the top 3 for at least 1 round so it’s not to say that I totally suck at the game. Normally I can hold my own but with the cards stacked against you, it’s a tough uphill battle that will leave many frustrated in the end. No doubt I had a bunch of negative feedback due to my incessant swearing and not realizing that my Kinect was set to “On” for game chat – DOH!!!

Did I mention that it seems to me the best way to win any round is to be a camper? Another major annoyance for me is the amount of camping and sniping that goes on in this game. I’m a huge proponent of some sort of camp timer or handicap that says you can only be in the same spot for a finite amount of time before everyone in the round is given your location on the map or something to that effect. One other quick complaint is the omission of online co-op story mode. It would have been nice to play through with a friend or 2.

Despite the issues I’ve heard about for PC users, what we have here is a solid performance by the Treyarch team. They’ve taken the Call of Duty name and added their own stamp to the franchise much like Infinity Ward did with the “Modern Warfare” series. I really enjoyed the dark tone to the story, and LOVED the Zombie mode. Treyarch has stepped out from the Infinity Wards shadow with this title. Well done.

Feed Your Console gives Call of Duty: Black Ops 8.5 out of 10

Pros:

• Beautiful environments
• Zombie mode is back and just as fun
• Great voice talent
• Intriguing (though somewhat predictable) story

Cons:

• Unbalanced multiplayer matchmaking
• Too much camping/sniping

The special edition lineup of products is now available and includes:

• Red Wii Bundle: a new limited-edition console in beautiful red to bundled with New Super Mario Bros. Wii and a new red Wii Remote Plus controller, Wii Sports and a red Nunchuk controller.
• Red Nintendo DSi XL Bundle: features three iconic Super Mario Bros.-themed graphics. Packed with Mario Kart DS, a pre-loaded software version of Brain Age Express: Arts & Letters, Brain Age Express: Math and Photo Clock.
• Wii Remote Plus: a new all in one controller combining the original, iconic Wii Remote™ controller combined with a built-in Wii MotionPlus.*
• FlingSmash Bundle: This new Wii game combines the hands-on fun of tennis with the nonstop action and instant gratification of pinball, bundled in with the new Wii Remote Plus controller.

* Wii Remote Plus will become the new standard Wii controller, and will be available from now on in all Wii hardware packages and bundles.