Today’s revelation 
that Spike TV has tapped Survivor creator Mark Burnett to exec produce this year’s Video Game Awards was just the tip of the iceberg.
The show, which is the highest profile celebration of the industry each year, has also teased a few of the world premieres it plans to unveil and announced its contenders for Game of the Year.
Unlike other defense 
games, which have you set up weapons that fire automatically, Siegecraft instead takes a page from the Angry Birds playbook, with weapons that operate much like a slingshot and require constant user interaction. It’s an interesting idea, but one that doesn’t work as well as you’d hope. Aiming takes time — too long, in many cases — and it’s not as precise as it needs to be for the game to be a smooth experience. Worse, the pacing has to be kept slow so players have a chance to re-aim their weapons. This, unfortunately, makes the game sometimes feel like it’s dragging.
On the upside, it’s not a bad app by any means, and the low price point means people who take a chance won’t be overly disappointed. The inclusion of a robust multiplayer mode is a nice touch as well. The more you play, though, the more you feel the game fell short of its potential.
While Roll in the Hole 
certainly has its entertaining qualities, you can’t help but feel you’re playing a paint-by-numbers arcade/puzzle app. Cutesy lead character? Check. Happy looping background music? It’s in there. Physics-based controls that can be occasionally frustrating? Roger that.
The game certainly isn’t bad, but it’s a slightly different take on countless other offerings in the app store. It shines, though, by not forcing players to complete particularly difficult levels, allowing them the option of skipping when they get too frustrated. The decision not to take advantage of the gyroscope for the controls was curious one, though. And the difficulty ramps up too quickly for most players, who will likely be growling at the game by the mid-teen levels.
It’s a scenario 
most gamers are familiar with: You sit down on the couch, vowing that you’re only going to play for 30 minutes or so. What seems to be a few minutes later, you look up to check the clock and literally hours have gone by.
Did you accidentally discover time travel? Perhaps you had a narcoleptic incident? Nope. Instead, it appears that your brain has just been screwing with you.
Eight days after 
letting the world know “Grand Theft Auto V” was on the way, Rockstar Games has given us our first look at the title – and it looks like fans of the series will be pretty happy with what the studio has been working on.
The game, set in a Los Angeles clone (Santa Monica is dubbed Pleasure Pier and Hollywood becomes Vinewood), seems set in a modern era, with homelessness and foreclosures highlighted.
Firemint set the 
bar for racing sims on iDevices — and it has raised it considerably with Real Racing 2. The game is the closest you’ll get to a Forza title in the app store and is sure to overjoy racing fans. The car models are spectacular, the tracks are long and detailed, and (most importantly) the controls are seamless. That’s key, as they’re so often overly complicated in racers.
The in-app purchase option is annoying, but meant solely as a shortcut for people who don’t want to wait to get a muscle car. It’s hardly essential. And the multiplayer mode, through Game Center, works without a flaw. Bottom line: This is a game that redefines quality in the app racing genre.
My Little Pony, 
Hasbro’s colorful line of equine toys, is back. And the rainbow horses are galloping towards Azeroth. Seriously.
Two fan-made online games, My Little Pony Online and Equestria Online, are both set in the fictional world of the “My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic” television series, currently in its second season on The Hub cable network.
Frodo, Gandalf and 
Aragorn might have stolen the spotlight on the big screen, but there was a lot going on in “The Lord of the Rings” that didn’t involve the Fellowship.
While the movie tie-ins to the epic fantasy saga may be (temporarily) exhausted, the gaming world isn’t anywhere close to being ready to walk away from the franchise. And Warner Bros. Interactive has found a way to keep it alive by digging deep into J.R.R. Tolkien’s tomes.
One of the reasons 
video games and Hollywood have stayed so far apart in the public eye is the gaming world’s casual regard for plot. Games, traditionally, are a series of event moments strung together by a rather threadbare plot (though you could say the same thing about some tentpole summer theatrical releases).
The “Uncharted” series is different – and the release of the game’s third installment today is a good example to non-gamers of what that part of the entertainment industry is capable of when it brings together multiple elements.
Read more at Variety’s Technotainment blog
The cost of war
is high at Electronic Arts, but the rewards are even higher.
Battlefield 3, the company’s answer to industry juggernaut Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3, has burst out of the gate by selling 5 million copies in its first week alone. That’s a record for EA and enough to make it the industry’s best launch this year — though it probably won’t hold that title for long.
Chris Morris: Journalist 