The 
battle between the undead and garden vegetation just escalated.
After a delay of several months, the aptly-named Plants vs. Zombies 2: It’s About Time has finally hit the App Store. It’s a much-anticipated return for one of the most popular franchises for PopCap Games, though it’s not without some controversy.
Saints 
Row IV may not be a game people point to when making the “games are art” argument, but that’s not stopping critics from lavishing praise on the latest installment of this open-world action romp — even if they feel a little guilty doing so.
In a year filled with games that take themselves quite seriously, Saints Row IV revels in its utter ridiculousness. In the game’s first 30 minutes, you’ll travel from the Middle East to the White House to an alien space ship. And that’s just the set up for a story that borrows liberally from “The Matrix,” “Independence Day,” Mass Effect, and Grand Theft Auto.
Nintendo’s 
main mascot has been stomping turtles, torching Goombas, and saving princesses for three decades, and chances are, you’ve been with him for most of the ride. His latest, Mario & Luigi Dream Team for the 3DS, is yet another winner, scoring a solid 82 on Metacritic.
But where does it stand compared to other Mario games? Better than some, worse than others, but (un)luckily, nowhere near as good (or bad) as these five amazing — and five terrible — Mario video games.
If 
you want to get technical about it, the human race has played Call of Duty longer than it has existed.
New data from Activision shows that since the release of Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare, fans of the game have spent 25 billion hours playing Call of Duty games. That works out to 2.85 million years. In contrast, the human race has only been around for 2.3 million.
Another 
day, another Xbox One change.
Once again, Microsoft has announced a major policy reversal for its upcoming console, revealing that the Xbox One will in fact operate even if the Kinect sensor isn’t plugged in.
The 
library isn’t especially high on the list of cool places for kids to hang out.
But the increased integration of video games in the lending catalog — and the practice of letting kids actually play games on site — is breathing new life into old libraries. And it just might help save the system.
Everyone’s 
getting in on the video game console act these days.
Game Informer reports that retail giant Amazon is developing an Android-based gaming system, due for release later this year. The company will reportedly use its existing base of Android games to provide a catalog for the system. Amazon is also said to be working on its own controller.
Microsoft 
has quickly been batting down consumer objections to its Xbox One plans. In June it reversed its ‘always-on’ internet and used game policies. In July, it announced plans to let game makers self-publish on Xbox One.
This month, it’s headsets.
John 
Carmack, widely credited as the creator of the first-person shooter genre, has taken a new job.
The co-founder of id Software — and one of the most highly-regarded developers in the industry — was today announced as the new chief technical officer at Oculus VR, makers of the Oculus Rift virtual reality headset.
Sales 
numbers for the Wii U might be terrible, but Nintendo would like to remind you that it hasn’t always had a hard time selling stuff.
Over the course of its 30 years as a video game company, Nintendo has sold nearly 269 million consoles and more than 385 million handheld units, according to the company’s just released annual report.
Chris Morris: Journalist 