Most people know MTV from their cable channels and awards shows, but the company is gradually becoming a major player in the multibillion-dollar video gaming industry. The company’s “Rock Band” game is a huge seller this holiday season, and MTV’s most profitable video game title to date.

But MTV is not stopping there. The company recently signed a deal with film and television producer Jerry Bruckheimer to create and develop original action-based video games under the MTV brand. Bruckheimer is best known for cinema blockbusters such as Black Hawk Down, National Treasure, and the Pirates of the Caribbean trilogy.

Bruckheimer’s television résumé is also impressive, including hits such as Cold Case and CSI. And while the exact format of the games to be produced has not been revealed, Businessweek.com is reporting that the development deal between MTV and Bruckheimer will be a true collaboration.

While the idea of creating video games that rival feature films is not new, Bruckheimer is probably the biggest Hollywood player to commit to producing games on such a large-scale. Van Toffler, the MTV network president said, “There’s a huge intersection between the fans of Bruckheimer films, our audience and gamers…”

Bruckheimer is said to be setting up a game “incubation” studio, in collaboration with video game designers, graphic artists and writers to develop new titles for MTV games. According to the Business Week story, Bruckheimer’s gaming studio will be involved in all phases of game development, from original concept to distribution and marketing deals, giving the filmmaker a great deal of creative freedom in producing and marketing the games.

More and more, Hollywood is looking to the video game medium as a way to either resell already successful film titles, or to develop new properties. MTV’s deal with Jerry Bruckheimer is a high profile example of Hollywood’s new willingness to expand beyond the film screen and create titles that are specifically designed to be games.

Although Bruckheimer’s record in both film and television is certainly impressive, the verdict remains out on the question of his ability to deliver the goods as a videogame creator. Critics point out that the video game medium is unlike either film or television, and the high degree of interactivity requires a different aesthetic and storyline to be successful.

But if the MTV/Bruckheimer video game venture is successful, you can bet it won’t be long until other top Hollywood names are signing on to create original video games for a wide variety of platforms.

Related Business Directory Categories:

• Online Games
• Game Developers and Publishers
• Game News and Reviews

Nintendo Wii, Sony PlayStation 3 and XBOX 360 all offer different advantages like HD compatibility, innovative new control styles and other new features. Although opinions about which gaming system is the best vary quite a bit, all three of these new gaming systems have a lot of offer when it comes to exciting, new games. Here are some of the top, must-have games for each of these popular systems.

Xbox 360

The Xbox 360 was the first of these gaming systems to be released. Microsoft brought a strong following from its original Xbox gaming system and many of the games have followed as well. Video games on the Xbox 360 typically start around $60. Due to its earlier release than the other systems, more games are available on the Xbox 360 than the other gaming systems.

• Gears of War – This is a 1-2 player action game with a mature rating. Gears of War was highly anticipated due to its amazing graphics and sound. It remained a crowd favorite after its release and is one of the most popular games available.
• Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six Vegas – Another action game, Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six Vegas can handle anywhere from 1-16 players. This is a state of the art shooter action game featuring wonderful graphics and impressive tactical shooting controls.
• Guitar Hero II – Originally released only on the PlayStation, Guitar Hero is one of the hottest new video games available anywhere. With minor improvements over the PlayStation version, this Guitar Hero version still offers support for 1-2 players but has improved some other minor issues.

PlayStation 3

PlayStation 3 offers the most impressive gaming hardware available but is still working out some of the kinks to seriously complete with the rest of the crows. It was released to the public about a year after the Xbox 360 and is making up ground with impressive new games. However there is no shortage of games due to the backward compatibility allowing you to play PlayStation 2 games and with a network connection, you can download additional games from the PlayStation Store.

• The Elder Scrolls IV:Oblivion – Just a single player, role-playing game, The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion is available on a few other platforms but is very exciting on the PlayStation 3 with sharp graphics and sound.
• Resistance: Fall of Man – This was one of the much anticipated releases on the PlayStation 3 before the gaming system was even released. Resistance: Fall of Man is a 1-4 player, action game which offers an impressive first-person shooter experience.
• NBA 2K7 – Sports games are typically about what you expect them to be but with the amazing PlayStation 3 graphics, today’s sports game are exciting as ever. NBA2K7 is suitable for all ages and supports 1-8 players.

Nintendo Wii

By far the biggest surprise of the 3 gaming systems, Nintendo Wii offers many gaming titles that are suitable for a wider range. With a much lower price tag than its competition and an interesting new gaming control, the popularity of the Nintendo Wii is still rising. The motion sensitive controller puts an interesting new twist on video games that nobody had expected. Most gaming titles are produced by Nintendo but you can expect to see many more games produced by other companies in the future due to the increasing popularity of the Nintendo Wii.

• WarioWare: Smooth Moves – WarioWare: Smooth Moves incorporates the innovative new gaming controller of the Wii and is suitable for everyone 10 years or older. It can handle 1-4 players.
• The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess – The Zelda series has always been extremely popular and this latest version is no different. With complex puzzles and some exciting adventure, The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess has a teen rating and is just a one player game.
• Super Paper Mario – Nintendo’s poster boy, Mario is alive and well in the latest Nintendo gaming system. As you’d expect, Super Paper Mario is suitable for all age groups as a single player, role-playing style game.
• Madden NFL 07 – Football video games don’t typically change much from year to year except to reflect updates in the rosters but with Nintendo’s new controller, you’ve never played football like this before.

If you’ve enjoyed the earlier 3 Grand Theft Auto games, then you’ve seen nothing yet. The 4th game in the series, San Andreas offers more gaming experience than all 3 put together. Unlike the previous GTA games, the main character may now choose his own set of clothes and customize every part of his personality as well. The main character development is a complete RPG on its own. The progression of the storyline relies mainly on the main character’s ability to influence everyone around him. Each aspect of his personality influences the way people look at him. This is broken down to the way he dresses, his personal habits such as going to the gym, swimming, etc. and as always the choices he makes. The actions of the main character not only influences the way the game goes but changes the way he looks as well. For example, if CJ (the name of the main character) eats a lot and goes to the gym less, he becomes fat. If CJ goes to the gym more, he becomes muscular and attack stats increase as well. The character’s appearance also affects the way people respond to him. As such with other gang members, they show more respect if CJ is in good health. Other options also include having a haircut and getting a tattoo.

The main character, as before, will go through different missions to steal and kill. The difference in this GTA game is that if the character starts attacking one of the bystanders, the other ones will also react. In the previous games, only the attacked ones react while the others simply go on without noticing. In this game, other civilians may run and hide while others may gang up on the main character. Because the game plot is based on gangs, friendly gang members also help the main character when fighting occurs. As always, the main character can fight with bare fists and kicks or use different kinds of weapons. Because this game story is all about gangs, the police now not only chase after the main character if he commits crimes, but also go after rival gang members as well.

The story objective is to gain more money by claiming as much territory as possible. Gang wars will start if the main character goes into enemy territory alone or otherwise. If the main character survives the bloody war and kills 3 or 4 opponents in the area, the territory is claimed. Fellow gang members will come to occupy the area and claim it. Likewise, enemy gangs will try and take over your territory areas so you have to fight them back to retain the territory.

In this GTA game, the main character can now even swim. Plus there are a lot of minigames included in the package such as pool and other arcade games. In addition, the main character may also participate in drag races just like Need for Speed. The game offers a lot more unique features that I haven’t even explored yet. GTA San Andreas is a really good game to look forward to; you should definitely try it for yourself.

WWF Smackdown, as one would expect, is a game heavily loaded with action and would be a relief for Smackdown lovers because this is one thing for which we can say, “Please do try this game in your computer!” The game has been developed based on the game show “Smack Down” by THQ, and has proved its worth by getting 8.8 out of 10 in rating. The rating is mainly based on five different factors (all are rated to 10) Game play (9), Graphics (9), Sound (5), Value (8) and Tilt (10). The graphics is the main highlight of this game and a lot of combo moves have been included.

All the characters in the game are a replica of the ones that appear in the game show. The specialty of this game is that, as in the game show, every player that you select would have a special finishing move, and only when the player is in grog state (not steady) one can apply the finishing move. This makes the game tougher and realistic because you need to hit the player in order to make him unsteady and it’s not going to take place in just one shot. The most attractive feature of this game is that while any player properly connects his finishing move, the camera takes a 360-degree rotation around the players in slow motion, clearly focusing on the players and the move that has been done. This makes the visual effects more appealing to the players.

To add more beauty to the game and characters involved, users can select costumes for the players and apart from this, users have the privilege to create players of their own choice. There are a lot of properties which users can add in order to create their own players. The properties include height, weight, body type and moves, based on which the profile of the player is varied. One good thing about such player customization is that as and when the user changes any one of the properties of the player, it is automatically indicated as a change in the prototype that appears in the right corner of the screen. This helps the users create their player and keep track of any change being made more easily.

Now the main attraction that will steal the heart of the people is that, the user can play all kinds of matches that he/she sees in the game show. For example, Wrestle Mania, TLC matches and many more. As usual, users can play in the single player mode against the PlayStation 2 player, but what makes this mode better than the one present in the previous version of the game is that, the difficulty level has been increased and there are situations wherein the referee can be a special guest and he can form an ally with your opponent. This makes the game more realistic and tougher. Apart from the fight and matches, there is also a huge collection of intro videos that the users eyes can relish upon. As the subtitle suggest all users by now must know your role that is to enjoy the game!

Lost Planet: Extreme Condition is a combat game that has to do with the wide array of ideal games where players are expected to explore certain places and engage in battle with all the creatures that they come into contact with. Such has been the frenzy that most players of any genre, getting hooked to games in the mold of such games as Doom and Wolfenstein. Capcom introduces this new installment exclusively for the Microsoft Xbox 360.

Lost Planet is not so hard to understand, especially with regards to the mechanics and controls of game play is concerned. It primarily aimed at aim “shoot and kill” the big boss in every level using the available ammunition the game has to offer. From machine guns, shotguns and rocket launchers, players who indulge in this game are sure to have a blast trying to know off the mysterious creatures lurking around the planet setting.

Plots and Game Play

As in most games, there is the usual plot that a game revolves on for story mode play. The game feature circles around the main character suffering from amnesia, Wayne who is out for revenge against the big boss Green Eye who had killed his father. The central ploy is to seek and defeat the large creature to vindicate the death of Wayne’s father in the game.

While the journey is not expected to be an easy one, considering that the further a player would advance, the harder it is to defeat certain creatures. The key is to determine the weak spots and the possession of the high powered weapons to aid them in battling the different creatures in their journey.

Other Game Modes

For players who would want to study the power of each character and develop tactics prior to engaging on their quest in story mode, multiple player options are available for more than one player game play. Using the available weapons and other in-game resources will surely entice players to study the game options and maps to which they can do one on one combat by trying to gun down one another.

Effective Playing and Strategic Approaches to the Game Play

The type of game play that players would resort to would entirely depend on how they are able to protect and go on the offensive towards default beings or even players in the game. For some players, it is just a simple game of using a trigger happy mentality, but the life allocation of the character they are using should also be taken care of. The health level is a critical part in determining as to which extent a player can reach. Besides, the monsters created in the game are not easy to defeat. It is also a battle of wits and strategy rolled into one.

In the same way that armed combat has taken most games by storm, this is the same concept that Capcom is obviously preaching with Lost Planet Extreme Condition. Whatever the case may be, total enjoyment and taking on all challenges in the form of in-game characters and human controlled ones will be the life of the game as it was designed to be.

One of the preferred activities in many friendly get-togethers is what else, but video games? Many factors like convenience, the flexibility to play alone or in a group support the continued popularity of video games in general. The choice of the video game to play depends on more specific factors like the game quality and /or the game console the player presently has or is planning to have. It is to the advantage of the serious video game player if his or her game console is supported by the development of exciting games like Nintendo’s The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess.

The Legend of Zelda has been talked about even before its release in November and December 2006. There are two versions, one for Wii, the other for the GameCube game console. As to be expected in much-anticipated developments, the newly-released video game immediately became a major topic in message boards, discussion boards, forums. There, gamers exchanged tips on how to play the game better. Among them, they evaluated the two versions. Any difficulty they encountered was considered minor, considering the overall features of the game. In fact, more messages are just to let others share in their luck to have found such a fantastic game.

Actually, the major selling points are the plot and the different characters. The story is about how Link, working as a ranch hand, pursued the monsters that attacked their village up to the Twilight Realm, where he was transformed into a wolf. There, he met the creature Midna and Princess Zelda, another prisoner. Thus, began their challenging and exciting mission that required bravery, intelligence and luck to succeed. In their mission, the three, Link, Midna and Princess Zelda, met a lot of interesting characters who added to the thrill and excitement of the game. This is where the skill of the gamer is truly tested. In the end, they were able to make Twilight Realm and Hyrule safe again.

This game is favorably ranked, or discussed by the video games experts, rated a minimum of 7 out of 10 in reviews. At Game Rankings and Metacritic, internet sites that carried video game reviews, Twilight Princess had an average ranking of 95%. Other sites like Cubed, Next Level Gaming and Decko called Twilight Princess the best of the Zelda series. Gamerz Edge’s Steve Schardein even gave it a perfect score, 10 out of 10.

The graphics is sometimes hazy, but don’t the scenes look like paintings because the characters and back ground are well proportioned, with well coordinated color and costumes?

If you want to convert a friend to video gaming, The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess is a fantastic starting game. There are a lot of surprises and the gamer’s ability for quick thinking and assessment of every situation is challenged. The characters are so creatively presented. Warning to a newbie in video gaming: Try The Legend of Zelda:Twilight Princess and prepare to get hooked.

Gears of War has been called the best reason to get an Xbox 360. Aside from the stunning visuals that demonstrate the Xbox’s capabilities, the game packs thrills, sharp gameplay, beautiful music, and sound effects that heighten the gaming experience. It feels as if you’re in an action movie, not just playing a game. No wonder Gears of War rates consistently high with critics and gamers alike.

The story doesn’t go very deep, and not much background information is provided. But you might not even notice this as the action will keep you occupied enough. There are five acts, each with a set of objectives leading up to one main objective. At least one squad mate and at most four will help along the way.

The game puts you in the center of the action as Marcus Fenix, an ex-soldier for the Coalition of Organized Governments, or COG. You’ve been locked up as a traitor, but at the beginning of the game, you are being busted out of prison by a fellow soldier named Dom. Once free, you have to get back to the rest of Delta Squad. In the middle of helping to fight the war against an enemy force called the Locust, you must also find the Alpha Squad. Not only have they mysteriously disappeared, but they’re supposed to have a device that will help fight the Locust.

The enemy will take on many forms throughout the game. They are basically humanoids with one aim—to blow your head off each chance they get. Most of the time, though, it will take more than one shot to end the game for you and “recharging” is quick. But this doesn’t mean you should be less cautious. The trick is to duck and take cover. Staying down and behind a wall, a column, a pile of cars—anything—is a big part of Gears of War. It’s easy to master the controls and use them to move seamlessly from cover to cover. Or take cover, pop up to open fire, then duck back down..

The game starts with two levels of difficulty—casual and hardcore. A third one, insane, will unlock when you beat the game. Towards the end, however, the action becomes even become more intense. Luckily, you can choose your difficulty level every time you play. And if you need to get out of some rough spots you can always switch between levels while playing.

You can also switch between single play to co-op, where a buddy can play as Dom—or to multi-player mode, where up to eight people can team up in groups of four. Playing in co-op or multi-player mode gives you the ability to “revive” your buddies if they get hit. The only downside is that if you’re playing online in co-op mode and your buddy drops out of the game, you’re forced back to the main menu. If playing in multi-player mode via LAN, you’re limited to two players locally.

Overall, Gears of War stands out from other games because of its cinematic visuals and scoring, seamless effects, and thoughtful pluses, including the scoring system and choice of weapons. A campaign can be completed in 10 to 12 hours, and replayed over and over as a different experience each time.