During a boundary pushing period of gaming, with high concepts finding their way to downloadable services and full-scale games like Fallout 3 and Grand Theft Auto IV creating entirely open-ended worlds, it's rare that any game of note does not attempt to incorporate some measure of "open-endedness".  At the very least it makes for a great looking bullet-point on the back of the box.  But there's nothing wrong with linear gameplay and game structure, and Uncharted 2 proves the point with an exclamation mark.  There's plenty of treasure here, and we're not just talking collectibles.

I was never allowed to celebrate Halloween as a kid. I know, its whacked. Almost as whacked as me using the word whacked. Last year was my first opportunity to get into it, and here is the fruit of my efforts--a few Perler bead sprites from Castlevania and Legend of Zelda.

I tried to get some kids to the door, I really did, but I live outside of Redmond, WA and therefore managed only to attract some sugar happy furries looking for a quick fix. Oh, and one of them stole the blue Bubble when I wasn't looking, a-holes. Wanted to pummel those scruffy looking nerfherders right in the face with a manhole cover.

This year so far I've made a spider web from Castlevania to accompany the Keese, Poes, Stalfos, Bubbles, and Zybat. Can you think of any other sprites or characters to suggest for this year's display?

When you want a new video game, where do you go?  Gamestop?  Toys R Us?  The internets?  You’ve got a lot of options, whether you’re borrowing, renting or purchasing.  But what about those of us who love yesteryear?  When we find out about an old NES game we must have, what are our choices?  It may seem like we’re out of luck, but with a little hunting you can snag some gems here and there.  Keep reading for a list of where to begin your search, regardless of your geographic location.

Destructoid has posted the full list of tracks from the upcoming Band Hero, and while they might frown upon Taylor Swift's inclusion, it is her and her alone that made me take interest in this game at all.  She's cute, and being from Virginia, country is still somehow still in my blood.

But Taylor Swift aside, the music selection is pretty decent.  Always being a Rock Band guy myself, Band Hero's family and pop friendlier approach didn't quite strike me at first, and with the over-saturation of the Guitar Hero franchise, there wasn't much of an appetite.  However, there's actually quite a few songs that almost make me want to buy this.

Check out the full list here, and hit the jump to see which songs tickled my fancy.  Then feel free to make fun of my taste in tunes in the comments.

Back in the day, most of us gamers had to make a choice.  We were too young to have jobs, so we relied on our parents to buy our consoles for us.  And, of course, we could only choose one console per generation, if that.  Personally, I had a Genesis in the 16-bit era, as did my friends, so I never had the chance to play through Super Metroid.  I acquired a Super Nintendo a few years ago, but my game's save data was erased after playing for about five hours.  I recently started playing Super Metroid again on the Wii's Virtual Console, but I ran into something last night that I never saw coming.

Hit the link for all the kinky details.

So then the USB slot says to the thumbkey drive, "Is it in yet?" Hyuck yuck. Oh wait, I got another one. Its so small, they should call it a PINKY drive. PINKY drive, get it?

Yeah these things are tiny--5mm to be exact. And expensive! $136 for 16GB. But for the comfort of knowing I can go all Ethan Hunt and hide it up my...I mean, swallow it down my throat in a moment of need, I'll pay whatever they're asking.

[GeekStuff4U]

One of the greatest things about videogames is that you can beat the shit out of your friends, yet face little to no consequences.  Of course, the best genre of games to do this with is the fighter.  The problem is that there are so many fighters around, you may be wasting your time on a turd of a game.  So if you're just getting into the fighting scene and need someone to separate the treasure from the trash, or if you just want to reminisce with me, hit the link for my top ten fighters of all time.

Editor's Note: While we all love collaborating once in a while on our famous The BBPS Picks series, we also allow ourselves to share personal lists.  Enjoy Marc's justifications his favorite fighters ever.