Sadly, today is my last day with GameSpot. Best of luck to team here, and I'm excited to see what you guys are working on next. I'll definitely keep in touch, and thanks to those of you on the site who still remember who I am. :D

Good news everyone!

It's been four and a half years since everything went down, and this has been sitting untouched on my desk for that entire time. (Would that this desk were a time desk...) Welcome back guys, it's been great to see what you've built and it will be exciting to see where this goes in the future.

I don't usually write for GameSpot, but after playing Catherine and El Shaddai I figured there was something there to say. Check it out and let me know what you think.

http://www.gamespot.com/features/6338734/having-faith-in-your-games/index.html

I'm glad the comments haven't devolved into back and forth pro/anti-religious bickering, which is encouraging. I personally think games should push the boundaries on a seriously addressing a number of topics, since they are uniquely positioned to do so. Religion and faith are just topics that felt appropriate now, but games are primed to be so much more than just entertainment.

I'm sure they'll notice before E3 actually starts.

Reading through the comments on Justin's editorial makes me believe that cousins of the birther movement are alive and well on GameSpot.

My favorite one: "You need to hire people that are good reviewers and don't look like Lark or complete nerdy retards! Thanks gamespot but i'm gonna go back to IGN.com now..."

Video game movies typically fall in to two categories:

1.) Licensed adaptations
2.) Movies about video games

While 1.) can tend towards major box-office blockbusters that often has many fans /facepalming or foaming at the mouth (Doom, Max Payne, Prince of Persia), 2.) generally has more subdued releases, with some successes (Scott Pilgrim, Tron Legacy) and some failures (Gamer, Grandma's Boy). One 2.) film I highly recommend that is a definite treat is the recently released Summer Wars.

The film centers around the ubiquitous online world of Oz, which people use for everything from shopping, banking, data storage, and yes, games. When the world gets hacked and millions of avatars are stolen, thus begins the "summer war". What makes this unlike most films about video games is that while the "game/virtual-world" plot plays a key role (as you can see from the above image), it's not what this movie is about.

What I was most pleasantly surprised by though is that this film relies less on the "video game" plot than you might think. At the film's core is a story about a deep love and loyalty for family, and how important that is in the face of any sort of obstacle. While most video game films tend to resort to a technology-run-amok plot, Summer Wars stays cheerful and heartfelt even as the story starts getting a tad ridiculous (which isn't a bad thing). Check out the English trailer below, or here for the very different Japanese trailer.

FoxNews knows how to ask the tough questions.

Capcom should've put this game out earlier and just skipped the Miles Edgeworth game.

===oh no, spoilers!===

This is probably one of the few games that actually made great use of a time-travel plot that actually weaved it's way into both the story and the gameplay. I haven't played a game pulled it off this well since Day of the Tentacle.

Has anyone seen the movie Primer? Trying to wrap my head around the ending of Ghost Trick reminded me alot of that.

So it's being reported that Heavy Rain is being made into a film. This thing is, it's already been done...before the game even came out. Check out these clips from The Room. The stilted dialog, overly dramatic music, psuedo-American accents, uncomfortable pacing, even the bad lip-dubbing.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7S9Ew3TIeVQ

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rpfPmvG6CHI

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mQ4KzClb1C4

And here's an embedded one to top it off:

Ok, Heavy Rain wasn't that bad. But still...

...this screenshot right here.