As we look back on 2011, we realize what a great year it really was for gaming. We got to see new games, continuations of beloved series and even reinventions of old favorites. It was definitely a good time to be a gamer. Best of all, many of these games weren’t bound by platform limitations. more »

As crazy as it may sound, 2011 wasn’t a stellar year for handhelds. The DS started out strong, but games slowed to a trickle after the 3DS was released. The 3DS’ library was scandalously small for most of 2011, until after the August price drop and holiday shopping season began. As for the PSP, it’s more »

Earlier this year, Vizio decided to get into the tablet game for the first time with the 8″ Vizio VTAB1008. At its initial launch price of $329, it didn’t seem all that promising. I mean, it was only a 4GB, single core processor unit with 512MB of RAM and a single, front facing camera. But then, the price dropped. First it went down to an official price of $269.99. Not bad, but this past week things got even better. Walmart’s ad for October 30-November 5, 2011 dropped the VTAB price down to $198 both in stores and online. Score!Said sale has led to my receiving a new VTAB as a birthday gift. I haven’t had much time to spend with the tablet yet, but I have been able to learn a few things about over the past few days. So while you wait for a full review of Vizio’s endeavor, here are 10 things you need to know about the VTAB…

We now know that Rovio isn’t going to try and use the success of Angry Birds to start making more catchy and original games. No, as evidenced by comments made to Pocket Gamer, the loads of merchandising and forthcoming movie that this is now a force to be reckoned with and we aren’t going to stop seeing Angry Birds everywhere until the series stops being profitable.

While we wait for official announcements, I decided to spend way too much time thinking about options Rovio could explore with Angry Birds…

It’s pretty much become a tradition here at Gamertell to offer up suggestions of newly released, Halloween-y games every time October rolls around. You know, for the people who are trapped at home, doling out candy instead of out trick or treating or partying. I mean, it’s not like you can just sit by the door, waiting and hoping for people to come by so you can toss candy at them. You need something to fill the downtime. A new video game with a spooky theme or seriously scary premise can help with that.

So, here are six suitable games to kill some time. Sure, they may not really scare you, but they’ve got the right feel to them. Whether you’re a console, computer or portable gamer, you’ll be covered and find something that will make your month better…

So, we all know the 3DS’ $249.99 price, after only five months, is moot. Starting August 11, 2011, the system will only cost you $169.99. Good for everyone who doesn’t already own one! (Perhaps not so good for all the early adopters who do.) Still, it’s a good opportunity for people and now that you’re saving all that money, you can afford to grab a few games.

Here’s a brief list of five immediately available 3DS games that are worth your time and money, direct from one of those foolish early adopters. These are high quality games that are fun to play, show off the system’s capabilities well and should be fairly easy to find. Since the standard price for each of them is $39.99, you can get two with the money you saved not getting the 3DS at launch.,,

Ok! Nintendo’s E3 2011 keynote presentation is done! Did you read along with Gamertell’s live-blog? Kirk Hiner and I both kept up with each announcement, from the Wii U reveal, to the Legend of Zelda 25th Anniversary and 3DS game announcements.

In case you missed the conference, here’s a brief look at some of the biggest news that came Nintendo on June 7, 2011….

So, we’ve now seen Sony’s E3 2011 press conference and it was pretty much what we expected. The company actually addressed the outage issue, which was a pleasant surprise, and reaffirmed their commitment to make sure the PlayStation Network experience is secure, stable and entertaining from now on. A few major releases were hyped up. Most importantly, we heard about the NGP – sorry – PS Vita.

Let’s go through some of the main points from today’s presentation…

Sony’s recently announced a new lineup of PS3 games called PSP Remaster. Basically, they’re slightly enhanced ports of existing PSP games. While some people may think of it as a way for companies to cash in again, it also could be a great way to get more people to play fantastic games or add in features PSP owners always wanted in their games, but couldn’t have due to the handheld’s limitations.

So far, only one PSP Remaster game has been announced – Monster Hunter Portable 3rd. It’ll be released in Japan with HD graphics, support for the DualShock 3 controller, PSP save file compatibility and even online multiplayer. Which has gotten us at Gamertell thinking, what next…

Every console eventually gets ridiculous peripherals. They’re the accessories that might sound interesting or look cool initially, but flop. They could be poorly executed. They may not get enough support from companies. They might just be ridiculous.

Nintendo’s systems seem to attract them the most. The NES had R.O.B., the Power Glove and the Power Pad. For some reason, Nintendo thought the Game Boy needed the Game Boy Camera and Printer. Even the DS had the rather pointless DS Rumble Pak. Plus, we can’t forget Wii Speak, Nintendo’s microphone peripheral released in 2008 that’s compatible with a whopping 12 games.

Now, there’s the uDraw GameTablet for the Wii, which was released in November 2010…