Perhaps you may have forgotten about OnLive already, the digital content distribution and gaming system destined to bring balance to the force change the face of PC gaming forever?  It seems like this type of technology could really indeed do such a thing – or fall flat on it’s face.  Until now, we’ve only seen bits and pieces of the system in action – and only in controlled environments, but on June 17th consumers will finally have the chance to try the technology for themselves, according to the official OnLive blog.

There are a couple catches, however:  the service is only launching for PC and Mac (not the above “mini console”) and the host computer needs to meet specific “network and performance conditions”.  On top of that, the service is $15 a month and does not include the cost of the games themselves.  I also noticed that launch titles like Assassin’s Creed II are considered “top tier” games – it’s not clear exactly what this means just yet, but perhaps there will be a different pricing structure per game.  The $15 gets you access to different rental and purchasing options, but it looks like this is tied to the account you set up with OnLive – meaning if you cancel the account, you’ll no longer be able to stream or play the games.

Call me old fashioned, but I’d rather own my digital goods, and I’d just as soon invest the $150 a year subscription cost into a new video card or similar PC gaming component.  But that’s just me.  If you’re interested, OnLive has a registration special which gives you a shot at getting the first three months of fees waived.

EA is getting ready to release the second Sims 3 expansion pack called Ambitions. This expansion pack has new jobs and career paths allowing  you to play your character while at work, something we’ve not been able to do before. This is a whole new way of playing the Sims,previously when they go to work the best we could do was pick a chance card when it comes up.

This time we can play be a doctor or fireman (two of the many choices) and save Sim lives or make chaos. Some of the other new jobs include ghost hunter, inventor, sculptor and investigator. How about an architect, salon stylist or tattoo artist? These careers allow you to make changes to the town and characters. Sounds pretty fun to me, I’ll be picking up a copy of this expansion. Will be available on PC and Mac and for iPhone and iPod touch. Look for this expansion around June of 2010.

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Yesterday, Harmonix announced Rock Band 3 coming this Holiday season. My reaction: eh. While I have been a huge rhythm game fan, I feel the genre is growing a little long in the tooth. There is very little left to innovate without more, crazier hardware, which I’m not buying. I have more than enough plastic instruments. So this begs the question – do we really need another Rock Band?

Don’t get me wrong, I completely understand this from a business perspective. Harmonix needs to make money and making a game is how that happens. I get it. I fully respect everyone at Harmonix and I know they’re not trying to fleece me out of money. But as a gamer with a peripherals all over the house, I want to know what this new game is going to offer than I can’t get with DLC and expansion packs. They’ve said the game will “innovate and revolutionize the music genre once again”, but I have my doubts.

I’ll be waiting to see what the Boston-based development team is going to bring to the table to mix things up a bit. A new version of Rock Band 2 or The Beatles Rock Band or even Green Day Rock Band isn’t something I’m going to pre-order or even run out and buy on launch time. I need to be wowed.

Attention: A Tiger Woods announcement to follow that is only about golf and not what he does with his dong.

Now that I have your attention, Tiger Woods PGA Tour 11 is coming earlier this year, June 8th 2010 to be exact. The game will have all the usual fanfare but with 2 major announcements. First, it will support the new PS3 motion controller which has not been officially announced for a launch date, so chances are you might have the game before the controller comes out. Also, the game will feature the Ryder Cup for the first time. This is the USA vs Europe biennially golf competition which is like the Olympics of golf. You will also note on the released above cover art, Tiger is not alone. Rory McIlroy is there to represent the European tour. Yeah, right. Anyhow, look for this to come your way in June.

The Misadventures of P.B. Winterbottom likely hit the Xbox Live Arcade with little to no fanfare from gamers.  Have you even heard of this game at all? Well, I should slap you if you haven’t, because you should.  Mr. Winterbottom hit Xbox Live on Feb. 17th amidst loads of Dante’s Inferno hoop-lah and the release of Bioshock 2.  You would be surprised to know that since it’s been out the ratings for The Misadventures of P.B. Winterbottom beat out the recently released Alien vs. Predator and are right up there with reviews of Bioshock 2. These are the type of titles hitting store shelves in a heavy release month, but I say we need to let The Misadventures of P.B. Winterbottom get all the praise it deserves.

I’ll go ahead and get the elephant standing in the room out of the way first by mentioning Winterbottom’s similar gameplay elements to it’s twisted counterpart “Braid”.  I happen to be in a sticky situation having walked into review P.B. Winterbottom but already playing and reviewing the other time twisting puzzler game for the PSN.  The similarities between them are there, I won’t fault you that, but after the time bending aspect is taken out of the equation, both games stand on their own independently.  The Misadventures of P.B. Winterbottom surprisingly is the victor here.

In the game, you play as the title character, P. B. Winterbottom.  After I saw Mr. Winterbottom for the first time, I seriously thought they modeled the character after Danny Devito as the Penguin in Batman Returns.  I was just waiting for him to jump and say his trademarked “meh hah heh heh!” laugh as he gathered up pie (which is Winterbottom’s main goal in life).  Winterbottom is a sucker for a good pie (as am I), and will eat every single pie in the world, no matter what the cost.  This leads to an opening of a massive time vortex funnel on a clock face, with Winterbottom still following the intoxicating pie scent into it.  Yeah, so let’s get this straight.  You play a weird Penguin-type character based in the 1920’s era that steals pie, can bend the time space continuum, creates replicas of himself to get more pie, and loves to beat himself senseless?  Okay, so the story doesn’t really make sense here, but do you really need a story other than to just go out and collect pie? I think not.

The world you play in is as if its been ran through a distorted 1920’s movie camera.  The style and charm The Odd Gentlemen put into the game seeps out like pie stuffing.  I haven’t felt so wrapped up in a puzzle game like this one that I actually wanted to just put the controller down, look at each intricate detail of a level, and listen to the incredibly hypnotic musical score of a game.  The game just hits the 1920’s silent film diorama feel out of the park.

By pressing and holding the right trigger down, you activate the “record” action of the game.  Recording Winterbottom’s actions looks like an old movie projector being spun up, with it giving you the ability to record your actions, play them back in continuous loops, and creating replicas of yourself to collect pies.

The gameplay of P.B. Winterbottom is varied, but really doesn’t get too complicated.  The game presents new puzzles and new strategies as you progress, then ultimately teaches you the steps needed to accomplish them.  As you move deeper into the game, you will really only need to recall the last couple of strategies to beat each stage. This type of gameplay element for P.B. Winterbottom was a refreshing change from other puzzle games I’ve played.  This meant there was no need to go back to the beginning of the game and relearn a technique I might have forgotten.

As with all puzzle games I play, I did want to shove my controller through the TV.  P.B. Winterbottom is a puzzle platformer, I expected that, but at times the difficulty sharply increases throughout the game.  P.B. Winterbottom does push the difficulty of the puzzles later in the game, but instead of getting its puzzling aspects and confusion from which older tactic to try, you merely have to figure it out from the last two or three you learned.

With about 51 levels of frustrating diorama goodness found in P.B. Winterbottom, I still clamored for more.  This is more than I can say about Braid.  I don’t know why these two games were ever compared to each other.  They are similar, but if I had to pick between the two, P.B. Winterbottom is stylish, fun, and gets my slice of pie every time.

I highly suggest you pick up The Misadventures of P.B. Winterbottom on the Xbox Live Arcade for 800 MS points.

[A download code of the game was provided by the publisher for review purposes.]

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The God of War series has served as the gold standard for hack-and-slash action games since its inception in 2005. Amazing gameplay, top notch graphics and a compelling storyline have been hallmarks of Kratos’ adventures between Hades and Mount Olympus. For his first foray on the PS3, Kratos made sure to bring his A-game. There’s no doubt about it, this is a must own title and a system seller.

I’ve written and re-written this section of the review quite a few times in an effort to not throw out spoilers. Trust me, you want to experience this game without knowing what’s around the next turn. God of War III is beyond epic. From the levels set on moving Titans climbing Mount Olympus to the the enormous boss battles, this is something that needs to be experienced first hand. God of War III is filled with numerous “wow” moments. Whether it be sheer graphical prowess, technical capabilities, or the non-stop pacing of how things unfold, on quite a few occasions I found myself saying “I can’t believe they pulled that off.”

Throughout the course of the game, you’ll get a solid number of additional weapons, items and abilities that can be leveled up through collecting red orbs, similar to earlier games in the series. I found myself putting most of my early efforts into upgrading my Blades of Exile. Once you get to Level 3 or higher, you’ve got a dominant set of weapons on your hands. I found myself later in the game using the last weapon you acquire as my go-to mode of destruction, although I did switch around frequently for various death-dealing tasks. I particularly enjoyed the overall balance of all weapons and that you couldn’t really just rely on one. However, I did find myself neglecting the Claws of Hades more than any other weapon, but that was just a personal choice.

There is only one complaint I can really say about the game and it’s very minor. God of War III doesn’t do a terrific job catching up new players, so if you haven’t gone through the first two games, either pick up a copy of God of War Collection or read up on the story to get an idea of what Kratos has gone through already. Otherwise, there is very little wrong with the game. I got stuck on some puzzles the first time through, but that was more on me than the game.

If you own a PS3, this is beyond a must buy. This is a system seller if Sony plays their marketing cards right. God of War III is a very strong contender for 2010’s Game of the Year and we’re not even out of Winter. Whether you run out now and throw down a pre-order, camp out at your local Wal-Mart, or take the day off, if you don’t buy a copy of God of War III on March 16th, we’re going to have to question your status as a gamer.

[A copy of the game was provided by the publisher for review purposes.]