In his evil plot to take over the Mushroom Kingdom, Fawful tricks Bowser into eating a magic mushroom. The mushroom causes Bowser to begin inhaling everything around him, including Mario, Luigi and Princess Peach! Do the Mario Bros. have the guts to rescue Peach and escape?

Set in the near future Raven Squad is a unique blending of RTS and FPS genres, as the game puts you in control of two groups of mercenary squads who crash land behind enemy lines in the Amazonian jungles. It will require tactical planning and a liberal amount of brute force to escape to safety.

Modern Warfare 2 continues the gripping and heart-racing saga with an unprecedented level of action as players face off against a new threat dedicated to bringing the world to the brink of collapse. Treyarch revealed that there will not be a pre-launch demo as the dev. team is currently working on polishing the game itself.

Well today's message is going to be rather short ....

We went out, and we got drunk.

Released in 1999, Homeworld brings 3D warfare to the vastness of space, the next evolution of real-time strategy games delivers a fresh experience in a totally 3D universe, giving players a new level of freedom to create new styles of gameplay.

Half-Minute Hero is a bold new concept of having the player save the world, 30 seconds at a time. The player must fight, shoot, summon, and protect in four distinct modes, each containing a different perspective and unique gameplay style, across a total of 120 varied stages.

Introducing new class-based gameplay, mobile bases and persistent player progression throughout all game modes, C&C4 offers players new, innovative and compelling strategic depth. EA is conducting a survey asking members of the C&C community what they would like as pre-order bonus, ranging from extra units, maps, levels, beta access, soundtrack and more...

Borderlands is an all-new sci-fi action game combining elements of first-person action titles with player customization and vehicular combat. Gearbox CEO Pitchford revealed that so far what we've seen is only a small part of the game, and with 60+ hours of questing available to the player in just the first play through, there's much more to explore as they've deliberately been holding back showing off too much content.

The weekend is off to somewhat of  a weak start. The BBQ that I was SO looking forward to didn't happen. An odd change of plans stood in the way of my grilled steak, dammit!

I'll have to make up for it when we hit the town with some other friends tonight, Vinnie's, here I come!

Hope you all checked out our Nathan Fillion interview yesterday! If not, you better be on your way right now! It's good, and it's kind of funny to read about a Hollywood celebrity actually being into gaming, unlike other actors who "claim" they are gamers just to promote a game. Nathan, beware, I'll be sneaking up on you with an energy sword or whack you with the (gravity) hammer of doom!

As I mentioned earlier this week, we'll probably be doing a few site updates, little tweaks here and there, and catching up on some Tokyo Game Show coverage, so there'll be plenty to read around these parts of the Internets.

In an original storyline developed exclusively for the game, Ben and the Omnitrix will journey to outer space and distant never-before-seen planets for the first time ever in the series, using his alien forms and their special powers in an effort to thwart a grand scheme to conquer the universe one planet at a time.

Another day, another batch of game trailers was released. Instead of giving them all their own posts, we grouped them, and so far there are trailers for:

• Risen [X360/PC] - Cinematic Story Trailer
• Brutal Legend [ALL] - Dem-o-thon Trailer
• Assassin's Creed II [ALL] - TGS 09 Trailer
• Obscure: The Aftermath [PSP] - Launch Trailer
• Ion Assault [XBLA] - Multiplayer Trailer
  

We will update this throughout the day when new trailers become available. Read more for download links ...

Based on the animated TV series Bakugan, the game tells the story of Dan and his friends as they battle their Bakugan Brawlers to save the planet of Vestroia and, ultimately, Earth from destruction.

Dragon Quest: Wars is a turn-based strategy game played out across a number of quick and challenging rounds. The player will pick four monster playing pieces to battle on their team, with Dragon Quest superstars Slime, Dracky, Hammerhood, Healslime, Chimaera and Golem all available to choose from.

G-Force revolves around a team of trained secret agent guinea pigs that take on a mission for the US government to stop an evil billionaire who plans to destroy the world with household appliances.

South Park Let's Go Tower Defense Play! is a fast-paced action/strategy game that combines these lovable characters with snowball battles and tower defense tactics.

Set 50 years after the climactic events of the original Red Faction, this third-person, open-world action-shooter will return to Mars and once again redefine the limits of destruction-based gameplay.

Halo 3: ODST lets people experience events leading up to the epic story told in Halo 3 through the eyes of an Orbital Drop Shock Trooper, as they search for clues leading to the whereabouts of their scattered squad and the motivations behind the Covenant's invasion of New Mombasa. We had a chance to chat with Nathan Fillion, the actor who voiced Gunnery Sergeant Edward Buck.

EA Sports MMA will feature the most authentic, intense and broad mixed martial arts experience to date - complete with a vast array of top fighters and fighting styles from around the world. EA revealed that it has signed Jason "Mayhem" Miller, Muhammed "King Mo" Lawal and Frank "The Legend" Shamrock to appear in EA Sports MMA.

Dead Rising 2 will take the franchise to a new level of zombie-killing fun with tens of thousands of zombies, the all new gambling paradise of Fortune City to explore and conquer plus a host of new in-game objects that can all be used as deadly weapons to stave off the zombie assault.

Two years ago, at Leafmore High, a group of young teenagers were trapped inside their school and hunted by monsters that had been released by the maniac headmaster. Some of them survived that terrible night, while others perished. In Obscure: The Aftermath, the survivors have picked up their lives and joined college.

Battlefield Heroes is a Play 4 Free cartoon-style shooter that will bring classic Battlefield gameplay to a mass audience, featuring a built-in matchmaking system to ensure that players of equal skill are paired together for fair play. To celebrate the two million users milestone, EA will release a free ‘Heroes of the Fall’ update for the game, including a brand new map, on Sept. 30.

Another day, another batch of games shipped to stores. Instead of giving them all their own posts, we grouped them, and so far there are announcements for:

• Gridrunner Revolution (PC)
• Aion (PC) - Europe Only
• Spyborgs (Wii) - Europe Only
• Naruto Shippuden: Legends: Akatsuki Rising (PSP) - Europe Only
• Dead Space Extraction (Wii) - Europe Only

We will update this throughout the day when new announcements become available. Read more for details ...

F1 2009 will deliver an authentic and accessible recreation of the current Formula One season, featuring a variety of race modes, customizable driver aids, multiplayer support, new aerodynamics, slick tires, the KERS boost system, the Singapore night race, and the debut of World Champion Lewis Hamilton.

This heat wave that they predicted last week is nowhere to be seen. It's sunny, of course, but temperatures have been normal for this time of the year. Maybe this weekend!

We had plans to head out to an Activision press event to check out one of its upcoming games, but things got in the way, so Adam was all on his own. Much to his delight, the goody bag was actually full of goodies and not just press junk this time around.

Tomorrow, we're heading out for some barbecue at a friend's place, and I just realized that it is the first BBQ we've been to, and summer just ended! Shame on me! I'll have to eat an extra portion of grilled meat just to make up for that omission!

As I teased last week, we finally managed to catch up with Nathan Fillion in between takes on his TV series "Castle" and had a little chat about his voice-over work as Buck in Halo 3: ODST, so check it out.

Set during a tumultuous period of Japanese history, Sengoku Basara Samurai Heroes follows players as they fight their way to the dramatic battle of Sekigahara. Players will take up the swords and spears of more than a dozen fierce samurai warriors in huge battles against hundreds of opponents in many exciting stages that lead up to the main event.