So, funny story, I think Backloggers Anonymous is cursed when it comes to handling games designed by Irrational. The reason? Well, this is actually our second first recording for System Shock 2. The first one somehow disappeared from my computer after we recorded it, and the backup is gone too. I half expected SHODAN to email me something like I'VE DELETED YOUR PODCAST, INSECT, but that didn't happen, so I'm gonna chalk it up to the curse.

So, you’ve picked your game and are ready to jump in the ring, but you don’t know where to start. Thankfully, this problem can be solved with the simplest of concepts – favoritism. It’s something that we as people naturally do when it comes to anything we enjoy, and fighting games are no different. When it comes to selecting a game to play, the biggest draw is usually something that you personally find interesting. This also goes for the characters you select to play as. In most cases the character you elect to dedicate most of your time into directly ties into your overall enjoyment of the game. So naturally it’s best to go with what you like.

Well, it seems like you guys enjoyed my last find while YouTube diving, so here's something else I've found; an artist who calls himself SongeLeReveur. He brings a unique perspective to a lot of video game music, and covers a lot of songs in ways I've never heard before. Since Final Fantasy music is awesome, let's start with some Uematsu love.

The PixlBit staff is quite diverse in their gaming passions, and it’s one of my favorite things about writing here. In addition to being “Mr. Final Fantasy” I probably also hold the title of biggest Metal Gear Solid fanatic. Well, I might tie with Patrick Kijek, but MGS is a series that I’ve followed religiously since playing the Japanese Famitsu demo disc way back in 1998. It follows, then, that I should be beyond excited at the announcement of Metal Gear Solid 5, right? While I’m always happy to hear of another main entry in the series directed by Hideo Kojima, I just can’t muster up much enthusiasm for this one. Even the shininess of new console hardware and the Fox Engine can’t get my blood pumping. Why? Chalk it up prequel fatigue, and a longing for what could have been. (Note: The following editorial contains major spoilers for Metal Gear Solid 4. You have been warned.)

We’re happy to announce the winner of our HarmoKnight contest!  Even though there wasn’t too much competition, we were happy to see some of the community get involved by writing blogs about music and rhythm games and really liked to see everyone else comment like crazy on each of the entries.  Our community at PixlBit is great, and we love having you guys here.  Click through to find out who our big winner is!

And the winner is...

In this edition of Push Start to Continue Jesse talks a bit about the PixlBrew experiment and just a few impressions of his experience with BioShock: Infinite thus far.  And many games are discussed, like Star Fox 64 and its rumble pack, Soul Hackers, Professor Layton, Luigi’s Mansion and more!  And, of course, we couldn’t help but discuss how pizza delivery is better with Kinect.

Fighting games can be some of the most intimidating games out there. Whether it was back in the arcades where every victory relied on your hard earned money, or today where playing online unprepared can lead to some embarrassing losses. Though a tough nut to crack, fighting games can also be extremely rewarding. 

MIA is back for a new season after the 2013 MIA champ was crowned.  We let you, the PixlBit community decide on what the season’s first MIA spotlight would be.  Your decision was the dark horse candidate Jade Empire. A game that practically no one on staff has played. 

EA has been in the news a lot lately, and it’s been pretty much all negative. Between the advent of the Online Pass, the botched launch of SimCity, and the appearance of micro transactions in full retail games like Mass Effect 3 and Dead Space 3, it’s really easy to dump on the company. I’m not here to do that, though. I have a complicated relationship with EA; one that moved from hate to love to apathy. So turn down the nerd rage for five minutes, because I’m about to present a different opinion on what a vocal minority consider to be the most hated company in America.

Hello, and *cough cough* welcome to *hack* another episode of *wheeze* Nerds Without Pants! Our last episode was so freaking epic that Julian fell ill. Well, not really, but he's rather under the weather this week, so hopefully you enjoy this shorter show as Patrick takes up the slack.

If you were paying attention yesterday during Nintendo’s "Nintendo Direct" address, you might’ve noticed a common theme undercutting the entire broadcast. Let’s take a look at some of the biggest properties put on display: Yoshi’s Island 3, Donkey Kong Country Returns 3D, The Legend of Zelda (A Link to the Past 2), Earthbound, and Mario & Luigi: Dream Team, which saw a change in visuals/perspective that makes it even closer in style to its spiritual predecessor, Super Mario RPG . Maybe it’s just me, but this line-up is conjuring up some strong memories of the SNES.

Earthbound is on the way to the Virtual Console! I thought it would never happen. Other good news from today's Nintendo Direct includes a new Zelda title, a new Yoshi's Island game, and some release dates. However, all of this information is sombered by a shocking realization: With the exception of SiNG Party and debatably Kirby's Dream Collection: Special Edition, Nintendo hasn't released a single console game that was announced after E3 2011. Mystifying! Oh, and the podcast actually starts up with some talk about EA's latest "de"-ward followed by the continuing Amazon/Nintendo mystery. Click through to listen!

I'm a big fan of a lot of the stuff gamers post to YouTube, especially when they post something that they've created on their own. I've spent hours checking out covers of mega man music, humorous game commentary, and people breaking games for fun. I've even thrown my own hat into the ring recently with my own video,  but never in a million years did I see this coming

[Update] The poll is now closed. Thanks to everyone who participated!

And the winning label is…

[UPDATE: The contest is now closed.  We'll let you know very soon who our winner is!  Thanks to everyone who participated.]

This week’s episode of Push Start to Continue is all over the place.  Mike finally finishes a bunch of games over the weekend, Jesse succumbs and upgrades to the 3DS XL, they both share thoughts on the next Xbox, SquareEnix’s sales forecast folly, and that new Batman game.  Plus Mike gets all lovey on BioShock: Infinite (in a spoiler free fashion) and Jesse reveals his game of the generation.

Final thoughts: Pigsy is a pig, Monkey is kinda like a monkey, and Trip is... kinda hot. What, you want to know more? Well listen to the 'cast!

This is a video game site, and you are a video game fan, but sometimes it’s important to look at games that have no video at all. These games appeal to players for the same reasons we pump thousands of dollars into our hobby and can give us great insight into some fundamentals of the latest modern console releases.  Mechanical games are still around, mainly spitting out tickets at Chuck E. Cheese’s, but I want to explore some classics too.  Whenever possible I plan to look at some of these games and discuss how they operate, why they’re fun, and if there’s a way to simulate playing them without too much trouble. 

[UPDATE: The people have spoken! Due to community input, we've added a fourth option!  Unfortunately this means that the poll has to be reset - so if you already voted come back and do it again!]

It's time again for Nerds Without Pants! This week, JD joins us for a very special look at growing up in the '90s, and all the great games we experienced back then. So lace up your army boots, tie a flannel around your waist, and chug some Crystal Pepsi folks, because this episode of NWP is full of attitude and is so effing XTREME!

It’s been an exciting couple of weeks, but just like that MIA March Madness is winding down.  The polls have been closed and the votes tallied.  It was anyone’s guess as to who would be crowned the 2013 MIA Champion, but we do have a clear winner.  And that winner is….

In this week's PB & Jason, a few blogs are invaded, specifically Nick's "Ask Me Anything -- Volume #2" and GirlGamerBritt's "Replay Hell: Final Fantasy XIII (Yes, I'm going there)." Beyond those blogs, talk continues about Square-Enix's problems, courtesy of Coolsetzer's comment last issue, along with discussion about why LucasArts may have closed, Gearbox's Borderlands 2, and a little bit of Luigi's Mansion 2. Click through to listen to the podcast!

[UPDATE: The polls have been closed and the winner will be announced in just a little while.  Thanks to everyone for voting!]