It was one of the year's most anticipated gadgets, but don't expect to find it under the Christmas tree this year. The PS Vita is the next version of Sony's handheld PlayStation video game system. Although it enjoyed a launch into stores this weekend in Japan, Sony has announced today that for the United States and Canada, the release date won't be until February 22nd. Two versions of the PS Vita will be offered, but only one, a Wi-Fi model for $249.99, will be sold here in Canada. The more expensive Wi-Fi/3G version will be sold in the US for $299.99. Games for the system will vary between $9.99 and $49.99 each.

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After much hype and many delays, Microsoft’s new dashboard software for their Xbox 360 is now available for download. It’s the most significant change made to the video game system since 2008 and one that aims to make it more of a digital entertainment system, where watching online movies, TV shows, and music is just as important as playing video games.

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I walked into a tavern and stepped up to the bar. Video game controls being what they are, I missed my mark slightly and stumbled into a nearby chopping block. A large axe, set into the wood, teetered and came loose. “Watch out!’ cried the bartender, as the axe head toppled past myself and the other patrons on its way to the floor. This is the astonishing level of detail in Skyrim, an epic two hundred-hour game in a world vast with everyday details that have nothing to do with the main story. The furniture is not bolted to the floor and characters are not mannequins waiting for response triggers. Everything has a life of its own.

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It’s too soon for a remastered version of Halo. While yes, ten years have passed and time moves quickly within the culture of video games, it’s not enough for a sense of nostalgia to set in. A release like this should be as much about emotion as the technology. Playing the game, I find it’s still an all-too-familiar experience. It’s only been a year since the release of Halo Reach and in a franchise that has been so consistent in themes, characters, and look it’s hard to feel like we’ve been away from its alien glass-and-steel corridors for very long.

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Real characters, real story, and a real sense of adventure. In all three aspects Uncharted 3: Drake’s Deception is a match for any book, any movie. Every piece of action, every shoot-out, every chase, every puzzle, serves the story and moves the adventure forward. Most games exist as an activity, exercises in shooting and strategy peppered by attempts at a story to keep it interesting, but when you fight in Uncharted 3, it’s to escape, to chase, to rescue. You feel like you should stop and catch your breath, but there’s no time, you just have to keep going. It’s extraordinary.

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Fumito Uedo is the kind of video game creator whose work could be added to a gallery as installation art. His tales seem archetypal, a boy rescuing a princess from a tower, but they capture every moment with such a distinct, visual emotion that you’re left feeling that you’ll never see their like again. With The Last Guardian due for release next year Sony has rightly decided to remaster his first two games, Ico and Shadow of the Colossus, upgrading them to High Definition and 3D while packaging them both with new bonus content. The extras aren’t important, the chance for those who missed these games to find them is. [More]

It’s been a long time since anyone felt that marionettes were cool and yet that’s exactly the case in The Gunstringer, a game that uses a stringed-puppeteer’s movements as the controls for Microsoft’s Kinect system. Held up and to the side, your left hand controls the invisible strings of a cowboy puppet while your right hand, with forefinger and thumb forming a pistol, control the aiming and shooting. You pull your right hand back at the elbow each time you shoot in that universal “pew, pew” action all kids understand and it’s that bit of mimicry that makes this game an absolute blast.

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Once again Marcus Fenix leads his merry band of heavy lugs through a war more defined by self-destruction than adversity. The military he serves has sacrificed millions of civilians and several cities in misguided attempts to wipe out their enemies, leaving little of the world left to save and armies reduced to ragtag gangs using makeshift weapons. The only upside is that the madness seems to have burned itself out and thankfully, after what seems like a really long grind, the end is really and truly in sight.

  

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Look out James Cameron, a younger generation of 3D filmmakers are set to arrive. Nintendo will be releasing a free software update for their Nintendo 3DS handheld this November that will add a number of new features and tweaks, most notably the ability to record 3D movies. When the device was first released earlier this year, the main selling point was that you could play video games in 3D without the need for special glasses. While the 3D effect is quite good, less-than-expected sales seemed to hint that playing games in 3D wasn't the big appeal. Instead the device's cameras has proven a top draw for many who use it as a quick substitute for a digital camera. The new update will let users record movies of their birthday parties and sports events, then let their friends view them in 3D using the system's glasses-free screen. A 3D camera may prove to be more exciting than a 3D game if the trend is right.

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When it’s done really well a police procedural can be a true masterpiece of crime fiction. You know what the detective is thinking, you’re included in the mental work, and get to follow along through every aspect of the investigation where’s there’s no priority given to the dramatic over the mundane. Done poorly and you’ll want to gnaw your own arm off. L.A. Noire does it with mastery, uncovering a story you’ll carry in your thoughts for days, months, even years.

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