Last week, I got to check out a special invite-only event put on by Activision at the YouTube Space LA to preview Guitar Hero Live. While I had seen it in action at E3, this was the first time I really got to spend time with the game, as you’ll see from my less than stellar performance in the video after the jump.

When it comes to the presentation, Guitar Hero Live has absolutely stepped it up. In GH TV, you’re able to play over some of your favorite music videos for songs you already love and there is a massive library of music to select from. At the event, I was the only one to play Green Day ‘Oh Love’ but was thrilled to have the chance to. On the other side is the concert experience with GH Live where the player sees the perspective from being on stage as a member of the band and looking out at a real crowd, not just some polygonal fans.

With all the uncertainty in the world, at least there’s one thing we can pretty much always count on: new Call of Duty games. The latest one is called Call of Duty: Black Ops III.

This new chapter in the franchise takes place in “a dark, gritty future where a new breed of Black Ops soldier emerges and the lines are blurred between our own humanity and the cutting-edge military robotics that define the future of combat.” That does sound cool.

Judge for yourself by watching the first trailer for the game, which has just been released. Look for Call of Duty: Black Ops III to arrive on November 9.

The trailer is after the break.

Another year, another COD, right? It is the one thing you can always count on to terrify publishers from releasing on the same date which makes the week’s purchasing decision a pretty easy one. You’re either getting Call of Duty or you’re not. There aren’t other games to even consider. But with this being the umpteenth release of the blockbuster franchise, how does it live up to previous years and even more importantly, how does it compare to the hype?

The Long

With their being three developers in the rotation now for the Call of Duty franchise, Sledgehammer enters the fray with a new IP with the Advanced Warfare story. A drastically different tone than either Black Ops 2 or Ghost, Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare follows the world of the privatized military which are effectively government sanctioned mercenaries. As seen by all of the marketing materials, this corporation known as Atlas is headed up by the one and only Kevin Spacey and the role he takes as the player’s surrogate father after his own son is killed in combat.

Without giving too much information about the story, it follows pretty much every one of the expected beats. It’s not that it’s bad, but it is not going to surprise anyone either. It’s like going into a summer blockbuster that has no need for plot twists. It has a ton of polish and explosions that prevent you from having to think too hard.

At Comic-Con in San Diego we got the opportunity to take a closer look at the latest additions to Skylanders with Skylanders Trap Team. While we had already gotten a peek at the title, there were still some awesome announcements behind the game along with some great insight from the designers as well.

First came the announcement of the Skylanders Trap Team Dark Edition Starter Pack. Like last year’s SWAP Force Dark Edition, the set will come with some special dark paint variants of characters. Unlike last year’s though, there will be only three new Trap Team members without any sprinkling of classic characters.

It will also come with a new Portal of Power which will have a new feature in addition to a new look, the ability to use Traps to capture villains in game and use them while playing. The Dark Edition will come with a limited edition over sized trap allowing players to capture Chaos.

For most of the gaming popular, this was the first game they ever took home. While there were the select families that had the Atari 2600 or even Pong, it was Super Mario Bros. that made its way into homes across the country in unprecedented number in 1985. After likely billions of hours played and incalculable deaths, there are people still playing in 2014 and trying to beat it JUST a little faster.

YouTuber LordSaradoc has made his name on the space with about 90 videos doing speedruns. Just about a week ago, he uploaded a new one where he looks to have broken the Super Mario Bros. speed run with not just a perfect run with no deaths, but also accomplishing it in world record time.  If everything is accurate, it looks as though LordSaradoc was able to complete the game in 4:57.69. In less than 5 minutes, he was able to run the perfect path doing what most people could only dream of accomplishing.