3DS

Is Dead or Alive: Dimensions kiddy porn? Maybe it is, maybe it isn't.

The Dead or Alive series has never pretended to be anything but what it was. It featured nubile, scantily-clad women with entertaining breast physics that kicked and punched opponents across a fighting ring or stage. It was a game aimed squarely at young men and over the years it catered to that demographic to much success.

It's been years since I actually cared about a pair of kicks or Converse for that matter. I would gladly make an exception though if Nintendo and Converse bothered to release these limited-edition Super Mario Bros.-themed Chuck Taylor Converse sneakers in the United States.

Not sure how I feel about this. While I have no sympathy for Osama Bin Laden (he is slowly roasting in Hell and I am glad that he is), a videogame parody feels premature even weeks after his death. Still, it is a Mario parody and I figured you'd want to see it (if you haven't already) and judge for yourself.

Good thing Mario (and most video game characters/mascots) never got a portal gun. He (they) would get far too lazy and ruin his (their) games.

Recent economic trends—notably rapid increases in fuel prices and associated price hikes in the general cost of living—should be something that the console video game industry starts taking seriously. Everything is getting more expensive at a most inopportune time for the domestic economy, and with the decline of disposable income, it's only a matter of time before pain is once again felt by the console gaming industry.

We're back! Again! Join us for captivating spoiler-free discussions of Portal 2 and Dead Space 2. Plus: the merits of silent protagonists, PSN madness, Chi buys a 3DS, Mike subscribes to Final Fantasy XIV, Tim loses it over Dante's Inferno, and so much more. We were just so happy to hear each other's voices, we couldn't stop gabbing. With Chi Kong Lui, Brad Gallaway, Mike Bracken, Richard Naik, and Tim "Chance" Spaeth.

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Links:

• Dead Space 2 Review
• Portal Review
• Portal 2 Review
• Dante's Inferno Review

Please send feedback and mailbag questions to podcast (at) gamecritics (dot) com.

Hokuto "Hok" Konishi is a member of the Quest Crew. (For those that didn't know, Quest Crew were the winners of Season Three of MTV's America's Best Dance Crew. They've been enjoying great success since then making appearances all over the world.)

Konishi injured himself while training so he is sidelined from dancing. However, while he can't express himself with his feet, he still has two working hands and has used them to create this video "tribute" to Super Mario.

One of my new favorite shows comes out of Britain. It goes by the name of Misfits and airs on E4 (whatever that is). Anyway, it features a group of young superheroes (or super anti-heroes) and one of them actually uses parkour to get around.

Now, that has always looked cool, but watching the character who is only now starting to do the parkour  thing, I began to wonder where one would learn to even do this stuff and at a level where you could just traverse a city.

Well, wouldn't you know it, there is a place like that. It purports  to be "California's first indoor facility dedicated to freerunning and parkour."

Whether that is true or not is irrelevant. The skills of the people in the video are amazing and even if there weren't some Mario-theme sections in their facility, I'd still find a reason to post this video here.

I came out pretty strong on Twitter recently, decrying the loss of instruction manuals as publishers such as Ubisoft and EA Sports have made moves to abolish print manuals in exchange for digital manuals that can be found as extra content on the game disc. While publishers are reasoning that eliminating such manuals is better for the environment, it seems evident to me that there are more significant factors at work here.

The GameStation is back with a sequel to its clever Mario Brothers/Grand Theft Auto mash up. This time, there is a new Don, a Don-Key Kong, stepping on Bowser's turf. Who does he call for help? The Brothers Mario of course.

At first I couldn't see Donkey Kong and Mario as enemies going up against Bowser. That was until I realized that, historically speaking, Donkey Kong and Mario have been enemies from Nintendo's beginning. I guess years of watching them pal around in Super Mario Kart, Mario Tennis and Super Smash Bros. skewed my view.