Rockstar has seen a ton of success on the game market with much of it being attributed to the critically acclaimed Grand Theft Auto. If you’re not familiar with this franchise you’ve literally been living under a rock as its open ended sandbox gameplay has been giving gamers joy ever since the release of GTA 3 back in the PS2 days. However, the most recent release of GTA is none other than GTA 4 which was made availbale for the Xbox 360 and PS3 on April 29th, 2008. Well, now that it’s been nearly three years since the release of GTA 4 many are wondering when Rockstar will get around to releasing the next highly anticipated addition.

While Rockstar has yet to say anything regarding the release of the game or what the game itself will entail everyone’s favorite video game retailer (or least favorite, depending on who you ask) Gamestop has just posted the game with a release date of January 15, 2012. Of course, we’ve seen stuff like this before only to have Gamestop pull the listing later but it’s definitely something to make note of. If, however, this release date is even remotely correct we’ll probably see an official announcement during this year’s E3 in June. Stay tuned.

The Nintendo Wii has sold like hot cakes pretty much ever since it was released. This isn’t much as a surprise as it introduced the home console market to motion controlled gaming allowing just about anyone whose anyone to pick up and play. However, now that both Microsoft and Sony have their own motion controllers on the market Wii sales have begun to dwindle. Due to this, many have speculated that Nintendo will come forth soon to announce the second generation Wii or an entirely new console altogether.

In fact, new rumors have just surfaced from big name publications like Game Informer and IGN that say Nintendo will be debuting the Wii HD during this year’s E3 in June. Unfortunately, these rumors come from completely anonymous sources so there’s virtually no way to confirm them but June is just around teh corner so we won’t have long to wait.

What is the Wii HD, you ask? Well, we’d speculate that it’s the same exact thing as the original Wii but with beefed up hardware allowing games to better compete with the likes of the PS3 and Xbox 360. What do you think? Is that something you’d like?

Kinect is without a doubt the most unique motion controller on the market today. While the PS3 and Wii feature physical controllers, the Kinect features nothing of the sort. Instead, Kinect is nothing more than a camera capable of capturing a gamer’s actions in a 3D environment. This means that your entire body is quite literally the controller.

While hackers have been doing all sorts of crazy things with the Kinect, Microsoft is doing what they can to remind us that they are in fact the ones who built the product. In fact, it was just made known that the company has added  support for Kinect to the Xbox 360′s native Netflix client. Unfortunately, according to various reports it seems that the implementation is not very good as you’re only capable of browsing through a small list of recommended movies with the Kinect while you still need to use an Xbox 360 controller for everything else.

Pretty lame but better than nothing, I suppose. Have you tried it out?

There are many different games that get released and many of them are quite good. However, this is an obvious fact. What isn’t an obvious fact is that many times the mods made for some of the biggest name games go on to, in some cases, be as popular or even more popular than the original game. Just take a look at Counter-Strike which started of as a mod for the highly popular Half-Life. Unfortunately as of late studios have been neglecting to release proper modding tools for some of the hottest games with Modern Warfare 2 being a prime example.

Luckily, Treyarch is looking to make things different with Black Ops. As you may or may not know the studio let us know quite some time ago that they would be releasing modding tools for Black Ops at some point in the future but did not make note of a solid release date. Well, that has all changed as well as the company has just come forth to let us know that the Black Ops modding tools will be available in May.

We’re excited to see what the community comes up with.

When you think fighting games there may be many that come to mind but at the head of the pack are none other than Tekken and Street Fighter. Both of these games have been around for quite some time being pushed out by Namco and Capcom respectively. However, as you’re sure to know, Capcom is looking to push out a game dubbed Street Fighter X Tekken which is an entirely new IP from what we’ve seen out of the company in the past.

Well, if you thought that Street Fighter X Tekken was all Cpacom had planned for 2012 you’d be wrong. The reason I say this is because the company has just let us know that they actually have a second all new IP planned for release in 2012. Of course, there is virtually no information known about what this game will be like but it’s definitely something to keep on your radar.

What do you think Capcom has planned?

Valve is one of the most influential game developers on the market today largely thanks to their highly successful Half-Life franchise. However, they have many different games on the market that have been causing waves including Counter-Strike and Left 4 Dead. However, the release date for one of their highly anticipated games is quickly approaching and that is none other than Portal 2. While just about everything to be known is known about the game, there is still information coming out despite it having an April 19th release date.

Today, the information that was made known probably won’t come as as a good thing to many consumers – specifically those who have a PlayStation 3. The reason I said this is because Valve has just let us know that there will be no keyboard & mouse support for the PS3 version of Portal 2. Of coruse, this won’t come as too much of a shocker to those who are partial to game controllers but everyone knows that FPS gamers were meant to be played with a keyboard and mouse.

Are you getting Portal 2?

Many games as of late feature high tech gameplay, amazing graphics and more. Of course, this isn’t much of a surprise as game developers are doing everything they can to harness the hefty hardware packed into current generation consoles. However, while many games feature great gameplay, some folks have suggested that developers are switching their focus from gameplay and only worrying about making ridiculous, over the top graphics.

Luckily, if you’re one who thinks that games of yesteryear are more your thing there is no shortage of rereleases. In fact, it was just noted today that the iconic beat-em’-up Streets of Rage 2 is now available for $2.99 on the iOS App Store. What’s great about this game is that it features all of the content we’ve come to know and loe from the original title but adds in much welcomed features such as Bluetooth multiplayer.

Go get it and let us know what you think!

2K Games is running a great daily deal on Steam where it slashed 40% off of the price tag of the fifth installment on the Civilization franchise, Civilization V, which now costs just $30. However, the offer is valid only for today, so hurry up and get a copy if you’re interested. Steam Link. In addition to the game, all Civilization V DLC is 40% off as well — but only for today. For more on the game, check out our Civilization V review.

2K Games is running a daily deal for the next three days, so it’s a good idea to keep a lookout on Steam for some good 2K Games. Yesterday, they had BioShock and BioShock 2 for $5 bucks a piece.

We’ll keep you posted on tomorrow’s deal from 2K as well.

If you’re a football fan you’ll know that there has been a ton of talk circulating recently regarding a possible lock out. This would essentially see no NFL season beginning in 2012 – something would surely anger a ton of fans. However, it seems that regardless if there is a lock out or not, Madden NFL 12 will be forging ahead. News comes to us straight from EA Sports head honcho Peter Moore to let us know that Madden will be shipping on August 30th, 2011 of this year no matter what happens to the NFL.

Of course, this doesn’t really come as a surprise considering football fans everywhere are going to be looking for a game to play if/when the lockout goes into effect.

Snowboarding is a great sport and as with any other great sport there are a ton of video games based on said sport. Of these video games SSX is without a doubt one of the most loved. Unfortunately, we haven’t seen a good SSX title for several years but that’s looking to change with the latest installment dubbed simply SSX. This new title will feature over the stop stunts which we’ve come to know in love in the previous titles but will add in all new gameplay such as allowing gamers to utilize a wing suit. Well, while we’ve known quite a bit about the game for some time we haven’t known when it will be hitting store shelves. Luckily, it was just announced that EA will officially be releasing SSX for the PS3 and Xbox 360 in January of 2012. Yes, it’s quite some time to wait but with the amount of content they’re looking to pack into this game it shouldn’t be a surprise.