GamesRadar 24 hour marathon: Aug 19-20 (Call of Duty: Black Ops)

Got plans on August 19? Feel like ending the summer with an unholy binge of video games, horrendous junk food and unhealthy sleep deprivation? Then you, fine sir or madam, need to prepare thine ass for GamesRadar’s third annual 24 hour marathon, beginning at 5pm PST 8/19 and running until 5pm 8/20. Jump in and play with us, plus be on the lookout for giveaways from 6pm to 11pm Friday night!

If you’re interested in watching our mental state slowly deteriorate as we mindlessly plug away at game after game, follow us on Twitter and YouTube, plus check our live stream via JustinTV. We’ll have a continuous feed the entire day/night/day, so follow along, hop in the chat and make this a merry ol’ event... ...

Highlight of the Week: Extreme horseplay (Xbox 360)

This much excitement cannot be good for you. I mean, look at him go! He's giving that virtual horse a damn good thrashing. To be honest, I think this much excitement would be too much for me. He looks like he might actually explode. Check out our more detailed analysis of this amazing trailer (and its Kinect equivalent) here. By far the highlight of our week on GamesRadar.

The classic game appreciation section: Doom 3 (RAGE)

Doom 3 then. Too dark. Too claustrophobic. Too many corridors. Not enough carnage. Closet monsters, closet, monsters, closet monsters. And that torch-or-gun mechanic is cheap as hell. That’s the accepted wisdom of much of the internet these days. But you know what? Much of the internet is full of crap. Yes, Doom 3 has some flaws. Yes, it’s very different from the Dooms of old. But taken on its own terms, it’s also a blistering, nerve-pounding, brutally affecting thrill-ride, one that got under my skin like few other games before it, and had the scare-power to turn my very own home into a nightmarish domain of half-seen horrors, ambiguous noises, and thick, black shadows that absolutely, resolutely did want to kill me as soon as the sun went down. But you know, in a good way.

So follow me, if you will, through the mists of time, and let me recount to you just why Doom 3 is so special. ...

Landmarks of gaming: 1980 - 2011 (Xbox 360)

In 1980, a perplexed and delighted public were getting their heads around Defender, the Mattel Intellivision and this new thing called videogames. Skip forward to 2011 and there's 30 years' worth of canon to revisit - but as with anything, the best-regarded games don't give the full picture... ...

Deus Ex: Human Revolution - Full Access Preview (Deus Ex: Human Revolution)

Chris and myself sat down with Antoine Thisdale, game designer for Eidos Montreal’s upcoming Deus Ex: Human Revolution and took a look at the game in action. This portion of the game takes place in an underground FEMA facility, and as you can see, we’ve taken the highly aggressive route... ...

TalkRadar 171 - It's a madhouse (The Witness)

We talk storage formats, the rising of apes, witnesses, and more... ...

Dead Island: Secret Origins EPISODE 4 [KINDA SPONSORED] (Dead Island)

IT ALL ENDS HERE! Today brings the thrilling conclusion of our soon-to-be Pulitzer Prize-winning Dead Island: Secret Origins saga, and the boys are forced to put it all on the line and make the tough choices. Some will win. Some will lose. Some will roam the earth for all eternity consuming the flesh of living. Good Times! ...

Mortal Kombat: Freddy Krueger FAP (Mortal Kombat (2011))

By now you’ve probably heard that Freddy Kreuger is the new downloadable character in the Mortal Kombat. Obviously, we were ridiculously excited about it, but then nerd rage reared its ugly, nerdy head once we noticed trivial shit like Krueger having two gloves and not being in the likeness of Robert Englund. However, we’re happy to report that Freddy’s appearance in MK is chock-full of glorious Elm Street references. His moves, his fatalities, and GOOD GOD, you simply must see his Babality! ...

Fallout: New Vegas Old World Blues DLC review (Fallout: New Vegas)

Given the relative mediocrity of previous Fallout: New Vegas expansions, Honest Hearts and Dead Money, one could be forgiven for gazing with a jaundiced eye upon yet another seemingly cynical attempt by developer Bethesda to eke out ten more dollars from the series’ fanbase. But don’t let predilections prejudice you: Old World Blues is an exceedingly well written, at times hilariously funny, and generally challenging (in a good way) expansion pack. While it doesn’t alter any fundamental gameplay concepts, it does much more of what Fallout: New Vegas did best: funny dialogue, interesting characters and settings, and plenty of cool items, perks, monsters, and, of course, drugs... ...

Jonathan Blow interview: How to fix the adventure, innovate mainstream games and do a sequel right (Braid - Xbox Live Arcade)

Jonathan Blow is famous for a few things. Almost single-handedly designing, programming and funding the puzzle game Braid. Raising awareness for the indie development scene through lectures, columns, workshops and events. But, perhaps most of all, for having opinions and unlike many in the industry not being afraid to share them... ...

The Top 7... Insanely stupid video game storage media that had no right to work (Xbox 360)

Video games, we're sure we can all agree, are pretty great. In their completed form (or at their least ready-for-fourteen-patches-form) they illuminate our lives with multitudinous delights, beaming purest joy from our TVs, through our eyes, and straight into our brains. But they don't just appear in the world fully-formed. No, they must first be birthed from whatever storage device their magical digital code of dreams is stored on.

Usually these days, that means discs or cartridges, or maybe an internet pipe and your hard drive if you're downloading. But it wasn't always like this. Over the years we've seen some weird, foolhardy, and downright certifiably, illogically insane ways of getting games from developers' computers to your home. In fact one or two of them only just stopped short of steam-power and shamanic ritual. You've probably forgotten a lot of them, or maybe even never knew them, and in many cases that's a good thing. But we're going to remind you regardless, because we're like that. ...

QuakeCon 2011 photo diary (RAGE)

Man, I'll tell ya, Texas is fricken' HOT right now. 107 degrees. Hits you like a wall. Anyway, Texas has more interesting things going on besides the weather - nerd gatherings. You can argue that cosplaying is as nerdy as it gets, but there's something especially geeky about shipping your gigantic desktop PC across the country and flying out to participate in a LAN party. Bonus points if your PC is super tricked-out... ...

Borderlands 2 7 things we want to see (Borderlands 2)

Gearbox has officially lifted the curtain on the follow-up to Borderlands, but only by an inch. So far, all we have to go on is the above image, and while it makes for a nice piece of art, it sheds very little light on what might be coming from this highly anticipated sequel. There’s a guy with two guns, which means we’ll likely be able to hold two guns, and there are some robots and bandits, which means we’ll likely kill some robots and bandits. Beyond that, we’re going to have to wait to find out, but in the meantime, we have seven suggestions for things we’d like to see improved or added in this exciting sequel… ...

Supertrailer 8/1-8/5 - Bass chin edition! (Deus Ex: Human Revolution)

This week's supertrailer features a song from Bastion (which we reviewed last month) entitled "Percy's Escape." We mashed together a trailer using the best of the best this week, including clips from Deus Ex: Human Revolution, Gears of War 3, Warhammer 40k Kill Team, and King of Fighters XIII. See all the trailers in their entirety after the jump.

TalkRadar 170 - Under the wire (Street Fighter III: Third Strike Online Edition)

We barely made it, but Tdar is here again on Friday Assassin's, Street Fighters, and comic talk... ...

Street Fighter III: Third Strike Online Edition: Full Access Playthrough (Street Fighter III: Third Strike Online Edition)

Street Fighter III: 3rd Strike is an oddity in gaming, it's universally recognized by fighting game nerds as the most technically perfect entry the genre has ever seen, but it's also one of the least played by regular gamers. 3rd Strike Online Edition is set to right that wrong with a graphically updated, streamlined version of the game that offers arcade perfect gameplay and proven GGPO netcode that delivers near seamless online play. We sat down with Capcom's Derek Neal, who gave Chris and I a crash course on what 3SO is bringing to the table, and then casually destroyed me in the match we played...  ...

Pole-dancing Lara Crofts video interview (Tomb Raider (2011))

So a little while ago we found out about two students from the University of Bristol - Emy Calder and Bex Brady - that also happen to be keen amateur pole dancers. At first this story would appear to have nothing to do with video games. But you'd be wrong. Because for their pole-dancing routine Emy and Bex dress as seasoned adventurer, obtainer of rare antiquities and iconic polygon woman, Lara Croft. So this story has EVERYTHING to do with video games. Anyway, our offices being based not 20 minutes from Bristol, we thought it would be rude of us if we didn't at least try to get an interview with the pole-dancing Emy and Bex. They obliged. This is the interview:

KAPOW!!! Batman: Arkham City gets a 1960s-style makeover in our amazing video (Batman: Arkham City)

Batman: Arkham City is looking amazing. We know that, you know that - everyone knows it's one of our most-anticipated games of the year. But what if all this 'Dark Knight' sobriety isn't your style? What if you miss the camp, 1960s-era Adam West Batman, with its ridiculous scene transitions, dutch tilts and all the 'THWACK!' and 'KERPOW!' impact bubbles flashing up on the screen? Well, you're in luck, because we've added all that nonsense to gameplay footage of Arkham City. What's that, Robin? That sounds better than shark-repellent bat-spray? Precisely!

The Classic Game Appreciation Section: Ridge Racer Type 4 (Ridge Racer Unbounded)

What a year 1999 was for PlayStation. Developers had new tools to help them squeeze the last drops of horsepower from the machine, brand recognition was global and gameplay was a priority again after the Great Polygon Rush of '96. Ridge Racer Type 4 rode the crest of that wave, offering some of the best graphics the machine ever produced, along with sublime handling, atmosphere and soundtrack. And, unlike Gran Turismo, it hasn't aged badly in the slightest. In fact, it's still sensational. Let me show you why:

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