I hope that all of you have a wonderful holiday with your family and friends. Of course I expect you to be gaming during your time off. What are you planning to play? As for me, my brother has a PlayStation 3 and I’ve been instructed to pack a DualShock 3 to Hawaii. I’m also sorta kinda hoping that Baldur’s Gate: Enhanced Edition for OSX gets approved by Apple next week (not likely). Really though, my Christmas break will be about family, swimming in warm ocean water, and soaking up … more

I’m not really into vampires (blame Twilight…and Twilight fans), so I was surprised by how jazzed I was after seeing screens for The Incredible Adventures of Van Helsing. This upcoming action-RPG for Windows PC and Xbox Live Arcade has Dracula’s nemesis hunting baddies with a sword, a pistol, and magic. Fans of games like Baldur’s Gate Dark Alliance, Marvel Ultimate Alliance, and Bastion will definitely want to give this one a look. As a mark for action-RPGs of this style, I’m excited to get my hands… more

Just in case you missed it, here are my — and more importantly, your fellow RPadholics’ — picks for the “Best of 2012.”

Best TV Show of the Year
Best Comic Book of the Year
Best Gadget of the Year
Best Movie of the Year
Best Game of the Year

Now get ready to enter the bitter barn, as the rest of this week’s Coffee Talk columns will be about…more

To my frustration, my energy levels are still inconsistent. There are a lot of things I want to do and games that I want to play, but I still get tired after a few hours of…well, anything really. Simple things, like walking to the grocery, leave me pretty sapped. I’m going to muster some energy to play some WWE 13 this weekend. I meant to start the story mode last weekend, but I was still out of it (even without Vicodin!). I’ve played a few standalone matches to try out … more

In case you haven’t seen it, here’s Conan O’Brien’s excellent review of Hitman Absolution. It’s another fantastic installment of the “Clueless Gamer” series…and far more entertaining than the vast majority of videogame reviews out there. Give it a watch and let me know what you think (please!).… more

My post-surgery energy levels are still all over the place, but my attention span has stabilized (probably due to less Vicodin consumption), so I’m going to get back to gaming this weekend. I’m meeting up with my friend from THQ later today and she’ll have a copy of WWE 13 waiting for me. I’m really excited to play the Attitude Era storylines. The video clips are straight from the WWE archives, which is pure awesome. Paul Heyman did a lot of the writing to help shape these classic stories into … more

BusinessWeek has a long and fantastic interview with Apple CEO Tim Cook. The interview covers a wide variety of topics, including Cook’s leadership style, his discussions with Steve Jobs, and how Apple will innovate going forward. One portion of the interview that’s getting a lot of play is Cook’s revelation that Apple is investing $100-million to move some Mac production to the U.S. Here’s a quote:

Next year we are going to bring some production to the U.S. on the Mac. We’ve been working on this for a long time,

… more

Tiny Barbarian DX is a charming old-school platform game that needs Kickstarter funding. It’s a classic platformer that has you running, jumping, beating the snot out of minions, beating the crap out of bosses, and collecting items. The initial plans are for a Windows PC release and four episodes that take about an hour each. With additional funding, more platforms and episodes could be added. (I’m hoping for a Mac OS release, personally.)

Unlike many Kickstarter projects, it doesn’t cost a lot to fund the game and get an … more

This weekend I’ll be playing Incentive Spirometer. The graphics are dated, the sound design is barebones, and the gameplay is extremely repetitive. That said, it’s addictive…and also incredibly useful for increasing lung capacity after surgery. Aside from that, I’m still not able to play anything too intense. Even though I’m getting stronger, I’m also getting more paranoid about all the staples in me and my abs are really, really sore. Perhaps I’ll load up Flower and Journey for some relaxing gaming.

How about you? What’s on your weekend playlist?… more