It's not always a good thing when a game is highly anticipated, because invariably, it just can't live up to the unrealistic expectations of gamers and game journalists.

"Battlefield 3," the latest first-person shooter from Electronic Arts' acclaimed developer DICE, falls into this trap.

Rockstar Games has released the first trailer for "Grand Theft Auto V" and I've attempted to embed it below. It's my first time posting video here on Playing Critic, so I apologize if there's a hiccup. Also, no, there isn't a release date yet.

"Dead Rising 2: Off the Record" is an excellent example of how the lazy can be cunning.

How else can I explain that Capcom has managed to create a "new" game by modestly altering an existing one?

Id Software, creator of such games as "Doom" and "Quake," has a new first-person shooter on the market, "RAGE."

Oddly enough, it's a bit of a misfire -- one that both draws and repels me. For every positive I can identify in the game-play, I find an equally compelling negative.

I suspect I wouldn't have quite so many issues with "Bodycount" if it had just been released as a budget title. A $19.99 price tag would make up for many of its sins.

But no, this substandard shooter is retailing for $59.99, the same price as most top tier games. It's unconscionable.

I recently started playing "Bodycount," a new first-person shooter published by Codemasters, on the Xbox 360. I'm only four or five missions into the game so far, so please keep in mind this article is not a review.

It's an indirect missive to Codemasters, asking them WHAT THE HECK ARE YOU THINKING?!!

Long before I started playing "Deus Ex: Human Revolution," I plotted in vain about how I'd behave in the game.

As promised, here's a bevy of newly released screenshots for Final Fantasy XIII-2, courtesy of Square-Enix. No, I don't have any explanation of what's going on in the images, other to say that Moogles tend to say "Kupo" alot.

Nintendo of America announced Thursday that it's dropping the price of its newest handheld gaming device, the 3DS, a little more than four months after it launched.

Currently priced at $249.99 at most retailers, the 3DS will be available for $169.99 at retail as of Aug. 12 — a savings of $80.

It might seem odd to you, but I don't think of "F.E.A.R. 3" as a horror game.