We thought we might never feel the same excitement for our furry blue friend Sonic the Hedgehog again, but Sega’s release of two trailers for Sonic 4, a new sidescrolling, episodic adventure, is stirring up our emotions again. The 16th edition of Trailer Madness also features Fret Nice, Iron Man 2, Platinum Life, Trauma Team, Ragnarok, Super Moneky Ball Step & Roll and Red Dead Redemption.
Title: Rock Band
Platform: iPhone
Publisher: EA, MTV Games
Developer: EA Montreal, Harmonix
Rating: 
Review by: Bill Jones
It seems that pretty much every video game made needs some sort of iPhone port or companion nowadays, and Rock Band is apparently no exception. The title made its debut on consoles with the design of getting four likeminded players in the same room to rock out to an ever-expanding tracklist, plastic instruments in hand, following rhythm-based prompts on screen. So the iPhone seems a strange place for the series to head. Then again, Harmonix was able to find handheld success on PlayStation Portable with Rock Band Unplugged by mixing up the formula, so maybe it’s not that far of a stretch. (more…)
We always like acknowledging our happy contest winners. Both April (snwbuni) and Aaron (Jesteraron) sent photos our way, copies of X-Men Origins: Wolverine in hand. Also, we’re announcing the winners of the two copies for Xbox 360. Congrats to the winners, and thanks to everyone who entered. Thanks to Activision for sponsoring the giveaway.
X-Men Origins: Wolverine Winners
April (snwbuni), of Eaton Rapids, Mich.
Eric (staredownthesky), of Crestwood, Ill.
Ponderings is a new idea we’re testing out for the site, so please feel free to give us your feedback. Consider it a behind-the-scenes look, or a more direct line to the personalities of our writers. The purpose of ponderings is to provide an avenue for our writers to casually address some of the games and comics they’re playing, 
deliver opinions on recent industry news, and maybe even get a little off-topic here and there. We’ll be taking turns writing them, and it’s a chance for the readers to get to know the staff a little better, and maybe even strike up some conversation. We hope you’ll enjoy it and join in the discussion.
So, this past week, I’ve wasted a good 40-some hours whoring for my Mass Effect 2 insanity achievement (Mission Accomplished!), and I must say I’m both proud and ashamed of myself at the same time. It was a labor of love, stupidity and stubborness, and I’m glad to be done with it so I can enjoy the game in a more casual manner. The review should be up soon, so I wont give anything more away just yet. (more…)
Ponderings is a new idea we’re testing out for the site, so please feel free to give us your feedback. Consider it a behind-the-scenes look, or a more direct line to the personalities of our writers. The purpose of ponderings is to provide an avenue for our writers to casually address some of the games and comics they’re playing, deliver opinions on recent industry news, and maybe even get a little off-topic here and there. We’ll be taking turns writing them, and it’s a chance for the 
readers to get to know the staff a little better, and maybe even strike up some conversation. We hope you’ll enjoy it and join in the discussion.
The last few weeks have been interesting to say the least. John, our former deputy editor, is no longer with the site. Don’t ask me why. I’m not sure. At the same time, we’ve got a new guy named Jason King, who I think really knows his stuff when it comes to comics and games, so I’m excited about that. I think he’ll also be great for helping to bring back our board game presence, which is the thing I still want to see our site do more and more of, because we’re all into gaming, be it video or otherwise, and I want to see that other side get bigger. (more…)
All right, as we’re sorting through our next wave of content, we figured we’d hold over readers with another contest. We’re mixing up our sports here at Pads & Panels. Sony was gracious enough to send a copy of one of our Best Sports Games of 2009, MLB 09 The Show, for PlayStation 3 to give to one of our lucky readers. To get it though, it’s time for Super Bowl predictions.
To Enter
Each registered user can only enter once. Leave a comment on this post predicting the winner of the NFL Super Bowl (Saints or Colts?), as well as the total combined final score of the game. So if you agree with Madden’s assessment of Saints over Colts 35-31, you would write Saints – 66. The winner will be the person who guesses the right team AND gets closest to the total score, over or under. Entries must be received by 11:59 p.m. Central Standard Time, Saturday, Feb. 6, 2010. Also everyone must answer two tie-breaker questions, just in case, in the same entry comment.
Update: Many people have entered a final score rather than a combined total. For those that have done or do so, we are combining the numbers for your final combined total when we determine who was closest. Also, please note the second tiebreaker is most successful field goals kicked, not attempts.
Tiebreaker #1 - Who will win the Super Bowl MVP?
Tiebreaker #2 – Which team will kick the most successful field goals in the Super Bowl, and how many (number of field goals, not points), to be judged by who is correct and closest, like the score.
If for any reason the regular rules or tiebreakers don’t get the job done, Pads & Panels will randomly select the winner from all eligible applicants. (more…)
All right, no long winded explanations today. We gave away two copies of X-Men Origins: Wolverine for PlayStation 3 last week and Xbox fans are wondering what’s up. Well, we didn’t forget about you, and neither did Activision. They sent two copies of Wolverine on Xbox 360 for us to give away. It did receive our Chonicles of Riddick Award, after all. So to the point – how to get them. We’re going to give both away on our Twitter account today, so make sure you’re following us (padsandpanels). When we post the word “Wolverine” today, the first person to reply, on Twitter, with his or her user name from the site, wins one copy, provided eligibility requirements are met (read below). We’ll do the exact same thing later in the day, same rules for the other copy. (more…)
It’s been way too long since we posted an edition of Trailer Madness. We guess that’s why we’ve got more than 10 videos comprising this post. You can always watch the videos as they’re uploaded on our YouTube account. Otherwise, we’ve got the latest recap of videos we’ve posted there, and highlighting this edition is Lost Planet 2’s “Gears of War” video. Capcom also sent a Super Street Fighter IV promotional trailer our way. We’ve got two trailers apiece for Risk Factions and Shiren The Wanderer, and a whopping three videos for Blood Bowl. Things are rounded out this edition by new videos for bittos+, Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars for iPhone, Super Monkey Ball: Step & Roll and Napoleon Total War. Enjoy!
Lost Planet 2 “Gears of War” Video
We love games, and we love writing about them here at Pads & Panels. We love it so much that no matter how much we get up on the site here, it’s never enough to quench the thirst of gaming journalism for some. That’s why our latest segment of Pads Around the Internet sees even more great articles published at other sites by our writers. Here’s the best of what’s related to Pads & Panels’ interests.
Mr. Chris Park
Divinity II Ego Draconis Review
Bill Jones
Super Ramen BROTHers Development Story
Harry Potter Year One Ultimate Blu-ray Review
Hope everyone’s having a good weekend. Thanks to everyone who checked out our site and entered the last few contests. We’ve got a list of confirmed winners below. If you weren’t one of them, no worries. We’ll be announcing how you can try to get your hands on a copy of X-Men Origins: Wolverine for Xbox 360 on Monday, and we’ve also got giveaways of Plants vs. Zombies, Patapon 2, Forza 3 and more on the way. Congrats to all of our winners! Thanks to Sony for sponsoring the LittleBigPlanet contest, Chair Entertainment for providing the Shadow Complex code, and Activision for the copies of X-Men Origins: Wolverine.
Pirates of the Caribbean LBP DLC Giveaway Winner
April (snwbuni), of Eaton Rapids, Mich.
Shadow Complex Giveaway Winner
Jack (digital ink), of Levittown, Penn.
X-Men Origins: Wolverine (PS3) Giveaway Winners
David (Reckilla), of Bourbonnais, Ill.
Aaron (Jesteraron), of Little Elm, Texas
