With 2012 off to a good start, it’s time for us to take a look back at 2011 with our annual The Year in Screenshots feature that highlights our favorite games of the year. Rather than argue about awarding a single game as our game of the year, we here at SmashPad prefer to just tell you our 25 most favorite games of the year and give each game equal billing.

If you want a glimpse of the numbers ..read more

The vast  majority of games won’t mean much 10 years after they’ve been released. Sure, you can conjure up little used memories for a chuckle. Chances are, though, you won’t remember much. But then there are those games that are forever burned into your gaming memories. The first time you were Mario. Your first Doom kill. In this case, the time you spent blasting Covenant in Halo. Of course, Halo still resonates today because the game turned into an insanely ..read more

The Battlefield series has become one of EA’s most popular franchises, providing some of the most explosive and addictive multiplayer experiences in any shooter on the market today, rivaling even that of Call of Duty.  Battlefield 3 is no exception; marking the best entry in the series to date, DICE has gone all out to deliver a polished, one-of-a-kind multiplayer experience that you will have a hard time putting down.

Battlefield 3 is known first and foremost ..read more

Just when you think a game can’t possibly be topped, Rocksteady Studios rockets through the roof and takes off into the stars with Batman: Arkham City. The sequel to the award-winning title, Batman: Arkham Asylum, thrusts the player back into the cowl of the Dark Knight as the story continues beyond the massive destruction of the asylum. So for those who thought they actually were Batman, let’s get you out of those silly pajamas and into ..read more

Developer Naughty Dog’s Uncharted series has become Sony’s flagship franchise for its PlayStation brand of gaming entertainment systems. ”Uncharted 2: Among Thieves” received a monumental amount of success following its release in 2009, becoming Metacritic’s most critically acclaimed game of the year.  Anticipation quickly grew for the inevitable sequel.  These expectations were not in vain — Uncharted 3 is just as good, if not better, than its predecessor.

“Uncharted 3: Drake’s Deception” once again puts players in the shoes ..read more

Microsoft launched their Kinect peripheral last year in hopes of broadening their user base and taking a chunk out of the Wii in sales. Though it’s debatable that the Kinect even had an impact with the year’s dip in Wii sales, what’s undeniable is the fact that the Kinect hasn’t really taken off since its release.

Dance Central has been the best game that made use of the accessory.  Harmonix has come out with the inevitable sequel, and it has replaced ..read more

Lately, there has been a great deal of rebooting, both in movies and games, and our favorite pink mascot is in no way exempt. Nintendo gave the hero a shiny new gloss and a few friends in his newest adventure on the Wii.

Kirby’s Return to Dream Land brings the puffy hero to crystal clarity on the Wii and into the hearts of generations both new and old. This title tells ..read more

Over the course of video game history, we’ve seen Kirby’s round, pink figure float into our hearts. We remember fondly when he inhaled his first enemy and magically, donning a similar hat, adopt the same capabilities. The most recent title for the Nintendo DS reveals a side of Kirby we never knew existed.

Kirby Mass Attack immediately reveals what to expect from our lovable hero. The story behind this chapter starts with Kirby napping in a field on the Popopo ..read more

If looking at screenshots of the game immediately make you think of the first few minutes of the superhero blockbuster hit, The Dark Knight, you’re not alone.  Is it as good as The Dark Knight?  Definitely not, but PayDay: The Heist is a fun game to play that should surprise a lot of shooter fans.

What Is It?

PayDay: The Heist is a multiplayer first-person shooter developed by Overkill Software, and that’s all there really is to say.  The premise of the ..read more

2D platformers are nothing new, especially when they’re downloadable games available on services such as the PlayStation Network and the Xbox Live Marketplace.  Every once in a while, though, there are sidescrollers that are pleasing, and the PSN has a fresh one in Sideway: New York.

Sideway: New York is a title that immediately showcases a unique sense of style.  The game puts you in the shoes of Nox, a graffiti artist tagging away on the walls of New ..read more

With the ongoing struggle of the current NBA lockout, much of the NBA season has been thrown into the gutter with almost no end in sight, which is unfortunate because last year gamers experienced what was probably the best basketball video game of all time in NBA 2K11.

Though they didn’t have to, 2K Sports has come out with NBA 2K12, and the game is every bit as good as its predecessor.

Ever since last year’s debacle that ended up ..read more

With the ongoing struggle of the current NBA lockout, much of the NBA season has been thrown into the gutter with almost no end in sight, which is unfortunate because last year gamers experienced what was probably the best basketball video game of all time in NBA 2K11.

Though they didn’t have to, 2K Sports has come out with NBA 2K12, and the game is every bit as good as its predecessor.

Ever since last year’s debacle that ended up ..read more

The Hardboiled Chicken fights back against the Penguin regime that in this 2D shooter on PSN.

Hardboiled Chicken is on a mission to take out the leader of the totalitarian Penguins that have taken over Albatropolis and free them from the tyranny that they’ve endured under their rule. The infamous commando is very much on a warpath towards his goal that emulates action heroes like Arnold and Stallone and has the cheesy one-liners to match his destructive capabilities.

Rocketbirds: ..read more

Last year, the much delayed and hotly anticipated Gran Turismo 5 was finally released for the Playstation 3. Fans of the series were pleased by its high level of quality, though most were a bit bothered by how inconsistent the game was across its various features. Some things were fleshed out, and others were bare-bones. Meanwhile, Xbox 360 driving enthusiasts were still putting hundreds of hours into Forza Motorsport 3. While the game may not have looked quite as good ..read more

id Software is one of those developers who do not release a game until they feel it is done. Unfortunately, this also makes them less than prolific. The theory though is that quality trumps quantity. With Rage this theory has proven itself to be true.

The last fully id developed game was Doom 3, which was released in 2004. Since then there have been new versions of Quake and Wolfenstein, but neither of those were fully developed by id. ..read more

On Thursday, Oct. 5, the world lost a great innovator of technology.

Steven Paul Jobs will be remembered by most people as an esteemed founder CEO of Apple. His inventions, the “Mac,” iPod, iPhone, and iPad are all household names that are revolutionary because of their visual aesthetics and accessibility.

According to a release provided by the Jobs family, Jobs passed peacefully surrounded by his family.

While we don’t regularly cover happenings in the tech world, Jobs definitely did have an impact on ..read more

All right, soldiers! It’s time to get back to the battlefield! It’s time for war! And this isn’t just like any other conflict. There are no crosshairs, ammo counters or health packs! If you are shot in the foot, you wrap a bandage around it and you walk it off! This is real! This is Red Orchestra 2: Heroes of Stalingrad.

Red Orchestra 2: Heroes of Stalingrad is the second title in the franchise of World War ..read more

EA Canada, the Hockey branch of the EA Sports brand, has been on a complete tear for several years now. Just as competitor 2K Sports hit a monumental slump from which they still have yet to even show the earliest signs of recovering, NHL 07 debuted a fantastic new gameplay engine for the long-running franchise, with each subsequent year adding substantial improvements over its predecessor. The most notable innovations include the Be A Pro mode, which effectively transforms your Hockey ..read more