Speculation has been running wild lately about a successor to Sony’s portable gaming platform, and today many of the rumors were laid to rest. Unfortunately, a few more questions were raised.

While not officially calling it ‘PSP 2′, the NGP or Next Generation Portable, was trotted out on a Tokyo stage with an army of developers and publishers backing it up.

Past the break, we’ll share the details as we know them.

What we know:

• The device has two cameras, front and back facing
• Games will be distributed via download or dedicated memory cards
• Backwards compatible with PSP, Mini, and PSOne Classics, as well as video and comic offerings from the Playstation Store
• It will have a 5-inch OLED capacitive, multi-touch screen
• The back of the unit will be a touch pad, substituting for analog left and right triggers
• Dual analog sticks (NOT nubs, but full sticks)
• Playstation Network access, including Trophy support (!!!)
• Motion support (accelerometer, gyroscopic, electronic compass, and GPS)
• Full rotational range (not just 90 degree rotation lock)
• Wifi and 3G data support
• 4 core ARM processor – “About 4x faster than any portable device currently on the market.”
• Dedicated 3D Graphic processor
• Scheduled for a Holiday 2011 release and will be shown at E3 2011

What we don’t know, but are REALLY curious about:

• Price
• Exact release date
• Price
• What 3G carriers will be supported
• Price
• Internal memory
• Price
• Memory card type (microSD, Memory Stick)
• Price
• Briefly mention of ‘Playstation Suite’ for Android sounds suspiciously like an App Store or Marketplace. Will this be an open development platform like Android?
• How will this device tie into Playstation 3

And we still don’t know the price.

We’ll keep you posted on any new developments.

It all culminates in our annual list of worthy titles.

Just to be completely clear, at Bag Of Mad Bastards we are largely self-funded and rarely recieve free review copies of a game. There are also thousands of titles released each year, and we can’t afford to get our grubby mits on every one.

I’m mentioning this to head off any emails asking why a particular favorite of yours wasn’t included, or maybe it wasn’t even considered.

Quite frankly, we couldn’t possibly play every title this year and to be fair, we culled our winners from what we actually got to play.

If you’re interested on how we came to these conclusions, you should go listen to the GOTY episode of our gaming podcast ‘Drunken Monkey Tech’. If that doesn’t clear it up, feel free to send me an email.

With that in mind, here’s the rundown.

Portable Game Of The Year

Angry Birds – Available on a variety of platforms this game was addicting, beautiful in it’s simplicity, and was the single largest destroyer of productivity among several members of the B.O.M.B. Crew. Crossing demographic groups this game was ubiquitous. You’ve heard of it, probably played it, and you may even be looking for a 12 step program to kick the habit.

Honorable Mention: Cut The Rope, God of War: Ghost of Sparta

Downloadable Console Game Of The Year

Limbo – This XBox 360 exclusive was enthralling, compelling, and stylish. Some of the best gaming moments of the year came from this game.

Honorable Mention: Deathspank

XBox 360 Game Of The Year

Halo Reach – Adding a generous helping of replayability and user generated content with the updated Forge system, wildly popular multi-player, and expanding on the ever popular Halo canon, Reach made more than a few XBox fans happy this year.

Honorable Mention: Limbo, Mass Effect 2

Wii Game Of The Year

Donkey Kong Country Returns – It’s about time we came back to this series on a full-sized screen. Thank you very much Nintendo.

Honorable Mention: Super Mario Galaxy 2, Epic Mickey

Playstation 3 Game Of The Year

Gran Turismo 5 – Although it wasn’t perfect, and took a long time getting here, GT5 did so many things right it was hard to ignore. Visually stunning, infinitely replayable, and polished beyond belief, we’re going to be playing this game for a long time to come.

Honorable Mention: Heavy Rain, God of War III

Multi-Platform Game Of The Year

Assassin’s Creed: Brotherhood – Building on the narrative of what was an already stellar single player experience in Assassin’t Creed II and adding multiplayer that feels fresh, the series turns a corner this year and claims the top spot for games available on multiple systems.

Honorable Mention: Enslaved: Odyssey To The West, Castlevania: Lords of Shadow

201o Game Of The Year

Gran Turismo 5 – It takes a lot to top the list of ALL titles in any given year, but facing some stiff competition, GT5 pulled it off. Accessible to any player, online integration, visuals to die for, and most importantly longevity, we couldn’t think of a more fitting game to walk away with this award. Something tells me we’ll still be playing it this time next year.

Maybe that’s why I was prepared for disappointment with Rock Band 3.

Hopeful? Yes, but I was also ready to be let down.

Fortunately, in all the ways that matter, Rock Band 3 is better than it’s predecessors, and if you’ll pardon the pun (if you play the game, you’ll understand) it delivers in Spades.

Before tackling the much touted ‘Pro Mode’ and the addition of a new instrument, let’s talk about how the original concept has been improved.

Character models, venues, and even the film-like filters used in previous games have been improved.

Not only are animations smoother, and more realistic, but creation of your own custom character has become easier and the options more varied. It’s now possible to create a playable rock star that resembles just about anyone you know… including yourself.

The earlier version of Career Mode, World Tour, has been removed entirely, replaced with an integrated set of band goals that carry across all gameplay modes, tracking your accomplishments with each instrument as a group, and separately.

The closest thing to World Tour are the Road Challenges. These are short tours of cities around the world, much like World Tour, but with one huge difference: you aren’t limited to a single setlist.

Each venue along a Road Challenge has a pre-selected tracklist to play, or you can select one of two other setlists. The alternate sets are generally custom or random, but with a designed theme. For example, you could be playing in Boston, and you are given the choice between a three song set that is premade, a random set of three 80′s songs, or a custom set of three indie songs.

The upshot of this? In earlier RB titles you were required to play a set of predetermined songs to pass a venue, and generally the songs repeated themselves. A lot. Did I mention it was repetitive?

I learned to hate ‘Say It Ain’t So’ that way.

Another major improvement is with leaderboards.

They update nearly instantaneously, keep track of individual scores of each instrument (even when playing with a band), and show far more detail.

Vocal harmonies have been brought across from Green Day and Beatles titles, and when you return from pausing the game in the middle of a song, the game rewinds a few seconds and ‘prerolls’ the track for you, so pausing doesn’t mean you’re destined to miss notes.

Okay, Guitar Hero had that incorporated first, as well as the new ‘drop in, drop out, anywhere’ feature… but it’s nice to see those things in a Rock Band game.

Essentially, the Rock Band experience is still what you remember, with a few tweaks to make it even more accessible.

And then there’s the keyboard.

This review was delayed a few days because we weren’t able to get a pre-release keyboard and decided to wait to make sure we gave the most complete review we could.

The keyboard is friggin’ amazing.

Being mostly a guitarist, but able to play any instrument in previous titles on Expert, the keyboard threw me a curve ball.

The regular keyboard mode LOOKS very similar to guitar or bass on the screen, with five colored lanes and the appropriate notes streaming from top to bottom, but make no mistake, it’s a different animal.

This is primarily because it requires coordinated use of your right hand for colored buttons and there is no strumming.

To put it in perspective, try playing guitar in current Rock Band games with Lefty Mode turned on, with your right hand on the buttons, and using the smaller buttons during guitar solos (you know, so you don’t have to strum).

Now do that with the guitar laying on a table.

It’s a completely different muscle memory experience, and that’s what makes it fun, that’s what makes it challenging.

The other big addition in RB3 is Pro Mode.

For drums, this means any cymbals you may have added to your kit can be tracked separately, effectively giving you up to eight different notes to keep track of (the four colored pads, three cymbals, and a kick pedal).

To keep the interface uncluttered in Pro, the notes are doubled up on the highway.

A yellow bar means to hit the yellow pad, while a yellow cymbal in the same place means you need to hit the corresponding cymbal.

Just like in regular mode, Pro has levels of difficulty: Easy, Medium, Hard, and Expert.

If you’re playing Expert Pro Mode, you ARE playing the real drum parts.

If you’re looking to learn real drums, or looking for an extra challenge in the game, this is where you’ll spend most of your time.

Pro Mode for keyboards gives you two octaves (24 notes) worth of buttons to contend with, and varying degrees of difficulty as well.

Both Pro Modes I’ve mentioned include training sessions for learning the real instruments, although you’re not going to learn overnight. You’ll be missing the constant feedback a real instructor, but it’s definitely a good place to start.

You won’t become a piano virtuoso, but you will become familiar enough with the instrument to immediately sit down with a real keyboard and not embarrass yourself.

You may even earn some extra cash if you set out a tip jar.

The Mad Catz and Squire Pro guitars aren’t available yet, meaning we were unable to play Pro Mode guitar for this review. We’ll make an addendum as soon as we can get our hands on the hardware.

My few gripes? I’ve had a few times when the game has locked up, causing me to completely reboot my machine.

It’s also not entirely clear how or when you can enable/disable Pitch Correction for vocals. Sometimes it’s on, sometimes it’s off. Sometimes it’s on and the ability to turn it off is greyed out.

And then there’s the time my save game was corrupted. Apparently you shouldn’t turn off Auto Save while the game is Auto Saving. That’s one of the hazards of the new interface, you can adjust options from just about anywhere, at any time… and it doesn’t tell you every time that’s it’s saving in the background.

In the end, if you enjoy rhythm games, you’ll find RB3 polishes the formula nicely. Additional songs added to your collection, vocal harmonies, a new instrument, some new achievements/trophies… it’s a no-brainer for those of you who already enjoy the genre.

If you are running out of challenges in your music games, it’s also an easy decision. Pro Mode is where it’s at, especially for mutant drummers who are getting bored with the old games because they are too easy. Once you start on Pro Drums, you’ll never go back.

And, in the event you don’t like rhythm games at all? You should probably visit a friend who has RB3 and test it out… and then go buy it.

If you’re looking to buy the game:
Rock Band 3
Rock Band 3 Wireless Keyboard
Wireless Fender Mustang PRO-Guitar Controller

Related story: PS3 Trophy List for Rock Band 3.

More Rock Band? Please.

More Trophies for Rock Band? Extra Please!

A really long list of Bronze Trophies, and a few near impossible Silvers? Not sounding as good.

This is not a Trophy hunter’s game. Buy it because you like rhythm games.

Also… some trophies REQUIRE a keyboard, and others REQUIRE the Pro Guitar. You know, the guitar that won’t be in stores for about another month.

Looking to pick up the game? Rock Band 3

Our review of the game can be found HERE.

Bronze Trophies

Vocal Apprentice
5 Starred on Easy Vocals (or 3 Starred on a higher difficulty) 25 Rock Band 3 songs.

Vocal Virtuoso
Earn an Awesome rating on at least 90% of the phrases in 6 songs on Hard Vocals

Tambourine Master
Hit 100% of the notes in a percussion section

Vocals Showmanship
Deployed overdrive four times in a single song as a vocalist

Is This Just Fantasy?
Nailed all triple awesomes in Bohemian Rhapsody.

Triple Awesome
Got a Triple Awesome while playing with Vocal Harmonies

Pro Keyst to the Max
Max our your Score Multiplier meter on Pro Keys.

Pro Keys Graduate
Completed the final Pro Keys trainers.

Pro Keyboardist
Hit at least 90% of the notes in 3 songs on Expert Pro Keys

Complex Chords
Complete the More Chord Holding and Arpeggiation Pro Guitar Lessons.

Pro Guitar to the Max
Maxed out your Score Multiplier meter on Pro Guitar.

Play a Real Guitar Already!
Played The Hardest Button to Button on Pro Guitar.

Drum Trainer Graduate
Completed the final Pro Drum Trainer lessons.

Drum Trainer Initiate
Completed the introductory Pro Drum Trainer lessons.

Keys Streaker
Got a streak of 350 notes on Keys

Fastest Feet
Hit 90% of the Kick notes in a song on Hard Drums

Drum Roll, Please!
Nailed a drum roll.

Most Authentic Strummer
Hit 100% of the notes, only strumming up, on Hard Bass.

Bass Streaker
Get a streak of 500 notes on Bass.

Guitar Perfectionist
Got 100% accuracy on Expert Guitar.

Mile High Club
Completed the Really Frequent Flyers Road Challenge.

Party Animal
Completed the Total Debauchery Road Challenge

Wilderness Survival
Complete the Through the Wildnerness, Eh? Road Challenge.

Real Nor easter
Completed The Wicked Awesome Tour

Hometown Threwdown
Completed the Hometown Throwdown Road Challenge

Alexs Luggage Combination
Beat a Rock Band 3 score of 12,345,678

Rock Band Master
5 Starred on Medium (or 3 Starred on a higher difficulty) 50 Rock Band 3 Songs

Millionaire Club
Got 1,000,000 on one song.

You Aint Seen Nothing Yet
Maintained overdrive for 60 seconds.

Best. Name. Ever.
Renamed your band.

Self-Made Dude or Lady
Created a Character.

Tune Up
Calibrated your system for optimal performance with Rock Band 3.

Silver Trophies

Pro Keys Apprentice
5 Starred on Easy Pro Keys (or 3 Starred on a higher difficulty) 25 Rock Band 3 songs.

Pro Guitar Apprentice
5 Starred on Easy Pro Guitar (or 3 Starred on a higher difficulty) 25 Rock Band 3 songs.

Pro Bass Apprentice
5 Starred on Easy Pro Bass (or 3 Starred on a higher difficulty) 25 Rock Band 3 songs.

Keys Apprentice
5 Starred on Easy Keys (or 3 Starred on a higher difficulty) 25 Rock Band 3 songs.

Drums Apprentice
5 Starred on Easy Drums (or 3 Starred on a higher difficulty) 25 Rock Band 3 songs.

Bass Apprentice
5 Starred on Easy Bass (or 3 Starred on a higher difficulty) 25 Rock Band 3 songs.

Guitar Apprentice
5 Starred on Easy Guitar (or 3 Starred on a higher difficulty) 25 Rock Band 3 songs.

Bleeding Fingers
Get 85% on all Guitar Solos in Rock Band 3 on Hard or Expert.

HOPO-cidal Maniac
Killed 53,596 Hammer-ons and Pull-offs.

Ultimate Road Warrior
Won all awards on the Really Frequent Flyers Road Challenge

The Connoisseurs Connoisseur
Got 90 or more spades on The European Connoisseur Road Challenge.

Major Mileage
Got 90 or more spades on The Long Drive South Road Challenge.

Hell Defrosted
Won all rewards on the Hell Freezes Over Road Challenge.

Rock Band Immortal
5 Starred the Rock Band 3 disc on Expert.

Rock Band Legend
5 Star every song in Rock Band 3 on Hard.

Gold Trophies

The Endless Setlist III
Successfully completed The Endless Setlist III

Platinum Trophy

Rock Band 3 Completionist
Won all Rock Band 3 trophies.

When all you want is something to freak you out and make you want to sleep with all the lights on.

Grab your popcorn and get ready to find the most frightening movies you’ll every see.

Here we have the terrifying series called “Masters of Horror”, where the best of the best horror directors give you just under an hour of nonstop horror in each episode.

The director of the film Fair Haired Child is William Malone, who is known for “House on Haunted Hill“, “Fear Dot Com“, and “Creature.” Other directors from the series are John Carpenter (Cigarette Burns), and Larry Cohen, (Pick Me Up).

This series plays on your worst fears and worst possiblities. “The Fair Haired Child” revovles around parents fear of losing their child, and how far a person will go to reclaim someone they love.

This is a very good film for a dark October/Halloween night.

If you’re into good horror movies, or just enjoy William Malone’s work ,this is something you should definitely buy to expand
your horror movie collection, and while your at it, maybe you should consider buying the rest of the “Masters of Horror” series.

Personally, I never thought it was terribly inconvenient to slide a disk into the machine, but for those that are on the sedentary side of things, this might be a big deal.

Other improvements to the PS3 version of the service:

New interface
Faster browsing and search
Movies will begin playing faster
1080i for select titles
Dolby 5.1 support
Subtitles for select titles

Although it’s not clear if this signals a new firmware update from Sony, Netflix has stated in the past it can update the service on their end, without needing a firmware change.

Guess we’ll know on Monday.

Time to gear up for Dead Space 2 with a prequel title.

Hey, the animated feature, motion comics, and other tie-ins worked for the first game, so why not?

Not to mention, the Dead Space universe is pretty cool.

Oh yeah, and there’s Trophies.

Bronze Trophies

Dirty Work
Unlock the level 4 engineering RIG.

Stop the clock!
Successfully complete any hack on the Leaderboards.

Ain’t got time to bleed!
Successfully complete Ignition mode within 25 minutes by any route (excluding movies).

Trace Element
Successfully complete a Trace Route hack in any single player mode.

All your Trace are belong to us
Successfully complete all Trace Route hacks in any single player mode.

Stormed the Core!
Successfully complete a System Override hack in any single player mode.

Infectious
Successfully complete all System Override hacks in any single player mode.

Laser Burn
Successfully complete a Hardware Crack in any single player mode.

Planet Cracker
Successfully complete all Hardware Cracks in any single player mode.

Silver Trophies

Catch me if you can!
Complete one Ignition mode path through the Leaderboards.

Did anyone survive?
Complete Ignition Mode.

Gold Trophies

Chief Engineer
Complete all hacks in any single player mode.

We can confirm that Gran Turismo 5 will not be available this November 2nd, but the game’s release will be coming this holiday season.

We sincerely apologize to GT fans for the delay, however, creator Kazunori Yamauchi and the team at Polyphony Digital want to make certain they are creating the perfect racing experience, and we are confident that this ambitious game will exceed expectations when it launches.

We’ll have more information for you in the near future.

I think the only racing going on right now is to see who makes it to store shelves first, Gran Turismo 5 or Duke Nukem Forever.

Who would have thought it would be this close of a competition?

Related Story: Gran Turismo 5: Will It Be Worth The Wait?

If you’re into the music, or just tired of Karaoke Revolution, this might interest you.

At the very least, there are a LOT of quick Bronze Trophies.

Who knows, it might be fun. You might want to pour out a 40, gat some poor sucka… or…

Eh, who am I kidding? I don’t get the culture. Just not cool enough.

Looking to pick up the game? Buy Def Jam Rapstar

Bronze Trophies

Mic Check One Two, One Two
Use an audio effect on any song in any game mode

It’s Like Showbiz
Save a video with a visual effect

Get the Party Started Right
Launch a playlist in Party mode

World Premiere
Upload a video to the Community

You Be The Judge
Rate a video on the Community

Cultivating Music
Unlock a song for the first time

Scorch The Booth
Save your first Freestyle performance

Fresh Out The Box
Complete your first Challenge in Career mode

Flawless Flow
Earn 5 microphones on any song in Career mode

It Takes Two
Perform 30 Battle or Duet performances in Party mode

Well Connected
Watch 50 videos on the Community

Hype’d Up
Save 15 recordings to My Videos

Lyrical Player Pro
Save 5 Freestyle videos

Go The Distance
Finish a playlist containing 10 or more songs

Livin’ Your Life
Play 300 performances across all game modes

Ain’t Scared to Share It
Upload 10 videos to the community

Newcomer
Complete Stage 1

Opener
Complete Stage 2

Headliner
Complete Stage 3

Star
Complete Stage 4

Fly High, No Lie
Complete all High Score challenges

Always On Time
Complete all Timing Challenges

It Ain’t Trickin’ If You Got It
Complete all Multiplier Challenges

Too Hot for T.V.
Complete all Platinum Power Challenges

Steady Chasin’
Complete all Endurance Challenges

Perfection is Perfected
Get 90% or above on pitch, timing, and lyrics while playing any song on HARD difficulty

Immaculately Polished
Upload an ‘Off The Chain’ performance to the Community

We Are The Best
Complete a Duet earning an ‘Off The Chain’ rating with both players on HARD difficulty

All Eyez On Me
Get at least ‘On Point’ on a Solo on EXPERT difficulty with the original vocals turned off

Stuntin’ is a Habit
Get a combined 2,000 views for all your uploaded videos

Presence of Greatness
Get an average rating of 4 stars on any video with over 200 ratings

Playa President
Perform a Duet where you score 50,000 points more than your friend

Towering Over The Competition
Perform a Battle where you score 50,000 points more than your opponent

Close Call
Win a Battle by less than 1,000 points

Chain Reaction
Get ‘Off The Chain’ rating on all songs in a playlist containing 5 or more songs

The Voice Of A Generation
Get ‘Off The Chain’ on the Solo version of Gold Digger

Rhymes Are On Time
Perform a Battle where both players hit 25 rap targets in a row, at the same time

No Competition
Win all songs in a Battle playlist containing 5 or more songs

I Keep Blowin’ Up
Activate Platinum Power 4 times in one song

I Make This Look ‘Eezy
Get at least ‘On Point’ on one song from Lil Wayne and one from Kanye West

Throwback Flow
Get at least ‘On Point’ on 5 different songs released before 1990

Rep Your City
Get at least ‘On Point’ on 5 different songs that mention a city by name

Silver Trophies

Seal the Deal
Earn the DEF JAM RAPSTAR Seal on a song

Worth Some Millions
Accumulate 10,000,000 total points across all game modes

RAPSTAR
Complete Stage 5

On The Road To Riches
Complete all Career Mode Challenges

Ain’t Nobody Dope as Me
Get a ‘DOPE’ lyric rating on every phrase in a song

Gold Trophies

Microphone Fiend!
Accumulate 305 microphones in Career mode

Unstoppable
Get at least ‘On Point’ on 50 performances on HARD difficulty

Off The Chain
Unlock all locked content in Career mode

Platinum Trophy

Platinum Trophy
Collect every trophy in the game

I didn’t play much of the original game. When it was released, I didn’t have an XBox (it was an exclusive to that platform).

When the Wii version was released, I picked it up… and it was awful.

I guess you can say, I’m not that excited about the sequel.

Josh apparently is, and has aqcuired a review copy, so until he posts his review, here’s a list of the PS3 bling.

Looking to pick up the game? Buy Dead Rising 2

Bronze Trophies

Zombie Slaughter
Kill 500 zombies

Zombie Destruction
Kill 5,000 zombies

Vigilante Justice
Defeat 5 psychopaths

Judge, Jury and Executioner
Defeat 10 psychopaths

Zombie Fu
Kill 1,000 zombies barehanded

Wrong Kind of Chopper
Kill 1,000 zombies while riding a motorcycle

He hasn’t covered wars…
Use every type of firearm on a zombie

Head Trauma
Use every type of melee weapon on a zombie

Death From Afar
Use every type of ranged weapon on a zombie

Explosive Temper
Use every type of explosive on a zombie

Death of Comedy
Use every type of novelty weapon on a zombie

Come On Follow Mw
Escort 8 survivors at once

Saving the Day
Save 10 survivors

Hero of Fortune City
Save 50 survivors

Needs More Chainsaw
Create a combo weapon

Duct Tape FTW
Create all combo weapons

Apprentice Rising
Reach level 25

Professional Rising
Reach level 50

Fashion Aficionado
Change into 10 different pieces of clothing

Chuck Greene: Cross Dresser?
Change into all pieces of clothing in the game

Bartender
Mix a drink

Look at All That Juice
Create and consume all mixed drinks in the game

Finally Full
Eat all types of food in the game

Having A Gas
Kill 1,000 gas zombies

Father of the Month
Give Katey a gift

Father of the Year
Give Katey all possible gifts

Better With A Friend
Solve all case files in Co-op mode

Don’t You Die On Me
Revive another player in Co-op mode

Big Spender
Spend $6,000,000 in Fortune City

Window Shopper
Enter all stores in the game

Masquerade
Have 10 zombies with masks on at once

Improper Behavior
Spraypaint all Zombrex posters

TK’s Favorite
Play and win in all 9 TIR events

Rising Star
Come in first place in a single TIR event

Win Big!
Finish in first place in a TIR episode

Custom Finish
Give your bike a custom paint job

Curiously Inventive
Collect all combo cards hidden in Fortune City

Life Saver
Collect all combo cards from survivors

Tough Guy
Collect all combo cards from psychopaths

Half Deck
Collect 25 combo cards

Smashy
Smash 100 zombies using the Smash skill move

Stick ‘em up!
Stick it to a zombie by covering him in weapons and objects!

Skill to Survive
Tame Snowflake

Silver Trophies

Z-Genocider 2: Genocide Harder
Kill 53,596 zombies

Clean Record
Complete The Facts

Justice Served
Complete Overtime

Tape it or DIE! – HIDDEN TROPHY
Discovered the secret combo card.

Gold Trophies

Zombie Genocide Master
Kill 72,000 zombies

Full Deck
Collect all combo cards

Data Miner
Fill all entries in the notebook

Platinum Trophy

DR2 Trophy Master
You have acquired all the trophies in Dead Rising 2.