Yesterday we asked FreekNation to vote: What game are you most looking forward to this year?

Some of your answers were disturbing (Hello Kitty Online), intriguing (Kinect Porno) and just plain racist (I am a Muslim). Rising to the top were most of the games you’d expect to see—but in an order that was somewhat surprising.

Here are the top 5 most anticipated games according to you:

• Grand Theft Auto 5 – 266 votes
• Halo 4 – 81 votes
• Next Call of Duty – 65 votes
• Diablo III – 47 votes
• Mass Effect 3 – 41 votes

This poll was given via our Facebook page, revealing the most anticipated game for 2012 is Grand Theft Auto 5. And I would have to personally agree. Rockstar Games’ premiere franchise is always something to get excited about. What surprised me, though, was the order of the next two.

Knowing you guys like I do, I surely thought the next Call of Duty would have beaten out Halo 4. I clearly misjudged you and I’d like to know why. Is it because a new CoD comes out every year and you’re finally getting sick of it? Is it because MW3 hasn’t been out very long and it’s still “new enough” for you? Is it because it’s been so long since you’ve seen your beloved Master Chief and can’t wait to kill Covees correctly? What is it? Leave a comment and let me know before I question even more about myself.

Spike TV has announced today the nominees for the big Spike TV Video Game Awards show that will be taking place Live on December 11, 2010 at 8PM ET/5PM PT on (wait for it)… Spike TV.  Sort of surprisingly, Bioware’s Mass Effect 2 looks like this year’s Uncharted 2, with ten nominations.  Everyone’s favorite western, Red Dead Redemption trails close behind with nine.  Halo: Reach and Call of Duty: Black Ops each have seven.

Here’s the full list of nominees:

Game of the Year

• Call of Duty: Black Ops
• God of War III
• Halo: Reach
• Mass Effect 2
• Red Dead Redemption

Studio of the Year

• BioWare
• Blizzard Entertainment
• Bungie Studios
• Rockstar San Diego

Best Xbox 360 Game

• Alan Wake
• Fable III
• Halo: Reach
• Mass Effect 2

Best PS3 Game

• God of War 3
• Heavy Rain
• Modnation Racers
• Red Dead Redemption

Best Wii Game

• Donkey Kong Country Returns
• Kirby's Epic Yarn
• Metroid Other M
• Super Mario Galaxy 2

Best PC Game

• Fallout: New Vegas
• Mass Effect 2
• Sid Meier's Civilization V
• Starcraft II Wings of Liberty

Best Handheld Game

• God of War: Ghost of Sparta
• Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker
• Professor Layton and the Unwound Future
• Super Scribblenauts

Best Shooter

• Battlefield: Bad Company 2
• BioShock 2
• Call of Duty: Black Ops
• Halo: Reach

Best Action Adventure Game

• Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood
• God of War III
• Red Dead Redemption
• Super Mario Galaxy 2

Best RPG

• Fable III
• Fallout: New Vegas
• Final Fantasy XIII
• Mass Effect 2

Best Multi-player

• Battlefield: Bad Company 2
• Call of Duty: Black Ops
• Halo: Reach
• Starcraft II: Wings of Liberty

Best Individual Sports Game

• EA Sports MMA
• Shaun White Skateboarding
• Tiger Woods PGA Tour 11
• UFC Undisputed 2010

Best Team Sports Game

• FIFA Soccer 11
• Madden NFL 11
• NBA 2K11
• MLB 10: The Show

Best Driving Game

• Blur
• Modnation Racers
• Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit
• Split/Second

Best Music Game

• Dance Central
• DJ Hero 2
• Def Jam Rapstar
• Rock Band 3

Best Soundtrack

• Def Jam Rapstar
• DJ Hero 2
• Guitar Hero: Warriors of Rock
• Rock Band 3

Best Song in a Game

• "Basket Case"
• "Black Rain"
• "Far Away"
• "GoldenEye"
• "Won't Back Down"
• "Replay/Rude Boy Mashup"

Best Original Score

• God of War III
• Halo: Reach
• Mass Effect 2
• Red Dead Redemption

Best Graphics

• God of War III
• Heavy Rain
• Kirby's Epic Yarn
• Red Dead Redemption

Best Adapted Video Game

• Lego Harry Potter: Years 1-4
• Scott Pilgrim vs. The World: The Game
• Spider-Man: Shattered Dimensions
• Star Wars: The Force Unleashed
• Transformers: The War for Cybertron

Best Performance By A Human Male

• Daniel Craig as James Bond (Blood Stone 007)
• Gary Oldman as Sgt. Reznov (Call of Duty Black Ops)
• John Cleese as Jasper (Fable III)
• Martin Sheen as Illusive Man (Mass Effect 2)
• Nathan Fillion as Sergeant Edward Buck (Halo Reach)
• Neil Pattrick Harris as Peter Parker/Amazing Spider-Man (Spider-Man: Shattered Dimensions)
• Rob Wiethoff as John Marston (Red Dead Redemption)
• Sam Worthington as Alex Mason (Call of Duty Black Ops)

Best Performance by a Human Female

• Dame Judi Dench as M (Blood Stone 007)
• Danica Patrick as Danica Patrick (Blur)
• Emmanuelle Chriqui as The Numbers Lady (Call of Duty Back Ops)
• Felicia Day as Veronica (Fallout New Vegas)
• Jennifer Hale as Commander Sheppard (Mass Effect 2)
• Kristin Bell as Lucy Stillman (Assassin's Creed Brotherhood)
• Tricia Helfer as Sarah Kerrican (Starcraft II: Wings of Liberty)
• Yvonne Strahovski as Miranda Lawson (Mass Effect 2)

Best Downloadable Game

• Costume Quest
• Lara Croft and the Guardian of Light
• Monday Night Combat
• Scott Pilgrim vs. The World

Best DLC

• BioShock 2 "Minerva's Den"
• Borderlands "The Secret Armory of General Knoxx"
• Mass Effect 2 "Lair of the Shadow Broker"
• Red Dead Redemption "Undead Nightmare"

Best Independent Game

• Joe Danger
• Limbo
• Super Meat Boy
• The Misadventures of PB Winterbottom

Most Anticipated Game

• Batman: Arkham City
• BioShock: Infinite
• Gears of War 3
• Portal 2

You can start complaining now.

Do you like Halo: Reach?  Do you have an iPhone?  Do you like getting great Apps for free?  Our friends, the creators of the fantastic Virtual Coach series for iPhone, have created an App that every Halo: Reach player should check out.  And the makers have been cool enough to give us 10 free download codes to gift to you guys.  The first 10 people to tell us why they must have this App get a code!

From iTunes:

1.99 GETS YOU THE MOST ADVANCED HALO APP ON THE MARKET!

-Want to get better at Halo Reach? HRVC can do that!
-Want to track your aggregate stats and medals? HRVC can do that!
-Want to chat with gamers around the globe? HRVC can do that?
-Want to have birds eye view of each map with weapon spawns? HRVC can do that!
-Want to draw set ups on the maps? HRVC can do that
-Want to time power weapons? HRVC can do that!
-Want to track your ten game K/D and Win/Loss? HRVC can do that!
-Want to read strats and tips from pro players? HRVC can do that!
Plain and simple HRVC has every feature a gamer could need.

Why buy a separate app for a weapon timer, one for tracking stats, and one for maps? HRVC has it all for the price of 1.

Featuring the GAMER LOUNGE. The first Halo Reach iPhone GPS Based chat room. The Gamer Lounge is the Social Network for gamers! Need to find players for your team? Looking for a scrim? Trying to recruit for your clan? Looking for the latest tips and tricks? The Gamer Lounge has it all.

Halo Reach Virtual Coach is the first Halo Reach app on the market for competitive gamers. Ready to have the edge over your opponents in Halo Reach? HRVC is for you. Whether you’re a newbie or a seasoned vet we have the information and tools that you need to become a better player.
Halo Reach Virtual Coach features:
- Strategies for every aspect of the game from professional players and the developers
- High Definition bird’s eye view of each map including weapon locations
- Route Tracer that allows you to draw rush routes and game plans on your phone screen with your finger tip
- Ability to track all of your Halo Reach stats with HaloCharts.com in-app
- The Gamer Lounge. A GPS based chat room that allows gamers to meet and chat by location.
- MLG Weapon Spawn Timer
- 10% off of KontrolFreek Grips

We are always adding new updates, all for free!
The Virtual Coach Series is designed by competitive gamers, for competitive gamers.

Preview on iTunes: http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/halo-reach-virtual-coach/id372822095?mt=8

A beverage company out of Colorado, Dixie Elixirs & Medibles, has a new line of pot-infused sodas that will purportedly serve as a ‘refreshing and equally potent’ alternative to smoking cannabis.  Dixie Elixirs advertises their new line of ‘soda pot,’ which comes in 9 flavors (including extra strength watermelon!) as ‘convenient, discreet and potent.’  Yup, nothing says discreet like a giant pot leaf on the label.

The organic beverages are available now for ‘patients’ with prescriptions for medical marijuana in the 14 states where that’s legal.

KontrolFreek and vVv Gaming have teamed up for a Legendary Weekend!



From Friday September 24 thru Sunday September 26, follow @KontrolFreek and @vvv_gaming and tweet the following:

Quote

RT @vvv_gaming @kontrolfreek I want to get better at Halo: Reach! Send me the new FPS Freek Legendary! #freekvvv

Each tweet enters you for a daily chance to win a pair of the new FPS Freek Legendary. Each day we will pick one lucky entry from the entrants we receive.

vVv Gaming and Trevor from Kontrol Freek said:

How do KontrolFreeks work?
Our products snap on over your existing thumb pads to improve your gaming experience on Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 consoles. Our flagship product is the FPS Freek. It works by increasing the length of your stock sticks by about 40%. This gives you more aiming control in first-person shooters like Halo and Call of Duty etc...

What is the science behind them?
Increasing the linear distance your thumb travels gives you the opportunity to make smaller adjustments and also “snap” to targets much faster in first-person shooters. This gives you the luxury of turning up controller sensitivities without sacrificing precision. Using the FPS Freek honestly gives you the closest feel to a mouse possible on a console today.

How can they improve your play?
The greater leverage offers you better control and less force. This helps to alleviate thumb-fatigue and adds more comfort to long gaming sessions. In short, this increased accuracy and decreased thumb-fatigue results in more kills and less deaths.

How long does it take to get accustomed to using them?
It varies, really. Some people get used to them quite quickly and notice a difference right away. Others take a little longer. I would say, try them for a week and see what happens. 95% of the time people are pleased with the results.

You have different kinds of Freeks. Can you explain the differences between each and explain what they were designed to do?
Besides the FPS Freek that I spent the last few minutes talking about, we also have the TD Freek and the Speed Freek. The TD Freek works much in the same way as the FPS Freek but was designed with Madden players in mind. For the sake of comfort, we used a softer material for grip and went with a convex design for the thumb pad. It's getting some pretty positive reviews. The Speed Freek is a little different. It was specifically designed to help you gain faster lap times in racing games like Forza and Grand Turismo. It is a "U" shaped attachment that acts like a cradle for your thumb. It helps you keep your thumb in place while holding long turns and aids you in making smaller adjustments on the track. It's quite unique and our fans have found many other uses for it--like in SKATE and HAWX for example.

Let’s talk longevity. How long do a pair last?
I don't really have a definitive answer to this question. It's like asking how long a car will last. It all depends on how much you play, the alkalinity of your skin, how much you sweat, all those x factors. In my experience they last longer than the stock Xbox 360 sticks.

Can you link us to some reviews so players have independent sources to compare information?
A good place to get unbiased reviews from normal gamers like yourself is actually on our own website: http://www.kontrolfr...view-Index.aspx Other than that you can just do a Google search or hop on YouTube and see the many video reviews found there.

Follow @KontrolFreek and @vvv_gaming, and start tweeting for your chance to win!

LordJerith
President/Owner
vVv Gaming
Entertain.Educate.Dominate
Homo sum, humani nil a me alienum puto

According to Bungie, “The first matchmaking update for Reach will occur in early October…”  With this first round, bug fixes and balance issues will be addressed along with more game types and Forge maps.  But perhaps the best part of the update will be the inclusion of Co-op campaign matchmaking.

It’s not as if the large majority of us wish to play Halo’s campaign with complete strangers but the option is a welcome addition to the suite.  Bungie states that the game neglected to ship with Co-op matchmaking by design, to protect us from spoiling our campaign experience.  They also say that the “…matchmaking will not take in to account your current campaign progress.”  So just make sure you complete your current campaign before jumping in to the new playlist.

What do you think?  How anxious are you to delve into campaign matchmaking with strangers?

With the release date of Halo: Reach and the FPS Freek Legendary quickly closing in we are overflowing with excitement and have decided to spread the joy around a bit.  We’re always working hard to please our fans and this one is just for you.  We will be giving away six (6) copies of Halo: Reach to six of our biggest fans.  Who are these six biggest fans, you ask?  Well, that all depends on you:

Over the next six days (this weekend included) we will be setting out 1 question for each day on our Facebook fan page (so make sure you’re a fan!).  To win a copy of Halo: Reach, all you have to do is comment on our post with the correct answer to the day’s ‘Legendary Halo Trivia’ question within the first 2 hours of us asking.  We will then choose someone randomly from the comment list who has the correct answer.  Easy.

The only catch is that you MUST change your Facebook profile picture to our Facebook profile picture to be eligible to win one of the prizes (it's the one at the top of the page).  This way we know that you’re a Freek like us.

So keep a look out on Facebook for the questions and be sure to check your message inbox to see if you’ve won!

Confused?  Here are the rules again:

1. Change your Facebook profile picture to our Facebook profile picture (now you’re Freeky too!)
2. Check Facebook regularly for the day’s ‘Legendary Halo Trivia’ question (this will be at random times)
3. Post the correct answer within the first 2 hours of the question being posted (don’t procrastinate)
4. We will randomly select one of you from the comment list that has the correct answer and our profile picture as your profile picture (don’t forget this part!)
5. Look for a message from us announcing that you’ve won

Have fun and good luck!

And in case you missed any of our recent announcements, we are also giving away 2 Halo: Reach Xbox 360 Bundles and 4 more copies of Halo: Reach through a couple of our Youtube friends, Trumpf and WoodysGamertag.  Check out the links below for more chances to win more cool stuff:

Trumpf -- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_tFm0FC8ywk

WoodysGamertag -- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lc2mlp9Z-e0