It is the end of another year, game of the years are being announced and shared by anyone thinking someone might be listening. Throughout 2009, we saw the release of numerous blockbuster titles, but all in all it was a down year. Be that a result of the "Modern Warfare 2 Effect" or our economy being in one of the deepest recessions it has ever seen, regardless, video gaming was softer this year than in the past few.

Modern Warfare 2 is a fantastic game, but it is far from perfect, due to numerous issues that have arisen since its release earlier this November. Recently, a patch went live on both the PS3 and 360 versions of the blockbuster, nerfing Models, claiming to add changes to the matchmaking process, and fixing various smaller known glitches.

From personal experience, as the patch went live earlier this week, I can say that the matchmaking process is not fully functional, but it is better than it was. Models are nowhere near as powerful, as their range is far shorter. Of course there are still a number of issues that are being addressed according to fourzerotwo on Twitter.

Here's hoping that we see some more matchmaking updates early in the New Year.

Infinity Ward has a few updates to Modern Warfare 2 in testing that should go live sometime soon on a platform near you. They include fixes for both the infinite ammo and public "private" match glitches. The update balances the Model 1887s, because as anyone and their uncle have found out, the Models are extremely broken. The update on PS3 will provide a fix to the prestige hack and on PC the texture hack will be fixed as well. It is not known of the exact date that the update will get pumped out, but I would hazard a guess at sometime within the next week.

The last one went live earlier last week, disabling the Javelin glitch and fixing some other issues. The matchmaking issues are still fresh in everyone's minds and fourzerotwo on Twitter has let frustrated gamers know that they are aware and are working to fix it.

Sometime last week, I posted a rumor hour blog regarding the fact that Sega's upcoming kart racing title, Sonic & Sega All-Stars Racing may include Banjo and Kazooie. Today, Sega posted the box art for the title in question and unless Sega has been hacked, than Banjo and Kazooie have been confirmed.

Pink and blue themed Wii Remotes are on their way Stateside for a release on February 14, 2010 making the perfect Valentine's Day gift for the Nintendo-lovers on your list.

They will come by themselves or bundled with Wii Motion Plus for $44.99 and $54.99 respectively.

As expected, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 dominated the software charts, moving over 6 million games. New Super Mario Bros. Wii moved over 1.3 million games in the month rounding out the top three. Check out the top ten software and the hardware numbers after the jump!!

Gearbox Software has confirmed and detailed the mysterious downloadable content I blogged about earlier this week. They have released that the new content entitled Mad Moxxi's Underdome Riot will feature three new arenas, the option to store more of your loot in a new loot bank feature, as well as the opportunity to obtain two more skill points for your level 50 character.

This DLC will undoubtedly offer less than the first one, the Zombie Island of Dr. Ned, but nonetheless will become available for download on Xbox Live on December 29, 2009 and a little later on PS3 on January 7, 2010.

According to the January issue of Nintendo Power, Mega Man 10 is on the way to WiiWare. Mega Man 9 was released back in 2008 for all major platforms as a downloadable title. As detailed by this scan here, Mega Man 10 is indeed a reality. Personally I would hazard a guess that gamers will see it hit console's downloadable services within the first four months of 2010.

The article only gives mention to the Wii version of the game being released, however, due to the publication being Nintendo Power, and the simple fact it was released on all consoles last time, I would expect that 360 and PS3 gamers will not be disappointed. Mega Man 9 was released on all consoles within two weeks of one another in September and October of 2008. The game is likely to be available for between 800-1200 MSP or $10-15 on the other consoles.

Visceral Games first allowed PS3 users early access to the demo for their upcoming game based on the epic novel, Dante's Inferno. They have now taken it one step further making it known that for no extra cost, gamers that purchase Dante's Inferno on the PS3 this February will receive the Divine Edition of the game.

What is included in this edition you ask? For no extra cost gamers will receive the following:

- Developer commentaries
- Wayne Barlow digital art book
- Soundtrack from the game
- A digital copy of the complete Longfellow translation of Dante Alighieri's Inferno

For the extra cost of absolutely nothing, one has to admit that these are quite decent additions. Thus, for the same cost as the 360 version of the game you get some added bonuses.

Gearbox creative director Mike Neumann teased an announcement of something that eventually got pushed back, and not getting announced. Regardless, it seems as though the beans have been spilled anyways. PS3Trophies.org added a new series of trophies this morning that included the ones pictured to the right. No achievements have surfaced yet for the 360 version of the game, but it is only a matter of time.

Box art has surfaced for Sonic & Sega All-Stars Racing for the 360 depicting Banjo of Banjo Kazooie fame in the game. The first thing that jumps out to me that this might be fake is the front cover saying XBOX LIVE instead of just LIVE like modern games now do. This has yet to be confirmed or denied by Sega or Sonic Team which is why it is best to treat this as a rumor for now.

Professor Layton and the Mask of Miracles has been confirmed by Nintendo for release some time next year in Japan. Still, yet to be announced for North American release are the third and fourth Professor Layton games, Professor Layton and the Last Time Travel and Professor Layton and the Specter's Flute. While time will tell on whether we will see the games here in North America, it is probably the sales of the second game, Professor Layton and the Diabolical Box here that will tell the story.

Professor Layton and the Mask of Miracles is said to see some major changes to the core gameplay mechanics that the Professor Layton games have found success with. None of the changes have been explained in detail as of yet.

It seems like forever since I've written a blog for HG, because of personal circumstances beyond my control. (For the record, it has only been two weeks!) Regardless, I may have been busy, but I have definitely not left, and I am still here for some time to come. That being said, let's get to what I've decided to blog about this evening.

I've been thinking a lot about the games I've played this year recently. I've played almost all of the major releases that have been released this year, and most of the ones not considered major as well. That said many of them were decent or acceptable, few amazing or game of the year worthy. I have made up my mind on what is my game of the year, however, I have a list of games that can easily contend for game of the year, in my opinion. Keep in mind none of this is in relation to anything that HG does at the end of the year regarding game of the year awards.

After the jump will be the list along with my reasoning.

Rumored to be released in the future, be it by Interplay or somebody else via court proceedings, the rumors got all the fuel they needed today, when three supposed screenshots of the MMO hit the web. These screenshots are from a game code-named Project V13. The shots are part of the defense in a trial for publisher Interplay, in a case where Bethesda (owner of the rights to the Fallout series), is suing them for trademark infringement.

Following on the success of Fallout 3, the next entry which has been officially announced is Fallout: New Vegas by Bethesda, set to be released during Q4 2010. These screenshots bring hopes to gamer's dreams of having a Fallout based MMO.

All three screenshots available after the jump!

Leaving a lot of people screaming, "ALREADY?!", Nintendo confirmed rumors they had dismissed earlier this week as speculative this morning, when they confirmed what is being dubbed as the DSi XL.

The DSI XL will boast two 4.2 inch in diameter screens, much larger than the DSi's 3.25 inch in diameter screens or the 3 inch screens sported by the DS Lite. The charging time for the unit will be three hours, while battery life is 4-5 hours on the highest brightness setting and 13-17 hours on the lowest brightness setting.

More info after the jump!