"I always felt like this completely creative person that had no outlet," Siciliano says. "I had never even thought of taking photos before. It definitely wasn't my childhood dream; I had never taken a class. It just happened and it changed everything."

When the drama between Activision and Call of Duty: Modern Warfare developer Infinity Ward began to unfold this summer, hardcore fans worried about the future of the Call of Duty franchise. Despite the fact that developer Treyarch has been creating Call of Duty games in Infinity Ward’s off years (they developed Call of Duty 3 and Call of Duty: World At War), the ousting of Infinity Ward’s leaders and a possible dissolution of the game studio had fans concerned that the Call of Duty franchise’s quality would decrease. Treyarch’s Call of Duty games were above average but still not as slick and polished as Infinity Ward’s games. But that changes now.

DJ Hero may not have been the sales phenomenon that Activision was hoping it would be last year, you know, like how Guitar Hero grew to be. But the publisher is sticking by the franchise with DJ Hero 2.

Rock Band 2 came out way back in 2008, and we’ve had Rock Band Beatles and Rock Band Green Day to hold us over until Rock Band 3. While the band specific music games are great if you’re a fan of the band (who isn’t a fan of The Beatles though?), most players want a variety of music to choose from and play with.

"I'm learning who I am as a painter and what exactly my style is," Widom says. "For the show, I focused on the feeling I would get if I were to walk outside and look up above the line of traffic to the tree tops and the sky."

It’s tough for any new game franchise to get the attention it needs during the crowded fall/holiday season. Among games like Halo, Call of Duty, Rock Band and other top-tier video game franchises, it’s easy for a game like Enslaved: Odyssey to the West to be ignored. But the game, a third-person action-adventure, takes place 150 years from now in a post-apocalyptic America, what’s a better recipe for a game than that?

The original Halo game, Halo: Combat Evolved, hit stores shelves back in 2001 to much praise and critical delight. Developed by game studio Bungie and distributed by Microsoft, the game was a bona fide hit and put the newly released Microsoft Xbox on the map. Fast-forward nine years later with a handful of Halo games, novels and a movie in the works, Bungie has made its final Halo game, Halo: Reach.

At first glance, the three exhibitions of Colorado artists at the Boulder Museum of Contemporary Art appear to share little in common.

The original Mafia game, Mafia: The City of Lost Heaven, was a story that took place in the 1930s where the bootlegging of alcohol ruled the streets. In Mafia II, we move up to the 1940s in the midst of World War II and the mob still looking for ways to make money now that the Prohibtion era has been over for years.

People were generally very friendly and open, but as a white minority in black Africa, I definitely stuck out, Hoffmann says. It really set a standard for how I like to approach otherness.