My Game Center

Philip Rivers has averaged more than 300 yards passing in his last four games, but the Chargers have lost each one.AP

When playing fantasy football it’s best to have a short memory. As you peel through the season stats you can be misled by something that happened in September that has no bearing on what’s happening in November or December — when knowledge is most important. Here’s a short quiz to see how closely you’ve been following along who’s hot and who’s not now, not just over the course of the full schedule. The answers will be posted after I answer a few of your questions.

1) Over the last month which of these quarterbacks has averaged the most passing yards per game: Tom Brady, Eli Manning, Philip Rivers or Matthew Stafford?

2) who has caught the most touchdown passes since mid-October: Plaxico Burress, Jimmy Graham, Calvin Johnson, Laurent Robinson or Mike Wallace?

3) Which kicker is the NFL’s leading scorer in terms of points per game during that timeframe: David Akers, Mason Crosby, Robbie Gould or John Kasay?

4) who is the only non-kicker to average over 10 points per contest since Week 6 began: Arian Foster, Calvin Johnson, LeSean McCoy, Adrian Peterson, or Ray Rice?

5) only one of the following players has actually scored a touchdown in the last month. who is it? Miles Austin, BenJarvus Green-Ellis, Darrius Heyward-Bey, DeSean Jackson, Le’Ron McClain, Sidney Rice, Ryan Torain, Reggie Wayne, Mike Williams (TB).

I am thinking about trading Drew Brees for Steven Jackson and Michael Vick. Is that a good trade? – @BrendanHecht

It’s hard to imagine trading Brees in the midst of what may be a season in which he sets the NFL’s single-season record for passing yards. but let’s look at your potential haul. Jackson has been on a tear, totaling 417 rushing yards and 484 yards from scrimmage over his last three games, and Vick was one of the most sought after fantasy players at the start of the year but has regressed recently into the frustrating fantasy player he was in Atlanta for years. what scares me the most about both are their fragile natures. With their teams both out of the playoff hunt for all intents and purposes, any injuries they suffer, and they both have long injury histories — will be treated with caution, and they could lose a large number of important games during your stretch run. Yes, it’s a high-reward proposition, and the two are potentially both top 12 fantasy producers, but the risk far outweighs the reward. Just sit back and enjoy Brees’ ride.

Is Scott Chandler trustworthy? He’s my no. 1 option right now against Benjamin Watson, Jared Cook, Anthony Fasano, Marcedes Lewis. #SadTEs. – Ra

STATS LLC

The Dallas Stars are off to their best start in five years but didn’t show a strong ability to finish over the weekend. Being back home could bring about better results.

The Stars look to continue their best home start in nearly a decade Tuesday night and prevent the Florida Panthers from winning four consecutive road games for the first time since 2009-10.

After extending its winning streak to four with 5-2 victories over Carolina and Washington, Dallas (11-5-0) concluded its four-game trip with a 3-1 loss to Pittsburgh on Friday and a 5-2 defeat to Detroit the following day.

The Stars — off to their best 16-game start since opening 12-4-0 in 2006-07 — scored first in each of the last two games and both were tied after two periods, but they were outscored 5-0 in the third.

“I don’t think anyone’s throwing a party over it — 2-2 is respectable, and we can look at it that way,” forward Adam Burish said of the road trip. “We’re going to go back home, we’re going to shore up a few things in our game and keep going.”

Dallas has scored twice in the third period of each it last four home games.

Kari Lehtonen has started all seven of the Stars’ home games and won six of them. the team hasn’t had a better start at home since opening 9-0-1 in 2002-03.

He’s expected to get the nod from first-year coach Glen Gulutzan after Andrew Raycroft made 35 saves Saturday in his third start of the season. Lehtonen tops the NHL with 11 wins and is among the league leaders with a .934 save percentage.

Lehtonen won Dallas’ only meeting with the Panthers last season, turning aside 27 shots in a 4-1 road victory Oct. 21. He was 1-4-3 with a 3.35 GAA in his previous eight starts versus Florida.

The Panthers (8-5-3) arrive in Dallas following a 3-2 loss to Philadelphia on Sunday that snapped their season-best six-game point streak.

Florida was 0 for 7 on the power play, including a 5-on-3 chance in the third. Moments later, Stephen Weiss received a game misconduct for arguing Jason Garrison’s hooking call that led to a penalty shot, which the Flyers converted for a 3-1 lead.

“I think our composure overall was not great tonight and that was a pretty good example of it, to lose our top forward for the last 10 minutes of the game,” first-year coach Kevin Dineen said of Weiss, who scored in last season’s loss to Dallas. “Without him in the lineup, that’s a pretty big hole.”

While Florida has dropped four straight at home, the club has won its last three on the road by a combined 13-5. the Panthers’ last four-game surge away from home was Nov. 12-21, 2009.

Jose Theodore has been in net for each of the last three road wins while posting a 1.67 GAA. However, he has lost five of his last six starts in Dallas and is 3-6-2 with a 4.19 GAA against the Stars since beating them in the first round of the 2006 playoffs while with Colorado.

Dallas left wing Jamie Benn has 17 of his team-best 19 points in the last 12 games. He has four assists in two career games versus Florida.

The Panthers have won four of five in Dallas, posting a 6-5 shootout victory in their last visit Oct. 30, 2009.

One of the more recent traditions in the weapon-focused fighting series Soul Calibur is the inclusion of a guest character or two. It started in Soul Calibur II, with each console’s version having their own exclusive character. It was later repeated with Soul Calibur IV, the PSP-exclusive Soul Calibur: Broken Destiny, and the Wii-exclusive spinoff Soul Calibur Legends.

But rarely, if ever, do the characters truly mesh with the medieval-esque theme of the game, and they usually wind up sticking out like a sore thumb. that may be somewhat remedied with the newest character to join the fray, as Ezio Auditore da Firenze has now been confirmed for Soul Calibur V.

We first learned of the inclusion of the hero of Assassin’s Creed 2 a few days ago when a leaked image of the Soul Calibur 5 character screen made its way online. now, Namco Bandai and Ubisoft have officially confirmed his inclusion, releasing an official trailer to coincide with the announcement. in addition to showing off Ezio’s skillset, as well as confirming that he will be using many of his trademark weapons in combat, it also confirmed that Ezio would be getting his own stage, albeit a bit different from the way it was in Assassin’s Creed 2.

See for yourself via the official trailer for Ezio Auditore da Firenze below.

In addition to Ezio, we’ve also learned that another new character has been confirmed for Soul Calibur V - Leixa, the daughter of series mainstay Xianghua. Naturally, like new hero Patroklos takes after his mother Sophitia, Leixa’s fighting style is said to be almost exactly like her mother’s. Beyond that, we know nothing regarding Leixa — not even a screenshot to see what she looks like.

What’s also been confirmed is the Soul Calibur V Collector’s Edition, which will contain a ‘making of’ DVD, the official game soundtrack, an art book with signed art card, an appreciation letter from the folks at Project Soul, and the dark Knight and Paladin sets for the game’s character creation mode. also, pre-ordering the title nets players the character Lord Geo Dampierre, who first appeared in Soul Calibur: Broken Destiny.

Though Ezio is certainly a welcome addition to the roster, one can’t help but wonder if that’s it. We’ve only seen part of what’s said to be a fairly large roster, so he may not be the only guest star to appear. The question is, who else could be included? (still betting on Devil May Cry‘s Dante)

Are you looking forward to using Ezio in Soul Calibur V? Will any other guest characters appear?

Soul Calibur V has now been confirmed for January 31, 2012, for the Xbox 360 and PS3.

Around the web:

A pathetically ill-researched segment on Seven News last night claims NSW Attorney General Greg Smith wants games like Grand Theft Auto IV banned. The segment used a still from the sex scene minigame from seven-year-old video game GTA: San Andreas, a mode removed from the game before sale and only accessible via an unofficial software patch, during its argument. It also made links between violent video games and the Norway massacre and claimed “England and Norway have banned similar games.” this is misleading. Grand Theft Auto IV is rated 18 by the British Board of Film Classification, and is not banned. Grand Theft Auto IV is rated 18+ by the Interactive Software Federation of Europe’s Pan European Game Information system. Norway officially supports PEGI and is represented in the PEGI Council, although there is no specific legislative basis. Most confusing was Smith’s position, with Seven reporting that despite the fact that he has approved the introduction of an R18+ catergory for video games he still wants games like Grand Theft Auto IV banned. we contacted the Attorney General’s office where a spokeperson on hand for clarification. “We are still firmly committed to the R18+ classification but we don’t want any dilution of the Refused Classification category, and games should be assessed accordingly,” he said. “Obviously the Attorney General’s expressing his opinion of the game, but obviously these guidelines will be developed over time. his main concern is that if something is grotesquely violent and it merits Refused Classification that it should be refused classification… but we’re still on board with R18+; we want that to go ahead.”

CHANDLER, AZ – Chandler police are advising drivers of ways to help avoid road rage, after a recent incident in the Valley.

In Scottsdale, police say one man shot another last week in an apparent case of road rage. 

Police arrested and charged a Scottsdale criminal attorney, David Appleton, 59, after he allegedly shot Paul Thomas Pearson, 50.

In Chandler, there was also an incident Thursday which was initially thought to be road rage. A driver believed he was shot by a BB gun on the freeway. Police could not however confirm if this was a case of road rage. 

With the holidays approaching, traffic may get busier on the road, and drivers could become impatient.

Chandler police gives the following advice on how to stay safe on the road:

-Avoid cutting people off -Don’t tailgate -If someone is tailgating you, let them pass -Avoid abrupt lane changes -Don’t get out of your vehicle to confront someone.

Copyright 2011 Scripps Media, inc. all rights reserved. this material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

LOS ANGELES – Cliff Bleszinski was initially hesitant to think of “Gears of War” as a trilogy. the design director at Epic Games and mastermind behind the chainsaw-slicing video game shooter series knew that gamers were a particularly judgmental bunch, especially when it comes to the interactive industry’s gluttonous strategy of constructing franchises from the ground up.

“I think if you come out and say, ‘this is the start of a trilogy,’ gamers get defensive, cross their arms and say, ‘We’ll see,’ ” said Blezenski. “you have to play it game by game. We had ideas of where each game could go in the series, but until we had confirmation, we never really started work on a sequel, except for coming up with pie-in-the-sky ideas.”

Churning out three “Gears of War” titles during the past five years paid off.

“Gears of War 3” sold more than 3 million copies in its first week and was the second best-selling game in September behind “Madden NFL 12,” propelling the entire Xbox 360 series past the $1 billion mark, according to Microsoft Corp. and NPD Group, which tracks retail game sales. Microsoft also said more than 4.5 million gamers played it online since it debuted.

“for some reason, three is the magic number,” said Bleszinski of the omnipresence of trilogies in pop culture. “I can’t explain it. Narratively, they make sense because you’ve got that ‘Lord of the Rings’ vibe where there’s a definitive beginning, middle and ending. There’s something about that contained pack-of-three that’s just incredibly gratifying.”

Other game developers and publishers seem to agree.

Sequels have always been an important part of the gaming world, but with the release of “Gears of War 3” last month and games such as superhero brawler “Marvel vs. Capcom 3: Fate of two Worlds,” first-person shooter “Killzone 3,” horror shoot-’em-up “F.E.a.R. 3” and alien blaster “Resistance 3” earlier this year, it seems 2011 is the year of the threequel.

The trend continues this holiday season – or should that be holiday threeson? – with the arrival of such third installments as the epic action-adventure title “Uncharted 3: Drake’s Deception,” bawdy open-world gang war saga “Saints Row: the Third” and explosive first-person military shooters “Battlefield 3” and “call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3.”

For some of this year’s threequels, the third outing is less about the story moving forward and more about the technology leaping ahead. “Battlefield 3” from developer Digital Illusions CE will be the first game to utilize the Frostbite 2 game engine, promising players more realistic graphics, fuller sound and amplified environmental destruction.

“ ‘Battlefield 3’ is the true next-generation successor to ‘Battlefield 2,’ ” said DICE producer Patrick Liu. “We’re utilizing the latest technology with our new Frostbite 2 engine. It’s by far the most ambitious game we’ve ever made. It’s a bigger game with a single-player campaign, co-op and multiplayer. It’s the most pressure we’ve ever felt making a game.”

Six years have passed since Electronic Arts Inc. deployed “Battlefield 2” for the PC, though there have been other entries in the 9-year-old series. this time, the publisher is positioning “Battlefield 3,” which will be available for the PC, PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 on Tuesday, as a combatant to “call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3” from Activision Inc.

The marketing campaign for “Battlefield 3” cleverly suggests that the game goes “above and beyond the call.”

The original “Modern Warfare,” which was developed by Infinity Ward and released in 2007, transformed Activision’s aging “call of Duty” series into the most successful gaming franchise. “Modern Warfare 3,” which is due out Nov. 8, is expected to top the previous two installments, as well as last year’s top-selling “Black Ops” edition from Treyarch.

“from a commercial standpoint, as far as ‘Modern Warfare 3’ is concerned, it’s a one-shot kill,” said Scott Steinberg, CEO of game consulting company TechSavvy Global. “the competition is not in a good position because millions and millions of players have been playing ‘call of Duty’ online with their friends and are already hungry for the next installment.”

“Modern Warfare 3,” “Gears of War 3,” “Resistance 3,” “Uncharted 3,” “Saints Row: the Third” and “Mass Effect 3” are among the threequels on the same platforms as their predecessors, a striking difference from past gaming franchises that spanned consoles. Steinberg blames a combination of the economy and “dumb luck” for the one-two-three punch.

“Traditionally, you don’t see three iterations of a series on the same console because previous sales cycles and technical evolutions have moved more quickly,” said Steinberg. “In the past, publishers used console launches as a reboot point for new installments. this longer cycle has given developers the chance to eke more horsepower out of the systems.”

Steinberg thinks the third time on the same platform will ultimately charm gamers because developers have honed both their technical talents and storytelling skills without the burden of figuring out how to create games for a completely new system, an issue developers tackled when transitioning from such consoles as the Xbox to Xbox 360 and the PS2 to PS3.

“when you’ve got a stable technology platform underneath you, it’s nice because you can focus on design elements and storytelling aspects,” said Aaryn Flynn, general manager at developer BioWare. “I think anyone who has developed multiple games on these platforms is doing what we’re doing – honing their craft and getting better and better each time.”

Flynn and his colleagues at BioWare are currently preparing for the launch of “Mass Effect 3” next March. the third chapter of the intergalactic sci-fi saga centers on the ominous alien Reapers invading Earth. Flynn said the trilogy, which features a highly customizable protagonist named Commander Shepard, was always envisioned as a three-part series.

“certainly, when we first imagined ‘Mass Effect’ as a story for Commander Shepard, we did think of it as a trilogy,” Flynn said. “That said, we’ve made tweaks and adjustments all the way along as we’ve heard from fans what they want to see, but certainly the story has been building to the Reaper invasion and to Shepard’s ultimate battle against them.”

In addition to “Mass Effect 3,” other threequels expected in 2012 include Ubisoft’s open-world shooter “far Cry 3,” Blizzard’s fantasy title “Diablo III” and Rockstar Games’ third-person shooter “Max Payne 3.” as long-running franchises like “Super Mario,” “Final Fantasy” and “Resident Evil” have proven, the third time out doesn’t always mark the end.

“when it comes to video games, never say never,” Steinberg said. “Players aren’t dense. they realize that as long as there is interest left in a franchise, it will make an inevitable return. There’s usually so many holes left open in a plot, that it’s of no consequence when you reach the end of a trilogy. there are a thousand other stories that can be told.”

AP

Perhaps all those preseason magazines that had Washington at the very bottom of the NFL weren’t so far off base.

Just ask Redskins defensive tackle Barry Cofield.

“There’s no guarantee that we can win another game.  We just don’t have a team on our schedule that’s just going to lay down and you know, let us beat them,” Cofield said, via the Washington Post.

The 3-6 Redskins play three losing teams in their remaining seven games, with two of those games (Seattle, Philadelphia) on the road. Facing bad teams hasn’t helped the Redskins lately, though.

They lost to the previously one-win Eagles. They lost by 13 to the previously one-win Panthers. They lost by 11 to the previously one-win Dolphins.

“If we don’t play better, there’s no reason to expect to win any games,” Cofield said. “the ball’s not going to just bounce our way. it could get very ugly. it could get historically ugly. hopefully, guys are fearful of that, and hopefully, guys focus in and just come together and do whatever it takes to get a win.”

For Mike Shanahan, it’s already historically ugly. This is the first five game losing streak of his coaching career.  A quarterback solution is not coming through that door unless Jake Plummer gives up handball.

If nothing else, the Redskins put themselves in position to draft a good quarterback for 2012. the question is whether Shanahan will coach that quarterback.

SAN FRANCISCO (CNN) — Executing a successful remake of a video game can be like shooting blindfolded, and that’s especially true when you’re dealing with the fervent following behind Microsoft’s “Halo” series.Longtime fans look for any reason to balk at attempts to repackage their beloved games, and for “Halo: Combat Evolved Anniversary,” people who follow its development closely have reasons to be skeptical. It’s the first game wholly developed without intervention from Bungie, the company that created “Halo” but which has since severed ties with Microsoft.”Halo Anniversary” is available only for the Xbox 360 starting Tuesday, the 10th anniversary of the original “Halo,” which launched alongside Microsoft’s first home gaming console.The game adds high-definition graphics and a big-production musical score to the original, without changing much else.Producers often look at remakes as a way to add their signature to a well-regarded work, but the team shepherding “Halo” went to extraordinary lengths to preserve the feel of its decade-old model.Frank O’Connor, a development director for 343 Industries, the division Microsoft created to specifically handle the “Halo” franchise, stressed that “Halo Anniversary” was created to appease fans.The $40 price tag, versus the standard $60 price for new games, fits with that model. “This is a celebration of the past.”O’Connor leads a team of a few people within 343 Industries that’s tasked with making the final say about whether a storyline for new games, books and other media fits with “the Halo canon,” he said.with several bestselling books and more products in the works, this is a fragile process.Sometimes O’Connor has to temper his own instincts in order to stay true to precedents set by earlier games. For example, he wanted to hide a rocket launcher behind a waterfall in the second level of “Halo Anniversary” as an Easter egg for explorers. His team challenged him on it, and so he conceded: no rockets, he lamented as he motioned to the waterfall while demonstrating the game. Designing a familiar but unique ‘Halo 4′ The team within 343 Industries that’s working on “Halo 4,” the major new game scheduled to be released late next year, has been given more creative freedom than the external group that’s programming “Halo Anniversary.”Kiki Wolfkill, the executive producer for “Halo 4,” said that being able to consult with O’Connor’s team makes it “incredibly easy” to keep their stories straight. but Josh Holmes, the creative director for the game, said that despite the help, the breadth of the “Halo” franchise creates a minefield for storytellers to traverse.”There are times when we’re thinking about all of the different interconnected storylines,” Holmes said. “That’s really important to us, because we believe in the universe and want to keep the universe consistent.”They declined to talk much about “Halo 4,” but they said it will strike a delicate balance between keeping up with innovations in other first-person-shooter games and keeping the mechanics familiar to fans of the series.The game will have a familiar control scheme, using two analog sticks for movement, rather than doing a drastic departure with, say, Kinect camera navigation, 343 Industries executives said. it may incorporate limited Kinect functions for throwing grenades or toggling settings using voice commands, like those in “Halo Anniversary,” they said.”One of the things that’s really important to us is that the game feels, at its core, like ‘Halo,’ ” Holmes said. “It feels like ‘Halo,’ yet it feels new and unique.” Staying true to ‘Halo’ in ‘Anniversary’ edition that same criteria are not what’s driving “Halo Anniversary.” The primary concern for developers was that it feel almost identical to the original “Halo.”One roadblock that Saber Interactive, the team behind the single-player element of “Halo Anniversary,” ran into was a result of running an old game on the Xbox 360′s faster hardware, O’Connor said.The game just felt smoother and speedier, he said.so the team tweaked the code in order to reproduce glitches found in the original.”If things like that happen with physics or animation, and we go change it, then we’re changing the game,” O’Connor said after watching an alien in the game make an unintentional, jittery movement. “Some things we had to go back and break to make it authentic.”But like O’Connor’s failed attempt at hiding a rocket launcher, Saber wanted to do more. O’Connor and his team had to talk the developers out of overreaching.”They just wanted to put their own stamp on it,” O’Connor said. “But we said, ‘This isn’t about putting your stamp or our stamp.’ ” New features for ‘Halo Anniversary’ While the characters and scenes from the first “Halo” have been re-created with an attention to detail that takes advantage of the Xbox 360′s processor, “Halo Anniversary” players can switch to the vintage look at any time, except during video sequences. This results in a brief pause, but it can be a welcome distraction throughout the game.The feature lets players compare today’s standards to what was cutting edge a decade ago. At some points, like in grassy environments, the original holds up surprisingly well, but the aesthetic changes in “Halo Anniversary” aren’t just for show. Lighting effects and brighter textures on walls were used to guide the player along in places where it was once difficult to navigate. These changes are not likely to upset even sensitive fans.perhaps more controversial, the developers made some significant alterations to a particular character and added video terminals throughout the game. Both were done for the purpose of broadening the plot and for relating it to games and books that have come out since the first game, O’Connor said.The floating blue-and-metallic orb named 343 Guilty Spark, which Microsoft’s 343 Industries took its name from, has received a sort of makeover. The wisecracking robot, which guides players through certain levels but was known to stray, has been made more visible and talkative. His lines have been updated to hint at story elements from books and future games, O’Connor said. likewise, the terminals placed throughout the levels, another element not found in the original, let players watch short clips that hint at events in “Halo 4″ and other “Halo” media, O’Connor said.The online multiplayer component in “Halo Anniversary” has more in common with “Halo: Reach” than it does with the original. it uses the same “Reach” game engine that was designed by Certain Affinity, an Austin, Texas, game developer. The programmers rebuilt versions of a few maps and weapons from the first “Halo” to be played with friends. “Halo: Reach” owners will be able to access the modes for free. The true test: Fan appraisals You can never quite gauge how fans will react to seeing one of their beloved entertainment artifacts recreated for a new generation.Remember when George Lucas remastered “Star Wars” in the late 1990s? “Han shot first,” a reference to a particular scene from the original movie that was changed, remains the bane of many geeks.Eagle-eye followers of “Halo” have begun grumbling over the addition of metallic fins lining the bottom of the ring that surrounds the planet in the game. Execs from 343 Industries initially said the fins were present in the first game but not visible due to the low graphic resolution. in fact, the fins are an important element of the plot in the Greg Bear novel “Halo: Primordium,” which is set to come out in January, O’Connor said. Without them, the game would be inconsistent with the book.as “Star Wars” fans nervously await the three-dimensional remakes that are in the works, “Halo Anniversary” players with television sets that support the feature will get to play in 3-D glory.”Halo Anniversary” and “Star Wars” have one more thing in common. The musical score for the new “Halo” game was recorded using Lucas’ Skywalker Symphony Orchestra. “Halo Anniversary” includes the ability to switch back to the music from the original game, “though I don’t see why you’d want to,” O’Connor said.Copyright CNN 2011

Microsoft’s race simulator Forza Motorsport 4 has debuted at no.1 in the UKIE Gfk Chart-Track all Formats top 40 this week.

It was a close-run race with EA’s FIFA 12, however, with Microsoft’s game claiming the top spot by just 700 units thanks to a 62 per cent week-on-week drop in units for EA’s sports titles.

In the process, Forza 4 claimed the prize of the fastest selling racing game ever on Xbox 360.

Ubisoft’s just Dance 3 gets amongst it with a third place debut, charting one spot ahead of Bethesda’s rage. Konami’s PES 2012 claims fifth in its first week.

Other new chart entries include Alternative Software’s Jonah Lomu Rugby Challenge (10th), Namco Bandai’s Ace Combat: Assault Combat (12th), Capcom’s Dead Rising 2: Off the Record (14th), Activision’s Skylanders: Spyro’s Adventure (16th) and, right at the foot of the listings, Activision’s Spider-Man: Edge of Time (39th).

Here’s the UK top 20 for the week ending October 15th 2011 in full:

1. Forza Motorsport 4 (Microsoft)2. FIFA 12 (EA)3. just Dance 3 (Ubisoft)4. rage (Bethesda)5. PES 2012 (Konami)6. Gears of War 3 (Microsoft)7. dark Souls (Namco Bandai)8. Zumba Fitness (505 Games)9. F1 2011 (Codemasters)10. Jonah Lomu Rugby Challenge (Alternative Software)11. Deus Ex: Human Revolution (Square Enix)12. Ace Combat: Assault Horizon (Namco Bandai)13. LEGO Pirates of the Caribbean (Disney)14. Dead Rising 2: Off the Record (Capcom)15. Dead Island (Deep Silver)16. Skylanders: Spyro’s Adventure (Activision)17. Resistance 3 (Sony)18. Driver: San Francisco (Ubisoft)19. Mario Kart Wii (Nintendo)20. Rugby World Cup 2011 (505 Games)

Rockstar’s Dan Houser reckons that games like GTA IV and Red Dead Redemption are only scratching the surface of what open world games can do.

Houser also revealed his hopes for the future saying that he hopes that regardless of the name on the box they’ll have made “a bunch of interesting games” in ten years time.

He said: “I think there’s something really interesting in the open world experience. obviously we’ve made like ten of them now and they still don’t feel boring to me. it still feels that we’re only scratching the surface of that potential. But who knows what we’ll be doing?”

“We’ll hopefully have done a bunch of interesting games in the next ten years,” Houser added. “That’s always the goal. I’ve never been that good at the futureology side of game-making. We never really care what the name is on the box, either. the name Grand Theft Auto, the name Max Payne, the name’s Red Dead, the name’s Table Tennis, it doesn’t really matter as long as the game’s cool. I would never have believed you would have been talking about this in ten years time. We were still talking about Space Invaders [ten years ago], and that was already 20, 30 years old then. Hopefully we’ll continue to do interesting stuff, that’s you know, that’s kind of all you can hope for.”

There is still no official sign of the next Grand Theft Auto title but Rockstar has confirmed that Max Payne 3 will be arriving in March of 2012.