Shadow of the Colosuss was, by far, my pick for best game on the PS2.  The title came from Team ICO, the masterminds behind the early PS2 cult classic, ICO.  Much has been made about the developer’s highly anticipated third title, a game shrouded in mystery until now.  Who knows how the guys at PlayStation LifeStyle got their hands on the teaser-trailer for Project TRICO–it’s just great to see that Fumito Ueda and his team are very deep into production.

If we’re to believe this is in fact the next Team ICO game (and I do), you need to play ICO and Shadow of the Colossus (especially the latter) to appreciate what’s going on here.  So go out and play them right now if you haven’t already.  OK, good.  Welcome back.  Weren’t they awesome?  What we take away from these two titles isn’t necessarily their storylines alone, but that combined with their gameplay styles.

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Our 404 podcast has finally been launched as a video podcast.  Starting right now, you’ll be able to grab the video feed straight off of iTunes or just manually grab everyday at CNET TV.  Simply click on the “video podcasts” tab on the right of the page and then clicking on “The 404.”

If you’re still getting your daily 404 fix via audio, no worries–that feed isn’t going anywhere.

So check out a sample of the show, embedded below and tell me what you think in the comments section.

Sorry, it’s been a few weeks since my last post.  The NHL Playoffs started, so cut me some slack.  There’s that, and then there’s also a little piece of hardware called the Tricaster.  With this beautiful box, The 404 is now able to offer live 5-camera switching.  We’re also turning the show into a daily video podcast as well, so soon you’ll be able to watch The 404 on-the-go.

Here’s what else is going on with me–like you care.

Even though Twitter sucks, I like using it a lot.

My review of the Nintendo DSi went live. 

Make sure you’re reading every last thing I post on the CNET blog Crave.  Leave comments, then tell your friends to leave even more comments.  When you’re done with that, refresh the page about 75 times and leave one more comment for good luck.

As always, make sure you subscribe to The 404 on iTunes or watch us live everyday, Monday through Friday at 11am eastern.

If you’re at all interested in stuff going on at this year’s Game Developers Conference in San Francisco, I wrote up a few stories about what’s happening out there for CNET.

- A new Zelda game is headed to the Nintendo DS - We need this like we need another, well, Zelda game for the DS.

- Motion control for the Xbox 360 - PDP gives Xbox 360 the motion control nobody asked for.

- A storage solution for the Nintendo Wii is finally here - Nothing snarky to say here, this is actually kind of awesome.

- Some brand spankin’ new info on DSiWare - Don’t worry, you’ll probably be rebuying old Game Boy games before you know it.

What better way to spend our 300th episode of The 404 than with our legendary guest, Dr. Michael Brues? The Sleep Doctor himself graces us with his third 404 appearance where we learn a whole lot on why we’re all getting terrible nights of sleep. So please listen to or download the show and make sure you check out the good doctor’s site and book.

Download today’s podcast

Check out my CNET First Look video at the Nintendo DSi.

There’s something to be said about a video game that forces you to keep the lights on when playing at night.  While F.E.A.R. 2 didn’t necessisarily have me sleeping with a night-light, there’s enough screamer moments embedded in the eight-plus hours of gameplay to satisfy most horror fans.

I’m not going to lie, the story in F.E.A.R. 2 is forgettable.  Besides the fact that you’re constantly being telepathically poked by a half-dead she-zombie named Alma, there’s really no background information you need to know in order for things to make sense.  For some reason, you’re special and she wants you.   That said, there are some really cool creepy moments that make for fantastic displays of technical eye-candy.  Some of them feel a bit cheap, but most are welcome moments of legitimate fright.  Calling the game “gory” is a bit of an understatement.  F.E.A.R. 2 has some scenes of straight-up maniacal carnage.   These scenes become truly disturbing as some of them are set against paradoxical backgrounds like an elementary school.

Gameplay here is solid.  F.E.A.R. 2 controls just as you’d expect with a few wild cards thrown in meant to separate the game from other generic shooters.  Enemy variation is weak, as I can’t recall more than four character models I had the pleasure of shooting.  Level design gets a bit redundant–something the original game suffered from–but there’s a good enough change of pace to keep the action moving along smoothly.  I personally enjoyed the mech segements of play, where the main character is thrown inside a seemingly indestructible steel robot that fires all kinds of rockets and bullets.

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