Rumble | Silent Hill Versus Resident Evil

As we approach the best holiday of the year, when women do their best to look as slutty as possible because they have an excuse to do so, when we get to eat pumpkin pies and make art from those veggies' unused husks, and when horror movies and games are released for us consumers of entertainment media to experience in the darkest rooms we can find, what better than to have a Game Crush Rumble between the two biggest survival horror franchises in the gaming industry?

I can think of a few better things, mostly involving those scantily-clad celebrators, but for now, I'll just lay down the Google gauntlet so that these two rivals can to go to war. Without further ado:

Resident...Evil...WINS.

Rumble | N64 Versus Dreamcast

The Game Crush Rumble is stepping away from comics and fighting games today, and into the realm of the ever-waging console wars. The classic rivalry of Nintendo vs. Sega lives on, as Google Trends host a battle between Sega's final console and its Nintendo-made counterpart--two beloved systems with cultish fan following.

Let the battle begin:

As was often the case over the years, Nintendo has kept a few steps ahead of Sega in this matchup. The N64 has clearly laid the Dreamcast to rest today.

Rumble | Mortal Kombat Versus Capcom

Today's rumble is the final round in the comic world/fighting game mini-tournament, pitting Japanese publisher/developer Capcom against Mortal Kombat, a fighting franchise created as direct competition to Capcom's Street Fighter.

Google is bringing out the weapons, so let us begin:

Fatality! Capcom has been decapitated/dismembered/gutted/de-boned/etc. by Midway Games' Mortal Kombat series. (Mortal Kombat beats Street Fighter, too.) Too bad, because I've always been a big Capcom fan...and I think the Mortal Kombat series is somewhat worthless.

Unitl next time, Rumble fans...

Rumble | Mortal Kombat Versus DC Comics

Following up on both the latest Game Crush Rumble (Marvel vs. Capcom) and my most recent preview (Mortal Kombat vs. DC Universe), today's deathmatch pits the infamously violent Mortal Kombat vs. the generally tame DC Comics.

Google Trends once again plays host to this bloody showdown. Here are the results:

For the second Rumble in a row, videogames have defeated comics, with Mortal Kombat delivering an even mightier finishing blow than Capcom did last time around. I can't say that I'm surprised; DC is made up of a bunch of pansies and Batman.

Next Rumble: Capcom vs. Mortal Kombat...

Rumble | Marvel Versus Capcom

The universe of Marvel Comics has been waging war against Capcom's stable of virtual warriors for over 10 years now. What better combatants, then, to feature in a Game Crush rumble than these two opposing forces?

The unforgiving arena that is Google Trends has finally played host to the ultimate battle between the two realms, and here are the results:

The Japanese giant, Capcom, is your winner of today's rumble. No Hollywood muscle shined through in this fight, no matter how many Marvel Comics movies have been made.

Our next Rumble will be the equally mashed-up match-up of Mortal Kombat vs. DC Comics. Keep your eyes peeled to see that contest in the near future.

Rumble | Mini-Game Versus Minigame

As a writer and editor, producing blocks of text with correct grammar and usage is of the utmost importance to me, so it is not unusual that I check myself with the occasional dictionary reference or even peer review. More often, I find myself using the Videogame Style Guide for industry-specific terms that may not have officially found their way into common language as of yet. Usually I follow that to a T, but in this case, I had to contest.

The word minigame (or mini-game) has been used throughout the industry for quite some time now, but which is the proper way to write it? The Videogame Style Guide says that "mini-game" is correct. What does the internet say?

Minigame is in RED
Mini-game in BLUE

That seems pretty clear to me, and Wikipedia confirms the result. Minigame it is.

Rumble | Jack Thompson Versus Rockstar Games

It's no secret that I think Jack Thompson is a complete and utter douchebag. Since this fool is in the news again, i decided he would be the focus of today's Rumble. He is pitted against his self-chosen arch enemy, Rockstar Games. He has a law degree on his side (I question how this man ever earned ANY degree), versus a wealth of great games and fan adoration backing Rockstar. Thompson is in BABY BLUE and Rockstar is in BLOOD RED.

Yeah, that pretty much sums it up. Jack Thompson will NEVER beat Rockstar Games, or any other game company, for that matter. Let's all hope he is disbarred at the conclusion of his latest trial.

Rumble | Video Game Networks

Once again feeding off of the previous Rumble, I have decided to take the notion into the large-game-network arena, where giants such as IGN, GameSpot, GameSpy and 1UP can duke it out in a virtual newsstand free-for-all. I have a feeling I already know who will win...

Yup, the mythical BEAST that is the IGN Network comes out on top of this one. I expected as much, but can't help but feel disappointed, because I think GameSpot has superior writing talent as well as better content and presentation. C'est la vie. Everyone should just go to GamerNode, instead, where you can catch some more writing by your favorite tag-team of Destruction and Adoration (that'd be Brian and I).

Anyway, you can fiddle with the search results for yourself, here.

Rumble | Joystiq Versus Kotaku

We here at Game Crush understand that there are literally hundreds -- thousands -- of video game blogs out there. We by no means try to compete with those that deliver a flood of news, rumors, and the like. Some of those big name blogs have tons of writers and spam readers throughout the day with a bunch of items that I imagine most just skim through anyway (that's what I do, at least). In any case, I've decided to pit the two biggest names on the blog list against one another in a Google-esque battle to the death. Like Achilles and Hector, only one will emerge victorious.

So, after a particularly gruesome battle, Joystiq and its clever Q-infused name end up dragging its kill behind the chariot for all to see. You can check out the results of this search for yourselves, here.

Rumble | Best Genre

Considering the previous Rumble, Sex vs. Videogames, I got to pondering ways one might actually search for video games. After a bit of rolling it around in my head, search strings referring to specific genres piqued my interest. However, I wanted to limit the kinds of results that Google would likely find, so today's rumble has to do with videogame-specific acronyms.

There you have it, of the most commonly abbreviated video game genres, RPGs reign supreme. The offshoot MMORPG genre is next, followed by FPSs and lastly, the somewhat cultist RTS group. You can check out the search for yourself here.

Rumble | Sex Versus Videogames

I know which one I would choose...

And it looks like Google agrees. Apparently the number of searches for sex on Google is so incomprehensibly vast that videogames barely even register in comparison. Here's a link to the trend search for you to see for yourself: http://www.google.com/trends?q=sex%2C+videogames&ctab=0&geo=all&date=all

Rumble | Linux Battle

It's time again! After my last Google battle, I thought it would be interesting to take the winner, Linux, and break the fight down even further. Today we have a face-off between FIVE different Linux distributions.

Ubuntu in BLUE
Suse in RED
Debian in ORANGE
Gentoo in GREEN
Slackware in PURPLE

[Image lost to time]

It looks like Ubuntu reigns supreme, with the rest all following at a relatively equal level. It's been in the news lately, and is obviously on everybody's mind, or at least their keyboard. I happen to have Ubuntu on one of my own PCs - a Pentium 2 400mHz - and it serves me well. The clear winner of this battle is definitely a solid choice for anyone looking to replace Windows.

You can check out the details of this search right here

Rumble | OS Battle

Once again, there is a fierce melee to be sorted out, and where better than here at Game-Crush, with a little help from our trusty field of war, Google Trends. Today, we have the battle of the operating systems:

Windows XP in BLUE
Windows Vista in RED
Linux in ORANGE
Mac OSX in GREEN

In a more in-depth elaboration upon our last Ask Google, we have pitted the two Microsoft products against Mac's offering, as well as the people's OS, Linux. In the end, Linux rides on the shoulders of the masses, and OSX pulls up the rear, with Microsoft populating the middle. Of particular note is that as of November, Vista has pulled ahead of the older XP, foreshadowing the future of the PC world.

You can check out the details of this search right here

Rumble | Microsoft Versus Mac

It's that time of the week again - it is time to submit our combatants to the perils of Google's digital colosseum, and await the bloody results. This week, the battle will be between Microsoft, in blue, and Mac, in red.

It has been decided. Microsoft wins. You can run the trend search for yourself here

Microsoft has held the upper hand for some time now, but Apple is certainly on the rise. We shall see what the next generation of OS brings, with Vista just around the corner, and Apple always pushing to create their best possible product.

Rumble | Blu-Ray Versus HD DVD

It's that time of the week again, time to prostrate ourselves, submit our two combatants to the Google altar and let the group mind decide the victor. This week, in typical inflammatory fashion, I have decided the battle will be between Blu-Ray, in blue, and HD DVD, in red.

It has been decided. HD DVD wins. You can run the trend search for yourself here

It remains to be seen what the Playstation 3 will do for Blu-Ray, but as of now HD DVD sales outstrip Blu-Ray by 33% according to Wikipedia. Either way, I'll stick to getting my movies the old-fashioned way, divx.

Rumble | PS3 Versus Wii

Just a little mini-update, I've been playing with Google Trends, which is completely awesome, and I got these results for PS3 (blue) versus Wii (red):

The link for this search is here.

So what does this mean? There have consistently been more searches overall for the PS3, although the news references tend to favor the Wii. I think this is a result of the effect the PS2 has on Sony's mindshare. Everybody owns a PS2, in Japan it vastly outsells the XBox 360. As a result, even the most casual gamer will have some interest in the next generation Playstation. The Wii, on the other hand, has been game journalists' favorite topic for awhile now. I guess critical acclaim doesn't always equal mass-market results.

My take on this? There is still no way in hell I'm shelling out that much for a PS3. It looks like a powerful system, and I am pretty interested in playing the next Metal Gear Solid, but I just cannot afford that thing. I already have a computer. The Wii is looking affordable and, more importantly, like it offers me something I've never seen before. I am no Nintendo fanboy, I've been pissed with them since the N64, but the DS got a lot of things right, and I'm seriously getting excited for Wii.