Today, video game characters joined with the nations of the world in celebrating the opening ceremony of the London 2012 Summer Olympic Games, and here are some pictures to prove it.

Up top, Maxwell from Scribblenauts Unlimited carries the Olympic torch through the streets of London to meet the Queen. Go for the gold, Max. Go for the gold!

Naughty Bear wasn’t invited to the Olympic Games–poor Naughty, he’s never invited anywhere!–so he celebrated in his own special way: by ripping off the arm of another teddy bear and lighting it on fire as a torch. Not very sportsman-like, but that’s what they get for leaving him out again.

It wouldn’t be an event of any magnitude if those rascally Raving Rabbids didn’t get in on the fun, but they don’t so much care about the Olympics as they do their own Rabbids Kitchen Championship.

And of course Mario and Sonic had to pose once more for the show, considering they teamed up for a pair of Nintendo platform Olympic mini-game bashes.

Have you encountered any other video game related London 2012 pics? Please send them along so I can add them here!

Naughty Bear was a novel concept but not a particularly good game. That being said, something about mutilating a bunch of Care Bears wannabes as a psychotic teddy bear made the game a personal guilty pleasure. It was the type of game that deserved a sequel to (hopefully) make right on some of the original’s shortcomings.

Now there is indeed a new Naughty Bear game coming this fall called Panic in Paradise and, perhaps wisely so, it’s skipping retail altogether for a digital download release on PSN and XBLA. This time, the bears have gone on a vacation to paradise, and once again they did not invite poor Naughty. It’s payback time, baby!

“Following the success of our first outing with Naughty Bear, we really wanted to push the limits and give players a lot more freedom to be as naughty as they can and help Naughty Bear get revenge on the other bears who have been so mean to him” said Victoria Reeve, senior global brand manager, 505 Games. “With the first Naughty Bear game audiences responded well to the juxtaposition of cuddly innocence, dark humor and over the top violence. We’re really looking forward to seeing what they make of all the great new features we’ve packed into Naughty Bear Panic in Paradise.”

“Naughty Bear really struck a chord with gamers looking for something more than the same old gameplay,” said David Osborne, executive creative director at Behaviour Interactive, “With Naughty Bear Panic in Paradise, we’re turning the naughty dial all the way up to 11!”

Feeling naughty? Watch the Naughty Bear: Panic in Paradise teaser for a sadistic laugh.

Naughty Bear, last year’s “cutesy bear murder simulator” from 505 Games and Artificial Mind and Movement (now Behaviour Interactive), was one of those games that got creamed by critics but still picked up somewhat of a cult following. I was never able to play it myself so I can’t comment on its quality, but I’ve been intrigued by the concept since the beginning.

Now, before starring in a sequel which is supposedly in development, Naughty Bear is coming back to try to pick up some more fans with a re-release of his naughtier-than-ever first game. Maybe now I can finally sneak in a chance to check it out, and you should too!

Naughty Bear Gold Edition is a repackaging of the full original PS3 and Xbox 360 game plus all previously released downloadable content packs valued at $25. The DLC expands the game with three extra story chapters, improved multiplayer gameplay, and loads of new weapons, costumes and enemies.

505 Games’ press release says the Gold Edition is available now, but according to retail sites like GameStop and Amazon it’s not shipping until next week. Whenever it finds its way onto store shelves, it’ll cost you $29.99 — only $5 more than the value of the DLC alone!

“Now that we have the opportunity to present Naughty’s full story to fans of the franchise is definitely a great thing for us,” said Ian Howe, President, 505 Games North America. “We’re very proud of how all the extra content expanded the Naughty Bear universe, and we can’t wait for gamers to have access to all things Naughty in one slick package.”

When Matt asked me to review Naughty Bear for the iPhone, I thought, “Sure, it might be fun.” While I wasn’t at all familiar with either the console or iPhone versions of this game, everything I had seen seemed interesting. Who wouldn’t find a homicidal teddy bear violently eliminating other teddy bears at least a little intriguing?

If you’re looking for story, you’ll not find much here. Naughty Bear is just what you’d think: a bear that has a lot of…issues. The other bears in his children’s television-esc universe are having a party but didn’t invite him. Of course Naughty Bear sees this as an insult and goes on the hunt for revenge.

Here’s a brief overview of the gameplay:

1. Run around a map collecting cupcakes that lie on the path.
2. Avoid other bears who also run around the path.
3. Find power-ups which allow you to attack other bears.
4. Repeat.

If this sounds familiar to you it should. This other game in the 80s had a similar formula. I think it was called Pac-Man. You may have heard of it before.

There are a few things that were improved upon though. Naughty Bear can sabotage certain objects in the environment (like grills or pay phones) and lie in wait for other bears to investigate them, then use the object to eliminate the curious bear. Also if you’re able to eliminate enough bears in a row, the game will actually show the kill in gruesome detail. Well, as gruesome as one stuffed animal attacking another can be.

Naughty Bear consists of 27 levels, each with a Story and Challenge mode. In story mode you’re given a specific objective, such as killing X number of bears or collecting Y amount of cupcakes. Challenge mode tasks you with obtaining the highest amount of points you can within a specific time limit. Neither mode is too tough, and you can probably finish the entire game in about an hour. If you’re into the whole Open Feint integration (which allows access to friends lists and leader boards), Naughty Bear integrates with it and can extend the replay value a little bit, however on its own it’s a fairly quick, albeit violent, romp through Teddy Bear town.

Really there’s not much this game has to offer. It’s a dressed-up, violent version of Pac-Man that’s over just as quick as it began. Lying in wait for a bear to get distracted by a sabotaged piece of the environment so you can pounce on them is interesting, but other than that there’s nothing new here that hasn’t been seen before.

Pros:
+ Interesting adaptation of an old gameplay formula

Cons:
– Very easy
– Very short
– Limited amount of killing methods can make cut scenes repetitive

Game Info:
Platform: iPhone/iPod touch
Publisher: 505 Games
Developer: A2M
Release Date: 9/27/2010
Genre: Arcade
Age Rating: 12+
Players: 1
Source: Review code provided by publisher

[nggallery id=1476]