In this episode: Dante’s Inferno, Mass Effect 2, Dark Void, Vanquish, Grim Dawn, Borderlands, BattleBlock Theatre, Karen’s suggestion for Tecmo’s next game and much more!

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The Panellists: Erin Marcon, Karen Jacobson, David Walden and Peter Nickless

Twitter: BlackPanelDaily l Facebook: Black Panel Readers’ League

Related links: Grim news, Vanquished expectations, Secret Borderlands DLC on the way, Theater of war, One for the ladies

Welcome to the Black List, our regular retrospective on the week in games.

On Monday, we journeyed into deep space and returned with a review of Mass Effect 2.

On Tuesday, the Vanquish teaser trailer failed to convince us that the game will be as insane as previous Platinum Games releases.

On Wednesday, we reported that new Borderlands DLC is in the pipeline.

On Thursday, we covered the announcement of BattleBlock Theatre, the new XBLA title from the creators of Castle Crashers.

On Friday, we realised that the developers of Dead or Alive Paradise have been catering to female gamers for years.

Thanks for reading.

Erin Marcon – Editor

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“Ten grand to anyone who can get me off this island…”

While 2010 is still in its infancy, Tecmo’s Yasuo Egawa has staked an early claim for most disingenuous comment of the year. The Quantum Theory producer told Edge that that the Japanese developer has been specifically targeting women “over the last three or four years.”

A quick perusal of Tecmo’s output during this period reveals what the women among you look for in a video game. For one, we know you love watching the bikini clad manikins of Dead or Alive Xtreme 2 splash around in the surf. The only thing that thrills you more is the prospect of charging into battle wearing a miniature S&M costume. Fortunately, Ninja Gaiden II has you covered in that regard. The forthcoming Dead or Alive Paradise will allow you to snap virtual photographs of pretend women and store them for later enjoyment. Doesn’t that sound like fun?

We can assume that Quantum Theory’s Fillena will be just as compelling as Tecmo previous heroines. As Yasuo Egawa said, “We’re Tecmo – we’re good at female characters.” That’s perfectly true. They are, in fact, Tecmo.

Behemoth Games, creators of the wacky Alien Hominids and Castle Crashers have announced their latest offering to the world (or at least Xbox Live Arcade gamers) with BattleBlock Theater, a ‘story about friendship, betrayal, and a whole truck load of cats.’

BattleBlock Theater has you shipwrecked on a mysterious island, where your supposed best friend Hatty betrays you over possession of a huge gem. You are then captured by the crazy looking locals in order to participate in the mysterious and deadly theatre, i.e. a series of cool looking co-op puzzle platform levels.

The release trailer is truly epic, with a terrific score that sticks in your head long after the trailer is over, and I hope is indicative of the music in the game itself. And if you aren’t moved by the scenes with a teary Hatty then you aren’t a person easily moved by scenes of animated characters crying……..or something.

No release date has been given at this stage and I will definitely be checking on the progress of this great looking title.