While Kobe Bryant got most of the attention in Orlando, his Lakers teammate and NBA All-Star Andrew Bynum was also in town for the festivities. Bynum spends most of his free time playing EA Sports FIFA Soccer 12, rather than the 2K Sports basketball game NBA 2K12. The big man talks about his gaming in this exclusive video interview below.

ORLANDO -- Utah Jazz Forward Jeremy Evans used an aggressive write-in campaign to get into the Sprite Slam Dunk Contest here in Orlando at NBA All-Star Weekend. He used an aggressive two ball, mid-air dunk to win it. In the second of his three dunks, Evans caught two balls mid-air from Jazz teammate Gordon Haywood and slammed them down in succession for the best dunk of the night. We talked to Jeremy Evans before the Slam Dunk Contest in this exclusive video where he talks about getting dunk ideas off YouTube and wanting a higher slam dunk rating in NBA 2K12. After winning the Sprite Slam Dunk Contest, we think he deserves to dunk better in NBA 2K12.

In what might be his last season in the city because of trade rumors, Orlando Magic center Dwight Howard, winner of the last three Kia NBA Defensive Player of the Year awards, is this year’s leading vote-getter in the 2012 NBA All-Star Balloting program presented by Sprint with 1,600,390 votes. Howard is a two-time NBA videogame cover athlete, having worked with both EA Sports on NBA Live and Midway on NBA Ballers. The 2012 NBA All-Star Game, which will reach fans in more than 200 countries and territories in more than 40 languages, will be played at Amway Center in Orlando on Sunday, Feb. 26, 2012. Howard talks about videogames in this exclusive video interviews below and on the next page.

It seems no matter what kind of system is launching, Ubisoft and Gameloft are on standby with some version of its long-standing Asphalt racing series.  Not that there’s anything wrong with having an arcade racer on hand, especially one where you can ram into opponents and send them crashing to a halt, Burnout-style.  But it almost seems like the development of these games has become by the numbers, wherein going for a fresh approach would’ve been more welcome.  Alas, Asphalt Injection doesn’t do that, and so it stands as an “average” pick for the system’s launch today.

Seeing as how I’ve got a stack of PS Vita games to review here, along with the unit itself, I decided to start on the simplest level possible – with a series I’ve become comfortable with.  Super Stardust HD was a brilliant addition to the PlayStation 3 line-up a few years ago, and the Portable version for PSP wasn’t half bad either.  So, since I’ve gotten used to Housemarque’s take on the traditional twin stick shooter, I decided to start my Vita voyage (heh) with Super Stardust Delta.  And wouldn’t you know it, it grew on me like a fungus.

Wow, it’s amazing how just now the folks at Cave have become a household name when it comes to quality games.  This development team has been around for years, crafting the kind of “bullet hell” shooters that fans simply can’t get enough of.  Oh, well, take whatever fame you can get, I always say.  And that level of fame continues with yet another release from its extensive shoot-em-up – or “shmup” – collection with Dodonpachi Blissful Death, which acts as a prequel to the previously released Dodonpachi Resurrection.