E3 2011: Ubisoft Conference

What a... weird presentation, no James Cameron boring people to death, but... yeah.

Rayman Origins
- Live demo shown, has co-op
- Looks fun!

Driver: San Francisco
- Hyperactive man says dick jokes on stage
- New trailer shown

FarCry 3
- They didn't even say what this was for the first 5 minutes of this trailer/gameplay
- Doesn't seem that exciting…
- "THE surprise of the show" I beg to differ

Brothers in Arms: Furious 4
- Looks a bit cartoony
- Oddly doesn't show swastikas despite calling the bad guys Nazis
- Probably has Left 4 Dead inspired gameplay

The Adventures of Tintin: The Game
- Spielberg and Jackson talk about the game based on their film (in a trailer of course)
- Trailer shown, 2D/3D gameplay

Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon: Future Soldier
- Live demo shown, with a controller this time

Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon Online
- Free to play web version of the franchise

ManiaPlanet
- Trackmania 2 for PC releases in September
- Shootmania and Questmania also coming

Rabbids: Alive & Kicking
- I can't believe this franchise is successful…
- Exclusive for Kinect
- Share photos from the game on Facebook
- Comes out November 8, 2011

Just Dance 3
- Another franchise I don't get why its popular
- Not only on Wii, now on Kinect and PS Move

Rocksmith
- Another use-a-real-guitar music game
- Coming Fall 2011

Your Shape Fitness Evolved 2012
- I'm just bored now

Assassin's Creed Revelations
- New trailer shown
- Features Ezio and Altaïr
- Live demo shown
- Releases November, like every other big game...

E3 2011: EA Conference

No major reveals, but I did this anyways...

Mass Effect 3
- Releases March 6th, 2012 on 360, PS3, and PC
- Live demo shown, looks amazing

Origin
- EAs new Steam-like service, "Go check it out!"…
- No really, its after EVERY TRAILER

Need for Speed: the Run
- Super stat-tracking
- Out of car gameplay, a.k.a. running from the cops

Star Wars: The Old Republic
- New trailer shown, all pre-rendered footage we've seen…
- No date

SSX
- No more serious look or subtitle
- Comes next January

FIFA 12
- Yup, they still make it.
- EA Sports Football Club connects you through all versions of FIFA regardless of platform.

Madden 12
- Holy Crap!! I cannot believe they're bringing this franchise back!
- Really, they used Inception music for this??
- Enough of the meat-heads please.

The Sims: Social
- Facebook is not a gaming platform, get out of my face.

Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning
- First game from 38 Studios
- Open world fantasy game

OverStrike
- First multi-platform title from Insomniac Games
- Weird off-portioned realistic characters, I'm scared.

Battlefield 3
- New graphics engine is … astonishing
- Beta in September
- Free stat tracking, coughActivisioncough
- Releases October 25, 2011

E3 2011: Microsoft Conference

A summary of Microsoft's E3 Press Conference. Media will possibly be added later.

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3
- Live demo shown, with controller hiccups too!
- Graphics/animations look better
- Releases November 8th, 2011

Tomb Raider
- Origin story (if you didn't already know)
- Live demo, looks totally different, more cinematic
- Releasing Fall 2012

EA
- Tiger Woods PGA, Madden, FIFA, and another game will support Kinect
- Sims 3: Pets and other EA titles also using Kinect

Mass Effect 3
- Uses Kinect for voice commands
- Speak Shepard's speech choices as opposed to just pressing a button…
- Tell party members what to do in battle

Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon: Future Soldier
- New trailer, clearly not in-game footage
- Uses Kinect for… everything. Seems, odd.
- All future Tom Clany games will use Kinect

A new Xbox user interface, streamlined for Kinect
- Very much like Sony's Xross Media Bar
- Will support YouTube (which Wii and PS3 have done with browsers for years)
- Bing to search Netflix, Hulu, XBL Marketplace
- Live TV support with voice controller
- Launching in Fall

UFC
- Brofest 360
- watch live events, check stats, play trivia, for an added fee of course

Gears of War 3
- Ice T live demos with Cliff B.
- Ice T's band Body Count will have a new song in the game...

Ryse
- Formerly Codename: Kingdoms
- Trailer shown
- Kinect based Roman first person combat

Halo: Combat Evolved Anniversary
- Rerelease and remake of Halo 1
- Releases November 15, 2011

Forza Motorsport 4
- New trailer
- Releases October 14th, 2011

Fable: The Journey
- Trailer shown, pre-rendered footage
- In-game demo, uses Kinect
- Releases 2012

Minecraft
- Exclusive console debut in winter for 360 and Kinect

Kinect Disneyland Adventures
- No longer give your kids a vacation, tell them to stare at the TV
- Actually a mini-game collection
- Awful child actors not included

Kinect Star Wars
- Actually looks like a real product now
- Yet another mini-game collection basically

Sesame Street: Once Upon a Monster
- From DoubleFine
- Uses Kinect
- Comes out this Fall

Kinect Fun Labs
- Being added to the dashboard
- Scan your body and make an Avatar
- Drawing in 3D space
- Scan in your real life items
- Goes live TODAY

Kinect Sports: Season Two
- More Wii Sports in HD
- Skiing, Tennis, Golf, Football, Baseball, something with a stage?

Dance Central 2
- Because no one wants plastic instruments, but shaking like a fool is fun.
- Import songs from the first game, like Rock Band did.

Halo 4
- Teaser trailer shown, still no personality
- "Start of a new trilogy"
- Not by Bungie
- Fall 2012

Fallout: New Vegas Review

Fallout: New Vegas, developed by Obsidian, has taken up the reigns from Bethesda, who made Fallout 3, and created a new experience for Fallout players. If you’ve played Fallout 3, you’ll feel right at home, as both the look and feel are almost identical. But, has Obsidian improved or done anything special to make New Vegas stand out from its predecessors? Read on to find out.

New Vegas, like Fallout 3, is very story and environment driven. You are placed in this wasteland, with all sorts of inhabitants, and have to find a way to survive, while being guided by quests and an overall goal. While there is a main series of quests that are story-driven, you are still very free to explore the wasteland and do whatever it is you want to do.

There are various groups of people, from the NCR and Legion, to the Brotherhood of Steel, Powder Gangers, and Great Khans. All of these groups of people have varying side-quests and dynamics for you to explore. You can change their allegiances, or choose an alliance of your own. If you don’t like one particular group, you can go and kill all of their members, or choose to cooperate with them. One of the main dynamics of the game is how each group can either like or hate you, depending on your actions. If you murder an entire sect of a community, obviously they won’t be too fond of you, but the way a group feels towards you can be more subtle, in that if you, for instance, help the Legion, the NCR, their rivals, will start to show aggression towards you. In this way, the entire environment and all of your decisions start to have more of an impact on how you are treated and what you get to experience. If you help one community, they may feel more comfortable with you and you may be able to do more quests for them, which could completely change later parts of the game. In fact, the game has at least 4 real ways to reach the end, which are all chosen by your actions and on whom you decide to help. Granted, the endings aren’t very different, technically, but you get the idea.

I believe Fallout 3 sort of had this idea, where, if you blew up the Brotherhood of Steel’s base, they would always be hostile towards you. However, New Vegas explores this much more deeply, giving you a reputation with each and every group you meet in the game, and these reputations will help lock or unlock quests. Having a good reputation can also lower costs for items, so that’s a plus. And, if you don’t have a great reputation with a group, you might be able to disguise yourself as one of them to walk around without getting immediately assaulted.

One of the fun aspects of Fallout has been exploration. This is still the case with New Vegas. The map seems to be about the same size as Fallout 3’s, and it is about the same in terms of how much there is to see. I might go as far as to say Fallout 3 had a more diverse map, with more interesting areas, but New Vegas has plenty to see. There are tons of buildings and vaults to explore, and areas in which to find special items and weapons. Another new thing Vegas adds is the ability to mod your weapons. As you progress, you can purchase modifications from vendors, which range from scopes to extended mags. These don’t really change the weapons too much, but they can be helpful, like the night-vision scope. Unfortunately, a lot of the same weapons from Fallout 3 are present in this game. Granted, they were decent weapons, but it would have been nice to see an entirely new arsenal.

New Vegas “borrows” quite a bit from Fallout 3 actually. And by quite a bit, I mean pretty much everything. The graphics are the same, controls are the same, items are the same, and pretty much everything else. Most of the enemies and character models are the same as well. I wish Obsidian would have went all out and created a completely new game, but New Vegas seems to simply take Fallout 3, and add in a couple new features.

But, there are still some more changes to discuss, mostly of which don’t drastically change gameplay to any degree. One such change is how you can create more things. One aspect of this is with food items you find scattered throughout the desert. If you come upon a campfire, and you know the recipe, you can create new items, which are more potent/valuable and can be used to your benefit. The same is basically true of ammo. You can break down unneeded ammo, and get parts necessary to build a new type of ammo. And some guns even have different varieties of ammo, so, instead of using standard ammo, you can use a hollow-point, or armor-piercing round, etc. You can spend lots of time building these pieces, or finding them scattered around, but I didn’t actual use either feature in my 30+ hour play through.

You also have a bit more control over your companions this time around, via the companion wheel, which gives you various options on how to instruct your companion. Again, I never used this, except to tell a companion to stay, or follow, and this was only done to get them to follow me again when they had to wait outside of a place, due to security, pft. But, it would be useful in combat perhaps, especially in Hardcore mode where they can actually die!

Hardcore mode is one of the main new features that New Vegas has to offer. This mode makes the game more “realistic” and challenging. One feature of this mode is three added meters that you have to take heed of; Water, Food, Sleep. Like radiation, if any of these get too high, you’ll be penalized via health loss, or other stat loss, etc, until you eventually succumb and die. But, like radiation, these things are fairly easy to manage, at least they were when I played Hardcore on very easy.... Basically, you eat food, your food meter goes down, drink water, water meter goes down, etc. Thankfully though, it’s not all that simple and there are various, realistic tweaks. For instance, if you drink alcohol, you actually get more dehydrated, just like real life, and if you drink a Nuka Cola, your tired meter goes down due to the caffeine. These meters are definitely important and things to keep an eye on, which can get annoying, because you can only see them on your Pip-Boy and can’t display them to your screen like HP, although warnings will appear when levels get too high.

Other features of Hardcore include ammo weight, and the fact that stimpacks and radaway heal over time. Also, you can’t just sleep to heal limb damage, but have to see a doctor or use a doctor bag, so you’ll want to be a little more careful. And actually, in all modes, food heals over time, which is a bit of an annoyance in comparison to Fallout 3.

The story in New Vegas seems to be more attached to everything you do. In Fallout 3, it seemed to me that finding your dad and all of that stuff was sort of a side mission. Once you got out of the vault, you could do whatever you wanted and I almost forgot I was even looking for my dad. With New Vegas, pretty much everything you do is connected to the main story line. That isn’t to say that there aren’t plenty of “unrelated” side quests and what not, but it seems to all culminate in a more meaningful way in New Vegas. You start off as a courier, trying to deliver an important package to an important client, but end up with a bullet in the end. Ah, that’s how it always happens. Anyways, you end up surviving, and start off on your journey to figure out who shot you, why, and what you were actually trying to deliver. It’s a fairly intriguing story and has great build up, but the ending was a little disappointing. And like I previously mentioned, there are various factions you can side with to alter the ending, so the replay value is fairly high.

Overall, Fallout: New Vegas is a great game. If you liked Fallout 3, then you should find plenty to enjoy with New Vegas, as it is essentially more of the exact same. There have been some minor enhancements, with the ammo system, weapon mods, and hardcore mode, but these don’t add too much to the game. I wish there would have been some more changes, like more new weapons and newer looking environments. The vaults and environmental items look the same, and pretty much everything else looks like Fallout 3, which is disappointing. Also, there are a ton of bugs. You would have thought they would have fixed all these in Fallout 3, but apparently not. I ran into a few problems with getting stuck in rocks, the game freezing, and some other issues, but I think JDW had even worse problems, like certain graphics not showing up, basically making parts of the game unplayable. Assuming you don’t run into those problems, there is plenty to enjoy, but those are some glaring issues that needed to be fixed before shipping the game. And on a side note, the Strip itself and all the excitement about gambling and so forth was also very disappointing... :(

Overall Score: 8/10

This review was based on the Xbox 360 version of the game, but most statements can also be applied to both the PS3 and PC versions of the game.

E3 10: Microsoft Conference

E3 2010 has begun! And Microsoft is here to kick of this years show yet again. Sadly, no one from VFH will be in attendance at E3 like Zach was last year, but as usual, here's a recap of this afternoon's press conference, in order of appearance.

Call of Duty: Black Ops
- New trailer shown, and then went right into live gameplay.
- And that was it, no talking, no details, just gameplay
- New deal: all Call of Duty add-ons will release on Xbox Live first for the next three years. So now you can not only pay for online gaming, but now you get to pay up the ass to play its add-ons earlier too.

Project Natal = Kinect

Metal Gear Solid: Rising
- New trailer
- Swordplay action game
- Looks as good if not better than MGS4
- Seems to use Kinect

Gears of War 3
- First gameplay shown, 4-player co-op
- Can now play as females
- Will be unveiling new mode called "Beast," but didn't say what that'd be exactly.

Fable III
- Releasing October 26
- New trailer shown

Codename: Kingdoms
- New game from Crytek
- Live action trailer
- Looks Greek/Roman themed

Halo: Reach
- New campaign trailer, in-game footage
- Space dog fights

Kinect + Xbox 360 Interface
- Browse menu in a Wii Channel like interface
- Speech controls/commands
- Use hand as a cursor, control movie playback, etc
- Works like Microsoft's Sync technology in cars

Video Kinect
- Use Kinect to video chat with people on Xbox Live and Windows Live Messanger (PC)
- Share Bing video features such as TV, movies, news, etc.
- Kinect can do face-tracking if you move around

ESPN on Xbox 360
- Yawn...
- Watch live/on-demand sports crap in HD
- Use Kinect for voice commands for replays, etc.
- If you don't care about sports, its completely useless
- Available to Gold members too

Kinect Launch Games
- Launches in North America on Nov. 4th with 15 launch titles
- No price given
- Games ship in purple cases
- Kinectimals: play with cats... looks like Nintendogs/EyePet
- Kinect Sports: exactly what you think it is
- Kinect Joy Ride: same game from last year, but now with motion control
- Kinect Adventure: on rails, coin collecting game. Upload photos to Facebook

Your Shape: Fitness Evolved
- Kinect exclusive
- From Ubisoft, sequel to Halo: Combat Evolved
- Live body tracking, even clothing its tracked when removed
- If you've played Wii Fit, it's like that...

Dance Central
- Kinect exclusive
- From Harmonix
- Tracks your dance moves in-sync to music
- Will have DLC
- Coming Holiday 2010

Star Wars Kinect
- Trailer shown
- Microsoft Game Studios/Lucasarts collaboration
- Coming 2011

Forza Kinect
- Can't tell if it's a new game or a Forza 3 update
- Use hands to drive in first-person
- Head tracking to look around
- Play with and inspect cars with gestures
- Coming 2011

New smaller Xbox 360 model
- 250 GB Hard drive
- Glossy black finish, like Kinect
- Not exactly the prettiest thing...
- Built in wifi 802.11n (finally!)
- Ships today(!) for $299
- Everyone in the audience gets one, Oprah style!

Overall, I'm not as amazed as I was last year when Kinect (then Project Natal) was revealed. The reveal and potential of the device was truly shocking... but now, seeing all the Kinect branded titles showcased, it comes across as a glorified Eye Toy, and that's a PS2 accessory. Sure the voice and gesture commands for menus and movie playback look like something out of science fiction, but I'm sure that'll lose it's appeal soon after you've watch one film, and you'll grab your remote again. And no price on the device? Really? I don't think Microsoft did a bad job, but I definitely wasn't amazed like I was last year. Nintendo, you're next!

Green Day: Rock Band Review

Rock Band and Green Day junkies rejoice, because the newest addition to our ever-growing arsenal of songs is here: Green Day: Rock Band, the second band-centric Rock Band game since The Beatles: Rock Band. But, how does this game stack up to the previous Rock Band games?

If you are a Green Day fan, then this is hands-down a must buy. The game comes with 47 songs (all of which are Green Day, suck on that Activision!), three entire albums: 1994's Dookie, 2004's American Idiot, and 2009's 21st Century Breakdown (counting the six tracks already available as DLC), along with eight of their older hits from other albums thrown into the mix; nothing off 39/Smooth or Kerplunk however. However, if you're not a Green Day fan, then I suggest renting the game and at least giving it a shot, you may be surprised at what you find.

Now, I myself am a big fan of Green Day, and I found myself loving every minute of this game. The graphics and animations actually seem to be a step up from Rock Band 2, thanks mostly in part to the band actually being motion-captured (which obviously could not be done with The Beatles) and Harmonix did a wonderful job making it seem like you are at an actual Green Day concert.

Oh, how you've changed... Green Day, not the gameplay.

In terms of game play, I found that the guitar and bass are rather repetitive, but I found myself enjoying the songs so much that I never got sick of playing. Singing is... well, it's singing, if your familiar with the songs then you will, without a doubt, enjoy it; and the three-part harmonies from The Beatles: Rock Band return here. But, if you're not a big Green Day fan, but you love playing drums, then you are in luck, for the drums are the definite strong point of the game. I've listened to Green Day for years, but it never really hit me just how good of a drummer Tre Cool is until I played some of these songs. I don't see myself getting bored of ANY of these songs anytime soon, they give just enough challenge to satisfy your every drumming need. Constantly changing beat, tons of drum rolls, and he even presents possibly the hardest drum solos in Rock Band yet (seriously, they are insane!).

All in all, I would have to say that Green Day: Rock Band is a must buy for Green Day fans, and it is certainly worth a rent for the average Rock Band/Guitar Hero player, maybe you'll even find a new found love for some good old fashion punk rock.

Overall Score: 8.5/10

Green Day: Rock Band is available in both regular $60 version and a $70 PLUS version which includes a voucher to export the songs to Rock Band and Rock Band 2 (eventually Rock Band 3 as well) and includes the 6 21st Century Breakdown DLC tracks. This review was based on the PLUS version for Xbox 360, which is basically just like the regular edition, but PS3 and Wii versions should play the same (minus the visuals on the latter) .

Mass Effect 2 Review

The sequel to what some call the best game on the Xbox 360 is finally here. BioWare's Mass Effect 2 is blowing away critics, and redefining what a sequel really should be. But, what did I think about it?

Well... I could write a giant review detailing every aspect of the game, the pros, the cons, but you can get all of that in so many places already, I'm just going to leave it at this. Mass Effect 2 is the best game this generation, so far. Not playing this is the equivalent of not having played Super Metroid back in the 16-bit days. That's about the highest compliment I can give to a video game. The scope, the atmosphere, the character interaction; Mass Effect 2 is honestly the current pinnacle of gaming. This will be the benchmark as to how a sequel should be made.

One warning though, to newcomers, play the original Mass Effect first. You'll miss so much of the emotional impact of the game if you don't. Why? Because most of your data, including decisions, dead/living characters, the look of your Shepard, as well as some money and resources will transfer over into Mass Effect 2. This is a game that plays heavily on the emotions of the player, and whether it be subtle or in your face, you'll be doing yourself a huge favor by playing the first entry before the second. Then sit back, enjoy, and prepared to be blown away.

Worth noting:
+ Giant leap ahead from the first game.
+ Extremely cinematic, without losing too much control.
+ Your decisions actually matter.
+ Interesting world, interesting story.
+ Could hold it's own as a shooter.
+ Best cast of characters in recent memory.
- Loading times can feel a bit lengthy.

Overall Score: 9.5/10

Blur join LEGO Rock Band

Damnit, why did my favorite band have to go and mix with my favorite childhood toy?!

Announced via Rolling Stone, the Brit-pop pioneers will be appearing in full mini-fig form as part of LEGO Rock Band, joining both Iggy Pop and David Bowie as LEGO-tized musicians for the game.

I have to say, I'm suprised, pleased, and somewhat distraught over the band's inclusion. One, they only reunited this year, and subsequently said they wouldn't be doing anything more. Two, compared to Iggy Pop and David Bowie, they don't exactly have the same impact on the music industry. And then there's the fact that their only song in the game is the over-played and un-Blur like track, "Song 2". Otherwise, I definitely can see the resemblance, more so in Alex James.

LEGO Rock Band releases this November.

Darksiders

Darksiders for the Xbox 360 and PS3 is a new a action RPG in the tradition of God of War. What sets this new game apart is the wonderful art direction, done by comic veteran Joe Madureira. Madureira (or Mad! for short) is one of the main art directors for this game, known for illustrating comic classics like X-Men, Batman, Superman, and the amazing Battle Chasers.

Anticipation for the game has increased significantly over the last year, focusing on the wonderful visual aspects as well as the fusion of different gameplay ideas. It has been described as a comic book telling of the Book of Revelations, with giant monsters and bad-ass warriors.

Set in the post-apocalyptic future, you take control of War, one of the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse, who is bent on revenge and redemption for his part in bringing about the end of the world. Over the course of his journey, War challenges the forces of both Heaven and Hell, and is forced to make some unlikely allies along the way.

Gameplay wise, Darksiders features a mix between melee combat, similar to God of War and other hack and slash beat-em-ups, and the exploration elements of a Metroidvania game. Inspiration for the game comes heavily from classic titles like The Legend of Zelda and Symphony of the Night, where you enter a dungeon, collect a unique item that allows you to solve puzzles and master new fighting techniques, and progress to the final boss.

Check out the trailer and enjoy!

No More Weekly Store Updates

Hello readers, the Fall/Winter season comes upon us, things tend to get busy around here. And, as you may have seen, starting with last night's This Week in Fringe, we're going to have a bigger focus on weekly features and exclusive reviews instead of just reporting news/updates.

For me, one of the biggest pains every week was posting the Nintendo Download, PlayStation Store, and Xbox Live Marketplace weekly updates. Why? Because even though a bulk of it is just copy/paste from the shop update releases themselves, there's a lot of reformatting I need to do for something that most readers can easily just find elsewhere. The XBLM update specifically was most troublesome because it's a case where I have to check daily, and actually search to see what's new each day.

So, starting this week, we will no longer be posting the updates for digital stores. Sorry if this bothers you, but hopefully the increase in original content will be appreciated.

Xbox Live Marketplace - 9/18/09

Arcade Games
Bubble Bobble Neo (800 MSP)
Command & Conquer Red Alert 3 Commander’s Challenge (800 MSP)

Games On Demand
FIFA Street 3 ($19.99)

Game Demos (Free)
Darkest of Days Demo
FIFA Soccer 10 Demo
PES 2010 Game Demo

Game Add-ons
Batman: Arkham Asylum Insane Night Map Pack (Free)
Marvel Ultimate Alliance 2 Juggernaut Playable Character Teaser (Free)
Red Faction: Guerrilla Multiplayer Pack (560 MSP)

Guitar Hero
** AFI Track Pack (440 MSP)
* “Beautiful Thieves” by AFI (160 MSP)
* “Girls Not Grey” by AFI (160 MSP)
* “The Missing Frame” by AFI (160 MSP)

Rock Band
** Anvil Pack 01 (440 MSP)
* “666″— Anvil (160 MSP)
* “This Is Thirteen”— Anvil (160 MSP)
* “Metal on Metal”— Anvil (160 MSP)

* “Hand Me Down World”— The Guess Who (160 MSP)
* “No Time”— The Guess Who (160 MSP)
* “Rock Your Socks”— Tenacious D (160 MSP)
* “Tribute”— Tenacious D (160 MSP)
* “Pick Me Up”— Dinosaur Jr (160 MSP)
* “The Wagon”— Dinosaur Jr (160 MSP)

Lips
* Sometime Around Midnight" by The Airborne Toxic Event (160 MSP)
* Nine In The Afternoon" by Panic! at the Disco (160 MSP)

Full update at Xbox.com

Xbox Live Marketplace - 9/11/09

Arcade Games
Sonic & Knuckles (400 MSP)

Games On Demand
Sid Meier's Civilization Revolution ($29.99)

Game Demos (free)
Cabela’s Big Game Hunter 2010 Demo
NBA LIVE 10 Demo

Game Add-ons
Buku Sudoku Puzzle Pack 7 (160 MSP)
Buku Sudoku Puzzle Pack 8 (160 MSP)
Buku Sudoku Puzzle Pack 9 (160 MSP)
Buku Sudoku Puzzle Pack 10 (160 MSP)
Raiden IV Additional ship #1: Raiden MK-II (80 MSP)
Raiden IV Additional ship #2: Fairy (80 MSP)
Texas Hold 'em Environment: Casino (160 MSP)
Texas Hold 'em Environment: Hip Hop (160 MSP)
Tiger Woods PGA Tour 10 Gary Player CC at Sun City (600 MSP)
UFC 2009 Undisputed Downloadable Fighters (320 MSP)

Guitar Hero World Tour Guitar Duel Track Pack (Free)
Guitar Hero 5
** Street Sweeper Social Club Track Pack (440 MSP)
* “100 Little Curses” (160 MSP)
* “Fight! Smash! Win!” (160 MSP)
* “Somewhere In The World It’s Midnight” (160 MSP)

The Beatles: Rock Band "All You Need Is Love" (160 MSP)
Rock Band
* Freezepop Pack 01 (240 MSP)
* “Science Genius Girl” (80 MSP)
* “Less Talk More Rokk” (80 MSP)
* “Get Ready 2 Rokk” (80 MSP)

* The PAX 2009 Collection (240 MSP)
* “Re: Your Brains”— Jonathan Coulton (80 MSP)
* “Origin of Species”— MC Frontalot (80 MSP)
* “Opening Band”— Paul and Storm (80 MSP)

* “Miss Murder”— AFI (160 MSP)
* “Gasoline”— Audioslave (160 MSP)
* “Kryptonite”— 3 Doors Down (160 MSP)
* “ABC”— The Jackson 5 (160 MSP)

Lips
* "Such Great Heights" by The Postal Service (160 MSP)
* "Everything About You" by Ugly Kid Joe (160 MSP)

Full update at Xbox.com

Viva la Revolut'n

Saw this on Xbox.com this morning while I was checking for the daily update, not sure why but it made me chuckle a little...

Really, Microsoft? Adding an "i" and "o" was that difficult that you'd rather this mildly educational strategy game sound like some sort of absurd urban warfare title? Have fun revolut'n....

Xbox Live Marketplace - 9/4/09

Arcade Games
Defense Grid: The Awakening (800 MSP)
Yo-Ho-Kablammo (800 MSP)

Games On Demand
Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter ($29.99)

Game Demos (Free)
Star Wars: The Clone Wars: Republic Heroes Demo

Game Add-ons
F.E.A.R. 2: Reborn Map Pack(800 MSP)

Guitar Hero
** The Rolling Stones Live Track Pack (720 MSP)
* “I’m Free (Live)” by The Rolling Stones (160 MSP)
* “Prodigal Son (Live)” by The Rolling Stones (160 MSP)
* “(I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction (Live)” by The Rolling Stones (160 MSP)
* “Under My Thumb (Live)” by The Rolling Stones (160 MSP)
* “You Gotta Move (Live)” by The Rolling Stones (160 MSP)

Rock Band
** Talking Heads Pack 01 (680 MSP)
* “And She Was”— Talking Heads (160 MSP)
* “Crosseyed and Painless”— Talking Heads (160 MSP)
* “Girlfriend Is Better”— Talking Heads (160 MSP)
* “Once in a Lifetime”— Talking Heads (160 MSP)
* “Take Me to the River”— Talking Heads (160 MSP)

* “Bat Country”— Avenged Sevenfold (160 MSP)
* “Supersonic (Live)”— Oasis (160 MSP)
* “Guerrilla Radio”— Rage Against the Machine (160 MSP)
* “Going Underground”— The Jam (160 MSP)
* “Town Called Malice”— The Jam (160 MSP)

Lips
* "Shut Up And Drive" by Rihanna (160 MSP)
* "We Will Become Silhouettes" by The Postal Service (160 MSP)

Full update at Xbox.com

Xbox Live Marketplace - 8/28/09

See, this is at least on time...

Arcade Games
Invincible Tiger: The Legend of Han Tao (1200 MSP)
NBA 2K10 Draft Combine (400 MSP)

Games On Demand
Burnout Revenge ($19.99)
Need For Speed ProStreet ($19.99)

Game Demos (Free)
WET Demo
Fight Night Round 4 Ali vs. Tyson & Buttons Demo
F.E.A.R. 2: Reborn Demo
Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen Demo

Game Add-ons
Castle Crashers Necromantic Pack (160 MSP)
Fight Night Round 4 Champions Pack (400 MSP)
Fight Night Round 4 Boxing Gear Pack (Free)
Mass Effect Pinnacle Station (400 MSP)
Star Wars: The Force Unleashed Tatooine Mission Pack (800 MSP)
Tiger Woods PGA Tour 10 Wolf Creek GC (600 MSP)
Transformers: ROTF Character and Map Pack Plus (800 MSP)

Lips
* "Angel" by Shaggy (160 MSP)
* "Proud Mary" by Creedence Clearwater Revival (160 MSP)

Rock Band
* “Mony Mony” by Billy Idol (160 MSP)
* “Rebel Yell” by Billy Idol (160 MSP)
* “Don’t Stop” by Fleetwood Mac (160 MSP)
* “World Turning” by Fleetwood Mac (160 MSP)
* “She’s a Genius” by Jet (160 MSP)
* “I Won’t Back Down” by Tom Petty (160 MSP)
* “Runnin’ Down a Dream” by Tom Petty (160 MSP)

Full update at Xbox.com

Xbox Live Marketplace - 8/21/09

It's my birthday, and I don't have a 360 so none of this is relevant to me! Awesome!

Arcade Games
Shadow Complex (1200 MSP)

Games On Demand
Saints Row ($29.99)

Game Demos (Free)
Lost Planet 2 Co-op Demo
Mini Ninjas Demo
DiRT 2 Demo
NHL 10 Demo
Section 8 Demo

Game Add-ons
Madballs Babo: Invasion Obsidian Magmor (Free)
Fight Night Round 4 Boxing Gear Pack (Free)

Guitar Hero World Tour
* “Dueling Banjos” by Steve Ouimette (160 MSP)

Rock Band
** Foo Fighters Pack 02 (440 MSP)
* “I’ll Stick Around” by Foo Fighters (160 MSP)
* “Lonely As You” by Foo Fighters (160 MSP)
* “All My Life” by Foo Fighters (160 MSP)

* “There’s No Other Way” by Blur (160 MSP)
* “No Rain” by Blind Melon (160 MSP)
* “Inside Out” by Eve 6 (160 MSP)
* “I’m Shipping up to Boston” by Dropkick Murphys (160 MSP)
* “I Predict a Riot” by Kaiser Chiefs (160 MSP)

Lips
* "Talk" by Coldplay (160 MSP)
* "The Road To Mandalay" by Robbie Williams (160 MSP)

Full update at Xbox.com

Not too much in terms on of DLC this week, but there's a lot of demos this week which is nice for a change ... so, enjoy that I suppose.

Xbox Live Marketplace - 8/14/09

This week brought the launch of Games On Demand, full Xbox 360 for download (at unfair prices).

Arcade Games
Trials HD (1200 MSP)

Games On Demand
Assassin's Creed ($29.99)
Battlefield: Bad Company ($19.99)
BioShock ($29.99)
Burnout Paradise ($19.99)
Call of Duty 2 ($29.99)
Dance Dance Revolution Universe ($29.99)
Fight Night Round 3 ($19.99)
Kameo ($19.99)
Karaoke Revolution: American Idol Encore ($29.99)
LEGO Star Wars: The Complete Saga ($29.99)
Mass Effect ($19.99)
Meet the Robinsons ($29.99)
MX vs. ATV: Untamed ($29.99)
Need for Speed Carbon ($19.99)
Need For Speed Most Wanted ($19.99)
The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion ($29.99)
Perfect Dark Zero ($19.99)
Prey ($19.99)
Rainbow Six Vegas ($29.99)
Ridge Racer 6 ($19.99)
Rockstar Table Tennis ($29.99)
Sonic The Hedgehog ($19.99)
Viva Piñata ($19.99)
Viva Piñata: Trouble In Paradise ($29.99)

Game Demos (Free)
Call of Juarez: Bound in Blood Demo

Game Add-ons
Madden NFL 10 Extras x27 (40 - 800 MSP)
Magic: The Gathering: Duels of the Planeswalkers Backgrounds (160 MSP)
Red Faction: Guerrilla - Demons of the Badlands (800 MSP)

Dynasty Warriors 6 Empires
* Arabian Armor Set (women) (free)
* Wa Armor Set (women) (free)
* Mystic Armor Set (men) (free)
* Shinobi Armor Set (men) (free)

Guitar Hero World Tour
** Activision Music Track Pack (free)
* “Nothing All The Time” by H is Orange
* “The Silence is Deafening” by Awaken
* “I’ll Never Know” by Hundred Reasons

Rock Band
** Gorillaz Pack 01 (440 MSP)
* “Clint Eastwood”— Gorillaz (160 MSP)
* “Feel Good Inc.”— Gorillaz (160 MSP)
* “Re-Hash”— Gorillaz (160 MSP)

* “Piece of My Heart”— Janis Joplin (160 MSP)
* “Chest Fever (Live)”— The Band (160 MSP)
* “Magic Bus (Live at Leeds)”— The Who (160 MSP)
* “White Rabbit”— Jefferson Airplane (160 MSP)

Lips
* "Love Is Gone" by David Guetta (160 MSP)
* "With Every Heartbeat" by Robyn (160 MSP)

Full update at Xbox.com

Not much in terms of new content, when you consider the Games On Demand titles have already been released. I'm just curious as to why they're listed with standard, by the dollar pricing, instead of the probably more scary looking 6000 Microsoft Points... Also, for those that care, you can now buy Avatar items via Xbox.com's Live Marketplace

Xbox Live Marketplace - 8/7/09

Arcade Games
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Turtles in Time Re-Shelled (800 MSP)

Game Demos (Free)
Batman: Arkham Asylum Demo

Game Add-ons
Call of Duty: World at War Map Pack 3 (800 MSP)
Call of Juarez: Bound in Blood Old West Map Pack (800 MSP)
Fallout 3 Mothership Zeta (800 MSP)
Fight Night Round 4 Downloadable Content 1 (Free)
Tiger Woods PGA Tour 10 Course - Cog Hill Golf & CC (400 MSP)

Lips
* "Song For Whoever" by The Beautiful South (160 MSP)
* "The Future's So Bright, I Gotta Wear Shades" by Timbuk3 (160 MSP)

Guitar Hero World Tour
* “Camel’s Night Out” by Eric Johnson (160 MSP)

Rock Band
** Spinal Tap’s TAP TEN (1440 MSP)
* “America” (160 MSP)
* “Big Bottom” (160 MSP)
* “Cups and Cakes” (160 MSP)
* “(Funky) Sex Farm” (160 MSP)
* “Gimme Some Money” (160 MSP)
* “Heavy Duty” (160 MSP)
* “Hell Hole” (160 MSP)
* “(Listen to the) Flower People (Reggae Stylee)” (160 MSP)
* “Rock ‘n’ Roll Creation” (160 MSP)
* “Stonehenge” (160 MSP)
* “Tonight I’m Gonna Rock You Tonight” (160 MSP)

Full update at Xbox.com

Not too much other than that huge Spinal Tap track pack; and the Batman demo, which I tried out and can at least say the graphics are awesome, the gamplay... needs some help.

Avatars in Guitar Hero 5

They tried out Miis in a particular mode of Guitar Hero: World Tour, so I guess it was time to step up the game for Guitar Hero 5, as now you'll be able to rock out as your Xbox 360 Avatars; proved by this video on Xbox's official YouTube page.. which no one seems to have posted else wise:



The feature is pretty cool to see, as not too many games right now actually take advantage of the Avatars. But there's something strange about watching a group of men in business attire singing KISS... and the lip-syncing isn't all too there. Regardless, I'm curious to see if the Wii version will allow gamers to play as Miis in the full game this time around... no clue what to say for Sony gamers though, since the Home characters don't really leave that application.

Xbox Live Marketplace - 7/31/09

Last round up for July...

Arcade Games
Marvel vs. Capcom 2 (1200 MSP)

Game Demos (Free)
IL2 Sturmovik - Birds of Prey Demo

Games Add-ons
Gears of War 2 All Fronts Collection (1600 MSP)
Gears of War 2 Dark Corners Multiplayer Map Pack (1200 MSP)
Overlord II - Battle Rock Nemesis (400 MSP)
Race Pro Pack 2 (560 MSP)
Race Pro Pack 3 (800 MSP)

Dynasty Warriors 6 Empires
* Eclectic Armor Set (men) (free)
* Norse Armor Set (men) (free)
* Priestess Armor Set (women) (free)
* Valkyrie Armor Set (women) (free)

Guitar Hero World Tour
** Knuckle Sandwich Track Pack (440 MSP)
* ”Bloodmeat” by Protest the Hero (160 MSP)
* ”I’m Shipping up to Boston” by Dropkick Murphys (160 MSP)
* ”New Wave” by Against Me! (160 MSP)

Rock Band
** KISS Pack 01 (440 MSP)
* “100,000 Years (Live)”— KISS (160 MSP)
* “Deuce (Live)”— KISS (160 MSP)
* “Parasite (Live)”— KISS (160 MSP)

** Blink 182 Pack 01 (440 MSP)
* “Down”— Blink 182 (160 MSP)
* “Feeling This”— Blink 182 (160 MSP)
* “The Rock Show”— Blink 182 (160 MSP)

** Weezer Pack 02 – (440 MSP)
* “My Name Is Jonas”— Weezer (160 MSP)
* “Pork and Beans”— Weezer (160 MSP)
* “Undone – The Sweater Song”— Weezer (160 MSP)

* “Out Here All Night”— Damone (160 MSP)

Lips
* "I'm Coming Out" by Diana Ross (160 MSP)
* "Yo (Excuse Me Miss)" by Chris Brown (160 MSP)
* "It's Not The Fall That Hurts" by Caesars (160 MSP)

Full update at Xbox.com