Star Wars: The Old Republic - Video Doc #1

Bioware has released their first community update email that includes a link to the first documentary about the upcoming game Star Wars: The Old Republic.

I've heard game journalist mention that they thought the game looked like garbage, but I think it looks good. They are definitely going with a cartoon look, but it looks clean and consistent. I loved KOTOR and KOTOR2, so I'm really looking forward to this. I just hope the rumors aren't true that I will have to pay an extra monthly fee to play the game online.

Wii Sold 2 Million in November

Nintendo is rolling in the dough and finally shipping more units to consumers. The NPD is reporting that the Wii hardware sales for November reached past 2 million units.

2nd place is held by Nintendo's very own DS hardware, which brought in 1.5 million units during November. No other company came close to even reaching half of the Nintendo Wii sales.

GTA IV DLC Release Date Confirmed

Microsoft has confirmed the rumors that the new DLC "The Lost and Damned" for Grand Theft Auto IV will be available on the Xbox Live marketplace beginning February 17th.

This addition will allow players to play the character of Johnny Klebitz, a member of the motorcycle gang The Lost. It will also introduce new multiplayer modes, vehicles, weapons and music.

No official word yet on the price for this DLC, but I wouldn't expect it to be cheap.

The DLC will be exclusive(at least for a time) to the Xbox 360. DLC is expected for the PS3 in the future, but it may not be the same. Microsoft paid to get the first DLC for GTA IV.

Rumor: Splinter Cell Release Date?

I ran across this release date the other week on Gamestop's website, but apparently it's starting to appear with other retailers as well. Splinter Cell: Conviction is being listed with a February 2nd release date.

Personally, I don't put much stock into this. I think there would have been a much bigger to do about the official release. And it doesn't fit with Ubisoft's fiscal plans. So I wouldn't bet on this rumor.

... Unless the game is beyond salvage and Ubisoft is going to quietly release it just to get it over with.

Opinion: Xbox 360's Avatars

I like the New Xbox Experience (NXE). It's slick and interesting. But I really like the Avatars. I don't know why I like them, but I do. I mess with my Avatar all the time.

Reactions to the Avatars have been interesting. Critics decry them as simply rip-offs of Miis. And they definitely are influenced by Miis. But they're so much more.

First off, the option of changing the clothing and having different clothes and such to choose from is one of the biggest improvements. People complain that in the future Microsoft will make money in microtransactions from selling clothing items and outfits on Xbox Live. And believe me, that will be coming. But if you don't like it, don't buy it! It's that simple. There's plenty of free clothes available and more on the way. (They just released some winter clothes as modeled by my Avatar.)

I, personally, will spend some money on such things if I find something I like, but that's what I do - spend money needlessly in order to help the economy.

I can also see the Avatars helping companies with pre-orders or limited edition sales. Include a code to download limited clothing items that pertain to the game? That would sell. Believe me, having my Avatar be able to wear a Gears of War outfit would be much cooler than a gold lancer(sorry, Charlie).

I also find the Avatars interesting because most people work hard to make their Avatar look like themselves. But some people just work to make their Avatar look like a freak. One thing I found odd about the Avatars is that you can't really make them that fat. My Avatar is as fat as they get, and he's not that fat.

I also like the way that you can take various pictures of your Avatar and use that as your Gamerpic. Of course, this makes the vast majority of the Gamerpics I've accumulated over the years worthless. Maybe they could make an option where I could put a cool Gamerpic on a T-shirt for my Avatar...

   

December Game Releases

It's been an avalanche of games the last couple months, but now that the weather's getting colder and Santa's looking over his lists, the games have begun to slow. But let's see what stocking stuffers we might find...
 

DS Titles
December 1
• Emma at the Farm
December 2
• Animal Boxing
• Dreamer: Puppy Trainer
• Mushroom Men - Rise of the Fungi
• My Fun Facts Coach
• Prince of Persia: The Fallen King
• Slingo Quest
• The Tale of Despereaux
• Winter Sports 2: The Next Challenge
December 9
• Cate West: The Vanishing Files
• Drivers Ed Portable
December 16
• Candace Kane's Candy Factory
• C.O.R.E.
• Peggle
December 18
• Left Brain Right Brain 2
December 21
• Master of the Monster Lair
December 23
• Bigfoot: Collision Course
• Paint by DS
December 29
• Secret Files: Tunguska

PC Titles
December 1
• DQ Tycoon
• Neopets Puzzle Adventure
December 2
• Grand Theft Auto IV
• Shaun White Snowboarding
• The Tale of Despereaux
• A Vampyre Story
December 5
• Defense Grid: The Awakening
December 9
• Prince of Persia Prodigy
• Runes of Magic
December 16
• Rise of the Argonauts

PS2 Titles
December 2
• Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories
• SingStar ABBA
• The Tale of Despereaux
December 9
• Persona 4
December 22
• Rock Band 2
December 31
• Fun Park

PS3 Titles
December 2
• Prince of Persia Prodigy
• SingStar ABBA
December 4
• Soldner-X: Himmelssturmer
December 9
• Sonic Unleashed
December 16
• Rise of the Argonauts

PSP Titles
December 9
• Dungeon Maker II: The Hidden War

Wii Titles
December 1
• Space Invaders Get Even
December 2
• Agatha Christie: Evil Under the Sun
• Family Party: 30 Great Games
• My Fitness Coach
• Mushroom Men: The Spore Wars
• Nancy Drew: The White Wolf of Icicle Creek
• The Tale of Despereaux
December 3
• SPRay
December 9
• Bigfoot: Collision Course
• Fun Park
• Neopets Puzzle Adventure
• Rygar: The Battle of Argus
• Six Flags Fun Park
December 15
• Deadly Creatures
• Ultimate Shooting Collection
December 16
• WordJong Party
December 22
• Rock Band 2
December 29
• Secret Files: Tunguska
December 30
• Deal or No Deal
December 31
• Puzzle Kingdoms

Xbox 360 Titles
December 1
• Destroy All Humans! Path of the Furon
December 2
• Prince of Persia Prodigy
• The Tale of Despereaux
December 3
• Banjo-Kazooie
December 16
• Rise of the Argonauts

I'm a (short-lived) Xbox Live Celeb!

So, Josh and I spent like 50 hours playing Saint's Row 2 together. It's a great game and if I ever get time from playing Fable 2 and Fallout 3, I'll probably write about it. Anyway, the last few days I keep getting random messages from gamers that I don't know. Today I found out why - I'm a short-lived Saint's Row 2 celebrity.

The first message was masterfully written as "HOW DID U THROW SUM 1 SO FAR??????"

After a second, I realized that he was talking about Saint's Row 2. I ignored it but meant to write back later. I just thought he was trying to get the achievement for throwing someone in the game.

Today I got a bunch of other messages from strangers asking about the same thing. When I finally figured out why, I looked at the leaderboard for Saint's Row 2. Some of the early messages make me think that I was number one on the Throwing leaderboard for a while. When I looked at it, I was number 3 and I'm currently number 4 because one of the guys I told how to do it got it down enough to capture second place.

There's my celebrity status. Throwing people 6,971 feet in Saint's Row 2. :-P

Call of Duty: World at War Beta

I haven't been gaming much lately. I've been really busy in my personal and professional life(hence the lack of updates on the site). The other weekend I actually played LEGO Indiana Jones most of the weekend. I was cleaning out my e-mail the other day and what did I find? A beta code for Call of Duty: World at War.

I participated a lot in the Call of Duty 4 site and beta so I must have gotten the beta code through that. I did sign up on the World at War site when it first started, but I haven't been active at all on the site so the beta code was a bit of a surprise.

The beta clocks in at a little under 900 MB. It is a lot like Call of Duty 4. It has Perks, Classes, Challenges and Levels. The beta right now caps players at Level 11 and it doesn't take too long to reach that level.

A few things are different. Of course, first of all, the series has returned to World War II so the weapons are a little older(reloading seems to take longer). The four different armies are Russian, Germany, Japan and the US.

There are also vehicles in this game. I don't know what all are available, but I have driven a tank around. Another interesting change is dogs! Get enough kills in a row without dying and you can unleash the hounds upon the enemy. Attack dogs will run around for a minute, attacking the enemy. You can kill the dogs, but these dogs tend to swarm and can do some good damage. When I unleashed a pack today, they killed three enemies during their minute long rampage.

Welcome Back 50 Cent!

50 Cent: Blood in the Sand has been brought back to life. The game was originally dropped when Activision and Blizzard merged. Now THQ has announced that they have picked the game up and will publish it.

Nothing like playing a rapper who fights extremists in the Middle East. Extremists who stole his crystal skull that he got as payment for a benefit concert?

October Game Releases

October’s here. The weather’s getting colder, and we need more activities inside. What games can the publishers scare up for us?

 

DS Titles

October 13
* Bratz: Girls Really Rock
* Kage Densetsu: The Legend of Kage 2
* Prey the Stars
* Tak: Mojo Mistake

October 14
* Battle of the Giants: Dinosaurs
* Cesar Millan's Dog Whisperer
* FIFA Soccer 2009
* Littlest Pet Shop: Garden
* Littlest Pet Shop: Jungle
* Littlest Pet Shop: Winter
* Lovely Lisa
* My Japanese Coach
* Naruto: Path of Ninja 2
* Rock Revolution
* Smart Girls Party Games

October 20
* Are You Smarter Than A 5th Grader?: Make the Grade
* Back at the Barnyard: Slop Bucket Games
* Pass the Pigs
* Rock University Presents: The Naked Brothers Band
* SpongeBob: Nicktoons Globs of Doom

October 21
* Away Shuffle Dungeon
* Backyard Football 2009
* Barbie Horse Adventures: Riding Camp
* Castlevania: Order of Ecclesia
* Dancing with the Stars: Get Your Dance On!
* Disney Fairies: Tinker Bell
* Ener-G: Dance Squad
* Ener-G: Gym Rockets
* Ener-G: Horse Rider
* High School Musical 3: Senior Year Dance
* The Legend of Spyro: Dawn of the Dragon
* Master of the Monster Lair
* Spider-Man: Web of Shadows
* Theresia
* Tornado
* Transformers Animated
* What's Cooking? Jamie Oliver

October 27
* Go Diego Go!: Great Dinosaur Rescue
* MechanicMaster
* The Wonder Pets: Save the Animals

October 28
* Bella Sara
* Ben 10: Alien Force
* Goosebumps HorrorLand
* Jagged Alliance
* Little Red Riding Hood's Zombie BBQ
* Monster Jam: Urban Assault
* My Sims Kingdom
* Ninjatown
* Petz Rescue Ocean Patrol
* Petz Rescue Wildlife Vet
* Rubik's World
* Shrek's Carnival Craze
* Six Flags Fun Park
* Zenses - Oceans
* Zenses - Rainforest

PC Titles

October

PS2 Titles

October 13
* Avatar - The Last Airbender: Into the Inferno
* Bratz: Girls Really Rock
* Tak: Guardians of Gross

October 14
* Dokapon Kingdom
* FIFA Soccer 2009

October 17
* Cake Mania Baker's Challenge

October 20
* Monopoly Here and Now: The World Edition
* NHL 09
* Rock University Presents: The Naked Brothers Band
* SpongeBob: Nicktoons Globs of Doom

October 21
* Backyard Football 2009
* Barbie Horse Adventures: Riding Camp
* Disney Sing It
* The Legend of Spyro: Dawn of the Dragon
* Onimusha: The Essentials
* Spider-Man: Web of Shadows
* Think Fast Bundle

October 26
* Guitar Hero World Tour

October 27
* Dora the Explorer: Dora Saves the Snow Princess
* Go Diego Go!: Great Dinosaur Rescue

October 28
* Baja 1000: Score International
* Ben 10: Alien Force
* Goosebumps HorrorLand
* Mana Khemia: Alchemist of Al-Revis
* Monster Jam: Urban Assault
* Moto GP '08
* Pro Bull Riders: Out of the Chute
* Shrek's Carnival Craze
* SingStar Country
* SingStar Lengends

PS3 Titles

October 13
* Blitz, The League II

October 14
* Dead Space
* FIFA Soccer 2009
* Golden Axe: Beast Rider
* Rock Band 2
* Rock Revolution
* Saints Row 2
* SOCOM: Confrontation

October 20
* Midnight Club: Los Angeles
* Monopoly Here and Now: The World Edition

October 21
* Bioshock
* Disney Sing It
* Eternal Sonata
* Far Cry 2
* The Legend of Spryo: Dawn of the Dragon
* Legendary
* LittleBigPlanet
* Spider-Man: Web of Shadows

October 26
* Guitar Hero World Tour

October 28
* Baja 1000: Score International
* Fallout 3
* Moto GP '08
* MotorStorm: Pacific Rift
* SingStar Vol 2

PSP

October

Wii

October

Xbox 360

October 7
• Crash: Mind over Mutant
• Fracture
• Guilty Gear: Overture
• NBA 2K9
• NBA Live 2009

October 13
• Blitz, The League II
• Legend of Spyro: Dawn of Dragon OSG

October 14
• Dead Space
• Deer Hunter Tournament
• FIFA Soccer 2009
• Golden Axe: Beast Rider
• Rock Revolution
• Saints Row 2

October 19
• Rock Band 2 Special Edition Bundle

October 20
• Midnight Club: Los Angeles
• Monopoly Here and Now: The World Edition

October 21
• Dance Dance Revolution: Universe 3
• Disney Sing It Bundle
* Fable 2
* Far Cry 2
• The Legend of Spyro: Dawn of the Dragon
• Legendary
• Spider-Man: Web of Shadows

October 26
* Guitar Hero World Tour

October 28
* Baja 1000: Score International
* Fallout 3
* High School Musical 3: Senior Year Dance
* Moto GP '08
* Scene It? 2