Busy Gamer News

If you haven't been to Xbox Live Marketplace lately, there are some new wares worth checking out:

• New single-player demos for Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter and Kameo (free)
  
• Another add-on for The Elder Scrolls: Oblivion, the Wizard's Tower ($1.88) again favors mages though does provide a well-stocked garden for alchemy fans and a spectacular view
  
• Autoupdate for MLB 2K6 that apparently fixes problems for some users and causes them for others (free) as well as a trailer (free), picture packs ($1 each) and themes ($1.88 each)
  
• Trailers for Blazing Angels, Dead or Alive 4, FIFA World Cup 2006, Lost Planet, and Rockstar Table Tennis (free)
  
• More Nacho Libre promotional videos (free)

Say goodbye to Microsoft's better sports franchises - again. In late 2004, the Redmond giant punted Indie Built - makers of Amped, Links and Top Spin - due to mediocre sales and a pact with EA to abandon any game franchise that smelled even remotely athletic. Now Take Two is dumping the Utah game studio as well. What are the odds that these stray pups will find another home before the shelter decides to put them out of their misery forever...

Nintendo DS fans jealous of the PSP's ability to play music and movies can now have similar functionality - for a price. Due in mid-June, the Datel Max Media Player is a 4-gigabyte hard drive that plugs into the DS cartridge slot and adds support for video, music and photo files. PC software is included to convert your media to compatible formats. Sound too good to be true? Well, the device will set you back $150 - more than the cost of a new DS and almost as much as a PSP...

Thanks, Rockstar. The ESRB backlash against Hot Coffee continues, this time with the re-rating of The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion from Teen to Mature. For the PC version, they blamed the ability to add in female nudity by patching the game's art files. Does this mean any game that can be modded should automatically be Mature? Technically, almost any game could be hacked - so maybe in the near future all PC games will be rated M, just in case. Almost as vexing is that the Xbox 360 version, which doesn't even support mods, has also been re-rated for excessive blood. This, despite the fact that Bethesda SoftWorks documented the game's "occasional torture, vulgar acts, and gore" in its original ratings application. The publisher isn't contesting the new rating, though it has issued a statement. Retailers have already begun requiring ID for the game to reduce the risk of underage exposure to role-playing...

The Nintendo DS Lite is due June 11 in the U.S., and it's priced to move at $130. Considering how long it was sold out in Japan, expect these babies to be scarce for at least several weeks - so preorder now if you want one by July. In case you've forgotten, the DS Lite boasts a thinner, sleeker look and brighter screens. Plus, it proves Nintendo can launch a hit product marketed under its code name...

If you didn't Tivo past the commercials in last week's episode of Lost, you might already be delving into a new Alternate Reality Game - one that goes beyond just watching the show and trying to decide what alternate reality the castaways might be trapped in. The show included a planted ad for the Hanso Foundation with phone numbers that, when called, seem to offer clues to - well, just like the show: more questions and contradictions than you can probably handle. If this sounds like fun, catch up on what you missed and join the game at lostpedia.com...

Sony finally revealed its plans for the PlayStation 3, which launches Nov. 17 in both the U.S. and Europe just six days after its debut in Japan. There will be two different versions - similar to Microsoft's Xbox 360 - but they'll both include a hard drive and boast heftier pricetags. The high-end PS3 with a 60GB hard drive will run you $600. The slightly cheaper $500 model only has a 20GB drive - same as the 360 - and lacks Wi-Fi, memory card support or HDMI for true hi-def Blu-Ray video output. Sony is also stealing a page from Nintendo's Wii playbook by including a motion-sensitive wireless game controller that otherwise looks to be a ringer for the PS2 DualShock controller - only without the rumble...

Microsoft came to E3 with guns blazing. First there's the Halo 3 trailer. Next, the news that Grand Theft Auto IV will ship in Oct. 2007 for both PS3 and Xbox 360, only the 360 gets exclusive episodic content. Live Anywhere will extend the 360 experience to Vista PCs and mobile devices, so you can rack up gamerscore and achievements when you're away from your console. Lumines Live is an Xbox Live Arcade title that takes the popular PSP puzzle game and blends it with Warner Music Group's music videos. The HD-DVD movie player for 360 will supposedly ship by the holidays, along with a wireless racing wheel. And all of this news was punctuated with an unholy slew of Xbox Live Marketplace content:

• Halo 3 trailer (free), theme ($1.88) and picture pack ($1)
  
• Uno game ($5) with free demo and anniversary theme pack
  
• Adidas soccer theme and picture pack (free)
  
• Demos for Lost Planet, Test Drive Unlimited and Top Spin 2 (free)
  
• Trailers for Alan Wake, Brothers in Arms: Hell's Highway, Bullet Witch, Call of Duty 3, Crackdown, Culdcept SAGA, Dance Dance Revolution Universe, Dead Rising, Fable 2, Forza 2, Gears of War, Hitman: Blood Money, John Woo's Stranglehold, Lord of the Rings: Battle for Middle Earth II, Lost Planet, Marvel: Ultimate Alliance, NBA 2K7, NCAA 07 Football, NCAA Hoops 2K7, Rain, Rockstar's Table Tennis, Sonic the Hedgehog, Shadowrun, Test Drive Unlimited, Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell: Double Agent, Tony Hawk's Project 8, Too Human, Top Spin 2, Viva Pinata and X-Men: The Last Stand (free, if you can find 'em in the E3 2006 section)
  
• Poseidon movie trailer (free)

Nintendo revealed some interesting facts about its Wii, but crucial details still remain in the realm of rumor. First the facts:

• A classic controller will be available for old-school games, such as the downloadable library of NES, SNES, N64 and Sega titles
  
• The motion-sensitive remote-style controller has a speaker for context-sensitive sound effects, such as reeling in a fish
  
• A version of the Opera Web browser will be offered for console Web surfing
  
• A light gun exists for a Duck Hunt remake
  
• A new Resident Evil game will be Wii exclusive (not Resident Evil 5!)
  
• Other buzzworthy Wii titles include: Call of Duty 3, Final Fantasy: Crystal Chronicles, Fire Emblem, The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess, Madden NFL 07, Metal Slug Anthology, Metroid Prime 3: Corruption, Red Steel, Sonic Wildfire, Super Mario Galaxy, Super Monkey Ball: Banana Blitz, Super Smash Bros. Brawl, Tony Hawk's Downhill Jam, Trauma Center: Second Opinion and WarioWare: Smooth Moves

Microsoft continues to pile on the Xbox Live Marketplace content, proving its advantage in having both a mature online service and next-gen console that shipped prior to E3. As a bonus, you can even play Xbox Live Gold free through Sunday night on the 360.

Here's what's new to download:

• Demo of MotoGP '06 (free)
  
• Two free Call of Duty 2 multiplayer maps, with another two for pay ($5)
  
• Videos for Call of Duty 3, Dead or Alive Xtreme Beach Volleyball 2, Enchanted Arms, MotoGP '06, Ninety-Nine Nights, Prey, Rainbow Six: Vegas, World Series of Poker, WWE Smackdown vs. Raw 2007 and X-Men: The Offical Game
  
• Promotional "behind the scenes" videos of the Microsoft booth, Gears of War, Splinter Cell: Double Agent, the Microsoft press conference, Xbox 360 games, Xbox Live Arcade games and PC games
  
• Xbox Live Gold and Silver themes and picture packs (free)
  
• X-Men 3 movie themes and picture packs and an Adidas theme (free)
  
• Movie trailer for A Scanner Darkly (free)

• AOL is launching PlayLink, a new game dashboard that integrates instant messaging with game forums, downloads and matching and more - in other words, they're taking on GameSpy
• Activision bought Red Octane, makers of Guitar Hero and its forthcoming sequel - speaking of which: Guitar Hero 2 will support two players, each with his (or her) own axe to grind
• Grand Theft Auto: Vice City Stories is due for the PSP on Oct. 17 - this year!
• Rockstar Vienna, the team that ported the Grand Theft Auto games to the Xbox, was shuttered - guess the Rockstar A-Team is working on both the 360 and PS3 versions of the next GTA title
• Namco's answer to GTA, Frame City Killer, has apparently been cancelled
• The GameCube is still getting some first-party love in the form of Super Paper Mario, Donkey Kong Bongo Blast and its own version of The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess - though the Wii version will be widescreen and take advantage of the motion-sensitive remote
• Rare is developing Diddy Kong Racing for the Nintendo DS, due out in late 2006
• The PlayStation 3 dashboard looks (un)remarkably like the PSP's
• A new Sam and Max PC adventure is expected this fall, and it may be released in episodes
• A Sims-esque Desperate Housewives game is in the works - expect it later this year
• The next World of Warcraft playable race has been confirmed: It's the Draenei, and they'll be in the Burning Crusade expansion

If you don't want to pay nearly $2 for the official Halo 3 theme for your 360, you could just download some free official wallpaper to a USB memory card and access it from your console's Media blade to make your own. Memo to Xbox Marketing: The slogan Finish the Fight is a rather poor choice since it evokes a visceral response from disappointed Halo 2 fans who felt the last chapter ended too abruptly: Finish The Damn Game...

Last year, major game chains EB and Gamestop started taking pre-orders for the Xbox 360 right after E3. As a result, even people who ordered as early as June or July failed to secure a console at the November launch or, in many cases, for several weeks after. No doubt hoping to head off this kind of fiasco with the PlayStation 3, EB and Gamestop are reportedly delaying in-store preorders until October. They are, however, taking names and numbers to alert you when pre-ordering is announced - assuming you still want one after the news about price...

You may recall Ben's Game, which set out to empower young kids with cancer to face their disease head on. Now there's Re-Mission, a futuristic shooter where you play as a microscopic robot who travels through the human body and takes out cancer cells. In this case, the creators did research and found that cancer patients who played their game tended to stay on their medications and have a better quality of life. They also increased their understanding of the disease and dealt with it better. And to think that the media and politicians would have you believe shooting games are harmful to kids! Re-Mission is available for free to children with cancer...

It's actually old news, but the Xbox 360 has been hacked! Don't expect to to buy imported mod chips and download a fancy new dashboard with media enhancements, as seen on the original Xbox. So far, hackers have only managed to enable playback of pirated games, which would normally be rejected by the console's security. The hack is actually quite complicated and can easily go wrong, destroying both your 360 and - as Microsoft points out in this week's official response - your warranty. Also, they'll tell your parents...

By the time you read this, the PC demo for Hitman: Blood Money should be available for download exclusively on Gamespot. Of course, they want to upsell you to a paid Gamespot Total Access subscription ($6/mo or $40/yr) so your download won't be served slow as molasses. How bad do you want to play that tutorial level, anyway...

If you've been playing Brain Age for the DS, you know how the game prompts you to draw people, places and things from memory as a daily mental calisthenic before moving on to more in-depth training or Sudoku puzzles. Ever wonder how others fare in their efforts to recreate armadillos, the Mona Lisa and Australia? Now you can find out: There's a flickr group devoted to these stylus sketches. Maybe you'll take your drawing exercises more seriously next time...

Microsoft's latest Xbox Live Marketplace downloads for Xbox 360 include:

• Project Gotham Racing 3 car pack featuring Cadillac CTS-V, STS-V, and XLR-V (free)
  
• The Elder Scrolls IV Thieves Den add-on pack geared toward stealthy characters ($1.88)
  
• Map pack for The Outfit ($6.25)
  
• Themes for College Hoops 2K6, NBA 2K6 and NHL 2K6 ($1.88 each)
  
• Picture pack for NBA 2K6 ($1)
  
• Promotional trailers for the movies Akeelah and the Bee, Hard Candy, La Mujer de mi Hermano, Peaceful Warrior, See No Evil and the UFC 60 pay-per-view event

Microsoft is expected to update the Xbox 360 dashboard any day now - and key features have leaked. The first is Active Download, which was clearly intended from the start (just look at how the download notifier works!). Soon you'll be able to queue up multiple files, and they'll download in the background while you play offline games, watch a DVD or listen to music. If you play online, downloads will pause. Interrupted transfers automatically resume whenever you connect to Xbox Live. Another new feature lets you boot your 360 to the dashboard, regardless of whether there's a game in the drive. The update is expected to ship within the next week. If you're in the mood to download something now, the Hitman: Blood Money demo just hit - but at 783MB, you'll wish you had Active Download now...

Ask anyone who's ever worked at Microsoft: Douglas Coupland's novel Microserfs captures the culture wonderfully. Now he's delivered JPod, a spiritual sequel that similarly skewers the videogame industry with its dissection of what it's like to develop games. Set at a large fictional game company in Vancouver, the book examines the lives of several cubicle-adjacent coders who happen to all have last names starting with the letter J. Early reviews suggest the plot is gimmicky (Coupland himself makes an appearance!) and lacks some of the depth of his earlier works, but it might help you decide whether you really want to make games for a living...

Rather than cut its losses with a brand that has become an industry joke, Nokia is killing off its failed cellphone/gaming taco but keeping the N-Gage name for its forthcoming cell phone game service. This online gaming network, which will be available to a variety of Nokia phone customers - not just a specialized gaming device - will feature PS1-quality graphics and a mix of first-party and independent developer titles when it launches in 2007. N-Gage R.I.P. Long Live N-Gage...

The PC version of Halo 2 is looking like a mixed bag. First, it will only run on Windows Vista, so you'll need an operating system and/or PC upgrade to play. And despite Microsoft's recent promise of Live Anywhere - a seamless integration of PC, console and mobile titles - the game won't connect Xbox gamers with PC players. On the flipside, Bungie is promising a definitive edition with bonus multiplayer maps and a map editor. You'll also be able to use the Xbox 360 controller on your PC if you feel confident going up against the keyboard-and-mouse majority on their home turf...

If you're familiar with the massively multiplayer world of Puzzle Pirates, its makers have moved on to the Old West with Bang! Howdy. Now in open beta, this world is designed primarily for fans of turn-based and real-time strategy (they got both kinds!) with claim jumping, cattle herding and gold rush mini-games. Even after launch, the world will be free to play in, but you'll have to pay for special in-game items. Showing there's no platform bias on the frontier, client software is available for Windows, Linux, and Mac OS X...