Busy Gamer News

Microsoft finally released the Rainbow Six Vegas demo in the U.S., and it's only about 500 MB. Other new downloads include:

• Saints Row autoupdate that fixes lots of single-player and multiplayer bugs including some that caused the game to crash; the patch also enables a few songs and hairstyles that were mistakenly left out of the game (free)
• Perfect Dark Zero Map Pack 2 (free; Gold members only)
• An Uno card deck that's Kameo: Elements of Power-themed; includes a new card that lets you swap hands with another player ($1.25)

GameStop has begun taking pre-orders for Halo 3. There will be three editions:

• Standard edition ($60)
• Collector's edition ($70) - details not yet available but presumably contains a bonus disc
• Legendary edition ($100) - includes a replica of the Spartan Mjolnir Mark VI Helmet and three bonus discs with making of videos, high-resolution cinematics from the first two Halo games (with audio commentary), a theme, gamer pictures, Red vs. Blue content and more

Of course, there's no official release date yet. But the Legendary edition will be limited and numbered, so you may want to get your pre-order in if you want it...

Valve is offering a free weekend to explore the world of The Ship, a kooky shooter set on a cruiseliner that the marketing folks have dubbed "a massively mysterious thriller (MMT)." The $20 game is online only, though developer Outerlight is almost done with a single-player story mode that will be available only at retail. If online shooters are your thing, play The Ship now for free until 1 p.m. PST Sunday ...

If this week's Xbox 360 dashboard update locked up your console, there's good news. A fix is now available, though you'll need to contact 1-800-4-MY-XBOX to get help if your console won't boot. For those who downloaded the update without incident, there is no further patching necessary. When you do get back online, you'll find a free Eragon demo. And EA is continuing to sell unlockable content (aka "cheats"), this time for Need for Speed Carbon (priced $1 to $10 each)...

The Wii launch is almost here, and Nintendo has announced its first batch of retail games and Virtual Console downloads, all due between Nov. 19 and Dec. 31:

At retail. look for these titles ($30-50 each):

• The Ant Bully
• Avatar: The Last Airbender
• Barnyard
• Call of Duty 3
• Cars
• Dragon Ball Z Budokai: Tenkaichi 2
• Elebits
• Excite Truck
• Far Cry: Vengeance
• The Grim Adventures of Billy & Mandy
• GT Pro Series
• Happy Feet
• Ice Age 2: The Meltdown
• The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess
• Madden NFL 07
• Marvel: Ultimate Alliance
• Metal Slug Anthology
• Monster 4x4: World Circuit
• Need for Speed: Carbon
• Open Season
• Rapala Tournament Fishing
• Red Steel
• Rampage: Total Destruction
• Rayman Raving Rabbids
• SpongeBob SquarePants: Creature from the Krusty Krab
• Super Monkey Ball: Banana Blitz
• Super Swing Golf
• Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell: Double Agent
• Tony Hawk's Downhill Jam
• Trauma Center: Second Opinion
• World Series of Poker

On the Virtual Console, you can expect:

Nintendo 64 ($10)

• Super Mario 64

Super NES ($8 each)

• F-Zero
• SimCity

NES ($5 each)

• Baseball
• Donkey Kong
• Donkey Kong Jr.
• Ice Hockey
• The Legend of Zelda
• Mario Bros
• Pinball
• Soccer
• Solomon's Key
• Tennis
• Urban Champion
• Wario's Woods

SEGA Genesis ($8+ each)

• Altered Beast
• Columns
• Dr. Robotnik's Mean Bean Machine
• Ecco the Dolphin
• Golden Axe
• Gunstar Heroes
• Sonic the Hedgehog
• Space Harrier II
• Toe Jam & Earl

TurboGrafx-16 ($6+ each)

• Bomberman '93
• Bonk's Adventure
• Dungeon Explorer
• Super Star Soldier
• Victory Run

For those keeping score, that's almost as many games as Microsoft has launched on Xbox Live Arcade in a year. Of course, you aren't getting high-definition graphics or other significant upgrades...

It's that time of year again - charity season - and for most gamers there's only one place to start: Child's Play. Now in its fourth year, the goal of this program is twofold: first and foremost, to help very sick children through gifts of toys, books, videogames and money donated to children's hospitals, but also to show the world that gamers aren't the violent sociopathic stereotypes portrayed in the media. There are now 28 hospitals you can help worldwide, including new additions in Canada, Australia (coming soon) and Egypt (PayPal only)...

After weeks of little to no new Xbox Live Arcade action, Microsoft's casual games group is about to put the 360's new Arcade demo auto-download feature to the test. Wednesday's release is Contra ($5), with both original and HD-enhanced modes and new co-operative multiplayer over Xbox Live. Additional titles promised by year's end include:

• Assault Heroes
• Defender
• Heavy Weapon
• Novadrome
• Small Arms

Also, Atari has thrown its hat into the ring, announcing its classic games will start hitting Arcade in January:

• Asteroids/Asteroids Deluxe
• Battlezone
• Centipede/Millipede
• Missile Command
• Tempest
• Warlords

All of these titles will fill in Microsoft's coin-up classics section nicely. As a result, they plan to shift focus from retro titles to new and indie games in 2007...

If you missed the earlier Wii pre-order frenzy, EBGames.com is hosting an online pre-order event Thursday evening. The bad news is that you can only buy a $700 bundle and there's no guarantee you'll even get a system on launch day. The bundle includes the console, a 1GB memory card, an extra Wii-mote, a 12-month product replacement plan, a Game Informer subscription and these launch titles:

• The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess
• Madden NFL 2007
• Marvel Ultimate Alliance
• Red Steel
• Super Monkey Ball Banana Blitz
• Trauma Center: Second Opinion

Truth be told, you're probably better off holding off for a console at retail on or near Nov. 19, even if it means a long line or lucking into one...

Bad news for Sony fans hoping to score a PlayStation 3 and some first-person RPG action this holiday. Even if you score the console (which may be a feat itself!), The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion has been delayed until early 2007. Now, fans of the series on Xbox know that this could actually be a good thing, since Morrowind proved mega-buggy and even Oblivion had some nasty glitches at launch despite a similar delay on the 360 last year. And we don't know yet if Sony will permit the kind of game patch downloads that Microsoft has embraced...

Too busy to devote 12+ hours a day to your gaming habit? Here's a review that's sensitive to your needs: Short and focused on just the things that a busy gamer like you really needs to know.


Busy Gamer Review-
Mario vs. Donkey Kong 2: March of the Minis

Reviewed On: Nintendo DS

In a Nutshell: This is a puzzle platformer in the vein of The Incredible Machine and Eets, this time putting you in charge of little wind-up Mario toys to maneuver past many obstacles to each level's exit. There are 80 levels divided into eight floors (each introducing new themes and game elements), with a mini-boss battle against DK before advancing to the next set of challenges. It all builds up to a final DK boss level that's reminiscent of the original Donkey Kong arcade classic, but with a few new but enjoyable twists - such as hammers that you can toss, catch and re-use. And if you beat the game, you can unlock two bonus boss levels that are also updates of the original Donkey Kong/Mario arcade rivalry. For nostalgic Nintendo fans, these are worth slogging through the game to reach!

Learning Curve: Varies - some levels are easy to pick up, while others introduce a lot of new elements that must be learned and mastered to get a passable score. Fortunately, you only need a single Mario toy to exit the level to proceed, but if you want to play the bonus levels you'll need to score gold stars by picking up coins and earning time, chain and nonstop bonuses. The later levels are much easier than some of the middle ones - either that, or my overall mastery improved by the time I got there. Whichever it is... once you feel the game getting easier, you're pretty much home free.

The Save Game: As with any DS game, you can snap the portable shut to save your progress instantly (as long as your battery doesn't run out). The game also saves after each stage, which typically lasts only a minute or so. And there are two extra save slots if family members want to play too.

Family Factor: It's typical Nintendo fare, though very small kids may be disturbed to see Mario toys snap, smash and incinerate.

Buy, Rent or Skip? This is a solid rental. For one thing, you may not immediately like the game dynamic, which is clearly an acquired taste. Also, it can be easily beaten (except for the bonus levels) in a few days if you're persistent. The only thing that extends its value is the rich level editor that enables you to create, share and download new levels over a Wi-Fi Internet connection. If you've always wanted to be a game level designer, this is your chance! If you can't find a video store that rents DS titles, there's always Gamefly.com.

Interesting details about the PlayStation 3 have leaked out in advance of this week's launch:

• Some 200 PS2 titles are reported to have backward compatibility problems - quite an improvement over the Xbox 360, where only about 200-300 original Xbox titles are even backward compatible. Though the problematic games may be a huge concern to some: Devil May Cry (freezing), Gran Turismo 4 (freezing), Hot Shots Golf 3 and 4 (control), Hyper Street Fighter II Anniversary Edition (glitching), Silent Hill 2 (freezing) and Tekken 5 (background music)
• A PS3 firmware update is expected at launch with another soon after to enable PlayStation Network support (including Friends, voice chat, text messages, block list and PlayStation Store) plus improved PSP features including PSP downloads and view/control of the PS3 system screen via PSP over a wireless LAN adapter
• Saved data from earlier consoles will be stored on the hard drive in a virtual memory card format; you'll need to buy or borrow a memory card adapter accessory to transfer the data (also an improvement over the 360 which doesn't officially support any save game transfers!)
• If you use an HDTV, you'll need to manually switch aspect ratio settings to play backward-compatible games in 4x3 mode
• Specific contents of the PlayStation Store are still unknown (presumably game downloads, game subscription fees, movies, TV shows and music) but you will have a digital wallet that can either be preloaded with money or set to automatically add money to cover your recurring subscription fees
• Rumble functionality won't be added later - Sony says the Sixaxis controller design is locked and won't be changed

If you're the kind of person who actually likes to read manuals, you're in luck - you can review the PS3 manual online...

Gamers are buzzing about the Wii launch on Sunday:

• System seller The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess is getting high marks from reviewers, but it's getting knocks as well - including reports that graphics are inferior to GameCube and the Wii-mote control feels tacked on
• Elebits has slipped past launch to December
• Custom soundtracks are enabled on a per-title basis, similar to the original Xbox, and at least one game will support them: Excite Truck. Since there's no hard drive in the Wii, you'll need a big SD memory card for your music
• Unlike Friends codes on the DS, you'll have a unique number for your Wii to pass to friends who want to find you online. A small improvement but not as friendly as an Xbox Live gamertag, and what happens if you grab an extra controller at a buddy's house? Or you own more than one Wii? Or if your console dies and has to be replaced? The good news is that once added, you'll see your friend's chosen username
• Setting up the Wii-mote requires you to place a sensor bar on top of your TV and calibrate
• N64 titles downloaded to the Virtual Console won't support rumble
• GameCube controllers work with all types of Virtual Console games as well as GameCube discs and Wii titles that use the new "classic" controller
• Once you've started a GameCube game, you'll have to reboot the console to get back to the Wii system menu
• Reports suggest that am enhanced version of the Wii console that can play DVDs will ship in late 2007

Oh, and Nintendo will be spending a record $200 million to market the Wii, so expect to see and hear about it everywhere starting, well, just about any minute now...

Bungie promised big news for the fifth anniversary of Halo, but alas none of it offers gamers anything new to do today. It's all about future stuff, and there are serious issues with most of the news. First, there's a new Halo 3 ad which debuts Dec. 4 during Monday Night Football. But the footage is all third-party CGI done by Digital Domain because the Halo 3 game engine isn't far enough along for Bungie to feel comfortable showing it. Next, Bungie announced there will be new Halo 2 multiplayer maps due in early-to-mid 2007. Yes, they'll cost money, and - here's the kicker! - you'll only be able to get them on Xbox 360 despite the fact that Halo 2 is an original Xbox title that runs in emulation on the 360! But the really big news is that 360 owners will be too busy with a Halo 3 multiplayer public beta next spring to care about those Halo 2 maps. Again, nothing to do now but wait - thanks for nothing, Bungie...

When you plug in your new Nintendo Wii on Sunday, you'll find the online service isn't quite done yet. Several of the hyped "channels" won't be available until December or later. The Forecast Channel will provide free local and worldwide weather details starting Dec. 20. And the News Channel will start serving Associated Press headlines on Jan. 27. There have also been hints that the Wii's Opera Web browser may not be ready for weeks or even months after lunch. The good news is that the Mii Channel (avatar customization), Photo Channel and Wii Shop are ready, with a launch-day Virtual Console lineup that includes:

• Bomberman '93 (TurboGrafx16)
• Donkey Kong (NES)
• Sonic the Hedgehog (Genesis)
• SimCity (SNES)
• Super Mario 64 (N64)

There will be 7 more Virtual Console games at launch, but they weren't disclosed. New games are promised every Monday, with a total of 30 due by year's end...

Despite the abundance of mini-games, Dead or Alive Xtreme 2 is a relationship sim that's all about collecting stuff: swimsuits, accessories and rare items. In order to succeed, you need to earn lots and lots of Zack dollars. Unfortunately, the game is very stingy unless you're very, very good at beach volleyball or jet ski races. But there is an exploit that will help busy gamers! First, save up at least a million bucks (races are easiest). Then go to the casino and play the Poison Danger slot machine with $500 or $1000 bets. Use the right thumbstick to scroll up to the payouts. Yes, it looks dangerous; you can lose almost your entire bankroll on one spin. And you probably will, but luckily this machine is rigged to generally pay out more than you'll lose! Just as long as you can afford the biggest loss once, you'll probably come out ahead (no guarantees... the bigger your bankroll, the better your chances). Press A three times to bet the max, and see what happens. Don't quit if you do suffer a loss that brings you near bankruptcy. You can continue as long as you don't hit zero, but if you leave you won't be allowed to come back until you have a new bankroll. Once you're over $1.5 million dollars, switch to $1000 bets (x3). When you hit the top payout with a $3000 bet, you'll get a cutscene of Christie pole dancing. (Losses tend to follow big wins, so you might switch to a single bet after winning big and then back to a triple bet after a big loss.) Each time you score the three Christie's, you unlock more of the scene and eventually a secret item in the game. Now you should be able to buy the skimpiest suits, shower your lady friends with gifts and pick up the most expensive jet ski - which will help you earn outside the casino...

UPDATE: Shortly after posting this entry, I went from $10 million down to zero in one sitting - a good case for quitting while you're ahead! The good news is that I have a $2 million jet ski, all of the game tickets and most of Kasumi's swimsuit collection, which I bought with earlier winnings. So getting a million bankroll back shouldn't be too hard. Still, a cautionary tale - easy come, easy go...

With Wiis and PS3s out of stock all over North America, here's a game that's been overlooked by most on a console that should be a lot easier to get your hands on (if you don't already have one). I recently dusted it off after ignoring it most of last winter, and I was glad I did!



Too busy to devote 12+ hours a day to your gaming habit? Here's a review that's sensitive to your needs: Short and focused on just the things that a busy gamer like you really needs to know.


Busy Gamer Review-
Amped 3

Reviewed On: Xbox 360

In a Nutshell: Edgy, arcade-style snowboarding action. The opening is spellbinding and funny: Manfred Mann's Blinded By The Light fades up as you ascend a mountain ski lift... in a giant pink bunny costume! The song continues as you execute your first challenge, to the amusement of other boarders. Then some wacky cut scenes kick in as the game proves immediately that it's like no other snowboarding game you've ever played. Alas, later scenes lose their entertainment value as an inane storyline takes a few uninteresting twists. But the game is still compelling as you embark on a variety of challenges to gain respect, awe bystanders and unlock music, gear and new mountain areas to explore. There are seven mountains, and some contain as many as four areas. And there are hundreds of challenges to keep you busy. Besides, there hasn't been a new snowboarding game in a couple years, and nothing as fresh as this since SSX Tricky.

Learning Curve: Pretty easy to pick up if you've ever played a snowboarding or skateboarding game before. It's also much easier to play than its predecessors (Amped, Amped 2), which were both less forgiving and harder to master than pretty much any other game in this genre. If you're a novice boarder, you'll improve your skills in stages, and fortunately there are many challenges to choose from if you find one you're stuck on one. Spend some time on some easier tasks and then come back to it. As a last resort, you can actually modify the courses in Build Mode to make it easier to beat a particularly vexing mission!

The Save Game: This game saves constantly! Just select the Trail Map and it will auto-save anything you've done. A great game to play for a few minutes or a few hours.

Family Factor: The cut scenes are a bit off the hook; no doubt the producers watch a lot of Robot Chicken and Aqua Teen Hunger Force on Adult Swim. The videos' violence, crude humor and suggestive themes are where it earns its Teen rating. Basically, keep the pre-teens away from the main story objectives and the My Stash area, if you've unlocked any videos there. Simply sailing down the mountain and performing tricks and side-missions are pretty tame and fun for the whole family.

Buy, Rent or Skip? If you're a snowboarding fan who likes to explore every nook and challenge, this is a buy (and a great deal at $30-40 new or $20-30 used!). If you just want a quick diversion and plan to tear through the main story, you can rent it and beat it in 8-10 hours. But there's 20+ hours of gameplay here overall, plus decent replay value.

If you've never played the classic Sid Meier's Railroad Tycoon, you're in for a treat: The full game is a free download (14.2MB) as a promotion for the new Sid Meier's Railroads! game. There's a Railroads! download too, but it's a hefty 256MB just for the demo. Then again, the trains look a bit more, well, like trains. Hey, it was the early '90s - we didn't have graphics accelerator cards back then...

After many teases, Microsoft has launched its new movie and TV show download service for the Xbox 360. Alas, only a handful of movies and shows are high-definition and movies can only be rented, not purchased. Movies are typically 1-2GB for standard def and 5-7GB for HD, while TV shows are 100-600MB standard and 1-2GB HD. Microsoft's advice? Download HD content the night before you want to watch it. Hardly video on demand.

TV shows can be purchased for $2-3 an episode, starting with these:

• The Adventures of Chico and Guapo (8 episodes)
• The Andy Milomakis Show (Seasons 1-2)
• Aqua Teen Hunger Force (Season 3)
• Avatar: The Last Airbender (Seasons 1-2)
• Beavis and Butt-Head (Seasons 1-3)
• Breaking Bonaduce (Season 1)
• Carpocalypse (Season 2)
• Chappelle’s Show (Seasons 1-2)
• CSI (HD available, Seasons 6-7)
• CSI: Miami (HD available, Seasons 4-5)
• CSI: New York (HD available, Seasons 2-3)
• Drawn Together (Seasons 1-3)
• Frisky Dingo (5 episodes)
• Harvey Birdman, Attorney at Law (13 episodes)
• Hogan Knows Best (7 episodes)
• Invader Zim (Seasons 1-2)
• Jackass (Seasons 1-3)
• Jericho (HD available; 8 episodes)
• Mind of Mencia (Seasons 1-2)
• Moral Orel (1 episode)
• Muscle Car (22 episodes)
• NCIS (HD available; Seasons 2-4)
• The Nine (6 episodes)
• Pimp My Ride (16 episodes)
• Punk’d (Seasons 1-8)
• Raising the Roofs (6 episodes)
• The Real World (25 episodes)
• Robot Chicken (20 episodes)
• Sealab 2021 (Seasons 3-4)
• Skyland (13 episodes)
• South Park (Seasons 1-4 and 10)
• SpongeBob SquarePants (Seasons 1-4)
• Star Trek (29 episodes)
• Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip (9 episodes)
• Supernatural (8 episodes)
• Ultimate Fighting Championship fights (HD available; 4 episodes)
• The Venture Bros (13 episodes)
• Veronica Mars (7 episodes)
• Viva La Bam (Seasons 1 and 5)
• Wild Boyz (Seasons 1-4)
• Wonder Showzen (8 episodes)
• Xtreme 4x4 (12 episodes)

Movies can be rented for $4-6 for new releases or $3-4.50 for classics, with these titles available now:

• 9 1/2 Weeks
• Ask the Dust
• Analyze This
• Art of War
• ATL (HD available)
• Ballistic: Ecks vs. Sever
• Batman Forever
• Chariots of Fire
• Chinatown
• Clash of the Titans (HD available)
• Congo
• The Core
• Crade 2 the Grave
• The Dead Pool
• Deep Blue Sea
• Akira Kurosawa's Dreams
• Exorcist II: Heretic
• Failure to Launch
• Gallipoli
• The Hunger
• The Lake House
• Looking for Comedy in the Muslim World
• Mad Max 2
• The Matrix
• National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation
• Patriot Games
• The Perfect Storm (HD available)
• Pootie Tang
• Poseidon (HD available)
• Rat Race
• Rebel Without a Cause
• Romeo Must Die
• Rosemary's Baby
• The Shining
• Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan
• Star Trek VII: Generations
• Strange Brew
• The Sum of All Fears
• Superfly
• Tequila Sunrise
• Three Kings
• THX 1138
• Timeline
• Unforgiven (HD available)
• The Untouchables
• V for Vendetta (HD available)
• We Were Soldiers
• Zoolander

Only Paramount and Warner Bros have movie content at launch (that's fewer contributors than even the doomed UMD movie format on the PSP!). Also, unlike TV shows and other video content on Marketplace, movies expire in 14 days or 24 hours after you start watching them. Oh, and there's still no word on a bigger hard drive to support all of these weighty downloads.

In other news, Marketplace has been well stocked lately, perhaps to taunt next-gen newcomers PS3 and WII who are still revving up their online stores:

• Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six Vegas multiplayer demo as well as demos for Cars, NCAA March Madness 07 and Superman Returns
• The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion expansion called Knights of the Nine, which adds a new faction that's been described as the opposite of The Dark Brotherhood ($10)
• Test Drive Unlimited auto-update improves motorcycle handling, closes exploits and improves clubs and e-trading. There are also two free car downloads (Corvette C1 1957 and Lexus IS 350), plus an additional six-car pack for $4.38
• Small Arms ($10) and Defender ($5) on Xbox Live Arcade
• Some Viva Pinata accessory packs ($1.13 each)

Too busy to devote 12+ hours a day to your gaming habit? Here's a review that's sensitive to your needs: Short and focused on just the things that a busy gamer like you really needs to know.


Busy Gamer Review-
Burger King Games: Sneak King, Pocket Bike Racer and Big Bumpin'

Reviewed On: Xbox 360. Also available for original Xbox.

In a Nutshell: Burger King has put out three adver-games for the Xbox and Xbox 360, and the kicker is that they get you to pay for them TWICE. Depending on who's working the counter when you go in, you must purchase up to three value meals to get the three games plus shell out $4 apiece for the games themselves. (Each disc contains both Xbox and Xbox 360 versions.) So, are they worth it?

Sneak King is a single-player stealth game, though unlike Solid Snake and Sam Fisher you must tiptoe as the creepy plastic-faced King to deliver artery-clogging food instead of instant death. There should probably be a rule against surprising people who subsist on Burger King fare - you might trigger a cardiac arrest (bonus points?!). You'll explore four different environments (logging camp, construction site, suburban neighborhood and downtown block), each packed with hiding places such as trash cans and cabins for the King to pop out of while delivering his heavily branded fare. The challenges are surprisingly fun with difficulty that ramps up as you progress, but the game is hobbled by a hard-to-manage camera that's backwards from the accepted norm and can't be changed. Achievements on the 360 version are pretty free-flowing; you'll get the majority of the 200 available points in an hour or so.

Pocket Bike Racer has you perched on a tiny but fast motorbike as you blast through increasingly treacherous courses. You can play as The King, spokesmodel Brooke Burke, or a BK-branded mascot or employee. Winning a race hinges on how well you corner, collect boost energy and use power-ups to take down your fellow racers. Alas, the play is very uneven and the tournaments long and easy to foul up. Unlocking anything in this game except for a few gimme achievements is difficult. The game's redemption comes from online (2-8) and local (1-4) multiplayer modes, should you have any friends who visit or were similarly suckered into buying these games.

Big Bumpin' will be familiar to fans of Fuzion Frenzy, and for good reason: It was developed by the same studio, Blitz Games. You battle in bumper cars against three other opponents in last man standing, power surge, hockey and keep-away modes. Brooke Burke is back, this time with prerecorded taunts to unleash on your foes. Again, multiplayer is where it's at with support for 2-4 local or online players. Playing against the computer isn't nearly as fun as with real people, probably for the same reason Fuzion Frenzy wasn't much fun alone - the computer knows how to exploit every opportunity and can easily kick your butt.

Learning Curve: All three games are easy to learn. Sneak King is simplest to pick up - just avoid the view cones in front of people and deliver food to those marked as hungry while following any challenge-specific rules. Pocket Bike Racer is your basic racer but with an array of complicated power-ups to master. Big Bumpin' actually has several gameplay modes, which may take awhile to get the hang of, but bashing bumper cars isn't rocket science - just grab some friends and start bumpin'.

The Save Game: All games save any progress after each round, which can take up to a few minutes to complete. Pocket Bike Racer and Big Bumpin' have tournament modes which you'll need to see through, so set aside 10-20 minutes for one of these.

Family Factor: The King is creepy enough to scare very small children, particularly in Sneak King and the opening screens of all three games. Big Bumpin' has firetraps, saw blades, explosions and shocks to avoid, and people get shocked and bombarded by bottle rockets in Pocket Bike Racer. But even the mild cartoon violence, as it's been labeled, is pretty tame. Overall, these are fine for the whole family if you can handle the inevitable requests by young ones for the greasy food they promote.

Buy or Skip? Rental isn't an option and these games are easy to skip unless you really love Burger King and/or collect odd marketing experiments. If you had to pick one, it would depend on your taste in games: Get Sneak King if you love stealth and exploration, Pocket Bike Racer if you're addicted to racing games or Big Bumpin' if you can't pass up a party game. Better yet, find a friend who has them and borrow the games for a weekend.

As Black Friday shopping comes to a close, it seems that only a lucky or devoted few who missed the PS3 and Wii launches have come away with consoles as both Sony and Nintendo attempted to resupply stores. In Seattle, one mid-sized GameStop only had 14 Wii systems today and no PS3s for those who waited all night in the cold for a promised new shipment. (No counts were provided in advance.) And the story is similar at other stores. PS3 devotees might as well hang it up - rumor has it there will only be about half the already low number of promised units, and the majority of systems sold seem destined for high markups on eBay. Nintendo assures it will do better for the Wii with 4 million due by year's end, but even those have been somewhat scarce to date and hardly up to demand...

Microsoft forgot the cardinal rule of release management: Never put out a major update right before a holiday. At least if you don't want to risk your team working instead of celebrating with their families. The addition of movies and TV shows on Xbox Live Marketplace last week brought down the network, resulting in slow downloads and glitches such as messages about points being deducted for free files and videos being deleted before their expiration. Microsoft spent much of the long holiday weekend setting things right. In related news, there's a rumor that all Live accounts created to illicitly download games and other content from other regions will be deleted soon. Apparently region control for movies and TV is a bigger concern than it was for just games. There is a bright spot: Gold members can now sign up for the Shadowrun public beta. Simply visit connect.microsoft.com, click Invitations, enter SHBS-6YMT-YKHC for the Invitation ID and MAJOR1 for the beta code. Of course, registering is no guarantee that you'll get picked to participate...

Nintendo kept its word, kicking off its campaign to restock the Wii Virtual Console with new downloads weekly. Just released are Ecco the Dolphin (not the 3D Dreamcast version) and Golden Axe. These Sega Genesis classics are $8 each and available now. There's also the Turbografx game Super Star Soldier for $6. If we could only get such timely resupplies of the console itself...

Microsoft continues to fall short on its weekly Xbox Live Arcade releases, this time opting for an update to Texas Hold 'Em in lieu of a new game. (Hm, just like another online game provider I know...) This mandatory auto-update offers faster gameplay, a new "away" mode, an auto-boot for players who frequently let their timer expire, better blinds with no waiting, interface improvements, typo corrections and the end of several exploits that led to rampant cheating. Naturally, online multiplayer leaderboards have been reset so you'll have to start over whether you cheated or not. Also, as expected, Microsoft has closed the loophole that permitted content downloads from regions where you don't actually reside. Now your billing address needs to match the country you've selected - mainly to prevent non-U.S. residents from accessing TV shows and movies released in the U.S. Marketplace...

If you're lucky enough to have snagged an early Wii, you've no doubt already created a Mii avatar to represent yourself in the dashboard and supported games. Now you can share your creation on miiplaza.net, where players have already posted pictures of their favorite TV, movie and musician-inspired console characters. From Bono and Tenacious D to the casts of Serenity and Buffy, there are enough entries there to get your creative juices flowing. All you need is a digital camera to snap and post your own Mii, though plans for "seamless" integration with the Wii are supposedly in the works...