Busy Gamer News

Fans of EA's music in games (all three of you) can now hop onto iTunes to download your favorite EA Trax. (Yes, they really call them that... maybe I should have filed this under Stupid Marketing Tricks.) Downloads include exclusives mixes and previously unreleased songs from EA games including Burnout Dominator, Def Jam Icon, Def Jam Fight for New York, FIFA 2006, Fight Night Round 2, Madden NFL 2003-2007, NASCAR 2007, NBA Live 2003-2004, NBA Live 2007, NBA Street Homecourt, NBA Street 2, NHL 2004-2006, SSX 3, SSX Blur, Need for Speed Underground 2, Need For Speed Hot Pursuit 2 and Tiger Woods PGA Tour 2003. What's truly funny about these is that they're not part of some deal with Apple, they're iMixes. I bet I know what EA's marketing interns have been up to! In other game music news, Microsoft inked an agreement with Warner Music to put out more soundtracks for its titles - Halo 3, no doubt, but maybe some lost gems from the vault too...

If you have a PlayStation 3 and love fighting games, you'll want to get to the PlayStation Network store to download Tekken 5: Dark Resurrection. It's $20 and includes a high-definition overhaul and Jinpachi Mishima as a playable character. There's also a v1.54 firmware update, which offers some more minor UI tweaks and new video chat features - including support for cameras compliant with USB video class (UVC). In other PS3 news, Immersion (who you may recall sued Sony over the use of rumble in its controllers) announced an end to the litigation and a new business deal, suggesting rumble and/or force feedback might make it onto the PS3 eventually after all. This after Sony made a big deal about how rumble would have only thrown off the motion-sensing features of the Sixaxis controller...

It's been an eventful week, so if my daily updates have been a little erratic, I hope you'll understand. I started the week by embarking on my new consulting business - and then slicing open my hand.

I mentioned a few weeks back that I was becoming a consultant. Well, this past Monday, I took on my first substantial project since leaving the workforce last October. And it was good. Not deep, meaningful stuff mind you - but it felt good just to be working again. When I work, I work hard: I get totally focused and engaged, and those mental muscles were thrilled to be back in the game.

And then a few hours later, I sliced my hand. I was preparing lunch for GrrlGotGame, who was home sick with the flu, and I did something dumb. I held two pieces of stuck-together frozen tempura and jammed a steak knife between them - and right into the palm of my hand. Blood gushed everywhere, meaning I probably nicked an artery. All I know was that it hurt like hell and lunch was done for unless any neighborhood vampires wandered by. I put pressure on the wound while waiting for the paramedics - who looked at it, told me it wasn't bad, and wrapped it in tight gauze. I called the family doctor for an appointment, drove up myself, and got three stitches. The next morning, heavily medicated, I was back at work.

Friday, my hand was much better so I put together my new desk - a glass affair with ample space for me to spread out. I got a stand for my laptop (more on my choice next week!), registered a work domain, and I'm open for business. And so far business is good... I just need to remember to stay away from sharp objects during the day.

As for Busy Gamer News content, I'm working on some more reviews including Hotel Dusk and - who knows - maybe a webcomic. Suddenly inspired, I jumped up from bed the other night and drafted a strip about a peculiarity of Crackdown. I think it's pretty good, but alas I'm not much of an artist. Maybe I'll see if I can find a collaborator.

-=Gamewatcher

Nintendo has three new games for the Wii Virtual Console this week:

• Elevator Action (NES) - $5
• Super Ghouls 'N Ghosts (SNES) - $8
• Sword of Vermilion (Genesis) - $8

Elevator Action is a true classic, and the others are tempting too. It's too bad there's no try-before-you-buy option...

Fans of both British comedy and first-person shooters can now take down tangos in that infamous holiday destination, Fawlty Towers. That's right, someone has lovingly recreated the famous hotel run into the ground by Basil Fawlty (aka John Cleese) as a hostage battle backdrop in Counter-Strike: Source. There's even an Easter egg: When you're not busy shooting and ducking, you can try to find the 15 Harold Robbins books planted throughout the premises. You know you want to download it...

Wait, don't buy that 64MB memory card for your Xbox 360! Microsoft has announced a 512MB card for $50 due on April 3. And, for a limited time, it will come preloaded with Geometry Wars: Retro Evolved. If you still want the smaller card, you'll be able to get it for $30 if you can wait a month. This move goes hand-in-hand with the news that Xbox Live Arcade games can grow as big as 150MB (up from 50MB). Upcoming Arcade games include:

• 3D Ultra Minigolf Adventures (from Sierra)
• Boom Boom Rocket (from EA's Pogo studio)
• Eets: Chowdown (from Klei)
• Jetpac Refuelled (from Rare)
• Pinball FX (from Zen)

If you're ready for a new Arcade game now, get online and download Worms ($10) And, for a limited time, you can get the high-def South Park episode "Good Times with Weapons" for free - if you have a hard drive and about 1GB free space. Since last week, Microsoft's pitch on South Park exclusivity has shifted from recent seasons (now available on iTunes) to high-def versions, though this freebie seems to be the only HD episode available right now. Speaking of free, if you skipped Crackdown but wouldn't mind winning a copy, all you need to do is register your gamertag on Warner Bros Web site and then watch 5 promo videos for the movie 300. Oh, and be lucky...

If you've beat all 200+ hours of The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion, the good news is that the Shivering Isles expansion pack will be downloadable the week of March 26 for $30. Now there's still that little problem with downloadable content ownership, which Microsoft is reputedly working on. But if you've beaten Oblivion, another 50 hours of gameplay will just be a long weekend for you. Likewise, if you've reached Champion level in Test Drive Unlimited, there's a new Hardcore Mode you can download now for $2 that offers greater realism, particularly when played with the racing wheel. You can choose to play with the mode on or off, though players using it get a cool H next to their names online. Alas, no new achievements. There's also a new car pack for $4.38 that includes the Ferrari F40, Crossfire SRT6 Roadster, RUF R Turbo, Audi S6, 1971 Corvette Stingray, Mercedes-Benz CLK GTR and Cadillac CTS-V - or you can download just the Caddy for free. Well, free in real money - you still need in-game currency to unlock cars...

A few weeks ago, I asked for feedback on the Alienware Area 51 m5790 and other suggestions for a solid work laptop that was also gaming capable.

My reasoning was that I need: a) a good, fast machine for my brand of multitasking, and b) a gaming machine to support Busy Gamer News and side projects such as video editing.

Any machine that's fast enough for Half-Life 2 and Halo 2 on Vista should hopefully stand up to my RAM- and CPU- intensive work style, which has taken down many an inferior notebook provided to me by employers over the years. I like to keep dozens of e-mails, documents and Web pages open while I flip quickly between various tasks. I have yet to find a portable that won't crash if I don't reboot it every few days. And that's a problem, because I like to keep my previous day's work in progress open and ready to pick up where I left off the next morning.

Alienware was my first choice for obvious reasons (raw power, customization options and "cool" factor), but I backed off for awhile to investigate laptops from HP and Toshiba. All had pluses and minuses. The HP dv9000t offered a beautiful screen and lots of customization options. It was nearly as fast and would be ready a week before the Alienware. Plus, I could order it online from Costco at a discount.

I came very close to getting the HP. It offered good power and lots of extras (tuner card, webcam) for substantially less than the Alienware. But I chose to sleep on it, and the next morning decided against it for one crucial reason: durability. After watching this video review in particular, I was certain the HP would not stand up to much travel. If I only wanted to park it in my office and occasionally work in bed or drag it down to the living room, it would be a great choice. But taking it out to clients and impromptu WiFi-enabled and highly caffeinated workspots? I don't think so.

Why not a MacBook? As tempting it is, I need Vista so I can ramp up on the new OS, which will only help me as a consultant. And I'm wary of the whole "dual boot" thing, having suffered through many such "solutions" during my many years as an Apple fanatic.

First impressions

I've not bought a laptop for myself since the 68K PowerBooks in the early '90s, but I had heard great things about Alienware so I was on pins and needles while I waited for my system to be built and delivered. When I placed the order over the phone, I tried to pressure the sales rep into offering a discount and/or quicker delivery than the three weeks cited on the Web site. He wouldn't give any on price, but offered to expedite my order to shave about a week off the delivery date.

However, as I watched the status of my laptop remain stuck in various stages of Alienware's 9-step process, I became wary and finally threatened to cancel my order if they didn't expedite it. That did it. The next day, it cleared testing (after three days of sitting without any software installed) and shipped! Alas, it takes about 5 business days for a laptop to ship from Miami to Seattle (there's no overnight shipping option), so I still had to wait, wait and wait some more.

When the m5790 finally arrived, I was both blown away and a bit disappointed at first. Since there's no local store where I could try the system out before ordering, I was shocked at how big it is. It's like a tank! But very, very smooth and shiny. Not at all how I pictured it. It also had some unsightly smudges near the trackpad (that I eventually wiped clean), and several of the DVD sleeves in the instruction binder were torn loose. And there was a mystery item that I still don't know what to do with - possibly some test cable I don't need. I think someone really rushed to get my laptop ready to make the day's last FedEx pickup!

The first thing I did was upgrade from Vista Home Basic (the cheapest option available when I ordered) to Vista Ultimate, which I secured at a hefty discount. This messed up my sound driver, but fortunately Vista had warned me that it might be a problem and I had already downloaded new drivers. Then I loaded up Office 2007, moved my work documents, and I was mostly ready for business.

I've been using it for two days now, and it is fast and slick. Because it's so shiny, I've named it Kaylee. I'm having to adjust to Vista, which didn't impress me at first but it's growing on me. That new Apple ad nails it: The system is constantly asking my permission for stuff, even just to load a Flash element for a Web page that I visited twice already. But there are some improvements that make me more efficient - or I suspect they will once I get used to them. Office has an all new layout, and it's taking time to get it set up the way that I like (10 minutes just to find the Options).

I haven't played much in the way of games - just the bundled Solitaire and Mahjong Titans games, which are quite nice and will even save your progress when you quit. I plan to install Dungeon Siege II (which I never got around to playing though I loved the original), Doom 3 and a few other more intensive games as well as some of the new HD casual games. I'll let you know how they do. I didn't max out the system with the fastest video card or overclocked processor, but so far it's been plenty fast enough.

I'll post further impressions in a week or so once I've had a chance to haul it around and play some games.

-=Gamewatcher

If you've somehow resisted one of the myriad Tecmo game compilations, Nintendo has your hookup with their classic football title among this week's Wii Virtual Console releases:

• Tecmo Bowl (NES) - $5
• Double Dungeons (TurboGrafx) - $6
• Sonic Spinball (Genesis) - $8

Double Dungeons even has two-player co-op role-playing action...

You wouldn't think that one of the best arcade games ever would feature unicorns, flowers, rainbows and balls bouncing slowly on pegs, but Peggle manages to pull it off. The latest entry from the casual game masterminds at PopCap blends pachinko, pinball, and shooter arcade mechanics into addictive gameplay. Aiming for orange pegs and blocks amidst a sea of obstacles, it's part luck and part skill as gravity and physics take your shot and all you can do is watch it play out. Ten different powerups such as fireballs and zen-tuned aiming, each keyed to a different character's play style, balance with each board's unique dynamic. And instant replays of your final shot - whether it's to celebrate a triumphant trick shot or groan over a heartbreaking near miss - amp the game to another place. The best part is you can save and replay these orchestrated moments, which - when successful - are slowed down, zoomed in and accompanied by Ode to Joy. If you can get past the kiddified and macho-challenged imagery, there's one hell of a game here. The first hour's free, and if you like it you can unlock the full game from iWin.com for $10 through March 31 with the coupon code iwinsavings. And no, I don't get a kickback. There's simply no greater reward than this:

Sony made a big splash at the Game Developers Conference with its roadmap for the PlayStation 3, which includes plans to offer a highly customizable avatar that makes the Wii's Miis look like sad caricatures. A forthcoming free add-on called the PlayStation Home allows gamers to interact with fellow gamers, and not just by marching around the screen. You can build an elaborate apartment, chat with friends, and even play mini-games including pool, bowling, and arcade machines. The promotional footage is quite enticing, but it will require more widespread adoption of the PS3 than we've seen so far to be successful. Hindering that adoption (or, perhaps, your inspiration to buy a PS3 now rather than wait for the inevitable price drop) is word that the PS2 chip will soon be dropped to reduce Sony's short-term losses on the hardware. Backward compatibility will still be offered via software, but only about 1200 PS2 games are supported so far - four times what the Xbox 360 delivers to date, but only a fraction of the system's total titles. And we've all seen how long it can take to get more, and the risk of this strategy being abandoned is high (Microsoft is already backing off its commitment). If you have a PS3 and want to try for the PlayStation Home closed beta, keep an eye on homebetatrial.com. If not, well, we all know Sony puts on a slick demo - let's see what they deliver...

Remember how Xbox Live was going to merge with PC gaming? Well, it's happening May 8 with the launch of Halo 2 on Windows Vista and will be known by the awkward but carefully branded monicker Games for Windows Live. If you have or sign up for a free Silver membership, you'll get to use your Xbox 360 gamertag on the PC (or vice versa) for your online gaming identity, basic multiplayer in PC games, unified friends list, text and voice chat and single-player achievements with gamerscore. If you pay for a Gold membership, on top of the Xbox Live benefits you'll also get PC matchmaking with friends, TrueSkill matchmaking, multiplayer achievements and online gaming between PC and Xbox 360 players for games that support it. In related news, there's a rumor that Halo 3 for the 360 will ship in September - but Microsoft is only confirming a fall release.

If you live in the here and now, there's some new Marketplace content for the Xbox 360:

• Demos for Viva Pinata and Star Trek: Legacy (free)
• The classic Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles arcade game ($5)
• NCAA March Madness 07 content update including the 2007 NCAA Tournament bracket with seedings, updated team ratings and Final Four court artwork ($3.13)
• Theme and picture pack for upcoming The Elder Scrolls IV: Shivering Isles expansion pack ($1.88 and $1, respectively)
• Videos for The Elder Scrolls IV: Shivering Isles, Earth Defense Force 2017, Madden Bowl and Forza Motorsport Showdown (free)
• A St. Patrick's Day picture pack ($1)
• Theme and picture pack for The Reaping and theme for Eragon (free)

Microsoft revealed final pricing for Halo 3, and it's more than previously expected. The Legendary Edition is a whopping $130 and includes a Spartan helmet replica that serves as storage for three discs: a game disc, an extras disc that includes HD audio/video calibration, and an exclusive bonus disc with remastered cinematics from the first two games and machinima from Red vs. Blue and This Spartan Life. There'll also be collectible artwork by Lee Wilson. For a little more than half the price ($70), you can get the Limited Edition which contains the game, the basic extras disc, and a fiction/art book. If you just want to blow stuff up, you're in for $60 on game day...

If you're wondering where Excite Truck came from, this week's Wii Virtual Console update offers up its NES forebear:

• Excitebike (NES) - $5
• Beyond Oasis (Genesis) - $8
• Splatterhouse (TurboGrafx) - $6

There are also two new Wii retail games worth a look. Cooking Mama: Cook Off features a gesture-based stir-fry system, and The Godfather: Blackhand Edition features a gesture-based whack-a-guy system...

First the good news. A forthcoming PlayStation 3 firmware update (v1.6) will add background downloads - up to six files can be queued and received while playing games or browsing the Web. There will also be Bluetooth keyboard and mouse support, plus an on-screen full QWERTY keyboard for improved text entry. There's also a new option to add your PS3's distributed Cell processor to Stanford University’s Folding@home program, which can use your idle console power to maybe help find cures for Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s and even cancer through computer simulations. Not bad, huh? OK, so now the bad news. Based on software emulation being prepared for the European launch, backward compatibility will be available for only about 36 percent of titles - with 43 percent not supported and the balance having some issues (review the list). To maximize PS2 compatibility for supported titles, Sony actually recommends you avoid plugging in any unneeded USB devices, turn off 60Hz and network modes and skip optional video sequences that could cause the games to crash. Ouch. More good news? The Godfather: Don's Edition, released this week, features Sixaxis controller gesture-based controls similar to the Wii's Blackhand Edition. Oh, and analysts are predicting a $100 price drop on the PS3 by October - of course, part of Sony's cost savings will come from dropping that PS2 hardware chip...

There's good and possibly bad news around the Xbox 360 this week. Reports suggest that some Xbox Live accounts have been cracked and used to run up charges for vast amounts of Microsoft Points. Since points are non-transferrable, it's not clear how this would profit someone except perhaps to get "free" games, load 'em on a machine that becomes a partial owner (remember, you don't license your content for offline use - your Xbox does!), delete the stolen gamertag and then sell it for more than retail. Microsoft denies they have major security problems, but the company is apparently taking this seriously now - so if you've had this problem you might as well report it. On the sunnier side, Devil May Cry 4 will be coming to the 360 and Ace Combat 6 and Star Wars Battlefront III might prove to be exclusives. (Well, for awhile - Microsoft exclusives tend to be three months or so if they're not homegrown.) And it seems the rumors of a black Xbox 360 that's HDMI-capable and sports a 120GB hard drive are true; those in the know say it will be $480, just beneath the PS3 price ceiling. The hard drive alone will run $200 by itself.

Other good news includes some new Marketplace content:

• Castlevania: Symphony of the Night ($10), plus theme ($1.88) and picture pack ($1.25)
• New Sonic the Hedgehog consecutive boss battle modes playable as Sonic, Shadow or Silver ($1.88 apiece)
• Major League Baseball 2K7 picture packs ($0.75 and $1.25) and themes ($1.88 each)
• Virtua Tennis 3 demo

Tecmo's Team Ninja is finally embracing Sony (after years of neglect) with Ninja Gaiden Sigma, a PS3 update to the hardcore Xbox adventure/fighter. The game will include updated and enhanced lighting, textures and visual effects plus a new playable character: Rachel. And, for once, the jiggle factor isn't so off the charts as to put off people with a predilection for realistic, ahem, physics. Seeing is believing. But can we get a motion-sensing katana controller - now that might just move some consoles...

If you're looking for something new and free to do this weekend, you could always join the open beta for Stargate Online TCG. Word of caution: TCG means Trading Card Game, so you will be participating in a True Geek Activity. When it goes live in April, you'll pay $11 for a 60-card starter deck and $3.50 for 11-card booster packs. To get in on this amazing Card Battle Action now, you'll need both the SO:TCG client sofftware and a free Sony Station account. If you're new to this scene, you may also benefit from some deck-building tips...

The $30 Shivering Isles expansion for The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion is now available on Xbox Live Marketplace, but if you haven't got it downloaded yet you'll have to wait until after the Xbox Live maintenance on Tuesday (midnight to 2 p.m. Pacific) to grab the nearly 1GB file. On Wednesday, you'll also be able to get Jetpac Refuelled ($5), an update to the Rare game that includes the original developed by founders Chris and Tim Stamper back in 1983...

The Wii Virtual Console only has one new addition this week: Romance of the Three Kingdoms IV: Wall of Fire ($8), a Super NES tactical simulation game that supports up to eight players...

There's a PC demo for Puzzle Quest: Challenge of the Warlords, a cool concoction that blends casual games with role-playing in what can only be called a Match-3 RPG. But before you get too excited, there are some gotchas. 1) The game is only available right now for Nintendo DS and PlayStation Portable. 2) You won't be able to find it at stores since few retailers thought anyone would buy it, and those that ordered any have sold out. 3) The PSP version has shinier graphics and sound, but slower saves and a naughty bug that prevents you from getting companion bonuses - and which might not be patchable. 3) The DS version is zippier and provides companion bonuses but lacks the graphic and musical detail, offers only two save slots and apparently freezes from time to time. So your best bet is to order the DS version online or, better yet, wait for the PC game - which hasn't been officially announced for contractual reasons but has been all but confirmed. Rumor has it that a definitive PC edition complete with online multiplayer and significantly fewer bugs will surface by summer...

As rumored, Microsoft announced the Xbox 360 Elite, a new HDMI-enabled version of the console with black finish, HDMI cable, 120GB hard drive and matching wireless controller and headset that ships April 29 for $480. The 120GB hard drive will be available separately for $180 and, if you're upgrading just the drive, you can use the supplied USB transfer cable to suck the content off your old 20GB unit and be good to go. But Microsoft revealed it still doesn't have a solution for users who want to move to the new system for its 1080p support and jet black coolness. "Now, we know that there might be some people that are going to actually replace their old console with the new console. For that, we're working on the solution because actually how your content is stored is really tied to your box, so moving data from an old box to a new box is a little more complicated, and we're working through that scenario," said Microsoft's Albert Penello in an interview. He asserted that most gamers won't upgrade just for HDMI but, for those hardcore few, "we're working on a solution." Presumably, gamers with orphaned content due to a failed 360 will also benefit from such a fix - stay tuned...

Rockstar revealed the setting for Grand Theft Auto IV, due this fall for PS3 and Xbox 360. It's back to Liberty City, this time through the eyes of a Russian immigrant with a dark past as a slave trader who's looking for a fair shake in the new world. But see for yourself in glorious high def (also available on Xbox Live Marketplace):



In a semi-related note, GTA publisher Take-Two Interactive had its own drive-by, with shareholders canning five of their six board members and sending the CEO packing...

PlayStation 3 owners can download a Major League Baseball 2K7 demo and videos for PlayStation Home, Warhawk and Super Rub A Dub from the online PlayStation Store. Alas, no GTA IV love - at keast not yet. Oh, and if you don't want to buy a PS3 just to help cure cancer and other chronic diseases, it turns out you can join the Folding@Home project with your Windows 98+, Mac OS X or Linux x86 PC...