Busy Gamer News

Nintendo is planning another update to the Wii system, this time patching the interface to permit custom background images and your choice of MP3 music (from an optional SD card, if you have one) instead of the annoying elevator music that's there by default. In addition, you'll be able to run downloadable games from SD cards, freeing up system memory for important updates and giving you the chance to maybe someday fill all of the available channel slots. Now, if they could only fix the hit-or-miss WiFi setup, inconsistent navigation and interminable delays when switching channels...

Yes, this was an April Fool's joke, one that anticipated an editorial rant that I've been promising to post for two months and finally finished. You decide - can the Wii be improved?

In addition to my own little contribution (inspired by the Wii interface article I'm finishing up and vow to post any day now!), there were a few decent April Fool's jokes played on the gaming community this weekend:

• Guild Wars temporarily changed the gender of its players' characters
• QuakeCon claimed they had given up FPS gaming for seismology
• Wizards of the Coast announced a new role-playing game based on Monopoly
• Blizzard introduced the tin foil hat for stylish World of Warcraft players who want to be "safe from mind spies and the thought police"
• Second Life altered its load screens with silly messages, such as "Teleporting to preview of Second Death"
• TeamXbox.com reported that Sony was recalling the PS3

In one of the more convincing entries, ThinkGeek promoted the WiiHelm - a helmet for your Wii-mote that lets you play games by nodding and twisting your head - complete with video demo:

This week's crop of Wii Virtual Console games includes the classic N64 rail shooter and the NES port of an '80s arcade game that's also a convenient movie tie-in:

• Star Fox 64 (N64) - $10
• Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (NES) - $6
• Dragon’s Curse (TurboGrafx) - $6

As of today, the PlayStation Portable Core Pack (which includes just the battery and power cord) drops 30 bucks to $170. With that savings you could buy a bargain-priced game or a memory stick to go with it (you did want to save that game, didn't you?). Now things start to get interesting - anybody been waiting for this? It's still not head to head with the DS, but there is the bigger screen and video playback capability...

Microsoft unveiled a new warranty plan for Xbox 360 owners. You may recall the recent extension of existing warranties to one year from purchase. Now, you'll get free shipping regardless of whether you're out of warranty and want to pay for your repair. Your fixed system will have a one-year "repair warranty" if you pay, and if you're still covered you'll have at least 90 days or the remainder of your original warranty on the repaired system. Microsoft is also promising to fix and ship your console within five business days. No word on whether they've figured out how to transfer first-console ownership of any Marketplace purchases if they replace your system. Speaking of Marketplace, here's what's new:

• Luxor 2 ($10)
• 100 new PDA min-game levels for Alien Hominid HD ($1.88) and two picture packs ($1.25 each)
• Bullet Witch content including Caterpillar City, Endless Mode, a new version of City of Screams, and All Spells Unlocked for City of Screams ($0.25 for each feature), plus a free mummy costume
• Armored Core 4 demo (free)
• NCAA March Madness 07 themes ($1.88 each) and picture pack ($1.25)
• Themes ($1.88 each) and picture pack ($1) for Marvel: Ultimate Alliance
• Far Cry Instincts Predator theme and picture pack ($0.50 each)

In case you missed it, the Grand Theft Auto IV trailer is available in sparkling HD. And mark your calendar for April 17, when Bungie is scheduled to release new and improved Hang 'em High and Derelict multiplayer maps for Halo 2...

If you though Guitar Hero was the be-all and end-all of rhythm games, you weren't counting on Harmonix's next big move: Rock Band. Due this holiday for PS3 and Xbox 360, the game will support two guitars (as with Guitar Hero II), plus drums and a microphone so you can really put a band together and jam out on the multiplayer. Early speculation is that you'll pay $200-300 for the full set, but Harmonix reports they haven't settled any pricing yet. More interesting is that the record labels have hopped on: EMI Music, Hollywood Records, Sony BMG Music Entertainment, Universal Music Group's Universal Music Enterprises and Warner Music Group's Rhino Entertainment have all agreed to supply master recordings by their artists for the title - a big change from the cover music used in the earlier games. No word yet on coveted features such as online multiplayer, but this will be one to watch...

Sony finally added the Grand Theft Auto IV high-def trailer to its PlayStation Store, along with the v1.2 update to Gran Turismo HD Concept (adds force feedback wheel support), an Armored Core 4 demo and some movie promos...

If Microsoft's Xbox 360 dashboard is arguably the Lamborghini of console interfaces with its sleek lines and shiny surfaces, the Nintendo Wii is a Volvo. "Boxy but good" to paraphrase the unflatteringly accurate ad campaign imagined for the popular car in the movie "Crazy People."

Only this vehicle looks like it's been invaded by a loony knick-knack collector. The front dash is cluttered with those kooky bobble heads and the rear has more bumper stickers than seems right. And the radio only picks up one station - yeah, you know - that one your mom listens to that's devoted to what sounds like old-school elevator muzak.

Before we go much further, let me just say that I really want to embrace the Wii (despite the inane name). I've had a love/tolerate relationship with Nintendo over the years, and their latest system is a gamble that I believe will actually pay off. In fact, I would not be surprised if by this time next year, the Wii has overtaken the Xbox 360 and becomes top dog for this generation of consoles!

But the user interface, damn. It's so… unpolished. Now I know I came down hard on the Xbox 360 dashboard soon after its launch. But, even though several of those criticisms remain major issues, they feel nitpicky compared to the Wii's clunky control panel.

There's just so much that's wrong here:

1. Clinical look and feel. The combination of a sterile, neutral background and 1960s waiting room music just doesn't communicate that this system is all about having fun. It says, "Try not to fall into a coma. But if you do, don't worry, because our top brain surgeons are standing by."

Eeek! Then again, it does make you want to launch a game quickly!

2. Channel flipping should be zippier. If you're going to use a channel metaphor, then switching between channel features should be nearly instantaneous. Quitting most channels takes 8-10 seconds while the Wii Menu reboots. This reduces the likelihood that you'll want to launch the Weather or News channels too often, since it may take nearly as long to load and then quit as it does to review the channel content you're looking for. In fact, I'd suggest displaying top headlines, weather, Wii system news and polls directly on the Wii Menu, with the option to quickly connect to these features for a closer look when desired.

3. Navigation is inconsistent. Channels don't always follow consistent or intuitive UI design, making it easy for less savvy users to get lost. I counted four different icons and text buttons used to navigate back out of a section, depending on where you are in the interface.

The biggest culprit is the Wii Shop online store, which alternately uses an up arrow and a curved arrow just to take you back up a step. Backing out of the Photo Channel gives you a confusing choice between two destinations ("Return to the Photo Channel Menu" vs. "Continue using the Photo Channel"). Uh, shouldn't the Photo Channel Menu be in the Photo Channel? Please, just integrate all of the Photo Channel features (including photos stored on memory cards) into one place and make it easy to switch between them. You shouldn't need trial and error to find your way around something as basic as a picture gallery.

Button layouts are inconsistent and, in some cases, poorly arranged for usability. Someone at Nintendo needs to test the various UI options with users, write an interface style guide and then make sure all Wii channel designers follow it. Also, some very cool features such as quick access to local news and browsing items in the global view are buried and should be much easier to access. You actually have to browse to find a news item that has a globe location attached to it (not all do), and then activate the Globe button that appears below it.

Oh, and the Wii Options menu shows numbered screens to show how many pages there are, while the Wii Menu doesn't say how many screens it has (four, but more on that in a second). Why not make the numbered screens standard for all multi-screen sections? Just make them clickable, since they look like they should be.

4. Pages of empty Wii channel slots. If a page is empty, why show it? Also, are four pages really necessary? By default, the main Wii Menu page is about half full - the only thing that will fill the remaining slots for now are the occasional new channel and Virtual Console games you purchase from Wii Shop. But giving each VC game its own slot doesn't scale very well, so why not make a single channel for all purchased/downloaded games? Call it the Virtual Console Channel. There, done.

Now kill the other pages until there are enough channels to justify them or, better yet, how about they simply display as needed? Oh, and by the way, if you ever did have enough channel items to fill 48 slots, you'll most likely have filled system memory many times over.

5. Lack of customization. Hey, did Nintendo miss the memo about the "me" meme? We want to make consoles (and pretty much everything else we buy) our own with favorite skins, background images, music, favorites, etc. Yeah, we can browse our pictures from a memory card and pick an MP3 for a slide show, but why can't we pick a background picture and soundtrack to use whenever we're on the Wii Menu? You can even sell us some custom backgrounds and get advertisers to provide some for free, like Microsoft does.

6. Settings are buried and in many cases absent. Navigating the Wii Options menu is bit unintuitive. WiiConnect24, what the heck is that? Is it contagious? Can you tell me what it does, or do I need to actually read the manual? And if it's dependent on an Internet connection, why isn't it under the Internet settings?

Why is there no game autoplay option? Sure, most will want to check the Wii Menu for messages, polls, news and weather first (if they can stand the load times), but some will want to just jump into the game that's already in the slot every time. There's also no easy way to register or manage additional Wii-motes without doing a lot of button pressing on the front of the console and under the Wii-mote battery cover. And how come we can't save downloads directly to an SD card and run them from there?

Also, why does the Sounds section offer no control over your Wii-mote speaker? Shouldn't we be able to turn it down or off if we like? That opening clang from Zelda is pretty loud by default, and we can't do a thing about it. Heck, this feature might even extend battery life. [UPDATE: I found the setting - it does exist! It's not in Wii Options. You have to press the Home button on your Wii-mote, ignore the large Wii Options button in the middle of your screen, and click on Wii Remote Settings. OK, so can we: a) select one term - are they Options or are they Settings, and b) can they all just live in the same place? I'd love to thank a reader for this, but I found it myself while trying to resync a Wii-mote.]

In general, you'll find yourself peeking into options over and over again looking for things (some of which may not even exist). Perhaps there should be a brief description at the top level on what resides in each settings section.

7. Wi-Fi set up needs work. This problem has been well-documented. Either you have an easy time with set up, or you don't. Make it work better for those who don't. Or else they won't use it. And speaking of which, game-specific Friends codes in addition to a separate Wii console code so that your Miis can interact? It just doesn't make sense. If I play my friend on Mario Kart, I'll probably want to catch up with her in Animal Crossing and trade Miis, too. Make it easy to connect or, once again, most of us won't bother. And then you'll have a real long haul building your online community.

8. Wii Shop. If you've downloaded the trial Web browser or any Virtual Console games, you'll recall seeing a silly animation where Mario runs across the screen and collects coins. In a fascinating interview that sheds a lot of light on the Wii's UI design failings, the developers note that "when Mario gets one coin during download, that download's one percent complete, and when he gets all one hundred, the download completes. [..] When he's collecting a lot of coins very fast, that means it's downloading a lot. But when he's only getting a little bit at a time, that either means the line's really slow, or there a quite a bit of data left to be downloaded."

So, let me get this straight: If Mario collects 100 coins, I win and get my download?!

Sure, it's funny and pimps out one of Nintendo's biggest franchises. But this approach fails on a few levels: It's out of place, and it doesn't really communicate download progress very well. There is a progression but it's subtle and inexact. It's OK to make the download meter Nintendo-cute, just don't sacrifice usability.

9. Virtual Console games need trial versions. A tiny screenshot and brief description isn't enough to sell me a game. How about some full-screen screenshots and time-limited trial versions? This is one place where Microsoft's Xbox Live Arcade shines. You can try before you buy and unlock the full game from a single download, in some cases preserving your trial game progress. Nintendo has some ground to catch up here.

10. Wii Message Board is a poorly conceived. First of all, the New Message icon on the Wii Menu looks like it's telling you there's new mail, but often it's just your daily usage diary, and it doesn't always go away when you've opened the message. Maybe there's an ancient one I never read... but why are you notifying us about dialtone anyway? Messages should indicate something pressing, not a new diary entry that's created by simply booting your console.

The messages are also a poor substitute for an achievements system: "You played Twilight Princess for three hours and 20 minutes and Wii Play for 47 minutes today, way to go!" Its only real benefit is to help parents monitor how much their kids have played their Nintendo when they should have been doing their homework. But even that isn't fully realized because it doesn't show gameplay by player, since the Wii doesn't even track this.

And do we really want our kids to see what Santa was up to with their consoles in the weeks preceding the holidays? "Wow, I bet St. Nick pwns at Far Cry, Dad! He was playing it two hours every day the week before Christmas."

Wii will rock you!
OK, so I criticize because I care. But I know the fan boys can't help but get their thongs in a bunch over anything that's not a rave review, so let me be clear: The Nintendo Wii is still pretty freaking awesome. It just could be a heck of a lot better.

So let's just move on to the awesome, so we can be clear that I don't hate Nintendo just because I happen to like my Xbox 360. (And my PS2, DS, Dreamcast and PC, for that matter.)

Here are five things Nintendo got right this time:

1. Innovative controls that change gaming, perhaps forever. Yeah, we were skeptical of another motion-control system; our hearts have been broken so many times before by light guns and gyroscope-enabled gadgets that collect dust in the basement. But the Wii-mote and nunchuk combo really works. It works so well that our moms and granddads can pick it up too. And they have.

2. GameCube backward compatibility. This is simply the best backward compatibility for this generation. The PS3 is moving to software-only emulation to control costs, meaning thousands of games will get orphaned. And even their hardware solution (for those who've scored a PS3 with the PS2 chipset included) has its problems. Don't even get me started on the Xbox 360, whose problems in this area are well known (and have been highly criticized here). So score another one for Nintendo!

3. Weather, News and Polls. Adding basic household features and fun polls to the Wii Menu is a brilliant way to keep family members engaged and using the console on a daily basis. Twirling the globe to find weather data and news is just fun. More, please!

4. Miis. The concept of Miis is pretty great. We'd love to see this expanded, with more customization options and places to interact. (Has anyone figured out how to get their own Miis to the plaza? Or you only see other people's Miis there?) Word is that Nintendo has looked at the PS3 Home and is already planning its response. We can't wait!

5. Wii Sports. Packing in a game that's easy to pick up and really shows off the potential of the innovative new system was brilliant. Frankly, not that many people would have picked up Wii Sports at retail, but since we all have it now the only thing that could make it better would be if it had online play. It's been far too long since we've had a good console launch pack-in game that wasn't a retailer-forced bundle (e.g., some game we'd never buy otherwise, designed to jack up the cost of the console). Wii Sports ranks up there with Combat, Sonic and Mario. Good on you, Nintendo.

Now fix the Wii interface, and let the Revolution truly begin.

-=Gamewatcher

This week's Wii Virtual Console haul includes:

• Galaga (NES) - $5
• Alex Kidd in the Enchanted Castle (Genesis) - $8
• Bravoman (Turbografx) - $6

First things first: The Halo 3 beta runs May 16 to June 6 - so plan your vacation time accordingly. The week of May 7, Microsoft will deliver its next Xbox 360 dashboard update, which adds:

• Instant messaging via Windows Live Messenger - and if you're wondering how you can easily text and play at the same time, there will also be the long-rumored, finally confirmed mini-keyboard controller accessory (pictured)
• A new Xbox Live Marketplace blade to promote all of the stuff you can download and buy
• Detailed achievement alerts with names and point values
• New Xbox Live Arcade features to entice friends to buy, er, try downloadable games, compare achievements and boast when they beat down your high score
• An option for console shutdown after completing your active downloads
• The name of the game in your console tray
• Marketplace video playback while the file is still downloading, plus aspect ratios choices (Auto, Letterbox, Zoom, Stretch, Native), chapters and bookmarks
• Official support for MPEG-4 Part 2, H.264 and Windows Media protected videos (not just unprotected WMVs)
• Suggested deletions to aid in clearing hard drive space if a download exceeds current capacity

In other news, there's a Gears of War auto-update that closes several exploits, adds a new Annex multiplayer game mode (basically, capture and hold), balances other multiplayer modes and improves VGA monitor support so 1280x720 displays as 720p widescreen. Oh, remember how Epic Games wanted to offer all future Gears map downloads for free? Well, Microsoft put huge pressure of them to charge for new content, so they've compromised and plan to offer them for cash first and make them free later - a la Halo 2. Speaking of which, if you don't buy the new Halo 2 maps hitting April 24, you will miss out on "the majority of the playlists offered in matchmaking," according to Bungie...

The Wii Internet Channel (aka Opera Web browser) is beta no more. If your Wii game slot is glowing blue, there's a message urging you to download first the system update and then the final Internet Channel itself from the Wii Shop (free for now, $5 in June). Changes from the beta version include quicker launch time, improved readability, hideable toolbar, parental controls, choice of Google or Yahoo! search and other small tweaks and improvements. Now the bad news. Don't be surprised if the system update nukes your Wii-motes (if they start to blink blue lights, you may need to resync and/or remove the batteries for a spell). And fans of UI inconsistency can enjoy even more ways to exit or back up from a screen, including yet another arrow, an X and the word "Quit." Oh, and if you don't have a Wii and hope to find one before they start charging for the browser in June, good luck. Nintendo reports they don't expect to have adequate supply to meet Wii demand for months...

Microsoft released three new song packs for Guitar Hero II - each contains three tracks for $6.25, or about $2.08 per song. Track Pack 1 offers up Bark at the Moon (Ozzy Osbourne), Hey You (The Exies) and Ace of Spades (Motorhead). Track Pack 2 gives you Killer Queen as (Queen), Take it Off (The Donnas) and Frankenstein (The Edgar Winter Group). And Track Pack 3 adds Higher Ground (Red Hot Chili Peppers), Infected (Bad Religon) and Stellar (Incubus). EA's Pogo online gaming community launched its foray into console games this week with Boom Boom Rocket, a $10 fireworks-themed rhythm game you can almost play with your Guitar Hero axe. Other new downloads include:

• Halo 3 multiplayer video
• Lost Planet Map Pack #2 ($5)
• A new Lexus car pack for Test Drive Unlimited that adds the Lexus GS 450h hybrid and Lexus LS 460 (free)
• Guitar Hero II picture packs ($1.25 each) and theme ($1.88)
• Demos for Shrek the Third and Monster Madness: Battle for Suburbia (free; Gold members only initially)

And file this under Stupid Marketing Tricks: If you want to win an Xbox 360 Elite, you need to write an essay about why your mom is such a big gamer. The winner gets the console and all mom gets is some lousy flowers. S'up with dat? Well, it all starts to make sense once you read the pitch: "Is your mom a lifelong gamer, or new to gaming? What games does she play? Does she support your gaming habit? Is she a n00b, or can she hold her own? Do you play together?" Assuming you tell the truth, you're providing free market research to Microsoft on how to sell their consoles to your mom - well, all of our moms actually - and all for a budget of $700...

Building on its recent video teaser, Rockstar has leaked out several more details about Grand Theft Auto IV. You'll play as Niko Bellic, an Eastern European immigrant who moves to modern-day Liberty City. Since the city will be newer than what we saw in GTA3 and Liberty City Stories, you will see a lot has changed. Overall, there will be less square footage than San Andreas, but what's there will be much richer in detail. You'll get to explore four city boroughs, plus some suburbs modeled after New Jersey. Load times are non-existent (apart from the initial game boot) and there is a multiplayer mode (though not massively so). It seems planes aren't included in this go around, but there should be no shortage of cars and motorcycles to drive. The storyline will be more flexible - allowing you the choice of interacting face to face or via cell phone, for instance - so you're not chained to specific task trees as with earlier games in the series...

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-
Crackdown

Reviewed On: Xbox 360

In a Nutshell: It's a third-person shooter like no other. You are a cybernetic government agent bent on cleaning up a futuristic city overrun by three rival gangs. You can go straight for the biggest bosses from the beginning, but you'll more than likely lack the stats to pull it off. That's right, it's a shooter RPG where you level up your agility, firearms, explosives, driving and hand-to-hand combat skills by using them and collecting special power-up orbs scattered around the cityscape. You'll start by jumping single-stories and eventually 30 feet or more into the air, making rooftop travel both practical and intensely enjoyable. Unlike Grand Theft Auto and its many clones, there are no real missions to speak of - just random street violence, timed races, stunt challenges, achievements and, oh yeah, gang capos and bosses to wipe out at your earliest convenience. The game calculates your chance at success when you approach one of these baddies' strongholds, so if the odds aren't with you: a) simply dive in and try anyway or b) mess around to level up enough to improve your shot. There are no wrong answers, just opportunities. If you die, you respawn. You lose your progress with that boss and any gang weapons you haven't stowed at a supply point - but not much else.

Learning Curve: Easy. You can jump in and play pretty quickly, but mastery will take some time. A disembodied voice in your character's headset will coax you toward the next mission and nearby objectives, or you can simply mess around and explore the game at your own pace.

The Save Game: You can quit and save your progress anywhere, with two caveats: 1) You lose any progress you've made toward taking down a boss or capo, so if you're two seconds from wiping out the head of the Volk's munitions trade when your five-year-old wanders into the room, you're going to need to leave it on pause or start your raid over later. 2) The game is incredibly hard to put down, so you may find that a few minutes of rooftop orb collecting turns into a few hours of intensely satisfying mayhem. The whole game can be beat in about 10 hours if that's all you want to do, but you'll probably spend much than that building up your stats and just having fun with car stunts, rocket launchers, races and exploration.

Family Factor: Not for young ones, though teens may be OK with some adult supervision. Violence against civilians is frowned upon and even punished in the extreme, so mostly you're just wiping out low-level scum bags without any regard to their civil rights or due process. If you're OK with that, you'll have a blast - literally and figuratively.

Buy, Rent or Skip? A solid rental, though you may want to buy it either for the Halo 3 beta (if you can still find a copy that includes it) or if you love true sandbox games. This is a good one to tinker with for weeks or even months, and it can even be played cooperatively with another gamer - just not on the same console.

On a Personal Note: I downloaded the demo and tried it for a few minutes (all I could spare at the time), but wasn't impressed enough to keep going. After hearing all of the buzz about leveling up and developing superhuman jumping skills (not to mention the Halo 3 beta), I was intrigued enough to pick up the full game. And I'm glad I did. This is hands-down the best third-person shooter I've played (I normally prefer the first-person variety) with the coolest city exploration. Jumping from rooftop to rooftop, tossing remotely triggered limpet mines at clumps of distant foes, using the Firefly rocket launcher to propel enemies into the air for 15-20 seconds (one of the cooler achievements), jacking gang member cars and then running them down to boost my driving prowess, these are a few of my favorite things. And I can do them for hours without getting bored. A great stress reliever, it's like solitaire with guns.

This week's Wii Virtual Console releases include two fighting games and a side-scroller (hey, wasn't that a sitcom?):

• Virtua Fighter 2 (Genesis) - $8
• Punch Out!! Featuring Mr. Dream (NES) - $5
• Bonk's Revenge (TurboGrafx) - $6

RedOctane released a patch late last week to fix problems that some Guitar Hero II players had with an unresponsive whammy bar on some guitars for the Xbox 360 version. Reports have appeared since of bricked systems that display the red ring of death shortly after applying the fix - far outnumbered by those who say it worked, for what it's worth - and still others who are convinced it makes the game either easier or harder. Regardless, it's not worth the risk: Hold off on the patch for now. The publisher has admitted there is a problem and they are investigating...

If you haven't heard the news yet, a gunman shot up my alma mater, Virginia Tech. He killed more than 30 people and struck at a dormitory where my former roommate's girlfriend (now wife) lived. I used to do computer science projects in their lab, and wrote at the college newspaper offices right next door. I can only imagine what it must be like there right now.

Another shock came when my dad called to tell me the news. The first thing he said, after reading me the lead paragraph, was that videogames were to blame. Uh, sorry. Not true.

I poked around and found that some irresponsible person masquerading as a journalist (my former profession) had let Jack Thompson on the TV again. That lawyer/liar is suggesting that they'll find violent videogames were involved before police released even a name or possible motive.

I've made my feelings very clear on this subject, but for those of you who missed it, I recommend my rant from 2003:

For the last time: Violent videogames don't kill people…
Nothing has changed. I wouldn't alter a word except perhaps to add that if you have to blame someone, how about people like Jack Thompson who ignore the true roots of these tragedies - and any hope for a real solution - to line their own pockets. -=Gamewatcher

UPDATE (April 18, 2007) - I just posted a follow-up:
Virginia Tech killer played videogames (he also stalked people)

If you have God of War II, an HDTV and a PS2 or PS3 with high-def cable, this Easter Egg is for you. The developers included a nifty 480p mode in the game, but you need to enter a secret code to unlock it. First, be sure your console is set up for high definition output. Then boot the game holding down L1, L2, Left Thumbstick button, Square and Circle at the same time. The legal screen should be purple if you did it right. PS3 players may need to connect their controllers via USB. The game does run slower, but makes up for it in good looks...

This week, Xbox Live Marketplace has these downloadable goodies:

• Halo 2 Blastacular Map Pack ($4, but not buyable with Microsoft Points - you'll need a credit card and access the downloads from within the game)
• Rainbox Six Vegas Player's Pack: Red Edition ($10) - includes maps plus new Assassination and Total Conquest modes
• Two arcade games: 3D Ultra Minigolf Adventures ($10) and Gyruss ($5)
• Command & Conquer 3 Tiberium Wars videos (free), themes ($1.88 each) and picture packs ($2 each)
• The Colbert Report and Daily Show ($2 each, posted hours after they air)

And you Pac-Man addicts can show off your mad skillz in the World Championship that begins April 25 on your home console and ends June 5 in New York City where a winner will be crowned and awarded a Quiznos sandwich per week for 26 years and 100,000 Microsoft points (aka $1,250)...

I'm sure Jack Thompson is gloating right now. The Virginia Tech killer apparently played Counter-Strike for a spell. Of course, the fact that it's a team-based game that encourages cooperation and might have actually coaxed the lone gunman out of his anti-social shell won't make headlines. The game includes guns, so it must be a training tool for serial killers. End of story.

What's interesting is how two different talk show hosts are approaching the subject: Dr. Phil and Rush Limbaugh. You'd assume Rush would be calling out the attack dogs, but no - he actually dismissed early speculation that games were to blame:

"Not every video gamer goes out and murders 33 people on the college campus though. There's more to this than that. We can find all kinds of societal problems and ills, but the fact of the matter is that whatever you would look at as a bad influence -- video games as you mentioned -- it may desensitize people, but it doesn't turn everybody into mass murderers."

Of course, Rush also sees videogame bans as a slippery slope toward gun control - so adjust your enthusiasm according to your world view on this. (My $0.02: You can't physically murder someone with a game disc, well, short of breaking it into an ineffective shiv. And the same could be said for DVDs and CDs since they're the same media.)

Dr. Phil, on the other hand, thinks our kids are being programmed into murder-bots:

"[C]ommon sense tells you that if these kids are playing video games, where they’re on a mass killing spree in a video game, it’s glamorized on the big screen, it’s become part of the fiber of our society. You take that and mix it with a psychopath, a sociopath or someone suffering from mental illness and add in a dose of rage, the suggestibility is too high."

Forget the fact that this guy had been reported for stalking people and sharing stories about crazed murders and sexual abuse in English class. No, the fact that he once played Counter-Strike should have tipped us off.

On the flipside of this horrendous event, gamers are gathering in Second Life to memorialize the dead and share their grief. Help show what gamers are really like: Sign the guestbook.

-=Gamewatcher

This video blend of Halo and Metroid (with a big helping of The Matrix trilogy) will knock your socks off. That's all you really need to know. Just click it already:

Microsoft finally updated its Xbox 360 backward compatibility list again, this time adding many long overdue original Xbox titles:

• Avatar: The Last Airbender
• Breakdown
• Call of Duty 2: Big Red One
• Call of Duty 3
• Cars
• Crash Bandicoot 5: Wrath of Cortex
• Dai Senryaku VII: Modern Military Tactics
• FIFA Soccer 2007
• Full Spectrum Warrior
• Guilty Gear Isuka
• Jet Set Radio Future
• King of Fighters 2002
• King of Fighters: Neowave
• MechAssault 2: Lone Wolf
• Mercenaries: Playground of Destruction
• Nascar 2006: Total Team Control
• NFL Fever 2004
• Oddworld: Munch's Oddysee
• Panzer Dragoon Orta
• Phantom Dust
• Reservoir Dogs
• Return To Castle Wolfenstein
• Rugby League 2
• Sonic Riders
• Soul Calibur 2 (improved)
• Spider-Man 2
• Star Wars: Republic Commando
• Street Fighter Anniversary Collection
• Tiger Woods PGA Tour 07
• Tony Hawk's Underground
• Ultra Bust-a-Move
• Unreal Championship 2

Jet Set Radio Future, Panzer Dragoon Orta, Munch's Oddysee and Wolfenstein? Thanks, Microsoft - I will officially stop complaining now...

The Command & Conquer 3 demo is available for download for the Xbox 360 - if you're a Gold member (otherwise, wait a week). It's a gig, so start clearing those hard drives...

Sony released the v1.7 firmware update for PlayStation 3, which most notably adds rumble support for PlayStation and PlayStation 2 games when played with a PS2 Dual-Shock controller and other supported accessories connected to the PS3 via USB adapter. There's also improved support for original PlayStation games, so they can be played directly on the PS3 in addition to the PSP - though you'll have to wait for the current crop of downloadable games to be re-released to work with this patch (the buzz is "sometime in May"). There's also now a method for transferring your legacy PlayStation saves from your PS3 to your PSP, so you won't lose your progress (take that, Microsoft!). And if you have multiple logins on your PS3, you can now press Triangle to set auto-login preferences...

I broke down and bought a Slingbox this week. Now that I'm working at home, I liked the idea of being able to view my Tivo and Xbox 360 content remotely on the second monitor hooked to my Alienware work laptop (more on how that's going in a future blog).

I picked up the Slingbox Pro and the HD Connect kit, plus a networking switch for the living room - now that I have several devices screaming to share the single Ethernet cable that runs down there. Slingbox actually offers a gizmo that extends your network via your electrical system, but at $150 (vs. $25 for a good switch) it seemed excessive and not worth even evaluating.

Setting up the Slingbox for Tivo was quite easy - I just plugged the supplied composite cables into the DVR and then my existing cables to the Slingbox output and positioned the remote extender. A few setup wizards later, I had full control of the Tivo in my office with reasonably good picture quality and sound. Now I can clear that backlog of recorded TV programs while I work - cool!

Complaints are few. You can't record the video streams, so it's not useful as a DVR. It also sometimes sounds slightly slowed down, and the video stream lags a few seconds - so if I'm watching upstairs and then wander down to the living room, I need to roll things back a little. Clicking pause and other controls can cause the picture to stutter and skip (probably due to the lag).

Also, full-screen mode on my second monitor goes away the second that I click something on my main monitor, so it's not really useful unless I'm just passively watching and not working - which isn't something I'd generally do with a perfectly good HDTV in the living room. If I'm going to sit and watch something, I'll do it there. Instead, I've just expanded the window as much as I can, which gives me quicker access to the virtual remote anyway.

360 ho!
I had a much more difficult time setting up my Xbox 360. First, I made the rookie mistake of hooking up the component cables from my original Xbox (not the 360's direct cable outputs) - which threw me for a few minutes. It took me much longer to figure out the maze of settings required to actually control the 360 remotely.

First, you need to go into your 360's System blade and find the Remote Control settings to select All Channels (which permits Media Center remotes to work). Then be sure your SlingPlayer is set to control a Media Center PC in the DVR settings and NOT the Xbox 360 listed under DVD Players. (Choosing the latter gives you a generic remote and no control - I'm not even sure why it's there.)

The good news is that the Slingbox handles virtually any output resolution - I'm using 720p (optimal for my HDTV) and it looks great. There's no 360 Guide button, and launching games generally requires an active controller - not a remote. But with the Slingbox's sluggish controls and lag, it's not like you'd want to play many games with it anyway.

I have two more Slingbox inputs available: an S-Video and an old-school coaxial cable. There's no HDMI input, so I won't be using my HD-DVD player with it.

I would love to be able to bounce Slingbox content to my Xbox 360s so I can watch Tivo/satellite TV in the bedroom, but that's not supported. Hopefully, this will be added down the line, perhaps leveraging the existing Media Center PC functionality. I'd also like to watch videos from my PCs on my TV, but then that's what Orb is for.

I can access my connected content on any Internet-connected PC and even certain cell phones and PDAs. The configuration wasn't too difficult; my router required some manual adjustments, but SlingPlayer Help walked me through the steps. The Slingbox automatically downscales and optimizes the video stream to match your available bandwidth, so remote playback is passable (at least in my limited testing) but not nearly as enjoyable as what I get at home. The great news is that I won't need it very often, but it's there if I'm ever working at a client site and want to set my Tivo to record something that evening or start a 360 download so it will be waiting for me when I get home. Nice!

All in all a frivolous expense, but not one I regret at all.

-=Gamewatcher

Nintendo's latest Wii Virtual Console release includes a 5-player multiplayer version of the classic platformer/puzzle game, Lode Runner:

• Battle Lode Runner (TurboGrafx) - $6
• Gradius III (SNES) - $8
• Wonder Boy in Monster World (Genesis) - $8

Give the Harry Potter team at EA some credit: They take advantage of emerging technology to keep their games from being completely formulaic. First it was the EyeToy support in the PS2 version of Azkaban, now it's wielding the Wii remote like a wand in Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, due in June. Since you also use the nunchuk, does this mean Harry is actually part-ninja? Perhaps that's the secret J.K. Rowling has been holding back...

The next God of War title won't be on the PS2 or PS3, it will be God of War: Chains of Olympus for the PSP. Finally, a PSP title worth drooling over! Not much is known except that if you act fast and are willing to part with some personal information, you can request a free demo disc be mailed to you someday. Word of warning: Turn down the sound on your computer before clicking through to Sony's sign-up shell of a site, especially if you're at work...

Sony announced the PlayStation Eye camera, an EyeToy-style peripheral for the PS3. There's no price or date information (just "summer" release), but plenty of cool features:

• 120 frames per second video recording
• designed for low-light situations
• microphone that reduces background noise for improved voice recognition
• EyeCreate software for saving your photos, videos and audio clips, applying special effects and selecting time lapse and slow motion modes

If you want something cool for your PS3 here and now, get to the PlayStation Store to download free demos for Ninja Gaiden Sigma and Virtua Tennis 3. There's even an update to that Folding@home application, if you're into that. And, finally so you're in the loop at the watercooler, Sony Computer Entertainment Chairman and CEO Ken Kutaragi (aka "Father of PlayStation") is stepping down, though he will remain a technology advisor. His heir is Kazuo Hirai...

In a new video interview, Microsoft completely downplayed the issue of transferring purchased content co-owned by a dead or outmoded Xbox 360 console to a new Elite or replacement 360 provided by customer support. Microsoft's Albert Penello demonstrates the new one-time transfer process from a 20GB to 120GB hard drive and then notes that "licensed content like movies and arcade games are attached to both your console ID and your live ID, and when you're moving that content to a new console, you have a new console ID. So, in order to access that licensed content, you're going to need to be logged into Live."

"Practically speaking, you don't unhook Live, you've got Live in all the time. So you'll probably never notice that anything's different," Penello added. "But there are a handful of people who might have a unique scenario where they're not logged into Live."

In other words, the promised solution for this problem won't actually be forthcoming until it affects more than a "handful" of people. To recap for those new to this issue, here are some of those "unique scenarios" where you can't enjoy purchased add-ons (including map packs), Arcade games and TV shows:

• You visit a friend, relative or LAN party where there's no broadband
• Your Internet service goes down or you can no longer afford it
• You move and are awaiting broadband
• Xbox Live is down for maintenance

Another important note: If you buy an Elite, it does not come with the transfer cable - but Microsoft will supply it free if you ask (1-800-4MY-XBOX). During the time you're waiting for the cable to arrive, continue to use your old 20GB hard drive since any data stored on the 120GB drive will be overwritten when you do the transfer.

Here's the full video, which includes a demo of the transfer process:


Video: Xbox 360 120 GB and Elite Migration

In other, more positive Xbox 360 news, there were two solid Xbox Live Arcade games released this week: Eets Chowdown (adapted from the fun PC casual game with hundreds of puzzles and a new, addictive multiplayer action game mode) and Pinball FX (a superb pinball title with realistic physics and three tables). The games are $10 each, and both promise future downloadable content (puzzle packs and new tables for a little extra scratch, no doubt). Other new Marketplace downloads include:

• Marvel Ultimate Alliance hero and villian packs packs ($6.25 each, or $10 for both) and video promo (free)
• New Alien Hominid HD PDA level pack ($1.88) and picture packs ($1.25 each)
• Tetris Evolution backgrounds ($1.25 each) and skins ($1 each)
• BioShock theme ($1.88) and picture packs ($1 each)
• Gears of War COG tag location video guides ($1.25 each) - or you could find the same information for free
• Command and Conquer 3 Tiberium Wars theme ($1.88), picture pack ($2) and video (free)
• Tenchu Z video (free)

This week, the Wii Virtual Console offers three new doses of downloadable nostalgia:

• Castlevania (NES) - $5
• The Legend of the Mystical Ninja (SNES) - $8
• Shockman (TurboGrafx) - $6

Reports suggest the Xbox 360 Elite - officially released just this weekend - has already begun to show the dreaded red ring of death and other problems:

The big question is whether there's an unusually high number of Elite failures, though you'd hope and even expect that manufacturing and testing nearly two years into the console's lifespan would have evolved enough to catch all but a handful of defective units. In other news, if you did upgrade from an original 360 and were peeved that there's no hard drive transfer cable included, there's now an online order form (PDF) that you can print and mail to get one for free. You will need to supply the serial number for your Core or Pro console (as well as the Elite), so too bad if you've already traded it in...