Busy Gamer News

If you follow my Twitter, you know that reports suggest that the recent Wii v4.2 system update is causing some consoles to fail (aka "bricking" them) even if they have not been modded for unauthorized homebrew. Apparently some code written to stop the modders can also cause an unmodified system from working. One theory is that the patch modifies the bootloader, which - if somehow corrupted during install - will cause the console startup process to fail with no way for the customer to bring it back. If this has happened to you, Nintendo is now saying that it will repair unmodified Wiis that fail at no charge...

This week is a good one for bargain PC games (and I don't normally gush over PC games)! First I stumbled across the Direct2Drive $5 sale already in progress and now I find that some incredible classic games that can be had for $10 or less from Gog.com. One of my favorites (and one that Scribblenauts might have learned a few tricks from!) is The Incredible Machine. The new Mega Pack includes several games worth of puzzles (it's hard to tell how many, but it looks like 4-6) for $10. There's also a downloadable soundtrack and manual included free. Right after I bought this, I found the same site is offering Fallout and Fallout 2 for $6 each, also with soundtracks and other bonus items. Other titles include Beyond Good & Evil, the Descent series, Duke Nukem 3D, Earthworm Jim games, MDK 1 & 2, Messiah, the first two Oddworld games, Painkiller, Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time, the Tex Murphy games, the original Tom Clancy Ghost Recon and Rainbox Six and early Unreal, all DRM-free, $6-10 per package (a few contain more than one game) and updated to work with Windows XP and Vista. For the full list, click the search icon on the Gog.com main page without entering anything in the box...

This week, the PlayStation Store has gone PSP crazy in support of the PSP Go launch. Which you'd kind of expect, since the PSP Go can only get games from the online store (remember, no resale value = bigger Sony profits!). The result is more than 100 new PSP titles for download:

• Digger HD ($10)
• Uno ($10)
• Fallout 3 Operation Anchorage and The Pitt ($10 each)
• LittleBigPlanet Watchmen Costume Pack ($6 or $2 each)
• PS1 for PS3/PSP: Gex 3: Deep Cover Gecko, Jumping Flash! 2, Nuclear Strike and Um Jammer Lammy ($6 each)
• Guitar Hero 5 Queens of the Stone Age Track Pack ($5.50 or $2 each) with "Avon," "How to Handle a Rope" and "Mexicola"
• Rock Band/Rock Band 2 Alice in Chains Pack 1 ($8.50 or $2 each) with "A Looking in View," "Check My Brain," "No Excuses," "Rooster" and "Would?" and Breaking Benjamin Pack 1 ($5.50 or $2 each) with "I Will Not Bow," "The Diary of Jane" and "So Cold" and tracks ($1-2 each) "U Suck" by Just Kait and "Hey Dude" and "Knight on the Town" by Kula Shaker
• Rock Band Unplugged tracks ($2 each) "Lonely as You" and "Monkey Wrench" by Foo Fighters
• PSP: 300: March To Glory ($15), Activision Hits Remixed ($15), Alien Syndrome ($16), Avatar: The Last Airbender ($20), Beaterator ($40), Blade Dancer: Lineage of Light ($5), Burnout Dominator ($15), Burnout Legends ($20), Cabela's African Safari ($15), Cabela's Dangerous Hunts: Ultimate Challenge ($15), Capcom Classics Collection Reloaded ($20), Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs ($30), Crash: Mind Over Mutant ($30), Crash of the Titans ($20), Crash Tag Team Racing ($15), Crazy Taxi: Fare Wars ($16), Crush ($16), Daxter ($16), Def Jam Fight For New York: The Takeover ($10), Dirt 2 ($30), Disgaea: Afternoon of Darkness ($15), Disgaea 2: Dark Hero Days ($30), Dragon Ball Z Shin Budokai ($15), Dragon Ball Z Shin Budokai: Another Road ($15), Dragoneer's Aria ($15), Dynasty Warriors Strikeforce ($30), EndWar ($30), Fight Night Round 3 ($20), Full Auto 2: Battlelines ($16), G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra ($40), God of War: Chains of Olympus ($16), Gran Turismo PSP ($40), Guilty Gear XX Accent Core Plus ($25), Gun Showdown ($15), Hot Brain ($15), IL-2 Sturmovik: Birds of Prey ($30), Indiana Jones and the Staff of Kings ($20), Iron Man ($20), Juiced 2: Hot Import Nights ($20), Justice League Heroes ($15), The King of Fighters Collection ($20), Lego Batman ($20), Lego Indiana Jones ($20), LocoRoco 2 ($16), Lord of the Rings: Tactics ($10), Madden NFL '10 ($40), Mana Khemia: Student Alliance ($15), Medal of Honor: Heroes ($20), Medal of Honor: Heroes 2 ($20), Metal Slug Anthology ($20), MLB '09: The Show ($32), Monster Hunter Freedom Unite ($30), Mortal Kombat: Unchained ($20), MotorStorm: Arctic Edge ($40), MX vs ATV Untamed ($20), NCAA Football '10 ($40), Need for Speed: Carbon ($20), Need For Speed: Most Wanted ($20), Need For Speed: ProStreet ($20), Need for Speed: Shift ($40), Need For Speed: Underground Rivals ($15), Obscure: The Aftermath ($30), PixelJunk Monsters Deluxe ($20), Prince of Persia Revelations ($10), Prince of Persia Rival Swords ($15), Prinny: Can I Really be the Hero? ($10), Rainbow Six: Vegas ($20), Rapala Trophies ($15), Resistance Retribution ($32), Samurai Showdown Anthology ($20), Scrabble ($20), Secret Agent Clank ($32), Sega Genesis Collection ($16), Shin Megami Tensei: Persona ($40), The Sims 2 ($15), The Sims 2 Castaway ($10), The Sims 2 Pets ($10), SNK Arcade Classics Vol. 1 ($20), Sonic Rivals ($16), Sonic Rivals 2 ($30), Soul Calibur: Broken Destiny ($40), SpongeBob SquarePants: The Yellow Avenger ($20), Star Wars: Battlefront Renegade Squadron ($20), Star Wars: Battlefront II ($20), Star Wars: The Force Unleashed ($20), Super Monkey Ball Adventure ($16), SWAT: Target Liberty ($20), Thexder Neo ($10), Thrillville: Off the Rails ($20), Tiger Woods PGA Tour '10 ($40), Warriors Orochi 2 ($30) and WWE SmackDown vs RAW 2009 ($20)
• PSP Minis: Alien Havoc ($5), Brainpipe ($5), Fieldrunners ($7), Funky Punch ($5), Hero of Sparta ($7), Sudoku ($5) and Tetris ($10)
• Demos: Brutal Legend and Need For Speed: Shift
• Game Videos: FIFA Soccer '10, Gran Turismo PSP, Lost Planet 2, Need for Speed: Shift, Shatter, Undead Knights (PSP) and Wet, plus Qore Episode 17 ($3 or $25 for subscription)
• Themes: Gran Turismo PSP (free), The King of Fighters XIII ($1.50 each), B17 Flying Fortress ($2), Electric Tattoo ($1.50), Focke Wulf German Fighter ($2), Mistresses of Halloween ($1.50) and Sorority Girls ($2)

Here is what's new at Xbox Live Marketplace:

• Arcade: Bust-a-Move Live! ($10), Football Genius ($10) and Military Madness ($10), plus Bubble Bobble Neo! Maps 1 and 2 ($3 each)
• Left 4 Dead Crash Course ($7)
• Red Faction: Guerrilla Smasher Pack (5)
• Guitar Hero 5 Queens of the Stone Age Track Pack ($5.50 or $2 each) with "Avon," "How to Handle a Rope" and "Mexicola"
• Rock Band/Rock Band 2 Alice in Chains Pack 1 ($8.50 or $2 each) with "A Looking in View," "Check My Brain," "No Excuses," "Rooster" and "Would?" and Breaking Benjamin Pack 1 ($5.50 or $2 each) with "I Will Not Bow," "The Diary of Jane" and "So Cold" and tracks ($1-2 each) "U Suck" by Just Kait and "Hey Dude" and "Knight on the Town" by Kula Shaker
• Lips tracks ($2 each) "You Ain't Seen Nothing Yet" by Bachman-Turner Overdrive and "An Honest Mistake" by The Bravery
• Games on Demand: Fable II Episode 1 (free); other episodes (i.e, segments of the full retail game) will cost you but they haven't been released yet
• Demos: Need For Speed: Shift
• Indie Games (usually $1-$10 each): Alien Encounters, Alien Pyramid Challenge!, D-Cypher, Galactic Escape, Paint Boll, Pumpkin Carver, RadRiverRun, Rail Gun Charlie, SpiderEvader, SummerVacation, Tarot and XCross
• Game Videos: Avatar, Dragon Age: Origins, FIFA '10, Madballs Babo: Invasion and Need For Speed: Shift
• Halo 3: ODST strategy guide videos ($1 each)
• Themes: Fable II Premium ($3), Family Guy ($2) and Reeses's Halloween (free)
• Pictures: Madballs Babo: Invasion ($1), Operation Flashpoint (free; enters you in sweepstakes), Zombie Apocalypse ($2) and Reese's Halloween (free; some enter you in sweepstakes),
• Avatar Items (usually priced $1-$5 each): More Mass Effect gear, plus Skullcandy stuff

This week's giveaway is Tomb Raider: Anniversary for PC.

If you played the first Tomb Raider game, this is essentially a remake on the awesome Crystal Dynamics engine that debuted with the Tomb Raider: Legend reboot of what had become a sad, tired series.

And if you've never played a Tomb Raider game, this is as good a place to start as any. Recent games in the series have been great, and this is a fitting tribute to the original that started it all.

Anniversary includes 14 story levels set in Peru, Greece, Egypt and a mysterious Lost Island, plus there's a Croft Manor training level replete with puzzles to solve. You can also speed run through the levels to get the best time trial ratings and unlock cheats such as infinite ammo.

To enter:

Here are the games due for release this week for PC, portables and consoles (plus some recent releases that slipped out when we weren't looking):

• DS: Animal Paradise Wild, Aqua Panic, The Biggest Loser, Hands On! Tangrams, Imagine: Zookeeper, Spore Hero Arena, Squeeballs Party, Star Wars - The Clone Wars: Republic Heroes, Thorium Wars (DSiWare), A Witch's Tale and Zenses Zen Garden
• iPhone: Bloons Tower Defense, Canabalt, Galcon Labs, Gourmania, Groovin' Blocks, Mr. Mahjong Touch, Ramp Champ Halloween and Voyage packs, Super K.O. Boxing 2 and Toy Bot Mini Missions
• PC: Cities XL, Fatale, Hidden Mysteries: Titanic - Secrets of the Fateful Voyage, Lucidity, Operation Flashpoint: Dragon Rising, Playmobil Double Pack #1, Star Wars - The Clone Wars: Republic Heroes and The Sims 2: Best of Business Collection
• PS2: Disney Sing It! Pop Hits, MotorStorm: Arctic Edge, NBA 2K10 and Star Wars - The Clone Wars: Republic Heroes
• PS3: Demon's Souls, Disney Sing It! Pop Hits, Fallout 3 Mothership Zeta and Point Lookout, NBA 2K10, NBA Live '10, Operation Flashpoint: Dragon Rising, Saw and Star Wars - The Clone Wars: Republic Heroes
• PSP: Naruto Shippuden Legends: Akatsuki Rising, NBA '10: The Inside, NBA 2K10, NBA Live '10 and Star Wars - The Clone Wars: Republic Heroes
• Wii: The Biggest Loser, Crazy Mini Golf 2, Disney Sing It! Pop Hits, Final Fantasy (Virtual Console), Game Party 3, Islands of Dr. Frankenstein, Jillian Michaels Fitness Ultimatum 2010, Shimano Xtreme Fishing, Spore Hero, Star Wars - The Clone Wars: Republic Heroes, Sudoku Ball: Detective, Wii Fit Plus and Word Searcher (WiiWare)
• Xbox 360: Disney Sing It! Pop Hits, Lucidity (Arcade), NBA 2K10, NBA Live '10, Operation Flashpoint: Dragon Rising, Saw, South Park: Let's Go Tower Defense (Arcade) and Star Wars - The Clone Wars: Republic Heroes

So, what will you be picking up - or is this week a pass? Any games we missed? Please let us know...

Here are this week's downloads, demos and videos for the Wii and Nintendo DS:

• WiiWare: Word Searcher ($5)
• Virtual Console: Final Fantasy for NES ($5)
• DSiWare: Thorium Wars ($10)
• Rock Band 2 tracks ($2 each; due Tuesday, Oct. 6) "Dance Epidemic," "Gay Bar" and "I Don't Like You" by Electric Six, "Handlebars" by The Flobots, "Head Over Feet" and "Ironic" by Alanis Morissette, "Many Shades of Black," "Salute Your Solution" and "Steady, As She Goes" by The Raconteurs
• DS Demos (via Wii): Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Winter Games plus Cars Race-O-Rama, Naruto Shippuden: Ninja Destiny 2, Rhythm Heaven and 5 different ways to try Fossil Fighters
• Game Videos: Band Hero, Cooking Mama 3: Shop and Chop, Dead Space Extraction, Deca Sports 2, Imagine: Sweet 16, Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Winter Games Alpine Skiing, Squeeballs Party, Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Explorers of Sky, Spore Hero, Thorium Wars, Wacky World of Sports, Wii Fit Plus and Word Searcher

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 - Fallout 3

Reviewed On: Xbox 360. Also available for PC and PlayStation 3.

Your Pipboy is where you view maps, manage items and adjust stats

In a Nutshell: Set after a nuclear war has devastated the world and converted Washington, D.C., into a Capital Wasteland, you play a survivor from a vault where prescient people bought berths to protect them from just such an apocalypse. Restless and spurred to solve a mystery involving your father, you escape the vault and make your way across the radioactive, raider-laden landscape.

At its core, Fallout 3 is both a first-person shooter and an RPG - though more of the latter due to its dependence on stats over aim (also, you can trade first-person for a third-person view if you prefer). This is balanced by a unique turn-based targeting system that enables you to freeze time and select quadrants on enemies to aim your next attacks - as long as you have action points, which regenerate over time. The combination of action and strategy in an edgy sci-fi setting makes this a more of mainstream game than its spiritual predecessor, The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion, and the actual earlier games in the series - which were more RPG than shooter, managed from an isometric view.

The targeting system balances the FPS and stat-controlled RPG elements

Learning Curve: Oblivion fans will be mostly at home, since Fallout 3 borrows liberally from that game's engine. Some button actions are different (and cannot be remapped!) and there are new twists and features such as the Vault-Tec Assisted Targeting System (VATS) and new lockpicking and computer hacking mini-games. Either way, the game's vault tutorial will ease you into how everything works and you'll soon find the controls second nature and, if you play as much as me, will find yourself tapping the button for VATS when you're playing other shooters.

The Save Game: By default, Fallout 3 autosaves when you fast travel to places you've been before or enter/exit buildings and towns. You can also save your exact place and status in the world at any time, which makes it perfect for the busy gamer.

Family Factor: Very mature for extreme, intense and sustained violence and some sexual situations (you can purchase the services of a prostitute, though all that happens is that you sleep and awaken refreshed). Keep this one away from kids and even younger teens until they are emotionally ready to handle Tarantino-level gore.

Buy, Rent or Skip? Buy. This is one of the best games of the past several years, and you will get your money's worth from it. The only real downside to this game is that you can easily spend 100+ hours enjoying it, which may seem antithetical to busy gaming. But, as a single-player title, there's absolutely no harm in taking as long as you want - spread your game play out over several years if you like (I'm on my second year now and working through the expansions and completing side quests I missed due to the sheer size of the world). At this point, you should wait for the Game of the Year Edition due next week (October 13) since it contains all of the expansions for the same price as the original game - and with none of the DRM hassles.

On a Personal Note: If you've followed this site for awhile, you know that I tend to choose the light side when playing morally ambiguous games such as Fallout 3, and GrrlGotGame chooses the dark side. Normally this puts me at a severe disadvantage as I end up with less loot, weapons and/or health packs. Not so in Fallout 3. The game is balanced to reward the goody-goody players and punish the wicked! This is due in part to the game's understandably deflated economy - there just aren’t a ton of caps (the game's currency is bottlecaps) to go around, so stealing really doesn't buy you much. You're better off helping people and reaping the often generous rewards they provide.

There are so many tales of the Wasteland I could spin, some of which would spoil major story points and surprises. So I'll keep my personal stories high level. Getting around the ruins of D.C. and suburban Maryland and Virginia (where, incidentally, I grew up for reals!) isn't always a matter of just picking a direction and walking. You'll often be forced underground, into the remains of the Metro subway tunnels, to reach your destination.

I particularly loved wandering these dark tunnels on my quest to find a radio host who mentioned talking to my absentee in-game dad on the air. Stepping out at various subway stops to mark them on my map (so I'd have a fast travel checkpoint for later) proved to be a dangerous game as there were often ambushes and traps waiting. I quickly learned to look out for mines on the ground (which I later developed the skills to disarm, keep and re-use) and dodge rocket blasts from well-armed enemies.

When I arrived at the Metro stop for the radio station, I was thrust into a firefight with some friendly soldiers helping out. I did my best to contribute to the downfall of a particularly large and intimidating foe. It was an epic battle, one that was made a tad easier thanks to the portable nuclear weapon I had acquired. There were casualties on our side, which became a topic of discussion among the NPCs - who don't seem to constantly hit on you the way they do in Oblivion! (Drat. And I was hoping to do a follow-up set in Fallout 3!).

The game is full of tantalizing side quests, such as finding a lost historical document, tracking down a lost violin and researching a survival guide. I won't say more except that I'm 130 hours in, have finished the main quest and I'm still finding plenty of fun things to do.

More Busy Gamer Reviews:

• Scribblenauts
• The Beatles: Rock Band
• Wolfenstein RPG
• Infamous
• Uncharted: Drake's Fortune
• Rock Band
• Assassin's Creed
• Guide to kids and adult games

Microsoft revealed the next batch of Platinum Hits games, which means they'll likely be price-dropped to $20-30 (though no official pricing or release dates have been given). The games are Grand Theft Auto IV, Left 4 Dead, Saints Row 2, Star Wars: The Force Unleashed and Street Fighter IV. Also, if you buy two Platinum Hits branded games from participating retailers in October, you'll get one free...

If you're the kind of person who buys racing games for the licensed vehicles, the official 400+ list of cars included on Forza Motorsport 3's two discs (the second disc contains cars and tracks you can download to your hard drive, if you have one), plus special limited edtion and pre-order exclusives have been announced on the official Forza Motorsport site. Are your favorite cars represented?

A light week at the PlayStation Store after last week's PSP deluge:

• Critter Crunch ($7)
• LittleBigPlanet Original Music Pack 1 ($4) with three music tracks and musical notation stickers
• Fallout 3 Mothership Zeta and Point Lookout expansions ($10 each)
• IL-2 Sturmovik: Birds of Prey Mission Pack ($5) with a new chapter of single missions and two planes
• Tiger Woods PGA Tour '10 Riviera Golf Course ($7.50)
• Dirt 2 Trust Fund and Access All Areas ($5 each) aka cheat code packs (please don't buy, it just encourages companies to charge for what should be free!)
• PS1 for PS3/PSP: Pandemonium! ($6)
• Guitar Hero 5 Billy Squier Track Pack ($5.50 or $2 each) with "The Stroke," "Everybody Wants You" and "When She Comes To Me"
• Rock Band/Rock Band 2 The Raconteurs Pack 01 ($) with "Many Shades of Black," "Salute Your Solution" and "Steady, As She Goes," Electric Six Pack 01 ($5.50 or $2 each) with "Dance Epidemic," "Gay Bar" and "I Don't Like You" and tracks ($2 each) "Handlebars" by Flobots and "Ironic" and "Head Over Feet" by Alanis Morissette
• PSP: NBA '10: The Inside ($30) and NBA Live '10 ($40), plus Rock Band Unplugged tracks ($2 each) "Know Your Enemy" by Green Day and "Red Barchetta" by Rush
• Game Videos: Burn Zombie Burn, Cloudy With A Chance Of Meatballs, Gran Turismo PSP, NBA 2K10 and Need For Speed: Shift, plus Summer Dew Tour 09 and a Pulse magazine
• Themes: Creature Creations ($2), Dark Elves ($1.50) and Halloween Vampires ($1.50)
• Wallpaper: Fate/Unlimited Codes

Here is what's new at the Xbox Live Marketplace:

• Arcade: Lucidity ($10) and South Park: Let's Go Tower Defense Play! ($10)
• IL-2 Sturmovik: Birds of Prey Mission Pack ($5) with a new chapter of single missions and two planes
• Virtua Tennis 2009 Online Tournaments (free)
• Tiger Woods PGA Tour '10 Riviera Golf Course ($7.50)
• Guitar Hero 5 Billy Squier Track Pack ($5.50 or $2 each) with "The Stroke," "Everybody Wants You" and "When She Comes To Me"
• Rock Band/Rock Band 2 The Raconteurs Pack 01 ($) with "Many Shades of Black," "Salute Your Solution" and "Steady, As She Goes," Electric Six Pack 01 ($5.50 or $2 each) with "Dance Epidemic," "Gay Bar" and "I Don't Like You" and tracks ($2 each) "Handlebars" by Flobots and "Ironic" and "Head Over Feet" by Alanis Morissette
• Lips tracks ($2 each) "Breakfast At Tiffany's" by Deep Blue Something and "My Lovin' (You're Never Gonna Get It)" by En Vogue
• Games on Demand: Call Of Duty 3 ($30) and Rainbow Six Vegas 2 ($30)
• Demos: NBA 2K10
• Indie Games (usually $1-$10 each): Arkedo Series - 01 Jump!, Fields Reloaded, Kaiten Patissier, Slingstar, The Visualizer and WhipCrack
• Game Videos: Borderlands, Grand Theft Auto IV: Episodes From Liberty City, Just Cause 2, Lucidity, Mass Effect 2, Modern Warfare 2, NBA 2K10, Need for Speed: Shift and Project Natal
• Themes: Fallout 3 Premium ($3 or free to purchasers of all five DLC packs), Lucidity Premium and Basic ($2-3 each), Mass Effect Premium ($3), Need for Speed: Shift ($3), NHL '10 ($3 each), Dr Pepper (free), Haunted Cemetery Premium ($3) and Pumpkin Patch Premium ($3)
• Pictures: NHL '10 ($1 each), South Park (free; enters you in sweepstakes), Flashback Favorites (free; enters you in sweepstakes) and more Reese's Halloween (free)
• Avatar Items (usually priced $1-$5 each): NFL jerseys

See what's inside the bag - it's AWESOME!

Last weekend, we attended our first ever Browncoat Ball in Portland, Oregon - a surprise birthday present for me from GrrlGotGame! We drove down on Friday and were warmly greeted by our Firefly fan brethren. We also got to go meet some famous story editors at Dark Horse Comics, who gave us nifty goodies. Since we only need one set of cool stuff to share between us, we're going to share the rest with you (if you win!).

Some of this stuff you can only have gotten by attending the Browncoat Ball, and I doubt the rest of the attendees are parting with their goodies. So this may be your only chance. Here's what's included:

• Browncoat Ball 2009 sampler CD with Firefly-themed music plus more mainstream songs from Kirby Krackle, Dandy Warhols, Jason Mraz, Joe Strummer and Nikka Costa (16 tracks in all!)
• Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Chaos Bleeds game for Xbox (also plays on Xbox 360) - an arguably good Buffy game that lets you play as Buffy, Willow, Xander and even Spike! (If you can't enjoy this, please let us know in your comment so we can award it to someone who can.)
• Dark Horse Comics bag imprinted with Buffy on one side and the Dark Horse logo on the other
• Dark Horse logo keychain/clip
• Dark Horse Signing and Preview Book 2009
• TFAW.com 10% discount code offer (if you don't win and still want the code, say so in your comment: We're still allowed to share the code with you unless you're a purple belly, but only the winner gets the fancy offer sheet)
• Buffy: Tales of the Vampires comic (we have two of these, so one runner up will win this too!)
• Buffy Season 8 #20 comic
• Hellboy: The Wild Hunt comic
• Aliens #1 comic
• Beasts of Burden #1 comic
• The Umbrella Academy: Apocalypse Suite #1 comic
• Star Wars: Dark Times #1 comic
• Star Wars: Invasion #1 comic

To enter:

Here are the games due for release this week for PC, portables and consoles (plus some recent releases that slipped out when we weren't looking):

• DS: Cake Mania 3, Cars Race-O-Rama, Chicken Blaster, Dodge Racing Charger vs. Challenger, Dream Dancer, Hero's Saga: Laevatein Tactics, Mario and Sonic at the Olympic Winter Games, Petz Pony Beauty Pageant, Pinball Pulse: The Ancients Beckon (DSiWare), Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Explorers of Sky and Where the Wild Things Are
• iPhone: Archon Conquest, Bailout Wars, Beneath a Steel Sky, Blastination, Edge (re-release), Hi, How Are You, iPlutoid, Rock Band, Shrek Kart, Soosiz, Tap Tap Revenge 3 and Titanic Rescue
• PC: 747-400 Queen Of The Skies Flight Simulator, Ancient Secrets: Quest for the Golden Key, Cabela's Outdoor Adventures 2010, Casual Game Mega Hits, The Clockwork Man, DHC-6 Twin Otter Flight Simulator, Dinertown Tycoon, F-16 Fighting Falcon Flight Simulator, Fallout 3: Game of The Year Edition, Fate: The Traitor Soul, iCarly, ItzaZoo, Kane & Lynch 2, Lego Star Wars: The Complete Saga, More Great Games for Girls, Nancy Drew: Warnings at Waverly Academy, NBA 2K10, Seahawk 7 Jayhawk Helicopter Simulator, World of Subways Railway Simulator and Worldshift
• PS2: Cars Race-O-Rama
• PS3: Brutal Legend, Cars Race-O-Rama, Fallout 3: Game of The Year Edition, Uncharted 2: Among Thieves, Way of the Samurai 3 and Where the Wild Things Are
• PSP: Cars Race-O-Rama and Half-Minute Hero
• Wii: A Boy and His Blob, Cars Race-O-Rama, Final Fight 2 (Virtual Console), Gravitronix (WiiWare), Ju-On: The Grudge, Mario and Sonic at the Olympic Winter Games, Medieval Games, Squeeballs Party and Where the Wild Things Are
• Xbox 360: Axel & Pixel (Arcade), Brutal Legend, Cars Race-O-Rama, Fallout 3: Game of The Year Edition, Glacier 2, Magna Carta 2, Sam & Max Season 2 (Arcade), Way of the Samurai 3 and Where the Wild Things Are

So, what will you be picking up - or is this week a pass? Any games we missed? Please let us know...

Here are this week's downloads, demos and videos for the Wii and Nintendo DS:

• WiiWare: Gravitronix ($5)
• Virtual Console: Final Fight 2 for Super NES ($8)
• DSiWare: Pinball Pulse: The Ancients Beckon ($5)
• Rock Band 2 tracks ($2 each; due Tuesday, Oct. 13) "Show Me the Way" by Black Tide, "What's My Age Again?" by Blink 182, "Icarus (Borne on the Wings of Steel)" (Live) and "Point of Know Return" (Live) by Kansas, "Andres" by L7, "(We Are) The Road Crew '08" by Motörhead, "Satch Boogie" and "Surfing with the Alien" by Joe Satriani, "The Metal" by Tenacious D and "More Than Meets the Eye" by Testament
• DS Demos (via Wii): SpongeBob's Truth or Square plus repeats Cars Race-O-Rama, Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Winter Games and Naruto Shippuden: Ninja Destiny 2
• Game Videos: Band Hero, Baseball Blast!, Dead Space Extraction, Drawn to Life: The Next Chapter, Gravitronics, Imagine: Fashion Designer World Tour, Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days, Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Winter Games, Nerf N-Strike Elite, Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Explorers of Sky, Space Invaders Extreme 2, Spore Hero Arena, Super Monkey Ball Step & Roll, Tony Hawk: Ride, Treasure World, Wacky World of Sports, Wii Fit Plus and Wizard of Oz: Beyond the Yellow Brick Road

For the first of several overdue Instant Win giveaways, we have a little something for the oft-maligned PSP gamer. It's a demo disc for Monster Hunter Freedom Unite. This trial includes three quests with three monsters to slay and supports four player ad-hoc co-op.

Sorry, you CANNOT play this disc version with a PSP Go (check the PlayStation Store instead). You'll need an old-school PSP with a UMD drive to play this, which saves you download time and storage space. Not to mention the nifty cover art and joy of winning!

This giveaway is a bonus for those busy gamers who are vigilant and/or lucky. We'll ship the prize out to the first qualified person who posts a comment. The usual rules apply, except that there is no random drawing. You can't win two consecutive instant wins (Tavin is out on this one), so if this isn't something you really want you should pass on this and wait for the next. We plan to do more of these from time to time in addition to the regular weekly drawings. Follow me on Twitter if you want a head's up before we post Instant Wins (hope to have 2-3 more this week!).

There's a lot of news for Rock Band fans this week! First, the 45 songs in Lego Rock Band were revealed along with the $10 fee to transfer them to your hard drive for play in Rock Band/Rock Band 2 (except on the Wii, which still doesn't support exports). Also, Lego Rock Band will allow certain family friendly downloadable tracks (as defined by Harmonix) to be played, though it's not clear if songs you've already bought will be supported or only future tracks marked as acceptable.

Here's the complete Lego Rock Band track list:

If you still have an original Xbox and never got the kit that enables it as a DVD player, here's your chance. This kit has never been used and will set up your Xbox for Region 1 playback when you plug in the controller dongle. These things still run $20 or more out in the wild, but if you're quick you can enjoy DVD playback for free!

This giveaway is a bonus for those busy gamers who are vigilant and/or lucky. We'll ship the prize out to the first qualified person who posts a comment. The usual rules apply, except that there is no random drawing. You can't win two consecutive instant wins (Onyx Primal is out on this one), so if this isn't something you really want you should pass on this and wait for the next. We plan to do more of these from time to time in addition to the regular weekly drawings. Follow me on Twitter if you want a head's up before we post Instant Wins (hope to have 1-2 more this week!).

There are hundreds of new apps on the iPhone each week. As time permits, I'll review a few that I've tried to either help you find the good ones or ward you off the ones that sucked me in that weren't worth the time or money. Here are some of my recent finds (prices may fluctuate):

	Skee-Ball. This game has many knock-offs (we'll get to one of them in a minute) but this is the "official, licensed" version of the game. On the one hand, there's not much variety - you just have the standard skee-ball ramp and targets. But the physics are good and the game is amazingly addictive. You earn tickets based on your performance that can be redeemed for virtual prizes, which change after every round. Collecting the hard-to-find and expensive items can take a long time, and there are Plus+ network achievements to be unlocked for collecting some of the funnier and rarer items such as a Senate seat or New Zealand. I found it was worth my while to check the prizes after every game since sometimes you'll find "some kid's tickets" which gives you bonus tickets. I just wish there were a quicker way to toggle between the court and the prizes (say, a sideswipe) and items you already have were marked. Price: $1
	Ramp Champ. I hedged my bets that Skee-Ball would get repetitive and boring (which it really hasn't) and picked up this game since it offered four different ramps and the promise of low-cost expansions. Alas, the physics in this one don't really compare and make this game more about luck than skill. The harder challenges are pretty hard (you need to figure out what makes each ramp tick) and there are fewer virtual items to trade your tickets for (at least with the default game) and none really seem all that compelling, except perhaps the very pricey Tron lightcycle knockoff. Price: $2 for game with four ramps. $1 per 2-ramp expansion pack.
	Spider: The Secret of Bryce Manor. I had reservations about getting this game due to my arachnophobia. My fears were unfounded since controlling a virtual fast-jumping spider with my finger is, as my 6-year-old son put it, "AWESOME!" Maybe it's because I'm in control of the creepy web slinger, but I never get tired of making my spider quickly hop around the screen and stick to various surfaces, building webs and catching some insect snacks. My only disappointment was that, from the title, I really expected a story to unfold - some sort of spider's-eye view of a mystery tale - but it never happened. Exactly what transpired at Bryce Manor, we'll probably never know. But it sure was fun catching bugs and exploring it's many crevices! Price: $3.
	Hidden Mysteries: Buckingham Palace. I won this game in a Twitter contest, and was glad that I did. I probably never would have bought it (particularly at the $5 price point!) but, as hidden object games go, it was fun. The pinch to zoom works much better than the kludgy zoom in that Mystery Case Files: MillionHeir DS game. The story was somewhat compelling (certainly more present than in Spider!) but easily beaten in a day or two. Not bad if it goes on sale, but not worth it at full price. Price: $5.
	Harbor Master. After getting hooked on Flight Control, I was loathe to move on to any of its many knockoffs. Fortunately, I eventually gave into temptation and picked up a game that's basically Flight Control with boats - and lots of little twists. The first couple of levels are basically the same dynamic - trace routes on your touchscreen to land boats in their docking bays without any collisions. You also have to wait for them to unload their cargo (bigger boats take longer) and then trace a safe route for them offscreen. Things eventually get more complicated as boats have different colored cargo to be delivered to specific bays and pirates show up to steal your cargo unless you shoot them with a mounted gun. The more I play, the more I love this one. Price: $1.
	Dungeon Scroll. This is basically a poor man's Bookworm Adventures (which hopefully make it to the App Store eventually). Various enemies show up and you defeat them by spelling words from your sheaf of letter tiles. Complete a wave of attacks and you'll advance. Lose all your health and it's game over. Battles are in real time, so you can't stop to strategize. My biggest complaint here is how quickly you can lose a winning streak. One bad deal of the tiles wipes out all of your progress instead of simply resetting you to the start of the current level. There is some strategy (save your big words for the inevitable big, bad monsters later in the level!) but I'd suggest a pass unless you're a real word game fanatic. Price: $2.
	Dr. Awesome+. If you missed Dr. Awesome, there's a new free version that celebrates its addition to the Plus+ social network, which adds leaderboards, achievements and the ability to challenge your friends. This game is like the classic Qix only with a couple of neat twists. First, you control your laser microsurgery instrument not by drawing but tilting your iPhone. Second, the game draws patients from your phone book (if available) - which can be a little disturbing as friends and family are given only 24 hours to live. That's right, if you don't play every day and rid your patients of the deadly virus that's infecting them, they'll "die." I had a rude awakening when I didn't come back right away and my best friend from childhood had expired (sorry, Rob!). Price: Free but with non-intrusive ads. There's also an ad-free version for $1.

Related articles:

• Busy Gamer Review - Wolfenstein RPG
• Which Version? - Peggle
• Flight Control, Treasures of Montezuma, Wolfenstein 3D, iDracula and more
• Payback, Silent Hill, Downhill Bowling, Pocket God and SlotZ
• Jetset, WordSearch and Textropolis
• Poker Quest, Tap Tap Revenge, Solebon, Frotz, Tangram and iBowl - plus other general apps

Jeremy Kayes, the designer who created our Busy Gamer News logo and avatars, has a new comic out. It's an anthology called Papyrus. We bought our first-ever ad for Busy Gamer News in it (here it is in case you don't win)!:


We have a copy of Papyrus #1, freshly minted and signed by Jeremy, to give away to the first qualified person to request it. If you don't win and live in Seattle, you can find Papyrus at the Comics Dungeon on 45th (our fave comic shop!) and the Wayward Coffeehouse in Greenwood.

This giveaway is a bonus for those busy gamers who are vigilant and/or lucky. We'll ship the prize out to the first qualified person who posts a comment. The usual rules apply, except that there is no random drawing. You can't win two consecutive instant wins (Greenfire999 is out on this one), so if this isn't something you really want you should pass on this and wait for the next. We plan to do more of these from time to time in addition to the regular weekly drawings. Follow me on Twitter if you want a head's up before we post Instant Wins (hope to have at least one more this week!).

If you missed the physics puzzler World of Goo, 2D Boy is having a one-year anniversary sale. The game (for PC, Mac or Linux - NOT the WiiWare edition) is yours for whatever you care to ante - basically from $1 to the regular price of $20, or more if you're feeling generous. But you have to donate by Monday, Oct. 19. Once you pick your price and check out via Paypal, you'll get a download link via e-mail. You may have to try several times to secure your download; they're apparently getting a lot of takers! Late night seems to work best...

Here's what came out this week at the PlayStation Store:

• .detuned ($3)
• Mushroom Wars ($10)
• Topatoi: The Great Tree Story ($10)
• Buzz! Junior: Monster Rally ($5), plus the Space Pack expansion for the full Buzz! Quiz TV ($6)
• Red Faction: Guerrilla Smasher Pack ($5)
• Hot Shots Golf Costume Pack 4 ($3)
• High Velocity Bowling Halloween Ball Pack, Planets Ball Pack and Doug Graves character ($1 each)
• PS1 for PS3/PSP: Tomb Raider: The Last Revelation ($6)
• Guitar Hero 5 Wolfmother Track Pack ($5.50 or $2 each) with "Pilgrim," "California Queen" and "Cosmic Egg"
• Rock Band/Rock Band 2 Brütal Legend Pack ($3) with "(We Are) The Road Crew '08" by Motörhead, "The Metal" by Tenacious D, and "More Than Meets the Eye" by Testament plus tracks ($2 each) "Show Me the Way" by Black Tide, "What's My Age Again?" by Blink 182, "Icarus (Borne on the Wings of Steel)" (Live) and "Point of Know Return" (Live) by Kansas, "Andres" by L7 and "Satch Boogie" and "Surfing with the Alien" by Joe Satriani
• PSP: Astro Boy ($30), Harvest Moon: Boy & Girl ($15), Innocent Life: A Futuristic Harvest Moon ($15), Manhunt 2 ($30), Midnight Club 3: DUB Edition ($20), Midnight Club L.A. Remix ($20), Reel Fishing: The Great Outdoors ($15), SOCOM: U.S. Navy SEALs Tactical Strike ($16), Street Fighter Alpha 3 Max ($20), plus Dynasty Warriors Strikeforce DLC Pack 6 (free) and Rock Band Unplugged tracks ($2 each) "Headknocker" by Foreigner and "Jeremy" by Pearl Jam
• Demos: NBA 2K10
• Game Videos: DJ Hero, Gran Turismo PSP, LocoRoco, Madden NFL '10, Tekken 6, Uncharted 2: Among Thieves, Uno and White Knight Chronicles
• Themes: Azmodeus Dark Angels, German Panther Tank, Hells Heads, Nebula Tunnels and Shades of Autumn ($1.50 each), plus Azmodeus Dark Angels Premium, Cat Girl Akiko Hook-Ups, Ice Cream Girls Hook-Ups and Nurse Girl Nikki Hook-Ups ($2 each)

Here's what's been added to Xbox Live Marketplace over the past week:

• Arcade: Axel & Pixel ($10) and Sam & Max Beyond Time and Space ($20)
• Fight Night Round 4 Olympic Sugar Ray Leonard (free)
• Midnight Club L.A. Police Car Pack (free)
• Magna Carta 2 Bonus Pack ($5) with bonus weapons and cutscenes
• Dirt 2 Trust Fund and Access All Areas ($5 each) aka cheat code packs (please don't buy, it just encourages companies to charge for what should be free!)
• Guitar Hero 5 Wolfmother Track Pack ($5.50 or $2 each) with "Pilgrim," "California Queen" and "Cosmic Egg"
• Rock Band/Rock Band 2 Brütal Legend Pack ($3) with "(We Are) The Road Crew '08" by Motörhead, "The Metal" by Tenacious D, and "More Than Meets the Eye" by Testament plus tracks ($2 each) "Show Me the Way" by Black Tide, "What's My Age Again?" by Blink 182, "Icarus (Borne on the Wings of Steel)" (Live) and "Point of Know Return" (Live) by Kansas, "Andres" by L7 and "Satch Boogie" and "Surfing with the Alien" by Joe Satriani
• Lips tracks ($2 each) "Barely Breathing" by Duncan Sheik and "Always" by Erasure
• Games on Demand: Grand Theft Auto IV ($30)
• Demos: Band Hero and Guitar Hero 5
• Indie Games (usually $1-$10 each): Aimeroids, A-Maze!-ING, Capture the Oong, Colosseum, Elfland Reloaded Vol. 1, Hammerball, Dark, Dark Skies: Messier, Gallery: World Cities, Hangman, IncaBlocks, Movipas and Trippin' Alien
• Game Videos: Alpha Protocol, Army of Two: The 40th Day, Axel & Pixel, Battlefield: Bad Company 2, DJ Hero, Dragon Age: Origins, Dreamkiller, Guitar Hero: Van Halen, Just Cause 2, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles In Time: Reshelled, Tower Bloxx Deluxe plus Prima video strategy guides for an unspecified racing game ($5 for all, or $1 each)
• Themes: Axel & Pixel ($3 each), Dreamkiller ($2), Forza Motorsport 3 ($3) and Way of the Samurai 3 ($3 each), plus McDonald's (free)
• Pictures: Dreamkiller ($1 each), Magna Carta 2 ($1) and Sam & Max Beyond Time and Space ($2), plus more Reese's Halloween (free)

This week, you have a choice.

Do you play as the core gamer and go for Mirror's Edge, that innovative first-person action game where you leap across rooftops as the runner Faith?

Or do you go casual and play for 7 Wonders II, the sequel to the innovative gem-matcher that GrrlGotGame swears is the AWESOME?

Either way, you'll end up with a highly rated PC game.

So, do you feel lucky? Well, do you?

To enter:

So we finally did it. After weeks of talking about it and pestering our friends at Seattle Geekly for guidance, we're launching our first Busy Gamer Podcast.

Our goal is to record and post 10-15 minutes of news and helpful commentary every Sunday so that you'll have a great jumping off point for your busy gamer week. Packed into each episode will be:

• The week's game releases
• A quick look back at the previous week's releases, news and downloadable content highlights
• What we're playing/mini-reviews
• Giveaways
• Comment of the week

All in a tight package you can easily consume during even the shortest commutes!

This week we highlight a couple of time-sensitive offers that expire Monday, so you may want to listen to it right away! We also talk about Fallout 3, iPhone games Skee-Ball vs. Ramp Champ, Hasbro Family Game Night and the Brutal Legend and Guitar Hero 5 demos.

Please share your own thoughts and comments about the podcast here. We'll continue to refine our show over the coming weeks!

Download the podcast here or, if you can, please subscribe at iTunes!

As promised in the Busy Gamer Podcast, here is the complete list of games due for release this week for PC/Mac, portables and consoles (plus some recent releases that slipped out when we weren't looking):

• DS: Astro Boy, Bakugan Battle Brawlers, Balloon Pop, Charm Girls Club: My Fashion Mall, Charm Girls Club: My Fashion Show, Charm Girls Club: My Perfect Prom, Cooking Mama 3: Shop & Chop, Diner Dash: Flo on the Go, FIFA Soccer '10, iCarly, Imagine: Fashion Designer World Tour, Jakers! Let's Explore, Jam Sessions 2, Jillian Michaels Fitness Ultimatum 2010, Littlest Pet Shop: Beach Friends, Littlest Pet Shop: City Friends, Littlest Pet Shop: Country Friends, Madagascar Kartz, Margot's Bepuzzled, Marvel Super Hero Squad, Petz Dolphinz Encounter, Reversal Challenge, Safari Adventures: Africa, The Secret Saturdays: Beasts of the 5th Sun, Space Invaders Extreme 2, WWE Smackdown vs. Raw 2010 and various Domos (DSiWare)
• iPhone: 2XL ATV Offroad, Boost 3D, Dark Nebula, Derek Jeter Real Baseball, Earthworm Jim, Eliminate, FIFA Soccer '10, Hook Champ, Noiz2sa Free, Pang Mobile, Rolando 2: Chapter 1 (basically a demo with pay-as-you-go chapter add-ons) and Tap Fu
• Mac: BioShock, Dinertown Detective Agency and Wedding Dash: Ready, Aim, Love
• PC: Barbie and the Three Musketeers, CSI: Deadly Intent, Dinertown Detective Agency, Drawn: The Painted Tower, Elven Legacy: Ranger, Everquest II: The Complete Collection, Jakers! Let's Explore, Making History 3: War of World, Mysterious City Vegas, Playmobil Double Pack #2, Princess Double Pack, Star Wars: The Force Unleashed: Ultimate Sith Edition, Tropico 3 and Wedding Dash: Ready, Aim, Love
• PS2: Astro Boy, Backyard Football 2010, Bakugan Battle Brawlers, FIFA Soccer '10, Marvel Super Hero Squad, The Secret Saturdays: Beasts of the 5th Sun and WWE Smackdown vs. Raw 2010
• PS3: Astro Boy, Bakugan Battle Brawlers, Borderlands, FIFA Soccer '10, Madagascar Kartz, SingStar Motown, Trine and WWE Smackdown vs. Raw 2010
• PSP: Astro Boy, FIFA Soccer '10, Ford Racing Off Road, Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars, Marvel Super Hero Squad, The Secret Saturdays: Beasts of the 5th Sun and WWE Smackdown vs. Raw 2010
• Wii: Alien Monster Bowling League, Army Rescue, Astro Boy, Backyard Football 2010, Bakugan Battle Brawlers, Charm Girls Club: Pajama Party, Chicken Blaster, Chicken Shoot, Cook Wars, Crazy Garage, Dance Dance Revolution Disney Grooves, Dance Dance Revolution Hottest Party 2, Deer Drive, Doctor Fizzwhizzle's Animal Rescue, Dragon Ball: Revenge of King Piccolo, FIFA Soccer '10, Geon Cube, Horse Life Adventures, iCarly, Island of Dr. Frankenstein, Jakers! Let's Explore, Littlest Pet Shop: Friends, LostWinds: Winter of the Melodias (WiiWare), Madagascar Kartz, Marvel Super Hero Squad, Mountain Sports, NBA 2K10, Pop'n Music, Rock Blast, Rygar (Virtual Console), Safari Adventures: Africa, The Secret Saturdays: Beasts of the 5th Sun, Shootanto: Evolutionary Mayhem (WiiWare), Ultimate Duck Hunting, Water Sports and WWE Smackdown vs. Raw 2010
• Xbox 360: Astro Boy, Backyard Football 2010, Bakugan Battle Brawlers, Borderlands, FIFA Soccer '10, Lips: Number One Hits, Madagascar Kartz, Panzer General: Allied Assault (Arcade), Tower Bloxx Deluxe (Arcade) and WWE Smackdown vs. Raw 2010

So, what will you be picking up - or is this week a pass? Any games we missed? Please let us know...

Here are this week's downloads, demos and videos for the Wii and Nintendo DS:

• WiiWare: LostWinds: Winter of the Melodias ($10) and Shootanto: Evolutionary Mayhem ($5)
• Virtual Console: Rygar for Arcade ($6)
• DSiWare: Crash-Course Domo, Hard-Hat Domo, Pro-Putt Domo, Rock-n-Roll Domo and White-Water Domo mini games ($2 each)
• The Beatles: Rock Band tracks to complete the Abbey Road album: ($3.50 per 2-pack) "Sun King"/"Mean Mr. Mustard," "Polythene Pam"/"She Came in Through the Bathroom Window" and "Golden Slumbers"/"Carry That Weight" ($2 each) "Maxwell's Silver Hammer," "Oh! Darling," "Because" and "You Never Give Me Your Money" and ($1) "Her Majesty" - since Wii doesn't get bundle pricing, that's $19.50 for all vs. $17 on Xbox 360 or PS3
• Rock Band 2 tracks ($2 each; due Tuesday, Oct. 20) "Another One Bites the Dust," "Crazy Little Thing Called Love," "Fat Bottomed Girls," "I Want It All," "I Want to Break Free," "Killer Queen," "One Vision," "Somebody to Love," "Tie Your Mother Down" and "Under Pressure" by Queen
• DS Demos (via Wii): James Patterson Women’s Murder Club: Games of Passion plus repeats Cars Race-O-Rama, Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Winter Games, Naruto Shippuden: Ninja Destiny 2 and SpongeBob's Truth or Square
• Game Videos: Drawn to Life: The Next Chapter, Imagine: Artist, LostWinds: Winter of the Melodias, Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Winter Games, New Super Mario Bros. Wii, NHL 2K10, Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Explorers of Sky, Rapala We Fish, Resident Evil: The Darkside Chronicles, The Secret Saturdays: Beasts of the 5th Sun, Shootanto: Evolutionary Mayhem, Star Wars Battlefront: Elite Squadron, Tony Hawk: Ride, Wacky World of Sports, Where the Wild Things Are and Wii Fit Plus

Drums are tricky when played with thumbs!

When I saw the video of Rock Band for iPhone, the resemblance to the console versions of the game really sucked me in. I've played the Tap Tap Revenge series and thought it was OK - but apart from a few Weezer songs that I love, I didn't really connect with the music or the interface. You never get the sense with the Tap Tap games that you're playing the songs - it's more like rhythmic interactions.

And while the same can be said for much of the Rock Band series (particularly the guitar parts), the illusion that you're controlling the sounds in those games is better.

Alas, Rock Band on the iPhone is no match for the console versions (can't compare it to the PSP game, since I skipped that one). Sure, the music drops out when you miss a note - which does give you some sense of ownership of your instrument. But you're still disconnected from the feeling of giving a true performance.

Guitars and drums have only four notes to master, but that's plenty since you'll need to cover all four of them with your thumbs and even manage simultaneous taps for chords and synchronous sticking. Tapping the notes is trickier because you can't prefinger the notes. Instead, you have to raise your fingers and then tap them down at precisely the right moment, that is to say - the moment BEFORE the note hits the very narrow target zone (which also feels like it's slightly higher on the note "highway" than it should be based on playing the console version).

So instead of strumming the notes as they pass, you're hammering them the moment before they hit. This really messes with your timing at first. I had to go back to Easy so I wouldn't bomb out. Double-tapping chords should be awesome, but it proves hard to do in practice (at least for me). Hard to say yet if it's the timing problem, or if one thumb is hitting first and causing the double tap to fail.

Tapping your vocals is a poor substitute for singing

Vocals are another can of worms. Since the iPhone has a mike, the most common complaint is that you ought to be able to sing the songs - even though this would exclude iPod Touch users. Instead, you tap the vocal streams similar to guitar notes - only with a shorter "highway" since it's turned horizontal to match the style of the console games' pitch meter. One cool thing here is that the interface changes for percussion parts and then changes back for "singing."

Multiplayer via Bluetooth is available, but I doubt I'll ever get GrrlGotGame to play it with me. Still, I can't imagine it's even remotely as fun as jamming with 2-7 people on the console games - and might prove almost as bad as that dorky DS Guitar Hero.

The game starts you with 20 songs for $10 (the top of the scale that the game might be worth - I was hoping for $2-5 with the promise of more songs to buy). Additional tracks come in 2-packs for $1 each. The game is 158MB, so you'll need to download via Wi-Fi or, better yet, get it on your Mac or PC and then sync it to your iPhone. Though I'd suggest you wait for a demo and/or the inevitable price drop.

The Halo series - perhaps you've heard of it? - and I have a long, occasionally sordid history. It has cost me many hours of sleep, sometimes because I was playing, often because I felt a deep need to write about it. It inspired the only scream that has ever awoken my deep-sleeper of a son, when a glitch ate nearly 34 hours of Halo 3 campaign time. And perhaps most importantly, it cemented my deep, deep loyalty to the Xbox platform.

Do I play games on other platforms? Yes. But inevitably, I find myself thinking about how it would be so much better on an Xbox. And when I play things on my original Xbox - yes, we still have two! - I wish it would work on the 360. (I'm looking at you, Hunter: The Reckoning.)

That's why I'm not reviewing Halo 3: ODST. I am gonna talk about it a little, tho.

In the first three Halo games, you played as Master Chief (Miss Chief if you're nasty...) in a dystopian world inhabited by aliens with a wide range of intelligence and paranoia. Based on the in-game dialogue, you must be pretty badass. The bigger, strong aliens prioritize your demise... and send smaller aliens as cannon fodder. For what it's worth, those at the bottom of the totem pole know exactly who you are ("He's here!"). Of course, they might be having a past-life flashback, as "Not again!" came up a lot during grunt battles.

Like I said, a wide range of intelligence and paranoia.

It was innovative, beautiful, and scary as hell. The night I encountered the Flood ended up being an all-nighter. Just when I thought I was out, they pulled me back in. Granted, the second and third times through Halo weren't quite the same seat wetter, as I knew what was coming. But finding new ways to take them down, wondering if I could somehow stop the sudden but inevitable betrayal that drives the game's last act, kept me coming back.

It's like watching a Joss Whedon show and thinking that maybe this time, a favorite character won't die. You know it's there, you know it's coming, but you just have to watch. I managed to luck into a very limited, private beta of Halo 2. For three sweet weeks, I was able to frag people I actually know - for that matter, I was able to frag. Gamewatcher camped out to get a copy of the game at midnight madness, and we eagerly dove into what turned out to be a pretty decent, albeit short game. I tore through it, reached the end, and discovered... they forgot to finish it!

Well, by most accounts, the "cliff-hanger" (uh-huh) would pay off in Halo 3. Been there, done that, got the glitter babydoll... which I still proudly wear, even though I never finished the game. Remember when I mentioned the game ate my save? I mean the whole thing. No saves to reload, nothing to do but redo everything in the game. And this time, Halo, I just wasn't that into you.

By the time Halo Wars came out (RTS? Seriously?!) I was done with Halo. At least, I thought I was. Then I saw Halo 3: ODST.

Despite having one of the worst titles ever (WTF?), it was still Bungie, and Bungie was going to be at PAX showing off their baby. And did someone say Nathan Fillion? Yes please!

The PAX session convinced me it was time to sign on for another tour of duty. The lush, Blade Runner-esque noir design, the inclusion of not one, not two, but THREE Firefly/Serenity alumni (Fillion, Adam Baldwin and Alan Tudyk), and the promise to give me back my needler was all it took. I was hooked. Once again, we headed out to pick up the game - not midnight madness this time around, but when the store opened - and brought home the latest addition to our Bungie library.

Then it sat on the shelf at home for weeks (we are BUSY gamers). Gamewatcher picked it up first, and after an honest assessment (beautiful, some tough areas, semi-bored now) I gave it a shot. Perhaps it was the lowered expectations, or maybe it was my decision to play on Easy (I know, I know...), but I can't put it down. I LOVE this game. I love this universe. I'm picking up all the achievements you probably don't want appearing in your list (Pink But Deadly!), and I won't be getting much credit for finishing it on Easy.

But you know what? I'm having fun. I'm still annoyed that I have to hit a checkpoint before I can quit and save (lest I lose progress), but at least they seem to be slightly more generous with them these days. And the voice acting is superb, which is an achievement for any videogame. Just when I thought I was out, they pulled me back in - again.

Maybe they should have called it Halo: OMFG.

This doesn't have anything to do with gaming per se, but we finally watched Donnie Darko (after years of really meaning to) and loved it so much we upgraded to the Blu-Ray. So now we have an extra Director's Cut standard DVD 2-disc set with Richard Kelly/Kevin Smith audio commentary, production diary, fan "darkomentary" and more. If you haven't seen this movie, you owe it to yourself to give it a look - and if you've only seen the theatrical version, well, you know you want to see the director's cut!

This giveaway is a bonus for those busy gamers who are vigilant and/or lucky. We'll ship the prize out to the first qualified person who posts a comment. The usual rules apply, except that there is no random drawing. You can't win two consecutive instant wins (Steven S is out on this one), so if this isn't something you really want you should pass on this and wait for the next. We plan to do more of these from time to time in addition to the regular weekly drawings. Follow me on Twitter if you want a head's up before we post Instant Wins (there are more in the queue!).

To enter:

Harmonix has an offer for all you rhythm game holdouts and Guitar Hero fans who are thinking about crossing over. You can get the Rock Band Special Edition Bundle with microphone, drum set and guitar plus Rock Band 2 for $79 with free shipping. (By comparison, the Rock Band Special Edition alone will set you back $139 at Gamestop.com - this is a bargain, kids.)

The fine print: Deal is only available for PS3 and Xbox 360 (sorry, Wii-owners) and only while supplies last. Offer available at www.rockband79.com. And no, Best Buy won't match it. They'll probably throw you of the store for asking.

Side note: If you have a vocalist in the house, I recommend getting a 3rd party mike - the original is not all that great. But with the money you’re saving on the basics alone, you can afford to upgrade the mike (or any other instrument!) well before the holidays...

Here's what's new today at the PlayStation Store:

• Trine ($20)
• FIFA Soccer '10 Live Season 2.0 All Leagues ($10)
• Lumines Supernova Add-on Bundle ($5) and Holiday Pack ($2.50)
• Way of the Samurai 3 Head and Apparel Items (free)
• PS1 for PS3/PSP: Oddworld: Abe’s Oddysee ($10) and Oddworld: Abe’s Exodus ($10)
• Guitar Hero 5 Classic Rock 2 Track Pack ($5.50 or $2 each) with "Show Me The Way (Live)" by Peter Frampton, "Freeze-Frame" by J. Geils Band and "Lay It On The Line" by Triumph
• The Beatles: Rock Band Abbey Road album ($17) and tracks ($2 each) "Maxwell's Silver Hammer," "Oh! Darling" and "Because" - Note: You cannot complete any more of the album on PS3 by buying individual tracks
• Rock Band/Rock Band 2 Queen Pack 01 ($16 or $2 each) with "Another One Bites the Dust," "Crazy Little Thing Called Love," "Fat Bottomed Girls," "I Want It All," "I Want to Break Free," "Killer Queen," "One Vision," "Somebody to Love," "Tie Your Mother Down" and "Under Pressure"
• PSP: Armored Core 3 Portable ($15), Capcom Puzzle World ($20), Crimson Gem Saga ($30), FIFA Soccer '10 ($40), Grand Theft Auto: Liberty City Stories ($20), Grand Theft Auto: Vice City Stories ($20), Half-Minute Hero ($30), Hammerin' Hero ($20), Lemmings ($16), Marvel Super Hero Squad ($30), Riviera: The Promised Land ($15), R-Type Command ($15), The Secret Saturdays: Beasts of the 5th Sun ($30), Steambot Chronicles Battle Tournament ($30), Undead Knights ($40), The Warriors ($20), WWE Smackdown vs. RAW 2010 ($40) and Yggdra Union ($15) plus Rock Band Unplugged tracks ($2 each) "The Rock Show" by Blink 182 and "All I Want" by The Offspring
• Demos: Critter Crunch, Dragon Ball: Raging Blast and Ratchet And Clank Future: A Crack In Time (Clank version) and Star Wars Battlefront: Elite Squadron (PSP)
• Game Videos: Aliens vs. Predator, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2, Dragon Age: Origins, Final Fantasy XIII, Guitar Hero: Van Halen, Uncharted 2: Among Thieves, plus Pulse magazine and more Dew Tour
• Themes: Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs ($2), '40s WWII Pinups ($2), Beach 2 ($2), Hot Pockets (free), School Girls Attack! Hook-Ups ($2), Tokyo City Police Hook-Ups ($2) and Zombies On TV ($2)
• Wallpaper: LocoRoco: Midnight Carnival and Hot Pockets

Sort of a light week at Xbox Live Marketplace:

• Arcade: Panzer General: Allied Assault ($10) and Tower Bloxx Deluxe ($10) , plus Magic: The Gathering - Duels of the Planeswalkers Expansion Pack 1 ($5, free online only version available so you can duel people who've bought it)
• Guitar Hero 5 Classic Rock 2 Track Pack ($5.50 or $2 each) with "Show Me The Way (Live)" by Peter Frampton, "Freeze-Frame" by J. Geils Band and "Lay It On The Line" by Triumph
• The Beatles: Rock Band Abbey Road album ($17) and tracks ($2 each) "Maxwell's Silver Hammer," "Oh! Darling" and "Because" - Note: You cannot complete any more of the album on Xbox 360 by buying individual tracks
• Rock Band/Rock Band 2 Queen Pack 01 ($16 or $2 each) with "Another One Bites the Dust," "Crazy Little Thing Called Love," "Fat Bottomed Girls," "I Want It All," "I Want to Break Free," "Killer Queen," "One Vision," "Somebody to Love," "Tie Your Mother Down" and "Under Pressure"
• Lips tracks ($2 each) "Return Of The Mack" by Mark Morrison and "Lucky" by Jason Mraz
• Games on Demand: Army of Two ($20), Midnight Club: Los Angeles ($30) and Sonic Unleashed ($30),
• Demos: Dragon Ball: Raging Blast
• Indie Games (usually $1-$10 each): Astro Match 3, Banana Split, Boring Space Shooter, Carcophony, Crosstown, Epiphany in Spaaace!, Hunters Lunch, LOL Runner, Night Of Doom, Poker Blinds, Pumpkin Chop, Speed Factory and yOm
• Game Videos: Alpha Protocol, Dragon Age: Origins, Final Fantasy XIII, Grand Theft Auto IV The Ballad of Gay Tony, Halo 3: ODST, Tekken 6 and WWE SmackDown vs. RAW 2010
• Themes: Dragon Age: Origins ($3 each) and NBA Live '10 ($3 each)
• Pictures: Borderlands ($1), NBA Live '10 ($1), 'Splosion Man (free; enters you into sweepstakes), plus McDonald's and more Reese's Halloween (free; enters you in sweepstakes)
• Avatar Items (usually priced $1-$5 each): Halloween costumes and accessories, Lucidity and Gamerchix (ladies only)

This week's giveaway is a genuine collectible, the Halo 2 Limited Edition Action Figure: Holographic Prophet of Regret.

There were actually two different figures of the Prophet of Regret (you know, that floating dude in the gravity throne who totally has it in for Master Chief) and this is the rarer translucent one that mimics his hologram defenses.

Halo fans will know he also shows up in Halo Wars and that, despite his title, he REGRETS NOTHING. Though YOU might - if you fail to enter the drawing to win him.

To enter:

This week we look at Rock Band for iPhone, preview the forthcoming Xbox 360 Facebook and Twitter features (which we were invited to try just before recording this), explore GrrlGotGame's on again/off again affair with the Halo series, whine about The Beatles: Rock Band DLC codes (which we'll be giving away!) and more.

This week's podcast is a minute shorter than the first, yet packed with more content. (You be the judge, but I think we're getting better!)

Our goal is to provide 10-15 minutes of news and helpful commentary every Sunday so that you'll have a great jumping off point for your busy gamer week. Here's what we pack into each episode:

• The week's game releases
• A quick look back at the previous week's releases, news and downloadable content highlights
• What we're playing/mini-reviews
• Giveaways
• Comment of the week

All in a tight package you can easily consume during even the shortest commutes!

Please share your own thoughts and comments about the podcast here. We'll continue to refine our show over the coming weeks!

Download the podcast here or, if you can, please subscribe at iTunes!

As promised in the Busy Gamer Podcast, here is the complete list of games due for release this week for PC/Mac, portables and consoles (plus some recent releases that slipped out when we weren't looking):

• DS: 100 All-Time Favorites, Atelier Annie: Alchemists of Sera Island, Are You Smarter than a 5th Grader?, The Backyardigans, Ben 10: Alien Force Vilgax Attacks, Chronicles of Mystery: Curse of the Ancient Temple, Chronicles of Mystery: The Tree of Life, CSI: Deadly Intent, Disney Fairies: Tinkerbell and The Lost Treasure, Dora the Explorer: Dora Puppy, Drawn to Life: The Next Chapter, Dream Salon, Hasbro Family Game Night, Nostalgia, PDC World Championship Darts, PictureBook Games: The Royal Bluff (DSiWare), Press Your Luck 2010 Edition, Safari Adventures Africa, SimAnimals Africa, SpongeBob's Truth or Square, Sudoku (DSiWare), Sushi Academy, System: Flaw, Touchmaster 3 and World of Zoo
• iPhone: Catan, Doom Classic, Five Minutes to Kill Yourself, GameCenter (Gamefly queue management, news and community), Mystery Mania, NBA Live, Omniball, Real Racing GTI, Sniper vs. Sniper: Online, Undercroft, Whizzit 123 and Wriggle
• Mac: None
• PC: 333,000 Games, Block Party 3 Pack, Cake Mania 3, Cessna 162 Sky Catcher, Chronicles of Mystery: The Tree of Life, EA-6B Prowler, Hawker Hurricane, Kelly Green, League of Legends: Clash of Fates, Lockheed Constellation, My Boyfriend, Mystery Masters, Mystery P.I.: The New York Fortune, Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian, Painkiller: Resurrection, Pool Hall Pro, Press Your Luck 2010 Edition, The Stronghold Collection, Treasure Island, UAV Predator, V-22 Osprey, Vertigo, Virtual Families, Wine Tycoon, World of Zoo and Zooloretto
• PS2: Ben 10: Alien Force Vilgax Attacks, DanceDanceRevolution X2, DJ Hero and Ni Hao, Kai-Lan: Super Game Day
• PS3: DJ Hero, Fairytale Fights, Ratchet & Clank Future: A Crack In Time and Tekken 6
• PSP: Ben 10: Alien Force Vilgax Attacks, Mytran Wars, PDC World Championship Darts, Petz Dogz Family, Petz Hamsterz Bunch, Petz: Saddle Club and SpongeBob's Truth or Square - Correction: LittleBigPlanet is due Nov. 17
• Wii: 101-in-1 Party Megamix, All Star Cheer Squad 2, Arcade Shooter: Illvelo, Are You Smarter than a 5th Grader?, Ben 10: Alien Force Vilgax Attacks, Cocoto Surprise, CSI: Deadly Intent, Dance Dance Revolution Hottest Party 3, DJ Hero, Drawn to Life: The Next Chapter, Dream Dance and Cheer, Ghost Mansion Party (WiiWare), Golden Axe (Virtual Console), Hasbro Family Game Night 2, Monster 4x4: Stunt Racer, Nerf 2: N-Strike Elite, Ni Hao, Kai-Lan: Super Game Day, Press Your Luck 2010 Edition, Rabbids Go Home, Remington Great American Bird Hunt, Safari Adventures Africa, SimAnimals Africa, Ski-Doo: Snowmobile Challenge, SpongeBob's Truth or Square, Tales of Monkey Island: Chapter 3 (WiiWare), Vegas Party, World of Zoo, Zombies Ate My Neighbors (Virtual Console) and Zooloretto
• Xbox 360: Are You Smarter than a 5th Grader?, Ben 10 Alien Force: Vilgax Attacks, CSI: Deadly Intent, DJ Hero, Fairytale Fights, Forza Motorsport 3, Grand Theft Auto: Episodes from Liberty City, Grand Theft Auto IV: The Ballad of Gay Tony, Inferno Pool (Arcade), Rainbow Islands (Arcade), SpongeBob's Truth or Square and Tekken 6

So, what will you be picking up - or is this week a pass? Any games we missed? Please let us know...

Here are this week's downloads, demos and videos for the Wii and Nintendo DS:

• WiiWare: Ghost Mansion Party ($10) and Tales of Monkey Island: Chapter 3 ($10)
• Virtual Console: Golden Axe ($9) and Zombies Ate My Neighbors ($8)
• DSiWare: PictureBook Games: The Royal Bluff ($5) and Sudoku ($2)
• Rock Band 2 tracks ($1-2 each; due Tuesday, Oct. 27) "Best of Me" and "Sugarbaby" by Morningwood, "Rock Me" by Liz Phair, "New Moon Rising," "Pilgrim," "Sundial," "White Unicorn" and "Woman" by Wolfmother and "Burn," "Dragula" and "Superbeast" by Rob Zombie
• DS Demos (via Wii): Bakugan Battle Brawlers, plus repeats James Patterson Women’s Murder Club: Games of Passion, Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Winter Games and SpongeBob's Truth or Square
• Game Videos: Band Hero, Ben 10 Alien Force: Vilgax Attacks, Disney Jonas, Food Network: Cook or Be Cooked, Game Party 3, Ghost Mansion Party, Hasbro Family Game Night 2, Jambo! Safari: Animal Rescue, Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Winter Games, Need for Speed: Nitro, New Super Mario Bros. Wii, SimAnimals Africa, Star Wars Battlefront: Elite Squadron, Style Savvy, Sudoku, Tales of Monkey Island: Chapter 3 and Wii Fit Plus

In the Halloween spirit, we have an unopened pack of zombies to give away. I don't recall where or when we got these, but we've decided we're never going to have a place for them - so we might as well pass them on to someone who will enjoy them!

There are 9 in all (including a dog, a dude with a suitcase and a lady holding a brain) and, best of all, they glow in the dark.

This giveaway is a bonus for those busy gamers who are vigilant and/or lucky. We'll ship the prize out to the first qualified person who posts a comment. The usual rules apply, except that there is no random drawing. You can't win two consecutive instant wins (Erica is out on this one), so if this isn't something you really want you should pass on this and wait for the next. We plan to do more of these from time to time in addition to the regular weekly drawings. Follow me on Twitter if you want a head's up before we post Instant Wins (there are more in the queue!).

To enter:

Starting in November, PlayStation 3 owners will get a taste of what the Xbox 360 has had for the past year: playback of movies and shows from their Netflix instant queue. The catch? You'll need to request a free Blu-Ray disc that's required for streaming (though eventually, rumor has it, the option will be embedded right into the PS3 dashboard). You do need at least a $9 per month Netflix plan, but all movies and shows available for instant streaming are free after that. To request a disc, visit netflix.com/InstantStreamingDisc. Here's hoping with Sony in the game, we won't see as many movies denied to consoles...

If you listened to Sunday's podcast, you know that we have three Xbox 360 song codes for The Beatles: Rock Band that we can't use. Here's how this is going to work. We'll assume if you enter that you want a song but probably have a preference. List the first two songs you'd want in order, and we'll award them accordingly (first person gets the first choice, second and third get what's left over).

The songs are:

• "Because"
• "Maxwell's Silver Hammer"
• "Oh! Darling"

This giveaway is a bonus for those busy gamers who are vigilant and/or lucky. We'll ship the prize out to the first qualified person who posts a comment. The usual rules apply, except that there is no random drawing. You can't win two consecutive instant wins but since there are three prizes this time, even Spencer (who won yesterday's zombies) can enter - but none of today's winners can enter the next instant win. We plan to do more of these from time to time in addition to the regular weekly drawings. Follow me on Twitter if you want a head's up before we post Instant Wins (there are more in the queue!).

To enter:

As the holidaze approach, so do the inevitable sequels and pre-ordained blockbusters. And you know what that means: Licensed Games That Suck™! Too many games play strictly by the rules of the movies they are based on, meaning once you've seen one, you've seen the other. One just happens to have unlockable achievements (at least on the PS3 and Xbox 360).

Developers, I know you will never stop licensing existing properties, just like Hollywood will never stop offering them up. (I only wish the British would cough up some licenses... Shawn of the Dead: The Videogame, anyone?) So in the interest of keeping things interesting for at least me, please consider looking a little farther than the IMAX schedule for your ideas.

Heck, I'll even throw a few out there just to get you started. No need to thank me, just license the good stuff. I'll bet you can pick up at least two or three of these for the cost of one Jim Carrey's A Christmas Carol fiasco. (You know it's coming...) And you know what? You might even find that you enjoy working with the material.

Make my game, please. I promise to buy it at full price and everything. Just please, don't let them suck. And the nominees for latest licenses that should (but probably won't) be exploited are:

Glee (US television - FOX)
Let's start things off with a rhythm party game we can all appreciate: Glee. Yes, the music is all over the place, from the rapping teacher ("Gold Digger," "The Thong Song") to the Broadway goddess guest shot ("Alone," "Last Name") to the omnipresent Journey ("Don't Stop Believin'"). You gotta admit, that's still more cohesive than any Lips list so far... and the arrangements are tailor made for groups of inebriated people who think they can sing.

The show offers every personality a girl/boy could want. Let us choose a character that fits us (there could even be a personality quiz to help us pick!), add some unlockable video clips made especially for the game and offer up some good old fashioned DLC in the form of new outfits - and songs, naturally. And do I smell Slushie mini-game for the... um, enthusiasts out there who have those clips on endless repeat? Throw in a cursory Career mode that takes the players from auditions to rehearsals all the way to Sectionals and Nationals, and you have yourself a game.

Oh, and if you happen to know a company that makes, say, musical instrument peripherals... well, let's just say there are characters who play drums and guitar in the show.

Fray: Future Slayer (Trade Paperback Comic - Dark Horse Comics)
Being a game developer, you are, of course, completely on top of any and all comic franchises - right? RIGHT? Okay, to be fair, this Joss Whedon-penned 8-issue series is on the older side, running from 2001-2003. (Yes, you read correctly. There was what might charitably be called a "lull.") I'd suggest heading straight to your nearest comic book store right now and picking it up. Oh, and while you're over there, check out the Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Time of Your Life trade paperback. Fray makes a pretty damn important cross-over. Go ahead, I'll wait.

All done? Good. Because I need you to convert this series into an action/adventure game for me. The stories are there - and hell, maybe you can bring in the Time of Your Life part while you're at it - and the world needs more kick-ass heroines. Oh, she likes to dress kinda trashy, too. But kick ass, riot-grrl trashy, not like, Barbie in a French Maid's outfit trashy. (Boys do like badass chicks, don't they?)

Trust me. There's stuff to work with here. And with Dollhouse heading down its current trajectory... well, I won't go there. But let's just say Whedon might be available to take on another project in the near future. Speaking of which...

Here's what just came out at the PlayStation Store:

• Inferno Pool ($10)
• Hasbro Family Game Night ($40) with Battleship, Boggle, Connect Four, Sorry and Yahtzee
• Pain Elvira character ($2)
• Trivial Pursuit Sports Pack ($5)
• DJ Hero Extended Mix Pack ($6) with "All Of Me" by 50 Cent featuring Mary J. Blige vs "Radio Ga Ga" by Queen and "DARE" by Gorillaz vs "Can’t Truss It" by Public Enemy
• Guitar Hero 5 All Hallows Eve Track Pack ($5.50 or $2 each) with "Gor Gor" by GWAR, "Beautiful People" by Marilyn Manson, and "Astro Zombies" by The Misfits
• Rock Band/Rock Band 2 Wolfmother Pack 01 ($8.50 or $2 each) with "New Moon Rising," "Pilgrim," "Sundial," "White Unicorn" and "Woman" and Rob Zombie Pack 01 ($5.50 or $2 each) with "Burn," "Dragula," and "Superbeast" plus tracks "Best of Me" and "Sugarbaby" by Morningwood ($1 each) and "Rock Me" by Liz Phair ($2)
• PSP: Crystal Defenders ($10), Darkstalkers Chronicles: The Chaos Tower ($20), LocoRoco: Midnight Carnival ($15), Mega Man Maverick Hunter X ($20), NBA 2K10 ($30), Petz Dogz Family ($30), Petz Hamsterz Bunch ($30), Petz Saddle Club ($30), Zombie Tycoon ($8), Yummy Yummy Cooking Jam ($5) and Rock Band Unplugged tracks ($2 each) "My Old School" by Steely Dan and "Kool Thing" by Sonic Youth
• Demos: Crystal Defenders (PSP), Fat Princess, Jak and Daxter: The Lost Frontier (PSP), LocoRoco Midnight Carnival (PSP), Petz Saddle Club (PSP), Pro Evolution Soccer 2010 and Ratchet And Clank Future: A Crack In Time (Ratchet version)
• Game Videos: Assassin's Creed II, Battlefield: Bad Company 2, Beaterator, Dragon Age: Origins, Front Mission Evolved, Jak and Daxter: The Lost Frontier, Just Cause 2, NBA 2K10, Pain, The Saboteur, Thexder Neo and Uncharted 2: Among Thieves
• Themes: Apache Gunship ($1.50), German Panther Tank ($2), Infantry ($1.50), It's Always Sunny In Philadelphia ($2), Lingerie Football League: Dallas Desire ($2), Skull Bash ($2) and South Park Dynamic ($3)

Here's what is new at the Xbox Live Marketplace:

• Arcade: Inferno Pool ($10) and Rainbow Islands Towering Adventure! ($10)
• Grand Theft Auto IV The Ballad of Gay Tony ($20)
• Trivial Pursuit Sports Pack ($5)
• DJ Hero Extended Mix Pack ($6) with "All Of Me" by 50 Cent featuring Mary J. Blige vs "Radio Ga Ga" by Queen and "DARE" by Gorillaz vs "Can’t Truss It" by Public Enemy
• Guitar Hero 5 All Hallows Eve Track Pack ($5.50 or $2 each) with "Gor Gor" by GWAR, "Beautiful People" by Marilyn Manson, and "Astro Zombies" by The Misfits
• Rock Band/Rock Band 2 Wolfmother Pack 01 ($8.50 or $2 each) with "New Moon Rising," "Pilgrim," "Sundial," "White Unicorn" and "Woman" and Rob Zombie Pack 01 ($5.50 or $2 each) with "Burn," "Dragula," and "Superbeast" plus tracks "Best of Me" and "Sugarbaby" by Morningwood ($1 each) and "Rock Me" by Liz Phair ($2)
• Lips The Supremes Song Pack ($5.50 of $2 each) "Baby Love," "Stop! In The Name Of Love" and "You Can't Hurry Love"
• Games on Demand: Dead Space ($20) and Dirt ($30)
• Demos: CSI: Deadly Intent
• Indie Games (usually $1-$10 each): Beat Hazard, Drinkards, Echoes+, Equitunes, Freqµency, Ganbare Natsuki San, Guns Loaded, Link Attack, Mr BeatLoop, omg cats game@#$, Pass The Pad!, Powa Volley, Primary Attack, SFG Soccer and T-KARA
• Game Videos: Battlefield: Bad Company 2, CSI: Deadly Intent, Forza Motorsport 3, Grand Theft Auto IV The Ballad of Gay Tony, Madden NFL Arcade, Magic: The Gathering - Duels of the Planeswalkers and Metro 2033 plus Halo 3: ODST video guides ($1 each)
• Themes: Ghost in the Shell Premium ($3), University Premiums (various schools, $3 each)
• Pictures: Konsole Kingz ($1-2 each), Porsche (free; enters you in sweepstakes) and University (various schools, $1.25 each)
• Avatar Items (usually priced $1-$5 each): University clothing

This week's giveaway is Test Drive Unlimited for Xbox 360, one of my favorite games from the early days of this console generation. And, truth be told, I've been thinking of getting back into it. Yeah, I'm keeping my copy; this is an extra one I picked up.

It was also the game that inspired me to launch the first ever Busy Gamer Review in 2006.

TDU is an unconventional racing title that lets you cruise the entire island of Oahu. You not only get to drive all over a Hawaiian island (for an achievement if you can find every single stretch of road), you'll want to win races and beat challenges to earn cash and buy scenic property there! (Also hipster clothes and, oh yeah, cars.) Some of the races are quick, just a few minutes, and others are EPIC - an hour or more around the island. Multiplayer is unique: You'll be placed in an instance of the island with other real people who are playing at the same time and they'll cruise around with you. Challenge 'em to races, or just run 'em off the road. It's all good.

There are even some cool Easter eggs like an airport fence you can jump if you're patient or lucky and a portal to a secret bonus island. (I've bookmarked both for easy access - maybe I'll see you there?)

To enter: