Busy Gamer News

• DS: 5 in 1 Solitaire (DSiWare), Downtown Texas Hold 'em (DSiWare), Imagine: Reporter, Legends of Exidia (DSiWare), Move your Brain Rollway Puzzle (DSiWare), Playmobil: Knights, Puzzle Chronicles and True Swing: Golf Express (DSiWare)
• iPhone: Anrufen Online, Assassins's Creed 2: Discovery, Battle of Puppets, Cogs, Eveningstar, Guerilla Bob, Project 72, Sonic at the Olympic Winter Games, Spore Creatures and Warheads
• Mac: Unsolved Mystery Club: Amelia Earhart and Wisegal
• PC: Iron Roses, Mystery 5 Pack, S.T.A.L.K.E.R. Call of Pripyat, Star Trek Online, The Tudors, Unsolved Mystery Club: Amelia Earhart and Wisegal
• PS3: White Knight Chronicles International Edition
• PS2: None
• PSP: Puzzle Chronicles
• Wii: 5 in 1 Solitaire (WiiWare), Alex Kidd in Shinobi World (Virtual Console), Family Party 30 Great Games: Winter Fun, Tales of Monkey Island: Chapter 5 (WiiWare) and Tumblebugs 2 (WiiWare)
• Xbox 360: Chime (Arcade)

• WiiWare: 5 in 1 Solitaire ($5), Tales of Monkey Island: Chapter 5 ($10) and Tumblebugs 2 ($8)
• Virtual Console: Alex Kidd in Shinobi World for Sega Master System ($5)
• DSiWare: 5 in 1 Solitaire ($2), Downtown Texas Hold 'em ($5), Legends of Exidi ($8), Move your Brain: Rollway Puzzle ($5) and True Swing: Golf Express ($8)
• Rock Band 2 tracks ($2 each; due Tuesday, Feb. 2) "Swing" by Trace Adkins, "She Thinks My Tractor's Sexy" by Kenny Chesney, "Suds in the Bucket" by Sara Evans,"Gone" by Montgomery Gentry, "On the Road Again" by Willie Nelson and "Me and My Gang" by Rascal Flatts - Note: "Family friendly" tracks also work with Lego Rock Band.
• DS Demos (via Wii's Nintendo "Marketing" Channel): Ace Attorney Investigations: Miles Edgeworth and, after a prolonged absence, the return of the Bobsled Race version of Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Winter Games plus the usual suspects including Avatar, Bakugan Battle Brawlers, Cooking Mama 3: Shop and Chop, Naruto Shippuden: Ninja Destiny 2 and The Princess and the Frog
• Game Videos: 5 in 1 Solitaire, Ace Attorney Investigations: Miles Edgeworth, Animal Crossing: City Folk, Deca Sports DS, Downtown Texas Hold 'em, Foto Showdown, Legends of Exidi, Move your Brain: Rollway Puzzle, Tales of Monkey Island: Chapter 5 and Tumblebugs 2

The Busy Gamer household is something of a console museum, with videogame systems outnumbering the power sockets. It's not that we have trouble letting go (well, some of us, anyway). Rather, there are some games that are so compelling and just plain fun that we keep antiquated systems around JUST IN CASE we suddenly have an overwhelming urge to play them.

Plugging in an old-time favorite inevitably leads to some buyer's remorse, of course. From the poor graphics to lack of saves (do memory cards die? why yes!), revisiting a favorite title can be an exercise in masochism. Speaking of which, I forgot how much I really, really hated the N64 controller.

I say it's time for gamers to band together and (once again) use the power of the Internet to request - nay, demand! - that my personal favorite games once again live on, preferably for Xbox 360 but I'll take PS3, 'cause the Wii remote kills my hands and it's all about me, don't cha know.

But I digress. Here, without further ado, are my nominations for games to resurrect. Some are games that I obsessed over; others are games that I could play with my kid. All are titles I would buy again in a heartbeat.

1. Shadowman (played on N64). The game that stole me back from PC gaming, and one of the N64's notable ventures into darker material. You play Mike LeRoi, who has the ability to slip between reality and the Shadowlands, where people do voodoo oh so well. Your main storyline involves stopping a clique of serial killers from bringing about the apocalypse (I know, so clichéd). Unusually well-written and beautifully acted (I can still hear Mike's voice in my head), the game featured fantastic combat, challenging puzzles and visuals that hold up pretty well against today's standards. This was the first game I beat on N64 (yes, before Zelda) and one of the few that I finished multiple times. Plus, any game that is essentially a 20-hour lead up to a punch line gets my vote. Damn, I may have to go plug in the N64 now. Hm, what to disconnect?

2. Blast Corps (N64). A kid-friendly N64 gem with some unintentional hilarity. Bad, vaguely sexist encouragement aside, the game was a blast - in all senses. Your job is, in a nutshell: Destroy stuff within a time limit using various vehicles. That's it, that's the game. Go forth and trash things. There to keep your spirits high is a female guide whose sincerity is matched only by her chipper delivery. "You can DO this" and her congratulatory "You're just trying to IMPRESS me" are still quoted almost daily in our household.

3. Jet Set Radio Future (original Xbox). Cel shading! Japanese pop music! Illegal graffiti! Roller skates! Somewhere, someone put all of these elements together and made one of the simplest, greatest games of all time. There is no plot, really. Just a group of young, funky kids skating all over - and I do mean all over - downtown Tokyo tagging buildings, fighting the man, and occasionally getting into it with the cops. Which pretty much consists of rollerskating and spray painting the cops. Did I mention the music was AWESOME?

OK, not really selling it, but trust me, this is a game that is screaming for the high-def treatment. "We need some help in Aisle 10..."

4. Eternal Darkness: Sanity's Requiem (GameCube). Did you play this when it was out? Didn't think so. Go out, and find this game (it'll work in your Wii if you don't have a GameCube). Now. Seriously. This is, without a doubt, one of the best games ever released, which means of course it bombed. Eternal Darkness was a psychological horror game that went beyond the standard boo! parlor tricks to really, really screw with you, the player. I'll take this over the Silent Hill: frozen tundra game they are pushing any day.

5. Dark Summit (played on original Xbox). A snowboarding game that combined the usual jump/grind/trick gameplay with a spy storyline and a cute chick. This came out around the same time as two other snowboarding games and fell through the cracks. A shame, because games with strong female leads are rare - really fun games with female leads even rarer.

6. Almost every Zelda game ever made (various Nintendo consoles and portables). Because I love Zelda, but I hate the Wii Remote. Also, not that Windwaker game. I watched Gamewatcher play it, and from what I saw, it wasn't just the wind that blew in that one.

Agree? Disagree? Never heard of these games? Share your own nominees for games that need to be resurrected in comments!

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.


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

In a Nutshell: A set of six fast-paced missions that comprise the lost Sequence 12 of the Assassin's Creed II storyline. And by lost, I mean the developers didn't finish it in time to cram it into the original game (or that's their story, anyway). For context, the finale, in which you have fun storming the ultimate castle, is Sequence 14 and there's another DLC pack coming in February that fills in the also absent Sequence 13.

As the title implies, this missing memory takes place in Forli: the less developed, less fun area of the game. It compensates by bringing back everyone's favorite homicidal hottie, Catarina Sforza. While she's clearly burning for Ezio to show her his big sword, she also has kind of a bad track record with the menfolk. (Good night, Ezio. Sleep well. I'll most likely kill you in the morning...)

You'll spend a fun-filled hour (or two, if you fall a lot, which I do) running around doing favors for Catarina, by which I mean killing guards, then killing more guards and then just to break things up, running across a field and then, yes, you guessed it - killing some guards. There's also more flying.

Oh, there are no new achievements or trophies, so don't get excited.

Learning Curve: Game play is exactly the same as ACII - if you've played the game, you'll be fine. Unless you've been playing a lot of another game (say, Borderlands) in which case you might want to fast travel home and brush up in the training area.

That said, I got the "No Hitter" achievement for taking down a bunch of guards without getting hit within the first 10 minutes of booting the game. An achievement I couldn't get when I was actually playing the main game. And trying. Hard. Guess button mashing can have its benefits.

The Save Game: Same as before. You'll get periodic mid-mission saves, and a save after every completed mission. Quit to the main menu before shutting down to ensure your progress is saved.

Family Factor: Lots of killing but little blood, a few bad words and you will definitely see London and France courtesy of Catarina, albeit swathed in the finest cotton available in the 1400s. It's a very brief flash, so to speak.

Buy or Skip? It really depends on how much you enjoy the game. The missions are easy, but it doesn't really fill in any major storylines. It's just a way to extend the game for a few bucks. Did I mention there aren't any new achievements or trophies?

On a Personal Note: I was excited about the DLC when it was first announced as I was still steeped in the game. Having beat and walked away from AC II at the end of 2009, I was less rabid when it actually arrived. I'm glad I played it, and I certainly enjoyed the opportunity to revisit the world. Having two people in the house who will (eventually) play through made the (admittedly inexpensive) $4 cost easier to swallow.

More Busy Gamer Reviews:

• Borderlands [BGN Game of the Year 2009]
• Lego Rock Band
• Assassin's Creed II
• Zuma's Revenge
• Halo 3: ODST
• Plants vs. Zombies
• Fallout 3
• Scribblenauts
• The Beatles: Rock Band
• Wolfenstein RPG
• Infamous
• Guide to kids and adult games

• Fret Nice ($15)
• White Knight Chronicles International Edition Makeover Ticket ($5) lets you change your character appearance mid-game, for a price
• MX vs ATV Reflex Track Pack 2 ($5) with three tracks and No Fear gear
• Dragon Ball: Raging Blast Revived Warriors Pack (free)
• NBA Live '10 All Star Weekend Pack (free) jerseys
• Guitar Hero 5 30 Seconds to Mars Track Pack ($5.50 or $2 each) with "Attack," "From Yesterday" and "Kings and Queens"
• Rock Band/Rock Band 2 Going Country Pack 03 ($10 or $2 each) with "Swing" by Trace Adkins, "She Thinks My Tractor's Sexy" by Kenny Chesney, "Suds in the Bucket" by Sara Evans,"Gone" by Montgomery Gentry, "On the Road Again" by Willie Nelson and "Me and My Gang" by Rascal Flatts - Note: "Family friendly" tracks also work with Lego Rock Band.
• Demos: Aliens vs. Predator, Battlefield: Bad Company 2 multiplayer, Dynasty Warriors: Strikeforce, Fret Nice and Tank Battles
• Game Videos: Army of Two: The 40th Day, Battlefield: Bad Company 2, Dark Void, Sonic & Sega All-Stars Racing, plus Pulse and Qore Episode 21 ($3 or $25/year) featuring for-pay looks at Battlefield: Bad Company 2, Resonance of Fate and Yakuza 3
• Themes: White Knight Chronicles International Edition Dynamic ($3) plus A Sexy Valentine ($2), Azmodeus Dark Angels Premium ($2), Bad Business ($2), Infected ($1.50) and Star Trek Dynamic ($3)
• Wallpaper: NBA Unrivaled (free)
• PSP: After Burner: Black Falcon ($16) and Armored Core: Silent Line ($15)
• PSP Game Videos: Pulse
• PSP Themes: A Sexy Valentine, Infected and Star Trek ($1.50 each)
• PlayStation Home Items (usually priced $0.50-7.50 each): Assassin's Creed II, BioShock 2, Villain's Lair with two mini-games and London Pub with darts

• Arcade: Chime ($4) plus 0D Beat Drop BlazBlue Special Skin and BGM Pack 01 ($4), 0 Day Attack on Earth Night Missions Map Pack ($7) and Buku Sudoku puzzle packs ($2 each)
• Dragon Age: Origins Return to Ostagar expansion ($5) that opens up after you visit the village of Lothering
• Halo 3 Mythic II Map Pack ($10) with the final three maps from Halo 3: ODST (Citadel, Heretic and Midship) for Halo 3 players who skipped the quasi-sequel
• MX vs ATV Reflex Track Pack 2 ($5) with three tracks and No Fear gear
• Dragon Ball: Raging Blast Revived Warriors Pack (free)
• NBA Live '10 All Star Weekend Pack (free) jerseys
• Guitar Hero 5 30 Seconds to Mars Track Pack ($5.50 or $2 each) with "Attack," "From Yesterday" and "Kings and Queens"
• Rock Band/Rock Band 2 Going Country Pack 03 ($10 or $2 each) with "Swing" by Trace Adkins, "She Thinks My Tractor's Sexy" by Kenny Chesney, "Suds in the Bucket" by Sara Evans,"Gone" by Montgomery Gentry, "On the Road Again" by Willie Nelson and "Me and My Gang" by Rascal Flatts - Note: "Family friendly" tracks also work with Lego Rock Band.
• Lips The Cardigans Pack($5.50 or $2 each)with "Carnival," "Erase/Rewind" and "My Favourite Game" and track ($2) "Gypsy Woman (She's Homeless)" by Crystal Waters
• Games on Demand: DDR Universe 3 ($30)
• Demos: Aliens vs. Predator multiplayer and Dynasty Warriors: Strikeforce plus all Xbox Live Arcade and Indie games
• Indie Games (usually $1-10 each): Absorb, Avatar Meet Up Live!, Avatar Quest, Drunk Zombies, Earth Shaker, Hang 'em High A Hangman Game, Hockey Fights, Invasion Defender, Iris 2.0: Visualizer Studio, Kollectiv360, Samurai vs Zombie, Snake4D, Yet Another Zombie Defense and Your Doodles Are Bugged!
• Game Videos: Chime, Metro 2033, Red Dead Redemption and Sonic & Sega All-Stars Racing
• Themes: Dante's Inferno ($3)
• Pictures: Battlefield: Bad Company 2 (free; enters you in sweepstakes)
• Avatar Items (usually priced $1-5 each): Madden NFL '10 and Red Faction: Guerrilla

In honor of the launch of Star Trek Online, we have - no, not Star Trek Online. (Though we hear it's awesome!) Perhaps the next best thing, if you're a comic book fan: The complete Star Trek Movie Comic Book Collection on CD-ROM for Mac and PC.

We're keeping one for ourselves, but picked up an extra for one lucky winner. It contains:

• Star Trek: The Motion Picture (3 issues)
• Star Trek III: The Search for Spock
• Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home
• Star Trek V: The Final Frontier
• Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country
• Star Trek Generations
• Star Trek: First Contact
• Star Trek: The Next Generation Series Finale
• 15 bonus Star Trek comics from Marvel (the box says 18, but we checked and the first three are The Motion Picture; for some reason, only the first issue appears in the movies section)

That's 25 comics in all! (See some sample covers on the jump.)

So take a break from your Star Trek MMO - or win a free alternative while you wait for your checkbook to cool off after the holidays.

To enter:

Microsoft revealed they will be discontinuing Xbox Live for the original Xbox consoles and games on April 15, and this INCLUDES original Xbox games playing on Xbox 360 via backward compatibility such as Halo 2 and Star Wars: Republic Commando. If you only use Xbox Live on an original Xbox, Microsoft will soon cancel your auto-renewal if you have this active.

The official spin here is that there are some unnamed Xbox Live innovations that are being held back due to Microsoft's need to retain support for original Xbox (primarily for the active Halo 2 community). Once they pull the plug on original Xbox, they'll no longer be held back. No details yet on what those innovations might include, but it's likely we'll see an end to the 100-person Friends list cap since reportedly it was original Xbox support that was blocking this.

Whatever it is, enjoy your original Xbox games on Live while you can: You have 2 months to milk the online fun out of them and, if you haven't made the leap to Xbox 360, save up for a new console...

• 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

• DS: Best Friends Tonight, The Daring Game for Girls, Extreme Hangman (DSiWare), Fieldrunners (DSiWare), Jigapix: Pets, Jigapix: Wonderful World, Legend of Kay, Link 'n' Launch (DSiWare), Oscar in Movieland (DSiWare), Pet Pals: New Leash on Life, Scene It? Twilight, Sudoku 4Pockets (DSiWare), World Cup of Pool and Zorro: Quest For Justice
• iPhone: 1000: Find 'Em All!, 2360: Battle for Cydonia, Ghosts 'n Zombies, GT Racing: Motor Academy, Military Madness, Parachute Ninja, Pocket Chef, Riddim Ribbon, Space Miner: Space Ore Bust, Star*Burst, Tehra Dark Warrior, Vanquish: The Oath of Brothers and Vector Tanks Classic
• Mac: More Lost Cases of Sherlock Holmes
• PC: BioShock 2, More Lost Cases of Sherlock Holmes and Square Logic
• PS3: BioShock 2, Dante's Inferno and Star Ocean: The Last Hope
• PS2: None
• PSP: None
• Wii: Blaster Master Overdrive (WiiWare), Bloons (WiiWare), City Builder, The Daring Game for Girls, Data East Arcade Classics, Hubert The Teddy Bear: Winter Games (WiiWare), Princess Tomato in the Salad Kingdom (Virtual Console), Rock Blast, Shiren The Wanderer, Super Monkey Ball: Step & Roll and Tomena Sanner (WiiWare)
• Xbox 360: BioShock 2, Dante's Inferno, Darwinia+ (Arcade) and World Of Outlaws: Sprint Cars

• WiiWare: Blaster Master Overdrive ($10), Bloons ($5), Hubert The Teddy Bear: Winter Games ($5) and Tomena Sanner ($5)
• Virtual Console: Princess Tomato in the Salad Kingdom for NES ($5)
• DSiWare: Extreme Hangman ($2), Fieldrunners ($5), Link 'n' Launch ($5), Oscar in Movieland ($8) and Sudoku 4Pockets ($5)
• Rock Band 2 tracks ($2 each; due Tuesday, Feb. 9) "The Who Super Bowl S-mashup" and Megadeth Rust In Peace album "Holy Wars... The Punishment Due," "Hangar 18," "Take No Prisoners," "Five Magics," "Poison Was the Cure," "Lucretia," "Tornado of Souls," "Dawn Patrol" and "Rust in... Polaris" (no album pricing available for Wii) - Note: "Family friendly" tracks also work with Lego Rock Band.
• DS Demos (via Wii's Nintendo "Marketing" Channel): Deca Sports DS plus repeats Ace Attorney Investigations: Miles Edgeworth, Avatar, Bakugan Battle Brawlers, Cooking Mama 3: Shop and Chop, Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Winter Games Bobsled Race and The Princess and the Frog
• Game Videos: Blaster Master Overdrive, Bloons, Chronos Twins, Endless Ocean: Blue World, Extreme Hangman, Fieldrunners, Might and Magic: Clash of Heroes, Oscar in Movieland, Sudoku 4Pockets, Tomena Sanner and Zhu Zhu Pets

Before Red Dead Redemption ships in late April, you have a choice to make, pardner (assuming you plan to partake in Rockstar's Old West outing).

Which preorder bonus do you want?

• Amazon: Golden Guns that deliver more fame with each kill (unlocking side missions faster), plus a $10 Amazon gift card
• Best Buy: The War Horse, faster and tougher than other horses in the game
• Gamestop: In-game outfit; either the Savvy Merchant, Deadly Assassin or Expert Hunter - vote by Feb. 15 to help pick which costume you'll get, plus voting enters you into a sweepstakes to win a Grand Canyon trip or $100 Gamestop gift card
  

So far, BioShock 2 is proving to be just as compelling as our first visit to Rapture.

Sure, the novelty has worn off a little, but the familiar deco style and font, period music, mesmerizing score and gameplay elements suck you right back in. If you've been off enjoying other shooters for the past couple of years, the game's tutorial eases you right back into your oversized boots.

The game does devolve into brief escort missions, but they are quite short and most of the time you carry your young companion effortlessly. You may even forget she's there, so it's really no trouble. The developers have also turned off the monotonous "Circus of Values" chatter from the vending machines.

A few tips:

• Whenever you achieve a major milestone (or right before), stock up on first aid kits, Eve and ammo.
• Hacking is greatly simplified. When there's a blue section, nab it for a bonus. If you fail twice, you'll set off an alarm but if you're quick and immediately start another successful hack, it's disabled.
• If you're setting up for a siege, make use of trap bolts and hack anything that can be used for defense, even health dispensers. You may recall that hacked health dispensers shock an enemy, who will fall if already weakened.
• Check the map! On the Ryan Amusements level, don't leave until you've opened the maintenance doors. There's an extra gene tonic you can get if you examine every nook and cranny. Look for unexplored areas of the map that you CAN get to.

Multiplayer is very involved, though we're sad to report there is no split-screen or LAN. It's all over Xbox Live. Also, the smallest match requires 4 players, so be prepared to wait awhile for a large enough group to gather during non-peak play hours (and once the game has lost all but its hardcore base). You'll have to work to unlock better gear and slots for loadouts, aka sets of gear that you can switch to on respawn. There are lots of game types, and the intro/set up for multiplayer is colorful and fun. Give it a try, even if multiplayer isn't normally your thing.

We have seen some reports of sporadic multiplayer game freezes; 2K Games ihas confirmed that it is working on a fix for this. We haven't had any freezes in our brief online sessions - and the single player game has been solid for us, at least.

When BioShock came out, we complained about the missed multiplayer opportunity. Now that BioShock 2 delivers a deep, rich multiplayer, you'd think we'd be happy. But no, we now have the split-screen bug (thanks in large part to Borderlands' excellent co-op).

So, if it's not to much trouble 2K, would you kindly deliver a splitscreen mode…

Last week, in the wake of its announcement that original Xbox consoles and games will lose Xbox Live access on April 15, Microsoft pulled down the servers offering downloadable content for original Xbox. A small outcry from players who wanted access to these files - either for online use during tthe final two months or offline/LAN use - led to these files being restored today. In particular, Halo 2 fans might want to grab multiplayer maps for Bungie's online "going away" party on Wednesday, April 14…

• LittleBigPlanet Chinese New Year Costume (free) and Valentine's Day Mini-Pack ($3)
• Fairytale Fights Treasure Pack 1 (free) with three player vs player arenas and four characters
• NBA Live '10 All-Star Weekend Pack (free)
• Dark Void Survivor Missions ($5)
• Dante’s Inferno free Soul Pack with 500 souls used to purchase upgrades, plus additional packs ($1-4 each)
• Blazblue: Calamity Trigger various unlocks ($2-5 each)
• PS1 for PS3/PSP: Dirt Jockey, Populous: The Beginning and Sim Theme Park ($6 each)
• Guitar Hero 5 Breaking Benjamin Track Pack ($5.50 or $2 each) with "Give Me A Sign," "Sooner or Later" and "Until The End"
• Rock Band/Rock Band 2 Rust in Peace album by Megadeth ($15 or $2 each) with "Holy Wars... The Punishment Due," "Hangar 18," "Take No Prisoners," "Five Magics," "Poison Was the Cure," "Lucretia," "Tornado of Souls," "Dawn Patrol" and "Rust in... Polaris" - Note: "Family friendly" tracks also work with Lego Rock Band.
• Demos: Heavy Rain
• Game Videos: After Burner Climax, Army of Two: The 40th Day, Dynasty Warriors: Strikeforce, Heavy Rain, Just Cause 2, White Knight Chronicles and The Tester preview
• Themes: Army of Two: The 40th Day (free), BioShock 2 (free), Dante’s Inferno (free), Flower Dynamic ($3), Trash Panic Dynamic ($3), WipEout HD Dynamic ($3) and Dita Von Teese Premium ($2)
• PSP: LittleBigPlanet PSP Lurve Costume (free) and Lurve Theme Level Pack ($3) and Spaceball: Revolution ($5)
• PSP Demos: Echoshift and SOCOM: U.S. Navy SEALs Fireteam Bravo 3
• PSP Game Videos: Dante's Inferno, Valkryia Chronicles II, Ultimate Board Game Collection and The Tester preview
• PSP Themes: Azmodeus Dark Angels ($1 each) and Lindsay Kaye ($1.50 each)
• PlayStation Home Items (usually priced $0.50-7.50 each): Mardi Gras items and Warhawk Apartment with sand table and multiplayer mini-game

• Arcade: Darwinia+ ($15)
• Forza Motorsport 3 Nürburgring Grand Prix Track Pack ($5)
• Dark Void Survivor Missions ($5)
• Dynasty Warriors: Strikeforce Pack 1 (free) with three quests
• Dante’s Inferno free Soul Pack with 500 souls used to purchase upgrades, plus additional packs ($1-4 each)
• Guitar Hero 5 Breaking Benjamin Track Pack ($5.50 or $2 each) with "Give Me A Sign," "Sooner or Later" and "Until The End"
• Rock Band/Rock Band 2 Rust in Peace album by Megadeth ($15 or $2 each) with "Holy Wars... The Punishment Due," "Hangar 18," "Take No Prisoners," "Five Magics," "Poison Was the Cure," "Lucretia," "Tornado of Souls," "Dawn Patrol" and "Rust in... Polaris" plus track ($2) "Super Bowl S-mashup" by The Who - Note: "Family friendly" tracks also work with Lego Rock Band.
• Lips Marvin Gaye & Tammi Terrell Song Pack ($5.50 or $2 each) with "Ain't No Mountain High Enough," "Ain't Nothing Like The Real Thing" and "You're All I Need To Get By"
• Games on Demand: Street Fighter IV ($30)
• Demos: Sonic & Sega All-Stars Racing plus all Xbox Live Arcade and Indie games
• Indie Games (usually $1-10 each): 10 Seconds or Less, Impossible Shoota, Inevitable Outcome, Missing Reel and Shooting Chicken Revenge
• Game Videos: Assassin's Creed II Battle of Forli, Battlefield: Bad Company 2, BioShock 2, Chime, Forza Motorsport 3 Nürburgring Grand Prix Circuit and Ghost Recon: Future Soldier
• Themes: Battlefield: Bad Company 2 ($3), BioShock 2 ($3), Brütal Legend Premium ($3 each), Sonic & Sega All-Stars Racing ($3), Stand Up 2 Cancer (free) and Valentine Premium ($3)
• Pictures: BioShock 2 ($2), Marvel vs. Capcom 2 ($2 each), Battle Stars ($1) and Stand Up 2 Cancer (free) plus I Heart Xbox and Just Press Play (both free and enter you in sweepstakes)
• Avatar Items (usually priced $1-5 each): BioShock 2

OK, so this might just be the dorkiest game we've ever given away.

WAIT, don't run off. There's a twist! If we get 100 entries, we'll give away Assassin's Creed II for Xbox 360 the following week. (You can get up to three notches toward this goal by also rating and reviewing our podcast in iTunes!) If we fall short, well, it may still happen... but not any time soon. Or, who knows, we may abandon these giveaways. They do cost us a bundle.

We don't ask for a lot, but we don't give away these prizes every week for the fun of it. We're trying to build an audience. Each person who finds our site because of a prize is a potential new community member. And new community members who struggle with the Busy Gamer lifestyle and benefit from our reporting make what we do that much more interesting and fulfilling.

So tell a friend about us. Let's get some creative entries. Have fun!

All that aside, let's look at The Princess Bride Game's merits:

• It's free (if you win)
• It's family friendly
• It might appeal to your significant other/parent/Princess Bride fan in your life
• It runs on PC and Mac
• It has five game types (puzzle/platformer, trivia, hidden object, time management and inventory collection) with 72 levels in all
• It has Saturday morning cartoon quality animations of key scenes from the movie
• Geoff Keighley called it "A winning combination of high production values, inventive gameplay and offbeat humor" (Yeah, we can't believe it either!)
• You can easily beat it in a day 

And, again, by entering, you'll help unlock a chance to win Assassin's Creed II!

To enter:

• 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

• DS: Ace Attorney Investigations: Miles Edgeworth, Crime Scene, Dementium II, KORG DS-10 Plus, Nancy Drew: The Model Mysteries, Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Lightning Thief, Prehistorik Man (DSiWare), Ragnarok DS, Real Soccer 2010 (DSiWare), Scrabble Classic (DSiWare), Spaceball: Revolution (DSiWare) and Spotto! (DSiWare)
• iPhone: Across Age, AirStrike Defense, Arodius, Daisy Mae's Alien Buffet, Doom II RPG, Drift Sumi-e, Fighting Fantasy, Gamebook Adventures, Giana Sisters, Plants vs. Zombies, Rise of the Triad, Robot Rampage and X2 Snowboarding
• Mac: None
• PC: Aliens vs Predator, Everquest II: Sentinel's Fate and StrongBad's Cool Game for Attractive People 
• PS3: Aliens vs Predator and Dynasty Warriors: Strikeforce
• PS2: None
• PSP: SOCOM: U.S. Navy Seals Fireteam Bravo 3
• Wii: Art of Balance (WiiWare), Chicken Riot, Phoenix Wright Ace Attorney: Justice for All (WiiWare), Sonic & Knuckles (Virtual Console) and WarMen Tactics (WiiWare)
• Xbox 360: Aliens vs Predator, Dynasty Warriors: Strikeforce, The Misadventures of P.B. Winterbottom (Arcade), Triple Crown Snowboarding and Tropico 3

• WiiWare: Art of Balance ($8), Phoenix Wright Ace Attorney: Justice for All ($10) and WarMen Tactics ($8)
• Virtual Console: Sonic & Knuckles for Sega Genesis ($8)
• DSiWare: Prehistorik Man ($8), Real Soccer 2010 ($8), Scrabble Classic ($8), Spaceball: Revolution ($5) and Spotto! ($2)
• Rock Band 2 tracks ($2 each; due Tuesday, Feb. 16) "Weightless" by All Time Low, "Fascination" by Alphabeat, "Let Forever Be" by The Chemical Brothers, "Fa-Fa-Fa-Fa-Fa (Sad Song)," "I'm Sick Y'all," "I've Got Dreams to Remember," "Love Man" and "(Sittin' On) The Dock of the Bay" by Otis Redding and "Stray Cat Strut" by Brian Setzer Orchestra - Note: "Family friendly" tracks also work with Lego Rock Band.
• DS Demos (via Wii's Nintendo "Marketing" Channel): Sonic & Sega All-Star Racing plus repeats Ace Attorney Investigations: Miles Edgeworth, Avatar, Deca Sports DS, Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Winter Games Alpine Skiing, The Princess and the Frog and Women's Murder Club: Games of Passion
• Game Videos: Ace Attorney Investigations: Miles Edgeworth, Art of Balance, Endless Ocean: Blue World, Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Lightning Thief, Phoenix Wright Ace Attorney: Justice for All, Ragnarok DS, Spaceball: Revolution, Super Monkey Ball: Step & Roll and WarMen Tactics

We reported this back in 2007, but since the original BioShock soundtrack included in the BioShock 2 Special Edition set is on vinyl and not available for digital or CD purchase (at least not in the U.S. that we could find), it's worth pointing out that you can still download it for free from 2K Games.

There are 12 tracks by composer Garry Schyman, from "Welcome to Rapture" to "All Spliced Up." To be fair, the vinyl release does have another 12 tracks, but this will get you started and you won't need a USB turntable to put it on your iPod or Zune. Download the 12 MP3s for free (23MB)…

Busy Gamer News has partnered with Ramberg Media to syndicate our site content. All this means is that we might be seeing some additional traffic from their gaming news section. No, we're not compensated, though if we eventually get our traffic up we might be able to sell some decent ads and, dare we dream, break even on our hosting bills.

This year will mark our 7th year of providing gaming news for people too busy for gaming news. (For those who are new, we used to be called Gamestay but updated to a more descriptive name in 2006.) Hopefully, this will help us keep on the path to 10 years and beyond!

You can see our feed in the Ramberg Media games section. Right now, we're the only active feed in this section...

As of this morning, we're only at 55% of our goal to unlock the Assassin's Creed II giveaway: 53 entries for The Princess Bride Game giveaway and two Busy Gamer Podcast ratings on iTunes. And there are less than two days left.

To quote Nathan Fillion from the Dr. Horrible Commentary! The Musical, "We're not going to make it! We're all gonna die!"

But wait, we're going to make this possible. We'd much rather have contest entries (because then we know you've been to the site and know what we're all about) or podcast reviews (so other interested people will find us) but we'll accept Twitter followers toward the goal. I've had 18 that have stuck around since Friday, so if I reach 605 by 5 p.m. Pacific on Thursday (or less if we get more entries or podcast ratings/reviews), we'll call it 100% and be cleared for next week's giveaway.

That puts us at 73% of goal. We just need 27 more actions to make an even 100!

Remember, you can contribute more than once toward the goal if you rate and review us on iTunes (man, you guys really hate iTunes!) and enter the Princess Bride Game drawing (if you don't actually want the prize, just say so - but you CAN win consecutive weekly giveways, so it's fine either way). And the Twitter thing, though if you're already following don't cheat, retweet!

Thanks. We hope that the result of this is that we'll be able to have bigger, better prizes on a semi-regular basis. We have some great surprises lined up…

To make this easy, here are the action links:

• Enter to win The Princess Bride Game
• Rate and/or review the Busy Gamer Podcast on iTunes
• Follow Gamewatcher on Twitter

It seems like just a matter of days since EA shut down online support for a bunch of its games. Oh wait, it was.

Now EA is back at it with the next wave of games to lose online play on March 16 (less than a month away) and April 15:

March 16:

• PC: Lord of the Rings: Conquest and Mercenaries 2 
• PS3: Def Jam: Icon, The Godfather, Lord of the Rings: Conquest and The Simpsons
• PSP: Need for Speed: Carbon and Need for Speed: ProStreet
• Xbox 360: Def Jam: Icon, The Godfather, Lord of the Rings: Conquest and The Simpsons

April 15

• PS2: Burnout 3

In addition, the April 15 shutdown of Xbox Live for original Xbox consoles will take out some additional titles. Well, all original Xbox games will be offline only at that point, but you might want to squeeze in some more sessions of Battlefield 2: Modern Combat, Burnout 3 and Madden NFL '09 while you can…

• Assassin’s Creed II Sequence 13: Bonfire of the Vanities with Secret Locations ($10, or $5 for just Sequence 13)
• Resident Evil 5 Lost In Nightmares ($5) and Costume Pack 1 ($2)
• Star Wars: The Force Unleashed Hoth Mission Pack ($10)
• Dante’s Inferno Florentine Dante Costume ($2)
• Dragon Ball: Raging Blast Saiyan’s Pack (free)
• Buzz! National Geographic: Kids Quiz Pack ($8)
• PS1 for PS3/PSP: Magic Carpet, Mass Destruction and Sorcerer’s Maze ($6 each)
• Rock Band/Rock Band 2 Otis Redding Pack 1 ($8.50 or $2 each) with "Fa-Fa-Fa-Fa-Fa (Sad Song)," "I'm Sick Y'all," "I've Got Dreams to Remember," "Love Man" and "(Sittin' On) The Dock of the Bay" plus tracks ($2 each) "Weightless" by All Time Low, "Fascination" by Alphabeat, "Let Forever Be" by The Chemical Brothers and "Stray Cat Strut" by Brian Setzer Orchestra - Note: "Family friendly" tracks also work with Lego Rock Band.
• Demos: Sonic & Sega All-Stars Racing and Yakuza 3
• Game Videos: Assassin’s Creed II Battle of Forli, Fret Nice, MAG, ModNation Racers PSP, Sonic the Hedgehog 4 Episode 1, Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympics and Yakuza 3, plus The Tester: Episode 1 and Pulse
• Themes: Amazing Peaks ($2), Hemorrhage ($2) and Resident Evil 5 ($2)
• Wallpaper: Fret Nice (free)
• Avatars: MAG ($0.50 each)
• PSP: Buzz! Quiz World PSP National Geographic Safari Pack ($4), LittleBigPlanet PSP Savannah and Wedding level packs ($3 each) and Savannah and Wedding costumes (free), Puzzle Chronicles ($30), SOCOM: Fireteam Bravo 3 ($40) and SOCOM: Fireteam Bravo 3 Online Entitlement ($20)
• PSP Game Videos: Dead or Alive Paradise, ModNation Racers PSP, plus The Tester and Pulse
• PSP Themes: Army of Two (free), Hemorrhage ($1.50) and Matterhorn ($1.50)
• PlayStation Home Items (usually priced $0.50-7.50 each): LocoRoco and PlanetLand personal spaces and Star Wars and Indiana Jones gear

• Arcade: The Misadventures of P.B. Winterbottom ($10) plus Domino Master Baseball, Basketball, Football and Rap packs ($1 each)
• Assassin’s Creed II Sequence 13: Bonfire of the Vanities with Secret Locations ($7, or $4 for just Sequence 13)
• Resident Evil 5 Lost In Nightmares ($5) and Costume Pack 1 ($2), plus Extra Figures (free)
• Need for Speed: Shift Ferrari Racing Series ($10)
• Dante’s Inferno Florentine Dante Costume ($2)
• Dragon Ball: Raging Blast Saiyan’s Pack (free)
• Pro Evolution Soccer 2010 February 2010 Downloadable Updates (free)
• Rock Band/Rock Band 2 Otis Redding Pack 1 ($8.50 or $2 each) with "Fa-Fa-Fa-Fa-Fa (Sad Song)," "I'm Sick Y'all," "I've Got Dreams to Remember," "Love Man" and "(Sittin' On) The Dock of the Bay" plus tracks ($2 each) "Weightless" by All Time Low, "Fascination" by Alphabeat, "Let Forever Be" by The Chemical Brothers and "Stray Cat Strut" by Brian Setzer Orchestra - Note: "Family friendly" tracks also work with Lego Rock Band.
• Lips tracks ($2 each) "Cherish" by The Association, "Love Stinks" by J. Geils Band and "Sex And Candy" by Marcy Playground
• Games on Demand: Beautiful Katamari ($20) and Resident Evil 5 ($30)
• Demos: Sonic & Sega All-Stars Racing plus all Xbox Live Arcade and Indie games
• Indie Games (usually $1-10 each): Asylum, Classic Solitaire, Curling 2010, Fish Listening to Radio, Kaleidoscope, Marauder Madness!, Nega and Star Cross
• Game Videos: Battlefield: Bad Company 2, Dante's Inferno, Dragon Age: Origins, The Misadventures of P.B. Winterbottom, Red Dead Redemption, Sonic The Hedgehog 4 and Splinter Cell: Conviction plus Dante's Inferno strategy guides ($1 each)
• Themes: Assassin's Creed II Premium ($3), Brütal Legend Premium ($3 each), The Misadventures of P.B. Winterbottom ($3), Resident Evil 5, Super Street Fighter IV ($3), World of Outlaws: Sprint Cars ($3) and Dr Pepper (free)
• Pictures: Dr Pepper (free)
• Avatar Items (usually priced $1-5 each): Metro 2033 and Resident Evil 5

NOTE: Due to our site downtime over the weekend thanks to a failure at our hosting provider, we have extended the entry period until 5:01 p.m. Pacific Time on Friday, Feb. 26. (By that time, the next giveaway will have started!)

OK, you worked hard for this, and here it is: Assassin's Creed II for Xbox 360.

You've read GrrlGotGame's review, devoured the killer tips, learned about the Battle of Forli and helped with our busy gamer awareness drive to make this giveaway happen.

So here's your chance to get it for free.

The game was a genuine candidate for our Game of the Year. It took the winning formula from the original, removed most of the annoying parts and conveyed an interesting and compelling story. Its only real flaw was bad timing, getting released so close to so many other awesome games.

This is an extra copy we won at the Child's Play Charity Auction as part of an Ubisoft pack of games. We're keeping the one we bought at launch.

To enter:

• 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

• DS: Aura-Aura Climber (DSiWare), Casual Mania, Faceez (DSiWare), Flight Control (DSiWare), Flipper (DSiWare), Hello Kitty Birthday Adventures, House M.D., Lovely Lisa and Friends, Pony Friends 2, Sonic & Sega All-Stars Racing, Super Speed Machine, Sushi Go Round and Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D’s World Championship 2010: Reverse of Arcadia
• iPhone: Astro Ranch, B-Boy Beats, Brothers in Arms 2: Global Front, Catacombs, Noby Noby Boy, Thumpies, Vancouver 2010 and Zombie Cannon Carnage
• Mac: None
• PC: Art of Murder: Cards of Destiny, Aztec Treasure Hunt, Borderlands Double Game Add-On Pack (Zombie Island and Mad Moxxi), Murder She Wrote, Mystery Case Files: Dire Grove, Napoleon Total War Limited Edition, WarBirds Dogfights and Zombie Bowl-O-Rama
• PS3: Heavy Rain, Last Rebellion and Sonic & Sega All-Stars Racing
• PS2: None
• PSP: Metal Slug XX
• Wii: Endless Ocean: Blue World, Family Go-Kart Racing (WiiWare), GhostSlayer (WiiWare), Mouse House (WiiWare), Pony Friends 2, Remington Great American Bird Hunt, Sled Shred, Sonic & Sega All-Stars Racing, Sudoku Ball: Detective, Sushi Go Round, Winter Blast: Snow and Ice Games and Zooloretto
• Xbox 360: Borderlands Double Game Add-On Pack (Zombie Island and Mad Moxxi), Deadly Premonition, Fret Nice (Arcade), Greed Corp (Arcade) and Lazy Raiders (Arcade), Risen and Sonic & Sega All-Stars Racing

• WiiWare: Family Go-Kart Racing ($5), GhostSlayer ($6) and Mouse House ($6)
• Virtual Console: None
• DSiWare: Aura-Aura Climber ($2), Faceez ($2), Flight Control ($5) and Flipper ($5)
• Rock Band 2 tracks ($2 each; due Tuesday, Feb. 23) "Heartkiller," "Ode to Solitude" and "Wings of a Butterfly" by HIM, "Distracted" by KSM, "The Dope Show" by Marilyn Manson, "Just For Tonight" by One Night Only and "Walking On the Moon" by The Police - Note: "Family friendly" tracks also work with Lego Rock Band.
• DS Demos (via Wii's Nintendo "Marketing" Channel): A new Deca Sports DS Cheerleading demo plus repeats Ace Attorney Investigations: Miles Edgeworth, Avatar, Deca Sports DS Ping Pong, Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Winter Games Alpine Skiing, The Princess and the Frog, Sonic & Sega All-Star Racing and Women's Murder Club: Games of Passion
• Game Videos: Ace Attorney Investigations: Miles Edgeworth, Family Go-Kart Racing, Flight Control, Flipper, GhostSlayer, Mouse House, Rooms DS, Sonic the Hedgehog 4 and Trauma Team

I wasn't sure if I would get DJ Hero, but when it dropped to $80 this week (at Best Buy and, as of yesterday, Amazon.com) I decided to go for it. And I'm so glad I did!

I've not been a big fan of RedOctane since the Harmonix split; their Guitar Hero games tend to be more painful than fun. Which is great if you're an incredibly skilled challenge-monger, but I play games largely to relax and expand my consciousness. I don't believe you should have to be a hardcore gamer to have fun. So I side with Rock Band, whose note charts for the most part tend to be rhythmic and enjoyable.

DJ Hero offers a new but similar dynamic to the Guitar Hero/Rock Band games, and you can even play two-player co-op with a guitar controller (or second turntable controller) if you have one. You play primarily with three fingers, but don't be fooled - there's so much going on past the Easy difficulty, you'll be glad that's all there is. You also control a mixing slider and you'll need to scratch using a combination of button presses and turntable movement. There's also a Euphoria button (think Star Power) and an optional dial that controls optional mix and sample selection.

The turntable is wireless, which is nice, and actually not too big. GrrlGotGame was worried that we'd have yet another space-consuming controller to reckon with, but it's easy to stash away when not in use.

The music is surprisingly good, at least to my taste. You'll always mix two songs with combinations like Queen's "Another One Bites the Dust" and "Robot Rock" by Daft Punk, or "Monkeywrench" by Foo Fighters with "Sabotage" by Beastie Boys. There are 93 mixes from 102 songs with bands like Beck, David Bowie, Gorillaz, The Killers, Gwen Stefani, MC Hammer, Public Enemy, Rick James, Tears for Fears, Weezer and Young MC.

Alas, the user manual is one of the skimpiest we've ever seen, so here are a few tips to get you going:

• Try both tutorials before you start, even on Easy. Otherwise you won't know how to Rewind or activate Euphoria.
• Alas, the Advanced tutorial is a bit hard (lots to juggle in places, plus some Hard-level things to master) so here's how these work: Spin the turntable one revolution backwards to Rewind and get a chance to hit a particularly note rich section a second time for bonus points. It's purely optional though, and only available in single player. To trigger Euphoria and double your multiplier, press the button when it lights up red.
• In the main setlist modes, at first glance it looks like you'll have to play three or more songs in one sitting. Not true. Press the Y button on the setlist to edit and then press X to remove any mixes you don't want to play right now. This is also a good way to go back and only play those you didn't get 5 stars on. You can also reorder your mixes but you can't swap any out; if you want to make your own set from unlocked mixes, go to Quicklist.
• Those red sections aren't for scratching, they're freestyle sample zones. When you select your character and deck, you can also pick a sample set. When you're in the long red zones, tap the red button to call up the active sample for bonus points. Turn the dial to pick a different sample from your loaded set. You can change your sample at any time EXCEPT when you're in an effects zone - where little umbrella-shaped lines encircle one of your streams. At those times, the dial controls the mix for that stream instead - also for a bonus.

All in all, this is a most underrated game for rhythm music game fans. As best I can tell, the $200 Renegade Edition is the exact same game, only with a nicer turntable controller with stand and bundled CD albums from Eninem and Jay-Z. $80 seems about right for the music-packed game and controller...

PopCap is giving away Peggle Nights as part of its free Passport program, which lets you earn discounts if you buy PC/Mac games directly from them. The program at present requires no commitment, you'll just need to supply an e-mail address and agree to receive their e-newsletter.

The free Peggle Nights is technically part of the "Gift-a-Game for free" benefit you get for signing up (it may change to something else if you don't send it right away). As far as we can tell, there's nothing to stop you from sending it to yourself at a secondary e-mail address. The Passport FAQ has all of the details, including how the club works - basically, you save 10-20% off game purchases and get the chance to receive special offers and game previews. When I signed up, I received access to a printable 2010 calendar and some members only Plants vs. Zombies wallpaper...

If you wondered why the Monday content update for Nintendo Wii seemed skimpy, the answer is that they were holding back videos for their Nintendo Summit event announcements. Here's what was added just today along with key announcement details:

• Nintendo DSi XL ($190; releases March 28 in burgandy red and bronze and includes two Brain Age mini-games, Photo Clock, the Web browser and FlipNote Studio)
• Wii: Disney Guilty Party, Lego Harry Potter, Monster Hunter Tri (releases April 20), Super Mario Galaxy 2 (releases May 23), Sin and Punishment: Star Successor (releases June 7) and Tetrix Party Deluxe
• DS: America's Test Kitchen, Lego Harry Potter and Pokemon HeartGold/SoulSilver
• WiiWare: Art Style: Light Trax, Art Style: Rotozoa, Cave Story, MegaMan 10, Rage of the Gladiator and WarioWare D.I.Y.
• DSiWare: Photo Dojo, Metal Torrent and X-Scape

Nintendo also announced Metroid: Other M will launch for Wii on June 27 and Dragon Quest IX for DS is coming stateside sometime in the summer, but so far there's no video for either on the Nintendo (Marketing) Channel...

• Greed Corp ($10)
• Uncharted 2: Among Thieves Drake’s Fortune Multiplayer Map Pack ($4) with locations from the first game, Drake’s Fortune MP Skin Pack ($3) or save a buck if you buy the bundle ($6)
• Borderlands The Secret Armory of General Knoxx ($10) with missions, mods, enemies, weapons, vehicles and a level cap bump to 61
• LittleBigPlanet White Knight Chronicles Costume Pack ($6 or $2 each)
• Dante’s Inferno Animated Film Dante Costume ($2)
• Operation Flashpoint: Dragon Rising Overwatch Pack ($5) with two multiplayer modes: Friendly Skies amd Hostile Takeover
• Valkyria Chronicles Challenge of the Edy ($5) with six maps or skirmish battles
• FIFA '10 Ultimate Team ($5 each)
• PS1 for PS3/PSP: Grandia ($10)
• Guitar Hero 5 Third Eye Blind Track Pack($5.50 or $2 each) with "Can You Take Me," "Losing A Whole Year" and "Never Let You Go"
• Rock Band/Rock Band 2 HIM Pack 1($5.50 or $2 each) with "Heartkiller," "Ode to Solitude" and "Wings of a Butterfly" plus tracks ($2 each) "Distracted" by KSM, "The Dope Show" by Marilyn Manson, "Just For Tonight" by One Night Only and "Walking On the Moon" by The Police - Note: "Family friendly" tracks also work with Lego Rock Band.
• Demos: Darksiders, DiggerHD and God of War III
• Game Videos: Dragon Age: Origins Awakening, MAG, MLB '10: The Show, Sonic & Sega All-Stars Racing, War Machine and Yakuza 3 plus The Tester Episode 2
• Themes: MAG Dynamic ($3 each), MLB 10: The Show (free), Abstracted ($1.50) and Irish Flags ($2)
• Wallpaper: Madden NFL '11
• PSP: Age of Zombies ($5), Echoshift ($15), GTI Club Supermini Festa! ($30), Retro Cave Flyer ($5) and The Terminator ($7), plus Buzz! Quiz World Comedy Pack ($3) and Metal Slug XX Leona Playable Character ($1)
• PSP Demos: The Eye of Judgment: Legends
• PSP Game Videos: SOCOM Fireteam Bravo 3 and The Tester Episode 2
• PSP Themes: MLB '10: The Show (free) and Irish Flags ($1.50 each)
• PlayStation Home Items (usually priced $0.50-7.50 each): Uncharted and The Tester

• Arcade: Fret Nice ($15), Greed Corp ($10) and Lazy Raiders ($10)
• Borderlands The Secret Armory of General Knoxx ($10) with missions, mods, enemies, weapons, vehicles and a level cap bump to 61
• Star Wars: The Force Unleashed Hoth Mission Pack ($10)
• Dante’s Inferno Animated Film Dante Costume ($2)
• FIFA '10 Ultimate Team ($5 each)
• Guitar Hero 5 Third Eye Blind Track Pack ($5.50 or $2 each) with "Can You Take Me," "Losing A Whole Year" and "Never Let You Go"
• Rock Band/Rock Band 2 HIM Pack 1 ($5.50 or $2 each) with "Heartkiller," "Ode to Solitude" and "Wings of a Butterfly" plus tracks ($2 each) "Distracted" by KSM, "The Dope Show" by Marilyn Manson, "Just For Tonight" by One Night Only and "Walking On the Moon" by The Police - Note: "Family friendly" tracks also work with Lego Rock Band.
• Lips Snow Patrol Song Pack ($5.50 or $2 each) with "Chasing Cars," "Take Back The City" and "Spitting Games" and tracks "High" by James Blunt, "Paparazzi" by Lady Gaga and (free) Party Classics Song Medley by various
• Games on Demand: Pure ($20)
• Demos: Darksiders and MLB 2K10 plus all Xbox Live Arcade and Indie games
• Indie Games (usually $1-10 each): Anger Management, As Easy As 123 BlackJack, Asteroid Capture, Avatar Boogie, Avatar Showdown, Brethren of the Coast, Kukaku, Shoot 1UP, Space Poker, Space Radar Opera 360 and ヤルハラのおもち ("The Yarhalla Toys")
• Game Videos: Assassin's Creed II Bonfire of the Vanities, FIFA '10, Greed Corp, Need for Speed: Shift, Prison Break: The Conspiracy, Resident Evil 5, Sonic & Sega All-Stars Racing, Splinter Cell: Conviction, Supreme Commander 2 and Xbox Live Arcade/Game Room upcoming games trailer
• Themes: FIFA '10 ($3), Perfect Dark Premium ($3), Prince of Persia: The Forgotten Sands Premium ($3), Resident Evil 5 Premium ($3), Risen (free), Scrap Metal Premium ($3) and Toy Soldiers ($3)
• Pictures: The Misadventures of P.B. Winterbottom ($1) and Risen (free, one enters you in sweepstakes)
• Avatar Items (usually priced $1-5 each): Star Wars: The Force Unleashed

After all of the excitement of the past few weeks - our awareness drive, the resulting Assassin's Creed II giveaway (which closes 5:01 p.m. Pacific TODAY - so go enter!), the unplanned site outage due to a massive service provider failure and our BioShock special Busy Gamer Podcast, we feel the need to bring things down a notch. And what better way than with a game that promises "puzzles to unwind the mind."

Zenses: Rainforest is a collection of soothing casual games. You know it's soothing because there's a waterfall! It also can be played at harder skill levels, if relaxing isn't your thing. Did we mention that the copy we're giving away is still sealed? (Makes a great gift!)

There are six games in all:

• Treasure Spin: This is actually a lot like that Lazy Raiders game that came out just this week on Xbox Live Arcade, only more soothing. Rotate the box to bring the pieces together.
• Stack Jack: My personal favorite! You drag falling concentric circles and nest them. It amuses me that one of the configurations looks just like the Target logo!
• Twist 'N' Turn: Swap gems or rotate them on wheels to match a given layout.
• Flower Board: Clear flowers by matching patterns.
• Sapphire Wheel: This is a nice twist on those gem pattern games, only you rotate the board instead of the gems to make them fit into the matching spaces.
• Solitaire: Actually, more like Checkers meets Leapfrog. Take all of the stones by jumping them and be sure to end on a target pad within a set number of moves.

But don't relax too much. We are long overdue for some instant win giveaways, and this week could be the one! (We really have been busy...)

To enter (and show how much you love free stuff!):

• 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

If you have an older (non-Slim) PlayStation 3, you may want to hold off booting it. Those who have turned theirs on are reporting 8001050F errors, trophy corruption and even single-player offline games that fail to play. Not even disconnecting your Internet cable seems to help. It's suspected to be a date issue; people with the problem report their console dates are reset to 12/31/1999 or 1/1/2000. Perhaps this is the long-awaited Y2K bug finally rearing its ugly head, when we least expect it? Or perhaps the fulfillment of an ancient and previously misunderstood Nostradomus prophecy, signaling the final spiral toward the end of the world? Whatever the cause, what it means is clear: You won't be playing Heavy Rain tonight.

UPDATE: The NeoGAF forum has an interesting theory. It seems this is the first non-leap year that's also an even number since the console launched, so there's likely a calendar issue that causes older PS3s to mistakenly believe this is a leap year and choke (i.e., compute that today should be Feb 29, but then this conflicts with other logic). If true, the issue might correct itself this afternoon or evening when the calendar rolls over (possibly GMT, which makes sense since the issue surfaced Sunday afternoon/evening in the U.S.). Or it may require a console firmware patch, which could explain why Sony has been silent for the past dozen hours…

UPDATE 2: This issue was "resolved" (see Sony's carefully worded "service restored" notice) just after the clock ticked past midnight Greenwich Mean Time. It was late afternoon/early evening in the U.S., about 24 hours since the problem first surfaced. Many news outlets reported that Sony had "fixed" the bug, but we suspect it's more likely that they waited out the clock until their network time servers crossed into March 2. Many console dates remained off (ours was stuck on Feb. 28) but Sony said it was fine to adjust your time and date settings. We expect a mysterious dashboard update in coming weeks may correct the real bug before another aCLOCKalypse (aka Sony ApocalyPS3) can strike.