Busy Gamer News

This week, we review Batman: Arkham Asylum (why it's not JAB: Just Another Brawler!), deliver important details on the Halo: Reach beta kicking off this week, discuss the Bungie-Activision deal, take a brief look back at Halo 3: ODST, explore an online source for game manuals and share first impressions on Gunnar Optiks' so-called "advanced gaming eyewear."

Get all of that - plus game release news, DLC and giveaways - in just under 14 minutes!

Our goal is to provide a short (typically 10-15 minutes) summary 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

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: 1001 Crystal Mazes Collection (DSiWare), Bloons (DSiWare), Bounce & Break (DSiWare), Crazy Golf (DSiWare), Iron Man 2, Jane's Hotel, Picross 3D and Sokomania (DSiWare)
• iPhone/iPad: Alive 4-Ever Returns, Battle of Wesnoth HD, Extreme Sheepdog Trials, FIFA World Cup, Flick Baseball, Freaking Inkies, Kometen, Last Gladiators Ver.2010, Linkin Park 8-Bit Rebellion, Ninjatown: Trees of Doom and Sword & Poker 2
• Mac: Emergency Room: Heroic Measures
• PC: Blood Ties, Burger Island Combo, The Dragon Dance, Emergency Room: Heroic Measures, Fritz Chess Twelfth Edition, House, I Love Games: 16 Great Games for Girls, Out of the Park Baseball 11 Deluxe, Space Shuttle Mission, Sweeney Todd, Total War Battle Pack and Treasure Seekers: Visions of Gold
• PS3: Iron Man 2
• PS2: None
• PSP: Fat Princess: Fistful of Cake, Iron Man 2 and What Did I Do to Deserve This, My Lord!? 2
• Wii: Family Game Show, Iron Man 2, Kung Fu Funk (WiiWare), Reader Rabbit Preschool, Reader Rabbit Kindergarten, Reader Rabbit 1st Grade, Reader Rabbit 2nd Grade and Zombie Panic in Wonderland (WiiWare)
• Xbox 360: Autobahn Polizei, Iron Man 2, RayStorm HD (Arcade) and Zeno Clash: Ultimate Edition (Arcade) 

So, what will you be picking up - or is this week a pass? Any games we missed? Anything slip (as these inevitably do)? Please let us know...

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

• WiiWare: Kung Fu Funk ($5) and Zombie Panic in Wonderland ($10)
• Virtual Console: None
• DSiWare: 1001 Crystal Mazes Collection ($5), Bloons ($5), Bounce & Break ($5), Crazy Golf ($5) and Sokomania ($2)
• Rock Band 2 tracks ($2 each; due Tuesday, May 4) "The Climb," "Different People," "End It on This," "Happy Now?" "Hey You," "Sixteen," "Tragic Kingdom," "World Go 'Round" and "You Can Do It" by No Doubt, "According to You" by Orianthi and "Dearest (I'm So Sorry)" by Picture Me Broken - Note: "Family friendly" tracks also work with Lego Rock Band.
• DS Demos (via Wii's Nintendo "Marketing" Channel): All repeats including Ace Attorney Investigations: Miles Edgeworth, America's Test Kitchen: Let's Get Cooking Roasted Red Potatoes and Pots de Creme, Avatar, Bakugan Battle Brawlers, Battle of Giants: Mutant Insects, Deca Sports DS Cheerleading and Ping Pong, Picross 3D, The Princess and the Frog, Rooms DS and Sonic & Sega All-Star Racing
• Game Videos: 1001 Crystal Mazes Collection, Animal Crossing: City Folk, Backyard Sports: Sandlot Sluggers, Bloons, Kung Fu Funk, Mega Man Zero Collection, Monster Hunter Tri, Picross 3D, Prince of Persia: The Forgotten Sands, Rage of the Gladiator, Trauma Team, WarioWare D.I.Y. and Zombie Panic in Wonderland

The Halo: Reach public beta got off to a rocky start Monday with many people reporting slow loading times -assuming they could get in at all. Gamewatcher managed to secure the download as soon as it was available. By the time I logged on late afternoon Pacific (prime time on the East Coast), there were thousands of people gleefully fragging each other online. Even with so many online, it still took the better part of five minutes for the servers to find seven other people who wanted to teabag me.

I didn't find anything useful, like directions, once I got online, so I found myself stumbling over features. A few things to try:

• Pimp your Master Chief with custom helmet styles, body features (torso arm, etc.), although most options are locked until you level up.
• Make your own icon. There's a nice variety of images, letters and shapes you can use to represent yourself.
• Set your game preferences. You can request "chatty" or "quiet" rooms, and indicate if you are a team player or "lone wolf." If you aren't sure, or just want to keep your options open, leave it at "No preference."

It took about five minutes to get matched, at which point the server dumped me into an already rocking party that needed one more for Capture the Flag. (Time elapsed between arrival and first f-bomb dropped: 1.5 seconds!) There was another significant lag - around 3 minutes - while we waited for the server to start our game. A series of random messages appeared onscreen during the wait period. This would have been the perfect time to explain some of the new features, such as load outs (You can fly! Or run fast! Or stay put and be invulnerable!). Instead, most messages were PSAs that benignly thanked players for their service, asked for feedback or reminded people that Bungie won't ever ask for your personal information in a game.

Players are allowed to vote on the game and map. While I tried several times to get into different games, everyone of them ended up being Capture the Flag on one of two maps. While I love CTF, I was curious to see something else. Judging by some of the comments in my team, I wasn't alone. And there was plenty of time to complain as we waited for the game to start. After an eternity of trash talk (save some for the fight, guys!) the server finally started our first round of Capture the Flag.

The first map, which was the overwhelming favorite with the various groups I joined, is a high-tech building with deceptively high jumps ("You committed suicide" -oops), long, exposed ramps ("Killed you with a headshot") and ample blind curves. Flags are positioned in a way to ensure you have to move or risk getting killed. Staying near a flag means being exposed to snipers above. Hiding in the nearby alcoves exposes you to grenades, which bounce and roll directly between you and safety. (My one and only triple kill was achieved by lobbing every grenade in my possession around a corner.)

On the plus side, I didn't find myself getting stuck in walls or corners as I have in previous games. The downside: There are many fake doors and dead ends that can be the kiss of death.

Learn the maps fast, and when in doubt, stick close to someone else on your team.

Map #2 had a sort of Blood Gulch feel, now with a huge reservoir that will sweep you away if you fall in certain areas of the water. The rich red soil contrasts nicely with the traditional Halo architecture, creating a gorgeous, psychotic playground. I scored a flag collection game in this map, a sort of CTF on steroids. Neutral color flags are parked throughout the terrain, all up for grabs. The goal is to find and claim as many flags as possible by returning them to the home base.

My team exploded in a frenetic free-for-all, with teammates stumbling over each other for the available flags. Our opponents took a different tact, with half the members focusing on stopping us and the other half focusing on finding flags. (For the record, they lost! But they had the higher body count.)

After a game is completed, players are given level points based on performance in the game. Awards (Triple Kill, First Blood, etc.) can also be unlocked during game play. The level points can be quite generous, allowing even low-level players (e.g., me) to move up the ladder, albeit slowly. I just wish the stats didn't go so quickly; I barely registered where I was on the level ladder, much less how I got there. Of course, the goal is to get you back into a game as quickly as possible.

If I had gotten into another game quickly, all would have been forgiven. Instead, I was trapped in a room for 13 minutes (yes, I timed it!) waiting for the server to finally rescue us. The language really ramped up as people yelled at the presumed team leader to GET US OUT OF HERE, to which a frustrated voice just responded, "I can't, dude, I don't know how." I doubt I was the only one desperately button mashing to get out of the room. (That's how I found the pimp your guy feature, by the way.) Eventually, the server burped and released us. It was maddening. I had a limited period of time to play, and wasting that much time because I can't leave a match room is just ridiculous. (For an example of how to do it right, see the Blur beta.)

Server issues aside, I genuinely enjoyed playing, even if I was cannon fodder much of the time. I went in knowing I was going to die - a lot - because I haven't played Halo in a very long time, and I'm not much for multiplayer in general. I knew that a lot of the other Level 1s playing were way, way beyond Level 1, and there was nothing I could do about it. What I didn't expect was how nice everyone was. Sure, there were plenty of jokes, but they were good natured, and often self-deprecating. And not one person yelled "Grrl ain't got no game" at me, which I truly appreciate. I even got a shout out for my triple kill.

In short, I had a good time. Been there, done that, took home the avatar tee-shirt. Planning to return soon.

If you're a little lost starting out with the Halo: Reach beta, join the club. We have jackets - well, avatar t-shirts anyway. It is called beta testing for a reason, but a little prep can make the experience a whole lot better. Here's what you should know before jumping in:

• Controls. These have changed (again). By default, reload has moved to X, melee is on the right bumper, equipment is on the left bumper, grenades are fired with left trigger and grenade swapping is B.
• Loadouts. Before the match and each spawn, you get to choose a loadout. These can all look the same at first glance, but grant you a different mix or default weapons and armor abilities. Different game types offer different loadouts.
• Armor Abilities. These are the new thing you'll notice most, once you figure them out. These abilities have a power gauge that depletes from use and recharges over time. Jet Pack grants the power to fly, providing a tactical advantage but it might make you an easy target until you master it. Sprint lets you run fast (great for Capture the Flag runners or anyone who wants to get away fast). Active Camo turns you mostly invisible. Armor Lock lets you be invincible but you can't fire or move while using it. And the Elite-only Evade gives you that nifty dodge/roll maneuver they're known for.
• Health Kits. All except Elites can heal using health packs stationed on walls around the map. You do need to press the action button (X by default) when standing next to one to activate it.
• Takedowns. These are stealth melee attacks that occur when you sneak up behind an opponent. They look cool but can leave you open to attack for longer than a standard melee.
• Game Types. At launch, there are three playlists. Grab Bag includes 1 Flag CTF, Stockpile, Oddball, Team Crazy King, 3 Plots, Team Slayer, Team SWAT and Covy Team Slayer. Free-For-All offers Slayer, Slayer Pro Round, Classic Slayer, Oddball, Crazy King, Juggernaut and Headhunter. The Arena is Classic Slayer, Team Slayer and Team Slayer Pro. Starting May 7, the Invasion playlist will add Invasion and Invasion Slayer. And on May 14, the new Generator Defense game type will be added.

To get your avatar t-shirt, quit the beta and go back to the dashboard after completing at least one match. Go the Community section and load Halo Waypoint. Ask Waypoint to scan your career and you'll be awarded the t-shirt (along with any other goodies you might have earned playing the various Halo games). Now go back to the dashboard to dress up your avatar...

• Lead and Gold: Gangs Of The Wild West ($15)
• Call Of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 Stimulus Package ($15) with 5 maps
• Record Of Agarest War Add-On Dungeon 3 and 4 and Item Pack 3 and 4 (all free)
• Rock Band/Rock Band 2 No Doubt Tragic Kingdom ($15-20 or $2 each) with "The Climb," "Different People," "End It on This," "Happy Now?" "Hey You," "Sixteen," "Tragic Kingdom," "World Go 'Round" and "You Can Do It" plus tracks ($1-2 each) "I Know What I Am" by Band of Skulls, "Bodies" by Drowning Pool, "Survive" by Lacuna Coil, "According to You" by Orianthi, "Dearest (I'm So Sorry)" by Picture Me Broken, "Little Black Backpack '09" by Stroke 9 and "Semi-Charmed Life '09" by Third Eye Blind - Note: "Family friendly" tracks also work with Lego Rock Band.
• Demos: UFC Undisputed 2010
• Game Videos: 3D Dot Game Heroes, Dead Space 2, EyePet, PlayStation Move, and Pulse featuring Fat Princess: Fistful of Cake
• Themes: Drops ($1.50)
• PSP: Armored Core Last Raven ($15), Fat Princess: Fistful Of Cake ($20), Finger Connection ($2), Iron Man 2 ($30), One Two Boat Racing ($2), Ramen Heaven ($2), Sneezies ($3) and What Did I Do To Deserve This, My Lord!? 2 ($20 plus $2 each for add-ons)
• PSP Demos: Naruto Shippuden: Ultimate Ninja Heroes 3
• PSP Game Videos: Pulse featuring Fat Princess: Fistful of Cake
• PSP Themes: Drops ($1 each)

You may have heard it on this week's podcast, but just in case: Busy Gamer Podcast is now on Stitcher.

If you're not familiar with it, Stitcher is a service that lets you quickly queue your podcasts, or "stitch" them together for convenient listening. You'll only find the latest episode of each (for now), but it can be handy if you need to keep up with a lot of podcasts. Since ours are short, we always anticipated people would squeeze them in around other podcasts - so this may be a great partnership!

Free Stitcher clients are available on the Web and on iPhone, Blackberry, Pre and Android. Give it a listen: You can add us online or search on "busy gamer" from within the app to find us. If you do use Stitcher, please mark us as a favorite...

This week, a group of developers have banded together to raise money through a "pay what you want deal" called the Humble Indie Bundle.

The games are Aquaria, Gish, Lugaru HD, Penumbra Overture and World of Goo available DRM-free for Windows, Mac and Linux. Normally, you'd pay $80 for these titles, but if you order before time runs out on May 11 you can choose your price and have the proceeds go to Child's Play Charity, the Electronic Frontier Foundation and/or the games' developers in any split you designate.

Feel all of that power and goodness welling up inside? Good, you can even order gift codes to send to friends and family members! We'd suggest you pony up at least $15, and realistically you should probably accept the default suggestion of $29.95 per order (normally we don't report marketing amounts, but for this we'll make an exception!). Or pay more if you can; it is all for a good cause. At this writing, they've raised nearly $300,000 with less than 6 days to go. Get it at www.wolfire.com/humble...

If you're both a fan of hip-hop music and an old school gamer, you'll love Gold N' Fly. Music producer Alex Kresovich's mashup of the Goldeneye 007 game for Nintendo 64 with hardcore rap by 2Pac, Busta Rhymes, Nas, will.i.am, Notorious B.I.G., Lil' Wayne, 50 Cent, Jay-Z and Wu-Tang Clan (among others) is currently burning up MP3 players around the Interwebz.

It's not for everyone, and definitely not for the car ride taking the little ones to elementary school. See that Parental Advisory icon? Earned.

You can download all 22 tracks, 80MB of zipped music, at goldnfly.com...

• Arcade: RayStorm HD ($15) and Zeno Clash Ultimate Edition ($15)
• Game Room Pack 3 (games are $3-5 each) with Basketball, Megamania, Night Stalker, Pitfall!, Rack 'Em Up, RealSports Volleball and Super Breakout
• Mass Effect 2 Equalizer Pack ($2) with Capacitor Helmet, Archon Visor and Inferno Armor
• Guitar Hero 5 Classic Rock Track Pack ($5.50 or $2 each) with "Take The Money And Run" by Steve Miller Band, "Juke Box Hero" by Foreigner and "Sweet Home Alabama (Live)" by Lynyrd Skynyrd
• Rock Band/Rock Band 2 No Doubt Tragic Kingdom ($15-20 or $2 each) with "The Climb," "Different People," "End It on This," "Happy Now?" "Hey You," "Sixteen," "Tragic Kingdom," "World Go 'Round" and "You Can Do It" plus tracks ($2 each) "According to You" by Orianthi and "Dearest (I'm So Sorry)" by Picture Me Broken - Note: "Family friendly" tracks also work with Lego Rock Band.
• Rock Band Network tracks (Rock Band 2 required to download and play) "Doomed" by 8 Inch Betsy, "The Funeral" by Band of Horses, "You've Got Someone" by Blue News, "Dethroned" by Death Angel, "Heads or Tails? Real or Not" by Emarosa, "Where Were You?" by Every Avenue, "Radiator" by Family Force 5, "Paralyzer" by Finger Eleven, "People Like You" by Forever From Now, "Unfurling A Darkened Gospel" by Job For A Cowboy, "Even Seconds," "Montana" and "Swine Houses" by The Main Drag, "Death Quota for Purification" by The Myriad Burial, "End Of This" by Scratching the Itch, "Chelsea" by The Summer Set, "The Crying Machine (Live)" by Steve Vai and "Shot at the Title" by Your Horrible Smile
• Lips The Go-Go's Song Pack ($5.50 or $2 each) with "Head Over Heels," "Our Lips Are Sealed" and "We Got The Beat" plus tracks ($2 each) "Let's Dance" by David Bowie, "Come On Eileen" by Dexys Midnight Runners, "Don't You Want Me" by Human League, "Bad Reputation" by Joan Jett and the Blackhearts and "Going Back To Cali" by LL Cool J
• Games on Demand: Brothers in Arms: Hell's Highway ($30), Prince of Persia ($20), Rockstar Table Tennis ($20) and Skate 2 ($20)
• Demos: UFC Undisputed 2010 plus all Xbox Live Arcade, Game Room, Indie Games and Rock Band Network tracks
• Indie Games (usually $1-10 each): Ambient Water, Avatar Dash, Avatar Deluxe Blackjack, Avatar Fever: Capture the Spice, Avatar Hamster Panic, Classic Spider, Avatar Surfing Challenge, BattleWorms, Fumbo, Decay - Part 1, Gentlemacho, Grabby Grabby Plushy Plushy, HomeSlice & the Zombie Bunnies, Juggler, Kapture, Moon Taxi, Murky Horizon, Pop Dog, Singularity, Space Maze, Super Avatar Hero Force and ゆっくりの迷宮 ("Labyrinth of Slow")
• Game Videos: After Burner Climax, Alan Wake, Call of Duty: Black Ops, Halo: Reach, Just Cause 2, Lost Planet 2, Prince of Persia: The Forgotten Sands, Red Dead Redemption and Zeno Clash Ultimate Edition
• Themes: Prince of Persia: The Forgotten Sands Premium ($3) and Prince of Persia movie (free)
• Pictures: Halo: Reach (free; enters you in sweepstakes), Naughty Bear ($1 each), Prince of Persia: The Forgotten Sands ($1), Red Dead Redemption ($1), Konsole Kingz ($1-2 each) and Prince of Persia movie (free; enters you in sweepstakes)
• Avatar Items (usually priced $1-5 each): Final Fantasy XIII and Game Room

Did you miss out on Free Comics Day? Or maybe you just didn't get your fill. No worries, we picked up some extras for you - plus some that we bought to support our local comic shop (they do pay for those comics you know!). And we've folded in some comics we picked up from past years and a number that GrrlGotGame is done with.

35 comics in all (more images):

• Halo Blood Line #4
• Halo Helljumper #5
• Mass Effect Redemption #1
• Dead Space Extraction (One Shot)
• Warhammer Online: Prelude to War
• Aliens
• Hellboy: The Wild Hunt
• The X Files #1
• The Invincible Iron Man #1
• The Sixth Gun #1
• Kevin Smith's Green Hornet #1
• War of the Supermen 0
• The Amazing Spider-Man Grim Hunt: The Kraven Saga
• WildCats #19
• Mouse Guard Spring 1153 (One Shot)
• Fearless Dawn #1
• Love and Rockets: New Stories
• Unknown Soldier #1
• Shonen Jump Special
• Saga of the Swamp Thing #21
• The Avengers (One Shot)
• The Mighty Avengers #21
• The Mighty Avengers #23
• Beasts of Burden #1
• The Authority: The Last Year Reader
• Planetary Special Edition
• Bongo Comics Free-for-All 2008
• Bongo Comics Free-for-All 2009
• The Coven #4
• WitchBlade #13
• WitchBlade #14
• WitchBlade #17
• Devil's Reign Chapter 6: WitchBlade Electra
• Tales of the WitchBlade #3
• Tales of the WitchBlade #4

One lucky person takes them all, maybe. That depends on your generosity (and your fellow entrants)! If there are any of these comics that you specifically do NOT want (already have them, just not your thing), call that out in your comments and, if you're drawn first, we'll award them to a runner up who does.

You may earn up to FOUR chances to win!

1. Enter a comment here, as usual. That's all you really NEED to do.
2. Tweet the following on Twitter: Win 35 comics incl #Halo, #MassEffect, #DeadSpace at BusyGamerNews, home of Busy Gamer Podcast! RT + enter: http://bit.ly/cRMpj2 #bgnfsf
3. Review (or re-review) our Busy Gamer Podcast on iTunes
4. Review (or re-review) the brand new Best of Busy Gamer Podcast on iTunes. This is a feed we recently launched with short audio segments comprising our reviews, audio tours and other timeless bits.

If you do 2, 3 and/or 4, you do need to let us know your Twitter/iTunes name(s) in your comment so we can verify and include your bonus entries in the drawing and match them up to contact you if one of them wins. If I can't easily tell who you are on Twitter and/or iTunes, the bonus entry is disqualified.

You DO have to enter a comment here and follow the other rules to be eligible. Here's where you enter:

This week is our Halo Special Edition! GrrlGotGame delivers her first impressions of the Halo: Reach beta plus we have "getting started" tips for the beta. Then we have our Audiophile review of Halo music from the original to ODST. And we share details of our Rock Band party, review Treasure Quest on Facebook and examine how Atari 2600 classic Pitfall holds up on Game Room for Xbox 360.

Get all of that - plus game release news, DLC and giveaways - in about 23 minutes! (We swore we'd never break 20 minutes, but we broke that rule for Halo and Pikachu Fan's singing!)

Our goal is to provide a short (typically 10-15 minutes) summary 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

The big news last week was the release of the Wii, in both original white and a new black model, for $200 with the inclusion of both Wii Sports and Wii Sports Resort plus a Wii MotionPlus accessory for the Wii-mote. Pretty sweet deal if you don't already have all of these things. Alas, if you're thinking of upgrading to a shiny black Wii, be aware that any WiiWare and Virtual Console purchases will be lost due to Nintendo's lack of a DRM transfer capability (the same issue that exists with the DSi).

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: Chess Challenge! (DSiWare), Earthworm Jim (DSiWare), Flips: The Enchanted Wood (DSiWare), Monster Racer and Photo Dojo (DSiWare)
• iPhone/iPad: 100 Rogues, Armada: Galactic War, CrossRoads, Domino's Adventure, Hand of Greed, Iron Horse and Monster Mayhem
• Mac: None
• PC: Age of Conan: Rise of the Godslayer, Brain Games: Emerald Quest, Brain Puzzles 2 and Rhem 4
• PS3: 3D Dot Game Heroes, Batman Arkham Asylum: Game of the Year Edition, Lost Planet 2, Quantum Theory, Skate 3 and Super Bike World Championships SBK
• PS2: None
• PSP: Naruto Shipuden: Ultimate Ninja Heroes 3
• Wii: Chess Challenge! (WiiWare), Phoenix Wright Ace Attorney: Trials and Tribulations (WiiWare) and Winter Sports 3
• Xbox 360: Batman Arkham Asylum: Game of the Year Edition, Lost Planet 2, Rocket Knight (Arcade), Skate 3 and Things on Wheels (Arcade)

So, what will you be picking up - or is this week a pass? Any games we missed? Anything slip (as these inevitably do)? Please let us know...

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

• WiiWare: Chess Challenge! ($5) and Phoenix Wright Ace Attorney: Trials and Tribulations ($10)
• Virtual Console: None
• DSiWare: Chess Challenge! ($5), Earthworm Jim ($5), Flips: The Enchanted Wood ($5) and Photo Dojo (free until June 11, then $2)
• Rock Band 2 tracks ($2 each; due Tuesday, May 11) "Breaking the Law," "Rapid Fire," "Metal Gods," "Grinder," "United," "Living After Midnight," "You Don't Have to Be Old to Be Wise," "The Rage" and "Steeler" by Judas Priest from the British Steel live album (no bundle price on Wii) - Note: "Family friendly" tracks also work with Lego Rock Band.
• DS Demos (via Wii's Nintendo "Marketing" Channel): All repeats including Ace Attorney Investigations: Miles Edgeworth, America's Test Kitchen: Let's Get Cooking Roasted Red Potatoes and Pots de Creme, Avatar, Bakugan Battle Brawlers, Battle of Giants: Mutant Insects, Deca Sports DS Cheerleading and Ping Pong, Picross 3D, The Princess and the Frog, Rooms DS and Sonic & Sega All-Star Racing
• Game Videos: Chess Challenge!, Earthworm Jim, Green Day: Rock Band, Iron Man 2, Phoenix Wright Ace Attorney (WARNING: "Info" video crashes my Wii as it did for me and others in January), Photo Dojo, Picross 3D, Pokemon HeartGold/SoulSilver and Rage of the Gladiator

The Secret of Monkey Island:SE powered by InstantAction

No, seriously - you can play the game right here! It's a 20-minute timed demo of The Secret of Monkey Island Special Edition, which is available on pretty much any platform you an think of. (Pikachu Fan and I have been enjoying the Xbox Live Arcade version.)

If you click the shopping cart icon above, InstantAction will only sell you a Windows Web browser version for $10. You'll need Firefox 3.5 or better, Internet Explorer 7-8 or Chrome 4+. InstantAction games can be run full-screen by using Alt+Enter. Mac support is in the works but not yet available.

What do you think - is this the wave of the future? Would you come to BusyGamerNews.com to play trial versions of games? And how come we don't earn a commission for referring people who do buy after trying it on our site...

• PopCap Spring Fever Bundle ($25) includes Bejeweled 2, Feeding Frenzy 2, Heavy Weapon, Peggle and Zuma
• Midway Spring Fever Bundle ($15) has Championship Sprint, Gauntlet II, Joust, Mortal Kombat II and Rampage World Tour
• World Of Outlaws: Sprint Cars ($20)
• Bioshock 2 Kill 'Em Kindly (free) melee mode, Rapture Metro Pack ($10) with six maps and the (former Gamestop pre-order bonus) Exclusive Characters Pack ($2) with actress and fisherman multiplayer models
• Lost Planet 2 Map Pack #1 ($5) with two maps
• Super Street Fighter IV Super Shoryuken Costume Pack ($4) with alternate attire for Ryu, Ken, Gouken, Dan and Akuma
• Batman: Arkham Asylum Game Of The Year Edition Play As The Joker Challenge Map Pack and Prey In The Darkness Map Pack (both free) and Crime Alley Challenge Map and Dem Bones Challenge Map ($3.50 each)
• Nier The World Of Recycled Vessel ($7) with 15 battles and unlockable bonus costumes, weapons and quest
• LittleBigPlanet More Animals! Costume Pack ($3 or $1 each) with Fly, Hippo, Peacock and Turtle
• Record Of Agarest War Add-On Dungeon 5, Item Packs 5-6 and Points Pack 2 (all free)
• Skate 3 Time Is Money Pack ($7) - basically, cheat codes you pay for
• DJ Hero Domination Mix Pack ($8) with "Wolfgang's 5th Symphony" by Wolfgang Gartner vs "Red Mist VIP" by Danny Byrd and "Sandstorm" by Darude vs "Higher State of Consciousness" by Josh Wink
• Guitar Hero 5 Classic Rock Track Pack ($5.50 or $2 each) with "Take The Money And Run" by Steve Miller Band, "Juke Box Hero" by Foreigner and "Sweet Home Alabama (Live)" by Lynyrd Skynyrd and Alternative Pop Track Pack ($5.50 or $2 each) with "Face Down" by Alpha Rev, "Low Day" by Capra and "You're All I Have" by Snow Patrol
• Rock Band/Rock Band 2 British Steel album by Judas Priest ($15 or $2 each) with live versions of "Breaking the Law," "Rapid Fire," "Metal Gods," "Grinder," "United," "Living After Midnight," "You Don't Have to Be Old to Be Wise," "The Rage" and "Steeler" and Rock Band Network tracks ($1-3 each) "I'm Made Of Wax, Larry, What Are You Made Of?" by A Day To Remember, "Mordecai" by Between the Buried and Me, "Tongue Twister Typo" by Blackmarket, "When I Get Home You're So Dead" by Mayday Parade and "Remedy" by Seether - Note: "Family friendly" tracks also work with Lego Rock Band.
• Demos: Split/Second
• Game Videos: 3D Dot Game Heroes, Crysis 2, God of War 3, Grand Theft Auto: Episodes From Liberty City, Kick-Ass (the game), LittleBigPlanet PSP,  plus Qore May 2010 ($3) features LittleBigPlanet 2 and Persia: The Forgotten Sands
• Themes: 3D Dot Games Heroes (free), After Burner Climax Premium ($4) and Gravity Crash Dynamic ($3)
• Wallpaper: Kick-Ass
• PSP: Busy Sweets Factory ($2), Harvest Moon: Hero Of Leaf Valley ($30), Love Cupid ($2) and Quiz Animania ($2) plus LittleBigPlanet PSP Wilderness Theme Pack and Sackfari Explorers Theme Pack ($3 each) with two sample costumes (free)
• PSP Demos: ModNation Racers PSP
• PSP Game Videos: 3D Dot Game Heroes and LitteBigPlanet PSP
• PSP Themes: Draganov ($1.50 each) and The Princess and the Frog ($1.50)
• PSP Wallpaper: Armored Core: Last Raven
• PlayStation Home Items (usually priced $0.50-7.50 each): Uncharted 2 personal space and Karate Kid items

Valve launched a Mac version of its Steam store/gaming community client, a move we hope will prove to be a real boost to Mac gaming. Here's a direct link to the actual Steam for Mac installer or go to Steampowered.com to view system requirements first.

GrrlGotGame and I used to be avid Mac gamers ourselves and even published an e-zine in the '90s called MacDoom Review, which delved into the sub-culture of a gaming sub-culture (what is it with us and niche audiences?!). It seems that Mac gaming has fallen off in recent years though it's always lagged behind the PC.

Is Steam the cure? A promising launch line-up that features Portal (free until May 24 for both PC and Mac!) and Torchlight certainly seems therapeutic. As a bonus, titles marked as SteamPlay (so far all of them!) allow cross-platform gamers to buy once and play on all supported platforms. It's not clear if you previously purchased a SteamPlay title for PC if you'll get access to the Mac version for free.

Here's the full list of Mac launch titles (check Steam on Wednesdays for new releases):

• Atlantis Sky Patrol
• And Yet it Moves
• Bejeweled 2 Deluxe
• Bob Came in Pieces
• Bookworm Deluxe
• Braid
• Brainpipe: A Plunge to Unhumanity
• Chocolatier: Decadence by Design
• Chuzzle Deluxe
• City of Heroes: Architect Edition
• Civilization IV
• Civilization IV: Beyond the Sword
• Civilization IV: Colonization
• Civilization IV: Warlords
• Civilization IV: The Complete Edition
• Cooking Dash
• Diaper Dash
• The Dig
• Diner Dash: Hometown Hero
• DinerTown Detective Agency
• DinerTown Tycoon
• Dream Chronicles: The Chosen Child
• Escape Rosecliff Island
• Fairway Solitaire
• Fitness Dash
• Football Manager 2010
• Galcon Fusion
• Gemini Lost
• Hotel Dash: Suite Success
• Indiana Jones and the Fate of Atlantis
• Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade
• KrissX
• Loom
• Luxor
• Luxor 3
• Luxor Mahjong
• Machinarium
• Mahjong Roadshow
• My Tribe
• The Nightshift Code
• Nightshift Legacy: The Jaguar's Eye
• Osmos
• Parking Dash
• Peggle Deluxe
• Peggle Nights
• Portal
• Professor Fizzwizzle and the Molten Mystery
• Quantz
• Sam & Max: The Devil's Playhouse
• Tales of Monkey Island: Chapter 1-5
• Toki Tori
• Torchlight
• TriJinx: A Kristine Kross Mystery
• Unwell Mel
• Valerie Porter and the Scarlet Scandal
• Wandering Willows
• Wedding Dash 2: Rings Around the World
• World of Goo
• Zenerchi
• Zuma Deluxe

Mere months ago, I attended a meet-up in Seattle so packed they stopped letting people into the bar. People went outside to smoke, and found themselves left out in the cold, literally and figuratively.

The force of nature that brought so many out on a school night? Zynga.

The people behind the Facebook games phenomenon Farmville came. They saw. They gloated. Tens of millions of players, growing exponentially daily - almost hourly - all for free. They also casually mentioned the $180 million investment they had received earlier in the week. The room was filled with casual game industry players, all hoping to capture some of that Farmville magic.

What a difference a few months can make.

Today, Farmville player numbers (along with Mafia Wars, Cafe World, and the rest) are in a free-fall. It's bad when you can't attract new players. It's worse when long-term players walk away from leveled-up characters and games. I know, because I'm about to do it myself. Here's why:

• I'm tired of pissing off my friends. A few months ago, I wrote a story about how to avoid annoying your buddies with your Farm/Cafe/Mafia/etc. announcements. Following those basics of good citizenship just don't work anymore... and yes, I know they can turn off the game announcements. Most don't. They just complain.
• Most of my friends have already quit. The volume of dead crops, spoiled food, and unrequited gifts has slowly increased over the past several months, to the point I recently did a head count of who was still playing each game. Assuming I read the signs correctly, I am down to four Cafe World pals and three Farmville buds. This does not bode well when...
• Every "free" game is a designed to get your credit card number. OK, I am mixed on this point. I understand that Zynga is not a charity, and I get that the way they make money is by getting you to buy in-game cash. But it didn't used to be this bad. Case-in-point: Each game offers special items you can "build" by getting friends to send you pieces. For example, a special Cafe World stove that will instantly mix all ingredients, thus saving a lot of annoying clicks. This works great if you have a massive network of people standing by to send you the roughly 4,056 knobs required to complete the stove. (How big is this thing, anyway?) The game is rigged by limiting the items each person can send you, limiting you to one gift from each friend per day, and making item builds available for a limited period of time. If you have a huge network - and some of my friends do - you can score free equipment easily. If not... well, you can buy what you need! And what you'll need is to buy in-game dollars with a real-world credit card. Or you can just abandon all that hard work and stare at your half-built Farmville stable forever.
• Facebook is determined to make it really, really hard to play the games. Facebook used to make all of my friends' game announcements (free food, lost cats, need help whacking enemies, etc.) available in a single, easy-access filtered feed. No more. Now I must plow through my entire feed, which has all but eliminated the announcements. If you look closely, you'll occasionally see "see x similar posts" at the bottom of the announcement. This is where much of the free lawyers, guns, and money are hiding. And, due to some feuding between Facebook and Zynga, you may see these disappear completely. Divorce is ugly, kids.
• Zynga is also determined to make it really, really hard to play the games. Zynga relies on the social aspect for marketing. (Not speculation; this was in their presentation!) This used to be easy, as everyone saw the game announcements in their feeds. If you're interested in games and you see a lot of friends playing a game, you're probably going to try it, right? Well, now that those days are gone, Zynga has gone full tilt boogie on to Plan B: harass players into "inviting" friends to play with them. I can't spend two minutes in a game without being asked if I want to send a present, visit another person's farm/Cafe/etc., invite friends, or the most recent addition, invite friends already playing another Zynga game (e.g., ask your Farmville friends to play Cafe World). Enough! Load my damn game and let me get on with it. Which leads me to...
• I'm just not enjoying myself anymore. That one's pretty self-explanatory.

These factors are all contributing to the rapid decline of Zynga's once rock-solid games. And it's just going to get worse when Zynga makes good on its threat to divorce Facebook and move the action to its own game site. Location, location, location may be a cliché, but it also happens to be true.

Will moving to the web put the final stake in Zynga's heart? It depends largely on how the company handles the shift. I'd suggest hiring a marketing department and building an advertising budget, because what little viral reach Zynga enjoys today is about to dissolve. More importantly - listen up kids, this stuff’s important - improve your games! Because in the end, these aren't really games. They're social pyramid schemes, albeit without the cash buy-in.

And once a player's personal pyramid collapses, game play is the only thing that will save you.

With permission from Microsoft, MekTek has released PC game MechWarrior 4: Mercenaries for free. After clearing up some launch snafus, including patches that remove a mandatory server check that caused installs to fail during peak download times (among other things), the game seems to be in good shape now. So whether you're a fan who wants to revisit the glory days or someone who never got around to playing the MechWarrior series, now's your chance. Get it from mektek.net...

• Arcade: Rocket Night ($15) and Things on Wheels ($10) plus Magic: The Gathering - Duels of the Planeswalkers Expansion Pack 2 ($5) with new decks, campaign levels, co-op levels and challenge levels plus various decks ($1 each)
• Game Room ($3-5 each; no new download this week): Battlezone, Canyon Bomber, Keystone Kapers, Mega Zone, Night Driver, Oink! and Soccer
• BioShock 2 Kill 'Em Kindly (free) melee mode, Rapture Metro Pack ($10) with six maps and the (former Gamestop pre-order bonus) Exclusive Characters Pack ($2) with actress and fisherman multiplayer models
• Forza Motorsport 3 Exotic Car Pack ($5; one free sample) with 10 cars
• Lost Planet 2 Map Pack #1 ($5) with two maps
• Super Street Fighter IV Super Shoryuken Costume Pack ($4) with alternate attire for Ryu, Ken, Gouken, Dan and Akuma
• Nier The World Of Recycled Vessel ($7) with 15 battles and unlockable bonus costumes, weapons and quest
• Record Of Agarest War various packs ($0.50 to $2)
• Guitar Hero 5 Alternative Pop Track Pack ($5.50 or $2 each) with "Face Down" by Alpha Rev, "Low Day" by Capra and "You're All I Have" by Snow Patrol
• Rock Band/Rock Band 2 British Steel album by Judas Priest ($15 or $2 each) with live versions of "Breaking the Law," "Rapid Fire," "Metal Gods," "Grinder," "United," "Living After Midnight," "You Don't Have to Be Old to Be Wise," "The Rage" and "Steeler" - Note: "Family friendly" tracks also work with Lego Rock Band.
• Rock Band Network tracks ($1-3; Rock Band 2 required to download and play) "Dr. Doom" by The Acacia Strain, "You Take It All" by Atom, "Beauty Queen" by The Fury, "Last Train To Awesometown" by Parry Gripp, "Inheritance" by Single White Infidel and "Redemption" by Andy Timmons
• Lips Miley Cyrus Bonus Song Pack ($5.50 or $2 each) with "7 Things," "See You Again," "The Climb" and "Fly On The Wall" and tracks ($2 each) Let It Whip" by Dazz Band, "What Becomes Of The Brokenhearted" by Jimmy Ruffin and "Money (That's What I Want)" by Barrett Strong
• Games on Demand: Battlestations Pacific ($30), Endwar ($30) and Raiden Fighters: Aces ($20)
• Demos: Iron Man 2 plus all Xbox Live Arcade, Indie games and Rock Band Network tracks
• Indie Games (usually $1-10 each): Anger Management 2, Attack of the Verbose Dinosaur, BrainBox360: Physics Edition, Burning Fist of Rage, Dust Devils, Fabarite, Flatland, HaXor LooZ, Hot Potato HD, MatchingPair, MeetURMatch: Avatar Edition, Murphid, Nomis: Legacy Islands, Pallet Loader, The Perfect Pickup Line, Pushy, Rapunzel's Fight Knight, Retent, Retrofit: Overload, Scatha, Team Chess and Text Zedventure
• Game Videos: Alan Wake, BioShock 2 Kill 'Em Kindly and Rapture Metro, Fable III, Forza Motorsport 3 Exotic Car Pack, Iron Man 2, Singularity, Things on Wheels, Transformers: War for Cybertron, True Crime and Zeno Clash Ultimate Edition plus Skate 3 video guides ($1 each)
• Themes: Iron Man 2 (free), Super Street Fighter IV Premium ($3) and Things on Wheels ($2), plus Marines and Mountain Dew (free)
• Pictures: Iron Man 2 (free) and Things on Wheels ($1), plus History and Mountain Dew (free; some may enter you in sweepstakes)
• Avatar Items (usually priced $1-5 each): Army of Two: The 40th Day and World of Keflings

With a major western shooter dropping from Rockstar this week, we thought back to one of early Xbox 360 experiences: Gun. This is a solid third-person sandbox shooter with fun missions, side quests and a good story - it can tide you over until that other game drops in price or help you extend the experience!

As a bonus, the winner also gets a gift code for the Humble Indie Bundle, which includes six games: Aquaria, Gish, Lugaru HD, Penumbra Overture, Samorost 2 and World of Goo. The donation made on your behalf was more than the average for all three supported platforms, PC, Mac and Linux. The winner can download the games for one or all three platforms, DRM-free.

We'll assume you want all of the above - but if you only want one of these prizes, just say so in your entry and we'll award the other to someone else. (To be clear: We can't split up the bundle!)

You may earn up to FOUR chances to win!

1. Enter a comment here, as usual. That's all you really NEED to do.
2. Tweet the following on Twitter: Win Gun for Xbox 360 and Humble Indie Bundle for PC/Mac/Linux - 7 games in all! RT + enter: http://bit.ly/cQ67vL #bgnfsf
3. Review (or re-review) our Busy Gamer Podcast on iTunes
4. Review (or re-review) the Best of Busy Gamer Podcast on iTunes. This is a short audio highlights feed with our reviews, audio tours and other timeless bits.

If you do 2, 3 and/or 4, you do need to let us know your Twitter/iTunes name(s) in your comment so we can find, verify and include your bonus entries in the drawing and match them up to contact you if one of them wins. If we can't easily tell who you are on Twitter and/or iTunes, the bonus entry is disqualified.

You DO have to enter a comment here and follow the other rules to be eligible. Here's where you enter:

This week, GrrlGotGame sings her goodbye to Zynga's Farmville and Cafe World, GLaDOS joins us to celebrate the Steam on Mac launch (with its free Portal offer!), Guybrush Threepwood joins our discussion of The Secret of Monkey Island embedded Web demo and we examine the free release of MechWarrior 4, EA's Online Pass proposal, Beautiful Katamari, Dead Space (played late at night!), Game Room's Keystone Kapers and Battlezone and the card battle dogsled game Mush on Facebook.

Get all of that - plus game release news, DLC and giveaways - in about 15 minutes!

Our goal is to provide a short (typically 10-15 minutes) summary 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

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: Blue Dragon: Awakened Shadow, Burger Bot, Flips: More Bloody Horowitz (DSiWare), Frogger Returns (DSiWare), Imagine: Animal Doctor Care Center, Looksley's Line Up (DSiWare), Prince of Persia: The Forgotten Sands, Shrek Forever After and A Topsy Turvy Life: Turvy Drops (DSiWare)
• iPhone/iPad: Dizzypad HD, Gurlz vs Robots, iBomber 2, Kometen, Nirvana Revenge, PewPew 2, Phoenix Spirit, Split/Second, Strike Knight, TowerMadness HD and Zombie Infection
• Mac: None
• PC: Becky Brogan: The Mystery of Meane Manor, Runaway: A Twist of Fate, Shrek Forever After, Split/Second and Sword of the Stars Complete Collection
• PS3: Prince of Persia: The Forgotten Sands, Red Dead Redemption, Shrek Forever After and Split/Second
• PS2: None
• PSP: Prince of Persia: The Forgotten Sands
• Wii: Attack of The Movies 3D, Bit.Trip Runner (WiiWare), Blood Beach (WiiWare), Burger Bot, Canada Hunt, Kirby Super Star (Virtual Console), Prince of Persia: The Forgotten Sands, Shrek Forever After, Super Mario Galaxy 2, Trauma Team and Veggy World
• Xbox 360: Alan Wake, Aqua (Arcade), Asteroids (Game Room), Attack of The Movies 3D, Demons to Diamonds (Game Room), Grand Prix (Game Room), Metal Slug XX (Arcade), Prince of Persia: The Forgotten Sands, Red Dead Redemption, Shark! Shark! (Game Room), Space Duel (Game Room), Split/Second, Stampede (Game Room) and Time Pilot (Game Room)

So, what will you be picking up - or is this week a pass? Any games we missed? Anything slip (as these inevitably do)? Please let us know...

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

• WiiWare: Bit.Trip Runner ($8) and Blood Beach ($10)
• Virtual Console: Kirby Super Star for Super NES ($8)
• DSiWare: Flips: More Bloody Horowitz ($2), Frogger Returns ($5), Looksley's Line Up ($5) and A Topsy Turvy Life: Turvy Drops ($2)
• Rock Band 2 tracks ($2 each; due Tuesday, May 18) "Beat It on Down the Line," "Cumberland Blues," "Scarlet Begonias," "Throwing Stones," "Touch of Grey" and "U.S. Blues" by Grateful Dead and "A Girl Like You" and "Only a Memory" by The Smithereens - Note: "Family friendly" tracks also work with Lego Rock Band.
• DS Demos (via Wii's Nintendo "Marketing" Channel): All repeats including Ace Attorney Investigations: Miles Edgeworth, America's Test Kitchen: Let's Get Cooking Roasted Red Potatoes and Pots de Creme, Bakugan Battle Brawlers, Battle of Giants: Mutant Insects, Deca Sports DS Cheerleading and Ping Pong, Picross 3D, The Princess and the Frog, Rooms DS and Sonic & Sega All-Star Racing
• Game Videos: Arc Rise Fantasia, Attack of the Movies 3D, Band Hero Track Pack 1, Bit.Trip Runner,Blood Beach, Rage of the Gladiator, A Topsy Turvy Life: Turvy Drops and Netflix

We're big fans of the Boys & Girls Clubs of America. Our local center took in Pikachu Fan, our 7-year-old, when he was younger than is typical and it's become one of his favorite places to make friends, play, do homework and get involved in community events and projects.

So when we saw an Xbox Live poster on the wall there describing Boys & Girls Club avatar hoodies and how redeeming codes for them can raise money for the organization ($1 each), we were intrigued. The poster itself was scarce on details, our local center staff knew next to nothing about it, and the Web sites for both Xbox Live and Boys & Girls Club didn't clearly explain how it worked.

We did some investigating and learned the following:

• The primary way to get these avatar sweatshirt codes is a card included with new Xbox 360 purchases. Each card has two codes, one for a male avatar and one for a female.
• Most new consoles on store shelves today should have cards with the codes included. There's no markings on the boxes that would guarantee that a console will have this card inside - but if you bought one recently or buy one before the promotion ends in September 2010, look for it and redeem it if you can!
• You will need at least a free Xbox Live silver account to redeem the codes. If you're redeeming a code for a child, you will need to create at least one free adult account to supervise the child account using parental controls. A credit card will be required to verify the adult account (though nothing will actually be charged to it unless you authorize it). Details on child account setup.

GIVEAWAY: As a bonus, the contact at Xbox Live we worked with on this story provided some codes for Boys & Girls Club avatar hoodies that we can give away!

We'll start with 5 each of male and female codes. Enter ONLY if you are a fan of the Boys & Girls Clubs and plan to redeem these! You can ask for a male, female, or one of each. We'll do a random drawing at 5 p.m. Thursday, May 20, from all of the people who enter.

Enter here:

• Rocket Knight ($15)
• The Price Is Right ($10)
• Sam & Max: The Devil's Playhouse Episode 2: The Tomb of Sammun-Mak ($35 for season pass)
• Dragon Age: Origins Darkspawn Chronicles ($5)
• Battlefield: Bad Company 2 Upgrade Packs ($2 each)
• Echochrome soundtrack and piano remixes ($5 for both or $3 each)
• Record Of Agarest War various packs (free to $5 each)
• Split/Second various cheat codes for sale ($2.50-$5 each)
• PS1 for PS3/PSP: Bomberman Fantasy Race ($6)
• Guitar Hero 5 Aerosmith Track Pack ($5.50 or $2 each) with "Livin' On The Edge," "Love In An Elevator" and "Rag Doll"
• Rock Band/Rock Band 2 Grateful Dead Pack 03 ($10) with "Beat It on Down the Line," "Cumberland Blues," "Scarlet Begonias," "Throwing Stones," "Touch of Grey" and "U.S. Blues" plus tracks ($1-2 each) "Days Without" by All That Remains, "He Sleeps In A Grove" by Amberian Dawn, "Energy" by The Apples in Stereo, "Talk About" by Dear And The Headlights, "Sequestered In Memphis" by The Hold Steady Fake and "A Girl Like You" and "Only a Memory" by The Smithereens - Note: "Family friendly" tracks also work with Lego Rock Band.
• Demos: Iron Man 2, ModNation Racers, Rocket Knight and Tiger Woods PGA Tour 11
• Game Videos: After Burner Climax, Blacklight: Tango Down, Brink, Dante's Inferno Trial Of St. Lucia, Dragon Age: Origins Darkspawn Chronicles, Kingdom Hearts: Birth by Sleep, Lead And Gold: Gangs Of The Wild West, ModNation Racers, The Price Is Right, Section 8, Soldner-X 2 and Pulse magazine
• Themes: Beach Breeze Dynamic ($3), Desert Sunset Dynamic ($3), Mountain Escape Dynamic ($3), Phineas And Ferb Premium ($1.50), Space Odyssey Dynamic ($3) and Surrogates ($1.50)
• PSP: Manic Monkey Mayhem ($5), Prince Of Persia: The Forgotten Sands ($40) and Supermarket Mania ($5) plus Buzz! Quiz World PSP National Geographic: Undersea ($4), The Eye Of Judgement Card Expansion Pack Volume 3 ($2) LittleBigPlanet PSP Turbo! Level Kit ($6)
• PSP Game Videos: 3D Dot Game Heroes, ModNation Racers and Pulse magazine 
• PSP Themes: Alice In Wonderland Premium ($1.50), Surrogates ($1.50) and Tinker Bell And The Lost Treasure ($1.50)
• PlayStation Home Items (usually priced $0.50-7.50 each): LittleBigPlanet clothing, furniture and personal space

If you missed out on Trixie360's cube cleanout because you're not in the Seattle area or don't have access, don't despair! We managed to pick up a few extra Gamerchix t-shirts on your behalf (along with one for a game-themed Boys & Girls Club charity auction package we're assembling!).

So now we have three real t-shirts and 10 virtual hoodies to giveaway!

These are medium-sized babydoll-style pink shirts with Gamerchix and EA Sports on the back and "Blitz Breast Cancer" written across the front.

This giveaway is a bonus for those busy gamers who are vigilant and lucky. The usual rules apply except that the entry period is shorter. We'll do a random drawing at 5 p.m. Pacific on Thursday, May 20, from all of the people who enter.

To enter:

We were on the fence about whether to pick up Alan Wake, which seemed to get delayed almost as much as Duke Nukem Forever. We were already inclined to like it: We love us some survival horror and believe that (with rare exception) story is vital to great games - as long as it's integrated with the gameplay instead of tacked on as cut scenes.

So when the buzz about Alan Wake peaked a few weeks ago, we snagged a preorder of the limited edition - which has some of the best packaging we've seen that didn't involve a cat helmet!

The reality is that the game bears more resemblance to Indigo Prophecy than Remedy's prior hit, Max Payne. It's broken into episodes so it's almost an interactive lost season of Twin Peaks (complete with lumber and falling water!) blended with copious Stephen King references.

Where it falls down (so far) is the combat. No major spoilers, but after Episode 1 your enemies tend to overwhelm you - unless you develop strategies that go beyond the "blind then shoot" skill you quickly develop at the start:

• Refine your technique. If you blast enemies before giving them a good dose of flashlight, you'll waste ammo. Be sure to completely "burn away the darkness" as they say in the tutorial. Also don't forget you can quickly tap the X button to reload faster!
• Scour the area for ammo, but don't go too far afield. If the swirling fog gets really thick, it may mean you're headed off the main path and into an endless enemy spawn zone. Backtracking can also be dangerous for the same reason. Take it slow and be prepared to turn tail!
• Follow the yellow dot. Not sure which direction to head? There's a little yellow indicator on your health bar (or what's left of it) to lead the way.
• Look for light sources. These can heal and guide you to your next stop or at least an ammo supply. Generators can provide life-giving light, but you do need enough space to start them without being attacked.
• Save running for when you need it. You're a writer, not an athlete - so save your dash for a desperate escape. Or you could be gasping for breathe as an axe takes you out instead of reaching the next checkpoint.
• If you run out of ammo, run for it. Use your flashlight to slow down any pursuers, jump, dodge, but keep moving. In one spot in Episode 2, I ran out of ammo and had to dash across a bridge to a light source that went out just after I stepped under it! I found ammo nearby and defeated my last pursuer, and then restored the light with a generator I had missed in my haste. The next section was even worse, but I was able to blind and dash enemies long enough to reach safety - which led me to a new section and my new best friend, flares!
• Use flares! Once they're available, dropping flares clears out enemies - though only for a few seconds. Use 'em to hold off an onslought of foes while you pick them off from a safer distance, or drop one behind you as you dart to safety. Note that the flare gun is different from the flares you drop on the ground. Don't waste your time blasting them into the air to bring help. Instead, use them to take out big groups of enemies.

That ought to get you started. Our biggest complaint? The lack of a real sandbox to explore. The game is beautiful to look at, so of course you'll spend much of it running and dodging and blasting enemies instead of enjoying the lush scenery. Some vacation this turned out to be...

What's amazing about this week's Xbox Live Marketplace update is the sheer volume - including more 7 Game Room titles (with more promised for next week, no doubt locked away in this week's pack), 33 Rock Band Network tracks and 37 indie games. That's got to be a record! Plus a free Call of Duty: Black Ops theme for Xbox Live Gold members.

Here's what's new:

• Arcade: Aqua ($10) and Metal Slug XX ($15)
• Game Room ($3-5 each; requires Game Pack 004): Asteroids, Demons to Diamonds, Grand Prix, Shark! Shark!, Space Duel, Stampede and Time Pilot
• Dragon Age: Origins Darkspawn Chronicles ($5)
• Record Of Agarest War various packs ($2-$7 each)
• Skate 3 Time Is Money Pack ($7) - basically, cheat codes you pay for
• Split/Second various cheat codes for sale ($2.50-$5 each)
• Guitar Hero 5 Aerosmith Track Pack ($5.50 or $2 each) with "Livin' On The Edge," "Love In An Elevator" and "Rag Doll"
• Rock Band/Rock Band 2 Grateful Dead Pack 03 ($10 or $2 each) with "Beat It on Down the Line," "Cumberland Blues," "Scarlet Begonias," "Throwing Stones," "Touch of Grey" and "U.S. Blues" plus tracks ($2 each) "A Girl Like You" and "Only a Memory" by The Smithereens - Note: "Family friendly" tracks also work with Lego Rock Band.
• Rock Band Network tracks ($1-3 each; Rock Band 2 required to download and play) "Walls" by All Time Low, "Valkyries" by Amberian Dawn, "Light Of Day" and "You're Not Alone" by Atom, "Automatic Doors" by A'tris, "Paper Dolls" by Ballyhoo!, "Is There a Ghost" by Band of Horses, "Swallow the Razor" by Bang Camaro, "Santa Fe" by Blackberry River Band, "Knifeman" by The Bronx, "India" by Circus Circus, "Eency Weency Spider" by CJ, "We're Not Getting Any Younger" by Color Theory, "Sunday Suit" by Connor Christian and Southern Gothic, "Don't Feel Like That Anymore" by Johnny Cooper, "Five More Minutes" by Counterfeit Pennies, "Til I'm Gone" by Kristin Dare, "Now Demolition" by Evile, "Shape 3" by Farther Snake, "Tastes Like Kevin Bacon" by Iwrestledabearonce, "By Yourself" by The Knew, "Chemical Infatuation" by Like A Storm, "Rock Your Socks Off" by Midnight Ocelot, "Death Metal Guys" by Reverend Horton Heat, "Wrong Side of the Sky" by Rose of Jericho, "It's Not Paranoia If They're Shooting Live Bullets" by Sadaharu, "The Great Plains" by Scale the Summit, "Flight of the Bumblebee (Rimsky-Korsakov)," "Hungarian Dance No. 5 (Brahms)" and "Night on Bald Mountain (Mussorgsky)" by Paul Henry Smith & The Fauxharmonic Orchestra, "Everyone I Know is an Alcoholic" by Robby Suave, "Bra Off Party On" by Thunderdikk and "You're an Egg! (Evolution)" by Windtunnel Syndrome
• Lips tracks ($2 each) "Wouldn't It Be Good" by Nik Kershaw, "La La La" by LMFAO, "The Gambler" by Kenny Rogers and "Ain't Nobody (Remix)" by Rufus and Chaka Khan
• Games on Demand: The Force Unleashed ($30) and Top Spin 3 ($20)
• Demos: Tiger Woods PGA Tour 11 plus all Xbox Live Arcade, Indie games and Rock Band Network tracks
• Indie Games (usually $1-10 each): 3 in 1 Game Compilation, Allegory, Amazing 8bit Ball, Avatar Hangman, Avatar Ninja!, Avatar QuizCall: Africa 2010, Avatar Racedrome, Bit Crunch, Blaster and Amethyst, Bloom＊Block, Coastal Defence, Doppelganger, Gerbil Physics 2, Get To Tha Choppa!!, Lamingtons Zero, LOL LOL Kitty Commando, Lone Gunner, Loot, Steal & Destroy, Magic Gem, The Manly Game for Manly Men, Meds, Meltdown Moon, Modern Pirate Hunter: Ep 1, MoonShine, Nova Lancer, Paipa, Play x Play! Guitar, Quarantine, Quarry, Radiangames JoyJoy, Ranger, Rock4U, Uprising, Zombie Estate, Zombie Sniper 3D and まもって騎士 ("Mamotte Knight")
• Game Videos: Alan Wake, Aqua, Battlefield: Bad Company 2, Call of Duty: Black Ops, Dragon Age: Origins Darkspawn Chronicles, Gears of War 3, Medal of Honor, MLB 2K10, Prince of Persia: The Forgotten Sands, Red Dead Redemption, Snoopy Flying Ace, Spider-Man:Dimensions, UFC Undisputed 2010 and Zeno Clash Ultimate Edition
• Themes: Aqua ($3), Call of Duty: Black Ops (free) and Lost Planet 2 Premium ($3)
• Pictures: Might & Magic Clash of Heroes ($1), various registrations (free; enters you in sweepstakes) and Hot Pockets
• Avatar Items (usually priced $1-5 each): Lost Planet 2 and The Empire Strikes Back

I know we've been favoring Xbox 360 lately in our weekly giveaways. Let us make it up to you! This this week we have something special for the PlayStation 3 fans out there. Two somethings, in fact. A choice between:

Avatar, the fantasy combat game based on the hit movie that plays in 3D if you have the right hardware. And there's multiplayer!

-or-

The action RPG, Untold Legends: Dark Kingdom complete with co-op and online play.

Both are solid games. Either could be yours!

You may earn up to FOUR chances to win!

1. Enter a comment here, as usual. That's all you really NEED to do.
2. Tweet the following on Twitter: Win Avatar or Untold Legends for PS3 at BusyGamerNews, home of the Busy Gamer Podcast! RT + enter: http://bit.ly/dlFXQq #bgnfsf
3. Review (or re-review) our Busy Gamer Podcast on iTunes
4. Review (or re-review) the Best of Busy Gamer Podcast on iTunes. This is a short audio highlights feed with our reviews, audio tours and other timeless bits.

If you do 2, 3 and/or 4, you do need to let us know your Twitter/iTunes name(s) in your comment so we can find, verify and include your bonus entries in the drawing and match them up to contact you if one of them wins. If we can't easily tell who you are on Twitter and/or iTunes, the bonus entry is disqualified.

You DO have to enter a comment here and follow the other rules to be eligible. Here's where you enter:

This week, we share our first impressions of Alan Wake and offer tips to help you get out of the dark woods in Episode 2. We also blow the lid on those Boys & Girls Club avatar hoodies for Xbox 360 - with hints on how to score some for yourself. Plus, we look at the ModNation Racers beta on PS3 and why it convinced us to keep our pre-order, and why we didn't buy Time Pilot for Game Room.

Get all of that - plus game release news, DLC and giveaways - in less than 12 minutes!

Our goal is to provide a short (typically 10-15 minutes) summary 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

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: Advanced Circuits (DSiWare), Backyard Sports: Sandlot Sluggers, Club Penguin: Elite Penguin Force: Herbert's Revenge, Color Cross, Dawn of Heroes, Metal Torrent (DSiWare), Monster Frenzy, PhotoWorld, Real Crimes: Jack the Ripper (DSiWare), River City Soccer Hooligans, Witch's Wish and World Poker Tour Texas Hold 'Em (DSiWare)
• iPhone/iPad: Ace Tennis 2010 Online, Compression HD, Cubed Rally Racer, Daredevil Dave: Motorcycle Stuntman!, Dragooo, Enigmo Deluxe, Karate Champ, Mr Onions, Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney, Pocket Creatures, Sigma, Spectre 3D, Spinzizzle, Truckers Delight: Episode 1 and X2 Soccer 2010
• Mac: None
• PC: Blur and Making History 2: War of the World
• PS3: Blur, ModNation Racers and UFC Undisputed 2010
• PS2: None
• PSP: Hexyz Force and ModNation Racers
• Wii: ArtStyle: Light Trax (WiiWare), Backyard Sports: Sandlot Sluggers, Kid Adventures: Sky Captain, Let's Paint, Manic Monkey Mayhem (WiiWare), Pirates Plundarrr and Viral Survival (WiiWare)
• Xbox 360: Backyard Sports: Sandlot Sluggers, Blur, Boxing (Game Room), Buzz Bombers (Game Room), Doom II (Arcade), Haunted House (Game Room), Millipede (Game Room), River Raid (Game Room), Spider Fighter (Game Room), Strategy X (Game Room), UFC Undisputed 2010 and Voodoo Dice (Arcade)

So, what will you be picking up - or is this week a pass? Any games we missed? Anything slip (as these inevitably do)? Please let us know...

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

• WiiWare: ArtStyle: Light Trax ($6), Manic Monkey Mayhem ($8) and Viral Survival ($5)
• Virtual Console: None
• DSiWare: Advanced Circuits ($2), Metal Torrent ($5), Real Crimes: Jack the Ripper ($8) and World Poker Tour Texas Hold 'Em ($5)
• Rock Band 2 tracks ($2 each; due Tuesday, May 25) "The Great Southern Trendkill," "War Nerve," "Drag the Waters," "10's," "13 Steps to Nowhere," "Suicide Note Pt. II," "Living Through Me (Hell's Wrath)," "Floods," "The Underground in America" and "Sandblasted Skin (Reprise)" - Note: "Family friendly" tracks also work with Lego Rock Band.
• DS Demos (via Wii's Nintendo "Marketing" Channel): All repeats including Ace Attorney Investigations: Miles Edgeworth, America's Test Kitchen: Let's Get Cooking Roasted Red Potatoes and Pots de Creme, Bakugan Battle Brawlers, Battle of Giants: Mutant Insects, Deca Sports DS Cheerleading and Ping Pong, Picross 3D, The Princess and the Frog, Rooms DS and Women's Murder Club: Games of Passion
• Game Videos: Advanced Circuits, Club Penguin: Elite Penguin Force: Herbert's Revenge, Manic Monkey Mayhem, Rage of the Gladiator, Real Crimes: Jack the Ripper, Sin and Punishment: Star Successor, Super Mario Galaxy 2 and Tournament of Legends

Welcome to the future of gaming! This week marks the debut of online codes for secondhand purchasers of UFC Undisputed 2010 ($5) and ModNation Racers for PSP ($15). You have to love the Sony name for it: Online Entitlement. It kind of thumbs its nose at those of us who believed we were entitled to online gaming when we purchased a title that offered it, regardless of whether it was new or used.

Here's what landed at the PlayStation Store this week:

• Soldner-X 2: Final Prototype ($13)
• Super Stacker ($10)
• Lost Planet 2 Monster Hunter Armor (free)
• Super Street Fighter IV Super Femme Fatales Costume Pack ($4) with clothes for Chun-Li, C. Viper, Sakura, Rose and Cammy
• LittleBigPlanet ModNation Racers Pack ($2) with Tag costume and stickers
• ModNation Racers Van Man Mod and Super Nova Kart ($1.75 or $1 each)
• Just Cause 2 Black Market Boom Pack ($2)
• Burn Zombie Burn! Strategy Guide ($1.50)
• UFC Undisputed 2010 Online Unlock ($5) providing online access for secondhand games that lack a code
• Buzz! Quiz TV/Quiz World World Soccer Quiz ($6)
• Record Of Agarest War various packs (free to $2 each)
• PS1 for PS3/PSP: Delta Force Urban Warfare ($6)
• Guitar Hero 5 Band Hero 1 Track Pack ($5.50 or $2 each) with "7 Things" by Miley Cyrus, "Falling Down" by Selena Gomez and "Here We Go Again" by Demi Lovato
• Rock Band/Rock Band 2 The Great Southern Trendkill album by Pantera ($16 or $2 each) with "The Great Southern Trendkill," "War Nerve," "Drag the Waters," "10's," "13 Steps to Nowhere," "Suicide Note Pt. II," "Living Through Me (Hell's Wrath)," "Floods," "The Underground in America" and "Sandblasted Skin (Reprise)" plus tracks ($1-2 each) "The Complexity Of Light" by Children of Nova, "Juke Joint Jezebel" by KMFDM, "Being Here" by The Stills, "A Little Faster" by There For Tomorrow and "We Are Not Anonymous" by Unearth - Note: "Family friendly" tracks also work with Lego Rock Band.
• Demos: Green Day: Rock Band, Hamster Ball Unleashed and PixelJunk Shooter
• Game Videos: Bioshock 2 Kill 'Em Kindly and Rapture Metro, The Fight: Lights Out, Iron Man 2, ModNation Racers, Sports Champions and True Crime
• Themes: Mafia II (free)
• Wallpaper: Soldner-X 2: Final Prototype
• Avatars ($0.50 to $1.50): Pain, Super Street Fighter IV and Uncharted 2
• PSP: Hexyz Force ($30), ModNation Racers ($30), Pinball Heroes Bundle 2 ($10) with tables inspired by Fat Princess, ModNation Racers, MotorStorm and Wipeout, Robin Hood: The Return Of Richard ($5) and VT Tennis ($5) plus Buzz! Quiz World World Soccer Quiz ($3), LittleBigPlanet PSP Sack Circus Extravaganza Pack ($3, with one freebie costume) and ModNation Racers PSP Online Entitlement ($15) which adds online and infrastructure features for secondhand games that lack a code
• PSP Game Videos: 3D Dot Game Heroes and ModNation Racers
• PSP Themes: Nightmare Before Christmas and UFC ($1.50 each)
• PlayStation Home Items (usually priced $0.50-7.50 each): Irem, Red Dead Redemption, Indiana Jones and Fantasy

ISSUE RESOLVED: See updates below for details.

Since playing Blur yesterday, my Xbox Live gamerscore and played games list has been out of sync and possibly causing problems with other games. It's not clear what caused this problem or why it's only happening to me so far (GrrlGotGame's Blur gamerscore is registering and I've found no other reports of this issue on gaming forums).

At first I thought Bizarre Creations had a sense of humor and launched a game with 50 achievements (or "Stickers" as they call them in Blur) all worth 0 gamerscore. Can an Xbox 360 game have no gamerscore? I didn't think so. But then I checked and saw that GrrlGotGame had the same achievements, and they were worth points. I also noticed that Blur was not appearing in my Played Games list either on the console or Xbox.com.

This morning, I logged back into the game and it showed the achievements that had been zero'd out were worth points now, but they still did not show up on Xbox Live. I generated a new achievement by sharing a story on Facebook, and that did register.

But it gets more interesting. While waiting on the phone with Xbox Support (which has had a hard time grasping this issue), I booted Doom II which came out today. I scored two achievements there which also have not yet registered.

Even more vexing? When I went to save my Doom II game, I received this message: "There has been an error writing to the gamer profile." In fact, it did save my game - but I wonder if this error is somehow related.

Xbox support had me clear the cache (so I get to download a million patches again!) but this did not fix either problem and, in fact, caused my Facebook achievement in Blur to be erased...

UPDATE: Tier 2 support had me recover my gamertag (which was NOT corrupted, by the way). This resolved the Doom II error message and allowed my Doom II achievements to sync (yay!). Blur achievements are still an issue. The game has lost my Socializer achievement twice (sorry, Facebook friends for the spam!) - but that's the only one that shows on Xbox Live right now! The other four that do appear in the game won't sync to Xbox Live. Support asked me to "wait a few hours" and then call back if the problem persists.

Before I do that, I'll backup my Blur game save, delete it from the hard drive and start a new game (losing a few hours of progress).

UPDATE 2: As expected, none of the things Xbox support wanted me to do worked - it appears the issue may have been a full Memory Unit, which is where my Gamer Profile is stored for portability between our two Xbox 360s. It seems some unlockable avatar items (Halo Waypoint awards, items awarded via codes and in-game bonus items) have been stealthily saving to the card and filling it up!

So instead of recovering my gamertag (as support had me do), moving it to the hard drive or clearing some space on the card probably would have resolved the Doom II issue and possibly Blur as well. IMPORTANT SAFETY TIP: When deleting an old profile, be sure to keep any items associated with it. I nearly didn't, and I believe I would have lost a bunch of avatar items including my Halo Reach beta hoodie.

Blur still wouldn't sync the achievements from the existing game, so I moved the Blur save file off to memory card (as a backup) and started a new game - sacrificing several hours of play. Achievements are now being unlocked and, hopefully, they'll stay that way and not vanish any more. I posted from Blur to Facebook yet again to get the matching sticker for my Socializer achievement (the only achievement that "stuck" to my Xbox Live account from this morning).

A good way to tell whether a used or rented Xbox 360 game disc is damaged is to install it to your hard drive. We do this for all used and rented games as soon as we get them home to confirm they'll play through. So far, we've only had one that gave an error, a rental copy of Wolfenstein, and sure enough it locked up about halfway through the game.

You will need about 8GB of free space on your hard drive per game. (Many games are smaller and a few may be bigger, but this is a good rule of thumb.)

1. Insert your disc and navigate to it on the dashboard.

2. Press the Y button to access Game Details.

3. You may need to wait several seconds for the install option to appear (in rare cases, such as some original Xbox games, this may not be permitted). Select Install Game.

4. Choose your hard drive and then wait several minutes for the install to complete.

If you get an error during install, try cleaning the disc using a disc cleaner or non-abrasive cloth and try again. If it still fails, return the game for a replacement right away!

If you're new to installing games on Xbox 360, here are some tips:

• You need to have the disc in the drive to actually play the game. This validates that you still own it.
• If you were only checking the disc and aren't planning to play it right away, you can feel free to delete the rather large file it creates. The easiest way is to just go back to Game Details and select Delete Game.
• For a few games such as with Halo 3, which is optimized for play from the game disc, installing to hard drive is not recommended and may actually slow the game. If you suspect this is the case, try it without the install and see if it's any faster.

• Arcade: Ben 10 Alien Force: The Rise of Hex ($10), Doom II ($10) and Voodoo Dice ($10) plus Buku Sudoku Puzzle Pack 15 ($2)
• Game Room ($3-5 each; no new pack download this week): Boxing, Buzz Bombers, Haunted House, Millipede, River Raid, Spider Fighter and Strategy X
• Splinter Cell: Conviction Deniable Ops: Insurgency ($10) with multiplayer mode and four maps
• Super Street Fighter IV Super Femme Fatales Costume Pack ($4) with clothes for Chun-Li, C. Viper, Sakura, Rose and Cammy
• Just Cause 2 Black Market Boom Pack ($2)
• UFC Undisputed 2010 Online Unlock ($5) providing online access for secondhand games that lack a code
• Guitar Hero 5 Band Hero 1 Track Pack ($5.50 or $2 each) with "7 Things" by Miley Cyrus, "Falling Down" by Selena Gomez and "Here We Go Again" by Demi Lovato
• Rock Band/Rock Band 2 The Great Southern Trendkill album by Pantera ($16 or $2 each) with "The Great Southern Trendkill," "War Nerve," "Drag the Waters," "10's," "13 Steps to Nowhere," "Suicide Note Pt. II," "Living Through Me (Hell's Wrath)," "Floods," "The Underground in America" and "Sandblasted Skin (Reprise)" - Note: "Family friendly" tracks also work with Lego Rock Band.
• Rock Band Network tracks ($1-3; Rock Band 2 required to download and play) "Stay Up With Me" by After the Fall, "We Are the One" by Anti-Flag, "Dance Floor" by The Apples in Stereo, "Satellite (Live)" by Atom, "The Way You Move" by The Audition, "Mr. Sun" by CJ, "You All Everybody" by Drive Shaft, "Footprints" by John Garrison, "Oye Vaya" by Earl Greyhound, "Fight to Kill" by Holy Grail, "Dharma Lady" by Geronimo Jackson and "How We Roll" by Plushgun
• Lips Miley Cyrus Pack ($5.50; not available separately) with "7 Things," "See You Again" and "The Climb" and tracks ($2 each) "Ladies Of The World" by Flight Of The Conchords, "Energy" by Keri Hilson, "I Can't Wait" by Nu Shooz and "How's It Going To Be" by Third Eye Blind
• Games on Demand: Battlestations: Midway ($20) and Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare ($40)
• Demos: Green Day: Rock Band and Ninety-Nine Nights II plus all Xbox Live Arcade, Indie games and Rock Band Network tracks
• Indie Games (usually $1-10 each): Amoeba Generator, Avatar Calendar, Avatar Penalty Kick, Avatars Skate (Old Spice), Battle Tanks, Classic Baker's Dozen, Divining Orb, Dossun Island, Dr. Mazing, ElectronZ, Knock Balls: Spin to Win, Mind's Eye of Jupiter 02, Orbitroid, Penkin Ball Dodge, Project Zero, Reversi, Scribble Defense, Solar Hoops and Words of Wisdom
• Game Videos: Crackdown 2, Backbreaker, Kane & Lynch 2: Dog Days, Halo: Reach, Naval Assault, Sniper: Ghost Warrior, Splinter Cell: Conviction Deniable Ops: Insurgency and Voodoo Dice plus Prince of Persia: The Forgotten Sands strategy guides ($1 each)
• Themes: Backbreaker ($2), Mafia II ($3), Naval Assault ($2) and NOS (free)
• Pictures: Backbreaker ($1 each), Mafia II ($2) and NOS (free)
• Avatar Items (usually priced $1-5 each): Red Dead Redemption

If you're sad to see the Lost TV series finally end, you've played through the Drive Shaft song on Rock Band 2 a dozen times already (the whole time sobbing about "CHAH-LEE") and think it's the end of the road until the final season releases on DVD - well, you're wrong.

You know you've been a bad Lost fan. You skipped the Lost via Domus game. Didn't you.

And who could blame you. It's short and used replacement voice actors for the folks you know and love. But now the tide has turned. It's more Lost, dammit. And you know you need one last fix!

Best of all, you don't have to pay for it.

The game has seven new episodes set during the first 70 days on the island. Do we need to say more? They were plotted by executive producers Damon Lindelof and Carlton Cuse. Yeah, we had you at "Lost" and "free," didn't we? Go ahead and enter already.

You may earn up to FOUR chances to win Lost via Domus for Xbox 360!

1. Enter a comment here, as usual. That's all you really NEED to do.
2. Tweet the following on Twitter: Win Lost via Domus for Xbox 360 at BusyGamerNews, home of the Busy Gamer Podcast! RT + enter: http://bit.ly/dCUrMx #bgnfsf
3. Review (or re-review) our Busy Gamer Podcast on iTunes
4. Review (or re-review) the Best of Busy Gamer Podcast on iTunes. This is a short audio highlights feed with our reviews, audio tours and other timeless bits.

If you do 2, 3 and/or 4, you do need to let us know your Twitter/iTunes name(s) in your comment so we can find, verify and include your bonus entries in the drawing and match them up to contact you if one of them wins. If we can't easily tell who you are on Twitter and/or iTunes, the bonus entry is disqualified.

You DO have to enter a comment here and follow the other rules to be eligible. Here's where you enter:

This week, we review the music of Fallout 3, give impressions of Blur, Doom II for Xbox Live Arcade and the ModNation Racers track editor, deliver downloadable musical treats from the canceled Wii game Sadness, the original Fallout series and Lost TV show songs added to Rock Band Network (featuring Drive Shaft's "We All Everybody") and explore weird Xbox 360 achievement and save game bugs (including how we resolved them).

Get all of that - plus game release news, DLC and giveaways - in 21 1/2 minutes! (Our second longest podcast to date - but SO worth it.)

Our goal is to provide a short (typically 10-15 minutes) summary 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

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: America's Next Top Model, Farm Frenzy: Animal Country, Hero of Sparta (DSiWare), Mind over Matter, Telegraph Sudoku & Kakuro (DSiWare), Tetris Party Deluxe, A Topsy Turvy Life: The Turvys Strike Back (DSiWare) and X-Scape (DSiWare)
• iPhone/iPad: 1112 episode 02, Assault Squadron, Broken Sword: The Director's Cut HD, Bruce Lee: Dragon Warrior, Cat Physics, Crash Bandicoot Nitro Kart 2, Denki Blocks!, Jump o'Clock, The Mirror Maze, Omium, Pirate's Treasure, Prince of Persia Retro, Robot Unicorn Attack, Splinter Cell: Conviction and Warblade Free
• Mac: The Sims 3: Ambitions
• PC: Alpha Protocol, Deadtime Stories and The Sims 3: Ambitions
• PS3: Alpha Protocol, Backbreaker and Pure Futbol
• PS2: Syphon Filter: Logan's Shadow
• PSP: Tilt FX
• Wii: America's Next Top Model, Bass Pro Shops: The Hunt, Ben 10 Alien Force: The Rise of Hex (WiiWare), City Builder, Get Moving: Family Fitness, Line Attack Heroes, Robocalypse: Beaver Defense (WiiWare), Tetris Party Deluxe, Voodoo Dice (WiiWare) and Wild Guns (Virtual Console)
• Xbox 360: Alpha Protocol, Backbreaker, Bass Pro Shops: The Hunt, Call of Duty: The War Collection (with Call of Duty 2, Call of Duty 3 and Call of Duty: World at War), Pure Futbol, Record of Agarest War (regular edition) and Snoopy Flying Ace (Arcade)

So, what will you be picking up - or is this week a pass? Any games we missed? Anything slip (as these inevitably do)? Please let us know...

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

• WiiWare: Ben 10 Alien Force: The Rise of Hex ($10), Robocalypse: Beaver Defense ($6) and Voodoo Dice ($10)
• Virtual Console: Wild Guns for Super NES ($8)
• DSiWare: Hero of Sparta ($8), Telegraph Sudoku & Kakuro ($2), A Topsy Turvy Life: The Turvys Strike Back ($2) and X-Scape ($8)
• Rock Band 2 tracks ($2 each; due Tuesday, June 1) "Alive" by P.O.D. and "Don't You Evah," "Got Nuffin," "I Turn My Camera On" and "Trouble Comes Running" by Spoon - Note: "Family friendly" tracks also work with Lego Rock Band.
• DS Demos (via Wii's Nintendo Channel): Dragon Ball: Origins 2 plus repeats Ace Attorney Investigations: Miles Edgeworth, America's Test Kitchen: Let's Get Cooking Roasted Red Potatoes and Pots de Creme, Bakugan Battle Brawlers, Battle of Giants: Mutant Insects, Deca Sports DS Cheerleading and Ping Pong, Picross 3D, Rooms DS and Women's Murder Club: Games of Passion
• Game Videos: Hero of Sparta, Robocalypse: Beaver Defense, A Topsy Turvy Life: The Turvys Strike Back and Voodoo Dice