We’re less than a week away from Microsoft’s New Xbox Experience (NXE) update that drops on Nov. 19th and as much as I’m looking forward to it (as some one that hates the blade interface), the closer it gets and the more impressions I read from folks that got into it early, I have to wonder…  is the update mostly fixes to problems and non-gaming features?  But wait, isn’t gaming Microsoft’s primary focus?  I could have sworn that’s what they told us all last year… (more…)

Cliffy B. (oh yeah, I’m “that guy” that’ll always call people by their worst nicknames ever; including Puff Daddy, The Artist Formerly Known As Prince, and Dennis “The Worm” Rodman) thinks Cinnamon Life has too much cinnamon flavor.  Cliffy B. thinks Wintergreen Breathsavers are better than Wintergreen Lifesavers.  Cliffy B. thinks Noble Firs are the undisputed best Christmas tree you can get.  One thing I want to know though is when in the hell did people start caring about what Cliffy B. thinks about stuff?  I mean really, how does that related to anything remotely interesting?  Should I start posting articles on my mailman’s thoughts on organically grown legumes?

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As a gamer who plays PS3 games more often than 360 or Wii games, I’m no stranger to the “Exclusive Downloadable Content Coming Only To Xbox 360!” for quite a while now. I mean the year’s most prominent exclusive DLC has to be Grand Theft Auto IV’s still mysterious two DLC installments.  We’ve recently learned that both Fallout 3 and Tomb Raider Underground will also have 360-exclusive DLC as well.

I posed the question prior GTA IV’s launch asking whether or not additional missions would matter to gamers if those missions came so much further down the road as 2009.  Remember, GTA IV was supposed to come out last holiday season and got delayed.  Now, going into this holiday season we’ve got a new batch of games coming out with the “if you want DLC, go 360″ mantra being chanted.  After watching this trend for a while, I’ve pretty much concluded that the idea of system specific DLC can actually trump the DLC itself in terms of value to the platform the DLC is on… find out why after the jump. (more…)

If you’re a PS3 owner, you’ve undoubtedly downloaded the 2.50 firmware update that was released last week and you’ve probably at least checked out what the major changes were from previous updates.  One of the things updated (but not really promoted) is support for DivX Video On Demand.

You see, the PS3 is a DivX Connected device.  That means that you can purchase, or rent video content that is protected with DivX’s own DRM (digital rights management) scheme.  While at first glance this might seem to be somewhat bad (another way for us to get charged for content,) after more thought you might realize that this could actually be a positive thing.  Let me explain why… (more…)

The problem with giving powerful tools to people is that some people are… well, let’s not sugar coat it… some people are asshats.  When you give a typical person the tools available in LittleBigPlanet, you might get a recreation of a classic Mario or Sonic the Hedgehog level, but now that people have had the LBP beta in their hands for a while and gotten used to the tools, the attention seekers out there are having a harder and harder time fulfilling their “Look at me!!!” needs.  Thus, we have the “9/11 Simulator” level for LittleBigPlanet where Sackboy flies a jet into a skyscraper and blows it up.

Is this what we really need? (Video after jump…)

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LittleBigPlanet is red hot at the moment, with the European beta kicking off last week and the US beta lurching at the starting line, just trying to get going.  What we’ve experienced in the States though has been anything but organized, or orderly.  As someone very interested in getting into the LBP beta, I’ve followed all the “usual places” where information about the latest give-aways is located… Primarily I’ve been scouring NeoGAF.com’s thread on the topic and keeping an eye on the pending posts at N4G.com.  The problem is, once news gets posted to places like those, all the other folks doing the exact same thing I’m doing simultaneously converge on the unsuspecting site and in the case of this week, pummel their web server into a smoldering pile of silicon.

There are quite literally thousands of people wanting into this beta and the longer they want in without getting in, they have time to congregate and form intricate battle plans.  In addition, they’re all quick to share their stories and experiences of trying to get into the various offerings from the big sites.  Follow the jump to find out some of the best of the worst things that have happened. (more…)

Criterion released the Burnout Paradise 1.50 patch today. The one that added trophies to Burnout Paradise. With the recent bike patch and their continued free updating of the game, it really makes you wonder how they’re able to keep doing so much, so well, for no additional money. Heck, their game is now selling at HALF PRICE what it launched at and they’ve still not released a single piece of DLC with a price tag. Sometimes it comes off as a giant EA-funded social experiment to me because that’s the only way I can really process their plan. Perhaps their aggressive pricing and continued updates really has helped them fight off the otherwise lucrative (to everyone but devs/publishers) used game market. All in all, they’ve treated customers tremendously.

I really have had nothing bad to say… until now. (more…)

Qore caused quite a backlash when it was announced… and then when it was released. People have a real problem separating Fact from FUD. Future Publishing announced today that they’re working on a second digital magazine to be distributed via Playstation Network, this time looking at a weekly format targeting the UK market. Future Publishing, behind Qore in the US, describes this new magazine as a “digital magazine” that “will include news, reviews, features and high definition video content.” That’s it; that’s the extent of their description of this new product. Already, in the Sarcastic Gamer forums, we’ve heard cries of anger and disgust over having to pay for demos/betas and having to wait so long after the US getting Qore that people are planning to boycott this simply due to the delay. Wow, over react much guys?!?! (more…)

I own Guitar Hero (PS2), Guitar Hero II (PS2), Guitar Hero II (360), Guitar Hero III (360), and Rock Band (360).  I own FIVE plastic guitars, a mic, and a drum set from those games.  It’s quite ridiculous.  The path that led to my situation is quite frustrating and should’ve been much easier.  I can point fingers at a lot of people along the way (and I have, don’t worry… I wouldn’t be true to myself if I hadn’t vented) but I read some news today that simultaneously made me feel better about someone finally “getting” the problem, but at the same time it pisses me off that they didn’t “get it” before I laid down my cash and started my journey in a direction that will be expensive to correct.

Curious what I’m talking about?  Find out after the jump… (more…)

Yes, we all know Rock Band 2 is supposed to be launching initially as a timed Xbox 360 exclusive. Well, my theory is:  they simply can’t ramp production up fast enough to handle simultaneous launches across all platforms and territories for the September launch, so someone’s gotta be first.

Harmonix seems to think the Xbox 360 in the US makes the best choice of platform and location. So folks… get prepared to drop $199 on the new Rock Band 2 bundle come September. Whoops! Wait a minute… we now have news that things have changed just a little bit. Sorry US Xbox 360 owners… you’re going to have to show your Harmonix support a little bit more if you want the “full meal deal” this September. Support to the tune of $50 more for individually buying everything that will come in the bundle… a month later… when everybody else gets it.  Oops! (more…)

I have a question I’d like answered. I have a hunch as to what the answer really is, but I’d love for some game developer to stumble across this and actually comment on it (even if anonymously.) How do seriously bad games ever get released? At some point in the development process, people involved in the games HAVE to know the game they’re working on isn’t fun, or is somehow substandard. Is it that game development inherently ALWAYS starts as an unfun project that slowly evolves into a fun game along the way, or do the really great games start out fun and end up being fun to play? (more…)