<rant>So awoke today to an all to familiar sight: a red ringed 360. I've had 4 red rings in 5 years, and while I most likely use my 360 more than the average user, 4 units in 5 years is unacceptable for a company who can afford to make a system that won't fail.</rant> I did a poll of my 60 some friends on Live and got 30 responses: 23 of them have had red rings, 7 of them haven't, and of those 7, 3 got theirs this year (the newest 360, which allegedly won't red ring anymore). While many polls have been done outside of mine, the results are always staggering, in some polls (like the game informer poll) gamers report that the failure rate is over 50% while some polls report around 20-25%. Anything above 10% in my mind is a completely unacceptable. Read More...

Assassin's Creed had very few pitfalls: a repetitive story mode, inability to swim, and repetitive animations. AC2 fixes all these issues, and more. When Ubisoft came out with AC, it was the only gun-free, action oriented, free roam game, and up until AC2, it stayed that way. It was a risky move on their part in a predominately FPS dominated world. It paid off and did more than justify a sequel. In a world of gun oriented, short single player mode, multiplayer based games, AC2 isn't, and it is just as awesome as any other game out there. Read More...

So some news about Natal is making the rumor rounds. According to a member of a “secret tour of a Microsoft lab”, the controller-free movement only control system will come out November of 2010, which Microsoft had previously hinted at and then claimed bollocks. Microsoft hopes to have 5 million units available for purchase worldwide at the time of launch, some being sold with a 360, and some being sold on their own. The price would range anywhere from £30 to £50 (what the price would be in USD is anybody's guess at this point) and would have a fairly robust 14 launch games. We know that Criterion/EA had modified the popular Burnout Paradise to work with Natal, so maybe the 14 includes patches for some games. Read More...

As I looked at the massive amount of people at my local GameStop that were in line to pickup MW2, it dawned on me, this is the biggest, most anticipated, and what could be the best selling action game of all time. Over 300 people were standing in the cold for some four hours waiting for the same thing. Many of them planned on calling in sick the next day or skipping out on school just to get some playtime in. Many people were reminiscing about COD4 or saying how they played a bunch of COD4 to get psyched up about MW2. Read More...

Microsoft announced yesterday that they have banned a very large number (rumored to be up to 1 million) Xbox Live player accounts for modding their Xbox systems and playing pirated games.With the current release of Modern Warfare 2, players are anxiously trying to get online and fragging their friends but it seems Microsoft has other plans.  Microsoft is citing it's terms of service agreement that players agree to when buying an xbox system:Download or use any material sent or provided by another user of the Service that you know, or reasonably should know, cannot be legally shared or distributed in such manner (except as expressly permitted by us).What they could and would do were clearly laid out:Microsoft may, among other things: (a) restrict or limit access to the Service; (b) retrieve information from the original Xbox, Xbox 360 console, personal computer, and any connected peripheral device used to log onto the Service as necessary to operate and protect the security of the Service, and to enforce this contract. Read More...

"Loaded with multi-touch, accelerometer, and 3D graphics, Zune HD makes portable gaming even more exciting. All to the sound of your favorite music. Download free games from our catalog of popular titles like Vans Sk8: Pool Service and Audiosurf Tilt.", says Microsoft's Zune Site.Not one to allow Apple to comfortably situate itself atop the movie gaming market, Microsoft has rolled out some titles for the Zune HD. These titles range from new properties to some existing licenses. One of the advantages right off the bat for the Zune HD as a gaming platform -- and by extension as a mobile device in general -- is that it takes advantage of Microsoft Points. Read More...

Last week, Nintendo announced that "for the first time" Link and Zelda will team up to save Hyrule in The Legend of Zelda: Spirit Tracks. When I first came across this bit of news, I honestly didn't think much of it. Don't get me wrong -- I'm looking forward to the next adventure with Link on the DS -- but after playing it at E3, I have had modest expectations on new gameplay. The more I thought about this new bit of news, the more excited I got. After 20+ years of waiting to be saved by Link, Zelda is coming to the forefront to assert herself as a dominant character in the series. Read More...

Hope you're already dressed and ready to head on out the door. Where are you going you might ask? Well to your local GameStop of course. Why? Here's why, cdv Software Entertainment USA has announced a new Divinity II – Ego Draconis pre-order incentive program. As of today (11-9-2009) customers who pre-order the game from GameStop will receive the exclusive Blood Echelon Armor and Weapon set, while supplies last (of course). The Blood Echelon is a select lodge of elite Dragon Slayers who have earned the highest of distinctions on the battlefield. Their elite armor and weapon set includes: Blood Echelon Armor – Sturdy as granite and shaped to intimidate, Blood Echelon armors set new standards in the art of war Blood Echelon Weapon – The Claymore, the Frontline Slayers' might weapon of choice, cleaves armor like it was mere flesh. Read More...

The crew is back and trouble free this week. They discuss what they've been playing, including Torchlight, Tekken 6, Dragon Age and much more. During the segment, Brian and Binh give Torchlight a lot of love and Michael talks of his ongoing love affair with Bioware. In our features this week, Binh brings a Lego game to his Bargain Binh segment, Brian goes old school during On The DL, and Michael dusts off a classic gaming cartoon for Netflix Picks. Our topics of discussion this episode deal with the rumors of Modern Warfare 2 blocking party chat in some modes on XBox Live, Michael ranting about demos being given out as pre-order bonuses, and why the hell there is a King Of Fighters movie being made. Please rate and review us on iTunes and the Zune Marketplace. Read More...

Ubisoft isn't satisfied with having several high profile titles on the way, nor are they satisfied with simply releasing a game like Splinter Cell: Conviction - no, they key is releasing an edition with such an amount of assuredly irresistible goodness that you can't help buy commit heart and soul to the product. Is that the case here? Take a look. Read More...

Magic: The Gathering has been around since 1993, and converting the card game into a video game has been going on since 1997 with its first title Magic: The Gathering: Duels of the Planeswalker for the PC. Well we will be getting another Magic: The Gathering game with Wizard of the Coast and Sony Online Entertainment teaming up to develop Magic: The Gathering – Tatics. John Smedley, President of Sony Online Entertainment recently said, “By collaborating with Wizards of the Coast, we're able to combine the strengths of both companies to develop an innovative, online, 3D game based on an extremely popular IP. We're Going to be taking the Magic: The Gathering Multiverse places player have never seen” John was not the only one that had something to say about the upcoming title. Read More...

And here we go again, the General Administration of Press and Publication (GAPP) put a hold onto NetEase's request for World of Warcraft to be approved in China. This has been an ongoing battle for some time now. The9's license agreement with blizzard expired this year and was won by NetEase in April of this year. NetEase had a three year agreement for World of Warcraft only to have there application "passed up" due to "violating the rules". Here's the problem, The9 had this game in operation in china for four years, count 'em four years. Read More...

It's been sometime since we heard anything from Konami about their Tactical Role-Playing Game Vandal Hearts: Flames of Judgment. It was rumored before that the game was going to be a remake of the PlayStation version of Vandal Hearts and was going to be released for the Nintendo DS. Well that is not the case as we were managed to get an interview from Ryan Graff, Vandal Hearts: Flame of Judgment Original Concept Writer, to answer some questions that we all have been wondering. Q: Why it has taken almost 10 years to get another Vandal Hearts game out. A: Needless to say, 10 years is a long time in the game business, and in that time, much of the original Vandal Hearts team has moved on. Read More...

So about eight months ago we saw an official announcement that Spicy Horse and EA were working on Alice 2; or Return To Wonderland, or Return Of Alice depending on which release you want to go with on this. In any instance, they announced the next installment and then went completely silent on things for the greater part of the year. Not even a tease or small foot note at any of the gaming conventions. Now enter the below video/teaser. Read More...

Look at it in all of it's Olympian splendor. Doesn't it look sexy. Doesn't it make you want to start humping the shit out of it? Just look at it. Ok, fan boyism over for now. But what you are looking at is the God Of War III Ultimate Edition. A nice little collection that includes quite a bit of extras for us die hard fans that will be willing to shell out $99 to $120 for this edition. No, prices have not been stated yet outside of $99 at GameStop, but you can imagine this is going to be around the asking price for it. Just look at the Modern Warfare one and you can make the comparison. Read More...