Next Xbox World 360 Features Goldeneye

The UK's Xbox World 360 magazine blog has been teasing readers over the past week or so with snippets of a screenshot (like the one seen here) from a game they will be featuring in their next issue, which hits stands February 27th. After puzzling over the pieces with the help of several of our readers, we've come to the conclusion that it is indeed the abandoned port of Rare's N64 classic Goldeneye for Xbox Live Arcade. They'll have shots from the game and hands-on impressions, but don't be getting your hopes up.

There'll be no satisfying conclusion... but maybe, together, we can take down the whole system. Or, er, change a few minds.

What Game Is This? Part #7 [Xbox World 360 Blog - Thanks Andrew and Ryan!]

The Serious Sports News Network has just revealed that rock superstar Tom Petty will avoid the normal, overproduced Super Bowl stage show, instead opting to take on "Through the Fire and Flames" on his Nintendo Wii.

"I just figured, why waste all that time? Why make everyone sit through an insufferable halftime show again?" said Petty, who is very excited about the game between the Giants and Patriots. "Instead, I'm just going to bitch DragonForce on 'expert,' which should be enough show for everyone."

Petty to just play Guitar Hero III for Super Bowl halftime [Serious Sports News Network]

While Xbox 360 owners have been enjoying the hell out of Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare's multiplayer, owners of the PlayStation 3 version like myself have been getting an altogether different definition of deep and hard. Players are reporting long wait times for matches, with connection issues plaguing servers once the matches do start. According to Inifinity Ward, the problem lies with servers getting slammed with far greater traffic than they had anticipated. Fortunately the PS3 server team is on the job.

The server team has been working on this all weekend, and will be working through the night. They're upgrading all server hardware as well as dedicated an individual database to each functionality to improve performance and handle the traffic hitting the servers.

Update: PSN Matchmaking [Infinity Ward Forums]

Mass Effect Street Date Broken Ten Days Early

You know, this whole broken street date is starting to become old hat and normally I wouldn't give it too much thought. But, when the game in question is a title as big as Mass Effect, it bears some looking into. Emails have been coming in over the last four or five hours from happy gamers with attached photos of them delightedly clutching their prizes, their eyes bulging with excitement. Personally I wouldn't even take the time to snap the picture or send the email because I would be too busy playing, but I thank them for their enthusiasm in doing so so we could bring the news to the masses.

So, if you live near a K-Mart and can get there before the word spreads and Bioware makes them yank it of the shelf, you could be playing Mass Effect this afternoon. A check at my local K-mart saw me leave empty handed, but who knows, you may get lucky.

CAGs Score Mass Effect Early at Kmart [CheapAssGamer]

Reviewer Response to 'Video Game Reviews Are Broken'

Yesterday I posted a feature called "Video Game Reviews Are Broken, Please Fix." I received quite a few emails on my arguments, but wanted to share this one that I received from Brendon Lindsey, Editor-in-Chief of GamerNode. He offers the interesting perspective of an established review site that finds itself conforming to norms set by industry heavyweights.

Hey, Marky Mark. (Alright, got that out of the way early.)

Anyway, just wanted to shoot you a line saying I agree with most of what you said. I've said it in the past, people from sites I can't stand...have said it in the past, and we'll all say it in the future: gaming reviews are just not done correctly.

Teen Charged With Murder Over Xbox Arson

Another One Bites the Dust

As of last night I have officially had nine Xbox 360s die on me, which means when I get this replacement, I will be on my eleventh Xbox 360 (counting debugs and retails).

Over the weekend we had a little neighborhood party at my house and in the midst of it I decided to show off Guitar Hero II for the Xbox 360. We played it for a bit, maybe 30 minutes and then I went to turn the 360 off and turn the music back on. When I pressed the power button on my Xbox 360 Elite it started making sounds like a blender. This lasted about 10 seconds and then it powered off. I found the news a little bizarre, but didn't think anything of it until Sunday night.

Last night I found a bit of free time on my hands and went down to the 360 to finally check out Vampire Rain (which should totally be better than Chocolate Rain). I turned the 360 on and popped the disc in. The console made a whirring noise for a second and that was it, just sat their displaying the Xbox 360 menu. I hopped over to the game blade and down to the place where it should say "Play Game". No dice. It just had an option to open the DVD tray. I tried a different game. I tried a DVD, No luck.

Then I hopped onto the Xbox 360 forums and discovered I had just become a member of the broken DVD player club. So that's eight dead because of a Red Ring and one dead because of a bad DVD player. Microsoft really needs to get their shit together. As I pointed out to Peter Moore back when they announced the new warranty for the 360, warranty or no, customers are still going to be annoyed if their new or relatively new consoles keep dying. It's an inconvenience and certainly shakes confidence.

Card Fighters Clash Denouement

Thank you for taking part in the SNK VS CAPCOM: CARD FIGHTERS DS exchange program. Enclosed is your replacement cartridge plus a special gift. We appreciate your continued support and apologize for the inconvenience.

Drawn To Life Eyeballs-On

Card Fighters DS Gets Fixed

Aaaaaaaand.....We're Back On The Air!

Broken Bubble Bobble Nets Purchasers Free Game

Crackdown Street Date Broken...Again!

I strolled into my fav game store and I was dumbfounded to see Crackdown in the cabinet and I asked the gent behind the counter if I could have 2 copies and he obliged. The store name rhymes with DB lames.

Clip: Wii - Hold On Tight

CoD3 Map Pack Broken

AP: Nintendo "Recalls" 3.2 Million Wii Straps

Video Game Bloggers Pwnd By CNN Reporter

Clips: Wii Remote Strap Breaking