Nine Inch Nails 3-pack - $5.49 or 440 Microsoft Points
“Burn”
“Capital G”
“Last”

Shinedown - $1.99 or 160 Microsoft Points each
“Devour”
“Junkies For Fame”

Who's getting what?

Even though we as game journalists play a metric ton of games across a wide variety of genres, each of us has our Achilles' Heel — one genre, sort or stripe of game that we are just no good at. It's like a huge void in the repertoire, one particular area of the landscape that just doesn't register on the radar.

For me, two key words invoke a state of terrible incompetence: Stick. Shooter.

When I arrived at the XBLA booth to check out the upcoming titles, the reps were still aglow with awe at the reportedly epic Galaga Legions skills of my colleague, Michael McWhertor. He impressed them so soundly that I thought it best to merely bypass it altogether and get straight to dying every twenty seconds at Geometry Wars 2, the better to move right on to Castle Crashers and leave the whole "embarrassing myself in front of Microsoft" episode behind me.

Geometry Wars 2 now has co-op and multiplayer. Great; now I can die every thirty seconds in front of my friends as I lose track of which player is me. Mind you, this is squarely my failing — Geometry Wars 2 is fireworks of mesmerizing gorgeousness, and the new modes are great.

There's a timed mode called "Deadline," a sort of pattern-recognition mode of short stages called "Sequence," a versus mode, a mode called "Waves" that forces players to stay away from walls, and one called "Pacifist" where you can't shoot at all, but must try to guide the enemy ships into exploding devices.

The standout in my mind was "King" mode, in which you can protect your ship and shoot from safety by flying into a colored ring, which narrows slowly on you until you're forced to move out and onto another one. Outside the rings, you're vulnerable. See, I like the mode where there is a way to avoid being shot at all — but even in King mode, I was the first among the other players to get taken out in round after round.

But I get the appeal of Geometry Wars 2. It's visually overwhelming, I think, but also stunning. I enjoyed just watching the others (after I'd set my controller down in surrender).

Fortunately, I also got to play The Behemoth's Castle Crashers, featuring cute colored knights done in Dan Paladin's inimitable art style. The cartoony knights are really cute, and we four players as a team hurried from left to right, using weapon moves, archery and magical spells to knock out some surly castle guards on our way to storm the gates.

There's a strong attack, a weak attack, and a ranged attack, and each color knight has his own special ability charged by holding down the left trigger when you attack. It's simple, easy to play fun that feels classic and stylish, and seems great for groups, as it's engaging without being especially intense.

After my group reached the gates, we teamed up to take down a big boss, and then had to fight each other to the last man standing for the heart of the princess we rescued.

I was the second to last one standing. Microsoft's Scott Austin was like, ten levels ahead of me after demoing all day, though, so that's the only reason why he won. Seriously, I so had that.

It's pretty simple stuff on the surface. Move your ship anywhere on the screen with the left analog stick. With the right stick, you can place your ship's two satellite guns. These two guns can be dropped anywhere on the fly, with a quick tap in the direction you want the guns to autofire.

Your ship will autofire by default too, but you can choose to call your own shots with the right trigger. The point? Higher scoring bonuses. The whole mechanic makes a lot of sense and you'll need equal parts strategy, quick reflexes and pattern recognition to make it through all five areas.

Like the original Galaga, Legions throws wave after wave of enemy at the player. The formations are more varied in the XBLA update — those series of blue lines you see in the pictures draw on screen prior to each wave — and enemies can come from any direction at very high speeds. You'll have to quickly plan where your ship and your satellite guns should be to survive the crush of Galagas.

And like the original, you'll be able to add extra fighters to your assault team. This time, instead of the Galagas capturing your ship, you'll capture theirs. In some formations, a special freighter-style ship will appear. Shoot it, and the remaining Galagas will be absorbed and added to your forces. This addition of a few dozen fighters on your side of the screen adds a heaping help of chaos, but seeing the swarm of space bugs go after their former allies is awesome stuff.

Like Pac-Man Championship Edition, Galaga Legions looks to have copious replayability. It's not just a lovely looking freakshow, it's fun to play and a great example of how to update an old franchise.

It's time for the Take-Two Interactive E3 2008 press conference! What mysteries lie beyond the jump? Will they talk about GTA DS? Will they concede and hand over the company to EA right then and there? Will they...I dunno...talk about an upcoming movie for an hour?

God I hope not.

Hit the jump for the liveblog, complete with David Hayter goodness! It's completely about the movie, with none of those pesky games to get in the way. I know, I can't believe it either...but look on the bright side...I stood in line for a half hour. You can't buy that sort of inconvenience!

The new look and feel for the Xbox 360 dashboard was designed to be navigable by those unfamiliar with the current "blades" interface, with the New Xbox Experience akin to a TV remote control UI. In person, it's pretty slick — the Xbox 360 logo radiates a constant pulse in the bottom right corner, with iTunes Cover Flow-style reflections and navigation giving gamers a quick clean look at their games and content.

Fans of the current "blades" interface may be saddened to learn that the update isn't an optional redesign, it's a total replacement. They'll still get a taste of the old interface via the new Guide look and feel. Hit the jump for a photo.

The New Guide
That's the new look of the Xbox 360's Guide, accessible from the big old Guide button on the standard controller. You'll have familiar access to your games, media and settings, via the pop up Guide, which loads faster and more smoothly than the current iteration. You'll also be able to hop directly into anything from your Games library — Live Arcade games, movies, installed Xbox 360 retail games — regardless of what you're currently using your 360 for.

The new Guide and the NXE interface are both said to load faster, even if you have 100+ games in your library. Whitten noted that the LIVE team is very focused on optimizing the experience.

Your Old Stuff...
...will still work in the new interface. The gamerpics and themes you downloaded will work with NXE. And while we didn't get to see it in action, Marc Whitten swears they look "beautiful" on the new interface.

Play From Hard Drive
Details on ripping games to your Xbox 360 HDD are still to be announced, but it appears that the only limitation on users is that the game disc must be in the drive in order to play. That means no lending your copy of History Channel: Battle for the Pacific to get around, you know, owning the thing. The feature is said to work with all Xbox 360 games past, present and future and is primarily a method to reduce load times.

Netflix & The Instant Queue
Xbox Live's Larry Hryb showed Netflix integration in action, updating his queue via the Web, which then updated automatically on the Xbox 360. That newly added movie was then streamed via Netflix's servers. The quality was definitely below DVD quality, but still looked good.

Where Do The Ads Go?
Microsoft said more than once that they'd be releasing more information on the update — including things like what real estate advertising will occupy in NXE — at a later date. Ads weren't visible in the demo version we were shown, but we won't be surprised when they pop up in the less sexier, real world version of the interface update.

Mystery Science Theater 360
With Avatars, LIVE Party and the ability to stream movies and TV shows with other Netflix subscribers while chatting, wouldn't that make for an excellent vehicle for mocking the worst of the worst movies? The wink and a smile that Whitten gave the Community attendees certainly made us think so, but we don't know if Microsoft plans on officially supporting the overlay of Avatars on Netflix video streams.

There Will Be No Browser
At least, not in the NXE Fall update. A Web version of Xbox LIVE Marketplace is coming, but IE 360 isn't happening right now, according to Whitten.

Screens of the New Xbox Experience can be seen in our gallery below.

Following the jump, a rundown of seven claims made at Microsoft's news conference earlier today. Brian Ashcraft and I did the fact checking.

Claim 1: The biggest sellers are on Xbox 360, and the Xbox 360 is home of the biggest blockbusters. "With last years performance we proved that the Xbox 360 delivers the biggest and best hits."
True. Well, sorta. Halo 3 was the top selling title of 2007 (moving 4,820,000 copies), beating out Wii Play (which shifted 4,120,000). Looking at last year's top ten selling titles, four them were Nintendo titles, five of them were multi-platform and only one was an Xbox 360 exclusive, which was of course Halo 3. Nintendo exclusives tally up to 10.9 million in sales.

Claim 2: Fall Out 3, Resident Evil 5 and Gears of War 2. Together they represent half a billion in potential sales.
Speculation. Also, only Gears of War 2 is an Xbox 360 exclusive.

Claim 3: Xbox 360's install base is 5 million units more than the PS3's.
True.

Claim 4: According to Don Mattrick, the Xbox 360 is "outselling the Wii and the PS3 combined."
True, but...context is important. Mattrick is citing the fact that Xbox 360, as of May Xbox 360 has sold 10.27 million units in the United States. While Wii has sold 10.20 million units (not 8.8 million) in the USA through May. That covers the entire lifetime of the console, whole numbers. Xbox 360 of course was released before the Wii and well before the PS3, and so has a head start in whole-number sales and install base. The top selling console since its introduction is undoubtedly the Wii.

Claim 5: There's been 2.2 billion in third party sales in last 12 months.
True.

Claim 6: There's a new Xbox LIVE member every five seconds.
Hrm... That would mean 17,280 new members sign up every day. And 6,311,520 members would sign up in a 365.25 day calendar year. According to Microsoft's numbers, there are 12 million members globally. That would mean that in two years, Xbox LIVE would have 12 million members — never mind that it's been around since November 2002. Seems like Microsoft is neglecting to mention Xbox LIVE turnover.

Claim 7: Microsoft is registering their biggest year ever, says Mattrick.
True. Meaning that the Xbox 360 is finally turning profitable.

John Schappert said at E3 that as reported in earlier leaks, a game show channel would be coming to Xbox Live. They're playable with the recently announced Live Party avatars, and the first games are 1 vs 100 and Uno Rush (looks like Uno, but with avatars).

Players can compete against each other for real prizes, Schappert said.

Microsoft's John Schappert took the stage today at Microsoft's E3 2008 press conference to reveal the new face of Xbox Live. Coming this Fall, your gamer tag will now be linked to an avatar, designed by the folks at Rare, who will then be customizable with any of thousands of pieces of clothing, accessories, etc., all available via Xbox Live Marketplace. What a surprise!

The avatars, much like Miis, will be playable in many upcoming Microsoft games, including Uno on Xbox Live and the new Scene-It!: Box Office Smash.

There's also a new community channel called Live Party, where you can add up to 8 friends to chat and share content, such as photos.

Thanks Brian for the tip!

Rumored and then confirmed earlier this year, Duke Nukem 3D is making its way to the Xbox Live Arcade this year, but when? The time could be near, as an anonymous tipster sends us several pictures of the game's XBLA entry. Of course it isn't available now...note the 1337 placeholder price tag...but the fact that these shots are coming out indicates the game is very close to release. Check out the other screens below, including a shot of the "Looks Like A Cleanup On Aisle Four" achievement, which makes stepping in a pile of shit fun!

Cyan CTO Mark "Chogon" DeForest said in a community board letter that despite having a plan in place, cheerfully titled the "Myst Online: Restoration Experiment (MORE)," there are some "hurdles to overcome." Among the necessary compromises will be an implementation of a $25 fee for a six month subscription.

"We are not trying to make any money on this at this stage - but we do need to cover some of the costs," he said.

"You should know that the roadmap does not involve any new content from Cyan at this time. The plan is to start to move the content creation - the 'Art' - to you. In addition the guilds themselves will start to exercise some authority in monitoring, approving, communicating, etc."

Kotaku also spoke to Chogon about when the bigger, better, faster, MORE Myst Online might be up and running:

"We hope to have the MystOnline servers up sometime before the end of the year... hopefully, even sooner," he said.

The result will be a "more grass roots" Myst Online that will resemble Until Uru, but with more involvement with Cyan, Chogon said.

"Cyan will be in control of the core servers and the core of the game. While, the fans will be involved in not only creating content and tools but also helping run the game as well as providing structure (through the guilds) and key insights into keeping MystOnline going.

"This will start slowly but in the future, Cyan may be able to provide content once again and continue the story it has started."

Also on XBLA this week we have Golf: Tee It Up!(800 MS points), Housemarque and Activision's answer to Hot Shots Golf, with customizable golfers, online tourneys for 2-4 players, and two full golf courses, a number I am almost certain will grow with downloadable content down the line.

"Schizoid" and "Golf: Tee It Up!" hit Xbox LIVE Arcade this Wednesday!

“Schizoid,” the first Xbox LIVE Arcade game developed with Microsoft’s XNA Game Studio technology, and “Golf: Tee It Up!” launch on Xbox LIVE Arcade this Wednesday, July 9, 2008 at 9:00 a.m. GMT (2:00 a.m. PDT).

“Schizoid” is a fast and furiously paced action game with simple, intuitive gameplay. Billed as “the most co-op game ever,” reflexes and smarts are key but sharp teamwork pays off even more! Ram your way through waves of glowing enemies: single player with an AI bot helper; or co-op multiplayer with two players offline or online through Xbox LIVE. “Schizoid” features over 120 challenging levels of mayhem that will appeal to casual and hardcore gamers alike. For the brave player, “Schizoid” offers the intense Uberschizoid game mode, in which a single player controls two different ships at the same time.

Developed by Torpex Games, “Schizoid” will be available worldwide for 800 Microsoft Points and is rated E for Everyone by the ESRB.

Pick up and play a few quick holes on your own or compete in a full 18-hole multiplayer tournament with friends in “Golf: Tee It Up!” Both beginners and experienced golfers can easily join the fun on beautiful, panoramic and challenging courses. With the unique Focus feature, you can read the green or control the ball’s spin in flight to achieve amazing precision! “Golf: Tee It Up!” features zany, customizable characters and a variety of game modes including stroke, cup, or match play with local or Xbox LIVE multiplayer modes.

Developed by Housemarque and published by Activision, “Golf: Tee It Up!” will be available worldwide for 800 Microsoft Points and is rated E for Everyone by the ESRB.

For more details on “Golf: Tee It Up!” please visit http://www.xbox.com/en-US/games/g/golfteeitupxboxlivearcade/. For more details on “Schizoid” please visit http://www.xbox.com/en-US/games/s/schizoidxboxlivearcade/.

So what's on the tracklist? Eleven games are represented, from the whimsical Tetris Piano Opus, to the moving Medal of Honor suite. Myst, Warcraft, God of War, Kingdom Hearts...hell, they've even got Advent Rising on there, which goes to show that your game doesn't have to be successful to make it on the Video Games Live CD...it just has to have music composed by Tommy Tallarico. The track that really makes the disc for me? Wendy Carlos' Tron Montage. Makes me feel like I am 10 years old wearing a cardboard Tron helmet all over again. Hit the jump for the full track listing and sketchy details about availability!

EMI CLASSICS RELEASES - VIDEO GAMES LIVE: VOLUME ONE

First Video Game Music Compilation Album to be Released Worldwide on a Major Label

Recorded and Mixed at the World Famous Abbey Road Studios in London

LONDON, UK - JULY 7, 2008 - In an exciting collaboration with Video Games Live, EMI Classics will release a CD celebrating some of the best known, most popular video game music of all time. The first worldwide campaign of its kind by EMI is linked to the Video Games Live events planned in North and South America, Europe and Asia over the coming months and aims to appeal to a broad audience of gamers, non-gamers and music lovers of all kinds. Video Games Live: Volume One showcases some of the more popular segments that currently appear in Video Games Live. The album contains several unique arrangements that were created along with the original composers exclusively for the show, and have never previously been released.

Video games are arguably today’s most popular entertainment of choice for the 21st century, and the music is central to their attraction. The EMI Classics CD, compiled by Video Games Live co-creators Tommy Tallarico and Jack Wall, who also conducts the recording, features the Slovak National Orchestra, The Crouch End Festival Chorus and The Video Game Pianist, Martin Leung in medleys from hit game franchises such as Halo, Warcraft, Kingdom Hearts, Tetris, Castlevania, Myst and Tron.

Video Games Live: Volume One will be released in two stages: The digital release will be downloadable in the UK from July 7th, 2008, with the option to pre-order from a week before that on iTunes and other DSP’s (Digital Service Providers) with that capability; the release of the CD and iTunes exclusive, including digital bonus tracks, will be staggered to coincide with Video Games Live events, beginning in San Diego, California on July 24th (North America) and Leipzig, Germany on August 20th (Europe and worldwide).

Music in the interactive entertainment industry has come far in the past 35 years, from beeps and electrical impulses to early digital synthesis and sampling to pre-recorded soundtracks. As the games themselves have become more sophisticated, so has the music that drives them and a generation of composers are devoting their energies to writing for the video game medium.

Video Games Live is the largest and most successful video game concert in the world having already performed around the globe to over 250,000 people. The debut performance took place on July 6th, 2005 at the world famous Hollywood Bowl with the LA Philharmonic. Over 11,000 people attended making it the biggest video game concert in the world. Most of the game music played (Halo, Sonic, Metal Gear Solid, Warcraft, Tomb Raider, Myst, Kingdom Hearts, Tron, Medal of Honor, Advent Rising, etc.) had never been performed live. Video Games Live followed with groundbreaking first ever game concert performances in countries such as Brazil, England, New Zealand, Spain, Mexico, Canada, Scotland, Taiwan and Portugal. Video Games Live was also the very first American video game concert to perform in Asia (Korea). In 2007 they were recipients of a major industry award in Brazil for "Special Breakthrough Achievement" following their sold out performances in Rio de Janeiro and Sao Paulo. Video Games Live concerts have since taken place around the world, selling out multi-thousand-seat venues within hours or days of being announced.

The live concert experience features music from the biggest games of all time. Top orchestras and choirs around the world perform along with exclusive video footage and music arrangements, synchronized lighting, solo performers, electronic percussion, live action and unique interactive segments to create an explosive one-of-a-kind entertainment experience. Special events surround the show, including pre- and post-show festivals.

In the coming months, Video Games Live will perform more concerts throughout the world. Forthcoming dates include: Houston and Austin, TX; Louisville, KY; San Diego and San Jose, CA; Indianapolis, IN; Brookville, NY; Birmingham, AL; Kansas City, MO; Chicago, IL; Newark, NJ; Burlington, VT; Seattle, WA; Kalamazoo, MI; Sarasota, FL and Richmond, VA; Vancouver, BC; Kitchener, ON; Calgary; Rio de Janeiro, Brazil; Leipzig, Germany; Glasgow, Scotland; Paris, France; Lisbon, Portugal; London, UK; Taipei, Taiwan; Beijing, China. Visit www.videogameslive.com for regular updates of the performance dates.

“If Beethoven were alive today, he would probably be a video-game composer... he was always ahead of the curve. One of his goals in creating music was to control the emotions of the person listening to it. This is exactly what we as game composers are constantly trying to accomplish.” (Video Games Live co-creator Tommy Tallarico)

“A touring multimedia show that has already been seen by more than 250,000 people is playing at the world's finest concert halls — with the world's finest orchestras powering through some of the world's most popular video-game music. And it's attracting a decidedly different audience. There were more than children and teenage gamers … [there were] a lot of grandmas out there.” (NPR – National Public Radio, U.S.)

TRACKLISTING

1. Kingdom Hearts®
KINGDOM HEARTS © Disney • Developed by Square-Enix Co., Ltd. • “Kingdom” written by Utada Hikaru • Orchestrator: Kaoru Wada

The KINGDOM HEARTS® franchise is the result of a collaboration between Disney and Square-Enix. The ground-breaking fantasy action role-playing game received numerous awards and was a dominating presence upon its release in 2002. The single, Hikari (to which the instrumental version “Kingdom” was based) has sold over 1 million copies in Japan. Female songwriter Utada Hikaru’s first official album became the best-selling album of all time in Japan with over 10 million copies sold. Currently, three of her albums rank in the Top 10 all-time best-selling albums list in Japan.

2. Warcraft® Suite
Composer: Jason Hayes • Orchestrator: Benoît Grey

Created by the development team at Blizzard Entertainment®, Inc. Warcraft® is an award-winning fantasy series that is one of the fastest selling PC games ever. Blizzard's release of World of Warcraft®, the massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG) based on the Warcraft series, has shattered all sales records for an online game, and is currently the biggest subscription-based online game in the world.

3. Myst® Medley
Myst® Theme composed by Robyn Miller; Gallery Theme composed by Tim Larkin (BMI) • Myst® III Main Theme and Myst® IV Main Theme composed by Jack Wall (ASCAP) • Orchestrated by Steve Zuckerman

The Myst® phenomenon catapulted the world of computer games to the forefront of consumer entertainment and broke many boundaries as the best-selling CD-ROM game. It appealed to many demographics and featured beautifully rendered environments and intricate puzzle-solving quests.

4. Medal of Honor™ (LIVE)
“Operation Market Garden” from Medal of Honor: Frontline™ published by Electronic Arts, Inc. Composed and orchestrated by Michael Giacchino • Recorded Live in Brazil, South America

Created and inspired by Steven Spielberg, the award-winning Medal of Honor series is one of the most convincing and well established wartime simulation game franchises, blending cinematic visuals with intense sound and music. Award-winning composer Michael Giacchino started in the video game industry and has since added films and television to his impressive list of credits which include TV shows Lost and Alias, motion pictures such as The Incredibles, Mission: Impossible III, Ratatouille, Speed Racer and even Space Mountain in Disneyland.

5. Civilization IV Medley
Composer: Christopher Tin (BMI) • Orchestrator: Christopher Tin • Alto solo: Nathania Reid • Tenor solo: Ron Ragin • Soprano solo: Nicole Bonsol • Choir: Stanford Talisman

Over the course of 15 years, Sid Meier’s Civilization series has come to define turn-based strategy games. Few games have managed to combine the sheer addictive depth that the Civilization series commands, and fewer have had such universal appeal. With unprecedented critical acclaim from fans and press around the world, Sid Meier’s Civilization game is recognized as one of the greatest PC game franchises of all time.

6. Tetris® Piano Opus No. 1
Tetris® is a trademark of The Tetris Company and Blue Planet Software. Tetris® theme (Music A) originally adapted and arranged from the Russian folk song “Korobeiniki” • Piano Arrangement: Martin Leung • Performed by: Martin Leung

Tetris is arguably the most beloved and biggest selling video game in the world. It was originally conceived and designed in 1985 by Alexey Pajitnov while working for the Soviet government in Moscow, Russia. “Music A” in the Nintendo Game Boy® edition of Tetris is one of the most recognizable and popular songs from a video game. It is an instrumental arrangement of a vocal Russian folk tune called “Korobeiniki” which was based on a poem with the same name written in 1861. The first line of the translated lyrics read… “"Oy, the box is full, so full".

7. God of War™ Montage (LIVE)
Published by Sony Computer Entertainment America, Inc. • Composed by Gerard Marino • Recorded Live in Brazil, South America

God of War is a high-energy action-adventure game based on Greek mythology. It was extremely well received by critics and fans alike and was the recipient of many “Game of the Year” awards. It has been called the greatest PlayStation® 2 game of all time by many top gaming magazines and websites. The award-winning score by Gerard Marino was his first credit as a game composer.

8. Advent Rising Suite
Composers: Tommy Tallarico, Michael Plowman, Emmanuel Fratianni, Laurie Robinson • Orchestrated by Emmanuel Fratianni, Laurie Robinson and Christopher Nickel

Advent Rising is a third-person, intergalactic action/adventure wrapped in a visually imaginative universe that plays like a fast action movie. Famed science fiction novelist, Orson Scott Card, co-wrote the gripping storyline behind the game. The multi award-winning Advent Rising soundtrack has been noted as "one of the greatest musical scores of all time" by websites such as Yahoo, Gamespot and others.

9. Tron Montage
Composed by Wendy Carlos; Orchestrated and adapted for Video Games Live by David Kates • Synthesizers programmed and performed by Matt Robertson

Disney’s 1982 action sci-fi cult classic masterpiece embraced video game aesthetics and has since inspired numerous blockbuster films and video games alike. Harnessing the latest technology available at the time, Tron was the first motion picture to ever use computer graphics and animation.

10. Halo® Suite
Composers: Martin O’Donnell and Michael Salvatori • Orchestrated by Emmanuel Fratianni, Laurie Robinson, Martin O’Donnell and Michael Salvatori • Guitars: Tommy Tallarico, Steve Vai, Chris Kline and Marcus Henderson • Voiceover: Cindy Shapiro

Halo is the blockbuster XBOX game developed by Bungie Studios that reinvented the first person shooter experience with action packed gameplay, an epic science fiction storyline and a multi award-winning soundtrack. The first Halo soundtrack received countless accolades including The Rolling Stone award for best original video game soundtrack, and its sequel Halo 2 became the #1 selling original video game soundtrack album in North America.

11 Castlevania® Rock (LIVE)
Castlevania® series owned and published by Konami Digital Entertainment Co., Ltd. • Composers: Kinuyo Yamashita (Castlevania®), Club Kukeiha (Castlevania® III) and Michiru Yamane (Castlevania: Symphony of the Night®) • Arranged by Tommy Tallarico • Guitars: Tommy Tallarico and Dweezil Zappa • Keyboards: Martin Leung • Drums: Joe Travers • Bass: Peter Griffin • Recorded at Plaza Calafia Bullring - Mexicali, Mexico

The Castlevania series is one of Konami's most famous franchises and is a recognized landmark in the design of action-platforming games. The earliest games borrowed from motifs in iconic horror cinema, though the series later developed a more artistic and dramatic direction drawn from Gothic fiction and dark romanticism. This classic adventure series features some of the most addictive gameplay, beautiful graphical effects and contagious musical scores ever witnessed in a platform game. The musical styles for the Castlevania series range from Gothic and operatic rock to classical symphonia.

The album was engineered at EMI’s famous Abbey Road recording studios in London.

* * *

I personally want to thank Microsoft for making Ninja Month every bit as special as they did Pirate Month. Oh wait, there wasn't a Pirate Month, now was there? FACE!

While naturally we only want to keep quality titles on the network we do have room for a lot of them. I think if I look over at the competitors’ UI they may have some issues just displaying content, and scrolling up and down lists isn’t the easiest way to find things.

No, it certainly is not. And Microsoft may well be reading these words and sobbing gently into their morning coffees. Then again, they may be doing something about it.

INTERVIEW: Sony on PSN’s “Big Leap Forward” [Next-Gen]

コスチュームパック [IT Media]

We met up in an Aesir lobby this morning, my level 28 veteran named Shin rubbing elbows with his freshly created level 1 Berserker known as TotiloTheBold. After a few minutes of finagling — his main character, a Berzerker, couldn't join my game because of some DLC downloading snafu — we got into a game of my creation.

Setting up a Too Human co-op match was rather straightforward, choosing a chapter, a looting type and the number of private slots. I threw Stephen in the deep end, perhaps a bit unfairly, as we tackled the game's third chapter "The World Serpent." Looting was set to "Round Robin" so we each got our fair share, but greedy loot hoarders can set their games to "Free For All." The third Loot Distribution type, Random, should be self-explanatory.

We set off...

Our first task, before setting off to battle, was attempting to trade some of our items. Being the generous guy I am, I pored through my inventory in a vain attempt to find something for TotiloTheBold. Not much luck, as most of my stuff had level requirements in the 20s, but we found a couple of ludicrously named items that worked.

Trading was initially a bit awkward as the game won't display the HUD icon that permits a trade unless two Baldurs are in just the right proximity. You can't just drop items for others to pick up in Too Human, you have to agree to trade and use the Trade menu interface. I assume that's due to the game's magnetic loot that floats toward Baldur after it drops and to prevent the stealing or duplication of items.

To get Totilo up to a point where he could use some of this stuff, we had to slay some of Too Human's beasts.

Turns out the third chapter isn't the best place to start. Devoid of any story, narration or cut scenes, the beginning of that particular level can be a bit confusing. There's an anomalous Cyberspace transition here, something that was unsettling to both of us. It's designed that way single-player, but in co-op and for the uninitiated, it doesn't quite work. We soldiered on, whacking away at dozens of spawning robo-Goblins, robo-Trolls and robo-Elves, chatting about the game's quirks and our complaints.

Since we were both offensively geared classes, there wasn't much talk of strategy. Just lots of juggling, hacking and shooting. It wasn't long before TotiloTheBold was leveling up. That meant plenty of pausing, then waiting for my partner to spec out his skill tree, combing through his newly acquired armor and weapon drops while the menu screen was up. After some brief character management we'd head into the next room, dispatch a few more Goblins, rinse and repeat. All the way to level 8 for Totilo, up to 30 for me.

Two-player co-op can bog down during these moments, as one waits for the other to futz with the menu screen. The implementation of dealing with all these things isn't the speediest or most elegant, making me think it might not have been a bad idea to whittle down four player co-op to two. Add to that common frame rate chug and the lack of a radar, map or compass that would indicate where your teammate is, and we might sign a petition against four-player co-op in the inevitable sequel.

That absence of a mini-map or radar on your HUD can lead to some confusion about the location of your co-op buddy. It doesn't help that the environments are both somehow lackluster and overly busy. And that the camera ranges from awful to sometimes serviceable. After a handful of deaths and the following trip to Valhalla (read: the previous room), we had a hard time reconnecting. We had to talk it out.

Which wasn't the worst thing in the world, as Totilo pointed out in his impressions. It's "better than a phone call" he wrote, offering some mindless grinding fun and the chance to chat. Probably not a good pull quote for the box art, but it's a positive.

I think that Totilo enjoyed the reaping of loot more so than I did. I had already gone through dozens of pieces of armor, many more weapons and runes, salvaging all manner of sword, staff and shoulderpad. But the core concept of loot gathering and level grinding may just be enough for Xbox 360 gamers looking for such a thrill.

My particular issue with all that grinding, all that collecting is that little of it feels like it has any real impact on Baldur's performance. That may be due to this being the first in a planned trilogy and that the real good stuff is coming down the line. But Baldur doesn't start his Too Human adventure with anything simple or even identifiable. Equipment names are ridiculously flowery, resulting in everything sounding like a showpiece item. Are Proficient Shockplate Blast Shields of Reinforcement more covetable than Gallant Gunslinger's Blastshield of Urd? There might be just too much in the way of variety here, because I'm not sure if my Imperial Deathguard of Hypnosis with a +6 Annulment bonus is any good or not.

Baldur's skills don't pack much of a punch either, as my desire to allocate skill points to increasing my reload speed by 2.5% doesn't sound as thrilling as it might in print. Spider cool-down rates and higher juggle heights, similarly, just don't quite do it for me. This is where some of the game's urging to clear just one more room might sound a bit more muted.

That said, all of this stuff may just be right up your alley, if you're done with the game's somewhat brief single-player experience and are looking for more. If there's one thing Too Human definitely has, it's a well of depth. The well may be a bit too murky, perhaps a bit too deep, but it's there if you feel like diving in.

How big? Well besides the gi-normous list of rumored updates we posted about back in May we're now hearing from a number of sources that the Live dashboard is going to be getting a second interface option, one that will use the yet-to-be announced motion controller to navigate.

This new user interface, we've been told, will recreate the increasingly cluttered dashboard "blade" system in a 3D environment that will be something more akin to the Minority Report than a filing cabinet. The motion controls will allow users to sort of slide through the different levels of this floating menu system.

Sounds like a fantastic idea, if it can be implemented correctly.

“Cyan Worlds has been a great partner to GameTap," said content VP and creative director Rick Sanchez. "It’s just the right thing to do, giving Cyan and the fans the opportunity to continue to enjoy this rich universe that has become a second home to many of its inhabitants.”

The fan-favorite Uru Live getting shifted out of GameTap's portfolio for good comes just after Turner's content delivery network shuttered its editorial division and canceled its Galactic Command publishing deal with outspoken developer Derek Smart.

Amid all these issues, we asked Sanchez if there might be some difficulties at GameTap:

Sanchez reiterated that the editorial closing was so GameTap could focus more on other areas, which he detailed. "The reason we are moving away from editorial content is to focus our energies and resources on building our game library and new initiatives such as browser based games and expanded community features," he said.

"Our model hasn’t changed, we will continue to offer our paid subscription service of more than 1000 games, ad-supported free play on GameTap.com, and titles for purchase via digital download in our online store.”

Cyan president Rand Miller says that the newly relaunched game will include features that will allow players to create their own content, which was hinted at during the game's first relaunch. The revitalized title will carry a fee ($25 for 6 months was suggested) to cover the cost of maintaining servers.

There's something to be said for tenacity, but I fear in this case that something is "Just let it die already."

GameTap gives Myst Online back to Cyan. Cyan says it's opening the game to fan development [TXT - Thanks Kyven]]

Also appearing on XBLA this week is 280 new questions for Wits & Wagers for 320 points, which is not nearly as exciting as Soulcalibur but certainly has its charm.

This week on Arcade: SOULCALIBUR and Wits & Wagers DLC [Xbox Live's Major Nelson]

It's been almost nine years since I first played the Dreamcast port of Soul Calibur which, at the time, seemed like the pinnacle of fighting game visuals. Another instance of my gaming career where I genuinely thought "This is it. They've done it. It can't possibly get any better." This was, of course, before the engineers at Namco Bandai dedicated man hours and processing power to ass-jiggle physics; before we really knew how detailed a cod piece could be. Anyway, the compressed Soul Calibur for Xbox 360 seems like a fun diversion, but I've still got my Dreamcast hooked up to Input 3 on my television. And Soulcalibur IV is out, like, any day now. Kinda makes the whole thing seem moot.

Soul Calibur Gameplay HD [GameTrailers]

IGN Strategize Now On Inside Xbox/Xbox Live [IGN]

Super Turbo HD Remix Beta hits Wednesday on LIVE [Capcom]

The Xbox 360 port will feature three-player coop, the ability to upload and download replay data via Xbox Live, and a versus mode that lets the Otomedius girls take on bosses from previous Konami games. This is unconfirmed, but we hear that the polygonal boobs will be even more spectacular for the home version. Clearly Konami is going all out.

We're currently bugging Konami about a Western release and will be knocked over with a feather should they even respond to our e-mails.

Otomedius Gorgeous Official Site [Konami.jp]

The video runs best in Firefox or Safari, or if you'd like to see it in all its HD glory, you can hit up Times Square, where the video is set to debut today at the corner of Broadway and 47th above the W Hotel on a 40 foot by 30 foot screen.

Also hitting Live Arcade this Wednesday is Ticket To Ride which is based on the award-winning board game of the same name. The Playful Entertainment-developed, multiplayer-friendly game is rated E. Both titles will set you back 800 Microsoft Points. Media alert is after the jump!

Happy Tree Friends False Alarm! and Ticket to Ride Launching on Xbox LIVE Arcade This Wednesday!

The popular and twisted Web series, “Happy Tree Friends False Alarm!™” and the award-winning board game “Ticket to Ride” will debut on Xbox LIVE Arcade this Wednesday, June 25, 2008 at 9:00 a.m. GMT (1:00 a.m. PDT).

“Happy Tree Friends False Alarm!” incorporates the twisted humor and mayhem from the cartoon Web series as the cute and cuddly Happy Tree Friends face one gory, horrible disaster after another! Players assume the persona of Lumpy the moose, who must save his clumsy friends by blasting open areas when they are trapped or deep freezing them before they stumble into danger. “Happy Tree Friends False Alarm!” features 10 exclusive scenarios, ranging from a mine shaft to a candy factory, with three frantic levels and new cut-scenes. Just like the hit Web series, players must try to keep their pals safe, but with this accident-prone group, catastrophic mishaps are inevitable.

Developed by Stainless Games and published by SEGA, “Happy Tree Friends False Alarm!” will be available worldwide for 800 Microsoft Points and is rated M for Mature by the ESRB.

All aboard! Get your “Ticket to Ride” the rails from coast to coast on this exciting train adventure. Based on the award-winning board game, “Ticket to Ride” features simple rules and fast play, promising fun for the whole family on Xbox LIVE Arcade.

Plan your routes and connect your cities across the country to become the ultimate traveler, earning points as you claim your tracks and complete your Tickets for your chance at the big score. “Ticket to Ride” supports play with up to five people on Xbox LIVE or four people on the same Xbox 360 as you lay track from coast to coast. “Ticket to Ride” features Leaderboards, Achievements and multiple levels of AI players to keep the challenges coming. Who will win when the steam clears? Get your “Ticket to Ride” and see this Wednesday!

Created by Vancouver-based publisher, Playful Entertainment, “Ticket to Ride” will be available worldwide (except Hong Kong or Taiwan) for 800 Microsoft Points and is rated E for Everyone by the ESRB.

For more details on “Happy Tree Friends False Alarm!” and “Ticket to Ride,” please visit http://www.xbox.com/en-US/games/livearcadexbox360.

The demo weighs in at 1.44 GB, one meaty chunk of collegiate football action to tryout before the full game hits next month.

Demo: NCAA Football 09 [Xbox Live's Major Nelson]

Up to four players can compete together locally or co-op, and online multiplayer is for up to eight. You can also compete against three AIs all by your lonesome, so there are a lot of options - You get the idea.

So did I get creamed on the video game the same way I used to as a little geek?

Short answer is yes - but my team actually won one round, too, thanks to my heroics once my partner got knocked out. Gameplay's actually quite simple; you can jump and throw the ball from midair, dodge backward with the right shoulder button, or pick up the ball simply by running over it. There are several different pirates and several different ninjas to choose from, and each one has its own special move.

The character animations are really cute, and the different characters are all rather different (surprised?) One of the ninjas looks more like a samurai than a ninja, technically. I tried playing a female ninja who did one of those spread-armed crane-winged jumps in the air. One thing I didn't know is that zombie and robot teams will also be featured as unlockables, with sets of abilities all their own. When I played as a robot, the sprite I chose was able to stun both her enemies and allies via a bright laser beam from her chest.

Essentially, two teams scrabble for the ball and beat each other senseless with it until all the members of one team are out of stamina. You can recoup your stamina by catching the ball instead of being hit by it. Making things a little more wicked is the fact that you can perform normal attacks on your opponents with weapons to drain their stamina as well, or to keep them from reaching the ball so that your own teammate can get it.

Pirates vs. Ninjas Dodgeball was actually supposed to be out earlier this year, but the rep told me the reason for the delay was to add additional game modes - for example, if you'd just like to play straight dodgeball without the ability to hit and be hit with the weapons, you can now do that.

I played a few rounds of two-on-two local against the reps, and had a blast. It's a little bit like the fun and chaos of Smash Bros. but without all the complexity. It's simple enough that even your non-gamer buddies would probably want to play it with you when they're all over for beers or something. Not that you'd need to drink to enjoy it, mind you, but it feels like a great party title.

Schizoid Game Page [Torpex Games]