Tekken 5: Dark Resurrection Online Gets Free Update

Those who are still enjoying Tekken 5: Dark Resurrection Online will be happy to hear that Namco Bandai has released a free update to the game (a point of clarification, I assume, because they've historically charged for online capabilities). The update brings Pickup Match Mode, allowing players to skip the waiting room and jump straight into continuous matches. Other than that, there are some minor interface and matchmaking optimizations along with a few bug fixes (that you can read about after the jump). Oh, and there's rumble support now...the metaphorical fat kid of the software patch world. "Wait for me guys!! I'm almost there and it's gonna be so much fun!"

Warbook Getting Update

Confession: since posting about Facebook RPG Warbook the other day, I've become obsessed. I watch my gold every hour in another tab in my browser. I check if other Facebook members have attacked me. I IM friends to counter attack (OK, get revenge). My wife thinks I'm working, with all the furious clicking of my trackpad. But I'm playing all the time.

So it's exciting, to me at least, that Warbook is down with the intriguing message: "Something big is coming. - TJ." Oh TJ, don't tease us. Is anyone else out there excited? Or have I just been attacking abandoned accounts? (Actually, yeah, I have. I'm a cheap fighter.)

UPDATE: They look like they're back up. All I noticed is a double listing of "recruit friends." Anyone see anything else? PS, join my alliance: The Silence.

While GameTap extended an olive branch out to intel-based Mac users a few months ago, today they are expanding their offerings to the Mac community in a big way. With the new GameTap player, Mac users will now have access to both SEGA Saturn and Dreamcast games. And to be honest, Crazy Taxi on my Macbook Pro doesn't sound like the worst way to waste an afternoon.

PC users will benefit too with the the GameTap player's updated, streamlined interface. I mean, you're not getting any new games or anything. But you've already had your fun while the rest of us were pouting in the corner, acting interested in our iPods.

Xbox 360 Could Get 32nm Chips By Late 2009

IBM made a major announcement today that they will be offering 32nm chips to their partners in the second half of 2009. This would mean that, yes, the Xbox 360 could get even smaller chips than the 65nm "Falcon" CPUs..or the rumored 45nm upgrade. We're talking power savings of 45% and speed boosts of 30% over IBM's last generation of hardware...it's flat-out better technology that will reduce the propensity of overheating drastically, and maybe even make way for a smaller console.

So it will be interesting to see if Microsoft opts to go with 45nm chips (available next year) and then 32nm chips, or ends up skipping one of these technologies. Most of us probably won't know the difference—actually, most of us will know the difference—but only because we're obsessing about it here.

IBM, partners in 32nm device surge [via tvg]

Xbox 360 Fall Update Coming Dec 4th, Adds Social Networking

The Xbox 360 Fall Update will be coming Dec. 4th, and its biggest new features is "Friends of Friends." Now you can check out the friends of anyone on your friends list, ala Facebook. To limit who can see your friends list, there will be a "Friends List" setting right on the dash. It will have three settings for those allowed to see your friends that can be set now on Xbox.com:

-Everyone (only available to members 18 and older)
-Friends only (available to members 13 and older)
-Blocked (available to all members, and automatic for anyone under the age of 13)

Apparently, along with Xbox Originals, there will be more features in the update (*cough* DivX please *cough*) announced at a later date.

Image from [nataliedee.com] Here's the full press release:

Valve Bringing More Achievements to Steam, Soon

Achievement whores, rejoice. Valve will be adding more achievements to Orange Box via Steam. This note comes from the Valve forums, an email response to a fan, from Valve.

We're planning on adding achievements to all of our games you touched on in your mail [Half-Life 2, Half-Life 2: Episode 1, Day of Defeat: Source and Counter-Strike: Source]. We're just now coming out of the post-shipping haze, so these should start showing up on Steam pretty quick here.

We're also planning on adding a bunch more to TF2, starting with an achievement pack for the Medic in the next week or so.

PS3 Firmware 2.0 Making Trouble?

Bungie.net Upgraded With More Halo 3 Stuff

Bungie.net has gotten some pretty serious upgrades in the last day. What kind of upgrades, you ask? The best kind. We're talking using your Halo character as your avatar. We're talking heat maps tracking every kill in the game. We're talking Bungie Favorites archived clips and pictures. And we're talking better stats.

Some of us are already too infatuated with Team Fortress 2 to enjoy Bungie's sizable web upgrades. But for all the Halo 3 fanboys, it's nice to see Bungie supporting the fanbase and pioneering so much metagame content. And yes, we just said metagame with a straight face.

Bungie.net [via xbox360fanboy]

PSP Firmware Updated to 3.72, No Big News

For those who follow Sony firmware like a cat follows a mouse...that gets updated all the time...with slightly better functionality...things like improved cheese differentiation...we're not giving up on this metaphor just getting to the point...Sony has released PSP firmware 3.72 to Japan. Improvements include updated channel listings for the DMB-TV accessory (which just spites most of us...like cheese guarded in a mousetrap) and better PSone title stability (which is good but won't fill a spec sheet or rodent stomachs).

Sony PSP Firmware 3.72 released [I4U and CVG]

PS3 Firmware v1.94 Adding DualShock3 Support

Wii Firmware 3.1 Brings Keyboard Support

This morning most of you woke to your Wiis glowing bright blue, eager for a little attention. The update? Wii Firmware 3.1. What's it give us? USB keyboard support. Well, more keyboard support.

That's about it. There are some stability updates in the browser, hyperlinks can now be messaged and the "Everybody Votes" channel now allows users to ask questions of their own (via the new keyboard support). Meanwhile, my PS3 has already been crowned runner up to my laptop in Living Room Porn Machine of Choice. And until Wii gives me something more than keyboard support, that's the way it will stay. Quick poll: Is anyone out there really browsing on their consoles? I have a 46" HD and web pages look nice, but I still prefer the easier, known interface of my laptop running Firefox.

Wii 3.1 firmware upgrade now avaliable, includes USB keyboard support [opposablethumbs]

Rumor: 360 CPU Process To Be Upgraded

Why Apple Doesn't Do Games

Base PS3 to be Upgradeable

New Gamer Memory Available