Ok, now that I have some things taken care of we should be back to regularly scheduled trivia. The last trivia was the horrendous Time Traveler. I tried it a few times in the arcade and just gave up because it didn't really look that good and played horribly. I mean check out the bad acting.

Here are a few things I missed while learning to differentiate my Spocks:

• Spore won't work on Macbooks made before 2007, take that Mac guy
• Stephen Colbert latest person to shoot their DNA into space, this promotion is still a bit on the creepy side
• Home impressions posted, still a lot of bare cupboards online
• Check out the Rock Band 2 cymbals in their new ad, doesn't look too bad
• Force Unleashed still not coming to the PC, may not be a bad thing as early reviews have not been kind
• Chainsaw coming to Castle Crashers, hopefully a patch soon as well
• Will Wright knows which side of the bread his toast is buttered
• Chatpad hacked to work with the PSP, have to wonder if new Sony keyboard will do the same

Another week, another trio of releases for Nintendo owners to think about purchasing.  This week's WiiWare title is Groovin' Blocks (800 points), a new music game that will punish those of us with no inner rhythm.  Retro fans are getting two TurboGrafx16 games with Cho Aniki(900 points ) and Final Soldier(700 points) now available on the service.   

Be sure to check back on Friday for Cyril's take on the games.  Until then here's the trailer for Groovin' Blocks [READ MORE]

 Another week of stuff for Xbox Live Arcade that was stuck in the back of the closet, as RocketBowl (800 pts), Samurai Shodown 2 (400 pts), Shotest Shogi (800 Pts), Buku Sudoku Puzzle Pack (200 pts) and N+ Levelpack (200 pts) will hit the service this Wednesday at 5:00 a.m. EST. That's a lot of stuff with some high point values to be throwing our way all at once. Check out all the details on the next page.... [READ MORE]

For those too lazy to listen to Dan’s recording of the NHL 2K9 press call last week with Ben Bishop (Producer) and Jay Iwahashi (Online Producer) here my notes from the call:
-Virtual Concepts is replacing Kush this year
    -Felt like the first opportunity to rebuild the franchise, game had been extending old content for a while, chance to replace a lot of old code

-Fresh perspective to the game, try to bring the fun back to the game, The controls are really the focus, want people to be able to pick up and play right away
    -Lot of modern games are getting too complex, focus is on fun and making it easy to play
    -Old code base thrown out, completely re-worked
    -Simplified controls so that pass, shoot, check are all you need to know

-Zamboni and playoff beards coming to the game, along with custom Stanley cup celebrations
    -Can skate around the ice with the cup, can skate around, raise, kiss, and pass the cup to a teammate

-Some presentation content ported in from NBA 2K9 team, cross team sharing of resources
    -Game summary replays
        -Save and replay – make your own highlight reels
        -View all hits, goals, etc after game

-Should be a much different experience than last year
-Not concerned with being the underdog, the fans are the hardest audience to please
-Differences from NHL 09
    -Only Wii hockey game this year
    -Easier control scheme – bringing the fun back
    -Feels that the games are on a different path

-Had some issues with the Wii port, went from the 360 to the Wii
    -Trying to find memory and get the graphics to work

-Can switch between control schemes, can used advanced if you want to
    -Hybrid scheme
    -Pro-stick evolution – more focused on using right stick for shooting
    -Scheme from 2K8 not in the game
    -Cannot customize controls

More on the online modes and other changes after the break.

Here's the final teaser video for the game [READ MORE]

September 7th marks the release of the Metallic Silver DS Lite, so if you still don't have Nintendo's strangely popular portable this is another excuse to finally get one.  The silver DS joins a host of other colors already on the market, including a very limited edition gold Legend of Zelda DS.  I can imagine the lucky collectors with that piece of swag are comparing their DS bling to the new silver model.  Personally, I'll stick with my jet black DS, at least until Trauma Center makes me wear out the touch screen. [READ MORE]

Dean Takahashi has published a long, in depth article that details the reasons behind the RROD problem that caused so many Xbox 360's to fail.  It's a long read (6 pages) but it's worth it just to get a look inside what went on and why there are so many defects.  There's some new information but the core reason of why the device failed was because Microsoft rushed it to market to beat Sony, even though they knew there were problems with the Xbox 360 when it shipped. 

While it certainly makes Microsoft look bad it's worth noting that the strategy seems to have worked as Microsoft is currently leading the PS3 right now.   The real question now is will people still line up to buy the next Microsoft gaming system when it comes out or will they wait until Microsoft fixes all the issues (real or perceived). 

Ben Berry
Seeing as my fiance already downloaded it, I am going to give Pirates of the Caribbean Online a try. A little Rock Band will probably be mixed in as i anxiously await the two NHL titles due on Tuesday.

Elliot Bonnie
Not much time for gaming this weekend, but what time I do have will be spent blowing up stuff in Mercenaries 2.

Dave Gamble
I'm reliving the Summer Olympics with Summer Athletics for the Wii.  Between events, I'm racing Dodge Vipers around famous European race tracks with Simbin's new racer, GTR Evolution.

Charles Husemann
It's going to be a quiet weekend of gaming for me as I get revved up for Spore and the NHL games next week.  I'm hoping to get in a little more Pixel Junk Eden this weekend and maybe a little Rock Band.

Randy Kalista
There are over 3.3 million creatures and vehicles uploaded into Spore's online Sporepedia.  I wish I was kidding.  I'm entirely too lazy to sift through all that player-created content to find just the right creations to import into my own world.  So I'll be spending a little more time with the Spore Creature Creator myself.  Plus, on Sunday, I'll try and help everyone crash the GOG.com server by rushing in for a download of Fallout 2.

Dan Keener
Looks like I can get my 360 back from Sean Cahill, so that means I can finally download Castle Crashers and the Rock Band Rush masters.  Toss in some more Oblivion, and time to do some serious testing with the Polk Audio iSonic.

Matt Mirkovich
I've gone back to Castlevania: Dawn of Sorrow on the Nintendo DS. I've also picked up Infinite Undiscovery for the 360. It's RPG-mayhem at my place as I've also got Disgaea 3, and the Tales of Vesperia limited edition begging to be played. I've also got to get practiced up for my Forza Racing League, our final race is Monday and I'm looking to finish in solid 5th.

Nathan Murray
I have been playing Gutiar Hero III in preparation for the festivities this friday. I will be bringing my nifty new phone that has a 2 megapixel camera and an expandable memory card slot. What does that mean? That means recorded mayhem that will show up on my blog later this week mwah ha ha. Anyway I'll probably be playing more Call of Duty 4 this weekend. remember user name frophey is your ticket to a quick death.

Tyler Sager
I'll be waiting for the gathering gaming storm scheduled to arrive later this month, so I'll just be fiddling around with some old titles.  I've been playing a bit of Half-Life 2 and Portal lately, along with some strategy favorites. 

Eva Sines
After I get through canning crabapple jelly and crabapple butter, I hope to get in some solid time leveling my hunter on Silverlode in Lord of the Rings Online.  We'll also be playing D&D 4.0 Sunday evening.

Here are five pre-alpha screenshots from Codemaster's upcoming off-road racing game FUEL.  Codemasters has been on a bit of a tear with their racing games lately as last year's GRID was excellent.  I do wonder why they insist on capitalizing the name of the game though. [READ MORE]

In a convergence of video game graphics and ESPN television, EA Sports Virtual Playbook launched today and will integrate into ESPN's Monday Night Countdown, NFL Live shows, and will debut this Sunday, September 7th, on Sunday NFL Countdown.  "EA Sports Virtual Playbook is born out of our deep football heritage at EA Sports and our drive to expand the impact of our innovative sports technologies beyond gaming," said Peter "F*** You, Yuji Naka" Moore.  And, not to get lazy, but I'll let the EA press release try and explain what's going on, in typically-convoluted EA language:

EA Sports Virtual Playbook is created using feeds from in-studio real-world cameras as well as an in-game camera that captures EA Sports in-game graphics depicting real game scenarios.  The real-world studio and game images of virtual characters are combined to create the effect of "augmented reality" -- virtual players appearing in the studio alongside real life hosts and analysts.  Both real and virtual people are able to move realistically around the studio set to demonstrate plays and scenarios.  The system accommodates, and in fact is controlled by, the multiple real-world cameras that are typical in today's sports analysis television programs.

Essentially, the aforementioned programs will use the EA Sports Virtual Playbook to analyze game matchups, demonstrate offensive and defensive schemes, and highlight mismatches. [READ MORE]

What is D20 Pro? It is one of the greatest examples I have ever seen of the evolution and blending of traditional table top game with the interactive software experience. D20 Pro is software that gives players the ability to play Dungeons and Dragons or similar D20 (a specific type of table top game) games on a virtual game board. The software doesn't just look good but this very functional and can be a very powerful tool for any Game Master. The greatest advantage though of using D20 Pro is the ability to play online with anyone over a secure line making table top gaming possible from across the country. Now that's what I call progression. Check out the software at D20Pro.com

Click to play

Warhammer Online: Age of Reckoning is ringing in the Open Beta by extending its preview weekend event. Preview Weekend Plus starts today Friday, September 5th and runs until the September 7th kick off of the Age of Reckoning.

In order to make this world-wide event the best it can be we're welcoming all Preview Weekend attendees back for two more days to rev things up and get the party started. We invite all Preview Weekend players to join us for Preview Weekend+ this Friday, 9/5 and Saturday, 9/6 starting tomorrow morning.

As a reminder, this event is for Closed Beta participants, Collectors Edition Pre-Order customers, and the first lucky 50,000 Standard Edition Pre-Order customers to register their accounts in the new Mythic Account Center. All of you lucky qualifying gamers gird yourselves for battle to usher in the Age of Reckoning. The rest of us will join you Sunday.

Rise of the Argonauts was one of the games that surprised me the most at E3 this year.  The re-working of classic mythology stood out and it doesn't  hurt that the game looks fantastic.  If you don't believe me check out this new footage from the game that shows of Achilles having a little gladiator fun.