Have you updated your Xbox 360 to the NXE? A few of us have experienced problems with the update and you know I expected this since it's a pretty major rollout for them. The one problem I am seeing is being unable to access certain parts of the Marketplace. Major Nelson has info on the ongoing saga and has provided a small update on the situation. The team is looking into it right now so let's hope they clear things up. I was surprised it didn't take that long for the update to get to me though so that's good. How's everyone digging the new interface and avatar system?

The Phantasy Star Universe: Ambition of the Illuminus, expansion for PSU, has gotten a new price. It is now available for download from Xbox Live for 800 points, which is a 50% discount. The expansion contains a new single online mission where your character is now the main focus of the storyline. In addition, the online multiplayer also was beefed up with 25 new missions, 5 new bosses and 100 added weapons and items. As always, the original PSU disk and an active Guardians license are required to run the expansion. [READ MORE]

Hearing Elijah Wood's boyish intonation come out of the wide-eyed Spyro's mouth requires no stretch of the imagination.  What does, however, require a re-meshing of mind over matter is The Legend of Spryo: Dawn of the Dragon's deceptive control schemes. 

Sharper minds than my own have argued the necessities of direct, immediately-understandable controls in a platformer.  Mario and Luigi, Jak and Daxter, Ratchet and Clank ... these are now-iconic duos that will attest to that need.  But Spyro and the newly-redeemed Cynder both subscribe to floaty, imprecise movements that are at once an aforementioned necessity (they are both dragons) as well as an unmentionably temple-throbbing headache.  Single-jumps are decidedly unnecessary.  Double-jumps are mushy.  Flying is inexplicably tethered by gravity when you need height, and unfailingly floaty when you need to land.

Moving about lava-carved caverns is a great start to any abrupt and unexplained intro:  Both Spryo and Cynder are encased in an enormous amber jewel, communicating telepathically, and then able to shatter their way out moments later.  This is likely a continuation from the previous entry in the Legend of Spryo series, but I'm coming at this with fresh eyes and no context for current events.  Without a detailed history of Spyro's past, I'll see if Dawn of the Dragon will sink or swim on its own merits.  And so far?  It doesn't look like dragons can swim.

The decidedly Balrog-looking thingy that attacks Spyro and Cynder -- surrounded by a cheering arena of goblin-thingy onlookers -- is a momentous beginning.  There's barely time to learn that you can grab enemies and spin them around before the Balrog-thingy decides it's seen enough.  Too bad its white-hot anger and molten-hot skin comes up with nothing more creative than to swat haphazardly at the two hapless dragons.  And to retaliate, Spyro (or Cynder -- you can interchange rolls or play co-op at will) attack the Balrog-thingy's hand.  It's po' widdle hand.

It's some constantly-interrupting Tony the Tiger of a hooded ranger than keeps tossing in all the cutscenes and making the cool bow shots like putting an arrow into the Balrog-thingy's eye socket.  Plus, as Tony the Tiger (not his real name) makes beautiful bounds from ledge to ledge, I'm in a constant battle with a camera that sometimes swings in an almost-360-degrees (though it's rare) to a camera that's more often riveted to some less-than-convenient angle against a wall.  The camera invents new inconvenient angles as I pop into a new room, and every fifth or sixth jump seems to have yet another cutscene intervene before I fully pull off my landing.

French developer Estranges Libellule (also responsible for the Asterix & Obelix games) has made it very clear that you, the player, are not allowed to have control of Spyro for any reasonable length of time.  Estranges Libellule has also made the mistake of positing a camera that wants to play the game for you.  I'm sincerely hoping that this is an indoor environment issue only, and that exterior environments will lend more of the freedoms that seem inherent to flying a dragon around.  As far as the introductory chapter goes, Dawn of the Dragon's lack of trust in the player makes it very difficult to navigate the too-tightly leashed environs.  Though, for unintentional laughs, it is always great to see your AI-controlled partner (be it Spyro or Cynder) constantly missing jumps and plummeting inches away from the targeted ledge.  Pretty much couldn't land a single jump.  It's as hilarious as it is incompetent.

Yet the heartwarming artwork gives me a flicker of hope, despite everything.  It's what made me accept the review assignment from Chuck in the first place.  And even though Spyro has shown me that he can't be controlled yet, perhaps he'll also show me some marvelous locales.  I haven't lost all hope that this dragon, after all, might be sleeping on a mound of treasure.

If you want to try Neopets Puzzle Adventure before purchasing the game you might want to check out this cool flash game that gives you a quick taste of the game.

Update (Chuck) - Click on the title to play the demo as it starts in noisy mode for some reason. [READ MORE]

• Defunct Games implores, "Don't F***ing Buy That Game!"  A non-gamers guide to getting the wrong gift.
• The steps to take in order to get my hands on WAR's Knights of the Blazing Sun weren't so apparent, at first.
• Massive Gamer launches into the EVE Online: Quantum Rise expansion.
• Every MMO has its good and bad launches -- even if it's from Blizzard.  Even if it's WoW: Wrath of the Lich King.
• For a CPU cooler that performs as good as it looks, Legit Reviews presents the 180W-capable Cooler Master V8 CPU Cooler.
• Treyarch may have recovered their sullied name with Call of Duty: World at War.
• All in all, the Termaltake BlacX External Hard Drive Docking Station is a "fine piece of hardware."

Thanks to Defunct Games, Massive Gamer, AtomicGamer, Legit Reviews, and Tweaknews for today's news roundup.

Stardock is still making good on their promise to release meaningful content for their games, post-release.  Now available is a major free update to Sins of a Solar Empire, upgrading its sins to version 1.1.  Highlights to the 1.1 change log include:

• Alloy Networking Technology -- allows for seamless multiplayer without needing to deal with port forwarding or other router settings
• Major upgrade to the graphics engine for better performance on all systems
• Updated/improved graphics (textures, new models, explosions, and more)
• Mini-Underground Window -- allows you to buy/sell resources and make pirate bids on the main gameplay screen [Hallelujah! - Ed.]
• Improved game balance
• Improved AI
• Bug fixes and much more

Plus!  If you pre-order the Sins of a Solar Empire expansion, "Entrenchment," that guarantees you some early-access beta time.

Looks like PETA made enough of an impression with the Cooking Mama: Mama Kills Animals flash game that Majesco responded, but responded politely and in character.  Just as Cooking Mama World Kitchen was hitting store shelves this week, Mama Kills Animals ripped through the gaming community in an attempt to slander Mama and her purportedly meat-heavy menu.  Mama said, "Like any accomplished cook, I create my recipes to appeal to a broad range of tastes and preferences.  My only goas is to ensure you leave the table well fed."  Cooking Mama World Kitchen includes more than 25 vegetarian-friendly recipies spread across breakfast, dinner, dessert, and snack options.  Mama won't cop to being a vegetarian, but she fully supports the humane treatment of animals -- especially now with her canine companion, Max, who makes his debut in World Kitchen.

I'd like to congratulate PETA for blanketing a decent amount of buzz on a Wii title that would've otherwise fallen completely by the wayside this week. [READ MORE]

Johan Andersson, lead developer of Hearts of Iron 3, has his latest developer diary up over at GiantRealm.com. This installment in the series (no. 6) focuses on intelligence, diplomacy and convoys as well as the politics in the game. Checkout these recent screens while we wait for the game to hit the PC in late 2009. [READ MORE]

Trisynergy, makers of such well named titles as Limbo of the Lost and UFO:Extraterrestials, bring us screen shots from another excellently named title Hired Guns: The Jagged Edge. This is a turn based war game focusing on the action at squad level. Basically it would be Rainbow Six or Brothers in Arms Hell's Highway mixed with Civilization Revolution or Fire Emblem. This is very much a PC title as indicated by the screenies. I would wait for a demo to see if this game was worth playing but those of you who like experimenting with Strategy games may want to check it out. [READ MORE]

Here are a few things I missed while being passed over again for sexiest man of the year:

• Wired has four things to keep in mind while playing Left 4 Dead
• MTV has eight things to do in Tomb Raider:Underworld
• Major Nelson has ten things to do with the NXE
• Unreal Engine 3 tinkering killed Midway, well not killed...mortally wounded
• Not everyone on board for Netflix streaming through the NXE
• The holiday crush justified

The official release date for the Wii's Ultimate Band is etched in stone for November 25th.  And while developer Disney Interactive Studios put out a full song list, they neglected to mention the artists.  One of the track titles is "Song 2."  Do they mean "Song 2" from Blur?  DJ Krush?  Miles Davis?  Vyacheslav Guyvoronsky?  "Whip It" is on there too.  My first guess (and probably yours) would be Devo, but it could be Inner Circle, Lil' Cyco, or the US Air Force Band of the Rockies '80s Medley version -- who knows?

Ah well.  It's not my job to teach Disney how to put together a press release.  And kidding aside, there are some pretty slick tracks on Ultimate Band:  The Killers' "Jenny Was A Friend Of Mine" from Hot Fuss; The Raconteurs' "Steady As She Goes" from Broken Boy Soldiers; and The Who's "My Generation."  But if it turns out it's Limp Bizkit's "My Generation," I'm gonna be pissed.

Full song list for the Wii and DS versions after the jump. [READ MORE]

There's been some great Flash games that take a 3D concept and turn it into a fun and addicting 2D experience. Portal comes to mind as one but we have another one here. Head on over to Bourne Games and play a 2D side scrolling version of Mirror's Edge. It's very nice looking and has some awesome animation. Right now it's a beta so expect a few quirks here and there but so far I've had a blast playing it and I can't wait for the final version to be out.