Xbox Live membership price drop - it's cheaper, but not for long

Xbox Live Gold membership subscription rates on Xbox.com have dropped for a limited time, say Microsoft.

"We are currently running a promotion in-dash that gives Silver members a special opportunity to upgrade to the full benefits of Gold membership at a reduced price for a limited time," said Microsoft. "While there are occasional price promotions offered for our service, we're confident our 12-month Gold members realize the tremendous entertainment value provided for just over $4 per month."

Expect the price to rise soon...

Source: Kotaku

PlayStation 2 enters it's tenth year today - Happy Birthday

Sony's PlayStation 2 launched in Japan nine years ago today, ultimately going on to sell over 140 million consoles and, now, entering its tenth year on the market.

Japan's launch of the PlayStation 2 brought with it a half-dozen generation changing games, even if most were largely forgettable. The launch line up on March 4, 2000 consisted of Street Fighter EX3, Kessen, Ridge Racer V, Eternal Ring, DrumMania and Stepping Selection.

Read full post here on Kotaku...

Call of Duty - World at War PC patch 1.3 download fixes sound

The 1.3 patch resolves the Vista sound issues that accompanied the last update and enables players to record and view multiplayer matches, among other changes. Oh, and it's an incremental patch, so you'll need to have installed the 1.2 update to apply 1.3.

Link to file patch on FileShack here...

The patch notes:

• Record and Demo enabled in MP.
  
• Server Log File improvements, including:

Team Names on Kill loglines.


Round Win and Loss.


Timestamps.


Additional action logging (took flag, destroyed headquarters, planted bomb, etc).

• Improved sound initialization for Vista - fixes loss of sound for audio devices set higher than 16 bit 48000 Hz.
  
• Screenshots no longer overwrite each other.
  
• Tweaked autobalance on select game modes.
  

Resident Evil 5 - The mercenaries first impressions of an unlockable mode with videos...

What happens when you beat Resident Evil 5? While I can't tell you everything you unlock, I can reveal that a new mode becomes available. Mercenaries mode, popular among RE4 players, is back. Mercenaries is a timed survival mode where you not only need to worry about staying alive, but must lay waste to infected villagers as quickly as possible to rack up a high score.

There are ten playable characters for Mercenaries Mode, though only BSAA Sheva and Chris are available at the start. Now, when I say ten characters, what I really mean is ten different skins. You will, in fact, unlock different versions of Chris and Sheva along with a few other surprise characters. Each character skin comes with its own weapon set, which can't be changed. BSAA Chris rocks a powered-up shotty and handgun, while Sheva has a sniper rifle and submachine gun. Part of Mercenaries mode is figuring out strategies for earning S rankings with a specific set of items.


Read the full post and watch the videos here on IGN...

Fresbo World - Think, Build, Play!

Fresbo is thrilled to announce its latest MMOG title, Fresbo World - Think, Build, Play!, is finally released!

Fresbo World is a flash-based virtual world for all ages that allows users to assemble up the basic building blocks to create different types of structures.

It is similar to the hobby shops’ modeling kit, whereby the pieces of the little component parts is given to you in a box, and you are suppose to assemble them back into the original form, using a blueprint.

After the original form is done, players will then break the small component parts up all again and reuse them to create their own structures using their own creativity.

Besides building and assembling, Fresbo World has a range of single and multiplayer mini-games in the virtual world for users to pit their skills against each other.

Fresbo World is currently available in http://www.fresboworld.com and is also found in following major social networks application platforms

Facebook : http://apps.facebook.com/fresboworld/
Friendster : http://apps.friendster.com/fresboworld/
Myspace : http://www.myspace.com/fresboworld/
Bebo : http://apps.bebo.com/fresboworld/

Wallace & Gromit Grand Adventures - Episode 1 Fright of the Bumblebees PC video game Fact Sheet

About Wallace & Gromit’s Grand Adventures
Aardman Animation’s quirky inventor and his faithful canine companion are starring in a series of completely new, interactive adventures – with imaginative storylines and the exceptional craftsmanship that fans of the Wallace & Gromit films have come to expect.< In Wallace & Gromit’s Grand Adventures, you’ll play as both Wallace and Gromit as the duo embarks on a series of ambitious business ventures, then scramble to pick up the scattered pieces when plans go awry.

Game Features

• Monthly release providing four satisfying, self contained experiences featuring new business ventures, contraptions and complications in each episode
• Overarching season-wide story arc and character development enhance the value of full series (similar to television season)
• Imaginative storylines, humorous scripts, and vivid visuals deliver the exceptional craftsmanship that fans of the Wallace & Gromit films have come to expect
• Gameplay focus on story and characters, immersing yourself in the creative world of West Wallaby Street and challenging your wits, not your trigger fingers
• Controllable character alternates between Wallace and Gromit, throughout the episode, allowing players to experience the story from both points of view
• Designed for the same broad, all-ages audience at the Wallace & Gromit films; good for adults, older children and teens, or group play as a family
• Developed by the award-winning team behind episodic game series Sam & Max and Strong Bad’s Cool Game for Attractive People, in collaboration with celebrated British author Tristan Davies (Private Eye)

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Guitar Hero World Tour now on Android mobile phones

Guitar Hero World Tour Mobile keeps on rocking with expanded availability of the best-selling mobile phone game for handsets now running on the Android open-source software platform. The game from Hands-On Mobile, Inc., the world's leading developer of connected games and applications and Activision, is available on all major U.S. mobile phone platforms and has exceeded 500,000 downloads since its launch in November 2008.

"We know Android device users are hungry for new games and applications and Guitar Hero World Tour Mobile is a perfect download to please any rock star in training," said David McCaman, Head of Marketing, Hands-On Mobile. "We have worked hard to make sure that Guitar Hero World Tour Mobile for Android is true to the franchise with some of the coolest features yet and we know fans of the game everywhere will be thrilled with this latest version."

Guitar Hero World Tour Mobile for Android has enhanced graphics and features, including use of the accelerometer for "star power," making it faster and easier for users to enable. All songs are in MP3 format and are automatically saved on the device's SD card, allowing quicker access to playable songs and more time to rock on drums or guitar.

As the sequel to the award-winning and best-selling Guitar Hero III Mobile, Guitar Hero World Tour Mobile pushes traditional mobile phone gaming boundaries and offers players an unmatched entertainment experience. Comprised of real-time multiplayer capabilities, players have the opportunity to battle head-to-head against others throughout the country, regardless of their mobile carrier. Guitar Hero World Tour Mobile features 15 of the hottest songs available at launch and new bonus songs will be added monthly and will also be available for multiplayer gameplay. Players can take their Guitar Hero experience beyond the phone and create profiles, download new songs and track player rankings through the game's web companion located at: www.guitarheromobile.com/worldtour.

Guitar Hero World Tour Mobile recently received IGN.com's Best of 2008 award for Best Multiplayer Game - Wireless category. Over 20,000 multiplayer drum and guitar battles are played daily with over half resulting in a rematch. The Guitar Hero Mobile franchise has passed 4 million game downloads worldwide and more than 100 million songs have been downloaded to date. For more information, please visit www.guitarheromobile.com.

PlayStation Portable (PSP) to get a new look for 2009

Sony's redesigned PSP is rumored to be getting a new look. But all changes to this portable gaming device, expected to be released later this year, are largely cosmetic.

The biggest change to the PSP's design is a sliding screen; as shown in a mock-up from VG247, it slides up to reveal various controls that are hidden beneath it when closed. new PSP, dubbed the PSP 4000, may be "significantly smaller in width," because of the new design, Eurogamer says.

According to reports, the PSP 4000 will have to be in the open position to play full-featured games, but there's no word on whether the rumored design includes game controllers or a keyboard underneath the screen. The 4000 may also allow you to play basic games, like LocoRoco, using the shoulder buttons (the L and R buttons at the top of the device) when the screen is closed.

This latest rumor comes after last week's news that the PSP may let go of its UMD drive to offload more bulk from the game system. Instead of the disc drive, Sony may look to sell games through the online PlayStation Store or perhaps even on Sony Memory Sticks. If the rumors are true, then the 4000 is a significant step forward for the PSP; however, the new PSP will still be based on current PSP tech with no improved graphics or gaming features. That being said, with the PSP 3000 and these new rumors, it's refreshing to hear about PSP updates that go beyond new colors, various entertainment bundles and incremental firmware updates.

The rumored release date for the 4000 is late 2009, and may be followed by a PSP2 in 2011 or 2012.

Source: PC World

Silent Hill Homecoming PC patch download released

Konami Digital Entertainment GmbH has released a patch for the PC-DVD version of its Silent Hill Homecoming.

The download resolves an issue related to the changing of graphic resolutions, and is automatically applied when the game is installed for the first time.

For users who have previously installed and registered a copy of Silent Hill Homecoming, the patch will automatically download and update the game when they next run the game while connected to the internet.

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GTA IV Downloads freezing problem...

GTA IV DLC subject to reports of freezing

According to reports, a decent amount of gamers are claiming that the GTA IV DLC is freezing up on them. One user reports that the game froze on him 6 times in just one hour and a half. Apparently, there are many more reporting similar problems.

However, bulldog907 has only tried the game for a little over a hour, but he had had to restart it more than he would have liked:

“Yup I’ve had the game freeze like 6 times in the 1.5 hours I’ve played it. It’s really frustrating. I’ve had it freeze at different points (once during a mission, once in Burger Shot, once just driving, etc). I have a 60GB Xbox360.”

The list goes on and on. If you head over to the forums right now, you’ll see the absurd number of users who are dealing with this lousy issue.

Thankfully, some people have cleared the cash on the Xbox hard drive and it worked. But for many, the problem still persists.

We should mention that many, if not most of the gamers who downloaded the DLC have not encountered the freezing dilemma. Nonetheless, it sounds like an abundant amount of folks who purchased the content are having an unnecessary problem that must be addressed by Rockstar…and soon!

GTA IV DLC gamezplay post here