Oooooh, Sony's gotta be a tad peeved on this one but just in case you missed it, DMC4 is going to be on the XB 360 as well as the PC.

That's gotta smart.

So remember back a few months ago when Capcom SWORE that it was going to be exclusive to the PS3. Like, the pinky swore to Sony and before God that it was going to never EVER going to have any other home than on the PS3. Well, they lied. They are dirty, rotten, skinky, [I mean in desperate need of a bath] liars... but that's a good thing. Why? Because, more DMC4 madness on more platforms means more likely to have an online component.

Can you imaging Dante and Nero and maybe even Virgil grudge matches over XBLive? What about those old mansion survival modes? Remember those? [I made it 35 levels once... once] Imagine rooms and rooms of those mansions filled with other Live players in a winner takes all type melee battle. Can't imagine it? I hope that Capcom does.

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Being one of my few days off from my regular daytime torture routine [a.k.a. the job that pays my bills] I decided to hit up ye olde XBLive in hopes of improving my Gamerscore...

Two hours later my score has not increased a bit. I'm not a bad gamer, or even a being slightly lackadaisical. I didn't play anything because I couldn't play anything. Well let me rephrase. I couldn't play anything online against people because I *thought* my network was failing.

See I had just bought this smoking new router from Apple because I heard it supports that nice new faster wireless protocol 800.11n. Screw those dawdling ass backwards 802.11 A,B, and G protocols. We are in the days of the new. We are on the precipice of the future, and um, we need a helluva lot more bandwidth for all the digital shit we are stealing using. The 802.11n spec sheet says that N networks have a max data rate of 540Mbit/s with an indoor range of about 165ft while the max data rates for G networks falls in at about 54Mbit/s and B networks at a meager 11Mbit/s and equal indoor ranges of about 98 feet. Now that I got that bit of geekiness out the way, I shall continue.

So I purchased this router in order to lay the foundation for the next expansion of my entertainment system project. There will eventually be a box that will allow me to dish all of my digital content to my beautiful TV so I need fat pipe. Got the router in, hooked up, computers all connecting to the router with no problem [I will say that only one of my current computers can actually handle the N networks load, but I'm fine with that for now] and so it was on to getting the game boxes on the network as well.

On the back of the new router are three ethernet ports for sharing the wi-fi connections which works out great for me: one for the PS3, one for the XB360, and one for my VOIP line, I should be golden. First I hook up the PS3 and other than needing a system update [told you I don't use the thing too often] it got right on the web. The Wii was easy because it saw my wifi network and connected to it without hesitation. So last up was the XB360. I figured this too would be a easy as getting a picture of Paris Hilton sans panties but this was not to be. Over and over again the XB360 would fail to pass the MTU test. I would reset my cable modem, reset my router, give each machine it's own IP address on the network, but nothing made my sad little world become bright. There was to be no joy in Mudville.

I even went as so far to call up my ISP for help. I know they are clueless, but at this point I'd take anything... anything over not being able to get my Live on. After 20 minutes on the line I got a person who directed me to the companies website for instructions on how to setup my network for Live, or that I should seek help from MicroSoft immediately as this is a 3rd party product yada, yada, yada, and a boogity boo. After landing on the website I find that I have done everything I was supposed to in the order I was supposed to. I was going to have to go to the Microsoft site and ask them for help... and then a funny thing happened. The Xbox.com website was down for maintenance.

BLOODY FREAKIN' HELL MAN!

Why did no one tell me of this? Did they just assume that I was going to go to their stupid website regularly like some sort of lemming on a journey to get my daily ration of XBox news? Huh? Well? Because I don't. I have labors to attend to during the day that aide in my being able to fund my video gaming lust under the cover of darkness.

Except for today, because XBLive is down till about 8pm. Just FYI.

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On Wednesday, XBLive peeps will be able to trade in some of their coveted MS points in order to download and play oldie but goodie Paperboy

Yes, it's dog stopping, window smashin, people dodging, paper delivering time once again people. This time, it's on XBLive and you know what that means: Leaderboards, Multiplayer mode, and Achievements! You can add an extra 200pts to your gamerscore and deliver the paper in a new co-operatively mode together on the same console, or over XBLive.

Supposedly, "... game also features new artwork that compliments and enhances the original style, and the audio has been modernized for today’s high performance sound systems..." I'll believe it when I see it, tomorrow.

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Well, on Wednesday [22 NOV 06] 800pts will get you a download of Small Arms through the XBLive Arcade.

Small Arms is a multiplayer brawling title from Gastronaut Studios and features some small not-so-cuddly little creatures waging all kinds of holy hell on each other. Think of it as Super Smash Brothers Melee but with hella weapons.

I only heard about this game through an email I got, but after looking around on the web and finding this page on the Xbox website and then this video on YouTube...

and I have to say that I'm kinda curious about the game now. As I stated earlier it only costs 800pts and will be available in the arcade this Wednesday. The thing about this game that has piqued my interest is something called "Six Degrees of Small Arms" which is some sort of achievement that you can only get by playing someone that already has it. From what I've read, it's some sort of social networking thing to get a bunch of folks playing the game from hour one of launch as the only people that will initially have this "Six Degrees of Small Arms" are each of the creators of the game.

I don't know if I'll get Small Arms on Wednesday or not. I am really curious about it, and I think I have enough points to get it, but my Wii should be arriving that day... so I might be distracted.

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Now, I'm more of a Missile Command kinda gal myself, but I have to say seeing more and more "classic" game title become available for download does my heart good.

It hurts my wallet, but does my heart good.

So needless to say when I got the release about Missile Command hitting the XBLive Arcade the heart of the little kid inside me went pitter and pat. I HATE micropayments only because they make me have to do math. I always have to sit down and try to figure out what a game download is going to cost me... and let me tell you, converting "points" to "dollahs and cents" sucks. I'm always wrong, but I get close enough in the ballpark to know that it doesn't make any damn sense to buy these classic games one at a time as opposed to just buying some "classic arcade game" compiled disc.

But the damn convenience of it all makes it so hard to resist. It's because I'm not forking over cash out of my pocket but points which in my mind have no monetary value until I do that tiny bit of math, that I think I keep doing it. I've bought more games in the arcade that I've only played once or twice than I really want to admit to... especially since I've had my XB360 for a relatively short period of time.

I'll talk about that more sometime later. For now, I leave this message for the Defender freaks: time's a wastin'!

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I have to say, I'm getting tired of being accused of being a MS fanboy. Seriously, I am really starting to take offense man.

Allow me to explain why, with my top 5 reasons that I'm not a fanboy. [I'm too tired to come up with ten.]

It seems like whenever we share an opinion that's pro-system, or pro-exclusive console title, we get labeled as a "fanboy" with that system. It would be cool if it was just being labeled as "a video game fanboy," that I could handle with minor objections, but the dismissal of the ideas and thoughts put together on the sole basis of being a mega fanatic, well, plain old pisses me off.

So I've taken the time to compile this list of reasons why I'm not a fanboy to help those who like to use the "you're a fanboy, end of argument" clause know when it's appropriate and when it's not. It's a service I'm happy to provide you with so you can fight flame wars on a whole new level. Here goes.

• No.05: All Consoles Are Welcomed
  I own or have owned at some time at least one hand held device or console from one of the major manufacturers. Sega Game Gear, Gamecube, Xbox, Playstation 2, Sega Genesis, owned em' all. In order to have the "fanboy" label stick, you have to be a console elitist.
• No.04: I Read Many Gaming Mags, Not Just One.
  Yeah, you see that right, ok just wanna make sure. I do not have a paid subscription to any gaming magazine, but I do read many of them. EGM, OPM, OXM, CGM, Play, Game Informer, in addition to a few online mags. This means I hear about titles, games, and music from all the big [and small] development houses. To be worthy of the "fanboy" title, I'd have to pick one console and only read info about it... blocking out all other bits of info about other systems.
• No.03: All System News Is News To Me
  New game releases on all systems are newsworthy or worthy of my attention. I'm going to be looking forward to Red Steel with the same amount of enthusiasm and curiosity levels that I have for Heavenly Sword and Halo 3. Not just the drawbacks or game glitches of other systems are worth noting or being aware of. I have to know a little bit about gaming in general in order to be able to form an opinion about it. If you haven't played Halo how can you honestly say it sucks? If you have never experienced the joy that is Amplitude, what is your basis for saying that your time is better spent kicking a dead squirrel? None, ya fanboy!
• No.02: I Will Own All The "Next Gen" Consoles
  With very little need for thought I've already decided to own all of the next gen consoles. It may take some time due to lack of product on Sony or Nintendo's part, but as they become available I will buy them. I already own an XB360, but I'm already looking at ways to pick up the Nintendo and Sony boxes before the year is out. I like getting my hands on all the boxes so I can know what is fake and reality when it comes to each platforms ability, or lack there of. This way, when OPM says the graphics are 20 times better on the PS3 than XB360, I can fire up both systems and see for myself. I don't have to take the word of a possible "undercover fanboy" sway me one way or the other. It also keeps me from spouting off something I read as fact when it might just be wishful fiction.
• and finally


• No. I'm A Girl
  If you are going to accuse me of being a fanatic, get your terminology right. I can't be a "fanboy" as my physiology strictly contradicts this. I have boobs, and lady parts... that are all natural and if anything, would dictate the use of the term "fangirl" if you [after reading all of this list] still think the term applies.

Now I'm not saying that "fanboys" exist, hell, some of my closest friends happen to be fanboys. They do lead [mostly] productive lives and are great members of society, but many of them do need to have much of what they say when it comes to their console "loyalty" kinda go in one ear and out the other. I had one of my friends swear before Bob that the new chip in the XB360 was a suped up secret chip that IBM developed for the government but as a personal favor to Bill Gates sold to them for use in the XB360 instead. If I'm lying, may Bob strike me down as I type.

Well, I for one, feel better now. Enjoy your day... see you in Gears of War on XBLive bitches!

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NinJaSistah in the spot to be on a fine, fine, football afternoon to share with you some news about the Wii. [Don't get all in a tizzy, I wrote this originally at 2 in the afternoon... Blogger was havin' issues again so just be glad I finally got this thing posted.]

Moving on.

In between beers [Guinness if you're curious] and football games [can't BELIEVE New Orleans lost to Baltimore, dammit Reggie, you're a receiver, not a QB!] I've spared a few moments to share with you some wonderful news I've heard about the Wii. Well, more directly, the Wii Nunchaku remote.

There seems to be a debate about the Wii Nunchaku [the little analog stick dongle for the Wiimote] having a rumble feature. There was a post on the Gaming Tengoku blog that linked to a quote from the NeoGAF forum about a quote from the British magazine EDGE. The forum post didn't link directly to the EDGE article, but I'll help them confront all the naysayers out there. Nintendo's own website SAYS the Wiimote has a rumble feature. This should not be any big news. It's good to know, since SIXAXIS won't have the feature, and makes me curious if the lack of force feedback will be a big noticable difference or not. Now, from the looks of all the attention that this got on Digg with people calling this wrong, inaccurate, and a rumor, I thought I would run with my very own flaming rumors and unconfirmed speculative thoughts through untraceable links and pure flights of fancy, in order to show people what actual bullshit looks like. Maybe that way, when the real info hits, it won't be mistaken for bullshit. Let's test it.

What is to follow is totally unconfirmed, in all liklyhood never going to happen and as such, should be regarded as incorrect, impossible, or as blatant lies for the sake of entertainment only.

Not to be outdone by Nintendo, Sony has decided to add in the ability for your PSP to operate your PS3 wirelessly, anywhere. Got to pee? No need to stop the gaming fun, bring your PSP along and you can continue playing your game as you "drop the kids off at the pool." Gotta go to work? Again, not an issue as Sony has you covered with their new PLAYONOYALP system, you can continue to play your PS3 games from your cubical computer, LP2 printer, or fax machine! Sony really means it when they say "Play B3yond!" I heard this over at the forums on the d00dI'mJokin.net website

Not to be left behind in the race for next-gen game console dominance, Microsoft and Take 2 Interactive in a joint partnership with Dairy Queen are going to create a new XBlive experience for the Gold level members. The new "Just Dip It!" program, not to be confused with Nike's "Just Do It" campaign, will reward XBLive Gold members that (1) pre-pay for 4 years of the XBLive service and (2) can teabag Jack Thompson in public with free small Blizzards, Single-Dipped cones, or Sundays each Friday during their tenure as an XBLive Gold member. Dive right in to the fun with XB360, Take2 Games, and Dairy Queen, and "Just Dip It!"

You see my friends, THAT is what you can list as being "inaccurate" or "unreliable." Something that is listed on a manufacturers website that you can find by Googling the words "wii controller+rumble" and get in the FIRST FREAKIN RESULT... not bullshit.

You all my now return to your previous gaming playing, anime watchin', and general geekin' out.

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I will let you be the judge... after I hand down my ruling that is.

I recently received my Xbox Live Diamond Card in the mail, and first impression was it looked snazzy!

Indeedy, this isn't some cheazy, sleazy laminated paper card like the ones you get from Blockbuster these days... no this sucker is standard credit card stock and build. The imprinting of my gamertag in the all caps is a nice touch. It pleases me, so it immediately went into my wallet with prominent placement. [which if you need to know means right next to my AMEX Gold card... I had to retire my black card because I was ballin' out of control... hence my broketude.]

But now I had a dilemma: I needed to know where I could to use my new pretty little gamer status icon. Included with my "gamer extraordinaire" card, was some info on the site I could go to and see what places valued my gaming awesomeness enough to float a sistah a deal. I was all excited, because my broke ass is in serious need of some discounts let me tell you. The first two I noticed off that bat that looked cool were the 10% off of purchases made online at Target website and the 2-for-1 sammiches at Quiznos... which I have to say I hit up on a weekly basis. Toasty! Moving on. At this point I'm thinking to myself, "Self? Yes? Looks like getting that XBLive Gold package and signing up for this dealie was a good idea I had. Indeed self, congratulations on the stroke of genius which is you, me, er, us! Boffo!" But then I started looking through the rest of the vendors and "deals" and started rethinking that whole ego molestation thing that I did to myself. [I am a registered ego molester.]

Many of the vendors are companies that I've never heard of like Golfsmith.com, AKA Gourmet.com, Chukar Cherry Company, and Furniture Medic to name a few. Now, while many of these vendors seem like great little services on their own... I'm not sure how many gamers need furniture restoration. Wait, I take that back. From all the accounts of people winging controllers about their domicile in anger, someone has to have dinged their wood interiors. [he he, I said dinged their wood...] But the more I went through the list of vendors I noticed that while the list was obviously still in it's "new" stage. Even more obvious is that MS is trying to line up as many vendors as they can to give card holders a good reason to keep the card on them at all times. You never know when you need to order someone some flowers or a gift online, so when you start adding in those 10% off and 30% with a coupon type deals, it can be very attractive.

It helps to remember that the Diamond Card is free if you have a 1 yr Xbox live Gold subscription. Then the free foods from Papa John's, Popeye's, and Quiznos starts looking real good. The wine and micro brew company vendors out of Washington state really only resonate with residents of the respective Washington state cities those companies are in, but still... American's love discounts, so I think it's a good idea. I'm just a little disappointed that with all their clout, MS wasn't able to line up some more gaming related discounts. I mean, the only things listed under the "Video Games & Hobbies" banner are Hollywood Video and Gamestop. The Gamestop one is a tad disappointing: "Receive $10 off any online purchase of $75 or more, online only," while the Hollywood Video one is a rent one get one rental free with this coupon you have to print out right here. Really Microsoft? Is that the best you can do? Where's the reward for being an Xbox loyalist? Where's the $10 bucks off any MS 1st party game you buy from Amazon or even Gamestop? How about the buy a controller, get a controller half off? I get that it can be difficult to bring on new vendors [even though your online system has been pretty dang large and in charge for nearly a year now] but how does that stop you from offering some in house discounts to gamers that have been nickel and dimed to death for microtransactions through your online service? Throw us a frikken bone here!

Now, as I said, I'll let you be the judge. Maybe with the holiday season about to start some new vendors can pop up on the Diamond list and make this well meaning idea something to resonate well with gamers and consumers that love gamers. [Mom, I'm looking at you... you know Christmas is coming right?] But as far as I'm concerned right this moment, this card and bonus service is CZ at best.

What do you think? Any diamond card holders out there that have some stories of how they used their card to get something?

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This is a picture of Kathryn Marie Holt. Kathryn is HOT! Looking at this picture makes me thirsty... I'm secure enough in my femininity to say that. I have no beef with hot women, make no mistake about that. My problem is that according to JoystickWidow, Kathryn is a gamer... I find this highly suspect.

Not because I think that girl gamers can't be hot, I KNOW that can be and are in many, many, many cases. I find it suspect because my personal experience has told me that many models spend more time working and trying to get work than on gaming. A trip to this website only confirms my suspicions that the site is mainly setup for guy gamers, not girl ones.

When you first visit the website, you will notice that their banner graphic is neat looking, until you look at the right side which has "Your Slogan Here" in big white letters. Whoops, forgot to adjust that template before we posted it to server eh? Oh well, accidents happen. Over all it's a good looking site. And there are some game image galleries and news bits from other sites and sources. [I found this site because it actually linked to one of our articles, else I would have never know a gem like this existed.] So I bopped around the site until I got to the widows section which has little profiles of GREAT looking dames who are all supposed gamers. Most of the ladies on this page have gamertags and one of the questions they have to answer is "what is your favorite game." While nearly every babe on this hottie roster of hawtness answers the fav game question naming a game or two along with her gamertag and a link to her personal website, I still found myself questioning their gamer cred. Awful of me I know, almost hatin' on these babes because I felt that something with the stats I was reading were off. A couple of the ladies just didn't look like Halo or Mortal Kombat fans. I know I shouldn't judge a book by it's cover... but when the cover looks like belongs on the front of FHM magazine instead of a "Brady Games" guide book. This brings me back to Kathryn.

Kathryn's gamertag is Kitty. Being on XBLive myself, I thought I'd look her up and see what games she plays and what her gamerscore is like. Imagine my surprise when I saw that Kitty had no profile image, no achievements unlocked, no profile really... because she hadn't played any games. I told myself that Kitty, er, Kathryn just has been busy and must not have had any real time to settle in and get her game on. [You can click on the image above to see a larger view of the screenshot I took of Kitty's gamer profile on xbox.com] Yeah, that's it, or at least that was the thought until I checked out the gamertags of all the other hotties on the page.

After going through all of the widows, most of the gamertags were completely bogus, of the ones that were actually found on Xbox.com community, only one actually had a gamerscore of 10. Now my gamerscore is nearly non-existent itself [it's only 520] but it's mostly because I don't have a lot of XB360 games [only own two] or time to really play like I'd LIKE to. But this site just pisses me off. Not because it's using sex to sell whatever it is that this site is selling [I'm all for that] but because it's selling you guys short. I doubt any dude visiting this site wouldn't guess that none of the chicks featured on the site are actual gamers, or could even tell you what system Halo is on, so why even try.

For all the issues that I have with the PMS Clan, most of the member have gamerscores and records that you can honestly say, "OH HELL YEAH! She's definitely a gamer!" One does not rank up a gamerscore of over 20,000 lightly, and I have a lot of respect for anyone that can game on like that. But I think sites like JoystickWidow do more harm than good. I think they help guys not take girl gamers seriously, and pisses me off. It has taken me so long to get respect from the guy gamers I know and the ones I play online that the idea of stuff like JoystickWidow being out there and in some way helping to detract from that pisses me off.

Don't get pissy with me about this, I'm not hatin' on these pretty girl gamers. They AREN'T gamers, they're posers... and I can hatin' on a fucking poser all I like!

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A Friendly NinJa FYI...

The port of probably the most entertaining PSP game that I've every played [Lumines] hits XBLive tomorrow. Yeah boyeeeeee, grab your gamertag, get some MS points, and have a ball.

Lumines Live will hit the arcade starting at 1am PDT so you might wanna snag it before you head off to class in the morning.

Thus ends the Friendly NinJa FYI. [So would that be a FNFYI?]

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Just a quick FYI

Dig Dug is dropping in on XBLive 11 OCT 06 [tomorrow] around 1am PST. It will only run you 400 MS points to pick it up. You need to get this one people. It's going to be in the arcade so you know what that means:

IT'S DIG DUG BATTLE TIME!

Before Ludacris was "droppin' bow's on em", Dig Dug was droppin' rocks on em! Drop em like it's HOT people!

You know you want to. ;)

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That's what a Gamestop manager revealed to Ben Kuchera over at Opposable Thumbs there at the arstechnica website. And by the way, "Opposable Thumbs" is an awesomely clever name for a blog... wish I had come up with that one. But I digress...

Again, having some time to bop around ye olde interweb to catch up on all the news that's out there in between working for the day job, and I came across this article on the arstechnica website. The people that Kuchera talked with paint a very bleak PS3 roll out next month that's for sure. I know it seems like I'm picking on Sony yet again, but I swear I'm not. It's just every time I hit up my regular game sites for news, most of the Sony stuff gives me pause. I don't have to make Sony out to be a bad guy or create a scenario to make them seem like they are out of step with the rest of the next-gen console makers, they do that all on their own on what seems like a daily basis.

From the arstechnica article what sticks out to me at least is this continuing theme of Sony seeming to be less prepared for what is coming than it's competitors. While Nintendo comes across as having a well defined ramp up to roll out and subsequent roll out plan for the Nintendo Wii. Even though at this point I think the code name of "Revolution" will prove to have been a better choice if the system can reach it's potential. Same with the XB360. I make no bones about the complaints I have with the XB360 system [from the pay for tier of the XBLive system, or the freezing issues] but game development is picking up on the platform, and they have adapted to new technologies to try and be even a tiny bit cutting edge. And while I think Sony is well meaning, I can't escape this horrible feeling. To use a sport analogy [because I didn't get to watch any boxing this past weekend] lets say that the next-gen console war that's about to start is a heavyweight boxing match. Well, instead of taking their opponent seriously the "undisputed champ" Sony has come into the ring without going through training camp and having a wild orgy the night before the fight with 4 hookers and some dude that was down at the bus depot: ill-equipped and unprepared.

But hey, it's just my opinion.

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