Today is the day people. Are your thumbs ready? Did you do your exercises? Were you able to decide between the path of the Jedi or the Dark Side? I hope you have, because today is July 29th which means that Soul Calibur IV has hit the shelves.

To say that I am excited for the release of this game would be an understatement of gigantic proportions. I have missed playing a fighter worth the rental fee for over two years now. The last new release fighting title that I would even dare to put into the "good" category was DOA:4 which is now nearly 4 years old. Four years is way too long of a drought to suffer through, but I take solace in the fact that I am not alone in my misery.

Now before the naysayers and fanboys get up in arms, I know that there have been many versus games based on the Dragonball series, and they have not all sucked. In earnest, the Budokai series has some great gameplay going on in the game itself. That said, the Dragonball titles to me have never really felt like a fighter game title. They are a franchise that appeal to only an existing anime fan base that potentially game as well. The Budokai games have not been able to bridge the game and draw the casual gamer in to join their "legion of the loyal." In many cases, the exact opposite happened; people that would normal pick up every and every fighter title initially shied away from the title. So because DBZ:Budokai focuses on such a small piece of the market of the fighting genre I do not believe it fair to use it as a representation of the whole genre. If you don't like it, you can suck it.

You may say, "...Ninja? Didn't NamcoBandai release an SC title for the Wii? Wasn't that good?" My reply would be "Yes! And it sucked more wind than a brand new Dyson." [And the commercials for that thing say it never loses suction.] SC:Legends was a waste of time and money, and I'm sure NamcoBandai felt that way as well which is why it looks like they worked so hard in order to redeem the title's reputation. NamcoBandai press releases promise that,

"Soulcalibur IV has been retooled from the ground up to provide a true next generation experience."

And then go on to say,

"...the wages of battle are shown as protective armor can be broken off and visible lacerations of clothing can be seen with the inclusion of the equipment destruction feature. Adding depth to the unrivalled combat system, players can unleash Critical Finish moves to defeat opponents in one stunning blow."

The game sports an "improved" character creation mode that allows you to customize the hell out of an existing fighter or even create an original warrior. Oh yeah, it has online versus play as well.

Get thee to thou localist GameStoppery and pick this game up. SCIV is available on the PS3 [Dark Side, Vader style] and XBox 360 [Path of the Jedi].

You know the gamertag, let's star playing.

Finish What You Start...

If you ever sit and ponder on the idea of people of a young-ish age drinking, let this new episode of the ESH podcast be the proof you need to "just say nay!"

This week, MagicMystic returns and brings with her balance to the force while Panda and Ninja enjoy some adult juice before, during, and probably after the episode.

This episode starts with Ninja talking about the new XBLive Arcade title Go! Go! Break Steady that she keep calling "Go! Go! Beat Street" reports on some of the feelings around the industry about E3, and the hopefully triumphant return of the fighting genre on the back of Soul Calibur IV. Magic chimes in with her new found XBox-y goodness and general discovery of "the new" as she shares first impressions of her new XBox 360 Elite as well as latent desires for an XBLive account, and then Panda brings up the rear and talks about the anime and manga series, Full Metal Panic. The gals are back to normal and completely off topic as usual.

Here are some of the random things said during the show that could have been used as titles, but weren't:

• Wallmart, Baby Come Back!
• The Big "E" Is Big
• MagicMystic Is Back, And Out Of The Closet
• Jobless Wonder To The Rescue-ish
• It's Not The Size of Your GamerScore, But How You Use It
• You Don't Wanna Waste Your Bombs
• Don't Pay The Toll When 5-0's On Your Ass
• This Podcast Is Abridged
• and finally
• FUSION DANCE OF PAIN!

Hope you have a hot cup of coffee on hand, because you want to stay awake for this one folks. I give you, ESH podcast episode 107: Friends Don't Let Friends Drink & Podcast!

Finish What You Start...

Who doesn't like new podcast episode Monday? Productive people that's who. Let us help you start your week off on the unproductive tip with this episode of our podcast.

Sans MagicMystic yet again, the sistah's stick to the gaming topic covering both the new and upcoming starting with Panda's take on the game Project Origin and Ninja sharing some of what she was able to take away from the assorted E3 coverage.

From talking about the survival horror game genre to specific experiences with titles like Manhunt and Silent Hill to the thriller-chiller types including the "I don't think NinJa is ever going to finish it" BioShock game. Ninja talks God of War 3, Animal Crossing: City Folk, Star Wars: Clone Wars, Portal 2, and Oneechanbura.

It's another one of our lively podcast episodes people, here are some of the titles we decided not to use to name it:

• Don't. Stop. Waitin' Fer RockBand 2, Yeah
• Who? Guess Who?
• Don't Sell Your Soul For Tic-Tacs
• The New Animal Crossing Lets Me Be Mii
• Kratos Makes Ninja's Gamer Boner Hard
• Kratos Was A Red-Headed Step Child
• Panda's Birthday Is Another 11 1/2 Months Away
• Killing Me Softly with Her Sword
• We Will. We Will...Flock Ewe
• Videogame Word of the Year: Booty
• E3 Didn't Want Me? Well, They're Not Invited to My Place Either
• We Have Nothing To Fear But the Sequel to Fear Itself
• This Guy's Full of Beans, and That Is a Bad Thing
• Don't Ever Attend a Zmbie Reunion
• and finally
• Brain Exlax, I Like that

If that hasn't told you everything you need to know about this week's podcast, then saddle up and give a listen to ESH podcast episode 106: Did I giggle That Outside Loud?

Finish What You Start...

When a Mommy RockBand and a Daddy RockBand love each other very much...

Hey Hey Hey...Pandalicious on the scene bringing you the goodness that is. Rock Band 2! Now I know what you are thinkging.... ::cues flashback wave things::

You: Panda....I know Rock Band is the hottest thing since pancakes on Saturday morning. But What makes this Rock band as awesome?

Panda: Well Let me tell you. First let me tell you about the new gameplay changes. Remember how when we wanted to play online through XBL (XBox Live) and you were still a noob and didn't know how to invite me. THEN when you finally managed to invite me we could only do quickplay songs and it was just hours of masss hysteria!

You: Yeah....

Panda: Well not anymore. There is a new mode in Rock Band 2, that allows us to make a band with not only our local rockers but with outside rockers on the XBL interwebs. You know what that means right?

You: You are never going to let me sleep?

Panda: That's right! The Gameplay is still the same though. Same color nodes. Same overall feeling of rockitude and swagger. There is still single player mode however it is now extended to a solo bassist! Thats right, so now the sexiest component to a Rock Band (IMO) gets their chance to rock out with their COCKS out. [Yes I said cock, deal with it]

You: What about for drumming? You know we all were exicted about being drum masters and realized that we all really sucked...

Panda: Speak for yourself ! However if you weren't like me who went back into the drumming tutorial to help train my foot better to use the kick pedal, there will be something called the "Beat Trainer" which will generate beats to help you hone your rocking skills.

You: Well Panda that sounds niffty and all but am I going to like the play list? Am I going to have to buy all the songs, load them to my iPod so I can learn them so I don't make an utter fool of myself when I come to your house?

Panda: Well...Let me tell you the ones that I'm looking forward to and if you a GIANT loser and haven't been following the coverage of E3...the internet will be your friend and check out places such as. IGN, joystiq and of course, us, DUH. If you are new to the interwebs you should try www.fuckinggoogleit.com [Just kidding, Wikipedia.org is a nice place to start]

In terms of the songs i'm looking forward to guitaring they are
1) American Woman~ The Guess Who
2) Down with the Sickeness~ Disturbed
3) Chop Suey- System of a Down
4) Lump~ Presidents of the United States of America

In terms of Singing...
1) Master Expolder~ Tenacious D [FUCK FUCK FUCK YES!]
2) Everlong~ Foo Fighters
3) Round and Round~ Ratt
4) White Wedding~ Billy Idol
5) My Own Worst Enemy- Lit

You: ....

Panda: I love our little interludes like this. I'm out of here!

But now seriously guys

Finish What You Start...

If you are an avid listener of our podcast or frequent visitor our site you know that the ESH crew is not in LA covering E3 on the ground this year. We are there in spirit though, and I am more than happy to share what I have surmised from the day one coverage of the media bru ha ha.

We kick off with Microsoft. From the land of online community comes the announcement of "Experience," the new online community framework that will be put into place on the XBox360 platform. Taking the hint from how successful the xbox.com community has been, "Experience" leans towards giving the user base a similar digital entertainment hub to that of MS counterpart/major competitor Sony with it's "Home" application. Through "Experience" users will have avatars that they create that can interact with each other over the internet, have access to an even broader base of electronic media entertainment [including the newly announced partner Netflix] and more.

On hand were the pre-requisite hype game trailers for both Gears of War 2 and Fable 2 [both of which make have many of us in the gaming community salivating at the mere thought of them] upcoming titles. I will have a gallery collection of my favorite E3 released trailers up later on this week. The XBox camp was also proud to announce that the new Final Fantasy XIII title will launch simultaneously on the XBox360 platform as well as the PS3 platform. A huge win for MS in the fight to end PS3 exclusivity dominance over the Final Fantasy franchise. [Try saying that three times fast.]

All in all MS tried to come out swinging at this event, making it known that that they are not afraid to jump into the brawl to be the best home entertainment system and not just gaming console. It's hard to not notice the trend towards a path of total digital media delivery package that the next gen systems seem to be moving toward. It is a road that competitors Sony and [to a degree] Nintendo have been marketing towards for well over a year now, but it still awaits to be seen if it is the predominant market for success here in the US.

We will just have to see what day two brings us tomorrow evening.

Finish What You Start...

It's Monday again, and it's time once more for a new episode of the ESH podcast.

I hope you guys and gals from the land of ESH had a happy and safe holiday weekend. I know I did, and I'm pretty sure that Panda did. Today we have another NinJa/Panda podcast episode where NinJa goes a bit in depth on the video game GRID and Panda shares some of her first impressions on the Diablo 3 announcement. It's a nearly all video game fun-packed episode, that you should totally pick up right now.

Don't believe me, here are some of the titles we decided not to use that came from the episode:

• Do You Question My Skills? (When don't I?)
• You Shouldn't Rape Your Tech They Can't Say "No."
• The Story of a Ninja Called Spanky
• ESHDog Cannot Be Controlled
• Lik eSands In an Hourglass, These Are The Races of Our Lives
• Ive Got Anal Leakage, But I'm Not Anxious About It.
• When ESHMom Ain't Happy, Ain't Nobody Happy
• Omnipotent Does Not Equal Omniscient
• Never Trust Cheese That Doesn't Melt
• In Diablo 4, He Fights That Super Boxer From Russia
• If She's Got Multiple Boobies, Who's Looking At Her Face?
• If You Think That Anal Leakage Is Bad, Guess What Her Armpits Do
• Is It Time For A WoW Siesta?
• WoW Craves, Diablo Saves Saves
• and
• Coming Soon: Smackdown! Diable VS Bobby Flay

It's a good episode, so grab your coffee and enjoy ESH podcast episode 104: My Senses Are There, My Balls Are Not Inert, Lock & Load, Let's Go!

Finish What You Start...

You say you want a revolution? Well, Ninjasistah sure wants one. And that's just one of the topics of this week's ElectricSistaHood podcast.

The Ninja has fallen in love with the free Xbox 360 demo of Sid Meier's Civilization Revolution, even though it stands for all the things she normally hates in a videogame. But, as a fan of the Parker Brothers' board game Risk, Ninja is willing to overlook the game's natural shortcomings.

For Pandalicious, a fan of turn-based, role playing games, Lost Odyssey is right up her alley, even though she's barely scratched the surface of the four-disc set. As you might expect, the Sistahs have plenty of fun with the game's protagonist, a 1,000-year-old man named Kaim.

Along the way, the Sistahs talk about online guides and the unexpected malady that has befallen MagicMysticGrl, who doesn't appear in this week's podcast.

And, about the title for the episode? Well, we might have left a word off the end. You'll have to listen to the thing to hear the whole title.

Here are the titles we rejected:

Just Say No to Drano

The Finger of the Internet is Pointing at You

Did You Just Get Hit With a Ridiculous Stick?

RPG Battle: Fun vs. Emo

Qu'est-ce que c'est Ninja Gaiden?

Every Guy Says His Unit is Magic, But Kaim's Really Is

Hot Kaim Action Inside -- Live!

Death is Coming for Panda, and She's Relieved

Dead and Gone to a Place He Can't Go, Kaim Must Be Emo

Lost Odyssey = Lost Syllables

So enjoy this week's ESH Episode 103: Throw Some Bleeps On That... and have a great Fourth of July weekend.

Finish What You Start...

Hothead Games has dropped Penny Arcade Adventures: On the Rain-Slick Precipice of Darkness, Episode One worldwide simultaneously via XBLive Arcade (except Korea) and via the Greenhouse digital distribution platform for the Windows, Macintosh, and Linux versions.

There's a video after the jump.

Penny Arcade Adventures: On the Rain-Slick Precipice of Darkness, Episode One is expected to offer players six to ten hours of gameplay, and is priced at $19.95 for the computer versions and at 1600 MS points on the XB360.

Penny Arcade Adventures: On the Rain-Slick Precipice of Darkness, Episode One is an RPG-Adventure game set in a very deranged 1920s universe of New Arcadia, delivered to gamers via accessible episodic releases. You join Gabe and Tycho, the crime-solving team of the "Startling Developments Detective Agency" to combat savage enemies [miniature fruit fuckers start you on your path towards the precipice] and solve mysteries hidden deep in the sinister heart of New Arcadia.

The game is the bastard child of Hothead Games and Penny Arcade, featuring distinct artwork and characters designed exclusively by Mike "Gabe" Krahulik, story and dialogue by Jerry "Tycho" Holkins, both brought to life by the Hothead team. If you have an XB360, you should grab the demo now to see what it's about... then pony up yo money and get cracking. I've been playing Precipice during my GTAIV breaks and it's crazy fun which for me is saying something since we all know how much I loathe love RPG's.

Finish What You Start...

Yeap, NamcoBandai confirmed that SoulCalibur the first will be hitting XBLive this summer. I even have some yummy screen shots for you, finish what you start to learn a bit more.

Originally released in 1999 for the Sega Dreamcast, SoulCalibur remains one of the highest rated fighting game of all time.

SoulCalibur will be back for a new group of souls to open ye olde can=o=whoop upon an unsuspecting online community! Prove you got skills against by laying down the smack old school style on the world with dozens of leaderboards spanning every character and mode.

Seriously, prepare to make your thumbs ache, for a good reason. Visit the screens gallery here.

Finish What You Start...

Time has damn near run out people! You have until 8pm tonight to get your entry to the GTA IV All Games Radio Network giveaway.

Seriously. Like we've been saying on the podcast and in that mini bar at the topic all our pages, you have a shot at winning a limited edition XBox 360 through ESH. All you got to do is make a 60-120 second [that's one to two minutes] promo for ESH in the guise of a radio station bump that would appear in the game.

We will be picking the semi finalists to send on to the final round at AllGames.com Sunday Nay 4th.


So get cracken, or don't bitch to me about not being able to play Ninja Gaiden 2 because you don't have a 360.

Finish What You Start...

In case you didn't know, the fellas over at Penny-Arcade are inching ever closer to completely changing the course of man. Penny Arcade Adventures: On the Rain-Slick Precipice of Darkness, Episode One went GM

If you didn't know that Penny Arcade was making a game then shame on you. Precipice will be available for on the Mac, Pc, Linux, and XBox360 as a download.

From the press release:

"...[Precipice] is an RPG-adventure game set in the comic-book-meets-pulp-horror-meets-H.P. Lovecraft deranged 1920s universe of New Arcadia, delivered to gamers via accessible episodic releases. Players join Gabe and Tycho, the crime-solving team of the Startling Developments Detective Agency, to combat savage enemies and solve mysteries hidden deep in the sinister heart of New Arcadia. The game is the result of close collaboration between Hothead Games and Penny Arcade, featuring distinct artwork and characters designed exclusively by Mike "Gabe" Krahulik, story and dialogue by Jerry "Tycho" Holkins, and both brought to life by the Hothead team."

Yeah, you know you want to get it. Precipice will be $19.95 on the Mac, PC, & Linux platforms, and available for 1600MS points on the XBLive.

See you on the edge!

Finish What You Start...

He's coming to an XB360 near you tomorrow. Namco Bandai is releasing this Mr. Driller on the XBLive arcade April 2nd [tomorrow] and you know you know what that means: time to get you some more Marketplace points.

Mr. Driller is a crazy addictive puzzle game that will have you avoiding falling blocks whilst trying to keep your air supply from running out. And not this Air Supply

So make sure you have at least 800 MS points saved up on the XBLive, because Mr. Driller is coming!

Finish What You Start...

Another new Monday equals another new episode of the ESH podcast. And this one gets, well, kinda girlie.

In this episode of the podcast Pandalicious brings up the demise of the NewType magazine and notes the decline in printed review media focusing on anime or manga here in the US. Then MagicMystic chimes in with her thoughts on the very, very sugary anime series Shugo Chara by TV Tokyo. Not to be left out, NinJaSistah chimes in with some gaming news updates and continues on the sugary sweet anime series Sorcerer Hunters.

It's a fun episode, but don't take my word for it. Let these rejected episode titles tell reveal the fun-ness of it all...

• Don't Choke On Microsoft's Wad
• This Is A Pimpless Podcast
• Twelve F-Words Makes It Extra Explicit
• NewType Has Contracted Magazine Cancer
• MagicMystic Fives The Ultimate Spoiler
• Panda Puts Out For Published Writers
• Harry Potter Jumped The Shark At Book Four
• Sporty Spice Is A Version of Me? Egg-zactly!
• Yeah, But Can She Transform Into A Camaro?
• Just Another Manic Chara
• A Black Egg With An "X" On It? The EAster Bunny's Not Gonna Like That
• When The Keymaster Met The Gatekeeper
• You Gotta Be Sick To Watch Sorcerer Hunters
• These Suspenders Defy All Laws of Physics
• This Series Puts The "Con" in Necronomicon
• You'll Be Like That's What Panda Was Talking About
• Getting Guys Off In 30 Minutes Or Less
• Panda's Got Too Much Blood In Her Alcohol System
• I Ain't 'Fraid Of No Toast
• NewType Kicks It's Own Bucket
• and
• Slow Entropy Sucks

So, grab you a new cuppajoe and settle in to enjoy Episode 87: That's The Problem With Theology, Too Much Math

Finish What You Start...

So I've gotten this email from the fine folks over at Capcom touting the amount of downloads the DMC4 demo off of XBLive.

Well duh!

It shouldn't surprise anyone that the DMC4 demo has been downloaded so much. First off, remember all the n00bs that got Xboxes [Xboxi?] for Christmas? Well they gotta have stuff to play, and I'm sure they haven't run off to the local game emporium to fill their little collection with $60 titles yet, so free demos and cheap Arcade games are welcome features of their new toy. Secondly, DMC fans are, well, fanatical. We love the franchise. We love the franchise enough to suck up the suck ass DMC2 to wait for DMC3 and DMC4. Give us the opportunity to play DMC on a new platform, with a new character, and we will flock to it like alcoholics to a happy hour.

Yeah, DMC4 "el demo gigante" dropped into the XBLive Marketplace nearly predestined for greatness. Here's what the email to me said:

Capcom's Devil May Cry 4 demo on the Xbox LIVE service passed its one millionth download, and is still going!
According to Microsoft, not only is this the first demo of the year to hit a million downloads, but it’s also one of the fastest downloads to hit the one million mark in the history of the LIVE service. The demo appeared on the network January 24, and has been averaging over 25,000 downloads a day ever since. Additionally, the game has been a huge hit at retail, with reorders coming from major retailers within days of the game's release.

I'll hold my judgement of whether or not the game is fun to play until I get it. But if you haven't downloaded the demo yet and you have an XBox, get thee to the Marketplace and join the million of people that have been playing the hell outta this demo.

You can try to fight Berial!

Finish What You Start...

Monday brings with it yet another new episode of the ESH podcast, and we have another solid one for you guys.

In this episode, the gals get together to talk about, well, a little bit of everything. From Pandalicious sharing some of her thoughts on the anime Paradise Kiss, then on to MagicMystic exposing us to the Persona: Trinity Soul anime, and then NinJaSistah talking about sex in video games, Devil May Cry 4 and the passing of actor Heath Ledger.

It is a rollercoaster ride of an episode this week; lots of highs and lows, lots of tangents. If you don't believe me, just take a look at the titles we rejected:

• It's What ESH Mom Wants Everyone To Know
• Anime Dude Looks Like A Lady
• There's Angst Everywhere
• The Writers Laughed In My Face-They Can Stay On Strike
• Franz Ferdinand? Didn't He Pay For Columbus' Boat Trip?
• Plan B's Not That Shabby
• The Jeopardy Answer: You Can Unscrew A Light bulb
• It's Never Good To Shoot Yourself In the Head
• There's No Racism In Reverse World, Everybody's Pink
• That Crack/Mother's Back Thing Just Ain't True
• Personas Can Leap Tall Buildings In A Single Bound
• Everybody Hates Captain Planet
• Magic Likes Her Anime Bipolar
• Alien Sex: Now With Lesbians
• Getting It On With Marvin The Martian
• His Name's Shepherd-Not Johnson
• Space Makes You Horny
• Devil May Cry All The Way To The Bank
• Bow-Chicka-Wow-Wow+Force=Bad
• Don't Make Me Sex Slap You
• and
• Blowing Persona Chunks

So as you can see, you need to get a good cup of coffee and commence to listening to episode 84:Sparda Got Busy In A Burger King Bathroom

Finish What You Start...

To make up for how messed up X-box Live was, Microsoft is offering Undertow for free. There is just one catch though.

It's only free until 11:59 pacific time tonight. So hurry up and start downloading. It seems kinda cool but I haven't even finished getting it myself. It's got 16 person multi player though. After I get it done, the multiplayer brawl is so on!

The game is basically an underwater brawl for control of the ocean with three different races and four different units for them. It looks really shiny and cool. Check out the screen shots right here.

Finish What You Start...

Seriously, log into XBLive right now and get the DMC 4 demo goodness.

Oh yeah, there is also an Army of Two demo up there and some car thing called Burnout Paradise, but you should just go and get the DMC4 demo and marvel at the beauty that the 678mb file brings.

It's yummy, and will have to hold you over until the game ships on February 5th.

Finish What You Start...

SEGA of America announced a demo for their new shooter, The Club is now available via download across North America on XBLive and will be available via the PlayStation Network on Thursday, January 24.

Developed by the fine folks over at Bizarre Creations, The Club mixes

"cutting edge high definition visuals with hyper-addictive score based challenges to deliver the most intriguing and innovative shooter of early 2008."

You play one of eight "misfit" gladiators and fight in a shadowy underground blood-sport a la, well, Bloodsport. Wanna know more? Click Here

The final game will ship nationwide on Tuesday, February 19 for the Xbox 360, PLAYSTATION 3 and PC.

Finish What You Start...

It’s a new year and ESH is still dedicated to bringing you as much gaming news as we can get our eager little hands on, regardless of it being good or bad. It saddens me to have my first article be on a not so joyous topic.

I think a lot of us agree that online gaming is fun. It has certainly raised the gaming industry to a new level in the past few years. On the other hand, online gaming can get out of hand if not kept proper perspective. If not careful, the online community can become a bit too personal to the point of being potentially dangerous.

 Police investigation revealed that a 15-year old Spokane, Washington girl met 20-year old Joshua R. Stetar of Saratoga Springs, New York, while playing Halo on Xbox Live.

Police say Stetar and the girl had been talking since 2006, and that several times he had sent packages and flowers to her home, only to have them returned by her parents. The victim had also received several hundred text messages on her cell phone in 2007, forcing the victim's mother to change her daughter's number. However, Stetar was able to get the new number from someone and started sending the victim messages again.

 One night the suspect sent a text message to the victim saying he was driving by her house at that moment in a gray Oldsmobile. The girl's parents were outside the home and in fact saw the car driving past.  A few minutes later. the victim received another text message from the suspect saying, "Tell the cops that I'm gonna rape you and your sister."

 The girl's father placed a harassment call to police, who later learned the suspect was staying at the Econo Lodge. Officers found the Oldsmobile Cutlass with New York license plates in the parking lot.

 During a police interview the suspect admitted he was able to get much of the girl's personal information such as her address and cellular telephone number by "Googling" her name. Stetar also said he flew to Spokane in October of 2007 and rented a U-Haul van to drive by the victim's house. The victim's mom says she was unaware of this visit. Stetar said he lived in New York and drove 40-hours straight to get to Spokane.

Stetar was booked into the Spokane County Jail on a Friday of one felony count of stalking. He was released the following Saturday.

Finish What You Start...

Just before NinjaSistah flew out to Las Vegas for the annual Consumer Electronic Show this weekend, she and Pandalicious recorded a new podcast.

Pandalicious talks about a creepy new anime called "Ghost Hound." It doesn't contain ghosts (at least, not Casper-style ghosts) and it doesn't have any hounds, either, but Panda insists it's worth watching.

NinjaSistah discusses several topics, including last week's Xbox Live outage, some free Rock Band tracks (but Playstation players are out of luck), God of War 3 and the HD movie format wars.

And, as usual, there are plenty of rejected titles for this episode:

Three Guys, a Girl and Their Suicidal Thoughts

Anime's Psychic Friends Network

Alien Butt Babies Make You Make an Ass of Yourself

It's Like an Oreo Cookie for Your Ears

There Be Dragons in HD&D

The Farmer's Gettin' a Dell, Dude

So, while Ninja's workin' her butt off in Vegas, you can sit back and enjoy Episode 81: Can Kratos Survive a Third Daddy?

Finish What You Start...

Time for another segment of Good News/Bad News, but in the spirit of the new year, we thought we'd give you the Bad News first, followed by the Good News.

Xbox Dead

Bad News: Xbox Live players experienced dozens of hours of downtime this past weekend, believed to be due to thousands of new post-Christmas players on the system.

Good News: The shut-out players returned to the holiday activities that they led in their days before video games took over their lives: football and that Futurama marathon they ran on Cartoon Network.

Jack Thompson Hates Army Men

Bad News: Videogame opponent Jack Thompson claims there is an "unholy alliance" between the gaming industry and the U.S. Department of Defense, teaching "an entire generation of kids that war is glamorous, cool, desirable and consequence-free."

Good News: The IRS is hoping that computer programs like TurboTax will make an entire generation of kids think that paying taxes is glamorous, cool, desirable and consequence-free.

Retailer Becomes Scalper

Bad News: One videogame retailer took their allotment of Wii consoles and scalped them on eBay, rather than offering them at regular retail prices to their customers.

Good News: At least they didn't make their female employees model the units in skimpy clothes. Remember this from last year?

That Love Letter You Wrote In 1996 Is Going Away...

Bad News: Microsoft is modifying Microsoft Office 2003 so Service Pack 3 can no longer open Word, Excel, PowerPoint or Access files created in a format earlier than Office 97.

Good News: You finally have the justification to stop using Microsoft Office. Instead use the FREE OpenOffice, which will gladly read all your ancient Office files now and in the future.

...And So Is Netscape

Bad News: Development is being halted on the Netscape browser Feb. 1, AOL announced last week.

Good News: Netscape hasn't been on the cutting edge of browser development since about 1997. In fact the latest version was just a reskinned version of Firefox.

Now Everyone's a Crook

Bad News: In a supplemental brief responding to questions from the judge in an Arizona music piracy case, RIAA lawyer Ira M. Schwartz says that the simple act of moving your music from CD to a computer is also an "unauthorized copy" that incurs legal liability.

Good News: "By claiming that reasonable, legal behavior is theft, the RIAA trivializes piracy," writes Wired blogger Rob Beschizza. "This is a fatal act of self-destruction. This will result in more law-abiding people thinking 'screw it' and doing it themselves. After all, when everyone is already a pirate because they 'stole' music from their own CD collections, why not add a few more counts on top?"

Finish What You Start...

I thought that I would take a look at what was going on in the realm of online on the next gen systems.

I started with the PS3, headed over to the Wii, and finished out the night with the XB360. I'm exhausted.

I started out with the PS3 because I have high hopes for the system this year. I am hoping that the kick ass, "you're going to have a life changing gaming experience..." game will be hitting the shelves of the local big box stores leaving me bereft of funds in the old wallet. I am hopeful that games like Echochrome, Little Big Planet, and Haze make me glad for dropping $600 bucks on the thing. Add to that Super Mario Galaxy, Super Smash Bros. Brawl and Wii Fit on the Wii and Fable 2, Mass Effect, and Lost Odyssey on the XB360.

But new "console exclusive" titles are not the most fair or balanced way to compare the level of enjoyment one can have on the various systems. The way I see it, the console with the most diverse online content will end up being the ultimate victor.

When it comes to retro game titles, all three of the console systems are equally balanced in what they offer. Just about every game that becomes available on the Wii Virtual Console shortly thereafter becomes available on the Playstation Network and XBLive Marketplace. With title availability being equal, the deciding factor will be playability, and online extras. XBLive as well as some PS3 game titles offer direct player to player interaction while the Wii has [of yet] no direct PvP action. Both the XBox and PS3 offer other downloadable online content in the forms of video game demos, TV show episodes, and feature length films.

We've seen it with the success of games like World of Warcraft and EverQuest, and we will see more of it going forward on the gaming front. It won't the amount of polygons thrust at the player that will determine the king of gaming but the social networking piece of gameplay that will establish the victor in the video game arena.

Finish What You Start...

So today is the fifth anniversary of Xbox LIVE, and,

As a gesture of thanks to the gaming community...

members of the online XBox community will have the opportunity to download Carcassonne for free between 12:01 a.m. PST on Nov. 15 and 11:59 p.m. PST on Nov. 16.

Right on!

As an added boner, I mean bonus, every active member who joined the service in 2002 will get 500 free XBLive points. Well, that's what the press release that I got said. What I found most interesting was the statement that came after all of the, "damn we're awesome" crap. There is an XB360 update coming on December 4th, and in this update will be the launch of something called "Xbox Originals." From what I can gather, Xbox Originals will let consumers download full-fledged Xbox games like Halo, Psychonauts, and Fable directly to their Xbox 360 for about 1,200pts per title.

All I want to know now is when the 500GB XB360 HD is coming?

Finish What You Start...

One of the most anticipated games of the year came out on the Xbox 360 a few weeks ago and I'm just doing a review on it now. What's this game? It's Halo 3. What's the reason for the delay in the review? I've been playing the damn game and didn't want to put it down.

Millions of people stood outside of their local game stores at midnight for the release of Halo 3 and I was one of them. It was cold and the line was long. I grabbed my copy and raced home to fire it up. From that moment on, my days and nights have been filled with Master Chief mayhem and online multiplayer massacre.

Graphics:

Halo 3 does not disappoint in the graphics area. The Halo series is one of the most beautiful games in Microsoft's line-up. That's one of the things that drew me to the game.

The game makes full use of the graphical power of the Xbox 360. The huge areas and detailed background seems endless. There's not much else I can say other than this is a gorgeous game.

Gameplay:

There have been some modifications and additions to the vehicles and arsenal. One example is the Spiker, which is an automatic pistol that fires quickly and destroys opponents, especially if you're dual-wielding it. Another is the mauler, which is a one-handed shotgun for up close pwnage. You'll even find weapons that will slow your movement speed due to the huge size of them. When you use these weapons, the camera pulls out to a third-person perspective with an over the shoulder view. Then there's the gravity hammer which was originally shown in Halo 2 but wasn't usable by the player. The gravity hammer is a large melee weapon that will totally wipe out most regular enemies in one swipe. All in all, the gameplay seems familiar while adding in some new features to keep things fresh.



Online multiplayer is a blast, allowing up to 16 player to go at it. The only downfall, in my opinion, about this feature is that you can't host a game for other to see and join like the previous installments to the series. Someone from your friends list has to be invited or someone that you invited can, in turn can invite someone from their friends list. I guess this is a good way to keep assholes and idiotic kids out of your game, but what about those who have little to no one on their list? Not every member of Xbox Live has an overflowing friends list. Some just want to log on, jump into a quick open game, and be done with it after that.



An addition to the multiplayer called the Forge puts map creation in the hands of the player. This mode allows you to change the geometry of the land and spawn equipment, weapons, and vehicles on the fly. This is a plus because the player can manipulate the gameplay in ways not intended by the developer.

Halo 3 has a strong co-op campaign mode that definitely has replay value. Unlike Halo 2, which only allowed two player co-op, Halo 3 brings four players into the campaign via Xbox Live. I guess Bungie learned from Cliffy B.'s fumble. You and three comrades can choose to go through the nine chapters in any order, provided you've already played through it alone. You can also turn on scoring in campaign mode, in which you earn points for kills and lose them for dying. This brings a sense of competition to the co-op that awards achievements for finishing chapters with high point totals. You can also customize the game by turning on unlockable modifiers that open up as you collect hidden skulls that are stashed around the game. For example, you can increase the amount of damage it takes beat an enemy for and/or remove the heads-up display and make your weapon visable, and so on.



A file-sharing function has been added to send screenshots and saved films over Xbox Live. The last 25 or so sessions are saved automatically and you can choose to save them more permanently from there. You can edit the films, showing highlights of your gameplay from the solo campaign to the various multiplayer modes. The camera is not locked to your perspective. You can switch to another player's view or move the camera around the whole battle to add a different viewpoint to your film. Being able to record and share your films is a great addition to the game, but I have to say that the rewinding sucks. You can fast-forward to whatever point in the video you want, but if you overshoot your mark, then good luck rewinding because it's not happening easily.

Overall, Halo 3 is a solid game and loads of fun. It's definitely better than Halo 2. The game may take the average player between 10-15 hours to complete depending on the difficulty setting. Here's the big question though. Is Halo 3 a system seller for Microsoft? I'd have to say no. Don't get me wrong. It's a great game and definitely worth buying if