http://videogames.yahoo.com/events/plugged-in/microsoft-raising-xbox-live-membership-prices/1409254

I’m not sure how to insert links. Maybe you can edit this post Adam. This topic seems totally necessary for the site. The once $49.99/year price tag is jumping and extra $10 a year for a total of $59.99. Why? Well I know why. They want more money and I’m sure people will pay it. This will give the X-box shit-talkers something else to throw in the pot. I will pay the higher price but I don’t like it. They better start overloading the service with more free goodies.

Well let’s see. I didn’t watch every ones entire press conference (even though I have the time too, not working and all), but I watched what interested me. So here are things that interested me. Let’s start with the worst.

PS3: 2 things I liked the PS Move thing and Twisted Metal. Although, the controller looks like a toddlers karaoke mic, I can deal. I didn’t see any Twisted Metal demos, but all you need to say is Twisted Metal and I’m down like a clown (catch the Sweet Tooth reference).

Wii and 360 kind of tied for me, so I will be biased and save my favorite system for last.

Wii: Me and Adam agree on a lot of games, but when we don’t agreed it is crater-like. Zelda!!! Put me down as an A OK. It does look like more of the same, but when it works it works. Kirby Epic Yarn looked stupid at first, but then reminded me how awesome Paper Mario was on the Wii, so I think this will be great. The Mickey game has a lot of promise. The 3rd person level seemed kinda hard to control so hopefully they fix it. And the 3D DS seems cool, unnecessary, but cool.

360: Kinect…I’m on the fence. Most games seem kiddie like, but saber battles with Darth might give it a go for me. It seems like there are more games for my girlfriend (Kinectimials, Dance Central, Yoga, etc.), but I need her playing more anyway. Plus if she likes it I can buy it to battle Mr. Vader…..Mr. Vader you have a telephone call. Fable 3. Yes. Halo:Reach. Yes. More so Halo space battles. Yes. Metal Gear slicen up watermelon. Yes. GOW 3. Yes. Stick-n-kick bombs. Yes. I’m leaving a lot out but the games are what did it for me.

so out of 10.
PS3=6/10
Wii=8/10
360=8.5/10

PEACE

Okay, I got a few for you. Let’s see if it really happens.

EA will be releasing Dead Space Extraction for Natal, along with a gun-like device used to sense gun movement. This, I’ve called in the past. It makes sense for the Natal to use other peripherals along with the camera to play games similar to light-gun games.

Jedi Knight III.

Goldeneye for XBLA.

Killer Instinct 3.

Here’s the source.

An article over at Joystiq reports that the clock issue affecting all  Non-slim PS3s has been taken care of.

We’ve apparently made it through the worst of the storm, friends. We’ve received a number of tips informing us that the internal clock bug that was affecting non-Slim PS3s for the past 24 hours has been fixed, rendering all games playable once more. We tempted fate shortly after receiving these reports by testing out a few of our PS3 Phat units and can confirm that they’re running games just fine. Additionally, our “lost” Trophies appear to be properly re-synced to our PSN accounts. – Griffin McElroy

More info can be found Joystiq.

**Update

It appears that the PS3 clock issue was with the chip set that the PS3 uses.

Eurogamer’s resident supernerd at Digital Foundry has weighed in on yesterday’s global PS3 meltdown, cleverly dubbed ApocalyPS3. While early reports seemed to indicate PlayStation Network was at fault – “playstation network down” was a top Google search term on Sunday and Sony itself continues to pin the blame squarely on PSN – it became increasingly clear that the issue was unrelated to the console’s internet connectivity and instead related to the console’s internal clock. If this sounds suspiciously similar to the Z2K bug that suddenly bricked thousands (dozens?) of 30GB Zune players in 2008, it’s because both the PS3 and Zune share an ARM CPU chip, says DF. This is presumably the same Freescale processor blamed for Z2K, a chip that happens to have a known problem dealing with leap years. – Christopher Grant

This was briefly touched on in the upcoming Bluecast 23 by Adam.

More at here.

Over the past weekend I received two games from GameFly: Wet and Demon’s Souls. Wet is pretty fun. It reminds me a lot of Stranglehold which may mean it will get boring quickly. I’ve tried on multiple occasions to complete Stranglehold, but the game just got stale very quickly. Wet is a little different because it has many different game-play styles. You still ‘shoot in style’ with tons of slow-mo. I actually decided against playing it most of the weekend, but hopefully that changes.

Demon’s Souls is pretty awesome. It is one I’ll probably hold on to for a while. Problem is, it’s hard with a real-life baby. The game is difficult, and there’s no pause. So, when little Hera cries or is trying to get my attention, I have to just hope I’m in a safe spot in-game.

I started playing Motorstorm: Pacific Rift. It’s fun but actually started off hard as hell. I was last and could never move on. After a few attempts I got first, and since I’ve been finishing in first. I hope there’s more to the game because this could also get boring fast.

SNK has announced some new releases. Or, releases of older games. I have Neo Geo Battle Coliseum which is awesome, but never got time to really get into it. Luckily, it’ll be on XBLA so with achievements available, I’ll be all over it. The odd thing here is with the new Metal Slug on PSP. I’ve got it on the DS because I found it cheap during a Gamestop sale, but I was waiting for the XBLA release that they hinted at before. It doesn’t look like that’s the case here. They will also be releasing the KoF Shmup, which sounds completely awesome. These are still Japan only releases for now – but I’m sure they’ll be here soon.

Did you guys hear about what the ECA did? They pretty much made it impossible to cancel their membership, which the link provides all the details to. It’s pretty shady, considering they also called their members ‘finicky’ among other things. Most people signed up for the discount benefits, which is a valid reason, but I avoided them because I never liked them. I hadn’t really seen them do anything to warrant any position as a real pro-gaming entity. (Or maybe I simply missed something?) I wrote them off as a simple money-making business. And I was right. It’s good too, because gamers (especially on the internet) are vocal enough to call out what’s going on.

I would like to be proven otherwise if there’s factual evidence out there to support it. I’d like something like this to be real.

Colony of Gamers has started their 2009 game award polls. While you have to be a member to vote and discuss, I think it’s a good discussion to have on here that may sum up the heart of the gaming community. CoG consists of gamers. Whether they even have time to play any more, or have a specific bias, the passion is there.

My favorite poll so far is Most Disappointing Game, which I think goes a long way for games this year. I personally chose Scribblenauts, as while fun, it didn’t turn out at all like many thought it would.

Anyway, hit up the link to read what I consider the heart of the online gaming community think of this year’s games.

7/15 Xbox Live Arcade:

The Secret of Monkey Island - 800 ($10)

Madballs in Babo Invasion - 1200 ($15) 

WiiWare:

Ant Nation – 700 Points

Bit Boy!! – 600 Points

Incoming! – 500 Points

Virtual Console:

Secret Commando – 600 Points

Pulseman – 900 Points

Nintendo DSiWare:

Brain Challenge – 800 Points

…not really. But how much will this thing be? Night vision goggles are cool and all, but is there a special edition without the $400 accessory? Actually, scratch that. Night vision goggles are awesome. I’ll hide in the trees around the neighboorhood late at night, and if they ask, I’ll tell my neighbors I’m watching for commies. But they might lose sales on DLC if every one is going outside to play with their goggles. Shouldn’t special editions include ottomans or seat cushions?

This game is going to be awesome.

http://www.tu.tv/videos/gta-4-in-gameeee

http://www.dailymotion.com/search/gta%2BIV%2B/video/x56qcr_gta-4-gameplay-xbox-360_videogames

http://www.gametrailers.com/player/usermovies/206848.html

 George Broussard from 3D Realms:

Tomorrow, Wednesday the 19th, around noon CST, we will release the first teaser trailer from Duke Nukem Forever. To tide you over until then, here is a screen shot taken from the teaser.

BIGGER