Next week, Microsoft will kick off a number of deals for content found on the Xbox LIVE Marketplace. In other words, don’t even think about getting any of the following games, because they’re about to go on sale. We’ve all seen those oh-so-sad “Ijustbought this” comments too many times before. For the week of December 20, a bunch ofForzacontent will be half price: “World Class Car Pack,” “Summer Velocity Car Pack,” “Exotic Car Pack,” “Road & Track Car Pack,” “Audi R8 LMS RC Car,” and “Checkered Flags....

[Editor’s Note: We’re not just a (rad) news site — we also publish opinions/editorials from our community & employees like this one, though be aware that it may not jive with the opinions of Destructoid as a whole, or how our moms raised us. Want to post your own article in response? Publish it now on ourcommunity blogs.] Bold claim, indeed. Nintendo’sWii Fitand Quantic Dream’sHeavy Rainexist at opposite ends of the spectrum....

Another Monday, another Wii Shop update, the first of which isStrong Bad Episode 5: 8-Bit Is Enough(Telltale Games, 1 player, 1,000 Wii Points). The title finds Trogdor having broken free from his videogame and wreaking havoc on the “real world.” The description should be enough to warrant you sliding your $10 over to Telltale, but it’s unfortunate that this will be the last in the Strong Bad series. I shed a tear, but look forward to seeing what it is they have on their plate next …...

Woah, hold up? How comenobody told me this? There’s a newGradiusgame? Apparently, because it hits WiiWare today.Gradius ReBirth(Konami, 1 player, 1,000 Wii Points)looks like its the newest installment of the popular shooter series, and looks to feature “remix” versions of levels featured in previous games. And if you think you’re good at shooters, prepare to have that dream shattered, as the game also features worldwide leaderboards wit Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection....

In an effort to help bring people together to playWii Sports Resort, Nintendo has created a Wii Sports Resort Facebook application. Okay, so… what? You add the“Wii Party Time Generator” application to your page, which allows you to set-up invites to your friends forWii Sports Resortscompetitions. You can set up parties and tournaments, with the ability to post scores and results, as well as view medals and trophies. You can even do a fair amount of trash talking, but don’t use any naughty words — as you can see from my blank trash talk comment in the image above, it simply won’t appear....

Remember the new firmware update which Nintendo just sent out to do away with all those nasty people who have been running the Homebrew Channel? You know, another one of those feeble attempts to lock something down which the hacking community will have found a workaround to with in a couple of days? Well, it’s already beenworked aroundfor those of you who don’t mind voiding your warranty, but we all knew that was going to happen....

Androgynous, big-eyed whelps with floppy hair? Strikingly pretentious name? Yep, it could only be another Japanese RPG. The DS is becoming home to a staggering number of RPGs, and the army on the horizon continues to grow. Dale Northalready posted a trailerand information (as well as beating me to the crap nostalgia pun) and it’s certainly sounding hot. The development team is made up of people who have hits likeGrandia, Fatal Frame, andSakura Taisenunder their belt, and sees Tecmo collaborating with Red Entertainment and Matrix....

Retro helicopters with fat guys riding on them, trying to dodge flying sharks? Sold. Well, I’ll be sold when I can finally figure out what the hell is going on in this trailer. Imagine a game that is a kind of mix ofPilotwingsandCrazy Taxi.In a helicopter. It’s calledLandit Bandit, and it’s coming to the PS3. There’s 20 levels of single-player flying physics action as well as a co-op split-screen mode. There’s also a split-screen duel mode with six levels....

Today, our friends (and lovers) over atGameVideoshave just posted some new footage of Sega/KujuEntertainment’sPSPplatform/puzzler,Crush. If the trailer/infoAaron had posteda few weeks back was designed to pique your interest, thiswalkthroughof the game’s first level (affectionately called “First Crush”) will actually show youhowthe game is played. In a strange twist, intergalactic bounty hunter,SamusAran, plays a prominent role.

As much as you’d like to take a ride in a demo version ofMarvel vs Capcom 3, it doesn’t look like a demo will ever be released. Capcom’s Christian Svensson lays out the reasons why in a recentposton their boards, but it boils down to lack of time/money, and the guess that you’re probably going to buy it anyway. “If you wanted a demo, you’d have had fewer characters, less polish or some other tradeoff in the full game because the game absolutely had to ship within this fiscal year (business reality)....

Nintendo has been slowly releasing information about The Legend of Zelda 25th Anniversary Symphony ever since it was announced a few months back atE3. Duringour recent chatwith Bill Trinen from Nintendo’s product marketing group, we were told that they were planning a trio of 25th anniversary concerts in North America, Europe, and Japan to take place in October with a full-scale tour to follow in 2012.Los Angelesand Tokyo have been announced as hosts for North America and Japan, respectively, but they hadn’t unveiled which European city would be graced with an October concert until now....

One of the best things about this generation of videogames is the sheer diversity of what’s around. Tried and tested genres are evolving and mutating under the influence of next gen technology. Indie developers are making a comeback and bringing with them all kinds of delicious left field malarkey. The Wii and DS are allowing the creation of whole new genres and attitudes towards playing games, and the entire industry is at the point of bursting out in all kinds of new directions like a bucket-load of fungus spores....

You’re looking at a screenshot of my very own neighborhood in Spanish Harlem, New York City. This is “La Calle 116,” and it’s hoppin’ in the summer. This time of year, the streets become so crowded that a fifteen-minute trip to the grocery store stretches to half an hour, owing to the crowds one has to wade through. The music is loud, the police are everywhere, and there’s inevitably (further up in Harlem, usually)some kind of violence....