This month in XBL: Games on Demand, Avatar clothes, more

What’s happening this month in the fascinating world of Xbox LIVE? A bunch of little things that perfectly add up to be enough material for a single press release. God bless the art of filler content. In Avatar-related news, there are more outfits on the way: “original styles” from the 80’s (September 10), “urban culture” (the 17th), andForza Motorsport 3-themed duds on the 24th. Things get quite a bit more exciting when it comes to this month’s deals....

May 14, 2025 · 1 min · 159 words · Mark Grant

This new 50 Cent: Blood on the Sand video is strangely impressive

Do any of you remember the absurdly awesome third-person shooter,Total Overdose? If not, you’ll have to take my word for it; all of the YouTube videos of the game feature music that will make your ears bleed.Anyway,Total Overdosewasn’t exactly a “good” game per se, but it did provide an insane amount of fun. After watching the embedded game mechanics documentary for50 Cent: Blood on the Sand,I’m starting to think it will be not only fun, but it will actually be a solid game too....

May 14, 2025 · 2 min · 230 words · Charles Walton

This week on XBLA: Diner Dash and Gyromancer

Generally speaking, there doesn’t seem to be much rhyme or rhythm to the Xbox LIVE Arcade release schedule. But if I had to make a guess, I’d say the theme for this Wednesday’s games,GyromancerandDiner Dash, is that of soul-eating addictiveness. Though the release dates aren’t exactly new, the prices — 1200 Microsoft Points forGyromancerand 800 forDiner Dash— totally are. In a rare move, I’m giving a thumbs up to both titles this week; assuming you can make the time....

May 14, 2025 · 1 min · 142 words · Makayla English

Those About to Die: Pyramid Head

[Editor’s note: Brian Keljore talks about Pyramid Head forApril’s Monthly Musingtopic, Those About to Die. — CTZ] Silent Hillis not really known for its combat. The focus was usually on trying to avoid combat rather than taking out any enemy in your path. Your characters are survivors in a nightmarish hellscape of the minds of those who reside within, created through the supernatural powers that influence the town. Due to this, the antagonists take on many different forms....

May 14, 2025 · 5 min · 905 words · Samantha Young

Top iTunes content for 2010: Angry Birds rules all

Ah hell. MoreAngry Birds. Apple has released their list of the top selling apps for 2010 and Angry Birds sits at the very top of the paid apps list. Rovio, the now rich guys behind everyone favorite time waster, says that they’ve sold about 12 million copies. That’s a lot of sling shot action. Right underAngry Birds is Doodle Jump, Skee-Ball, Bejeweled 2 + Blitz, andFruit Ninja.Skee-Ball— nowthat’swhat I’m talkin’ about....

May 14, 2025 · 1 min · 92 words · Veronica Shaw

Uncharted 2 DLC ‘The Fort’ is live, free

The first bit ofUncharted 2: Among ThievesDLC is live and available — but don’t bother digging around in the couch for that wallet. It’s free. As promised earlier this week, the Naughty Dog crew rolled out a new multiplayer map dubbed “The Fort,” as part of a free update to the core game at some point within the recent past. The map itself, according to anofficial developer blog post, is a “throwback map” created from a chapter in the originalUncharted....

May 14, 2025 · 1 min · 140 words · Blake Chen

Videogame minimalism now in shirt form!

The artist behind the lovely videogame minimalism art series is selling shirts based on his designs! The Mega Man robot masters, Mario, Luigi, Wario Donkey Kong, Jigglypuff, Kirby, Pickachu and E. Honda are all currently available onInfinite Continues shirt store. If shirts aren’t your thing, there isa poster on saleof the robot masters set. While you’re at it, be sure to check outInfinite Continuesas all of the minimalism art series is housed there, includingthe newest piecebased onMortal Kombat....

May 14, 2025 · 1 min · 78 words · Nicole Smith

Want to earn thousands of dollars? Make iPhone in-App ads

If there’s one thing that Apple’s App store has demonstrated, it’s that there is mad bank to be made from making little bits of software that cost a handful of dollars. Even better, a few Apps that cost nothing at all are managing to rake in ludicrous amounts of cash thanks to in-App advertising. One such developeris currently earning$9,600 a month from free games. How amazing is that? Amplified Games was among the first studios to really get in there and experiment with ads on free-to-play Apps, and the experiment appears to have paid off....

May 14, 2025 · 1 min · 189 words · Nicholas Martinez

Weekend Destructainment: Welcome to the World of Workcraft

LOLmakes for the best drinking game ever created. As you can see, these four young whippersnappers have a jolly good old time playingLOLas they get their drink on. The Japanese are a crafty bunch. Watch as this man becomes the humanArkanoidand devour colorful marshmallows. Spotted onConrad Zimmerman’s C Blog. MariomeetsDuck Hunt. Didn’t laugh until the end, I honestly wasn’t expecting it. Thanks, Blindside! An exact replica ofThe Simpsons’house and Springfield inQuake III Arena....

May 14, 2025 · 1 min · 118 words · Ethan Williams

Weekend Reading: What I want to play b3yond

As a follow up toa previous Weekend Reading, I’ve been thinking about what sort of games I’d like to play on each of the systems. What this article will delve into is what sort of genre I would like to be the most prevalent of on the system, along with an example of a game that would work well on the system, and then some more. So, hit the jump to check out everything from the 360 to the PSP....

May 14, 2025 · 5 min · 1051 words · Daniel Coffey

XSEED announces The Legend of Heroes: Trails in the Sky

I was going to say that this game is a PSP title, but you probably already knew that. Also, it wouldn’t fit in the headline. XSEED is on a roll with these Nihon Falcom releases. I’m quite pleased with everything that has hit my PSP so far: I ate up bothY’s: The Oath in FelghanaandY’s Sevenlast year. And now someLegend of Heroesaction? Nice. The game comes in three versions: standard boxed and download, which are both set at $29....

May 14, 2025 · 1 min · 166 words · Scott Moore

You do not want to be an EA intern

Judging from this video we were sent, you would not want to be come an EA intern. Insanity, monsters, fire, explosions and…yeah, I see you looking at the perks like Starbucks and an ice cream vending machine that shoots out burritos. But really, you need to pay attention. Don’t get distracted. This video is pretty fun. It’s packed with over a dozen WTF moments. It comes from a contest where all the interns from all the EA studios are encoraged to create a video that shows A Day In The Life for them....

May 14, 2025 · 1 min · 121 words · Jonathon Bond

11.3 million player deaths in Just Cause 2 look like this

Jim Blackhurst, online operations manager at Square Enix and Eidos, made this fancy little video that depicts a map of all the player deaths inJust Cause 2. And not just player deaths, but death by impact with terrain or an object — 11.3 million of them. It’s mindboggling how the total of all these instances can create such a map, especially when you see that the dots that represent impact death can form some of the larger structures involved in the game’s missions....

May 13, 2025 · 1 min · 143 words · Jennifer Davis