RE: Skates and blades...  these are exactly the things that are going to make the difference in my 360 hockey purchase this season.

I love my Zune! Whether I'm using the Zune itself, or just the software on my laptop at work with the music pass (as I'm doing right now), I've gotten a ton of use out of it over the past couple of months. I'll have to remember to DL the update when I get home.

Please add me to the friends pool

http://social.zune.net/member/fyedaddy

Made an adjust with the blade of the stick that my Be A Pro player uses and I was actually a threat to score online last night!

Hold the phone... does the game actually take into account the curve of a player's stick while shooting the puck?

[and Dragon Quest IV]

Yggdra's Union and Rock Band 2 and Dragon Quest IV

Fixed that for ya. 

THREE games this week? What do you think we are... rich?

Yggdra's Union and Rock Band 2

Really why compare it to their old stuff?  No way could they repeat that magic 20+ years later.  That stuff is timeless.   

Oh you're right. It's the old Catch 22. We want our artists to grow and provide us with new content but we still want it to sound like it did when we first discovered them (despite often being decades later). That also doesn't take into considering that most all of us have (or at least should have) changed ourselves over that same time.

It's not the second coming of 'Justice', but I haven't listened to a new Metallica disc five times in a row (all day today) since the Black album released. I'm really enjoying it so far.

See you all on the ice.

Thank you for the great write up! You mentioned that the gameplay has slowed a little from last year's version. If you played 2K7 or 2K8, how does it compare to the 2K 360 offerings in that regard? Does this slower pace provide more of a simulation feel and less arcade (the demo was a TAD twitchy in spots for me but that improved a lot when I played on All-Star level)?

Devil and others should remember that I've been in the 2K camp but the robust feature set (namely Be A Pro and the online leagues) have me THIS close to switching this year.

I will be buying a hockey game for the 360 once I decide which one to pick up and Spore if the reviews are positive. I'll probably pick up the DS Viva Pinata game for my daughter but that could be a couple of weeks or more.

The game's stock has risen for me after putting more time into the demo and switching from Pro to All-Star. I hope the little niggles that still bother me can be adjusted via sliders.

IMO, they released the weakest 2 tracks off the album so far.  Excellent so far.

I preordered the disc this past weekend based on those first two tracks alone. To learn that those could be the weakest on the disc is encouraging.

Spore me, please!

I finally accepted that the original Metallica sound many of us first fell in love with will not be duplicated (I appreciate the effort from St. Anger but it didn't produce their desired effect). So that leaves me with taking their new music at face value rather comparing it to their past. I was able to extract goodies from both Load albums and ever St. Anger. I'm sure this new disc will have some too. This new track is promising... and I found myself hearing "The Day That Never Comes" over and over again in my head all weekend long.

Album title aside, I will approach "Death Magnetic" with an open mind.

I think I dodged a bullet this week. Aside from having Tales and IU on my rental list I'm not looking to buy any of the others.

I can't say this is going to be a return to the classic, but this sounds much better (IMO of course) than the sound from St Anger. There were portions of the SA disc that had their moments but overall I wasn't sold on it.

The 2K9 demo supposedly hit XBL this morning. Anyone have a chance to check it out yet?

Do we have any official prices on these versions yet? Will it be $60 on the 360 and $50 on the Wii?

Looking good! Now maybe I'll be able to finish FFXII before this releases...

You know, looking over release lists, outside of some XBLA titles, my next actual retail game purchase won't be until September, and that'll be two titles in all likelihood: Dragon Quest 4 on the DS (heck yeah, day one!) and Rock Band 2 (just the game, no peripherals).

LEGO Batman, yo!

Possibly Galaga as well if it does what Pac Man CE did for Pac Man.

That's exactly what I'm hoping for. Pac Man CE and now Space Invaderes Extreme (where most of my limited gaming time has gone this week. I can't stop playing it).

Fars, the new Galaga is an XBLA release... right?

I will admit I don't know a lot about baseball, hockey is my first love. 

Same here! I still play/love EHM 2007. It's only available online now... have you seen it before?

I play EHM quite a bit, but I sometimes feel it is getting a bit long in the tooth. 

I thought my question was going to be a silly one but I had to ask

I've switched over to the Blackhawks after my move (I played the Sharks for years ever since the app first launched in beta) and eventually run into similar problems to yours. I've love to see another version of EHM and would be more than happy to pony up the dough day one.

I've been on the fence about OOTP only because, well, in the end, it's baseball. I cannot stand watching games and do not follow it during the season (other than what I hear on the radio) but I've always been attracted to the stats aspect of the game. That always ropes me back into it long enough for me to remember that I'm not a fan of the sport. I think I'll try the new OOTP demo again and, if I end up buying it, just quick sim the games.

I will admit I don't know a lot about baseball, hockey is my first love. 

Same here! I still play/love EHM 2007. It's only available online now... have you seen it before?

I love me some Galaga so I'll have to at least download the trial. I don't have time to think of Too Human let alone play something like that right now. By the time I do it will probably be at the $30 price point anyway.

My wife is a twin.  I love the whole concept.

Reading that again and again just makes me all giggly inside.

...and sure, come on in and try to convince me that 2K is still better.

It's an open competition for me this year. I want to like 2K but the improvements, and yes the new online features, really have me taking a strong look at EA's offering. I'll have to rent and play both before making a purchase this year.

I caved and bought Geometry Wars 2. I just couldn't help it! ... and I'm GLAD

I'd be happy to grab Hot Shots Golf 2 from you if it's still intact. Would much rather buy it here than my planned Circuit City trip this weekend.

I'd be happy with Crackdown meets Bioshock. Paul Dini is a huge, huge plus for this project.

Wednesday, just like every other week that something on XBLA gets released.

What day is Wednesday on this week?

If anything, I think I'll do a little research on Space Siege.

buy a copy for both consoles.

I've considered that too.

The reason why I don't want them playing the 360 version isn't necessarily that the console is in the basement but rather that I do not let them play on that machine. My oldest (10) plays some 360 games with me but that isn't without help.

I have both systems and am torn between which version to pick up. I will be the primary player of this one but I'm sure my daughters will want to give it a try here and there too. I keep the 360 downstairs (for me) and the Wii is upstairs for all. I'd rather get the 360 version (probably even if only for the achievements) but that would mean no LEGO Batman for the kids.

Are there going to be any gameplay/content/visual differences between the two, or will I be forced to decide based on depriving my daughters of the game... or not? We have been very impressed with the LEGO Indy game on the Wii and for the life of me I can't see any visual differences between that and my LEGO Star Wars on the 360. Help please!

This is fantastic news! I'll be IN for many of these classics.

Farscry, we'll finally be able to play TIE Fighter again!!

I choose my sports games primarily based on single player career modes, but with online being a small factor (to play online with Fyedaddy).

I'm going to rent Madden on the 360 (to try with Farscry and another friend) and probably the PSP but my plans at this time are to stick with AFP 2K8 and NCAA 09.

Need someone to break the tie. I count 3 votes for me and rickfc.

Um... Purge.  x4.

That's why I think playing some multiplayer with some folks should help (?  haha) us beat up some monsters we're having trouble with, which should in term help us become better at the single player portion of the game.

Don't team up with Fyedaddy then; he'll flatten you onto the ground with his wildly swinging hammer fighting style.

Fars is just pissed because his fat ass is far too slow to move out of the way in time.

In related news, I switched to the dual blades just this morning. Oddly enough I was actually able to finish a couple of missions for a change.

Is this the only mod available to play the game via WiFi? Farscry was telling me about this last weekend (we're looking to play over WiFi as well now that we live a couple hundred miles away) but couldn't remember what it was called.

Either way, I'm sure one or both of us would be up to trying MHF2 over the WiFi.

I was nearing the end of Epic Act III when I went on a PC hiatus. I still rather enjoy this game but haven't played much PC at ALL in months due to a schedule change. I will return to my PC asap and when I do I'd love to play some TQ MP if you're still up for it. I'll keep a eye on this thread.

Superman saves everybody.

Which is how we know that it is a total fantasy story arc 

I loves me some PSP puzzler games nearly as much as the SRPGs.

I would easily recommend:

-Puzzle Quest
-Lumines II
-Exit
-Mercury Meltdown

Many others will probably suggest echochrome but I haven't played that one myself.

I know that my list of games is available on other platforms (and I've played those as well) but I prefer the PSP editions given their portability and the quality of the title on that platform.