Free Game as Xbox LIVE Turns Five — Also Watch for the Xbox Originals

November 13, 2007 Online Games, Video Game Deals, Xbox 360 No Comments

Xbox LIVE is hitting the five mark, and Microsoft is ready to celebrate. They are offering Carcassonne (Hexic 2 in Korea) free to all current members between 12:01 a.m. PST on Nov. 15 and 11:59 p.m. on Nov. 16. As an added bonus, for that rare breed of gamer who has been with Xbox LIVE since its inception in 2002 (all three of you can take a bow), they are giving away 500 free Microsoft Points.

Also included in their announcement is that a new dashboard update will be available on Dec. 4 (with unmentioned features) and it will usher in the “Xbox Originals” era. The Xbox Originals will be full Xbox games that people can download and play on their 360. The ones that the press release takes the time to explicitly mention are: Halo, Fable, Indigo Prophecy, Crimson Skies, Crash Bandicoot: The Wrath of Cortex and Burnout 3. For a reasonable price of 1,200 points ($15 in real money), people will be able to download and play these fun games.

Read the full press release after the jump. Read the rest…

This Just In — Most Parents Don’t Like Videogames

November 13, 2007 DS, Gaming for All, Online Games, PS2, PS3, Wii, Xbox 360 No Comments

News flash: Most parents don’t like videogames.

I’m just gonna pause here for a sec and let that sink in.

Ok, better now?

According to an AP survey posted over at Yahoo, an average of 43 percent of parents think videogames are a big fatty fat waste of time for their kids (that’s a technical term there, fatty fat).

Granted, these parents are probably speaking about the stereotypically abused, overused and super-saturated view of a rare breed of gamer who gets no sunlight and scorns all who don’t understand his or her mysterious and magnificent WOW clans and ways.

Yeah, we’re all like that. Guilty as charged. We all play with swords and potions in our spare time and have a hard time co-mingling without computers or games to bridge the social divide.

Yup.

However, the underlying issue here is that people (yeah, parents are people too) don’t like what they don’t really understand. So if you have kids and your kids like games…and by some miraculous reason you happened upon this entry, then take some time outta your day to game with them. If nothing else, it’ll be a bonding experience with you and your son/daughter.

Show some interest in what they’re interested in, and they’ll open up to you.

As far as the newsworthiness of this story? It’s kinda like how back in the day TV was going to rot your brain, and before that comics were gonna make you deranged, even before that reading was going to put thoughts in your head and make you a wicked person. Every generation has their scapegoats, ours just gets to be videogames.

View some highlights of the survey after the break. Read the rest…

Top Ten Most Addicting Flash Games — Waste Some Time

November 9, 2007 Online Games No Comments

We’ve all been there…sitting at a computer and needing to kill some time. Maybe you’re at work and the clock doesn’t seem to be moving. Or your in class and the teacher just won’t stop lecturing (luckily, you have a laptop and WiFi). No matter what the problem is, we all need a break every once in a while.

Enter the Top Ten Most Addicting Flash Games! Well, at least as purported by the Brits over at CNet.uk.

Is the list good? Sure.

Seriously though, even if all of the games suck…what’s that…an hour wasted? Success!