These features includ Video Kinect, Facebook, Zune Video and of course online gaming, making them free for all users.

This week we launched a new Xbox LIVE dashboard offering controller-free online entertainment through Kinect, making the Xbox 360 more intuitive and interactive than ever before, whilst connecting users to an ever-expanding world of games, movies, TV, music, sports and social entertainment.

Throughout the weekend, Zune Video will also be offering movie deals and free content to everyone. Visit Xbox LIVE and get a 10 minute preview of the blockbuster hit The Hangover Part II for FREE and enjoy up to 40% off amazing titles such as The Hangover, Green Lantern, 40 Year Old Virgin and many more.

To try some of these exciting new features along with all the other existing fantastic Xbox LIVE Gold features visit the Xbox Dashboard and log in to Xbox LIVE.

No doubt he’s morto…

Xtra-Vision are doing a huge number of openings and will be handing out t-shirts and lucozade to those early enough to grab them. The following stores are due to open at midnight:

Clondalkin
Ashleaf
Sligo
Drogheda
Balbriggan
Enniscorthy
Letterkenny
Thurles
Artane Castle
Gorey
Wexford

We are told the majority of Gamestop branches are opening for midnight but confirmation has to be sought through the individual stores. We’re reliably told all but two of their outlets are opening nationwide, but to be sure call your local store first.

There are also likely to be some GAME midnight launches. We’re told that their branch in Dublin’s Dawson St. will open early, but this is not confirmed by the company themselves.

The stink of “we’re too cool for the room” as wave after wave of Kinect announcement was made spoiled what could have been a very decent showing from Microsoft. But then again, that’s wishful thinking for the company that brought us the “paid cheering crowd behind the stage” bit.

So what was announced? Well, first off a mistaken post on the Xbox website announced Halo 4 early (it was soon taken down), which was a huge spoiler for the moment at the end of the conference where Microsoft was hoping to have its “one more thing” moment. The trailer was good, but didn’t show much else other then “Master Chief is back”…

The show opened with a lengthy, and rather impressive on-stage demo of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3. As we now know, it’s set in various modern cities that are being torn apart by global conflict. Expect some nuclear sabotage and English men with impressive facial hair.

…then there was Tomb Raider. A new look Lara Croft appears in an all new title and the boys from Eidos came on stage to give a demo.

A moment that would truly excite me, and I’m sure many, many others is that moment when you know Mass Effect is coming. An on-stage demo of the third iteration of the game confirmed that it would support Kinect gestures – a theme that would set the tone for a lot of the conference.

Yves Guillement from Ubisoft came on stage, and continued the trend of talking up Kinect. Tom Clancy games in future will make full use of Kinect, but no word of any games that exclusively use Kinect to control the game.

New features coming to your 360 includes a new dashboard menu that will include Xbox Music, a way to listen to songs from “the cloud”. It will also be interestingly connected to Kinect by making use of voice commands. Furthermore, Bing is coming to the 360 to have search that uses voice commands. They also reckon your Xbox will be the “new way of watching television”, but didn’t really elaborate on that claim too much. Not yet, anyway.

UFC was shown with Dana White, which was followed by more beefy looking characters – Gears of War 3. Ice T came on stage to play a co-op game with Cliffy B.

Ryse is going to be a Kinect game by Crytek, which is an interesting development (and again, they managed to get a ‘y’ into a word). It looks like a hack-and-slash type game set in ye olden times.

It’s hard to follow anything Crytek do because it’s always going to be interesting, big and bold. Here though, Microsoft went with Halo. Not a new one… kind of. It’ll be a remake of the original to celebrate 10 years of the game.

Then came Forza 4, which will be hard game for them to release in the wake of GT5…

Typically Peter Molyneux came on stage to talk about Fable. That’s all I’m willing to write…

Then came the barrage of mainly-douchy demos of Kinect games. Disney ones, dancey ones – each filled with more goosebumps then the last one. Muppet execs with glasses, “cool sexy” people dancing and that awkward moment when a kid plays a game on stage with “Dad”. This was Microsoft pitching their console to kids and mums, but failing to ignite excitement in their core audience for a good 30 minutes. They did exactly the opposite of Apple today, because while they were sending chills down my spine, Steve Jobs and co. were on their own stage, pandering to their crowd – the way it should be.

And then Halo 4. The conference didn’t reveal any new hardware but that was to be expected. Check back for more recaps and conjecture on the other conferences…

Mighty Ape are having a large sale on over 300 games. List of games can be found here. Loki for $19.99 is an absolute bargain. The New Zealand $ is worth roughly half that of the €, so you’ll get some good bargains there.

Mighty Ape Australia are also having a large sale on over 400 games. List can be found here.

CD WOW currently have a sale of up to 85% off select titles. List can be found here. They also have games for sale on clearance, list can be found here.

GAME.co.uk’s weekly sale can be found here. Some excellent deals to be found on all platforms.

Smyths.ie are having a weekly sale. Sale can be found here. A Nintendo DS Lite + Nintendogs for €99.99.

Argos.ie are having a clearance sale on some games and older models of current gen consoles. List available here.

Xtravision are offering a free copy of Scarface on dvd and the Vegas DLC when you purchase Mafia II (PS3 & 360 only). Also if you preorder Halo: Reach, you get 800 MS Points, downloadable Spartan Recon Helment, Variant and UA Multi-Threat Mjolnir Mark VI Armour. Deals only available instores and not online.

GamersGate are having a sale of up to 75% off of 22 select titles. List of games available can be found here.

Impulse are having a 50% off sale on select titles. List of available games can be found here.

Go-Go Gourmet is currently 50% off at Boonty.

Steams mid-week sale can be found here.

Preorder RUSE at Direct2Drive US Store and you get 2 free Challenge Maps and 10% off your next Ubisoft purchase (at D2D).

Preorder Civilization V at Direct2Drive UK Store and you get the 1st DLC for free and a free copy of Civilization III.

Preorder Red Faction Armageddon to get a free glow in the dark Red Faction Armageddon t-shirt. Preorder WWE Smackdown vs Raw 2011 to get a free Smackdown vs RAW t-shirt. Applies only to the Xbox 360 versions of the game. Available through THQ’s online store. (North America only I believe)

Game.ie are offering free one month dvd rental with any purchase.

Play.com are offering up to 15% off of all preorders. Up to 50% off their Hot Picks of the week. List can be found here.

Napoleon Total War is currently 20% off at gamesload.ie.

DVD.co.uk are offering select titles on all platforms for 2 for £25 and 2 for £30. They are also offering  up to 70% off select titles on all platforms.

PS3 2 for £25 list can be found here. PS3 2 for £30 can be found here. PS3 deals can befound here.

XBox 2 for £25 can be found here. XBox 2 for £30 can be found here. XBox  deals can be found here.

Wii 2 for £25 can be found here. Wii 2 for £30 can be found here. Wii deals can be found here.

DS 2 for £18 can be found here. DS 2 for £30 can be found here. DS deals can be found here.

PSP 2 for £18 can be found here. PSP deals can be found here.

PC deals can be found here.

HMV are having a sale on over 200 games. List can be found here.

Gamesnash.ie are currently having a sale on select titles. List can be found here.

There are four classes in Lead and Gold, Gunslinger, Trapper, Deputy and Blaster. The Gunslinger possess only one weapon, a revolver. He is most effective at close range using his fanning ability. A technique which increases his rate of fire but reduces his accuracy. The Trapper is a sniper, armed with a Buffalo rifle which requires a reload after every shot. The Deupty carries a rifle and is most effective at medium to long range. He possess the ability to tag enemies, which marks their location. He may also remove tags from allied players. The Blaster is equipped with a double-barrelled shotgun that is lethal at close range. He also carries dynamite which can be used much like a grenade. The Trapper, Deputy and Blaster each carry a secondary weapon, a slow firing and inaccurate revolver that’s only useful when you are knocked down. Each character also has their own unique abilities called Synergy Effects.

Synergy Effects are a nice addition to the game. A Synergy Effect is a buff that is granted to you and all teammates nearby. It’s a system which encourages players to stick together and use team work. The Gunslinger increases accuracy, the Trapper increases critical hits, the Deputy increases damage and the Blaster increases defense. The Synergies do not stack so it is recommended to use different classes. Along with all of these, each class has a Healing Synergy, which automatically restores some of your own HP and that of any teammate you pass by. The strength of your Synergy Effects can be increased by leveling up. By increasing your rank, your Synergy Effect ability increases. However, all ranks you gain in a game are reset back to one once the game ends.

There are seven games modes and seven maps. Although one game mode and map are restricted to each other(the online tutorial), there is still plenty of variety in the game modes. There’s the usual deathmatch and capture the flag type game modes, along with different variations of Team A attacking certain points and objectives with Team B defending. With the games being only 5v5, the maps are adequately sized. This keeps the game flowing with lots of fighting. Depending on the damage you receive, you can either be killed or simply knocked down. You can be very easily killed while knocked down and you may still shoot using your revolver while in this state. Teammates can revive you if you get knocked down. A player from each team may carry a respawn flag which allows you to respawn on that players, this will keep you in the middle of the fighting at all times. All of this ofcourse, is if you can actually join a server.

Server browsing is a painful experience at the best of times and just down right horrific at the worst of times. You are unable to sort the servers by ping, players, game mode or map. They are simply thrown at you in a random order and in random quantities. Sometimes you get thirty servers listed, sometimes only five. You are required to continuously refresh the page for servers. This isn’t the only problem, not by a long shot. Servers are very slow to update, so expect to see misleading numbers of players per server, often I’ve joined servers listed as near full, only to have the game load and realise there’s no more than two or three people, or worse, I’m the only person in the server. The problems don’t end there, while the game does have dedicated server support, it’s a very rare occurrence that you find a dedicated server actually in use. The full servers? Player hosted servers with atrocious pings. The host simply breezes around with his ping of five, while you struggle to make it five steps with your ping above four hundred. I simply can’t understand why people choose to play on these player hosted servers instead of the low ping dedicated servers. All of this isn’t helped by the size of the player base, on average there are 50 players online at all times and at peak times, roughly 100.

I really struggled with scoring this game, I’m torn and in two minds over it. On one side, it’s a very fun game with plenty of content and some very nice features. On the other side, it’s got a torturous server browser, nonexistent developer support, tiny player base and quite frankly, a rather unintelligent player base. It appears that the game was simply thrown out the door and left to rot once complete. I really want to recommend this game but there’s a dwindling player base and a lack of support. Priced at €15, the content is certainly more than worth it, but with the tiny player base and how often you’ll struggle to join a server with a playable ping, it’s highly unlikely that you will get value for your money.

Available for purchase through Steam.

Also available on Playstation Network and Xbox Live Arcade.

The latest addition to the Rockband series is punk rock band Green Day. I always found a huge amount of energy in Green Days songs and so thought it would fit perfectly into the average gamer/wannabe rock stars arsenal.

There were a few issues I could see. If Harmonix decided that certain Green Day songs were not suitable for the game, they would simply be left out. Now as Green Day fans can tell you, American Idiot is an album that has to be listened to in its entirety. So what did Harmonix decide? You got it, full albums (well some of them anyway)!

Here is the song list from the Official Rock Band Forum:

The Warehouse: A fictional venue that captures the feel of early Green Day shows and performances.

Dookie (1994)

“Burnout”
“Having a Blast”
“Chump”
“Longview”
“Welcome to Paradise”
“Pulling Teeth”
“Basket Case”
“She”
“Sassafrass Roots”
“When I Come Around”
“Coming Clean”
“Emenius Sleepus”
“In the End”
“F.O.D.”

Milton Keynes: The UK concert made famous by Green Day’s 2005 movie for “Bullet in a Bible”.

American Idiot (2004)

“American Idiot”
“Jesus of Suburbia”
“Holiday”
“Boulevard of Broken Dreams”
“Are We the Waiting?
“St. Jimmy”
“Give Me Novacaine”
“She’s a Rebel”
“Extraordinary Girl”
“Letterbomb”
“Wake Me Up When September Ends”
“Homecoming”
“Whatsername”

Warning (2000)

“Minority”
“Warning”

Nimrod (1997)

“Hitchin’ a Ride”
“Good Riddance (Time of Your Life)”
“Nice Guys Finish Last”

Insomniac (1995)

“Brain Stew” / “Jaded”
“Geek Stink Breath”

The Fox Theater, Oakland: The place where Green Day performed an intimate show for the band’s most recent album.

21st Century Breakdown (2009)

“Song of the Century”
“21st Century Breakdown”
“Before the Lobotomy”
“Last Night on Earth”
“Peacemaker”
“Murder City”
“¿Viva La Gloria? (Little Girl)”
“Restless Heart Syndrome”
“Horseshoes and Handgrenades”
“The Static Age”
“American Eulogy”
“See the Light”

The following tracks are already available in the Rock Band Music Library of downloadable content giving players the chance to complete the full 21st Century Breakdown album, view unique performances and venue visuals, and unlock exclusive collectible content!

Downloadable Content

“21 Guns”
“Know Your Enemy”
“East Jesus Nowhere”
“Last of the American Girls”
“¡Viva La Gloria!”
“Christian’s Inferno”

Now lets not get over excited, this has led to a problem. Its really only noticeable to the vocalist of your pseudo punk rock band. Swearing is prohibited and so you find gaps in the songs. I found myself singing along to St Jimmy and then losing complete track of where I was because the vocals just cut out! I’m not much of a singer so I dunno if it was the same in any other Rock Band, but I found it very off putting.

As for the game itself, LOVE IT. I never realised how much I actually like Green Day until I found myself dancing around like a deranged cat in my room. It really sucks you into the game when you get to play the full album. I find myself getting bored of some of the random sets you play in the other Guitar Hero and Rockband games. Green Day leave them all in their dust!

I wont go into a huge amount of detail with the game play as I am sure you all know enough already. But I will admit I found that the vocals were a good bit easier than expected. Guitar and drums vary in difficulty as normal.

Physically the game looks great. You get a good representation of the lads and the drums are acted out with relative accuracy. Good enough to bring you into the moment!

The career is similar to the one in the other band specific game, The Beatles Rockband except you have your choice of songs. It adds a good deal more interest to the game I found. Now me, having the attention span of a small rodent, needs something like this to enhance my interest in the game.

And so, I will award Green Day Rockband a much deserved 4/5. Not just because it is a Rockband/Guitar Hero style game (which you will know from my previous reviews) that I am a huge fan of, but because it has less choice of songs but executed perfectly!

So go on and get it!!

Take a look at the below.

playedDestruction Derby? Ever played Need For Speed? Well mash all of them together into one mangled car wreck of pure awesomeness.

I tend to go for the games that I can just drop in a play without having to pay attention to story lines and the like, so this suited me to the ground. So lets start from the beginning.

The game has a number of game modes, each more violent than the last. The standard race is a number of cars doing laps around a track from a top down view. You have a certain amount of boost to help you slam your opponents  into walls or in my case, go up a ramp and slam myself into the wall (I was never any good at top down games).

While you are running around the track you have a weapon attached to your vehicle. Some have guns, some have flames and some have chainsaws! You can also pick up extra boost or special weapons to help you explode your enemies. Last one standing is the only rule you need to know!

Another game mode (and my favorite to be honest) is the demolition derby mode. This brings back all the good memories of playing Destruction Derby as a kid. There are no laps and no rules except to destroy everyone! You can smash them, shoot them, cut them, burn them whatever you want! Once you are the last one alive thats all that matters. You get extra weapons every now and then like bombs and oil slicks.

The game is linear much like the story in NFS or a beat em up game. Each track has associated missions that you must complete ending in a boss battle. You have to do elimination races, were after each lap whoever is last is lost! There are last man standing races were you have 99 laps to win a race, but (as hinted by the title) if you can destroy your opponents before then, YOU WIN!

The boss battles are set by laps but not in the conventional sense. You have to hunt down and destroy the boss before he completes all the laps. If you do, you get the pink slip! And thats really the aim of the game, win races, destroy people and collect menacing vehicles on the way.

When you get a car you can customize and upgrade them to your liking. Making them faster, better and much more deadly. All in all I loved this game. Its something I would sit down and play after a stressful work day! And its a mix of all of my favourite Playstation games. Very interesting concoction that I will give a whopping  4/5! *BEEP BEEP*

Microsoft big boy Stephen McGill had this to say on the matter:

“We have no plans to adopt [a] Blu-Ray drive for the Xbox 360. In fact, the future of home entertainment started last autumn when Xbox 360 became the first and only console to offer instant-on 1080p streaming HD movies.”

Well that’s a step forward, but if Microsoft fully believe this, why are there still DVD boxes with Xbox 360 games in them? I honestly think it’s a ridiculous claim to make, but that’s just my opinion … which maybe shouldn’t feature in a news post … anyway, I wonder what Sony will have to say on this one?