Free Game on the Marketplace

I am always down for some free swag!

I have not downloaded this yet so I can not recommend it or slam it. But just thought I would pass the info along to you all. Now go download.

Aegis Wing is a side-scrolling space combat game reminiscent of classic eighties arcade hits. It features alien-busting action, slick graphics, an orchestral soundtrack, and devastating power-ups.

Also included is a unique cooperative mode of play in which up to three additional players can "attach" to the leader's ship and become independent, 360-degree gun turrets.

Best of all, Aegis Wing is available as a free download from Xbox LIVE® Arcade to all Gold and Silver members!

• Old-school genre: Get ready for an action-retro 2-D sci-fi side scrolling shooter, similar to Gradius or Defender.
• Multiplayer gameplay: Up to four players can compete on the same console or on Xbox LIVE. Attach to each other, and super weapon powers grow as more players attach. After attaching, there's one pilot and each rider rotates fire via a 360-degree gun turret.
• Super weapons: Wield four super weapons, including the Hades Beam (kills everything in its path), the Gordon Burst (EMP pulse that kills all bullets and short circuits enemies), the Arcus Missile (heat-seeking missiles), and Lambda Shield (allows bullets to be deflected and used against the enemies).

Good News: Video Games Not An Addiction

From ABC News:

CHICAGO (Reuters) - Doctors backed away on Sunday from a controversial proposal to designate video game addiction as a mental disorder akin to alcoholism, saying psychiatrists should study the issue more.

Addiction experts also strongly opposed the idea at a debate at the American Medical Association's annual meeting.

They said more study is needed before excessive use of video and online games -- a problem that affects about 10 percent of players -- could be considered a mental illness.

"There is nothing here to suggest that this is a complex physiological disease state akin to alcoholism or other substance abuse disorders, and it doesn't get to have the word addiction attached to it," said Dr. Stuart Gitlow of the American Society of Addiction Medicine and Mt. Sinai School of Medicine in New York.

A committee of the influential physicians' group had proposed video game addiction be listed as a mental disorder in the American Diagnostic and Statistic Manual of Mental Disorders, a guide used by the American Psychiatric Association in diagnosing mental illness.

Such a move would ease the path for insurance coverage of video game addiction.

Even before debate on the subject began, the committee that made the proposal backed away from its position, and instead recommended that the American Psychiatric Association consider the change when it revises its next diagnostic manual in 5 years.

The psychiatrist group has said if the science warrants, it could be considered for inclusion in the next diagnostic manual, which will be published in 2012.

While occasional use of video games is harmless and may even help with some disorders like autism, doctors said in extreme cases it can interfere with day-to-day necessities like working, showering or even eating.

"Working with this problem is no different than working with alcoholic patients. The same denial, the same rationalization, the same inability to give it up," Dr. Thomas Allen of the Osler Medical Center in Towson, Maryland.

Multiplayer on the Darkness

Yep, the 360 failure rates ARE that high

This is one of those dirty little secrets that none of us want to talk about. After all, we love our 360's and hate everything else. Well, word of some informal surveys by retailers indicates that the failure rate could be as high as 30%. Microsoft of course will come back with their cliched 'no comment' or the ever popular 'our customers experience excellent customer support' answers. My my count, of my little circle of friends, the 2OLD 2PWN failure rate could be as high as 70 or 80 percent. Well, when Microsoft makes some rather large unannounced architectural changes that tells me there is a problem. Check out the changes and decide for yourself.

Before:

After:

Coincidence?

Halo 3 Replicas available or preorder

Halo 3 weapon replicas available for preorder

Posted Jun 20th 2007 2:00PM by Dustin Burg
Filed under: News, Halo 3
The guys over at Achievement Junkie dug up news that professionally done Halo 3 weapon replicas will be available this September. The replicas are being cast by Master Replicas (who've previously created Star Wars and Pirates of the Caribbean merchandise) and will come in two delicious flavors; the Carbine and the Battle Rifle. Both replicas are preorderable over at Gamestop for $19.99 each, but no other details are available. Though, Achievement Junkie seems to have unearthed pictures of the replicas, but we can't be sure if they are prototypes and we certainly can't tell their scale. But if these bad boys are decently sized and the craftsmanship is there, we'll definitely put down $20 so our Master Chief helmet doesn't feel so alone.

Command and Conquer 3 Downloadable Content

EA has released a bunch of new content for the Xbox 360 version of Command and Conquer 3 Tiberium Wars. Available for free, the Ground Zero map is a 1v1 map featuring a huge meteor impact crater. This map is also playable in single-player skirmish mode.

Available for 500 Microsoft Points, the Map Pack One has something for every commander, Ranging from brutal 1v1 shootouts to gigantic 2v2 showdowns. This pack includes: Black’s Bigger Battle, Tiber River Valley, Frontier Fracas, Tiberium Gardens III and Tournament Desert Redux. There's also a Map Pack 1 Developer Interview available for free and featuring the developer’s insider tour of the five intense map designs available in Command & Conquer 3 Map Pack One.

Finally, the Factions Picture Pack is available for 80 Microsoft Points and includes 4 gamerpics: GDI, NOD, Scrin, and unique Tiberium EA logo.

No Gears of War Sequel Announcement at E3

You have read the rumors about supposedly leaked Microsoft pre-E3 conference announcements claiming that, among other things, Microsoft Game Studios will announce a sequel to Gears of War at its media briefing.

Putting all rumors to rest, Epic Games' Mark Rein has confirmed to BeyondUnreal that there will be no such announcement, at least not at next month's E3.

We are not announcing a sequel to Gears of War at E3 this year. Did you see the update we just did for Gears of War last week? We're still working on the first one.

I guess you now know why you didn't see those rumors reported on our frontpage...

Halo 3 Achievements Leaked

The 49 achievements of Halo 3 have been leaked, revealing among other things how many missions the campaign will have. There are 9 campaign missions and these could be the missions' names:

1. Landfall
2. Holdout
3. The Road
4. Assault
5. Cleansing
6. Refuge
7. Last Stand
8. The Key
9. Return

The achievements list also revealed there will be nine skulls (one in every mission?) to find after finishing the campaign in any of three modes.

Hopefully, Bungie will confirm or deny the veracity of this achievements list.

	Landfall	20
	Finish the first mission of the Campaign on Normal, Heroic, or Legendary.
	Holdout	20
	Finish the second mission of the Campaign on Normal, Heroic, or Legendary.
	The Road	20
	Finish the third mission of the Campaign on Normal, Heroic, or Legendary.
	Assault	30
	Finish the fourth mission of the Campaign on Normal, Heroic, or Legendary.
	Cleansing	30
	Finish the fifth mission of the Campaign on Normal, Heroic, or Legendary.
	Refuge	30
	Finish the sixth mission of the Campaign on Normal, Heroic, or Legendary.
	Last Stand	40
	Finish the seventh mission of the Campaign on Normal, Heroic, or Legendary.
	The Key	40
	Finish the eighth mission of the Campaign on Normal, Heroic, or Legendary.
	Return	50
	Finish the final mission of the Campaign on Normal, Heroic, or Legendary.
	Campaign Complete: Normal	125
	Finish the Campaign on Normal.
	Campaign Complete: Heroic	125
	Finish the Campaign on Heroic (unlocks achievement for Normal, if not earned).
	Campaign Complete: Legendary	125
	Finish the Campaign on Legendary (unlocks achievements for Normal and Heroic, if not earned).
	Iron	10
	Finish the Campaign on Normal, Heroic, or Legendary, then find and claim this skull.
	Black Eye	10
	Finish the Campaign on Normal, Heroic, or Legendary, then find and claim this skull.
	Tough Luck	10
	Finish the Campaign on Normal, Heroic, or Legendary, then find and claim this skull.
	Catch	10
	Finish the Campaign on Normal, Heroic, or Legendary, then find and claim this skull.
	Fog	10
	Finish the Campaign on Normal, Heroic, or Legendary, then find and claim this skull.
	Famine	10
	Finish the Campaign on Normal, Heroic, or Legendary, then find and claim this skull.
	Thunderstorm	10
	Finish the Campaign on Normal, Heroic, or Legendary, then find and claim this skull.
	Tilt	10
	Finish the Campaign on Normal, Heroic, or Legendary, then find and claim this skull.
	Mythic	10
	Finish the Campaign on Normal, Heroic, or Legendary, then find and claim this skull.
	Spartan Program Recruit	10
	Win your first game in matchmaking to sign up for the Spartan Program (Online).
	UNSC Spartan	15
	Earn your Sergeant rating to be recognized as a true Spartan (Online).
	Spartan Officer	25
	Advance to the Spartan Officer ranks (Online).
	Two for One	5
	Score a Double Kill with a single spartan laser shot in a ranked free for all playlist (Online).
	Too Close to the Sun	5
	Destroy an enemy banshee with the spartan laser or missile pod in a ranked playlist or in campaign.
	Triple Kill	5
	Kill 3 enemies within 4 seconds of one another in a ranked free for all playlist (Online).
	Overkill	5
	Kill 4 enemies within 4 seconds of one another in a ranked free for all playlist (Online).
	Lee R Wilson Memorial	5
	Score 5 grenade sticks in any ranked free for all playlist (Online).
	We’re in for some Chop	5
	Destroy an enemy vehicle with equipment in a ranked playlist or in campaign.
	Killing Frenzy	5
	Kill 10 enemies without dying in any ranked free for all playlist (Online).
	Steppin' Razor	5
	Score a Triple Kill with the sword in a ranked free for all playlist (Online).
	Mongoose Mowdown	5
	Splatter an enemy with the mongoose in a ranked free for all playlist (Online).
	Up Close and Personal	5
	Kill 5 enemies by melee or assassination in a ranked free for all playlist (Online).
	Fear the Pink Mist	5
	Kill 5 enemies with the needler in a ranked free for all playlist or in campaign.
	Headshot Honcho	5
	Kill 10 enemies with headshots in a ranked free for all playlist or in campaign.
	Used Car Salesman	5
	Destroy a vehicle that has three enemies in it in a ranked playlist or in campaign.
	Marathon Man	40
	Locate and access all Terminals in the Campaign.
	MVP	5
	Earn the MVP in any ranked playlist (Online).
	Maybe Next Time Buddy	5
	Board the same vehicle within 10 seconds after being boarded in any free for all playlist (Online).
	Demon	10
	Score over points in the Campaign meta-game on the second mission.
	Guerilla	10
	Score over points in the Campaign meta-game on the first mission.
	Cavalier	10
	Score over points in the Campaign meta-game on the third mission.
	Askar	10
	Score over points in the Campaign meta-game on the fourth mission.
	Exterminator	10
	Score over points in the Campaign meta-game on the fifth mission.
	Ranger	10
	Score over points in the Campaign meta-game on the sixth mission.
	Vanguard	10
	Score over points in the Campaign meta-game on the seventh mission.
	Orpheus	10
	Score over points in the Campaign meta-game on eighth mission.
	Reclaimer	10
	Score over points in the Campaign meta-game on the final mission.

Hopefully this is all true. I think that all of these achievements are possible, especially the ones for the campaign, since online co-op will be available. Just look at Gear, almost all of the acievement points in Gears were obtainable due to online co-op.