Microsoft announced yesterday that they have banned a very large number (rumored to be up to 1 million) Xbox Live player accounts for modding their Xbox systems and playing pirated games.With the current release of Modern Warfare 2, players are anxiously trying to get online and fragging their friends but it seems Microsoft has other plans.  Microsoft is citing it's terms of service agreement that players agree to when buying an xbox system:Download or use any material sent or provided by another user of the Service that you know, or reasonably should know, cannot be legally shared or distributed in such manner (except as expressly permitted by us).What they could and would do were clearly laid out:Microsoft may, among other things: (a) restrict or limit access to the Service; (b) retrieve information from the original Xbox, Xbox 360 console, personal computer, and any connected peripheral device used to log onto the Service as necessary to operate and protect the security of the Service, and to enforce this contract. Read More...

So just in case you needed a good intro to your mid-term or final paper on The Divine Comedy, EA and Visceral Games are going to help you out. How? By giving you the events Dante Alighieri had to go through to get into hell so he could make that google map he did. All in Demo form for your chosen system of PS3, XBox, or PSP. Ok, so this won't actually help any of you getting ready for your final stuff in December, but it will give you a nice way to relax after writing said paper. Or a distraction and a good view and feel for the game. Read More...

I have been called some bad things in the past, as recent as nine minutes ago. I've received hate letters based on my thoughts and opinions all the time. So it should probably go without saying that the people over at Visceral Games and the inferno team at EA get hit with this just about at often because of Dante's Inferno. Christians are probably going even crazier knowing they have been used for promotions as much as Rick Astley has been on the internet for jokes. But I digress. Read More...

Hope you're already dressed and ready to head on out the door. Where are you going you might ask? Well to your local GameStop of course. Why? Here's why, cdv Software Entertainment USA has announced a new Divinity II – Ego Draconis pre-order incentive program. As of today (11-9-2009) customers who pre-order the game from GameStop will receive the exclusive Blood Echelon Armor and Weapon set, while supplies last (of course). The Blood Echelon is a select lodge of elite Dragon Slayers who have earned the highest of distinctions on the battlefield. Their elite armor and weapon set includes: Blood Echelon Armor – Sturdy as granite and shaped to intimidate, Blood Echelon armors set new standards in the art of war Blood Echelon Weapon – The Claymore, the Frontline Slayers' might weapon of choice, cleaves armor like it was mere flesh. Read More...

When dealing with the end of the world and pretty much the end of days, what would you expect your goals to be? Probably get laid one last time. Go on a drunken binge. Maybe even see what it is like to kill a person. Maybe even go looting through treasure chests that you may find around the world while riding a horse for 100 miles. Doesn't that sound about right for the general populace of the world? Well what about the horseman of War? Read More...

There are times in any gamer’s life when you find yourself blearily looking for a clock, attempting to adjust your eyes to read the time. You find yourself trying to comprehend how the time reported is much later than the internal clock in your head. How much time have you lost? Minutes? Hours? If Runic Games is using that time as a measure of success of their recently released Action-RPG Torchlight, there must be a party in Washington every night! The story begins in the small mining village of Torchlight. Ember, a mineral of extraordinary power (and possible corruption) was found in a nearby mine. Read More...

Ratchet and Clank has enjoyed a really good run these past 7 years, and A Crack in Time is a great cap to the "future" series. In what may be the final game in the series, Ratchet must rescue Clank from Dr. Nefarious (the villain from Up Your Arsenal, the third game in the series). Before we get in to deep, let's get a quick glance back at the Future trilogy thus far. In Tools of Destruction, an evil tyrant named Tachyon set out to revenge against the Lombax's for destroying his race. This is the first hint we get that Ratchet isn't the last Lombax in the galaxy. Read More...

Reinventing the Vinyl WheelYour palms sweat heavily as you approach the stage. There's a twitch, a solitary twinge of excitement racing through your veins and ready to explode from the tips of your fingers onto the vinyl that awaits you. The lights flicker and flash and the crowd roars as you make your entrance. You deftly weave between songs and paradoxical rhythmic patterns, cross-fading between sultry sirens and heard edged break beats. You match the intensity of the crowd with every pull of the record, every scratch rivaled by their increased volume. Read More...

It's been sometime since we heard anything from Konami about their Tactical Role-Playing Game Vandal Hearts: Flames of Judgment. It was rumored before that the game was going to be a remake of the PlayStation version of Vandal Hearts and was going to be released for the Nintendo DS. Well that is not the case as we were managed to get an interview from Ryan Graff, Vandal Hearts: Flame of Judgment Original Concept Writer, to answer some questions that we all have been wondering. Q: Why it has taken almost 10 years to get another Vandal Hearts game out. A: Needless to say, 10 years is a long time in the game business, and in that time, much of the original Vandal Hearts team has moved on. Read More...

So about eight months ago we saw an official announcement that Spicy Horse and EA were working on Alice 2; or Return To Wonderland, or Return Of Alice depending on which release you want to go with on this. In any instance, they announced the next installment and then went completely silent on things for the greater part of the year. Not even a tease or small foot note at any of the gaming conventions. Now enter the below video/teaser. Read More...

Michael, Brian and Binh are back with an interesting episode, which includes a lot of troublesome issues popping up. We begin with what we've been playing, including Uncharted 2, Torchlight, Borderlands, and more. Binh admits he has fallen off the wagon, and has renewed his WoW account. We have decided to bring in two new segments to the podcast. Brian will be bringing listeners his picks for the best in Digital Downloads during On The DL w/ Brian. Michael will be heading up Netflix Picks, offering up a must see Movie or TV show people can find off Netflix through mail or Instant Watch. Read More...

Alright Team Fortress 2 fans, it’s Halloween and the TF2 crew has put together a new update to bring in the holiday fear. “The Terrifying Team Fortress Haunted Hallowe’en Special” went live today and will continue on until November 2nd. This holiday update is a goody bag of tricks and treats, from Exploding pumpkins, a ghastly gimbus (wtf?) and "Mildly Disturbing Halloween Hats". If that’s not enough for you, there is a new community map as well as 5 achievements (listed below) to unlock over the next couple of days. Read More...

Social Networking strikes again! On the Civilization Fanatics' Forums Sid Meier, legendary creator all thing Civilization, has just announced that they will be creating a Civilization project called Civilization® Network™ via Facebook. Thats right, one of your favorite social networking sites will now encompass the engrossing game of Civilization. The game will be Free-to-play, which is a change from all the "mini-transaction" games we see all over Facebook currently. According to Sid, the game is slated for a 2010 full release: I wanted to let you know we’ll soon be looking for beta testers to help us develop a unique new way to play Civilization. Read More...

Now I want to start out that this is not a movie based game, at least like all the other movie based games that get pumped out onto the store shelves when a new feature film or the film it is based on is about to hit the big screen. I felt we needed to open with that, because Saw: The Videogame shares only the title and is a continuation off the first film. It is not based of any of the films that have come out or are coming out. It should be considered Saw 1. Read More...

I remember Jim. The funny earthworm with bionic suit that made so many tounge-in-cheek jokes I could hardly stand it. I had the action figure, I watched the cartoon. I played it on every console that it was available for. Now Jim is returning, guns and blazin', to consoles and handhelds all over the world. Cow launching, check. Laser guns, Check. Read More...