Namco never fails to suprise with the bonus characters they decide to include in the Soul Calibur games. This time, they may have fallen off the deep end... of the galaxy, that is. For reasons which I'm sure only relate strictly to lining their pocketbooks with money from generous Star Wars fans, Yoda and Vader have been confirmed as bonus characters via the new CES trailer above, the former going exclusively to 360, and the latter going exclusively to PS3.  I can't tell what Namco is smoking, but it's gotta be good!

There are too many things to name as to why this fusion of stories doesn't work, well, AT ALL, but I won't get into those. At least Spawn, and to a lesser degree, Link, could fit into the Soul Calibur storyline at least a little. Yoda and Vader do not however. Oh, well. At least the game is coming along very nicely and is now slated for a summer release. The soul still burns!

I’ve got some cool upgrades coming to this site very soon. Until then, I will be halting regular site updates. I know you’ll miss me. See you in early January!

Eidos just released this game on Xbox Live Marketplace for download if you own Tomb Raider Legend, but that's the silly way to get it. The better way is to buy the retail disc for the whopping $29.99 they charge for it, which is the bargain of the year as far I'm concerned, and we all know how important my opinion is. That way, the cheap ones among us can play one of gaming's all time classics that's revised and improved, then take it back for store credit if they so desire. Regardless of how you get it though, get it; I don't care if you have to steal it or sell yourself on the street corner. If you enjoyed the gameplay of Legend and want more focus on exploration and non-frustrating puzzle solving, this game is for you. Just be sure to thank me later.

According to Major Nelson, a new feature coming in the Dec. 4 fall System Update is one that basically allows you to spy on your friend’s friends lists without their approval if they leave the setting as default. The feature is called “Friend’s of Friends” and it lets you looks at your friend’s friends lists on Live. This, of course, can be turned off if you want to keep out peeping eyes, but what’s the point of such a feature anyway? I mean, really… why would I want to look at my friend’s lists when I have my own to worry about? It might feel cool for a minute, but after the novelty wears off, it will become useless and forgotten. It’s just completely stupid. Instead of implementing something useful such as the ability to sort the friend’s list into groups (such as Real Life Friends, Crybabies, Clan, etc.) they are giving us this. Come on, Microsoft… listen to user feedback for once!

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Get a load of these two 'tards in this Assassin's Creed spoof video. I laughed a little at the sheer chesiness of it all because this would be like something me and my friends would do. Even better still is this video. Check 'em out!

With all the crazy hype over Rock Band and Guitar Hero, I started to ask myself: what am I really missing out on? Is it really that fantastic to bust a nut over? Not exactly, unless you are insecure enough about your video game addiction to try to get chicks to dig you by pushing buttons on a guitar. Sure, they might think it’s fun for a minute, but then they will go back to thinking you’re a nerd anyways. So, being the confident and cool nerd that I am, I decided that I do not need to push buttons on a fake guitar to convince girls that I am a “hottie.” I’ll play real games like Mass Effect, and let the real rockers do the rocking. 

With today’s highly anticipated launch of Mass Effect, I figured I would share the general pre-release hype levels for all holiday releases collected from the Internet using our advanced data collection tools. As you can clearly see, Mass Effect pwned them all, and Xbox 360 releases in general dominated all PS3 releases combined. It’s been a poor season for PS3 owners. With today’s announcement that Haze has been delayed until next spring, one of the few promising titles for the DelayStation 3 has slipped into next year. It’s a great time to be a 360 owner.

I’m just about to surrender my life to video games. I simply cannot handle the sheer number of quality games that I have in my possession that are begging me for my attention. I’m starting to hear voices in my head. “Come play with me, I miss your gentle touch,” says Lara Croft. Then I get pulled in another direction by another game, and I feel like I’m cheating on Lara.  I feel guilty; not for giving my friends and family the cold shoulder to play games, but because I cannot give all my games the tender loving care they so richly deserve. I have no fewer than six games in my backlog to finish, and all of them will take a backseat to Mass Effect come tomorrow night. It’s time to buckle down, lock myself away, and set aside my social life for a few months. Goodbye, world; hello, world!

Infinity Ward has released some new info on Call of Duty 4’s first patch, which includes some nice changes that are so desperately needed to give this game a fighting chance against the vastly superior Halo 3. Okay, not really, we all know COD4 is better in most ways, but some people are still in denial, and chances are they’re the same people that think Halo 3 has the best graphics in the known universe. No ETA is available on the release date for the patch yet. Below is the official press release to wet your chops. Boo-yah, Bungie! More …

Umm, looks like fun, but let’s be honest here: this looks an awul lot like Ninja Gaiden on the original Xbox. Team Ninja officially sucks at graphics this gen, while last gen, they were gods among men. Maybe that Tomonobu Itakagaki crater face needs to take off his sunglasses and see the light: Xbox 360 is not Xbox, and it has like, 100 times the power and stuff. It also has a wireless vibrating controller that you can put, uh, anywhere. Note to Team Ninja: check out Devil May Cry 4… THAT is how you do next gen graphics in an action game!