Depressing Reminder: Xbox.com down for maintenance.


I nearly forgot that today was the day that Xbox Live was to be down for a backend update. Luckily, I just picked up Metal Gear Solid 4 to keep me company for a few hours after work, not to mention that both Heroes & a Pittsburgh Steelers game will be on TV tonight!

If that’s just not enough for you, Xbox.com came up with a funny list of the Top 10 Things to do while Xbox Live is offline… including tips like 9. Play through the story-mode of the original “Gears of War” so you have a story refresher before “Gears of War 2” launches in November. Practice your Roadie Run. A preview of “Insider Moves” to come? 😉

Sadly, you’ll even notice the “My Xbox” section of Xbox.com is offline. I guess I’m going to have to keep myself entertained chatting with folks on other sites, like Unscripted 360.

Peggle FINALLY announced for XBLA!


In an interview with Talking About Games, PopCap Games officially announced that Peggle would be coming to the XBLA. You remember Peggle, right? It’s that game that I confirmed was coming to Xbox Live on the 2nd day my site was open, clear back on January 4th? Other sites picked it up a few days after I broke the story, back in January, but it’s taken all this time to revamp the game, add some new multiplayer features and polish it up a bit. It’s going to be nearly an entirely new experience – and that’s exciting. So go read the interview, already!

[Update 1] Keep It Clean… Halo 3 reinventing itself?

For anyone having a hard time with Bungie.net, here’s a mirror for the “Large” Windows Media version of the new “teaser trailer.”
KeepItClean_Teaser_ESRB_720p30_ST_6300kbps.wmv. 47.9MB.

The teaser shows an interesting art style, different from the Halo 3 universe we’re used to. But it still doesn’t tell us much. Halo 3, prepare to drop – that’s about all it says. Let’s wait for the ultra fanboys to pick it apart. 😉

Update 1: Just like I said, wait for the ultra fanboys to do their job. And in about 1 hour, they did. Xbox Live advertising of some form has confirmed that this is a campaign expansion for the game, and the “video analysts” may have already found a release date for the project. Sadly, if they’re correct, we won’t see any new action until after the new year.

My sister taking part in a 10k AIDS walk… got a dollar?

A few days ago, I received a message from my sister. I’ve cut it up a little bit, here, but I wanted to deliver the general information in pretty much the same way she presented it to me. It’s a little humorous, that’s our writing style, as siblings. Anyway, the deal is she set up an account with AIDS Walk Los Angeles. She set a simple goal of $150. I would like to see her exceed that goal. After Edith’s Goal (more on that later), I think us helping her attain that $150 should be simple.

Now, I know this isn’t my traditional “gaming for charity” sort of thing, but keep in mind, that my sister is most certainly a gamer. And as always, it’s for a good cause! I don’t do these things for tax breaks, I barely do my taxes – I do these things for the sake of charity! I want to thank anyone who can give, any little bit helps reach her goal. So then, here’s what my sister had to say:

Once an while I get a charity thing in my head and… here it is.

The organization has provided me with a form letter to follow as a guideline so I’ve annotated it with a little extra information. Read on:

I am writing to let you know that I have registered for AIDS Walk Los Angeles and am very excited about the event [This is true]. This is a very important issue to me so I have set an ambitious fundraising goal [the ambitious thing is not so true]. I want to do as much as I can to make a difference in the lives of men, women, and children affected by HIV and AIDS. Even though there has been a lot of publicity about drug treatments which are prolonging some people’s lives, they don’t work for everyone and there is still no cure in sight [good general information]. Moreover, young people are still getting infected at alarmingly high rates [also true, but the old folks homes are another place it’s a big problem and I’m not kidding].

I want your help [Yes, need it]. Will you please sponsor me for the AIDS Walk [pretty please?]? Just click on the website address below to enter my personalized web page and charge your donation [They’ve assured me it’s secure]. Thank you, in advance, for supporting this important cause and for showing that you join me in wanting to end this epidemic [and if you do you rock, seriously].

And that’s that. Thanks for real if you can help out and if you can’t, send the link on to someone who can.

Follow This Link to visit my personal web page and help me in my efforts to support AIDS Walk Los Angeles.

On her personal web page for the AIDS Walk, she also notes: “If you guys could kick down a little I’d really appreciate it. It’s a good cause. And yes, I’ll really walk it.” 😉 It’s a 10k walk, and you can get even more details here.