Nintendo Putting it's New Trademark to Use

This is an email I got from Nintendo, reminding me of Donkey Kong Country Returns 4's release, with the subject line reading "Tim, it's on like Donkey Kong!"

Guess they need to do something with the trademark they just filed for. Anyone know if they actually got the trademark in their favor?

Halo Wars Shuts Down December 15: 2 Down, 3 To Go

Remember when Halo 2 had it's doors shut back in April? Who'da thunk that a second Halo game would be closing it's LIVE doors later that same year?

Recently announced on the halowars.com forums, Halo Wars will be closing down in less than 3 weeks time. Not just the game's online functionality, but the forums as well. People aren't happy. Want proof? Here's the first comment on the thread about the shut-down:

Game is dead. Fuck you.

Yea, for realz.

So, for a recap: halowars.com shuts down and transitions to halowaypoint.com's forums (just the name, not the threads and whatnot), stat-tracking is no longer existant, Title Update 5 hits (which doesn't include all the problems they promised to fix), forum members get an exclusive avatar images for their account on halowaypoint.com, and everyone is pissed. This happens on December 15.

So, if Ensemble has been dead and buried for a while, is this the same and encasing the coffin in concrete?

[Halo Wars forum]

Assassin's Creed's Lucy plays Project Legacy?

If you check out one of Lucy's monitors (you've gotta leave the Animus), you'll see Project Legacy in full view, complete with left-hand menu, hexagonal memory selection and stats at the top. Way to tie in PL even more, Ubisoft.

Fable III's New DLC: A dollar for dyes?!

Fable III's Sanctuary Shop was recently updated, and with it come some very questionable purchases, such as a tattoo set, a new dog bread, and, yes, dyes:

• Industrial Knight Outfit : 160 MSP : Always wanted to be an industrial age cyborg? Well, now you can at least look like one. The outfit comprises a helmet, gloves, boots, gauntlets and armor.
• Dye Pack : 80 MSP : Breathe new life into your hair and clothes with this collection of dyes, including the long-awaited black dye. Those preferring lighter colors will make good use of the cream, hot pink and turquoise dyes.
• Red Setter Dog Potion : 160 MSP : Transform your faithful collie into a red setter with this amazing potion. Just let your dog have a sip when he's lying in his basket in the Sanctuary.
• Highlander Tattoo Set : 80 MSP : Summon the spirit of the highlands with this new tattoo set, perfect for charging into battle with a rebellious roar.
• Male Highlander Outfit : 160 MSP : Summon the spirit of the highlands with this new outfit, perfect for charging into battle with a rebellious roar. The outfit comprises a bonnet, bracers, boots top and kilt.
• Female Highlander Outfit : 160 MSP : Summon the spirit of the highlands with this new outfit, perfect for charging into battle with a rebellious roar. The outfit comprises a bonnet, bracers, boots, bodice and kilt.

This list slightly varies from the DLC that leaked about 2-3 weeks ago. The Hair Pack (80 MSP), Understone Quest (400 MSP), and Five-Star Dog Potion (80 MSP) are not in the Store...yet. However, the Five-Star Dog Potion is the most absurd, as it fully maxes out all of your dog's stats to five-stars; pay to play win.

For those wondering, yes, the Industrial Knight is not Hal's Armor 2.0. It is, rather, a steampunk-esque Robocop attire.

First off, I can understand new outfits, however, the Highlander outfit is in the game. I'm looking at it in my Sanctuary right now. Second of all, dyes? Are you off your fucking rocker, Lionhead? I've been wondering why there are a few empty spots on my dye rack, but charging for dyes? The file size is 240MB, meaning it's not another "unlock-key", but rather intentionally left them out to charge you later down the road for them. Cream, hot pink and turquoise I can see never being used, but leaving out black in character customization is just absurd.

Leaving out colors in general is downright pathetic.

GameInformer's December Issue Cover Revealed: Holy Panorama, Batman!

GameInformer. I haven't had an issue come from them in over a year. Still, something like this comes up, and I get all giddy inside.

GI has employed the talents of one Sam Spratt - a guest-artist for Gizmodo, and a bomb-ass flaming Master Chief wallpaper-worthy mural - and has cranked out this wondrous beauty. It has characters from some of the more pivotal games from the past decade, and the only thing I can complain about are what characters they chose to represent their respective games.

GI did say that prints will be available at a later date for purchase. They didn't say when, how large or how much, but if I can get one that's 2' x 15', I'm so fucking down.

With all the praise, there has to be some criticism. For a taste-test, Spratt surely could have splurged for a fourth spread and included some other characters from other games that definitely deserve a spot amongst the others.

For the rest of the bitch-fest - plus the breakdown of the 31 character-deep spread, with a handful of props strewn about - check past the break.

You've got Zelda in my Fable!

 

I'm a sucker for games referring other games, especially when those games being referred are awesome. It also helps if you're a nerd for that game.

Take, for instance, Fable III. In it, it references The Legend of Zelda in a strangely obscure way. In the Mourningwood Cemetery (just beyond the Mourningwood Fort, a story-related mission), you'll find a shit-ton of graves. You'll find a small handful of references in there (I think I even found a Pokemon reference in there; "he died by going into the long grass"), but they don't beat Zelda's reference, wooden sword and all.

Club Nintendo's 2010 Rewards Start Arriving, Where's Yours?

I just received my Elite member reward from Club Nintendo today in the mail, and I have to say, I was expecting something a bit...bigger.

My reward was the Mario statuette, featuring Mario, Luigi, Bowser, Peach and whatnot. Sure, at the time, they gave the dimensions - 4" tall and 4.5" wide - but still, that shit is tiny.

I think the packaging is more interesting than the actual statuette. Check past the break for the unboxing video.

[UPDATED] Things That Need to be Included in a 360 Update

UPDATE: I've only added one new thing, labeled as [NEW] under the Achievements section. Yes, I'm a bit of a bastard for adding something to the list, but it just hit me.

So, we know the 360 is getting a system update soon (I'm in the preview program, myself). However, there are some things that Microsoft is still neglecting, and it's here that I want to make it clear: these are features that we want need.

I've been under embargo since I was a part of the beta program, so since the update is live, I can finally bitch about the things that still aren't in place:

LIVE Enhancements

We've seen a lot of enhancements to Xbox LIVE over - nearly - the past decade. The biggest one was the introduction of the Marketplace, which coined the oft-overused acronym 'DLC' and the term "nickel-and-dimed" has seen a recent upsurge in use. Sadly, it's the driving force behind many of the developer's pockets (I need not even mention You-Know-Who).

Friend Limit Cap Lifted/Increased 100. 100 friends is what we've been accustomed to for the past 8 years. Eight. Years. That boils down to 12.5 friends a year. God help you if you befriend half a person. At that point, you either met a schizo, or this guy. Either way, being limited to 100 people to make their acquaintance is a bit ridiculous; I've got nearly 300 on Facebook. Lift the limit, because  we're overdo. So, this was the first thing I thought of. Sadly, during the drafting phase, the announcement on the Xbox Germany Facebook page let loose that the friend limit would be increased to 1,000 in an update. Major Nelson was quick to dispel it, saying it wouldn't be in the next update, which is currently in beta phase (which should be out around Kinect's release date on November 4), but he didn't say it wouldn't happen.

No Questions Asked If there is free content on the Marketplace, why do we have to "confirm" that download? It's just as absurd as Apple asking for your password everytime you download updates for apps you've previously downloaded. Go head and keep asking us on pay-to-own content (even at the minuscule $1 80 MSP price point), but for the free stuff? There's a reason why I'm downloading free stuff.

Shopping Cart Or, better yet, let us que up a batch of downloads, confirm the lot, then you can download. The only problem is the 6-download que limit Microsoft has imposed on the 360 right now.

Nicknames I have 82 friends on Xbox Live. I only remember a small handful of who they are. I don't usually friend request people I meet online. With that being said, I have no idea who the fuck I'm talking to most of the time. Hell, most of the people on my friend list don't even fill out their name or bio, so it's impossible for me to tell who it is. With this, allow us to "rename" those on our friends list to something a bit more...suitable. We can choose to toggle between their GamerTag or our own Rename, or, better yet, where their name would usually appear below their GamerTag - granted, if they actually filled it out - this is where it would show up. It would help us keep better tabs on our friends, and keep us from deleting the wrong person if we're at the 100 friend limit, or just doing some spring cleaning.