I am apathetic about this week's release (read following paragraph for details) so most of this article is about Xbox news.

Madden NFL Arcade

Oh boy! This week's XBLA release is Madden NFL Arcade. Wow, how did I ever survive without it? Alright, so sarcasm aside, it is probably a beloved game for some gamers. Those who love FIFA-related games and all that. Developed by EA Sports, NFL Arcade is described as an edge-of-the seat number where you have 5-on-5 play. Or something along those lines. You can see how I am floundering about with this one.

And it's available for 1200 MS points. Are you kidding me?! Fine, it's not like I was going to check out the trial game but I can't imagine anyone other than diehard sports fans dishing out that amount. By the way, if you already have 3-on-3 NHL Arcade, why would you want this game? Sigh, maybe I can throw in some fake enthusiasm for the sake of fans. No, not happening so let's move on.

Xbox News

Photo Source: Link

The news this week has been rather interesting. First there was the Microsoft 'Super Guide' for Xbox Live. So, in theory, if you are stuck in a game that you are accessing through Xbox Live, you can scroll through this help system and find a way out of your current dilemma. I suppose it could work. I mean, I do check walkthroughs when I am stuck in a game (damn you hard-to-kill Schisms from Silent Hill!). However, I still like the fact that the walkthrough required a bit of effort to access. Thus, I would try as much as I can before shuffling over to PC for helpful walkthroughs (and agreeing with everyone else on forums that Schisms are nasty creatures!). By the way, there is no indication whether this will be a free or paid service.

Play.tm had a weird bit of news about Guitar Hero. Apparently the folks behind the game are rubbing their chin and considering a subscription system. Say it isn't so? One reason why I hated some pay-to-play MMOs was the fact that I had to roll out a bit of moolah every month. What if I missed a month here and there because work went crazy? It seems 'meh' if I keep paying for something that I use frequently but not often enough to warrant a subscription? Don't sign me up for this deal; I heart the DLC system.

Didn't see this coming, did we? Seems like folks were in a frantic rush when MS released the social networking upgrade on Xbox recently. According to PCAdvisor, 2 million folks signed in to Facebook via their Xbox since the new update. Huh? I can believe the figures about Last.fm but something like Facebook, really? It's also funny how figures for Twitter are not there. You know what I would love? A fun little graph that depicts how many folks first accessed Facebook, how many kept signing in and using it via Xbox over the next few months and how many have simply signed in once and then never used it on the console since then.

The Guild Finale

That was a feel-good episode; a lot of matters were sorted out, some were left open-ended for next season. By the way, how about the ending? I sort of expected that. Alright, so not that exact ending but surely there has been hint of it along the way, right? Maybe I was reading too much into it.