And now for the weekly Xbox update. I checked up on the Wednesday releases and brushed up on Xbox news. So here goes.

Who can say no to Bubbles?

XBLA will see two interesting releases on the 16^th of September – Bubble Bobble Neo! and Command and Conquer Red Alert 3 Commander's Challenge. The first one is a major cuteness overload where you run about as a colorful little dragon that bops off enemies. No violence here as you encase the nasty guys in bubbles. Those of us who were pimply teens in the 80s will remember this one while it will be a new discovery for young ones. There are 100 levels to go through so it can be a good time-passing game. All in all, it is still fun to play but perhaps it won't have the same magic for newcomers. If games like Boogie Bunnies make you hurl, I suggest giving this a miss.

Now for the big one: XBLA welcomes another well-loved strategy game into their marketplace. That's right, a stand-alone C&C game! You get 50 missions, a bunch of awesome new units and technologies. Did I mention the Soviet warbears? This is an awesome deal for XBLA since C&C will reel in the crowds.

Interestingly enough, both games are priced at 800 MS points.

And in the news ….

Activision speaks up

There was that awful ruckus over remarks by the Activision boss man, Bobby Kotick. Perhaps it's a stretch to call it a ruckus, rather refer to it as quiet mumblings along the lines of “Boy, I wouldn't want to be a programmer over there.” At the end of the day, a lot of folks felt like giving a sympathetic hug to the Activision programmers while wondering what was going on in the mind of the Activision CEO.

Quote from Kotick at Deutsche Bank Securities Technology Conference in San Francisco:

“The goal that I had in bringing a lot of the packaged goods folks into Activision about 10 years ago was to take all the fun out of making video games."

His point, I think, was that they had reorganized a few things and made sure the company was making money. Is it me or do they come across as sell-outs? If it is not for the love of making games … what are you in it for, oh the money! On that note, it is horrifying to think that programmers at the company are constantly reminded of the perils of the financial crisis (yes, apparently that was one way to motivate folks at Activision). How is the emotional health of your employees, by the way?

Activision vs. Love

Speaking of sell-outs, you must have heard of the fuss about Activision's GH games. Specifically, it was about the way Kurt Cobain's image was being used. Apparently Courtney Love and his former band folk are mortified that Activision allows Cobain to be prancing and dancing to any song. They are battling with the company over this but seems like Activision is not willing to budge.

By the way, I was not referring to either of these parties as sell-outs; far from it. At least they are fighting to uphold Cobain's beliefs. Oh no, I was merely thinking … if using your image for just any song is bad – and it is – what does that say about all other singers who allow their image to be used as such? And while we are on the topic, I am sure a lot of Cobain fans would love it if these folks had a word or two about this Chilean version of a Cobain classic. Trust me, if you are devoted to his songs, you will run around room screaming when you hear this.

More about The Guild

Finally, here is some news about The Guild. It keeps getting better and better. The 3^rd episode of the 3^rd season is out on MSN and should now be up on Xbox Live as well. It's called Player Down and looks like The Guild is facing a whole lot more trouble. My favorite line from the episode was from Vork - “Face to face? Twice in one day?” Go on, check it out.