Stolen Xbox 360 recovered with a controller

At Missouri state university: a student who found his stolen Xbox 360 using its wireless controller

The thief failed to be completely thorough in his crime, even though he absconded with his illicit prize just 30 feet away from the scene.

He left an Xbox 360 controller behind, and when the victim flicked it on, he noticed it was still connected the console, meaning it couldn't be far. Through the process of elimination, moving from floor to floor and then room to room, he was able to pinpoint exactly where his Xbox 360 had vanished to. A resident assistant then opened the room, where the victim proved it was his Xbox by turning it off and on with his controller.

Unfortunately for the victim, the criminal was just smart enough to be dangerous—he already erased the hard drive.

Katamari for iPhone

I love Katamari was released on the iPhone for $8. This is the first Katamari to use motion control (with upcoming titles on the Wii and PS3 that will also use motion control). This game is supposedly loads of fun but suffers from frame rate lag and slowness. Hopefully the kinks will be worked out by the time the motion controlled Wii and PS3 titles are released.

Today's Wiiware releases

Strong Bad's Cool Game For Attractive People - Episode 5: 8-Bit Is Enough
1000 Wii Points

This is the last announced episode of the Strong Bad's Cool Game For Attractive People. The final episode features Trogdor, the infamous one-armed fire breathing dragon and Stinkoman, who have come to Free Country USA for unknown reasons. It's up to Strong Bad to figure out why they're here and what they want in this exciting conclusion.

Wii Virtual Console - 12/10/08

Baseball Stars 2
Neo Geo
900 Wii Points




Pokemon Snap
Nintendo 64
1000 Wii Points




Ghosts N Goblins
NES
500 Wii Points

Xbox Live Arcade - 12/10/08

Meteos Wars
800 MS Points

Remember the amazing NDS puzzle game that completely rocked your face off? METEOS!!!! That's right, now it's on xbox live arcade and it still completely kicks ass. This sports online play, local multiplayer and multiple single player modes

Live Arcade Features:

* Planets galore: Defend over 20 planets, each with its own alien race, Meteos blocks, unique gravity effects, and visual and audio style.
* Special techniques: Master four of the "Planet Impact" special attacks -- Armageddon, Gambit, Sentinel, and Tempest.
* Massive modes: Test your action-puzzle skills in a variety of single-player modes, including Mission Mode, Attack Mode, or Vs. Mode. Three challenges await you in Attack Mode -- the One-Minute attack, 100-Meteo attack, and the Challenge attack.
* Multiplayer action: Blast away your opponents over Xbox LIVE in Matchmaking Vs. Mode and become one of the best Meteos Wars players in the community. You can also go head-to-head with your friend in Local Vs. Mode.
* New accessories: Collect various accessories for your aliens by clearing certain objectives. Accessorize your alien and give it some personality!

Who's Psyched?! I am!



PowerUp Forever
800 MS Points

Hunt and defeat enemy Guardians to harvest their glowing energy cores, gaining power to grow your ship and expand your weaponry. As you evolve you attract the attentions of ever-larger enemies, and your fight for survival goes on.

* Procedurally Generated Environments: Never experience the same game twice as all of the enemy types and locations are procedurally generated
* Innovative Growth Mechanic: Adds a unique twist to the shooter genre and offers fun, exciting gameplay
* Power Up your weapons: Power up cool new weapons, such as lasers, shields and bombs, that boost your arsenal as you evolve
* High Definition Graphics: True next-gen graphical effects and an exciting abstract art-style provide eye-popping visuals
* Multiple modes of play: Survival Mode – Survive relentless waves of non-stop enemies, Guardian Rush Mode – Defeat a series of guardians in the shortest length of time, Defender – How long can you survive only using a shield? and Overkill Mode – Unlimited weapons!

NES controller security system

It seems as thought someone has put the ultimate keyless entry security system on their game room. To enter, it requires you to input "the code" onto an NES gamepad which releases a cd-rom tray holding the lock.

Pretty freaking awesome. Best thing about it, the instructions are online and you can build your own. Here's the link: NES controller security system instructions

RE5 Demo BYE BYE!

It seems that Capcom and Microsoft wised up to American and European gamers creating Japanese Xbox Live accounts just to play the RE5 demo and they went ahead and region locked it. So, if you don't already have the demo, you're SOL.

Playstation Home open beta

Sony Playstation's second-life-esque Home launches tomorrow. You will be able to download it from PSN at 12:00 AM 12/11/08. There will be customizable avatar's (like Xbox?) and a virtual place to hang out and take part in activities(like the sims?). HAHA. Either way, Home is looooong over due and it's pretty exciting that it's actually coming out.

HOLY AWESOME BLURAY, BATMAN!

Releasing on Blu-ray tomorrow:



The Dark Knight
Dumb & Dumber
From Dusk Til Dawn
Horton Hears a Woo!
Jet Li's Fearless
Lost Season 4
The Mask
Super Troopers

Top 10 Fighters

10. Tao Feng: Fist of the Lotus
Xbox


9. Power Instinct Matrimelee
Arcade/Neo Geo


8. Killer Instinct II
Arcade


7. World Heroes Perfect
Arcade/Saturn/Neo Geo


6. Red Earth
Arcade


5. Guilty Gear X
Dreamcast


4. Marvel VS Capcom 2
Dreamcast/Arcade


3. Soul Caliber II
Gamecube/Xbox/PS2


2. Super Street Fighter 2 Turbo
SNES/Genesis/Arcade


1. Super Smash Bros Brawl
Wii

Wiz release date rounding the bend

According to gp2xstore.com, Wiz, the new handheld from Korea's Game Park Holdings which technically has no official release date will ship in 6-8 weeks with a preorder.

The system, like it's predecessors, is an open-source, Linux-based handheld that will run just about anything you want it to. The processor was beefed up to a 533MHz ARM9 CPU with 3D acceleration. Ram size is now 64MB and has 1GB of internal memory. It also sports an OLED based touch screen, a rechargeable 000mAh Lithium Polymer battery and a slimmed down design.

The system $179.99 on a preorder.

Playstation Home open beta hits December 17th

According to Times Online, the PlayStation Home open beta will hit on December 17th. From an article published yesterday:

"To try Home, which is slated for release in the next 10 days, players must download a piece of free software from Sony’s PlayStation store onto their own PS3."

Just keep in mind that even if Times Online has the scoop, they're a UK publication who may not be speaking for a worldwide release date.

Horrible looking XBOX 360 case-mod takes the internet by storm

Someone decided that it was a good idea to make a Halo 3 casemod for a 360...ok...cool. The halo 3 360 Special Edition still looks way cooler.

The thing i don't get is the 7 inch LCD screen that was built in...but all of the cables are still plugged in. What's the point of putting an LCD screen on your 360 if you still have to have a monstrous amount of cords running all over the place?

This Friday's geek movie

The Day The Earth Stood Still (remake)
Starring: Keanu Reeves, Jennifer Connelly, Kathy Bates
Director: Scott Derrickson



Fans of the original will surely want to kill themselves rather than see the horrible acting of Keanu Reeves destroying the character of Klaatu in this remake...but others (like myself) are very curious to see what this will be like after watching the somewhat decent looking trailer.

Trailer

Comics this week!

100 Bullets #98, $2.99
30 Days Of Night 30 Days Til Death #1, $3.99
Astonishing X-Men Ghost Boxes #2 (of 2), $3.99
Batman Confidential #24, $2.99
Batman Jokers Asylum TP, $14.99
Civil War House Of M #4 (of 5), $2.99
Elephantmen #14, $2.99
I Kill Giants #6 (of 7), $2.99
Invincible #56, $2.99
Marvel Apes #0 (Santa-Ape Cover), $3.99
Mirrors Edge #2 (of 6), $3.99
Spawn Neo Noir TP, $14.95
Watchmen #1 (New Printing), $1.50
Witchblade #122, $2.99
Wolverine Dangerous Games Premiere HC, $24.99