I don’t really know the statistics to back this up, but it seems many if not most XBL players are under-age, and male. I can see the Fox News headlines now when it comes to conversations over XBL regarding the inevitable achievement this will have. Then again, it wouldn’t be the first time I’ve been described as creepy…

Source: Joystiq.

• There is a shop in the Pokémon Centre
• The 3D in this game is far more advance then previous games
• It appears that CoroCoro isn’t reveallig much information in this issue, but rather showing the graphical change between the generations

Needless to say, somebody done goofed. I called the SCE Consumer Services, and was told that this has been a problem all day. While on hold, I found the solution! The code is the live voucher. Just put the number in the redeem codes box on the PSN store on your PS3, and you will have the skin. I did this, and I downloaded the skin. I was bored on hold, and didn’t feel like waiting for someone to pick up the line to give Sony the answer, but I give it to you. Now to wait for my game to ship.

The policy now states: “You may use the following terms to express your relationship orientation in your profile or Gamertag: Lesbian, Gay, Bi, Transgender, Straight.”

Though this is a great move on behalf of Microsoft, let’s hope the gaming community at large can be as forward thinking.

Source: Kotaku.

Before I delve into the world that is Mass Effect, I would firstly like to point of the problems I have faced trying to review this title. So many things wanted to be said, but I decided to exclude them as my better judgement doesn’t want to give too much away. As with any RPG, fears of revealing spoilers deter giving a full insightful review. So instead, I will highlight the new additions, reworked subtractions and what exactly makes Mass Effect 2 an absolute pleasure to play.

Overall Mass Effect 2 plays complimentary to the first. All the things that made the original the acclaimed classic, are very much present in the sequal. Though, Bioware have reworked many of the games core-elements – leaving Mass Effext 2 feeling like a completely new experience. Actually, experience is one of the things changed between the last two years. In Mass Effect, you would get experience for doing just about anything and everything like any other RPG. This time your experience is awarded to you at the end of a mission. It takes a little getting used to, but it does work very well.

Mass Effect has both lushous character models, and mouth watering backdrops.

Another fairly major change is the ability to travel through space. You’re no longer in Alliance space, so there’s a bit of emphasis on exploration. With this emphasis, you now have to manage fuel when going between star systems in each nebula. You’re also manually piloting the ship during the game, which feels weird, but it is an improvement. You’re not in the cockpit, but rather piloting in third person a la Galaga. You will also be piloting the ship to other planets for rare elements, which in turn are currency for ship, weapons, and armor upgrades.

One of the changes from the original Mass Effect is that their are no longer elevator rides in place of load sequences. The rewaorked load sequence is now a traditional load screen. I know some people critisized the elevator method, but the standard load screen feels as though Bioware are taking two steps backwards. Speaking of the loadouts, they seem to take forever. Meaning if you die a lot, which is highly likely early on in the game, expect to stare at a lot of loading screens. This is kind of frustrating, perhaps even my biggest critisizm for the game.

One of the most intuitive added to the game is you can change cut-scenes based on your Paragon/Renegade level. With a small pull of either your left or right trigger, you change the story just a little bit. Speaking of changing the outcome of the game, you can import your Commander Shepard from the original Mass Effect – providing you have the original save file. There are actually quite a few bits of the first game that pop-up in the sequel. Of course all of the major storyline stuff makes it in, such as which soldier died. But you will also see a lot of little things from much smaller side-quests make appearances this time around. Remember the guy who worshiped you on the citadel? He makes a small appearance in here again. This was actually exciting to see the little things pop-up – it’s kinda like recurring minor characters in your favorite show or book. It just warms the cockles of your heart.

There is a story to be told here - With BioWare portraying it magnificently.

As with the first Mass Effect, and most Bioware games, there is no online component. This is just as well as the game is highly story driven. You could just go in guns-blazing, shooting everything and skipping cutscenes, but you will miss the core excitement of the game. Related to online components, are the achievements – which I am glad to announce are much more reasonable this time around. For the most part they are attainable as they are story-based and those that aren’t are both fun and can be attained in a single-playthrough. That was a personal peeve with the first game. I know I had filled in the required criteria, despite not being rewarded

Chances are, if you enjoyed the first game, you will enjoy this one as well. The core mechanics of combat are intact, the game is both lusious to look at and sound that elevates the experience. It’s very possible that the sequal matches, or even proceeds the original. That’s a lot of awesomeness in this five-star package – to the point of once it has pulled you into orbit, you will no longer be able to step foot on the [conscious-opinion] ground you previously did.

Notable stuff: The copy of the game reviewed was the full final release. The game was played for about 30 hours before reviewing.

After doing some Internet research, I found that both games had DLC, but Activision let its license lapse. I am not sure about you, but I would definitely make sure my stuff was in order before releasing a game. At a minimum make sure any licenses are good for at least a couple of years. And to think, I was going to spend some of my space bucks on extra characters…

When responding to criticism, Activision claims the content was a “limited time offer” that was always set to expire on December 31st, 2009. Guess they forgot to mention that when it was offered in the first place…

[via Xbox360Achievements]

“Scheduled to be available in holiday season 2010, Project Natal is only the most recent example of Microsoft’s work creating natural user interfaces,” read a press release issued at the event.

Microsoft research exec Andrew Fitzgibbon added at the keynote: “What Natal does, is it evaluates effectively trillions of body configurations every frame. We’ve made it do that 30 times a second.”

A new video demonstrating Project Natal was also showcased at the event. Which you can see below:

Click here to view the embedded video.

You can always pick up your money after the game was released; the trick is remembering you put your money down. If you’ve forgotten to pick up a game from GameStop, you’re in luck. The retailer is calling customers to remind them they have money waiting for them.

When Kotaku spoke with their local GameStop Manager “verified that they are indeed going out” the manager confirmed that quite a few people showed up, though a request for specifics was greeted with a heavy sigh and a “no comment.”

They do have a webpage you can visit to check and see if you have an outstanding deposit – which they will then return back to you in the form of a printable gift certificate. You enter your phone number and last name – then wait by the phone from them to verify you still live at that address. I for one moved since the last time I remember putting a deposit down on a game, hopefully I’ve picked it up already. I will update if I find out I do have money coming my way I forgot about.

Source: Kotaku.

Microsoft is releasing a holiday collection for your avatars. These Avatar apparel range from dreidels, hats, too yes – even an “ugly sweater.” Yes, that’s the official name for it, and it truly lives up to the name. The only thing more depressing is the fact people will actually pay for these.

There are Santa & Elf customes which look pretty sweet, though.

Here is a full list of all ‘Holiday Content’ on offer:

• Ugly Sweater – 160
• Confetti and Noisemaker Prop – 240
• Elf Shoes – 160
• Gingerbread Cookie Prop – 240
• Elf Costume - 240
• Happy New Year Hat - 80
• Kaftan – 160
• Santa Costume -240
• Santa Costume (Female) – 240
• Dashiki – 160
• Elf Hat – 80
• Santa Hat – 80
• Happy New Year Hat – 80
• Dreidel Prop – 80

A Santa hat sounds mighty tempting, but 580 for the full Elf costume? Damn.

The PlayStations will be stationed in Rome, NY where they will be attached to the 336 consoles already there. The cluster of consoles will be working on better high-resolution radar images, video footage, and “neuromorphic computing”. A term that did not seem nearly as scary, untill I looked it up – a la skynet…

Source: Kotaku.