AICN Games: Monki's Christmas Wrap-Up!!! HALO 3 behind the scenes, TRANSFORMERS Easter Egg and more!!!

Greetings humans, Monki here with a fresh batch of video game news for your holiday weekend.

I don't know about you folks, but this weekend is one of my favorite hand-held gaming weekends. Countless hours are spent in the car with Dad behind the wheel as I either nap or go nuts with my handhelds. I did just receive a copy of a cool new title that I'll be checking out in order to set up an interview later. So check back for more info next week on that one.

A lot has happened since we last met. I braved the weather to get my hands on a Wii and then stumbled into the path of a PS3, both have been played and I have to say, Sony really knows how to irk their customers.

Sony deals with massive quantities of electronics, right? Then why the hell can't they include a damn HDMI cable along with the PS3? Or a component cable? Or a fucking s-video cable? You drop $599 on a new system that gushes about it's high-definition bullshit and it comes with a cable that has been around since the mid 70s? Way to impress out of the box Sony.

Before you call me a hypocrite, yes, the Wii also comes only with basic cables as well. That still sucks, but it sucks about $350 less. The Wii doesn't rely on graphics as it's major selling point. It relies on fun and innovative gameplay as it's selling point and as of now, it delivers.

Of course, these are all early early opinions and as soon as I'm done creating Miis that look like the AICN crew, I'll probably write a whole damn column on the "now-gen" systems. Until then, here comes the news.

Press Releases of the Week!

Now this is what downloadable content should be about. Bethesda is releasing a content addition to Oblivion for FREE until January 1st. From their site:

We're pleased to announce that we've worked with the good folks at Xbox Live to give away one of our most popular downloads for Oblivion - Mehrunes Razor - for a limited period of time. Starting this Friday, Dec. 22, Xbox 360 gamers will be able to download Mehrunes Razor for free. This offer is only for a limited time...from Dec. 22 to Dec. 31. On Monday, Jan. 1 it will go back to its standard price.

Free content that will make me dust off a game I haven't touched in a few months. Exactly what should happen with downloadable content. Or perhaps a "toll road" system should be put in place. After so many months downloadable content should just become free. Which means by now you should be able to download that horse armor for free!

Speaking of free downloadable content, here comes another release:

Santa Monica, CA - December 20, 2006 - Pack up and get ready to move out! Activision, Inc. announced plans today to release two waves of Call of Duty 3 multiplayer maps after the holidays: the Bonus Map (free) and the Valor Map Pack (800 Microsoft points). The Bonus Map, named "Champs," will take players to Port Royal de Champs, France for classic Call of Duty infantry-based combat that's great for small to medium-sized online games. The Valor Map Pack will contain five new multiplayer maps that will take players through a maze of French locales that serve up settings primed for intense close-quarters action, whether via online, split-screen or System Link play.

Three cheers for free content! Three cheers for another map for me to headshot Quint on!

Going back to portable gaming for a minute...as most of you know, the last iTunes update brought forth a games store for your 5th generation iPod. Companies are now scrambling to get titles made for that Zune-crushing portable music player and the largest one of them all is scooping up the easy stuff already.

LOS ANGELES, Calif., - December 20, 2006 - Just in time for last-minute holiday gift giving, Electronic Arts Inc. today announced the availability of two new games for the fifth generation iPod - EATM Sudoku and Royal Solitaire - two perfect stocking stuffers for anyone on your list. Beginning today, gamers on-the-go can download these two popular mobile games for play on fifth-generation iPods. All of EA's games for iPod are available for purchase through the iTunes store and can be sent as a gift using the iTunes gifting feature (www.itunes.com).

EA Sudoku and Royal Solitaire join EA's three other popular games which are already available for the fifth generation iPod - Tetris, EA Mini Golf, and EA Mahjong - which were made available on iTunes last September. With the launch of these two new brain-busting games, EA is the most prolific publisher of games for the fifth generation iPod.

"Through iTunes, the world's largest catalog for digital entertainment, EA now has a compelling and convenient way to put our mobile games into the hands of millions of iPod users throughout the world," said Mitch Lasky, senior vice president, EA Mobile.

Each of EA's games for the fifth generation iPod is custom designed for the platform to integrate naturally with its Click Wheel, ensuring a dynamic game play experience. iPod gamers can simultaneously listen to their favorite tunes during a challenging round of EA Mini Golf, while spinning and moving Tetriminos in Tetris, or during games of Royal Solitaire and EA Mahjong.

EA's games for iPod are available for fifth generation iPods and can be purchased on the iTunes store. All games retail for $4.99.

EA, do you really need to be making games like Sudoku and Mahjong for the iPod? Shouldn't you be more focused on fixing your broken games instead of putting out super-simple titles that a smaller, hungrier company would absolutely love to have? Let the little dogs eat too. I promise you EA, a small-time company won't knock you off your throne by releasing a Sudoku game for the iPod. Promise.

Pretty Images of the Week!

Quint gets a hard-on pretty much every time someone mentions Halo around him. For that reason, I am sending out a warning to you all, if you are near Quint as he is reading this article, move away from him now. What follows is a video of gameplay footage from Halo 3. This isn't the entire Brute video that was released earlier this week, but clips from it (and I believe more added). Enjoy. Down Quint...Down.

I think there should be a "no texture" option so every Brute running around looks like a McFarlane limited edition action figure. (I've still got my gold and silver Spawns around here somewhere.) Anyway, pretty rad.

Neato Easter Eggs and Big Honkin' Rumor of the Week!

What is Christmas without an Easter egg?

Do you all remember that spiffy Transformers trailer released a couple days ago? This one here? A ninja by the name of "iokua" found a sweet little Easter egg in it and sent it my way.

I'm sure this is on other sites by now, but he was the first to give me the heads up on it. Anyway, if you make it about 37 seconds into the trailer you see a closeup of the computer screen that is playing the sound back that was recorded. At the top reads "Sector Seven Org". So why not check out SectorSeven.org. A password is needed you say? At the bottom of the same screen is the phrase "takara83"; why not try it? Seems to log you on to someone's desktop, eh?

I'll let you browse around through the various buttons and folders, but pay special attention to the second folder at the top and the PDF contained within it. It mentions video game stuff. So, I'm not sure if this is a push for the movie, or a push from the video game developer, cause you know there has to be one coming, right?

Maybe this is the starting point of a new ARG? Who knows, but I'll definitely be checking back to Sector Seven over the course of the next few weeks.

Another rumor iokua sent my way was on based around the upcoming Pirates of the Caribbean MMO. A quick look to the main website reveals the upcoming title to be launching for the PC platform only. The rumor of note is this listing on Disney's hiring website looking for a console developer. Hmmmm... may you be playing this upcoming swashbuckling MMO in your living room or only in your office?

The listing is a bit old, so take it all with a helping of salt. (This could all lead up to a more kiddie-based MMO like the Virtual Magic Kingdom title already out there. Oh well.)

Holiday Wrap-Up of the Week!

So that pretty much wraps it up on my end this week. To finish off I present to you a video of people with much more talent than I. This the is the band Corporeal doing the Halo theme. (Again, back away from Quint.) The girl on violin is stupid good. Enjoy. (Oh, and I found this originally on Kotaku where I pretty much steal all my stuff from anyway. Thanks Crecente.)

I'm not at all psyched for Halo 3 at all. Not one bit....ahem.

So, until next week I wish everyone the best of luck over this holiday weekend. Here's hoping you all managed to get Wiis or PS3s or more titles for your 360 for Christmas! Until next week, back up the Christmas tree I go!

-Monki