Another huge gaming festival, another huge Metal Gear Solid trailer. The time of the year means it is time for TGS, and after months of waiting we get a new Metal Gear Solid trailer. Well, infact two. That’s right. Trailers for both Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots and Metal Gear Solid Portable Ops are available.

You can view the MGS4 trailer [url=http://www.gamer365.hu/show-article.php?id=163&news]here[/url] and download the Portable Ops trailer [url=http://www.gamer365.hu/show-article.php?id=175&news]here[/url].

Enjoy!

If you were one of the lucky ones to score a 360 at launch you may have had some issues with that console and may have even paid to get it repaired. While that does in fact suck, Microsoft has come to terms with the fact that a batch of the initial run of 360s did have a higher than normal defect rate. As such, any consoles made before Jan 1, 2006 are eligible for free repairs. Those of you that paid for repairs should be eligible for a refund.

I think this is a great move for Microsoft, but it took them a little too long to realize those machines had issues.

A while back Sony was struck with a tough decision on whether or not to include HDMI in the low end version of the PS3. After all, the last thing you want to do is be accused of forcing people to pay for a feature they may or may not want… This caused a huge uproar in the gaming community. What good is HD gaming and Blu-Ray without HDMI?

Sony must have heard the uproar as they announced in the Keynote today that all levels of the PS3 would be getting the digital HDMI ports. I think this is a smart move on Sony’s part and I am glad to see that they listened to the consumers on this issue.

Another interesting point that Ken talked about at the Keynote was that they dropped the price of the 20GB (think Core system) version of the system for the Japanese region only. The console was originally priced at 62,790 yen and was lowered to 49,980 yen. [url=http://www.xe.com/ucc/convert.cgi?Amount=49980&From=jpy&To=usd]XE Currenty Converter[/url] shows that as a $110 price drop. Of course this has sent the industry analysts into a frenzy about what a pre-release drop will mean to losses and sales and all that jazz.

The consensus coming out of TGS so far is that the presentation was a focused technological discussion and didn’t introduce any new products. This was a strategic move in a time when Sony needs to ramp up the momentum to launch. We will see how that plays out for them.

When I wake up in the morning my Inbox is generally full of Press Releases from various PR companies. Some of these PR companies specialize in sending out releases for anyone willing to pay them a few bucks. This is more the exception than the rule as far as the emails that I get, but one email arrived this morning that peaked my interest. It was titled “Gamers Want Unlimited Free Game Downloads, New Web Site Delivers”. I would tend to agree with that statement so I figured I would give it a read. The email goes on to talk about a new website that is offering downloads of games, movies, songs, and tv shows to members of the site. This is a legal site that someone is actually advertising through the use of Press Releases?

[quote]”We give gamers what they want — unlimited free downloads,” said Tim Foss, owner of the site. “These are complete games, not demos. We offer legal software from a massive list of games, as well as music, DVD copy and backup software, MP3 players, CD burning software, online music search, lyrics, Internet radio, popup and spyware removers, and much more.”

“You will find all of the latest tools for accessing the largest file networks on the planet plus some new methods using special web sites and networks. Members have access to the necessary tools to search and download all kinds of files for your Xbox 360. Basically, you will be able to find whatever you need for your Xbox 360. This includes movies, software, games and much more,” explained Foss.[/quote]

The site claims to offer games for all current and next gen platforms. They are currently advertising an introductory special of “free” membership to take a quick survey, which happened to be some sort of credit score thing that requires a credit card as proof of ID. I am fresh out of credit cards I want to give to anonymous people and don’t have a quick way to get a prepaid card for verification purposes so I haven’t signed up… yet.

The original email claims that you can download Xbox 360 games and use the software provided to members to transfer them to your 360 from your PC. The fee you pay is a one time membership fee and not a subscription and they offer a 60 day full refund guarantee for those of you not getting in on this “free offer”.

Obviously I am curious what the catch is or what it is that they are actually peddling so I fired off an email and obvious Microsoft has no official comment at the present time. We will follow up with this interesting new website if it is in fact legit and makes it through the night.

The site address for interested parties is [url=http://www.officialmoviedownloads.com/x-box-360-downloads/]here[/url], but I would exercise caution and not sign up unless identity theft is your idea of a fun time or unless someone verifies that this is a legit venture.