How unlucky can one get? TimeShift, a sci-fi FPS, is a veritable ghost town when one tries to play online multiplayer over at PlayStation Network. Interestingly, I’ve had the same experience while playing The Darkness. That’s right, no one is around for anyone to play with.

Do any of you spend for downloadable map packs? There’s the “Legendary” map pack for Halo 3 coming out in a couple of weeks but it would cost you 800 points. This is equivalent to $10 if you live in the U.S., but if you’re based someplace else, you can consult this table for the corresponding cost. If you’d rather hold on to your $10 and wait for free DLC, then you’re in luck.
Halo 3’s Heroic map pack, which was first introduced last December, will be available for free on Xbox Live starting March 25th. Want to see some highlights …read more

If you think gamers are socially inept, and that they don’t mingle with the opposite gender even if they tried, think again. According to the official Xbox website, a couple met while playing Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six Lockdown.
“I just thought you might be interested to know that Mike and I met playing Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six Lockdown. Funny thing is, we hated each other at first, but somehow ended up falling in love. I was from Georgia and he was from the Bronx. On a leap of faith we met, and we have been together ever since. If it wasn’t …read more

It’s finally happened. Halo 3 has been ousted as the most played 360 game in Xbox Live. Well, it’s gotta happen sometime, we’ve figured, but I never expected this to happen barely four months after Halo 3’s release.
Interestingly, Halo 2 for the original Xbox is still the most played game in Xbox Live after almost four years.
So what’s the most-played 360 game in Xbox Live? As of January 14, Call of Duty 4 is the top banana.
There’s more: Gears of War has been ousted by Guitar Hero III. Is it possible that the Master Chief fans have decided to switch …read more

Things have been pretty slow in the news department, thanks to the impending Christmas holidays. However, when news of Turok’s Grab Bag achievement reached my ears, I just knew there was something to thrash about the upcoming dino-shooter.
Never heard of the Grab Bag? Let me enlighten you then.
This achievement may be the worst you’ve ever heard of because it rewards you 10 points for killing “at least one creature, one enemy, one teammate, and yourself in the same round of a public match.” This means you’re rewarded for being an achievement whore and killing your teammates.
The latest update is actually …read more

If you’re broke, then you probably skipped out on the new Halo 3 maps. But so what, eh? The Xbox Live Marketplace has lots of free downloads, and the latest one is Frontlines: Fuel of War, a sci-fi FPS set in the near future.
The main storyline of this new game revolves around a showdown for oil. According to Frontlines, the resource is scarce by 2024.
The demo features the second mission of the single-player game. According to a press statement, players get to try an open-world gameplay and destructible structures. Sounds like Mercenaries.

If you don’t have a life other than playing Xbox Live, then you’ve probably played Halo 3 to death by now. Fret not, Master Chief groupies! Gamerscore blog has announced that there’s a new map pack for Halo 3, and it has just been released.
You get three maps: First is the Standoff map, which has entrenched bases with fields of boulders. This map is great for mid-sized objective or Slayer matches. Next is Rat’s Nest, a huge labyrinth of passages. It’s so big you can get some indoor vehicle action.
The third is Foundry, which works great with the Forge editor. …read more

If you’ve been wallowing in technical problems and didn’t pay attention to gaming news for a week like me, then you’ll be pleasantly surprised over this update. You see, Bioshock has new downloadable content for PC and Xbox 360 gamers. The content includes new Plasmids and Tonics, achievements, interface upgrades, and is now available as free downloadable content from Xbox Live Marketplace and as part of a PC patch.
Does this mean we get new types of enemies? Aside from the motion-sickness I got from playing too much, I was also nauseated by the limited number of enemies throughout the game. …read more

Don’t get cute, Agent Zero. It looks like Gilbert Arenas, guard and outspoken (yet unofficial) mascot of the Washington Wizards, has been busted for cheating at Halo 3 in Xbox Live.

The geeks at the Halo 3 forum revealed that Gilbert racks up his rank by joining up with a friend, then have his other account quit so he gets first place every time.

More interestingly, if you check the list of multiplayer games that Agent Zero has played in, you’ll see that even while ranked first, Gilbert had no kills.

Come now, Gilbert. Is this what you do when …read more

Clifford Bleszinski, Epic Games’ superstar designer, loves Bioshock. Cliffy B. loves it so much that he considers it his game of the year. Not Halo 3 (which isn’t out yet as of this writing), not Metroid Prime 3: Corruption, or whatever AAA title that’s set to come out late 2007.

The designer then proceeds to rave about specific parts of the game that I won’t spill.

We may be days away from the onslaught of Halo 3, and the Bungie shooter may break new sales records (then again, it may not). Halo multiplayer matches may again rule Xbox Live, but …read more