Achievement Junkie - Nelson and Natalie News

The Xbox 360 wins the holiday console battle by a nose, Nelson gets in touch with his secret feelings and you get one more way to try out Halo 3. German ratings overseers protect gamers from their own evil thoughts and the Microsoft game Crackdown. The repair report turns to rumors, as a dark, grainy photo ignites speculation about an upgraded 360 in development. This week we reveal how you want to be a better gamer, and ask: What in the hell goes into your decision to buy a new game?

Today is crack day on the podcast: Microsoft pimps Halo 3 beta invites for Crackdown, a hacker claims he cracked copy protection for HD DVDs and a forum post cracks a secret code behind downloadable content. In the repair report, hearts were broken and lives nearly destroyed when Live matchmaking died this Wednesday night. The rumor mill gets a Virtua Fighter correction and a new Merc 2 rumor. And this week we look at your wishlist games and we ask: how can you be a better gamer in 2007?

A leading developer says Gears of War is too simple, but also good for the industry. Thieves and developers who liked the PS3 are forced to pick the Xbox 360 as their backup plan. Nelson continues the weekly repair report, and we run a list of games we'd love to see get made. As usual we also cover what's new in stores, new on the site, and new in the hearts and minds of our listeners.

This week's theme is "YOU WIN SOME, YOU LOSE SOME", with Xbox 360 struggling in Japan but winning in the US, and our results at the Xbox Community awards. We introduce a new "Repair Report", and talk about the future of user created games. In other news: Halo 3 beta codes were up for sale (naughty, naughty) and the backwards compatibility list gets an update.

Nelson's 360 is back from the dead, but is it really his? Microsoft takes the Xbox 360 south and expects huge worldwide sales this year. We wonder whether there is any room for gaming on television. An analyst predicts bad times ahead for EA. Halo 3's beta signup disappoints some, and we serve up a hot helping of the usual marketplace news, with a side of listener mail.

Natalie interviewed Popcap Games founder John Vechey about developing for the arcade and the fun new game Heavy Weapon. Nelson's dad returns to help him through a tragedy. Xbox 360 production costs drop, and it could be good for 360 buyers next year. Microsoft also warns Live account fakers to "keep it real". You may now begin camping for Halo 3, and if that's not enough, enjoy our new logo and your very own listener mail.

Microsoft celebrated Xbox 360’s first birthday with the launch of the Video Marketplace, but it still has some growing up to do. Are you being watched? We discuss the dark side of friend’s lists. Small Arms rocks the Xbox Live Arcade. Playstation 3 missed its launch numbers, in more ways than one, which might be good news for Sony fans. The Xbox 360 is selling too many games and that might be bad news for Microsoft. PLUS: listener mail!

Call of Duty 3 had a rough week, while Gears of War had a damn good one and Natalie admits to a GroWing problem. PS3 launches to crowds of campers and ebay sellers and the HD-DVD drive mates with a PC. Bungie announces that Halo 3 is getting closer to your hot little hands while Spartans could be getting pretty in pink. We end the show with stuff in stores, stuff on the marketplace, stuff on the site, and the lovely and talented listener mail. (45:58)

HD downloads are real and Nelson gets help to deal with being wrong. A lawsuit claims that a Dead or Alive Xtreme 2 designer was hard at work... and there are screenshots and game details to prove it. Gears of War has arrived, but not so easily for everyone, and one user shares a mini-review that might surprise you. Meanwhile, Microsoft says they want in with casual gamers (see Natalie, don't feel bad). We also shine a light on some new games, nearly forgotten in the shadow of Gears. We end today's experiment with site features, marketplace content and - "the voice of the people" - listener mail.

Microsoft faces a tiny catch-22 with the recent success of the HD-DVD drive and we celebrate All Halo’s eve with Halo 3 news (yeah, we couldn’t resist a stupid Halloween joke). Microsoft also casts a suspicious eye on Xbox 360 modders. A nearly forgotten WWII shooter tries to jump back on the bandwagon it built. Finally, a good game gets better with a developer fix. And we complete our story arc with game announcements, site features, and the voice of the people, literally, when FCR Hotshot becomes our first listener voicemail contributor.

Microsoft spoke about many things last week, from getting dissed by Hollywood, to 100GB hard drive rumors. An online game retailer is closing shop and pointed an angry finger at Sony. Natalie threw her first Uno party for podcast listeners but first experienced the horror of the vision cam. The game that stole Nelson’s heart is now delayed until late 2007. We’ll also cover new releases, demos and international news. And put a cherry on top, called listener mail.

Some surprises this week for the Xbox 360, one in particular that sparked an angry fanboy attack. Gears of War flirts with, then rejects a big rumor and German censors punish Gears with a mean face. If you’re downloading some premium content right now, we ask you to stop everything and think it over while we get down and dirty with the darkside of micro-transactions. As always, we cover some general news items, Microsoft stats, and listener mail. As a finishing move, Natalie asks for your help and invites you to a private party. (46:00)

This week, we go over some specific game news for several titles that begin with the letter G. We also point out some ways that you can win free sh** - both for the lazy and the hard working. The inevitable strange news items and big announcements make their way onto our show, including another gamerscore scheme and Microsoft's desire to get your mom to climb onto their big old bus. Finally, we whip out our listener mail, and answer some questions about Gears and Burger King. (48:50)

This week we look at three disturbing business models being aimed at Xbox Live. We make up for a brush-off last week, by focusing on some Gears of War news. We rundown the week's new trailers, screenshots and demos, and we go over release dates, international news, and a strange promotional campaign. Finally, we end the party with listener mail.

X06 invades the planet and nearly takes over our brains. We discuss the good the bad and the surprising that came out of Microsoft's Barcelona conference this week, focusing on downloadable previews, demos and big product announcements. We stretch the show by a few minutes to include listener mail. Finally, Eric Bush joins us for a review of Lego Star Wars II.