Well, Microsoft just finished their E3 conference, and it was a doozy.  I’ve got a couple of articles to put up, but I’ll start with the story that has me the most excited.  First reported at Major Nelson’s Twitter page and followed by a post over at XBox 360 Fanboy, speculation has finally ceased.  The official announcement came that Netflix is partnering with Microsoft to bring content to XBox Live.

The only details that have come out are that you need both an XBox Live account and a Netflix account.  The actual viewing service will be a free extension.  What isn’t clear is if you need a Gold account, or if a Silver will get you buy.  My guess would be that you need to go Gold.  I would also imagine that you’ll need a hard drive for the buffering of the video.

Still, there are a ton of people on XBox Live who have Netflix accounts and this will be a beautiful thing.  I’m running on a home theater PC that goes out to my tv, but this would get much better video quality.  It really will help me get the most out of my Netflix subscription!

I’ve said in the past that I’ve read reports of the PS3 version being at best difficult and annoying and unplayable at its worst.  Well, Kotaku has posted a video that they found at Game Videos that actually does side-by-side comparisons of the game between both consoles.

From the looks of that video, I can’t go with those who say it’s unplayable.  I will say that the PS3 version is noticeably more jerky in spots.  If you’re a PS3 owner and don’t have a 360 as well, I still think you should pick this up because its phenomenal in every way, but you definitely have my sympathy as Valve should have had better quality control for this release.  It deserves to look better than that.

While you’re waiting for our episodes to come back along with new ones (any time now, I promise), check out my picks for good games that are worth checking out along with a link to the complete list.

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Wow, when I was looking at the XBLA list this past week, I was surprised to see no Streets of Rage on it.  Well, low and behold, it is now on the Live Arcade.  Streets of Rage 2 appeared this morning and it is only 400 points.  Makes it really worth while.  One game I would definitely say go and pick up, I most excitedly did.  Also available is Super Puzzle Fighter II Turbo HD Remix for 800 points.  (Wow, what a mouthful).  Those of you who were fans of the original game will enjoy the updated graphics and enhanced gameplay.  I did the demo of Puzzle this morning also, I must say I was impressed.

Awhile back we saw the guy that modded his PS3 into a grill.  Well now let me introduce you to the 360 cook top.  And the best thing about it, no modding or experience needed.  All you need to do is open up your 360 and away you go.

Man, I am almost sure that tasted nasty.  And how do you sanitize your cooking environment?

We have all heard the news regarding what is the real price for Rock Band and it’s peripherals, well it looks like we have a bit of news regarding the bundle.  The bundle is showing a price of $199 (no official price has been announced yet) and comes with a guitar, drums, and a mic.  And this is where it gets interesting.  An article on Joystiq, it is revealed that the 360 bundle will have a wired guitar, while the PS3 version will include a wireless guitar for the same price.  It is also to be noted that the extra guitar for the PS3 is only listed @ $59.99 while the 360 is listed for $79.99.  What all this means and the actual final pricing is yet to be seen, but definitely makes the PS3 version more desirable to me right now.

So, most of us have experienced the joy of your 360 taking a little peaceful nap in the middle of gaming.  Unfortunately, there are those who have experienced it a bit more than others.  Have no fear, G4 is here.  Well, not exactly, but they did make a pretty hilarious video about it.  Enter the band Distended Warranty and there new single “Red Ring of Death”.  Hey, you got to have fun with this crap somehow, otherwise, you just end up throwing you 360 through something and maybe someone at the same time.  For whatever reason, their embed code isn’t working, so I am just going to post the link directly to it.  Enjoy.

G4TV

A little classic Sega anyone? Oh yeah.

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So, I picked up Madden last night not expecting much. I popped it in and was pleasantly surprised.

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The list says it was updated in July, but nobody really picked up on it.  The heartbreaker on this list is Marvel vs. Capcom 2.  If I had seen this list before today, I probably wouldn’t have ebayed it.  D’OH!  If you want to see the full list, you can see it here.  Hit the jump if you just want to see the highlights along with my thoughts.  Overall, it’s a pretty decent update.

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That’s right, tomorrow!  Joystiq has reported the fact that Microsoft will be dropping the price on all three XBox 360’s effective tomorrow, August 8th.  Hit the jump for all the details.

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Oh yes. Remember that time Sony had a bunch of excellent exclusives? Those were the days. Even Snake is pimping himself out to Microsoft. That’s right, according to this months issue of Official XBox Magazine, Metal Gear Solid 4 will be hitting the 360 a few months after it is released on the PS3. I think it may have been a console mover for Sony if it had remained exclusive but now, I think most people won’t mind waiting.

A few years ago, Pepsi had a contest with iTunes where you could win a free iTunes song if there was a code in the cap.  Whether it was known or not, there was a way to tell if your cap would get you a song or not.  The design of the bottle let you tilt it at a certain angle and see if you won a song 100% of the time.  What does this have to do with Microsoft?  Hit the jump to find out if your XBox will be stricken with the Red Ring of Death.

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Ok, so this has been in speculation for a while now, but it seems pretty well confirmed.  In a couple of ads, the 360 is being shown with a nice little price drop right around the time Madden 08 releases.  This comes from ads posted on Joystiq (good ole Joystiq) and also CheapAssGamer (you have to register on log-in to view the post on it).  If you remember, it was CAG that first exposed the PS3 price drop (yeah, that’s what it was, a price drop), so this is pretty big.  The ads shown are from Circuit City (which, by the way, shows the drop on ALL 360 systems), Wal-Mart, and Toys-R-Us.  One thing that makes this interesting is it now brings the Core 360 well within Wii range which could give people something to think about.  The Circuit City ad also shows that you get Rockstar’s Table Tennis for free with the purchase.  Pretty tempting, but I must point out that we do match at Game Crazy and you also get 12 free rentals when you purchase a system from us (just don’t forget the ad).  Shameless plug, I know, but you get them in when you can.

See, just like I said, once I open my mouth, Microsoft does a price drop on the 360 and the HD.  Maybe I should do some articles about a Lexus or something.

So, remember how it was first reported that there would be no online co-op in Halo 3? Well, now Bungie is saying yes there will be. Maybe they heard our show and we made them realize the error of their ways… but more likely it was the millions of pissed off gamers.

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