Xbox LIVE Arcade’s second game in this Summer of Arcade series is Hydro Thunder Hurricane. An arcade style speed boat racing game designed as a sequel to Hydro Thunder which you might remember from your original PS/N64/dreamcast days.

Hydro Thunder

Now I’m not a huge fan of driving/racing games but I was really drawn to the graphics and the colors in this game. Like most racing games you race on tracks to earn credits to unlock new tracks and boats. There’s also a multiplayer mode. You can choose to race your friends in split screen or race over Xbox LIVE.

After being blown away by LIVE’s first game this summer, LIMBO, Hydro Thunder Hurricane left me a little disappointed. It’s a nothing special speed boat racing game. So if you are not into racing games I wouldn’t bother. If you played the original and want a game that is pretty much the same besides the upgraded graphics, go for it.

Hydro Thunder Hurricane

I am still trying to figure out how to describe this game. It’s a game that will make you feel the full range of you’re emotions. LIMBO is a puzzle game that puts you in the shoes of a little boy who wakes up in a dark forest. You are given no explanation, goal or direction.

The lack of explanation didn’t bother me, I immediately felt like I knew what I needed to do. I needed to find my way out of the forest. Easier said than done of course. Being a puzzle game, making your way through the world required you to push boxes/chains, avoid buzz-saws/giant spiders, and many other obstacles.

No need to adjust your TV, this game is in black and white. But the lack of color adds to the mystery that is the core story of this game. The same can be said for the lack of dialogue.

While it’s a game that some can complete in one sitting, others (like me) found themselves getting frustrated with some of the puzzles. This was the queue to put it down for a while. Come back with a clear mind and you’ll wonder what the hold up was.

LIMBO is the first game of Xbox LIVE’s Summer of Arcade. It certainly did not disappoint. If you want a game to challenge your mind and raise your eyebrows shell out the MP for this game. It’s well worth it.

There you have it folks the first Special Edition console using the new 360. Very fitting that it should be a Halo title. And holy crap it looks freakin awesome!

As for the specs… via kotaku.com

The bundle will be available on Sept. 14, when Halo: Reach also launches. It will cost $399. It includes the standard Xbox 360 S configuration inside the Limited Edition, UNSC-stamped silver housing, the two silver controllers, and the game.

To add to awesomeness there are also Halo-ish sounds accompanying the console according to Xbox LIVE’s Major Nelson.

So if you love Halo and want the full on Halo Reach experience, you might want to start saving up those pretty pennies.

In an Xbox press release today…

The fate of Carmine lies in your hands! For the first time in franchise history, Epic Games and Microsoft are giving fans the chance to decide the fate of a character in “Gears of War 3.” By purchasing avatar gear on Xbox LIVE Marketplace, fans and gaming communities around the globe will decide the destiny of the newest Carmine brother set to appear in “Gears of War 3,” with all the proceeds going to the Child’s Play Charity.

What an awesome way to get the gaming community involved with a game. Not only that, it supports a great cause! Personally I plan to purchase the “Save Carmine” shirt. Don’t you think that family has been through enough?

The official price for Xbox 360′s motion control peripheral was released yesterday. Kinect, as expected, will set gamers back $150 and will include the launch title Kinect Adventures.

For those new to the Xbox 360 party there will be a $299 console bundle on the release of the sensor. The bundle will include the redesigned 360, Kinect, and Kinect Adventures. The console will not include a 250GB hard drive but will include 4GB of internal memory.

According to IGN.com the sans-hard drive console will not have the shiny finish of the more expensive version but will include the other features such as the built in WiFi.

Also if you haven’t heard, the new Kinect games will be packaged in purple cases.

Via Dictionary.com

–noun

1. reputation or influence arising from success, achievement, rank, or other favorable attributes.

2. distinction or reputation attaching to a person or thing and thus possessing a cachet for others or for the public

–adjective

3. having or showing success, rank, wealth, etc.

Back in the good old days of Call of Duty 4 a definition like that would be attached to the prestige process of COD. These days when it comes to WaW or MW2 no way. I spent my weekend carving out a good chunk of my 5^th prestige in WaW. I have never received more 10^th lobby messages in my life.

People really have no respect for what prestige actually stands for. They hack their way to the top and then what? So they can say they’re 10^th prestige? It’s worth nothing if you don’t earn it. I don’t care if “everyone does it” or it’s a “broken game”. Those who hack 10^th are part of the “broken game” problem.

I thought I would be safe from many of those hackers in WaW, and while there are less gameplay issues there are still plenty of hackers. It’s sad to get on a team of 10^th hackers and lose. They don’t have the actual skill behind the rank they failed to earn. I’ll take a team of non-prestige over a team of 10^th hackers any day.

Here’s a little something you might find in the MP map Underpass on MW2

I’m assuming it real/official since Fourzerotwo posted it on his blog yesterday with this to say

As far as I’m concerned, thats what you get for banging someone’s door.

Highly amusing.

EDIT: Word on the street is that it’s a fake, still pretty funny though.

Look familiar? If you pre-ordered Black Ops at GameStop it should. It’s the free poster they gave away when you put your five bucks down.

Personally I love this image and when I saw the poster I hoped it would be the cover art. Come November that poster hanging on the door of my room will be another epic COD game.

I’m not going to lie, I will miss 1 vs 100. It was a great concept and always a good time. I mean I never made it into the “100″ or got to be the “1″ but I still had fun playing.

Getting gamers together to answer trivia for reall prizes in a LIVE game setting is a pretty cool idea. 1 vs 100 was a new step towards getting gamers from all ages and game types to come together. You could get the whole family to join in and compete or team up.

Hopefully we’ll see other games try to do what 1 vs 100 did.

Statement from Dave McCarthy

When we started on this journey, we knew we were creating an entirely new genre of entertainment that would be a continually evolving concept. We’re very proud of the ‘1 vs 100′ team and their accomplishments, and are excited to apply what we’ve learned to future programming.

For those of you out there who have no need for a 250GB hard drive but would love to get your hands on the new Xbox 360 it looks like there’s something on the way for you.

A listing on Amazon Germany was spotted by ign.com for a 4GB Xbox360 Arcade. The memory will most likely be in the form of a usb stick. Very few details are included in this listing but the console will run you $199 and could be released as soon as the end of this Summer.