This week in gaming we take a look at who did well in sales Thanksgiving week, we enjoy the delightfully classic Serious Sam remake on the PC, and we take a look at the power Microsoft has over gamers with the threat of Xbox Live bans. Mario Bros. Wii goes high-definition, ECA slips up with membership cancellations, and $5 gets you nudity in a new release. Welcome to the week in gaming.
Wii, PS3 crow over Thanksgiving success, Microsoft silent: Both Nintendo and Sony were proud of their Thanksgiving sales, but Microsoft only offered clues about its retail performance. We're still a few days away from the official results from the NPD Group, but sales of both the Wii and PlayStation 3 were strong. The console wars drag on.EA restructures Battlefied: Heroes pricing; fans enraged: EA changed the pricing on Battlefield: Heroes weapons and widgets, and now you either have to grind for hours a day to play competitively... or get out your wallet. Becoming what you used to make fun of is a bad business strategy, and gamers are threatening to leave the title en masse.
Seriously dumb: a port of Serious Sam remains a must-buy: A multitude of enemies attack you at once. You can't regenerate your health. You barely have to take your finger off the trigger of your current weapon. Yes, Serious Sam is back, and the game play remains fun, with updated graphics. For $20, we think this is a great buy.
Microsoft: difference between cheat, exploit? None. Banned!: Microsoft controls your hardware, your software, and your access to content on the Xbox 360. With gamers being banned over the use of an exploit in Modern Warfare 2, we look at what this level of granular control may mean for the future of gaming, and how it could impede innovation.
Hardcore F1 Racing comes to the Wii? Ars reviews F1 2009: It has been a long time since gamers had a Formula One game to play, and Codemasters, along with Sumo Digital, does a wonderful job of working around the limitations of the Nintendo Wii. Fans in the mood for something substantial are also in luck: a version is in the works for the PS3 and Xbox 360.