In an age of gaming where developers come up with schemes to milk us gamers of our hard earned cash comes yet another method. Mircosoft has announce price hikes on their Xbox Live users as follows:

Starting Nov 1, 2010

1Month Gold:  $9.99

3 Month Gold:  $24.99

12 Month Gold:  $59.99

All is not lost however as Mircosoft will be merciful to their loyal fans. If you re-subscribe before Nov.1 You will get the current rates for a Live subscription.

All this being said. Why the increase? Mircosoft is quiet on this matter but does say,  “We’re confident that when the new pricing takes effect, an Xbox LIVE Gold membership will continue to offer the best value in the industry.”  My opinion on that is PC gaming has the best value as Steam and most other online gaming programs and platforms are FREE!

Don’t believe the horrible news look for yourself here.

Interested in more of this  strange concept of free online gaming? Check out the HCG Geek Attack Cast. We won’t charge you.

The VANQUISH™ Official Demo: Velocity Attack, allows players to choose one level from the two levels of difficulty (Casual or Normal) available. Taking on the role of Sam, a United States government agent kitted out with a futuristic ARS battle suit, players are vying for ownership of the planet’s remaining energy resources against Russia on board a huge space station. On entering the third port lobby of the space station, numerous enemy robots are being brought in by dropships.  Players have a huge arsenal of weaponry and upgrades at their disposal, as well as the ability to hijack “Walkers”, or use the suits unique Boost and AR mode to take down the robots. The demo climaxes with the formidable boss, Argus which you will need to use all your skills acquired throughout the demo to defeat.

Already prestige’d level 10 in Modern Warfare 2? Ready for more COD action? I know I am. This new multiplayer video for Call of Duty: Black Ops speaks for itself. Be sure and watch the very end! There will be built in video saves like in Halo 3! Get it for yourself in November.

Check out the video here

Faery: Legends of Avalon is a Role Playing / Adventure game packed with an original and unique atmosphere, and a graphics design close to illustration. The game immerses players in a fantasy world inhabited by many colourful characters and magical creatures.

In Faery: Legends of Avalon, the player plays as an elf or a fairy that will evolve during the story, through numerous quests and epic turn-based battles. Throughout the adventure, the player will customize his avatar thanks to a unique system changing not only the whole look of the character in every detail, but also its spells and special abilities! The player will recruit various companions during his journey to assist him in his mission, and he will be given the chance to explore mythical places full of magic such as the World Tree, the famous ‘Flying Dutchman’ ghost ship, and many others, in order to try to understand why the Kingdom of Avalon is dying.

While I soaked up the sun at Myrtle Beach this week, the annual Electronic Entertainment Expo kicked off in Los Angeles, revealing lots of gaming goodies to the masses. You’re probably well aware of the big ones, but some announcements may have slipped through the cracks. Here’s a brief rundown of the E3 info that you may want—or even need—to know. (more…)

Microsoft via Major Nelson announced recently that Natal is now Kinect.  Apparently keeping with the “kewl” krowd the aptly named Kinect focus on konnecting with others while using kinetics.  Now only if they allow us to play Mortal Kombat with it we can have all the krazy “k’s” in our Xbox.  M$ also announced the launch lineup for Kinect including a driving game, a pet simulator and light saber game.  What do you think about Kinect?  Is this something you will pick up on day one or will you wait awhile?

You can see the usual Xbox 360 box art banner above. Say goodbye, dear readers, because Microsoft is preparing to replace it. With what? you ask.

Behold! This is the dawn of a new era, of a bold new direction, of oh let’s face it this is kind of lame. But there you have it, folks. If you check out the Amazon pages for Kane and Lynch 2 or Mafia II you can see the new banner in action (although the latter game only shows the new art on the Collector’s Edition for some strange reason). Let us know what you think.

Remember all of the doofy fun you had with Earthworm Jim back on the ye olde Sega Genesis and Super Nintendo? Have you ever said to yourself: “Man, I’d love to go back and play that again, but I don’t wanna drag out my Genesis/SNES…” Well folks, Xbox Live Arcade has got your back.

Earthworm Jim HD will be heading to XBLA as a timed exclusive later this year, with a PSN release to follow. In addition to a full high-def overhaul, the game will also receive new levels and 4-player co-op shenanigans. If that isn’t enough to excite you, consider this: Keyboard Cat makes an appearance. Seriously.

As promised, here’s a quick rundown of games I’ve recently played. Some were reviewed here; some were not. I won’t write a full review for the unreviewed games, but I’ll try to be as specific about what I liked and didn’t like as possible.

Mass Effect 2

Though I was knee-deep in homework at the time of Mass Effect 2‘s release, I couldn’t pass up the chance to play the sequel to one of my favorite games of this console generation. I’m glad I did, as ME2 ups the ante in every possible way, making for the best sequel to any game. The control is tighter; the combat is more focused and a lot smoother; the AI is smarter; the story is longer and more character-driven; and the graphics will blow you away—and without any texture pop-in to boot. The DLC leaves something to be desired, but that’s a minor complaint. I can’t to see where Commander Shepard and his crew go from here. (more…)