I'm pretty sure Rare kept their IP (before they were bought by Microsoft). Goldeneye was different, because it was a movie license, but I think they took the Perfect Dark IP with them to MS.

Wait, a new Perfect Dark game? Or is the previously-released version being made available through Live?

The previous version was a good game, you know. It wasn't any special, but it had its moments. It was my first 'real' game (I don't count Dead or Alive 4, or whatever it was, that I won with the 360).

The N64 one.

No way! Fantastic. Neutron bombs ahoy.

I just finished Resident Evil 4 on the PS2 (got it for Xmas).

Great stuff, and you have the option of buying a rocket launcher with infinite ammo when you restart (although you need 1,000,000 credits to buy it).

The unlocked sub-games are very good too...

I better get started on Resident Evil Code: Veronica X...

Any luck finding the cable, Michael?

It's only hearsay, but things aren't sounding good for LA Noire, a title I was really looking forward to.

Got to play the demo of Dante's Inferno (yes, really) last night. I don't know whether I should laugh at the premise or admire the developers for the stones it took to take on a literary classic (and completely eviscerate it, by the looks of things).

Disappointing first impressions. Graphics aren't much better than what you'd have expected to see on a console from the beginning of the last decade while the gameplay was depressingly simple and repetitive (press the attack button repeatedly, basically).

One much-touted aspect of the gameplay involves the ability to "absolve" enemies of their sins as opposed to killing them which means you gain health or skills points. What this amounts to in the game is that you press RT to grab an opponent, then repeatedly press X to absolve them and gain their power. While doing this, every other enemy stands back and lets you proceed while you develop a blister on your right thumb. It also has the unwelcome effect of killing the tension and immediacy of combat stone-dead. What were they thinking?

Doesn't sound enticing.

Bioshock 2 on the other hand...out today?

4 player co-op? A narrative better than the original? Would you kindly buy me a copy?

Got sent Dante's Inferno yesterday - quite like it but increadably shallow. It seems like this year everybody wants to copy God Of War before it's released (see also: Darksiders). Quite enjoying it though.

Bioshock 2 should turn up today, useless PRs pending. Gushing review on the Guardian Games Blog yesterday. In two minds about it, looking forward to it but never saw what the big deal was with the first one.

AvP due this week. Anyone else tried the demo? Thought it was dire...

Nobody's playing Mass Effect 2?

Ginger Yellow wrote:
Nobody's playing Mass Effect 2?

I'll be picking it up along with AvP in the next couple of weeks or so.

Think AvP is out on Friday week, actually? Hope I'm wrong - I'm really looking forward to it. I got a play of the demo as the Alien and it's... well, fast. Didn't play it long enough to develop any real impression.

Have played, and finished on Sunday, Mass Effect 2. Best game on the 360, an absolute masterpiece. Seems to be converting those who disliked the first one too. Everything tightened up and improved, stronger better edited story lines and less glitchy (bar still-terrible and frequent loading times). I didn't get chance to pull the Krogan though.

Maybe dire was too harsh, but I thought the demo looked awful. Had a go with the Predator, and it just felt so simplistic. Nothing to dislodge Halo/ COD players there at all.

TO be honest though, I thought the Bayonetta demo (among others) was average, yet the full game itself was amazing.

The Dante's Inferno demo was one of the first things I tried when I got my Xbox hooked up to Xbox Live. I was appalled, to be honest. Seriously, clearly inferior to the Prince of Persia games on the previous generation of console. Really horrific controls, and I hated the storyline.

Only the demo, mind, so not conclusive or anything.

I'm playing Mirror's Edge now, which is hugely entertaining but I don't think will have a lot of longevity. Great buzz when you string together four or five moves over a couple of rooftops, brutally terminated when you miss your footing and fall 50m to your death.

I've finished most of Fallout 3, but there's still a couple of the DLCs to play through. Point Lookout was great, but I'm taking a bit of time out from it. I think I've got Ghoul Exhaustion. Generally, a bloody excellent game though.

The version of AvP that came out of the PC years ago (might have been 2001 or even earlier) was quite good, I found. The single player campaigns tended to be on the short side was the only problem but the night-vision sections of the Marine character were fantastic.

My last 48 hours have been dominated buy this great iPhone MMO called Turf Wars.

Turf Wars

Currently playing Solium Infernum, an offbeat turn-based strategy game where you play a demon jockeying against five others to succeed Lucifer as boss of Hell. I'm in two PBEM games, which is something I've not done for ages. It's very intriguing, actively encouraging all manner of sneaky behaviour by players.

There's lots of stuff about the game on Rock Paper Shotgun, which is where I found out about it. Really nice artwork and baroque Hell atmosphere.

Oh, awesome. I've been holding off buying SI because I only had one other person to play it with and the AI is rubbish. I didn't realise any OTFers (other than Raskolnikov) would be into it.

As delicatemoth suggests, anyone at all interested in turn based strategy should check out the game diaries at RPS

I'm currently bashing on with MW2 (even though I've completed it, I'm trying to beat everything) and Forza 3 on my brand-new HDTV. I don't know how I managed with SD, now.