Hi, my name is Shawn and I’m a recovering Magic-aholic.

Magic is like paper crack to me. I find it consumes my life when I’m playing it. It becomes my goal in life, I will forsake food, personal hygiene and even intimate relations when I’m on a bender. It’s a sad part of my life but I thought it was behind me.

Struggling through Magic addiction is a daily challenge. I fight to avoid the Magic cards at the grocery, I refused the free Magic tournaments at the local game store. I’d been clean for almost a year when it happened.

I’m ashamed to admit my weakness but here, amongst a gathering of others with my problem I feel relieved to admit it. I had a moment of weakness and I slipped up. It wasn’t with that shiny foil packaging, I wasn’t huddled in the alley behind the game store.. no, I gave in to Magic last in my home and there was no physical evidence left afterward, just a note on my bank account for the purchase of 2500 Microsoft points. ( I only needed 800, but I wanted some extras on hand to buy cards later)

There is something so insidious about the digital version. It’s too perfect a translation in fact. While currently I can’t sidle up to the counter and pay for my next fix of booster packs and I don’t have access to the thousands of cards in my physical library I have little doubt the masterminds behind my addiction already have the plan for my digital downfall in the works.

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Sumthing Else Music Works is bringing the Banjo-Kazooie: Nuts and Bolts soundtrack out to videogame music fans everywhere.

The Banjo-Kazooie: Nuts & Bolts Original Soundtrack features original musical compositions by Robin Beanland (Killer Instinct, Conker’s Bad Fur Day), Grant Kirkhope (Banjo-Kazooie, Banjo-Tooie) and David Clynick (Perfect Dark, Perfect Dark Zero).

The Banjo Kazooie: Nuts & Bolts OST will be available at retail stores June 30 as well as for digital download on Sumthing Digital www.sumthingdigital.com and iTunes.

This weekend Xbox has hooked up with Linkin Park to offer gamers a shot at playing frontman Mike Shinoda at Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen. For your chance to Game With Fame with Mike Shinoda of Linkin Park, Xbox LIVE gold members should send a friend request to Gamertag Mike Linkinpark and be online Friday June 26th 30 minutes before the 4:00 pm EST (1:oo pm PST) start time. You can also follow the game on Twitter.

Linkin Park contributed “What I’ve Done” off their Minutes to Midnight album to the original Transformers live action movie. Their new hit single “New Divide” is on the Revenge of the Fallen soundtrack.

More details from the press release follow the break.

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One of this weeks’ Xbox Live release hint at a coming “nerdpocalypse”.

I say this in the nicest terms of course as a fan of said instrument of destruction. The long rumored Xbox version of Wizards of the Coast’s popular trading card game is available on Micrsoft’s Online service Wednesday June 17, 2009.

Magic the Gathering: Duals of the Planeswalkers recreates the game using virtual cards for a mere 800 Microsoft Points. Purchasers also get a code to claim a free foil card - Garruk Wildspeaker. Luckily the title features eight included dueling decks and a multitude of game modes including single-player, co-op custom and campaign modes.

Duels of the Planeswalkers also allows you to play against others via the service, customize your decks and I’d imagine get on the virtual paper crack train as updates to the game are released in future DLC sealed packs. (Though technically I don’t see an official mention of DLC for the game anywhere I’d bet if it sells well Wizards will be quick to capitalize on its popularity.. and face it they have 20 years of cards they could convert and sell to old timers like me - and the Xbox site mentions Content Downloads)

Duels of the Planeswalkers might just reintroduce the addiction to lapsed or recovering Magic players worldwide. I know it would rank right up there next to Rock Band 2 DLC for me in splitting my disposable income.  Especially since it appears to handle more than 2 players in a competition.. my preferred form of Magic.

I plan to download the title soon so look for a review in an upcoming edition of The Analog Gamer.

There’s a new spin on the rumor that Microsoft’s Project Natal for the Xbox 360 doesn’t work for everyone. The peripheral free motion control system based on near infrared technology was demonstrated at E3 2009. In a live Paradise demo, media personality N’Gai Croal was unable to steer his car with his hands although his foot controls worked fine.

VGChartz has put a new angle on this conspiracy theory. Author Jacob Mazel cites an article published in the Journal of Clinical Monitoring and Computing in 2005 on Reliability of Near-Infrared Spectroscopy in People With Dark Skin Pigmentation to support his theory that Microsoft knew the prototype Natal system had trouble distinguishing N’Gai’s motions because of his melanin rich skin. He says he saw N’Gai later that day wearing light colored shoes. He believes this is the reason the Natal demo was so restricted and videos demos of black celebrities trying out the system, like the one following the break, were shown.

The glitch experienced during his demo could have been a known problem that Microsoft couldn’t avoid because of N’Gai’s re pore with the Games Industry. It could also have been a fluke in an otherwise well tested system…

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The rumor mill is chewing on a possible price drop for the PS3 this August to kick off EA’s latest Madden game. Unnamed inside sources have indicated to Industrygamers‘ James Brightman that “industry sources indicate Sony is planning a $100 price cut on the PS3 in mid-August, just prior the launch of Madden (8/18) and the start of the back to school shopping season. This will naturally be a positive for the industry.”

Those of you holding their breath with me at the end of Sony’s E3 2009 presentation only to be disappointed shouldn’t give up on seeing a PS3 price drop this year. At least PSP fans should be getting a price break on games and just more games altogether because of the PSP development kit price break announced at the press conference.

I could be paranoid, but I suspect there may be other reasons Sony is holding firm on the price of its overly expensive gaming console.

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Just in the nick of time we’re posting the embed for the Microsoft Live streaming coverage for Today’s Microsoft Press Briefing at E3. Follow the jump and you can watch the whole thing live, followed shortly by the GT opinions. Liveblogged below the embed… so open a second window to see and make comments so you don’t lose the stream if you’re watching “live”.

Thanks to the folks at G4TV for the JustinTV link. Read the full article »

The latest details and version release dates for Windows Vista Service Pack 2 are up on Tech ARP. The latest patch for the troubled Vista OS also applies to Windows Server 2008 bringing it up to Release 2. Microsoft is rushing SP2 out in hopes that consumers will buy Vista rather than waiting for the imminent Windows 7 release.

Personally I don’t have too much trouble with Vista. Once it’s lobotomized, it’s really not all that bad. Of course you’ll want to be extra vigilant with your spyware, adware, and virus programs, but I guess that’s the price you pay for the right to admin your own system.

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Word is out that Microsoft is developing a camera  to bring motion sensitive controls to the Xbox 360. The camera uses 3D technology for more accurate control than previous cameras. Unlike the Wii, the camera would allow hands free control using gestures of the hands, legs, and head.

Supposedly the official announcement may come as early as E3. Of course Microsoft has declined to confirm or deny these rumors. You can read the full article in the Wall Street Journal.

Developing motion sensitive controls  is a natural step towards cashing in on the growing market of casual gamers. I don’t think that anyone can deny that graphics on the 360 are superior by far to the Wii. It’s been my experience that many flashy Wii titles eventually sit on the shelf collecting dust as casual gamers learn to appreciate more complex games; kind of like trading in twinkies for steak. Hopefully in the end Microsoft can do its part to convert the casual gamers of the world.

If your looking for a good reason to play the Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen videogame, listen up. Composers Steve Jablonsky and Bobby Tahouri are collaborating with electronica artists Julien-K on the soundtrack. These musical masters have put the excitement in several familiar movie and videogame soundtracks.

You’ve probably heard Jablonski’s work on both the latest Transformers live action movies. If you haven’t seen them, you may have listened to his hard driving score while beating down the Locust Hordes in Gears of War 2. Tahouri worked on the Iron Man film soundtrack and Julien-K was featured on the 2007 Transformers movie with their track “Technical Difficulties.”

More details on these artists and the Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen videogame follow the break.

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