After giving into our mild case of insomnia and mindlessly surfing the internet at 3 am, we stumbled across Xbox.com's Game with Fame page and found March to be full of events. Several bands, including Mastodon, Thursday and Pearl Jam's Matt Cameron, will all be gaming it up this month. Click the links below to learn more about each of the Xbox Live Game with Fame events and add the appropriate Gamertags to your friends list, if you must. Now, it's time for us to go to bed ...
We don't know what it is about Mark Hamill's brilliant portrayal of the Joker that does it, but we're shaken to our core each and every time we hear him. And this latest trailer for Batman: Arkham Asylum starts off with a great Joker narration, but it doesn't stop there. Adding to Joker's dialogue is plenty of Batman-kicking-ass action. Watch the world's greatest detective employ his powers of stealth, as well as his powers of wealth through the use of his high-tech gadgetry. This trailer is set to air tonight on MTV, but thankfully Totilo posted it early for everyone to drool over, so check it out after the break while we run out to the store for a new keyboard.
If you're not content (or simply unwilling) to read all those words, we've got a special treat for you: A four-man, simultaneous Resident Evil 5 review team-up, featuring four (count 'em, four) Joystiq luminaries who've played through the game. The discussion is maybe lightly spoilerish, but nothing plot wise. It's just like listening to four really nerdy guys argue at your local Gamestop, only you don't have to look at their awful haircuts. (Note: all review participants have very nice haircuts. Nothing fancy, but, you know, nice.)
Microsoft is hosting a special Xbox Live event in Japan this weekend. Similar to Game with Fame, Japanese gamers will be able to play Resident Evil 5 with Japanese celebrities in the Xbox Live Park event. Taking place this Sunday, the event will allow lucky gamers to play Resident Evil 5 with gravure idols China Fukunaga (left) and Sayuki Matsumoto (right). Shiro Suzuki (guess which one he is) will be commentating the Xbox Live Park event on Nico Nico Video. Gamers in Japan looking to play with Ms. Fukunaga should send a friend request to the gamertag LIVE Park 07. Ms. Matsumoto will be using the gamertag LIVE Park 08. The only question left -- and the only important one, really -- is who gets to play as Sheva?
Resident Evil 5 is a game with an identity crisis. By attempting to straddle a line between action and suspense, playing to two different strengths, it manages to undercut the effectiveness of both. Resident Evil 4 took genre conventions and evolved them, making an experience that was more accessible, and, by most estimations, all but flawless. So it's even more puzzling when Resident Evil 5 retreats from that path, pulls back from what made its predecessor so strong, and finds itself in a very confusing place.
So remember when Curse introduced their database last year called WoWDB, and we pointed out that it bore a strong resemblance to that other popular WoW database, Wowhead? Turns out ZAM, the owners of Wowhead after the acquisition a little while ago, agreed: completely under the radar last May, they filed a lawsuit for copyright infringment to the tune of no less than $1.5 million. ZAM says in the suit, copies of which we've obtained, that they've "expended substantial resources to maintain, update, and promote use of the WOWHEAD website so that it would become... one of the most recognized, and utilized websites designed to attract individuals" who play World of Warcraft. They claimed that WoWDB stole their look and layout purposely to create confusion among customers. This story wasn't reported in the WoW community at the time -- we hadn't heard about it at all until now.
It's time to head back into the Nether. This Eye of the Storm Call to Arms weekend, why don't you make your forays into that floating space rock a little more meaningful by completing the Achievements required for Master of Eye of the Storm? Out of all the Battleground masteries, this is considerably the easiest of them all, with only eight Achievements to finish. It should take a modest effort to complete, and is a good step towards the Battlemaster meta-Achievement. Eye of the Storm Veteran Win 100 times. You know the drill. This is easier than accumulating other victories because Eye of the Storm matches never last for very long because points tick for every second. The more towers a team controls, the more points per tick and the more each flag capture is worth. Even if you lose a game, it's never such an excruciating wait.
Two Bosses Enter ... but only One Boss Leaves, in WoW Insider's series of fantasy death matches. This season's duelists hail from the five-man instances of Wrath of the Lich King. Commanders Kolurg or Stoutbeard carried this week's matchup by popular decision over contender Erekem. Dissenters made a strong case, though, for the Arakkoa's comeback potential in the likely event that the Commander's Whirlwind took out his guards.
Game journalist James Mielke resumes his on-again, off-again relationship with Final Fantasy XI in the fledgling 1up blog "The Grind". Mielke's extended hiatus from his "My Life in Vana'diel" column was a blend of time constraints and some degree of burn-out as well. But it seems he missed the game, particularly after the years already spent playing it, hence his column has returned... again.
The Possibility Space powered MMO Warrior Epic is about to open the doors to their closed beta later this month, offering players to visit their website and press the register button to apply for a chance to play the game.