Major Nelson was so kind as to post a reminder message to Xbox Live users, reminding them that the service will be down today starting 12 AM PST (which means it’s already down, as you’re reading this).

The downtime will last 24 hours, during which Xbox Live and “My Xbox” section of xbox.com will be unavailable. Any ideas of what to do during the down time?

If you ever wondered what a hybrid of Pac-Man and Katamari Damacy might look like, then you need look no farther than Bandai-Namco’s newest bizarre action title for the WIi, The Munchables.

In The Munchables, you’re part of a race of fuzzy little critters that inhabits the planet Star Ving, in which said critters do nothing but eat on a series of peaceful islands interconnected by rainbows.  You may wonder how critters that do nothing but eat can actually survive in their ecosystem–that’s thanks to the Legendary Orbs, gigantic stone structures that vaguely resemble…pudding?  I think that’s pudding.  But I’m terrified that it might be something much, much more disgusting.  Anyway, the Legendary Orbs generate a nonstop supply of food for the critters on the islands, and all is high-calorie heaven until a race of aliens shows up and steals the Legendary Orbs so that they too can become superpowerful monstrousities. All would be lost until one of the critters notices that, hey…these aliens, these “space pirates” as they’re called…look an awful lot like food.  And so, in what may be the single lowest point in interstellar diplomacy since Douglas Adams’ microscopic space fleet was inadvertently swallowed by a small dog, the Star Vingians proceed to eat their invaders.

And that is where you come in.  You’ll steer one of two Star Vingians around, eating anything that even vaguely looks edible and occasionally jumping.  If you find a food monster that is bigger than your mouth (you can tell by noting the “level” of both your character and the character you’re about to chow down on) you’ll have to attack it first to break it into smallish, bite-sized pieces.  Attacking boss characters is slightly more complex than this, however, and requires attacking weak points that will be clearly labelled for you.

As you grow in level, you’ll also PHYSICALLY grow–picture Katamari Damacy in which you don’t push the Katamari, but rather, you ARE the Katamari.  The control scheme is very simple, requiring the nunchuk to move your character around and a couple buttons on the Wiimote to perform the rest of your functions.  It’s also a fairly fun title.  Chowing down on the various enemies and swelling in size is an admittedly visceral thrill, but sometimes, the fun gets a little…strange.  See, at the end of every round, all that food you’ve eaten has to go somewhere…and where it goes…well, this is actually really creepy.  Your character will execute a one hundred eighty degree turn, visibly strain, and…spew a pile of sparkly multicolored orbs from its lower rear quadrant DIRECTLY onto an elderly onion.  Who will in turn seem very happy about this development, and assign you a letter grade based on how deep a pile of sparkly orbs you’ve landed him in.

I thought it was some kind of weird caffeine hallucination the first time I saw it, but then sure enough, the next round I’m burying an elderly onion in a pile of spherical dookie all over again.  And he’s happy about it.

This aside, The Munchables is a surprisingly fun title with some decent humor, graphics and gameplay.  it may not be a great long-term value but in the short term it almost certainly won’t disappoint.  A terrific rental, and possibly even a good buy, The Munchables is plenty tasty.

The ultimate evolution of video games is the sci-fi scheme where there’s no necessary equipment. Whether it’s on a projected holographic interface or via a direct neural shunt into the brain, it’s the ultimate in virtual reality with players only being limited by their imagination. Unfortunately we’re ages away from that sort of immersive experience, but the Wii has spurred the industry a little closer to that idea.

After being called a gimmick by both industry types and gamers alike, the Wii has shown that motion controls are the future- or at least one possible future. Both Sony and Microsoft have unveiled their own version and the latter’s Project Natal does away with controllers altogether, utilizing a camera and motion-recognition technology.

Though industry members aren’t saying it’s a doomed proposition, some are saying that controllers will always have their place. Miyamoto in his interview with Wired said that holding a tangible item in your hand which gives you some sort of physical feedback and sensation is essential to creating a truly interactive experience. Ubisoft’s Yves Guillemot points out that while the idea of a more physical game can be fun, gamers don’t always want to play something that’ll have them panting for breath after a few battles. While some could make a quick jump from this argument to the stereotype of overweight gamers chowing down on junk food while playing marathon gaming sessions on the couch, many gamers look to their hobby more for relaxation.

This essentially boils down to one of the big difference between casual and hardcore games. Most casual games are quite simple in their premise, being played for nothing more than their own sake. Hardcore games often feature a storyline which can go on for hours, meaning that if gamers only sat and played for ten minutes a day or so it’d take months or even years to complete some games. Throw in the grind factor on many games and you’ve got a recipe for long hours of playing. With all the more slow, strategic types of games on the market as well which won’t exactly benefit from motion controls and you’ve got a whole ton of reasons why the controller is here to stay.

The list of voice actors for upcoming rock-influenced title Brutal Legend is unsurprisingly studded with legends of hard rock including Rob Halford of Judas Priest, Lemmy Kilmister of Motorhead and of course Ozzy Osbourne (turn your subtitles on folks). Jack Black of course is on board to voice the main character with his bizarre synthesis of comical musician and comical actor.

Previously Ronnie James Dio was set to voice a character as well, but he’s pulled out for yet unknown reasons. Coming in as his replacement is someone without the musical background of the rest of the cast (well he can sing, but mostly about cross-dressing). Joining Brutal Legend is Tim Curry, an accomplished actor whose disinctive voice has landed him countless voice roles in video games and animated series. His notable film credits include the Rocky Horror Picture Show, Legend and Clue.

Despite the fact that the Alien and Predator franchises have been plagued by uninspired andpoorly executed films, the true potential of the series have been realized in a handful of exceedingly well-crafted video games. SEGA was stepping up with the noble intent of taking the bad taste of AVP: Requiem out of our mouths with a trio of titles.

Reports from SEGA suggested that Gearbox’s Colonial Marines and Obsidian’s as yet untitled Alien RPG were placed on indefinite hold in February, but it seems that hope might not be so grim. The newest Alien vs Predator game was the only title of the three to be shown at E3 this year, but reportedly that’s only because it’s the first title to be released and more news regarding the other two games will be forthcoming.

This is definitely some good news for Alien fans as Colonial Marines looked like a stunning game and the prospect of an Alien game that isn’t an FPS is quite exciting.

CoD World At War sells 11 million copies
Take Two claims 3D Realms hides money in off shore accounts
Next gen consoles coming sooner than we think, says Ubisoft
Xbox 360 development of Final Fantasy XIII began only 2 months ago
Bionic Commando has low selling first week
Call of Duty MMO a possibility?
Final Fantasy Fables: Chocobo’s Dungeon Game Review–A Warking Disappointment
New Super Mario Bros. Wii Features Frustration-Proof Gaming
MotionPlus Could Be Required For Next Zelda
Sony to launch PSP Go app store?
Pachter: Wii price drop coming
Rumor: Microsoft’s Natal a new Xbox console?
Pachter: PS3 price cut could cost Sony $350 million
Analyst: Modern Warfare 2 to sell 11 million copies in 2 months

Activision has announced that Call of Duty World At War has sold 11 million copies in the seven months it has been on the market, making it a faster selling game than the mighty Modern Warfare (which has sold 13 million worldwide to date).

Last week, the second map pack for the game was released, while the first map pack old almost 2 million copies on Xbox Live and PlayStation Network, the second DLC is expected to sell even more. World At War developer Treyarch is reportedly already working on a sequel, “Call of Duty 7″, which is set during the Cold War.

The Take Two vs. 3D Realms lawsuit just got a bit more complicated (if it wasn’t complicated enough as it is). In the lawsuit, Take Two has raised new claims, alleging that 3D Realms received at least $2.5 million last year to fund development of Duken Nukem Forever, money which Take Two now believes 3D Realms stuffed in an off shore account in order to avoid paying it back, which it was legally obliged to do after September 2009, had the game not been completed by that date.

Ubisoft boss Yves Guillemot said in a recent interview with CNBC that the next gen systems from Microsoft, Nintendo and Sony may not be as far away as we think, despite both Microsoft and Sony touting ten year life spans of the Xbox 360 and PS3.

Guillemot also said that with the increased power of the new system, games will also cost a lot more to develop, upwards of $60 million per AAA title. He said that while things like “Porject Natal” might increase the lifespan, gamers are always in need of more and more powerful systems and better technology, and with the possible competition from the upcoming PC streaming game service OnLive, the next gen consoles might be not as far away as we think.

Square Enix revealed that work on the Xbox 360 version of Final Fantasy XIII began only two months ago. Producer Yoshinori Kitase said:

“The Xbox 360 version is definitely following after the PS3 version, but [we] were finally able to come to a point in the PS3 development where some of the staff could take their hands off and start programming the 360 version.”

Kitase also added that up until right before E3, the only version in development was the PS3 version. FF XIII will ship this Fall in Japan on the PS3, while the game will ship in the US in Spring 2010 on PS3 and Xbox 360.