At the press conference, Kirkland Police Department detective, Sarah Boltmann, said:

Verinian, Stevens and Wollenveider are in stable condition at the Kirkland hospital. These individuals have been held captive for over 2 years and were forced to write code for Halo 3: ODST. These brave people have told us that more game designers are being held in locked plywood boxes and a well in Bungie’s crawlspace. We are working with the FBI and the ATF to determine our next course of action.

Doctors said tthis afternoon hat Verinian, Stevens and Wollenveider will fully recover, although it might take a while for them to readjust

In a possible first, fans of the game and the band will be able to catch KISS on their Facebook page next week on November 25th as they perform live at the Staples Center in Los Angeles at 9pm PST.

The KISS Track Pack can be purchased on the Xbox Live Marketplace at 440 MS Points ($5.49), from the Playstation Store for $5.49, and the Wii Shop Channel for 550 Wii Points ($5.49). Each song can be purchased individually on each system for either 160 MS Points, $1.99 on Playstation 3, or for 200 Wii Points.

Available on Xbox 360 and Wii (Nov. 24) and PlayStation 3 system (Nov. 26):

· Go-Go’s – “Our Lips Are Sealed” *
· Kelly Clarkson – “Miss Independent” *
· P!nk – “Who Knew” *
· Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers – “A Thing About You (live)” *
· Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers – “American Girl (live)”
· Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers – “Even the Losers (live)”
· Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers – “Here Comes My Girl (live)” *
· Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers – “Mary Jane’s Last Dance (live)”
· Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers – “Refugee (live)” *

(All tracks are original master recordings)

These tracks will be available for purchase as “Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers Live Anthology Pack 01” as well as individual tracks on Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 system, and as individual tracks on Wii. Tracks marked with a “*” are also available in the family-friendly LEGO Rock Band Music Store.

Price: $1.99 USD (160 Microsoft Points for Xbox 360) per track
$9.99 (800 Microsoft Points for Xbox 360) for “Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers Live Anthology Pack 01”
$2.00 USD (200 Wii Points) per track

Rock Band DLC Additions for Wii in Europe

Rock Band 2 for the Wii was released Oct. 9 in Europe. Featuring over 100 songs (The Rock Band 2 game disc features 84 tracks. In addition, players have access to an additional 20 free DLC tracks. Online connection required.), Rock Band 2 showcases an extensive music catalogue with an eclectic blend of classic and new artists. The Rock Band library for Wii in Europe is being updated regularly with back-catalog tracks. For a complete list of tracks available now, visit http://www.rockband.com/forums/showthread.php?p=3247220#post3247220.

While we could only guess and speculate on the nature of any Call of Duty MMO, Activision has the help of the greatest MMO developer out there- Blizzard. If Activision decides to head in that direction, we’re sure Blizzard can guide them.

BioWare must be on a creative streak, because owners of the game will have another DLC pack to expect. To be released later this “holiday season,” whenever that is specifically, Return to Ostragar will be available on Xbox Live at 400 MS Points, on Playstation Network for $4.99, and on PC for 400 BioWare Points. I will also be releasing this DLC personally for 639.03 Steffen Points at a later date, probably whenever I feel like it, so stay posted.

Return to Ostagar will let players exact revenge for the great King Cailan by returning, believe it or not, to Ostagar. I would tell you more but I do not want to spoil it for you. The DLC refers to a major plot event from the main story of the game and will also include weapons and armor from the king.

Here is a video from Games on Smash explaining how to get to the second floor of one of the buildings in High Rise:

This one shows how to get on top of the roof of the southern building on the same map:

Here is the final video from Games on Smash, this time explaining how to plant the bomb going from the South to the North side of the map:

If you have been struggling to get the “Pit Boss” achievement, The Goozex Report has a video to help you through it. This guy does it pretty masterfully, but it nonetheless shows you specifically what to do in order to get the achievement.

If you do not believe me, Activision proudly compiled the list of records that they beat, with all of entertainment covered:

* The largest reported five-day opening worldwide box office gross figures, held by Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince ($394 million)
* The largest reported five-day opening domestic box office gross figures, held by The Dark Knight ($203.8 million)
* The largest reported five-day worldwide video game sales record, previously held by Grand Theft Auto IV (6 million units, $500 million)
* The largest reported opening first-day domestic box office gross figures, held by The Dark Knight ($66.4 million)
* The largest reported first-day book sales in dollars, held by Harry Potter & The Deathly Hallows ($220 million)
* The largest reported first-day worldwide video game sales record, previously held by Grand Theft Auto IV (3.6 million units, $310 million)

Consumers’ pocketbooks were not the only thing that saw the power of Modern Warfare 2; Xbox Live, to say the least, had more activity than usual. Infinity Ward has alot to brag about:

* More than 5.2 million multiplayer hours were logged playing Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 on the first day alone.
* More than 2.2 million unique gamers played Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 in one day on November 10th. A new one-day record for Xbox LIVE.
* More than 11 million achievements were unlocked on Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 on the first day.

Robert Kotick, the CEO of Activision Blizzard, is undoubtedly pleased with MW2’s success and said “In just five days of sell through Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 has become the largest entertainment launch in history and a pop culture phenomenon. The title’s success redefines entertainment as millions of consumers have chosen to play Modern Warfare 2 at unprecedented levels rather engage in other forms of media.”

So what you are saying is that they just want to play video games? And alot of them?

You will find that certain spots on maps are very popular sniping spots. The hill on “Afghan” is a great example. Windows and doorways in elevated positions, for example, are usually sniper nests.  If you’re sniping, one thing you can do to help your team or clan is to find very unpopular spots and countersnipe.

Snipers will usually focus on popular corners and hallways–places where enemies will “bottleneck.”

If you’re countersniping, you want to win the battles around these bottlenecks. You might find that the opponent’s sniping spot is so good, however, that you have a great deal of difficulty finding out where it is. One thing you should not do is “feed the loop” by repeatedly approaching the spot again and again in the game. This will only make you frustrated.

Move on to something else in the particular game and then  fire up a custom match and run around a map by yourself.

First, I’d recommend using different scopes as you scan areas, because surroundings can look radically different when you’re using a thermal scope, for example.

Second, ask yourself what you can see from that popular sniping spot.

Then, while you are on a custom match, put out a claymore in the popular sniping spot if you have one, and then check out the different angles from which you can see it. See whether you can blow up the claymore.

Or recruit a buddy to be a dummy target. (You could do this on your own with split-screen, but your view on your TV screen is going to be very different.)

I’m guessing that on each map, you’ll find about 5 to 10 really popular spots. You can usually research these spots on one map in about 20 minutes. Doing this research will help you not to be frustrated later on as you play games online. You will know better the ins and outs of these spots.

Now, if you’re already doing this–great. If you find that this article doesn’t bring you any new good information–great. Pat yourself on the back and check out our other stuff.

But not everybody might have thought about my suggestions, and it’s written for them.

In addition to Facebook and Twitter, Last.FM and the Zune Marketplace have been added to Xbox Live. Microsoft’s plans to rule gamers are everywhere nearly complete.

There are a couple downloads to initiate the services, but are very quick and should only take a second.

Be sure to leave us comments on what you think of these new features.

Actually that is not entirely true.  The guy throwing the knife pulled a Brett Favre “chuck and pray” maneuver that is no different than the random grenade chucking at the beginning of any match.  This knife toss was extremely impressive in how everything worked out but did nothing to make me fear this ninja and his pedestrian 6 kills 4 deaths (pre knife throw).

Either way the video is pretty cool and makes me want to try out the knives and hop in on the sticky grenade battle too. Remember though, camping has been banned!