Finally this week let’s talk about the Xbox 360. The Live Arcade release this week was a game called “Geon: Emotions” and is described by Microsoft as a “a fast-paced abstract sports game that lets you explore your emotions as you compete against opponents.” Um…when I play a sports game, don’t I already explore my emotions? For example, “haha, I intercepted the ball and ran it for a touchdown..you suck!” I think that’s an emotion. Geon: Emotions on the other hand feels like the old Vectrex game Clean Sweep, The only emotion I had was anger that I spent $10 on this. Maybe, like Cyberball, it will grow on me, but with my limited amount of time with it, I am not a huge fan.

A demo for 2K’s NBA 2K8 was released. The good news was that in this day and age of 1GB demos, this demo was only 350MB. However, since it was such a small download, it didn’t have play by play and boy do you miss it. I don’t think I would have released it in such a bare bones demo form, especially when EA’s game is turning so many heads.

There’s even more demos available for 360 owners, as a Juiced 2: Hot Import Nights multiplayer demo was released as well as one for Sega Rally Revo. Now Sega Rally was always a favorite game of mine but if you’ve played DiRT, you know the game is going to have to be something special in order to buy it. The demo was interesting and I think the game will warrant further review but I’m still skeptical.

The last demo in our showcase this week is Viva Pinata Party Animals! Talk about Loco! I wonder if by “party animals” they mean ‘more inbreeding with even better mating mini games”. You’ll have to get the demo and find out for yourself! Three game addons were released: an Eternal Sonata Music Key which I know you’ve all been waiting for – and it’s only $1! Then there’s an add on for the person who thought seven add ons for Soltrio Solitaire weren’t enough – oddly enough called “Soltrio Solitaire Game Pack 8.” That means if you’ve bought the game and all eight packs, you would have spent $25 on a @#$$#@ing solitaire game. Even I, the guy who buys everything on his console (themes and gamer pics included), haven’t stooped this low.

Finally on the 360, for those of you who enjoy buying games that don’t have all the features available immediately with the actual disc, you can drop $5 and get the NHL2K8 reelmaker, which allows you to edit and create hockey game videos! Things like this should be included in the game and not be another $5, but we’ll save that rant for another day.

This Week’s Best Downloads:

• Sega Rally Demo (360, PS3)
• Aces Over Europe (GameTap PC)
• Skate Demo (PS3)

GameTap

(All games included in monthly/annual subscription)

• Project Eden
• Aces Over Europe
• Combat Mission: Beyond Overlord
• Gods: Lands of Infinity Special Edition

Wii Virtual Console

• Yoshi's Story (N64) 1,000 Wii Points or $10
• Super Thunder Blade (Genesis) 800 Wii Points or $8
• World Class Baseball (TG16) 600 Wii Points or $6

Xbox Live

• Viva Pinata Party Animals Demo
• KUF: Circle of Doom Trailer
• Ace Combat 6 Trailer
• Soul Calibur IV Trailer
• Devil May Cry IV Trailer
• Eternal Sonata Music Key (80 Points or $1)
• NHL2K8 Reelmaker (400 Points or $5)
• Soltrio Solitaire Game Pack 8 (150 Points or $1.88)
• NBA2K8 Demo
• Geon: Emotions {Live Arcade Game} (800 Points or $10)
• Sega Rally Demo
• Juiced 2 Hot Import Nights Multiplayer Demo

PlayStation Store

• Skate Demo
• NBA 08 Demo (Sony)
• Sega Rally Revo Demo
• Stuntman: Ignition Demo
• LocoRoco Cocoreccho ($6.99)

That wraps up what has become less of a Tokyo Game Show special edition and more of a Tired & Grumpy Gamer edition of TWID.