I was unable to get online yesterday to update, as my neighbors wireless wasn't working and I had the day off. I can't wait to get cable installed at my new place. This lack of internet is driving me nuts. I'll try and make at least 2 posts if not three today to compensate for it.

Microsoft is offering American 360 owners a gift this week - and giving three of its tea boys (well, we think that's what 'intern' means) a big pat on the back. It's releasing their project, side-scrolling shooter Aegis Wing, as a free download on Xbox Live Arcade this Wednesday.

Presumably, this is so it doesn't have to pay them extra.
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Aegis Wing is a 2D space shooter in the classic mould, supporting up to four players either locally or over Xbox Live. Players join forces to blast their way through waves of alien Araxians using the experimental Aegis Wing spacecraft. The Aegis Wing allows them to combine their craft into formations of two, three of four ships, giving access turret fire and four super weapons. This makes us think of old cartoons, and feel jealous.

Aegis Wing was originally designed by three students - Scott Brodie, Danny Dyer and Matt Monson - during a summer internship at Microsoft. The three then worked with seasoned Live Arcade developer Carbonated Games (Uno, Hexic) to polish it up for release.

Aegis Wing will be available to download from Live Arcade this Wednesday, but only for those with North American accounts, and only for a limited time.

Head over to our Aegis Wing gallery for a closer look.

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Ok now this is the type of game I get excited about. I call them R-Type clones, but I'm note sure what the original side scrolling shooter was. Then again, does it even matter? Its FREE! Go and get it tomorrow.

If you're a fan of the series of films based on the Tomb Raider video games, you're not alone. Ian Livingstone, one of the original creators of the games, also digs the movies, and he stopped by Digital Spy (via Kotaku) to let us know that a third film might just be on the way.

Although there's been a healthy break since the second film, The Cradle of Life, raided theaters in 2003, Paramount is still only in the early steps of getting the next one together. Livingstone revealed the following about the process:

"At this moment in time it's still not green-lit, but the signs are there. Paramount have talked about the film for a long time, and I've had meetings with them... They're willing to put a scriptwriter on board. Angelina Jolie has an option to do a third movie."

What does Livingstone think will push the film studio over the edge? The upcoming release of Tomb Raider: Anniversary, of course! Apparantly there are high expectations for this PS2 remake of the original Tomb Raider. Livingstone believes, "when they see how successful Anniversary will be and realize that the world is still in love with Lara, they'll be more inclined to exercise their option." You heard the man: If you want a new Tomb Raider movie, get out there and buy the new Tomb Raider game.

I don't know about anyone else, but I loved the 1st Tomb Raider movie. The Cradle of Life was ok, but after convincing my girlfriend to watch a video game movie and having her love it, well thats all it takes for me. Not only that, but it felt like it really took locations from the game with the whole temples and snow caves.

Blacksite: Area 51 may not have David Duchovny's voice acting, but blasting aliens is usually something to celebrate. How can you make sure? Midway's dumped a short teaser demo on Xbox Live this morning as a litmus test, which everyone can download now. The demo clocks in at nearly 600MB, though, so patience is required.

The game's also coming to PlayStation 3, but no word on a PlayStation Network demo just yet.

Activision has thirty songs in store for the 80s expansion pack Guitar Hero: Rocks the 80s. We'll get to relive the 80s this summer, but only on PlayStation 2. I'm the first one to condemn Guitar Hero greediness, but why not throw some downloads at the 360? Here's the seven they've announced so far:

* "I Wanna Rock" (by Twisted Sister)
* "I Ran" (by Flock of Seagulls)
* "Round and Round" (as made famous by Ratt)
* "I Want Candy" (as made famous by Bow Wow Wow)
* "Metal Health" (as made famous by Quiet Riot)
* "Holy Diver" (as made famous by Dio)
* "Heat of the Moment" (as made famous by Asia)

Whenever I was in the car with my parents in the 80s and I heard a cool song on the radio, I'd ask who the band or singer was. It didn't matter if it was a male or female group or singer, for some reason my parents would always think it was Meat Loaf, and that was the answer I would get. Just as you reach into the fridge for two week old leftovers, and are unsure of what primordial ooze you grabbed, but call it meat loaf and microwave it anyways, I've come to know all of 80s music as simply Meat Loaf musical leftovers. Prices haven't been discussed for the Guitar Hero expansion yet, but I can't pass up thirty helpings of Meat Loaf. What other tracks are you expecting to see make the list?

So here comes the first game to be cross platform playable. But from what I'm seeing on all the media sites, the game is lackluster at best. I'll probably pick up the Vista version, if it follows suit with a lot of titles and comes with the lower price point.

Join GameFly and save some cash. Honestly I am buying new games from GF all the time, for about $25 less then they cost in stores. It's a great deal over all. But just a fair warning if you live on the East Coast, like I do, then expect about 4 days for the games to travel through the mail. Since they added Fast Return I've noticed I'm able to get a lot more gaming done, but still nothing like if I lived in CA...

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Oh and its my Birthday, so don't expect a lot for updates today. ;-)