It can be hard to believe, but the Playstation 2 was launched all the way back in 2000, at the beginning on the decade.  It launched at $300 – not couch change, but it didn’t exactly break the bank, either.  After all, the original Playstation launched at $300 as well.  However, Sony decided to double that for the launch of the Playstation 3, which clocked in at a whopping $600 for the 60GB version.  The Xbox 360 was more expensive as well, costing $400 for the top-end model at launch.  There is no doubt that these were costly, but it wasn’t the worst part of the decade.  A one-time cost for a console that will last you 5-10 years of great gaming?  That’s fine.  It’s all the rest that has emptied our wallets.

The price of games has skyrocketed with the most recent generation of gaming.  While PC and Nintendo Wii games, for the most part, remain at $50, Xbox 360 and Playstation 3 jacked up the price to $60 for new titles, citing increased development costs.  $10 might not seem like a whole lot, but when you establish a double-digit game library, all of a sudden it adds up.

Another popular way for companies to take our money was to charge a monthly fee.  Xbox Live Gold was the first subscription model for consoles, costing $50 per year.  But let’s not forget about Massively Multiplayer Online games.  MMOs were in no way invented in this decade, but they went mainstream with releases like World of Warcraft.  Millions of people are paying up to $15 per month to enjoy these games, all while paying $50 for the game and maybe another $40 per year for expansions.  I don’t even want to think about how much money we’ve all spent on these titles over the years – too much, to be sure.

But that’s not the worst of it.  No, the worst thing to come out of this decade is downloadable content, or DLC.  The idea of this content is great: you can expand your game while sitting on your couch, prolonging the enjoyment of it.  Unfortunately, virtually all downloadable content is overpriced.  We all laughed when horse armor for Oblivion came out for $2.50.  Who on earth is going to pay that?  Well, apparently a lot of people.  Charging $10 for 3 new maps is increasingly becoming the standard, even though the stand-alone game usually contains about 15 maps, the entirety of multiplayer content, the single-player content, and whatever else comes with the game.  That’s not to say all DLC is bad – there are plenty of games that have great content available for download.  Unfortunately, these are usually far and few between.

You know what, though?  It’s all been worth it.  This decade has been perhaps the greatest for gaming, ever.  There have been tons of great games with decade, and many of them have attracted a new audience, particularly with the Wii and DS.  I love the power of the Xbox 360 and Playstation 3, even if it costs me a premium.  Plus, $15 arcade games can help even out the $60 price-point.  My only real complaint would be the ridiculous prices of some downloadable content, since I don’t think I’ll ever be able to justify spending $10 for three maps.  Still, it’s hard to blame the developers, since millions of these map packs are being sold.  All in all, this was a great decade for gaming, and I can’t wait to see what the next one brings.

In an effort to keep the number of discs down to a maximum of 3, the Xbox 360 version of Final Fantasy XIII appears that it will have to make some unpleasant compromises.   Currently, the PS3 version of the game takes up almost a whopping 40GB of data. That’s a lot, to be sure, but still small enough to fit on just one dual-layer BD.   However, Square Enix has said that the Xbox 360 version of Final Fantasy XIII will ship on just three DVDs, which can hold a maximum of approximately 25GB combined.  Which begs the question – just where is that other 15GB of data going?

However, it may not be as bad as it seems.  The game data itself appears to take up just 8GB, while the CG movies appear to take up the vast majority of space.   Perhaps it will be that this data will be simply compressed, and most users will not even notice a significant difference?  Time will tell.

You can pre-order booth the Xbox 360 and Playstation 3 versions of Final Fantasy XIII at Amazon for just $56.99.

[Thanks, Sankaku Complex] (Warning: Link NSFW)

Left 4 Dead 2 has seen one of the biggest price drops you’ll see right before the holiday season.  The game, which originally sold at $59.99 when it releases just a short time ago, is now available for just $44.00 on the Xbox 360 and PC.  If you haven’t bought the game yet, there is no better time to than now. Buy Left 4 Dead 2 now from Amazon!

Halo fans have been waiting a long time to get a glimpse of Reach, but they won’t have to wait much longer.  The game will be shown off for the first time on December 12th, at the Video Game Awards on Spike TV.

Halo: Reach will be the fifth entry into the first-person shooter series.  It is also rumored to be the last Halo game that Bungie will work on.  We’ll get to see their progress soon.  Tune into the Spike TV Video Game Awards December 12th at 8pm.

VGA on Spike TV

Retailers are listing the 250GB Modern Warfare 2 Bundle for November 10th, which coincides with the release of modern Warfare 2. The console bundle is currently the only way to get a 250GB hard drive for the Xbox 360, as it is currently not being sold separately. (According to Microsoft, they have no plans to ship it separately, either.) Both Amazon and Gamestop have adjusted their release dates to reflect November 10th, which all but confirms the date. The price is listed at $399.99.

Microsoft is hoping that this bundle will increase sales during the holiday season, as they compete with the Nintendo Wii and Playstation 3.

Although Microsoft sells official hard drives for the Xbox 360, users can use many standard HDs if they know how to do it.  That is no longer the case, as Microsoft will disallow unauthorized storage devices with the new fall update. According to Major Nelson, “If you continue to use an unauthorized Memory Unit after the update, you will not be able to access your stored profile or saved games.”

If you’re currently using a memory unit that is not branded with Xbox 360, then you’re out of luck. Either lose all of your saved games, or go buy a new offical Xbox 360 hard drive.  This is a pretty cheesy move by Microsoft – not supporting third-party hard drives is one thing, but straight-up disallowing them?  This is bound to tick a lot of people off.

SOURCE

The Xbox 360 holiday bundle is now shipping on Amazon, and the Controller Game Pack will be available in November, for $59.

Previously, we showed you a quick and cheap way to record video from your favorite console. Although it is an effective way to record standard definition content, it doesn’t work if you want to record HD content.  With YouTube and plenty of other sites offering high-quality uploads, we’re going to show you how to capture video from a console in high definition quality.  You can use either an Xbox 360 or PS3 for this, although an extra cable might be needed for the latter.

A word of warning for those choosing to take this route.  You’ll need a somewhat powerful PC to process the HD signal and record it – a dual-core CPU and 256mb video card should work.  Also, this particular HD PVR works with only Windows PCs.  If you need something compatible with a Mac, look into something like the Blackmagic Design Intensity Pro (more expensive).

The good news for this setup?  It’s simple as can be.  The bad news?  It’s going to cost a bit more.  We’ll be using the Hauppauge 1212 HD-PVR to do this, which is about $200.  If you’re using an Xbox 360 and have the HD component cables that came with the system, you do not need any other items.  If you’re using a PS3, you’ll need to also buy an HD component cable compatible with the PS3, such as this Playstation 3 Component Audio Video Cable.

Once you have everything you need, setting it up is a snap.  Simply plug the other end of the component cable coming form your console into the PVR, plug the included AV component extension cable into the back of your TV or monitor, and plug the included USB cable from the HD PVR to your PC.

That’s it.  You’ll have a signal on your HDTV, and by installing the included software you will be able to record and edit that signal with your PC.

If this setup is a little too pricey for you and you’re OK with an SD signal, check out how to cheaply record an SD signal.

Ever wanted to record an epic kill from a video game?  We have you covered.  Here is a simple, cheap and effective way to capture video from a game console.  Below, you’ll find everything you need to accomplish this for all major consoles, including Xbox 360, Playstation 3, and Nintendo Wii.

First, you’ll need an item called a Dazzle. (the Dazzle Plus comes with software to help you edit the video that you capture)  It’s primary purpose is to record to DVDs, but instead we are going to have it record to your computer.  Then, you’ll need a Standard AV Cable.  Both of these items are needed, regardless of what console you want to record from.  Finally, you’ll need one more cable, specific to each console:

Xbox 360: Xbox 360 S Video AV Cable
Playstation 3: PS3 S-video Cable
Wii: Wii S-Video/AV Cable

Once, you have all of these items, all you have to do is set it up.  The setup should go like this (we’ll use Xbox 360 for this example):

Xbox 360 > S-video AV cable > TV > Standard AV cable > Dazzle > PC

To be more specific, connect the Xbox 360 to the TV using the S-video cable, like you normally would.  Then, use the standard AV cable and plug it into the TV “out” input, connecting the other end into the Dazzle.  Finally, connect the Dazzle to your computer using the included USB cable.  Finally, install the software (also included with the Dazzle) and you’re ready to record anything you do on your game console.

And there you have it.  For under $60, you get a simple, cheap, and effective way to record anything from your game console.  It should be noted that you can you also record from older consoles, like the Playstation 2 or Xbox, by using the same setup but just replacing the console-specific S-video AV cable.

This setup will only record an SD signal.  If you want to record in HD, see how to capture, record and edit an HD signal.