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Xbox Live took a beating on Tuesday. One might surmise a major multiplayer game was released on Tuesday and people wanted to play it. Oh, right. Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2. As it turns out, the launch of Activision and Infinity Ward's shooter sent so many people online that it resulted in the biggest day ever for Xbox Live yet, with more than two million gamers playing simultaneously.

"Tuesday was the biggest day we've ever seen on Live," said Dennis Durkin, COO of Microsoft's interactive entertainment business during a financial presentation the BMO Capital Markets "Digital Entertainment Conference" in New York this afternoon.

In the run up to Modern Warfare 2's launch, Microsoft prepared for an onslaught of active users.

"[It's a] landmark event for our industry," said Durkin.

Have something to share? Have a news tip? E-mail me. You can also follow me on Twitter.

Chris Hardwick and Veronica Belmont give a rundown on the top portable thumb drives available, like the highly secured IronKey 4GB S200, eSATA connecting Kanguru eFlash 64GB, the water resistant Corsair Flash Survivor drive, Kingston DataTraveler for large storage needs and the fastest high-capacity Corsair Flash Voyager Thumb Drive.

Check out the full Attack of the Show review after the cut.

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Riddle of the day: Q: When is DLC not DLC? A: When they sell it over-the-counter at GameStop. The gaming retailer announced yesterday that it is planning to install DLC kiosks in its stores, and sell people extra levels, modes and horse-armor at the time of purchase.

"A large market for full game downloads is not imminent, (but) the add-on downloadable market will grow," GameStop Chief Operating Officer Paul Raines said at the BMO Capital Management Digital Entertainment conference.

"But Steve," you may be asking yourself (which is weird, since your name isn't "Steve") "What advantages does this idea offer me, The Consumer?"

I'm glad you've asked. Over-the-counter DLC will allow you to trade in used games for GameStop credits which can then be traded in for DLC. Also: If they took away your credit card because you are an irresponsible lout, you'll be able to purchase downloadables with cash.

Other than those two small subsets of people, I don't think it would benefit too many of us. You'll still have to download the DLC at home... you just won't be putting in your credit card digits. Am I missing a good use for this? Let me know!

Source: Reuters

Gamers were happy to toss in a few more dollars to purchase the downloadable content timed for the launch of Dragon Age: Origins, according to EA exec. VP and CFO Eric Brown. During a presentation at the BMO Capital Markets "Digital Entertainment Conference" in New York this afternoon, Brown revealed Dragon Age: Origins's downloadable content has already produced $1 million.

"Dragon Age just launched about a week ago, it's doing very well," said Brown. "The game was designed at the outset to have extensive PDLC [paid downloadable content] at launch, as well through the next 12-plus months of its lifespan. We're well past one million in PDLC, so the attach rate appears pretty good."

Were you one of the apparently many gamers who paid for the downloadable content?

Have something to share? Have a news tip? E-mail me. You can also follow me on Twitter.

Excuse me for a moment. I know you're busy getting dominated by foul-mouthed children in Modern Warfare 2 right now, but I thought you would like to know the new episode of The MMO Report is now available. In this week's show, Casey lets you know that Star Trek Online finally has a release date, that Aion has sold almost one million copies, and that Warhammer Online now has an unlimited free trial. Now that's a payment plan I like. So take a seat and enjoy the vast knowledge of Casey Schreiner by pressing play and watching this week's episode of The MMO Report.

Subscribe to G4's The MMO Report Podcast by clicking your preferred service:

Have you been enjoying Fox's X-Files-inspired JJ Abrams sci-fi drama, Fringe? I don't know if you've heard the news or not, but the show is kind of in trouble. As rigor mortis has not even set in for the just-recently-axed Joss Whedon vehicle Dollhouse, one must wonder if the executioner's eyes may have another target in mind in the near future.

Creatively, the show seems to be hitting its stride, building towards a well-set overarching theme centered on the "is he good or evil?" mastermind, William Bell (played by god among geeks, Leonard Nimoy.) There is a lot of momentum building towards learning the role he may have played in the bridging into the "alternate universe" in which the World Trade Center still stands. (And cool facial scars substitute for the conventional doppelganger-distinguishing goatees.) The question remains: Why is this show, which is this focused and consistently delivers exciting episodes, in any kind of trouble?

Tonight at 9:00 pm on Fox, Fringe will air the episode Of Human Action. While the episode, in which the Fringe team battles a weird misanthrope who has supernatural powers of suggestion, may seem like just another episode, it may also be a bellwether moment for the series itself. Ever since being thrown to the wolves on the ultra-competitive Thursday night time slot in its Fall return, Fringe has had to scratch and claw for everything it's getting. Its rating have taken a slide since the previous season, but Fox (surely expecting this) seemed to be holding steady with the show in hopes of ultimately building a broader audience. However, Fringe suffered a damaging and embarrassing ratings outing last week that it, perhaps, need not have suffered. The ultimate enemy may not have been what was airing on the competing networks, but was rather Hideki Matsui.

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Microsoft’s hands-free motion-control technology Project Natal was named the fifth best invention of 2009 by Time Magazine. As always the list is filled with fascinating and “Whoa!”-inducing selections, but what’s more interesting than Natal taking the number five spot is that it beat out the teleportation of data between atoms, a telescope that can see previously invisible stars, and the first immunization that protects against HIV infection.

Considering all we’ve really seen from Natal at this point, is that it lets you have a creepy relationship with a virtual boy and can be used to flail around while rubber balls bounce off your avatar, including Natal so high on the list, and ahead of some truly inspiring inventions, seems a bit premature in my opinion. That is of course unless Natal ends up curing AIDS some day, in which case I will retract this opinion posthaste.

What do you think of Project Natal’s inclusion on Time’s list? Am I wrong in thinking that it was ranked a bit too high?

Source: Time

This summer's downloadable experiment was a success for Electronic Arts and DICE. At the BMO Capital Markets "Digital Entertainment Conference" in New York today, EA exec. VP and CFO Eric Brown announced that, as of today, Battlefield 1943 has sold 1.2 million copies across both Xbox Live and PlayStation Network.

The game was a "revolution" for EA, said Brown.

Battlefield 1943 will launch early next year on the PC. Oddly, no downloadable content has been released for the console versions and so far none have been announced.

Have something to share? Have a news tip? E-mail me. You can also follow me on Twitter.

You may never travel the world, become famous or amass a fortune, but you can still be happy without those things as long as you have Around the Net. You see, money, fame and adventure don't make people happy, funny videos featuring horrible scooter drivers, confused Muppets and lousy nannies do.

Find the direct video links from Around the Net on Attack of the Show after the jump.

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If you're a PC gamers still interested in playing Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 somewhere other than a console and purchased the game through Steam, it's been a frustrating week. Anyone who picked up Modern Warfare 2 at retail have already been able to jump in and start playing, but anyone who downloaded the game via Steam has been locked out. All parties involved have been silent.

Luckily, it's no longer an issue: Modern Warfare 2 is unlocked.

Ah, the joys of digital distribution.

To celebrate the release of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2, the good people of X-Play are giving one very lucky person out there a Limited Edition Xbox 360 Modern Warfare 2 console of their very own, along with a 250GB hard drive, two new controllers, and a copy of the game.

But time is almost up. Entries will only be accepted until Thursday, November 12th at 11:59 PM Pacific Time, so make sure you enter X-Play's Modern Warfare 2 Xbox 360 Limited Edition Console Sweepstakes now! 

There's one prize, and the total value of the prize package is $399. Good luck!

Nathan Drake's going to have better luck at retail the second time around, it seems. Uncharted 2: Among Thieves has already sold over a million copies. Sony Computer Entertainment America's senior VP of business development Phil Rosenberg announced the news just a little while ago at the BMO Capital Markets "Digital Entertainment Conference" in New York.

"As of last week, we've already sold over a million copies [of Uncharted 2] in just a couple weeks on the market," said Rosenberg.

Naughty Dog is currently working on downloadable content for Uncharted 2, but the studio hasn't announced what exactly they have in the works. More single-player, please!

(No, I don't expect that. But I can try!)

Have something to share? Have a news tip? E-mail me. You can also follow me on Twitter.

James Cameron's Avatar is breaking all kinds of rules with its innovative style. But will it break the cardinal rule of video games based on movies: That they suck?

In the video below, the executive producer of James Cameron's Avatar: The Game reveals what it's like to play as Ryder as he teams up with the Na'vi. The game comes out in December 2009 for the Xbox 360, PS3, PSP, Wii, DS and PC.

Cue the dramatic music; it's montage time.

There's another DS coming early next year. It doesn't add any significant features that the DS or DSi doesn't have, but it does feature a much larger screen. Why would someone want to pick up a DSi XL, then? Nintendo of America president Reggie Fils-Aime made the case for the DSi XL during the BMO Capital Markets "Digital Entertainment Conference" this morning.

"Its [DSi XL] purpose isn't just to make things bigger for the player, but to attract observers, as well," said Fils-Aime. "With an improved view angle, it begins to mimic the extended appeal of Wii. As more people watch the action, more want to get involved and in the process, new players are born."

It's the social DS. Would you use one?

Have something to share? Have a news tip? E-mail me. You can also follow me on Twitter.

This is a public service announcement: Be very, very careful about buying a used Xbox 360 right about now. As you might know, Microsoft is in the process of banning up to a million modded 360s from Live. These bans are affecting the black-market economy of mod-boxes;  modders are racing to unload their illegal and soon to be perma-banned boxes on the internet. Craigslist is glutted with modded Xboxes at dirt-cheap prices, as well as people offering to unban your Xbox (My guess is, it won't work.). I've heard already from several TheFeed readers already who recently purchased used Xboxes that are banned. There's nothing that can be done, so, as they say in Latin: Caveat emptor. Or, "Don't a dink."

Of course, if you are in the market for a modded Xbox (and I don't condone this market, at all), it's a buyers' paradise of cheap, modded machines on Craigslist. As long as you never want to play online, won't use any Live services, don't mind not having any kind of a warranty, and are okay with stealing from people who don't deserve it, you can get a modded Xbox for super cheap these days.

According to Microsoft: "If you purchase a modified console second-hand, the warranty is not transferable and the purchaser assumes the risk for any previous modifications... If you purchase a console that has been previously banned, you will not be able to connect to (Xbox) Live."

Has anyone out there been banned for their mod? Have you purchased a used machine, only to find it's a forbidden Xbox? Leave a comment or shoot me an email!