Welcome to this week’s Press Pause. This week Carlos and Jason talk about the latest news including: Job cuts at EA, Facebook coming to PS3, Microsoft banning cnsoles, and more. Also they have a discussion about the pros and cons of easy games versus hard games. All of that and the week’s new releases

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Easy VS Hard Games

Is easier better?
Some gamers talk about how much they like a challenge, but the greater gaming audience seems to have more fun when they get to move through the experience without failing much. It seems like patches for games keep making them easier, and never harder (recently, games like WoW and Dragon Age keep tweaking the difficulty downward). On the whole, big popular games of today are a lot easier than the big games of a decade ago. Is this a good trend?

Here are some examples of titles talked about:

Hard
Ghosts ‘n’ Goblins/Ghouls and Ghosts
Castlevania
Contra
Zelda II
Any old school Shmup (Shoot ‘em Up)
Battletoads

Top 10 most difficult games from Tech E Blog

Easy
Any Wii game
Lego games
Spyro
Fable
GTA — basically open worlders (easy to play — *sidenote – dont HAVE to beat)

Game News:

EA to cut 1,500It was announced in its quaterly financial report. That’s about 17% of its workforce. About 900 of the jobs come from game development studios. The “Cost Reduction Plan” detailed in the EA release involves the closure of several facilities and a huge reduction in workforce in order to “narrow its product portfolio to provide greater focus on titles with higher margin opportunities.” They’re closing several facilities and axing about a dozen games.

Child’s Play 2009 is underway.Child’s Play is the charity run by the fine folks at Penny Arcade. The 2008 drive gathered a whopping $1.4 million dollars worth of donations for children’s hospitals. This year they’ve added even more hospitals. Helping out is easy – go to www.childsplaycharity.org and pick a hospital to donate to. Then buy something from the Amazon wishlist that pops up.

PS3 Facebook integration coming soon?Leaked images suggest that a future PS3 update will add Facebook, among other things.

PlayStation father Ken Kutaragi creates new company.“Multi-platform console gamers may be making the switch to the PlayStation 3 for sequels to games they may have owned on the Xbox 360, analysis from consumer research and consulting firm OTX shows.”

Microsoft wields the Banhammer!Microsoft has banned a number of Xbox Live accounts from the online service in a bid to prevent the owners of modded consoles using the service.

Fall 360 Dashboard update on Nov. 17.Xbox Live’s Major Nelson has confirmed that the big fall Xbox 360 system update, which adds Twitter, Facebook, Last.fm, and the new Zune video marketplace, is coming to everyone on Nov 17th.

Game Releases 11/13 – 11/19

Release on 11/12
Braid – PSN
Star Trek: D-A-C – PSN, PC

Assassin’s Creed II – PS3, 360, PC
Assassin’s Creed II: Discovery – DS
Assassin’s Creed: Bloodlines – PSP
Bermuda Triangle: Saving the Coral – Wii, DS
Buck Fever – Wii
Chaotic: Shadow Warriors – PS3, 360, Wii, DS
EA Sports Active: More Workouts – Wii
God of War Collection – PS3
GTI Club+: Rally Côte d’Azur – PSN
Gyromancer – XBLA, PC
Hidden Secrets: The Nightmare – PC
Hot Wheels: Battle Force 5 – Wii, DS
Imagine: Artist – DS
Jambo! Safari Animal Rescue – Wii
JumpStart: Escape from Adventure Island – Wii
Just Dance – Wii
Kamen Rider: Dragon Knight – Wii, DS
Left 4 Dead 2 – 360, PC
Lego Indiana Jones 2: The Adventure Continues – PS3, 360, Wii, DS, PSP, PC
LittleBigPlanet – PSP
My Hero: Doctor – DS
My Hero: Firefighter – DS
Naruto Shippuden: Clash of Ninja Revolution III – Wii
NCAA Basketball 10 – PS3, 360
New Super Mario Bros. – Wii
Petz Dogz Talent Show – DS
Petz: Hamsterz Superstarz – DS
Planet 51 – PS3, 360, Wii, DS
Pokemon Rumble – WiiWare
Resident Evil: The Darkside Chronicles – Wii
Scene It? Bright Lights! Big Screen! – PS3, 360, Wii
The Princess and the Frog – PC, Wii, DS
The Sims 3 World Adventures – PC, MAC
Tony Hawk: Ride – PS3, 360, Wii
Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D’s Tag Force 4 – PSP

Follow more Tech and Games Updates and Articles at our the MeVIO Tech Blog

On tuesday Neha and I looked at some online shopping sites that rock as well as took our first foray into having an ‘explicit’ tag on our show (caused by one of the sites we were covering). It was a good show and actually shot another show right after it (stacking shows due to upcoming holidays).

If you didn’t know you can always catch our show LIVE at justin.tv/radontheweb tuesdays 3pm PST.

Our first twitter trend of the day is brought to us by rum and the lash:

Pirate Finder

Rumors abound that the British government is considering creating a “Pirate Finder General” with powers akin to the Witch Finder Generals of years past. The British Secretary of State would gain the power to pass any law he wanted, without Parliament’s approval, all in the name of protecting copyrights. I have a suggestion: a crack force of ninja assassins to take out those pirates once and for all!

Twitter trend number 2:

#nottosayonafirstdate

A few things tweeters can all agree shouldn’t be uttered on a first date:

“Don’t worry about the rash. The doctors say it’s probably not contagious”

“Let’s get this over with. My wife expects me home by ten.”

And “Oh sweet Jesus Noooooo!”

Twitter trend number 3:

#openwebawards

Mashable’s 3rd annual Open Web Awards nominees are up, and voting is open until December 13th. You can vote for me in the category: Best Female Host of a Web-based Show Covering Social Media Trends in a Snarky Manner.

Award nominated trend number 4:

#nothanksbillyocean

I am NOT getting out of my car, and I am by no means going anywhere near those dirty, dirty dreams of yours. Comedian Ross Noble has suggested that we not follow Billy Ocean’s romantic advice, and Twitter users concur.

And our final twitter trend of the day:

And our final twitter trend:

Droid autofocus fix

Verizon’s new hotness, the Droid, is already hitting a rough patch as users are complaining that the autofocus feature is pooping out on barcodes. Luckily, there is a quick fix: CLEAN THE LENS, YOU MORON!

Tweet at us at twitter.com/twitrdish.

Video games news this week on Mevio Tech and Gamesweasels’ Matt Cuttle has a Tekken 6 review and review of Motorstorm Arctic Edge, and theres a chance to win one of 5 copies of World of Goo for the PC in the competition. Videogames news headlines this week include Playstation 3 movies on demand release date, Activision launches ratings awareness campaign and Bioshock 2 trailer. On the blog this week we have the latest Grand Theft Auto 4 cheat codes, how to get free Microsoft points codes, a list of the most popular Nintendo Wii games for Christmas and a guide to using the Wii Guitar Hero controller with Rock Band.

Gamesweasel is part of the Mevio Tech Network and is brought to you by Godaddy.com. Go Daddy offers complete product line, including comprehensive hosting solutions, Web site creation tools, Secure SSL certificates, personalized email with spam and anti-phishing filtering, e-commerce tools and more. Use our Godaddy coupon codes for December 2009 to save money on hosting and web domains – watch our GoDaddy coupon code video for more details. Visit Mevio Offers for more exclusive promotions, the latest coupons, offers and free promo codes for a range of online products and services. Gamesweasel is also brought to you with Squarespace, use our January 2009 Square Space coupon code ‘WEASEL’ at the checkout to get 12% off the lifetime of your account. We are also brought to you with CCS, using the CCS discount code valid for January 2010 ‘AFGAMEFS’ for free shipping with any order over $30 and ‘AFGAME15′ will get you 15% off any order over $75.

Today’s top twitter trend:

Lucifer and Satan.

Why is the Lord of Darkness trending? How about this:

#DontHackBritney

Turns out that Miss Spear’s twitter account was hijacked. The tweeting ne’er-do wells posted Illuminati diatribes and the following:

@britneyspears:I give myself to Lucifer every day for it to arrive as quickly as possible. Glory to Satan!

Maybe it’s just me, but put a reggaeton beat under that, and Britney’s got her next hot single. Ok, all together now:

LEAVE BRITNEY ALONE!!!

Fnord.

Twitter Trend number two:

Lou Dobbs

The last remaining original CNN host is emigrating away from his news desk. So long, Lou! The world will be a sadder place without your jingoistic rants to warm our cockles.

Twitter trend number three:

New Moon

The sequel to Twilight is out in 8 days! 8! Time to break out the vamp fangs and werewolf mullets and get in line now! Go!!! Now!!!

More news on this trend once something actually happens.

Twitter trend number 4:

Carrie Prejean

It was a banner day for CNN yesterday. First, Lou left, and then the former Miss California threatened to walk out of her live interview with Larry King. Tweeters on both sides of the political spectrum are fuming. Here at twitter dish, we don’t take side, but we do loooove twits!

And our final twitter trend:

Which 1

The Reverend Run hits us with this much re-tweeted wisdom: Its much easier 4 people to be critical than to be creative.. Which 1 will u choose?

I choose: cheesecake. Yummmy.

It looks like media sharing darling Boxee is headed for a hardware home-run with its recently unveiled plans to release its very own home media center.  It’s speculated that the box will directly compete with Apple’s Apple TV and other internet TV hardware units like Roku and Slingbox.  You might remember that Boxee has run into some spats with Internet powerhouses Hulu and Apple over content ownership and digital rights management issues.

It seems like Boxee finally decided that, if you want something done right, do it yourself.  Go Boxee!

More details are to be released at Boxee’s Beta Unveiling event on December 7th.  RSVP here, if you’re in the New York area.  Until then, check out Boxee inventor and co-founder Dave Mathews on this week’s episode of CrankyGeeks!

On Mevio Tech gaming news Gamesweasel has just launched reviews of Up and Mario and Sonic at the Olympic Winter Games, also a competition where you can win one of 5 copies of Alvin and the Chipmunks The Squeakwel on the Wii. Videogames news headlines this week include Sky on the Xbox 360, Wii 2 and Nintendo DS free 3G Internet. On the blog this week we have a rundown of Wii games for children, a Charles Martinet interview, a rundown of some of the Wii games for hardcore gamers and some PS3 Christmas games ready for the holiday season.

Gamesweasel is part of the Mevio Tech Network and is brought to you by Godaddy.com. Go Daddy offers complete product line, including comprehensive hosting solutions, Web site creation tools, Secure SSL certificates, personalized email with spam and anti-phishing filtering, e-commerce tools and more. Visit the Gamesweasel offers page for November 2009 Godaddy discount codes – watch our GoDaddy coupon code video for more details. Visit Mevio Offers for more exclusive promotions, the latest coupons, offers and free promo codes for a range of online products and services. Gamesweasel is also brought to you in association with Squarespace.com, use the Squarespace coupon ‘WEASEL’ for 12% off the lifetime of your account. We are also brought to you with CCS, using the CCS discount code valid for December 2009 ‘AFGAMEFS’ for free shipping with any order over $30 and ‘AFGAME15′ will get you 15% off any order over $75.

Episode 122 of Gamesweasel is out now on Mevio Tech and this week Matt Cuttle has reviews of Pro Evolution Soccer 2010 and Uncharted 2 Among Thieves plus a chance to win one of four t-shirts from Dark Bunny Tees. In the gaming headlines this week Modern Warfare 2 single player petition, Black Wii and Gamesweasel Games Media awards results. On Gamesweasel.com this week we have a review of Tales of Monkey Island Episode 4, a rundown of the top 10 Wii hardcore games, a second opinion of Uncharted 2 Among Thieves and a look at the best Wii games for girls.

Gamesweasel is part of the Mevio Tech Network and is brought to you by Godaddy.com. Go Daddy offers complete product line, including comprehensive hosting solutions, Web site creation tools, Secure SSL certificates, personalized email with spam and anti-phishing filtering, e-commerce tools and more. Use our December 2009 Godaddy coupon codes to save money on hosting and web domains – watch our GoDaddy coupons video for more details. Visit Mevio Offers for more exclusive promotions, the latest coupons, offers and free promo codes for a range of online products and services. Gamesweasel is also brought to you with Squarespace.com, use the Squarespace coupon code ‘WEASEL’ to get 12% off for the lifetime of your account. We are also brought to you in association with CCS.com, using the December 2009 CCS discount code ‘AFGAMEFS’ will get you free shipping on orders over $30 and ‘AFGAME15′ for 15% off orders over $75.

Matt Cuttle has just launched episode 121 of Gamesweasel on Mevio Tech and this week he has a review of Dead Space Extraction and a Operation Flashpoint Dragon Rising review and there’s a chance to win one of 2 copies of The Halo Encyclopaedia in the competition. On the blogs this week we have a Bomberman Ultra review for the Playstation 3, a review of Ninja Captains for the Wii, a guide to the best PS3 party games and a Nintendo DS Christmas buyers guide.

Gamesweasel is part of the Mevio Tech Network and is brought to you by Godaddy.com. Go Daddy offers complete product line, including comprehensive hosting solutions, Web site creation tools, Secure SSL certificates, personalized email with spam and anti-phishing filtering, e-commerce tools and more. Use our Gamesweasel November 2009 Godaddy coupon to save money on web domains and hosting – watch our GoDaddy promo code video for more details. Visit Mevio Offers for more exclusive promotions, the latest coupons, offers and free promo codes for a range of online products and services. Gamesweasel is also brought to you with Squarespace, use our December 2009 Square Space coupon code ‘WEASEL’ at the checkout to get 12% off the lifetime of your account. We are also brought to you in association with CCS, use our CSS free shipping coupon code ‘AFGAMEFS’ for orders over $30 and ‘AFGAME15′ for 15% off orders over $75.

Video games news this week on Mevio Tech and Gamesweasels’ Matt Cuttle has a Halo 3 ODST review and review of FIFA 10, and in the competition there is a chance to win one of 3 copies of Mario and Sonic at the Olympic Winter Games for the Wii and DS. Gaming headlines this week include an Assassins Creed 3 rumour, a InFamous 2 leak and a new Wii exercise bike.

This week we look at a new Wii puzzle game in our Magnetis review, find out more about an educational game for the Wii called Learning with the PooYoos Episode One, we solve the problem of using the Wii Guitar Hero controller with Rock Band and a look at some digimon online games for the Nintendo DS.

Gamesweasel is part of the Mevio Tech Network and is brought to you by Godaddy.com. Go Daddy offers complete product line, including comprehensive hosting solutions, Web site creation tools, Secure SSL certificates, personalized email with spam and anti-phishing filtering, e-commerce tools and more. Use our Godaddy coupon codes for November 2009 to save money on hosting and web domains – watch our GoDaddy promo code video for more details. Visit Mevio Offers for more exclusive promotions, the latest coupons, offers and free promo codes for a range of online products and services. Gamesweasel is also brought to you with Squarespace.com, using the December 2009 Squarespace discount code ‘WEASEL’ at checkout will get you 12% off the lifetime of your account. We are also brought to you in association with CCS, use our CSS free shipping coupon code ‘AFGAMEFS’ for orders over $30 and ‘AFGAME15′ for 15% off orders over $75.