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Last week, we noticed that movies from Sony’s Columbia Pictures were not available for streaming on Netflix on the Xbox 360 as part of the New Xbox Experience.

Despite comments from Microsoft and Netflix putting the cause on licenses expiring and not any overt effort by Sony to prevent these movies from being available on the Xbox 360 everyone was a bit suspicious.

Now, most of the movies that were previously unavailable on the Xbox 360 are now available. There are a few exceptions like Superbad and Spider-Man 3.

Guess there was no giant conspiracy after all. Enjoy the movies!

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German site, gamona.de, is churning the rumor mill to the effect of saying Fable II is in development for a PC release and could come out as early as February 15, 2009.

Of course, we are quick to point out that it is just a rumor, but it would make sense considering Molyneux’s connection to PC games in the past and the fact that Microsoft puts out the Xbox and Windows. So, yeah, this probably isn’t too far off-base or out of the question. It’s probably just a matter of when.

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Not to be outdone by Sony’s PlayStation Network sale, Microsoft is holding its own Black Friday specials. The good news is that there are a lot of great deals to be had on Xbox Live Arcade titles, downloadable content, and themes. Notable items and their respective prices in points include Rez HD (500), Assault Heroes (500), Metallica’s Death Magnetic for Guitar Hero 3 (1,000), the “Getting Busy Pack” for Crackdown (500), and Gears of War 2 “Last Day” theme (180).

Now for the bad news: you have to be an Xbox Live Gold subscriber to get these savings. According to Microsoft’s Major Nelson:

“The sale starts Friday morning and will run through Sunday evening. These special prices will be available for Xbox LIVE Gold Members in the US only. The new prices will be updated on Friday morning when the sale kicks in.”

While the sale prices are nice, it’s kind of crappy that you have to be a gold member to get these savings.

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Sony has counterpunched in reaction to rumors leaked yesterday from an anonymous source who supposedly attended a staff meeting at Sony. There is no planned price cut for the PlayStation 3 in March of 2009.

Say goodbye to your price drop, fans. Although, a lack of plans to drop the price doesn’t mean it won’t happen. Still, our advice to you is, if you’ve got the cash and you want the system, buy the dern thing. Little Big Planet will blow your mind and MGS 4 is no slouch, neither.

Also factor in that Sony has been losing money on the PS3 since day one and the tightening global economy and you can understand why they would resist a price drop despite being the most expensive console on the market by a considerable margin.

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How does Bethesda keep gamers happy with their titles? DLC! Bethesda is getting ready to drop more content for Fallout 3 on Xbox 360 and PC in the coming months. From the description, the content packs should be pretty significant.

First, in December, the PC editor and mod tools will be officially released to the Games for Windows community. Called the “G.E.C.K. (Garden of Eden Creation Kit)”, it will be free to all PC users.

Then, every in January, February, and March, a pack full of “new quests, items, and content” will be released for the Xbox 360 and PC. They are:

Operation: Anchorage. Enter a military simulation and fight in one of the greatest battles of the Fallout universe – the liberation of Anchorage, Alaska from its Chinese Communist invaders. An action-packed battle scheduled for release in January.

The Pitt. Journey to the industrial raider town called The Pitt, located in the remains of Pittsburgh. Choose your side. Scheduled for release in February.

Broken Steel. Join the ranks of the Brotherhood of Steel and rid the Capital Wasteland of the Enclave remnants once and for all. Continues the adventure past the main quest. Scheduled for release in March.

Pricing has not yet been announced. We’re extremely exciting about these packs as two of them include entirely different areas (Anchorage, Pittsburgh) and the third should help tie up some loose ends in the Wasteland.

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Nintendo announced two new Nintendo DS bundles that will hit the North American market on Black Friday (November 28). Nintendo’s press release states:

“The Mario Red Nintendo DS bundle includes a red system emblazoned with a familiar M for Mario, and a copy of New Super Mario Bros. The Ice Blue Nintendo DS comes with a custom carrying case and the popular Brain Age: Train Your Brain in Minutes a Day. Each bundle sells at an MSRP of $149.99.”

You can check out the ice blue color in the press release. Interested in picking one of these up this weekend?

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Over the weekend, some clever users discovered that the newly launched web version of the Xbox LIVE Marketplace could be exploited, allowing gamers to download DLC that wouldn’t otherwise be available to them. This included the Xbox Classic Banjo-Kazooie, which releases on Wednesday and special DLC from promotions and codes like the Gold Lancer in Gears of War 2 and the M1A1 for Call of Duty: World at War.

The exploit was discovered when users that had pre-ordered Banjo-Kazooie: Nuts & Bolts, which gave them access to the early download for the original game. By logging into the web-based XBM, they were able to find the URL to the game and any user could go to the URL and queue the game up for download directly to their Xbox 360. It still cost money, but was available early.

Armed with this knowledge, however, users were able to discover the URL’s for code-redeemed content like the Gold Lancer and spread those as well. Even the Gears of War 2 Flashback Map Pack was available, which was Epic’s big push for people to buy their game instead of rent or buy it used.

At this time, however, the exploit has been fixed and the DLC is currently not available or priced at 99999 MS Points. Any ill-gotten content appears to still be around and accessible by users.

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Tragedy has occurred late on Sunday in southwest China, as a huge fight broke out among patrons of a local gaming center, resulting in the death of 5 people. The incident was said to involve people around the age of 20 years old.

The incident began with an argument between the young patrons and the manager of the Milky Way Express gaming center* in the Nanping district of Chongqing late on Sunday. The argument escalated, and the fight broke out among the group (over a yet unknown cause,) which has resulted in the deaths of 5, yet-to-be identified young patrons.

Most of the details still remain clouded and it is uncertain if we may ever get the full scoop. Regardless of the cause, we can only do a few things: Hope the best for the families, and that Jack Thompson or other crusaders will not use this as an opportunity to exploit these deaths as an example of “the violent transformation of our youth brought about by video games.”

*Above is a stock photo of an Internet Cafe.

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PlayStation Network’s exclusive Zen Studios’ action game The Punisher: No Mercy, drops its first trailer which is straight-to-the-point and does what needs to be done. Based on the source comic material this Punisher outing still has its release date pending for the PS3.

Fable II fans, listen up. Microsoft today announced that a DLC pack for the recently released Xbox 360 title will hit in mid-December. The content is comprised of Knothole Island, a land which was once blossoming, has undergone a harsh climate change, now completely covered in snow. In the midst of it all people are freezing and treasures are being buried. It’s up to a hero to face the trials at three shrines and bring the sunlight back to this island.

The DLC will be offered in free and paid variants. Purchasing the paid pack, which totals at 800 MS Points, is the only way to access “new quests and enjoy the complete Knothole Island co-op experience,” according to Microsoft.

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