"Art" is a word frequently thrown around in the videogame world, usually in the question, "Are videogames art?". While art truly is in the eye of the beholder and it's ultimately fruitless to try and argue if videogames and art can be one in the same, from my perspective there have been precious few times when something in the videogame world struck me as beautiful and made me feel emotions normally reserved for my experiences with other forms of entertainment. It's with that idea in mind then that I come to Braid from Number None Inc., for Microsoft's Xbox 360, via Xbox Live Arcade. To me, this time manipulation puzzle platformer is art in its truest sense, from the painterly, animated graphics style to the almost transcendental instrumental music to the rather flowery and richly constructed prose. Braid is also a game of seemingly purposeful contrasts, embracing often overly tread videogame constructs like jumping on enemy heads to dispatch them (Super Mario Bros.), finding and using keys (Shamus) and puzzle pieces (Impossible Mission), and reversing time in order to meet or re-do certain goals (Blinx), all wrapped up in an achingly beautiful aesthetic that makes everything else about it quite all right thank you very much. If I weren't terrifically busy and feeling a bit guilty about best use of my own time, I'd buy the 1200 point game immediately, but I will have to make do with a taste of the free demo for the time being, a demo of a game I'll want to expose my wife to at the first opportunity so I have someone else, firsthand, to share the experience with (and an experience it is). There are already countless reviews of Braid (whose title, for those wondering, is also fitting), but here's a brief one to get you started that hints just a bit more at what the game actually offers...

I just found a fun presentation that compares the copy protection schemes used by the 360 with those of the C-64. I was really surprised at the similarities, despite the many years and "advancements" made in the interval. The presentation really gets into the guts of the C-64 and the 360; you techies and hardware hackers out there will really enjoy this. Link via maxconsole.

Joystiq is running a great post about a potentially nasty booboo at Sears--they've got a tv spot featuring some silly kid telling us how much he likes Halo and Halo 2, and how he bought them at Sears. The problem? Uh, the kid's too young to have bought those games legally, at least if we care to observe the ESRB's ratings.

An Achievement Symbol from Frogger 25th Anniversary on Xbox Live ArcadeWell, as part of Xbox Live Wednesday's, which will see interesting new releases on that weekday for the near future, Microsoft and Konami have released "Frogger 25th Anniversary" to Xbox Live Arcade for the Xbox 360 yesterday. I was looking forward to the enhanced visuals and the new modes, but was ultimately left a bit dissapointed.

Engadget has written about a group that claims to have developed a modchip for the xbox 360 called the Devil360. It's just a rumour but I thought I'd share this with you guys. If this were true one could expect M$ hunting down these folk.

Engadget article

Microsoft's Xbox 360All I can say is, it's "about time" and I'm very much looking forward to these actually terribly useful improvements, particularly with the music features and DVD bookmarking!

From the official release:

Gamers ask and Xbox 360 delivers with revolutionary free upgrade for all Xbox 360 connected owners.