Microsoft is celebrating the launch of its new Games on Demand service by offering the games below for 50% off! These prices will last until January 4, 2010, so jump on the chance to pick up some great games at a great price!

Sorry about the late start again. I went over to EA to check out Mass Effect 2, got back later than expected, had a late dinner, and tried to watch some Coraline with a full stomach, so about 20 minutes in, sleep got the better of me, and we woke up like four hours later. Talk about a food coma!

There's one more press trip scheduled, and that should wrap it up for this year. Then we are going to move on to the Game of the Year feature, which will run during the holidays, and the most anticipated games of 2010, which will run shortly thereafter. Keep an eye out for them ....

We were going to decorate our Christmas tree today, but when we got up this morning, the tree had shifted to the side. It looks like I'll have to saw some branches off the bottom of the trunk so that it'll stand up properly in the tree holder.

There sure were a lot of trailers released yesterday, mainly new announcements from the 2009 Video Game Awards, so that was pretty cool to see. I suspect from here on out, things will quiet down as the holidays are approaching. Most titles that are meant to be on shelves for the shoppers are already there, so there's not much to do until early next year.

Time for some eggnog!

Marking the return to the Prince of Persia: Sands of Time storyline, The Forgotten Sands will feature many of the fan-favorite elements from the original series as well as new gameplay innovations that gamers have come to expect from the Prince of Persia brand.

Age of Conan is an Online Action RPG, mixing a deep, story-driven single-player experience and a massive and brutal multiplayer end-game that brings forth the ultimate representation of the Age of Conan. Having released a 7-14 day free trial, lowering subscription fees, Funcom now released a new trial that does not expire.

With Star Wars: The Force Unleashed II, the epic story continues as players once again assume the role of the devastatingly powerful Starkiller - Darth Vader’s secret apprentice set during the largely unexplored era between Star Wars: Episode III Revenge of the Sith and Star Wars: Episode IV A New Hope.

The next installment in the Transformers franchise, currently in development at High Moon, but this time not based on any upcoming movie, rather it details the conflict that brought the Autobot vs. Decepticon fight to Earth.

TF2 is a class-based, multiplayer team warfare game, delivering new game types, a signature art style powered by Valve’s next-gen animation technology, persistent player statistics, etc. A new dual content update will not only adds new maps, weapons and achievements, but also put Demoman vs. Soldier, whichever class gets the most kills the coming week, gets a yet to be disclosed secret weapon.

Aimed at all levels, from those who have never played a wargame before to those who know the history of World War II in detail, this is an entertaining and mentally challenging game of combined arms strategy.  Your armor, infantry, artillery and air units will follow you through the most crucial battles of the Eastern Front.

TrackMania Nations Forever is a new version of the Stadium environment, a solo mode and 65 new, progressively difficult tracks, uniting an even larger number of players thanks to its multiplayer modes, online functions and interactivity between players.

The Sam & Max series is a crime-fighting adventure structured like a TV season, each of the episodes has its own self-contained plot while together they form part of a season-long mystery, drawing in the player with great characters and multiple intertwined plot lines, building to a high-stakes climax in the season finale.

Dynasty Warriors: Strikeforce takes place in a mystic version of ancient China where warriors possess the power of "Fury". This power gives them superhuman strength, lightning fast speed and the ability to fly. Taking the role of any one of over 40 playable characters, up to four friends can go online to launch raids as a team or battle it out competitively.

MU Online developer Webzen announced that it has begun pursuing trademark litigation against their Chinese service distribution partner, The9 Limited, for trademark agreement and transfer rights violation with MU.

Forza Motorsport 3 unites the racing game genre, making it possible for everyone to experience the thrill of more than 400 of the world’s most exotic and exquisite cars on over 100 renowned real-world tracks and exotic road courses from around the globe.

Designed to deliver a true driver’s experience that reflects contemporary motorsports, Need for Speed Shift is built by racers for racers, delivering an authentic and immersive driving experience.

Forza Motorsport 3 unites the racing game genre, making it possible for everyone to experience the thrill of more than 400 of the world’s most exotic and exquisite cars on over 100 renowned real-world tracks and exotic road courses from around the globe.

RealD announced that Namco Bandai Games has introduced its proprietary Stereoscopic Gaming API into their development environment, delivering an automated continuous approach to 3D that is compatible with real-time rendering and promises to bring 3D cinema experience to console gaming.

Wings of Prey is a new combat flight simulator based around the large-scale aerial combat and ground military operations of World War II. Players can participate in some of the war’s most famous battles piloting fighters, battle planes and bombers across a range of thrilling missions.

Forza Motorsport 3 unites the racing game genre, making it possible for everyone to experience the thrill of more than 400 of the world’s most exotic and exquisite cars on over 100 renowned real-world tracks and exotic road courses from around the globe.

On Dec. 15, Games for Windows Live will include a portal for accessing and downloading your favorite Live-enabled titles. Games on Demand for Windows lets you purchase and download titles from the Games for Windows Live library, and re-install you games whenever you want, wherever you want.

Easy Tiger, a new digital download-only publisher has been launched by Kuju Entertainment industry veteran Joel Benton to successfully bring games to market on all digital platforms - XBLA, PSN, PC, iPhone, WiiWare, DSi and PSP, allowing developers to keep their own IP.

Designed to deliver a true driver’s experience that reflects contemporary motorsports, Need for Speed Shift is built by racers for racers, delivering an authentic and immersive driving experience.

A Kingdom for Keflings is a city-builder that puts you in the shoes of a giant who has to design and construct an intricate city for the local Keflings. Each giant starts out with a small handful of helpful Keflings who help build the kingdom from scratch.

Chime is a unique block puzzle game fused with music creation elements and contributions from a number of famous musicians.

The X360 has been in the news lately thanks to the mass banning of (depending on reports) up to a million modded consoles from Xbox Live. Although attractive to those who prefer to steal their software rather than pay for it, the DVD mod was technically unimpressive as it didn’t bypass the core of the X360 security system. Until this morning, no one had.