Something about this holiday season makes people want to give, and not to just people they know. Charities are a dime a dozen but none are as popular with the gaming community as Child's Play created by the begun by the creators of Penny Arcade comic strip which is set up to donate toys, games, and cash to sick children in hospitals through an ongoing online toy drive and annual charity auction. GamerDNA.com is getting into this giving spirit and is organizing an online contest. The contest is about spreading the word about Child's Play and encouraging donations by challenging members of various game communities to share a "unique virtual badge" in as many places as possible online. To get the badge participants take what is called the gamerDNA Decades of Influence Quiz which, humoursly, indicates which ports of the past four decades of gaming has had the most influence on an individuals identity. The community that shares the most virtual badges will select which Children's Hospital will receive a donation of 6 bundles of Nintendo DS systems and games from gamer DNA. Participate in gamerDNA's challenge and win the gift of giving, you could even wear a santa suit if you want. [READ MORE]

• This Week In Defunct Games features Forgotten Worlds and Space Invaders: The Original Game.  Cyril's not happy.
• Tech junkies will catch onto the humor as they witness the lumbering extinction of NVIDIA's "G4saurus."
• The AMD hush-hush project known previously as "Deneb" will launch as the AMD Phenom II X4 Processor.
• With the Intel Core i7 family of processors available, Legit Reviews looks at the compatible Kingston HyperX 3GB DDR3 2GHz Triple-Channel Memory Kit.
• According to I4U News, the Alienware Area-51 m15x Gaming Notebook is one of the best 15-inch gaming notebooks on the market.
• TechwareLabs examines the performance-boosting Intel E7200 2.53GHz Dual Core Processor.

Thanks to Defunct Games, Legit Reviews, AtomicGamer, I4U News and TechwareLabs for today's news roundup.

The PS3's exclusive BioShock Add-On Game Content (put together by 2K Boston in conjunction with 2K Marin, 2K Australia and Digital Extremes) is available today for download from the PlayStation Network.  The package -- running a cool $9.99 -- includes new Trophies as well as the new Game Plus gameplay mode.  Two of the three new rooms cite "wits" as a deciding factor to get you through, while the third professes to be the most "grueling" challenge yet offered in the world of Rapture.

• A Shocking Turn of Events -- A Little Sister is trapped atop a Ferris wheel in an undisclosed location in Rapture.  Using ony the tools and environment around them, players must use their wits to create electricity to power the Ferris wheel and bring the Little Sister to safety.

• The I in Team -- Using limited resources, and an even more limited arsenal, players must negotiate traps and find a way to defeat a Big Daddy using their wits instead of raw firepower.

• Worlds of Hurt -- Step up and take on the most grueling challenge offered in the world of Rapture.  Players must battle through eight rooms of Big Daddies, Splicers and the worst that Rapture has to offer.  Accumulate Adam, build an arsenal of Plasmids, Tonics and Weaponry, and fight through to rescue the Little Sister.

I think the variety thrown into these three scenarios rather quickly draws distinctions between Dead Space and BioShock.  Despite all the neat-o things Dead Space does, I think everyone is going to have their memory jogged as to who's still the big daddy of sci-fi thrillers. [READ MORE]

Edge-of-control canyon racing in Utah.  A treacherous rally stage from Malaysia.  And the "Battersea Battle" rally-cross night races in London.  Just when you think racing games can't get any more gorgeous, Codemasters announces DiRT 2.  Colin McRae's name is still somewhere in that title, but we know who's center stage in this series now.  Yes:  the dirt. 

"[Colin McRae] could do things with a car that no one else would and that's where we're taking the series with new events at the extreme edge of rally and autosport," said Gavin Raeburn, Senior Executive Producer at Codemasters.  (Colin McRae died in a helicopter accident in September 2007.)  "It will be a great tribute to an incredible champion."

DiRT 2 will utilize the third generation of Codemasters' proprietary EGO Engine (putting twice as much visual fidelity on the screen as appeared in GRiD), with the Group N Subaru serving in the game's opening drive -- thereby making the original DiRT's ultimate car the starting point in the sequel.  Full online functionality will be in place.  DiRT 2 will simultaneously launch in 2009 for the PS3, 360, Wii, PC, DS, and PSP. [READ MORE]

If it looks like a Porsche and drives like a Porsche, shouldn’t it cost as much as a Porsche? According to the folks at Fanatec: Absolutely not. Today the introduced the Porsche 911 Carrera Racing Wheel for the PS3 and PC which can be purchased for pre-order for only $129.99. The wheel features 6+1 gear stick that is mountable on either side, clutch pedal with declining resistance and a Mabuchi RS 550 force feedback motor. The unit will ship on February 15th 2009. [READ MORE]

While I've stopped playing Grand Theft Auto IV, the first episode in a long line of DLC has finally been announced. On February 17th, Grand Theft Auto IV: The Lost and Damned will finally be released only on Xbox 360. You'll be playing a new main character with a storyline that intersects with IV. Not only will there be new missions but new weapons, vehicles, and multiplayer modes will come into play as well. No info on the pricing yet but it's about time Microsoft started getting their money's worth. [READ MORE]

Blizzard announced today that World of Warcraft: Wrath of the Lich King sold over 2.8 million copies last week, making it the fastest selling PC game ever (until the next World of Warcraft expansion ships).   Blizzard didn't break out the sales by unit type but that's about $84 million or so in sales (based on $30 a copy) which just throws more money into the giant Blizzard money making engine.

The only semi-negative for Blizzard is that it looks like only 25% or so of it's installed userbase of 11million users upgraded.  I'm sure the rest will take their time but it's interseting to see the breakout.  [READ MORE]

Everquest II: The Shadow Odyssey is live and Sony Online Entertainment has released a launch trailer to go with it. Some of the big changes in the fifth expansion are 20 new zones which include the overland zone of Innothule Swamp. TSO also brings back dungeons from the good old days of EverQuest such as the Ruins of Guk. Catch a full list of changes after the break.

[READ MORE]

For those that have the full compliment of WiiMotes for their Wii, Nyko's finally producing a charger that charges them all at once. The Charge Station Quad for the Nintendo Wii comes with four covers, four batteries, and a charger that holds them all. The new covers have a rubber grip so you can have an easier hold on the controller. I use the first charger from Nyko with great results and really like the rubber grips on the back. The only thing I'd like to see this have is USB charging but then again I don't know if the USB port can output enough juice to charge four controllers at once. [READ MORE]

Have you updated your Xbox 360 to the NXE? A few of us have experienced problems with the update and you know I expected this since it's a pretty major rollout for them. The one problem I am seeing is being unable to access certain parts of the Marketplace. Major Nelson has info on the ongoing saga and has provided a small update on the situation. The team is looking into it right now so let's hope they clear things up. I was surprised it didn't take that long for the update to get to me though so that's good. How's everyone digging the new interface and avatar system?

The Phantasy Star Universe: Ambition of the Illuminus, expansion for PSU, has gotten a new price. It is now available for download from Xbox Live for 800 points, which is a 50% discount. The expansion contains a new single online mission where your character is now the main focus of the storyline. In addition, the online multiplayer also was beefed up with 25 new missions, 5 new bosses and 100 added weapons and items. As always, the original PSU disk and an active Guardians license are required to run the expansion. [READ MORE]

Hearing Elijah Wood's boyish intonation come out of the wide-eyed Spyro's mouth requires no stretch of the imagination.  What does, however, require a re-meshing of mind over matter is The Legend of Spryo: Dawn of the Dragon's deceptive control schemes. 

Sharper minds than my own have argued the necessities of direct, immediately-understandable controls in a platformer.  Mario and Luigi, Jak and Daxter, Ratchet and Clank ... these are now-iconic duos that will attest to that need.  But Spyro and the newly-redeemed Cynder both subscribe to floaty, imprecise movements that are at once an aforementioned necessity (they are both dragons) as well as an unmentionably temple-throbbing headache.  Single-jumps are decidedly unnecessary.  Double-jumps are mushy.  Flying is inexplicably tethered by gravity when you need height, and unfailingly floaty when you need to land.

Moving about lava-carved caverns is a great start to any abrupt and unexplained intro:  Both Spryo and Cynder are encased in an enormous amber jewel, communicating telepathically, and then able to shatter their way out moments later.  This is likely a continuation from the previous entry in the Legend of Spryo series, but I'm coming at this with fresh eyes and no context for current events.  Without a detailed history of Spyro's past, I'll see if Dawn of the Dragon will sink or swim on its own merits.  And so far?  It doesn't look like dragons can swim.

The decidedly Balrog-looking thingy that attacks Spyro and Cynder -- surrounded by a cheering arena of goblin-thingy onlookers -- is a momentous beginning.  There's barely time to learn that you can grab enemies and spin them around before the Balrog-thingy decides it's seen enough.  Too bad its white-hot anger and molten-hot skin comes up with nothing more creative than to swat haphazardly at the two hapless dragons.  And to retaliate, Spyro (or Cynder -- you can interchange rolls or play co-op at will) attack the Balrog-thingy's hand.  It's po' widdle hand.

It's some constantly-interrupting Tony the Tiger of a hooded ranger than keeps tossing in all the cutscenes and making the cool bow shots like putting an arrow into the Balrog-thingy's eye socket.  Plus, as Tony the Tiger (not his real name) makes beautiful bounds from ledge to ledge, I'm in a constant battle with a camera that sometimes swings in an almost-360-degrees (though it's rare) to a camera that's more often riveted to some less-than-convenient angle against a wall.  The camera invents new inconvenient angles as I pop into a new room, and every fifth or sixth jump seems to have yet another cutscene intervene before I fully pull off my landing.

French developer Estranges Libellule (also responsible for the Asterix & Obelix games) has made it very clear that you, the player, are not allowed to have control of Spyro for any reasonable length of time.  Estranges Libellule has also made the mistake of positing a camera that wants to play the game for you.  I'm sincerely hoping that this is an indoor environment issue only, and that exterior environments will lend more of the freedoms that seem inherent to flying a dragon around.  As far as the introductory chapter goes, Dawn of the Dragon's lack of trust in the player makes it very difficult to navigate the too-tightly leashed environs.  Though, for unintentional laughs, it is always great to see your AI-controlled partner (be it Spyro or Cynder) constantly missing jumps and plummeting inches away from the targeted ledge.  Pretty much couldn't land a single jump.  It's as hilarious as it is incompetent.

Yet the heartwarming artwork gives me a flicker of hope, despite everything.  It's what made me accept the review assignment from Chuck in the first place.  And even though Spyro has shown me that he can't be controlled yet, perhaps he'll also show me some marvelous locales.  I haven't lost all hope that this dragon, after all, might be sleeping on a mound of treasure.