So there you have it. Turn on those Wii's and have another place to check the weather. Personally there's lots of things I'd rather see than a weather center, but I appreciate the added functionality. Plus it's free, so that's always nice.

The 3D globe spinning is sharp, so points for that. Do you readers out there think this is something you'll use, or more of a novelty?

As many of you know I've had a bit of a stiff joystick over the TG-16 games on the Wii. I missed out on them when I was a kid, so the VC versions have gotten me excited - like trip to the zoo excited - every week now. Above all else there's one title and one alone that I've been waiting for - Military Madness. I heart Advance Wars, and every time I tell that to anyone, I always get the same response; "Advance Wars is shit - go play Military Madness." So needless to say, it's been on my to do list for awhile.

But then something happened. I woke up all eager beaver to get my hands on this today. I even went out to pick up a Points card so I could take care of business....and then the cold feet set in. Is it any good? Won't this feel like "been there, done that" by now? I had to get some advice. Unfortunately, day one reviews don't seem to exist for Virtual Console titles. Hell, you'll be lucky to find a review by day 10. This pisses me off. It's not like these are new games, or tweaked games, or games that in any way, shape or form differ from something we've been playing for 15 years. Why in the blue hell are reviewers not getting off their asses, breaking out their emulators (that's right, I went there), and getting some god damned reviews out?? Where's in the hell is my guiding light?? Where is my old school reviews savior?

Turns out they've been here all along, I just had to hunt them out. The Virtual Console Archive has a database of every VC title released and announced, summaries and screenshots of each, and a very special write-up called "Worth buying on the Virtual Console?" Normally I wouldn't be standing on top of my soapbox and shouting about a great site that's not ours, but hey, these people are providing a valuable service that we're not. That being said you can always count on us for some really solid reviews once we get our grubby little mitts on these bloody things.

Let's face facts - as cool as Live Arcade, downloadable demos and additional content are, they're really just the tip of the iceberg -- eventually the entire industry is going to shift its focus to downloadable content and purchasing a game in a store is going to become a thing of the past. Downloadable content replacing physical media is as inevitable as the rising cost of tank tops or the eventual decline of Cookie Crisp. If publishers, developers and console makers get their way we'll be seeing this shift by the time we buy our next consoles. Even Sony's Phil Harrison has gone on record as saying "I'd be amazed if the PS4 had a physical disc drive."

But no major shift in business mechanics happens without a lot of market research. And how are they conducting this? Welcome to the maze, guinea pig.

Nice, clean retro style desktops. 1024X768

There's 11 altogether. Everything from Spy Vs. Spy to Pac-Man to Zaxxon to Donkey Kong.

Thanks to FreakyFonts!

Click here to download the set!

The following Saints Row in game content is available for Xbox Live Gold members*

Name: The Ho Ho Ho Pack

Price: Free

NOT Available in: Germany, Hong Kong, Japan, Korea, Singapore, Taiwan

Dash Details: Santa Claus ensemble includes coat, hat, boots and hair. Happy Holidays!

(*This content will be available for Silver members after 12/25)

-Half-Life 2

-Co-Op

Now, two great ingredients make for one (hopefully) incredible flavor: Follow Freeman Half-Life 2 Co-Op Mod!!

I have yet to play it, but you can be damn sure that I'm going to be downloading this demo brought to us by Merciless Development.

THANK YOU, YOU BRILLIANT MODDERS!!

The toy store also said they were getting 30,000 Xbox 360's and 40,000 Game Boy Advances.

Nothing like waiting till the last minute.

Though it seems like the only way for both Nintendo and Sony to reach their shipped projections is to have some huge number hit shelves in the next few days. Sony is still saying 2 million by years end, and Nintendo is still claiming 2 million. Worldwide. That seems a bit.... ambitious

Full statement on Next-Gen's site.

To be available at noon pacific time on Monday, December 18th.

• Tennis (500 points) from the NES

• Space Harrier (800 points) from the Genesis

• Military Madness (600 points) for the Turbografx-16.

I might have to splurge on Space Harrier. I still think 8 bucks is a bit much for a Genesis game but I love me some Space Harrier.

Getting anything?