CADILLAC V-SERIES COLLECTION NOW AVAILABLE FOR PGR3
Cadillac wants you to know about their V series automobiles, the CTS-V, STS-V, and XLR-V and to introduce you to them, they've had Bizarre add those cars to Project Gotham Racing 3 for your downloading pleasure.

How much is it going to cost you to see this little bit of automotive advertising? Nothing, it's a free download. Sounds like a pretty fair deal to me, they put the three V series cars on your radar, you get to drive them around in PGR3. We all win. It's in game advertising the way it ought to be. Head on over to the Xbox Live Marketplace to get them!

OBLIVION CONTENT: THIEVES DEN NOW AVAILABLE FOR 360 AND PC
Bethesda's latest official add-on to Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion is now available for both the Xbox 360 and PC. The add-on pack, "The Thieves Den", contains adventures geared towards the more stealthy characters of Oblivion. As per Elder Scrolls Store;

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"The Thieves Den provides you with everything you need to outfit your stealth-based character for missions. Rediscover the legendary Dunbarrow Cove and the ancient pirate ship The Red Sabre. Dunbarrow Cove not only provides a home base to operate out of, you can purchase new vendors, trainers, and even an upgrade to your sleeping quarters with the loot from your heists." -Elder Scrolls Store
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The content is available through the Xbox Live Marketplace at a cost of 150 points for Xbox 360 owners and in the Elder Scrolls Store for $1.89 for PC users. Is it a decent add-on or is it just another cheap gimmick to milk two dollars out of you? Only time will tell, but at least this time the mod comes with free pirates, and pirates are always welcome! Bring out the Grog!

EVERYTHING YOU EVER WANTED TO KNOW ABOUT THE LIVE MARKETPLACE...
But were too disinterested to ask. Xbox Live's Major Nelson filled us all in on a project over at Achieve360points.com where they've mapped the entire Xbox Live Marketplace so you can easily see what's currently available. They don't make any mention of if they plan on keeping it updated, so keep in mind it may not be accurate as more content is released into the Live Marketplace. Check out the Live Marketplace map here - hopefully, they'll keep it up to date as the organization of the real Marketplace could use some serious work.

ROBIN WILLIAMS PLAYS SPORE AT E3
Normally, I try to stay away from all the fluff news a lot of sites carry, because I figure you can get that anywhere and one of the benefits of actually coming to a smaller site like this is that it's easier to find the big news of the day. Well, I'm breaking with that tradition for today, for two reasons. First, it's been slow on the news front and I figure I need to add something to make you keep coming back, and secondly, not only is the video a riot, but it gives a very nice look at the character creation process in Will Wright's upcoming game "Spore".

So without further delay, click here and head on over to Devil Ducky to see the video and be sure to hang around for the end of it when Mr. Williams talks gaming in general, and unlike so many other celebrities, comes off as knowing what he's talking about.

THE WHOLE HDMI MESS EXPLAINED
IGN has a pretty good article up regarding why the lack of HDMI support on the 20gig Playstation 3 is such a problem. As we've pointed out before, the issue lies in the fact that the upcoming digital copy protection schemes movie distributors are going to use will downgrade Blu-Ray video to 540p (as opposed to Blu-Ray's high end 1080p or the standard HDTV 720p/1080i) if played through an output that does not support the protection.

Before you start asking why Sony would implement this technology, this would also go for HD-DVD formats and is something being pushed by hollywood, not the electronics manufacturers. The point here is, only two output formats that currently support said protection - HDMI and DVI. As the lower end Playstation 3 has neither, once those discs start coming out, much of the benefit of owning a Blu-Ray player vanishes.

Since Sony is pushing the fact that the Playstation 3 pricing is fantastic because you get a Blu-Ray player, this causes a bit of a quandary. Sure, you're getting a Blu-Ray player, but it's a Blu-Ray player that can't play Blu-Ray movies the way they were meant to be played. It would be like selling someone a CD player that could only play things back with quality a little better than a tape. Not a good thing.

"OFFICIAL" NINTENDO WII LAUNCH TITLES
IGN has an article up where they identify 16 confirmed Wii launch titles. The titles are;

The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess

Metroid Prime 3: Corruption

Wii Sports

Red Steel

Tony Hawk's Downhill Jam

Madden NFL 2007

Dragon Quest Swords: The Masked Queen and the Tower of Mirrors

Super Monkey Ball: Banana Blitz

Metal Slug Anthology

Trauma Center: Second Opinion

Elebits

Marvel: Ultimate Alliance

Blitz: The League

Rayman Raving Rabbids

Spongebob Squarepants: Creature from the Krust Krab

Disney/Pixar's Cars



Not a bad mix at all if they all make it to launch. According to IGN, there are also a few other titles still in the running to make the launch date, such as ExciteTruck, so the list could get a bit longer.

IMMERSION OFFERS TO LICENSE VIBRATION TECHNOLOGY TO SONY
As you may be aware, one of the reasons we believe Sony dropped the vibration function from the Playstation 3 controller was that they still are in litigation with Immersion regarding the type of vibration used in the Dual Shock and Dual Shock 2 controllers. Based on an article over at Gamasutra, It appears that Immersion is still willing to not only let Sony license their haptic technology for use with the Playstation 3 controller, but are also willing to assist them in getting it to work with the tilt function Sony introduced at E3 and claimed was the reason why they had to drop vibration.

There is a catch though - Immersion would require Sony to drop their current challenge to the injunction issued in the case that would prevent Sony from the production, sale or manufacture of the related technologies in the United States. In other words, Sony would need to pay the penalty awarded by the court, drop their counter-claims against Immersion and enter into a licensing agreement for the Haptic vibration technology.

MICROSOFT UNVEILS WINDOWS VISTA REQUIREMENTS
Microsoft has set up a site to introduce Windows users to the features that will be available in Windows Vista and help users find out whether their system will support the new operating system. In addition to all the relevant information on features and requirements, Microsoft has included a downloadable upgrade advisor which will check a users system and determine if they will be able to run Windows Vista as well as listing any needed upgrades.

Below are the minimum system requirements listed and the "Windows Premium Ready" recommended system requirements;

Minimum System Requirements
System will not be able to run "Windows Aero" 3D Interface at this level

-800mhz or better 32bit (x86) or 64bit (x64) processor
-512mb system memory
-DirectX 9.0 capable, SVGA (800x600) capable graphics adapter
-20 gigabytes HD space for install
-15 gigabytes HD free space
-CD-ROM Drive

Windows Vista Premium Ready System Requirements

-1 GHz 32-bit (x86) or 64-bit (x64) processor Processor speed is specified as the nominal operational processor frequency for the device. Some processors have power management which allows the processor to run at lower rate to save power.
-1 GB of system memory.

-A graphics processor that runs Windows Aero. 128 MB of graphics memory.
-DirectX 9 class graphics processor that: Supports a WDDM Driver.
-Supports Pixel Shader 2.0 in hardware.
-Supports 32 bits per pixel.
-Adequate graphics memory. 64 MB of graphics memory to support a single monitor less than 1,310,720 pixels
-128 MB of graphics memory to support a single monitor at resolutions from 1,310,720 to 2,304,000 pixels
-256 MB of graphics memory to support a single monitor at resolutions higher than 2,304,000 pixels
-Meets graphics memory bandwidth requirements, as assessed by Windows Vista Upgrade Advisor running on Windows XP

-40 GB of hard drive capacity with 15 GB free space.
-DVD-ROM Drive.
-Audio output capability.
-Internet access capability.

GEARS OF WAR: THE RACE TO E3 - PART 2 ON MTV TONIGHT
Some of you may have downloaded the part one of Gears of War: The Race to E3 last week via the Xbox Live Marketplace. For those of you who can't get enough information about Epic's upcoming masterpiece, part two of the special airs tomorrow night at 10pm EST on MTV, with replays airing throughout the week. Set your Tivo accordingly.

MICROSOFT RESPONDS TO XBOX 360 HACK
Microsoft's employee blog, Gamerscore Blog, posted the company's official response to the news that the Xbox 360 disc authentication system was hacked earlier this week. The statement reiterates their stance that any modification to the Xbox 360 hardware will render the system warranty void, that bootleg games may not run properly on the system and that they will make changes as need be to both correct the security flaw and identify those responsible. In other words, Microsoft isn't happy, but it wasn't unexpected.

If you look back to before the system even launched, J. Allard had made a statement to the effect that Microsoft knew that people would eventually crack the 360's security system, and that while they would do everything they could to make it difficult to do, they felt that their interests were better served by creating a gaming experience, via services such as Xbox Live, that would discourage people from doing so. Click here for the Gamerscore Blog post.