It's time for the weekly PlayStation Store releases and I'm afraid it's not so good. North America received Age of Booty, a well reviewed pirate RTS that XBLA has had since October, while Europeans get a big round of nudda. It's not all bad news though, as both the American and European Stores have been updated with a boat load of add-on content for all those new releases you've been out buying. Oh, and wondering where yesterdays Xbox Live Arcade game was? Afraid they didn't release one, although they did discount some old stuff. A mix bag when all is said and done really.

American PlayStation Store
- Age of Booty ($10)

European PlayStation Store
- Nothing

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Welcome to 8-BITS, catering to the masses need for deep, penetrating news. For fourteen million people today is the day that has been circled on their calendar for agonising months. No, its not national streak to work day, it's the release of World of Warcraft's second expansion, Wrath of the Lich King. If your not already at home playing it this very second and need some encouragement to splash some cash then check out these four very good reasons to buy into Blizzards ploy for world conquest.

Something not being released today is Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars and the Xbox exclusive GTA IV downloadable content. The first was supposed to be hitting in January 09 while the later was due fall this year (right about now actually) but it seems Rockstar has decided to close up shop and wait till the sun returns by delaying both products until February/April and January respectively.

All is not to fear though, as you can spend the extra time you just gained designing levels in LittleBigPlanet! Just be careful to keep to the rules by being polite and not "parodying" other peoples intellectual properties or Grandpa Sony will delete your work forever! Not to be left out of the party they arrived rather late to, Nintendo claims to have its eyes on the prize where user generated content is concerned. While they were distracted by something shiny the rest of us discovered that you would have to buy a Wii Speak brand new if you wanted to use the Wii Speak Channel, as the download requires a one time redemption code, similar to the flash back map pack that comes with Gears of War 2. But you weren't going to buy it anyway, right?

Worried about the economy? Well if your Sony you should be, as the current crisis could kill Blu-ray. Having defeated HD-DVD for the high definition crown the format could die a slow and painful death if the high entry price of the sets, players and discs required to enjoy all that high quality dirt frightens potential customers away. In more bad news for Sony, it turns out that Mirrors Edge exclusive DLC wasn't that exclusive after all...

And to wrap things up the monthly sales data for North America was released today. While the hardware sales aren't particularly interesting, with Nintendo in top position as per usual, its interesting to see Fable II and Fallout 3 in first and third place between Wii Fit and Mario Kart Wii, despite having a particularly short time on retail shelves (Fable was released on the 21st of the month while Fallout hit on the 28th).

We have another jam packed set of releases at the American retail this week, headlined by the blockbuster release of Call of Duty: World at War for just about everything! Other major releases include the original IP Mirror's Edge for 360 and PS3, a new Banjo-Kazooie and Red Alert 3 exclusive to 360 and what you've all been waiting for; FaceBreaker K.O. Party on Wii! Of course the elephant in the room and the guaranteed million seller this week is World of Warcraft: Wrath of the Lich King, the second expansion pack to the massively multiplayer online role playing game with more than fourteen million players. Whatever you choose to get this week, it's bound to be good!

Microsoft Xbox 360
- Banjo-Kazooie: Nuts & Bolts ($36.99)
- Call of Duty: World at War ($59.99)
- Command & Conquer: Red Alert 3 ($59.99)
- Mirror's Edge ($59.99)
- Pro Evolution Soccer 09 ($39.99)
- Rock Revolution ($48.99)
- WWE Smackdown vs Raw 2009 ($59.99)

Sony PlayStation 3
- Call of Duty: World at War ($59.99)
- Mirror's Edge ($59.99)
- Pro Evolution Soccer 09 ($39.99)
- Rock Revolution ($46.99)
- WWE Smackdown vs Raw 2009 ($59.99)

Nintendo Wii
- Call of Duty: World at War ($49.99)
- FaceBreaker K.O. Party ($39.99)
- Star Wars The Clone Wars: Lightsaber Duels ($49.99)
- Tales Of Symphonia: Dawn of the New World ($36.99)
- WWE Smackdown vs Raw 2009 ($49.99)

Sony PlayStation 2
- Call of Duty: World at War ($39.99)
- Pro Evolution Soccer 09 ($24.99)
- WWE Smackdown vs Raw 2009 ($39.99)

Nintendo DS
- Call of Duty: World at War ($29.99)
- Pokémon Ranger: Shadows of Almia ($24.99)
- Populous ($29.99)
- Star Wars The Clone Wars: Jedi Alliance ($34.99)
- Tecmo Bowl: Kickoff ($29.99)
- WWE Smackdown vs Raw 2009 ($29.99)

Sony PSP
- Pro Evolution Soccer 09 ($24.99)
- WWE Smackdown vs Raw 2009 ($39.99)

Personal Computer
- Call of Duty: World at War ($49.99)
- World of Warcraft: Wrath of the Lich King ($39.99)

(Message Board Discussion)

Welcome to 8-BITS, news with an opinion that's just plain wrong. A storm is coming this week and that storm is the release of World of Warcraft's second expansion, Wrath of the Lich King, confirmed to sell seven zillion copies in fifty-five minutes. That storm may be coming to some sooner than others as news has broke that the unlikely retailer 7-11 has broken street date. Not able to afford that monthly subscription fee? Perhaps a $300 million bonus would help you pay for all those hours you spend motionless at your computer. Well good news, because to achieve this goal all you have to do is invent Rock Band! Wait... someone got to that one first? Damns!

The Xbox LIVE community has been alive today with word that thousands of subscription payers are no longer able to play online after having been banned from the service. No official notice or response has been released in relation to the mass-bans, but most suspect it has something to do with that "early" copy of Gears of War 2 and Call of Duty that they inadvertently played after downloading it from an unknown website they claim to have never visited before in their life.

For those of us that didn't illicitly play games for free, you are rewarded with three XBLA games that are being marked down in price. Word has also trundled up the grape vine that a demo for Left 4 Dead is now available on both Xbox LIVE and Steam. One place you absolutely won't find Left 4 Dead though, is PS3, where it is never, ever coming, cross my heart and hope to die. PlayStation 3 fans will be happy to know that Mirrors Edge DLC is coming your way in January, and its rumored to be exclusive!

Finally I'm sad to inform you that the PSP and DS are in the past. That's right; throw them away, you won't be needing them anymore. That's what Apple's Greg Joswiak want's you to think anyway, and I have no idea why he wouldn't have an agenda in the matter.

This week on the American Wii Store we have three Mega releases (oh yes, I went there). Clearly the biggest thing is for Virtual Console with the publication of Mega Man 3 for NES. Of course, if thats not your thing we have two more even more Mega releases in the shape of Brain Challenge, the only Brain Age rip-off you need to play, and Yummy Yummy Cooking Jam, our personal prediction for Game of The Year. Oh yes, life doesn't get much better than this my friends. Rock out.

American Wii Virtual Console
- Mega Man 3 (500 Wii Points)

American WiiWare
- Brain Challenge (1000 Wii Points)
- Yummy Yummy Cooking Jam (1000 Wii Points)

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