THERE IS A GOD. (Sam and Max coming to XBLA)

That is the quintessential question of all existance, right? Is there a higher power who looks down at us, occasionally interfering with activities due to either vanity or a crazy form of self preservation, or perhaps his own amusement? Scholars have been trying for years to figure out if this is a falsehood or not and I am now able to come to you with proof God exists. You know why? I'll tell you why:

Sam And Max Season 1 is finally coming to XBOX LIVE Arcade.

Take a minute to dance around the room in joy. Please. Go ahead. I know I did.

Sam and Max, two of my favorite comic characters of all time, have enjoyed being released on the computer through Tell Tale Games for quite some time now. Originally created by Steve Purcell, this dog and rabbit-thingy detective team have been solving crime since 1995. Ever since their first computerized appearance in Sam And Max Hit the Road, fans like me have been begging for a sequel. After Lucas Arts "broke apart" (so to say) and the adventure division was dropped in favor of more Star Wars games, a group of developers went and formed their own company, Tell Tale Games, where they have been producing games for quite some time based on the classic adventure point and click format that was such a favorite when floppy disks were consider a new and inventive format to provide games to the public. With games based on Bone, Strong Bad, and now Wallace and Grommitt, Sam and Max have easily been the number one selling point of Tell Tale, providing a brand new generation of fans with these amazing characters for enjoyment.

Unfortunately, these games never made their way to XBOX LIVE, and due to my owning not a Mac but a PC, I have not had the opportunity to fully enjoy them. I played episode one of season one a long time ago when it first came out and I found it a refreshing take on a classic game in a world of repetitive gameplay tactics and plotlines. Next week, on June 17th, all of season one is coming to the XBOX LIVE as a full game entitled Sam And Max Save The World. The game features all six episodes of season one, HD graphic support, achievements, and all the other things you usually receive on an XBOX LIVE game. Except this is better because this stars Sam and Max.

So next week will officially mark my return to hardcore gaming instead of gaming as a pasttime. I've waited so long for this rumored day, and now that it is hear I barely know what to do with myself. Sam and Max is easily some of the most fun, inventive, and hilarious gameplay you can have. If you were ever a fan of old Lucas Arts games like Grim Fandango, Day Of The Tentacle, Full Throttle, and Monkey Island, or if you're a fan of Tim Schafer's work (Psychonauts and the upcoming Brutal Legend with his new company Double Fine, and the aforementioned games), then this game is right up your alley. And if not, then you should just get it anyway because Sam and Max is fantastic.

The Amazon XBLA Marketplace and Xbox Live Primetime (XBLP)

I have not found any so called Xbox news specifically interesting lately so the fact that I am writing this post lets you know that there is something worth reading for some folks (I can't make the kind of promise that you will all care because I know that it would be rather presumptous to assume that). There have been a couple bits of Xbox news that I thought were interesting in the past week that I found myself wanting to write about.

One is that Amazon is selling Xbox Live Arcade game codes on top of the codes that they already sell for memberships and Space Bucks Microsoft Points. I think that this is cool and I may even consider this way of purchasing for some of my games (probably the ones I already know that I am going to buy). I'll do this mainly because I want to see a good service suceed in many ways (I love both Amazon and obviously Xbox and I am estatic about this little partnership).

What it comes down to is that I really think this program is designed to just sell more units on XBLA and to make it a more popular platform. I really think that it will help XBLA sales numbers. I also think that it will not matter much to the "hardcore" because they already use the online Xbox Marketplace for their online shopping needs. This could also be helpful to those who find the Microsoft Points program assinine. In the end though I think that this program could have been more viable before Microsoft launched the online Marketplace (BTW: BUY THIS IF YOU HAVE AN XBOX).

The second point of contention is that Xbox Live Primetime (XBLP) will be launching on May 15. It will be sponsored by Honda and it looks like you can win a car if you umm... win (it is is one of Xbox's Play & Win competitions so there will not be endless cars people). I am interested to see what the prizes will be beyond the initial car so bring it on Microsoft. This news post actually brought XBLP to my attention once again. I had forgotten. Awkward. Anyway I hope it is as good as I once wanted it to be.

Stay tuned for my Bioshock 2 gameplay trailer impressions: coming soon!