Xbox Living

Last week did a spectacular job at keeping me away from the Web. Between some unfortunate family happenings and my own bout with the flu, I was unable to post. But at the same time, last week was quite busy for Xbox 360 gamers — enough to give me something to do while I was stuck in bed for a couple of days.

On Tuesday, both Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare and Lego Star Wars: The Complete Saga were released for the Xbox 360.

Call of Duty 4, of course, is the much-anticipated sequel to a series that has proved quite popular on the Xbox 360, and on Xbox Live. But CoD4 takes us out of the World War II setting of the previous games in the series, and puts us in a modern environment. And does it ever. The graphics on this game are incredible, and the pure realism of character movements and voice acting make you feel like you’re there, minus the complete terror.

Meanwhile, Lego Star Wars: The Complete Saga is essentially a compilation of the two previous games, uniting the two trilogies that make up the Star Wars movie franchise. The Complete Saga contains all of the Episode I-VI levels from both games, as well as some previously unreleased levels, new characters and other bonus features. And, of course, for you achievement nuts: an extra 1000 Gamerscore for playing through again. Plus, Lego Star Wars? Just plain fun, however old you are.

And of course, with us sliding into the holiday season, there will be more new releases over the next few weeks. The major ones are:

• Assassin’s Creed: On November 13, sneak around a dramatically realistic Holy Land and seek out your targets.
• Kane & Lynch: Dead Men: On November 14, Embark on a journey of crazy violence.
• Mass Effect: On November 20, explore a massive galaxy and experience what promises to be the finest action-RPG gameplay of the year.
• Final Fantasy XI: Wings of the Goddess: On November 20, journey to the past of Vana’diel and unlock new jobs such as Scholar and Dancer.

Also out over the month are: BlackSite: Area 51 (Nov 12), WWE SmackDown! vs. RAW 2008 (Nov 13), Need for Speed ProStreet (Nov 13), Soldier of Fortune: Payback (Nov 13), College Hoops 2K8 (November 18), Avatar: The Last Airbender – The Burning Earth (November 19), Rock Band (November 20), History Channel: Battle for the Pacific (November 27). And of course, Guitar Hero III, which came out last month, is very popular this holiday season — and equally difficult to find.

It’s time to start playing nice for Santa.