Q: After "Demo Monday," was anyone expecting more demos to touch down on Xbox Live today? A: Hell no! But it seems the Live overlords don't mind stuffing more demos down our throats, as Major Nelson has posted the usual copy and paste announcing the arrival of Project Gotham Racing 4 and F.E.A.R. Files: Extraction demos on XBL.

PGR4 is available in all regions, and gives you a taste of Bizarre Creation's latest (and potentially last) installment in the series. F.E.A.R. Files: Extraction combines the paranormal with polish for a spooky first person experience. So what are you waiting for, get downloading! (P.S. Go Pats!)

Over at the house that Major built, Larry Hryb has alerted gamers to a Microsoft pow-pow taking place early next week. Those in attendance include Ray Ozzie, Chief Software Architect, and David Vaskevitch, Chief Technical Officer, just to name a few. Hryb wanted to know, "What would you say to the leaders of services at Microsoft?" So far, the post has received over 400 user comments, with a variety of topics being broached by readers.

The discussion has focused on such lively topics as the "shafting [of] Canadians," general "price of Xbox Live," and ever-so-broad buzzword "innovation." However, some folks appear so damned excited that they're unable to issue coherent suggestions -- tried spell checker? Case in point: Tobe (USA) writes, "u should say that, in the next dashborad update, trails and full games should be seperated in the catagory section of XBLA games." Maybe someone should suggest that Microsoft get up on some educational games, eh?

This is one of those times we're happy that demos exist. Because honestly, if we just heard the name Bladestorm, we're not sure we'd be able to remember it. It is, in fact, so generic, that we've had difficulty completing this post, so convinced were we at various moments that we were writing about Blade Runner, Onimusha Blade Warriors, Motorstorm and, of course, Blade.

But with a demo, like the one set to appear on PSN and Xbox Live on Thursday, the game has an identity all it's own. "Oh yes, Bladestorm," you'll say with confidence, "that's the one about flying a helicopter during Vietnam." You will, of course, be wrong, Bladestorm is an action game about English succession to the French throne. But you'll be confident in your answer, and isn't that the important thing?

For those out there who thought Mistwalker's Blue Dragon was too easy for your tastes, Microsoft has just released new content aimed at upping the ante for the RPG's difficulty. Best of all? It's free.

Dubbed the Ultra Hard Mod, the new content has three aspects. The first is Game Plus, which allows you to start a new game using a saved file from near the end. The other two are specifically for the masochistic: Hard Mode, reportedly twice as challenging as normal, and Impossible, which is meant to play with characters starting at level 50 or higher. (If you want to do the Impossible at level 10, however, by all means go for it. Let us know how that works out.)

Microsoft has just sent word that its flagship soldier Master Chief has come back from the battlefield with $170 million dollars in the first 24 hours of Halo 3 deployment in the United States. As noted, this would mark the biggest day in US entertainment history, beating out Spider-Man 3 and all Harry Potters (of course, the price of entry for those events were a lot less, but that's a technicality when it comes to record books).

According to the press release, September 25 was also Xbox Live's most active day so far, thanks in no small part to one million online Halo 3 players. Bundled with every copy of Halo 3 was a free 48 hour trial, so we're interested in seeing how many people tomorrow decide to pay the Gold fee and keep on fragging.

We're eagerly awaiting the sales figures for the game elsewhere in the world, especially Japan.

[Via Press Release]

It's Sept. 25, and you can feel it in your bones. You've waited long enough: It's time to finish the fight. And you know what that means -- it's time to start practicing your spinning and fruit collection. Yes, time to finish the fight between Crash Bandicoot and Dr. Neo Cortex, at least until the 15th Crash Bandicoot game comes out. ... Why do you look so sad? Did you think we were talking about someone else?

No, the fight that needs finishing today is Crash of the Titans and you can get a sample now with a new demo on Xbox Live. Had we played any Crash games in the past five years, we'd be happy to tell you what's new in this version. As it stands, we can offer only a hearty "Good luck."

Well, Halo 3 day (or "Emergence Day" in some very confused circles) is just around the corner, and we imagine that 360 owners will be doing little else than dropping Brutes like they're hot once it's (legally) on the the streets. So this weekend, why not send the 360 off in grand fashion with some new DLC and demos on Xbox Live?

First off, you could pick up some Forza 2 content that just hit the Marketplace. You can snag a 2007 SEAT Leon Cupra for free, or pay 400 points ($5) for a 10-car pack that includes the 1970 Dodge Challenger R/T Hemi, 2006 Dodge Challenger Concept and the 1967 Lamborghini Miura P400. If you're looking for something a bit more ... free, there are also some new demos for you to check out. If you don't live in North America or Asia, you can get a demo for Pro Evolution Soccer 2008. Otherwise there's a hot new demo ... for Viva Piñata Party Animals. ... Wow, is it Sept. 25 yet?

Read -- Forza Motorsport 2 content
Read -- Demo: Pro Evolution Soccer 2008
Read -- Demo: Viva Piñata Party Animals

Amidst the hub-bub of the Tokyo Game Show, Microsoft has released some new statistics and numbers regarding the Xbox 360, which will have its second birthday this November. Worth noting are the stats on Xbox Live, which Microsoft reports has over 7 million subscribers so far, with 10 million anticipated by June of 2008.

According to the stats, the original Xbox's Halo 2 is still the most-played title on Xbox Live, followed by Epic's Gears of War. On Xbox Live Arcade, Aegis Wing is the most widely downloaded title, with family card classic Uno coming in second. It's clear that Microsoft considers Live to be the 360's killer app, boasting that 70% of connected console users download and play XBLA games. In terms of social networking, Microsoft is proud to have 2.6 million text and voice messages sent over their service every day, and claims that the average Live Gold user has 23 friends listed. It's no MySpace, but maybe that's a good thing...

Sometimes, a story comes as a surprise, and sometimes you're surprised that it hasn't gone down yet. Today's news of Starz Media dropping a big chunk of anime on to the Xbox Live Video Marketplace is definitely one of the latter occurrences. Beginning today (and continuing over the coming weeks) you'll be able to find titles from the Starz anime library like Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex (Seasons 1 & 2), Street Fighter II V, Noein, Tokko, Virus and Astro Boy on the service.

The good news doesn't stop there. Looking over the catalog of titles under Starz's umbrella, we can see plenty of reasons to get excited. Now, if you'll excuse us, we have to go pray for Appleseed.

Update 2: A Microsoft rep has confirmed to Joystiq: "We are not banning people."

[Previous headline: Rumor: MS banning its employees for playing Halo 3]

Update: Pro-G now reports that a second Microsoft rep has contacted the site to say the ban only applies to MS employees and consumers will not be affected. Pro-G is still awaiting the official explanation.

[Original headline: Rumor: MS to freeze Live accounts playing Halo 3]

We're still gathering info, so at this point we're mostly giving a heads-up to those who may have gotten their hands on Halo 3 early. Pro-G reports that a Microsoft rep had confirmed to them that gamers who play Halo 3 early will have their Live accounts banned. Not connecting to the net won't help either because the console tracks when the game was played, so according to this rep the first time you connect to Live they'll know. Microsoft is preparing an official statement on the issue, according to Pro-G.

If true, this opens up a big scary can of "Big Brother is watching" for us. Why should consumers be punished for the actions of retailers who sell the game early? We're going to wait for the official statement from Microsoft, but if you happened to have gotten lucky and have Halo 3 in your possession, either don't stick it in your console just yet, or tell us if you get banned. We're a bit skeptical about this as well because we've played Halo 3 (with permission) and it's been linked to our gamertags, which haven't necessarily been registered as "press" with Microsoft. As such, the alleged banning can't be done automatically. Will Microsoft really be doing a case-by-case banathon? We'll update as soon as we get the official statement.

We love telling you guys and gals about demos, because its the closest we can get to giving you a free game (except, of course, for when we do). But honestly, for the past two Xbox Live demos, we've been stymied about what to say beyond a headline. So, let's get this out of the way: Sega Rally and NBA 2K8 demos are both on Xbox Live. ... Now what?

We're not the only ones who are uninspired. Look at the real, actual dash description of NBA 2K8: "Download the demo." Sega Rally's not much better, promising a "unique mix of fun, bumper-to-bumper racing and next gen technology". What does that even mean? Luckily, we have you dear readers to turn to. We're hopeful that your demo impressions will at least make this post worthy of the server space it's taking up.

Read -- Demo: NBA 2K8
Read -- Demo: SEGA Rally

Guys who we were always afraid of in high school rejoice! The new pack of Guitar Hero II songs dowloadable through Xbox Live tomorrrow morning (according to ScoreHero) is sure to bring a smile to the Endless Mikes of the world. 500 points will net you (careful of profanity in these links) Trivium's "Detonation," Atreyu with "Right Side of the Bed" and Protest the Hero's "Bury the Hatchet." Wow, why do we have the sudden urge to draw pentagrams on a binder with Wite-Out?

This pack comes a month after the last offering: A My Chemical Romancextravaganza, and we're wondering if they're still going to feel like trotting out the black paramilitary gear when they hear how loud their new neighbors can scream. Here's hoping everyone gets along just fine.

[Thanks, Pat]

A demo from Bizarre Creations' Project Gotham Racing 4 should be hitting Xbox Live soon, according to the developer (via Eurogamer). In addition to five playable vehicles (cars and bikes) that presumably will be in the full game, there will be an Arcade mode exclusive to the demo set in Macau, featuring exclusive challenges.
We're a bit perplexed about the exclusive content. If it's good, why not include it in the full game. Conversely, if the content is not good, or not on par with the full game, why use it to promote the title?

A time trial for Nurburgring Snow will also be in the demo. Project Gotham Racing 4 (with Geometry Wars: Waves) is due out October 2 in North America.

While we still patiently await a demo for Tape of People Having Sex: The Game, we must fill our desire for salacious names with Juiced 2: Hot Import Nights. A new multiplayer demo for the racing game has just been released to Xbox Live.

A single-player demo arrived in mid-July, and commenters on that post had some choice words for the game, including "Wow, this game is horrible.", "This game is completely awesome!", and "I played the demo, it is an OK demo." ... So, we guess what we're saying is we have no idea if you should download this or not. Let us know what you think if you do though.

The name of Spider-Man: Friend or Foe is sort of oddly appropriate. From its ignoble announcement in the instruction manual for Spider-Man 3 to the first time we laid hands on it, we've never been sure whether or not this Spidey-based brawler would be a good or bad egg. Now that a demo has been released to Xbox Live, we find our feelings on it to be (unsurprisingly) mixed.

What's pleasant about the experience is how very "Spider-Man" it feels. It's not overly serious in tone and the voice actor playing Spidey is more chipper and in-character than Tobey Maguire ever dreamed of being. Even the combat feels more authentic than the movie games. That said, the combat is not only very basic, it's pretty much the whole game, so if you're looking for something deep, look elsewhere. If you're looking for some mindless action though, you may have just made a new friend.