The past week or so has been one of the happiest stretches of mine in recent memory.

It started last Tuesday. Microsoft released the Heavenly Star pack for Lumines Live on the Xbox 360. It was free, so I grabbed that. I also caved and got the vs. CPU pack for 100 MS Points ($1.25, mind you) for the extra 11 skins it brought to the table. That was alright by itself, but I decided I wanted another crack at the top of the leaderboards. I took my shot, and now am #3, #2 and #2 in the overall Base, Advanced and Heavenly Star rankings. I’m most happy with my Challenge Mode Advanced score, which is only one of two to be over four million. Not a bad way to start things off.

During that past week and weekend, I was busy working on something special for Nintendo World Report. We were in the final stages of preparations for our giant GameCube Tribute Week series of events and specials. When that was finally done, I had a big sigh of relief. It was one of the largest projects I’ve ever been a part of, and also one of the most satisfying. I really feel that the GameCube is a very important game system in gaming history, and I hope with everything we’ve been doing for it in the past week, people will see that and understand what it is we’re trying to do.

Also speaking of NWR, our IT Director Micheal Cole got the top story image (TSI in web-speak) randomizer going. I spent way too much time refreshing the site to see that working. Also, we’ve been getting in a lot of swag from Nintendo and other game companies lately, ripe for contest giveaways. We’re still devising ways to distribute the goods, so check Nintendo World Report later this month to see what it is we’re up to.

That’s just the start of my best week ever, though. Click through to see what else has made my week worthwhile.

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From the moment the PSP launched with Wipeout Pure, I knew that I was going to get the game along with the system just as soon as I found an excuse to. I did, and I did. Eventually, I got every single gold medal in the game, expansion packs included. Classic Pack, Delta Pack, Gamma Pack…yeah, I got ‘em all.

Well, not all of them. Because Sony felt bad for the European PSP delay, they commissioned their Liverpool development team to make a new download pack exclusive to Europe, the Omega Pack. I figured Sony would get around to making this available to the rest of the world eventually, so I didn’t really mind having to wait for it.

It’s been more than a year, and I began to wonder if I would ever get something new for my beloved Wipeout game. Just as I started to fret over this, something extrodinary happened: I found a used copy of the PAL version in my local game store’s bargin bin. What it was doing there, I had no idea. I promptly purchased it for measly $8. I didn’t mind paying for a game I already owned, because I figured the newly accessible Omega tracks would keep me occupied long enough to be worth it.

So, I went home, pulled a 100% European save from GameFAQs, fired up my (region-free!) PSP and grabbed the Omega Pack download. You want to see what I got to see? Hit the jump to see screens of what Americans have been missing!

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With school on winter break, and my Wii launch games played out (Zelda included), I found myself with little to do outside of my usual NWR duties. That meant a trip down to the local Blockbuster Video store to rent me up some games. I went for Need for Speed Carbon on the Wii (I liked the 360 demo; so far the Wii game is an as-EA-usual solid, but not spectacular), and was curious about my second choice. Curious in the same way you were curious when you were 13 or 14.

Dead or Alive Xtreme 2. Yeah, I rented it. I wanted to see if it would (*ahem*) do it for me. Let’s not kid around here: The reason the game exists, or at least the theory behind it existing, is to give that target 18-34 year-old male demographic something to do at night. Because I doubt anyone would want to play this game at 11 in the morning.

It fails at its purpose, both as being a piece of fan service and being an actual game you’d consider playing. It really plays more like a text adventure game than an Xbox 360 title. You pick something you want to do in the morning, midday and evening parts of a day. Then you do it. If you did an activity, you get some money. If you ask another girl to be your partner, you get a yes/no answer. When you return to your hotel after three daily choices, you have more choices to make, like to go to the casino or send someone a gift. The worst part of it all is you rarely see your own character through it all. Why make all of these pretty girls when people will be spending the majority of their time looking at menus?

The only way to get a “better view” of your girl is to whip out your piece, but even then you only get a you only have 20 seconds or so to get the job done. (And by piece, I mean your camera.) I think they scrambled up the camera controls on purpose as if to minimize the time you’ll have to get the “money shot.” (Photography reference.) There really isn’t a point to the picture taking other than ogling at the fake pretty ladies, so why even start doing it when both of you know that it’ll be over too soon to even bother trying? (…)

Oh, I guess there are things like volleyball, jet ski races, water slides, tug of war, float hopping and the wonderful butt battle. They aren’t really fun, but rather just excuses to see the girls exploit themselves. That’s a letdown no blue pill will remedy.

There’s really no reason to play this game, even if it’s for the reasons I thought it would be worth trying out for. Really, it’s a worthless game, and it fails to get the hormones flowing. If it did one or the other sufficiently, it would be playable. It ain’t either.

You might have heard that the three Burger King games—Pocket Bike Racer, Big Bumpin’ and Sneak King—have eclipsed the two million sold mark. People are comparing this figure to the two million that Gears of War has sold. It’s obvious why the games are selling so well ($4 vs. $60, available at fast food joints vs. retail stores, etc.), but hey, two million is two million.

I took the plunge and stopped by a BK to get some lunch and try my hand at one of these games. Reason #1 why the games campaign is so successful is that it gets more people to dine at Burger King; I wouldn’t have gone there for lunch today if I didn’t want a $4 Xbox game. So anyways, there I was ordering a BBQ Stacker combo and a copy of the pictured Pocket Bike Racer, when I discovered a father/son combo behind me also wanted to get a game. (I think they went home with Sneak King.) I got home, ate lunch, improved my Lumines Live ranking a bit, then popped in PBR to see what all the fuss was about.

Well, you get what you pay for. It’s stupid fun, but after an hour or two you begin to tire playing it. Online multiplayer is decent, though buggy. I would say the game is very worth it for only $4 (and it’s an easy 200 Achievement points if you’re into that kind of thing), but I don’t think getting more than one will be worth the time you invest in checking them all out. Still, you can’t go wrong for giving them out as gifts. Because there’s no better way to show someone you love them by giving them an advertisement to go eat fast food.

There’s actually a nice surprise inside. Included with each BK game is a 48-hour free trial for Xbox Live Gold. That’s perfect for these games, because that’s about as long as you’d want to spend playing them!

The You Don’t Know Jack line of trivia games was one of those cool things to have back in the late 90s. It was billed as the trivia game where pop culture and high culture combined, and it was one of the few PC games I remember having universal appeal. There was even a PlayStation game.

Jack disappeared into obscurity, but out of nowhere, Jellyvision has brought back the iconic trivia game in an easy-to-swallow Internet format. The Daily Dis-or-Dat is a simple flash game that uses the same rules that you remember from way back when, but updated with current events. It’s as much of a hoot as I remember it being.

The best one on the site right now has to be the Santa’s Downing the Christmas Spirits episode. Is it a foreign name for Santa Claus, or a foreign beer? Or both? Leave it to the Jellies to come up with something as crazy as that.

Link: You Don’t Know Jack Daily Dis Or Dat