http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UgnllZxcbuc

“Fable II: Game Episodes” debuts today with the first chapter available for free on Xbox LIVE Any “Fable II” fan can share experiences of their life in the rich world of Albion, and wild stories about glory or mischief they’ve gotten into as consequences of their choices in the game. For everyone missing out, Microsoft now presents a completely new way to experience “Fable II” through the power of Xbox LIVE and Games on Demand: “Fable II: Game Episodes.” Debuting today on Xbox LIVE*, “Fable II: Game Episodes” gives players the choice to purchase and download “Fable II” one episode at a time. This marks the first time in Xbox history that a major blockbuster title will be distributed not only digitally, but episodically as well. “Fable II: Game Episodes” delivers the entire “Fable II” experience in five consecutive installments, with all the Achievements, challenges and excitement of the disc-based game, as well as full compatibility with the previously released Game Add-ons, “Knothole Island” and “See the Future.” As an incentive for those curious about the adventures that await them in “Fable II,” Microsoft Game Studios is making the first episode free to download. In this initial episode, players are introduced to the vibrant world of Albion where every choice has a consequence, and are able to experience childhood and the trials of being a young adult. Players can then choose to purchase additional episodes on Xbox LIVE at their own pace. Players who decide to purchase “Fable II” either digitally or on disc after a foray into the first game episode will find their saved progress, character profile, and items from the first episode will be transferred seamlessly as they continue their journey. All editions of the game offer cooperative play with friends on the same couch as well as on Xbox LIVE.**   For more information about “Fable II: Game Episodes” and “Fable III”, visit http://www.lionhead.com. *Fable II: Games on Demand is available in LIVE enabled regions around the world excluding Japan and Korea ** Xbox LIVE Gold membership required for online multiplayer.

This week at GamesCom in Cologne Germany, Sony suprised everyone by premiering  the new Playstation 3 slim edition.   GamesCOM 2009 - Cologne Germany Sony have repeated their previous pattern from the Playstation 2, initially releasing a "fat" edition of their console and then working on a physically compressed version for a lower price point. The new Sony Playstation 3 Slim, will go on sale worldwide in PAL compatible zones, by the first week in September. The original PS3 will be dropped in price to the same price as the new PS3, that's €299 in Europe, $299 in dollars in the US and approximately £260 in the UK. So all of you who held off on getting one before, this may be the perfect time to cash in on that saving. So what's different this time around? The slim boasts smaller dimensions, 33 percent smaller, 36 percent lighter and a remarkable 34 percent less power use.The surface is no longer the black glossy (piano) finish that we're so used to but rather, as Sony put it, a more "casual" look textured matt surface.   Playstation3 Front View     Playstation 3 Back view                     The physical connectors remain unchanged. On the back we have the HDMI port, Sony's component connector, power, digital optical out and ethernet adapter still available. The power switch is no longer present on the back or anywhere for that matter. On the front we have the 2 usb ports, harddisk and wifi activity indicators and disk slot, which is still a top rated blue ray player. Adittionally, now the casing shows an accessible slot where the 120GB 2.5" disk resides, meaning a far easier job to change out your drive if you wish. Also the power and disc eject buttons are now actual physical buttons and no longer touch sensitive surfaces. Perhaps a bit of a loss for cool factor. The only major negative takeaway of this release is that Sony have now removed the built in ability for you to change out the operating system like many hobbyists have. But the Sony operating system that comes loaded is  good at its job anyway, and if you are deadset on pursuing this activity, the original model will still be available, for the moment anyway. There is no news at this point regarding when supply of the old model will be discontinued. And for those retro gamers, no change for better or worse, there is still no backward compatability to play those old ps2 games. So should you buy it? Maybe it's lost a little of that cool factor, you don't get slick black piano finish, surface touch buttons or the lack of an option to change your operating system. All of these are things i like about the present PS3, but i'm not going to cry over the loss of the features. Our answer is yes.  For the same price the original model will be available but you only get an 80GB drive, with the slim edition you get the same performance with a smaller form factor, less power hungry version and a bigger default 120GB drive. So there doesn't seem to be any overriding reason not to opt for the slim. You still get a top grade multifunction entertainment system for the home pretty much with out loosing any of the performance or capabilities.