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Speaking with OXM, Xbox LIVE general manager Marc Whitten recently commented on why the current Xbox 360 dashboard, in addition to the Marketplace, will be replaced for something entirely different this fall. In regards to 360 owners, he says: “they might not have known they could look at photos. They might not know they could plug in their iPods or watch movies. We found out that when they did know, they were much happier and felt like they were getting more value....

I can’t really say I’m too familiar with theA Song of Ice and Fireseries. I haven’t read the books, nor have I watched the HBO series. I’ve heard a lot of buzz about the whole series recently though, and with the growing popularity, a game was sure to follow. EnterA Game of Thrones – Genesis, a strategy game set in the world created by George R.R. Martin. A batch of images were released showing off more game than thrones, with only one image actually having a throne in it....

Like rhythm games? Then you’re sure to like a new book calledMusic Games Rock: Rhythm Gaming’s Greatest Hits of All Time. This book attempts to be an encyclopedia of rhythm gaming, covering everything from the early history of the genre to the more current rise and fall of the top series,Guitar HeroandRock Band.It kicks off with foreword by co-creator Alex Rigopulos of Harmonix, too. It comes to us from Scott Steinberg, the writer of other game books likeGet Rich Playing GamesandThe Videogame Style Guide....

PANTY SHOT! Er, I meanHeavenly Swordlooks really nice …Heavenly Swordis finally going to be the big blockbuster title that Sony has been needing since launch (Resistancewas awful) and it’s just in time too withHalo 3right around the corner. [Thanks for the video JimmyHACK].Dick McVengeance is creaming his pants forGuilty Gear, an unusal amount of kiddy games sprung up on us on the PS2 andDrawn to Lifelooks like it will be pretty fun....

Another slow week, only saved by the fact thatMight & Magic: Clash of Heroes HDis out this week! Game is gorgeous and an easy must have. Other noteworthy titles includeMichael Jackson The ExperienceandPatapon 3. What’s looking sw33t to all of you this week? 3DS:Raving Rabbids: Travel in Time, Tom Clancy’s Splinter Cell 3DX360:Michael Jackson The Experience, Rio, Divinity II: The Dragon Knight Saga, DanceDanceRevolution, Might & Magic: Clash of Heroes HDWii:Rio, SpongeBob SquigglepantsPS3:Rio, Michael Jackson The Experience...

This week is jam packed with some goodness.Batman: Arkham Asylumis the highest game on my wish list for this week. I’m also looking to giveMetroid Prime Trilogya go. Never got through the first one on the GameCube, but hey, no surprise there right?! Dissidia: Final Fantasyis easily going to be a huge release this week as well. One last good UMD based game for the PSP perhaps? What’s looking sw33t to you all this week, Dtoiders?...

Arm flapping does not come with the latest Harry Potter game. EA producer Gary Napper toldJoystiqthatHarry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2won’t have any Kinect kind of functionality, though earlier titles did. EA Bright Light made a decision “early on to focus on the core of the experience, get as close to the atmosphere of the movie and make the flow of the combat feel right.” Napper put it nicely: “We didn’t want to dilute any of our efforts on other things that would require a lot of the team’s time to perfect....

Nintendo’s announced a new game for Wii in Japan, and it’s called (roughly translated)Pandora’s Tower: Until I’m By Your Side Again. Prepare yourselves for the flood ofPandora’s Towerinfo I’m about to dump on you. Ready? It’s out this Spring in Japan, it’s rated CERO C, and it’s published by Nintendo. We don’t know who the developer is, and we don’t know what kind of game it is. Great. From the art style, I want to say it’s a JRPG, but who knows....

This one is directly fromSephirothX’s Cblogand I say that early on instead of at the end because I mostly disagree with him about this. See the newNew Super Mario Bros.has a feature that wasrecently revealed, and that feature is that the game will beat itself or play itself or do something to help novice gamers get through the harder parts. Basically if a player who has no motor skills and is slightly challenged and can’t get past a part in a level all they have to do is press a button and the game will take over for them....

Thanks to the persistence ofMass Effect 2fans, we havea basic understandingof what the next add-on, “Arrival,” will be about. I don’t think BioWare has even announced it officially yet, but that’s okay. On theMass Effect 2Facebook page, we’re given a look at this downloadable content with two screenshots. There is promise of another one, if the second image gets 750,000 impressions. Seems doable enough. I’m eager for “Arrival,” if only because that means we’ll be one step closer toMass Effect 3....

As I unofficially mentioned in the announcement for ourAlone in the Darkcontest, the contest towin aDragonball Z-themed Xbox 360(along with a copy ofBurst LimitandDBZswag) is due for a deadline extension. The deadline now rests atJuly 18, meaning those who have not yet done so can spam the CBlogs until another Destructoid regular calls me a douchebag. If you are unaware of the rules, here’s a reminder — using whatever tools you have at your disposal,recreate the famous “Over Nine Thousand” scenefromDragonball Z, which became iconic thanks toKajetkun’s notorious video, and which Hamzalamented the butchering ofinDBZ: Burst Limit....

Like videogames? Love sexual identity? Then you’ll simply adore the “New Gaymer Survey,” a study by Paul Nowak who aims to continue the workof the original “Gay Gamer” survey launched several years ago. The original, academically approved study charted the presence of gay and bi gamers within the community, and the new one hopes to do the same. Nowak’s study explores “sexual identity and gender orientation” and the results could be quite interesting, so we’re encouraging everybody, gay or straight, to participate....

A little later than expected, butPatapon 3now has a release date — a real one, this time — and it’s April 12. Over onthe PlayStation Blog, the game’s $19.99 price and dual PlayStation Network-and-UMD launch were revealed as well. With this installment, you’re visualized as a hero character rather than being an all-powerful off-screen entity like before. There’s also expanded multiplayer functionality, and that seems to be where much of the emphasis is centered on....