Of course, it would be sheer Foley to expect anything else.

InsiderX, Xbox Australia’s official blog, just released its weekly top ten retail games, based on unique users connected to Xbox LIVE across ANZ. It goes like this:

1. Modern Warfare 2
2. Halo 3
3. Assassin’s Creed 2
4. Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare
5. Call of Duty: World at War
6. Forza Motorsport 3
7. Grand Theft Auto IV
8. Halo 3: ODST
9. FIFA 10
10. Borderlands

So, Halo 3’s kill streak has been ended by Modern Warfare 2. Good to see Assassin’s Creed 2 up there. Also, looks like we’ve all finally moved on from Gears of War.

Top Played Retail Games [InsiderX]

Bethesda is bringing out a line of Fallout-themed avatar wear to the Xbox Live Avatar Marketplace this Thursday, giving players six new ways to show off their love for Fallout 3 and its creators, Bethesda Game Studios. There’s three t-shirts priced to move at 80 Microsoft points apiece; the standard Vault 101 suit, complete with PipBoy, for 240 points; a Vault Boy suit for 240 points; and the pièce de résistance – a Vault Boy head that covers up your avatar’s goofy cranium.

My advice? Just buy the head and play Vault Boy dress up. It’s simply the right thing to do.

Fallout 3 items hitting the Xbox Avatar Marketplace this Thursday [Bethesda Blog]

Estavillo’s suing Microsoft for an RROD on his 360, claiming that a disability means he can afford neither a new console nor a “well over $US100 fee to fix it.” He’s looking for $US75,000 on that complaint, because of the “undue stress” he’s suffered since the machine’s failure, plus the “sadness he will have in the mean time of finding one he can afford.” Allllllllright. Next.

Nintendo of America isn’t so holy in this either. Estavillo complains that a Wii firmware update disabled his homebrew channel. Basically, he’s bitching that it prevents him from unlocking a character in Super Mario Galaxy and for that he wants $US5,000 for obstructing his “pursuit of happiness.”

In his suit Estavillo says he depends on games for his emotional well being because he suffers from depression, OCD, panic disorder, Crohn’s disease and agoraphobia, the latter of which you might recall was his basis for suing Sony after it banned him for being a jackass on PSN. A judge threw out that lawsuit, a judgment which he has appealed. There’s obviously no stopping this guy.

Banned Resistance Gamer Targets Microsoft and NOA in Latest Suits [Game Politics]

Pasta Padre called it earlier. “Entourage” brings in four offensive linemen for pass protection, no small deal considering you only get one (and a tight end) in this five-on-five shootout. The others include:

Triple Threat – Disguise which receiver you’re throwing the ball by sending out two other decoys with the Power Ball game changer.

Bonus Play – Give yourself an additional down to help get in the end zone and earn some much deserved points with Bonus Play.

Make it, Take it – If you’re good enough to score when you trigger Make It, Take It, the ball is yours to keep on the next possession.

Turbo – The Turbo game changer will send players in fast forward by giving them an extra speed burst.

Molasses – Game too fast for you? Use Molasses to take down the action on the field to a less frantic pace.

Fumbilitis – Turn your opponent’s into butter fingers as they’ll have a difficult time holding on to the ball with Fumbilitis.

It’s Alive – Make any pass a scramble for the ball as its Alive will turn any incomplete pass into a live ball.

Frostbite – Put the freeze on one opposing player from moving by using the game changer Frostbite.

Fast Pass – Fast Pass gives the power to a QB to throw the ultimate bulleted pass.

Flying Blind – Sabotage your opponent by using Flying Blind to turn off their passing icons.

Flip Flop – Jealous of your opponents score? Flip Flop will nicely borrow the score and never give it back.

Dud – Hey, they can’t all be winners.

Wow. Flip-flop looks like an egregiously douche move. Can’t wait to try it.

Some of these sound like the old Madden and NCAA Football cheats. If you’re nostalgic for those, the game is out on PSN on Tuesday and Xbox Live on Wednesday, both in time for the ultimate football powerup, that six-legged turducken monstrosity Fox Sports serves at the Lions game on Thursday.

Madden Arcade Power-Ups [Pasta Padre]

Well, not literally STFU, but one imagines that’s heavily implied with this kind of boilerplate, uttered by a Microsoft spokesperson on Friday to Canada’s Financial Post.

“Piracy is illegal and modifying an Xbox 360 is a violation of the Xbox Live Terms of Use. Microsoft is well within its legal rights to ban these users from Xbox Live.”

No suit’s been filed, remember. I think the firm involved in this saw the claims that a million XBL users were caught in the blast and went beating the bushes figuring at least some lucrative percentage of those were innocent. While Microsoft hasn’t specified the total number of pirates banz0red, it’s cast doubt on rumours that it was, in fact, seven figures’ worth.

Microsoft Stands Firm in Face of Possible Lawsuit Over Xbox Live Bans [Financial Post]

“We didn’t release the number,” Xbox Live GM Marc Whitten told VentureBeat. “I cannot explain to you why people would think it was a million people. It wasn’t a million people”.

So those who had money on it being one million, sorry. You’re out. Until the cold day in hell Microsoft actually discloses the figures, though, those with money on it being 999,999 or 1,000,001, you’re still in the running!

Microsoft’s Xbox Live chief on banning modders and browsing Facebook photos on TV [VentureBeat]

“The Duel” takes us back in time thousands of years to the dawn of the Covenant, where a shamed Elite defies his Arbiter fate and embarks on a mission of revenge against those that have wronged him. It all sounds so very Halo 2, doesn’t it?

“The Duel” features a striking classic watercolour anime look, courtesy of Production I.G, the studio behind Blood: The Last Vampire, Ghost in the Shell and FLCL.

Remember, the episode will only be available for 24 hours, so once Saturday ends, so does your chance to see it. Check out the full video schedule below to help plan out your next two months of Saturdays.

Halo Waypoint Saturday Video Schedule:

“The Duel” Nov. 21, 2009
Making of “The Duel” Nov. 28, 2009
“The Package” Part 1 Dec. 5, 2009
“The Package” Part 2 Dec. 12, 2009
Making of “The Package” Dec. 19, 200
“Origins” Part 1 Jan. 2, 2010
Making of “Origins” Jan. 9, 2010
Trailers of upcoming episodes Feb. 2, 2010

Jurassic: The Hunted, developed by Cauldron HQ and released two weeks after it was announced on the Wii, Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 and PS2, is a budget first-person shooter involving weapons and survival expert Craig Dylan, trapped on an island inhabited by dinosaurs. The screenshots looked nice enough, but there’s just something about a game going from official announcement to release in under a month that doesn’t generate confidence. Now releasing a demo, on the other hand, either speaks of Activision’s confidence in the title, or its hope that the few people who would enjoy this sort of thing realise it exists. One of those.

The Jurassic: The Hunted demo is now available to Gold Xbox Live members in the US.

The Guardian goes on to report that the campaign will run for six weeks, using games like Modern Warfare 2, Assassin’s Creed II and Left 4 Dead 2 to gauge players’ skills in quick-thinking, problem solving and team work.

In which case, they really don’t want me. When I’m not leaving my teammates to die in Left 4 Dead 2, I’m busy getting lost in aeroplane fuselages in Modern Warfare 2 until somebody’s good enough to come knife me. And I haven’t even bought Assassin’s Creed II yet. Oh, and I’m American.

Here’s what the British government has to say of its campaign:

“As well as tackling ‘traditional threats’ GCHQ’s work is also about helping government departments, such as the Ministry of Defence, to protect their information and communication systems,” said a GCHQ spokeswoman.

“This means we can offer excellent training and careers for people with specialist technical skills. However, the fact remains that many potential candidates remain unaware of GCHQ and what we do. Using video on Xbox LIVE helps carry our message to the right people in a creative and innovative manner,” she added.

Government intelligence organisation targets recruits with Xbox Live ads [The Guardian]

Thanks for the tip, Josh!

Abington are looking to get a class action lawsuit together, believing Microsoft’s actions to be both heavy-handed and suspiciously convenient given the proximity of the bannings to the release of Modern Warfare 2.

“Microsoft has chosen to use one of the most indiscriminate ‘weapons’ in its arsenal in an effort to combat piracy — as a result, use of this ‘weapon’ has resulted in a great deal of collateral damage — many people were affected who had nothing to do with piracy,” reads a statement on the firm’s website.

As for the conspiracy theory side of the story, Abington reckon that the mass bannings were just an excuse for Microsoft, with the release of the year’s biggest online title on the horizon, to rack up a few extra Xbox Live subscriptions from those eager to get back onto the service.

Sounds like complete rubbish to me, but then, this is a law firm we’re talking about.

Law Firm Sniffing Around Xbox Live Class Action Suit [GamePolitics]