Let this be a good reminder to always err on the side of caution when giving out your Xbox Live information ... that is, don't do it. MTV Multiplayer found out that Halo 3 multiplayer producer Joe Tung can list himself among the gamers who have had their XBL accounts compromised. "Representatives from Microsoft aided Joe in swiftly resolving the issue," said Luke Smith, who didn't provide other details.

One rather sneaky method of account stealing has been "social engineering," whereby the hacker in question calls up Microsoft service support and pretend to be the owner of the account and gain the sympathy of the customer service rep. Of course, the biggest tactic so far has involved promising one billion MS points with a simple click of the mouse. Protip: Don't give out your password, no matter how enticing.

Our plane has just landed in sunny beautiful Seattle and we are now sitting on the floor of the lovely Seattle-Tacoma airport (note: compared to other airport floors, it's not exactly the bee's knees). We're getting ourselves in gear for tomorrow's grand opening of the 2008 Penny Arcade Expo, so stay tuned for all of our coverage over the weekend!

In the final part of X3F's interview series, Silicon Knights President Denis Dyack said that the question of who owns the Eternal Darkness IP is, "a complicated question with a complicated answer," while at the same time confirming that Nintendo is still a "silent partner" with the developer.

"That's a question we've never answered," he said. "At the end of the day, it's not time to even talk about those things for various different reasons. You know Nintendo, who's still our silent partner, a lot of people don't know that, we have a great relationship with those guys. It's not time to talk about Eternal Darkness 2." Dyack went on to say that, despite some reports to the contrary, SK has never announced ED2 to be in development.

Dyack also discussed his one console theory, and how the consolidation of the developers and publishers support his claim that the industry is moving towards a one-console future, adding that Silicon Knights is not opposed to being acquired by a publisher. He also said that the company's next game will be "very different" from Too Human, declining to elaborate further.

Our friends at PS3 Fanboy recently had a chance to try out the guitar equivalent of the ION Drum Rocker: Starpex's premium (i.e. not plastic) guitar controller, which more or less looks like a gutted Fender Stratocaster. Their verdict is that the Starpex plays very well, but the $180 price tag is likely to turn off more than a few people. Bonus points for being fully compatible with both Guitar Hero and Rock Band, but no word on an Xbox 360 version. The Starpex will be available for PlayStation 3 and PS2 rockers, with a Wii version reportedly on the way later.

Continuing with their week-long series, nos amis at X3F talked with Silicon Knights President Denis Dyack over some of Too Human's biggest perceived faults. Part 1 of today's video interview is embedded above. Some highlights:

• On the community's early judgment: "People are trying to understand a game that's inherently interactive [by watching a video] ... All I can say is try the demo."
• On clipping and texture issues: "There's glitches in all games. It's really interesting to me because, as an example, there's gonna be things you can always improve. To me, framerate's not really that essential in cutscenes and it never has been for us ... I don't think Too Human's inconsistent from any of our previous games ... So there's clipping. Oh noes. Bottom line is, does it affect gameplay and by how much? Are there ways to improve Too Human? For sure, but the overall big picture? Happy, extremely happy."
• On the Valkyrie death scene: Dyack estimated it was a 15 and a 1/2 second scene. "If it's a sign that people love the game so much that they just want to get back in and play, could we make it skippable? Sure, it's an easy change. Is it something we ever would have anticipated since we thought it was faster than going to get your body or losing experience [which does not happen in Too Human] ... is that a change we can make in the future? Sure."
• On comparisons to Diablo: "There's this tactical element. People think, 'oh, this is like Diablo with a bit of action. In Diablo I can just go up to an enemy and pound him away [until it dies] and move on to the next one, if you had the better loot, you usually win. In Too Human, if you don't use your tactics, it is a new kind of genre-bender, you're gonna die. And we're looking at some of the feedback and a lot of people are dying. [laughs]"
• On future downloadable content: "I think that's gonna be unique to people who pre-order it, that's a one-time thing. But we've got tons of ideas that will far exceed the pre-order bonus."

Check out part two of the interview after the break.

Look, up in the sky! It's Snoopy! It's a pizza! No, it's the original Red Baron! (har) Sierra Online has announced that Stainless Studios' remake of the 1990 PC flight simulator is coming to the PlayStation Network on September 18 (via Shacknews). The update has 36 missions, 20 airplanes and eight-player online multiplayer. Check out the trailer after the break.

[Via PS3 Fanboy]

Bad news, everyone! This week's Rock Band DLC offering -- Rush's Moving Pictures album -- didn't come out today as planned. In a post on the forums, Harmonix's Sean Baptiste said, "There is a technical difficulty that is being worked out. I'll alert you when it is all clear." We wonder if that has anything to do with figuring out how to tell singers they can't wail on "YYZ." It's okay, please stop crying.

No timeline has been given, although at this point it seems more likely the Xbox 360 content will be released alongside PlayStation 3's content this week. That is, assuming they fix the problem by Thursday.

To celebrate the release of The Art and Making of Star Wars: The Force Unleashed, LucasArts has sent over two copies of the book, which are currently getting midichlorians all over our lovely coffee table. So, to prevent our furniture from having the ability to Force Choke every person who spills a drink, we're giving them away to decorate your living rooms and grant your furniture the midichlorian count to Force Choke you.

To enter this giveaway:

• Leave a comment telling us what force power, or combination of force powers, you'd use in your everyday life! Would you fly to work, strangle a boss, or simply heat your coffee?
  
• You must be 18 years or older and a resident of the US or Canada (excluding Quebec and fully operational battle stations).
  
• Limit 1 entry per person per calendar day (comment more than once and you'll be encased in Carbonite).
  
• This entry period ends at 7:00pm ET on Saturday, August 30th. We'll randomly select two winners at that time, who will each receive an art book valued at $30. Please check your e-mail!
  
• For a list of complete rules that you can peruse or crush with your mind, click here.

Our friends at X3F have posted the first part of their 1-on-1 interview with Denis Dyack, where he talks about the history of Silicon Knights, from its previous legal entanglements with Crystal Dynamics over the Legacy of Kain IP, through the prerequisite Eternal Darkness discussion (Spoiler: There's no talk of a sequel) and how they found themselves developing a Metal Gear Solid port for GameCube.

In case you missed it, check out the Dyack-guided studio tour from yesterday. You can catch up on all things Baldur on X3F's Too Human page.

Maybe it's the upcoming expo, or that we made the focus of this week's wrapup on the comic series, or maybe (just maybe) it was the favored gaming comic. Whatever the reasons, Penny Arcade's "A Life of Service" took top honors in the webcomic wrapup.

Second place was taken by 2P Start's Level Up!, while Hijinks Ensue's Scared Straight claimed a distant third. A special mention goes to Robot Martini's two great tastes, which came in last place, even though we actually quite enjoyed it. Thanks to everyone who voted, and be sure to let us know of any game-related webcomics you stumble upon this week!

We don't know for sure if Sony downsized the PlayStation 3's RSX graphics chip to 65nm, matching the already 65nm Cell processor, but we might have some anecdotal evidence from an external source. A forum poster at slickdeals used a Kill-a-watt device to check the power consumption of the 40GB and 80GB models during idle phase, while spinning a DVD and with Metal Gear Solid 4 in the drive, and found a 12-20 watt difference favoring the new 80GB.

It's not enough to say Sony has finally upgraded its RSX graphics chip, but it is interesting to ponder. Now, can someone end this speculation by voiding their 80GB's warranty and snapping a photo of the guts?

[Via Engadget]

In addition to being knee-deep in Too Human, our friends at X3F are celebrating Castle Crashers' Xbox Live Arcade debut by running daily giveaway contests all week, with developer Behemoth providing some added graphical flair. Today's giveaway is a trio of CC t-shirts. Keep an eye out on this tag for more CC prizes all week.

Over the past week, we've had a chance to check out ION's premium Rock Band 2 drum set, the Drum Rocker (We've played it once before at E3 2008). We're waiting for a copy of RB2 for our final impressions; in the meantime, here are our initial thoughts of the set with the original Rock Band.

• Our order arrived in two boxes weighing in at 33 lbs. and 6 lbs., respectively. The lighter box contained the third cymbal and colored discs to put on all three cymbals for differentiation.
• Total time to unbox: 20 minutes (although, to be fair, we were taking a lot of pictures). That said, total time for setup (no camera usage) was close to an hour, with a large amount of time spent trying to screw in the cymbal clamps. Just another 2 or 3 mm on the screw length and we would've had a much easier time here.
• Protip: Make sure you screw everything in very tight, or you'll be having to either pause the game to make fixes mid-song or learn to adjust to the added difficult of a drooping tom or cymbal. Even then, adjustments will have to be made to get the toms placed just right.

Read on for more impressions.

Our compatriots over at X3F visited Too Human developer Silicon Knights last week and were welcomed with a big, friendly bear hug from president Denis Dyack, who proceeded to drink from a bottomless coffee mug as he gave them a tour of the Ontario-based studio. Check out video of the guided tour (after the break) as well a pic-tour-ial gallery. X3F has an entire week of Silicon Knights coverage planned. Tomorrow: Part 1 of their 1-on-1 interview Dyack.

Silicon Knights' Denis Dyack wants to set the record straight: Too Human was not in development for 10 years. Speaking to X3F during their tour of the studios last week, Dyack said, "I cannot dispel that rumor enough ... that is a bad way to talk about Too Human because that is factually incorrect." He cites the E3 1999 reveal -- at that point planned as a 4-disc PS One title -- but explains that production didn't actually begin until after Metal Gear Solid: Twin Snakes was completed. Given that title's March 2004 release, we're going to carbon date Too Human at 5 years, born in 7 A.D., or Anno Duke (Nukem Forever).

It should be noted that there are screenshots from E3 1999, but both those and the descriptions appear devoid of any Norse mythology that now has become a major aspect of the game. Stay tuned for video and images from X3F's Silicon Knights tour later today.