Relax, it's not a digital armaggeddon.

Yes, Xbox Live is currently experiencing some networking issues this weekend; but it's not quite like anything we've seen in some time. According to various reports on the Xbox.com forums, users have experienced problems connecting to games, downloading content or logging into the online service. I've been unfortunate to experience all of the above and like many of you, I am NOT pleased. Oh, just in case you're thinking that playing offline are immune to the effects of this unfortunate nonsense. Thankfully, Major Nelson has been on top of things, keeping consumers up to date on his official blog and via his Twitter page. (I would have linked it in this blog, but even that's down right now because every gamer on the planet is trying to acccess it) :p Moving on… in his latest official statement, he explained the record numbers of more users signing onto the service has been the primary cause of the Xbox Live difficulties.

Reportedly there's been some significant improvements and Nelson reassures everyone that they service is under constant supervision. Well, it's 8:50 p.m. EST and I am personally having difficulty getting matched up with anyone in Bomberman Live and I am sure most of you are experiencing something similar with other multiplayer-based titles. *sigh* This might be a good time to catch up on some of those unopened games I got and unlock some more achievements till this mess gets sorted out. Now where did I put that copy of Cars: Materinternational at? :p

The headline says it all… we're out for the rest of the year.

On behalf of the entire team here at GotNext, we wish you and your family a safe and enjoyable holiday season. We'll actually be taking an editorial vacation and will officially resume operations on 2007 certainly was a very exciting year for everyone here on January 4, 2008.

When we return, look forward to our 2007 Year-in-Review, followed by a new volume of comprehensive reviews, previews, blogs — all backed with a unique, creative opinion. In the coming months, we'll also be exploring other options to expand our community interactive, user-friendliness and overall content delivery. Some of our recent tweaks are just a taste of a much broader picture that we'd like to streamline into a robust hub for up-to-date information and an interactive community. You might call that a renovation — but a better term would be a "new site design". Yes, it's still a very real goal and it's going to be a top priority bringing that to fruition. We definitely know there's still PLENTY of room for growth and welcome any input from all interested readers who've been longtime supporters or recently stumbled upon our online destination.

We've come a long way since our debut in 2004, establishing a respectable internet presence which couldn't have been made possible without the combined support from our dedicated editorial team, industry developers, public relation teams and most importantly — YOU! Here's to another exciting year to come.

Third Strike y'all, it's Bomb-Up Pack 3.

I haven't had much of an opportunity to share this news earlier, but a new Bomberman Live expansion pack is scheduled to launch this Wed. The new add-on pack will create an even greater amount of diversity introducing 10 NEW characters, two additional levels, a new game mode and of course… more leaderboards to pine over for bragging rights. Not that I'd know anything about that last option. :p

Now chances are, unless you're a diehard fan, this news is going to create any major impact on your personal lives. For me, it's simply creating an even greater challenge to actually stop playing and indulge the unwrapped games sitting on my shelf. And during this time of year, that's a LOT of untapped gaming goodness waiting to be enjoyed. Unless you've taken the time to sit down for an hour or two online with Bomberman Live, you have NO idea of its sheer addictive power. I am a prime example of its influence. Read on for more details on the forthcoming expansion pack details:

Ten New Characters – With new characters like "Shinobi Bomb" the
ninja and "Bomb2-D2" the robot, players can customize their in-game Bomberman in even more new ways.

Two Additional Levels – New arenas include "Cavity Land," a sugarysweet candy land, and the industrial "Robot Factory." Both levels allow users to select any gimmick to use.

One New Game Mode – In "Friendly Fire," there's no place to hide asyou race to get the most frags.  Players start with the "power bomb"power-up and hard blocks are replaced by holes, leaving nothing to stop explosions, except Bombermen!.    

Two New Leaderboards – Gaze down upon the Bomberman masses from atoptwo new ranking systems on the Xbox LIVE network. The new leaderboards will track performance on both a weekly and an all-time basis for the new "Friendly Fire" game mode.

Drivers Wanted.

In an effort to entire avid racing fans this holiday season, Microsoft has lowered the Xbox 360 Racing Wheel by $30.00, bringing its new price point to $99. The racing wheel is supported by some of the 360's latest racing releases like NFS: Carbon, PGR 3 and 4, Forza Motorsport 2 and Test Drive Unlimited. You might also be interested to know that MS recently updated the product with a new bundle consisting of a driver disc and a demo of Forza 2. Just imagine what you can do with that extra savings; gifts for the family perhaps? Nah, I'd be thinking more games too. With all the time I spend on the real roads, I might have to look into picking up one of these wheels to enhance my virtual driving experience. 

Exciting stuff if you can't get enough of statistical figures.

If you've been curious how Sony's market share with its console and handheld division, the latest figures below reveal a rather interesting portrait of success as reported by the November 2007 NPD sales data. A few of the highlights which stood out and was generously bolded by Sony's PR division indicate the PS3 had the biggest increase of any hardware platform in between the months of October to November. Reportedly, 466K PS3 units were sold in November… a 285% increase over previous month's sales. Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare stood out as one of huge hits this holiday season with 444K units sold, followed by Assassin's Creed with 377K units. All of this sounds great on paper and hopefully means that third-party developers will focus on bringing A-class gaming to the PS3 instead of exclusively hooking up the Xbox 360.

I'd go over the PSP and classic PlayStation info, but that would defeat the purpose of this article. Read on for the full NPD report:

Hardware Momentum (PS3, PS2 and PSP)

**For the month of November, PlayStation hardware unit sales reached more than 1.5 million units, an increase of 160% when compared to last month's unit sales (October 2007).

**PlayStation total hardware revenue was $373 million in November, sales dollars increased by 170% compared to last month's sales.

**For the month of November, PlayStation console sales reached 962K units.

**466K PLAYSTATION®3 (PS3™) hardware units were sold in November, a 285% increase over the previous month's sales. PS3 had the biggest October to November sales increase of any hardware platform.

**PlayStation 2 (PS2) also experienced great momentum in November, hardware unit sales reached 496K, a 170% increase over last month's sales.  Since its release in North America on Oct. 26, 2000, more than 120 million hardware units and more than a billion units of PlayStation 2 software have sold worldwide, making it the best-selling gaming platform ever released.

**According to the latest Nielsen data (April – November 2007), PS2 is the most played videogame console averaging 42.2% usage minutes compared to 11.8% for Xbox 360 and 5.5% for Wii.

**PSP (PlayStation Portable) continues to experience strong sales momentum with new pricing and the availability of new entertainment packs.  In November, 567K PSP hardware units were sold, nearly a 100% increase over last month sales.

Software Momentum (PS3, PS2 and PSP)

**PlayStation total software revenue in November was $414 million, sales dollars increased by 128% compared to last month's sales.

**In November, retail dollars from PS3 sales totaled $138 million, a 192% increase over last month's sales.

**PlayStation had three software titles in the top ten list across all consoles: Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock for PS2 sold 966K units, Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare for PS3 sold 444K units and Assassin’s Creed for PS3 sold 377K units.

PLAYSTATION Network Momentum

**Just one year after launch, there are more than 3 million registered PLAYSTATION Network users worldwide who have downloaded more than 60 million pieces of content.

**In North America alone there are more than 1.8 million registered users who have downloaded more than 34.5 million pieces of content.

**A recent PLAYSTATION Network price promotion for Calling all Cars™, Everyday Shooter™, flOw™ and Pixel Junk Racers™ resulted in a combined 920% increase in total downloads