"Art" is a word frequently thrown around in the videogame world, usually in the question, "Are videogames art?". While art truly is in the eye of the beholder and it's ultimately fruitless to try and argue if videogames and art can be one in the same, from my perspective there have been precious few times when something in the videogame world struck me as beautiful and made me feel emotions normally reserved for my experiences with other forms of entertainment. It's with that idea in mind then that I come to Braid from Number None Inc., for Microsoft's Xbox 360, via Xbox Live Arcade. To me, this time manipulation puzzle platformer is art in its truest sense, from the painterly, animated graphics style to the almost transcendental instrumental music to the rather flowery and richly constructed prose. Braid is also a game of seemingly purposeful contrasts, embracing often overly tread videogame constructs like jumping on enemy heads to dispatch them (Super Mario Bros.), finding and using keys (Shamus) and puzzle pieces (Impossible Mission), and reversing time in order to meet or re-do certain goals (Blinx), all wrapped up in an achingly beautiful aesthetic that makes everything else about it quite all right thank you very much. If I weren't terrifically busy and feeling a bit guilty about best use of my own time, I'd buy the 1200 point game immediately, but I will have to make do with a taste of the free demo for the time being, a demo of a game I'll want to expose my wife to at the first opportunity so I have someone else, firsthand, to share the experience with (and an experience it is). There are already countless reviews of Braid (whose title, for those wondering, is also fitting), but here's a brief one to get you started that hints just a bit more at what the game actually offers...

I was wondering how current Xbox 360 owners feel about Toshiba's surrender to Blu-Ray in the next-gen DVD standards war. I see that the price of the HD DVD player for the 360 has been slashed, and will not doubt soon be appearing in bargain bins. Do you think this will give the decisive edge to the PS3 in the high-end gamer market?

December 4th Microsoft will roll out a new update for the Xbox 360; this will make 'movies on demand' also available in Europe.

Well let me tell you people that the official follow up to the dumped 'core edition' has been dubbed the Xbox 360 Arcade edition.

Well, my Halo 3 Legendary Edition came today from Amazon.com, which I pre-ordered all the way back in May. What awaited me when I got home from work was one honking huge box...

Both Microsoft and Sony have made press announcements regarding their latest generation of consoles. The PS3 will get a bigger hard-drive and the Xbox 360 will get a price-cut - read more.

Soul Calibur IV will be supporting real time online gameplay on both Xbox360 and PS3-versions. This is not the first time a fighting game supports online gameplay - both Tekken and Mortal Kombat (2004) are examples of that.