Hit the ground running. Criterion's making Paradise cooler. 

Things have been so crazy lately that I've been slipping with my usual current events reporting. I just stumbled upon this news about Burnout Paradise receiving an upcoming patch for the PS3 and 360 versions, conversely delivering some much-needed tweaks to satiate diehard players. Funny thing is, among the 30 different areas being refined, I've probably only found one or two of them to be glaringly obvious. Perhaps I just wasn't paying enough attention eh? Reportedly this patch will address everything from audio peformance to some in-game gaming logistics.

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Now here's a bit of news I bet you didn't expect to be unveiled during E3. The backwards compatibility team just sent out the latest listing of Xbox games which are now compatible to play on the Xbox 360. Outrun, Morrowind and Kingdom Under Fire: Crusaders are FINALLY playable on 360. Believe it! Fighting fanatics will be especially delighted that Guilty Gear XX #Reload and Marvel vs. Capcom 2 were included in the update. Reports are going around that MVC2 is a graphic glitz fest which would practically make its availability on the 360 rather useless if its unplayable. The real question is though… where's Capcom vs. SNK 2? I am sure it can't be too far behind. *sigh* C'mon guys — I am sure no one would miss The DaVinci Code over an opportunity to bust out some fisticuffs.

America's Army  
Auto Modellista  
Bass Pro Shops Trophy Hunter 2007           
Blinx 2     
Bloodrayne 2       
Burnout                 
Crash Bandicoot 4              
Crash Bandicoot 5: Wrath of Cortex         Updated  
Doom 3: Resurrection of Evil         
Drive to Survive  
Drive to Survive (EM)       
ESPN College Hoops         
ESPN NHL 2K5      
Evil Dead Regeneration   
Exaskeleton        (Japan only)
FIFA Street 2        
Full Spectrum Warrior: 10 Hammers          
GUILTY GEAR XX #RELOAD             
Harry Potter: And the Chamber of Secrets             
Harry Potter: And the Prisoner of Azkaban             
Hot Wheels: Stunt Track Challenge            
Jet Set Radio Future       Updated  
Justice League: Heroes   
King Arthur           
Kingdom Under Fire: The Crusaders         (No Live Access)
Magic: The Gathering: Battlegrounds        
Marvel Nemesis: Rise of the Imperfects  
Marvel vs. Capcom 2        
Mech Assault 2   
MLB Slug Fest 2003            
Morrowind           
MotoGP2              
Myst III: Exile       
NBA Live 2002      
NCAA Football 06               
Nobunaga no Yabou Ranseiki     ( Japan only)
Outlaw Golf 9 More Holes of X-mas           
Outlaw Volleyball: Red Hot            
Outrun 2                
Outrun 2006: Coast to Coast          
Pac Man World 3                
Panzer Elite Action: Fields of Glory            (EMEA only)
Pro Cast Sports Fishing   
Project Gotham Racing   
Project Gotham Racing 2                
RoadKill (No Live Access)
Rogue Ops          Updated  
Sega GT 2002     Updated  
Sega GT Online   
Shadow Ops         
Showdown: Legends of Wrestling              
Silent Hill 2: Dreams         (US/EMEA only)
Sponge Bob Square Pants: Lights, Camera, Pants!               
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Melee     
The DaVinci Code               
The Sims 2             
The Urbz: Sims in the City               
Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 2X             
Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 3               
Transworld Surf  
Trivial Pursuit Unhinged  
Winning Eleven 8               
Without Warning               
WWE Raw             
Yu-Gi-Oh! The Dawn of Destiny

You can all stop working on those homebrew joysticks because Hori has plans to brings its latest joystick to the U.S. According to Play-Asia, the Fighting Stick Wii will be released in Japan this August, followed by an “planned” release stateside. If you’re wondering why this stick is in production, there’s an upcoming fighting game which goes by the name Guilty Gear XX: Accent Core (the first of many 2D/3D projects I hope). For those of you who can’t wait, the import model can be purchased at the website for the wonderfully low price of $52.90. (Thanks George!)

Awesome news, but it’s going to be difficult for me to consider playing without my DOA4 stick. Has anyone out there bothered to create the first 360-to-Wii adapter yet?

[Via Endgadget]

Microsoft pushes the original Xbox further into extinction with another update to the backwards compatibility list. Among the games included are Oddworld: Munch’s Oddysee, Panzer Dragoon Orta, and (finally) Phantom Dust. It’s nice to see the addition of games people actually care about this time. Of course the complete list can be found on Xbox.com. The auto update doesn’t appear to have hit Xbox Live yet, which gives you time to start wiping the dust from their cases.