The latest update to Microsoft's (Nasdaq: MSFT) Xbox Live kicked in yesterday, and with it comes a nod to social networking. The new interface integrates Twitter and Facebook into the Xbox Live gamer experience.

Microsoft, Nintendo, and Sony need a new game plan. Amid growing evidence old marketing strategies aren't working and concerns by some analysts that holiday sales may be lackluster, the big three console makers are scrambling for new ways to entice consumers.

Fire up your Xbox 360 later today and you'll discover your social network just broadened by a factor of two. Microsoft teased Xbox 360 Facebook and Twitter integration at E3 this summer and rolled it out to beta testers several weeks ago, and it's finally available to everyone starting today.

Right now many of its top franchises, such as Madden NFL and FIFA Soccer, are based on content owned by others. License payments on those games make them far less profitable than fully owned titles. Rival game maker Activision Blizzard, by contrast, owns its major franchises, such as Call of Duty, World of Warcraft and Guitar Hero. Largely for that reason, Activision had a non-GAAP operating margin in 2008 of 24.5% compared with EA's minus-4% in the year to March 2009, according to Todd Greenwald, an analyst with Signal Hill Capital Group.

Ben Schefers bought his first Microsoft Corp. Xbox 360 console four months ago to play games remotely with his friends. But the 33-year-old database manager now spends more time using it to play movies, television shows and documentaries.

Microsoft has a whole host of features it plans on jamming into its fall Xbox Live dashboard update. The firmware revision will introduce to the Xbox 360's online platform such features as Twitter and Facebook integration, a Music Marketplace for listening to recommendation-radio service Last.fm (which is owned by CNET parent CBS Interactive), and a News section offering information from Microsoft and NBC Universal's joint venture, MSNBC.com. The Xbox 360 update will also introduce 1080p high-definition video content through the Xbox Live Marketplace. To facilitate that new offering, Microsoft this week released the Wireless N Networking Adapter which it confirmed as existing in September following widespread rumors. Microsoft noted that the new wireless addon will improve the performance of other online functionality in games and content downloads.

Microsoft says it is cutting off gamers who have modified their Xbox 360 consoles by adding extra chips or hard drives from its Xbox Live online services. The company says that "a small percentage" are affected – possibly as many as 600,000 of the 20 million Xbox Live players, but perhaps up to 1 million around the world. The banning is part of a sweep that Microsoft carries out each November to remove modified Xboxes from its online gaming service. "Modding" or "chipping" is popular among people who want to play pirated games, but also games bought in other regions, or their own homemade ones which build on the original. It usually requires physically soldering new components into the device.

NECA's Gears of War inspired figures are heading to the UK in a special Delta Squad box set, according to Electronic Theatre. Originally available in various packages across North America, the special UK release of the Delta Squad package will include fan favorite characters (sans the Carmine brothers) Marcus Fenix, Dominic "Dom" Santiago, Augustus "Cole Train" Cole and Damon "The Annoying One" Baird, as well as new weapons and accessories exclusive to the set.

Private matches only. Infinity Ward has said that Modern Warfare 2 multiplayer supports third-person view in private matches. Following the release of a leaked video on YouTube, community man Robert Bowling told Joystiq that it was "just another cool way to play the game". "You obviously will still have the option to play gametypes normal as well," he added.

Trade secret: for the last 10 years, reviewing PC flight games has been a piece of cake. Step one - rabbit on about the fun-quotient, physics, visuals, missions and multiplayer for a bit. Step two - slip on the knuckledusters and deliver the kidney punch: "Of course, if you're after superlative sky thrills, you're still far better off with Crimson Skies." One of the reasons why the likes of Blazing Angels, Secret Weapons Over Normandy, HAWX and Heroes Over Europe have never managed to topple this cloud-couched charmer is that none of them have half its character. Set in an alternate 1930s where gangs of air pirates prey on the giant zeppelins that have superseded ships and trains, the game has a freshness and coherence to its fiction that makes most World War II or modern backdrops seem ditchwater-dull. Zipper Interactive can't take all the credit for the shimmering lore. Much of the inspiration came direct from Jordan Weisman and Michael Stackpole's 1998 board-game, which in turn enthusiastically plundered the treasure chamber that is American pulp radio, cinema and literature.

For the next week (until November 1) all three of the Call of Duty: World At War map packs are 400 point each, a savings of 50%. Get ‘em now!

Peter Molyneux has confirmed Natal support for Fable III and described gaming in 2009 as "the most exciting year ever". Speaking last night at a BAFTA event - hosted and Tweeted by Eurogamer's Johnny Minkley - Molyneux revealed that his next role-playing game will also feature a micro-transaction in-game shop, where players can buy swords from £1. Walkthroughs are another possibility for the store, but with the game so far off, Molyneux said many of these features could be dropped before release.

Major Nelson, Xbox Live guru and prolific tweeter, has announced that the first wave of notification emails for the Xbox 360 Dashboard update preview should go out this Friday. Incidentally, sign up is now closed, so no more applications will be accepted. The preview will give Xbox Live members a chance to check out the many new features in the upcoming Dashboard update, including Twitter, Facebook, Last.fm and the new Zune Video Marketplace. Also, as we reported earlier today, Microsoft has thrown in a preview of Halo Waypoint as well. The preview program should roll out sometime next week. In the meantime, keep an eye on those inboxes!

Microsoft's Major Nelson has announced that Halo Waypoint -- the upcoming Xbox Live locus of all things Halo -- will be included in the 360 Dashboard update preview program. Those lucky enough to get into the preview should be notified this week, and Major Nelson tells Joystiq that Halo Waypoint should be rolling out on the preview sometime next week. Microsoft recently revealed more details surrounding the service, most notably how the "career system," which will track in-game accomplishments from all the Halo games available on the Xbox 360. The destination's launch is scheduled for November 5, so preview participants should get a significant chunk of time with before it goes public. Don't worry if you don't make it into the preview, we'll be sure to share our hands-on impressions next week.

Outlawed off-white accessory news now, with CVG relaying manufacturer Datel's unenthusiastic response to the the forthcoming Xbox 360 Dashboard update, which intends to kill support for unauthorized, third-party memory units. Datel has said that it's "disappointed" by Microsoft's decision, one that it feels will limit consumers in "exercising their freedom of choice." Specifically, their freedom of choosing a memory solution that doesn't come from Microsoft. What to do if you're the owner of one of these bad boys? Unless you want to stay offline forever, you'll have to back up your data and transfer it to an official memory unit or hard drive. Failing that, you could just lift anchor in protest and set sail for Redmond, but we wouldn't suggest doing that unless you're English and living in 1983.

Electronic Arts Inc. is proud to announce today that the Need for Speed franchise has surpassed 100M units sold life to date.

Lips Number One Hits hits retail shelves in North America today.

We bet you didn't know Bayonetta was a (numerically) flawless game. As it turns out, it is ... at least according to Famitsu, which just gave the game a perfect 40/40 review -- the first perfect score given to a game available on Xbox, incidentally. It's no secret that the Japanese mag has been handing out perfect scores at an accelerated rate these days. Of the twelve games to receive a perfect score -- Bayonetta included -- six were awarded in the last two years. There are only so many reasons we can imagine that Bayonetta would receive such high scores. First, it could be that Bayonetta is just a really good game. Second, it's possible the editors of Famitsu really have a thing for hair witches. Given the involvement of Hideki Kamiya -- one of the principal minds behind Devil May Cry -- it's probably the former. At least, we certainly hope it's the former.

Enough to ensure it gets an 18 rating. The BBFC has revealed there are some "strong" sexy moments in upcoming Grand Theft Auto IV downloadable add-on The Ballad of Gay Tony. These, plus "very strong language" and "hard drug use", have resulted in an 18 rating for Episodes of Liberty City - a standalone bundle of The Lost and Damned and The Ballad of Gay Tony. The game passed certification with no cuts made. In a spoiler-filled description, the BBFC describes the key moments in BOGT.

The Australian Office of Film and Literature Classification (OFLC) has rated a game called Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon: Predator. Ubisoft, unsurprisingly, is listed as both developer and publisher. The game has passed with an MA 15+ rating due to "strong violence", (OFLC via VG247). That's not the highest rating, by the way - R 18+ and X 18+ are. It's not the first we've heard about a new Ghost Recon game. This summer Ubisoft revealed delays for a few key titles, of which a new Ghost Recon game was one. That, said the publisher, would launch sometime from April onwards next year. Autumn 2010 would be a safe bet.

What started conceptually as a hub for Halo content on the Xbox 360 may develop into something more, the creative director for the new Halo Waypoint Xbox destination told Kotaku.

Sony's PS3 finally had its moment in the limelight, taking top honors in September hardware unit sales, but according to research firm NPD, Microsoft's Xbox 360 platform "contributed the most to industry unit and dollar sales," ringing up 32 percent of the month's turnaround video game revenue.

This week's Xbox Live update wages war on one of humanity's oldest foes: the block. We're sorry it's come to this, but we're afraid we can stomach their shenanigans no longer and, come this Wednesday, we're enlisting the aid of Panzer General: Allied Assault for 800 ($10) as we begin operations. Our first target will be Tower Bloxx Deluxe, with an estimated damage total of 800 ($10). It's a good introductory target that should benefit us in the longer conflict to come against the blocks. And if you're having second thoughts about all of this, remember how they're always making us push them here and pull them there -- and have you forgotten all of the climbing? We're standing up for the little guys and those archaeologists who've had enough tyranny from those six-sided symmetrical impeders, so if you can't get behind that, we suggest you pull up those hemp pants of yours and barefoot it back to the treetop commune or wherever else you hippies call home nowadays.

Data trackers The NPD Group have published US sales figures for September, revealing a healthy boost in sales for PS3. Sony shifted around 491,800 consoles last month - more than double the number sold the previous month, and during the same period last year. Might just be something to do with the price cut and the release of PS3 Slim, but hey, we're no analysts. It's the first time PS3 has taken the top spot in the home console charts, but Sony didn't win the hardware battle overall - DS is still number one with 524,500 units sold. The Wii was in third place (462,800), followed by Xbox 360 (352,600) and PSP (190,400). The good old PS2 is hanging on in there with 146,000 machines sold, mainly by antique shops.

The PlayStation 3 may have killed it in the hardware contest last month, but Xbox 360 software reigned supreme this September, thanks to Bungie's Halo 3: ODST. The game dropped more than 1.5 million units sold.

On October 29, Microsoft is releasing a new Xbox 360 Elite bundle in Japan. Packaged with Lost Planet Colonies and Ace Combat 6, this "value pack" is priced at ¥29,800 (US$330).

Unauthorized memory units are verböten under the next dashboard update to Xbox Live, which isn't of mainstream concern right now, but will be to those participating in the Xbox Live Preview Program.

Mercy. The hospital in Left 4 Dead's "No Mercy" campaign, and the name of a real one in Pittsburgh. And Louis, Zoey, Francis and Bill are sowing panic about its conditions, the access to medication...

Xbox Live's upcoming social update (Facebook, Twitter, Last.fm) may bring more features than first expected. Behind-closed-doors testers have revealed a "News and More" tab on the Inside Xbox channel. Linked only with the US, this streams content from MSNBC, MSN Autos, The New Yorker and Dilbert. Furthermore, the channel promises a "surprise" in the weeks after the preview launches, according to Kotaku. It's so exciting.

Microsoft is handing out permanent Xbox Live bans for "pre-release title play" of Borderlands or Forza Motorsport 3 - both due out this Friday. Only illegitimate owners of those games will be punished. If you, somehow, obtained a promotional or retail copy you will not be affected. "Don't worry folks, anyone who bought a copy early is OK," Sephen Toulouse, Microsoft's law enforcer, Twittered. "In general, if you got a receipt, play away. These are [illegitimate] copies we're hitting."

The recent arrival of Halo 3: ODST brought Microsoft's tentpole franchise back to the forefront, and collected another impressive 8/10 from Eurogamer, despite the fact the game was sculpted from scratch in just 14 months by a Bungie team left project-less after the much-vaunted Peter Jackson collaboration crashed and burned.

In the wake of the ODST's premiere at E3 this year, we talked about the game's possibilities based on the available media, combined with in-depth knowledge of the Halo 3 engine, backed up with a range of performance metrics based on the existing game. We speculated on how the existing tech could be repurposed to produce a game undoubtedly inferior technologically to Guerrilla Games' Killzone 2, but competitive in other respects, by playing up to the engine's core strengths uncopied by the competition.