Incoming Easter egg barrage! Major Nelson confirmed that keypad attachment thing that's been bugging everyone since GameSpot pulled their article. (By the way, his provided picture matches Engadget's pictures, so they're clean on this one). So, why the keypad? Let's see, on the first day of Christmas, the Dash Update will send to thee:

• MSN Messenger integration (Windows Live Messenger) which explains that keyboard in the first place
• Redesigned Achievement toasts which tell you the Achievements and its Gamerscore value
• Enhanced family settings features for Xbox Live voice and video chat which enable different default settings for each
• New Xbox Live Marketplace blade - one stop shop (er... blade) for non-stop shop... or free demo downloads
• Xbox Live Arcade update tells you what XBLA games your friends are playing - and jump in. Also compare Leaderboards and Achievements directly with all friends, and expanded Tell-a-Friend capabilities.
• New Auto-Download option for XBLA provides faster access to the entire collection of free trial-version XBLA games
• Progressively-downloaded and watched videos can now be fast-forwarded, rewound, paused, and resumed
  
• One new option for Background Downloading: Auto-Off Console After Downloads Are Complete

Er, nothing about using the keyboard for in-game functionalities, but trust some dev to be coming up with The Game Of A Gazillion Hotkeys just to try... er, forget we said that. Other than that, the only thing we fear now are the IM-hoggers hogging our beloved 360 consoles... just to chat. Come on (insert chat-hogger's name here), I've got Locusts to fry!!!

Thanks to Macca for the heads-up!

It's the season for giving, for caring and sharing,
With buying and selling and killing all 'round,
So let's have a Fantasy quite worth enjoying
By slaying the treants that abound!

Yes, adventurers. Starlight is upon us, and in preparation for the Starlight Celebration, Square Enix has set up some gifts for Final Fantasy XI fans in the form of new content and special game bundles.

The new content is a holiday-themed quest chain and some new PvP areas to play in. The quest seems to involve two different problems. First, the trees made for this year's celebration have gone missing, which means you'll probably have to go find them. Second, and somewhat more interestingly, is word of treants terrorizing Dhalmel Farm, with the possibility of them being in towns as well. Before this year's smilebringers can give gifts and new items to people, you're going to have to go out and take those treants down.

For PvP fans with the Treasures of Aht Urgan expansion pack, you'll have a lot more to contend with as new areas have been opened with a new gameplay style: Salvage. In Salvage PvP, your task is to check on four different ruins and get the treasures within. It won't be easy, however, as the site describes what you'll have to get past:

The main objective of Salvage missions is the exploration of the archaeological remains of four newly opened areas (Zhayolm Remnants, Arrapago Remnants, Bhaflau Remnants, Silver Sea Remnants) and the eradication of the demonic beasts that rule their deepest depths. However, this will not be as easy as it sounds. A powerful force known only as the Pathos of Alzadaal limits the abilities of all who enter, making them easy prey for the hordes of fiends waiting in the shadows.

Finally, for people who are interested in getting into the game, we've got more info on the latest version of the Vana'diel Collection. As we mentioned before, the Windows-only Final Fantasy XI Vana'diel Collection 2007 has all the games and expansions, an exclusive fold-out map with walkthroughs for beginners. What we also know now is that the Collection includes two thirty-day free trial passes for yourself and a friend to try the game out. Definitely a worthwhile Christmas gift for gamers at a US$ 30 price tag.

For more info on these new additions, don't hesitate to check the site below (it's the FFXI official site). Enjoy!

I bet many of you have downloaded Texas Hold 'em during the 48 hours window when it was free-for-all. Heck, I know I would have, if only my XBL subscription hadn't run out a week earlier. People like free stuff, and that was evident by the fact that more than 100 people were downloading the game every minute!

XBOX Live's Aaron Greenberg was interviewed by Podtacular recently, and he admitted the fact that Poker had been a huge hit. "We had more downloads in the first 24 hours than any other item ever on Marketplace. That is a pretty big deal, given all the big demos and videos that have been up from some major franchises." Unfortunately though, this might be a one-off experiment; when asked if more XBL Arcade games would be given out for free, he bluntly refused. "To be honest this is not part of a long term strategy for us, it costs a lot of money to build these games and I am sure a number of people that downloaded it for free would have been willing to pay for it. Think of this as something we did as a thank you to the community for their support. Otherwise, all new Arcade will continue to have a free trial that everyone can download."

Now I would've loved it if they did this with Pacman, I've heard that Poker wasn't that great. Still, anything free is good, and although they have denied any plans of doing this in the future, I'd love to see more of these "thank-yous"- even if it's only for a few hours. Anyway, stay tuned for more updates in case there are any.

Europe, get ready! Microsoft gives free and full access to the Xbox Live Gold membership from September 20 to 29 in Europe. That's ten days of pure, unadulterated Xbox 360 fun! Microsoft gives away those features such as online gaming and demo downloading usually reserved for Xbox Live Gold members beginning September 20 at 12:01am local time. The free period, which coincides with the Xbox Live's coverage of the Tokyo Game Show, ends on September at 11:50pm local time.

There's no doubt this is going to be a blast for the entire Xbox 360 gaming community. This free trial is sponsored by Windows Live Spaces.