Screaming Penguin - Source Does Matter

Tycho notes today:

I just read through one of the conduits of Leipzig gaming news, and was jolted by a piece of news: Xbox Live is going to be moving into classic board games. I don't mean, like, Chutes and Ladders or some shit - though I don't doubt that GrowPot420 would snap that up on day one. No, I mean like Settlers of Catan and Carcassone. Pillars of the tabletop gaming community, so to speak.

This is probably the biggest news of that convention for me. Getting people together to play these games, or finding people to play them with at all can be a trying endeavor. This is near Goddamn optimal.

I have to admit, this is almost enough to make me want an XB3shitty. I also can't help but wonder if Microsoft's ownage of FASA means they might include *real* BattleTech and AeroTech in their games list. Hell, if Axis and Allies is there, that is enough of a reason to drop the $$ for XBLive.

In a related note, Atari has officially made Scrabble free along with Yatzee, BattleShip and some other board games. Hasbro Interactives escape from the clutches of Microsoft -- who forced me to buy Srabble 4 different times just to keep playing online -- is a big big win.