Round Up: Taco Bell & PS3, NYT Vs. PS3, Small Arms XBLA

Today's round-up includes news of Taco Bell offering potentially a lifetime supply of food in exchange for a PlayStation 3 for charity, the New York Times view of the PlayStation 3, and the release of Small Arms over Xbox Live Arcade this week, as well as the latest Game Career Guide updates, Serious Games Source posts, GameSetWatch posts and Gamasutra job postings. - Officials from fast food chain Taco Bell announced that the restaurant is offering $12,500 in Taco Bell Bucks, which can be spent like actual money on Taco Bell food, to the first person who agrees to trade his or her new PlayStation 3. Taco Bell officials note that it plans to donate the hard to find console to the Stanton Teen Center of the Boys & Girls Club. Those interested should send an email including their phone number to Taco Bell prior to December 1, 2006 at 6:00 p.m. PST. - A new editorial review in the New York Times has lambasted Sony and its recently released PlayStation 3 console, noting that the platform has thus far “failed to deliver” on Sony's promises for next-generation gaming. The article by Seth Schiesel specifically calls out a number of perceived shortcomings of the PlayStation 3, including a lack of high definition video cables out of the box - despite Sony's positioning as a one stop solution for HD movie viewing care of the console's Blu-ray disc player. The article also calls out the system's online service, which it describes as “tacked-on and unpolished”, as well as its “undersupported voice chat to its maddening cellphone-like text messaging system.” The Times piece does note a few positives, however, including Resistance: Fall of Man's multiplayer gameplay, as well as the downloadable title Blast Factor, but these high points stand as a stark contrast to the lion's share of complaints leveled against the PlayStation 3 in the editorial. - Following recent news from Microsoft concerning its upcoming catalog of titles to be released for its popular Xbox Live Arcade service, the company today confirmed that Small Arms from indie developer Gastronaut Studios will be the next title released on November 22 at 1:00 a.m. PST. Small Arms is described as a “frantic multiplayer brawling game” for up to four players to play either offline or online via Xbox Live. Like other Xbox Live titles, the game will feature a number of achievements than can be earned through accomplishing certain tasks in the game. By far the most unique achievement, however, is called “Six Degrees of Small Arms”, which can only be earned by playing with someone who already has it – and which only the game’s creators will possess at launch. For more information regarding Small Arms, as well as Gastronaut Studios itself, read Gamasutra's exclusive interview with studio founder Jacob Van Wingen. - The latest updates on Gamasutra sister alt.gaming weblog GameSetWatch include a review of Soylent Software's physics title Ichor, a look at the controversy surrounding the European release of Rule of Rose, and a peek at the rather off the wall mobile title, Lyuboila Petrolova, Oil Baroness. - The latest updates from Gamasutra sister website Game Career Guide include a partnership with Noesis Interactive to offer students interested in a career in video game development with a 20% discount on current and future products from Noesis Interactive. - The latest updates from Gamasutra sister website Serious Games Source include Bohemia Interactive's plans to demonstrate the military training sim Virtual Battlespace 2 at the upcoming 2006 The Interservice/Industry Training, Simulation and Education Conference. - Also updated today: the latest Gamasutra job postings, including openings from 1K Studios, Centerscore, Concrete Games, Cryptic Studios, Edge of Reality, FXLabs Studios, High Moon Studios, Incinerator Studios, NaturalMotion, Netamin Communication, Page 44 Studios, Pandemic Studios, Relic Entertainment, Sucker Punch Productions, Walt Disney Internet Group, and Worcester Polytechnic Institute.