My friends, I am a bit tired, but it's all for a noble cause - tomorrow, PlayerzBlog will offer you its own extensive Need For Speed: Undercover review, and what we're trying to do is finish the game until then. Anyway, we'll give you the review even if we don't manage to finish the game, especially since everything seems to be taken from some movies, and - if we talk about the plot's originality - the score is a big ZERO, but let's try to scratch the surface a little, shall we?

First of all, as you probably know already, Need for Speed: Undercover gives you back what ProStreet was missing, especially when compared to Most Wanted - a story. While the plot is worse than in most bad action movies I have seen, it still can be considered a plus by some...

Next, you should know that drag races and drift mode seem to have been taken out of the game, while there are plenty of missions involving various cop-related tasks - destroy a given number of cop cars, cause a certain amount of damage and escape, or simply escape your pursuers as fast as possible.

In Need for Speed: Undercover there's even a little touch of "driving RPG," if I can call it that way, since your driver has skills that evolve, but you can't choose how to spend those points you receive with each new level.

At last, it seems the graphics engine isn't quite a step ahead from ProStreet's, but on the contrary - but more about all of these, and something extra, in tomorrow's review.

These being said, I conclude this short Need for Speed: Undercover preview, and start the countdown to the PlayerzBlog Need for Speed: Undercover review. Be sure not to miss it!

Lord of the Rings Online is getting closer and closer to the amazing atmosphere of the Lord of the Rings movies, the first expansion proving exactly this. Mines of Moria, because this is the name of the expansion pack I just mentioned, is now available across the U.S. and Europe, allowing you "to explore the ancient underground cities of the dwarves, battle epic characters in the depths, face off with the Watcher, be a part of the fateful release of Durin’s Bane and more! In addition to extending the challenge to new heights, Mines of Moria will introduce two new classes, ten additional levels, hundreds of new quests, and the highly anticipated Legendary Item system."

If you forgot about Lord of the Rings Online, here's what the press release says: "The Lord of the Rings Online (LOTRO) has established itself as one of the world’s premium MMOs for successfully integrating story into a game that features innovative and entertaining advancement through an immersive and breathtaking world. Mines of Moria will raise the bar with the introduction of Legendary Items, a massive new system that will let players advance unique and powerful weapons and items that grow in might alongside their hero. These unique and powerful weapons will be by our players’ sides to aid in the challenging adventures that await them as we continue to journey through Middle-earth through the next several volumes of the game in years to come."

To be honest, I don't know anyone playing this game, although I happen to encounter new WoW players (too!) often, and each time I hear about Lord of the Rings, I remember the single player RTS with the same name, a game that left me with a very bitter taste in my mouth.

Anyway, let's see the feature highlights of the Mines of Moria expansion now, shall we?

Ø Forge Legendary Items! – The Mines of Moria introduces Turbine’s revolutionary new item advancement system to LOTRO. Players can now forge unique weapons and class-related equipment and evolve them to build a legacy the likes of Bilbo’s Sting and Gandalf’s Glamdring™. These legendary weapons grow in power along with the player through their adventures and are customized by advancing the item’s virtues, adding runic legacies and modifying its title.

Ø Speak Friend, and Enter – Moria, called Khazad-dûm by the dwarves, was their capital and the grandest of cities. This enormous underground world in north-western Middle-earth comprises an immense network of tunnels, chambers, mines and huge halls beneath the Misty Mountains and represent one of the largest and most dangerous online underground environments ever created. Starting today players can journey through hundreds of new adventures and battle goblin hordes and the Nameless of the Deep in the ancient city underground which has served as the foundation for the modern-day dungeon-crawling adventures.

Ø The Epic Story Continues! — The Lord of the Rings Online: Mines of Moria begins Volume II of The Lord of the Rings Online storyline. Players will experience six new books rich with new characters and content and face the fiery wrath of Durin’s Bane, battle the Watcher, bring aid to the Lady Galadriel and more.

Ø Increased Level Cap — Players can now advance their characters up to level 60, opening access to a wealth of new traits, virtues, skills and class quests. The crafting system also now offers a new Tier and gives players the ability to join crafting guilds to create even more powerful items.

Ø Discover Two New Classes — The Rune-keeper and the Warden, the first new classes to be introduced since the launch of the game, offer players the opportunity to create all-new characters and experience LOTRO in exciting new ways.

I guess that if you're a fan of the movies, the online game is also "a must," and this reminds me that, one fine day, I won't be able to keep avoiding this and enter the Mines of Moria to live the adventure myself, once again.

When compared to Microsoft's Windows Vista, the Xbox 360 and the online services for its users are all one step next to perfection, but that doesn't mean there is no such thing as Xbox 360 problems. On the contrary, there are quite a few of them, ranging from software to hardware issues, and now assorted with various Xbox Live problems...

During last weekend, Microsoft's service for Xbox users had a bunch of connection issues, the peak being reached this morning, when it all came crashing down. Major Nelson kept users up to date with these Xbox Live problems during the weekend, since the multiplayer and online service were both disconnecting users pretty often.

This wouldn't be such a big fuzz, after all, unless we wouldn't be that close to the launch of the New Xbox Experience. Today, maintenance was expected to cause additional problems, since Larry Hyrb wrote that "As a result, Xbox Live and the My Xbox section of Xbox.com will be unavailable, and the Xbox forums will be in read only mode (you won’t be able to post.) The remainder of Xbox.com will be available with limited interruptions."

If you ask me, I think the latest problems weren't something to see that often in the future, because even today's maintenance session is all about paving the way for the new front-end of the popular Xbox Live service. "This service maintenance is in preparation for the new Xbox experience which will be available this Wednesday," concluded Hyrb.