Microsoft has received criticism for sticking to the DVD9 format for the Xbox 360. Concerned gamers point out that the 8.5 gigabytes of storage may not be enough to hold next-generation games. Sony\'s PS3 will use blu-ray, a format capable of storing several times the information of DVD9. But how big are Xbox 360 games? And how much will they grow, really? We take a look at the size of original Xbox titles to see how much they grew between 2001 and 2005, and compare them to the size of the Xbox 360 launch titles to make an educated guess about the DVD9\'s future needs. The conclusion? Well, you\'ll have to read to find out, but it generally makes Microsoft look like they know what they\'re doing. Don\'t enter a forum debate about blu-ray without reading this article.

Has the Xbox 360 been successfully modified? This is the question that\'s been on the modding community\'s mind since InfinityMods.com claimed to have a functioning modchip in-hand. Is it true? In this article, we look at the time-line of everything we know about the I.C.E. modchip, and include an interview with Team I.C.E.

What does I.C.E. stand for? When is the expected ship date for the chip (early Feb., by the way). If you have doubts about the I.C.E. modchip, then this article certainly won\'t put them to rest, but we help keep you informed.

Beta signups are now open for the upcoming sci-fi MMORPG, Seed. Seed puts you in the role of a colonist settling the tense, perilous planet Da Vinci. A unique cel-shaded visual approach gives Seed the feeling of a graphic novel, and all of the in-game information is designed to uphold this comic book feel: Speech is shown in dialogue bubbles, and the screen is broken into panels. Gameplay is unique, too, focusing on character development and dynamically generated stories that are created for each individual player according to their style. Check out the Seed beta signups in order to get the early bird special this February.

InfinityMods.com claims to have a 360 modchip in hand, and will most likely have it available for purchase within 2 weeks. But what do they really mean by that? Turns out, the statement on their front page is somewhat misleading, since another line, deeper into their website, says, \"Preorders to be accepted within approx 2 weeks.\" So the question isn\'t whether or not there is an Xbox 360 chip, but whether or not you\'d be wise to throw in your money on a preorder for a chip you know nothing about. We take a look at all the information we have (which is admittedly very little) and attempt to make an educated guess about the legitimacy of this claim. Does InfinityMods really have a 360 chip?

Hot on Xbox Live this week is a free demo of Fight Night Round 3, EA\'s highly anticipated boxing title. Fight Night Round 3 has gotten a lot of press lately as a PS3 launch title, and the demos EA have shown us are incredible. So how does the Xbox 360 version compare to the teasers we\'ve seen for PS3? Pretty much the same. The graphics are amazing and the action looks like it holds up nicely, given the limited demo. Check out Tristan\'s preview, and then go download it to your Xbox 360!

On behalf of the staff of GamesFirst!, we would like to take this space to wish all of our staff, readers and colleagues a happy, happy holiday season. We wouldn\'t be here without you, and we know that. On our 10th holiday season, we are thankful for all the people who have helped make GamesFirst! what it is today. Our staff is among the best online, and we value your efforts. To our fellow websites (especially the ones who kick down the kind links), we thank you. You know who you are, and you inspire us to do better. To all of the game developers, PR reps, and publishers who work with us on a daily basis, we want to extend our most sincere gratitude. We couldn\'t do what we do without your continued support, and life wouldn\'t be as much fun without you.

And, of course, we want to wish Happy Holidays to our readers. We are proud to be able to serve you for the past 10 years, and we look forward to number 11. Without you, we\'d just be posting up articles for our mothers to read, and although they never complain about our reviews or call us idiots, GF! would feel pretty empty without you. Thanks.

As the first days of the 4th Asia Game Show and Digital Entertainment Expo Asia 2005 get underway, it\'s interesting to see the differences between this Hong Kong exposition and what we normally see at E3. Designed much more to be a one day event than a multi-day outing for the average attendee, there\'s still enough to keep even the most casual technophiles interested. From cell phones to TV\'s, Editor Aaron Stanton describes the expo after the first two days, including what he saw behind that intriguing PlayStation 3 sign he spotted going up before the show opened.

OpenXbox360 has posted a link to a YouTube video that supposedly shows a regular, retail version of the Xbox 360 playing an unsigned, burned copy of Perfect Dark Zero by using a hack that involved running some program on the PSP. No details about the hack or methods involved are known so far, and the video could easily be a fake. But it\'s a slow news day here on Xmas Eve, and it\'s a curious video. Check out the video for yourself, as well as the post on OpenXbox360, and keep an eye on this as the story develops.

The 4th Asian Game Show & Digital Entertainment Expo Asia 2005 in Hong Kong might not be showing off anything cool from Microsoft, but they\'ve certainly got something from Sony. GamesFirst editor Aaron Stanton takes a quick peek at the show floor the day before the expo opens to the public, and reports on the warm fuzzy feelings he got at seeing the PlayStation 3 logo being raised above Sony\'s booth. AGSDEE might not be as well known in the west as E3 or CES, but it\'s an opportunity to see hands-on what Sony plans to offer. You\'ll want to keep an eye open as the four day exposition kicks off.

Before it was released, Xbox 360 engineer Chris Satchell went on record as saying that the system would include security measures, \"the hacker community has never seen before.\" At the time we could only speculate what that meant. Microsoft was claiming the system would be close to unhackable. Now, it looks like the hacking community is making progress. Turns out that members of Team PI Coders have found a way to pull source files off the Xbox 360 as games are loaded. Let the race begin.