Following UI redesign towards more traditional for PC, Games For Windows LIVE now became a standalone client. 1Up.com has a brief overview of the client.

It’s hardly anything revolutionary and seems very much like a base waiting to be built upon. There’s no friends list access, Achievement browsing, or message center; for all of that, you’ll […]

Gamasutra features an interesting article on a study that used brainwaves, heart activity, and blinking to measure the engagement of gamers. Among the examined elements are cutscenes, integrated tutorials, pacing, and close combat, with Gears of War getting good marks on the latter:

For instance, in both Halo 2 and Gears of War, players were rewarded […]