While you're cruising through the Xbox Live Marketplace looking for that new Need For Speed: Carbon demo, be sure to download the latest Xbox Live Arcade title TotemBall for free. That's right, it costs nothing to grab the newest Live Arcade treat... of course, you'll need the Xbox Live Vision Camera to play it, but we're not complaining (because we already have one, but your mileage may vary).

We considered reviewing TotemBall, but then decided against it because it is free. What's to review? We will say that it's not the reason to buy an Xbox Live Vision Camera, even though it features a cool pinball mode that's loads of fun.

The truth is that you'll need to pick up a camera for Rainbow Six Vegas to take advantage of the cool map-your-face-onto-your-character feature anyway, so you might as well get a camera now and have some fun with TotemBall. Even with the semi-sticky controls that could leave you frustrated and annoyed, you have to remember, Microsoft never said their camera was an EyeToy... in fact, quite the opposite. Which is why it's so confusing that they've released this gesture-based game mere months after downplaying that functionality.

Whatever, we're obviously over-thinking this. TotemBall is free over Xbox Live Marketplace and it doesn't take that long to download. Enjoy.

October 4, 2006