Video of Bizarre Creations' Boom Boom Rocket coming soon as an XBLA title!

Halo 3 is starting to look really good!

In Bungie's latest weekly update, Fank O Conner talks about the graphics and the technologies they are using to make Halo 3 look so good.

 

Last night in our internal Alpha test, we played a couple of the new game types – and we had a blast. As ever, I was focused on backgrounds. The one returning “homage” favorite looks almost unrecognizable to me now. Well that’s not true. Sure, whatever that map is, it has new features, places to fight and run and drive and fly, but graphically it’s unrecognizable. One section had sunlight filtering through glass and picking up motes of dust or haze and I was checking it out when Colm ran up behind me and smashed in my brains with a vicious and ungentlemanly melee attack.

And they just implemented the new “glass shader” which is especially visible on shiny Forerunner glass. The floors of the base in Valhalla use it to great effect – and it reflects in real time whatever’s facing it, while simultaneously refracting stuff very slightly (since it’s supposed to be “perfect”). It looks fantastic, and is another hypnotic feature that ensures I get killed while staring at it. It’s not much of an excuse either; “Hey ah was starin’ at some glass.”

 

You can read the rest of what he has to say here!

(CONFIRMED) Alien Hominid will be next week's XBLA title!

In a interview with 1UP.com Aaron Greenberg, Group Product Manager for Xbox 360 and Xbox Live had this to say:

"We are excited to bring Alien Hominid out next week; we are excited to make up for lost time."

The interview was titles "what's wrong with XBOX LIVE".  1up made a few good points that makes you think, like:

"Ms. Pac-Man, Lumines add-on, nothing, Root Beer Tapper, Paperboy, nothing" -- two top executives (Greg Canessa and Ross Erickson) have left the group for PopCap and Sierra Games respectively. Furthermore, Sony's PlayStation Network continues to evolve -- Warhawk as a downloadable-only title won't be an anomaly on the PlayStation Network -- and Nintendo's Virtual Console is consistently prolific, releasing at least three titles a week.

I would like to mention in Microsoft's defense that Nintendo has no problem releasing games like that every week not to mention really good ones. I think people forget that they have a huge vault of their own games that they can fall back on, over 20 years worth of great games that don't require a strict certification process.

What Gamepro thinks we will and will not see at the GDC in March!

Right now Gamepro.com is running a list of what you will most likely see and not see at the GDC in March.  This is just a sample piece of what they think you will most likely see.

 

PREDICTION: Microsoft will unveil the rumored black Xbox 360 with HDMI and a 120 GB hard drive.

Likelihood: 90%
Submitted by: Tenacious Moses

Why it WILL happen: This one's pretty much a no-brainer, if you add up the supposedly leaked shots from a few months back, recent retailer rumors, and Microsoft's past hints at future HDMI support. The clues all point to a new, upgraded Xbox 360 SKU, possibly including the new 65 nanometer CPU die sizes for reduced heat and increased profitability on Microsoft's part.

Still, until GDC comes and goes, this one remains in the unconfirmed category. But we think it's the safest bet of the show.

Tomonobu Itagaki to announce a new game soon!

In an interview with CVG, Tomonobu Itagaki revealed that he plans to announce a brand new game soon.
When asked about the possibility of developing new franchises, the head of Team Ninja said:

"I will be announcing such a game in the near future. The title of the game aside, it is like no other type of game I have ever made."

Video of some of the Crackdown achievements!

Now that is expensive!

In a recent interview with Michael Ephraim, Sony's managing director for Australia and New Zealand, claims that Australia has too small of a population to sell the PS3 any cheaper.

 

The higher price was justified, he said, because factors such as Australia's currency exchange rate and small population size when compared with the US led to a higher cost of doing business.
"We have to realise that we live in a country with 22 million people, and the US supplies product to 300 million, which creates very different business dynamics," Ephraim said.

 

Australia...($999.95)
Japan.......($640)....¥60,000
US..........($770)....$US599
Europe......($1000)...€599

They must be really going out of there way to not sell a lot of systems or something.

After 4 months, Sony still hasn't gotten their online act together!

It appears Sony still hasn't gotten their act together with their online service 4 months after launch. Pete Hines from Bethesda, developers of Oblivion, has said the company plans on releasing downloadable content for the Playstation 3 version of the game. Unfortunately they have no idea how or when they are going to do that due to a lack of information coming from Sony.

 

“We plan to support downloadable content on PS3, but we couldn’t tell you how or when it will be out, because it’s not clear how we’re going to do that yet.”
He added, “You cold (sic) point to any number of factors for why that is. Although it’s impossible to say which is the better between [Xbox Live and PS3 Online], Xbox Live is easier to implement because we’ve had a much better sense of it at an earlier stage than with PS3.”

Head of EA Worldwide Studios Don Mattrick Joins Microsoft as Strategic Advisor!

Former president of Electronic Arts Worldwide Don Mattrick has joined Microsoft as a strategic adviser for the Entertainment and Devices group. Details of Mattrick's new duties are vague, but Peter Moore has compared his arrival to a baseball superstar signing with the Yankees.

Tetris Evolution will be 1080p native!

Teamxbox.com has all of the details about the next Tetris game coming out in March. 

I am calling shenanigans!

 This story is directly from Joystiq.com and I am calling shenanigans on this story.  This dude is either lying or he was paid to fabricate this non sense.  Also if he had 7 XBOX 360's fail on him, I would like to see how he had them set up. 

Even though I do not buy this story, I am still  posting it here because the media gets a hold of BS like this and they run wild with it and before you know it, garbage like this is all over the Sony forums with all kinds of smart ass remarks over a BS story.

Our thoughts that anecdotal evidence would pile up publicly about the failure rate of the Box 360 took less time than we imagined. Dean Takahashi of the Mercury News wrote a piece this morning about a loyal Box 360 anybody who has given up on the system after seven units "croaked" on him. Rob Cassima, 42, who attended the Zero Hour Xbox 360 launch event in the Mojave Desert said, "All of the four that we got at Zero Hour croaked on us.''

Takahashi met Cassima and his wife at the event a year and a half ago. After Cassima contacted Takahashi about his plight, the journalist got him in contact directly with Peter Moore ... that must be nice. An Xbox 360 representative has since contacted Cassima to offer him a brand new unit. Cassima says, "A new 360 was all I really wanted in the first place, but after two failed attempts dealing with Microsoft's overseas call centers, I am very annoyed that it took an e-mail directly to P. Moore to get results ... I am just so gun-shy about the reliability issue ... I still feel like a chump."

Tina Conley, a spokeswoman for Microsoft, told Takahashi the failure rates are "within the consumer electronics industry average." Microsoft refused to give exact failure rates. Yeah, that's not going to cut it much longer if these stories of failure continue with less than two degrees of separation between people. Purchasing extended warranties should not be the answer to defective production.

I knew the PS3 was difficult to work with but DAMN!

This comes straight from Gamepro.com:

 

While Sony may be offering its services regarding issues involving their Cell microprocessor, some developers would rather go elsewhere. According to a report from Next-Gen, High Moon Studios, the team behind the PS2 game Darkwatch, has begun collaborating with IBM engineers to unlock the secrets of the Cell, the tiny, but powerful chip that makes every PS3 run.

Although the Cell processor was a joint collaboration on the part of Sony, Toshiba, and IBM, Sony had very little to do with the creation of the chip, says High Moon Chief Technical Officer Clinton Keith.

"We've been talking to Sony for almost two years now, but they didn't create the Cell," Keith claims. "They created the architecture for the PS3 and they've created a lot of the developer libraries. We've had access to those [Sony] engineers... but they're not the hardware engineers. We want to hit [the Cell] on all fronts. We're talking to the guys [IBM] who designed this chip and have been working on it for five years now."

As a result, High Moon has invited IBM engineers and a handful of other Vivendi Games studios, such as Swordfish and Radical Entertainment, to a workshop that aims to teach developers how to effectively harness the power of the Cell. The workshop will take place this week at High Moon's offices in Carlsbad, California.

High Moon hopes to use the information gathered at the workshop towards creating an as-of-yet unannounced PS3 project. The development studio is also currently working on an unnanounced Xbox 360 game as well, according to Keith.

There seems to be an interest in Crackdown 2 already!

In an interview with CVG senior designer Stephen Iannetta had this to say.

"We've learnt some lessons and if we did do Crackdown 2... I'd love to see it happen,"

"I think again it comes to how you can really choose how you approach the missions, and I'd really like to turn the contrast up on that. I'd really like to look at giving the players so many options at how they can do it."

If they decide to do a sequel which I believe they will, I am all for it because this is one of the best games I have ever played and im sure this game will probably be one of the biggest selling games in 07.

C'mon Bill, that ain't right!

This comes courtesy of Teamxbox.com:

Reuters reports that Bill Gates revealed to a business audience in Ottawa that he put a limit to the time his10-year-old daughter spends on gaming.

"She became very avid and discovered a lot of computer games, including one that runs on the Xbox 360 called Viva Piñata, where you take care of your garden," Gates revealed. "She could spend two or three hours a day on this Viva Piñata, because it's kind of engaging and fun."

 

Gates and his wife Melinda have decided to set a limit for game playing of 45 minutes a day and an hour on weekends.
Contrary to what you would expect, being the son of Bill Gates doesn’t mean you get to play Xbox 360 with no limits.

Online gaming world a forum for sex predators?

This comes coutesy of KOMOTV.com in Seattle Washington:

 

13-year old Adam Epstein sees the online gaming world as his virtual playground. Log online, put on the headset, and Epstein is talking to and playing with five million gamers around the world.

"People are from Ohio, Kansas, and I'm in Washington. You can just talk to each other really clear," Epstein said. "I've met people as far away as Russia."

It's just a game to Adam, but Detective Tim Luckie with the Seattle Police Department's Internet Crimes Against Children unit says it can be a dangerous one.

"We're really concerned," he said. "Our problem is parents don't see this as a threat yet."

Luckie says online games are the new frontier for sex predators. They use it to disguise themselves as teenagers, connect with children, and target their next victim.

Online gamers in at least three different states are accused of using the Internet to lure children. In California, police say a 26-year-old man molested a young boy he met through an online game. In Utah, a brother and sister are accused of luring a teenager from Kansas. Here in Seattle, a California man is suspected of raping a teenage girl met while playing online.

"She provided enough information, personal information for this individual to identify where she went to school at which point he came up here from California, met her at a hotel and she became a victim," Luckie said.

The cases don't surprise experienced gamer Tom Parker.

"You can do whatever you want once you're in a game," Parker said.

Parker and fellow gamer Craig Hagman point to a popular role playing game as an example. It includes a virtual social room where strangers can talk to each other through the characters.

"I'm playing this little cute girl character and I've apparently attracted 3 admirers right here," he said, pointing to male characters approaching his character. "A lot of people take advantage of the anonymity and do whatever they want."

Within minutes players asked for "strip shows on camera," pornography, some even offered game points in exchange. When Hagman tried to start a chat, one player responded by offering "sexual favors."

"This game brings out the bad stuff because it's more casual social," Hagman said.

Another popular game disguises the voice of players. Police say predators use that feature to make themselves sound like teenagers. More sophisticated voice changers can make an older man sound like a young boy.

"They're very cheap, they can buy them anywhere," Luckie said. "(Predators) are able to communicate for a prolonged period of time with these users who are children and groom them."

Microsoft, the maker of Xbox has a "safety team" in place to crackdown on players who act inappropriately online.

Aaron Greenberg, the group product manager of Xbox Live, says players are able to file complaints online. Thousands are investigated everyday to keep children safe.

"Every single complaint we follow up with," Greenberg said. "In cases where we find them saying inappropriate things we will ban them from the service. We've banned tens of thousands."

The game console also comes with a parental control feature that allows parents to decide what games they play, who they play with, who they talk to, and who views their gamer profile.

Adam's mother Karen Epstein admits she did not know about that feature. When she opened Adam's on-line account, she handed over the setup to him.

"I'm embarrassed to admit I don't know much at all," she said. "It's tough, it's tough with that headset on."

Now that she knows how to protect Adam she plans to use it, and has this warning for all parents.

"Just be aware. Be aware. For the safety of your children. Be aware."

But Luckie warns most children don't report online abuses because they're afraid their games will be taken away if they say something. The advice from police? Parents need to take control, so predators can't get to their children.

New XBOX 360 platinum hits titles announced!

This comes courtesy of Gamerscoreblog:

On the heels of the expanded Platinum Hits launch in Europe earlier this month, we announced today that the next round of titles in the Xbox 360 Platinum Hits library will be available March 16 in North America, Latin America, Japan and the Asia Pacific region.

Next month’s Platinum Hits releases include Call of Duty 2, Fight Night Round 3, Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter and Top Spin 2.

Next month's Platinum Hits lineup will include the following titles in the Americas, starting at an estimated retail price $29.99 (U.S.):

• Battlefield 2: Modern Combat (Electronic Arts)
• Burnout Revenge (Electronic Arts)
• Call of Duty 2 (Activision)
• Dead or Alive 4 (TECMO Inc.)
• Fight Night Round 3 (Electronic Arts)
• Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter (Ubisoft)
• Top Spin 2 (2K Sports)
• Rockstar Games presents Table Tennis (Rockstar Games)

GRAW 2 multiplayer demo is dropping Monday!

Ubisoft has announced a multiplayer demo will be available on Xbox Live on Monday. Up to 16 players will be able to duke it out on the Outpost map, in either head-to-head or co-op gameplay modes.

Mercenaries 2 confirmed for the XBOX 360!

This comes from XBOX360fanboy.com:

Looks like we need a new "worst kept secret" in the game industry, as Mercenaries 2 has finally been officially announced for the Xbox 360. Following months of speculation, the news breaks from IGN during an interview with Pandemic. The game is set to feature a large, streaming world. To put it in perspective, the world of Mercenaries 2 is the size of all the maps in Mercenaries 1 put together. The game will also feature oh-so-trendy online co-op (system link is still being considered). The game is set to include plenty of vehicles, including jets and watercraft. Finally, Mercenaries 2 is expected to release this fall. Hit the "read" link for screens and more details on gameplay.

Could a LIVE update really quiet the 360's noisy drive?

Gamepro.com is claiming from a source of theirs that a simple update over LIVE could quiet the XBOX 360's drive noise.

 

It appears that even early Xbox owners might be able to hear the benefit of a quieter drive. Kotaku has pointed us towards a German site named Cynamite, which claims that a recent software update for the Xbox 360 significantly decreases the noise emanating from the console's disk drive. The site states that the update only applies to debug machines used by German journalists, but assumes that it could very easily be applied to conventional Xbox 360 units.

The article reports that the update gives the console more control over the speed of the drive by allowing it the option to run more slowly. Without the update, the drive is conditioned to run at either full speed or not at all, but never a speed in-between. Although no technical experts were available to verify the veracity of the site's claim, they did quote Microsoft Platform Manager Boris Schneider-Johne, who claimed at Games Convention 2006 that Microsoft was working on controlling the speed of the drive.

However, the site also brings up the possibility that slower drive speeds could lead to longer loading times. Or, as Google's translation service put it, "the load times could extend with plays by the software update something."

ESRB web site lists new XBLA games!

An updated ratings page on the Entertainment Software Rating Board web site has revealed new Xbox Live Arcade games.

Vivendi Games has two titles; "Carcassonne" and "Switchball," with both games getting an "E" for Everyone rating. Empire Interactive plans to release on Xbox Live Marketplace "Double Dragon," which we heard will get a nice makeover for this version.

Lastly, the ESRB ratings page reveals that EA plans to release "Wing Commander Arena" on Xbox 360. Since the game is listed as an Xbox 360 exclusive, we are pretty sure this is an Xbox Live Arcade release and not a next-generation Wing Commander.

We can expect these games to launch soon considering their recent appearance on ESRB records.

Sonic team gives the reason why the latest Sonic game is so buggy!

1UP.com posted a snippet of what Sonic team said about why the latest Sonic game had so many bugs in an interview with Kotaku.

I think if they want Sonic back in the lime light just like in his glory days, then Yuji Naka needs to step up his role and take the whole project into his own hands because these buffoon's running the show now really blow.

The following is from 1UP.com:

Sonic the Hedgehog showed so much promise when Sega originally demoed the game at the Tokyo Game Show. Back then, it seemed Yuji Naka's Sonic Team was finally moving back to Sonic's roots: speed and ignoring side-characters. Alas, it was not to be, as Sonic the Hedgehog proved little more than prettier and less playable version of the formula established in the original Sonic Adventure.

Aside from the questionable design choices, Sonic the Hedgehog was glitchy and altogether rough around the edges. Why? Kikizo (via Kotaku) recently chatted with Sonic Team producer Yojiro Ogawa, who offered an explanation:

"The reason why probably ended up with what we see today, involves a lot of reasons. One is that we did want to launch the title around Christmas, and we had the PS3 launch coming up, but we had to develop for Microsoft's 360 at the same time and the team had an awful lot of pressure on them. It was very hard for the team to try and see how we were going to come out with both versions together with just the one team. It was a big challenge."

Sadly, that does little to explain some of the complaints in 1UP's own review. "...confusing camera angles and slippery control means that once again, you'll be constantly plummeting to your doom with little warning. Seriously, you'll sometimes find yourself falling into a bottomless abyss at the very outset of a stage," said Shane, who rated the platformer a 5.5 (Average).

Now if Capcom would just bring Devil may cry over to the promise land!

Capcom announced today that sales data from market research firm NPD has revealed that Lost Planet: Extreme Condition was the top-selling console video game in January 2007.

Poor mans mod! (sandwich bag style)

If you are a fan of Gears of War and who isn't, you will find this piece very amusing.

XBOX360fanboy.com has uncovered this poor man's mod on improving your aim when using the blind fire mode in Gears.

 If you've played your fair share of Gears of War you know that being able to accurately blind fire is a useful tool in your arsenal of death. And if you're having some difficulty mastering this technique and want help gauging where your bullets are flying then Raging Fool has a soft mod for you. All that's needed is a sandwich bag, a ruler, and a Sharpie. Ultimately, you're attaching a reticule onto your television screen to know exactly where the aiming reticule would be if you were zoomed in. But this can be extremely useful if you're still mastering the technique or just want more accuracy out of your blind fire shots. Give this mod a try, tell us if it helps, and please be sure not to Sharpie directly onto your television screen.

SOURCE: XBOX360fanboy.com

The review I would have wrote!

Yesterday Crackdown was released, when I got home I played this game for 5 hours straight only to stop when I had to use the bathroom.  Now it was a gamble for me because I never really got into the GTA series because I wasn't into all of the boring side quest's and other tedious task's that took away from that actual gameplay element's that could have made GTA more fun.

Right off the bat this game is phenomenal, there is non stop destruction and mayhem that is so damn entertaining without the stupid side quests to slow me down, I didn't have to stop somewhere and lift weights or get my hair cut nor did I have to escort people around.  When I was reading the reviews for this game, the one that sums it up word for word on how I feel about the game is the review on Gameinformer.com, It was the second opinion by Joe Juba that said it best.

 

Missions have never been my favorite part of open world games. I’d much rather wail on passers-by than escort some bozo to a nightclub, and Crackdown is finally rewarding me for being so easily distracted. I run over thugs, and my driving improves. I beat chumps to death, and I get stronger. This sense of progression is what gives Crackdown its unique identity; everything you do has a purpose, and no destructive impulse is wasted. Approaching the scattered gang kingpins puts your skills to the test no matter how you develop your character, and the fact that you can play the whole game co-op over Xbox Live only adds to your options. My biggest complaint is that when these elements aren’t all clicking, Crackdown suffers from its lack of structure. A greater selection of side tasks would have helped, as would a setting with more personality. The world may be visually distinctive, but the three gangs are populated solely by ethnic stereotypes, and there’s no biting humor like one might find in GTA. It needs more depth to really make waves, but Crackdown’s massive destruction and over-the-top heroics are perfect for pure entertainment.

YOU MUST BUY THIS GAME!

1UP.com asks a good question, "where the heck is worms?"

This is a write up that was done on 1UP.com.

"We've all seen the fingers pointed at Microsoft's Xbox Live Arcade certification process as a major reason many releases don't find themselves on the service as soon as we'd all like. Responding to frustrations over the announcement there would be no XBL Arcade release this week, Team 17 lamented to Eurogamer about the final steps in preparing their downloadble version of Worms for Microsoft.

"Worms is one of the 'richer' XBLA experiences in that it'll provide hours and hours of repeat play through it's on and offline multiplayer modes. Unfortunately that's meant a hell of a lot of testing and also re-submissions on what we felt were final builds," said Team 17 head Martyn Brown.

The rejection process isn't the first for Worms, either. "We're very close to being able to celebrate it's release though, although it's almost happened twice before, so we better keep quiet and hope that we get the green light soon," he continued.

Is Microsoft protecting us from buggy releases? That doesn't explain how Contra's co-op was completely bungled at release, but maybe we'll be seeing less of that in 2007. Still, doesn't make it any less frustrating for us -- or for Team 17."

SOURCE: 1UP.com

Rare confirms XBOX LIVE Arcade game!

Teamxbox.com has released all of the info on the now confirmed XBLA title Jetpack refulled by Rare.

Our Spanish friends of MeriStation have managed to grab official info on Rare's first Xbox Live Arcade game. Jetpac Refuelled will contain both the 1983 classic by the Stamper brothers as well as a new version (hence the name Refuelled) that contains 128 levels.

In Jetpac, the first game in the Jetman series, you're an astronaut whose mission is to collect precious minerals of the different planets you land on. You will find yourself equipped with the very latest Hydrovac JET PAC plus Quad Photon Laser Phasers, to blast any nasty, mean, little aliens who might object to your visit.

MeriStation has confirmed the game will have a file size of 21 MB and it will be available for 800 Microsoft Points.

Just a reminder about the Forza showdown on SPEED TV tonight!

This is a reminder from Major Nelson himself:

A quick reminder that the debut of Forza Motorsport Showdown will air tonight on SPEED TV @ 11p ET. (Check your local listings for specific channel location. You can see the complete schedule of airings here.) During the show you’ll get a peek into Turn 10 Studios and the making of Forza Motorsport 2.

Majornelson.com

Beat Epic at their own game!

Gamers asked to prove their Gears of War skills by taking on Cliffy B And the Epic Team in Developer Showdown event

UK, February 21st – Xbox and Epic are inviting Xbox Live gamers across Europe to test their skills playing Gears of War against Epic Games, the developer of the game! From 1900 to 2100 GMT on Saturday 24th February, the Epic team, led by Lead Designer Cliffy B and Vice President Mark Rein, will be taking on gamers from the 5 million strong Xbox Live global community.

Marcus Fenix wannabes are being asked to check their chainsaws and grab some ammo, because this is their chance to find out if they can mix it with the guys who created the game!
The battles will take place on the Old Bones and Raven Down maps, both available now for free download on Xbox Live Marketplace. Gamers who want to take part just have to add any of the GamerTags below to their Friends List (please note that Cliffy B and Mark Rein will be playing in most games), get on Xbox Live between 1900 and 2100 GMT (2000 and 2200 CET) on Saturday 24 February, then wait for the invitation to play the developers of Gears of War!

Who GamerTag
Mark Rein, Vice President EPICEMEAMR
Cliff Bleszinski, Lead Designer EPICEMEACB
Rod Fergusson, Producer EPICEMEARF
Lee Perry, Lead Level Designer EPICEMEALP
Jim Brown, Level Designer EPICEMEAJB
Dave Nash, Level Designer EPICEMEADN
Ray Davis, Lead Programmer EPICEMEARD
Joe Graf, Programmer EPICEMEAJG
Rob McLaughlin, Programmer EPICEMEARM
Pete Hayes, Artist EPICEMEAPH
Additional Epic Staff
EPICEMEA01
EPICEMEA02
EPICEMEA03
EPICEMEA04
EPICEMEA05

January XBOX 360 sales up 18%!

Citing preliminary NPD data, Microsoft announced Tuesday that it sold 294,000 Xbox 360s in January, an increase of 18% over the same month last year. "Xbox 360 had a fantastic January, and we feel great about our position in the marketplace," said Molly O'Donnell, a group manager from Microsoft's entertainment division.

 

SOURCE: Joystiq.com

Worst company in America!

I found this little item to be very amusing.  The Consumerist is having we the people vote for the worst companies' in America.  They have broken it down to rounds with the winner moving on to the next round or should I say loser for being the worst company.

Right now the top 16 worst in America are battling it out to be the number one worst overall.  The best part about this list of worst is that Sony is battling it out with Comcast in round 3 and at the moment, it is a dead heat.

This is a detailed breakdown of what makes these two companies crappy according to the Consumerist.

 

One company tried to destroy people's computers for listening to music. The other nearly gets you fired with the number of days you need to take off from work to get your cable installed. One company tried to deceive customers with an ill-conceived flog. The other outsources technical services to sketchy guys who sleep on your couch, stalk customers for dates, and at times, rape and murder customers.

Comcast is expected to go for a running game punctuated by quick bursts of customer service incompetence. On the defense, look out for them rerouting Sony's plays from one defender to another until Comcast simply tires them out.

Sony will counterattack by installing a series of blows to their foes hamstrings and Achilles tendons, seeking to make Comcast literally bow before them.

The kind of bloodthirst we'll see today is why this sport was invented. Fight!

 

So head over and check out the list for yourself at the Consumerist.com!

Hey Epic, why doesn't Gears of War use matchmaking?

This question has been eating me alive because this whole lobby system in games just plain sucks.  It causes individuals to fill their rooms with only their friends until Mr me or you stroll in. That is when you realize you are in JR high school land and my mom sucks, I suck, im gay and oh yes I am a noob. 

With a matchmaking system, everyone that gets in the match is random and completely fair for everyone.  The developer can then institute a separate lobby system for friends to play together and call each other's sister's whore's and what not.  Well this is what Mark Rein VP of Epic games said when asked why they didn't use the Halo 2 match making system in Gears of War.

 

"It isn't realistic to suggest that we could integrate thousands of lines of 3-year-old Halo2 source code into Gears of War and have working Halo2-style lobby functionality in any reasonable period of time. It would be far more efficient for us to develop it ourselves but unfortunately this is a multiple-man-year effort and, as I indicated above, we're short on the people it would take to do something like this in a timeframe that makes it worthwhile. It certainly isn't for lack of desire, lack of effort to try to find those people, or lack of funds. Trust me - we've been trying to find people to do things like this since long before we completed Gears."

Hey Sony, how about doing something original!

This is getting ridiculous, Sony likes to sit there and wait to see if an idea that the competition makes works.  Once they see that an idea is successful, they turn around and completely copy it. I remember when they didn't want to dabble to much in the online gaming arena saying things like online gaming isn't important to the future of console gaming.  Now they have a motion sensing controller and oh wait, now we have  movie and TV shows for download over the PS network AKA wannabe XBOX lIVE.

Sony lacks very little creativity these days, hell, they haven't even developed a new controller in 10 years.....OH wait that would take creativity.  I would also like to mention that the Dual Shock/SIXAXIS is absolutely awful for FPS games, having the sticks low like that cause hand cramping and a slow response time in accessing the buttons and back to the sticks.  I promise you, if you could give someone a 360 controller, that person would crush everyone in a game like RFOM.

Anyway's this is from G4TV.com, they posted some comments that Phil Harrison made in a interview with 1UP.com about the movies and TV shows that will be available in the future.

 

According to Sony President Phil Harrison, the PlayStation 3's download service will soon include not just games, but movies and television shows as well.

"I think PlayStation 3 needs to stand for gaming and digital entertainment in the living room," Harrison told 1up.com. "Of course that includes more than just games. We don't have the announcements that you're probably looking for today, but it is digital data. We have a hard drive, we have a commerce engine, it doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out we will have that on the network very shortly."

This weeks XBOX LIVE arcade title!

Nothing, that is exactly what you will be playing this week, a game called nothing new.

Tetris is coming to the XBOX 360! (UPDATE)

Here is the description of the game.

"No generation of game consoles would be complete without Tetris. The mega-popular puzzle franchise has been feeding its frenzied fans with a release on every gaming platform. An all-new addiction takes shape as Tetris drops onto Xbox 360 with Tetris Evolution! Get ready to experience all-new gameplay modes where Tetriminos leap off the screen with intense HD graphics. In addition to single-player mayhem, you can crush opponents in new battles in multiplayer modes and on Xbox Live. And with a host of customizable options, including themes, icons, skins, and even music, you'll be able to bury yourself in a Tetris world that's all your own."

UPDATE1:

This comes from Joystiq.com

"We knew it was coming, today THQ gave it a name: Tetris Evolution. While it seemingly would fit right on Xbox Live Arcade, Evolution appears to be a boxed-retail release; currently scheduled for March. Expect traditional Tetrimino-dropping along with new modes, headlined by "Go Low" and "Eraser" -- 4-player Xbox Live support too.

True to its name, Evolution will build on recent puzzler trends (see Lumines) and feature customizable themes, skins, icons, and music. More than a dozen "HD" background videos will be available to distract your high-score efforts. Whatever, just as long as it's budget-priced."

Is the rumored XBOX 360 price drop on the horizon?

The guys over at Teamxbox.com has gathered some evidence and presents it in a rather convincing manner.  When you read what they posted it makes since that a price drop is immanent and I truly believe it would be a blow to the Sony camp as well.

 

Is there an Xbox 360 price drop on the horizon? Recent reports suggest so. The Seattle Times asked Microsoft’s Chief Executive about the potential of a price cut for the Xbox 360 to which Ballmer said: "I think every console in the world has had a price decrease sometime in the first few years. I don't know whether we'll have a price decrease in the first few years, and I don't want to comment on that, but I will highlight for you that every console has had a price decrease in the first few years."

But the strongest hint of a price drop comes from the other side of the ocean, to be more precise from the U.K., where wholesale retail chain MAKRO is currently selling the Xbox 360 Premium Edition for the price of a Core, at only £199.99. The Inquirer got a scan of the ad that shows the “breakthrough price” at which MAKRO is selling the Xbox 360 Premium.

Gamer chicks do it more!

"Wired blog Game | Life cites a survey conducted by Gametart, UK’s largest online games rental company, whose initial purpose was to measure the impact of the pink PSP and the Nintendo DS on gamers’ sex lives across England. The survey threw up some interesting findings.

Of a 200 women sample, those who played video games on average had sex 4.3 times a week while those who didn’t play games only had sex just 3.2 times a week.
The survey also revealed that those gamer girls who started playing games recently have sex more often than before.

Now, you know it. Next time you see a girl getting a pink PSP and Nintendo DS at your local game store, follow her. You have more chances to score with that one than with a non-gamer girl."

SOURCE: Teamxbox.com

Crackdown hits the streets today with free downloadable content!

Today Major Nelson dropped this little piece of info on everyone's lap. Crackdown will have a free download via XBL Market place for gold members only, the download contains 4 new playable agents.

Name: Four-Play Pack

Price: Free

Availability: Gold Members in all Xbox Live regions except Germany

Dash Details: Before getting busy, download and get into the action with these four new Agents

SOURCE: Majornelson.com

Survey says..........

"Bloggers love rumors. It's a scientific fact. Rumors provide us with a nourishment that neither videogames nor meaningful relationships can provide, especially rumors about Metal Gear Solid 4 on the Xbox 360. This one comes to us from Evil Avatar. It seems there is a survey circulating that asks some very pointed questions about MGS4. A few questions from the survey:

"Would you like to see Metal Gear Solid 4 on Xbox 360?"

"Would you buy an Xbox 360 just to play Metal Gear Solid 4?"

"On a scale of 0-100, with zero being not at all satisfied and 100 being very satisfied, how would you rate Konami's output on Xbox 360 to date?"

The survey reportedly comes from a reputable marketing company, one that compiles political exit polls and even has Microsoft as one of its major clients. Of course, the question is who made the survey? Is it Konami testing the waters for a possible port of MGS4, or did Microsoft organize the survey to plead their case to Konami? It's tough to say, but it's worth noting that this particular rumor seems to consistently resurface.

How would you rate Konami's 360 output so far? Would Metal Gear Solid 4 change your mind?"

 

SOURCE: XBOX360fanboy.com

Is their a new XBOX 360 SKU coming May 1st?

"Is a new Xbox 360 SKU headed to retail or not? Well both 1UP and Game Informer reported on the matter over the weekend with varying bits of information and in light of recent price drop rumors.

1UP suggests that Microsoft may have lowered existing 360 shipments in an effort to flush out old inventory in favor of newly enhanced hardware; like consoles with HDMI support and a larger hard drive. Game Informer was a lot more specific in saying: "Retailers have confirmed that the new SKU is in their systems, set for a May 1 release for $479.99. In addition to the new [HDMI] interface, the system would also pack a 120 GB hard drive into its nifty black exterior."

Keep in mind this is all conjecture, however, as Microsoft's Shane Kim told 1UP last week that the company has "nothing to announce at this time" regarding new SKUs. Still, the grapevine implies that something's brewing over at Microsoft's Xbox division."

 

SOURCE: Joystiq.com

AOL Money and Finance says no to the PS3!

Kotaku.com posted an article about the top 5 gadgets you shouldn't buy that AOL Money & Finance did. Not only is there a list of what not to buy but some alternatives.

QUOTE:

"AOL Money & Finance has compiled a list of the Top 5ive Gadgets You Shouldn't Buy (note the uber-trendy number letter combo there), and guess who made it to number 2? Citing the current lack of titles and the steep price tag, Stacy Bradford places the PS3 in the second spot, beaten to number 1 by high definition DVD players...so you could almost say it took the top two spots. They even goes as far as to offer alternatives.

If you're simply looking for a fun game system, you can find a Nintendo Wii (try eBay) or Xbox for around $400. You could also simply wait for more PS3 games or for the system itself to come down in price."

 

SOURCE: Kotaku.com

I cant believe I am posting anything AOL said yeck!!

Looks like the Halo 3 Beta will be delayed!

Quote from Bungie:

There are still many details of the Halo 3 beta to be finalized but one thing we did want to confirm is that the beta will not be starting next week. Crackdown will be available in stores starting Tuesday, 2/20, but the Halo 3 multiplayer beta start date is still being finalized. We’re still aiming for a Spring release, but it could be more like late Spring.

As soon as we have some firm details we’ll be sure to pass them along. In the meantime, enjoy Crackdown itself, which is a blast to play (especially co-op). And don’t forget that we still have new Halo 2 hotness coming in the form of brand new multiplayer maps still slated for release this Spring. We’ll have more to say about all of this stuff in the weeks ahead. Until then… remember, “Skills for kills, Agent. Skills for kills.”

 

XBOX LIVE will be down for maintenance!

Major Nelson posted on on his blog today that XBOX LIVE will be down for maintenance tuesday.

QUOTE:

"On Tuesday February 20th from 0200-0500 PT Xbox Live will be offline for maintenance. As a result, the ‘My Xbox’ section of Xbox.com will be unavailable, and the Xbox forums will be in read only mode (you will not be able to post.) The remainder of Xbox.com will be available for your browsing pleasure.
Click this link to find out what time the maintenance will begin in your time zone

This is for maintenance only, there will be no new features that will appear on Xbox.com, your dashboard or Xbox Live when we return to service.
So, to recap: This is all for server maintenance only."

 

SOURCE: Majornelson.com

Is the interest in the Wii fading?

"Computer And Video Games asks the tough question: is the Wii's magic gone? After the flurry of excitement around the launch, lackluster ports and a persistent inability for Nintendo to keep units on the shelves has made it hard for gamers to sustain their enthusiasm for the system. It doesn't help that most of the good games slated for this year won't be out for months. In some cases, there's doubt they'll even make it out this year: Reggie Fils-Aime appears to be backpedaling on Metroid Prime 3 by Christmas, which would be a shame. GigaGamez has additional commentary. Are you still as excited about the Wii as you were when it launched?"

 

SOURCE: Slashdot.org

Microsoft adressed rumors of the HDMI enabled XBOX 360!

"Chris Satchel, general manager of Microsoft’s game developer group, addressed rumors of an HDMI-enabled Xbox 360 in an interview with Gamespot.com. Satchel said that the lack of a high-definition DVD standard is spurring Microsoft to explore other services, such as a continued interest in downloadable HD content. Beyond that, he said, everything people may have heard about was internal experimentation, and Microsoft isn’t planning on announcing any new console revisions"

 

SOURCE: Gameinformer.com

Lost Planet map pack to cost 400 points or $5

In a post made today by Patrick Klepek at 1up.com, he gave the low down on how much and when we will see the Lost Planet map pack.  I have to say that I have been playing this game to death and I am loving every minute of it.

QUOTE:

"You may have already had a sneak peek at what Capcom has planned for Lost Planet's online adventures, but the real question is always about money. Thankfully, Capcom's being pretty reasonable with its first map pack, announcing today it will drop on March 9, the same day they plan to deliver a large multiplayer patch, for 400 Microsoft Points ($5.00).

"Radar Field" and "Island 902" will be featured in the first pack, butaAdditional maps are already being worked on, but apparently a few months off."

SOURCE: 1up.com

Bungie confirms release window for Halo 3!

In a recent posting on Bungie.net, they talked about when we the fans will see the game along with a poster with some sort of Easter egg.  the only thing that jumps out at me is the "Fall 2007" at the bottom.  If there is something that I am not seeing let me know.

QUOTE:

"Even though we showed Halo 3 for the first time last May, the official marketing campaign for the game is just now starting to begin. With this kickoff comes the first phase of visual identity – what is creatively being referred to as the “teaser piece.” While it may not be anything new for fans who have been following Halo 3 all along, it’s still very cool, very iconic and evokes a sense of mystery and intrigue. It teases you if you will. Although, it does contain ONE very important piece of information. Cough."

Rare is interviewed by Gametrailers.com about the next Banjo Kazooie game for the 360!

Rare is in good company these days. As a part of Microsoft Games Studios, they exist under the same umbrella as Bungie -- another studio that loves to be elusive. This of course means that if they let out so much as a squeak, we listen. GameTrailers caught up with one of the crafty devils (Concept Artist, Ryan Stevenson) recently to talk about everything Rare. Banjo Kazooie 3 in particular.

If you enjoyed previous entries in the Banjo Kazooie saga there will be plenty for you to love on your 360 as Stevenson says "It's still the same characters and the same thing. It's a game for the people who appreciated the game years ago and also for new people that are coming to the 360."

A hint concerning the main villain of the series, Grundy, is also dropped and the Stop'N'Swop drama makes a special guest appearance. Stevenson gives the most rational idea for the infamously dropped Banjo-Tooie feature in that it was probably just a really bad idea. We, however, still believe.

 

SOURCE: Joystiq.com

Did Microsoft purchase the rights to Chrono Trigger? (UPDATE #2)

I am getting reports that Microsoft has purchased the rights to Chrono Trigger, the popular Japanese R.P.G and has handed the development duties to Mistwalker studios.  I am still waiting for confirmation on this, if someone can confirm this please let me know.

 

UPDATE1: Apparently this piece of info was originally posted by xboxic.com but it has since been removed, although when you do a Google search for the story, you can see the original xboxic post.  Now I am curious to why this has not been mentioned at all today, is that  because it is Sunday and no one has noticed, or were they forced to take it down by some men in black suits and sunglasses representing Microsoft? If the story is true when will we here about it? tomorrow? or at the Game developers conference in March? we will soon find out.....IF the story is true.

 

UPDATE2: The story was a fake and that is why it was pulled.

PS3 is not doing very well on Amazon.com!

I was reading an interesting article on Kotaku.com about how the PS3 is low on the charts of the hottest game items on Amazon.com, the article is very interesting so I thought I would post it here.

"Amazon.com maintains a list of the most popular, bestselling items on their website that gets refreshed on an hourly basis. At the time of the writing of this article, Nintendo dominates the top four spots with Wii Play, Wii, Nunchuck Controller, and the Wii remote respectively. Coming in at five is WoW: Burning Crusade followed by the Onyx DS at number six. The rest of the top ten list is rounded out with the Xbox 360 wireless controller, Twilight Princess and the 20gig Xbox360. Wow, number fourteen is the SNES? Hmmm...

Now at this point you're probably wondering, where is the PS3 in all this. I thought the same thing and continued to scroll through the first page got to number 25 and still no PS3. So, I moved on to the next page. Ok, there's Wind Waker, Guitar Hero 2, 360 Wireless adapter, Halo 2. Still no PS3... Finally, near the bottom of the 2nd page, underneath the Nintendo 64 at number forty-eight is the PS3."

Free Halo 3 faceplate with the purchase of Crackdown!

"If you are going to be purchasing Crackdown this Tuesday, then you may want to head over to your local Circuit City. Since Crackdown comes with the Halo 3 beta invite, Circuit City is offering a free Halo faceplate (a $20 value) with the purchase of Crackdown. Free stuff always makes us happy, especially free Halo merchandise. And speaking of which, shouldn't it be a mandate that every new Xbox 360 game release has to include a free faceplate? It's a great idea and something we'll be pitching to Microsoft and their lovely marketing team."

Source: XBOX360fanboy.com