Some Xbox Live accounts may have already been compromised thanks to phonies phoning in to Xbox support centers and extracting sensitive information via the use of pretexting -- the invention of a scenario that fools the operator into divulging your precious data.
read more | digg story
Friday, March 23, 2007
Xbox Live security foiled by smooth talkers, not hackers
Bungie's weekly update!
In Bungie's latest weekly update, Frankie goes into great detail about the size and draw distance of the levels in Halo 3.
The need for realistic distance drawing is vital in Halo 3, because of the sheer scale of our maps. The distant mountains in that E3 trailer are absolutely real geometry. You can detach the camera, fly out to them (which would take about fifteen minutes even with our camera’s “gas” button held down) and see that they’re even textured properly. This is a function of the nature of the Halo 3 engine, and testament to the 360’s horsepower. It means we don’t have to “cheat” as much with fancy skyboxes and obfuscation.
Frankie also talks allot about why the sky is blue and the science behind it.
That scattering, of ostensibly white sunlight, through Earth’s atmospheric mixture of gases, produces a distinctly blue sky. But we’re just as interested in the dirt as the blue sky.
Now Frankie is talking about this because Halo 3 simulates these effects to give it a realistic look and feel. Frankie said that the Bungie team is including:
“virtual” pollution and air and passing “real” light through it for a realistic effect
I don't know about you but I cant wait to see the final product. The way Frankie is talking up these graphics in the last few weeks, it sounds like Halo 3 is going to be one of the most stunning games visually that has ever been released.
You can read the whole article here!
ACE Combat 6 screenshots!
The news of Ace Combat 6 going to the 360 was overshadowed by the firestorm that ensued over the news of DMC4 going multi-platform.
These are the first screenshots that Namco has released since they announced that Ace Combat 6 was going to the XBOX 360.
The planning behind Halo 3's Legendary SKU!
Everyone now knows about the limited edition Legendary SKU that will go for $129.99 but how did they come up with this idea? and where and how is it produced?.
On Bungie.net, the 2 men in charge of planning and producing the Legendary SKU is interviewed by Bungie's own Sketch Factor.
The 2 men are:
- CC: I’m Craig Carlson, the global operations launch program manager for the Halo 3 launch. I’m responsible for all three editions from procurement through disc replication, final packaging and coordination, distribution and transportation out to retailers to support the games release date.
- JS : My name is Jeff Sanborn and I work in the Packaging and Engineering Management Group within Operations. In my current role I’m responsible for the structural packaging for Xbox and Windows platforms.
How do you typically approach a project of this nature?
CC : For the Legendary and Limited Editions, there are four phases to program managing Halo 3. First is feasibility and fact finding. Next is development – the actual tooling, injection molding, painting, assembly and packaging of the helmet and tin. During all this is a lot of planning followed lastly by execution – the actual launch once the game disc RTMs* (*“Releases to Manufacturing”). The key to this is global coordination of all procurement and launch activities for Operations. This includes orchestrating these activities through an International team of experts in each region.
JS : As we develop packaging strategies for clients we lock packaging in four phases – gather, design, test and execute. In short we look at the goals and objectives of our clients (in this case, MGS/Bungie) and balance them against manufacturing capabilities and technologies, retailer requirements, cost objectives, legal and regulatory compliance, environmental stewardship, branding objectives and the need to get the product from manufacturing the end consumer looking great.
I recommend you give the whole interview a read. Also, check out the images of all the hard working Chinese folk busting their asses for crap pay so they can produce out mini chief helmets.
Next weeks XBOX LIVE Arcade title is Jetpac Refuelled!
The following is from Gamerscoreblog.com:
In Jetpac Refuelled players must clear a path through hordes of aliens to refuel their ship and amass a fortune over the course of 128 hi-definition levels, complete with achievements, leaderboards and simultaneous multiplayer action. Compared to the original Jetpac, which included 16 levels, Jetpac Refuelled provides players with everything they loved in the classic, and much more.
“Jetpac Refuelled” can be played alone, or against another player on the same console or over Xbox LIVE. The game will be available worldwide for 400 Microsoft Points and is rated “E” for Everyone.
Game Features
-
Includes two versions of the game
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Retro – The classic 1980s version
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Refuelled – Rare’s 2007 remake of the classic Jetpac comes complete with entirely new hi-def graphics, menacing enemies, new smartbombs that produce an electromagnetic pulse, modernized weapon upgrades and updated gameplay for modern gamers
-
-
Earn up to 12 Achievements and 200 Gamerscore points
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Completely updated graphical look of the game gives Xbox LIVE Arcade gamers a truly hi-def and in-depth gaming experience
GRAW 2 has angered some politicians in Mexico!
The Mayor of the Mexican state of Chihuahua, Jose Reyes Baeza Terrazas, has ordered his government to seize all copies of GRAW 2 off the store shelves. The mayor claims that the game is "unnecessarily rude" against the people of Juárez, Chihuahua.
"Now, when the sequel came out last month, the government of Chihuahua and the mayor of Cd. Juárez, where the game takes place, were deeply offended after finding out that the game placed American soldiers shooting Mexican rebels in their territory, making an incredible media show that was showed on TV and some local newspapers. Although the main attention of this movement was to force the Mexican government to issue a diplomatic query with the American government about it... The local gamer community was actually excited to have their city featured on a video game..."
Microsoft joins the PS3 launch party!
Last night during the PS3 launch in Paris, an XBOX 360-branded boat sailed past with the message "XBOX 360 hearts you".
Later on in the evening at the official launch at the Virgin megastore in London people were waiting in line for the midnight release. While people were standing in the cold London air on Oxford street some men approached the waiting crowd with free camping chairs. These weren't any free camping chair. Each chair was branded with the message "Shouldn't have kept you waiting" with a web URL www.shkyw.org.
After you click the URL it has become very clear that the XBOX marketing team was having a little fun with the PS3 launch.
Thursday, March 22, 2007
Group forms a petition to boycott Capcom over DMC4 going multiplatform!
Wow, apparently the announcement that Capcom made this week regarding Devil May Cry 4 going multiplatform was like poking a hornets nest with a stick.
A group of upset fanboys are not happy with Capcom over this decision. They have formed a petition for people to boycott the purchase of DMC4 and any other Capcom game.
We (The people that have signed this petition) feel very left out in your decision to make Devil May Cry 4 a Multi-Platform title, and hereby agree to boycott your sale of Capcom affiliated games. This is due to your decision to turn your back on your most faithful gaming company. For years we have enjoyed games, we have reaped the benefits of your committment to Sony. We find it absolutely demoralizing for not only the gamers, but also Sony itself. We want you to know that will not, and should not stand for your actions, and therefore withold our option of buying your product.
These immature fanboys need to put a petition together to boycott Sony, not Capcom. Sony was the one that developed a piece of hardware that is costly and time consuming to develop for. Sony was the mastermind behind pricing their system at $600 which alienates many gamers who simply can't afford it.
So can you really blame Capcom, Namco and many others that are sure to follow for taking their games elsewhere?
After these developers drop 10's of million's of dollars in development cost's just to release it on an overpriced console with a limited install base, the developer has no choice these days!
XBOX LIVE will be down for maintenance!
XBOX.com and XBOX LIVE will be down for maintenance on March 27th. Now don't get to excited, this is not the spring update that Major Nelson was talking about in his last pod-cast.
The following is from Majornelson.com:
"Xbox Live, Xbox.com and the Xbox forums will be undergoing scheduled maintenance on Tuesday March 27th (next week) from 0000 to 1400 PT. As a result of this maintenance, Xbox Live, Xbox.com and the Xbox forums will be unavailable during this time. I thought I'd give you enough time to plan next weeks gaming schedule. What to do while you can’t hop on Xbox Live? Xbox.com has you covered with this list. This is purely ‘back end’ work that we scheduled months ago. This is not a dashboard update…that will happen later this Spring."
CVG receives beer from Microsoft!
CVG received £146 of Fosters from Microsoft. That is the price difference between the XBOX 360 and the PS3. Microsoft wanted everyone to know that if you buy an XBOX 360 that you can spend the extra money on useful stuff, like beer.
The following is from CVG.com:
Don't let anyone else fool you; this is the reason we do what we do - free beer, and lots of it.
Wheeled into our office this afternoon by a special ops team of beer couriers was this £146 pile of Fosters on behalf of one Microsoft Corporation. Was it because of our gushing GDC coverage? No, apparently MS has a more specific reason for its generous gift.
"What would you purchase for £146...? (The price difference between an Xbox 360 and a PlayStaion 3)", asks the included Xbox 360-headed notice. "Well, for a start we thought you might like £146 worth of beer to kick start your weekend early."
Signed, "Jump in. Xbox 360. The Leader in the next generation of gaming and entertainment."
The PS3 has launched in Australia but nobody cares!
The PS3 launched in Australia last night with very little turnout. According to the Sydney Morning Herald, 500 retailers opened their doors at midnight and despite the 20,000 pre-orders most stores were deserted.
Below is what was posted on Joystiq.com:
The Herald says even the official launch event at Myer's Pitt Street store had only 40 people in line at midnight "causing distress for the army of camera crews who turned up expecting to capture launch mayhem." The gentlemen who ended up being first in line showed up at 9 PM. Adding insult to injury, television producers "unashamedly" had the crowd fake cheer for the cameras. A local radio station even had their on-air talent create "bogus cheers" to convince listeners that a major event was going on. Looks like the hype accompanying the U.S. launch has all but vanished. We'll get a better picture of the PS3 PAL release later this evening when reports of the European launch trickle in. Maybe the land down under is just full of Xbox and Nintendo fanboys?
Click here for pics and a detailed run down of one of the launch parties that was posted on Kotaku.com!
First shots of the XBOX 360 ELITE?
Spanish gaming site consolas.com is claiming to have "official" pics of the XBOX 360 ELITE, controller and the packaging of the accessories. At first I was sold, until I started to view the pictures of the accessories like the battery pack and controller. Those pics come off as a little suspect unless they are "official" promo shots that they got a hold of.
Click here to view the images for yourself!
Gears of War tourny gets shut down after man poops his pants!
Ok after spending the last 10 minutes trying to figure out what I was going to write for a title and laughing while I was doing it, I can now move on.
Funtechtalk.com is reporting that a Tourny was forced to close after one of the members of a dedicated diaper wearing team couldn't hold it anymore after he drank 5 cans of an energy drink called "Spike Shooter".
Fort Collins C.O.(FP)-Saturday a large underground video game tournament featuring the popular Xbox 360 game Gears Of War came to a surprising end.
Among the sixty plus competitors was a very determined team of young adults and one teenager who were equipped with disposable adult diapers. Security for the rented warehouse was forced to remove one of the players after others complained of the “septic tank like smell” coming from a nearby 16 year old gamer.
The team had the intention of only using the diapers for “an emergency trip” but after the 16 year old had consumed five cans of a caffeine loaded drink called a Spike Shooter he claimed he just couldn’t hold “it”. And “it” being the worst kind or it. Being the dedicated gamer he was he just tried to ignore his accident.
Nearby competitors felt it hard to overlook his slip up and asked him to be removed. After being removed from the tournament her proceeded to call local law enforcement and complain about his ejection not realizing he had attended an illegal paid gathering.
Upon arrival officers dispersed the tournament and issued fines. No arrests were made.
CliffyB to Executive Produce 'Gears of War' Movie
When asked if Epic will have someone protecting the 'Gears' franchise while the movie is in production, Rein smiled and said,
"Cliff [Bleszinski] is going to executive produce."
This is especially terrific news for those of us who have come to adopt Marcus Fenix and company. With many great games giving birth to many bad movies, it's exciting to a
read more | digg story
Stream video, photos, and music to your 360, PS3, Wii with free program
"IPTV may be a ways off for the Xbox 360, but that doesn't mean you can't have a little internet TV fun right now. Introducing Orb, a media streaming solution for the Xbox 360, Wii, and PS3. Orb allows users to stream video, photos, and music to selected devices, including our beloved Xbox 360. Of course, the Xbox handles streaming ..."
read more | digg story
Star Wars Battlefront III to be XBOX 360 exclusive!
The March issue of Playstation World magazine has revealed that the game that Free Radical Design has been secretly working on with LucasArts is Star Wars Battlefront III and it will be an XBOX 360 exclusive title.
“Star Wars Battlefront III is also currently in development, with LucasArts having switched coders from Pandemic Studios - who made Battlefront I and Battlefront II - to Free Radical… Star Wars Battlefront III is listed as an Xbox 360 exclusive, but expect a full PSW review to before the end of the year.”
Free Radical Design has not officially confirmed this.
Wednesday, March 21, 2007
Mass Effect Accessories!
Apparently Mad Catz was very pleased at the amount of Gears of War skins and accessories that was sold for the XBOX 360. Prior to the the launch of Gears of War, Mad Catz unveiled a line of Gears of War skins, faceplates and other accessories.
Today Mad Catz announced that there will be a line of skins and faceplates for the launch of Mass Effect.
Mad Catz President and CEO Darren Richardson had this to say;
"The addition of the Mass Effect license further expands our portfolio of high-profile entertainment and sports licenses and is consistent with our goal to align ourselves with important, mass-appeal brands and interactive entertainment software launches. We recently demonstrated the success and value of this strategy with our well-received line of officially-licensed merchandise for Epic Games’ Gears of War video game."
XBOX LIVE security breach is false says Major Nelson!
Earlier today there was a rumor going around that XBOX LIVE had been breached by some anonymous hackers. These so called hackers were boasting about it on different forums across the net. This rumor started to pick up a lot of steam when certain individuals on the XBOX forums were reporting that their credit card information was used to buy hundreds of dollars in Microsoft points.
XBOX LIVE's Major Nelson posted on his blog earlier that there is no evidence that this has happened.
Despite some recent reports and speculation, I want to reassure all of our 6 million Xbox Live members that we have looked into the situation and found no evidence of any compromise of the security of the Xbox Live Network or Bungie.net. There have been a few isolated incidents where malicious users have been attempting to draw personal information from unsuspecting users and use it to gain access to their LIVE account. This is a good time to remind our members that they should never give out any of their personal information. Additionally it may be a good idea to download this free PDF file from Microsoft.com ' Help Protect Yourself Against Identity Theft’ that gives you some excellent information and tips on how to protect yourself.
Hope that clears things up.
Major/Larry
Final Fantasy to go multiplatform-MAYBE!
Sony's vice president of Computer entertainment Europe had this to say:
"Final Fantasy XIII’s exclusiveness is under discussion and undecided. The development cost of games have exploded, and it’s become difficult to have exclusivity rights, except for our own games."
Man this getting crazy, the amount of gaming news that has been pouring in this week is a little overwhelming.
Is Microsoft not in the running to buy Take 2?
Microsoft's Shane Kim in a interview with CNN had this to say:
"One company that says it's not in the running is Microsoft. Because today's independent publishers are platform agnostic - that is to say, they build games for all major systems - taking over one would result in a massive revenue loss for Microsoft, as all development would be redirected toward the Xbox 360.
"We could never launch an acquisition bid at a third party publisher," said Shane Kim, corporate vice president of Microsoft (Charts) Game Studios."
Is Shane just putting up a smoke screen, or is he really serious about Microsoft not purchasing Take 2?
XBOX 360 ELITE may ship with data-retention cable!
Are you planning on buying the "confirmed" XBOX 360 Elite? You are probably wondering how you are supposed to transfer all of your data from your old 20GB HDD.
According to ars technica, blogger Ben Kuchera claims to have an exclusive tip from an anonymous source.
I work for a large game distributor. MS disclosed this SKU to us a few weeks ago--definitely not a fake story. Price, features, color are all correct.
MS has told us that the data will be transferred via some sort of cable that will be included with the unit. The cable will also be included w/ the 120GB drive that will be sold separately (price TBD).
Please don't cite me, but this is all accurate info.
If this email is correct then it answers one of my questions, there will be a 120GB HDD sold separately but it doesn't specify how much it will cost.
Xbox Live Hacked, Accounts Stolen
Online gaming forums are buzzing with reports that Xbox Live accounts linked to Microsoft's Windows Live ID service are being hijacked by malicious hackers.
read more | digg story
Why Sega stopped making Consoles
Sega has come a long way from the golden days of booting up the Genesis and hearing the familiar singsong "SAY-GAH!" Whether that long journey has been up or down is a source of dispute among many gamers, but I think its safe to say the existance of this product is a
read more | digg story
Ace Combat 6 Exclusive to Xbox360
While we wait for Sega to step up and bring that next-gen After Burner from behind closed doors, the Xbox 360's exclusive jet fighter franchise looks like it's seeing a nice visual upgrade in Ace Combat 6.
read more | digg story
Is Microsoft interested in Take Two?
This has been a crazy news week and it is only Wednesday. In the last 2 days Microsoft has been able to get Devil May Cry 4, Ace Combat 6 from under the Exclusive hammer that is Playstation.
Now this morning there is a rumor flying around the innertubes that Microsoft has put in a bid to buy Take Two.
Yesterday Take-Two revealed it was postponing the previously scheduled annual shareholders meeting to explore its options, one being a possible sale of the entire company. Today word has reached us through the grapevine by means of an inside source at Rockstar Vancouver, that "the buzz" in the hallways is that Microsoft might have put in a bid or expressed interest in purchasing the ailing publisher/developer. While this is a mere rumor, albeit from a reliable source, it is to be taken with a grain of salt. Just imagine the ramifications....
If this actually happens it would be huge, can you imagine GTA4 as a Microsoft game studios exclusive?
SOURCE: Worthplaying.com
Tuesday, March 20, 2007
PS3 is the #1 PR nightmare says Gamesradar.com!
Gamesradar.com ran a list of the top 7 PR nightmares in the gaming industry. If you want to read all 7 click here because I am just going to cover number 1.
In their article they cover everything from the PS3 being loved in 05 to being just plain unpopular in 07. The article also makes mention of Sony coming across as a little detached from the gaming community.
Here are a few quotes from what was in the article:
Back in 2005, for instance, Kutaragi made his infamously weird declaration that "We want for consumers to think to themselves, 'I will work more hours to buy one.' We want people to feel that they want it, irrespective of anything else. ... The PS3 will instill discipline in our children and adults alike. Everyone will know discipline."
Here they talk about the lack of rumble in the SIXAXIS controller and what is the real reason behind Sony leaving it out:
It's worth noting that Microsoft also offered vibration-enabled controllers, which Sony didn't consider "revolutionary" enough, going so far as to insist that consumers didn't want rumble technology at all (even though they clearly and loudly did). Even if consumers did want rumble, Sony said, adding it to their motion-sensitive Sixaxis controller would be impossible. And it remained impossible until early March, when Sony settled their patent litigation suit with vibe-tech maker Immersion - something that, up until that point, Sony had insisted wasn't a factor in its controller design.
Click here for the entire article!
Zephyr now has a name, (XBOX 360 Elite)
Now that the black XBOX 360 Elite has a name I decided to list some details about this bad boy that XBOX360fanboy.com posted.
So there you have it folks, are you gonna get one? I know I am!
I would also like to mention that if this thing is $20 cheaper then the cheapest PS3 with a HDD that is 5 times as big and it comes with a HDMI cable, how can Sony compete with this? honestly, you can not beat this!
Game Informer says the Black XBOX 360 is no joke!
This morning I wrote about the article in April's Game Informer that confirms the existence of the 120GB black XBOX 360 that has been rumored for months now. At first I hesitated to post the story because every April these game magazines are filled with April fools jokes.
Well it appears to be 100% legit, Kotaku.com was contacted by Game Informers editor saying that the story is no joke. If Game Informer was that quick to respond I think it is safe to say that this thing might actually exist.
Bungie.net update is complete!
In Bungie's last weekly update, Frankie made mention that Bungie.net would have a new look next week. Well, next week is here and the update is complete.
Click here to check out the new Bungie.net!
Fan Made Halo Lego's
Extremely cool and well constructed halo lego's. Which Include the M12LRV or the "Warthog" and the Covenant Specter.
read more | digg story
Why do my games cost so much?
Many people have been complaining about the $60 price tag for next-gen console games. Forbes takes time to explain why.
read more | digg story
XBOX product manager says 1 down 2 to go!
Xbox Product Manager at Microsoft Germany made light of the DMC 4 news that broke yesterday. He put up a post title saying "1 down 2 to go" with the 2 to go being Final Fantasy and MGS4.
It is interesting that all of this news about Sony losing DMC4 as an exclusive and that Microsoft said they want FF and MGS4 now instead of at the GDC is a little bizarre, but is it? I think Microsoft is doing this now instead of at the GDC is because they are trying to steal the thunder from the European PS3 launch this Friday.
Now if you were in line to get a PS3 and you looked over and saw the same games on a system that is $200 cheaper plus it has a superior online service, exclusives like Halo 3, Gears of War, Blue Dragon and countless others, can you blame the house that Gates built on moves like this. If and I mean if Final Fantasy and MGS4 go multiplatform then there is absolutely no reason to get a PS3 and I mean none.
So in saying all of this am I crazy? Does the PS3 have something the 360 doesn't that justifies a $600 purchase? Let me know.
New Line nabs Gears of War!
New Line has won feature rights to Microsoft's hugely popular vidgame "Gears of War" with Stuart Beattie writing and Marty Bowen and Wyck Godfrey producing via their Temple Hill banner.
CAA conducted the auction, which featured a 21 page treatment by Beattie, who wrote "Collateral" and "Derailed."
"Gears" has sold over three million units and is hugely popular on Microsoft's Xbox Live service, which allows players to compete against each other online. Though it was released in November and is available only for the Xbox 360 console, it quickly became the fourth best selling game of 2006 in the U.S.
Story, which is only modestly developed in the game, is about a world reeling from an invasion by aliens known as the Locust. A small group of elite soldiers, including the main character Marcus Fennix, who is rescued from prison at the beginning of the game, fight to retake the planet Sera for its surviving humans.
"Gears" is Microsoft's most succesful game since "Halo," which had an ill-fated attempt at movie development. After developing a script itself, Microsoft sold the project to Universal and Fox in 2005. Peter Jackson signed on to executive produce and Neill Blomkamp to direct, but the pic fell apart this past fall after the studios balked at the final budget.
SOURCE: Variety.com
Yesterday it was DMC4, today it's ACE Combat 6!
Late last night news broke that Devil May Cry 4 is headed to the 360. That announcement left me thinking, what Playstaion exclusive title could be next? Well not even 24 hours later Namco Bandai has stated in an article in Famitsu that they are bringing ACE Combat 6 to the 360.
Click here to read what Namco Bandai said about the XBOX release and what IGN.com had to say about another title jumping the exclusive ship known as Playstation.
Video Marketplace facts!
Major Nelson posted some statistics about the Video Marketplace on his blog at Majornelson.com:
- Within four months of launching, Xbox LIVE has become the number one online distributor of television and feature film content in the living room where it's most easy for consumers to access.
- In the same four months, the service has quickly become the number two online distributor of television and feature film content, second to iTunes.
- Is currently the ONLY online distributor of major feature films and television programming in high definition (HD) resolution.
- The service is a breakout success, with double-digit, month-over-month growth since launching.
- Monthly downloads from Xbox LIVE went up 400 percent since the service launched in November.
And what did we download from the VMP last week? Here is the Top 10 of TV and Movies downloads (If you made it #2, then some of you must like Snakes right?)
TV
1 South Park
2 Comedy Central Stand Up
3 UFC Fights (HD)
4 Robot Chicken
5 Star Trek: Enterprise (HD)
6 Aquaman
7 Chappelle's Show: Uncensored
8 Jericho (HD)
9 The Sarah Silverman Program
10 Avatar: The Last Airbender
Movies
1 The Departed
2 Snakes on a Plane
3 Employee of the Month (HD)
4 Crank (HD)
5 Beerfest (HD)
6 Saw III
7 Jackass Number Two
8 Undisputed 2: Last Man Standing
9 Sublime
10 The Illusionist
Here we go again!
In the latest issue of Game Informer, they unveiled the Black 120GB XBOX 360 with HDMI ports, HDMI cable and it will retail for $479. Now this sounds great but we must be careful because it is the April issue and Game Mags are absolutely notorious for throwing in April fools jokes and fake stories in their April issues, they do it every year.
Now if this is true then there are a few unanswered questions:
- Will this replace the premium SKU
- Will the Premium SKU be moved to $300
- Will the core SKU be eliminated
- Will a 120GB hard drive be sold separately
- How much would a stand alone 120GB HDD go for
- Is this damn story even real
XBOX LIVE spring update will bring "integration and innovation" says Major Nelson!
In Major Nelson's latest podcast, he talked a little about the spring update that Microsoft is working on:
"Our philosophy is that games are at the center of everything we do," he says. "Think about how Live works; the guide is always integrated, I can always view my messages, see who's online, cross-game invites across all games, leaderboards, achievement - all that kind of stuff.
"The new stuff we're bringing in Spring adds more functionality and integration," he promises. "We know you want to hear about it. Stay tuned."
Now Granted he didn't really reveal anything to specific but it is nice to know that the 6 million XBOX LIVE members have something to look forward too.
Monday, March 19, 2007
Sony says bye bye to another exclusive!
In a late night press release, Capcom said that Devil May Cry 4 will launch for the PS3, XBOX 360 and PC simutaneously:
"Capcom is committed to making its titles available to as wide an audience as possible, and has been building its technology base to meet that goal,"
"This announcement means that PS3, Xbox 360 and PC owners worldwide will be able to experience the latest installment of one of Capcom's pillar franchises."
That means that DMC has been in development for a while now for the 360 but Capcom has kept it under wraps for sometime now. This has to be a blow to the Sony camp because DMC4 was considered one of Sony's big exclusives.
As of right now the only exclusives Sony has that are considered system sellers is Metal Gear Solid 4 and Final Fantasy XIII. How much longer until those titles jump ship? We will just have to wait and see.
Here is the entire press release: Click here!
Hironobu Sakaguchi wants to see the Final Fantasy series on the 360!
Final Fantasy and Blue Dragon creator Hironobu Sakaguchi had this to say in a interview with Gamespot.com:
"I feel that the Final Fantasy series should come to Xbox 360 as well. This is wise. It makes so much sense to me...it has so much potential in North America and in Europe. So there's a great chance for the series to succeed on 360 as well."
Having created the series originally, we don't take Sakaguchi-san's words lightly, and hopefully, neither do Sqaure Enix. With more good news, he let slip that the 'White Engine' upon which Final Fantasy XIII is built is an open platform engine. While it sounds technical, all this means is the engine runs independent of the hardware, making a port to the Xbox 360 and easy job, and something we'll be praying for at every given opportunity.
SOURCE: 360gamer.com!
Piracy forced id software and Epic to go multiplatform!
This story was originaly posted on Shacknews.com:
"Across two separate lectures at this week's Game Developers Conference, id Software CEO Todd Hollenshead and Epic Games president Michael Capps both admitted that piracy of PC games caused their companies to pursue developing beyond the PC platform. "Piracy has pushed id as being multiplatform," stated Hollenshead, whose company contracted Z-Axis to handle the PlayStation 3 version and Nerve Software the Xbox 360 edition of Splash Damage's forthcoming Enemy Territory: Quake Wars (PC).
Comments made by Epic's Capps carried a similar tone. "PC gaming is really falling apart," he revealed. "It killed us to make Unreal Tournament 3 cross-platform, but Epic had to do it," adding "the market that would buy a $600 video card knows how Bittorrent works." Epic is currently developing Unreal Tournament 3 for the PC, PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 in-house.
Meanwhile, Firaxis designer and programmer Soren Johnson remained confident in PC development. He suggested that "game design on the PC is going to bend toward persistence," noting Blizzard's World of Warcraft is "successful because you can't pirate WoW. You cannot pirate an MMO. Period." "
New games for the week of 3/19/07!
- TMNT: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
- UEFA Championships League 2006-2007
- Tetris Evolution
- Armored Core 4
- Earth Defense Force 2017
- Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion - Shivering Isles Expansion Pack
- Virtual Tennis 3
Sunday, March 18, 2007
If consoles were girls!
1UP.com did a great article called "If consoles were girls". Click here and read for yourself because if I try to explain it I will just ruin it.
BK Store has what you want and it's not food!
Did you miss you chance to play the Burger King games? you know, Sneak King, Pocket Bike Racer and Big Bumpin. Well if you did miss out on your chance to play these award winning games (im kidding) just head on over to the BK Store.
You can get each of these games fot $3.99, or you can get the 3 pack for $10.99. Why blow $60 on Gears of War and Crackdown when you can get these 3 gems for a fraction of the price.
Click here to view the BK STORE!
Blue Dragon demo confirmed!
In an interview with Gamespot.com at the (GDC), Mistwalker's Hironobu Sakaguchi confirmed that there will be a demo out in June or July. He also talks about the downloadable content that Mistwalker Studio's is working on for Blue Dragon when it is released here in the states:
"GS: Speaking of downloadable content, do you have plans to release more content after the game comes out in the US?
HK: There are plans, and I can speak to that on behalf of Sakaguchi-san. Over the course of five to six months, postlaunch there will be more downloadable content: a set of three [pieces of] downloadable content, the last of which is going to be a dungeon with a lot of randomized patterns. By randomized patterns, I mean each time you enter into the dungeon, you encounter a different environment, a set of new characters, and monsters. So there are eight-plus patterns that have actually been set for the dungeon. So it is a completely new experience, in addition to this great game that we have.
Also, when you go to the start screen, you see [a new difficulty level] "impossible." This is for the gamers who have completed the game, know the game backward and forward, and have their character's levels above 50 points. A lot of other bosses and new items appear in this impossible mode.
GS: Will we see a playable demo on Xbox Live Marketplace?
HS: [in English] Yeah, we are making a playable demo--maybe for June or July."
Click here for the whole interview!
IGN.com top 25 XBOX games!
IGN.com put together a list of the top 25 XBOX games. Below is their list from 25-1, but if you want to read what they had to say about each of the games click here!
25.Jet Set Radio Future
24.Forza Motorsport
23.Fight Night Round 2
22.Beyond Good and Evil
21.Panzer Dragoon Orta
20.MVP Baseball 2005
19.Madden NFL 2005
18.Psychonauts
17.Crimson Skies
16.Mercenaries
15.Elder Scrolls III
14.NCAA Football 2003
13.Burnout 3
12.The Chronicles of Riddick
11.Prince of Persia
10.Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas
9.ESPN NFL 2K5
8.Fable
7.Ninja Gaiden Black
6.Rainbow six 3
5.Jade Empire
4.Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic
3.Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell Chaos Theory
2.Halo 2
1.Halo Combat Evolved
BEAUTIFUL KATAMARI is coming to the 360!
Orange Lounge Radio is reporting that BEAUTIFUL KATAMARI is coming to the XBOX 360 this fall for $39.99:
"Namco has announced to retailers the arrival of the hit series onto the next-gen platforms. BEAUTIFUL KATAMARI is set to release on October 17th for $39.99 on the PS3 and XBOX 360 and will feature SIXAXIS support for the PS3 version. The Wii version will arrive shortly after on November 14th on the Wii for $29.99. This also coincides with a trademark Namco Bandai filed back in January (Trademark serial number 76671822)"
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