XBOX LIVE activity for the week of 4/30/07!

Xbox 360 Top Live Titles (UU’s)
1 Gears of War
2 Tom Clancy's Rainbow SixVegas
3 Pinball FX
4 Guitar Hero II
5 Command and Conquer 3 Tiberium Wars Demo
6 Call Of Duty 3
7 GRAW 2
8 Crackdown
9 3D Ultra Minigolf Adventures
10 Oblivion

Top Arcade Titles (Full Versions)
1 Pinball FX
2 3D Ultra Minigolf Adventures
3 Catan
4 TMNT 1989 Arcade
5 Worms
6 Castlevania: SOTN
7 UNO
8 Eets: Chowdown
9 Boom Boom Rocket
10 Centipede & Millipede

Original Xbox Top Live Games
1 Halo 2
2 Battlefield 2: MC
3 Forza Motorsport
4 Star Wars: Battlfrnt 2
5 Counter-Strike
6 Madden NFL 07
7 Call of Duty 3
8 Ghost Recon 2
9 Splinter Cell Chaos
10 MechAssault 2

This list comes via Majornelson.com!

Dev's claim that Splinter Cell 5 isn't possible on the PS3!

MyGen is reporting that the developers of Splinter Cell 5 claim that the game simply couldn't be made on the PS3, even if it was a PS3 exclusive game. 

Melee fights are much more than "press this button to hit" this time around. There's different context sensitive attack buttons and as mentioned before lots of environmental interaction.
Some pretty negative comments about the PS3 made by the devs. They state the fact that they are exclusive to the 360 allows them to do much more than if they were multiplatform, but they also state they doubt they would be able to achieve what they're doing with the game on the 360 on the ps3 even if it was ps3 exclusive.

Wow, those remarks are sure to fan the flames of all the PS3 fanboy's out there.  Also, make sure you check out the entire MyGen article, they have posted some great screenshots of the game.

Another day 5/4/07!

Today the news has been few and far between, so I have decided to wrap it up early today.  Not only am I wrapping it up early because the news is slow, I have to go shopping for my daughters birthday tomorrow, she will be 3. 

So what will you be playing this weekend? I will probably be playing a lot of Luxor 2, Pinball FX and F.E.A.R. with a little bit of Boom Boom Rocket thrown in for good measure.

Today's top stories:

1. Another funny Pac Man video! 
2. Forza 2 achievement list revealed! 
3. Games for the week of 5/7/07! 
4. Halo 2 Blastacular map-pack: fixed! 
5. Canadians aren't Americans!

If there is any late breaking news, I will be sure to post it!

Another funny Pac Man video!

Forza 2 achievement list revealed!

While we sit and anxiously wait for the release of Forza Motorsports 2, Achieve360points.com has posted a list of all the achievements that can be found in the game which is a large list, 44 total to be exact.

Click here to view the list for yourself!

Games for the week of 5/7/07!

Command & Conguer 3: Tiberium Wars

Ships 5/8/2007

"The critically-acclaimed Command & Conquer™ series returns with Command & Conquer 3 Tiberium Wars™. This highly-anticipated next chapter takes the popular series back to its roots in the Tiberium Universe and features the fast, fluid gameplay that Command & Conquer is known for and an epic story that will redefine storytelling and set the standard for the single player experience for Real-time Strategy (RTS) games."

Halo 2 Blastacular map-pack: fixed!

Bungie has posted some good news for you folks having trouble downloading the Blastacular map-pack.

Hooray! Map download problems are fixed! If you were one of the (significant) number of people unable for a variety of reasons, to download the recent “Blastacular” map pack, a fix implemented last night should have worked for you. Firstly, our apologies. We realize this has been inconvenient and annoying.

As we’ve explained previously, the problem was caused by either trying to get the maps for free (don’t worry, you’re not in trouble), accidentally trying to download on a Silver and then Gold account, or by various incompatible age rating problems between 360 dashboard and the original Xbox. Almost everyone should now be able to download the maps now, and the bonus is that we can now accelerate the maps’ introduction into matchmaking

Canadians aren't Americans!

The boys over at Gamerscoreblog.com snuck this through overnight.  Basically, if you live in a country that doesn't have access to the video marketplace, all you had to do was register your account as though you are from the United States, that would allow you access to TV shows and Movies. Well guess what folks, that doesn't work anymore.  You have to actually live in the United States to have access to the content.

Some Xbox LIVE members may experience some changes when downloading Marketplace content, as we strengthen the territory controls on the service with the Spring Update coming next week.

So what does this mean to you? Well, if you have an account that matches the country where you are located, then you will probably notice little to no difference. However, if you have set up an account that does not match the country where you are located, you will find that these new security measures will only allow you to purchase and download content that is licensed in the country where you are located.

For example, if you are not located in the US, but have created a US Xbox LIVE account, you will not be able to download TV shows and movies that are currently available for use only in the US.
Again, for most people this will not be an issue, but we have heard that there are a few folks out there who have tried to access restricted content this way. We understand that this may be frustrating for some users, and hope they understand our responsibility, and the necessary security requirements that need to be in place in order to comply with applicable laws and honor our agreements with content providers.

Another day 5/3/07!

You don't think by chance there is some kind of Pinball FX anonymous meeting do you? doubt it. 

Hello, my name is Tavdogg and I am a pinball FX addict!

Today's top stories:

1. Microsoft's game division will turn profit next year! 
2. Ladies and Gent's, we have another Halo 3 beta video that has been leaked! 
3. Major Nelson im's with Pac Man! (HILARIOUS) 
4. PS3 2.0 next year? maybe! 
5. The Elite appears to be elusive! 
6. Spider Man 3 on PS2 & PSP=SHIT! 
7. Your Alien Hominid skillz could get you a trophy! 
8. Gears map pack is now available! 
9. Tron and Disk of Tron confirmed for XBLA! 
10. Another leaked Halo 3 beta video!

Microsoft's game division will turn profit next year!

Robbie Bach, president of Microsoft's Entertainment and Devices Division was recently interviewed by eweek.com: 

When do you think Xbox will be able to contribute a billion dollars to Microsoft's bottom line, and how?

Robbie replied:

Right now we're doing a pretty good job. We're humming pretty well in the business. Our costs are a little higher than we'd like, [but] we're pushing those down; there are good initiatives underway to drive that. Game attach rate [is at the] highest level in history for a game console at this stage in the life cycle. The same with our peripheral attach rate. Xbox Live has over 6 million members.

The pieces are in place to drive the proverbial billion dollars. Specific date—oh, that's going to depend on what happens in pricing, which partly we control, partly we don't. You know what happens in component costs—mostly we have pretty good influence over that, but there are places where we don't. Pricing on memory goes up and down seemingly like a yo-yo, so [we have to manage] through that.

So, it's a business that will be profitable next year—we'll make money next year and that will be the first time, which is pretty exciting. And then the next two or three years are the place where you need to make tracks, and the next two or three years are where you have to make money.

Click here to read the whole interview!

Ladies and Gent's, we have another Halo 3 beta video that has been leaked!

I think I am going to officially name today, Halo 3 beta video that has been leaked day.  I swear, every time I check my email, I find a link to a new video from the Halo 3 beta that someone has sent me. 

The latest video confirms 2 items that were yet to be confirmed and that is a gravity gun and a portable turret.  It appears that when the turret is picked up, your viewpoint goes into a 3rd person view, I can only imagine the possibilities of a mobile turret in Halo multiplayer.

Major Nelson im's with Pac Man! (HILARIOUS)

PS3 2.0 next year? maybe!

According a post on Games Radar, there could be a modified PS3 coming to a store near you next year.

Days after Sony's Ken Kutaragi hinted his plans for PlayStation 4, an unnamed "Sony insider" has reportedly claimed that a new PlayStation could be available next year.

The report on Smarthouse.com suggests that the insider has tipped the new PlayStation to include the same chipset as the current PS3, but will boast other hardware modifications in the "drive bay" and "attachment areas."
The report refers to the mystery machine as the PS4, but if it does exist, it sounds more like a reworked PS3 to us - like the slim-line PS2.

Kutaragi has already hinted: "As a matter of course, I have the vision of PlayStation 4, 5 and 6, which will merge into the network."
Best start saving now, then.

Ok Sony fanboys, you ripped Microsoft by saying that they had screwed their fans who just purchased a 360 when the Elite was announced.  What will you say to yourself if this story is true? probably nothing like usual.  You will probably defend Sony by saying that it's different and a good idea because Sony can do no wrong.

The Elite appears to be elusive!

According to some research that Xbox360rally has done, the Elite is selling better than many had predicted.

When the first shipment of Xbox 360 Elites hit Costco store shelves, they were quick to disappear. So naturally, Costco restocked their shelves… and they disappeared again.

Costco has been selling the Elite as part of a $530 package that included an additional controller and a plug and play charger kit. Now, it’s since been taken off the Costco website, because they’re sold out. Again.

But this is nothing new for online retailers. Best Buy has been sold out of the Elite for as long as I can remember, and as of now (Thursday, May 3rd), Amazon.com is still without. But, if you go to Circuit City’s website, you can still get your hands on these surprisingly elusive Elites.

So, for all of you guys who said that the 360 Elite was destined to fail… owned.

Spider Man 3 on PS2 & PSP=SHIT!

If you plan on getting Spider Man 3, make sure you get the XBOX 360 or PS3 version because it sounds like the PS2, XBOX and PSP versions of this gem is really going to blow.

According to Valleywag, Activision handed the development duties to a bunch of "numbskulls that didn't understand the RAM constraints of the various consoles."

The initial intention of Activision was to have the Spider-Man 3 movie tie-in game out a month ahead of the movie's release, evidently. But when it turned out that, one month before ship date, the game was still gobbling up RAM as though every console was an Xbox 360, the company panicked. According to the Conference Fonz's inside source, Activision had to halt all other publisher-side Q/A work in order to get this turd ready for market before the movie arrives tomorrow.

Is this really that surprising? this sounds like every other movie to game adaptation that has ever been made.  When you hear that a game is going to be released the same day as the movie, especially a blockbuster type of movie, you can almost guarantee that it will be shit.