Archive for the ‘XBox 360’ Category
By: Jon Christensen on March 17th, 2010 am31 11:29 am
Last year, Sony revealed that the PlayStation 3 would be available and only sold in a smaller model. When it was released a few weeks later, it was met with a great response because sales went through the roof. Although that could also be contributed to the price drop as well.
With both the Wii already the smallest system on the market and the recent change to the PS3, the Xbox 360 seems rather…big. However Microsoft plans on having a huge 2010 and they hope to create more buzz for their console in the upcoming months because of their controller-less, motion cam, Project Natal.
Up top is a picture of a motherboard, which the website AVG9 first grabbed. According to Kotaku, this is a complete overhaul of the Xbox 360, and it seems as though the system might have some big changes in-store for gamers. If Kotaku is correct, a new Xbox 360 is being created in China and will focus on having a smaller case — basically an ‘Xbox 360 Slim.’
For some time, rumors have been floating around that Microsoft was indeed going to go this route. Now with Project Natal around corner and the company hoping to revamped its image — so, what better way to do this than completely changing the look of the system?
If this is all correct, my guess Microsoft will announce the smaller system during their annual E3 press conference, which happens in June. From there, I bet the system will be in stores within weeks of its unveiling — which is exactly what Sony did when they released the PS3 Slim.
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By: Jon Christensen on March 10th, 2010 am31 11:08 am
Are you still playing DJ Hero? No? Well a third music downloadable pack is about to both Xbox Live and PSN, so maybe you’ll dust off your plastic turntable. The pack will feature three mashups of six different songs by both Jay-Z and Eminem, which are:
“Shake That” by Eminem mixed with “Show Me What You Got” by Jay-Z
“Without Me” by Eminem mixed with “Encore” by Jay-Z
“Can I Get A…” by Jay-Z mixed with “Lose Yourself” by Eminem
If you care to buy them, the price for all three mashups will be 640 Microsoft Points or $7.99 on PSN. They will be available on March 25th.
Source: gamespot
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By: Jon Christensen on March 10th, 2010 am31 10:04 am
Even though Harmonix is well underway developing Green Day: Rock Band, the studio has just announced that they are also hard at work creating Rock Band 3, which should be released THIS holiday season. The news was just revealed on the official Facebook fan-page for Rock Band.
According to the simple status update on the social networking site, we should expect something new and fresh:
“Harmonix is developing Rock Band 3 for worldwide release this holiday season! The game, which will be published by MTV Games and distributed by Electronic Arts, will innovate and revolutionise the music genre once again, just as Harmonix did with the original Rock Band, Rock Band 2 and The Beatles: Rock Band. Stay tuned for more details!”
I really hope Harmonix has something exciting up their sleeve because if they don’t, I think many gamers will be hesitant on buying the next installment of the famed music series. The music genre as a whole is really starting to take it’s course because the market was flooded with rhythm games. Sadly, I wouldn’t even blame Harmonix for the amount of titles in stores that require gamers to press colored buttons on plastic instruments. A lot of it has to do with Activision and milking their Guitar Hero franchise.
Since the first Rock Band was released in 2007, we have seen a total of three games on the home consoles with the name. However, in the same span Activision has shipped a total of NINE games under the “Hero” name.
Hopefully Activision hasn’t ruined the fun for both EA Harmonix, but again it really is up to them on bringing something new to the table. And then in a year, their competitor can steal the idea.
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By: Jon Christensen on February 23rd, 2010 am28 8:50 am
British Comedian and talk show host Jonathan Ross apparently had the opportunity to play Project Natal recently. Besides telling everyone he enjoyed the experience, via twitter, he might have also spilled the beans on the month we should expect to see the peripheral in stores.
“OK. Before bed. Natal on X Box impressive. Not quite there yet i think but tye have til october and if they get it right…skys the limit.”
October sounds about the right time Microsoft would release the motion cam, just in-time for the holidays. Although, him saying it’s not quite there yet, does make me a tad nervous, and makes me wonder if the ‘lag’ is still prevalent today, as it was back at E3.
Now if you question why Ross was luckily enough to be one of the few people to play with Natal, he has worked with the company in the past. According to IMDB, he actually was uncredited for some voice work for Halo 3. So, the actor does have some ties with Microsoft.
If you wanna watch him play with Natal, click here.
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By: Jon Christensen on February 16th, 2010 am28 10:54 am
Mark down March 17th because that’s when one of the best first-person shooters of-all-time is making a return. Microsoft has announced that Perfect Dark, the classic title for the Nintendo 64, is getting its re-released on that day for 800 Microsoft Points. Microsoft has also revealed that from March 3-30 is when Xbox Live House Party will take place.
According to them, House Party is playing host to some of the most anticipated titles for Xbox Live, which obviously includes the spiritual successor to Goldeneye. Including Perfect Dark — three games will be part of the ‘House Party’ and if gamers buy all, they be refunded 400 Microsoft Points. If they are already a Gold subscriber, they’ll get one month free to Xbox Live.
The two other games are Toy Soldiers; which comes out on March 3rd and Scrap Metal; which has a release date March 10th. While I’m sure the other games will be fun, I’m craploads more excited for Perfect Dark. During the PSX and N64 generation, Perfect Dark was, and in many ways still is \, one of the best games to play with friends. But thanks to Xbox Live, I’ll be able to play with the same people as I did almost ten years ago, over the online service. I get the feeling Rare is about to take a lot of my time once again…
After the jump, check out a description for each game. (more…)
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By: Jon Christensen on February 9th, 2010 pm28 2:15 pm
Summer is universally known as a slow time for gamers. Most of the anticipated titles skip the warm season and generally come out when the weather gets colder, just in time for the holidays. However this year, Electronic Arts has decided to change up the theory “when games should be released.”
Barring no major setbacks or delays, EA is set to release both the reboot of the Medal of Honor game, which is set in modern times and Realtime World’s ambitious title APB (All Points Bulletin) will be released this summer. The publisher expects to release both games between July through September; however no exact date was announced.
The company also announced vague dates for a couple other important games as well. From October to December, Crysis 2, Criterion’s (Burnout) first take on Need for Speed and EA’s MMA game will all be launched. Following December and ending in March, Dead Space 2, a sequel to Dragon Age, an unnamed Epic Games shooter, along with a unannounced action title, are all scheduled to ship.
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By: Jon Christensen on February 9th, 2010 am28 11:39 am
It has been three years since we last saw a Ghost Recon title. However, that’s about to change thanks to a Ubisoft announcement. The publisher has confirmed that their studio Ubisoft Paris, the same team who developed the Advanced Warfare series, is underway working on Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon: Future Soldier for the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 and PC.
The company is promising the title will include “cutting-edge technology, prototype high-tech weaponry, and state-of-the-art single-player and multiplayer modes,” which isn’t hard to believe since pretty much every Ghost Recon has been considered a “Grade A” series.” And honestly, it was the Modern Warfare before Modern Warfare and not only that, the older Recon’s are STILL some of the most realistic shooters of-all-time.
The game sounds like it will launch sometime this holiday season; however, if you own an Xbox 360 you’ll get a chance to experience a tease beforehand. Included with Splinter Cell: Conviction will be a Ghost Recon: Future Soldier beta key. Exactly what that will entail is unknown, but we’re pretty sure multiplayer will be the focus.
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By: Jon Christensen on February 8th, 2010 am28 10:51 am
If you haven’t heard yet, Microsoft plans on shutting off the servers for all the original Xbox Live games. This means iconic games like Halo 2 will no longer be playable over the online service, which will officially end the era of an important idea introduced to the console industry.
In response, Bungie has left a note on their website which told their fans to mark down April 14th because they plan on sending Halo 2 off in style.
“That said, mark your calendars now – on April 14th let’s all rally to go online for one last hoorah. One final farewell and one final opportunity for all of you to kick our asses at Halo 2.”
They promised full details of what to expect besides just playing with some of the developers and that information will be forthcoming in the upcoming weeks, so will be checking back for you. Although, I have the feeling the company has something up their sleeve, which should be worth booting up the 5-year-old game. Halo 2 and Xbox Live both played a part in helping the studio grow into one of the biggest in the world.
Just a side note, April 14th falls on a Wednesday, in case any of you were wondering.
via: kotaku
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By: Jon Christensen on February 6th, 2010 pm28 8:12 pm
Congrats to comment number 68, Rob, who won the copy of Dante’s Inferno.
The contest is now closed, thanks to all who participated.
On February 9th, gamers will be preparing to “Go to Hell.” Not because we’ve been playing murder simulators all our lives (according to the word of Jack Thompson), but due to the fact Electronic Arts is set to ship their latest videogame Dante’s Inferno, which is loosely adapted from Dante Alighieri’s legendary epic poem The Divine Comedy.
Players will assume the role of Dante, a veteran of the Third Crusade. When Dante finds his love, Beatrice, soul trapped inside the clutches of hell, he attempts to follower her, but quickly learns the “light-bearer” Lucifer is personally seizing her spirit. In order to save Beatrice, Dante must fight through hordes of demons in the Nine Circles of Hell and when he finds her, merry her in order to free her soul.
This will be one of the first time a studio, Visceral Games in this case, will take on the task of mixing a videogame with one of the great literary works in human history. I’m excited to see how the team will pull it off, I’m sure most of you are too.
Thankfully one of you /gamer readers will be able to snag a copy of the highly-anticipated title on Xbox 360 for free, thanks to a contest we’re holding. The rules are simple: after the Jump, a question will be asked about the Divine Comedy. All you have to do is type your email, we’re it is required to comment (for contact purposes), answer the question right, and automatically you’ll entered into a drawing. Whomever is selected will be notified right away.
The contest will start NOW and end on February 9th, at midnight pacific standard time.
Again, the question is after the jump. (more…)
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By: Jon Christensen on February 1st, 2010 pm28 12:16 pm
Since Project Natal and Halo: Reach were announced at this past E3, speculation was right away suggesting that both the game and the peripheral would work together. Even Bungie’s studio president Harold Ryan chimed in with the Seattle Times and kept the rumors afloat by saying that ‘Reach’ could “absolutely” be “enabled” with Natal. Today, Bungie has shot-down those rumors.
On Bungie’s weekly update on their site, they teased its fans with a round of “Halo: Reach Mythbusters,” and tried to set the record straight with some of the gossip surrounding the anticipated first-person shooter.
“Truth be told, it’s just a good ole fashioned bug. Bug #15163 to be exact,” Bungie wrote. “Halo: Reach is NOT a Natal title and is being developed expressly with the traditional Xbox 360 controller in mind.”
There you go, the biggest game of the year for the Xbox 360 won’t take advantage of what Microsoft is hoping will be their biggest hardware launch, since they released the Xbox 360 console. It would have been cool to see what a talented developer like Bungie could do with Project Natal and see if they could make a ‘hardcore’ game in-mind with peripheral that has been accused of being a casual game device. With that said, I only think Project Natal games should be made from the ground up, and not be thrown at the last minute just to convince hardcore gamers that should buy it.
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By: Jon Christensen on January 29th, 2010 pm31 2:44 pm
Gregor Collienne is a photographer from Germany. However, he doesn’t take pictures that catches his eye, or tries to capture the perfect setting to inspire people. Instead, for the most part, he takes humorous snap shots of people doing an everyday activity and pairs them up with another group, who are doing something completely different. When you check out his work, you not only chuckle, but they make you think — it almost feels like an optical illusion.
Up top is one picture of his work. While it’s unlike a lot of his photos — it made me laugh nonetheless. I’m assuming the picture is asking all of us, what if we could control our girlfriends or all women for that matter, with a single PlayStation controller? Like, how awesome would that be? No more would we hear the excuse: “I have a headache.” Can some smart scientist make this happen? Please!
If you want to check out Collienne’s work, click here.
via: technabob
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By: Jon Christensen on January 29th, 2010 pm31 2:09 pm
When EA became the parent company for BioWare, gamers across the universe were relentlessly nervous over the fear their beloved studio would take a hit in quality. Then just a few short days ago, Mass Effect 2 was released and was met with unbelievable reviews from critics and currently holds a 96/100 score on Metacritic. So the brief protest was quickly proven wrong; however the next question was, would EA’s wallet help the developer sell more titles? The answer is yes.
EA just sent out a press release announcing the sequel to the space RPG is “hailed as the 1st blockbuster of 2010,” and they just might be right. According to their numbers, Mass Effect 2 has already sold over 2 million units worldwide. A mighty feat indeed — considering the game came out last Tuesday in the States and today in Europe.
“Mass Effect 2 is poised to be one of the biggest games of 2010,” said Ray Muzyka BioWare’s co-founder. “We could not be more proud of the game’s universal acclaim and early commercial success.”
As a whole, this is great news for the videogame industry. It’s proving even in the economic recovery, games that aren’t already considered established franchises can still sell.
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By: Jon Christensen on January 29th, 2010 pm31 1:29 pm
The creator of the original Resident Evil, Shinji Mikami, has been directing his next project titled Vanquish and last night the first trailer premiered on GameTrailers TV, which I have embedded up top. Apparently, Mikami has been working with the talented Japanese studio Platinum Games, who was the team behind the newly released Bayonetta game for the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3.
Much like a lot of debut trailers, this one doesn’t show any gameplay; however it does something a tad different and doesn’t follow the exact same unwritten rule of a first trailer. The clip mixes CG, along with real human actors, and is getting some flap for doing it. Some people are quickly to comment that maybe Platinum Games doesn’t have enough faith in their own CG and have decided to use ‘real life characters,’ in hopes to disguise what they can’t do. This is just ridiculous to assume.
If anyone remembers the very first Resident Evil for the original PlayStation back in 1996, they should recollect a lot of the scenes used real-life actors. To me, it looks like Shinji Mikami is once again going back to his roots and doing something similar with actual actors, rather than CG in Vanquish — which is fine by me. However, that doesn’t excuse my hatred for a publisher, Sega in this case, releasing a debut trailer and not showing us gameplay whatsoever. I would rather them give us something rather than some fancy cut-scenes, so we would have more to talk about the next day.
Anyway, when you watch the trailer, America is being heavily attacked by either an alien race, terrorists, or another country. Unfortunately for us Americans, especially for the ones who live in San Francisco, it’s up to an albino Master Chief clone to save the richest country in the world. I say “unfortunately’ because most albinos have poor vision or are legally blind, which — in my opinion — doesn’t bold to well in a devastating war.
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By: Jon Christensen on January 29th, 2010 am31 1:50 am
When Grand Theft Auto IV was announced a couple years ago, it was proceeded by the shocking news how the Xbox 360 version would get dibs on the downloadable content, which saw two different episodes in a span of a year. Today, Rockstar Games has just revealed that the same content, both called The Lost and the Damned and The Ballad of Gay Tony, will be available for the PlayStation 3 starting March 30th. Each game will be sold separately for $19.99 on the PlayStation Network or gamers can buy a Blu-ray disc which includes both titles and can be purchased for $39.99.
PC owners can also get on the action and buy the two expansions for the same price, but also get some extra goodies. According to the company, not only can players use the exclusive “advanced video editor,” but also have multiplayer matches with 32-online players.
While it sounds cool, I’m not sure how great this is. Grand Theft Auto is a two-year old game, and if you head to your local GamStop and check out the used section, you find stacks of Grand Theft Auto IV games, meaning gamers didn’t keep the title. At the same time, you have to wonder if Microsoft paying $50 million to make sure Rockstar would make the content exclusive, was worth it. Apparently, it was just a time-exclusive deal, and as of now, I have a hard time believing enough Xbox 360s were moved to warrant the price paid.
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By: Jon Christensen on January 28th, 2010 pm31 3:07 pm
BioWare has created some of the most sought-after games of this generation. From Mass Effect to Dragon Age, the studio has redefined RPGs for the home console. The company has been so successful that they announced last year that they are opening up a whole new studio in Montreal, Quebec, which means more original games will come out from the studio.
While having a live chat with Eurogamer earlier today, the CEO of BioWare Ray Muzyka confirmed with viewers that BioWare is developing titles for the PlayStation 3. When asked if some games, not necessarily for the PS3, will be unveiled at this year’s E3, he responded with the simple answer of “yes!”
Sadly, he didn’t reveal if we should expect completely new titles or sequels to already successful franchises. Although, I wouldn’t be surprised if we see something about Mass Effect 3, even if it’s a tease. Muzyka has confirmed the third installment of the space RPG is already in the early development stages.
via: vg247
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