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Xbox News is a site that brings you the very latest Original Xbox, Xbox 360 and Xbox One news, the latest games and releases, Part of the
DCEmu Homebrew & Gaming Network.
THE LATEST NEWS BELOW
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March 4th, 2008, 01:28 Posted By: wraggster
We had an inkling that the format war was soon to be over when Warner announced it was going Blu-ray just before CES and HD DVD canceled its press conference, but we didn't realize how quickly things would come to an abrupt end. It looks like Toshiba CEO Atsutoshi Nishida was decisive in ending the battle, telling the Wall Street Journal that HD DVD didn't stand a chance after Warner left, and that if HD DVD wasn't "going to win then we had to pull out, especially since consumers were already asking for a single standard." That's interesting, especially since Toshiba issued all those jilted-lover press releases as former partners defected and continued to waffle for another month or so and even air a Super Bowl ad, but we suppose PR people can't go running around saying things like "One has to take calculated risks in business, but it's also important to switch gears immediately if you think your decision was wrong," like the CEO can. Of course, the CEO probably shouldn't say things that Toshiba's upconverting DVD players are so good "consumers won't be able to tell the difference from HD DVD images" either, but give the man a break -- he's still in mourning.
http://www.engadget.com/2008/03/03/t...r-warner-left/
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March 3rd, 2008, 17:39 Posted By: Shrygue
via Eurogamer
Harmonix will be treating Xbox Live owners to the long-awaited Grateful Dead downloadable content this week.
Those included are: "China Cat Sunflower", "Casey Jones", "Sugar Magnolia", "Truckin'", "Franklin's Tower", and "I Need A Miracle".
Each can be bought for 160 Points (GBP 1.36 / EUR 1.92), or the entire pack for 800 Points (GBP 6.80 / EUR 9.60).
That means you essentially get one track for free if you buy the whole lot.
There's no word on a PSN release for these, bizarrely, as usually both are released hand-in-hand in the US.
Rock Band is yet to be released in Europe, with Q2 2008 the only date EA will mention.
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March 3rd, 2008, 17:21 Posted By: Shrygue
via Computer and Video Games
The decision not to include a hard drive as standard with every 360 was a "mistake" by Microsoft, Bourne Conspiracy's lead game designer has told us.
The Core and Arcade versions of the Xbox 360 come without hard drives, meaning developers have to make sure their games can work without a HDD to cater for those users. But this restricts their freedoms with hard drive use, Rory McGuire explained.
"In retrospect I wish Microsoft had made the choice to have [mandatory] hard drives like Sony did with the PS3," he said.
"They did it with the original Xbox. I'm not sure why they decided to not require a hard drive on the 360. From what I understand they don't move many [Core/Arcade] units," added McGuire.
"Developers certainly benefit [from a hard drive]," he went on to explain, adding: "if you have a hard drive, the whole game loads faster. Obviously you'll be facing a short install time, but the developer benefits from it and you definitely benefit from it as a player.
"So I think that was one of the mistakes that Microsoft made with the 360," addd McGuire.
The Bourne Conspiracy is coming along nicely, and you can check out our hands-on feature here.
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March 3rd, 2008, 16:59 Posted By: wraggster
Newly released today:
description
In 1931, Winston Churchill was hit by a taxi in New York. In the real world, he survived, and went on to rally the British people to fight the Nazi threat. But what if he hadn’t?
It’s from this premise that Fall Of Liberty takes it’s theme - without Churchill’s leadership, Europe and the United Kingdom have fallen to Hitler’s forces. By 1951, using crushing technical superiority, the United States is invaded and defeated by the Third Reich.
With this setting, Fall Of Liberty will be an FPS experience like no other; a game that’s both a World War 2 FPS and something different. Fighting not as a soldier, but a resistance fighter in a United States of America that’s under the rule of a foreign power.
Exclusive to next-generation platforms and PC, Fall Of Liberty breathes new life into the FPS genre.
http://www.play-asia.com/SOap-23-83-...j-70-23dp.html
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March 3rd, 2008, 16:57 Posted By: Shrygue
via Computer and Video Games
With a game as stupidly popular and successful as Counter-Strike, the question is never 'Will there be a sequel?' But, 'When?'.
Valve Software, the developer housed in a red building entirely comprised of $50 bills (may be a lie), knows this too: "We will never abandon Counter-Strike," marketing man Doug Lombardi told Shack News, explaining why the online shooter hasn't received a major update since the release of Counter-Strike Source.
"It's a little bit unfair to compare Counter-Strike, I think, to your classic game that's gonna have these sequels. It looks a little bit more like an MMO where it's constantly [being updated]."
But Lombardi did reveal that the developer is at least thinking about how they'd approach a sequel:
"With Counter-Strike 2," he said, "there's a big question between, do we go start over from scratch and build this whole new game, do we do something that looks more like Team Fortress 2 that is rooted in the old game but has a ton of new stuff, or do we just sort of take everything that's new that we've released and put that out in a new box." We'd go for the middle one.
"I think we're leaning more towards the two more radical places than just sort of rolling up the new box and reskinning the box and putting out all the new stuff."
The Valve team also recently confirmed (by accident) that a second Portal game is in the works (and Lombardi has since officially stated to CVG that "more Portal is coming"), so combined with the Counter-Strike sequel and Half-Life 2: Episode Three, could we be looking at the early stages of what might be an Orange Box Two?
"I just don't think that [Counter-Strike 2] would be a good fit [with a second Orange Box]," piped in Valve overlord Gabe Newell, noting that CS2 would be a stand-alone game to him.
"But if I get 15,000 emails from customers in response to this interview telling me 'Of course it should be in [the next Orange Box],' then of course we'll pay attention to that." We think he'll regret saying that...
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March 3rd, 2008, 16:49 Posted By: Shrygue
via Eurogamer
Capcom has confirmed to Eurogamer that Rocketmen: Axis of Evil will be on Xbox Live Arcade this Wednesday.
It was responding to the official US blog that said both 360 and PS3 versions would be out this week.
However, those in the Sony camp may have to wait a little longer, as a European date is still to be set in stone. Not normally a problem since US accounts are easy to set up, but since Rocketmen will cost money you'd also need a US credit card to pay for it.
Rocketmen: Axis of Evil looks rather exciting: a top-down two-stick shooter for you and up to three friends. Similar to Monster Madness, or Gauntlet but with guns.
Anyway, the idea was adapted from a collectible card-construction game by WizKids - pointed out by one of our helpful readers - but will have less strategy and much more action.
It all looks really rather promising, and you can expect our review this week.
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March 2nd, 2008, 19:25 Posted By: wraggster
LucasArts isn't the only developer with a proclivity to "hit the bricks", it seems -- according to the latest issue of EGM, Bungie is currently working on a heretofore unannounced project in conjunction with Lego. The brainchild of this unholy union is -- as you've probably already guessed -- Lego Halo. Set to follow the entire storyline of the Halo trilogy, and featuring gameplay similar to the other games in the Lego crossover genre (with just a dash of traditional FPS fare mixed in), this chimera is sure to sell like hotcakes to fans of Master Chief and construction toys both -- if it actually existed, that is.
As many of our loyal tipsters (as well as one of our sister sites) didn't realize, this exclusive preview ran in the April edition of EGM -- the same edition which is infamous for its history of April Fools' skullduggery. Sorry to break your naïve heart, if you didn't see this coming -- but the only way you're going to get your hot little hands on Lego Halo is if you order it from a parallel universe. Would you mind picking up a copy of Mushroom Kingdom Hearts for us while you're over there?
http://www.joystiq.com/2008/03/01/ap...ect-lego-halo/
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March 2nd, 2008, 19:22 Posted By: wraggster
In a little over two weeks Armored Core For Answer will be released in Japan on both PS3 and 360. The publicity campaign the game has received has been pretty thorough, as From Software utilised the whole Web 2.0 approach by having Japanese bloggers espouse the game's virtues (something Famitsu has got in the act on with their crazy 360 blogger, Jamzy). Even the redoubtable Toshifumi Nabeshima, essentially regarded as the father of Armored Core by the Japanese fanbase, has done the rounds online pimping the game as best he can.
Features-wise, it's all a bit over the top still as For Answer comes across as being like Shadow of the Colossus but with guns and robots (traveling at 2000 km/h, obviously). A few things have fallen by the wayside though, namely the transformable AC's but other things like Dolby 5.1 in-game and full online co-op have partly made up for that (though there's always the possibility that Famitsu initially misquoted the whole transformation aspect, as a lot of the Arms Forts do transform into different modes rather than the AC's themselves).
One of the more interesting aspects of the game's production though is the use of Isaku Okabe as a military adviser (he recently did something similar for the truly excellent Gundam 00). Again, From Software didn't miss a trick and they had him put in front of a camera and explain the nitty gritty military aspects of the game.
For those that want to catch up with the deluge of materials that have been unleashed online, then the official site is a good port of call as is the Armored Core Wiki (the Next Reports are especially worth a gander). GameTrailers has also leeched the movies from the official site if you have trouble streaming them. All we need to do now is wait for the Western release and the subsequent reviews undertaken by gamers that have had their hands replaced with flippers.
http://www.insertcredit.com/archives/002257.html
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March 2nd, 2008, 17:47 Posted By: Elven6
Alright so heres a neat trick for Canadian (and mabye more) to access some features in the "Zune Marketplace" here are the steps:
1. Go to http://www.zune.net
2. Press the "Sign In" button and enter your Hotmal account (make a account at hotmail.com if you don't have one)
3. It should give you a message saying not available in your region or something like that.
4. DO NOT click "Ok", instead click the Zune logo in the top left corner of the screen.
5. This should take you back to the Zune's homepage, notice how you are logged in at the top right.
6. Click the black square box to the left of your name. (It should be your gamertag if you have one)
7. Now you should be in a sort of profile area, here you can edit your Zune Tag by adding custom backgrounds, logo, msgs, etc. While your here, you can also see who on your friends list owns a Zune and what they are currently listening too, and it tells you the last time they had listened to music via their Zune and synced their "gamercard" to the servers.
Currently I can preview a Song on my friends playlists, for those intrested he is listening to a song called "The Best of Me" by The Starting Line.
Im not sure if this will work on the Zune Marketplace itself, but Ill try later on.
I would only bother doing this if you are in Canada and plan on getting a Zune.
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March 2nd, 2008, 00:21 Posted By: wraggster
Seven years after the introduction of its first console, Microsoft is waging a new war with Xbox 360 - against itself. Phil Spencer, the general manager of Microsoft Game Studios Europe, believes the war can still be won.
Wondering just how big or small a part of Microsoft the division is? That total revenue of $5.53 billion was part of a $30.3 billion (£15.2 billion) total revenue in the same period, so some rough-as-they-come beer mat sums would tell you it's about 18.25 per cent - a proportion that, even allowing for the varied products contained in the division, puts to rest the sneery idea that Microsoft can simply afford to throw money at the brand. And sure enough, the 360 has hit Microsoft's business targets: in particular, Bill Gates' E3 2006 prediction that the console would sell 10,000,000 units by the end of 2006 was surpassed by nearly half a million.
But think about the figures for a moment. If 1.5 million 360s were sold by the end of 2005, 10.4 million by the end of 2006, and 17.7 million by the end of 2007, then the Xbox 360 sold significantly fewer units in 2007 than it did in 2006. The bad news doesn't stop there: 2007 saw its head start battered aside by the unstoppable Wii, with little chance of redress, and the PlayStation 3 reaching the 9.5 million unit mark worldwide. The only territory in which it outsold the PS3 was North America, and without the sales spike around Halo 3 things would have looked considerably worse.
It seems strange that this is the case. After all, with its obvious attributes and its late-2007 software lineup, why didn't the Xbox 360 dominate the year, and the Christmas period in particular? Microsoft began 2007 with a huge unit lead, its biggest game properties due to arrive on the shelves, plus a significant marketing spend, and in the event managed to sell less hardware than the previous year.
http://www.next-gen.biz/index.php?op...=9148&Itemid=2
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March 2nd, 2008, 00:20 Posted By: wraggster
We speak to the developers behind Microsoft's first batch of freely available community-developed Xbox 360 games. It's the revenge of bedroom coding!
Meet 'Walaber', developer of JellyCar, Brian Cable, responsible for Proximity HD, James Silva of The Dishwasher: Dead Samurai fame and Jeff Pobst and Michael Austin of Hidden Path Entertainment, creators of Culture.
What sort of technical restrictions are placed on XNA developers? Are there things you'd like to have done that the dev platform won't allow?
* Walaber: Well, the choice to go with C# brings with it some performance issues (particularly on the Xbox 360), which required me to do more optimization of my code than I would have initially expected, considering that the Xbox 360 is so powerful. Hopefully future versions of XNA will improve some of these performance issues.
* Brian: From what I hear, XNA is not quite as powerful as a graphics engine developed internally, but I'm just one person, not a company, and even if I spent several years perfecting a graphics engine the industry and XNA itself will likely have leaped ahead of me anyway, and I'd constantly be playing catch-up with my engine and not focusing on actually making games, which is much more fun and interesting to me anyway.
Also there's no achievements, leaderboard support, or the camera support, and I don't think you have full access to Xbox LIVE multiplayer either, but I haven't looked too much into that yet. Achievements are understandable, though, or else you'd have everyone spamming five second non-games and releasing them to the service giving whoever played them max achievements instantly anyway. But of course, I would like access to all of these features, which is why I would love to someday release the game through XBLA.
* James: C# does slightly underperform versus native code. Personally, I'd rather be coding in C#, because I'm a rotten C++ coder. If I were in charge of things, I would market XNA with the tagline "XNA: Giving Hope to Rotten Coders."
* Michael: There are some features (pointers, etc) turned off for security reasons, and while managed code can be convenient to use, it does run more slowly. For instance, every time you access a variable in an array, C# has to validate the index. In C++ there are no handrails, so you can shoot yourself in the foot, but it's generally faster. The nice thing is that more and more heavy lifting is done by the GPU, and so the impact of using a managed language is less than it has been in the past.
http://blogs.guardian.co.uk/games/ar..._part_one.html
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March 2nd, 2008, 00:18 Posted By: wraggster
On the Friday of GDC, Gamasutra got a chance to talk to Microsoft's Jeremy Wacksman, global marketing manager of Xbox Live marketing.
* People are starting to bump up against the size limit again. It was raised once, and that was really beneficial, but I've been hearing more reports from developers as they try to get a little more ambitious as the service gets more mature that they are sort of banging against that size limit wall. What do you think about that?
* JW: We haven't heard that too much. We raised it when we did because of the ecosystem and the development community, but we have no plans to change that right now.
It ensures small, pick-up-and-play games, and I think people are finding... look at Undertow that just came out. Unreal Engine 3, single and multiplayer, with cutscenes in audio, under 50 [megs]. Not even under 150 megabytes. Developers are finding incredible ways to fit into our platform, and that's part of why I say that.
* Do you think it matters that the PlayStation 3 does not have a size limit? Some developers, if they're going to do a multiplatform download game, the way they're planning, or the issue of what they have to work with becomes more complex for them.
* JW: It's always case-by-case. I think we granted a one-time exception for Street Fighter [HD Remix], because it's such a good game with so much put into it, but in general, Live Arcade is all about pick-up-and-play games and accessible games.
That's part of that guideline. And like I said, look at the games that we have coming. Look at Castle Crashers. 20 levels, 4-player co-op, hand-drawn HD art... that's a game that fits well with the model.
http://www.gamasutra.com/php-bin/new...hp?story=17667
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March 1st, 2008, 20:58 Posted By: wraggster
The Consumerist is reporting that one unlucky individual had to send his Xbox 360 in for repairs. The catch is he had spent a great deal of time getting signatures and artwork on the outside of the console from notable members of the gaming industry. He specifically asked and even sent a letter along with his console requesting that the outside of the case be returned intact. When he got it back it was once again, plain white. Assuming that this is a genuine claim, regardless of the circumstances surrounding the missing/cleaned case Microsoft should at least apologize to the guy.
http://games.slashdot.org/article.pl.../03/01/0044222
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March 1st, 2008, 01:38 Posted By: wraggster
Heres the list of whats new:
Brave One (HD DVD + DVD Combo Format) (~Jodie Foster, Terrence Howard) US US$ 35.99
No Reservations (~Catherine Zeta-jones, Aaron Eckhart, ...) JPN US$ 47.90
Railway Story - Shin Sekai Tetsudo Roman Kiko - Canada Part-1 [HD DVD Twin Format] JPN US$ 35.90
Railway Story - Shin Sekai Tetsudo Roman Kiko - Canada Part.2 [HD DVD Twin Format] JPN US$ 35.90
Rain In The Mountains (~Dan Brunell, Nick Erb) US US$ 29.95
The Brother From Another Planet (~Joe Morton, Darryl Edwards, ...) JPN US$ 39.90
http://www.play-asia.com/SOap-23-83-...9-en-84-n.html
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March 1st, 2008, 01:22 Posted By: wraggster
Newly released today:
features
Platform: Sony PlayStation 3 and X-Box 360
Pages: 176
Co-op strategy: Whether human or AI, you'll always have a partner. Prima details how to take advantage of the integral cooperative play.
Maps: The world's hot spots are confusing places. Prima's guide has the recon to keep you on task and safe.
Equipment Customization: Shotgun or sub-machine gun? Laser sight or rifle stock? You want the right tool for the job and Prima can give you the intel on what gear will serve you best.
Battle-tested tactics
Tips to make the most of Aggro and the full range of tactics at your disposal
Stats on all weapons and upgrades
Preview of the Army of Two: Dirty Money graphic novel
description
Prima has the intel you need to fight hard, stay strong, and cash in.
http://www.play-asia.com/SOap-23-83-...j-70-26ph.html
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March 1st, 2008, 01:10 Posted By: wraggster
When you were a kid did your parents ever do anything mean to you for their own amusement? Whatever it was, something tells us it wasn't as evil as what Jonathan's (above) family did on Christmas morning, having him unwrap an empty Xbox box with some shirts inside -- while on video, mind you -- and then everyone laughing at him when he got upset and cried over being hoodwinked. For the love of all that is holy in the gadget-loving world, that is so wrong. Despite the fact his family told Jonathan multiple times in the video, "C'mon, you know we can't afford an Xbox!", the kid's shining example of an older brother (who uploaded the video) claims that they actually did get him the console, and that he'd eventually upload the video of the "real" unwrapping. He never did. Right.
http://www.engadget.com/2008/02/29/w...e-got-an-xbox/
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February 29th, 2008, 22:13 Posted By: wraggster
Newly released today:
features
Frontline Combat System – Combat in Frontlines: Fuel of War is focused and intense, in a system that inherently promotes teamwork by creating a unified front of war.
Open World Environment – Through intensely cinematic, non-linear objectives, players assume the role of an elite soldier in the Stray Dogs Division. Based upon actual locations in Central Asia, the player enters an epic campaign featuring 7 theaters of war with a climactic ending.
Next Generation Firepower – Join the future of war with over 60 vehicles and weapons based off of real military designs of the near future. From futuristic tanks and jets to remote controlled drones and sentry guns, feel the adrenaline rush of utilizing next generation firepower on the battlefield.
Customizable Soldier System – Character customization allows you to represent your play style through character choices, weapon load out and role specialization.
Advanced Team Play – Supports up to 32+ players on Console and 64+ players on PC via LAN or Internet for large scale wars online utilizing shared targeting systems, squad-based VOIP and more to promote teamwork.
description
Frontlines™: Fuel of War™ is an open-world First Person Shooter set in the next Great War. In a world ravaged by a global energy crisis, environmental decay, and economic depression, players assume the role of an elite soldier in the “Stray Dogs” strike force in the Western Coalition Army on an epic crusade against the Red Star Alliance to control the last of the world’s oil reserves in the Caspian. Frontlines: Fuel of War combines intensely cinematic, non-linear game play, with next generation firepower and a revolutionary frontline combat system to deliver the most thrilling and engaging FPS to date.
http://www.play-asia.com/SOap-23-83-...j-70-2hcv.html
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February 29th, 2008, 22:05 Posted By: wraggster
It's no secret that around these parts, we love demos. In fact, we love them so much that when a game doesn't have a demo, we start to get a little nervous. "What are they hiding?" we wonder aloud, much to the chagrin of our friends and family. So you can imagine our disappointment when we read today that we shouldn't be expecting a demo for Rockstar's upcoming crime epic, Grand Theft Auto IV.
OK, so that doesn't necessarily have us worried about the quality (it is GTA after all), and their excuses for going sans demo do make sense. But will that stop us from being moderately grumpy for the next hour as a result? No. No it won't.
http://www.joystiq.com/2008/02/28/no...theft-auto-iv/
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February 29th, 2008, 22:01 Posted By: wraggster
Will the epic Japanese RPG Lost Odyssey be a one-off piece of gaming history, or is the title destined for franchising and perennial iterations? As much as we wish it were the former, a brief quote from a Microsoft exec suggests that the "odyssey" may only be getting started.
Speaking with the executive officer for Microsoft Japan's Home & Entertainment division, Nikkei Trendy reports that the company is pleased with the sales of Lost Odyssey, and expects the popularity of the "series" to grow over time. While this could very well be a miscommunication, it's certainly logical to assume that Microsoft would want to extend the life of one the 360's few JRPGs.
http://www.joystiq.com/2008/02/29/ru...ls-on-the-way/
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