|
|
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
|
October 10th, 2007, 22:37 Posted By: wraggster
Janco Partners' Mike Hickey estimates 4.4 million Halo 3 units sold in its first week, noting that the figure corresponds to a 67% attach rate to U.S. Xbox 360s and 46% for Europe and the U.S. combined. That's far higher than the 3.3 million units Halo 2 sold in its first three weeks -- a mere 30% attach rate to the U.S. Xbox installed base at the time.
Saying that even anticipating a 20% attach rate for GTA IV was exceedingly conservative, Hickey noted that while it may not reach the 46% rate Halo 3 achieved, even a 30% attach rate would mean first week sales of 6.2 million units -- far above Halo's own.
"If the upcoming release of GTA IV attached at the same rate as Halo 3," said Hickey, "the title could conceivably ship 9.5 million units of game in the first week, producing an astonishing $466 million in sales," concluding that the title, despite the delay, could have a "profound impact" on Take-Two relative to current financial projections.
http://www.gamasutra.com/php-bin/new...hp?story=15793
To read more of the post and Download, click here!
 Join In and Discuss Here
Submit News and Releases Here and Contact Us for Reviews and Advertising Here |
|
 |
|
|
|
October 10th, 2007, 19:33 Posted By: Shrygue
via Eurogamer
Bungie has quietly introduced a few matchmaking changes for Halo 3 fans.
"Halo 3's Matchmaking Playlists, just like Halo 2's, are dynamic and ever-changing entities," the developer explained on its website.
"Even now in the perilous Bungie towers, we're looking at new hoppers, gametypes and modes to test for future iterations and changes of these playlists."
This week's changes mean that Big Team Battle matches are now 16-player, while attacking players in one-sided VIP matches now get a waypoint for the VIP and Slayer gametypes appear more frequently in Lone Wolves.
"Shotty Snipers" are now also "greatly reduced" in Team Slayer, and no longer turn up in games they've been vetoed from
To read more of the post and Download, click here!
Join In and Discuss Here
Submit News and Releases Here and Contact Us for Reviews and Advertising Here |
|
|
|
|
|
October 9th, 2007, 21:55 Posted By: Shrygue
via Computer and Video Games
A playable demo of the daddy of 360 racing games is now up on Xbox Live Marketplace. Give the bikes a try for yourself...
Take a look at a quick movie we grabbed off the demo to your right.
As we reported back in September, the demo even features content not seen in the final game. This officially makes it a collector's item and we're downloading the 1.3GB demo right now.
You get to race three exotic cars and two bikes across courses based in Macau and a snowy Nürburgring. There's an exclusive Nürburgring Snow Challenge to fail miserably at as well as unique arcade events.
To read more of the post and Download, click here!
Join In and Discuss Here
Submit News and Releases Here and Contact Us for Reviews and Advertising Here |
|
|
|
|
|
October 9th, 2007, 20:17 Posted By: wraggster
According to Jesse Divnich, an analyst with the simExchange (an online prediction market for the game industry), Microsoft's newly announced holiday bundles (which include Forza Motorsport 2 and Marvel Ultimate Alliance) will lead to a slight dip in U.S. Xbox 360 hardware sales as consumers wait for the new bundles at the end of the month. The prediction market shows a decreased forecast for Xbox 360 sales in October from an expected 315,000 units down to 304,000 units.
That said, Divnich noted that "Microsoft will more than make up for the lost 10,000 sales in November and December when the bundle is released," and that the bundle "will ultimately increase Microsoft's market share in the home console market and will continue to widen the gap between the Xbox 360 and Sony's PS3."
"The prediction market is expecting a $399 PS3 to have minimal impact on Xbox 360 sales overall," Divnich commented to GameDaily BIZ.
http://biz.gamedaily.com/industry/feature/?id=17703
To read more of the post and Download, click here!
Join In and Discuss Here
Submit News and Releases Here and Contact Us for Reviews and Advertising Here |
|
|
|
|
|
October 9th, 2007, 18:55 Posted By: Shrygue
via Computer and Video Games
Microsoft sends word that this week's pair of Xbox Live Arcade releases will be addictive RPG puzzler Puzzle Quest and advert game Yaris (which has everything to do with the motor).
Puzzle Quest: Challenge of the Warlords, we're told, is the cheapest version yet of the ultra-polished puzzle game, and should already be drawing in the certain journalists in CVG's office who play the DS version in the pub, instead of being sociable or looking at pretty girls.
The XBLA version sports a single-player campaign mode and offline multiplayer bouts. It's yours for 1200 points - well worth the price if you know how addictive it is.
Yaris meanwhile is a Toyota advert game that we know bugger all about. It's probably going to be rubbish but we're not complaining - free achievments!
Read more about Puzzle Quest: Challenge of the Warlords on Xbox.com.
To read more of the post and Download, click here!
Join In and Discuss Here
Submit News and Releases Here and Contact Us for Reviews and Advertising Here |
|
|
|
|
|
October 9th, 2007, 18:42 Posted By: Shrygue
via Eurogamer
Microsoft could be preparing a special Halo 3 Premium 360 (HDMI) bundle in time for Christmas.
Rumours emerged from Game Portugal (pointed out by Kotaku), who produced a listing stating it would cost 409.96 (GBP 283.68).
This was followed by Spanish forum elotrolado.net publishing pictures of a purchased bundle, flaunting Master Chief on the packaging and a special "bundle" copy of the game.
The photographs also showed the HMDI port, Hitachi DVD drive, general contents and pictures of the receipt, showing EUR 384.90 (266.38) as the price.
Microsoft was unavailable to comment at the time of writing.
Yesterday the platform holder confirmed it would be bundling copies of Forza 2 and Marvel Ultimate Alliance in with Xbox 360 and Xbox 360 Elite units as part of a special Christmas deal in the US, adding up to a saving of around USD 90 if you were to buy the games separately.
To read more of the post and Download, click here!
Join In and Discuss Here
Submit News and Releases Here and Contact Us for Reviews and Advertising Here |
|
|
|
|
|
October 9th, 2007, 18:40 Posted By: Shrygue
via Computer and Video Games
Rockstar's LA Noire won't release on Xbox 360 because Microsoft's console can't handle the sheer size of the game, a blog post on the game is claiming.
Surfer Girl Reviews also has a number of other titbits about the title in development at Team Bondi.
It says it'll be a free-roaming affair, presenting players with a historically accurate recreation of Los Angeles, 1947, with attention to detail going right down to ensuring in-game characters wear the appropriate clothing for the period.
On top of that, it's mentioned that a US Marine plays a key role in the LA Noire story and the game will feature side-missions based on actual cases of 1947.
LA Noire's previously been described as an "interactive detective story set in the classic noir period of the late 1940s". If the information in the blog is accurate, it'll be the first proper details we've had on the title.
To read more of the post and Download, click here!
Join In and Discuss Here
Submit News and Releases Here and Contact Us for Reviews and Advertising Here |
|
|
|
|
|
October 8th, 2007, 20:42 Posted By: wraggster
Hot on the heels of a price reduction for all Xbox 360 consoles, Microsoft is now giving holiday buyers even more value by including two great games with every Xbox 360 console and Xbox 360 Elite, a retail savings of $90 for consumers. The acclaimed "Forza Motorsport 2" (Microsoft Game Studios) and "Marvel Ultimate Alliance" (Activision) will both be included for the recently reduced prices of $349.99 (U.S.) for Xbox 360 and $449.99 (U.S.) for Xbox 360 Elite. Both bundles will be available retail-wide by the end of October.
Xbox 360 offers the best value this holiday and is the only place you can play all the titles in the greatest holiday line-up of video game in history. This line-up includes "Halo 3" (MGS), which became the fastest-selling video game ever and is making history as one of the biggest entertainment launches of all time.
"Halo 3" (MGS) is just one title in an incredible holiday line-up that are all only available on one game platform, Xbox 360. Starting with "Madden NFL 08" (EA Sports), Xbox 360 has an unprecedented string of no less than seven blockbuster titles, each of which we expect to sell at least a million units, including "BioShock" (2K Games), the record breaking "Halo 3" (GS) "Project Gotham Racing 4" (MGS), "Mass Effect" (MGS), "Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock" (Activision) and "Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare" (Activision).
Xbox 360 is home to the most critically acclaimed next generation games according to Metacritic.com, the leading aggregator of game reviews from more than 100 publications. Of the top 30 next generation game titles on Metacritic.com, 21 are on Xbox 360 and five games exclusive to Xbox 360 score above 90 out of 100. In fact, "Forza Motorsport 2" (MGS) has received an aggregate review score of 90, producing a "Universal Acclaim" rating.
The most-respected game reviewers have spoken and according to them, Xbox 360 has more than double the games of the Playstation 3 and Wii receiving a score of 90 or higher.
To read more of the post and Download, click here!
Join In and Discuss Here
Submit News and Releases Here and Contact Us for Reviews and Advertising Here |
|
|
|
|
|
October 8th, 2007, 18:44 Posted By: Shrygue
via Computer and Video Games
A demo of THQ's Conan has hacked and slashed its way onto Xbox Live, and is also set to hit PlayStation Network on October 11.
"In the Conan playable demo", says THQ, "the famed barbarian finds himself stranded in the Barachan Isles, a haven for pirates and thieves. A terrible plague known as the Black Death has spread across the land, and Conan must escape before it consumes him as well."
It continues, "Fortunately, Conan crosses paths with the beautiful and fearless warrior queen, A'Kanna, whose ship can provide safe passage from the cursed islands. However, Conan must first save the ship's crew, which has been enslaved by the local cutthroats."
So, ah, you fill Conan's boots and batter "a horde of scurvy pirates". Apparently the demo let's you to execute a portion of the game's 100+ fighting moves and combinations.
To read more of the post and Download, click here!
Join In and Discuss Here
Submit News and Releases Here and Contact Us for Reviews and Advertising Here |
|
|
|
|
|
October 8th, 2007, 18:35 Posted By: Shrygue
via Eurogamer
Empire Interactive has said that Speedball II: Brutal Deluxe will be on Live Arcade next Wednesday.
It will cost you 800 points (GBP 6.80 / EUR 9.30) and feature more teams, better graphics - including a 3D option, head-to-head online multiplayer and an improved upgrade system.
Speedball is a sport roughly based around rugby and American football, which takes place in the futuristic year of 2105. Two teams of nine players face off against each other, and score points by throwing an Oympic hammer-like ball through a goal at either end - or against some flashing pads on the wall for bonuses.
Other than that, there are next to no rules, so you're free to - and encouraged to - ram your fist into opposing chops, or casually thrust your helmeted head into squishy facial features
"Live Arcade is the ideal environment for this exciting new high definition version of Speedball," said Ian Higgins, boss at publisher Empire Interactive. "With the addition of extra content packs and downloadable content, gamers will at last have the ultimate version of the game."
Speedball II: Brutal Deluxe will also have the normal spattering of 12 Achievements and 200 Gamerpoints, as well as leaderboards to show everybody how good you are.
To read more of the post and Download, click here!
Join In and Discuss Here
Submit News and Releases Here and Contact Us for Reviews and Advertising Here |
|
|
|
|
|
October 8th, 2007, 15:53 Posted By: Shrygue
via Engadget
As reader Ty claims, apparently the above Xbox 360 melting occurred when he and his pals, setting up to conduct a furious Halo 3 LAN match, ran out of space enough for an Xbox everywhere in the house except on the kitchen stove. Someone turns the range on and presto change-o: grilled Xbox.
Ok, the story doesn't quite add up, but there's no denying the box is melted. And that leaves us preoccupied with wrapping our heads deciding what's more mind-blowingly ironic: that the melted console's owner cared enough about heat that he kitted his Xbox with a 3rd party cooling device, or that despite it all, this particular ring of death apparently didn't even brick the thing.
A couple more pohotgraphs here
To read more of the post and Download, click here!
Join In and Discuss Here
Submit News and Releases Here and Contact Us for Reviews and Advertising Here |
|
|
|
|
|
October 7th, 2007, 20:47 Posted By: wraggster
For the week ending September 30 (six days after launch) Halo 3 has climbed into the 2nd best selling spot of all time for an Xbox 360 title, landing in over 70,000 Australian living rooms.
Software and accessories (including the special Halo 3 edition console) garnered Microsoft over AU$9 million in revenue.
Other points of note from the Halo 3 initial release week
* Xbox 360 hardware sales increased by 55 percent over the w/e 23 September
* Xbox 360 hardware sales for September increased by 158 percent over August
* Xbox 360 was the number one selling console for September
* Xbox 360 held 31 percent total market share for September, more than any other platform
* Xbox 360 hardware, software and accessories generated over $30m in September, over 50 percent more than any other platform
http://www.itwire.com/content/view/14759/532/
To read more of the post and Download, click here!
Join In and Discuss Here
Submit News and Releases Here and Contact Us for Reviews and Advertising Here |
|
|
|
|
|
October 7th, 2007, 20:46 Posted By: wraggster
Brian Jarrard, franchise and community director for Bungie explains how a phenomenally successful wholly-owned studio can up and walk away from its parent. Next-Gen's interview within...
* How exactly does this whole "split" work out? How does a studio that was acquired in 2000, a wholly-owned studio, just get up and take off with its name and studio intact?
* Well, it was an interesting set of discussions, as you can imagine. It's been going on for quite a while. Ultimately, it was something that we had to do as a group to creatively continue to expand and continue what we want to do. As [Bungie's Jason Jones] so aptly put it, we're a shark that just has to keep moving to stay alive, otherwise we felt that we'd start to stagnate and potentially lose interest, and maybe even lose some of our teams.
Fortunately for us, Microsoft realized that, and they've been very accommodating to help us work through this and come to an arrangement that ultimately is going to reinvigorate and empower Bungie to continue to do great games and make great games for Microsoft's platforms, as well as getting more Halo games to come from our studio as well.
At the same time, it gives us the freedom down the road to explore other opportunities and challenge ourselves and keep us engaged in what we do. It was about putting together a deal where both groups could get what they're after.
* This also means that Bungie can go multiplatform. We know that Bungie will be concentrating on the Xbox 360, but has Bungie been able to tinker around with other platforms? What do you think of PS3, Wii and the handhelds?
* To be honest, we haven't really put any serious thought into that at all right now. Typically speaking, that opportunity could exist for us down the road and possibly those prospects are exciting for some of our engineers, but on the other hand, we've only made one game for the 360 and that game happened to turn out very, very well. The platform's been really good to us, Microsoft has been really good to us. So for now we're just taking it all in stride. We've got our hands full with some 360 commitments and that's going to keep us occupied for quite a while.
Beyond that, anything's possible, but it's too early to say. We don't have any dev kits in the building for other platforms. There's nothing like that going on right now.
http://www.next-gen.biz/index.php?op...=7416&Itemid=2
To read more of the post and Download, click here!
Join In and Discuss Here
Submit News and Releases Here and Contact Us for Reviews and Advertising Here |
|
|
|
|
|
October 7th, 2007, 20:45 Posted By: wraggster
IGN has the scoop on the status on the Halo movie project. Neill Blomkamp, the director attached to the project, provided an update on the big screen debut of Master Chief:
"The film is entirely dead. In the configuration it was in. Whatever happens with that movie, assuming that movie gets made, will be a totally different configuration," Blomkamp informed Creativity-Online.com. "It's not so much me as the entire vessel sank. Basically, it was a combination of; there were two studios involved that weren't getting along in the process of making it, Universal and Fox. That kind of stuff happens, it's a fragile industry. So the film collapsed at the end of last year, and it's been dead, ever since then. I'll be curious to see what happens."
http://news.teamxbox.com/xbox/14732/...-RIP-20052007/
To read more of the post and Download, click here!
Join In and Discuss Here
Submit News and Releases Here and Contact Us for Reviews and Advertising Here |
|
|
|
|
|
October 7th, 2007, 20:45 Posted By: wraggster
Lite-On IT, the largest Taiwan-based maker of optical disc drives (ODDs), has received additional OEM orders for internal DVD-ROM drives for use in Xbox 360 consoles from Microsoft and consequently has given top priority to Microsoft's orders in allocating its total production capacity, according to sources from the ODD components industry in Taiwan.
To meet Microsoft's urgent demand, Lite-On IT has allocated production capacity solely for turning out one million Xbox 360 DVD-ROM drives a month, the sources pointed out. But the capacity is still not enough, and thus Lite-On IT has dedicated additional capacity, the sources indicated.
Lite-On IT is the third OEM maker of Xbox 360 DVD-ROM drives having started shipments in June-July with an initial monthly volume of 300,000-500,000 drives, the sources said. Shipments in September were already likely close to one million drives, not including the additional orders, the sources indicated.
Microsoft has also placed additional orders with Wistron, a Taiwan-based assembly maker of Xbox 360 consoles, the sources indicated.
http://www.digitimes.com/systems/a20071004PD216.html
To read more of the post and Download, click here!
Join In and Discuss Here
Submit News and Releases Here and Contact Us for Reviews and Advertising Here |
|
|
|
|
|
October 5th, 2007, 20:42 Posted By: wraggster
Speaking to news agency Reuters, Allard was asked what the outlook was for Zune and games, to which he was generally dismissive, saying; "Thus far, the market really hasn't proven out that it is a great scenario. Customer satisfaction with what has been done isn't that high."
"I love games and maybe for someone with a 40-minute commute, it might be an interesting scenario," said Allard. Expanding on his comments of negative customers satisfaction he added: "The other challenge is with the platform. The games that you bought in your fifth generation don't run with your sixth generation. ... The rate of innovation, turnover, and variety of form factors makes it a tricky proposition.
"That said, we have a lot of flexibility and a lot of magical software," continued Allard. "What we've done with XNA is an incredibly portable environment designed to abstract some of the hardware differences. We'll see where that takes us. We're always thinking, but the Zune isn't playing Halo 3 anytime soon."
http://www.gamasutra.com/php-bin/new...hp?story=15742
To read more of the post and Download, click here!
Join In and Discuss Here
Submit News and Releases Here and Contact Us for Reviews and Advertising Here |
|
|
|
|
|
October 5th, 2007, 20:39 Posted By: wraggster
Scott Guthrie announced yesterday that Microsoft will be releasing the source code for the .NET Base CLass Libraries, Windows Forms, ADO.NET, XML, and WPF in the near future to enable easier debugging support. This is excellent news and will surely be a timesaver for many developers.
Now, before you ask: The XNA team has no current plans to release source code for the XNA Framework or other proprietary tools and runtimes. That doesn't mean it can't happen in the future (never say "Never"  ), but it's not on the table right now.
http://letskilldave.com/archive/2007...-released.aspx
To read more of the post and Download, click here!
Join In and Discuss Here
Submit News and Releases Here and Contact Us for Reviews and Advertising Here |
|
|
|
|
|
October 5th, 2007, 19:23 Posted By: Shrygue
via Eurogamer
Activision has told us that persistent Call of Duty 4 fans from the UK have forced the publisher to release a special edition box here - just like we forced it to do a Beta Test here.
And boy oh boy has it got some treats in it. Best of which is clearly the two-and-a-half hours of SAS footage that details the elite soldiers' history from their formation in the Second World War up to modern day conflicts.
There's also less interesting stuff like a "Making of" documentary and level walkthrough by developer Infinity Ward, plus an absolutely spiffing hardcover art book with lots of lovely concept pictures from the game - most you probably have never seen before.
You PC owners will have to download your guide from BradyGames on the Internet, but otherwise everything will be the same.
The special edition featuring an SAS DVD made by actual real soldiers with guns will go on sale alongside the normal game on 9th November. Prices are bombing baddies at around the GBP 39.99 mark for PC and GBP 49.99 for 360.
To read more of the post and Download, click here!
Join In and Discuss Here
Submit News and Releases Here and Contact Us for Reviews and Advertising Here |
|
|
|
|
|
October 5th, 2007, 19:03 Posted By: Shrygue
via Games Industry
Bungie is to become an independent company again, Microsoft confirmed today.
The platform holder said it will retain an equity interest in the Kirkland, Washington-based developer.
It will also continue to publish games based on the Microsoft-owned Halo IP and other future properties developed by Bungie.
Shane Kim, corporate vice president of Microsoft Game Studios, said the company was "supporting Bungie's desire to return to its independent roots".
However, he added, Microsoft "will continue to invest in our Halo entertainment property with Bungie and other partners, such as Peter Jackson, on a new interactive series set in the Halo universe".
"We look forward to great success with Bungie as our long-term relationship continues to evolve through Halo-related titles and new IP created by Bungie," he added.
Bungie studio head Harold Ryan described the move as "an exciting evolution" of the relationship with Microsoft.
"We will continue to develop with our primary focus on Microsoft’s platforms; we greatly value our mutually prosperous relationship with our publisher, Microsoft Game Studios, and we look forward to continuing that affiliation through Halo and beyond," he said.
Bungie's most recent game, Halo 3, achieved USD 300 million in sales in its first week, Microsoft said yesterday.
To read more of the post and Download, click here!
Join In and Discuss Here
Submit News and Releases Here and Contact Us for Reviews and Advertising Here |
|
|
|
|
« prev
591
592
593
594
595
596
597
598
599
600
601
602
603
604
605
606
607
608
609
610
611
next » |
|
|
