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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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October 17th, 2006, 17:00 Posted By: wraggster
Bad news for those anticipating a bit of wall-covering Gears of War action before its November 17 release date - there will be no demo before the shooter hits the shops, and perhaps not even afterwards, says Epic VP Mark Rein.
Responding to an Xbox.com image that misleadingly flagged a Gears of War demo, Rein posted the following message on the official Gears forum:
"It just isn't true. There is no demo coming out before the game ships and I have no idea if we'll do one after the game ships or not. Right now there are no plans to do one as I said earlier in this thread. I have asked Microsoft to take that image down."
There you have it then, straight from the horse's mouth. You're going to have to wait for the final product to hit the shops before you sample Gears' Locust-chainsawing goodness.
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October 17th, 2006, 16:57 Posted By: wraggster
In preparation for the immense cash-raking that will no-doubt commence post-release, EA has released eight new Need for Speed: Carbon screenshots, showing off the fancy motors you could soon be pimping on your Xbox 360 or any other console of choice.
In case you missed it, rickety canyon racing is the hook in Carbon, rival-gang race-offs determining which city territory your crew nabs and who ends up plummeting their Citroen Saxo off a cliff edge.
Screens Here
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October 17th, 2006, 16:56 Posted By: wraggster
Previous Sonic instalments, Sonic Heroes and Sonic Adventure 2, were criticised for focusing too heavily on multiple characters, the loudest fan cries asking for more Sonic and less shooting/hammering/frog chasing.
Unfortunately though, out of these 12 screenshots we count two with the blue spiky one in them.
Sonic the Hedgehog is out on 360 this Christmas, with a PS3 version arriving alongside the console next year.
Screens Here
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October 17th, 2006, 13:02 Posted By: Darksaviour69
Middleware solution available for next-gen Xbox development
Valve's Source Engine is now available as a middleware solution for Xbox 360, where it will compete for market share with the likes of Unreal Engine 3.
Optimised to make the most of Xbox 360's graphical hardware, and to support Xbox Live, the newly refined Source Engine for Xbox 360 is suitable “whether [developers are] pursuing a traditional FPS, RTS, RPG or delving into new genres,” according to Valve boss Gabe Newell.
Valve is already using the Source Engine on Xbox 360 to develop Half-Life 2: Episode Two and accompanying titles Team Fortress 2 and Portal. Half-Life 2 and Half-Life 2: Episode One will also form part of the bundle.
That package is also due out on PlayStation 3, and being co-developed by Electronic Arts' UK studio, but a representative admitted last night that it was not currently working with Sony on middleware for PS3.
Source:gamesindustry.biz
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October 16th, 2006, 17:15 Posted By: wraggster
November is looking like a busy month for 360 shooter fans. The carnage kicks off on Xbox 360 first on November 10, with Gears Of War and Rainbow 6: Vegas following only weeks later.
The PS2 version is due on November 24 and World War Wii launches on December 1, a week before Nintendo's next-gen system goes in sale in Europe. The PS3 version is currently set for next March.
Interestingly there's a distinct lack of ANY release date for the Xbox version, which was seen up and running only a few weeks ago at an Activision event in Paris.
We know that because we were there. We've put a call into Activision to see it the Xbox version has been quietly canned, but no one was available to comment.
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October 16th, 2006, 17:14 Posted By: wraggster
From midnight Pacific Time on Tuesday October 17 for up to 24 hours, or from around 8.00am or 9.00am Tuesday morning our time, depending on where in Europe you're hiding, Microsoft will flick the 'off' switch for XBL for up to 24 hours.
Why? "Because we're adding some cool stuff. And we have to take the service and xbox.com offline in order to do it," says Microsoft although it won't tell us what, apart from the fact that it's not a Dashboard update.
The planned downtime should last no longer than 24 hours, all going well...
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October 16th, 2006, 17:13 Posted By: wraggster
Hot on the heels of the recently opened Xbox Live beta, Sega sends us a handful of Phantasy Star Universe images.
It took ages to connect but we managed to begin our beta adventure at the weekend. We got to shoot monsters, pick up items we're not strong enough to use and pull some funny poses in front of a futuristic fountain. So far, so good then.
These new shots undoubtedly make the game look more exciting that what we've got up to thus far, but we'll keep plugging away and bring you a hands-on preview as soon as we've got something interesting to talk about.
PSU will be out on 360 next month for PC, PS2 and 360.
Screens Here
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October 16th, 2006, 17:11 Posted By: wraggster
As disclosed last week, the latest Rainbow Six is to use the Xbox 360 Vision Camera to put YOUR face into the game. Now we've got screens showing exactly how it works.
The N64 edition of Perfect Dark originally had a similar feature lined up, using the Game Boy Camera to stick a player's mugs onto virtual combatants, but it was eventually canned because of Daily Mail-enduced controversy.
But as you can see Rainbow Six's face tech is a bit more advanced than the Game Boy's black and white snaps, and we're very much looking forward to putting our arses onto the Rainbow teams' faces and shooting-up some terrorist scum.
All going well, Rainbow Six: Vegas will be in shops on November 24, with a demo also planned for Xbox Live next week.
Screens at CVG
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October 16th, 2006, 17:09 Posted By: wraggster
Offering the usual 200 points Arcade games wield, most of Lumines Live's achievements are focused on the Time Attack mode, requiring hefty block scores to unlock. Frankly with our ninja Lumines skills, we reckon it'll take us a couple of hours tops to unlock the lot (we're a modest lot, us).
The list in its entirety is as follows:
20 points: Clear "Base" - Clear one round of Challenge Mode "Base"
20 points: 20K - Play Challenge Mode "Base" and score 20,000 points
10 points: Time Attack 60sec: 30 blocks - Play Time Attack Mode 60sec. and erase 30 blocks
10 points: Time Attack 180sec: 90 blocks - Play Time Attack Mode 180sec. and erase 90 blocks
10 points: Time Attack 300sec: 150 blocks - Play Time Attack Mode 300sec. and erase 150 blocks
10 points: Time Attack 600sec: 300 blocks - Play Time Attack Mode 600sec. and erase 300 blocks
20 points: Time Attack 60sec: 70 blocks - Play Time Attack Mode 60sec. and erase 70 blocks
20 points: Time Attack 180sec: 200 blocks - Play Time Attack Mode 180sec. and erase 200 blocks
20 points: Time Attack 300sec: 300 blocks - Play Time Attack Mode 300sec. and erase 300 blocks
20 points: Time Attack 600sec: 600 blocks - Play Time Attack Mode 600sec. and erase 600 blocks
20 points: Half Million - Play Challenge Mode and score 500,000 points
20 points: Single Lap Quarter Million - Play a Single Lap of the Skin Edit Mode and score 250,000 points
There's currently no solid release date for the Live Arcade version of Lumines, but be sure we'll let you know as soon as possible.
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October 16th, 2006, 17:06 Posted By: wraggster
The arch-nemesis of CVG's social life has arrived on Xbox Live Marketplace; a demo of Sam Fisher's latest terrorist-busting, Splinter Cell: Double Agent, which has had us sitting in the dark shouting obscenities at the telly for most of the weekend.
The demo ways in at a hefty 702MB and lets you sample the excellent multiplayer section of Double Agent, which in case you missed previous Clancy stealth offerings, has you playing as either a spy or mercenary in a game of hide a seek - with guns.
This time around teams are expanded to three a piece, and spies have fancy new hacking gadgets that they can use to break glass and steal computer data.
As for the full game, according to Ubisoft's release schedule you can find that in shops on October 27.
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October 15th, 2006, 11:05 Posted By: wraggster
In an interview with The New York Times, Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer discussed the naming of Microsoft's Xbox and Zune products:
"When it came time to name Xbox, there was certainly a class of people who wanted to have Microsoft and/or Windows more prominent. They all lost. And it was a wise choice. Not because Microsoft is bad. But it wouldn't have meant what it needed to mean to that audience. And Zune could have been Microsoft music system or Microsoft entertainment system or Xpod, I guess. But again, we thought the experience was different and it was worth giving its own identity."
Well of course ya didn't name it the Xpod, ya big silly! We'd expect it to play games if you had named it that, and Zune has no capability in the games department. (Looks like Apple beat you to the whole Xpod thing, anyway.)
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October 15th, 2006, 11:03 Posted By: wraggster
Sony and Nintendo have promised that gamers who purchase the PlayStation 3 and Wii will be able to browse the web from the comfort of their couches. Sony will accomplish this through their own custom web browser while Nintendo has partnered with Opera Software to install a trial version of the Opera browser on the Wii.
This led a friend of mine to ask me the following question: "Why doesn't the Xbox 360 have its own browser?"
Good question, Vikas!
We don't want a complicated solution that requires an operating system (though, at any given time, we've got all kinds of computers on around the house). We just want to turn on the dang console and be able to browse Youtube every once in a while, maybe between sips of mind-slurrying substances. It'd be neat.
Now where is it?
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October 14th, 2006, 14:49 Posted By: wraggster
The original Dead Or Alive Xtreme Beach Volleyball was a little bit light on mini-games. There was basically the Pool Hopping event and that was it. But Tecmo has dug deep for the 360 sequel though. Here's what was unlocked and playable in the recent X06 build:
Marine Race (short)
Marine Race (medium)
Marine Race (long)
Pool Hopping
Beach Flags
Tug Of War
Butt Battles
By far the most pervy was Butt Battles, which Tecmo describes as "a competitive conflict of perfect posteriors." We've played it and it's mental - absolutely off it's head.
Two DOA girls stand bum-to-bum on an inflatable in the middle of a pool and attempt to push the other one off by banging their bums into each other. It's like something from classic TV show, It's A Knockout!
All you need to use is the left thumb stick, which controls your butt bangs by flicking the stick towards your opponent. Move it away from your opponent and your chosen honey will push her belly out, avoiding an attack. It a bit like what you do when someone 'funny' wraps up a wet towel and ties to whip you on the ass. The trick is to dodge an attack, and then hit back straight away or anticipate what your opponent will do and when.
There's some comedy use of the camera too as all it focuses on is the rear ends. Each game is the best of three rounds and there are plenty of different bikini and thong bottoms to ogle over.
Other modes revealed in the recent X06 build included a Virtual Pictorial, which from what we could tell was just hundreds of softcore snaps of the girls in various locations and positions (!). The Marine Races are basically Jet-Ski races against the clock that vary in length. They're not Wave Race either...
Beach Flags is simply a race to grab a flag stuck into the sand. Both girls lie belly-down on the sand. When you get the green light you have to hammer the A button and than hit B to make a dive for the flag. Finally, Tug Of War does exactly what it says on the tin.
There's no European release date yet for Dead Or Alive: Xtreme 2 but we've rustled up a few shots featuring the above mini-games, which we may or may not have posted before.
Screenshots Here
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October 14th, 2006, 01:46 Posted By: wraggster
Microsoft's Xbox 360 maintained hardware sales figures in Japan from the week prior on stronger software selection to bolster increased interest in the territory.
Media Create Co. on Fri. reported that the 360 sold 2,101 units from Oct. 2 - Oct. 8. The week prior, the hardware sold 2,195 units.
The consistent sales were helped by two new Xbox 360 releases in Japan and Capcom's prior week release of Dead Rising.
The Xbox 360 has performed poorly against handheld offerings in Japan like the Nintendo DS and the PSP. Microsoft will drop new RPG offerings like Blue Dragon and Eternal Sonata to boost future sales.
Microsoft has sold over 5 million Xbox 360 units to date, mostly in the U.S. and Europe.
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October 14th, 2006, 01:10 Posted By: wraggster
There's a fascinating article up on Next Generation that drops this tidbit: the Xbox 360 Division lost $1.26 billion in fiscal 2006.
Why is Microsoft willing to put up with this? Defense:
"Remember that Microsoft partly entered the game console business for defensive reasons," Rosoff said. "The company was concerned that a PlayStation successor would become the default gateway to networked entertainment in the home--Ken Kutaragi promised as much--and cut into consumer PC sales."
He continued, "It's very hard to calculate the worth of a defensive business. I personally think Sony will have a really hard time with the PS3--fewer games at launch, $200 price premium, and yet they're losing more money per console than Microsoft is on the 360. More long-term, imagine no PlayStation 4 and how Microsoft might profit from such an environment."
The 10 million number that Peter Moore keeps yakking about is apparently the magic number of consoles sold that guarantees third-party developers to choose you are their focus, guaranteeing heavy royalties. Great reading.
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October 13th, 2006, 20:31 Posted By: wraggster
Via Spong
Xbox and women don’t mix too well. Despite Microsoft’s PR hyperbole about wanting to reach new markets (read ‘the ladies’) we all know that the company’s Corporate VP ‘of games’, Peter Moore’s ideal consumer is a young, male college graduate, who's also a sports fan and who enjoys playing Madden online with his buddies.
In other words, a jock. Moore admitted as much himself in an interview earlier this year.
Despite making noises about broadening the appeal of Xbox to the fairer sex, Moore is also reported in today’s Washington Post, “the coming lineup of games for the [360] system features mostly the same old violent, guy-oriented titles that have long given the industry a bad rep.”
Gears of War, which SPOnG has played and can confirm is truly going to be up there as one of our games of the year, is hardly being marketed to female gamers. This is not a sexist attitude on behalf of Microsoft, merely a calculated commercial strategy. And if there are ladies out there who have a deep love for visceral, violent action games, then please tell us more in the forums.
To be fair, Microsoft’s superb Pokémon-a-like Viva Pinata, is going to broaden the 360’s appeal amongst younger gamers – but will they be able to market this and other similar titles well enough to encourage the mums to get involved in playing the game with their children?
The Post news goes on to heap praise on Nintendo for managing to convert a writer/photographer called Tracey Clark, a mother of two girls, ages 8 and 3 and writer of a well-known blog about motherhood-related issues. The Clark family doesn’t own any game consoles.
Nintendo rocked-up to Clark’s drive last month in a truck containing four large-screen televisions and four Wii consoles, to let the Clark family and friends spend the day playing Wii.
Previously unsold on videogaming, Clark told the Post this week, “I think it’s fantastic marketing…moms are who spend the money; moms are the ones who go shopping for their kids.”
SPOnG just spoke with Nikki Sharpe, a friend and mother of four boys, from the ages of eight up to sixteen, who expressed a similar opinion when quizzed about the Xbox 360 and the Wii, telling us, “I don’t really know anything about the Xbox 360. My eldest has a PS2 and wants a PS3 whenever that comes out.”
She continued, “I’m actually looking forward to playing Wii with all the boys when it comes out, which is a first. I’ve never personally had any interest in computer games whatever, but this one looks a bit different, a lot easier and like it might be more of a laugh for us all to play together.”
SPOnG just spoke with Rob Saunders, Nintendo's UK PR manager, who told us that the company will be announcing their trade marketing plans with details of how they intend to appeal to the mothers of the UK later next week.
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October 13th, 2006, 17:28 Posted By: wraggster
Reader Pete was lucky enough to attend a presentation that Microsoft and Toshiba were giving about their respective HD DVD players—Microsoft with a production sample Xbox 360 attachment and Toshiba with their HD-A2 and HD-XA2 second-generation HD DVD players.
We got to view some HD-DVDs discs that aren't out yet, and the picture quality was absolutely stunning. [redacted] made it clear that we couldn't discuss what titles we saw. These were 4th or 5th generation HD-DVD titles, and they really have the VC-1 encoding down to a science. They told us to keep the actual bit-rates secret, but they are only slightly higer than regular DVD bitrates which is astounding. (and we're talking about 1080p 24fps video here).
We watched everything on a 50" Pioneer Elite 1080p plasma, which i kind of thought was cheating - everything looked incredible on it. The 360 was hooked up via component, outputting 1080i. Definitely no 1080p over component - that's blocked by the AACS copy protection. The plasma, however reconstructed the 1080p from the discs perfectly, and it you would expect it to for $10k.
Some things I found out, and can talk about is the 360 HD-DVD drive can be plugged into a PC and it will be recognized as an optical drive, but will not play HD-DVD movies. I asked what if you have the proper HD-DVD software on the PC, to that [redacted] said that he didn't know, it hadn't been tried yet- maybe there's something there...
He toed the old 360-won't-have-hdmi line. He cited cost as the deciding factor when they were developing the hardware. He said that the HDCP and the ICT flag will never be a issue becasue the install base of the 360 HD-DVD drive will be so large (he said millions, mabye tens of millions) that any studio that decided to implement ICT would be roasted alive in the press. They wouldn't say how many HD-DVD drives would be available at launch (Nov 17, i think), but later on during different questions/conversations they said there would be "a couple hundred thousand", and "several hundred thousand" for the holidays. Random 360 HD-DVD bits - all the HD-DVD decoding is done in software, the HD-DVD drive will come with the media remote and the King Kong HD-DVD.
We all got "preliminary" spec sheets on the new HD-A2, and HD-XA2 - no new info there, although the HD-A2 is supposed to drop next week, HD-XA2 drops in Nov/Dec.
I asked if the old models would ever get 1080p output through firmware, to which they replied an definitive no, but the old players would not be abandoned, firmware-wise.
So to summarize, the 360 HD DVD can be hooked up to a PC, and has a slight chance it can be used as a player if you have the right software. The first generation HD DVD players from Toshiba are SOL and will never get 1080p, and the Xbox 360 HD DVD will only have 1080i via component.
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October 13th, 2006, 17:10 Posted By: wraggster
New for Xbox 360 in Asia:
From the manufacturer: Put a face to your gaming experience and make the most out of your Xbox Live® Gold subscription with crystal clear video chat and messaging. Both Xbox Live Vision packages also include the Xbox Live Arcade hits UNO and Totemball, available for download from Xbox Live Marketplace.
Initial supply of the Asian Version Xbox Live Vision camera is in stock today, available at US$ 39.90 only. The Japanese Version of this product is on preorder to ship early November at the same price. Also available is the US Version Xbox Live Vision Gold Pack (w/ 12-Month Gold Subscription) at US$ 79.90 respectively.
Product features:
Maximize your Xbox Live Gold subscription with video chat and video messaging (Gold membership required for video chat).
Put a face on your gamertag and make yourself known to the people on your friends list.
Bring gesture-based games to life using your body movements to control the action.
Supports games designed with "face in game" technology for a personalized gaming experience—add your face to your character in-game.
Crystal-clear images are a snap with VGA 640H x 480V video at 30 frames per second and still photos at 1.3 mega-pixels.
More Info --> http://www.play-asia.com/SOap-23-83-...9-en-84-n.html
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October 13th, 2006, 16:50 Posted By: wraggster
Microsoft is planning to shut down Xbox Live for a whole day next week, but apparently it's not for the highly anticipated autumn dashboard update.
The service and Xbox.com will be down starting midnight Pacific Time (7AM BST) on 17th October for "up to 24 hours".
Why? "Because we're adding some cool stuff," according to Xbox.com. What? "Secret cool stuff that we'll tell you about when we're back online October 18. Other stuff we'll be talking about later in the fall."
Okay then.
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October 13th, 2006, 16:36 Posted By: wraggster
News from Divineo USA
Since the SP adapter is unavailable at the moment, we created a package of one Xenium Gold and one Generic Solderless Adapter.
The Generic Solderless Adapter is fully compatible with the Xenium Gold, and do the exact same thing than the SP adapter. Like the SP adapter, it work on all xbox version.
And of course, like any other product, this combo is protected by the divineo warranty.
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