|
|
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
|
September 5th, 2005, 06:41 Posted By: Hawk07
Theres a game coming out on the 360 called Huxley. It's an MMOFPS and it looks pretty fun.
I'm sure it'll be a monthly subscription, but it might be worth it.
I'm not even into MMO's and this game is intresting me.
It's slated to come out in 2006.
What do you guys think?
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 |
|
 |
|
|
|
September 5th, 2005, 06:20 Posted By: Hawk07
Hey guys I posted this in another forum, but I thought i'd share with you guys.
There will be 3 campaigns American, Russian and British where you'll play as different soildiers within each. If your playing a British mission and it is proving to difficult, you can take a break without quitting the game by simply switching to one of the other two campaigns.
The crew picked up the controller and started to play the game for themselves. They start to tell you what is going on in this particular mission. After 5 seconds passes they say there are 3 of the games key selling points are immedietly evident. (1) Multiple paths. If your in the middle of the street with little cover from the Germans raining bullets down on you from the windows above and from the MG-42 fixed gun emplacement in the center of the road, what will you do? Unlike previous WWII games that stuck to their extremely linear, heavily scripted paths, Call of Duty 2 gives you a few choices: Do you storm into the belly of the beast, ducking behind cover wherever you can find it and lobbing hand grenades to flush out your attackers? Perhaps you could use another of the game's 360-enabled tricks: portable concealment, a.k.a. smoke grenades. Thanks to a new particle system, Call of Duty 2 boasts rediculously good-looking and realistic smoke. It had true thicknes and depth, and as Collier jokes, "It doesn't travel through walls." As a result, it adds new depth to the gameplay by allowing you to smoke out a street which screens the Germans and enables you to cross without being seen (though you'll still be blindy shot at).
Your third choice is to flank; nearly all the games missions feature more than one path to take (you can also often conquer objectives in any order you wish as well).
They go on to tell you how they beat that particular mission. Very intresting, but alot of words to type.
(2) The Battle Chatter system. As the battle wages on, it can often be difficult to keep track of everything that's happpening. At any given time, there are
double-digit numbers of Germans and an equal complement of Allies fighting them. And in game it's always frustrating to not know where you're getting shot.
So, in addition to interface indicaters that point out where the bullets in your gut originated, Infinity Ward has employed a real-life tactic it's dubbed the battle-chatter system. It enables your fellow Soildiers to call out enemies as they see them. For instance, "Ive got a shooter! Second floor, Left window!" Of course, since it's in 5.1 surround sound - a staple of every 360 experience - You'll hear your buddies no matter where the're standing. It's authentic, and in real gameplay, it's usefulness simply and unequivocally rocks.
(3) Artificial Intelligence. What good would all these features be if the Germans you fought against and the Allies you fought with were stupid, predictable automatons? Indeed, the real secret to Call of Duty 2's success is it's AI, a victory Infinity Ward credits to didicating one of the 360's 3.2GHz CPU cores solely to AI.
The enemy AI will flank you, fire from behind cover, take cover when fired upon, and yes, hurl grenades at you. (They give examples of these things happening in-game). One sweet example was, We put down the final Nazi scum, in a heated tussle using the last couple bullets in our MP40's chamber. While realoading, we noticed he was still moving, Looking closer, we saw him reach into his uniform jacket, pull out his Lugar and aim it at us with his dying breath - a truely evil attempt to take us to the grave with him. A few more bullets from our fresh clip plus a few more for good measure put him down for good.
The crater-sized impact of the game's impressive AI, though, hit us in on snowy Russian mission when we were fighting with our squad in a burned-out, wrecked building. Walls were missing and windows were simply holes in the wall. When shooting at a German soldier in a similarly decrepit building across the street. The realization dawned on us - we were trapped in a closet sized space with only one way out. And that single exit was blocked by fellow soldiers. In that moment, if an enemy soildier lobbed a grenade into our tiny space, it would mean certain death. So, high-tailing it to another positon was essential. The point? When the game made us change our tactics because it put the threat of something it could do into our heads, it was evoking strategic thinking and situational awareness that previous-generation games could not even hint at.
Next they talk about multiplayer, but I won't share that with you at this time.
A few notes I'd like to say, During normal gameplay Call of Duty 2's HUD fades out (except for your objective-marking compass), making for a more immersive experience.
You don't give orders to your mates they smart enough to fend for themselves.
The explosion, fire, and - most notably - the smoke effects are the best we've ever seen in a game, bar none.
In the frosty stalingrad missions of the Russian campaign, you'll see guy's breath in the cold and your allies will stop to rub their hands together to keep warm.
Atleast a couple dozen guys fill the screen at all times, and the action never dips below 60 frames per second.
Enemy corpses never dissapear in front of your eyes in Call of Duty 2 as the developers feel (and we agree) that it's a huge distraction and kills your suspention of disbelief.
If your still reading this I want apoligize for such a long thread, but I couldn't
help myself. I will certainly be getting this game when it ships.
There is a 6 1/2 minute gameplay video on last months Demo disc.
I found it online heres a link. Lazy Link
Thanks for you time!
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 |
|
|
|
|
|
September 5th, 2005, 03:50 Posted By: wraggster
The Consumer Electronics Association (CEA) has announced that top Microsoft and Intel executives will deliver keynote addresses at the 2006 International Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Bill Gates, chairman and chief software architect of Microsoft Corp., will return to deliver the highly anticipated pre-show keynote address on Wednesday, January 4, 2006, at 6:30 p.m. Paul Otellini, chief executive officer (CEO) of Intel Corp., will deliver his keynote address on Thursday, January 5, 2005 at 4:30 p.m. Both keynotes will take place in the Hilton Theater of the Las Vegas Hilton.
"As the world's largest consumer technology tradeshow, the International CES prides itself on bringing the most influential and notable industry visionaries to our conference program," said Gary Shapiro, president and CEO of CEA.
"Gates and Otellini lead two of the most significant technology companies in the world and each plays a pivotal role in creating new technologies that define the marketplace and help consumers stay connected, entertained and informed 24/7."
Under Gates' leadership, Microsoft's mission has been to continually advance and improve software technology, and to make it easier, more cost-effective and more enjoyable for people to use computers. Building on the popularity of its Windows operating system and Office productivity suite, Microsoft focuses on developing technology for the next-generation Internet and on connected devices that meet consumer demands at work, at home and on the move - such as the Media Center PC, Windows Mobile software for Pocket PCs, Smartphones and Portable Media Centers and the MSN network.
In the past, Gates has used the International CES to preview products and technologies such as Xbox, Tablet PC, smart personal object technology (SPOT) watches and Smartphone.
For more than 35 years, Intel technology has enabled the computer and Internet revolution that has helped change the world. Founded to build semiconductor memory products, Intel introduced the world's first microprocessor in 1971. Today, Intel has evolved to become the world's largest chip maker, supplying platform-based solutions to meet the unique enterprise, mobile and digital home requirements of customers worldwide.
A 31-year Intel veteran, Otellini became CEO in May after serving as the president and chief operating officer since 2002.
The 2006 International CES focuses on more than 30 product areas from more than 2,500 exhibitors spread throughout the Las Vegas Convention Center, the Sands Expo and Convention Center, the Las Vegas Hilton and the Alexis Park. For more news on CES before, during and after the show, visit www.CESweb.org, the interactive source for CES information. The 2006 International CES runs January 5-8.
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 |
|
|
|
|
|
September 5th, 2005, 03:06 Posted By: wraggster
News from Carcharius:
After not having much spare time to work ok Quake 3 for the last week or so, I’ve managed to put in a few hours this morning.
‘So what’s new?’, I hear you cry... well most of the time was spent trying to sort out a few ‘under the hood’ things. More on that later though.
First, the console now displays, both when loading and in game.
The console can’t be used for entering any commands (not at this time anyway) but at least it can show some information – and it wouldn’t be Quake without a console would it?? 
The second thing is related to that behind the scenes work. I’ve been trying to get some mods loading, with variable success. The following screenshots are from a mod called Urban Terror. Unfortunately this particular mod isn’t playable – the xbox runs out of memory before the level can load.
I also tried out another mod called Matrix (I don’t have a homepage link, I found it on PlanetQuake) which worked fine. So playing some mods is definitely possible.
Screenshots below (via the comments)
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 |
|
|
|
|
|
September 4th, 2005, 21:00 Posted By: wraggster
Matt Farrow has launched a new website with a project he has called PSPEmu and he claims that it will be a PSP emulator for the PC and Xbox ( i doubt a Xbox can emulate a PSP at any stage of the game)
Heres what he claims will be the features:
+Stable PSP Firmware Emulation
+Laptop/Tablet PC Battery Support
+2.0 Web Browser Emulation
+Runs PBP Files(Homebrew)
+ISO Support(Not At Full Speed)
+WiFi Support
+Theme Setup
+Wallpaper Customisation
+MP3 and MPEG Support
+Full Screen Mode
+Reset,State Save and Power Off.
+Home Button Support(Includes Home Confirmation Screen)
+UMD Emulation(.umd files - new file type)*
+XBOX Version - (Limitations - No WiFi or ISO Support)
+Linux Version
+Windows And Mac Versions
+PSP Drive Emulation (PSP/GAME/ etc.)
+Extended 3D Rom Support
+New Project Name:PSPemu (Xbox: PSPemuX)
This does seem rather dubious especially Xbox Emulation but you can check the site out here --> http://mattfazzer.bl.am/ and report back with your own conclusions.
Hopefully Matt will come and visit us and explain how he plans to get a 333mhx system emulated by a 700MHz Xbox, We shall watch this closely
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 |
|
|
|
|
|
September 2nd, 2005, 22:17 Posted By: wraggster
Adding third-party hardware and software to current-generation Xboxes is a rewarding hobby for some gamers. Mod chips frequently extend the feature set of the original machine in a way that Microsoft and its developers never intended. Some mods are relatively harmless, such as running import DVDs on your Xbox. Some mods facilitate piracy of games.
It’s this latter use of mod chips that game developers and hardware manufacturers would like to stop. Though they’re not claiming to have built the Xbox 360 to be invincible to modification, Microsoft claims it will certainly take longer.
In his comprehensive feature on Microsoft’s Xbox 360 presentation at GDC Europe 2005, Gamasutra’s Simon Carless paraphrases Andre Vrignaud on mod chips for the Xbox 360: “Microsoft took 2 and a half years on security this time round, whereas the Xbox only had around a year…. It’s going to be a long time before the Xbox 360 gets modded.”
Well, it worked for Windows, right? First released 20 years ago, Windows is certainly an impenetrable fortress of unmoddable stability. Cheap shot. We know.
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 |
|
|
|
|
|
September 2nd, 2005, 02:55 Posted By: wraggster
Intec, a manufacturer of gaming accessories based out of Miami, Florida, today announced its Xbox 360 product lineup. While many gamers will be interested in what things they'll be able to pimp out their Xbox 360s with, it's one particular sentence that will pique most gamers' interest. According to a release from the company, these accessories will be available on November 4, "the expected launch date for Xbox 360."
When reached for comment about the claim by Intec, Microsoft representatives told GameSpot, "Microsoft has made no official announcements regarding the release date for the Xbox 360. We do not comment on rumor or speculation."
Among the products that will be available on November 4 are TFT screens for portable gaming in both 8-inch ($169) and 9.2-inch ($199) models. For more sedentary gamers, there will also be an A/V selector and storage unit, which permits gamers to easily select between systems and store various accessories. Intec will also provide a vertical stand ($19.99), a travel case ($39.99), a 10-disc aluminum case ($14.99), and a vertical 10-game holder ($14.99).
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 |
|
|
|
|
|
September 2nd, 2005, 02:53 Posted By: wraggster
from gi.biz
With the launch of Microsoft's next console only a few short months away, the firm's developer group boss Chris Satchell has revealed a host of new hardware and functionality information about the system.
Speaking to our sister site Eurogamer.net in London this morning, Satchell discussed the working of the system at great length, answering in-depth questions about the hardware, the operating system, the new Xbox Live functions and so on.
The following is a runown of the things he said that haven't previously been revealed, some interesting things you may have missed in the recent past, and the answers he gave to specific questions.
Interface/Functionality
The console can be switched on and off wirelessly using the Media Remote control or the wireless game controller.
You will definitely need a hard disk to play Xbox 1 games.
Wherever you are - whether it's a game, film or piece of music - you can pull up the Guide (remember it from GDC?), which is a bit like a universal Start Menu, that allows you to look for friends, adjust playback and options, and even sort through people you've played against recently - listing them by reputation or what-have-you.
The pages of the Xbox 360 user interface are called "blades".
The Live blade is the default if you have a Live account, and shows you your gamer-card including a selected image (or photograph), your gamertag, the number of games you've played, your Gamerscore (more on that in a second), your achievements and your reputation.
More on Gamerscore - each Xbox 360 game gives out certain points based on accomplishments, and as well as being able to view a list of your individual achievements ("Finished level 10," etc) you are also given a total based on this. Xbox 1 games will not contribute to these stats.
The Game blade allows you to manage stuff like save-games, as well as accessing demos and trailers (standard and high-definition versions).
The System blade offers greater control over your individual settings. You can specify, for example, that you prefer to invert the right analogue stick camera control and this will then be picked up on in any game you play.
Likewise, the System blade allows greater control over family settings. Microsoft thinks this is very important, Satchell said, and will therefore allow all manner of controls at a system or individual profile level. You can choose to allow specific people or the whole system access to certain games, DVDs (based on ratings - apparently "99 per cent" of DVDs now supply that information direct to the console), and areas of Live. Online, you can opt to ban certain friends, voice messaging, video messaging (if the camera is available), downloadables or just control online play.
f you yank the hard disk off the top of the Xbox 360 when it's in the middle of doing something, it will not corrupt it beyond repair or damage the File Allocation Table or anything like that - the hard disk uses a "transaction model" so that if you interrupt a transfer the data simply isn't present and the space is presumably reallocated when you next save data to it.
The "ring of light" around the power button highlights which wireless controller is being used, highlighting player one's activity in the top-left quadrant. When the console is laid on its side, it senses this and starts using the top-left quadrant as you see it with the console laid flat. What's more, the ring of light motif is spread throughout the Xbox 360 interface, so you can see which player pulled up the "Guide" page as you're watching a film or playing a game and, in the words of Satchell, "slap him".
Cross-platform development between Windows and Xbox is being actively pursued - in the future, Microsoft hopes that people will be able to play games against each other using either platform.
On the issue of cooling - Satchell said he thought the system had three fans (he said he wasn't sure but thought it was three, so we'd open to correction on that one), and we couldn't hear them at all as he spoke. When you play a DVD, it powers down to just one fan. It's "a lot" better than the "wind tunnel" alpha kits, he said.
Xbox Live
Transferring your Xbox Live account to Xbox 360 will be part of the initial set-up procedure when you first plug in your console, and existing users have "Gold" membership.
People buying the Xbox 360 GBP 279.99 package - the higher-end one - get a 30-day free trial of Gold membership on Xbox Live. Actual pricing has yet to be announced - although some would beg to differ.
Your "reputation" stat is based on your activities online. Rather like an eBay rating, people who have encountered you can rate you positively or negatively, and this is reflected in your reputation.
Xbox Live will allow you to play in various Zones - there will be causal, pro, family, and underground (where "anything goes") and perhaps more - and these will allow you to go for whatever kind of experience you like.
Marketplace is also accessible through the Live blade. As you know, this is where you can download premium content and, in the future, content created by users and sold to other users via a micro-payment system. Marketplace does not require you to insert individual game discs to see content available for those games.
Multimedia
DVDs can be played even if you don't have the remote control, unlike Xbox 1.
DVDs will play back in progressive-scan, with the Xbox 360 up-sampling to prog-scan in the case of DVDs that don't support it.
When ripping music to the hard drive, album information is now stored on the HDD, with a huge amount there by default and more available from an online source - presumably something like CDDB, which will be familiar to people who rip their own CDs already.
The Jeff Minter-created visualisation tool for music accepts input from all control pads and the video camera, allowing you to create various effects on-screen.
iPods are detected by default, as are PSPs, and by our watch it took about 2 or 3 seconds for the Xbox 360 to notice they were there. With an iPod plugged in you can play music direct through the Dashboard software, with visualisations, or you can play a slideshow of photographs.
For now, you can play music and access photographs on the PSP, but you can't do video yet. That may happen, but Satchell joked that Sony wasn't exactly giving them a helping hand there.
Interestingly, you can actually have that slideshow draw photographs from another external device, so - as in our demo - you could play music from an iPod while using a slideshow of photos from a PlayStation Portable simultaneously.
All of these devices will be supported by default, and any firmware updates that are necessary - Microsoft is hoping for very few - can be made available via Live.
You can also plug in a laptop or PC (or not plug it in - if you're using wireless networking) and play content direct from that. This is through Windows Media Player Extender, the software for which is pre-installed on the Xbox 360. In our example, Satchell first streamed a high-definition Project Gotham Racing 3 trailer, and then drew upon a high-definition recording of Star Wars: Episode II apparently captured on his home TV.
Official Peripherals
RGB video output will only be possible if you purchase the GBP 17.99 cable separately - regardless of whether you paid GBP 209.99 or GBP 279.99 for your Xbox 360 console.
Video cables from Xbox 1 will not work with Xbox 360.
The wireless networking adapter plugs into the USB 2.0 port on the back of the console and is "like a small pack of cigarettes" in terms of size.
The camera is a separate peripheral that will plug into one of the USB 2.0 slots and will be released next year - date TBC.
While the Media Remote will be bundled with Xbox 360's GBP 279.99 offering, this will apparently only be for a limited time based on available units. We'll get more details on that when we can.
You can plug in a keyboard but this is for text input only - including in massively-multiplayer games. You can't use it to play games and that was a design choice.
If a third-party peripheral manufacturer or publisher wanted to let more than four players play on one game, Microsoft would be happy to help them create a peripheral to do that.
Offline Content
Microsoft also plans to have kiosks available - presumably in game stores and other public locations - where you can download content. Whether this will be to the detachable hard disk itself or a memory card is a detail that wasn't clarified.
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 |
|
|
|
|
|
September 1st, 2005, 20:26 Posted By: wraggster
d0wnlab released a new Windows build of OpenDash (an opensource dashboard currently in development for Xbox that can be build with the legal OpenXDK(info)). This is an executable compiled for Windows (win32) and not for Xbox. It's made for users interested in testing the UI of OpenDash and to attract some graphical designers to make skins.
From forums.xbox-scene.com:
[QUOTE]
Hi. I am releasing today a windows binary of build 237 of opendash. Skinners can use this to see how their skin looks without needing to upload the skin to the xbox. Anyone interested in skinning for OpenDash should take a look at this release and play with it a bit.
There is also a (WIP) manual for skinning and configuring the dash at:
http://th0mas.xbox-scene.com/releases/skinning.html
People should take a look at the config.xml file in the windows build as an example of a simple skin. Currently, keep the Resources, Elements, and Menu nodes all in the config.xml file - ignore the part in the guide that says to create a skin.xml file. That is not yet implemented (but will be before the first xbox release, so that people can change skins on the fly.)
Still to be done: a significant amount of testing on the xbox itself - all the file copying, xbe launching, has to be tested before the dash is ready for primetime.
If anyone sees any major issues with that windows build of the dash, or errors in the manual please let me know on the forums or via email.
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 |
|
|
|
|
|
September 1st, 2005, 19:54 Posted By: wraggster
Online reports are indicating that Microsoft is planning to encourage 12-month subscriptions to the Xbox Live Gold service for the Xbox 360 with a pricing plan that offers major discounts for long-term commitments.
French website XboxLive.fr claims to have stumbled across the US pricing bundles for the Xbox 360 Live service, with similar details being reported on the website of major North American retailer EB Games.
According to the reports, a Premium Gold Pack will be priced at $69.99 and will get you a 12 month subscription, an Xbox Live headset, $20 off an Xbox 360 game and 200 Xbox Live marketplace points. Plus, subscribers can play Billiards in the Xbox Live Arcade.
For those who don't need the extras a 12 Month Gold Card will be made available, offering a year's subscription only, for $59.99.
If that sounds like too much commitment, the 3 Month Premium Gold Pack is just $39.99. It includes - as you might have guessed - a three month subscription, plus a headset, $10 off a game, 100 marketplace points and access to Xbox Live Arcade game Joust. A straight 3 Month Gold subscription is $19.99.
And finally there's the 1 Month Gold Card, priced at just $7.99. Of course, those who don't want to pay at all can stick with the free Xbox Live Silver subscription - but this will only let you log on to use the marketplace and chatrooms, and you won't be able to play games online.
Microsoft was unavailable for comment so we've really no idea if this is the real deal or a hoax - but the same details have recently appeared on the Electronics Boutique website, only they've priced the 12 Month Gold card at $49.99 instead of $59.99.
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 |
|
|
|
|
|
September 1st, 2005, 19:38 Posted By: wraggster
We’d originally heard something or other about Microsoft launching the Xbox 360 on November 4th or maybe November 22nd, but now IGN reports that the next-gen console is all set to drop on November 25th, aka the day after Thanksgiving aka Black Friday aka the busiest shopping day of the year (at least it used to be). The 25th is a little later than Microsoft had originally wanted to intro the 360, but apparently they wanted to give developers a little extra time to finish up their launch titles.
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 |
|
|
|
|
|
August 31st, 2005, 20:13 Posted By: wraggster
news from joystiq
I’m here at Games Market Europe in the Business Design Centre, Islington, London, where the first UK games trade since the ECTS/Game Stars! fiasco last year, is starting to kick off. This is my first report of (hopefully) many from the day which I’ll be posting later today and possibly tomorrow. I’ve already spoken to representatives from the BBFC, Codemasters, Digital Jesters (Crazy Frog Racer creators) and the guys at the Ubisoft stand. I’m hoping to sit down with the boss of European Ratings board, ELSPA and a marketing executive from Eidos, so hopefully I’ll catch up with them later.
Here’s my first photo of note from the show, a real live Xbox 360 marketing booth! This was in the Gem Distribution section of the show. Come Christmas 05’ they’ll be the ones setting up Xbox 360s in game retailers and passing on units from Microsoft. Unfortunately, the assistants aren’t allowed to turn the Xbox on, which is a bit of a bummer since, well, I wanted to see it turned on for real! However, they assure me that this machine is a real Xbox 360 and is powered by internal components. No more G5 powered Xbox 360s from here on in. There’s another close-up shot of the wireless controller after the jump.
[Update: Apparently the marketing booth shown at the show was not a final model. The Xbox 360 wasn’t real (or plugged in). However, the controllers were real and they were wireless. The black cable you can see going underneath is the power supply.]
shots within
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 |
|
|
|
|
|
August 31st, 2005, 20:09 Posted By: wraggster
BioWare has revealed that two previously unannounced games are in development for the Xbox 360. One of those titles is likely the sequel to the critically acclaimed RPG Jade Empire. The second game could be the FPS-RPG BioWare hinted at late last year, which will use the Unreal Engine 3. Don’t expect an official announcement until 2006.
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 |
|
|
|
|
|
August 31st, 2005, 20:07 Posted By: wraggster
Asobo Studios has announced that its off-road racing title, Gran Raid Off Road, is being developed for the Xbox 360. The game will include 6 unique landscapes to race across, with each landscape measuring at least 3,500 square miles. Players will choose from 30 vehicles and compete in such modes as Raid, Race, Free Run, Stun, Catch the Flag, Keep the Flag, and Baja—and of course, the game will feature Xbox Live support. On paper, the sheer size of Gran Raid Off Road is staggering, and the ability to tear off into the horizon makes our mouths water. Unfortunately, no release date has been set. We’ll keep you posted.
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 |
|
|
|
|
|
August 30th, 2005, 22:46 Posted By: wraggster
Even before the unveiling of the Xbox 360 in May, Microsoft made no secret that it hoped for a better showing this time around in the Japanese market, a region dominated by rivals Sony and Nintendo. Last month at Xbox Summit 2005, the company unveiled a long list of Japanese publishers that have signed up as third-party game makers for the Xbox 360. Over the past months, some better known developers such as Q Entertainment's Tetsuya Mizuguchi and Game Republic's Yoshiki Okamoto have talked about their commitment to the Xbox 360, but there's been little opportunity to hear from other developers on the development challenges and opportunities. The latest issue of Famitsu Xbox features a series of interviews with the newly announced third-party developers, who talked in-depth about what it's like to make games for the next-generation console.
"When you consider the essence of videogames, you can't take away its graphics, sound, and interactivity. The Xbox 360 is the best solution [to delivering the highest quality gaming] at the current time," said Tecmo producer Tomonobu Itagaki, who is currently developing Dead or Alive 4 as an Xbox 360 launch title, with three more games also underway in the future.
Other Japanese developers certainly agree with Itagaki, especially in terms of graphics. The developers at Yuke's, best known for the WWE SmackDown! series, are working on a new wrestling game called Wrestle Kingdom for the Xbox 360, and the differences in the console's graphic capabilities are, well, striking. Director Koji Ito and chief planner Shunsuke Katsumata commented that the Xbox 360 allows a game's atmosphere to be considerably more realistic than in previous consoles, which is due to the machine's lighting effect calculations.
"Self-shadowing effects contribute a lot to making a pro-wrestling game," Katsumata said. "When it comes to pro-wrestling games, trying to render the wrestlers' muscles is really the key point. But up until now, we couldn't even use a virtual self-shadowing effect, due to hardware limitations."
But for the game creators, the Xbox 360's graphics are just the surface of the new development experience. They explain there's much more to the console than just high definition graphics and new rendering formats.
Capcom producer Keiji Inafune, who's making the new zombie action game Dead Rising said the console offers plenty of potential, but how much of that gamers get to see depends on how developers use its multi-core architecture. "I believe that we'll be seeing two kinds of games for a while after the Xbox 360's launch," Inafune said. "Games that feel like something on current generation consoles, and games that feel like they're Xbox 360 titles."
Despite whatever problems the multi-core architecture brings up, the Japanese developers interviewed in the magazine all seem to agree that the Xbox 360 is developer-friendly, with one of the main reasons being that the development environment is based on Direct X. The developers also spoke highly of the Xbox 360's development kit for its array of tools including Visual C++ programming support, and flexibility in recycling the programs that they've created.
"For example, if we had two projects going on, [the Xbox 360's development environment] would allow us to take different program components created from the two teams, and merge them into a single software [application]. That wasn't possible up until now," explained Cavia chief producer Takuya Iwasaki, who is currently studying the console's hardware for an upcoming project. "Also, once we create a game, we can take parts of it and build it into a new game. So if we make a program to display an ocean wave, we can use it again and again."
But even with Microsoft's development tools and strong technical support (another aspect for which the developers had kind words), there are still a number of issues game makers face. Many developers consider the system's graphic capabilities "double-edged." The Xbox 360 can handle much better looking graphics than previous consoles, but it also requires a lot more effort in development.
"We had no intention to make Rumble Roses XX just a usual port. We were hyped, saying to ourselves that we're going to make it a completely new game," says Konami producer Akari Uchida. "But when it came time for the actual development, we realized that the volume of data [for the Xbox 360] would be one digit different [from current consoles]. The number of polygons per character by itself is 10 times larger than current consoles. … It's as though we need to bring the quality graphics from pre-rendered movies into to the actual game."
What might be an issue for smaller publishers is trying to make 2D games, which are still popular for handheld machines, but slowly disappearing from the home console space. As SNK Playmore producer Soichiro Hosoya explains, "The development tools are meant for 3D games, so it isn't any easier to make 2D games for the Xbox 360." However, Hosoya added that he expects 2D games to evolve with the Xbox 360 as well.
In terms of programming issues, one of the strengths of the Xbox 360, similar to the current Xbox, is the ease of porting Windows programs to the console. But surprisingly, porting programs isn't completely hassle-free, says Square Enix programmer Yasuhiro Yamamoto of his experience with Final Fantasy XI. "Windows PCs and the Xbox 360 have differences, so it'd be a lie if we said there aren't any headaches [in porting programs]. Sound is one example. The Xbox 360 uses a proprietary format, and it gave us a little bit of confusion. A bigger point is the CPU. Windows uses Intel, while the Xbox 360 uses the IBM's Power PC. Under certain conditions, the two companies' CPUs will display programs in totally opposite ways. Flipping that around took us some time."
From Software producer Masanori Takeuchi, who's been working on Enchant Arm, a role-playing game slated to be an Xbox 360 launch title, said developers will also be running into issues of storage space in the next generation. While the Xbox 360 is a next-generation console, Microsoft decided to equip it with a normal DVD reader, rather than to give it HD-DVD or Blu-ray reading capabilities.
"The volume of data in Enchant Arms won't fit into a single DVD. It's an RPG, so we're thinking it would be inevitable that we release it on two discs," says Takeuchi. "But to be honest, that's even looking grim."
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 |
|
|
|
|
|
August 30th, 2005, 16:03 Posted By: wraggster
A new version of Super Mario War has been released.
What's new/fixed:
* New interaction blocks, Breakable blocks, Note blocks, Powerup blocks, Flip blocks, Bounce blocks, Donut blocks
* Powerups, Star, Fireflower, 1up
* 17 new background images
* 280 tiles, Ice tiles, Death tiles (above only, below only or any side death)
* 7 New Game modes: Coin Limit, Yoshi's Eggs, Tag, Domination, Fire Frenzy, Bob-Omb, Survival
* Improved collision detection (fixed screen edge bugs)
* Chocobo sprites in Chicken Mode
* Down jumping through solid on top blocks
* Improved menu: Graphics, Map view, Player select (allows any player to be in any state: disabled, player, cpu), Help keys at bottom of screen
* Choice of spawn styles: Added door and swirl to help you find your player when spawning
* Pause game feature
* Improved game scoreboard - game leader wears crown
* Two layers on map (one for tiles and one for blocks)
* 10 new maps and updated old maps with new blocks and backgrounds
* Various eyecandy effects like dust and explosions
* Friction jumping through air is less than on ground
* Added classic Mario sound effects
* More vibrantly colored player sprites
http://72dpiarmy.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 |
|
|
|
|
|
August 29th, 2005, 00:59 Posted By: Onetonbullet
Old news already, but no one has figured it out yet so...
www.origenxbox360.com
Sure It's a silly ARG, or ourcolony comeback,....but some people have suggested it has something to do with microsoft including a hddvd with the 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 |
|
|
|
|
|
August 27th, 2005, 19:43 Posted By: Hawq
- optimized a little simple2x function
- writed simple1x for no filter function
- changed scanlines 50 function
- removed low resolution in software filters and added none (use of none function makes at least 10% boost)
- optimized some VMM function (mainly in the optimizition)
- fixed black/white buttons inverted
- changed name of turbo option to turbo/slow option (hope it is more clear now)
- added missing CRCs in neogeo drivers and changed shin... name to power instinct matrimelee
- fixed 2xsaibuffer created when not needed (200Kb RAM loss)
- fixed background menu not being deleted with neogeo games (2Mb RAM loss)
- fixed releasing memory, was not done with help screen, dipswitches or config menu, so it still could crash
- fixed dipswitches menu not releasing background menu (1Mb loss and sometimes crash)
- corrected oneframe function, you can now take your screenshots as you want
- completely rewrited config pad menu, it now is more clear and more enjoyable, removed configscreen intermediate menu in the same time
This version is released without xbepack being done, so just run :
- pack.bat to have a default.xbe of 920Kb smaller and correct some things
- rename.bat to rename to default.xbe, use this if you had problems with previous release
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 |
|
|
|
|
|
August 26th, 2005, 19:20 Posted By: wraggster
Microsoft has announced that it's to host a press conference in Tokyo on the 15th of September, one day ahead of the opening of the Tokyo Game Show, with more of the firm's strategy for Xbox 360 in Japan expected to be announced.
So far, the company's plans for the Japanese market remain tightly under wraps - with the date, price and software line-up for the launch still unrevealed, despite the fact that US and European pricing was announced earlier this month.
Microsoft is likely to use the pre-TGS conference as a chance to discuss at least some of those details, as well as an opportunity to champion its newly-forged ties with Japanese publishers and developers.
The conference will be followed on the 16th by a keynote address at TGS from Microsoft's chief Xbox officer, Robbie Bach, with the other keynote at the show being delivered by Nintendo president Satoru Iwata.
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
768
769
770
771
772
773
774
775
776
777
778
779
780
781
782
783
784
785
786
787
788
next » |
|
|
