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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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August 19th, 2005, 00:22 Posted By: wraggster
French publisher Ubisoft has revealed details of its plans for next-generation console development, with the firm making an early commitment to Nintendo's Revolution console and announcing a pair of high-profile Xbox 360 launch titles.
Speaking at a trade event in the UK, the company's UK managing director Rob Cooper said that the firm has "many" next-generation games in development, and will be providing full support for Nintendo's Revolution as well as the PS3 and Xbox 360.
There was no word from the company about whether that support might extend to making older titles available over the Revolution's digital download system - but the statement still represents one of the first solid commitments to the platform from a major publisher.
Cooper also revealed that two of the company's biggest forthcoming titles will be launch titles for the Xbox 360 when it arrives later this year.
Both Ghost Recon: Advanced Warfighter and movie tie-in Peter Jackson's King Kong will arrive with the console towards the end of November.
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August 18th, 2005, 01:47 Posted By: wraggster
Konami has announced a version of Pro Evolution Soccer 5/Winning Eleven 9 for Microsoft’s upcoming Xbox 360 platform, underlining the new level of support the US console is enjoying from the Japanese publishing giant.
Konami has dated PES5 360 for autumn 2006 and intriguingly mentions that, after the Xbox, PlayStation 2, Xbox 360 and PSP versions have shipped, ‘other consoles’ will play host to what is without question the best soccer series ever released.
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August 18th, 2005, 01:24 Posted By: wraggster
The Xbox 360 is set to be priced at 399.99 Euro (GBP 279.99) for the full system when it launches in Europe later this year, with the "Core System" pack - which doesn't have a hard drive - selling for 299.99 Euro (GBP 209.99).
News of the European prices came from Microsoft's EMEA Xbox boss Chris Lewis, who was speaking this afternoon at the Game Convention show in Leipzig, Germany.
Lewis confirmed this morning's report regarding the US pricing of the system, as well as details of the two different bundles which will be offered - with the Xbox 360 Core System bundle being the cheaper of the two.
Unlike the more expensive bundle, however, it will lack a hard drive, and will be shipped with a wired controller rather than a wireless version. The premium bundle will also include a Wi-Fi adapter, Ethernet cable and remote control, none of which ship with the basic model.
The Core System will also lack a bundle and the Xbox Live silver service, both of which are part of the premium bundle.
With pricing for the console and details of the two variants now public information, the key remaining piece of information regarding the launch is the date - but Lewis left the audience waiting for that detail, saying only that the console will launch in the Christmas season.
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August 18th, 2005, 01:22 Posted By: wraggster
The LA Times has broken news of Microsoft's pricing plans for the Xbox 360 console, revealing that the a basic version of the next-generation system will launch at $299, with a premium version shipping at $399.
According to the paper, the $299 version of the console will not include a hard drive - with the extra $100 for the premium version buying a 20Gb drive as well as a wireless controller, headset, Ethernet cable and wireless television-style remote control.
No exact date for the launch is mentioned in the brief article, which will appear in this morning's edition of the major broadsheet, but has already been published on the newspaper's website.
The print edition of the LA Times won't be on news stands until after this morning's Microsoft announcements at the Game Convention event in Leipzig, so it looks likely that the official announcement will go out there after all - despite yesterday's rumours at the show that suggested that no major news would be forthcoming, since none of the firm's top executives had made the trip to Germany.
Europeans will be watching the announcement carefully for news of the Euro and GBP price points for the console. It seems possible that Microsoft will translate between Euro and USD on an even ratio, giving a 399 Euro price point for the premium model - which probably translates as GBP 299 after VAT is taken into consideration.
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August 18th, 2005, 01:19 Posted By: wraggster
Microsoft has selected Extent Technologies, a market leader in the field of secure online delivery of games-on-demand, to be its first global digital distribution partner.
Extent already provides games-on-demand services for Internet portals and broadband service providers including Yahoo! Games and Comcast. The company also provides aggregation services for publishers such as Atari and Microsoft.
As part of the new deal, Extent will aggregate and distribute popular Microsoft PC games including titles from the Age of Empires, Dungeon Siege, Mechwarrior, Rise of Nations and Zoo Tycoon series.
"By making our titles available through games-on-demand services, we can broaden our reach to new audiences and monetise additional release windows," said Xbox executive Ed Ventura.
"Extent's distribution channels help us to extend the life cycle of our game catalogue and to build a firm foundation for the future."
Exten CEO Zvi Levgoren commented: "The addition of Microsoft to our growing line-up of game publisher partners is a leap forward in the evolution of digital game distribution."
"We're delivering the very best user experience, which in turn maximises end-user acquisition and retention for our customers," he added.
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August 18th, 2005, 01:18 Posted By: wraggster
Microsoft has issued a statement announcing that manufacturing companies Celestica, Flextronics and Wistron will produce the next-generation Xbox 360 console.
Flextronics and Wistron also produced the original Xbox, but this is the first time Microsoft has entered into a partnership with Celestica.
"It's an honour to have the expertise and support of three of the world's best-in-class manufacturing companies as we move into the next-generation with Xbox 360," commented Xbox executive Todd Holmdahl.
"With three contract manufacturers on board, we're poised to have the flexibility and efficiencies we need to keep up with the consumer demand for the world's most powerful next-generation platform."
All three manufacturing plants are located in the Pearl River Delta region of southern China
The Microsoft statement confirmed that the Xbox 360 "remains on track for a global launch this Christmas in North America, Europe and Japan."
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August 18th, 2005, 01:15 Posted By: wraggster
According to news in the LA Times, Microsoft will release two Xbox 360 packages when the console is launched later this year. The basic package will retail for $299 and will not include a hard disk, nor will it include a wireless controller, instead shipping with a wired pad. The second package will retail for $399 and will include a 20 Gb hard disk, wireless controller, wireless headset, Ethernet cable and remote control. No release date has been revealed, but a mid to late November date is expected
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August 16th, 2005, 23:02 Posted By: wraggster
With the launch of the Xbox 360 just months away--most are expecting a November release--Microsoft today confirmed the lineup of contractor manufacturers on board for the new console.
Joining a duo of Singapore-based companies that built the current-generation Xbox is Toronto-based electronics maker Celestica. That company joins alma mater manufacturers Flextronics and Wistron.
All three companies maintain assembly plants in the Pear River Delta region of southern China.
Todd Holmdahl, corporate vice president of the Xbox product group, said, "It's an honor to have the expertise and support of three of the world's best-in-class manufacturing companies as we move into the next-generation with Xbox 360. With three contract manufacturers on board, we're poised to have the flexibility and efficiencies we need to keep up with the consumer demand for the world's most powerful next-generation platform."
In 2001, when the Xbox launched, Microsoft sent approximately 500,000 units into the US retail channel. It sold about 1.4 million units through the calendar year.
This time, Microsoft is readying 2 to 3 million 360 consoles for launch in November, according to the San Jose Mercury News.
Addressing the company's inclination to compete in this second round of console wars, Xbox general manager J Allard told the Mercury News today, "Xbox was ready, fire, aim... This time, everything is ready."
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August 16th, 2005, 22:57 Posted By: wraggster
With announcements due from both Sony and Microsoft at Game Convention in Leipzig tomorrow, rumours at the show suggest that Sony will be dropping its PS2 price point - but that Microsoft may have little news to announce.
On the Xbox 360 front, however, reports that the date for the console and possibly even its price point could emerge at Game Convention appear to have been off the mark, with none of Microsoft's three key Xbox executives - Robbie Bach, J Allard and Peter Moore - making the trip over to Germany for the event.
In the absence of those executives, who have become the face of the Xbox 360 project, it's unlikely that an announcement about date or price will be made - with further announcements of European software support for the console perhaps more likely.
However, one strong hint about the price point for Xbox 360 did emerge today from Microsoft itself - with a German language page on the company's own website fingering CHF 600.- as the value of the console.
The page, which describes a new initiative offering incentives to resellers who sell certain volumes of Microsoft software, notes that an Xbox 360 console worth 600 Swiss Francs is one of the bonuses on offer.
That translates roughly as 386 Euro, or GBP 264 - which is broadly in line with the upper end of price expectations for the Xbox 360.
Although the figure is likely to be a rough estimate more than anything else, it does still suggest that Microsoft may come in at 399 Euro or thereabouts for the Xbox 360 - probably translating as GBP 299 - adding fuel to speculation that the console may be priced at a level somewhat higher than Microsoft's last system was at launch.
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August 16th, 2005, 22:52 Posted By: wraggster
A new report by Japan's Computer Entertainment Supplier's Association has revealed that of all the current generation consoles, Japanese studios find the Xbox to be the most expensive platform to develop for.
CESA calculated that the average cost of producing an Xbox game is 202 million yen (USD 1.82 million) after 28 companies voluntarily disclosed their figures to the association.
In contrast, the CESA report states, it costs an average of 96 million yen (USD 877,000) to develop a game for the PS2. PSP games cost around 90 million yen (USD 822,000), as do GameCube titles, while each Game Boy Advance game costs the developer 53 million yen (USD 484,000).
However, at the other end of the spectrum, the cost of developing a game for Nintendo's new handheld, the DS, stands at only 37 million yen (USD 338, 286).
The figures for the Xbox are skewed somewhat, of course, because so few Japanese studios have ever invested significantly in producing Xbox software - meaning that they don't realise the same economies of scale that they have over the lifespan of the PS2.
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August 15th, 2005, 21:40 Posted By: wraggster
Microsoft's forthcoming next-generation console may not always ship in a configuration with a hard drive, key Xbox executive J Allard has confirmed, with developers being warned not to rely on the component for their games.
Speaking in the September issue of US magazine Game Informer, Allard said that the company isn't yet ready to announce details of possible multiple models of the Xbox 360, with the presence of a hard drive being touted as one potential difference between models.
"It's something we're not ready to announce yet," he said. "I don't think it's a one-size-fits-all [approach] over the next five-year horizon."
Allard's comment may also refer to the possibility that Microsoft will begin shipping Xbox 360 consoles with HD-DVD drives at some point down the line, replacing the DVD drive which will be present in the original model of the system.
However, the hard drive is also certainly up for debate, the XNA boss went on to confirm.
"We've said [to developers], 'Hey look, don't bank on the hard drive always being there,'" he revealed. "'There may be a scenario in the future where we don't want to have a hard drive, and in that case, we have to make sure that the games that you've created are accessible to the broadest possible audience.'"
However, at present the official line remains that the Xbox 360 will ship with a hard drive as part of its basic specification - and it seems more likely that the difference in configuration at launch will be that some models will ship with a significantly larger hard drive than the 20Gb baseline.
Developers will have to take into consideration the possibility of no hard drive being present regardless of what models Microsoft ultimately chooses to ship, since the drive is a removable module which can be taken out of the machine by the end user.
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August 14th, 2005, 20:42 Posted By: Mental2k
I was lookin to getting an xbox mod chip, and i was just wondering how you guys rated the x-bit chip, it looks simple to install, and relatively inexpensive, but I was jus wondering is there any bad points about this chip?
Also could I flash it with X-biosis?
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August 14th, 2005, 12:00 Posted By: wraggster
Gamegossip are reporting on an article in Time magazine and also on the Time magazine website in which Microsoft CEO Bill Gates confirms that Halo 3 is in development for the Xbox 360.
The one thing that stands out however, is that the game is not due to be launched with the next-gen console, rather used as a time-bomb set to go off with the release of the Ps3.
“It seems that the next Halo won't be an Xbox 360 launch title, but a title set to launch as a disruption to the PlayStation 3 launch, arriving as a second wave of titles during spring of 2006.”
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August 14th, 2005, 11:59 Posted By: wraggster
Following up its E3 showing in May, Midway Games today held an annual Gamers Day in Chicago with an unsurprising cast of games and almost no surprises.
The big titles were the same ones we'd seen at the previous events, E3, and in between. The basic message of the event was this: Our games have progressed, we're expanding, and we're looking good.
After its fourth acquisition in four years, the latest being Australian developer Ratbag (World of Outlaws: Sprint Car Racing), and steady review scores in 2004 and 2005, President and CEO David Zucker was not lying. Under his helm, the company has made a concerted, steady comeback from years of ineffectiveness and rumors of being bought out to a growing company with big name titles, a healthy stable of development teams, and a wide variety of game types.
While steady progress on the The Suffering: Ties That Bind, Mortal Kombat: Shaolin Monks, Blitz: The League, Rise and Fall: Civilizations at War, and LA Rush were shown via demonstrations and hands-on gameplay time, the lack of any next-generation games or announcements took a little zing out of the whole event.
Sure, we watched a video of Stranglehold, the John Woo shooter scheduled for a 2006 release, but it was the same one we saw at E3. And though we got to see Ed, Edd, and Eddy footage, in addition to seeing a new Rampage, which looked and played a lot like the old Rampage, no one game made people sit back and whisper and coo.
The interesting things about Midway's event were more subtle than startling. For every louder than necessary video presentation (it was like E3, only just one booth), there was something else happening behind the scenes that spelled good news.
For instance, while I'm complaining about a lack of next-gen games, Midway's approach for this next generation is significantly different than its been in every other console launch. It's holding back development and waiting until Microsoft's Xbox 360 has an installed base. It's taking its time so the games look good, instead of rushing out unfinished or unready product. While that sounds dull, this is a big move for a company that's always rushed to market with some arcade game that was never all that good.
The other good news is that Stranglehold is in development with the Austin studio, which created Psi-Ops, generally considered a financial success at Midway. This studio is experienced in FPSs and has a set of heavyweight designers and programmers who are, without doubt, going to have fun with the next gen hardware.
Third, all Midway's games really are progressing well. MK Shaolin Monks looked and played well, mixing arcade simplicity with fighting depth and excellent co-op gameplay. The Suffering Ties that Bind is genuinely distrubing, requiring a different mindset, and Blitz: The League will be the first non-licensed football game since EA gobbled up every license even slightly related to football last year. Blitz is violent, uncensored, and takes a very different look at football, one you would not see with a licensed product. LA Rush is a fast-moving arcade racer, but it doesn't feel or look like a Rush game in the least. If the hardcore followers can see past this notion -- that it's just a different game -- then this game might do well. And everything else looks like it's coagulating and simmering with just the right amount of care and craft. That said, we have yet to play a version of the new Gauntlet Seven Sorrows or see anything beyond a trailer. Guess it's still far from ready...
Finally, pehaps the most genuine and awe-inspiring part of the event was a surprise visit by the Brice Mellen, the blind gamer who's been making rounds in the media. Mellen cannot see, but that doesn't prevent him from playing videogames, and he demonstrated his superior skills by playing Mortal Kombat co-creator Ed Boon at his own game and beating him. The crowd of 50-plus people at Midway's event gathered around in shock and awe as the young man played by sound and used button memorization to play Mortal Kombat: Shaolin Monks. It was an amazing, hopeful, and inspiring sight, no pun intended, one I'll remember for the rest of my life.
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August 14th, 2005, 11:58 Posted By: wraggster
Whilst we'd seriously like to question the wisdom of Microsoft herding hundreds of journalists and industry figureheads to Amsterdam and plying them all with free alcohol, that's exactly what Bill's lot will be doing this October, as Microsoft plans this year's X0 event.
For those of you in the dark, Microsoft has held an event at a different location in Europe each year since 2002, with Pierre Cardin's Bubble House in Cannes, La Isla Magica theme park in Seville and a beach club in Juan-les-Pins all previous venues for the event, which is exclusively intended for industry and press types. Like us. Presuming we get our mitts on an elusive invitation.
It's at these events that Microsoft shows off its latest console wares, and this year's X05 event should have a strong Xbox 360 flavour to it, with an array of completed, playable 360 code expected. So if all goes as planned, on October 4th and 5th PALGN will hopefully be found socialising and networking with a decent-sized portion of the games industry in the Dutch city, all whilst listening to what Microsoft has planned for the future and trying out the latest titles weeks or months before they hit shop shelves. Tough job, this. And even if we don't get over to Holland, we'll still bring you the latest coverage of events there as they unfold, albeit whilst sulking a bit.
If they've not already been revealed, then we'd expect an announcement on the Xbox 360's launch and price tag as well, another reason for us to stay firmly focused on the job at hand, rather than swanning off and enjoying the, um, extra-curricular activities the city can offer visitors. And why Amsterdam? 'To tell you our rationale for choosing Amsterdam would reveal some of our plans and we want to keep those as secret as possible!' proclaimed regional VP of Xbox for EMEA Chris Lewis. We can imagine.
More news as it breaks.
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August 14th, 2005, 11:57 Posted By: wraggster
Mad Catz Interactive announced today financial results for the three-month period ended June 30, 2005. The company also revealed it has obtained a license to manufacture Xbox 360 accessories.
Darren Richardson, President and CEO of Mad Catz Interactive, stated: "These new products are expected to further diversify Mad Catz' revenue sources. However, in the near-term, we see a continuation of some of the slow market trends that we faced in the first quarter. In our historically strong fiscal third quarter, the Xbox 360 will be released. As an official Microsoft peripheral licensee for North America and Europe, we will produce a range of Mad Catz branded products that will be officially endorsed by Microsoft and carry the Xbox 360 license logo."
Yesterday, C|Net revealed that the Mad Catz license agreement limits the manufacturing on the type of controllers Mad Catz can make. Mad Catz can only manufacture corded controllers, while Microsoft itself is making wireless controllers. The Mad Catz license agreement also excludes light guns, memory units, hard drives and cheat cards. Licensed Xbox 360 accessories include game pads, steering wheels, arcade sticks, flight sticks and dance pads.
The agreement also revealed a new royalty program that will only allow authorized third-party accessories to work with the Xbox 360. This is possible thanks to a new security mechanism that checks if the peripheral is an Xbox 360 authorized accesory or not.
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August 14th, 2005, 11:57 Posted By: wraggster
Xbox 360 has been designed to only work with Microsoft approved and branded pads and peripherals, according to industry sources.
A contract between Microsoft and peripheral makers Mad Catz has revealed that an anti-piracy 'security feature', found inside every 360, will allow the machine to decide which devices it will and won't work with, according to reports circulating the geekier depths of the web.
If this proves to be true then any third-party company planning to make a dance mat, lightgun or steering wheel for the next-gen console would have to pay Microsoft up-front for the technology, or allow Bill to take a certain percentage of royalties on each device sold.
This might sound like just another way for the Seattle giant to make money, but a similar system currently operates with software, where publishers pay Sony, Nintendo and Microsoft to have their game released on their consoles.
And, if these rumours do prove true, then only companies with Microsoft's blessing and its logos slapped on their boxes will be able to sell equipment to plug into Xbox 360. Which has one obvious implication: joypads may become more expensive.
It could also seriously affect anyone currently planning to plug their camera, MP3 player, webcam, PSP or Mac into the next-gen console.
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August 14th, 2005, 11:56 Posted By: wraggster
Football Manager 2006 for Xbox 360
source: Sega Europe
SEGA Europe today announced Football Manager 2006 will be ready for the Xbox 360 and PSP in the Spring of 2006. Being an avid soccer.. er.. football player myself this should really be a fun game. It is currently being developed by Sports Interactive, they say about it:
"Finally a home console system is being released that can do Football Manager justice," said Miles Jacobson, Managing Director of Sports Interactive. "We promise the most in-depth console management experience ever!"
"It's only fitting that the most powerful games console in the market has the most popular and powerful football management game," commented Matt Woodley, Creative Director of SEGA. "I'm particularly impressed by the way SI have re-designed the interface and controls to make it Xbox 360 perfect."
All features from Football Manager will be incorporated, including training, the 2d match engine, full rules for all leagues and player data which will be accurate to the end of the winter transfer window. Football Manager once again has produced the super tactics to trounce the league and retain its crown as champion of management sims!
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