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Guitar Hero 2 for Xbox 360 to Launch in March, W/ Microtransactions
Posted by Michael Cardiff Categories: Hardware, Music, Release Dates, Xbox 360, Xbox Live Marketplace,
Activision has finally announced a launch date for Guitar Hero 2 on the Xbox 360, and while it’s not too far away, the wait is going to seem interminable for most Xbox 360 owners. You’ll be able to get your hands on the Xbox 360 iteration of the game, along with the specially-designed “Xplorer” guitar, around easter 2007. In addition, Red Octane has plans for the Microsoft marketplace and its possibilities for downloadable content.
Dusty Welch, Head of Publishing, RedOctane, said of the game when it was first unveiled back at X06 last September: “With its large integrated hard drive, Xbox 360 provides an incredible platform for facilitating downloadable content. We believe there is no better title to feature micro-transactions than a music game like Guitar Hero II, where the content is the basis of your experience. The relationship with the Xbox Live Marketplace creates endless possibilities for exclusive content.”
Playstation fans may be able to gloat for a while at the fact that the Xbox won’t be seeing a wireless guitar just yet (the Xplorer included with the game will be wire-ful). Then again, Microsoft fans might be just as keen to point out the fact that you can’t even play Guitar Hero on the PS3, due to its lack of PS2 controller ports.
Read More 
| VideogamesBlogger.com
Gallery: Guitar Hero 2 for Xbox 360 to Launch in March, W/ Microtransactions
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New Gears Of War Maps, Patch Coming
Posted by Christopher Sasaki Categories: Internet, Third Person Shooters, Xbox 360, Xbox Live, Xbox Live Marketplace,
Epic will be offering two new free multiplayer maps along with a software patch for Gears of War in the upcoming days. First, on January 9, a software update for the game will be made available. According to a posting from Mark Rein on the Gears forums, the following changes will be made:
- Fixed aspect ratio distortion when using VGA cable with 4:3 displays at resolutions higher than 640x480
- Fixed voice issue with new players joining Player Match games in progress
- Players can now get the Achievement for “Dish Best Served Cold” when using Troika turret to kill RAAM
- Fixed rare situation where host could loop countdown and never start match
- Fixed rare situation where players could get stuck after chainsawing in multiplayer
- Reduced Grenade Tag melee distance
- Enabled “Strict” NAT check on host to prevent possible connection issues
- Optimized server browser queries to return results more quickly and prevent scroll bars from hiding quality of service icons
- Reduced number of possible revives in Execution to match Warzone
- Removed host name from Ranked match server browser
- Disabled security cameras in Ranked matches
- Ranked matches now require balanced teams (3v3 or 4v4)
- Increased penalty for quitting a Ranked match to -50 points
- Added additional cheat detection code
- Additional housekeeping updates
In addition, January 10th will bring two new multiplayer maps, Raven Down and Old Bones. According to John Porcaro at Microsoft’s Gamerscoreblog, the map downloads will be free, thanks to a sponsorship from the Discovery Channel. Gamerscoreblog has descriptions of the maps as well as four screenshots of the new content.
Read More | Gamerscoreblog
Gallery: New Gears Of War Maps, Patch Coming
More Doom Titles Leaked For Xbox 360
Posted by Christopher Sasaki Categories: First Person Shooters, Internet, Xbox 360, Xbox Live, Xbox Live Arcade, Xbox Live Marketplace,
Siliconera has pored through the ESRB online rating database again, and this time it looks like a couple of potential Xbox 360 Live Arcade releases have leaked. The database is listing Final Doom and Ultimate Doom as “M” rated titles for the Xbox 360. With Doom standing as one of the few Arcade titles with strong online play, it would seem to make sense to take advantage of all the extra content available from the franchise.
Read More | Siliconera
Gallery: More Doom Titles Leaked For Xbox 360
Worms For Xbox Live Arcade HD Screenshots
Posted by Christopher Sasaki Categories: Internet, Retro, Xbox 360, Xbox Live, Xbox Live Arcade, Xbox Live Marketplace,
Team 17’s Worms has been rumored to be hitting Microsoft’s Xbox Live Arcade service soon. Supposedly the title will sell for 800 points with the possibility of future downloadable add-ons. While the release date of the title is still unknown, HD screenshots of the 2D turn-based game are now available on Xbox Attitude. The most recent 2d entries in the series were somewhat mediocre on the DS and the PSP, and neither supported Internet play; a fully multiplayer version on the Xbox 360 that returns to the series’ roots would be a welcome addition.
Read More | Xbox Attitude
Gallery: Worms For Xbox Live Arcade HD Screenshots
Microsoft’s Video Marketplace Top Downloads
Posted by Christopher Sasaki Categories: Internet, Xbox 360, Xbox Live, Xbox Live Marketplace,
Major Nelson, Microsoft’s Larry Hryb, has updated his blog with the top Video Marketplace downloads for the week of December 10th through the 17th. The list doesn’t include absolute numbers, so one can’t really judge how popular the service is overall, but the selections making up the top ten are interesting to say the least.
The top movie downloads are Mission Impossible III, followed by Nacho Libre; both are only available in SD format. This may somewhat act as a gauge of the adoption rate of HD displays with Xbox 360 owners, or people may just not want to spend the extra time downloading the HD content. Other oddities are some of the movies on the list; Poseidon makes the top ten, which received generally unfavorable reviews and had a particularly weak opening weekend in May. Also on the list is The Lake House, a remake of a romantic Korean film that also got relatively poor reviews. The film choices may somewhat reflect the limited movie availability yet on Xbox Live.
The television choices seem to skew more towards the stereotypical Xbox core user, with titles like South Park, Enterprise, and Chappelle’s Show on the list. Again, since no total download numbers are released, the service’s popularity can’t really be determined, but the mix of titles gives some interesting insights into the users of the service.
Read More | Major Nelson
Gallery: Microsoft’s Video Marketplace Top Downloads
Bungie Releases First Video Documentary For Halo 3
Posted by Christopher Sasaki Categories: Bungie, First Person Shooters, Trailers, Xbox 360, Xbox Live Marketplace,
This morning, Bungie made the first ViDoc (video documentary) available for Halo 3. The video documentary focuses on the Brutes in the game and runs approximately seven minutes. Bungie is cautioning that the graphics in the documentary are not final, but the feature should give a good idea about where the company is heading with these creatures in the new game. English language Standard and High Definition versions are available on the Xbox Live Marketplace, and the company will be making localized versions and a non-Marketplace version available later. The feature is also currently available on GameVideos.com
Read More | Bungie
Gallery: Bungie Releases First Video Documentary For Halo 3
This Week’s Free Xbox Live Marketplace Content: 12/8-12/15
Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Music, Trailers, Xbox 360, Xbox Live, Xbox Live Arcade, Xbox Live Marketplace,
This week there was a lack of actual in game content available through the marketplace so I’ll focus on game and movie videos & trailers. Hopefully some good free content will be released as we move towards Christmas. I’ll keep my eyes open and make sure it’s posted as it becomes available. In the meantime check out this weeks free content. Enjoy!
GAME DEMOS
:
College Hoops 2K7 – Rated E - 2006 – 961.64MB
Splinter Cell Double Agent (Single Player) – Rated M – - 2006 – 505.86MB
RoboBlitz (Arcade) – Rated E10+ - 2006 – 49.32MB
GAME VIDEOS & TRAILERS
:
Halo3 1st TV Commercial – Rated : NR - 2006
SD - 480p – 14.07MB
HD - 720p - 48.21MB
Battlestations : Midway War Machines Trailer : Rated T - 2006
SD - 480p – 15.46MB
HD - 720p – 73.70MB
Bionicle Heroes Trailer I : Rated E10+ - 2006
SD - 480p – 13.07MB
HD - 720p – 74.07MB
Eragon : Making of Trailer – Rated T - 2006
Unknown format – 126.54MB
Eragon : Director and Designer Interview Trailer – Rated T - 2006
Unknown Format – 160.01MB
MOVIE CLIPS & TRAILERS
:
Eragon Trailer I : 1 Minute – Rated G - 2006
SD - 480p Widescreen – 23MB
HD - 720p Widescreen – 83MB
Eragon Trailer II : 2 minutes – Rated G - 2006
SD - 480p Widescreen – 33MB
HD - 720p Widescreen – 120MB
Transformers Teaser Trailer : 1 Minute – Rated PG-13 (2007)
SD - 480p Widescreen – 25MB
HD - 720p Widescreen – 86MB
MUSIC VIDEOS
:
Tenacious D : The Pick of Destiny : 2 Minutes – NR - 2006
SD - 480p Widescreen – 32MB
Song of the Heart : (from Happy Feet soundtrack) – 3 Minutes – NR - 2006
SD - 480p Widescreen – 34MB
Hold Me Down : (from Motion City soundtrack) 4 Minutes – Rated Explicit - 2005
SD - 480p Widescreen – 47MB
Bad Religion : Los Angeles Is Burning : 3 Minutes – NR – 2004
SD - 480p Fullscreen – 38MB
Matchbook Romance : Monsters : 4 Minutes – NR - 2006
SD - 480p Widescreen – 45MB
Gallery: This Week’s Free Xbox Live Marketplace Content: 12/8-12/15
This Week’s Free Xbox Live Marketplace Content
Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Driving, Features, Simulation, Sports, Xbox 360, Xbox Live, Xbox Live Marketplace,
We are going to start bringing you the free content available on the Xbox Live Marketplace on the regular, thanks to long-time Playfeed reader munkyxtc. Let’s not waste any time, and jump right in.
Available in: Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, Finland, Germany, Hong Kong, Ireland, Italy, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, United Kingdom, United States?
- Viva Pinata Maximum Candiosity Gamer Picture (2 days only, expires Dec 4th)
- Burger King Games Picture Pack (US & Canada Only)
- Test Drive Unlimited : New Vehicles: (All XBL Regions/Requires in game currency)
- Lexus IS 350 Chevy Corvette C1 1957
- NCAA 07: Alternate Uniforms: (Courtesy of Coca-Cola)
- Big 10, Pac 10, Notre Dame
- ACC
- Big East, Conf. USA
- SEC, Mtn. West
- Big 12, WAC
- Madden 07 – Throwback Uniforms: (Courtesy of Sprint)
- AFC East Throwback Uniforms
- AFC North Throwback Uniforms
- AFC South Throwback Uniforms
- AFC West Throwback Uniforms
- NFC East Throwback Uniforms
- NFC North Throwback Uniforms
- NFC South Throwback Uniforms
- NFC West Throwback Uniforms
Gallery: This Week’s Free Xbox Live Marketplace Content
Rare Not Convinced On Downloadable Content
Posted by Christopher Sasaki Categories: Xbox 360, Xbox Live Marketplace,
GamesIndustry.biz recently interviewed Viva Piñata developer Rare, and in some published excerpts, the company claims that it is still on the fence in regards to downloadable content. Viva Piñata’s collection-based gameplay would seem to make the game ideal for future downloads, but Rare is balancing developing add-ons versus creation of a whole new game. Part of Rare’s hesitance seems to be tied to the relative lack of success that they have had with previous downloadable releases. Realistically, though, the additional content that Rare has offered has been pretty marginal. The company’s Kameo Power Pack really only offered new game modes, and nothing particularly compelling. Other game companies have been trumpeting the virtues of downloadable content; Activision and Ubisoft have been happy with the success of their expansions for Call of Duty and Ghost Recon, and Electronic Arts has been going crazy for paid content, so it is odd to see a company with such close ties to Microsoft not buying into the business model.
Read More | GamesIndustry.biz
Gallery: Rare Not Convinced On Downloadable Content
Microsoft Works To Fix Video Marketplace Issues
Posted by Christopher Sasaki Categories: Xbox 360, Xbox Live, Xbox Live Marketplace,
A number of users have reported problems with Microsoft’s new television and movie downloads on the Xbox Live Marketplace. Gamers have had issues with download speeds and incomplete downloads, and incorrect charges. Microsoft’s Larry Hryb, via the Major Nelson blog, has announced that the company is working hard at fixing the issues, and will work with consumers to get refunds for content as appropriate. Microsoft claims that the extremely high number of downloads caused issues with the service; while it can be difficult to project how many users may hit the service, certainly things should have been designed to the point where incomplete or failed downloads would result in false charges on an account. Hopefully, Microsoft will resolve the issues quickly for those gamers affected.
Read More | Major Nelson
Gallery: Microsoft Works To Fix Video Marketplace Issues
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