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Check it out guys, the hype is officially in full effect over the next couple of days. We have been receiving some Halo 3-themed deliveries over the past couple of days. You’ve gotta see the latest. This is a briefcase that arrived with a simple Halo 3 logo on it. We opened it up to find a couple of autographed Halo 3 controllers, along with the Halo 3 wireless headset. Check out the Halo 3 Briefcase gallery for a closer look at everything, and if you missed it, check out our Xbox 360 Halo 3 Special Edition unboxing gallery as well!

Read More | Opening the Halo 3 Briefcase

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Call of Duty 4

Robert “402” Bowling from Infinity Ward has posted about some upcoming changes to the Call of Duty 4 beta on his blog. The most significant announcement is the closing of the beta on September 30th, but he also revealed that two days prior the level cap, which has been at 16 for a couple of weeks after being lifted from the initial cap of 11, will go up to 25. That gives beta testers only two days to jump from 16 to 25 before the beta closes down in anticipation of the game’s release November 5th.

Part of the post hinted that CoD4 had gone gold, but Bowling refused to come right out and say it, saving the announcement for more official channels. He did say that Infinity Ward had received congratulations from the Sony of America and the Xbox 360 certification team, which leaves little room for doubt that the game is in the final stages before shipping.

The beta has been an excellent marketing tool for Infinity Ward since the strength of the game is quite evident from the limited, multiplayer-only test version. Even though the game is likely gold, the beta continues for developers to continue gathering data for the inevitable title upgrades and expansion packs. The raising of the level cap so close to the end of the beta is, speculatively, due to the launch of a certain multiplayer juggernaut a few days prior.

Read More | Fourzerotwo's Blog

Lost Odyssey pic

When Microsoft executives call Lost Odyssey epic, they mean it.  At TGS, Hironobu Sakaguchi announced that his upcoming Xbox 360-exclusive RPG will span four discs, at a game length of forty to fifty hours.  In addition, the game will ship with multiple language options, so we know that the insane amount of disc space is going to good use.  Gamers will be dreaming of Xbox-branded multi-disc changers when the game launches in Japan later this year, and in the rest of the world in 2008.


This year’s TGS is awash in media from loads of promising Japanese RPGs.  The spiky-haired adventurers in Infinite Undiscovery (ouch at that title), The Last Remnant, and Lost Odyssey promise to take the genre to new excruciatingly emotional heights.  But the most impressive of them all, the one that may even melt the heart of the most cynical hater of all things spiky and stat-laden, is Level 5’s White Knight Story.  Level 5 is the development studio behind Dragon Quest VIII and Rogue Galaxy, so you just know this game will deliver the goods when it comes exclusively to the PS3 next year.

And now we have this video.  It isn’t direct feed, runs about 4 minutes long, and Obi-Wan Kenobi blocks the screen for part of it, but trust me…the whole thing is worth the watch.  The animation is so fluid and seamless that the game’s battles come across as balletic performances, not turgid turn-based fights.  And check out the awe-inspiring transformation near the end of the footage.  You’ll be nodding your head wondering what the fuss is, and then the White Knight will appear and you’ll smile and say, “Okay, that [i]was[/i] pretty cool.”  Bank on it.

Read More | GameSpot

DualShock3

At Sony’s pre-TGS press conference, Kaz Hirai announced that rumble is coming back to the PS3 in a big way, in the form of the new DualShock 3 controller.  Gamers have been clamoring for force feedback ever since Sony first unveiled the PS3’s Sixaxis controller sans rumble.  We just couldn’t properly enjoy shooting aliens without the little vibration [i]telling[/i] us that we were shooting aliens.  At any rate, Sony heard the call and is making amends. 

“We have not made any changes to its outward appearance and design, but it does have vibration,” Hirai said.  And fear not, motion control fans…the waggle feature isn’t going anywhere.  The wizards at Sony have found a way to include both features.

Which brings us to the catch: the DualShock 3 will be available this year, but only in Japan.  Everyone else will have to wait until next Spring.

Read More | Eurogamer

MGS4 picKonami has announced that the PS3 game the whole world wants will be playable on the showfloor of this year’s Tokyo Game Show, which kicks off later this week.  That’s right, Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots will make its playable debut to the tune of fifty demo kiosks at Konami’s booth.  Knowing the history of the franchise, you have to wonder if a PSN demo isn’t too far behind.

Drool over impressions of Metal Gear Solid 4 in the next week.  Finally break down and buy the game and that damned PS3 (it’s exclusive, kids) when the game is released next year.

Read More | Kotaku via Gamefront

Forgive yourself if you mistake the opening of Bioware‘s upcoming Xbox 360 RPG for an early peek at Ridley Scott’s interstellar follow-up to Blade Runner.  From the woozy synth-phonic score, to the pre-credit crawl that leads into the main title reveal, to the camera movements that just feel so [i]right[/i], Mass Effect oozes pure cinematic goodness.  Those of you who don’t want to know anything about the game before playing it should stay away from the above video.  For everyone else, however, this is a must-see, if for no other reason than it provides us with our first glance at a created character who doesn’t look like the bald space marine Bioware has used to promote the game so far.

Mass Effect is sure to be one of this year’s biggest games when it hits the Xbox 360 on November 20th.

Read More | Bioware

Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock PS3 CoverA rumor began circulating yesterday that the full and final track list for Activision‘s Guitar Hero III was available. The problem with the list was that while it seemed credible it lacked several bands who had previously announced their involvement with the game, notably Atreyu and Velvet Revolver.

We followed up with one of the original sources yesterday and he confirmed that the list was accurate but perhaps not 100% complete, which would leave room for additional songs to be announced closer to the release date or perhaps even kept under wraps until the game ships. In any case, the selection is shaping up nicely with a few unexpected inclusions.

Click to continue reading Expanded Guitar Hero III Track List Found

Read More | Aeropause

Manhunt 2 Screenshot

Some questions were asked after Rockstar announced that it had adjusted the content of its violent horror title Manhunt 2 to warrant an M rating from the ESRB rather than the unsellable AO it had previously been given. California Senator Leland Yee was one person asking such questions.

Since much of the public’s information about the original content in Manhunt 2 came from IGN’s Matt Casamassina’s hands-on with the game prior to rating, it’s only fitting that he plays the modified version heading to retail and reports on what the differences are.

Primarily, Casamassina says, the game has taken the controversial murder animations and added some blur and darkening effects to obfuscate the actions, making the action less identifyable. Casamassina is disappointed with the changes:

[It’s] unfortunate because both everything else is unchanged and because these death strikes are what gamers will want to work toward; they’re the pay off for a job well done, but now the pay off is not nearly as rewarding.

It’s worth noting that one maneuver in which the player removes an enemy’s testicles with a pair of pliers has been completely excised from the game, but aside from these adjustments the game is still extremely dark and graphically violent according to Casamassina’s estimation.


Xbox LiveIn the midst of all the hype about the Halo 3 launch, one thing that is often overlooked is that not everyone who has a 360 is necessarily equipped to play the game in its entirety. Whether you’re staunchly against paying for an online service like Xbox Live or you just can’t afford it, for a few days at least it won’t matter.

Best Buy is sponsoring a three-day free-for-all granting all Xbox 360 users access to the Gold Service starting on September 25th and ending on the 27th. That means that Silver members get to experience Halo’s online multiplayer without charge for at least a handful of days after they pick up their copy of the game. Even if you’re not into the whole Halo thing, that doesn’t exclude you from taking advantage: Best Buy’s “the first hit is free” style promotion extends to all parts of the service so those without full access to Live could use the time to play some Gears of War online, check out the Call of Duty 4 beta (if it’s still up and running) or just use the time to play some free Uno.

Read More | Bungie.net

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