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Limited Edition Halo Action Figure At San Diego Comic-Con

Posted by Josh Smith Categories: Accessories, First Person Shooters, Xbox, Xbox 360,

If you are heading to the San Diego Comic-Con next week be sure to stop by the Joyride Studios booth #3235, during the first 90 minutes of the show. While you are there, register to be put in the raffle for a chance to buy a limited edition Orbital Drop Shock Trooper figure. The featured ODST is inspired by the recently released Halo Graphic Novel. If your ticket is drawn then you can get one of the 1,200 ODST figures for $20. While you are at the convention be sure to pick up a copy of The Halo Graphic Novel.

LEGO Star Wars: The Original Trilogy Trailer

Posted by Josh Smith Categories: Nintendo DS, Nintendo Gamecube, PC, PlayStation 2, PSP, Release Dates, Trailers, Xbox, Xbox 360,

A trailer is now out for LEGO Star Wars: The Original Trilogy. The trailer definitely showcases the fun factor of the LEGO Star Wars games and makes me want to find a copy of the first LEGO Star Wars. The game is set for a September 12th release on all platforms except the Wii.

G4TV Counts Down the Best for PS2, Xbox and Gamecube

Posted by Michael Cardiff Categories: Nintendo Gamecube, PlayStation 2, Reviews, Xbox,

X-Play Logo with Morgan Webb The summer months are always a slow time for video game releases, but compound that with the fact that many companies are dedicating the majority of their resources to the yet-to-be-released next gen consoles and you have a summer gaming drought of epic proportions. As such, it’s an especially good time to look back on the games that made the current generation worth owning. X-Play, on G4 tech TV, has decided that ‘tis the season for top ten lists and thus presents us with their picks for the top 10 games for the Playstation 2, Xbox, and Gamecube.

Overall, it looks like they’ve done a fairly good job at catching the major, well-reviewed titles that sold millions - your Halo 2s and your GTAs of course are on the list. There are some great games on this list that didn’t sell as well though - like Beyond Good and Evil, Psychonauts, and Eternal Darkness - and it’s nice to see X-Play remind folks of some overlooked gems (especially now that you could get most of them for $19.99!).

If you missed the original broadcast on G4TV, the episodes are segmented up into nice, bite-sized podcast chunks available through either iTunes or the G4TV podcast RSS feed.

See the full list after the jump. Did they forget any of your favorite games?

Click to continue reading G4TV Counts Down the Best for PS2, Xbox and Gamecube

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Cheap Ass Gamer Yard Sale Guide

Posted by Josh Smith Categories: Accessories, Hardware, Hot Deals, Nintendo, Nintendo DS, PlayStation 2, Retro, Xbox, Xbox 360,

Some of the friendly users over at Cheap Ass Gamer have put together a guide for finding great game deals at local garage sales. With recent garage sale finds such as a Zelda 3 prototype, garage sales have become a beacon to bargain hunters and game collectors. The guide is part of the CAGwiki; and includes many common sense tips, bargaining methods, and video game loot cleaning tips.

Jury Selection Begins In Deltona Xbox Murder Case

Posted by Thea Davis Categories: Culture, Politics, Xbox,

Three men are charged with the brutal clubbing and stabbing of six people in Deltona, FL. in an attack supposedly perpetrated in order to recover an Xbox video game console belonging to the group’s alleged ringleader, Troy Victorino. A fourth man, Robert Cannon, has already plead guilty to the charges, and will receive a life sentence in exchange for his testimony against the remaining defendants (Victorino, Michael Salas, and Jerone Hunter) in the case. Central Florida media coverage surrounding the crime itself and the subsequent arrests of the four suspects has been so intense that the location of the trial was moved to St. Augustine. Today, the process began to select a jury for the trial. Thirteen prospective jurors have qualified to return on Monday for the continuing selection process.

The Xbox Vs WebTV Meeting

Posted by Christopher Sasaki Categories: Culture, Xbox,

Dean Takahashi has released some Microsoft internal e-mails that summarize the outcome of the fateful meeting where the Xbox team and the WebTV team submitted their competing proposals to Bill Gates. This meeting would help decide who would go forward and do the research to get Microsoft’s game console built. Gamers can thank their lucky stars that the Xbox team was chosen; how the decision went down is summarized in the leaked e-mails.

Basically, there were two approaches suggested. The first option was that Microsoft build up the WebTV platform, based around WinCE. The other scenario would have Microsoft scaling back the PC to get something that was focused specifically on gaming. Bill Gates clearly favored the PC-based solution. His belief at the time was that eventually, PC and console prices would converge; both would reach $199. For a time, heavily subsidized PCs did reach $199, but that is hardly commonplace today. Most “low end” PCs hover around the $350 price point, but cannot match the graphics capabilities of the Xbox 360.

It is interesting to note what ideas suggested in the 1999 meeting made it into the original Xbox, and what would have to wait. Even as far back as this early planning stage, Microsoft was imagining game console configurations with and without a hard drive. Also, the “tax” on peripherals that Bill Gates was looking for in the original Xbox would really not develop until the Xbox 360.

Other interesting tidbits: Intel was the first original hardware vendor to talk to. While Microsoft dallied with AMD for a while, eventually, the Xbox did get the Intel CPU. Of course, both chip vendors lost out on the sequel, with IBM getting the nod. Microsoft also plans to string Sega along until they can announce the Xbox, pimping the Dreamcast while secretly seeking alliances with other partners for their own attack. Ultimately, Microsoft appeared to be afraid of the inroads that Sony was making. According to Microsoft, their “goal needs to be to contain Sony and to focus on a duopoly.”

Cheap Halo 2 Xbox Live Headset

Posted by Josh Smith Categories: Hardware, Hot Deals, Xbox, Xbox 360, Xbox Live,

Halo 2 Headset Major Nelson clued readers into a great deal for the Halo 2 Xbox Live Headset which normally retails for $49.99. Plantronics is currently selling the headset for $14.95! To top off the deal Plantronics is even donating $1 of each sale to the Plantronics GameCom United Way Katrina Recovery Fund. This headset is levels above the quality of the OEM Xbox 360 headset and when combined with Datel’s Headset Adapter makes for an amazing deal. Do yourself and your friends a favor, pick up a new headset today.

Read More | Plantronics via Major Nelson

$8.96 Video Game Clearance At Circuit City

Posted by Josh Smith Categories: Hot Deals, Nintendo, Nintendo DS, Nintendo Gamecube, PlayStation 2, PSP, Xbox,

Demolition Man, on the Cheap Ass Gamer forum was able to pull together a list of Xbox, Gamecube, PSP, DS, Gameboy Advance, and PS2 titles included in the newest $8.96 clearance sale at Circuit City. While the sale does not officially start until Sunday July 2nd many people are reporting success picking up games on the list at clearance price. If your local store doesn’t have the clearance games on the shelf don’t yet despair. Some of the Circuit City locations including my local stores have already pulled the clearance games, and are holding them in the back until Sunday.

Xbox:
Burnout Revenge
Far Cry Instincts
Halo Triple Pack

Gamecube:
Batman Begins
Chaos Theory
Dragonball Z Sagas
EA Sports Fight Night Round 2

PSP:
Need For Speed Underground Rivals
Spiderman 2
Tiger Woods PGA
Tony Hawk Underground 2 Remix
World Soccer Tour

Nintendo DS:
Advance Wars
Meteos
Burnout Legends
Star Wars Episode 3 Revenge Of The Sith
Texas Hold Em
Tiger Woods 2005

Gameboy Advance:
Grand Theft Auto
Madden 2006
Mario Golf: Advance Tours
Mario Kart Super Circuit
Mario Party Advance

Playstation 2:
Driver Parallel Lines
Eye Toy
Time Crisis: Crisis Zone
Time Splitters
Tony Hawk’s American Wasteland Collector’s Edition

Head over to the Cheap Ass Gamer forums for the full list which includes many more games.

Take-Two: Another Day, Another Lawsuit

Posted by Christopher Sasaki Categories: Corporate News, Culture, PC, PlayStation 2, Politics, Xbox,

It has been a bad couple of weeks for Take-Two Interactive Software, but probably good for their lawyers. Take-Two recently announced via news release that the District Attorney of the County of New York had served the company with grand jury subpoenas. The documents, according to the release, cover knowledge of the “hot coffee” content in Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas, as well as details of financial records relating to:

…termination of PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP and retention of Ernst & Young LLP; acquisitions by the Company in 2005; certain compensation and human resources documents with respect to the Company and certain of its current and former officers and directors; and documents concerning the activities of the Company’s Board of Directors and Committees thereof.

Take-Two also declares that neither individuals, nor the company are the target of the investigation. Given the controversy over the “hot coffee” mod, and the past problems Take-Two has had with the Securities and Exchange Commission, it seems that the District Attorney believes that there is something worth pursuing.

On top of this, more legal action has been brought against the company, this time due to content in Rockstar’s game, The Warriors. According to the New York Daily News, Roger Hill, the actor who played the gang leader Cyrus in the movie, has filed suit against both Rockstar and Take-Two. The suit seeks $250,000 in damages and an injunction against using his likeness in the game. Take-Two issued a statement to the Daily News that the company has a valid license for any actor’s likeness.

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