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Over on the Forza Motorsport site the developers talk about how they went about capturing the engine sounds that will be placed into the game. The article centers around capturing the audio from a ‘88 E24 M6 BMW and shows behind the scenes audio captures. The audio captures are done on a dyno which allows the car to be put through it’s paces in a stationary environment. The audio has been captured with carefully placed microphones and the process of capturing one car’s auditory feel takes an entire day. The recordings are done every 500 rpm in 10 second intervals which will later allow the in game developers to piece together the rich and ever changing engine sounds. This process will be done for each car in the game, creating cars with their own distinguishable engine noise.
The article has a few good snapshots for BMW lovers and brings to the spotlight the owners of the Forza Motorsports cars. The article brought to my attention that the cars in Forza Motrosports 2 are real cars owned by individuals, not just a car that has been digitally created. Car owners get their name in the credits and a free copy of Forza Motorsports 2 on top of having their car appear in the game. Hey guys, need to do some audio recording on a ‘00 Cavalier?
Read More 
| Forza Motorsport
Gallery: Forza Motorsports 2: Recording Vehicle Audio
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Rumor: Xbox Live Vision Camera for $39.99
Posted by Michael Cardiff Categories: Accessories, Rumors, Xbox 360, Xbox Live, Xbox Live Arcade,
According to Xbox Addict and computerandvideogames.com, the Xbox Live Vision Camera will come bundled as a set with a wired headset, a month of Xbox Live Gold access, and the Live Arcade game UNO. Sounds like about the right price point, especially when compared with Sony’s Eye Toy. No word yet on whether you’ll be able to buy the camera without a bundle or if the camera may be bundled with other games.
Read More | computerandvideogames.com
Gallery: Rumor: Xbox Live Vision Camera for $39.99
AOL Partners With World Series of Video Games
Posted by Josh Smith Categories: Corporate News, Culture, First Person Shooters, PC, PlayStation 2, Xbox, Xbox 360,
AOL has announced a partnership with the World Series of Video Games (WSVG). This partnership brings the global presence and reach of AOL together with the video game tournaments and presence of the WSVG. AOL will be dedicating a page to the the group which will feature AOL profiles, videos from the circuits, along with tips and tricks from the pros. The partnership also includes deals with Future US publishing which will cross promote the events in their many publications. Editors from Future US’s magazines will be at tournaments to host panels on how to “Break into the Video Games Biz”. Down the road AOL will host PC gaming events for the WSVG which is owned by Games Media Properties.
The article states that the World Series of Video Games is the first international video game circuit on multiple platforms. This may come as news to Major League Gaming who have hosted tournaments on both the Xbox and the Gamecube in 28 countries. The World Series of Games appears to offer much more variety to the gaming circuit. They offer competitions for many games including, World of Warcraft, Halo 2, Ghost Recon Advanced Warrior, Quake 4, and Project Gotham Racing 3. The tournaments will also feature pick up games of Dance Dance Revolution and other games.
Read More | biz.yahoo.com
Gallery: AOL Partners With World Series of Video Games
Xbox 360 Backwards Compatibility Update Coming
Posted by Christopher Sasaki Categories: Xbox 360, Xbox Live,
Despite Peter Moore’s dismissal of Xbox 360 backwards compatibility as a mainstream feature, there will be a new compatibility update coming from Microsoft in the next few weeks which is expected to add support to “at least a dozen titles.” The Xbox 360 marketing guys at Gamerscoreblog pinned down the compatibility team and got the skinny on the update; the next release is in testing now, and they are still fully committed to getting as many titles as possible on the backwards compatibility list. Here’s hoping the next update gets gamers more titles like Mech Assault and nothing with the word Barbie in the name.
Read More | GamerscoreBlog
Gallery: Xbox 360 Backwards Compatibility Update Coming
Japanese Developers On Next Generation
Posted by Christopher Sasaki Categories: E3, Nintendo, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360,
Famitsu was able to talk to a bunch of the Japanese developers at E3 to get their opinions on the next generation of consoles, and Next Generation has the translation. The opinions seem to be pretty much off-the-cuff remarks, so there’s not a lot of heavy or in-depth information, and most of the response is positive for all consoles. Famitsu was able to talk to developers from Capcom, Tecmo, Sega, Namco, and more.
Amongst the praise for the new consoles, a few insults were tossed, most notably from the outspoken game designer from Team Ninja, Tomonobu Itagaki, who reportedly said, “It is most interesting to see Sony made the decisive judgment to revert the PlayStation 3 controller to its true shape. It takes great bravery for a company to change something that has already been announced.” He is still probably the Xbox 360’s biggest backer in Japan, as well, declaring “America’s love for the Xbox 360 has yet to waver. If only America would just explain Japan why they love the Xbox 360 already…” and also suggested that he might consider developing a title for Nintendo’s Wii, if only to give a break to people between their sessions of Dead or Alive Extreme 2.
Overall, however, developers seemed genuinely interested in how the Wii controller will shake things up, some effusive, while some were cautious about how well the controller would really take hold in the market. Concerns were expressed over the PS3 price, but many thought that the hardware was strong and the networking possibilities were intriguing.
Read More | Next Generation
Gallery: Japanese Developers On Next Generation
New Oblivion Content Coming Soon
Posted by Christopher Sasaki Categories: Internet, PC, Role Playing Games, Xbox 360, Xbox Live Marketplace,
Bethesda recently announced a new mod for Elder Scrolls: Oblivion, “Mehrunes’ Razor.” In addition to adding the magical item for which the downloadable content is named, there will be a new dungeon and several new items for gamers to discover. Mehrunes’ Razor could be found in the previous game, Morrowind, through an included quest, but the description Bethesda gives here hints that the incarnation in Oblivion may be a bit more powerful. This sounds to be one of the more involved downloadable content expansions, and the price reflects it; for PC users the mod will cost $2.99, and no pricing is currently available for Xbox 360 owners, but expect it to cost between 200 and 250 Marketplace points. According to the Oblivion download site, the new content features:
- A fully-featured quest takes you deep into the fringes of the Niben.
- Earn the fearsome Mehrunes Razor, with the ability to kill foes instantly.
- 17 new magic items to discover!
- Conquer the largest dungeon in all Cyrodiil.
- Thwart a plot to overthrow Imperial rule in Tamriel.
- 12 new books, notes, and journals to help you unravel the mystery.
- Hidden treasures await!
Read More | Obliviondownloads.com
Gallery: New Oblivion Content Coming Soon
Square Previews Chocobo Breeding in Final Fantasy XI
Posted by Christopher Sasaki Categories: Internet, MMORPG, PC, PlayStation 2, Xbox 360,
Developers at Square recently dropped some details on the new Chocobo breeding feature in an update on the official site for Final Fantasy XI. Chocobo breeding was announced as a part of the recent expansion pack, The Treasures of Aht Urghan, but the functionality was not in place at launch. Instead, the feature will become available in a soon to be released version update for expansion owners. The feature is billed as an upgraded form of the gardening functionality, and should allow both dedicated and casual players to try and raise a Chocabo; according to the website, the player “can raise a chocobo by taking care of it for a minimal amount of time each day over a span of roughly 1-3 months…” Player’s must first find a Chocobo egg to access the feature, and each egg will apparently have its own unique DNA that will control how the Chocobo develops. Eventually, gamers successful at raising their Chocobo will be able to match up with other players and breed new animals, allowing for more varieties and development.
Read More | PlayOnline.com
Gallery: Square Previews Chocobo Breeding in Final Fantasy XI
Wii Wins Game Critics Best of Show E3 2006
Posted by Christopher Sasaki Categories: E3, PlayStation 3, Wii, Xbox 360,
The Game Critics awards for E3 2006 have been announced, and the winner of Best of Show this year is Nintendo’s Wii console, beating out Assassin’s Creed,Bioshock, Gears of War, and Spore to take the overall title. The Wii also took best hardware, while Will Wright’s Spore was voted Best Original Game, Best Simulation Game, and Best PC Game. Epic’s new Xbox 360 shooter, Gears of War won Best Console Game. The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass came away with the award for Best Handheld Game, the rest of Nintendo’s showing was represented by Excite Truck as Best Racing Game, and Wii Sports as Best Sports Game.
In terms of console platform wins, Nintendo’s Wii led the pack with 4 wins, followed by the Xbox 360 with 3, and the PS3 with 2. Nintendo’s showing was quite impressive, given that the Xbox 360 was heading into its second generation of game titles, and had a number of great games shown; the amount of wins is a testament to Nintendo’s preparation and readiness for this Holiday season. Microsoft may have suffered a little bit due to the sheer number of nominations seen for the Xbox 360 platform; Xbox 360 games received a total of 21 nominations, resulting in multiple Xbox 360 games up for the same awards. Overall, Sony’s strongest showing were the games Heavenly Sword and Assassin’s Creed, which took Best Fighting Game and Best Action/Adventure Game respectively.
The full list of nominees (winners bolded) after the jump.
Click to continue reading Wii Wins Game Critics Best of Show E3 2006
Gallery: Wii Wins Game Critics Best of Show E3 2006
Original Xbox hacker bunnie is weighing in on the supposed “competition” between him and The Specialist on Xbox 360 hacks as reported in the Wall Street Journal: on bunnie’s side, he certainly doesn’t see this as a battle to see who can come out on top, for him, if the goal of running homebrew software on the Xbox 360 is reached, everybody has won. He does drop some information on what’s currently going on in the realm of Xbox 360 hacking. He hasn’t been able to work on things for a couple of months, but it looks like there are some promising avenues that could lead to decryption key access on the Xbox 360, including some new ways of dissecting the Xbox 360 silicon in a non-destructive manner.
Read More | Bunniestudios.com
Read More | Wall Street Journal Article
Gallery: Bunnie Weighs In on Xbox 360 Hacks
Xbox Live Vision Camera In Action, Drops September 19
Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Accessories, Hardware, Release Dates, Xbox 360, Xbox Live, Xbox Live Arcade,
If you were wondering how the Vision Camera would work in UNO, her eis your answer. Maestro1, a camera beta tester, showed up in a game where another player quickly grabbed 40 seconds of video. Not much to see in the video itself, other than a dog standing still for quite a while, then simply walking away - but still cool nonetheless. The Xbox Live Vision Camera is set to launch in North America and Europe on September 19, 2006.
Read More | CheapAssGamer
Gallery: Xbox Live Vision Camera In Action, Drops September 19
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