Find Our Latest Video Reviews on YouTube!
If you want to stay on top of all of our video reviews of the latest tech, be sure to check out and subscribe to the Gear Live YouTube channel, hosted by Andru Edwards! It’s free!
Latest Gear Live Videos
Boom Boom Rocket Launches Tomorrow
Posted by Christopher Sasaki Categories: Action, Electronic Arts, Music, Xbox 360, Xbox Live, Xbox Live Arcade, Xbox Live Marketplace,
Bizarre Creation’s latest Xbox Live Arcade title hits the Marketplace tomorrow; Boom Boom Rocket will sell for 800 Microsoft Points ($10). The game features Bizarre’s particle effects as fireworks layered over a 3D cityscape. Combining fireworks, classical music, and cityscapes will certainly draw comparisons to the PS2 title Fantavision, but hopefully this, combined with music/rhythm gameplay, will be an original enough creation to set it apart. Certainly Bizarre Creations is familiar with remixing order gameplay styles to create something new; Geometry Wars still stands as a unique mix of classic arcade archetypes.
Read More 
| Gamerscoreblog
Gallery: Boom Boom Rocket Launches Tomorrow
Advertisement
Xbox 360 Dashboard Update Video Leaked
Posted by Michael Cardiff Categories: Release Dates, Rumors, Xbox 360, Xbox Live, Xbox Live Arcade, Xbox Live Marketplace,
Our papa-site Gear Live pointed out this video from MyGamerCard.net that was supposedly leaked from Gamespot.com. This one is looking real legit, and boasts some exciting features:
* Ability to add up to 600 Windows Live Messenger contacts to your Friends List.
* Text chat with up to 6 Live Messenger contacts at once during games or movies.
* The Marketplace will be getting its own Dashboard Blade.
* The Marketplace will be skinned independently of the Dashboard, for special events.
* The Marketplace will be getting a new, easier-to-navigate remake.
* Achievement Pop-ups will now display how many points and which Achievement you have gained.
* Low-power downloading (fans off) and auto-off after finishing queued downloads.
* View partially downloaded video files.
Much like Gear Live, we’re still wondering “where the browser at?”, but it’s looking like Microsoft is still doing a great job of beefing up their already impressive online features.
Read More | Gear Live
Gallery: Xbox 360 Dashboard Update Video Leaked
Grab Shivering Isles For Xbox 360, $30
Posted by Christopher Sasaki Categories: Internet, Role Playing Games, Xbox 360, Xbox Live, Xbox Live Marketplace,
Bethesda’s expansion for The Elder Scrolls: Obliviion, The Shivering Isles is now available on the Xbox Live Marketplace. The expansion promises more than 30 hours of additional gameplay for one of the best games on the Xbox 360. The add-on sells for 2400 Microsoft Points ($30), basically matching the price of the PC expansion, which makes this the most expensive downloadable content to date. The download also weighs in at almost a gigabyte, so those rumored 120 GB drives might come in handy sooner rather than later. Still, for Oblivion addicts, this expansion should be a great way to pass the time during the upcoming Live downtime, assuming that you can get it downloaded before the service goes down.
Read More | Major Nelson
Gallery: Grab Shivering Isles For Xbox 360, $30
Castlevania Now Available On Live Marketplace
Posted by Christopher Sasaki Categories: Action, Xbox 360, Xbox Live, Xbox Live Arcade, Xbox Live Marketplace,
The classic PlayStation version of Castlevania: Symphony of the Night is now available on the Xbox Live Marketplace. The game sells for 800 Microsoft Points and the demo clocks in at slightly less than 100 MB, which makes this the first Live Arcade title to break the previous 50 MB barrier. So far, the gameplay seems to be true to the older PlayStation version, but with added achievement support and various scaling modes to support HDTV resolutions. Some of the scaling modes seem to work better than others, but one should be able to find a decent match to whatever display device is in use. The original soundtrack for the game makes it to the Xbox 360 largely intact, but one can tell that music was fairly heavily compressed to get it into a reasonable file size for Live Marketplace. Beyond this and the mushy Xbox 360 D-Pad, the port is a good way for gamers to experience the title on the 10th anniversary of its release.
Read More | Gamerscoreblog
Gallery: Castlevania Now Available On Live Marketplace
TMNT Confirmed For Xbox Live Arcade
Posted by Christopher Sasaki Categories: Action, Retro, Xbox 360, Xbox Live, Xbox Live Arcade, Xbox Live Marketplace,
Ubisoft has confirmed that the classic Konami arcade game Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles will be coming to the Xbox Live Arcade in the near future. One of the best parts about the original arcade game was four-player support, and this will make its way over to the Xbox Live version, supporting co-op play locally or over Xbox Live. The game will sell for a mere 400 Points ($5) and should appear by the end of the month, to tie in with the upcoming movie release.
Read More | IGN
Gallery: TMNT Confirmed For Xbox Live Arcade
Every Extend Extra Extreme Coming To Live Arcade
Posted by Christopher Sasaki Categories: Action, Xbox 360, Xbox Live, Xbox Live Arcade, Xbox Live Marketplace,
Q Entertainment today announced that Every Extend Extra Extreme would soon be coming to Microsoft’s Xbox Live Arcade service. The new version promises to take advantage of the HD resolutions available on the Xbox 360, and will supposedly support custom soundtracks from CD, according to Computer and Video Games. Mizuguchi did not say whether they would be splitting the game up into a million pieces while charging for each piece, but hopefully with the new Live Arcade size limits and the amount of feedback that Lumines Live got, the company and Microsoft will try and restrict the microtransactions for this release.
Read More | Computer And Videogames
Gallery: Every Extend Extra Extreme Coming To Live Arcade
Worms Finally Finds Its Way Onto Xbox Live Arcade
Posted by Christopher Sasaki Categories: Action, Internet, Strategy, Xbox 360, Xbox Live, Xbox Live Arcade, Xbox Live Marketplace,
It looks like after Worms finally passed certification last week Microsoft put it on the fast track for release, as the title will be coming to Xbox Live Arcade next Wednesday for 800 Marketplace Points ($10). A Worms game online, on a big screen HDTV, supported by Xbox Live would seem to be a great match; hopefully the extra time in certification will mean that online play will be polished upon release.
The full press release continues below.
Click to continue reading Worms Finally Finds Its Way Onto Xbox Live Arcade
Gallery: Worms Finally Finds Its Way Onto Xbox Live Arcade
Xbox 360 Security Hole Revealed, Already Patched
Posted by Christopher Sasaki Categories: Hardware, Mods/Hacks, Xbox 360, Xbox Live, Xbox Live Arcade, Xbox Live Marketplace,
The Bugtraq mailing list recently published the details of an unsigned code execution security hole on the Xbox 360. The timeline of the security hole would seem to make this vulnerability the same one demonstrated at last year’s 23C3 Hacker Congress, as seen in this excerpt:
Timeline:
Oct 31, 2006 - release of 4532 kernel, which is the first version
containing the bug
Nov 16, 2006 - proof of concept completed; unsigned code running in
hypervisor context
Nov 30, 2006 - release of 4548 kernel, bug still not fixed
Dec 15, 2006 - first attempt to contact vendor to report bug
Dec 30, 2006 - public demonstration
Jan 03, 2007 - vendor contact established, full details disclosed
Jan 09, 2007 - vendor releases patch
Feb 28, 2007 - full public release
The public demonstration date is key; that would be the same date of the anonymous Xbox 360 hacker video release. Further, the overview of the vulnerability claims:
We have discovered a vulnerability in the Xbox 360 hypervisor that allows
privilege escalation into hypervisor mode. Together with a method to
inject data into non-privileged memory areas, this vulnerability allows
an attacker with physical access to an Xbox 360 to run arbitrary code
such as alternative operating systems with full privileges and full
hardware access.
According to the release, Microsoft has patched the vulnerability as of January 9th, but then Sony thought they had patched the Grand Theft Auto: Liberty City Stories security hole as well. The existence of such a vulnerability indicates that the security of the Xbox 360 isn’t as bulletproof as Microsoft intended, and it would seem a mere matter of time before another exploitable hole is found to enable homebrew development on the system.
Read More | SecurityFocus via Xbox Scene
Gallery: Xbox 360 Security Hole Revealed, Already Patched
Xbox Live Worms Certified
Posted by Christopher Sasaki Categories: Strategy, Xbox 360, Xbox Live, Xbox Live Arcade, Xbox Live Marketplace,
It looks like the Xbox Live Arcade version of Worms should be hitting the Marketplace soon; Team 17 recently confirmed that the game had finally passed Microsoft certification to Eurogamer. While a firm release date was not set, the Team 17 representative claimed the game should be showing up on Xbox Live in the next few weeks.
Read More | Eurogamer
Gallery: Xbox Live Worms Certified
Alien Hominid HD To Hit Xbox Live Arcade
Posted by Christopher Sasaki Categories: Action, Xbox 360, Xbox Live, Xbox Live Arcade, Xbox Live Marketplace,
Last week Microsoft poked Xbox Live Arcade gamers in the eye with a delay of Worms, but this week looks a little better with the upcoming release of Alien Hominid HD this Wednesday for 800 Marketplace Points ($10). The side-scrolling Flash game has already hit a number of console platforms, including the Gamecube, Playstation 2, original Xbox, and Gameboy Advance. Now, the graphics get an HD makeover to 720P and the mini-games go online along with the related Achievements and Gamerscore for XBLA titles. While Alien Hominid HD will be great for those that haven’t experienced the title on other platforms, one still can’t help wonder how long it will be for Worms to show up on the Marketplace.
The full press release continues below.
Click to continue reading Alien Hominid HD To Hit Xbox Live Arcade
Read More | Gamerscoreblog
Gallery: Alien Hominid HD To Hit Xbox Live Arcade
Advertisement
© Gear Live Inc. {year} – User-posted content, unless source is quoted, is licensed under a Creative Commons Public Domain License. Gear Live graphics, logos, designs, page headers, button icons, videos, articles, blogs, forums, scripts and other service names are the trademarks of Gear Live Inc.