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Xbox scores Call of Duty add-on exclusivity through 2012
Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Action, E3, First Person Shooters, Xbox 360,
At their E3 2010 Media Briefing, Microsoft announced that they’d signed a deal with Activision that would give them a window of exclusivity over all Call of Duty downloadable add-on content through 2012. In other words, if you are a big Call of Duty fan, and you want access to the game add-ons as quickly as they become publicly available, you’ll want to be playing on the Xbox 360. If you are on PS3, you’ll likely need to wait a month or two before you can download the add-ons. Interestingly enough, they said this was an Xbox exclusive, and not an Xbox 360 exclusive. Of course, there is a high probability that Microsoft will have announced and launched a new Xbox before the end of 2012, and if that is the case, the agreement will carry over.
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Project Natal officially named: Kinect
Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Accessories, E3, Microsoft, Xbox 360,
Last night, Microsoft finally unveiled both the name and a bunch of launch titles coming for Project Natal. First and foremost, Natal is no more—it is now known at Kinect for Xbox 360. The controller-free gaming add-on was shown off in an over-the-top performance featuring Cirque du Soliel in a 45-minute performance that took over four months to develop. Among the titles shown were Kinect Sports, which would be the Wii Sports of Xbox Kinect, which had mii games like soccer and beach volleyball. They also showed off river rafting, and a pretty incredible looking Star Wars game, which featured a very cool light saber battle. There was also a yoga title that looked way more precise than Wii Fit could ever be, mostly because Kinect can recognize joint position of your body. The cutest title, by far, was Kinectimals. This is kind of like Nintendogs, but rather than puppies, you have a pet tiger than you can reach out and interact with.
We will know more about Kinect later this morning, after the Microsoft E3 Media Briefing, which will hopefully give us a price and launch date for Kinect.
DJ Hero 2 trailer: Two turntables and a microphone
Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Activision, E3, Music, PlayStation 3, Wii, Xbox 360,
We were big fans of the original DJ Hero, so you can bet that we’re really excited about DJ Hero 2 and all the enhancements that come with the title. Launching this fall, DJ Hero 2 aims to be more social than the original by focusing on multiplayer aspects. Obviously, in the trailer, you’ve got three people playing together—two of them using turntable controllers, and the third singing into the mic. As far as artists features in the game, you can expect names like Dr. Dre, The Chemical Brothers, Kanye West, Metallica, Lady Gaga, Rihanna and over 85 others.
Another complaint about the original DJ Hero was that you kind of had to stick to the script. A big part of DJing is freestyling your way to creating your own sound. In DJ Hero 2, that’s fixed as well, with over 70 tracks available for you to do your will with. We will hear more about the title at E3 next week, and seriously, fall can’t come soon enough.
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Project Natal launching October 26 at $149?
Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Accessories, E3, Microsoft, Xbox 360,
It looks like Project Natal is set to launch just five months from today, if a trusted Edge Online source is to be believed. That would put Natal launching on October 26th, and they’ve even got it priced at $149. Even more interesting, although not surprising, is that the motion sensing Natal camera will also be sold in a bundle with the Xbox 360 Arcade console for $299. Obviously, Microsoft is looking to reach a new market with Natal, so bundling it with the entry-level Xbox 360 console will only make sense as they aim to intrigue casual users and families. Now the launch date could change, and we won’t get it confirmed until E3. That said, one other sure-thing is that Project Natal will be officially named at E3 as well—seriously, you didn’t think they’d ship with a name like that, did you?
Read More 
| Edge Online
Halo Reach launch date: September 14
Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Bungie, First Person Shooters, Microsoft, Release Dates, Xbox 360,
Hot on the heels of the Halo Reach beta coming to an end, Bungie has just announced that the full game will be launching on September 14, 2010, and will be available in three versions:
- Halo Reach Standard Edition will cost $60
- Halo Reach Limited Edition will include the game, exclusive in-game Elite armor, and an artifact bag containing Dr. Halsey’s personal journal will cost $79.99
- Halo Reach Legendary Edition will include everything that the Limited Edition includes, plus UNSC-themed packaging, exclusive multiplayer Spartan armor, and Noble Team collectable statue. This will cost $149.99.
We are just under four months away.
Final Project Natal hardware to be white
Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Accessories, Hardware, Microsoft, Rumors, Xbox 360,
In the grand scheme of things, this is just a minor Project Natal detail, but it is still worth noting that it appears that the final look of the Natal camera motion sensor accessory will be white. In all the teasers for the product, it’s been black, and in live demos, Microsoft has always gone out of their way to cover up the camera so that no one would get a peek at what it looked like until they were ready. That said, German site RTL did a video feature on Project Natal, and in that video you are able to get a look at the camera.
Read More | Gamertag Radio
Project Natal launching this October
Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Accessories, Microsoft, Rumors, Xbox 360,
Okay, so it’s not like the whole Project Natal launch window has been kept that silent. At CES, Microsoft let us know that it would launch this holiday season. A while later, UK television personality Jonathan Ross tweeted that Natal would be launching in October. Well, we can add more fuel to that October launch rumor, as Microsoft Saudi Marketing Manager Syed Milal Tariq said yesterday in an interview that Natal will launch globally “somewhere in October.” He went on to say that the day would be firmed up in time for E3 in June, but that we will definitely see it in October 2010.
Now, that isn’t official (read: PR) or anything, but at this point, we believe that you’ll be flailing wildly across your living room before Halloween.
Read More | Gamertag Radio
Mafia II: Hands-on impressions
Posted by Alex Lifschitz Categories: Action, Features, PC, PlayStation 3, Reviews, Xbox 360,
Poor Mafia. When the first game released in 2002, it drew plenty of criticism for being too much in the vein of Grand Theft Auto. The game actually had a flair of its own and a distinct cinematic style, with plenty of interesting moments and glowing reviews. Some moments in particular (notably the one involving crashing a funeral) were altogether more memorable than anything in other open-world games.
Nearly a decade later, 2K Games has decided to bring the series to current-gen consoles with Mafia II. We got a hands-on sneak peak at the game at the GDC. Do your best Marlon Brando impersonation (note: please do not do your best Marlon Brando impersonation) and hit the jump to see how it stacks up to its namesake.
Click to continue reading Mafia II: Hands-on impressions
Xbox 360 250GB hard drive now available for purchase
Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Accessories, Microsoft, Xbox 360,
Heads up, all you Xbox 360 owners that are constantly feeling the pinch when it comes to hard drive space - Microsoft has finally released the 250GB Xbox 360 hard drive as a standalone device! Previously, you were only able to get the drive with the purchase of one of the many special edition consoles, like Modern Warfare 2 or Final Fantasy XIII. The 250GB hard drive can be purchased now, and costs $129.99.
Read More | Xbox 360 250GB Hard Drive
Three Rings of Death? Send off your Xbox 360 in Style!
Posted by Finnian Durkan Categories: Culture, Microsoft, Xbox 360,
For those of you out there who have spent the greater part of the last few years since the release of the Xbox 360 in a dark hole yelling ‘PWN’D!!!’ at 11 year-olds via the interwebz there is nothing more face-punchingly painful than the 3 Rings of death. For the uninitiated, the 3 Rings of Death (or RROD( on an Xsox 360 mean that the machine has eaten itself and you are now left with a very expensive bookend. For the you, avid gamer, this is a truly traumatic experience. You are forced—for a couple of weeks at least—to shuffle your way outside, blinking 12-inch-wide gollum-eyes at the sun all the while, and to begin socially interacting with people. An event this traumatic deserves to be memorialized, forever etched in the asocial fabric of the basement of your parent’s house where you live, yes? Well look no further, fearless devourer of the Hot Pocket, your savior has arrived in the form of an artistically morbid coffin for your Xbox. Created by Australian designer Alexis Vanamois, this sleek little number can serve to either a) memorialize your crawling out of the dungeon of social leprosy and beginning a new life, or b) as a badge of honor mounted on your wall and waiting for more XBoxes to be memorialized along side it as you travel down the road to becoming the comic-book guy from The Simpsons; the choice is yours.
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