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Xbox Live Arcade and Virtual Console Releases This Week
Posted by Paul Hamilton Categories: Virtual Console, Wii, Xbox 360, Xbox Live Arcade,
There are six new games to choose from this week on Xbox Live Arcade and Virtual Console, though none of them are original games (which you expect from VC but even XBLA is arcade ports this week). Plus, most of this week’s games are relatively inexpensive with one exception.
Games this week include Bonk 3: Bonk’s Big Adventure, Adventure Island, Landstalker: The Treasures of King Nole, Donkey Kong Jr. Math, Cyberball 2072 and Fatal Fury Special. Details for the releases are below.
Click to continue reading Xbox Live Arcade and Virtual Console Releases This Week
Read More 
| Nintendo Press Release
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Time Magazine’s Cover Feature on Halo 3 Draws Fire
Posted by Paul Hamilton Categories: Bungie, Culture, First Person Shooters, Microsoft, Xbox 360,
Time Magazine has Halo 3 on their cover this week but the feature inside the magazine, written by Lev Grossman, has raised the hackles on the necks of several game writers. Dan Zuccarelli from Bits, Bytes, Pixels and Sprites takes Grossman to task for what he feels is an ill-researched piece. It’s not hard to see where Zuccarelli is coming from. In the third paragraph the Time article calls Halo 2 an Xbox 360 exclusive and the inset graphic (reprinted on BBPS) shows a fan mod Xbox 360 featuring Halo 3 artwork rather than the actual Halo 3 Special Edition Xbox 360, not to mention mis-labeling the Heroclix Scarab as merely a “sculpture.”
What really has some people frothing though is Grossman’s obvious bias against gamers that seeps from nearly every paragraph as he repeatedly refers to them as antisocial, unhealthy, unpopular and even twice refers to gamers as residing in a ghetto. It’s not clear whether he refers to a literal ghetto or if he’s being metaphorical, but either way it doesn’t seem particularly balanced or neutral in tone.
Read More | Time via The Bits, Bytes, Pixels and Sprites
No Downloadable Content for Viva Piñata
Posted by Steve Van Neil Categories: Downloadable Content, Microsoft, Simulation, Xbox 360, Xbox Live, Xbox Live Marketplace,
Here is some sad news for fans of one of the Xbox 360‘s best and most criminally underplayed games, Viva Piñata. Rare has officially confirmed that the game will see no downloadable content whatsoever. Following the announcement of a DS version of Viva Piñata, many fans had hoped that this news would presage the release of new piñatas, items, and features (specifically the ability for players to visit each other’s gardens), but apparently it wasn’t to be. A Rare developer cruelly crushed our dreams in response to a fan’s request, saying, “We aren’t doing any downloadable content for Viva Piñata because we are much too busy doing [i]something else[/i].”
Take special note of the italics. Do they imply the development of a proper 360 sequel? Only the ninjas that have been dispatched to Rare’s headquarters can know for sure.
Read More | Rare
Bloomberg: Wii Still Dominant in Japan
Posted by Steve Van Neil Categories: Corporate News, Culture, Hardware, Microsoft, Nintendo, PlayStation 3, Sony, Wii, Xbox 360,
In what has become a regular occurrence, Nintendo’s Wii handily outsold its closest console competition three-to-one in Japan for the month of August. However, it is interesting to note that the gap between the Wii and PS3 has lessened. In June, Nintendo’s console outsold the PS3 six-to-one and four-to-one in June and July, respectively.
Bloomberg reported the final August numbers as follows: Wii at 245,653, PS3 at 81,541, and the Xbox 360 lagging behind at around 11,000. The Wii’s August numbers bring the console to a whopping 3.4 million units sold in that country since its launch last year.
Read More | Next Generation
Burnout Paradise Gets Previewed
Posted by Paul Hamilton Categories: Action, Driving, Electronic Arts, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360,
Tom Bramwell has a preview for the upcoming Burnout Paradise that is surprisingly thoughtful and critically considered as far as previews go. He discusses the challenges faced by Criterion Games in re-inventing a popular series practically from the ground up and asks some pertinent questions where they ought to be asked. For example, when the topic of the Crash mode comes up and Criterion mentions that they have scrapped the original concept of the popular mode, Bramwell presses the point, getting Criterion rep Matt Webster to confess they don’t yet know exactly how it will all work out:
Asked whether they’re opting for a Burnout 3 approach of trying to manoeuvre the car in slow motion between power-ups and Crashbreakers, or a Burnout Revenge “golf swing” of perfect start and target cars, Webster admits it’s not all there yet. “We’re still throwing ideas around. I think we’ll be talking about it more in the coming weeks.”
The preview isn’t about sticking it to the Burnout devs, though, it reads more like a fan of the series seeing drastic changes and slowly coming to the realization that if executed properly, these could make for a remarkable game. Among the more exciting aspects of Criterion’s open-world approach to Burnout is the focus on seamless online play that works the way most gamers prefer, by putting the folks in your Friends list first.
Burnout Paradise is scheduled to hit shelves early next year for Xbox 360 and PS3.
Read More | Eurogamer
Gears of War For-Pay Map Pack Available Free Today
Posted by Paul Hamilton Categories: Downloadable Content, Third Person Shooters, Xbox 360, Xbox Live Marketplace,
The Hidden Fronts map pack for the popular Xbox Live title Gears of War, originally offered for 800 Microsoft Points several months back over some protestations from gamers and Epic themselves, is now available for free as promised.
Hidden Fronts includes four new multiplayer maps, Bullet Marsh, Garden, Process and Subway. For those looking to stretch a bit more life out of their Xbox Live multiplayer experience until Halo 3 hits, this may be the way to do it.
‘Family Guy’ Now Available Via Xbox
Posted by Veronica Santiago Categories: Animation, Comedy, Prime Time, FOX, Family Guy,
Starting today, you can follow the adventures of Peter, Lois, Stewie and the rest of the Griffin family conveniently through your Xbox 360. Although owners of the system have been able to purchase movies and TV shows for some time now, The Family Guy is the first FOX series to be made available through the Xbox Live Video Marketplace. This is also the first time fans of Family have been able to digitially download and own the show.
Seasons 1 & 2 are currently available but other seasons will soon follow.
Read More | Variety
Select Xbox Live Arcade Titles Get Price Reductions
Posted by Paul Hamilton Categories: Downloadable Content, Xbox 360, Xbox Live Arcade,
Starting on midnight Sunday four Xbox Live Arcade titles will be getting a brief 50% price cut. Small Arms and Zuma Deluxe, normally 800 Microsoft Points, are getting reduced to 400 and coin-op classics Dig Dug and Gauntlet are going down from 400 to 200.
The price reduction will last through Monday.
Microsoft has had price reductions and these kind of limited-time sales before, but usually they have been reserved for game-specific downloadable content. This is the first time they’ve extended price fluctuations to full XBLA titles, although the announcement does vaguely hint that this may be a semi-regular occurrence.
Read More | Major Nelson's Blog
Haze Goes PS3 Exclusive, Gets New Gameplay Video
Posted by Paul Hamilton Categories: First Person Shooters, PC, PlayStation 3, Sony, Ubisoft, Xbox 360,
The video above, showing some of Ubisoft‘s shooter Haze, reveals some of the combat tactics in play later in the game once your character has joined against his former employer.
While the video looks nice and showcases some of the game’s more intriguing facets, even more intriguing is the announcement that the game is now slated to be a PS3 exclusive. Originally haze was to be a timed exclusive, hitting the PlayStation 3 first and then coming later to the Xbox 360 and PC. Now it seems that developer Free Radical is only working on the PS3 version, although Ubisoft isn’t conting those version out completely, saying only, “The official statement on PC and Xbox 360 is that these platforms are not confirmed.”
Read More | GameSpot
Xbox 360 Messenger Kit Unboxing Gallery
Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Accessories, Features, Galleries, Peripherals, Video Games,
The Xbox 360 Messenger Kit has been hyped for months now, and it finally hits stores on September 4, 2007. The Kit includes the much anticipated Xbox 360 Chatpad - a QWERTY keyboard accessory that snaps onto an Xbox 360 controller - along with a newly redesigned Xbox 360 headset. The new headset features a simple audio connector, with the mute and volume switch located on the wire itself - much more user friendly, and it looks better too. If you are tired of all the mundane typing that it takes to enter redeemable codes or to write quick messages to friends on the Xbox 360, this is definitely one to consider. We were able to get our hands on a Messenger Kit pre-launch, and have put up an Unboxing gallery giving you a look at both pieces of the package.
Read More | Xbox 360 Messenger Kit Unboxing Gallery
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