PGR 4 POWERSLIDES IT WAY TO A PERFECT 10/10

The newest edition of the British Official Xbox Magazine has just hit stores and already some review scores have made their way to the internet. Two big games from Microsoft for this holiday season have been reviewed, Halo 3, which came out yesterday and Project Gotham Racing 4 which will hit retail in about two weeks.

Though you would think Halo 3 would steal the show easily, PGR4 has earned a perfect 10/10 review from OXM UK. No specific ups and downs have been revealed yet but the game has managed to score a perfect 10/10 score. This compared to Halo 3, which has 'just' received a 9/10 score.

Although it is obvious that the hype and sales for Halo 3 will probably be way bigger then Project Gotham Racing 4, this is still a remarkable achievement.

Project Gotham Racing 4 (Xbox 360, Microsoft): 10
Halo 3 (Xbox 360, Microsoft): 9

HALO 3 BREAKS US OPENING SALES RECORD OUTDOING ANY GAME OR MOVIE DEBUT!

MICROSOFT Corp's Halo 3 video game set an opening-day US sales record of $US170m ($194m), outdoing any video game or movie debut and giving the company's money-losing entertainment unit a strong boost toward profitability.

Alien-shooting fans also surged onto Microsoft's Xbox Live online service. More than a million members took up virtual arms in Halo 3 in the first 20 hours on September 25, the day the game debuted, Microsoft said yesterday.

Halo 3 easily surpassed its predecessor, 2004's Halo 2, which racked up $US124m ($142m) on the first day. The $US59 ($68) game also beat the $US58.2m ($67m) US opening-day movie box office record, set by Spider-Man 3.

"It's a good number," said Andy Miedler, technology analyst at Edward Jones. "This certainly goes a long way toward bringing Microsoft's entertainment division toward that full-year profitability, which we think is important for investors," he added. Microsoft aims for a profit for the division in the current fiscal year.

The game is also key to Microsoft's quest to widen its lead over rival Sony Corp in the battle for industry dominance of the current generation of game machines.

The game, in which players try to save humanity from an army of aliens, had drawn wide praise from reviewers for its lush settings, cinematic story and breadth of features.

The first two Halo games have sold a combined 15 million copies and cemented Microsoft as a serious player in a video game industry that was dominated by Sony's PlayStation 2.

Sony's follow-up PlayStation 3 is more expensive than the Xbox 360 and so far lacks any "system-seller" games like Halo 3.

"HALO 3 SMASHING IT"

1UP.COM 10/10
EUROGAMER 10/10
PRO G 10/10
GAMESDAILY 10/10
IGN 9.5
GAMESSPOT 9.5
GAMEPRO 5.5
CVG 9.7

ace combat multiplayer coming soon

Gamers who have no fear of heights and enjoy fighter aircraft will be pleased to know that Namco are planning a new Ace Combat demo for the end of September, possibly even the end of this week. The new demo will be a multiplayer only where gamers will be able to prove how ace they are in aerial combat. This demo will compliment the already released single player demo.

Samurai Spirits 2 & Metal Slug 3 (XBLA) coming soon.....

Halo 3 review

First Halo 3 reviews

The official Xbox Magazine of Australia awarded Halo 3 a score of 10/10 despite citing that the graphics of Halo 3 look similar to Halo 2 but just in HD. Elsewhere, the official Xbox Magazine of Brazil awarded it a 9/10 again stating it looked like Halo 2 in HD but all in all it is a fantastic game.

DMC4 - too much pleasure I am losing control

Halo 3 Limited Edition case scratches discs

The problem reportedly lies with the fact that there is a poorly made plastic nub and foam disc pad holding mechanism which results in the disc's becoming loose easily.

Current Xbox 360s Are Improved

M$: We have made all the improvements in our manufacturing process. All the consoles on the market have those improvements. We will repair the console sent to us with these improvements. It should be similar to buying a new console off the shelf.

ps3 & wii sales drop significantly as xbox 360 hardware explode

The new charts have been updated on VGChartz for the week of September 9 - September 15. Hardware sales are showing some very interesting things as Wii hardware figures drop 20% to well over 90k and Playstation 3 even drops an amazing 40% to just over 30k. This compared to Xbox 360 figures which increase by almost 20% selling nearly 90k, almost as much as the Wii.

Heavenly Sword did not impress in first week sales, with not even 80k copies. Bioshock and Metroid Prime still doing amazing with another 90k and 70k this week respectively. EA's SKATE debuted this week with just over 50k as the NHL 08 and NHL 2K8 games fail to impress.

New MGS4 trailer

Halo 3 Ban Only For MS Employees

MS confirms to Pro-G that consumers will not be banned for playing Halo 3 before official release.

Today's Live Games - Geon:Emotions & NBA 2K8

Mass effect combat trailer

UK Charts: Airborne Stays Sky High

A host of new releases fail to knock EA off the top spot


UK ALL FORMAT FULL-PRICE TOP 20, WEEK ENDING SEPTEMBER 15

1 MEDAL OF HONOR: AIRBORNE
2 JOHN WOOD PRESENTS: STRANGLEHOLD
3 TIGER WOODS PGA TOUR 08
4 SUPER PAPER MARIO
5 HEAVENLY SWORD
6 THE SIMS 2: BON VOYAGE
7 BIOSHOCK
8 COLIN MCRAE: DIRT
9 TRANSFORMERS: THE GAME
10 STUNTMAN: IGNITION
11 TWO WORLDS
12 HARRY POTTER & THE ORDER OF THE PHOENIX
13 WORMS: OPEN WARFARE 2
14 BOOGIE
15 MARIO PARTY 8
16 RUGBY 08
17 NEW SUPER MARIO BROS.
18 TOM CLANCY'S GHOST RECON: WARFIGHTER 2
19 POKEMON DIAMOND
20 POKEMON PEARL

UK ALL-PRICE INDIVIDUAL FORMAT (UNITS) TOP 20, WEEK ENDING SEPTEMBER 15

1. JOHN WOO PRESENTS: STRANGEHOLD (X360)
2. MEDAL OF HONOR: AIRBORNE (X360)
3. SUPER PAPER MARIO (WII)
4. WII PLAY (WII)
5. MORE BRAIN TRAINING FROM DR. KAWASHIMA (DS)
6. HEAVENLY SWORD (PS3)
7. THE SIMS 2: BON VOYAGE (PS3)
8. DR KAWASHIMA'S BRAIN TRAINING (DS)
9. TIGER WOODS PGA TOUR 08 (WII)
10. COLIN MCRAE: DIRT (PS3)
11. BIOSHOCK (X360)
12. BIG BRAIN ACADEMY: WII DEGREE (WII)
13. MEDAL OF HONOR: AIRBORNE (PC)
14. TWO WORLDS (X360)
15. BOOGIE (WII)
16. MARIO PARTY 8 (WII)
17. NEW SUPER MARIO BROS. (DS)
18. TIGER WOODS PGA TOUR 08 (X360)
19. RUGBY 08 (PS2)
20. COOKING MAMA (DS)

CliffyB: Bioshock is Hands Down My Game of the Year

The latest entry on CliffyB.com reveals Cliff Bleszinki's thoughts on BioShock, which has been chosen as the Game of the Year by the lead designer of Gears of War:

Bioshock is hands down my game of the year. That's right, I said it. I was looking forward to coming home from work and firing this bad boy up throughout the entire experience. Last time that happened was RE4 and God of War(s.) I'm not just saying this because it uses our technology or because I'm friends with some of the team members, no, it is in fact a phenomenal blend of well paced horror, narrative, action and meta RPG moments.

Will Cliff change his mind after other serious candidates for the Game of the Year award arrive later this year?

Halo midnight launch cancelled!

CVG has learnt that all plans for a Halo 3 midnight launch have been pulled as Westminster council feared that too many fans would turn up, causing chaos in the streets of London in the early hours of September 26.

Halo 3 will launch on September 26 and it's quite likely that it'll bigger than the PS3 launch back in March. At least the council thinks so, as that went ahead fine. When contacted HMV knew nothing of a midnight launch for Halo 3.

A GAME employee did though: "It's opening hours as usual," we were told. "The council won't allow a midnight launch."

Ninja gaiden 2 demo awesome!!

"just dont know what to say i feel like crying"

more mass effect walkthrough

Mass effect walk through

Mass character video

xbox 360 software sales are more than wii & ps3 combined

The main highlights were outlined by Microsoft as follows:



Xbox 360 unit sales are up 63 percent, versus an 18 percent decline for PS3 and 5 percent decline for Wii month over month


Xbox 360 outsells PS3 more than 2:1


Xbox 360 software sales are more than PS3 and Wii software sales combined


Madden NFL '08 on Xbox 360 outsold all other versions of the title, including the PS2 by more than 250,000 units, and PS3 by more than 560,000


Xbox 360 held the top two titles across all next generation consoles with Madden NFL '08 (EA) at #1 and BioShock (2K Games) at #2


Halo 3 preorders continue on a trajectory to eclipse Halo 2 preorders


Microsoft also said that since last November when the Wii and PS3 launched, gamers have spent more dollars on Xbox 360 software ($24.3 million) than on software for PS3 and Wii combined ($19.8 million).


In addition, the company proudly stated that it maintained the Xbox 360's launch price point "for longer than any other console in videogame history holding the record at 21 months." The previous record was held by PS2 at 19 months

360 out guns ps3 2:1 wii still way out in front.

Xbox 360 Outsells PS3 2:1
by Matt Gibbs

The August NPD results are in and what can we say... although the Nintendo Wii took out the top spot (go the Wii360 alliance), The Xbox 360 outsold the Playstation 3 by 2:1.

Microsoft in fact sold a massive 63% more Xbox 360's in August than the did the previous month, and this is in stark contrast to the 18% decline for the PS3 and the 5% decline for the Nintendo Wii. Not only that, more Xbox 360 games were sold than both the PS3 and Wii sales combined! It seems clear that the Xbox 360 price cut, along with the impending release of Halo 3, are doing wonders for the popularity of the console.

Breaking down the game sales even more, Madden NFL 08 took out the top spot (with coincidentally more Xbox 360 versions of the game being sold than any other platform), and Bioshock came in third (behind Madden NFL 08 on the Playstation 2).

Overall, aside from the Wii selling just over 400,000 consoles as opposed to the 276,000 Xbox 360 console sold, August was a pretty good month - and it's only going to get better!

Project Gotham Racing 4 Has Gone Gold

Gothem is wrapped up demo to drop soon on market place.

This is too much does it really look this good!!

To play games that look like this so early in the box360's lifespan is incredible..

This year & beyond. Too human 2008 watch this space

Ok so we know this holiday season is going to be awesome but what about next year?
Well trust me there's know need to panic the line is as healthy as ever with Racer driver one looking awesome Too human looking amazing gears 2 & the likes of other's to set the standard in 2008 ninja gaiden will be mind blowing, but before we get into that this year line is simply blinding" so everyone enjoy the ride & happy gaming & thanks all for checking the blog.....

New Halo 3 Video

ninja gaiden 2 first trailer

Ninja Gaiden 2 Confirmed as 360 Exclusive

Ikaruga, Rez, NG2 on Xbox 360

Tomonobu Itagaki from Team Ninja, Hironobu Sakaguchi from Mistwalker and representatives from Square Enix all took to the stage to unveil release dates and info on Xbox 360 titles which Microsoft hopes will drive Japanese sales of the platform.



Itagaki said that Team Ninja will develop Ninja Gaiden 2 exclusively for Xbox 360 and that the game will be released in 2008. Sakaguchi revealed that Mistwalker's upcoming role-playing game Lost Odyssey will release December 6 in Japan and in February 2008 in North America and Europe. Square Enix reps also spent some time discussing two new Xbox 360 games, Infinite Undiscovery and The Last Remnant.



The release of Namco Bandai’s Ace Combat 6: Fires of Liberation and Beautiful Katamari on Xbox 360 this holiday were also confirmed.



"We continue to evolve our strong relationships with Japan's best and most innovative developers, and we're looking forward to delivering exclusive high-definition titles for consumers worldwide, this year and beyond," said Don Mattrick, a senior vice president at Microsoft’s Entertainment and Devices Division.



Microsoft noted that these new titles would add to the likes of Assassin's Creed, Halo 3, Kingdom Under Fire: Circle of Doom, Project Gotham Racing 4 and Viva Pinata: Party Animals, helping to form what the platform holder is touting as the “greatest holiday line-up in videogame history”.



With regard to Xbox Live Arcade, Microsoft announced high-definition arcade games including Every Extend Extra Extreme, or E4, from Q Entertainment, a puzzle shooter from the guys behind Lumines and Ninety-Nine Nights. Q’s cyber-world action shooter Rez will also be making the jump to Live Arcade. Treasure's 2D shooter Ikaruga and Hudson Entertainment's Omega Five will also be making their way to the service.



Microsoft also confirmed that it would be making coverage of the Tokyo Game Show available to 360 owners via Xbox Live beginning Thursday, September 13.

Ninja Gaiden 2 Shots Taken Down; Someone is Getting Tackled

The official Japanese Xbox web site might have accidentally leaked images from Ninja Gaiden 2 a little earlier than planned. The screens were available for only a brief time but now its nowhere to be be found. Is like, it never even existed

Halo3 hits new levels of audio realism

Waves, the world’s leading developer of professional audio signal processing tools, announced that Bungie’s Halo 3 will be the first video game to utilize its audio signal processing technologies in real-time. This dramatic development marks a significant step forward in game audio.
Read the rest of this entry »
“I have used Waves tools extensively in the sound design of earlier Halo titles, but using these tools real-time is an exciting new step for Halo 3 and the video game industry,” said Marty O’Donnell, Audio Director of Bungie Studios. “These tools bring a higher level of audio realism and emotional immersion then has ever been possible before. I believe the use of Waves real-time signal processing tools represents the next major breakthrough in audio quality for the video game industry.”

“Waves is pleased to be working with Bungie, adapting our products to real-time video game rendering,” said Paul Bundschuh, vice president sales & marketing, Waves Semiconductor and OEM Licensing Division. “Several Waves technologies including the L360 Surround Limiter and Q10 Paragraphic Equalizer have been implemented in the Xbox 360 plug-in format for Halo 3 and other Xbox 360 game titles.”

“Microsoft welcomes Waves as an Xbox 360 middleware provider,” stated Brian Schmidt, Xbox program manager for Microsoft. “Waves has done a great job delivering their technologies and support for Halo 3. We are thrilled to have Waves audio processing available only for the Xbox 360 platform, providing these highly requested professional audio technologies to our game developers.”

About Waves Audio Ltd.

Waves introduced the industry’s first audio plug-in 1992 and has become the world’s leading developer and provider of professional digital audio processing tools. Waves technologies are used to improve sound quality in the creation of hit records, major motion pictures, popular gaming and multimedia titles the world over.

Bloody awesome NG2 shots !

This Wednesday: Sonic The Hedgehog 2

pgr 4 photo mode

RACER DRIVER ONE NEW TOCA SERIES 2008

Race Driver One will be a true evolution for the series, which first appeared as the TOCA (DTM/V8) Touring Car games (1997–2000) and became the TOCA (DTM/V8) Race Driver series (2002-2006). Taking the series from ultimate racing simulation to ultimate racing stimulation, Race Driver One will be the next technical showcase for Neon, the studio's proprietary middleware system that is already driving Colin McRae: DIRT in incredible detail.

Challenging players to become the number one race driver in a new world of exhilarating motorsport, Race Driver One will take players on a tour like never before; to beautifully realised racing locations through Europe, the U.S., Japan and beyond. The game will feature the most extensive range of events in the series, combining official circuit-based championships with road races and urban street competitions.

worthplayinggames.com

COD 4 COOP ?

Rumour: Online Co-Op Mode for Call of Duty 4



Infinity Ward hints at downloadable content



by: Kevin Cheung 10/09/2007




Infinity Ward’s Grant Collier yesterday hinted at the possibility of an online co-operative mode for the Xbox 360 version of its highly anticipated first-person shooter, Call of Duty 4. The news follows a weekend of frenzied play on the Call of Duty 4 Beta for Xbox 360 as Infinity Ward increased the level caps from Level 11 to 22 and unlocked a number of new weapons, perks and bonuses. Registrations for the Beta were also opened to Australian Xbox 360 owners over the weekend.



Speaking yesterday at the Activate Asia Pacific conference, Collier was asked whether there’d be a split-screen co-op mode for Call of Duty 4, or any kind of co-op mode for that matter. He responded, “Uh, no, I’m not really supposed to say anything about that… but I’m a big fan of Xbox Live and downloadable content.”



When directly asked whether an online co-op would be made available as Downloadable Content through Xbox Live, Collier grinned nervously, practically beaming as he said nothing more.

'Transformers' Ready for Battle on HD DVD

Paramount home Entertainment has announced it will bring one of the year's biggest blockbusters 'Transformers' exclusively to HD DVD this October.

Grossing over $300 million domestically, the special effects extravaganza from director Michael Bay and executive producer Steven Spielberg transformed into the most successful "original" film of the year (ie: not a sequel or remake), and is easily one of the most highly-anticipated next-gen releases of the holiday season.

Paramount/DreamWorks will debut the film on HD DVD October 16, day-and-date with the standard-def DVD version, and in a two-disc set filled with bonus features and cutting-edge content exclusive to the high-def release.

Extras identical to the HD DVD and DVD include audio commentary with Bay, two 4-part documentaries ("Our World" and "Their World"), the "From Script to Sand" featurette, concept art, and the theatrical trailer.

Exclusive to the HD DVD will be the "Transformers H.U.D. (Heads Up Display)" picture-in-picture mode, giving viewers running text-based behind-the-scenes background information on the production during the feature; the "Transformers Tech Inspector," offering an unprecedented look at the robots through the exquisitely detailed models created by ILM artists; and the web-enabled "Intelligence Mode" with running statistics and tracking of all the robots in the film.

Tech specs include 1080p video (codec still TBA) and Dolby Digital-Plus 5.1 Surround audio only -- surprisingly (and disappointing for early adopters) Paramount has not announced any high-resolution audio support for 'Transformers.'

Don't know about you guys i got mine pre ordered lol..