Condemned 2: Bloodshot gameplay blow out!

Microsoft is Bringing it Home again

Microsoft is Bringing it Home again, this time from the upcoming Game Developers Conference. Starting Feb 20th, Xbox LIVE will be introduced to “breaking news” from GDC in the form of delicious new Marketplace content.

What’s already known to pop up for sure is the highlights of the keynote address by Corporate Vice President John Schappert. His keynote address, “A Future Wide Open: Unleashing the Creative Community,” will provide a view into what Microsoft is up to this year when it comes to their Interactive Entertainment Business.

We’ll also see never-before-seen gameplay, demos, screenshots, game trailers and interviews from the GDC show floor. Bring it!

Call of Duty 4 Patch Heads to Microsoft for Certification

Feb. 13, 2008 7:12 AM PST
The new feature patch (new Kill Cams, Host Migration, and other new features) for the Xbox 360 version of Call of Duty 4 has finished its internal testing and development and has officially been sent off to Microsft.

GTA IV Multiplayer Mode Unique to 360?

UPDATE - Don Mattrick says Microsoft’s bagged more than just exclusive downloadable content for the Xbox 360 version of Grand Theft Auto IV.

"GTA IV is an amazing piece of software and I'm really excited with its downloadable content and online multiplayer support. Again, that's something that's unique to 360,” Microsoft's senior VP of Interactive Entertainment, Mattrick, told Major Nelson during a recent podcast.



"We think consumers are going to love that and it's going to create, what I would describe again as the premium experience on our platform."



While it was previously announced that downloadable content exclusive to Xbox 360 would follow GTA IV's April release, there has been no previous mention of any multiplayer mode platform exclusivity. We've contacted Rockstar for clarification on the matter.



Additionally, Mattrick said in the podcast that Microsoft was working hard to address Xbox 360 hardware shortage issues that cropped up over the holiday season.



"We'd hoped to have a strong showing in North America this holiday season, and we had a stronger showing than anticipated. We had some shortages, we weren't able to deliver enough hardware against demand that was in the market.



"That's a great problem to have, we're addressing that in the coming year. It's going to take a little bit of time for us to amp up our manufacturing but we're really encouraged that people purchased as many games and as many boxes as they did on our platform and we think that bodes well for the future."

Turok video clips

Lost Odyssey review

Devil May Cry 4 Demo Tops Million Download Mark

This morning, Capcom announced that the Xbox 360 demo version of Devil May Cry 4 has hit a million downloads, based on numbers supplied by Microsoft. ...
The one million downloads benchmark makes Devil May Cry 4 the most downloaded demo of 2008 so far. While that may not seem like a big deal, it certainly says a lot about the buzz and interest in the game on Xbox 360.

Strong 360 sales help Devil May Cry 4 debut at No.1

Xbox accounts for 61 per cent of units sold in UK

The latest title in the former Sony exclusive franchise Devil May Cry has debuted in the UK's All Formats charts at number one, with the lion's share of sales on the Xbox 360.
Sixty one per cent of sales were on the Microsoft console, with the rest on Sony's PlayStation 3 and PC. The game is number one in the All Formats charts but also the individual format charts as well.

Shane kim interview

Shane Kim
DICE 08 Interview (February 8, 2008)
scroll on right side for interview

Bizarre Creations Announces PGR 4 DLC

Project Gotham creator Bizarre Creations has just announced the first two DLC packs for the critically acclaimed racer Project Gotham Racing 4. Complete details follow:

Free Challenge Pack (Free)

"Download the new Free PGR 4 Challenge Pack from Bizarre, and you'll drive the hydrogen-powered 2007 Peugeot Flux, winner of the 2007 Peugeot International Design Competition. Plus, you'll get two new game modes-one of them the player-requested Tourist Mode, which lets you tool around any city in the game checking out sights with your friends. Or play Free Roam Cat and Mouse, where a slow mouse vehicle must avoid enemy cats. And you add another 10 achievements. Get more racing fun for the best price-free!"

Premium Challenge Pack (400 points)

"The Premium PGR 4 Challenge Pack from Bizarre, available for 400 Microsoft(r) Points, gives you seven new cars-the 2008 Chevrolet Camaro Convertible Concept, 2007 Volkswagen Golf GTI W12-650, 2007 Peugeot Flux, 1987 BMW M3 E30 DTM, 2007 Ferrari 430 Scuderia, 2008 Honda S2000 CR, and 2008 Callaway C16 Speedster. You get three new bikes-the 2007 Yamaha YZF-R1, 1995 Aprilia RS 250, and 1998 Aprilia RSV 1000 Tuono R."

"Plus, new World Challenge Arcade Mode gives you 20 arcade events in 3 themed chapters, including 5 events that can only be done on platinum. In Tourist Mode, get a free ride with friends around any game city. In Free Roam Cat and Mouse, a slow mouse vehicle runs from enemy cats. Ten new achievements fill out the pack."

Both packs include brand new achievements (10 in total, although 3 are only available to owners of the premium pack). Here's the list:

Tourist Kudos King - Earn more kudos than anyone else in a Tourist event - 15 points
Open Cat Champion - Be a cat on the winning team in a Cat and Mouse Open Event - 15 points
Open Mouse Master - Be a mouse on the winning team in a Cat and Mouse Open Event - 15 points
Platinum Plus - Get all the platinum medals in the Platinum Plus Challenge - 60 points (earnable with Premium Challenge Pack)
Download King - Complete the DLC Challenge chapter - 60 points (earnable with Premium Challenge Pack)
Arcade Challenge- Complete Arcade Challenge chapter - 50 points (earnable with Premium Challenge Pack)
Cheater- Activate one of the cheats in the cheat menu - 5 points
Make the Grade - Attempt to qualify for a Tournament -10 points
01 Yee Haw: Puzzle 4 -10 Points
Are You the One? Puzzle 5 -10 Points
World Challenge Mode

World Challenge Mode is a new option that appears in the single player menu. It contains 20 arcade events split into 3 themed chapters:

1. Platinum Plus - Arcade chapter that is harder than Platinum difficulty

2. DLC Challenge - Arcade chapter that limits vehicles to the Premium Challenge Pack cars

3. Arcade Challenge - Similar to the shipped Arcade mode

Online Race Modes

Free Roam Cat & Mouse Mode

Played in an open city, Free Roam Cat & Mouse is a team based game where each team has a slow 'mouse' vehicle, with the rest of the players in high powered 'cat' vehicles. The mouse earns kudos for every 2 seconds it avoids being hit by enemy cats. On being hit by a cat the mouse is 'wasted' and can't earn kudos for set period of time. Cat players get a kudos reward for hitting an enemy mouse and also for defending their own mouse. The team with the most kudos after a time period set by the host wins the event.

Tourist Mode

This is a simple mode our forum users have requested. Players drive round an open city for a period of time determined by the host. The player with the most kudos is determined the 'winner', but this is really a sandbox mode where players can drive around looking at the environment and making their own games up.

Complete Details at BC's Site

Written by Ice Ac

Official GTA IV Site has Launched

Rockstar has uploaded the official GTAIV website. They have posted a bevy of new information that diehard fans are sure to start analyzing and making pointless youtube videos of. Below are a list of features Rockstar has on their website

New Screen shots

- Official Liberty City Map

- Music (Coming Soon)
- Multiplayer (Coming Soon)

- New Characters Revealed

- New Video Posted

- People and Places

- Recreation & Entertainment

- Good and Services


GTA IV Official Site

Devil May Cry 4 video review

EA won't "gimp" 360 Dead Space despite tough PS3 dev

EA Redwood Shores will "optimise the crap" out of the PS3 version of upcoming sci-fi survival horror game to make it great.

The executive producer of EA's new sci-fi horror game Dead Space has told VideoGamer.com that the development team won't "gimp" the 360 version because the "PS3 can't do it".

Speaking at an event in London today, where we got some hands-on time with what's looking like one of 2008's most interesting new IPs, Glen Schofield said that currently the development team is leading on the 360, but will switch to the PS3 in a "month or two".

He stressed that both the PS3 and the Xbox 360 versions of the game will "be the same" when it's eventually released, planned for late 2008.

Dead Space, set for Xbox 360, PS3 and PC, is a gory sci-fi survival horror game which sees engineer Isaac Clarke battling against a horde of mysterious aliens who have infested a huge ship. It is one of a number of brand new games from EA planned for 2008 and beyond.

Numerous EA Sports games have faced criticism from PS3 owners who have suffered poor quality ports of games like Madden, with frame rate issues the chief culprit.

When asked how the Dead Space team was finding multi-platform development, Schofield responded: "Difficult."

He added: "Right now we're leading and building and doing everything on the 360. Pretty soon in a month or two we will switch and lead on the PS3. That is so that you're not downgrading the PS3 later. We're putting all our engineering muscle into making the PS3 great, and then we'll know that the 360 will be great."

However, when asked if there will be any differences between the PS3 and Xbox 360 versions, Schofield said: "The plan has to be, and it will be, on parity with the 360."

He said: "Sony has seen the game so they know that that's what they want out of us. But I can absolutely assure you that the PS3 and the 360 will be the same. We're not going to gimp the 360 because the PS3 can't do it. We're going to optimise the crap out of it and make the PS3 really good, sort of like Burnout."

On the issues surrounding PS3 development, Schofield said: "I'm from an artist background. But from a developer point of view it's called the Fill Rate. It (the PS3) can't handle the physics as well. I mean it can, you just have to get at it. Just more and more engineering. Special effects are tough. It's a beautiful machine and it is very powerful. It's just it's not as easy to develop for right now.

"What happened was the 360 came out a year ahead, so we started developing early on it. Then all of a sudden it was the lead SKU. So it won for two years. For two years it was the one we were just working on. And so our knowledge base is around that. Now you see the tide is starting to turn especially in Europe. So it's really just engineering catching up with it."

Expect a hands-on preview of Dead Space right here at VideoGamer.com very soon.

Do you think developers "gimp" Xbox 360 versions of multi-platform games because of the PS3? Let us know in the comments section below.

Red Faction 3 Announced for Xbox 360

Brian Farrell, CEO of THQ, has revealed that Red Faction 3 is now in development for the Xbox 360

Duke Nukem Forever and 3D Confirmed for Xbox 360

3D Realms has confirmed a release date for Duke Nukem Forever and at the same time confirmed Duke Nukem 3D for the Xbox Live Arcade. …

"We haven't formally announced any platforms for DNF," said 3D Realms President Scott. "But, of course hitting the big three makes the most sense (PC, PS3, 360)."

Miller added a note of caution on the 12-years-coming sequel and its release window, claiming, "we may miss the mark by a month or two, but I feel very confident that we're on target this time."

Duke Nukem Forever is not the only 3D Realms title coming to home video game consoles in 2008. Miller also confirmed the existence of a downloadable Xbox Live Arcade version of Duke Nukem 3D, which will feature on-line multiplayer support, Xbox Live achievements, on-line score boards, and a co-op mode.

"We're really excited about bringing classic Duke to the 360," said Miller during an interview. "We're talking to Microsoft about getting a release slot sometime this year."

For more about Duke Nukem Forever and developer 3D Realms, visit the official website at www.3DRealms.com.

HD DVD add-on Sells Out on Amazon.com

Todays "Gold Box" deal of the day on Amazon.com included the Xbox 360 HD DVD Player for $79.99. It is now currently sold out!


February 06, 2008



Early this morning Amazon.com sold out of their stock of the HD DVD add-on for the Xbox 360 after being highlighted in today's Gold Box deal of the day with $100 off of the list price.

At $79.99, and after only a few hours, the intial stock sold out. A few additional stock have been added to their inventory sporadically throughout the morning, but currently it looks like the stock is COMPLETELY sold out.

Mass Effect Downloadable Content Announced

The Bring Down the Sky downloadable content pack will be released to Xbox LIVE Marketplace on Monday, March 10 at 2 a.m. PST, and will be available for 400 MS points.

by: Evan Fecko
February 06, 2008



To date, over 1.6 million gamers have explored the engaging sci-fi universe of Mass Effect. Beginning on March 10, fans everywhere will be able to expand the “Mass Effect” experience with the release of the first ever downloadable content for the award-winning saga.

The Bring Down the Sky downloadable content pack will be released to Xbox LIVE Marketplace on Monday, March 10 at 2 a.m. PST, and will be available for 400 MS points. This is the first in a series of planned downloadable content that further expands the Mass Effect universe and continues the adventures of Commander Shepard and the Normandy crew.

Bring Down the Sky includes a new uncharted world that introduces the notorious and feared alien race of the Batarians. A Batarian extremist group has hijacked a mobile asteroid station in the Asgard system, setting it on a collision course with the nearby colony world of Terra Nova. Only Commander Shepard can save the millions of innocent civilians before the asteroid completes its deadly descent.

Bring Down the Sky contains approximately 90 minutes of heart-pounding action and a new Achievement worth 50 Gamerscore points.

Mass Effect is exclusively available on Xbox 360 and is rated M for Mature by the ESRB.

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Halo 3 DLC: "Purple Reign" Map Falls to "Moonlight Sonata" Map

by: David Oxford


In Bungie's latest Weekly Update, one of the items of note was in regards to the upcoming Spring DLC lineup, specifically the "Purple Reign" multiplayer map, which has been revealed to not be ready in time.

Fortunately, the good folk at Bungie won't be leaving their Spartans high and dry, instead replacing it with another "universally adored" multiplayer map codenamed "Moonlight Sonata," which was initially behind the others in development, but seems to have picked up the pace significantly. And now, they're passing the savings on to you... or something.

Bungie also promises to go into specifics about the update soon, including the biggest change, a new and improved melee combat system.

A Closer Look at the Console War: Why Xbox 360 Won 2007

Who's winning the console war right now? If you answered "Wii", then guess again.

Although the Wii has indisputably made its way into more homes than the Xbox 360 or the PlayStation 3, it should not be considered the most successful console of this generation so far. No, I'm not trying to trip you up, either: Nintendo DS is not the answer. Despite falling a few million units behind in terms of console sales, the Xbox 360 is actually winning this generation. Let me explain why.

There's more to winning the console race than simply selling more units than your competitors. This has always been a fact, but was more difficult to see in the two-competitor, Sega/Nintendo or Sony/Nintendo eras, because the winner in both cases just so happened to sell more units. Indeed, there is obviously a strong correlation between overall success and the number of consoles sold. A more fair system in today's environment, though, would be to look at five different metrics.
TOTAL PLATFORM SPENDING
First, let's take a look at total console revenue for 2007. Worldwide data for this particular category is difficult to find, so we'll stick with the NPD data for the United States. During 2007, the Xbox 360 controlled $4,800,000,000 ($4.8 billion, if that's too many zeroes for you) of total consumer revenue. Let's compare this to its competition: the Wii earned $3.5 billion and the PS3 won $2.2 billion of sales, with all other platforms accounting for another $3.2 billion.

How could the Xbox 360 control so much more of the market? First, recall that this is total revenue, so the fact that the 360 costs more on average than the Wii certainly takes effect here. But this also suggests that the 360 platform persuades more customers to invest in accessories and services. Indeed, Xbox Live now has over 10 million members, although that includes non-paying silver members. Games are also an important part of this number, but that leads us into the next
ATTACHMENT RATE
One of the most important numbers one can use to determine whether a console's success is based on lasting value or fad power is by looking at the "attachment rate." This measures how many games have been sold, divided by the number of consoles sold. In other words, it's the average number of games each console owner has for that system. The Xbox 360 has an attach rate of 7, while the Wii has a rate of about 5 and the PS3 trails with slightly less than the Wii.

The PS3 presents an interesting case here as the counter-argument to this particular gauge of success. Obviously, the PS3 is trailing in third place so far this generation, so remember that the PS3 is able to attain that attach rate with a much smaller number of both hardware and software sold than the Wii. The key to success here is to have a high attach rate while also maintaining strong platform sales. Few would argue that the Xbox 360's sales have been lackluster, so having a high attach rate is a sign that customers aren't simply buying their 360s for one game (say, Halo 3) and then putting them away.

On the other hand, this is exactly what the Wii is facing. A worryingly large number of consumers are buying Wiis purely for Wii Sports, which is included in the box. These consumers are great for Nintendo's bottom line but do not provide any lasting value to the company. Furthermore, having a large contingent of one-game consumers makes it difficult for Nintendo to woo third parties that otherwise would be dazzled by the Wii's sales numbers.
THIRD PART SUPPORT
Three issues keep the Wii from hosting the very best third party content. First, the console's gimpy power precludes it from running truly next-gen titles like Call of Duty 4, Mass Effect or Uncharted. Second, third parties have difficulty jumping into bed with Nintendo because they know from past experience that Nintendo's own franchises will always be the star of the show on Nintendo platforms. Third, the hype effect from point two plays directly into sales. Look at the numbers for Zack and Wiki, for example, and compare those to the sales of Mario and Sonic's 2008 Olympics game. It's enough to make grown men cry.

The 360 wins in this bout as well. While the PS3 is powerful enough, for sure, it's also the most difficult platform of this generation for development. The 360 combines a balance of development efficiency and raw power. Further, the Live Arcade system, while under assault from both Nintendo and Sony, continues to offer the widest range of downloadable games and the lowest barriers to entry by smaller developers
RETURN ON INVESTMENT
This is a category that is being won by all three consoles, and in different ways. Nintendo obviously has enjoyed a meteoric resurrection from the cusp of destruction at the end of the GameCube era to once again sitting in the driver's seat of the industry with the Wii. Nintendo's stock value has shot up over the past few years, and although it has cooled as of late, it still sits many times higher than where it was even in the best days of the GameCube era. Profits in the Mushroom Kingdom are also huge, as the Wii appears to all but print money for the company. Due to the system's basic architecture, development costs were not as high as the competition (Sony, for example, spent over a billion dollars developing the Cell processor, according to some reports). Although this is certainly good news for them, the perspectives of the other two players make clear that "winning" doesn't have to mean selling the most systems.

Microsoft has successfully made the Xbox line a permanent part of the gaming industry. If the 360 had flopped, the original Xbox could have been looked back upon as a mere flash in the pan. Rather, the 360 is more dominant than its predecessor and plays a pivotal role in Microsoft's larger strategy moving forward. With the era of Windows-monopolized computing drawing to a close and its venerable Office suite under constant attack by competitors, Microsoft desperately needs to establish itself as the number one entity in a new industry.

We saw the signs of this again with their acquisition announcement of Yahoo last week. Microsoft needs to succeed in the console space because that is their way of moving from the desktop into the consumer electronics area. The Zune has been a dud, but the 360 shows promise. Even if the 360 continues to be a loss leader (although it seems to have finally begin showing signs of profit potential), it's an important investment in Microsoft's future.

Sony is in a similar boat. The company had already bet the farm on the PlayStation brand long before the launch of their most recent console. Yet even more important this time around was that they made the Blu-ray spec the gold standard of HD content. By including the drive in the PS3, they quite literally put all of their eggs in one basket. Although the PS3 has not performed exceptionally well since launch, it appears to have sold enough to seal the fate of the HD war.

Even if the PlayStation 3 does not reach the same success the PS2 enjoyed, the fact that the system allowed Sony to control what may be the last major optical media format is a big deal and earns them residuals on every disc and player sold, even if they're made by other companies. Indeed, especially if the PS3 does not sell terribly well, this new source of income will be vital to the company
FUTURE POSITIONING
This really should be the year of the PlayStation 3, with a variety of very important exclusive titles only months away. Nintendo will continue to reap rewards from their first party games, and the Wii should continue to sell well. Microsoft has a relatively strong lineup, but it will be difficult to replicate the truly outstanding library additions of 2007. It's really a tossup, here. The PS3 has the least momentum but the most left in the tank. The Wii has already leapt ahead but may have difficulty sustaining that growth in the months ahead. The 360 has followed the most stable pattern of growth, but may get truly overtaken if one of its competitors does as well as they hope.
So Who Won?
In my book, the Xbox 360 wins in terms of revenue, third party support and attachment rate. It's in a close race with the others in terms of Return on Investment, which the Wii wins and Future Positioning, where Sony shows an edge. The idea here is not to cause a massive outrage among the fanboys, but to simply point out an important fact: the console race is not as clear cut as it looks. In a three-console environment, it's important to look past the simple "units sold" number, and dig deeper for the facts. Let's hope that 2008 provides just as interesting an environment for gaming as 2007 did.

Casey Ayers.

DMC4 is 720p on PS3 & Xbox 360 Despite Blog’s “Press Release”

A certain Gaming Blog got a tad worked up over a supposed Capcom Press Release, which states that the console versions of Devil May Cry 4 run at a sub-HD resolution. This press release was fake.

The press release reads thus:

PC version will supports DX9 and DX10 versions.The PC version support higher resolution (In order to maintain stability in the game at 60 FPS, XBOX360, PS3 supports only 1024 * 640 resolution).

Apart form the questionable English, which could be explained by being a poor translation, the “press release” is wrong. Both console demos of DMC4 have been confirmed by Beyond3d’s pixel counters to run natively at 720p. That is, 1280 by 720 pixels.

Although the blogger asks for confirmation from the retail game and not the demo, his fears should be put to rest. In my experience there has yet to be a game that has reduced its resolution from the demo to the full retail release release.

Furthermore, games are designed with a particular resolution in mind and a decision to lower the resolution would not be made at the