XBox 360 Rally

If you missed out on Maddenoliday the other week and still haven’t got to try this glitchy game, the demo is here for you to try. Coming in at just a little over 800mb, it should give you just enough of a tease to let you know whether you want to take the plunge on this very aging franchise.

Next demo up is the Medal of Honor demo, clocking in a just under a gig, get ready to get in a war plane and fight some epic battles in a WWII setting, something that no game has ever done. (Italics = sarcasm).

I just personal downloaded the Skate demo, but haven’t even touched it because I am working hard on Bioshock (on the hard level setting, damn im tough!) I think I am going to have to quit my job to keep up with all these games coming out.

It’s been a most interesting week, hasn’t it? This whole damn week has been one giant “t3h w31rd” segment. After all, when one of the most anticipated games of the year gets released a week early by the largest toy retail chain in the nation… it tends to make a few headlines. It almost seems like we’ve heard SOMETHING about BioShock every day this week.

So, it is with that in mind that I promise you all a BioShock FREE Edition of “t3h w31rd”.

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If you haven’t heard already, there is a new song pack for that damn addictive Guitar Hero II. For a measley 500 MS Points, you can log on to the Marketplace and download the My Chemical Romance Pack.

…wait, what? My Chemical Romance? …sure, ok. Because when I think bitchin’ guitar riffs, I think My Chemical Romance!

But hey, we finally have something more useless than the Horse Armor.

[Major Nelson]

Microsoft, Xbox 360, Xbox LIVE, Guitar Hero II, Xbox LIVE Marketplace, My Chemical Romance

I have a big love hate thing with Capcom lately. I had purchased their Map Packs 1 and 2, but did not purchase the third one released just a little over a month ago (Lost Technology, Ruins, and Ice Drop), thank Jeebus I didn’t, as in two days, it will be free. So I shouldn’t feel bitter about getting something for free, but, one of the three levels is so awesome and would be so much better if they would just give the 360 fans the Mega Man suit PC Lost Planet users get, to play it in! What, don’t understand why? I think you should now watch the video below to see Lost Technology in action (Gracias to Xbox666):

Take note, Brian from Capcom’s blogs also made sure to mention that the patch to improve connectivity will be hopefully released in the next few weeks.

The servers are melting. Paco spilled his cola on the keyboard. JW’s out back trying to wrangle the horses. In short, we’re all kinds of FUBAR, so we may not be able to update as much as we’d like today.

Sorry, peeps. We’ll be back soon.

Major Nelson announced today on his blog that the absolutely MASSIVE Stranglehold Demo is now available for mass consumption on Xbox LIVE. If you haven’t heard of Stranglehold, I’ll sum it all up for you right now: It’s a sequel to the insane action film “Hard Boiled” starring Chow Yun Fat as Inspector Tequila.

The Demo will allow you, as Tequila, to run-and-gun to your heart’s delight through a fully destructable Hong Kong marketplace, raining death upon all those who dare to cross you.

One bit of warning, however. If you haven’t upgraded to the 120GB Hard Drive, this one is going to hurt you a bit, as the Stranglehold Demo weighs in at a rather stout 1.28GB. So you may want to make sure you’ve deleted some crap you don’t need anymore, like that Call of Juarez saved game you’re just never going to finish.

[Major Nelson]

Microsoft, Xbox 360, Xbox LIVE, Stranglehold, Chow Yun Fat, John Woo

There has been a lot of controversy regarding a recently posted rumor regarding SEGA’s possible Tokyo Game Show line-up. Now, I was originally very defensive of this piece because of who sent it in. He, a long-time go-to guy named Rob, has sent me exclusive tips for four years, and until this most recent one, they were ALL accurate.

Regardless, after the link had been posted by reader “Cedge”, I immediately contacted Rob via GoogleIM.

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Ladies and Gentlemen, Major Nelson would like you to know that the demo for NASCAR 08 is now available for download on the Xbox Live Marketplace.

For those of you who have yet to play a NASCAR title, let me boil things down for you: You pick one of four car types (Chevrolet Monte Carlo, Ford Fusion, Dodge Charger, Toyota Camry), and drive around in circles of various sizes. While the formula usually has you turning left, every once in a while you’ll get to turn right, which is surely the most exciting aspect of any NASCAR game.

…what I’m trying to say is, don’t waste your time or hard drive space. If you’re a NASCAR fan, you’ll just buy the game. If you’re not a NASCAR fan, you’ll find this to be the most redundant racer EVER.

[Major Nelson]

Microsoft, Xbox 360, Electronic Arts, EA Sports, NASCAR

Two highly anticipated Xbox Live titles are finally making their way to the Arcade in Super Contra and Wing Commander Arena.

Wing Commander Arena is the first XBLA title that will feature multiplayer support for sixteen players across three of the game’s four play modes: Multiplayer Team, Free For All and Duel. The fourth option, naturally, is Single Player. The skill-based matchmaking will ensure that you never face off against someone who would utterly pound your ass into cosmic dust. You’ll also be able to pick from one of eighteen different ships, being able to customize each ship with upgradeable weapons, cloaking devices, etc.

Wing Commander Arena will cost you a cool 800 MS Points.

Super Contra will give you two ways to play: Single Player or Two-Player Co-Op either through your machine, or over Xbox Live. You’ll be able to select whether you want the new, 21st century enhances graphics, or if you want to go old school with the original, old school look.

Super Contra will cost you an even cooler 400 MS Points.

[Gamerscore Blog]

Microsoft, Xbox 360, Xbox Live, Xbox Live Arcade, Konami, Electronic Arts, Super Contra, Wing Commander Arena

Just to make this a true ‘Part 2′ to the first Fire Up the ol Xbox post (link), if you just want freebies, the Marketplace is full of ‘em. A demo for the game “The Bigs” has been made available for you baseball fans as well as JW posting earlier about the Stuntman: Ignition being available too. Trailers for BlackSite, The Bourne Conspiracy (also look for a ‘behind the scenes’ video of the creation of the game), Assassin’s Creed, Frontlines: Fuel of War, Eternal Sonata, Bee Movie, Army of Two, and NCAA 08. Finally, the full E3 2007 Press Conference is available for download in 6 parts, all HD, will run you a little over 2 gigs, so free up some space!

Texas Hold ‘em had a very cool update today, introducing Xbox Live Vision Camera support. As the proud owner of the Cam (bought for very cheap here) as well as the proud owner of Texas Hold ‘em (Gotta love free XBLA games), this update is worth checking out. If you were ever looking for an XBLA game that was worth while, Texas Hold ‘em is one of my top 5 most played games on my 360 console, maybe no daily, but not a week or two won’t go by that I don’t fire the game up to play online. Some other features were added that more than make the update worthy of a download whether you own the cam or not (click here for full update list)

Now for the moment you all have been waiting for, the new additions and updates for all your original Xbox games onto your 360:

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There are a few games that with only a mere mentioning can make gamers across the globe cringe. Most are because of just how truly awful they were, games like E.T., Superman, Big Rig and Galleon (it sucked, accept this). But there are also a select few games that make gamers cringe, scowl and openly cry out in pain for another reason. A far more sinister reason. Games like Contra, Ghosts n’ Ghouls, Battletoads, and Stuntman invoke these feelings of sheer dread and despair. Why?

Because they’re freaking IMPOSSIBLE! THAT’S WHY!

Now, as Major Nelson is more than happy to tell us, the demo for the sequel, Stuntman: Ignition is now available for download over Xbox Live. So, go on. Download it. Let yourself be driven to tears all over again. You all have fun with that. As for myself… I’m staying far, far away.

Far away.

Far.

[Major Nelson]

Microsoft, Xbox 360, Xbox Live, Stuntman: Ignition, Battletoads, Contra, Ghosts n’ Ghouls, Stuntman, Big Rigs, Superman 64, E.T., E3, demo

We all love the Halo music. If you don’t like the Halo theme, then you just plain have no taste in music whatsoever… and you probably hate Democracy. So GTFO my site, you anti-Halo commie bastard.

…no, no. I was kidding. Get your ass back here.

For you who DO love Halo, however, Bungie is now offering, for free, the music to the E3 trailer we all saw (sans G4 viewers) on Tuesday night. So give it a download, and rock the hell out!

[Bungie]

Microsoft, Xbox 360, Bungie, Halo 3

Fresh off JW’s Live Blogging of the E3 Press Conference comes tons of new videos and other little downloads for you to enjoy. The videos are as follows (all available in HD btw): Naruto: Rise of a Ninja, Civilization Revolution, Too Human, Project Gotham Racing 4, Lost Odyssey, Viva Pinata Party Animals, Mass Effect, as well as montage videos for Xbox Live Arcade, Xbox 360 Games, Games for Windows, and Xbox Live Marketplace.

Onto the games! Most importantly, of course is the Blue Dragon Demo that is now up, as well as demo’s for the XBLA titles Sonic the Hedgehog and Golden Axe. That is it for the free stuff, check Major Nelson if you want to see some more things available that you can buy.

Update: Files added since I posted this: E3 2007 Theme and Picture Pack, trailers for NBA Live 08, Beautiful Katamari, Crash Bandicoot, Guitar Hero III, Call of Duty 4, Devil May Cry 4, and the demo for Ace Combat 6. I notice also available is an IGN E3 2007 Pre-show Wrap Up, all which can conveniently be found in the Marketplace blade in the Games section where that huge “E3 Bringing it Home” button is that takes up half the screen. Do some searching around also to find the “Halo 3: E3 2007 Trailer” .. if not, just scroll down.

Now, for one very important video that JW mentioned near the ending of his post (link), Halo 3. Now that video isn’t avaialbe for download on your 360 just yet, however, God bless Gamevideos.com, look no further than below:

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Who here loves football? I know I do, and deep down, you do too. It goes without saying that College Football is, was, and forever will be far superior to the Professionals, simply because there’s no distractions. No unions threatening to strike if they don’t get their way. Players don’t hold out for more money. It is, pure and simple, about football.

As I check my watch, and see that we’re in mid-July, it dawns on me that we’re approaching that time of year again. EA Sports is preparing their double-dose of football for the masses, and Maddenoliday quickly approaches. If you can’t wait for Madden, however, you can always hop on the NCAA bandwagon and check out the new demo for NCAA Football 08. It weighs in at a plump, but not fat 684MBs, and from what little I’ve played, does NOT disappoint. So go on, give it a download, and tell us what you think. Oh, one last thing…

Hail to the Victors, Buckeye Bitches.

Microsoft, Xbox 360, Xbox Live, Xbox Live Marketplace, EA Sports, NCAA Football 08, demo