XBox 360 Rally

As if they were inspired by the end of that Red Wings-Ducks game 6 when that dirty bird Niedermayer threw an elbow at my boy Datsyuk during that post-buzzer brawl, EA Sports has announced that the upcoming NHL 10 will feature new first-person fighting physics engine so you too can experience taking some punches from the biggest, baddest guys on skates.

I just have to wonder if the fights will last long enough to pull your opponents jersey over his head…

Fighting is an essential component for anyone trying to truly replicate the heart and soul of hockey. Not only the fight itself, but that which leads up to the fight, and EA is definitely trying to bring it to the newest addition to the NHL franchise. Late checks, sneaky hooks, shoves to the back…everything we love about hockey and NHL 10 will have it, coming September 2009.

EA has added some new physics to NHL 10, including a board physics engine that will allow players to play the boards a bit more. You can trap the puck against the boards, shielding it from your opponent, and then kick-pass it out to one of your players. There are more additions to the franchise.

From the EA press release:

NHL 10 features more than 200 gameplay refinements that replicate the skill and finesse of hockey and deliver the most responsive and authentic action ever for the series. Players can one-time loose pucks, score from their knees, knock pucks out of the air and lift a leg to fake a shot on goal. A new 360° precision passing mechanic delivers control over the speed and direction of passes so players can bank passes off the boards or play the puck into space for teammates to skate on to it. Plus, all-new interactive crowds bring the emotion of playoff hockey to life with towel-waving fans, glass bangers and crowds that react to the action on the ice.

Furthermore, NHL 10 is going for realism in the chase for the Stanley Cup. I’m not sure exactly what that means in the sense of the game, but as I am sitting here writing this between periods of the Wings-Ducks game 7, I can tell you it’s harrowing. Go Wings!

NHL, NHL 10, EA, EA sports, sports, video game, Xbox 360, screenshots, Electronic Arts, new features, hockey

Ah, I remember the summer of 2006…during a move, my clumsy boyfriend dropped the original Xbox and replaced it with the sleek, pretty Xbox 360. And the first XBOX 360 game that I purchase for the new toy was the highly-anticipated Dead Rising.

Unapologetically a zombie-lover, I was so excited to start smashing zombies and instead I got this boring game where I got points for taking pictures and every time I died I had to start all over again in some basement janitorial services office. I may have spent about four hour total playing the damn game, and perhaps that just wasn’t long enough for me to become infected with Dead Rising fever. I never did, and the stupid game sits on my shelf, waiting for me to even bother trying to to get into it in the future.

So far, no progress in that department. I guess maybe now I am just waiting for Dead Rising 2…

Gotta love that trailer.

Some screenshots from Dead Rising 2 are making the rounds on the web, and as this site is no exception to first-look-fever, let’s take a first look.

This is what the backside of a duo of chainsaws on a stick looks like…

Batter up…

I felt the same way when I was in Vegas…

I’m curious as to whether DR2 will be as boringly-maze-like as the first, or if it can be a little more FPS-style. I think I would prefer the latter, but then again, as I have yet to get through the original DR, I probably shouldn’t offer an opinion. Maybe I’ll wait until I’m stuck in the house, with my two-week supply of rice and pasta, water and jelly bellies to wait out the Swine Flu, er, I mean the H1N1, and then as the world falls apart around me, then it will be the perfect time to expose the conspiracy in that Colorado mall.

Dead Rising, Dead Rising 2, Xbox, Xbox 360, video games, screenshots

When I was 17, I started playing a game called Civilization. The first time I saw the sun rise after an all-nighter, I knew I was hooked. I have met others afflicted with this addiction to strategy games, both turn-based and real-time.

That said, I have yet to try out a turn-based strategy or a Real Time Strategy game out on a next-gen console like the Xbox 360. The problem with RTS games is that for the most part these types of games are war games, like Empire Earth or any number of WWII games. Why are so many RTS games war and military conquest games? I don’t know, they just are, probably because most gamers are dorks that got beat up a lot in high school and they grew up dreaming of some grand scheme of taking over the world to compensate for those feelings of masculine insecurity or maybe they are control freaks like me. Either way, the games are fun, if not tedious after a while. I just wish that would be enough to get me to kick my habit…

So, now that we have established that a lot of RTS/TBS games are war games, you will notice that war games involves many troops and equipment. With a PC RTS game, your keyboard and mouse are your weapons. You’ve got hot keys and menus, and your hand-eye coordination with the mouse is much easier to control precisely than a thumbstick on a console’s controller. And those are just a few reasons that RTS games have had such a slow influx into console games. Console games are mostly better at controlling one character, not whole armies of them…Mostly.

However, with the upcoming release of Halo Wars next week, I am intrigued enough to start exploring games on my Xbox 360 previously best served on a PC. In addition to the hugely popular Halo franchise’s foray into RTS gaming, Stormrise is coming out next month. Oh, yeah, and speaking of the Civ series, Civilization: Revolution for the Xbox 360 just came out a few months ago. There’s the Commander and Conquer series to check out, and well, there are a lot of these RTS games as of late.

My findings on this topic will be revisited in the future. Halo Wars is at the top of my Gamefly Q, and Civ: Rev is at #3.

Xbox 360, RTS, Civilization, Halo Wars, gaming, video games, PC, turned-based strategy, TBS, Stormrise, Civilization: Revolution, Civ

Yeah, that title only makes sense if you sing it to the tune of “Escape (The Pina Colada Song)“. And what’s the deal with that song anyway? A married couple each discover that the other wants to cheat because they are bored. It seems like such an upbeat song, but I just hope those two don’t have kids.

Whew, where was I? Oh, yeah, if you are a fan of flight combat games, you may want to get your ol’ 360 fired up around 5am EST/2am PST tonight/this morning (Feb. 11). The demo for Tom Clancy’s H.A.W.X. is being released for Xbox Live Gold members. Those goldies, they get everything first…

Personally, I’m not into flight simulator games, but checking out a demo is always fun. And who knows, I might just like it enough to play the real thing when it comes out on March 6th. I doubt it, because there are like a million other games I’m sure I’d rather play, but you never know.

The demo is Xbox 360 exclusive…for one day. The HAWX demo is available on PSN February 12th.

The demo includes two missions. One’s a training mission, appropriately enough. The second involves shooting planes down over Rio de Janeiro. You can even play co-op for 4 people, if you happen to have three friends.

The full game will include 17 missions, and if you are not great at flight sims, you may be in luck. Supposedly, Tom Clancy’s HAWX has training-wheels for those that are not thumb-joystick-capable. Some guy who wrote a pre-review of HAWX last summer mentioned that the game is more combat-centric, rather than flight simulator-oriented, which could be good or bad depending on how you like your flying airplane games.

And to leave you on a “ah, precious” note today…

Tom Clancy’s HAWX, HAWX, Tom Clancy, Xbox, Xbox360, 360, video game, demo, Xbox Live, exclusive, flight simulator, air combat, planes, Rio de Janeiro, co-op, hello kitty

No, unfortunately, I do not have first-hand info on this, as I am just a little Xbox writer and get no respect or love from any of the game houses so that I might be lucky enough to get my hands on something as cool as a preview run of GTAIV. But Gamspot did…

Grand Theft Auto IV: The Lost and Damned is going to be an Xbox 360 exclusive expansion pack for what some people are saying is the best game of 2008, um, Grand Theft Auto IV. GTAIV’s creator, Rockstar Games, says it’s a new game rather than simply an expansion pack. An exec for Rockstar says the game contains up to 20 hours of playtime. And we all love playtime, right?

The skinny

GTAIV: The Lost and Damned is coming February 17 and only to the Xbox 360. It’s still placed in Liberty City, but instead of GTAIV protag Niko being the star of the show, you get to play biker Johnny Klebitz and you are in a motorcycle gang. Neat. The storyline runs parallel to Nico’s, and Niko will appear as a supporting character from time to time.

Obviously, you must already own the Grand Theft Auto IV disk in order to be able to download the new “chapter” in Liberty City.

To check out Gamespot’s preview of Grand Theft Auto IV: The Lost and Damned, you can either go to their site or just click here.

Rumor has it that Rockstar will be releasing another chapter for the Xbox 360 later this year, but mum’s the word so far.

Grand Theft Auto IV, Grand Theft Auto, Liberty City, The Lost and Damned, Niko, Johnny Klebitz, Gamespot, Rockstar Games, Rockstar, video games

Speaking of prettier, some screen shots of the upcoming Atari-made Race Pro made in online this last week, and I would be remiss if I didn’t share them or comment.

Personally, I am not a big racing fan in terms of games, but this particular game may make me change my mind. When I first glanced at the screen shots, I almost took them for real images. Prettier, indeed.

Out of the twenty or so images I saw, only “cockpit” shots looked like a video game.

But then you get a shot like this next one, with cars all around you as the driver, and then check out the detail in the driver’s side mirror, and yeah, that’s pretty neat.

Originally slated for a November 2008 release, Race Pro — which is exclusive to the Xbox 360, people — has now been officially slated for a February 17, 2009 release. Europe will be getting Race pro a few days ahead of the US on February 13th.

Race Pro, Atari, Xbox 360, racing, video games

A demo version of Project Origin/F.E.A.R. 2 Project Origin is coming next week on January 22. Xbox 360 users can download the free demo on Xbox Live.

First, they give you a taste and get you hooked, then they jack up the price.

FEAR 2: Project Origin will be released to the public for general consumption February 10th. Europe has to wait a few days for their fix.

Originally, he he, the name for the FEAR sequel was only going to be Project Origin (which was the name chosen in an online contest), but there was this merger see, and the name went with the merger. Thus the new name. But then someone, Warner Brothers who owns Monolith Productions, the creator of F2PO, thought better of going forward without the name of the original celebrated brand, I mean, name attached.

FEAR 2: Project Origin will follow the previous overall story of FEAR. There’s a vengeful, psychic little girl, there are things to shoot, there’s the mystery of it all. It’s survival-horror in a paranormal universe after a city is destroyed.

The character you play is a special forces guy named Beckett, and you are dropped off in the middle of the city thirty a half-hour before the first FEAR ends. You are sent into this city to arrest Genevieve Astride from FEAR.

The website gives some good teasing visuals, lots of blood and robots, but of course, it doesn’t really tell us too much. You can log on to Xbox Live next Thursday for your first taste.

FEAR, FEAR 2: Project Origin, Xbox, Xbox Live, Xbox 360, Warner Bros, Monolith

Before Sam Fisher became a homeless man, he was a superspy who could probably take Solid Snake in a one-on-one spyoff (Michael Ironside FTW). Now you’ll be able to play through one of Sam’s earlier adventures once again as Splinter Cell: Chaos Theory, along with Metal Arms: Glitch in the System, are now Xbox Originals.

Look, everyone has played Splinter Cell in the past. I’m confident in saying that. But I would be willing to bet that most of you haven’t played Metal Arms, and for that you should be kicked square in the pants. It’s one of the most underrated titles in the Xbox library, and well worth the 1,200 MS Points they’re asking for.

[Major Nelson]

Tempest is an arcade classic. To say otherwise is to speak blasphemy, and you know this. That’s why I’m so happy to tell you all that Tempest, the game that single-handedly stole several hundreds of dollars from my childhood (rough estimate) is making its way to the Xbox LIVE Arcade!

…oh, and there’s some Sensible World of Soccer game, too. But come on, this is all about the big T, baby! Tempest goes on sale on December 19th, and will retail for 400 MS Points.

If you are by chance a soccer fan (and a big hello to our international readers), Sensible World of Soccer will sell for 800 MS Points, and will also be available on the 19th.

Microsoft, Xbox 360, Tempest, Sensible World of Soccer, Xbox LIVE Arcade

If you live in the United Kingdom, you have reason to rejoice as Microsoft has announced that the Xbox LIVE Video Marketplace, which has allowed manu of us stateside to download some of our favorite films for God only knows how long, will finally be available to UK 360 owners on December 11th. Standard Definition films will run UK owners roughly 250 points, and 380 points for High Definition.

The list of films (which you can see in full after the break) includes the likes of 300, Training Day, and Oceans Eleven. Unfortunately, along with the good you have to take the bad, such as Swordfish and Superman III. But hey, you’re finally getting the Video Marketplace so be happy.

…does England love George Clooney or something? Ocean’s Eleven, The Perfect Storm, Three Kings? Good Lord…

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Hi, boys and girls. It’s just me, your friendly neighborhood JW, here to remind you all that we’re currently looking for people to replace us here at Xbox 360 Rally. All you have to do is go HERE, fill out the form, and wait to hear back. It’s really not that hard.

So, get to it already — so Paco and I can get to the NEW site!

We have a good varied week of gaming for the 360 this week, some titles stick out more than others, I just wish them all well since Halo 3 has claimed so many souls (seriously, I have spoke with some other video game related writers/owners, and stats are down all around, Halo 3 has killed the internets).

Crash of the Titans
FlatOut: Ultimate Carnage
NBA 2K8
NBA Live 08
Project Gotham Racing 4
Spider-Man: Friend or Foe

Notes on the games:

I think the obvious “Winner” this week that *might* take people away from Halo 3 for a little while is going to be PGR4.

I have noticed on my friends list almost on a daily basis that people have been playing that Ultimate Carnage demo, so that might have some kind of chance of getting sales.

My ban of all things 2KSports has been lifted starting with this NBA 2K8 title, as someone on the Xbox forums has informed me that the Reel Maker “download” is no longer something they are going to be charging you extra for, so now back to hating just EA.

If you have a kid, make sure to pick up the Spider-Man game for them and steer clear of that “Crash of the Titans” game, it has N64 graphics and PS1 game play, download the demo and see for yourself, it is terrible.

Remember everybody, Tetris Splash XBLA in two days! (Phone games in HD ftw!)
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Xbox Live Arcade, Tetris Splash, Crash Bandicoot, Crash of the Titans, Spider-Man, NBA Live 08, NBA 2K8, PGR4, Project Gotham Racing 4, Xbox 360, FlatOut, Ultimate Carnage

Yes. I am a Tetris nerd. I scoured 3 Wal-Mart’s the night that “Tetris Evolution” came out. Within a few days I had obtained 1000/1000 achievement points (still the only 360 game I have done this with). I lurk the forums over at TetrisConcept.com. I am even on the fence of buying a Nintendo DS just for that damn Tetris game! (Zelda DS is helping push that buy). Even with the terrible terrible terrible (terrible) d-pad that the Xbox 360 has, Tetris Splash is an instant buy. For all you old school Tetrinet players on PC’s back in the day (oh those IRC days), it is looking like there finally might be a near equivalent of that coming to the Xbox Live Arcade this Wednesday at 9am EST, yes, I will set my alarm clock so I can buy it, and no, I am not kidding. Taking the multiplayer mode of Tetris to a new level with the addition of teams, I honestly can’t wait for this. The details from Xbox.com are as follows:

Modes of play: Three different modes of play including Tetris, T-Spin, and Combo, plus a unique screensaver mode.

Multiplayer: Playable solo, competitively or in teams, with an online multiplayer mode via Xbox LIVE® for up to six players.

New twists: New, enhanced graphics, and beautiful aquatic backscapes add a real splash to the fun of Tetris.

Content and themes: Exciting downloadable content will be made available including themes and background aquatic creatures.

Achievements: Twelve new achievements to master and conquer.

[Via 1pstart]
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Tetris Splash, Tetris Evolution, Tetris, Xbox Live Arcade, XBLA, Xbox 360, Best Game in the World

Odds are you’re going to be heading out tonight for the highly-anticipated Halo 3 launch. Hell, it’s very possible that you’re already there, reading this on a laptop… in which case, I pity your soul. But, all the same you should know what to do to survive this Halo 3 onslaught, and get through the night.

So, after the break I’m going to give you a few survival tips to help you get through the long, difficult night ahead.

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This is it, the biggest edition of “New Releases” for a while. You want to know why!?!

World Series of Poker 2008: Battle for the Bracelets is finally coming out!!! The game that will bring you:
* Your poker skills will be put to the ultimate test by over 30 of the world’s top poker champions
* Phil Hellmuth, Chris Ferguson, and Mike Matusow will teach you their tips and tricks in a poker school setting
* With successful wins, you will unlock valuable poker tools that will enable you to become an even more skillful player
* Build your bankroll at all the favorite locations of previous years such as Harrah’s New Orleans, Grand Tunica, Rio All-Suites Hotel and Casino and new this year, the hottest poker rooms of the Las Vegas strip!
* ESRB Rated RP for Rating Pending
(At least according to Amazon.com’s description, I never heard of this game beforehand)

The actually pretty good looking CSI: Crime Scene Investigation Hard Evidence is being released.

Oh yeah, I forgot, another title… HALO 3!!!!!!!!!!!11!!!!!!!!!ONG!!!!!!

Yes, the game that is going to be literally selling systems, the game that took over 7-11, Mountain Dew, and Burger King, is here. People will be calling in sick, schools will close, and possible riots will ensue, can’t wait to jump in on some multiplayer.
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World Series of Poker 2008, Battle for the Bracelets, Halo 3, New Releases, Microsoft, Bungie, Xbox 360, Burger King, Mountain Dew, 7-11, CSI, Crime Scene Investigation Hard Evidence