XBox 360 Rally

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.

Last week there was a rumor that we didn’t cover (because I never heard of it) that stated that Best Buy would no longer be stocking the Xbox 360 Core system. Now Joystiq has received a tip from an anonymous source (who is surely more reliable than our Bothan spy) that has told them that Target will also soon be axing the Xbox 360 Core.

That image above (taken from Joystiq), is the clearest image they have of what looks like the word “Discontinued” on the Xbox 360 Core.

Now, I’ve been a long-time defender of the Core. I think it is a good console for someone who may not have the financial means to invest in a Premium console, but still want to get in on the fun. If Microsoft is, in fact, axing the Xbox 360 Core, then that may alienate an entire segment of their fanbase that would then only have the Wii as their means of gaming on a budget.

Also, that picture absolutely sucks.

[Xbox 360 Fanboy]

Microsoft, Xbox 360, Target, Xbox 360 Core

FINALLY! After months of “speculation” regarding the worst-kept secret in the gaming industry, it has finally become official as Major Nelson announced on his blog that the Xbox 360’s price will, indeed, drop for all three SKUs. The price drop will take effect starting on August 8th, and for the moment will only take effect in the United States.

Xbox 360 Elite - $499.99
Xbox 360 Premium - $349.99
Xbox 360 Core - $279.99

For the record, the Halo 3 Special Edition of the Xbox 360 Premium has been announced at $399.99.

In regards to the foreign market and a possible price-cut, Nelson quoted Microsoft’s marketing team:

Today we are announcing a price reduction in the U.S. We will announce other regional price decreases at the appropriate time.

Read the whole press release after the break.

(more…)

In what is probably an effort to help kick start their new heavy venture into the gaming world, the BBC has been taking notes on Halo 3’s progress while Bungie has been away in Amsterdam recently. As the writer Darren Waters picks up Halo 3 for the first time, a quick comparison to Gears of War’s look is made, then it goes south with the comment, “It is Halo 2 on steroids with familiar looking colours, textures and flavours.” Noticeable jaggies are seen and textures look rough up close. That is where the negativity ends though, as Darren admits that it is a Beta copy and the characters, vehicles, and overall battles are bigger, he even uses the word ‘epic’ to describe this all.

At the same event in Amsterdam, Eurogamer gave their take on the game, Gregor Wildermann first impressions sadly had similarites to BBC with comparisons to earlier Halo games with the comment, “If you’ve played the first two Halo-games, you’ll know the drill from the word go. Whether you’re switching weapons, throwing grenades, or boarding vehicles, it hasn’t changed one bit.”

Now, having tried the Multiplayer Beta that was offered, I am a little saddened by the comments from these writers, as I felt the familiarity to the earlier games was a welcome feeling when I played. The more weapons, more action, the more of everything I already loved, is what I felt a good sequel should be about. If the game play and just the game itself changes up that drastically, is it really a sequel? Were people who reviewed Bomberman: Act Zero wrong in saying it was one of the worst 360 games (ever!), or are all the gamers who play Bomberman Live, the title that is exactly like the older games, just with more power ups and more action, wrong for playing it to the point that it is in the top ten against all Xbox Live enabled games (not just XBLA games)!?!

I think what can make a franchise stand the test of time is improvements as they are made available through hardware and software upgrades/updates. Of course different game genres may call for different things to be considered progression, but as far as the Halo series, as long as Master Chief is still wielding a gun, the storyline is progressing, and the multiplayer has a crapload more options, I’m in. I am honestly not sure what everyone else is trying to get out of the very overly hyped Halo 3.

Now, I am off to play some Bomberman Live as I wait for Halo 3.

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.

(more…)

There are few universal truths in this world: death, taxes, the manliness of one Chuck Norris, and Quake III Arena being freaking awesome. If you wanted to experience this level of awesome, however, you either had to have a low-to-mid-grade PC, a PS2, or a Dreamcast. But, if all you have is a Xbox 360, and don’t want to go through the trouble of actually locating a copy of Q3A, then your day has finally come!

Hot on the heels of id Software’s announcement of a DS version of Q3A, it was confirmed yesterday that Q3A is, indeed, coming to the Xbox Live Arcade! Now, in addition to the DS and XBLA announcements, there was also a third announcement made at QuakeCon regarding Q3A — Quake Zero. Quake Zero will run entirely within your internet browser, for free, and be supported by advertisements.

Now, I’ve only got one question regarding all this new, spiffy Quake III Arena news: Will they interconnect? I can see how the console and DS versions of the game wouldn’t work together, but would I be able to get on the XBLA version, and play against PC or PS2 (since DC is dead) players? That would be the total embodiment of awesomeness.

[XBLArcade]

Microsoft, Xbox 360, Xbox Live Arcade, id Software, Quake, Quake III Arena

Do you love your copy of Fight Night Round 3? I know I do. Every once in a while I still pop her in and give her a quick run through. But, if you wanted to take on your friend in London in a good ol’ fashioned online sparring match, you’re SOL as Electronic Arts has announced plans to eliminate ALL online support for their ‘06 titles by November 1st, 2007.

A majority of these titles will have their online components shut down on September 1st (a full list after the break), with two more titles (Burnout Revenge and Need for Speed Most Wanted) following on the 11/01 deadline. While I’m sure there are a lot of people out there who feel screwed, I can kind of see the logic in this. I doubt games like “Arena Football” or “Marvel Nemesis: Rise of the Imperfects” were hugely popular online, and they want to free up the bandwidth to help support their newest crop of Madden, NCAA and NBA titles.

A full list is after the break, sorted by console and kill date.

(more…)

Yesterday, IGN did an interview with Casey Hudson, Producer and Project Director of BioWare. Some pretty interesting questions that shed some light on the depth this game is going to have, here is a quick run down:

Differences in opinion can lead to situations that will challenge your relationships with certain squadmates, possibly leading to life-and-death situations.

Developing skills in Charm and/or Intimidate will bring about different options in conversation.
Your gender choice will affect some plots.

Each squad member will have very well developed backgrounds and story arcs that will grow over the course of the game.

Less turn based, more action (speaking on Jade Empire and Mass Effect)

On top of “the force” and black holes, more powers are available that they have not shown yet.

Squad members are equally customizable as your main character.

I have to admit, with so much of my attention focused on games like Bioshock, the over amount of information that Halo 3 has, and tons of other great titles coming.. I sometimes forget about the greatness that Mass Effect will bring to the table, which just by these small new tidbits of information, keep me in check.
—

IGN, Casey Hudson, BioWare, Mass Effect, Xbox 360

“Next generation consoles like the Xbox 360 and the PlayStation 3 do not offer the sufficient power (to assure the quality of gameplay Crytek demands for Crysis)” .. ahh.. a quote I remember so well, said by Bernd Diemer (Senior Game Designer) at Leipzig just one year ago this month.

Now it seems, after an interview with CVG, the CEO of Crytek Cevat Yerli changed Crytek’s stance with this quote, “Crysis could be on the 360 or PS3.” Of course he makes no mention of this happening and even states that there are no plans for Crysis on consoles currently. So this is just pure gossip. Still, a good excuse to check out a brand new video put out yesterday by EA, though Far Cry sucked ass and a half, that doesn’t mean that one can’t enjoy one of the most beautiful looking games made to date:

[See Xbox360Fanboy's Timeline of Crysis on Consoles Rumors]
—

Crysis, Crytek, Xbox 360, PC Gaming, EA

We were all saddened to hear that GTA IV has been delayed until well into 2008. However, this delay is not without it’s reason. During the Take-Two Conference Call (to which GTA IV’s delay was the center of discussion) that I sat in on, Take-Two’s top brass gave us the lowdown on just what went wrong.

(more…)

Ladies and Gentlemen, hold onto your butts — Grand Theft Auto IV has been delayed by Rockstar Games until Q2 2008! Press release after the break… as well as my tears…

(more…)

According to online superseller Amazon.com, the Xbox 360 HD-DVD add-on to the Xbox 360 has experienced a 1,000% sales increase. This, of course, is due in very large part to the price drop of the peripheral that took effect last week.

Another reason why the HD-DVD player is doing so well could be the fact that there are finally good movies coming out for the format. *cough300cough*

[MaxConsole]

UPDATO MAGNIFICO:
Here is another image from Amazon.com, showing that the HD-DVD is still skyrocketing up the charts.

Microsoft, Xbox 360, HD-DVD, Amazon

A site that is new to me, Xbox Family, has posted a news flash on games that will require the hard drive. I am not sure how to take this, as they list no source on the issue. All links I could find about the subject link back to the XboxFamily.com site as the source. They have an image of an icon that says “HARD DISK DRIVE REQUIRED” .. however that image has been available since the release of “Football Manager 2006,” a game that did in fact require a hard drive to play (see this Ars article from Feb 8, 2006 with the image). However, that was a UK release, so for the states, we were in later months blessed with Final Fantasy XI, which also required the hard drive.

Next to add more fuel to all this, was the very recent Call of Duty 4 concept box art, that did have an icon that said “Storage Required,” however, Infinity Ward confirmed that storage will not be required. It does beg the question though, why would they have that image available in the first place, as it is different that the image that was used on Football manager (header image to this post shows the Football Manager box art icon on the left and the Call of Duty 4 concept box art icon on the right for comparisons).
(more…)

In an amusing, but very real situation, the new XBLA title to please all of Bungie’s fans has been the cause of an odd side effect happening during game play, people are getting sick. While browsing through users polling each other to find out whether it is just happening to them or not, it seems gamers are blaming the games 60fps speed, asking for an option to cut it down to 30fps. So far the only quick fix people have is to cut down the sensitivity, which doesn’t completely cure the problem. The issue, as funny as it is to me, is actually stopping people from purchasing the game, so I would actually expect this to get some sort of fix very soon. The incident has even hit the IGN offices, from their review of the game comes this:

“The 60fps allows Marathon to run at a lightning speed. You’ll be amazed just how quickly you can zip around a level. But that speed also comes at a cost. And that cost is a very rare sensation in videogames — motion sickness. Because of the tight confines of the levels and the ease in which you can get lost, quite often you may find yourself running about, turning quickly, and watching as the world begins to spin. Though I had a blast playing Marathon, I can’t deny that more than once I felt like throwing up. And I’m not the only one. All four IGN editors who played Marathon for more than 15 minutes began to feel ill. In fact, just thinking about the game is starting to bring back my lunch.”

So before plunking down 800 points, maybe it would be best to hear word from Bungie about a patch for the game, or as IGN says, “download the demo to test out your sea legs.”

[Bungie.net Forums | NeoGAF forums | Xbox.com Forums]
—

Bungie, Marathon Durandal, Barf, Throw Up, Hwarf, Up Chuck, Puke, Vomit, Regorge, Retch, Spew, Chuck, Sickness, Xbox Live Arcade, XBLA, Xbox 360

Bizarre Creations has made a news post up debunking a rumor that has spread through the internets, of a problem with them fitting some of their level designs onto a DVD9 disc. It was very easy though to read into what was said by one of the Bizarre staff members, Ben:

“You won’t see different times of day per city because this involves recreating all the textures again (one for day and one for night). Whilst this wasn’t a problem for our dev team, it was a problem fitting all this data onto a single DVD.”

That was posted on the 27th, so with four days of buzz behind this statement on the internet, which is basically equal to a hundred human years, they finally took the time to reply yesterday:

“We’ve never had to cut content to fit on the disc, and we probably never will.”

That is the short answer, but basically he goes into how before creating the game itself, they already know the medium they are working on, thus the game is created with the factor of how big a total file size can be. As I re-read his post over and over and over, it does leave me with the feeling that working with the DVD medium can be a pain, but he never does say anything to that effect, maybe its just me, I suggest reading the full reply after the break (nice big image included that does really get you to appreciate the beauty of this title):
(more…)