Archive

Archive for the ‘Gamer Chat’ Category

GTA IV DLC out Feb 17

November 20th, 2008

New episode ‘The Lost and Damned’ finally detailed.

Rockstar has finally revealed details on GTA IV’s downloadable content, which will be released in February next year.

Click here to read the full article

Link to Original Article

Gamer Chat

MK vs. DC video

November 20th, 2008

Last in the Mortal Monday video series – on a Thursday.

MK vs. DC videos are literally pouring in ahead of the game’s release this Friday for 360 and PS3.

Click here to read the full article

Link to Original Article

Gamer Chat

Study claims PC market is the largest

November 20th, 2008

JPR research suggests that in the last three years over 196m "gaming PC units" were shipped worldwide.

This year the PC gaming market is worth over $20 billion, that figure will rise to $34 billion before 2012, and since 2005 there has been more gaming PCs shipped than the Wii, PS3 and 360 combined.

Click here to read the full article

Link to Original Article

Gamer Chat

Vin Diesel’s Wheelman out Feb 2009

November 20th, 2008

Not just another Hollywood knock-off, says Midway.

Midway has dated its Vin Diesel action game Wheelman for February 16 in both Norh America and Europe. It’ll make a nice late Valentines Day present.

Click here to read the full article

Link to Original Article

Gamer Chat

Xbox LIVE Community Games is Open for Business!

November 20th, 2008

From the XNA Team Blog:
[QUOTE]
Hopefully you’ve managed to upgrade yourself to the New Xbox Experience already!

Some people are reporting having trouble logging on to Xbox.com to sign the new Terms of Use. If that includes you, try signing this through your Xbox 360 console instead. That is probably your quickest and easiest route back to Premium Creators Club membership status.

We’ve also got a new area just for Xbox LIVE Community Games over on the Xbox.com forums. This will be where we can send those earnest voices that don’t necessarily want to make a game, but simply want to offer their opinions on the games created. Each Community Game will have its own thread created once it is available through Marketplace.

On Creators Club we’ve opened up the last piece of the site to the Creators — the “My Business” portion of your profile is now live. If you’re selling a Community Game or plan to sell one you need to give us your information there so we know where to send the check!

This is a pretty incredible day for all of us. We’ve managed to do something that no one has really done before. We’ve opened up the console and given independent game developers a chance to sell their work to the millions of Xbox LIVE gamers.

Our creators have submitted more than 30 different games that you can download now through the Community Games channel on the New Xbox Experience. Each game has something incredible to offer and speaks to the potential that waits beyond today. We really can’t wait to see what happens next!
[/QUOTE]

Link to Original Article

Gamer Chat, Xbox News

NXE Launch Day Updates: Some LIVE and NetFlix Issues

November 20th, 2008

From majornelson.com:
[QUOTE]
* As you can imagine, it’s been an incredible day so far for the New Xbox Experience. It’s great to see so much enthusiasm…it sounds like you are having fun exploring NXE. With an update of this magnitude, reaching more than 14 million people around the globe, we are aware some of you may be experiencing a few hiccups along the way. The LIVE team is closely monitoring the LIVE service and Xbox.com and are aware of a few issues including what’s happening with Marketplace. The team is actively working on the issues, so thanks for bearing with us.

* We hope your’re enjoying the New Xbox Experience. As expected, Netflix on Xbox 360 is a huge success, with the LIVE community flocking to this portion of the New Xbox Experience. Some of you may have had a few challenges earlier today but I wanted to let you know they’ve been resolved.
[/QUOTE]

Link to Original Article

Gamer Chat, Xbox News

Meet your Xbox Community Game launch titles

November 19th, 2008

From arstechnica.com:
[QUOTE]
The New Xbox Experience has arrived today, along with the Xbox Community Games Platform. This new portal will offer countless games from independent developers that are moderated by the community, rather than Microsoft. We had a chance to play around with the Community Games prior to launch, and we have liked what’s out there so far. Let’s take a look at just a few of the games that you can scoop up at launch.

The Good
* Bloc (200 Points, $2.50)
* Lines (200 Points, $2.50)

The Bad
* Cubage (200 Points, $2.50)
* Space Combat (200 Points, $2.50)

The Strange
* Drift (400 Points, $5)
* Being (200 Points, $2.50)
[/QUOTE]

Full Story: arstechnica.com

Link to Original Article

Gamer Chat, Xbox News

Halo 3 and NXE: HDD Install Causes Slower Loading Times …

November 19th, 2008

From bungie.net:
[QUOTE]
The “New Xbox Experience” was released today and one of the new features allows you to “install” your games to the HDD. While you still have to keep the original disc in the tray, installing to the HDD can make some games perform a little better while also putting a little less wear-and-tear on your DVD drive. However, this isn’t to say that ALL games will see optimizations from being installed. In fact, in the case of Halo 3, the game will actually see increased loading times. Several websites have reported the results of tests to gauge how some games perform after being installed to the HDD for Halo 3 and their tests indicate that in some cases, the load times are significantly longer. Our own internal investigations have yielded similar results.

To help explain why this is the case I tapped our uber engineer and Chief Caching Officer, Mat Noguchi, to answer a few questions.
[/QUOTE]

Full Story: bungie.net

Link to Original Article

Gamer Chat, Xbox News

Netflix Confirms Columbia Pictures Movies are Pulled from NXE

November 19th, 2008

From gamasutra.com:
[QUOTE]
All Columbia Pictures movies have been pulled from the Xbox Live version of Netflix, following the launch of the New Xbox Experience dashboard update.
Columbia Pictures is a subsidiary of Sony Pictures Entertainment, but the move does not appear to be malicious on the part of Sony executives — all movies distributed by Sony Pictures still remain accessible through the service.

“A few hundred titles are temporarily unavailable to be streamed via the Xbox game console,” Netflix corporate communications VP Dave Swasey told consumer website MTV Multiplayer.
“Those titles are still available to be watched on subscribers’ computers and on TVs via other partner devices, and we hope they’ll be licensed for Xbox 360 shortly.”
[/QUOTE]

Full Story: gamasutra.com

Link to Original Article

Gamer Chat, Xbox News

Top 10 things to do when you get the New Xbox Experience

November 19th, 2008

From majornelson.com:
[QUOTE]
The New Xbox Experience is in the process of being deployed to all Xbox LIVE members, but it will take a few hours for everyone to get the prompt to update to NXE….be patient! In the meantime I thought I would give my Top 10 list of things to do with NXE when you get it later today:

1) Create (or Customize) your Avatar – You can spend as much (or as little) time as you want in the Avatar Editor to personalize your little guy/girl

Bonus: When you are done with #1, be sure to take a Gamer Picture of your Avatar. In the Avatar editor, choose Gamer Picture. You can use the controls to move your avatar around, zoom in and out or even change the background color (press Y)

2) Explore the all new dashboard. (hint: use the trigger and bumpers to quickly scroll up and down or left and right)

3) PAR-TAY! Check out Xbox LIVE Parties and chat with up to seven of your friends. Go to the Friends channel…choose a friend who is online and press Y to get the party started. You can also hit the Xbox 360 Guide button > Party >Start a Party. Once you do that, send off invites to your party (since one does not make a very good party…does it?)

4) Themes. While any themes you work will NXE, check out some of the new themes via My Xbox and select your profile (second slot) and then change theme. Xbox 360, Spectrum, Day and Night are new themes that available as part of your NXE upgrade…check them out.

5) Marketplace on Xbox.com. This new feature lets you search, browse, and purchase games and videos while you are away from your console. You can also perform account management functions like changing your billing information, viewing your purchase history, and downloading items you already own.

6) Netflix – Xbox LIVE Gold Member and you have Netflix? If you are in the US you can stream thousands of videos (some in HD) directly from Netflix to your Xbox 360. Not a member? Sign up for a free trial at Xbox.com/netflix

7) Install to / Play from Hard Drive. With the game in the tray, return to your dashboard. (pressing the guide button then Y works as always) then go to My Xbox. From here press Y, which will bring up a new menu which will allow, among other things the ability to install a game to your hard drive.
Hint: You can still use the Xbox 360 guide while installing a game to keep in touch with your friends or start a Party.

Bonus: Before you do #7, be sure to set up what happens when you turn on your Xbox 360. My Xbox->System Settings>Console settings. Then choose Start up to to choose Disc, Xbox Dashboard or Windows Media Center. Once you are done there…check the option right below it: Autostart. This tell your Xbox 360 what to do when you insert a game. The choices are enable or disable. I have mine set to disable so I can easily use install to hard drive.

8) Delete Zero Gamerscore games. You can remove any games from your games played list that you have earned no achievements or gamerscore. Press the Xbox 360- guide button, navigate left to the games section and choose Achievements. From here choose the game with zero gamerscore you want to remove and press X (Delete Game History.)

9) Press the Xbox 360 button on your controller to see the all new Guide. The team has added more functionality than the old guide, while making it more responsive. It’s a quick way to check your messages, see who is online or start a party.

10) Take a look at Community Games in the Games Marketplace. For the first time in the history of console gaming, thousands of games developed by the creative community will be available to the public.
[/QUOTE]

Link to Original Article

Gamer Chat, Xbox News

Tomb Raider: Underworld

November 19th, 2008

Lara Croft unearths classic gameplay from series’ troubled past.

Since its ‘reboot’ in 2006, the Tomb Raider series has been edging closer to its core values – raiding tombs and solving puzzles – but making too many concessions to the imagined, or not, limitations of a mainstream audience, with scripted action sequences, facile puzzles and idiotic slow motion combat.

Click here to read the full article

Link to Original Article

Gamer Chat

Tomb Raider: Underworld movies

November 19th, 2008

Exclusive clips of Lara’s best bits inside.

Tomb Raider: Underworld is out this Friday, but if you’re still to make your mind up on Lara’s latest, allow us to present you with a batch of exclusive clips from the finished version (360).

Click here to read the full article

Link to Original Article

Gamer Chat

Lips

November 19th, 2008

SingStar for everyone?.

Let’s get this out of the way then; SingStar. It’s the undisputed king of the karaoke game genre (are there any other singing games?) and undoubtedly the target behind Microsoft’s unashamed copycat, Lips.

Click here to read the full article

Link to Original Article

Gamer Chat

NXE: Old themes gone bad

November 19th, 2008

OXM digs up picture proof of how some old 360 themes just don’t work on NXE.

You’re loving the New Xbox Experience, right? All of your old themes look great in the new interface, yes? Wrong.

Click here to read the full article

Link to Original Article

Gamer Chat

New Xbox Experience: The loves & hates

November 19th, 2008

Feature: How the 360′s new-look can improve.

Xbox 360 owners worldwide are currently fiddling around with Microsoft’s New Xbox Experience, creating avatars and generally feeling all life-styley.

Click here to read the full article

Link to Original Article

Gamer Chat

Epic: Gears 2 matchmaking issues “unacceptable”

November 19th, 2008

Developer "working closely with Microsoft to address the matchmaking issues".

Epic’s acknowledged that some Gears of War 2 players are experiencing "longer-than-ideal" wait times while using the skill-based matchmaking in multiplayer, and says that working out a fix is its top priority.

Click here to read the full article

Link to Original Article

Gamer Chat

Big Fable II announcement delayed

November 19th, 2008

Because of the bods at Microsoft, says Lionhead.

Lionhead recently said it didn’t like to tease big announcements, before doing just that and stating that there’d be some big Fable II news announced this week. Not any more there won’t be.

Click here to read the full article

Link to Original Article

Gamer Chat

Sony movies pulled from 360′s Netflix service

November 19th, 2008

A few hundred titles not available due to licensing issues.

If you’re a 360 owner living in the States you probably already know that the New Xbox Experience brought with it access to Netflix’s movie and TV streaming service, but what you wouldn’t have been expecting is restricted access to it.

Click here to read the full article

Link to Original Article

Gamer Chat

Fils-Aime: Third parties don’t “get it”

November 19th, 2008

Nintendo executive explains why the Wii has a shortage of compelling third-party software.

Nintendo of America president and COO Reggie Fils-Aime has explained that third party publishers are failing to deliver their best content for the Wii because they don’t fully understand the console itself.

Click here to read the full article

Link to Original Article

Gamer Chat

First 360 Avatar game out now

November 19th, 2008

City-building game, A Kingdom for Keflings, launched.

A Kingdom for Keflings, the first game to use your new 360 avatar (in the just-released NXE dashboard) and an in-game character, is now available for download.

Click here to read the full article

Link to Original Article

Gamer Chat