Xbox 360 News for - July 2, 2008
Featured Stories
  7 billion kills in Campaign by July 7th only 125 million kills to go!!! (via bungie.net) - The number is very special in Bungie lore. Please, join me in trying to achieve this monument, yet fruitless, mark by Bungie Day. If you don't care to help well now you know why I'm playing Halo 3 Campaign missions every night. By the way, on July 7th some FREE theme and picture pack will be available for one day only from Bungie on Xbox Live. | |
 Video Games Get Into Shape (via BBC) - It's nearly a decade now, since the first research was started into the idea of using virtual reality games as a form of pain control for burns patients, and in that time a solid body of evidence has built up, with patients reporting a 90% decrease in the pain they experienced when using the system during the game. | |
 Q&A for the upcoming Lucas Arts release 'Fracture' (via gamezone) -- Developer answers some questions about the upcoming terrain rending game "Fracture" | |
 DIY FPS controller for Xbox 360 (via Xbox 360 News) - Some crazy gamer has went and totally changed the layout of his XBox 360 controller. While cool looking, I don't know if this would work for me. I'm always gripping the controller way too tight during those heated gaming sessions, and would probably be pressing all kinds of buttons. | |
 Vegas 2 Patch Officially Released (via Ripten) - The much-talked-about patch to the hit game Rainbow Six Vegas 2 is officially available for download. Here are all the details about what is contained in the pack: New Ranks An additional 99 Elite Ranks have been added for bragging rights. For those of you who are already Elite, you may have noticed that your XP continued to accumulate while playing. | |
Most Viewed Stories
Firmware 2.40 issues (via LazyGamer) - The Internet is exploding at the moment with people complaining about how slow PSN has become, the fact that they can’t get the new firmware version and some of the people who have the version are now complaining that it is making their PS3’s crash… My personal recommendation… unplug the network cable and try again [. | |
Banjo and Viva sequels only $39.99 at Gamestop? (via Xbox 360 Fanboy) - Filed under: News This generation of games has seen the average price for a title rise to $59.99, so when a game looks to possibly be released at a price point lower than that, we take notice. Over at Gamestop's website, Viva Pinata: Trouble in Paradise and Banjo Kazooie: Nuts and Bolts are both currently listed at the price of $39. | |
Ticket to Ride vs. Ticket to Ride vs. Ticket to Ride (via Joystiq) - Filed under: Mac, PC, Portable, Retro, Microsoft Xbox 360, Online, Casual Alan R. Moon's Ticket to Ride has only been out for four years, but it has picked up several prestigious board gaming awards, and is quickly becoming a popular "haul it out of the closet and get yer game on" addition to game night. | |
LIVE Activity for week of June 23rd (via Major Nelson) - Xbox 360 Top Live Titles (based on UU’s)1 Call of Duty 42 Halo 33 GTA IV4 Battlefield: Bad Company Demo5 Guitar Hero III6 Gears of War7 Rock Band8 Battlefield: Bad Company9 Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six® Vegas 210 FIFA 08Top Arcade Titles (Full Versions)1 Wolf of the Battlefield: Commando 32 Ticket to Ride™3 Happy Tree Friends4 UNO5 Worms6 DOOM7 Elements Of Destruction8 N+9 Sealife Safari10 Marble Blast UltraThe above arcade list is based on full versions purchased. | |
The First 10 Minutes: UT3 (via Xboxyde) -- Midway and Epic Games have completed their work on Unreal Tournament 3 on Xbox 360, and we're glad to have the game before its release. It will hit the streets in Europe and the US next week, so enjoy the first mission in the singleplayer campaign. | |
Ninja Gaiden II costumes as DLC? (via LazyGamer) -- Tecmo has just released some new costumes as downloadable content on Xbox Live. The new content consists of 3 new costumes and will est you back a minor 200 points. Now I am actually a fan of the micro payment system and I think it can be used to good effect in the industry. But charging | |
Soulcalibur for Xbox LIVE Arcade is Now Available (via 360 HQ) - NAMCO BANDAI Games America Inc. today announced that Soulcalibur® is now available on Xbox LIVE Arcade for the Xbox 360® video game and entertainment system from Microsoft. Originally released in 1999, Soulcalibur remains the highest rated fighting game of all time, and continues to be the preeminent weapons-based fighting game franchise. | |
Obsidian on blending FPS with RPG elements for Alpha Protocol (via QJ) - The scenario in first-person shooter titles as a genre today is comparable to the NBA's Western Conference: it's an ultra-competitive plane where the juggernauts of the business can make above-average efforts look mediocre. This forces the hand of developers to diversify their gameplay elements in an attempt to stand out to an ever-growing herd of technical beasts. | |
Ninja Gaiden II Outfits Are Out Xbox 360 (via Kotaku) - Ninja Gaiden II owners, Tecmo has stuff for you to buy. Today, three costume packs for Ryu Hayabusa went up on Xbox LIVE. The three packs (dubbed "Demon", "Shadow Walker", and "BioMetal") are 200 Microsoft Points a piece — that's $2.50 in US money. Each pack contains five costumes variations on the pack's theme. | |
Kotaku Too Human Online Co-op Impressions (via N4G.com) - Michael McWhertor from Kotaku writes: "Stephen Totilo from MTV Multiplayer and I tag-teamed a Troll today. Multiple Trolls, actually, and dozens of Goblins, as we tackled Too Human's online multiplayer co-op mode. Having completed the core single player campaign last night - it took me about 11 hours and change, for the record - and whipping through the first chapter again with my Champion class Baldur, I was a pretty good candidate for a Totilo power-leveler. | |
Images of Fable 2 (via Xboxyde) -- Lionhead releases fifteen screenshots of Fable 2, just like that. And it looks awesome. The game is still planned to be released on Xbox 360 at the end of the year. | |
Pre E3 Analysis of The Console War (via N4G.com) -- Wii's unstoppable momentum, the PS3's hidden casual gamer install base, and the X360's last hope, the Newton? An article before E3, because after E3 the console war may change directions. | |
Worldwide Hardware and Software Chart for Week Ending June 27th, 2008 (via N4G.com) - VGChartz reports that their estimated worldwide hardware and software chart for week ending June 27th, 2008 is as follows: Hardware Totals: Wii: 502,764 (+47%) DSL: 419,009 (-1%) PSP: 198,617 (-4%) PS3: 158,971 (-6%) 360: 130,926 (+5%) PS2: 100,514 (0%) Top 10 Software Worldwide: 1 Super Smash Bros Brawl (Wii) 477,134 5,963,306 2 Wii Sports (Wii) 454,272 25,183,415 3 Battlefield: Bad Company (360) 332,108 332,108 4 Wii Fit (Wii) 273,475 5,226,326 5 Guitar Hero: On Tour (DS) 208,027 208,027 6 Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots (PS3) 185,818 2,064,591 7 Wii Play (Wii) 178,228 13,244,292 8 Mario Kart Wii (Wii) 172,632 6,019,683 9 Derby Stallion DS (DS) 172,224 172,224 10 Tales of Symphonia: Dawn of the New World (Wii) 164,210 164,210 Other New Releases: 11 Battlefield: Bad Company (PS3) 145,565 145,565 12 Rock Band (Wii) 131,480 131,480 13 Daigasso! Band Brothers DX (DS) 116,172 116,172 15 Big Beach Sports (Wii) 73,305 73,305 27 Pachislot Series Vol 12: CR Neon Geneses Evangelion (PS2) 49,225 49,225 36 Higurashi no Nakukoru ni Kizuna: Dai-Ichi-Kan - Tatari (DS) 42,804 42,804 40 My Weight Loss Coach (DS) 36,607 36,607 45 Beijing 2008 (PS3) 32,504 32,504 47 Ken to Mahou to Gakuen Mono (PSP) 31,818 31,818 Software Totals: Wii: 2,957,295 (+59%) Tie Ratio: 4. | |
Sony Pulls 2.4 Update Because of Bricked PS3 Reports (via Team Xbox) -- A day after Sony released the PS3 system software update 2.40, the company has decided to remove it from servers after several users reported bricked systems. | |
New 3D Xbox Live Dashboard (via LazyGamer) - So I have been harping on recently about the fact that Microsoft need to do something special to stop the Sony machine from running all over them. Well the latest rumour is something special… one way or another. Apparently the next dashboard update is going to include an entirely new dashboard which will be 3D and [. | |
Too Human Online Co-op Impressions: Does Double The Baldur Mean Double The Fun? Cybernorse Power (via Kotaku) - Stephen Totilo from MTV Multiplayer and I tag-teamed a Troll today. Multiple Trolls, actually, and dozens of Goblins, as we tackled Too Human's online multiplayer co-op mode. Having completed the core single player campaign last night — it took me about 11 hours and change, for the record — and whipping through the first chapter again with my Champion class Baldur, I was a pretty good candidate for a Totilo power-leveler. | |
Midnight Club L.A. delayed (via Xboxyde) -- 2K Games informs us that Midnight Club: Los Angeles has been delayed from September, 12th to Octobre, 7th. As a consolation gift, they also gave us four new screenshots of the game. Better than nothing I guess. | |
Court junks shareholder request to stop Activision Vivendi merger (via QJ) - Remember last year's big news about Activision and Vivendi forming a merger? While the proposal sounds a financially enticing at US 27.50 per share offer, there are some shareholders who certainly aren't buying into the whole deal and even filed an injunction request in an attempt to halt the merger. | |
More images of Quantum of Solace (via Xboxyde) -- Activision releases three new images of James Bond: Quantum of Solace, first-and-half person shooter adapted from the movie. The game is planned on Xbox 360, Playstation 3 and PC. | |
Rock Band 2 Tracks Leaked (via N4G.com) -- MTV Games has let the cat out of the bag. No song titles or new acts were mentioned during yesterday's confirmation that Rock Band 2 would be hitting store shelves for the Xbox 360 in September, but TV network G4's X-Play gaming show inadvertently showed a song list in its coverage. | |
Zero Punctuation Takes on Webcomics Well, Really, Just This One (via Gaming Today) - Deviating slightly from the norm this week, Yahtzee decided to take a look at the process of producing a videogame-centric webcomic. It’s hilarious as always, particularly when you take into account the number of ways in which he (in)directly bashes one particular comic. | |
Court Denies Activision Blizzard Injunction Request (via Team Xbox) -- Activision has announced that the Delaware Court of Chancery has denied the Wayne County Employees' Retirement System's request for a preliminary injunction relating to Activision's proposed combination with Vivendi Games. | |
Lego My Indy (via GiantBomb) - It’s easy to imagine a day when we’re all jaded and cynical about the endless number of Lego Your-Franchise-Here titles flooding the market, but I don’t think that day is here yet. Traveller’s Tales–the developer behind the previous Lego Star Wars games and now Lego Indiana Jones–has figured out a workable formula for simple, kid-friendly [. | |
Party suspended: This is Vegas delayed to '09 (via QJ) - Those of you itching to get your hands on some Vegas lovin' will have to wait it out a bit longer. Midway Games has confirmed today that the game This is Vegas (PC, Xbox 360, PlayStation 3) will be pushed back to a 2009 release, instead of its original Winter launch.Says a Midway representative, Midway is committed to developing and publishing the best quality products. | |
The First 10 Minutes: Beijing 08 (via Xboxyde) - Sega released Beijing Olympics 2008 last friday in Europe, while Americans can pick it up next week. Sega took the full step to the current generation, ignoring the PS2, developing it on Playstation 3, Xbox 360 and the PC. The game mechanics are the same as the old games, it's all about button bashing in many of the 38 (!) events. | |
