Xbox 360News for - October 8, 2008
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  Xbox Live Arcade To Add Arcade Port Triggerheart Exelica (via Gamasutra) - Microsoft has announced that its regular Wednesday Xbox Live Arcade update will see the addition of 2006 Japanese arcade shooter Triggerheart Exelica. The game, which also received a later port to Sega's Dreamcast, allows players to take down or trap and toss enemies by shooting them with anchors from humanoid weapons called Triggerhearts. | |
 EA Proposes Purchase of GTA Publisher Take-Two (via 1Up) - In a deal valued at approximately $2 billion. Take-Two has stated that it will enter discussions with EA, but that the initial offering greatly undervalues key elements of its business. "We believe EA's unsolicited offer is highly opportunistic and is attempting to take advantage of our upcoming release of Grand Theft Auto IV, one of the most valuable and durable franchises in the industry," the company said in a statement. | |
 Jack Thompson required to prove that he has not 'abused the legal system' (via Game Politics) -- Thompson has until March 5th to prove to the Florida Supreme Court that he has not 'abused the legal system by submitting numerous frivolous and inappropriate filings.' | |
 Fable 2 going against trend set up by Mass Effect: weird sex!!! (via IGN) - Fable 2 is to go the same way as the original,when you seduce someone, the screen will got to black. When Lionheads big cheese, Peter Molyneux states one of the funniest quotes of the year: "It's you Americans- Its something about nipples sets you off" Well done, Jack Thompson, your starting to | |
 After HD DVD Drop, Toshiba Spends $835M to Back Blu-ray (via DailyTech) - Daily Tech writes: "A new twist has emerged with the death of HD DVD. After Warner, Best Buy, Walmart and Netflix jumped on the Blu bandwagon, the fate of HD DVD was already sealed. Despite the grim news, the principle HD DVD developer, Toshiba Corporation, refused to initially comment on its plans for its HD DVD. | |
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 GDC-Portal Creators On Writing, Multiplayer, and Government Interrogation Techniques (Spoiler Alert) (via Shacknews) - Don't tell anyone, but some of Portal's best dialog, the stuff about the importance of your weighed companion cube, came from writer Eric Wolpaw's readings of some "declassified government interrogation thing." From that, he learned "isolation leads subjects to begin to attach to inanimate objects. | |
 Portal 2 Confirmed on X-Play (via G4TV) - On tonight's episode of X-Play, lead designer for Portal, Kimberly Swift, confirmed that there will be a Portal 2. This is pretty much a given as Doug Lombardi, Valve's Director of Marketing, had previously stated that "more Portal is definitely on the way." However, until now no one was sure if this would be in the form of a direct sequel or possibly downloadable content. | |
 Xbox 360 HD DVD Support Statement Updated (via Gamescore Blog) - We just issued an updated statement regarding HD DVD support for Xbox 360. As a result of recent decisions made by Toshiba, Hollywood studios, and retailers, Microsoft plans to withdraw from HD DVD. Xbox will no longer manufacture new HD DVD players for the Xbox 360, but we will continue to provide standard product and warranty support for all Xbox 360 HD DVD Players in the market. | |
 U.S. Government looking for spies in online gaming (via wired) -- The government here in the US of A is apparently sending "covert" spies under "deep cover" into the world of online gaming, including WOW and other online played games (COD4). The spies are looking for traits they can trace down to terrorism. | |
 Gears 2 will feature chansaw-to-chainsaw battles (via Kotaku) -- The chainsaw fight that takes place in the middle of the video isn't some fancy, man-gland-swelling shot aimed at winning your hearts and minds (and man-glands!). It's an addition to the game | |
 Xbox LIVE Arcade Community Awards announced at GDC 2008 (via Major Nelson) - And the winners are: Best Overall Arcade Game: "Bomberman Live" (Hudson Entertainment) Best Classic Game: "Castlevania: Symphony of the Night" (Konami Digital Entertainment) Best Original Game: "Pac-Man: Championship Edition" (NAMCO BANDAI Games) Best Family-Friendly Game: "Pac-Man: | |
 GDC 08: Crytek on Porting CryENGINE 2 to Consoles (via N4G.com) - But will Crysis be heading to consoles? "We're certainly looking at it and considering it," said a tight-lipped Seeley. The studio is currently debating if such a project is the best use of its time. Among its several internal teams--which boast a total of over 200 employees--Crytek is working on at least one other console game, as well as a non-FPS title at its Budapest office. | |
 The man behind The Dishwasher (via Xbox 360 Fanboy) - From what we can tell post XNA demo release, the buzz surrounding James Silva's The Dishwasher: Dead Samurai has been overwhelmingly positive. And rightfully so.After our Fancast chat with James a few months back, we knew he was onto something and were confident that trusty Silva wouldn't let us down. | |
Bionic Commando: Rearmed XBLA to have lower textures than the PS3 and PC versions (via 1up) -- Xbox Live Arcade's size limitations of 150MB is gimping the graphics on Capcom's 'Bionic Commando: Rearmed'. | |
 Zero Punctuation : Yahtzee at GDC (via The Escapist) -- In the spirit of GDC, Yahtzee hosts his own type of awards show... | |
 360 HD-DVD To Drop To $50 Rumor (via Kotaku) - Ars Technica's Microsoft mole, who's been largely on-point in previous rumours, has another bad case of the whispers, telling the site that the 360's HD-DVD player is - for some reason - in line for a rather hefty price-cut. He reckons that the add-on movie player will be slashed to $50. | |
 GDC 2008: APB First Look (via IGN) - Known for Lemmings, Grand Theft Auto and Crackdown, David Jones has tackled a number of genres in his successful career as a game designer. Currently he's stepping outside of his comfort zone and taking on the massively multiplayer online game with APB, but of course he's doing it with his own signature. | |
 GDC: Prototype gameplay (via Xboxyde) -- Snoopers and Bryan were also invited at a presentation of Prototype yesterday, where between 2 drinks they managed to film some very nice gameplay footage. First part is up, with a second one and an interview to follow in a few hours. | |
 EA CEO upset at drop in average EA game ratings (via GamesIndustry.biz) -- The average EA game released in 2007 was rated at a 72 out of 100, which is a five percent drop from last year. | |
 Halo 3 multiplayer set to become 'Ghost Town' (via Joystiq) - Even during our hectic GDC schedules, we're able to sense the vibrations caused by new Halo 3 information gently plucking on the strands of the interweb. Bungie has revealed "Ghost Town," a dilapidated African battleground included in the upcoming Legendary Map Pack. An "asymmetric map designed for 4v4 encounters," Ghost Town is the result of over 4 months of work and should be well suited to One Flag, One Bomb, FFA and Team Slayer gametypes. | |
 Portal wins Game of the Year at GDC (via GamesIndustry.biz) -- Portal was awarded Game of the Year at GDC yesterday, as well as 'Best Design' and 'Innovation'. | |
 Ninja Gaiden II to be released June 3rd (via joystiq) -- Ninja Gaiden 2 will be released June 3rd in North America | |
Xbox 360 Gets A Price Drop In Canada Microsoft (via Kotaku) - Good news, Canada! You're about to save yourselves a lot of money, if you're in the market for a new Xbox 360. Microsoft announced today that prices have slashed across the board, with the Elite now ringing in at $449, the Pro at $349 and the Arcade at $279. An Arcade for $279? That's Wii pricing, Canucks. | |
 Gears of War 2 GDC teaser (via Gamersyde) -- Watch the first teaser trailer from freshly announced Gears of War 2. | |
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 Gears of War 2 confirmed for this fall. (via kotaku) - As rumored, Microsoft will be announcing the release of Gears of War 2 today at GDC 08. The sequel to the 2006 Game of the Year candidate will be an Xbox 360 exclusive and is expected to release in November. Warm up yo' chainsaws!! And now for a bit more - Cliffy B busts through a door at the side of the stage with a real chainsaw bayonet. | |
XNA Chief at GDC 2008: Community Games for Xbox 360, new Zune game (via QJ) - XNA Chief Chris Satchell has just dropped a couple of bombs at GDC 2008. He announced that Xbox Live will be hosting a new service called Community Games. This feature allows developers to post their games and subject it to community scrutiny. If it passes then the game will be released on Xbox Live. | |
 Gears or War 2 Tech Demo Shown with Over 100 Enemies on screen - First Images (via Joystick) - "11:11: A video is showing of Gears of War with hundreds of enemies running down the road to show off new tech. Water and splash effects are shown, again using Gears of War on updated engine. 11:10: "Imagine what Gears of War would look like if we launched it today." CEO comes out to talk about updates on Unreal Engine. | |
