News

Microsoft Press event - Live (updated with actual content)

Posted by: Chuck at 5/9/2006 7:17 PM - Comments (0)
More On: Microsoft
Since the EVDO phone crapped out on me and I couldn’t get a decent WiFi signal here are my edited notes from today.  Keep in mind that I’m the site’s designated Microsoft apologist/semi fan boy so I was a little excited to go to this one.  Click on the more link for what I saw at the show


Since the EVDO phone crapped out on me and I couldn’t get a decent WiFi signal here are my edited notes from today.  Keep in mind that I’m the site’s designated Microsoft apologist/semi fan boy so I was a little excited to go to this one.

 

Before we start, Grauman’s Chinese as an E3 venue is awesome.

Starting out with Gears of War trailer

 

Hey everybody it’s Cliffy B

  • Cliffy is playing through the first level of the game. 
  • Tons of blood, chunky, very visceral
  • Nice use of cover, lots of it….almost too much, is this a one trick pony?
  • Decent weapon system, def going to be a M rated game
  • Hops over terrain pretty well
  • kind of a nice movie feel to some of the chase camera angles when running…drops a little behind…damn cool
  • AI uses cover as well
  • Hand to hand kills with chainsaw, literally cuts the guy in half…sweet
  • Good weapon selection

 

Peter Moore up next

 

  • Second generation of next generation of games…our first cheap shot @ Nintendo and Sony of the day
  • All Microsoft gaming resources are now under single division
  • By end of next month they will have SOLD 5 million consoles…they are still ramping production
  • First to the 5 million consoles point in console history as well as with the iPod
  • Attach rate: 4.5 games /3.0 accessories sold per console
  • 3/10 top games in march were on 360 (GRAW, Oblivion, Fight Night round 3)

 

Six million Xbox Live users by the end of the year

 

Xbox Live arcade – new titles although some have been announced before

·        Pac man

·        Contra - Contra code will work on XBL

·        Frogger – looks a little different not the arcade classic

·        Galaga

·        Sonic the Hedgehog

·        Defender

·        SFII Hyper Fighting

·        Time Pilot

·        Ultra Mortal Kombat 3

·        Scramble

·        Ms PacMan

·        Rally X

·        Root Beer tapper

·        Paperboy

 

Scored deal with Konami to publish their titles

 

Petere Moore – These are not just games they are shared heritage (shot at Nintendo)?

The shared heritage is the best line I’ve heard between the two press conferences

 

All new Xbox Live arcade games will be in HD

Online multiplayer – usual XBL goodies like achievements, leaderboards, etc.

 

Xbox Live is a big boon for Independent Developers

Microsoft has a program to help develop games for Xbox Live Arcade

·        100 + develoepers in the portfolio

·        Up and coming talent

 

XBL getting Lumines Live -

Microsoft has bagged deal with Warner Bros to put their content (music and video) in Lumines Live via Marketplace

 

No dates on when these titles will hit the system

 

Next Generation of Xbox 360 games

·        Lost Planet – solid looking, more on this later

·        Table Tennis – The first of two exclusive Rockstar titles for the Xbox 360

·        Brothers in Arms: Highway to Hell – nothing new here, still looks good

·        Mass Effect – short clip, looks solid

·        NHL 2K7 – Looks a lot like NHL 2K6

·        F.E.A.R. – Not bad but doesn’t look as good as the PC version

·        Too Human – looks good

·        Viva Pinata – first time I’ve seen this animated, looks interesting

·        MotoGP 06 – not bad

·        LOTR Battle for Middle Earth 2 - meh

·        Sonic – looking good, looks a lot like the footage from Sony that we saw yesterday

·        Madden 07 – Madden 06 plus all the stuff they left out.

·        WSOP: Tournament of Champions – Looks ok, not great

·        Saints Row  - meh, hopefully looks better on the floor

·        WWE Smackdown vs Raw – Not too bad looking

·        Stranglehold – not bad

·        Enchanted Arms  - OK looking

·        Test DriveUnlimited –little jaggy, nothing that really blew me away

·        NCAA Football 07 – Not too shabby

·        Dead Rising – Looking good, hopefully it plays well

·        DDR Univserse – looks like last generation graphics with a few twists

·        Prey- solid looking

·        Superman Returns – old footage that’s been beaten to death

·        NBA 2K7 – looks like what I saw yesterday at Sony

·        Crackdown – Potential

·        Ninety Nine Nights - didn’t show a lot, looking forward to playing this tomorrow

·        Gears of War – nuff said – used some of same footage as cliffy demo – guessing either his demo was scripted or they’ve just been using this footage before

 

160 Xbox 360 games by this holiday season

820 Xbox (first generation) titles by the end of the year

 

Fable 2- could be good

  • Kind of cool pre rendered footage
  • www.fable2.com
  • Can he deliver on his full vision now or not?
  • No gameplay show

 

Stop the teasing…SHOW US HALO

 

Forza 2

  • Remember when Gran Turismo was king? 
  • Forza 2 demonstrates where the first to market lead comes into play as this title looks much better than the footage we saw of Gran Turismo HD last night (granted it was just GT4 footage that had the resolution increased)
  • Detail on tires shown…actual game play or just pre-rendered
  • 300 cars in the game
  • 12 player online
  • Available this holiday season – this is the killer part of the announcement.  Sony will luck to have some kind of PS3 Gran Turismo game out this time next year.

 

New Xbox 360 Accessories

  • Steering wheel

–        Has forcefeedback

–        Wireless

  • New wireless headset –  very cool looking
  • Xbox live vision (Camera)

–        customize gamertag, this could be abused quickly

  • All accessories available this fall

 

JAPAN – still committed – relevant content needed

 

Hironobu Sakaguchi – working on two new titles

  • Showing footage from Blue Dragon
  • I could not be less interested in this game
  • Available this holiday season
  • Lost Oddyssey on it’s way

 

Team Ninja – will be able to download trailer later this week for their next game

 

Xbox serious about bringing in Japanese developers to develop games for Japanese gamers

 

More Xbox 360 game trailers

Double Agent

  • deep undercover – repeated a few times, reminded me of the trailer for Domino
  • wow, kind of impressive looking models
  • HALO jump, underwater stuff in artict
  • Decent looking footage
  • Set for release in September

 

Viva Pinata

  • This game begs the question: Did the game start with the marketing or did marketing start with the game?
  • Try to attract piñatas to your land
  • Kind of a journey of life – what you plant impacts the type of piñatas you have
  • All animals have candy related names
  • Can buy accessories through marketplace for piñatas – hide the credit cards from the kids for this
  • Can trade them over Xbox Live as well
  • Real unique look and feel with the piñatas
  • Helpers to help out the n00bs
  • Romance Dance to grow population kind of interesting approach

 

Xbox Live Marketplace

-         18 million downloads currently

-         All publishers have some form of content online

-         3 ways XBL changes things

o       Changes the way people try and buy games

o       Episodic Content

o       Whole new world of digital entertainment – videos, movie trailers, exclusive content

§         Epic

§         20th centry fox

§         Paramount

§         Lion gate

-         New shows on XBL available

o       Gears of War

§         Stars on Xbox live wraps up on MTV

§         Didn’t say synergy but he was close

HD –DVD player

  • Looks a lot like the Xbox 360 – similar look and feel with inhale shape
  • Looks to be a little bigger than an external drive
  • Will hook up to the USB port and send data through the Xbox 360 to the component cables (the 360 will handle the decoding)
  • The player will have two USB ports on the back and notches for the wireless adapter.  So if you get it you will plug the HD DVD player into the USB port on your 360 and migrate your wireless network adapter to the HD DVD player and then plug your camera into the HD DVD player
  • Available this holiday

 

Please show HALO 3 now and stop teasing me

 

GTA IV

  • Some guys do rubber ducks, some do tattoos –  best Sony cheap shot of the night
  • GTA IV – exclusive will be releases for the PS3 and Xbox 360 on October 16, 2006  in the USA
  • Strategic partnership, episodic content on XBL
  • This has to be a nice kick in the nuts to Sony IMHO

 

Full on Vista launch – Games for Windows – “no longer land of misfit toys”

  • Dedicated marketing effort
  • latest in graphics technology
  • most game friendly OS
  • new Marketing strategy
  • deliver best gaming experience possible

 

Crysis

  • Cool floaty thing monster
  • Lots of heat effects
  • On an aircraft carrier that’s been attacked by alliens
  • Good looking models
  • Little on the dark side, might just be the room
  • Wow, cool looking giant glowy monster – alien exosuit
  • Can change ammo and oother items for the weapon
  • Sounds good
  • Demo bug – not faked footage
  • Cool effects when hitting shell of alien
  • Nice worm hole effect when it died
  • Very good looking game but the footage release earlier was a little better (cool foliage effects)

 

Direct X 10 Games

  • Starter demo of stuff building and floating. Kind of cool looking, zooms in to reveal specific titles
  • Age of Conan
  • Flight sim X – looks damn good
  • Crysis
  • Umm…that’s it? 
  • Kind of ok – only a couple of games – hard to take seriously right now with so few titles being featured.  This may change though

 

More game friendly features

  • family settings
  • available on the start menu
  • more joint release titles
  • Oblivion sell 1.7M copies in 3 weeks for both platforms

 

Two more joint release titles (xbox 360 and PC release)

Shadowrun

  • new FASA game – wow – impressive looking , might actually be kind of cool and different plot
  • looks really good and decent game play
  • launches in January with Vista (umm, isn’t Vista coming out in February?)

Alan Wake

  • Some new footage
  • A Wake – nice
  • Fanboy hit…dammit
  • Psychological action thriller

 

Holy s**t, it’s BillGates here to introduce the big initiatives

 

Bill gates like PGR3, kids and family like Xbox Live arcade games

Where do we go from here – all platforms

  • better tools and better environments
  • user centric
  • Xbox a learning experience
  • Adding 8 new countries – South Africa, India, Chile, Brazail, Poland, Hungary, Czech, slovakia
  • Before competition in the market, the goal is to have 10M units headstart
  • 6M on XBL by E3 07
  • Taking XBL to the PC
  • Gates does talking points, Moore does the full speech
  • 1 billion game ready cellphones

 

Live Anywhere

  • will be baked into Vista
  • One user interface
  • One identity
  • One friends list
  • One message center
  • One marketplace
  • Games that will work between phone, PC, and Xbox 360
  • Each device has it’s own role

 

Scott Henson – Platform  headhoncho

  • Start up Shadowrun with Xbox 360 and now connected to network
  • Wow- update to Xbox 360 profile blade – can see others online and how: Phone, PC, etc
  • Cross platform gamer invite – pops right up on Vista desktop
  • Note: these are just mocked up screens right now
  • Vista – integrates gamertag into widget bar – can boost score on XBL by playing PC games
  • XBL Guide now built into Vista – Hella sweet,  –no more constantly refreshing content on Xbox Live
  • This is the background services stuff that vista is built on
  • Can play cross platform…damn impressive…wonder if Huxley is using this system- probably not
  • Phones will probably have to support Windows Media 5…just a hunch
  • Cell phone interface for Xbox Live Marketplace
    • Buy a game once and play it anywhere – cell phone and Xbox 360…
    • Kick off HD dl to PC or 360
    • One Marketplace
    • Gamercard available
  • Limited to just certain phones or abstracted up?
  • Looks like just built into WM 5 phones due to UI – should work on the god phone
  • Can tweak parameters in phone or PC and then use in Xbox 360…new day to screw around at work
  • All services based, if you know Vista you know services
  • Play on 360, tweak on Vista, tune on Cell phone
  • Very close to realization?  No time table announced

 

Finally Halo 3 footage

  • Quick description as trailer is now on Xbox Live
  • Master Chief walks towards camera
  • Shots of Cortana are with voice over the shots
  • Final series is Master chief looking over a large crater as Covenant battleships move in, in the crater a large portal opens up and the clip ends

 

Few post show notes from the post press conference get together

·        Played a bunch of Lost Planet and the game just rocks, great graphics and gameplay

·        Madden 07 looks a lot like Madden 06

·        Gears of War will have singleplayer, two player co-op (built from the ground up to support this) and 16 player multiplayer

·        Gears will have a kind of mini game when you reload where if you hit the reload button at the right time you can get a quick reload, if you miss it your gun will jam and slow you down.

 

Grand Theft Auto IV PC has some cool new features, out December 2

by: John - posted: 11/21/2008 9:14 AM - Comments (0)
The PC version of Grand Theft Auto IV is coming out on December 2nd with cool new features. First off, there's going to be an additional radio station where you can stick in your own MP3s. The big new feature though is the Social Club TV where you can record in game footage in both single and multiplayer games. Use the built in editor to change camera angles, audio, speed, and add special effects. Create your own video and share it with others. Anyone can watch but members are the only ones that can post videos. Sounds pretty slick and I might have to pick it up on the PC to finish off what I started on the 360 before my disc died.

[READ MORE]

Sony says you must put trophies in your game starting in 2009

by: John - posted: 11/21/2008 7:17 AM - Comments (0)
Come January 2009, all games must support the trophy system on the PlayStation 3 Videogamer reports. This seems like an obvious request to me as Sony has spent a considerable amount of time and man power to implement a feature like that into their system. Now we'll see some consistency in the system knowing that any game in the future will let you earn trophies... if you are into that sort of thing.

Crafting my New Xbox Experience avatar

by: Randy - posted: 11/21/2008 1:34 AM - Comments (2)
PhotobucketDo you hear what I hear?  That's the sound of my Xbox 360 no longer hitting Boeing jet decibels when Fable II is spinning in the tray.

Thanks to the crispy fresh NXE (New Xbox Experience), I download Peter Molyneux's ear-bleedingly-loud-in-the-tray role-playing game from the disc and onto the hard drive.  It took a grand total of 12 minutes.  And, let me be frank for just a moment, there's absolutely nothing else I did for 12 minutes this week that gave me the warm-fuzzy feeling that I'm feeling right now with Fable II.  In Fable II, if you're still running it from the disc, you don't have to do anything more than stand around an uneventful town square and you'll have to engage your 5.1 speakers at 80% just to hear what the in-game town crier is shouting right next to you.  But now?  The gravel-churning sound from my 360 has ceased.  Calmed itself.  Found peace and understanding with itself.

And it has graciously granted me a slice of that same peace.

But then with Grace, my wife, nestling next to me on the couch -- though she doesn't know why I'm dragging her in front of the 360's screen -- I open up the Avatar Customization screen.  The bright NXE spectrum splashes against the backdrop and I gingerly hand the controller to Grace.  "Okay," I say, no hubris in my tone, "it's time to make me!"

With very little hesitation in her movement, Grace makes a slightly-below-medium height fellow with caramel-colored skin, hair black and slightly slicked back, then skillfully fits him into a pair of Timbalands, dark jeans, and a straight-lined jacket.  Not bad, I say.  Not bad at all.

I grow distressed, however, when she keeps trying to adjust my avatar's chubby factor.  "Is that all the further it goes to the right?"  She looks at my stomach, looks at the avatar, looks at my stomach again.  "Hm," she says.  "Maybe you'll be that skinny again.  Someday."

She then promptly puts a wedding ring on my avatar's finger and then heads for the Facial Features screen.  She flips around the options, chuckling at a few, and settles on dropping a scar over my avatar's right eye.

"Hey?" I say.

"Hey," she stops me.  "Do you want to be you, or do you actually want to be interesting?"

It's the best time of the year

by: Nathan - posted: 11/20/2008 11:41 PM - Comments (0)
Something about this holiday season makes people want to give, and not to just people they know. Charities are a dime a dozen but none are as popular with the gaming community as Child's Play created by the begun by the creators of Penny Arcade comic strip which is set up to donate toys, games, and cash to sick children in hospitals through an ongoing online toy drive and annual charity auction. GamerDNA.com is getting into this giving spirit and is organizing an online contest. The contest is about spreading the word about Child's Play and encouraging donations by challenging members of various game communities to share a "unique virtual badge" in as many places as possible online. To get the badge participants take what is called the gamerDNA Decades of Influence Quiz which, humoursly, indicates which ports of the past four decades of gaming has had the most influence on an individuals identity. The community that shares the most virtual badges will select which Children's Hospital will receive a donation of 6 bundles of Nintendo DS systems and games from gamer DNA. Participate in gamerDNA's challenge and win the gift of giving, you could even wear a santa suit if you want. [READ MORE]

Warhammer Online Destruction Epic Armor concept art

by: Randy - posted: 11/20/2008 10:54 PM - Comments (0)
It can be easy to dismiss concept art, especially when a game is already launched and the proof is in the pudding, and not in the recipe.  But it's admirable when we can take a look in-game and see just how close the digital artists got (and I'd say they got pretty durn close) -- especially within MMOs, where countless shortcuts and efficiencies have to take precedence to make for smoother online gameplay.

This batch of concept artistry is a parade of Warhammer Online's Destruction Epic Armors.  These are the suits everyone is ultimately after, and any of them would cut a frightening silhouette on a battlefield.  Developer Mythic presents the epic armor for the Zealot, Chosen, Magus, Shaman, Marauder, Squig Herder, Sorceress, Witch Elf, and Disciple of Khaine:
[READ MORE]

News Roundup: The Original Forgotten Invaders

by: Randy - posted: 11/20/2008 10:32 PM - Comments (0)
  • This Week In Defunct Games features Forgotten Worlds and Space Invaders: The Original Game.  Cyril's not happy.
  • Tech junkies will catch onto the humor as they witness the lumbering extinction of NVIDIA's "G4saurus."
  • The AMD hush-hush project known previously as "Deneb" will launch as the AMD Phenom II X4 Processor.
  • With the Intel Core i7 family of processors available, Legit Reviews looks at the compatible Kingston HyperX 3GB DDR3 2GHz Triple-Channel Memory Kit.
  • According to I4U News, the Alienware Area-51 m15x Gaming Notebook is one of the best 15-inch gaming notebooks on the market.
  • TechwareLabs examines the performance-boosting Intel E7200 2.53GHz Dual Core Processor.
Thanks to Defunct Games, Legit Reviews, AtomicGamer, I4U News and TechwareLabs for today's news roundup.

Super Street Fighter II Turbo HD Remix gets priced

by: John - posted: 11/20/2008 10:18 PM - Comments (0)
As I expected, the price of Super Street Fighter II Turbo HD Remix will be 1200 MS points or $14.99 from the PlayStation Network as outlined in the Capcom blog. Kind of makes me sad I spent money on the one out right now on Xbox Live but hey, the update looks super sweet and I can't wait to try it out.

There's "A Shocking Turn of Events" in PS3 BioShock DLC

by: Randy - posted: 11/20/2008 10:04 PM - Comments (2)
The PS3's exclusive BioShock Add-On Game Content (put together by 2K Boston in conjunction with 2K Marin, 2K Australia and Digital Extremes) is available today for download from the PlayStation Network.  The package -- running a cool $9.99 -- includes new Trophies as well as the new Game Plus gameplay mode.  Two of the three new rooms cite "wits" as a deciding factor to get you through, while the third professes to be the most "grueling" challenge yet offered in the world of Rapture.
  • A Shocking Turn of Events -- A Little Sister is trapped atop a Ferris wheel in an undisclosed location in Rapture.  Using ony the tools and environment around them, players must use their wits to create electricity to power the Ferris wheel and bring the Little Sister to safety.
  • The I in Team -- Using limited resources, and an even more limited arsenal, players must negotiate traps and find a way to defeat a Big Daddy using their wits instead of raw firepower.
  • Worlds of Hurt -- Step up and take on the most grueling challenge offered in the world of Rapture.  Players must battle through eight rooms of Big Daddies, Splicers and the worst that Rapture has to offer.  Accumulate Adam, build an arsenal of Plasmids, Tonics and Weaponry, and fight through to rescue the Little Sister.
I think the variety thrown into these three scenarios rather quickly draws distinctions between Dead Space and BioShock.  Despite all the neat-o things Dead Space does, I think everyone is going to have their memory jogged as to who's still the big daddy of sci-fi thrillers.
[READ MORE]

Dark Storms Gathering as EA and Black Library Spawn Second Warhammer Online Novel

by: Eva - posted: 11/20/2008 9:50 PM - Comments (0)
Long time Warhammer publisher Black Library and EA have announced the second Warhammer Online: Age of Reckoning novel, "Dark Storm Rising." The work written by author Chris Wraight chronicles the realm vs realm war between Order and Chaos. Four heroes, both human and elf, must learn to work together to stop the corrupt influence of Chaos. The main characters are taken from the Knight of the Blazing Sun and Witch Hunter classes of the human Empire and the Archmage and White Lion classes of the High Elves. Unfortunately although it's quite typically, the Dwarfs aren't represented as main characters although they are the other major force of Order.

Follow the break for a full description of the plot and more on the author.
[READ MORE]

Codemasters announces DiRT 2: the dirty version

by: Randy - posted: 11/20/2008 9:34 PM - Comments (0)
Edge-of-control canyon racing in Utah.  A treacherous rally stage from Malaysia.  And the "Battersea Battle" rally-cross night races in London.  Just when you think racing games can't get any more gorgeous, Codemasters announces DiRT 2.  Colin McRae's name is still somewhere in that title, but we know who's center stage in this series now.  Yes:  the dirt. 

"[Colin McRae] could do things with a car that no one else would and that's where we're taking the series with new events at the extreme edge of rally and autosport," said Gavin Raeburn, Senior Executive Producer at Codemasters.  (Colin McRae died in a helicopter accident in September 2007.)  "It will be a great tribute to an incredible champion."

DiRT 2 will utilize the third generation of Codemasters' proprietary EGO Engine (putting twice as much visual fidelity on the screen as appeared in GRiD), with the Group N Subaru serving in the game's opening drive -- thereby making the original DiRT's ultimate car the starting point in the sequel.  Full online functionality will be in place.  DiRT 2 will simu