Bungie has been silent on the new game series they’re developing for Activision, possibly because all eyes are on the creator of the Halo series. We know that for now it’s called Destiny, but details have been nonexistent, at least until an advertising document leaked to IGN. Bungie has confirmed the leak by officially releasing one of the pictures (the one above) and promising more to come when they can talk about it, but for now, let’s look at the first story premise! Read more…
With how hard Microsoft has been pushing the multimedia content for Xbox 360, perhaps this should come as no surprise to you all: The Verge is reporting they have multiple sources saying that Microsoft is creating a set-top TV box branded with the Xbox name. The concept is to be similar to the Apple TV or Roku, supporting videos and music, as well as apps and games. Granted, it wouldn’t play full-fledged console games (that would still be the next Xbox’s job) but for consumers who use their Xbox mostly for Netflix (you know who you are) this is an excellent move. Will it succeed though? I wonder if the Xbox name is too entrenched in “gaming” but perhaps that’s an unfounded concern. Will this hook people? 2013 will be an exciting year! Read more…
Consider this a public service announcement of impending deals. No, Xbox Live doesn’t have absolutely insane deals like Steam does on PC, but that’s all the more reason to take advantage of times when a large amount of content goes on sale. And with Black Friday coming later this week, that time is now! Read more…
Fresh off the heels of the rather-boring “Hearthfire” downloadable content, Bethesda has announced the next bit of DLC for The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim. The main character of the game is a Dragonborn, but this latest content, also called “Dragonborn,” pertains to literally the first Dragonborn ever. He looks pretty tough too! Read more…
We knew it was coming, but now we’ve got a clearer idea of when: Grand Theft Auto V is coming as soon as Spring 2013. Rockstar North announced on their blog that the highly anticipated game would release for PS3 and Xbox 360. The company made no mention of a PC version, but PC versions of previous games in the series have typically released after the console versions. Read more…
If you’re reading this on the east coast right now, not only do you still have some sort of power in the midst of Hurricane Sandy, but you get the treat of watching the launch trailer for Assassin’s Creed III on the day the game releases! This is the game fans have been waiting for since Assasssin’s Creed II in 2009, and after two more games with Ezio than we expected, the day is finally here. The setting shifts from the Italian Renaissance and Constantinople to the American Revolution, and the new lead is the half-Native American Ratonhnhaké:ton, better known as Connor Kenway. Read more…
Though it has its detractors, I still think Burnout Paradise was one of the most fun racing games in recent memory. The team at Criterion has since been put to work on the upcoming Need for Speed: Most Wanted, incorporating an open-world in a similar fashion to Burnout Paradise. The game is out on October 30, so that means it’s time for trailers, including this awesome offering from YouTube superstar Freddie Wong. This is the most impressive car chase ever shot with remote control cars. Read more…
Capcom has been giving Street Fighter a lot of love in the past few years, between rereleases like Street Fighter III, HD updates of Street Fighter II, and of course the much newer Street Fighter IV. But one of their other major fighting game franchises, Darkstalkers, hasn’t gotten much love, beyond characters appearing in games like Marvel vs. Capcom 3. Though rumors abound of a new Darkstalkers game, for now it seems like Capcom is testing the waters with an HD rerelease of early Darkstalkers games. Read more…
Microsoft wants a Gears of War movie, and since the movie industry isn’t moving on it, they’re ready to try pushing it into production a different way. New Line Cinema has the movie rights to the franchise, but they’ve decided to focus on The Hobbit films, which are guaranteed to bring in tons of money. The studio has placed Gears of War in turnaround for another studio to pick up. The thing is, Creative Artists Agency, the reps for the film, don’t want to wait.
Since New Line doesn’t seem to care about the movie, CAA is more than happy to take the license and shop it around to other studios. The most recent version of the script was written by Stuart Beattie (Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides), a script which is likely to get referenced during negotiations.
I’m not sure why Microsoft isn’t pushing a Halo film harder though, considering that it would likely have a slightly broader appeal due to increased mainstream recognition and the potential to be targeted towards more than 18- to 35-year-old males with a penchant for extreme military violence. I like Gears of War, but I’m not entirely sure it needs to be realized on the big screen.
There are lots of indie games out there making either conscious or subconscious references to games of yore. Part of that is because of the solid, pure design some of these iconic games featured, and part of that is because of affectionate nostalgia. But it’s not often that a retro-inspired game has been in development for so long that it could practically qualify for an “retro” game itself, and not just because it looks like an NES game on steroids. Read more…
Fans of Assassin’s Creed are already familiar with alternate histories, considering the series features an ongoing secret war between Assassins and Templars, fighting over artifacts from an advanced earlier civilization. This fall’s Assassin’s Creed III will continue that war, resolving the storyline of modern-day assassin Desmond Miles while exploring his genetic memories of a new assassin ancestor, the Native American Connor Kenway in colonial America. Though the base game is enticing enough, one piece of future downloadable content may be too cool to pass up: killing evil George Washington. Read more…
The awesome thing about holding off on buying major trilogies is that you know they’ll be bundled together down the line for cheap. Less than a year after the release of Mass Effect 3, the Mass Effect games are getting that bundle. Mass Effect Trilogy will be available come November 6 on Xbox 360 and PC for only $59.99. The bigger news, however, is that this bundle is eventually coming to PS3. Read more…
Back before them kids started messing around with their Calamity Triggers and Continuum Shifts, Arc System Works had another fighting game: Guilty Gear, the spiritual successor to BlazBlue. Due to some copyright shenanigans with Sega, Arc System Works lost the rights to make Guilty Gear for a while, which meant no more endless iterations instead of a proper sequel. But recently, the rights returned to their rightful owner! And now we have a new release of an old game, headed to super-powered videogame platforms! Read more…
Weren’t zombie games played out a while ago? At the start of this console generation, the world was experiencing a zombie renaissance, with the previously cult creatures starting to appear all over the place. But a few years back, it seemed like the zombie market was over-saturated. Zombies were just getting tossed in anything, showing up even in unexpected games like Call of Duty and Red Dead Redemption. There have been less zombie games lately, since anyone not experiencing zombie burnout is playing DayZ or The Walking Dead, but that won’t stop Microsoft from tossing another zombie game out there! Read more…
Posted by Tim Sheehy on Jul 19, 2012 in Videogames
A few weeks back, Polytron decided to release a patch for their Xbox 360-exclusive puzzle platformer Fez. The patch was meant to address a number of issues from being unable to run the game on older consoles, to simply fixing a series of crashes that can occur in specific situations. Unfortunately, while the patch seemingly eliminated the majority of the issues being experienced by players, a new bug was introduced which rendered certain end-game save files unusable. The patch was quickly pulled but after reviewing the issue with Microsoft, Polytron has opted to once again release the patch as is. According to some sources, Microsoft would charge them nearly $40k just to implement a new one!
Posted by Tim Sheehy on Oct 12, 2011 in Videogames
According to CVG, the upcoming Xbox 360 dashboard update is due to hit consoles on November 25th — a date which just happens to coincide with the busiest day in North American retail, Black Friday. The update, originally announced at E3 earlier this year, will incorporate a modified version of Microsoft’s flash-alternative, Silverlight as the new back-end for their Xbox apps. The update also introduces partner services like YouTube, Bing — shocker, there — Lovefilm and more. I’m excited to see what else the update has in store for us and, while I’m not too keen on Silverlight — I’d take Adobe Flash over it any day of the week — I’m sure Microsoft wouldn’t have decided on using it if they weren’t satisfied with the results. With all the new video and television content they have planned for us in coming months, we have a lot to look forward to. Now, if only they’d partner with BBC here in America — they’re doing it over in England, so why not?
Mark Bongo from Major League Mods has created a bunch of really neat Xbox 360 case mods, like the R2-D2 360/projector combo we featured in the past. But this latest project looks so cool, you’d think Tony Stark himself built it in a cave! With a box of scraps! In this case (ha), Mark teamed up with Nub Grafix from Orange County Choppers to give this Iron Man-themed Xbox a sleek, metallic paint job. The miniature arc reactor that mimics the 360’s trademark ring of lights, though, is all Mark. Put the whole package in a Stark Industries locked case, and you have the c0olest Xbox this side of S.H.I.E.L.D. HQ. Read more…
The other month we wrote about Mark at Major League Mods and his amazing R2-D2 Xbox 360 projector mod. His design was astonishing enough to make any Star Wars fanboy green with envy. Now, he’s at it again, this time with a fresh take on his original Millennium Falcon Xbox. Years ago, Mark combined the innards of Microsoft’s old black box with a classic Kenner ’79 Millennium Falcon. Microsoft recently released another black box, and while this one is much slimmer, it didn’t stop mark from throwing together another great mod for a customer. This fully functioning 360 slim looks absolutely fantastic. The engines and running lights are a great touch as well. To see how everything works, check out the video below. You can also check out the Major League Mods website for more of Mark’s mods.
Those of you who’ve been waiting patently for Hulu on Xbox Live! are in luck. Last week, Microsoft launched support for Hulu’s service Hulu Plus, which delivers select content — mostly network television sans the CW, complete with commercials — to customers willing to pay $7.99 a month. To be honest, it’s not too unreasonable. Read more…
Posted by Tim Sheehy on Feb 17, 2011 in Videogames
Xbox 360 owners are in for a bit of treat when they pre-order Larin Studios’ upcoming expansion for their hit RPG Divinity II, entitled The Dragon Knight Saga. Those of you who were unfortunate enough to own the previous title for your console may be happy to know that this upcoming release will feature a remastered version, complete with new content, an improved engine and support for the Flames of Vengeance add-on. On top of that, Atlus, the game’s North American publisher has decided to sell it for the low price of $39.99, and those of you who pre-order will recieve an art book and soundtrack to boot.
Posted by Tim Sheehy on Aug 12, 2010 in Videogames
Or more specifically, I should say Peter Molyneux won’t. Known for his penchant for over-promising and under-delivering, Molyneux has gone on record to state that the next title in the popular Fable franchise will focus more on story, and balance, than introducing new features, and gameplay mechanics — a move clearly designed with casual gamers in mind. While I hardly consider myself a casual gamer, I actually welcome this news, as I’ve quickly grown tired of Molyneux’s incessant need to clutter his games with features that distract me from the point of the game itself.
Lionhead studios, in conjunction with Microsoft Game Studios, have released the opening cinematic for their upcoming installment of Fable. The third title to date, Fable 3 tells the tail of a kingdom on brink of revolution, its subjects the victim of a tyrannical ruler. This opening cinematic tells that tale in an interesting way — through the eyes of a chicken, doomed to be a served at a royal dinner. While it might show little in the way of potential gameplay, the cinematic certainly doesn’t lack the dark humor found through out the series. Instead, it provides us with an explanation of the plot via a rather clever set of metaphors — in addition to painting a clear picture of the setting itself. The game is currently set to ship for Xbox 360 on October 26th. Read more…
I suppose this should still be labeled a rumor, but at least it’s a plausible one that I feel I can weigh in on. Gear Live is currently reporting that a reputable source has informed them that Microsoft is set to announce the lauch of Hulu’s subscription-based service via Xbox Live at E3 later this month. The plan for a subscription based service has actually been common knowledge, though most people expected it to launch with the upcoming iPad app that has been in development for months already. Read more…
Posted by Michael Pinto on Dec 15, 2009 in Videogames
Never judge the game by the trailer — it’s the gameplay that counts! Good I’m glad I got that out of my system because I KNOW that’s true, but the fanboy in me is pre-sold on this because we’re talking about Tron. Now that’s a gamble as it’s a favorite geek franchise from back in the day, but frankly everything in this trailer feels like the perfect update from the quality of the voice over to bringing the look of the original film to the next level. Read more…
