I'm not familiar with Buckell's work, but he was a Nebula award nominee and a Prometheus Award finalist, so he's sure to be nearly excellent.

HALO: THE COLE PROTOCOL TO LAUNCH ON NOVEMBER 25th

NEW YORK, NY – October 7, 2008. Tor Books today announced Halo: The Cole Protocol will be released on November 25 – just in time for the holidays! The cover image for the new novel has been officially revealed to coincide with the announcement (see attached).

Halo: The Cole Protocol is the sixth in the New York Times bestselling literary series based on the blockbuster Microsoft and Bungie Studios' Halo® video games. An unabridged audiobook edition will publish simultaneously with the new novel.

Written by Nebula nominee and Prometheus Award finalist, Tobias Buckell, Halo: The Cole Protocol unveils the location of the Spartan Gray Team and takes readers into an unexplored conflict of the Human-Covenant War, where unlikely alliances are formed and shattered, altering the course of the humanity's epic struggle for survival. The Halo novels, Halo: Ghosts of Onyx (Tor 2006) and Halo: Contact Harvest (Tor 2007) became instant bestsellers and they, along with the three previous novels, have helped establish Halo® as one of today's greatest science fiction franchises.

HALO: THE COLE PROTOCOL

Pricing: $14.95 Trade Paperback Original / $23.95 Macmillan Audio

FIFA 09: World Soccer Electronic Arts, Demo, Trailer
Mirror's Edge Electronic Arts, Demo, Trailer
Bionic Commando Capcom, Demo, Trailer
Street Fighter IV Capcom, Demo, Trailer
Resident Evil 5 Capcom, Demo, Trailer
Otomedius G (Gorgeous) Konami, Demo, Trailer
Pro Evolution 2009 Konami, Demo, Trailer

There's more. And that is after the jump.

Star Ocean 4: The Last Hope Square Enix, Demo, Trailer
The Last Remnant Square Enix, Demo, Trailer
Bayonetta Sega, Trailer
Sonic World Adventure Sega, Demo, Trailer
Gundam Musou 2 Bandai Namco, Demo, Trailer
Ninja Blade From Software, Demo, Trailer
Race Driver Grid Code Masters, Demo, Trailer
Fallout 3 Bethesda, Demo, Trailer
Fable II Microsoft, Demo, Trailer
Banjo Koozie: Nuts and Bolts Micrsoft, Demo, Trailer
Far Cry 2 Ubisoft, Demo, Trailer
H.A.W.X. Ubisoft, Demo, Trailer
End War Ubisoft, Demo, Trailer
Prince of Persia Ubisoft, Demo, Trailer
11eyes Cross Over 5pb./Genterprise, Trailer
CHAOUS;HEAD NOAH 5pb./Genterprise, Trailer
Ketsui: Kizuna Jigoku Tachi 5pb./Genterprise, Demo, Trailer
Dodonpachi Dai-Ou-Jou Black Label 5pb./Genterprise, Demo, Trailer
Saints Row 2 THQ Japan, Demo, Trailer

Teh before:

Teh aftar:

New Xbox Experience: Games Marketplace [Major Nelson's Blog, via Game Stooge (pic)]

Halo Wars - Field Trip to Harvest [Gametrailers]

It sets up a world 500 years in the future and we have colonies, there's the UNSC, there's the secret Spartan training program. And you see this six-year-old kid kidnapped in the middle of the night... The character doesn't start off as Master Chief. He starts off as John, who's the kid that's kidnapped and told he's going to be a soldier. Anyone can connect with a kid kidnapped from his own home. You're along for that journey. The Covenant comes along halfway through that movie. That gives you half the movie to really get to know everyone and care about everyone. And then when the Covenant come along, it's the first time John sees a grunt or a jackal or an elite. The audience is trying to figure out everything at the same time as the characters are. What are these aliens? Why are they killing us? What did we do? And realizing it's all about this Halo ring. And then ending the movie where the first game begins.

Thoughts, opinions on how this would make the transition to the silver screen?

Halo Movie Reborn [GameDaily via Shack News] [Pic]

The Last Remnant [Xbox 360]

Microsoft Xbox 360 outsells PS3 in Japan in Sept [Reuters]

• Hardware:
Nintendo DS (DS and DS Lite)
First half of the year: 1,314,919
Total units sold: 23,484,680

PSP (PSP-1000 and PSP-2000)
First half of the year: 1,583,731
Total units sold: 10,157,757

Wii
First half of the year: 1,105,174
Total units sold: 6,800,753

PLAYSTATION 3
First half of the year: 352,457
Total units sold: 2,361,949

Xbox 360
First half of the year: 138,740
Total units sold: 741,298

•Software
Mario Kart Wii
First half of the year: 1,744,387
Total units sold: 1,744,387

Monster Hunter Portable 2ndG
First half of the year: 1,602,386
Total units sold: 2,425,651

Pokémon Platinum
First half of the year: 1,481,725
Total units sold: 1,481,725

Dragon Quest V
First half of the year: 1,152,229
Total units sold: 1,152,229

Wii Fit
First half of the year: 845,238
Total units sold: 2,607,431

エンターブレインが2008年度上半期ゲーム市場の速報データを発表——ハードの販売台数はPSPがトップ [Famitsu]

The idea behind that is that Microsoft understand Ridley Scott, they understand that this means that we wanted to mature the franchise a little bit. Not losing its charm, but basically trying to grow it up ever so slightly.

Hope Lionhead meant the Blade Runner, Alien, Gladiator Ridley Scott and not the White Squall, Hannibal, 1492 Ridley Scott. Those movies sucked.

Fable 2 art guys wanted "Fable, but done by Ridley Scott" [Eurogamer] [Pic]

Gears of War 2 Zune Coming on Nov 7, Preorders Start in the Morning [Gizmodo]

I um and ah because, OK, it's a quite sophisticated piece of tech. These days I don't get involved so much with shaders and the actual 3D design any more, the actual programming. It looks very complex. The 360 and the PS3 technically seem neck and neck. Sometimes I look at a title on the 360 it looks fantastic, sometimes I look at a title on PS3 and it looks fantastic. I can't see a difference.

What I would say, and this is not just me being the good company man, I'd say the thing I love about the 360 more than anything is nothing to do with the hardware, it's all to do with LIVE. LIVE is still underexploited for a game mechanic. Some of the stuff in Fable II we're doing with co-op is only possible because of the way that LIVE is structured. I love playing around with that stuff as a designer. Whereas PS3 doesn't seem to be quite so mature on that side. They haven't got quite the same infrastructure and service but, you know, yeah, I'd love to get games on every platform.

Oh ho ho. Wonder if Microsoft would love to get Molyneux's games on every platform, too.

Molyneux: 'Fable 2 co-op only possible because of LIVE' [Videogamer]

Microsoft Rolls out Red Xbox 360 Wireless Controller Just in Time for the Holidays

This holiday season, Xbox 360 fans are invited to accessorize with Microsoft’s award-winning Xbox 360 Wireless Controllers, now available for a limited time in red with newly designed black accents. Experience wireless gaming from up to 30 feet and enjoy uninterrupted play with the included Play & Charge cable and red rechargeable battery, which provides up to 25 hours of play on a single charge. Additionally, when the battery runs low, you’re given ample warning so you can connect the included Play & Charge cable for continuous play.

Available in the U.S., Canada, Latin America, Australia, New Zealand and Asia, the Xbox 360 Limited Edition Red Wireless Controller and Play & Charge Kit with red rechargeable battery now come together in a never before available color and at an exceptionally low price of just $64.99 (U.S. estimated retail price (ERP)). This product is the newest addition to Microsoft’s line of Xbox Authentic Products and further reinforces Microsoft’s commitment to enhancing the way people experience games and entertainment.

The point is I’m not a PR man. I’m just a developer. And when you sit down opposite people, people like yourself, and they look you in the eyes and they say ‘are you happy with absolutely everything in Fable II?’, I can’t hand on heart say that we have got a state of the art animation system. I mean our animation system’s pretty good.

For all the goofy things Molyneux says, at least he does seem somewhat sincere. Well, sometimes. “Now Microsoft has put these PR policemen in the same room to make sure I don’t trip over myself," he adds. That's swell.

Molyneux gets himself into trouble over Fable 2 honesty [Videogamer via VG247]

Microsoft has exclusive control over Grand Theft Auto IV for the PC, and while some PC gamers might be indignant that it leaves out the better-performing, more accepted Steam — especially for taking advantage of its enhanced multiplayer — the lure of a powerhouse title coupled with real improvements to Games for Windows could do much more to bring new PC gamers into the fold. That's a big if.

Already Microsoft has dropped its fee for the service, and will be adding an improved interface and a standalone client. Support for Xbox 360 controllers could also narrow the precision and performance gap among controllers in cross-platform gaming. And simplifying system requirements with this Windows Experience Rating could help, although that sounds like it's still dependent on broad Vista adoption, a problem the writer says got in the way of Games for Windows success early on.

Grand Theft Auto IV Could Save Games for Windows [blog.wired.com]

New Xbox Experience [Xbox.com]

The battle is far from over, and Sony have more up their sleeve right now than Microsoft appear to be able to muster, but by stealing hardcore loyalty from their market rivals, Microsoft has gained an edge that could allow them to give Sony a seriously bloody nose this time around. But if it came to 360 versus Wii in a battle for the mass market, Microsoft should save their warchest and call it quits – it may be the hardcore gamer’s ideal machine right now, but even in a dream scenario the 360’s installed base is probably going to top out at about 40 million (not coincidentally, roughly the size of the installed base of Sony’s hardcore-friendly PSP handheld).

The Wii might not have the legs to beat Sony’s 140 million PS2’s, since that was the consequence of a convergence between gamer hobbyist and mass market support which doesn’t exist now that the console manufacturers have torn the market dynamic into two very different halves, but with a good tailwind it could match or exceed the 75 million DS handhelds Nintendo have sold. I suspect it will outsell the 360 by 2:1, perhaps 3:1.

And the PS3? It’s final unit sales may depend more on the uptake of the Blu-ray format than anything else, so at least it will help Sony with the promotion of their media format, even while it teaches the multinational the lesson the N64 taught Nintendo: you still have to be nice to people when you get to the top, as it’s a long way down...

I'm still irritated with Sony for a variety of reasons, most tied to the lead up to the PS3 release, but Bateman points out some PS3 features that may broaden its mass market appeal (e.g., Blu-ray). I'm am so not looking forward to whatever these companies have to dish out the next 'next-gen' release time around, which hopefully won't be for a while. In any case, the essay is worth a read — an interesting analysis of what is and what may be happening.

The Battle for the Hardcore [Only a Game]

Fable II - Almost There [Gamerscore]

Can't say I was much of a fan of the first "Live Your Moment" ad, the "casual" targeted slow-motion nightmare that kicks off Microsoft's new Xbox 360 holiday ad blitz. Fortunately, the next two, shot in the same vein and focusing on LEGO Batman and Xbox Live Marketplace's video download service, are simply more goofball than nightmare-inducing. The kid in the second ad spot, fresh-faced though he may be, looks like he's getting a hit of heroin off-screen, he's so delighted.

Don't do drugs, kids. Play LEGO Batman instead.

NXE – What You Want to Know: Themes 2.0 and Friends Channel [Gamerscore Blog]

So the deal is, whoever preorders GOW2 Limited Edition starting October 5th gets a remote control version of a Centaur tank for free! It’s a COG vehicle from Gears2 and only available at Best Buy. It’s going to be sick. I took a couple of pictures for you guys to check it out.

That's actually a rather drool-worthy promo right there, assuming that it is real, of course. Can't take off the rumor tag until official confirmation, but as it stands things are looking pretty good for Best Buy's Gears 2 pre-orders with this baby on their side.

The work that those studios are doing [is] incredibly important to MGS. For Rare, this will be their fifth game in the first three years of the Xbox 360 - that's crazy. Two launch games? What studio on the planet signs up for two launch games? That's just crazy. So the productivity and effort in those two studios is just great to see.

About the Microsoft-owned Lionhead, Spencer says there are "no plans" for a Bungie or Ensemble-type reorganization with Microsoft Game Studios, adding "the next Lionhead game is definitely an MGS game". What about the game after that?

Phil Spencer - Part Two [Games Industry]

How does Rare feel about all this? MTV Multiplayer asked the developer's own Gregg Mayles, one of the creators of Banjo Kazooie, who says "I don’t take much notice about what people say about our games I work on, whether positive or negative." Mayles never mentions Moore by name.

It's a healthy attitude, we suppose, and Mayles adds that Rare doesn't have a formal plan in place to recapture its Nintendo 64-era status as superstar developer. It's just doing its own thing.

MTV also asked if that "thing" involved a new Killer Instinct game, something Rare has been rumored to be involved in — rumors that may have simply sprung up from internal misdirection.

Mayles' answer comes loaded with non-answers and maybe even a little bit of misdirection too. He said "If someone came up with some revolutionary idea for a new fighting game, yeah, we might think of resurrecting Killer Instinct." Who's to say that they haven't had that revolutionary idea?

Rare Responds To Peter Moore Out-Of-Touch Critique, Doubts ‘Killer Instinct’ Revival [MTV Multiplayer]

Xbox Live overhaul due in November [GameSpot]
[NeoGAF]

While we contend that Microsoft's new marketing thrust is the kind of disturbing digital witchcraft that will give us night terrors, the company describes its efforts as "focused on shifting brand perception and driving re-appraisal of the platform in a very competitive region with entrenched competition."

Continue on for the first "Live Your Moment" ad, if you dare, to see if your "re-appraisal of the platform" is significantly driven.

Gaaaaaaaaahhhhhh!!!!!

MS Launches Biggest Ever Xbox 360 Marketing Blitz [Edge Online]

The bug that halted the game's progress has now been resolved and the release has been given a clean bill of health.

No release date yet, but that is due 'imminently'. COME ON LITTLE GAME! Nothing can stop you now!

Vigilante 8 approved for release!\ [V8 Arcade]

I always remember back to Final Fantasy VII, when I first played FFVII, that to me defined the genre... Those were the 'oh my god' moments, I don't believe they exist. I haven't seen many of those on the PS3.

But have you seen many of those on the Xbox 360, Peter? He adds: "This is very much me as a gamer talking, not as an industry spokesman. I've got a PS3, a Wii and a 360, I've got just about everything." Just like when Molyneux said that the PS3 was waiting for its "defining title".

Molyneux: 'FFVII, that to me defined the genre' [VideoGamer]

Exclusive: Ensemble Studios' Canceled Project Was Halo MMO [Gamasutra]

Sales have been in an upward trend in Japan recently and we intend to work hard to push this momentum forward moving into the holiday sales season... As an initial milestone, we would like to hit the one million mark as soon as possible, and are continuing to work hard to get to this milestone and go beyond... The recent launch of Infinite Undiscovery on September 11 saw sales of over 90,000 units in the week of September 8-14 according to data from Media Create, placing it the third-highest selling game in Japan in that period... We have similar high hopes for the upcoming launch of other RPGs such as The Last Remnant, Star Ocean 4: The Last Hope and Fable II. However, we have no plans to launch Final Fantasy XIII in Japan.

Wait, wait, wait. "We" have no plans to launch Final Fantasy XIII in Japan? Don't you mean Square Enix has no plans to launch FFXIII in Japan? Ah, yes, hello semantics, how have you been?

Xbox in Japan: A New Dawn? [EDGE]

Windows 7 M3 Build 6780: Pictures and Videos(soon) [thinknext, via Shacknews]

Everyone at our studio was shocked, and I think remains very disappointed that this is going to happen. I believe we thought we were immune to shut-down talk because our published games have done so well and have been so profitable. Plus we felt we had built a really stable (low-turnover), talented, hard-working, and creative team, which is not easy to do. We thought we were among the best studios in the world, and that may be true, but we don’t fit in the future plans of MGS as an internal studio so we’re out.

Shelley also reveals that Ensemble was, per capita, the most expensive first-party studio Microsoft were running, and that the studio's plans for a new office building perhaps played a small part in the decision to shutter them as well. Most interesting/sad, however, is the revelation by the long-time PC gaming God that while the majority of the Ensemble brains trust will be forming a new studio once work is done on Halo Wars, Shelley says "I do not expect to be part of the new company formed after ES is shut down".

Ensemble Studios Closing [Ensemble, thanks Dave!]

Obama/Biden: 43 percent
McCain/Palin: 31 percent
Undecided: 13 percent
Other: 13 percent

According to Microsoft, almost 100,000 LIVE Americans participated in this LIVE survey, making it larger than combined samples from Gallup or NBC polls. Take that for whatever it's worth.

[Pic]

Part of an initiative to help register new voters for this year’s election, Xbox LIVE has partnered with Rock the Vote, turning the Xbox 360 into an unexpected political forum, and also resulting in one of the nation’s largest unofficial election polls. With nearly 100,000 votes cast, Senator Barack Obama leads by a 12 percent margin, while 26 percent voted “undecided” or “other.”

These results do not map to national trends, which show Senator Obama and Senator McCain to be pacing neck and neck, and provide insight into a unique subset of young, engaged citizens. According to the results from Xbox LIVE’s poll, when it comes to deciding who should be the next President, the jury is still out for many.

Nearly 100,000 LIVE Americans turned out to cast their votes in a poll over Xbox LIVE, making it larger than the combined samples from individual Gallup, NBC, and CNN polls. Results from the first-ever poll over Xbox LIVE indicate the following:

Obama \ Biden: 43%
McCain \ Palin: 31%
Undecided: 13%
Other: 13%

In its first two weeks of the program, more than 55,000 voter registration forms were downloaded through Xbox LIVE and xbox.com. Additionally, videos from the recent Democratic and Republican conventions were downloaded nearly 25,000 times.

To-date, the Xbox LIVE community has downloaded more than 350,000 pieces of program-specific content, ranging from candidate gamerpics* to videos and Rock the Vote logos. That’s nearly five times the amount of people present at Barack Obama’s acceptance speech during the Democratic Convention in Denver.

Microsoft's VP of the Xbox business in Europe Chris Lewis dropped all the right words in a statement, noting "momentum," "community" and entertainment experiences. Finally things are lookin' up for Microsoft. About time those kids got some good news.

Xbox 360 hits six million sales in Europe [GamesIndustry.biz]

I didn't tell EA or Peter that I was planning to run the transcript in its entirety on this site — I'm sure you can guess the reasons. EA have reacted very favourably and with considerable understanding. However, Peter has asked if I run a final word from him, which I think — under the circumstances — is entirely fair.

Oh ho ho! More Moore after the jump:

I am so fortunate to have been part of this industry at a time of technological advances that have changed the way we all play games. I am especially fortunate to have spent 4 1/2 exhilarating years at Microsoft, working with some of the most passionate, smartest people I have ever had the honour and privilege of working with. I guess you have to work there to truly appreciate what a unique and special company Bill and Steve have built, and I think gamers need to fully appreciate the positive impact that the Xbox consoles, and in particular Xbox Live, have had on our industry. I worked with a team of people so special and so near and dear to my heart, that not a day goes by where I don't miss them in some way. Same with our studios — the flair and creativity of Rare, the sheer brilliance and focus of Bungie, the game-changing team at Lionhead, and all of the other brilliantly-talented teams that helped drive hardware sales with great software.

Microsoft changed the world of enterprise and communications with Windows, and when all is done and dusted, I know the same will be said of the world of entertainment because of Xbox. The company is too focused, the people too smart, to achieve anything less, and I feel incredibly proud to be a tiny part of that legacy.

And as I've said on numerous occasions, as hard as it was for me to leave a place so near and dear to me, EA SPORTS was the one and only job that could have ever pulled me away from Redmond. To my delight, I've found a place, in EA, that also has made an indelible impact on this industry and a brand, in EA SPORTS, that has had extraordinary success, an incredible impact and that has such a bright future that sometimes I feel like the luckiest guy alive. But we're not perfect. We've got our sleeves rolled up with a lot of work ahead to meet the vision I have for us to fundamentally change the way people from around the world engage in sports and sports entertainment.

Peter Moore Interview: Epilogue [Guardian]

Gamasutra theorizes that this new team may be hard at work on one of the currently unannounced Halo universe projects, the one that isn't Halo Wars, Halo: Chronicles and whatever Halo thing Bungie is rumored to be working on. We're not sure how they came to this conclusion, other than the "spawnpoint" in the team's name and the unknown ownership of the fourth Halo "thing," but maybe they know something we don't know.

MGS' New Halo Team Name - Spawnpoint Studios? [Gamasutra]

Microsoft UK's Regional Director Neil Thompson told MCV that the recent price cuts are just the start of their holiday season campaign and that Microsoft are ready to spend big to ensure the Xbox 360 comes out on top,

“On marketing we’ll spend tens of millions[of pounds] – we’re going to engage in a very bold promotional push from now until Christmas.”

Thompson promised that (in the UK at least) there would be no console shortages this year saying that he had been "very bullish on supply."

Xbox spending ‘tens of millions’ on Xmas [MCV]

The memo, seen above, appears to suggest that this particular, model I suppose, of the Xbox 360 was once codenamed Xbox Xbox Lean or Xbox Granite and that the final name should be Xbox Pure.

I'm also intrigued by the comment that "metal plates" have been disregarded. Judging by the codenames and final name, it seems to suggest that this would be a stripped down version of the Xbox 360. Could this be Microsoft's answer to Sony's slim line of consoles? Are we soon going to be seeing a new, thin 360 with only disc-based game support and no harddrive? I'm sure, if this rumor is true, we will be finding out in the next month.

XBOX's New Name? [Cheap Ass Gamer]

UPDATE: It appears that this rumor story could be CAG throwing their credibility out the window as part of a contest. Kotaku''s decision to run rumors is always based on the credibility of the site and the information contained within it. In the past CAG has proven to be a reliable site, having broken a number of stories through apt reporting. It appears that may no longer be the case.

Microsoft defends relevance of Rare to Xbox business [GI.biz]

The GameCube had pretty much failed. I was in Tokyo when Iwata-san brought the controller out and said, 'here it is!' and we were all going, 'what the hell is that?'. I was with Robbie [Bach] and I remember going 'I don't know... it's different'. But we knew that they were too good a company to lose twice in a row. But even then it was all about Sony, it was not about Nintendo, because they were so down and out – it's very difficult to think now, it was four years ago. You just couldn't picture that four or five years ago. GameCube was just... dying. The Revolution as it was called, we knew it couldn't be anything powerful. It was in the days when Sony and ourselves were saying it's all about hi-def, it's all about 5.1 sound, it's all about 1080i, and they said it's about a GameCube 1.5 and you're going to wave this stick around and have a lot of fun.

Ah, yes. The good old days. When stick waving sounded fun.

Peter Moore Interview: Part Four [Guardian] [Pic]