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Microsoft

rumor

Banjo Kazooie 3 Named, Detailed

New details on the game formerly known as Banjo Kazooie 3 and Banjo Threeie have emerged courtesy of Game Informer and GameReactor, both via message board NeoGAF. Rare's latest Xbox 360 venture, Banjo Kazooie: Nuts and Bolts, won't strictly follow the traditional gameplay of the previous two colorful platformers, but will have a heavy focus on vehicles and vehicle building. According to alleged details from the latest Game Informer mag—the same issue posted about earlier—the game will feature some 1600 vehicle parts and weapons with which one can customize their ride, from bikes to karts to planes.

A poster, who appears to be from Danish gaming site GameReactor writes that vehicle creation is similar to building with LEGO blocks, that players can edit their creations at any point. The poster explains how a truck creation was incapable of delivering the required amount of coconuts to finish a level, but that a helicopter more suited to coconut carrying was. In other words, if coconut schlepping is your thing, Banjo Kazooie: Nuts and Bolts will fit the bill.

New games at MS Gamer's Day: Banjo 3 and Vina Pinata 2 pics leaked [NeoGAF]


loose lips

Microsoft Opening Up Lips (And More) Tomorrow?

Over the weekend, a nosy NeoGAFer poked around one of Microsoft's press asset resources, digging up a product that goes by the name (or codename) "Lips." What is Lips, exactly? We won't know officially until, I'm guessing 8 or 9 AM Pacific time tomorrow morning, but Microsoft news breakin' blog 8bitjoystick says Lips for the Xbox 360 is not a game, but an accessory. More »

site news

Where In The World Is Brian Crecente?

San Francisco. That game would have been a whole lot shorter if they had just been upfront about things. I didn't even ask you guys a geography question! Crecente is out for the better part of this week, hopping between San Francisco and LA for various events with companies such as Electronic Arts, Sony, Ubisoft, Microsoft, Eidos, and Sega. While he is out of the tower he'll still be posting, in fact he should be posting some rather interesting information, starting this evening. Keep your eyes peeled, while the rest of us concentrate on juggling keeping the site from exploding while randomly uploading videos of our pets onto YouTube.

Take us out, Rockapella!


business

Peter Moore, PlayStation Lover

Of course the current EA Sports boss does! Just because he worked for Microsoft doesn't mean he actually hates Sony's game machine. Why would he? Says Moore:

I absolutely love the PlayStation.

You know what: He's a businessman, not some insane fanboy. He'll "love" whoever keeps him employed and "hate" whoever threatens to keep him out of a job. No surprises here.
Peter Moore Talks [PSU via Next-Gen] [Pic]


viva pinata 2

Viva Pinata 2 Screens, And By Association, Announcement?

Looks like the good ship Microsoft Press Conference, which was due in port on Tuesday to shower us all with news and media of exciting new titles, has sprung a leak. Banjo Kazooie 3 screens? Leaked. What look like Viva Pinata 2 screens? Leaked. No news or info to accompany the screens, of course, but you can't blame Microsoft & Rare for thinking second time's a charm. Oh, and is that a second player's cursor I see in the above screen?

[via Talking About Games, thanks J & zeromystic!]


clips

First Gears of War 2 Gameplay Footage

Here we go! A first look at Gears of War 2 gameplay, plus an intro and outro with CliffyB and his hair.

So...whaddaya think?
Gameplay [1Up]


kaz hirai

Sony So Aren't Competing With Microsoft Or Nintendo

Sony makes a games machine. Heck, they make three of them that people are still buying. So they're in competition with Nintendo and Microsoft, who also makes games machines, right? Nope! Kaz Hirai told MCV at this week's SCEE event in Europe that Sony have bigger fish to fry than the world's #1-selling gaming company and the world's #1-selling software company:
I think that PS3, PS2 and PSP are all entertainment platforms so I feel that our competition is not Microsoft or Nintendo, but basically any form of entertainment that is competing for the consumers' attention.
More »

dlc

You Can Buy Ninja Gaiden II Skins

Get out those wallets, 'cause Microsoft and Tecmo have some tender-lovin' DLC they want you to buy. With Ninja Gaiden II being released this June, three packs of Ryu Hayabusa ninja outfits will be available for purchase at 200 MS points a pop. That's right, the equivalent of US $2.50 for skins! In Europe, select retailers in the UK, Italy, The Netherlands, the Nordic countries and France will giving out the pictured skin to 39,000 customers who either at launch or for pre-orders. Everyone else, pay up!
NG2 DLC [NeoGAF via Xbox 360 Fanboy]

pgr4

Goodbye, Project Gotham Racing 4, You Will Be Missed

I'm going to level with you: Project Gotham Racing 4 is my favourite racing game of all time. Hands down. Yes, other games feature more content, and yes, other games are more "realistic", but you know, I don't care. They can't match it for visual flair, they can't match it for sound design, and they definitely can't match the total package of making me feel like I'm strapped inside a ridiculously expensive sports car. So it's with tears welling in the corner of my eyes that I read Bizarre have said there's no more content on the way for the game, at least from them (and, really, nobody else will bother). So it's done. That's it. Not surprising, when you consider Bizarre are now paid by Activision, but still. It's final, and as such, it's saddening. Because it's the final nail in the coffin of a game that lived too fast and died too young. More »

microsoft

Aaron Greenberg Goes Berserk, Bites Sony In The Face

We haven't seen corporate smack talk like this since Sony exec Peter Dille went apeshit last July! Microsoft executive Aaron Greenberg takes the puffy sparring gloves off, picks up a battle axe and swings it at Sony. (While dropping bombshells like: "Today Xbox 360 has a 5-million-unit console sales lead on a global basis based on most recently public reported data from both companies. This includes more than double the installed base in the US according to actual NPD sell-through and over a 1-million-unit lead across Europe also based on reported sell-through from Chart Track and GfK.") Just listen as Greenberg unloads, spewing corporate venom all over Sony:

More »

rumor

Rumor: Microsoft May Debut New Xbox 360 Motion Controller Next Week

Rumors about Microsoft entering the waggle market with a specialized, Wii Remote concept swiping controller have been popping up for the better part of a year. Talk of a partnership with Gyration, speculation that Bungie had quashed a proposal for a motion controller tied to Halo 3 and murmurs that Rare was now tasked with leading the waggle wand brigade have been bubbling up frequently. Microsoft and Gyration have both denied or brushed off the rumors, but we've just heard it pop up again.

According to sources that will go unnamed, Microsoft may be showing its Xbox 360 motion controller as early as next week to press, a controller geared specifically for Banjo Kazooie 3 gameplay. In fact, we've heard that select members of the press have already seen the controller—in use on the next Banjo Kazooie title—in action.

More »

rumor

New Xbox 360 Chipset This Summer?

Here Comes The Sun Chip rumor time! Word is that Microsoft is moblizing IBM and Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co to roll out the rumored Jasper chipset for the Xbox 360. Compared to the current Falcon chip, Jasper uses less noise and simpler cooling systems. Not confirmed, but the chip apparently drops in August, the dead of summer. Fitting!
New Chips [X-bit labs via Videogaming247]

home

Peter Moore Wishes Sony Would Hurry It Up

Green Eyes Thought we were kidding when we said Peter Moore bleed neon green? Nope! After getting some strange Wii analogies, Moore's back to moan and groan about Sony's Home. Says the former Xbox employee:

Yeah, I just wish it [Home] would ship. I [previously] questioned it a little bit, whether I'd want to wander around there. Phil Harrison showed me a demo — it's very cool, but let's go already. And so I'm disappointed that it's been pushed back a little bit again. But I really hope it gets going and becomes that portal to the PlayStation Network and we can utilise it. But boy, I just wish we'd get going.

Yeah, totally Peter. It doesn't matter if it's not ready or undercooked. Consumers will deal with it! Stuff breaks, right?
Moore "Disappointed" [GamesIndustry] [Pic]

bill gates

"Online Will Be Xbox 360 Breakthrough for Japan"

Hey Tiger Japan loves many things. For example, Louis Vuitton. Japan loves Louis Vuitton. iPods, Japan loves iPods. Japan does not love the Xbox 360. What does Bill Gates think about that? While visiting Japan, Microsoft founder Bill Gates did offer this:

Product share varies from country to country. In the US and the UK, the share [of Xbox 360] is high, but besides Japan, there are other areas we haven't penetrated. From now on, I think the breakthrough's going to be the online service, and you'll be surprised if you look at that.

You know something else that's surprising? The weekly Japanese sales figures.
Bill Gates Talks Online [Mainichi Thanks, Ben!] [Pic]

gta iv

How Many GTA IV Achievements Did You Unlock In A Single Day?

And by "you", I don't mean "you". I mean you, the collective owners of the game. According to Microsoft's Larry Hryb, the answer was a lot, as he claims (and really, I've no reason to doubt this) that during the first 24 hours of GTA IV being on sale, over two million achievements were unlocked. That's over 15 million Gamerpoints. I know, the first 2-3 achievements are picked up pretty quickly, and the game sold fairly well, but if anything, it shows that a frighteningly high proportion of you failed to turn up to work/school last Tuesday.
Show #277 GTA IV and umm...more GTA IV [Microsoft, via Eurogamer]

360 hdd follies

Why 360 HDDs Are So Ridiculously Expensive

Hands up who's bought a new HDD for their 360. Anyone? Anyone? No, didn't think so. $180 for a 120GB hard drive isn't pricey, it's taking the piss. So just why, exactly, do they cost so much money? MTV's Patrick Klepek contacted tech analysts iSuppli (who you may know from their console breakdowns) to find out. More »

ill-considered promotion

360 Bike Finished, Looks...Yeah

That Xbox 360 bike with control pad-themed dash we told you about last month is all done. If you're looking at it and can actually see yourself riding it - and hey, looking like that, it'll take some chops - know that there's only one, it's worth AUD$80,000 (USD$75,750), and even if you could afford it, you can't buy it, because it's been crafted for a competition run by GAME Australia.
It's Cruisin' Time - Xbox 360 Chopper Hits the Streets [Xbox Australia]

halo

Get A Closer Look At WETA's Warthog

The rate things are going, they may never make a Halo movie. So that short Neil Blomkamp put together last year may be as close as you get. And these shots of the Warthog used in that short may be as close as you get to it. Built by WETA, the guys behind the special effects for Lord of the Rings, it's crazy the amount of detail that went into a vehicle built not for a movie, or even a trailer, but a cheap concept pitch. Plenty of pics at the link below.
Close Up: Weta's Warthog (Part 1) [NZGamer]