-
Microsoft Says Xbox 360 Lead In Europe Now 1 Million
Europe Land has long been Sony country, with the PlayStation and PlayStation 2 dominating sales charts in their respective generations. But the PlayStation 3 had a tougher challenge—a head start from Microsoft’s Xbox 360. Now, says Microsoft, it has pulled ahead in the region, giving the Xbox 360 a lead over its PlayStation 3 competition…
By Michael McWhertor Published February 16, 2009 -
This Week On Live Arcade: Death Tank
Old school gameplay gets an upgrade this week on Xbox Live Arcade, as Snowblind Studios releases Death Tank, a shiny new take on the classic tank-on-tank angle shooter. What’s an angle shooter, you ask? It’s any game that involves calculating the angle of projectiles based on terrain velocity in order to efficiently dispatch your foes.…
By Mike Fahey Published February 16, 2009 -
Ex-Ensemble Staff Form New Studio
Ensemble Studios, developers of the Age of Empires series and Halo Wars, are dead. But the developers who comprised Ensemble? They’re still alive, and some of them have formed a new studio. It’s called Robot Entertainment, and has been established by Ensemble co-founder Tony Goodman, along with “a number of veterans” from the former Microsoft-owned…
By Luke Plunkett Published February 13, 2009 -
Halo Wars: Making Console Real-Time Strategy Work
The third in a series of video documentaries covering the upcoming Xbox 360 game Halo Wars features members of the development team explaining how to make a console real-time strategy game that works. Having obviously not paid enough attention during the early days of Halo 3 development, I was a bit surprised to learn that…
By Mike Fahey Published February 13, 2009 -
Massage Your Love Over Xbox Live
Just in time for Valentine’s Day, the natural evolution of the Rumble Massage program we posted last month, Remote Masseuse, a Xbox Community Game that lets you reach out and massage someone via Xbox Live. Where Rumble Massage allowed you to use your Xbox 360 controller as a personal massager, Remote Masseuse lets folks activate…
By Mike Fahey Published February 13, 2009 -
Ninja Blade Is Available In English Right Now
Xbox 360 exclusive Ninja Blade may not have a North American release date yet, but that doesn’t mean you can’t own an English version. Right now. The Asia region has English language support (text and voice). It’s also region free. Interested parties, import away! Ninja Blade Ready In English, Just Not Here [Siliconera]
By Brian Ashcraft Published February 13, 2009 -
Microsoft Responds To January NPD Sales, Seems Pleased
Microsoft sold over 300,000 Xbox 360 consoles in January. That’s cause for celebration in the halls of Redmond, as the company’s gloating presser boasts of not only strong software sales, but record Xbox Live numbers. Seems January 2009 was the “single biggest month ever for Xbox LIVE”, which leads us into a presser which sees…
By Luke Plunkett Published February 13, 2009 -
Yup, Microsoft Are Opening Microsoft Retail Stores
Last month, we took a tour of Microsoft’s “fake” retail store. Meant to show what it would look like “if” Microsoft ever decided to open a dedicated store. Like the ones they’re now actually opening. The company have announced that, yes, they’re going to follow Apple into the dedicated retail space, and will be opening…
By Luke Plunkett Published February 12, 2009 -
Lips Delivers Xanadu Magic For Valentine’s Day
The classic 1980 film Xanadu finally gets some video game loving, as Microsoft announce Olivia Newton John’s “Magic” as part of their Valentine’s Day downloadable content for karaoke game Lips. Three new tracks drop for Lips on February 13th, celebrating the holiday of love with the songs such as Avril Lavigne’s “My Happy Ending” and…
By Mike Fahey Published February 12, 2009 -
360 Commercial Banned Over Movie Purchase Claims
Britain’s Advertising Standards Authority say 99% of video games ads are responsible. This commercial, however, for the Xbox 360’s video marketplace, is part of the remaining 1%. The ad (which particular ad it is goes unnamed) basically claims you can buy movies. Which you can’t, you can only rent them. A single user complained to…
By Luke Plunkett Published February 11, 2009 -
Xbox Live Goes Free Of Charge For Grand Theft Auto IV Expansion
Displaying the same kind of “throw that money away” attitude that won them exclusivity for the Grand Theft Auto IV expansions, Microsoft have announced that Xbox Live Gold will soon go (sort of) free. Between February 17 and February 22, anybody playing either Grand Theft Auto IV or its upcoming expansion, The Lost & The…
By Luke Plunkett Published February 10, 2009 -
Crippling Gears Of War Glitch All Fixed Up
Few days back, Gears of War on PC stopped working, courtesy of an expired Windows digital certificate. Meant people owning the game couldn’t play it. Few days later, it’s OK! Everything’s fixed. Epic have since released a patch for the game, which will turn up as a mandatory update. If by some chance you were…
By Luke Plunkett Published February 9, 2009 -
No More Xbox Support For Japan
Starting March 3, Microsoft Japan will no longer service first generation original Xbox consoles (not Xbox 360s). This includes Xboxes that are under warranty as well as out-of-warranty consoles. Microsoft Japan, however, is offering an upgrade to those owners with still-under-warranty first generation Xbox consoles in need of repair: Swap that busted console for an…
By Brian Ashcraft Published February 9, 2009 -
Rare Teasing User-Generated Avatars For The 360
The 360’s avatars are, all copy-cat jokes aside, surprisingly endearing. Only problem is, some of the wardrobe and body options are a little…limited. That’s something user-generated content could address. So, uh, will it? According to the team behind the little guys, the answer is a resounding maybe. Rare’s Dale Murchie says: User-generated content is a…
By Luke Plunkett Published February 6, 2009 -
Electronic Arts Won’t Run From Risk
Despite the cuts, despite the layoffs, despite the economic apocalypse, Electronic Arts will continue to take chances with its upcoming games. That was the message Electronic Arts CEO John Riccitiello delivered to the more than 9,000 employees earlier this week at the company’s annual town hall meeting. The company-wide meeting came just a day after…
By Brian Crecente Published February 6, 2009 -
Go Get Your Halo Wars Demo
It’s a Halo game without Bungie! It’s a real-time strategy game on a console! Halo Wars is all kinds of unexpected. So with a demo now out, feel to try before you buy/vomit opinions. It’s well over 1GB, and while at time of writing there were still a few kinks in downloading it (namely, despite…
By Luke Plunkett Published February 5, 2009 -
Scene-It Add-On Celebrates Award Winning Movies
Fans of the Xbox 360 quiz game Scene It? Box Office Smash are getting a fresh batch of movie trivia next week with the release of the Award Winners game add on pack. Celebrating the best that that the silver screen has to offer, the Award Winners game pack for Scene It? Box Office Smash…
By Mike Fahey Published February 4, 2009 -
Master Chief Is The Batman Of The Future
The latest video documentary for the real-time strategy game Halo Wars takes a look at the individual units appearing in the game, from hordes of Spartans to swarms of Locusts. Seeing the units in Halo Wars up close and personal like this, even a moderate Halo fan like myself can’t help but get a little…
By Mike Fahey Published February 3, 2009 -
Microsoft Finally Fixes NXE HDMI SNAFU
The Xbox 360‘s “New Xbox Experience” wasn’t filled with the joyful noise of Avatar belches for some owners of the console. Some found their HDMI-ready systems without sound, which Microsoft is now, finally, addressing. Following the NXE roll out in November 2008, a segment of the Xbox 360 population found their previously working audio cutting…
By Michael McWhertor Published February 2, 2009 -
Japanese People Swarm Star Ocean 4 Kiosks, Kiosks Show New Faceplate
This past Sunday from noon to 5pm, eight Xbox 360 demo kiosks playing Star Ocean 4: The Last Hope were rolled out at the Akihabara Yodobashi Camera. Before the event began, numbered tickets were passed out to those lining up, and only 100 posters were handed out. Players experienced a 15 minute demo session. According…
By Brian Ashcraft Published February 2, 2009