American McGee
Beautiful Pixels
Hideo Kojima
Hitachi Wasabe's Xbox 360
Xbox 360 Marketplace Updates: (MajorNelson.com)
Adam Creighton, Computer and Video Gaming (Subscribe)
Tuesday, August 30, 2005
Microsoft in Times Square; The Hard Drive Debate ...
- Microsoft in Times Square
- Xbox Live 2.0 details
- Rest of the Halo 2 maps released
- Get an Xbox 360 early
- Xbox 360 Guide and Dashboard
- The Hard Drive Debate
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NEWS:
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1. Microsoft in Times Square
Imagine a four-story Xbox 360 retail store in New York City's Times Square. According to a Seattle Times report this week, it's in the works. And though Microsoft "does not comment on rumors", they do, "At any given time, Microsoft evaluates and pursues real-estate opportunities and needs."
Why not? In 2001, Microsoft launched the first Xbox at the Toys "R" Us Times Square.
Besides, Nintendo two-story Nintendo World at Rockefeller Center in Manhattan in May of this year.
2. Xbox Live 2.0 details
Cool, Xbox Live Silver memberships are going to be free, and'll give you access to Xbox Live Marketplace, create a gamer profile, and leave voice messages.
If you want to do online gaming, you'll need Xbox Live Gold, which'll, uh, cost you more. details are a little sketchy, and GameStop and EBGames have got different names for the same packages:
- One-month: $7.99 (Up $2)
- Three-month #1: $19.99
- Three-month #2: $39.99 (includes headset, $10 rebate on a game, copy of Joust for Xbox Live arcade, and 100 marketplace points)
- One-year: $49.99 (includes headset, 200 marketplace points, $20 game rebate; EBGames makes it a 13-month subscription and the Billiards Xbox Live arcade game, while GameStop has a 12-month subscription and, again, a copy of Joust)
So far, everything's listed as coming out on November 15 from both retailers.
3. Rest of the Halo 2 maps released
The last 5 of the new Halo 2 have been released for free download today. Though available now, the last 5 maps (Relic, Elongation, Terminal, Backwash, and Gemini) will be required to download them by next week's matchmaking update.
4. Get an Xbox 360 early
Mountain Dew is running the "Every 10 Minutes" promotion is giving away an Xbox 360 system every 10 minutes. Winners will get their systems before the launch date, and their choice of Madden NFL 06 or Need for Speed Most Wanted. You gotta buy specially marked beverages, or request a game piece get mailed to you.
5. Xbox 360 Guide and Dashboard
TeamXbox.com has got some details from the Game Developers Conference Europe.
Things that are cool for developers the Xbox 360 Guide is an always-running app handling configuration, device management, common system tasks (Xbox Live log-in, log-out, alerts, Friend’s List, game invitations), plus game saves, controller disconnection, music playback, and error messages. This means developers spend less time writing for stuff outside of their title, and more time on the title itself. Or myabe they get to go home after only 16 hour days.
Microsoft has also (smartly) allowed developers more control over system stuff -- like temporarily delaying system messages during gameplay, or deciding where it's positioned.
For gamers and developers, the Xbox 360 Guide can be skinned with any game when it loads, and add their own banners (uh oh), with things like downloadable content for the title from Xbox Live Marketplace.
For gamers, I'm looking forward to the Gamer Profile. The best thing? Common game settings. No more inverting your thumbsticks for every FPS, or (hopefully) picking a Halo-esque control set every time.
I've talked about the Gamerzone before, and I'm looking forward to joining the R&R zone, and hoping the wankers who hang out on Live and look for me to log in so they can insult me because of my blog content join the Underground.
6. The Hard Drive Debate
So, Microsoft said developers shouldn't count on the hard drive being there. While it looks like Sony may do the same, I think Microsoft is making a dangerous move. I mean, the hard drive is the differentiating attribute of the current Xbox.
It's next gen time, and without an HD media option, Microsoft is saying all of that great content needs to fit on the same sized media as current generation titles.
J Allard made the point that the removable hard drive might not be there, so the title needs to function in the absence of the hard drive. He was saying the console owner may take the hard drive to a friends house, and other family members should be able to still play.
OK, but what do we know won't work with that hard drive gone?
- Current Xbox games (requires a profile stored on the hard drive)
- XBox Live Arcade
- Possibly Xbox Live (I think they'll address this)
At least Gabe Newell, Valve Software’s founder/managing director/head honcho is mad about it, saying that it makes his job harder.
Several recent games, such as the stellar X-Men Legends, don't support memory cards (and it's not because of space limitations; we're talking 4 blocks for a game save, and 510 blocks on a memory card).
Maybe the lack of a hard drive'll be mitigated by the 12x, dual-layer readthrough on the 360 (versus a supposed 1x or 2x readthrough on the PS3 Blu-Ray), and the total abstraction of the storage medium, which means the game'll choose from a variety of storage resources, but doesn't assume the type of storage device -- if there's free space, it can be used. So, if there's a hard drive, a memory card, or (I suspect) remote storage (c'mon, the main feature of Windows Longhorn/Vista will resurface at some point), you can save your games.
I can't help but think that the decision will make the Oblivion experience less on the Xbox 360 than the PC, and I don't know what Final Fantasy XI is going to do -- it required the hard drive for the PS2, and won't work on the slimline PS2. And they're currently developing it for the Xbox 360.
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SOURCES: Gamespot.com, joystiq.com, kotaku.com, Xbox.com, IGN, GameInformer, Official XBox Magazine, CNN, gamesindustry.biz, and others.
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SOURCES: Gamespot.com, joystiq.com, kotaku.com, Xbox.com, IGN, GameInformer, Official XBox Magazine, CNN, gamesindustry.biz, and others.
Friday, August 26, 2005
For the love of all that's holy, not again ...
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NEWS:
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1. YAARG! (Yet Another Alternate Reality Game!)
It was bound to happen. After the ilovebees alternate reality game for Halo 2, there was the ourcolony.net ARG for announcing the Xbox 360.
Now, there's www.origenxbox360.com, is a new website registered to Microsoft Corp, that's a got a backward-counting timer working its way to September 27, and a bunch of apparent references to Alice in Wonderland. There's a tree, a sillouette of a rabbit, and (recently) a hole in the ground.
Now, even though I tried to get into the ourcolony.net thing, I was getting sick of it. This, however, looks a little more interesting, a little less annoying, and a little more literary.
An interesting sub-game within the ARG is origen360.org, which, unlike the .net (which is a version of the .com site), keeps changing up its content. It's been a googlefight between the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3, a Google seach for the terms "Oriental" and "Generation", and other stuff. Though right now it seems to, uh, mirror the .com and .net sites.
2. More Money You can Spend on an Xbox 360
I mentioned recently Microsoft's announcement of the pricing and contents of the Xbox 360 packages, with the Core package running $299, and the Premium package running $399.
Not content that folks will be spending enough money on the 360, EBGames has announced 2 bundles, which add the games Perfect Dark Zero Limited Edition, Dead or Alive 4, Kameo: Elements of Power and Project Gotham Racing 3.
Evidently, GameStop decided EBGames's offerings are for financial lightweights, and have offered alternative bundles. All bundles include the titles Perfect Dark Zero Collector's Edition, Project Gotham Racing 3, Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion, Dead or Alive 4, Call of Duty 2, and a 1-Year Product Replacement Plan.
A couple of observations:
3. Halo Triple Pack
Somebody help me with the financial incentive for getting Halo, Halo 2, and the Map Pack together for $59.99.
Keep in mind, Halo is a Platinum title that MSRPs (look, I made it a verb) for $19.99 (but you can routinely get it for $14.99). Halo 2 is regularly available for $34.99. And the maps are free over Xbox Live.
This must be for the offline crowd.
4. Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 tech details
Technical info has come out for both the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3.
The Xbox 360 info reveals the transistor count for each part of the two-die design, showing a 330+ million transistor design (versus a 205 million AMD Athlon 64 and PlayStation 3 Cell processor has ~234 million).
IBM, Sony Group, and Toshiba announced tech details on the jointly developed Cell Broadband Engine. The group has an arguably larger goal than Microsoft ("Our console rocks more/harder/faster/longer than your console"), but is trying to build community around adoption of and innovation with Cell (which is available for more than just the PS3).
5. New trends in special editions
So, the Perfect Dark Zero Limited Edition content has been announced. Besides some neat but arguable expected items (Bonus DVD with an art feature, music, the first chapter of the tie-in novel, comic booklet, glyph card), there are a couple of items that stand out as customizations related specifically to the Xbox 360: Perfect Dark Zero "Gamer Tiles" to customize your identity on Xbox Live, and Perfect Dark Zero Heads-Up display (HUD) UI Skin to customize your Xbox 360 experience.
What isn't included (and I find surprising, but wait for it) is a PDZ customer faceplate for the console. Though I expect their to soon be new SKUs for games that are at a level (and cost) above "special editions" that include these faceplates.
6. Gears of War updates
So, over at CliffyB's 1up.com blog, he gives some more details (and a useful paintball analogy) about the Gears of War gameplay that I found kind of nifty.
I recommend checking out the blog in your off hours, and not on a corporate network ...
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Sunday, August 14, 2005
Xbox 360 pricing announced; Game trailers you should watch
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NEWS:
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($299.99 U.S./€299.99/£209.99)
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