05.30.06

Xbox 360 Vision, MS Execs on Blu-Ray, & the Xbox 360 Spring Update

Posted in Xbox 360 News, PS3 Related at 12:32 pm by UNSCleric

Chris Lewis and Neil Thompson have given their thoughts on the Blu-Ray format and Sony’s strategy of using the PS3 as a trojan horse for it. Go here for the article.

The upcoming Xbox 360 Vision Webcam will be released September 19th in USA and October 2nd in Europe & Asia.

Also, the highly anticipated “Spring Update” for the Xbox 360/Xbox Live will be coming out this week, and that should be up either tomorrow or Thursday!

Hitman: Blood Money will be on shelves tomorrow or Thursday (depending on your store/location) as well.

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05.25.06

New Xbox Live Update Next Week.

Posted in Xbox 360 News at 10:35 pm by UNSCleric

Joystiq has posted a new article detailing all the upgrades.

It basically takes everything people have wanted since launch, and does them.

“Also, among the other features it will add includes better USB keyboard support (including the ability to use the keyboard’s arrow keys to navigate through the Xbox 360 Dashboard), and that you’ll be able to have a separate “gamer picture” that only those on your friends list will see. It’ll also be possible for you to use the Xbox camera to create your gamer picture, though parental controls can squelch the viewing of user-created content for younger gamers.”

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F.E.A.R. Content, PDZero Demo, and FIFA Content.

Posted in Xbox 360 News at 8:54 pm by UNSCleric

The upcoming F.E.A.R. game now has a theme (150 points) and a picture pack (60 points) available.

There is a picture pack and theme for basically every team in FIFA it looks like, it’s a long list, so check it out online if you’re interested.

The Perfect Dark Zero demo allows single player, co-op play, & Xbox Live Multiplayer.

Outpost, the story mode level included in the Demo, is also playable co-op over Live.
Plaza (a new map included in the upcoming DLC) is playable over Live in Team Killcount and Infection game types.  (Bots are included in both game modes.) The disabled Live features are Leaderboards and Custom Match.  Quick Match works for both game types

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Wii to not exceed $222 in USA.

Posted in Wii Related at 7:07 am by UNSCleric

Looks like it’ll be $199.99.

I know I’ll be picking up a Wii to sit next to my Xbox 360 due to this excellent price point.

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Even More Sony Confusion.

Posted in PS3 Related at 6:04 am by UNSCleric

I remember about a year ago, there was some talk about the new Blu-Ray format being used to control and stop the rental and used game business.  It went away when Sony partially denied it I believe, but now again, the news is coming up.

Here’s the full story.

According to the article,

“Sony is preparing to make it illegal for consumers to sell used PS3 games. The plan would involve Sony adopting a licensing system whereby gamers would agree that they are purchasing a license to play a game, rather than the game itself.

If true, such a move would be a massive boost for publishers and developers which do not profit from the lucrative and damaging retail trade in used games. In fact, many publishers are furious that they have to spend support money on consumers who have not actually contributed a dime to the company’s coffers. 

Sony, which is refusing to comment on the story, does have a patent on technology which would tie a piece of software to an individual piece of hardware. But technology and desire are not the only parts of the puzzle. Whether the company would be prepared to take on retail, consumer goodwill and, most likely, the U.S courts, is another matter.”

I talked about this a bit in my new article.  Hopefully this new story is not a preview of the dark future that lies ahead for the home entertainment medium.  Unfortunately, if the Blu-Ray format, which the PS3 is a trojan horse for, dominates the market and HD-DVD, we will see this followed through on as soon as they can get away with it.

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05.24.06

Hitman: Blood Money Demo + Price Drop for Games.

Posted in Xbox 360 News at 9:13 pm by UNSCleric

There is now a Hitman: Blood Money demo (783mb) out on Xbox Live Marketplace. Hitman: Blood Money comes out next week.

Also, a few Xbox 360 games have joined Rockstar Games’ Table Tennis at the $39.99 price point.

• Burnout Revenge
• The Outfit
• Madden NFL 06
• NBA Live 06
• FIFA Soccer 06: Road to FIFA World Cup
• Tiger Woods PGA Tour 06
• KIng Kong

Burnout Revenge will actually be on sale for $29.99 at Circuit City starting Sunday.

EDIT:  More $39.99 priced games added.

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05.23.06

Ninety-Nine Nights Dated in the US + Table Tennis!

Posted in Xbox 360 News at 7:27 pm by UNSCleric

Ninety-Nine Nights will be coming to the Xbox 360 in USA on June 8th. Here’s the official trailer of Ninety-Nine Nights also.

EDIT:  Ninety-Nine Nights is NOT coming to the US on June 8th, but it will be coming later this year.  The June 8th date is for Singapore.
Also, Rockstar Games’ Table Tennis was released in stores, and is retailing for $40.

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Sony Fakes Blu-Ray Demo.

Posted in PS3 Related at 4:22 am by UNSCleric

I wanted to start moving back away from Sony-related entries, but this was too much to ignore.

Sony was showing off a new Sony Viao laptop that can supposedly read and burn Blu-ray discs, but when a reporter looked at the disc that came out of the Blu-ray case, it was a burned DVD.

The full story.

The pictures.

Looks like it’s going to take death to teach Sony to stop being deceptive.

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05.22.06

New PGR3 DLC Pack.

Posted in Xbox 360 News at 7:17 pm by UNSCleric

The pack contains three downloadable V-Series Cadillacs (CTS-V, STS-V, and XLR-V) and is available in all Xbox Live regions.

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No Xbox 360 Price Drop.

Posted in Xbox 360 News at 7:41 am by UNSCleric

Chris Lewis, a representative from Microsoft Europe has replied to a rumour that they would drop the price by $100.

“We have no plans to make any price adjustment. The last couple of days have reinforced the fact that we have a great value proposition, giving consumers choice, thanks to the core system. We’re not forcing the consumer down a route with HD playback. We certainly don’t think it’s necessary to make any changes to the current price point.”

He went on to talk about Microsoft’s Live Anywhere:

““We’ve got quite a lot going on. It’s a hugely significant time for us and for gaming in general. We don’t have any plans to do anything in the handheld space. What we see as important is convergence and what we’re doing with Live Anywhere presents a huge step forward in terms of being able to experience the games on the device of your choice.”

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05.21.06

Japan Surveyed About PS3

Posted in PS3 Related at 9:16 pm by UNSCleric

Yahoo! Japan recented surveyed 20,000 users for their opinions on the PS3 retail price:

• 8% (1548 votes) - I will buy the console on the launch day even if the price is high
• 19% (3725 votes) - Undecided due to the high price
• 25% (4814 votes) - I will buy when the price is reduced
• 26% (5171 votes) - Plan to buy when price is reduced
• 24% (4742 votes) - Presently have no interest to buy

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