06.30.06

Breaking News on Prey Demo (Prey Demo Now LIVE)

Posted in Xbox 360 News at 2:10 pm by UNSCleric

George Broussard President of 3D Realms:

We heard something … something you will like … something very good. An official statement is coming very soon, so stand by and get ready.

It has been reported George is on his way to the 3D Realms office as we speak, and has news about the demo.

UPDATE: THE DEMO IS NOW LIVE! I’m proud to be the first site on the internet to report this! It went up at 2:19pm central time and is 1.17GB.

Update #2:  There is also a new Hitman: Blood Money theme and picture pack downloads available.  There is also picture packs and a theme out for Chromehounds 

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UNSCleric.com’s Bankshot Billiards 2 GIVEAWAY!

Posted in Xbox 360 News, Site News at 12:50 pm by UNSCleric

That’s right! UNSCleric.com is giving away a prepaid code to purchase Xbox Live Arcade’s Bankshot Billiards 2, which is worth 1200 Marketplace points (that’s $15)! Just to be clear, this code will only work for Bankshot Billards 2.

All you have to do to enter, is e-mail me at Admin@UNSCleric.com with your Gamertag , and then also leave a comment on this entry saying you entered (as well as your Gamertag). I’m making you e-mail and leave a comment for “security” reasons.

This contest is going to be completely random, so for example if someone from the “Contributor’s List” ends up winning, I don’t want anybody to think they got it cause of that. If I wanted to just give it to someone, I would, this contest is not being advertised at all, and was not announced ahead of time, so it’s not to get attention either. Good luck!
The contest will end next Friday, 7/7! So have your e-mails and comments in by 2am Friday morning.

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OXM Says Prey Demo on Sunday, July 2nd

Posted in Xbox 360 News at 7:51 am by UNSCleric

Prey Demo Re-Dated

Microsoft has dropped the announcement that the rescheduled Prey demo will be arriving on Xbox Live Marketplace this Sunday, 2nd July.

The demo, which was supposed to available for download nearly a fortnight ago, was delayed due to being still “in testing” at Microsoft, according to 3DR President George Broussard. But he believed the delay “could be as long as a few days.”

A few days has turned into a two week patience-stretcher for Xbox 360 gamers eager to play the Sci-Fi FPS, which follows Native American Mechanic Tommy in a search and rescue attempt aboard an Alien Spaceship after he and his loved ones are abducted from their Reservation. It’s understood that the demo will be released on Marketplace along with a Dashboard Theme and Gamer Picture pack, though prices for both of these are still to be announced.

Sadly, I would not actually count on a Sunday release day at this point.

UPDATE: Major Nelson’s response to this story is this:

Let me say this: When was the last time we released content on a Sunday? Also, I have not seen any announcement that a MS official has made about the demo coming out on Sunday. Trust me…I asked *everyone* in PR.

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Some Marketplace Additions

Posted in Xbox 360 News at 4:48 am by UNSCleric

There is now a new Top Spin 2 Wimbledon Demo available.

There is also a trailer out for The Descent (which looks great by the way, I love those Lions Gate Films’ movies).

There’s also a Chromehounds demo that came out a couple days ago, but it’s not for US or Canada.  You can start up a free Silver account though and put your location as Japan for example and get the demo.  The demo will be in English and you’ll be able to play with no problems.

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06.26.06

Prey Demo “Updates”

Posted in Xbox 360 News at 11:10 am by UNSCleric

Thursday Update:

After being questioned on the Xbox 360 demo, a 2K Games representative has been reported as saying the Prey demo should be up:

“in the very near future.”

That really could mean anything though.

“As far as I know, the demo has not been rejected or kicked out. It’s still in testing/certification.”

“Again. If we knew something, we’d tell you. We’re as much in the dark as you are, and we’re not terribly happy about it. What the heck more do you want us to say? Do you think we’re sitting on our asses doing nothing waiting to hear news? We’re trying to find out, constantly. We’re not getting any info.”

Wednesday Update:

George Broussard, President of 3D Realms:

I wish I had some news for you, but I do not. But, at least I can post that I have no news, and let you know that we’re trying to keep you informed. Nobody is telling us anything. If someone from Microsoft wants to contact me, feel free. At this point you know what I know. I have no idea what the specifics are, in regard to the demo, and I have no estimate for a release. The 2K producers on the project don’t seem to be interested in keeping us (or Human Head) in the loop, or emailing us details

Tuesday Update: I just questioned the Xbox Live Operations Mananger, “E” as to why the demo is nearly a week late, and this is the answer I recieved:

I don’t work on the team that tests games/demos/etc. - I don’t know.

He did somehow know that all the theories out there, like that there might be some sort of server problem delaying the launch of the demo, are false. He knows why it isn’t delayed, but not why it is…

Still no date or time.

Joe Siegler, 3D Realms webmaster, made the following post in the official forums:

While we don’t know the formal size of the demo yet, I inquired and was told it was in the neighbhorhood of 650Mb. Yes, that’s larger than the PC side. And before people start freaking out, I did inquire as to why it’s larger, and got this explanation from Peter over at Venom..

To minimise seek time on the DVD, data on the 360 is organised into three PAK files for each level which contain all the models, textures and sound data for that level (those loaded at the start and all those which might be needed during the level, as we also have to pre-cache everything on 360 to avoid stalls caused by mid-level loads).

This means three DVD seeks instead of hundreds when loading a level (seeks are expensive time-wise) and was a necessary change to bring the load time down under 45 seconds- it was around 5 minutes a level from DVD before this was done! However it means textures, sounds and models are stored again in the PAKs for any levels they are needed for.So basically it comes down to the way the 360 streams stuff for the size difference.

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06.25.06

Xbox Live Maintenance - Tuesday Morning

Posted in Xbox 360 News at 1:07 pm by UNSCleric

On Tuesday morning, Xbox Live will be down for scheduled maintenance from 4-8am Central time.

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06.24.06

Quote/Picture of the Week Updated

Posted in Site News at 12:20 pm by UNSCleric

Just a reminder since I only started this a week ago.  Every Saturday (usually in the early afternoon) a new Quote and Picture of the Week will be added.  You can find the links to them on the right.

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06.23.06

Saints Row Demo: August 1st

Posted in Xbox 360 News at 4:24 pm by UNSCleric

THQ and Volition have announced August 1st as the exact date the demo of Saints Row will hit Xbox Live Marketplace. The full game will then release four weeks later on August 29th.

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GRAW Chapter 2 Content

Posted in Xbox 360 News at 9:05 am by UNSCleric

Since yesterday, you can now download the Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter Chapter 2 content from the Xbox Live Marketplace. This premium content is 1200 points and is available in all Xbox Live regions.

There is also a long list of video content for the new Superman movie.

Still no news on the Prey demo.

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06.22.06

Microsoft Announces X06

Posted in Xbox 360 News at 9:41 am by UNSCleric

Microsoft’s annual Xbox event will be held on September 27th and 28th in the city of Barcelona.  For more information on the X0 events, click here.

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Prey Demo Still In Orbit…

Posted in Xbox 360 News at 1:13 am by UNSCleric

This came from 3D Realms CEO George Broussard, on the official Prey forums.

“We do not want 360 people waiting up for the demo or having false expectations.

The 360 demo will not appear on Marketplace tonight.

I’m still waiting for specifcs, but I’m being told that it’s still in testing at Microsoft. From what I understand this isn’t Microsoft’s fault, and is more likely just an issue of timing.

I’m hesitant to give any estimates for a release, but I’ve been told it should be reasonably soon after the pc release, but could be as long as a few days.

We will post an update as soon as we have more solid information.”

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