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I don’t usually report on the demos that hit the Xbox Live Marketplace anymore, mainly because there are so many, and because you can easily get all your Marketplace Content updates here.  Earlier today though, a demo for the long-awaited TimeShift became available, and I am impressed.  If you like first-person shooters similar to F.E.A.R, Soldier of Fortune, Red Faction, etc. you should check out this one, which you can now easily do thanks to Xbox Live. 

The ability to stop, slow down, or reverse time (but not your own movements) on-the-fly is a very unique game element that is sure to keep things interesting.  TimeShift is one of the many incredible games coming out this fall.  From here until the end of the year there seems to be a weekly non-stop barrage of quality games.

(Thanks to DavidGX for the video)

A few days I posted up a leaked video of this short, but today the official version has been released, and it will also be on Xbox Live Marketplace very soon.  There is one more video to come in this series of three.

Halo: Combat Part I

There’s also a couple more hours left to sign-up for the Call of Duty 4 Beta lottery.

Update: Fourzerotwo has announced that everybody who signed up for the Call of Duty 4 Beta in the 24-hour window that just ended a few hours ago will be getting a code to download the beta sometime soon.  The codes will be given in waves, so it might be today you get it, or it might be a few days.  There will future ways into the beta if you didn’t sign up for it this time.

As I said, everyone who completed the sign-up over the past 24 hour’s will be getting a token, if for some reason you missed the 24 hour sign-up keep in mind we’re going to have more chances to get tokens in the future (possibly another Charlie.com sign-up) as well as through Gamespot.com, and GameStop, not to mention International users have their very own exclusive tokens / sign-ups coming up.

It seems like it’s been forever since I posted Games of 2007: A New Way Forward, back on January 10th, where I went through a list of just a fraction of this year’s amazing line-up of games.  2007 has brought us amazing titles such as; Lost Planet, Crackdown, Forza 2, The Darkness, Bioshock, and many more.  Now that there are only four months left of 2007, let’s see what we have left.

(Some dates may be a day off due to shipping, etc.)

Stuntman: Ignition (8/28)
 MotoGP 07 (8/28)
Blue Dragon (8/28)
Tiger Woods 08 (8/28)
Dynasty Warriors Gundam (8/28)

Medal of Honor: Airborne (9/5)
Stranglehold (9/6)

Fatal Inertia (9/12)
NHL 08 (9/12)
NHL2K8 (9/12)
Skate (9/12)

Eternal Sonata (9/18)
Juiced 2: Hot Import Nights (9/18)
Blazing Angels II (9/19)

 Halo 3 (9/25)

FlatOut: Ultimate Carnage (10/2)
NBA2K8 (10/2)
NBA Live 08 (10/2)
Project Gotham Racing 4 (10/2)
Spiderman: Friend or Foe (10/2)

Half-Life 2: The Orange Box (10/9)
Sega Rally Revo (10/9)

 
Beautiful Katamari (10/16)

Ace Combat 6: Fires of Liberation (10/23)
Clive Barker’s Jericho (10/23)
Tomb Raider: Anniversary (10/23)

Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock (10/29)

TimeShift (10/30)
Virtua Fighter 5 (10/30)
Viva Pinata: Party Animals (10/30)
Need for Speed: ProStreet (10/31)
Scene It? (11/1)

BlackSite: Area 51 (11/5)
Call of Duty 4: Modern Combat (11/5)

Rest of November:

F.E.A.R. Files
World in Conflict
Army of Two
Assassin’s Creed
Rock Band
Mercenaries 2: World In Flames
Mass Effect
Smack!Down vs. RAW 2008
Solider of Fortune: Pay Back (Possibly 2008)

The rest of 2007 looks to be amazing, and that’s not even everything that’s coming out (but it’s close).  What is everyone getting?

There’s a ten-minute video demonstration of Halo Wars on the Xbox Live Marketplace and HaloWars.com today.

Also, at 2pm Central/12pm Pacific, there will be a mass acceptance of people into the Call of Duty 4 Beta over at the CoD4 Beta page.  if you want a chance to play, this is your best chance of getting in!  This part of the beta is for the United States only.

The first round of invites will be sent out at 12 p.m. PDT today on a first-come, first-served basis to those who activate the link found here

It is done.  The final Halo 3 code will now be pressed onto a gold disc for replication at the factories for what will be the biggest launch in entertainment history.

Halo 3 is now 100% complete.  Bungie employee Frank O’Connor was spotted playing the final retail build of Halo 3 today, suggesting the game has now gone gold exactly one month before release.

Halo 3 will be available in the USA on September 25th and September 26th for Europe.

The first issue of the four-issue Halo comic is also available now as well.

THE STORY:
Picking up from the conclusion of blockbuster video game Halo 2, the must-read issue reveals how the Master Chief, while onboard a hostile ship headed towards Earth, is battling against Covenant forces! Intertwined with Master Chief’s interstellar one-man-war is the saga of a great American city’s rebellion and downfall, two disparate lives’ collision and shared fate, and the Covenant’s hunt for an ancient relic of untold power and value. With hope dwindling and the fate of humanity hanging by a thread, is there any chance for a future? Read this debut issue to start the journey into the Halo universe!

PRICE: 3.99
IN STORES: August 22, 2007

Also, thanks to long-time UNSCleric.com reader Twisted Plastic, the site now has an amazing new Halo 3 banner!  Thanks Twisted!

Another day, another awesome Xbox 360 deal.  This time, it comes from the infamous Cheapassgamer.com forums.

Crackdown for $17.49 at CompUSA.

Ground shipping is $5. There are $5 rebate forms still available on PriceGrabber here.

Available for in-store pickup.

This game is $40 regularly these days, so this is a great deal on one of this year’s most fun games.

Update: CompUSA.com may be sold out, but in-store pickup is still an option.  You can also price-match this at a store like Sears where they will just check CompUSA.com to confirm the price.

This is the second video in a series of three live-action Halo videos by Halo movie director Neill Blomkamp.  The first video “Halo: Arms Race“ shows Earth preparing for the Covenant invasion.  This new video has been leaked online (much like everything else regarding Halo) and they haven’t announced the title yet as far as I know.  Expect an official, high quality version (devoid of the color problems this screen had) to be online sometime soon.

This is a very good game, especially for this price on Amazon.com.  Due to free shipping and no tax, the total is exactly $29.99 shipped.

In Shadowrun, vie for supremacy in an intense first-person shooter (FPS) experience that rewards cleverness, cunning, and split-second improvisation through a unique combination of modern weapons, ancient magic and advanced technology. FASA Studio, the creative minds behind MechWarrior® and Crimson Skies®, and John Howard, lead designer on Halo®, are back with Shadowrun, the new multiplayer FPS based on the much-beloved role-playing game (RPG) franchise.

Join the conflict with up to 16 players battling together across Xbox 360™ and Windows Vista™ through the Xbox LIVE® and Games for Windows® — LIVE gaming and entertainment network.

Update: The deal was just for yesterday, so now it’s back up to $39.99.

Tonight at 5pm Pacific (7pm Central, 8pm Eastern, etc.) the first wave of beta codes will be given out.  Those who are able to enter the beta tonight, will be able to play the game tonight as well.  Good luck, keep an eye on http://www.charlieoscardelta.com, there’s three hours to go at the time of this posting.

The roll out:
The beta is going to roll out in waves. Rather than just putting a million people in the beta and hope nothing goes wrong, we will ramp up the playercount over time.

As fourzerotwo mentioned, right now some friends/family are testing. The press will be joining in the next couple days — including those of you who make it into the first wave.

No worries if you aren’t in the very first wave (most won’t be), we should have a new wave of players every day or so as we ramp up.

(P.S. BioShock is awesome.)