Entries tagged with xbox 360 - Channel 10

Xberry Live! Brings Xbox To The Blackberry

sarahintampa — Wed, 15 Oct 2008 15:59:00 GMT

The combination of a gaming platform (Xbox) and the phone used by a large number of business professionals worldwide (Blackberry) seems somewhat of an unlikely combination, but I suppose that, in recent years, the Blackberry has branched out to be more of a consumer device. The consumer adoption of Blackberry must be the explanation for the Blackberry app Xberry Live, which was recently profiled on the Crackberry website. This app lets you see which of your friends are online, what they’re playing, and what games they’ve recently played. The app will display your friends list but also lets you add anyone with an Xbox Live Gamer tag. Xberry Live is still in beta at the moment and works on Blackberry phones running OS version 4.2.1 and up including the 81xx, 83xx, 87xx, 88xx, and 9000 models. You can download the app directly from here: http://jxl.me/xberry/xberrylive.jad

Halo 3 Recon Announced

sarahintampa — Thu, 09 Oct 2008 17:28:00 GMT

At the Tokyo Game Show, a new release of an Xbox 360 exclusive, Halo 3 Recon, was announced. The Recon game is a standalone expansion that extends “Halo 3” with several hours of a new campaign and multiplayer gameplay. Although Recon is being released after Halo 3, it’s really a prequel that predates the events in Halo 3 while giving you a look at the Halo universe through the eyes of a new hero, a special forces ODST (Obital Drop Shock Tropper).

ODSTs are known for their courage, valor and, at times, insanity, and are among the fiercest UNSC soldiers, priding themselves on being the first unit deployed into hostile situations. While not as large or supernaturally gifted as their Spartan comrades, these “Hell Jumpers” more than compensate with their ferocious attitudes and unwavering nerve.

The new chapter will have the feel of Halo 3, but players will need to employ more stealth and cunning than before. The game is slated for a 2009 release. Go here to watch trailers.

New Xbox Experience Arrives November 19th

sarahintampa — Thu, 09 Oct 2008 17:28:00 GMT

You’ve probably heard about the new Xbox Experience, the major user interface makeover that’s coming to the Xbox 360. But now we have a firm date as to when: November 19th. if you haven’t been paying close attention to the news, here’s what you can expect when the new UI goes live:

1) Gamercard Changes: When you click on your Gamercard in the New Xbox Experience, you’ll be able to read messages, edit your profile, update your avatar, manage your account, switch profiles, and change the theme. You’ll also be able to see every game you’ve ever played on your Xbox 360.

Oh, does any of that sound familiar? Well, check out what it looks like!

On the first card, you’ll have your overall Gamerscore and to the right you’ll have every game you’ve ever played on another card. Each game has its own card that fans out to the side to show you what achievements you’ve unlocked per game.

2) Avatars! Forget little icons, the New Xbox Experience offers real, full-bodied, customizble avatars.

3) New Games Store: In the new Games Store, you’ll be able to check out screenshots of the game, watch trailers and read the back-of-the-box description like you are shopping at a retail store. The Games Store will also show you every available download for the game you searched for including reviews, trailers, gamerpics, themes, game add ons, game images.

4) Themes: These are no ordinary backgrounds, the new themes are even more detailed and dynamic. They’ll be present in every channel where they’ll present in cool and unique ways. Check out Major Nelson’s flickr stream for more pics.

5) Friends: You can join a LIVE party with up to 8 people (you + 7 friends) and roam from game to game, voice chat, and share photos.

6) Video Markeplace: Get access to high-def movies, TV, and other video content from Warner Bros, Constantin, USA Network, MGM, SciFi Channel, NBC Universal, Universal Studios, and more. Over 10,000 films and shows! And, of course, Netflix. With the launch of the New Xbox Experience, Netflix subscribers will also be able to instantly stream movies and TV episodes from their 360.

8) Community Games: Games created by students and hobbyists form around the world will be available in the Community Games Channel.

9) My Xbox: Get easy access to your games, videos, music, and pictures from the “My Xbox” menu. You’ll also be able to access system settings and view your Media Center content from here, too.

6) And more…

The new guide loads faster and smoother.
Your old stuff (gamerpics, themes) still work.
“Inside Xbox” available from the Marketplace will offer tips from Major Nelson, reviews, and other tips which are refreshed weekly.

The Xbox and Politics

sarahintampa — Thu, 02 Oct 2008 17:59:00 GMT

According to a recent article in the Seattle Times, a poll of Xbox Live users showed that gamers prefer Obama. The presidential poll, a part of Rock the Vote’s new partnership with Microsoft, returned results showing that 43% of gamers would vote Obama, 31% would vote McCain, 13% were undecided, and another 13% were “Other.” Perhaps they support Master Chief?

No matter what your political preference, you have to applaud the effort of the joint Microsoft/Rock the Vote campaign and how they’re using the Xbox platform as way to reach out to young voters.

Through Xbox Live, gamers can download Obama or McCain Gamerpics and add them to their Xbox Live profile. There are also voter registration forms and info and Rock the Vote videos. Gamers don’t have to hunt through the various blades within Xbox to find the content, either. Thanks to banner ads right on the dashboard, the content is only a click…errr…a button press…away.

To date, more than 55,000 voter registration forms have been downloaded through the service. That’s a pretty impressive number given the typically apathetic nature of young voters. It’s a testament to not only the efforts of the Rock the Vote campaign, but also those of the newest generation of young voters.

Generation Y, the first generation of “digital natives” is finally old enough to vote so Rock the Vote is trying to reach them on the platforms where they’re known to congregate: on blogs, on YouTube, on Facebook, on MySpace, on flickr, and on the Xbox, too.

There has been much said about this generation; their use of technology, their unique work ethic, their lack of brand loyalty, and their commitment to social change are a few of the hottest Gen Y topics. When it comes to social change, the U.S. election will be the first real test of whether this generation is paying more than lip service to their ideals. Will they actually go out there and vote? We’ll just have to wait and see. But if Rock the Vote can get tens of thousands of new voters engaged enough with the political process when they were just planning on chilling out with an Xbox game, then they are doing something right.

A New Themed Zune: Gears of War 2

sarahintampa — Thu, 02 Oct 2008 01:48:00 GMT

If the Joy Division Zune wasn’t quite your speed, then you might be interested in the next themed Zune instead: the Gears of War 2 edition. This Special Edition 120 GB Zune will go on sale in the U.S. at Amazon.com and Walmart.com and in Canada at Amazon.ca, BestBuy.ca, FutureShop.ca and TheSource.ca for the estimated price of $279.99 starting November 7th. However, you can pre-order it now (just click those links).

The Zune will feature a laser-etched Crimson Omen on the back of its black casing, collectible “Gears of War” themed packaging, and, perhaps most importantly, 244 pieces of “Gears of War” media. That media will include the original soundtrack, behind-the-scenes videos, and concept art and galleries.

The Zune is set to go on sale November 7th because that’s also the launch date for the new Gears of War game, a highly anticipated sequel that continues the saga of Marcus Fenix and Delta Squad as they fight to save humanity from the overwhelming onslaught of the Locust Horde.

You can keep tabs on the latest Gears of War news from the game’s homepage available here: http://www.gearsofwar.com.

Just In Time For The Holidays: A Red Xbox Controller

sarahintampa — Thu, 02 Oct 2008 01:47:00 GMT

Now available for a limited time only, Xbox 360 controllers are going to come in red, too…and just in time for the holidays! The red controllers with black accents will be available in U.S., Canada, Latin America, Australia, New Zealand and Asia for $64.99. They will be sold together in a bundle with the Play & Charge Kit and red rechargeable battery which lets you wirelessly game from up to 30 feet away and for up to 25 hours of gameplay on one charge. Pretty cool, but I have to admit, I like Engadget’s suggestion: sell the green one, too!

Duke Nukem 3D Available now on Xbox Live Arcade

Nic — Wed, 24 Sep 2008 14:20:00 GMT

Woot! For 800 MS Points you can now get your hands on Duke Nukem 3D for Xbox Live Arcade.

Duke Nukem, the politically incorrect action hero and ultimate alien ass kicker, defends Earth and its babes from alien invasion in Duke Nukem 3D. This is the award winning game that helped define the FPS genre, introducing unparalleled interactivity, and a main character that spoke. Take the fight to the aliens across 39 levels featuring Hollywood, Los Angeles, a moon base, and alien spacecraft. Innovative items like the Jetpack, HoloDuke, Shrink Ray, or Pipe Bombs allow you to fight the aliens in any style you want. Defeat the aliens, so Duke can get back to some R&R with a stogie, a warm belly, and a bottle of Jack.

Featuring: Eight-player cooperative and DukeMatch multiplayer, user clips, concept art galleries and Xbox 360 enhancements like controller vibration, bilinear filtering, motion blur and Xbox LIVE® Vision camera support.

More info: 3D Realms & Xbox.com

"Come Get Some!"

How Avatars Work on Xbox 360

Larry — Fri, 19 Sep 2008 19:19:00 GMT

Larry "Major Nelson" Hryb posted a video showing how you'll be able to pick and customize your avatar in the new Xbox 360 Dashboard update. Keep in mind that this is an early build, so some things may change before you see it on your Xbox. There are plenty of customizations, facial hair, hats, jewelry, shoes. You can make your avatar taller/shorter, skinny/fatter. I like what I've seen so far. What do you think?

XNA Game Studio 3.0 Beta Now Available

Nic — Wed, 17 Sep 2008 13:38:00 GMT

XNA Game Studio 3.0 Beta is now available to download with tones of new features including support for the new Zune 3.0 firmware, Rich Presence and Invites.

Download here: http://creators.xna.com/en-us/3.0beta_mainpage

More info on the XNA team blog here: http://blogs.msdn.com/xna/archive/2008/09/16/xna-game-studio-3-0-beta-is-go.aspx

What's new?

Zune

Compatibility with the upcoming Zune 3.0 Firmware release.
Improved deployment stability.
Support for Zune deployment on Windows Vista x64 Systems!
You can now use the Remote Performance Monitor for Zune games.

Xbox 360

Xbox 360 project templates (You will not be able to develop on the Xbox 360 until our final release. We felt this was important to include so that you could get projects converted over and look at the system, even if you are not able to run the games, yet).
Support for the Big Button Pad.

Framework & Visual Studio Features

Enumerate and play back media on your Windows computer or Xbox 360.
Simple sound effect support on Windows computers and Xbox 360.
Support for Rich Presence (lets friends know what’s going on in your game).
Support for Invites (ask your friends to join you in a multiplayer game) and Join Session In Progress (after you see what your friends are doing, you can join their current session with just a couple of button presses, even if that’s a different game to the one you are currently playing)
Compress your content and save space with the new content compression features!
ClickOnce packaging support for distributing your XNA Framework games on Windows.
Upgrade your project from XNA Game Studio 2.0 using the Project Upgrade Wizard!
Take screen captures of your game running on Zune through the XNA Game Studio Device Center.
Support for .NET language features like Linq
Create multiple content projects and leverage cross project synchronization in Visual Studio.
FBX importer improvements: read materials containing multiple textures, and export custom shader materials directly out of Max or Maya.

Microsoft's Holiday Preview - Platinum Gifts and Hot Gifts Under $100

Tina — Wed, 17 Sep 2008 12:01:00 GMT

Happy Holidays! I take you into the future with a plethora of products that Microsoft will be releasing this Holiday Season. These are considered our Platinum gifts like the Xbox 360 Elite, The 120 G Zune Player, SONY VAIO TZ, HTC Touch Diamond, HTC Touch Dual, Samsung HDTV with MediaLive Digital Media Adapter. We also have Hot Gifts Under $100 which includes Lego Batman, Lips and Much more...

Microsoft's Holiday Preview - The Overview!

Tina — Tue, 16 Sep 2008 13:17:00 GMT

Happy Holidays and welcome to the Microsoft Holiday Preview. We have games, music, phones and computers. To get even deeper we show off products like the SONY VAIO TZ Notebook, Dell XPS One, Samsung HDTV with MediaLive Digital Media Adapter, Explorer Mouse with Blue Track Technology, Lego Batman, Samsung Blackjack II, HTC Touch Dual, HTC Touch Diamond, New Blue Zune, 120 GB Zune, New Zune Features, Xbox Experience, Lips, You're in the Movies and More...

Other Holiday Previews:
Xbox 360
Windows Mobile
Windows Vista Powered PC's and Accessories

Microsoft's Holiday Preview - Windows Vista Powered PC's and Accessories

Laura — Mon, 15 Sep 2008 14:36:00 GMT

This Holiday season is certain to be merry considering all the great new products being offered to you from Microsoft Hardware, Vista powered machines and Games for Windows. Check out some of the sexy new Dell laptops, BlueTrack mice and of course...some great games for Windows like Fallout 3 and Lego Batman.

Also-make sure to check out what you can expect from Windows Mobile and Xbox 360.

GC08 - Highlights & Giveaways

lorigros — Wed, 10 Sep 2008 12:43:00 GMT

Wooohoooo! Mein letztes Games Convention Video für 2008! Dieses Video sollte das erste veröffentlichte Video sein aber leider gab es ein paar technische Probleme. Aber besser spät als nie.

In diesem Video spreche ich mit Frank Halgasch, Xbox Produkt Manager. Er erzählt mir ein paar Leckerbissen über die Games Convention, das neue Musikspiel Lips, das Xbox Bühnenprogramm und die Xbox Community Highlights auf der GC. Danach sind verschiedene Videoclip-Highlights von GC08.

Und nicht zuletzt habe ich ein paar Giveaways von der Games Convention zurückgebracht und will sie jetzt verschenken. Ich habe ein Sidewinder Gaming-Maus, 2 Männer Xbox T-Shirts (Große L) , 2 Frauen Xbox T-Shirts (Große M und S), Xbox Halstuch, und Xbox Gürtel. Schicke mir eine Email vorname.nachname@microsoft.com (natürlich mit meinen Name „Lori Grosland“) und schreibe wie viele Games Convention Videos, ich dieses Jahr veröffentlicht habe und was Ihr gern hättet. Wer zu erst schreibt mit der richtigen Antwort, kriegt den gewünschten Preis. :-)

GC08 - Gespräch mit Boris Schneider-Johne

lorigros — Mon, 08 Sep 2008 09:06:00 GMT

Boris Schneider-Johne ist Produkt Manager für die Xbox Plattform bei Microsoft Deutschland. Er ist verantwortlich für die Xbox Konsole selbst und auch für die Zusammenarbeitet mit 3rd-Party Spiel-Publisher. Boris ist sehr bekannt in Deutschland als Pionier auf dem Gebiet der Spiele-Übersetzungen und auch für sein Blog dreisechzig.net, wo er viel über Videospiele und Software schreibt.

Ich habe mit Boris auf der http://www.dreisechzig.net/

Rock the Vote From Your Xbox

sarahintampa — Wed, 27 Aug 2008 15:39:00 GMT

Xbox and Rock the Vote have partnered up in order to reach out to young voters through the Xbox community. Starting August 25th – the same day as the first day of the Democratic National Convention - Xbox 360 owners will be able to register to vote, participate in presidential polls, and voice their opinions to the presidential candidates through Xbox LIVE, a community whose members reach 12 million. Said Heather Smith, executive director, Rock the Vote: “To realize our goal of registering 2 million young Americans by this fall, we need to go where young Americans are, and there’s no doubt in our minds that many are on Xbox 360 and Xbox LIVE.”

I remember in the past Rock the Vote was involved with MTV, but I don’t ever remember seeing them actually go seek out young voters through a gaming platform before – that is definitely a first. And how creative! I went and checked out the Rock the Vote homepage to see where else they were besides Xbox, and it turns out that they’re on YouTube, facebook, and flickr, too. (Hmm, someone should tell them about Twitter.)

Awesome Xbox 360 Case Mods

sarahintampa — Fri, 08 Aug 2008 19:53:00 GMT

Officially, we have to remind you that case mods void your warranty, but unofficially we have to say, Wow! These case mods are awesome! Over on the CyberNotes website, they’ve updated their old list of the best Xbox 360 case mods which originally ran back in 2006 to include the best ones from more recent months. We’re not surprised to see that several of them are inspired by Halo – those fanboys can do some pretty amazing things with metal and LEDs. However, that Simpsons one isn’t too shabby either. To see all the pictures of the mods plus links to the original sites, just click here.

60GB Xbox 360s Have Arrived

sarahintampa — Wed, 06 Aug 2008 05:08:00 GMT

According to Xbox 360 Fanboy, Major Nelson confirmed that there’s no official release date for the new 60 GB Xbox 360 units - “they’ll just appear in the retail channels,” he noted. And they are definitely appearing. Engadget spotted them at Amazon and others have seen them appearing at various retailers like Target. Of course, the big appeal of these new units is the extra hard drive space. Why is that important? Well, it’s certainly valuable if you’re thinking of signing up for the new Netflix powered movie download service. Revealed just last month at E3, the partnership with Netflix gives Xbox LIVE Gold members who are also Netflix subscribers the ability to instantly stream movies and TV episodes from Netflix. The extra hard disk space will definitely be an advantage for anyone who plans to make heavy use of that service.

Xbox Dashboard Themes

sarahintampa — Wed, 23 Jul 2008 15:25:00 GMT

You may have heard about the new Xbox Experience which was announced at this year’s E3 Conference. This refresh will bring with it a bold, new design for the Xbox dashboard. Since some gamers have purchased themes in the past, there was concern that these would no longer work, but that was not the case. The new dashboard will indeed retrofit existing Xbox 360 themes in addition to offering new ones (in fact, using it at all is optional.) Also, the new dashboard has a more detailed download page for Xbox Live Marketplace content. Major Nelson gave everyone a sneak peek at how an existing theme might look on the new dashboard. He has also added a few photos to his flickr stream to show you how things may appear in other areas of the dashboard.

Make Money with Xbox Live Community Games

Nic — Tue, 22 Jul 2008 14:19:00 GMT

Turn your XNA projects into cash with Xbox Live Community Games.

Coming holiday 2008, Xbox Live Community Games will give XNA game developers (that's YOU!) the opportunity to publish and sell their projects to millions of gamers worldwide via the Xbox Live Marketplace.

Here's how it works. XNA game developers (again that's YOU!) submit their titles to http://creators.xna.com for peer review. Once approved the games are then made available for sale on Xbox Live Marketplace for a price point that you set (between 200 and 800 points). You then receive up to 70% of the games total revenue!

So let's say you create a game that you sell for 200 points (which is approx USD$2.50). The game is then purchased 10,000 times. That's $25,000 in total revenue of which you stand a chance to receive up to 70% or $17,500!!! WOW!!

More info: http://blogs.msdn.com/xna/ & http://creators.xna.com/

Press Release

Join the Community: Make Games, Make Money on Xbox LIVE

You’ve played Xbox 360 games with the millions of gamers on Xbox LIVE. You’ve chatted, shared, and dominated in games of all kinds. But what if those millions could be playing your game?

Better still – what if you were getting paid for it?

Starting holiday 08, Xbox LIVE Community Games is your ticket to fame – and possibly fortune as millions of Xbox LIVE users now have the opportunity to view, buy, and play games that you create.

How it Works

The setup? Simple. The payments? Cash.

As a Premium member in the XNA Creators Club, you’ll be able to submit any complete Xbox 360 game you’ve created in XNA Game Studio to the Creators Club community at http://creators.xna.com/, for peer review. Other Premium Creators will check to make sure your game is safe to play. If it is, you’ll set a price point – between 200 and 800 Points – that people will pay to download your game.

Once the game is reviewed and the price point set, you’re done. The game is listed on Xbox LIVE Marketplace, and you’ll get a check every quarter, for up to 70% of the game’s total revenue in your own currency. Depending on your game’s success, you may even have your game advertised on Xbox 360 and other Microsoft online properties.

Just imagine - your game in the hands of millions of Xbox 360 gamers around the world: that’s the power of Community Games.

How to Get Started

While the official launch of Xbox LIVE Community Games won’t be until later this year, you can start working on that great game right now with XNA Game Studio and the XNA Creators Club Online community!

First, download XNA Game Studio, the free game development tool from Microsoft. It’s free and works with Visual Studio or Visual C# Express Edition. If you’ve never made a game before, the XNA Creators Club website has tons of samples, tutorials, even whole video guides to game creation. Jump right in and start coding your dream game!

Next, join the XNA Creator’s Club at http://creators.xna.com/. It’s a community of game creators just like you. If you’re going to develop games for Xbox 360 and want to sell your game on Xbox LIVE Community Games, you’ll need a Premium membership. It’s just $99 per year or $49 for four months.

Finally, submit your finished game to the XNA Creators Club and watch the money roll in!

Schizoid For XBox LIVE Arcade

sarahintampa — Tue, 15 Jul 2008 20:03:00 GMT

Congratulations to Torpex Games for shipping Schizoid on the Xbox LIVE Arcade! The game is the first game to be made commercially available on the Xbox 360 that was built entirely with the XNA Game Studio. Not only that, but the game made Penny Arcade’s PAX10 list, too. According to the XNA blog, gameplay in Schizoid involves controlling red and blue ships and ramming them into enemies of the same color to destroy them. There are 120+ levels that can be played in either single-player or co-op mode. To learn more about the game or to see more screenshots, check out this page on xbox.com.

Xbox 360 at E3 2008

Laura — Tue, 15 Jul 2008 15:07:00 GMT

The games have begun and Microsoft's Xbox 360 came full force with their showings for this years E3. There's exciting news about an all new dashboard, a partnership with Netflix, and of course TONS of cool games. Take a look at some highlights from their press conference here and see demos of Fallout 3, Gears Of War 2 and of course...the long awaited and stunningly beautiful, Final Fantasy XIII. Plus a few extra goodies including a live musical performance and some fun surprises. Enjoy!

Rock Band 2 coming this September

Tina — Tue, 01 Jul 2008 12:28:00 GMT

Harmonix, the world’s premier music video game company in the world, and MTV Games, a part of Viacom’s MTV Networks along with marketing and distribution partner Electronic Arts are taking the groundbreaking music platform that forever changed the face of music video games to the next level this September with the release of Rock Band 2. With the original providing millions of players a new way to interact with the music and artists they love, Rock Band 2 is the next evolution of the franchise that redefined the standard for music games.

Rock Band is the groundbreaking platform that allows music fans and gamers to interact with music like never before - challenging players to put together a band and tour for fame and fortune while learning to master lead/bass guitar, drums and vocals.

Rock Band 2 builds upon its foundation as the first music game to introduce co-operative band gameplay, multiple instruments, a robust online multiplayer experience, an unrivaled offering of downloadable content and raises the bar by delivering an entirely new level of depth, connectivity, authenticity and features including:

Backwards compatibility with Rock Band downloadable music content. All previously purchased tracks will immediately load into your Rock Band 2 song list. No need to re-purchase or re-download.
The biggest and most diverse soundtrack ever featuring some of rock’s most prolific acts, comprised entirely of master recordings.
Major new and dynamic online modes that will connect the entire Rock Band community in more ways than ever before both locally and globally.
More variety of instrument choices than ever before with new and improved drum and guitar peripherals, enhanced functionality and innovative new designs - all fully compatible with the original Rock Band instruments.
And much more.

"As successful as the original Rock Band continues to be, we've now had the benefit of the last eight months to listen to our fans' requests and to build upon that foundation," said Alex Rigopulos, co-founder and CEO of Harmonix. "Rock Band 2 is a second-generation band game that will elevate the music game experience to the next level."

Rock Band 2 will make its debut on Xbox 360™ video game and entertainment system from Microsoft this September and have an exclusive launch window in North America. Rock Band 2 will be available for additional platforms later this year.

“We expect Rock Band 2 to continue to drive an amazing social music experience on Xbox 360, said David Hufford, senior director, Xbox Product Management for the Interactive Entertainment Business, Microsoft. “We look forward to supporting Rock Band 2 on Xbox 360 as gamers continue to download hundreds of new music tracks from Xbox LIVE so they and their friends can perform the rock music they love most.

More details regarding features and music for Rock Band 2 will be revealed at the 2008 E3 Media & Business Summit. Rock Band, the first installment in the franchise, garnered more than 40 awards including Game Critics Award: Best of Show E3 2007.

In addition, Harmonix and MTV Games today announced that The Rock Band online music store recently surpassed 15 million paid downloads since the game’s launch in late November 2007. With more than 200 tracks available to date via download purchase (complete list of tracks at http://www.rockband.com/dlc), the massive Rock Band Music Store allows players to preview and purchase downloadable individual music tracks, packs and albums from the vast selection of offerings available as they build their own custom Rock Band library.

Rock Band 2 is rated “T” for Teen (lyrics, mild suggestive themes) by the ESRB.

For more information on Rock Band and Harmonix Music Systems please visit www.rockband.com and www.harmonixmusic.com.

New Saints Row 2 Screenshot

Tina — Mon, 30 Jun 2008 01:29:00 GMT

Okay, let's all admit when the original Saints Row game was released back in 06...it was Hello, GTA Rip-off. Then, most of us played it and we were pleasantly surprised. It was the first open-world sandbox game for the next gen consoles. Well, Saints Row 2 is slated to come to the Xbox 360 later this year and the story lines takes place a few years after the original and of course we're back in Stillwater and we still have some anger issues. And fellas, you can play as a lady in this one. Don't worry, it will be our little secret.

X-Blades Anime Artwork Contest

Tina — Fri, 20 Jun 2008 13:45:00 GMT

Here's another chance for you artists to win a little extra cash and have your artwork noticed from an Xbox 360 and PC title

"X-Blades", the Anime Action Spectacular, really electrifies fans of Far Eastern artwork! At the beginning of the year, an artwork contest for the multi-platform game was hosted by the game's publishers, TopWare Interactive Inc. The central theme of the contest was the heroine Ayumi - and the feedback was so positive that TopWare just had to launch another contest for you artists out there!

All Ayumi illustrations received by 31st August will be judged by a jury of specialists - and the winner will receive 3,000 US Dollars, the second best picture will receive $2,000 and even the third-placed artist will get 1,000 dollars pocket money! PLUS, 20 game packages valued at 200 dollars each are also up for grabs!

The most creative illustrators among you will also get their share of fame... because the Royal Edition of "X-Blades" is equipped with a high-grade artbook - and your best entries will be added to the top-quality illustrations already in there - at 100 dollars additionally per illustration! .

Check out the official X-Blades website for details.

Deer Hunter Tournament on PC and Xbox LIVE

Tina — Wed, 18 Jun 2008 19:04:00 GMT

The long running hunting game franchise has a new sibling. Deer Hunter Tournament is coming to Xbox Live and the PC this fall.

Deer Hunter^® - the biggest hunting game franchise of all time - takes dead aim at gamers once again as Atari, Inc. launches Deer Hunter Tournament for the Windows-based PC and, for the first time, the Xbox 360^® video game and entertainment system from Microsoft this fall.

The evolution of virtual hunting has finally arrived as Deer Hunter Tournament gives players a chance to experience the most intense virtual hunting experience ever created. Deer Hunter Tournament is designed to create a massive network of Deer Hunter players by offering for the first time ever in hunting games organized, constantly updated online tournaments for both Xbox LIVE^® online entertainment network and through the Windows-based PC format. Deer Hunter Tournament will be available for a suggested retail price of $39.95 for Xbox 360 and $19.95 for PC.

Gamers and hunting fans alike will venture to most of the world's most prestigious hunting locations in pursuit of the most exotic and sought after big-game trophy animals. Virtual hunters can now enter different modes, such as stealth or adrenaline, or employ an array of master hunting strategies, including building stands and blinds, to track and shoot their targets. Deer Hunter Tournament provides numerous levels of gameplay, allowing hunters to embark on scouting missions designed to explore maps and equipment while studying animal habits. Hunters can also take part in hunting tutorials, compete in open hunting sessions and participate in either solo gameplay or the intense multi-player tournaments.

Employing some of the recent advancements in gaming technology, Deer Hunter Tournament features true-to-life animal behavior through advanced animal AI designed to mimic animal sight, hearing, sense of smell and behavioral patterns. Additional features include an arsenal of new weapons with bullet time slow motion replay and thermal scopes. Realistic effects in the game capture awe inspiring wildlife moments like hawks swooping down to snatch fish from lakes - but hunters must also be wary of bears, moose, mountain lions and other dangerous predators who will stalk and attack.

"Deer Hunter Tournament is poised to reinforce its place as the ultimate hunting video game franchise and we anticipate an even broader audience through our expansion of the brand to Xbox 360 and Xbox LIVE," said Jim Wilson, CEO, Atari, Inc. "We are confident that this new edition with its first-ever online multiplayer tournament gameplay, enhanced artwork and mechanics, exotic game and locales will provide fans with the ultimate in realistic hunting experiences."