Gaming News November 2008

NewsNov 30, 2008June 29, 20140

Mortal Kombat vs DC Universe (PS3 & X360) Review
Gaming Heaven :: Wednesday, November 26, 2008
Midway games have just released one of the most unusual games of the year. It combines 22 characters from the Marvel and Mortal Kombat universe in a brutal slashfest …. if you ever fancied seeing who would win between Sub Zero and Superman then this might just be your thing.

Mortimer Beckett & The Time Paradox Reviewed
IT Reviewed :: Friday, November 21, 2008
“Featuring various hidden objects and more puzzles than ever, Time Paradox is an engaging adventure for all ages. Having said, the extremely well-hidden pieces and complexity of some puzzles may be too frustrating for younger gamers or those with little patience, but the entertaining storyline and visually impressive graphics (especially the Egyptian era) make it a very worthwhile addition to your casual gaming collection. And as an added bonus, items change locations during multiple playthroughs for added longevity.”

New Xbox Experience Causing HDMI Sound Loss Issues
Xbox Scene :: Friday, November 21, 2008
From gizmodo.com : According to a long thread at the AVForums, several Xbox 360 users are losing all sound after upgrading to the New Xbox Experience. Fortunately, there seems to be a fix: * Turn off the Xbox 360. * Remove the hard drive. * Turn on the Xbox 360. * When the Dashboard loads, put the hard drive back. Apparently, the fix is only temporary. If you turn of the Xbox, you will have to receive the process Full Story: gizmodo.com

360’s lack of Sony Pictures films streaming on Netflix ‘unrelated’ to competition
Xbox Scene :: Friday, November 21, 2008
From engadget.com : You probably recall that two days ago, when the new Xbox Experience launched, sadly, about 300 Sony Pictures films were unavailable for Netflix Watch Instantly on NXE. According to a Sony spokesperson, the problem isn’t specific to the Xbox, nor is their beef competition-related in any way. Sony also says it is in talks with the several “relevant parties” to work out these vague licensing issues, though there was no word on when the issue would be resolved. Full Story: engadget.com

Xbox 360 storms past 7m sales in Europe
Xbox Scene :: Friday, November 21, 2008
From mcvuk.com : Microsoft has told MCV that Xbox 360 has cruised past seven million sales in Europe. The company last released a European sales figure for Xbox 360 in June, when it told MCV that it had shifted five million units in EMEA. Now that number has grown by two million – having been greatly affected by September’s price reduction, which saw the 360 Arcade SKU reduced to just ?129.99 (€179.99). “When you look at what we’ve got coming, just in the next three or four weeks, that gives us the confidence that this will be the best ever Christmas in the history of Xbox. ” Full Story: mcvuk.com

Xbox LIVE Community Games is Open for Business!
Xbox Scene :: Friday, November 21, 2008
From the XNA Team Blog : Hopefully you’ve managed to upgrade yourself to the New Xbox Experience already! Some people are reporting having trouble logging on to Xbox.com to sign the new Terms of Use. If that includes you, try signing this through your Xbox 360 console instead. That is probably your quickest and easiest route back to Premium Creators Club membership status. We’ve also got a new area just for Xbox LIVE Community Games over on the Xbox.com forums . This will be where we can send those earnest voices that don’t necessarily want to make a game, but simply want to offer their opinions on the games created. Each Community Game will have its own thread created once it is available through Marketplace. On Creators Club we’ve opened up the last piece of the site to the Creators — the “My Business (https://profile.xna.com/en-US/mybusiness.aspx )” portion of your profile is now live. If you’re selling a Community Game or plan to sell one you need to give us your information there so we know where to send the check! This is a pretty incredible day for all of us. We’ve managed to do something that no one has really done before. We’ve opened up the console and given independent game developers a chance to sell their work to the millions of Xbox LIVE gamers. Our creators have submitted more than 30 different games that you can download now through the Community Games channel on the New Xbox Experience. Each game has something incredible to offer and speaks to the potential that waits beyond today. We really can’t wait to see what happens next!

NXE Launch Day Updates: Some LIVE and NetFlix Issues
Xbox Scene :: Friday, November 21, 2008
From majornelson.com : * As you can imagine, it’s been an incredible day so far for the New Xbox Experience. It’s great to see so much enthusiasm…it sounds like you are having fun exploring NXE. With an update of this magnitude, reaching more than 14 million people around the globe, we are aware some of you may be experiencing a few hiccups along the way. The LIVE team is closely monitoring the LIVE service and Xbox.com and are aware of a few issues including what’s happening with Marketplace. The team is actively working on the issues, so thanks for bearing with us. * We hope your’re enjoying the New Xbox Experience. As expected, Netflix on Xbox 360 is a huge success, with the LIVE community flocking to this portion of the New Xbox Experience. Some of you may have had a few challenges earlier today but I wanted to let you know they’ve been resolved.

Meet your Xbox Community Game launch titles
Xbox Scene :: Friday, November 21, 2008
From arstechnica.com : The New Xbox Experience has arrived today, along with the Xbox Community Games Platform. This new portal will offer countless games from independent developers that are moderated by the community, rather than Microsoft. We had a chance to play around with the Community Games prior to launch, and we have liked what’s out there so far. Let’s take a look at just a few of the games that you can scoop up at launch. The Good * Bloc (200 Points, $2.50) * Lines (200 Points, $2.50) The Bad * Cubage (200 Points, $2.50) * Space Combat (200 Points, $2.50) The Strange * Drift (400 Points, $5) * Being (200 Points, $2.50) Full Story: arstechnica.com

Halo 3 and NXE: HDD Install Causes Slower Loading Times …
Xbox Scene :: Friday, November 21, 2008
From bungie.net : The “New Xbox Experience” was released today and one of the new features allows you to “install” your games to the HDD. While you still have to keep the original disc in the tray, installing to the HDD can make some games perform a little better while also putting a little less wear-and-tear on your DVD drive. However, this isn’t to say that ALL games will see optimizations from being installed. In fact, in the case of Halo 3, the game will actually see increased loading times. Several websites have reported the results of tests to gauge how some games perform after being installed to the HDD for Halo 3 and their tests indicate that in some cases, the load times are significantly longer. Our own internal investigations have yielded similar results. To help explain why this is the case I tapped our uber engineer and Chief Caching Officer, Mat Noguchi, to answer a few questions. Full Story: bungie.net

Netflix Confirms Columbia Pictures Movies are Pulled from NXE
Xbox Scene :: Friday, November 21, 2008
From gamasutra.com : All Columbia Pictures movies have been pulled from the Xbox Live version of Netflix, following the launch of the New Xbox Experience dashboard update. Columbia Pictures is a subsidiary of Sony Pictures Entertainment, but the move does not appear to be malicious on the part of Sony executives — all movies distributed by Sony Pictures still remain accessible through the service. “A few hundred titles are temporarily unavailable to be streamed via the Xbox game console,” Netflix corporate communications VP Dave Swasey told consumer website MTV Multiplayer. “Those titles are still available to be watched on subscribers’ computers and on TVs via other partner devices, and we hope they’ll be licensed for Xbox 360 shortly.” Full Story: gamasutra.com

Microsoft Confirms New Xbox 360 Console Banning
Xbox Scene :: Wednesday, November 12, 2008
From majornelson.com : I’ve gotten a few messages and seen some forum threads pop up on console bannings so I thought I’d post and let folks know what’s up. In our our continued effort to keep gameplay safe and secure for our community of more than 14 million members, Microsoft has taken action against a small percentage of Xbox 360 consoles that have been illegally modified in order to play pirated games. You should know that modifying your Xbox 360 console is also a violation of the Xbox LIVE terms of use , will void your warranty and result in a ban from Xbox LIVE. The health of the video game business depends on customers paying for the genuine products and services they receive, both from manufacturers and the local companies that support them. We will continue to employ and bolster anti-piracy security measures to counter piracy in the gaming industry and improve security in the Xbox LIVE community. Report your Xbox LIVE status: forums.xbox-scene.com

NXE – CES Innovations Awards Honoree
Xbox Scene :: Wednesday, November 12, 2008
From the Xbox PR Blog : We’re a week away from the official launch of the New Xbox Experience, and as you know, we’re expecting it to change the way people are entertained, via Xbox 360. The industry agrees: we’re excited to share that NXE is already receiving accolades. Today, the Consumer Electronics Association announced that the New Xbox Experience was selected as a CES Innovations 2009 Design and Engineering Award honoree in the Electronic Gaming product category. The Innovations Awards have come to represent the best-designed products and services in consumer technology. Full Story: gamerscoreblog.com

Microsoft Cuts Xbox 360 Prices In Australia Again
Xbox Scene :: Wednesday, November 12, 2008
From gamasutra.com : For the second time in just six months, Microsoft lowered prices across all of its Xbox 360 models in Australia, bundling the systems with complimentary games for a limited time as Christmas approaches. The company cut the price of its Xbox 360 Arcade model by AUD50 ($33) to AUD299 ($199), as well as the Pro and Elite models by AUD100 ($67) to AUD499 ($333) and AUD599 ($400) respectively. Full Story: gamasutra.com

Rumor: MS Rep – Fall update will be big trouble
Xbox Scene :: Wednesday, November 12, 2008
From gamingconfidential.blogspot.com : A trusted source working as a customer service rep for Microsoft has revealed that there will be some bad drama when the Xbox 360’s Fall update hits on November 19th. He says the update could bring the dreaded “three red lights of death” issue roaring back to life. The rep said that there has always been an influx of calls from owners of bricked Xbox 360s after every major Xbox 360 software update. Most of the complaints come from owners of launch consoles. “The slick move by Microsoft here is that it’s releasing the update on the 19th, just a couple of days after the extended warranty period for launch Xbox 360s end. The owners of these units are headed for some pretty tense times in the weeks to come,”” he said. Full Story: gamingconfidential.blogspot.com

New Xbox LIVE Ban Wave?
Xbox Scene :: Wednesday, November 12, 2008
Seems like reports on our forums are indicating Microsoft has a new (console) ban wave on Xbox LIVE … Right now we don’t have a lot of details/information, but if you have a modified DVD firmware we suggest you stay off LIVE for now. Report your LIVE status (include as many details as possible) on: forums.xbox-scene.com .

New 65nm GPU Not Found in very new Xbox 360
Xbox Scene :: Wednesday, November 12, 2008
From benheck.com : As probably the most prolific single buyer of Xbox 360 consoles on the planet, I would like to pass along news of NOT finding a new 65nm GPU in the latest Xbox 360 I disassembled. Upon taking it apart, it had the same old GPU as before, though there were other further changes to the board even past 60 gig units I’d bought a month ago. I have no doubt it’s coming, and I plan to be the first to find one. But alas, not yet. Reported elsewhere to have new chipset: Manufacture date 8-26-08 and up, lot number 0831 and up. Benheck confirmed NO new chipset: Manufacture date 9-4-08, lot number 0836. Full Story: benheck.com

Team Xecuter Connectivity Kit v3 Updates
Xbox Scene :: Wednesday, November 12, 2008
From team-xecuter.com : The CK3 website has been live for a couple of weeks now and the downloads section is growing. New additions are Updated Vista drivers for the CK3 Pro and we have added the latest DVDKey32 v0.6 A host of other tools can be found there including the complete iXtreme package: We have painstakingly compiled very advanced step by step tutorials which we feel are the most up to date and the easiest to follow. The current live tutorials for the CK3 are: * Disassemble the Xbox 360 * Hitachi GDR-3120L 32/36/40/46/47/58/59 Firmware Update * Hitachi GDR-3120L 078fk Firmware Update * Hitachi GDR-3120L 079fk / 079fl Firmware Update * Toshiba-Samsung TS-H943A MS25/MS28 Firmware Update * Benq VAD6038 Firmware Update * Liteon DG-16D2S Drive Key Dump – WINDOWS * Swap Liteon DG-16D2S with another drive We have many more helpful tutorials in progress so keep an eye on the CK3 website for updates. We also have a new app for the CK3. It has a very powerful IO port query function which scans all ports both legacy / ide / sata onboard and sata add on cards. You can connect any drive in windows and run a port scan – it will tell you the drive name and exactley which port it is connected to. No more guess work. It auto detects the CK3 Pro and much more. The CK3 Tool does much more and we hope to have it released in the next day or so. Here’s a screen shot. Official Site:

NXE Preview Part Deux
Xbox Scene :: Wednesday, November 12, 2008
From majornelson.com : I mentioned this on my last show, but now it’s time to make it happen. This week we took a look at the list of the thousands of Xbox LIVE members that originally signed up for the preview program and decided it’s time to add more members. That means that on November 8th (tomorrow) we’re going to be adding more folks to the New Xbox Experience Preview Program. If you are chosen, you will receive an email later tonight (check that spam folder!) followed by the update tomorrow evening (PT). We’re only pulling names from those that originally signed up (there is no way to sign up if you missed it, sorry) and this selection process will be at random from those that previously filled out the Connect Program Survey from my original post. The New Xbox Experience will be available to all Xbox LIVE members on November 19th.

NXE: What You Want To Know – Party And Photo Sharing
Xbox Scene :: Wednesday, November 12, 2008
From the Xbox PR Blog : Pretty sure we can all agree that Xbox LIVE is the best place to play games, hands-down. A good game of Gears of War 2 becomes an incredible game when you get into a heavy multiplayer match with your friends – or any person you’re matched with – and reduce them into small chunks with your pretty chainsaw. It’s the little things in life that bring such satisfaction. But some people asked for ways to create parties and keep entire groups of people together online, no matter what they were doing. Well, we’ve listened and we’ve delivered. Once NXE launches on Nov. 19, it will be even easier to connect with your friends and the Xbox LIVE community of 14 million people around the world via Xbox LIVE Party*. Xbox LIVE Party will let you and up to seven friends jump from experience to experience while staying connected at all times. If you have a weekly Gears match and one friend is always late – no worries. The rest of you can join a Party and either voice chat or play a quick game of Castle Crashers while you wait. Once your no good, lazy a** friend shows up (you know who you are), one person will be able to bring your group into the lobby of Gears with just the click of a button. Really – it’s that easy. But Xbox LIVE Party goes beyond games. The New Xbox Experience will also bring a photo sharing feature to Xbox LIVE members called Photo Party. With Photo Party, you and up to seven friends can share digital photos from a camera, disc or USB drive while voice chatting in real-time. You can even rate each others’ photos – so you may want to keep that photo of your farmer tan in a Speedo to yourself. With Thanksgiving and the holidays coming up, you may even be able to convince your mom and dad to get an Xbox 360 to enjoy all the great new entertainment available through NXE. Check out the screens of Xbox LIVE Party and Photo Party. Our own Major Nelson also put together a cool video to show how easy it is to jump from experience to experience in a Party, which you can watch here:

Xbox360 Controller Mod with no Face Buttons of D-pad on top
Xbox Scene :: Wednesday, November 12, 2008
We received this email from the guys at acidmods : We created a 360 controller with no face buttons or D-pad on the top. We relocated the analog stick and fiberglassed the faceplate. the D-pad and face buttons are consolodated on two digital joystick on bottom of controller.. This mod allow for all buttons and analogs to be at finger access at all times… Full Story/Tutorial: acidmods.com

Netflix bundling 48 hour trials with some Xbox 360 games
Xbox Scene :: Wednesday, November 12, 2008
From engadget.com : It looks like the new Quantum of Solace game for the Xbox 360 has a little something extra bundled in with the package: according to reports, an explosive 48 hour Xbox Live Gold trial membership card with a secret “Netflix code” on the back is included. Nobody seems particularly stunned to hear that the companies plan to aggressively push the streaming movie service when the NXE goes live on November 19th, though no other details of the trial have emerged yet. Full Story: engadget.com

MS: Half of NXE plans were ‘cut out’
Xbox Scene :: Tuesday, November 04, 2008
From computerandvideogames.com : Speaking in a recent interview Microsoft’s Jerry Johnson said that the redesigned Xbox 360 dash isn’t finished yet and detailed plans to bolster the backend with new applications and content. “There’s still a lot of stuff we want to do,” Johnson told CVG in an interview. “Half the things we wanted to do [in NXE] we cut out of the service. “One of the nice things we did was this architectural change to make things more published and driven from the service. All of a sudden we opened up the platform to say ‘I don’t have to wait until once or twice a year to release something onto the dashboard’. Full Story: computerandvideogames.com

EUROPE ONLY: Gears of War 2 Bundles Arrive for Xbox 360
Xbox Scene :: Tuesday, November 04, 2008
From the press release: Friday 7 November 2008 sees the arrival of a new bundle pack for the highly anticipated sequel to the 5 million-selling blockbuster third-person tactical action game, and one of the most popular Xbox 360 games in history, Gears of War 2. Picking up six months after the events of Gears of War, this action packed sequel thrusts you back into a deep and harrowing story of humankind’s epic battle for survival against a nightmarish force of underground creatures known as the Locust Horde. Available in France, Spain, Italy, Sweden, Denmark, Finland, Norway, Austria, Switzerland, Russia, Portugal, Hungary and the Czech Republic, this critically-acclaimed title will be on sale with the 60GB hard-drive Xbox 360 Pro console at an estimated retail price of €269.99

Epic: Microsoft is ‘winning’ online battle
Xbox Scene :: Tuesday, November 04, 2008
From gamesindustry.biz : President of Epic Games, Dr Michael Capps, has told GamesIndustry.biz that he believes that Microsoft is winning the battle of the online space thanks to the company’s policy of continuing “adding cool stuff,” and he’s particularly looking forward to the new Xbox Live Experience due on November 19. “If you hop right into the game you sort of miss something. And the way they’re expanding the Live presence – you know, they’re leading right now, they’re winning. And the way you continue to do that is to keep adding cool stuff that everybody wants. Netflix is a great example – making me watch my movies on my Xbox!” Full Story: gamesindustry.biz

MS: 360 surprises coming in 2009, most not announced
Xbox Scene :: Tuesday, November 04, 2008
From videogamer.com : Speaking to VideoGamer.com in an interview to be published later this week, Microsoft’s UK head of gaming and entertainment Stephen McGill said that there was “lots of great stuff” coming in 2009 that people “don’t know about”. McGill said: “Well I know a lot of the games coming out from us and our third parties. Most of them, in fact, have not been announced because everyone’s very focused on what’s out for Christmas. So it would do our third party partners a disservice for me to announce their great line-ups before they’re ready to.” When asked if Microsoft had surprises in store for 360 owners in 2009, McGill replied: “You could expect that, yeah absolutely.” Full Story: videogamer.com

Xbox handheld: only available in dreamland says Microsoft
Xbox Scene :: Tuesday, November 04, 2008
From five.tv : Microsoft has gunned down gossip suggesting an Xbox handheld is in the works, crushing gamers’ dreams everywhere in the process. UK Xbox boss, Stephen McGill, who denied the juicy rumour certainly had his work cut out having earlier denied a brand new Xbox console was in the offing. The latest crushing blow was delivered in typically, er crushing style. “No, we’re not looking to do a handheld gaming device.” He said. Can’t get any more empathic than that. Full Story: five.tv

MS: No UK 360 price drop for many years in the future
Xbox Scene :: Tuesday, November 04, 2008
From videogamer.com : McGill (Microsoft’s head of gaming and entertainment in the UK) told VideoGamer.com: “I’m not going to speculate where it might go (the price of the Xbox 360) in five or ten years time, whatever. But we’ve obviously just reduced the price and that’s because we can pass the costs reductions we have straight on to consumers. That’s the right thing to do, obviously from a business point of view it helps it sell even more. I think a lot of people have been waiting for it to become even more affordable and they’re now seeing that benefit and buying it in their droves and we can now hopefully continue it through Christmas and beyond. When asked if it was unlikely that there will be another price drop for a good while yet, McGill replied: “Yeah. I mean absolutely. We’re a great price now. I’m not dropping the price for many many years in the future I would suspect.” Full Story: videogamer.com

Xbox 360 ‘CD’ Versus ‘Hard Drive Install’ Game Quality Comparison
Xbox Scene :: Tuesday, November 04, 2008
From pcworld.com : Ben Fritz at Variety writing for his games blog The Cut Scene has an intriguing post up suggesting that Fable 2 “looks noticeably better” if you play it from the Xbox 360’s hard drive. Running games off the hard drive is one of the New Xbox Experience’s features, an option that’s being offered to 1) remedy an acoustical design flaw in the Xbox 360’s DVD drive and 2) make Microsoft some extra scratch selling hard drive upgrades. In all the time I’ve spent with the NXE (see Parts One and Two of my hands on) I can’t say I noticed anything graphically better about the visual output. I’m running my 360 through a VGA cable at 1280 x 768 on a fairly high end Sony Bravia LCD TV. Fable 2 looks terrific, but it looks as terrific to my subjective eye whether CD or hard drive spooled. Full Story: pcworld.com | weblogs.variety.com

Xbox 360 NXE Preview Dashboard Leaked
Xbox Scene :: Tuesday, November 04, 2008
From platformnation.com : Apparently someone leaked the install files for the NXE on the internet and it is now available for all to try out. Now just to let you all know, YOU CAN NOT CONNECT ONLINE WITH IT TILL NOVEMBER 19th, it will not allow you, so if you plan to game, do not use this. Also there is no guarantee that Microsoft will not ban your console or get angry at you, so USE AT YOUR OWN RISK. Full Story: platformnation.com | digiex.net

Xbox LIVE Goes into the Voting Booth
Xbox Scene :: Tuesday, November 04, 2008
From the press release: Over the final weekend of the historic U.S. presidential race, millions of Xbox LIVE members have the chance to voice who they’ll be voting for, providing an early look into the minds of young Americans this election. This also creates one of the first unofficial exit polls as early voting draws to a close. Starting Friday, Oct. 31, Xbox LIVE members can select the candidate they plan to vote for on Nov. 4. Results will be posted election day. Following the Democratic and Republican National Conventions, nearly 100,000 LIVE Americans turned out to cast their “votes” in the first-ever poll over Xbox LIVE, making it larger than the combined samples from individual Gallup, NBC, and CNN polls. This initial poll resulted in Senator Obama trending 12 percent ahead Senator McCain, with a significant percentage of respondents still undecided. Part of an initiative to help register new voters for this year’s election, Xbox LIVE has partnered with Rock the Vote, turning the Xbox 360 into an unexpected political forum with nearly 80,000 voter registration forms downloaded.

(EU) Bond Returns in a Blockbuster Bundle Package and 60GB LIVE Starter Pack
Xbox Scene :: Tuesday, November 04, 2008
* EUROPE ONLY: Bond Returns in a Blockbuster Bundle Package Bond is back at his high-definition best on Xbox 360 in another blockbusting bundle. From 7th November in France, Germany, Spain, Italy, Sweden, Denmark, Finland, Norway, Austria, Switzerland, Russia, Portugal, and Ireland, Xbox 360 will exclusively bundle James Bond: Quantum of Solace with the Xbox 360 Pro console. Seamlessly blending the heart-pounding action and excitement of the upcoming “Quantum of Solace” feature film with the “Casino Royale” movie, Bond’s latest outing will be available in a custom box with a 60GB hard-drive Xbox 360 console, for a limited time and at the estimated retail price of ?189.99/€269.99. “This blockbuster of a bundle offers a great value introduction to the high-definition entertainment experience of the Xbox 360,” said Chris Lewis, third-party marketing manager for Europe. * EUROPEAN ADDENDUM: Upgrade your Xbox LIVE experience with new Xbox 360 60GB LIVE Starter Pack The new Xbox 360 60GB LIVE Start Pack will be available from the 19th November in the UK and the 21st November across Europe for ?59.99/€79.99 ERP.

NXE: What You Want to Know – More Avatars
Xbox Scene :: Tuesday, November 04, 2008
From the Xbox PR Blog : So, you’ve made your avatar and now you’re wondering what to do with it. When the New Xbox Experience launches on Nov. 19, four existing Xbox LIVE Arcade games will be updated to include Avatar functionality to make your gaming even more personal. Join your friends and play UNO!, Bomberman Live, Hardwood Hearts and Hardwood Spades and watch your Avatar come to life with custom animations throughout game menus and lobbies. On top of that, a new Xbox LIVE Arcade title will also launch with fully playable in-game Avatars – the first title to ever launch with this feature on Xbox 360! (Stay tuned for more info about this game in the coming weeks). In addition to Xbox LIVE Arcade, Scene It? Box Office Smash will also incorporate your Avatar into gameplay. The game released on Oct. 28 – it will get a title update on Nov. 19 that will allow you to use your new Avatar. Want to learn more about Avatars? Check out Major Nelson’s interview with Stacey Law and Scott Brodie from the team bringing them to you.

Audio Video News November 2008

OCMS News November 2008

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