In this preview of Left 4 Dead 2, some brand new details about the game have been revealed, including some new infected types and more details about the Swamp level. First of all, the level-specific infected, known as ‘common-uncommons’, for the swamp have been revealed. We already knew about the ones with fire-proof suits on, but the swamp level has ‘mud men’, who run quickly on all fours through the swamp, making them difficult to spot.

A new special infected is the ‘Spitter’, who provides a more long-range option for the infected. He spits out an attack (unspecified at this point, probably gob) that damages those who stand in it. The attck isn#t fantastically powerful but can hinder a team who stay in the area of effect too long. Finally, the preview mentions adrenaline and ammo packs (which replace pills and first aid kits). The adrenaline packs allow you to run past zombies without them slowing you down, as well as removing restrictions on your melee attack. Sounds good to me, although removing health packs seems a little odd. I trust Valve, though. They know what they’re doing.

EA and Crytek announced today that Crysis 2 will be coming to Xbox 360, PS3, and of course the PC. No release date or additional info was announced, but since Crysis was actually a great game hidden under hype about graphical prowess, I’m looking forward to this. Console fans should rejoice too, since the game is damn sure to be fantastic looking. Get your HDMI TV and cable ready for this one, folks. You’ll thank me when Crysis 2 comes out.

The Magna Carta is a pretty important historical document.  It’s also a Japanese RPG.  A sequel is being released for the Xbox 360 and still has me asking the question.  What does this game have to do with the Magna Carta?

Magna Carta, from what I understand, is an RPG based in a fantasy world that has nothing to do with the real English Magna Carta of 1215.   I have never played the game, but it has a rhythm based combat system, which will return in this sequel.  The graphics for the new game will be updated from the original and from what screenshots over at Famitsu, it should at least be pretty to look at.

The basic rundown of the story is that society is slowly rebuilding itself to its former glory one-thousand years after a huge war. However, new wars are popping up after the assassination of a queen. The game also seems to feature a wolf man of sorts, and of course as is standard in Japanese RPGs, there’s lots of pretty girl characters who’s armor rating is inverse to the amount of armor they’re actually wearing.

Apparently the first game did really well in Korea, and they are probably trying to market to that demographic again.  Magna Carta is scheduled to release around August 2009, so keep your eyes open in Korea…

Source: Famitsu

LEGO Rock Band has been officially announced today, after plenty of internet rumours and speculation. The game will ship in “Holiday 2009″ for PS3, Xbox 360, Wii and DS. Harmonix and TT Games will be working together for all versions of the game, and Rock Band Unplugged developer Backbone Entertainment will join in the fun for the DS version. Hit the jump for a little more info and a few confirmed tracks (The Final Countdown is in there).

• Blur: “Song 2″
• Carl Douglas: “Kung Fu Fighting”
• Europe: “The Final Countdown”
• Good Charlotte: “Boys and Girls”
• Pink: “So What”

Warner Bros. have issued the following statement, too:

“LEGO Rock Band combines the multiplayer music experience of Rock Band with the fun, customization and humor of the LEGO videogame franchise packed with brilliant chart-topping songs and classic favorites suitable for younger audiences.”

So LEGO Rock Band is to be aimed at youngsters. Makes sense, but since when do youngsters need a LEGO version of Rock Band to get your plastic guitar all sticky? They do it fine with the normal version.

Harmonix and PDP have announced that they will be shipping a kick pedal and double bass pedal adaptor pack for $24.99. The pedal is compatible with all iterations of Rock Band (every console), as well as Guitar Hero: Metallica and Guitar Hero: World Tour.

This is great for those who are either really good at the drums, or those who like to be frustrated by even greater difficulty. It’s a good deal considering that you might have had to shell out for a new drum kit to play the Expert+ mode in GH:Metallica. Oh, and don’t forget, folks, Guitar Hero:Metallica has the Zungre Seal of Approval™.

Destructoid reports that Valve have confirmed the release date, April 21, for the free Left 4 Dead ‘Survival pack’ we reported on last month. The pack will contain the other two maps, Dead Air and Death Toll, for versus mode, as well as the new “Survival” mode in which you aim to survive the hordes for as long as possible. It’s coming for both 360 and PC, free on both, so nobody has an excuse to not get it- there will even be a special version of the game released at retail with the extra content for those of you who don’t already have the game.

Star Ocean 4 released on the Xbox 360 in Japan has hit the list of one of the best selling games for the system in Japan.  Sitting high with Blue Dragon and Tales of Vespia.  It seems as though Japanese RPG’s are the way to 360 sales in Japan.

The Square Enix game went on sale on February 19th and has been selling nonstop ever since.  The numbers listed so far put it at around 166,000 copies sold since that date.  Blue Dragon selling 203,000 and Tales at around 170,000.

Those are some really decent sales numbers, and even though some skeptics say the 360 will never do well in Asia, it seems they really just need to make sure to release games that are popular for that area.  Someone should tell Microsoft that not everyone likes Halo.

Source:  Famitsu

Report from Famitsu that the sequel to Dynasty Warriors Gundam, cleverly titled Dynasty Warriors Gundam 2 or Gundam Musou 2 in Japan is getting five new scenarios to download on February 12th.  One is even themed!

Four of these new scenarios seem pretty standard, save the world type stuff but therei s one that really stands out.  Apparently the evil forces have stolen chocolate, yeah chocolate.  In a real war time Chocolate is a big deal, and this is a war during Valentines so you know chocolate is important on a whole other level.

Being the big hero you are, you have to go out and get the chocolate back from those bad guys.  According to the screenshot posted above apparently they are carrying most the chocolate inside their own mobile suits.  I know when I steal something as important as chocolate I don’t put it on freight ships to be taken far away from battle.  I keep it right in the fray were it is most needed….

I am not completetly sure but I don’t think this is out stateside yet, but I do hope you guys get these missions if/when it does release because there is no thrill like that of getting chocolate back for that mobile suit loved one.

The content will be available on the PS3 and Xbox360 but not PS2 (sorry guys).

Source:  Famitsu

Take part God of War, part Shinobi, and part Ninja Gaiden and you get the soon to be released game in Japan Ninja Blade.

The 360 title is being released on Janurary 29th and looks to please many a ninja fan.  The main character Ken is doing what ninjas do best — fighting bad guys around Japan.  The Famitsu news explains a lot of the story, but honestly that part is rather hum drum.  You are the good guy ninja fighting the bad guy ninjas.  You know, same ole thing.  The best part is the action involved in the game.  From screenshots alone, there is high-flying fighting, ninja magic, and yeah — missile riding, because all ninja learn how to do that in mystic ninja school.

If you are familiar with OTOGI, this is the same team.  I can’t say I have ever played the game myself so I am not really sure what to expect out of this new ninja title, but it’s nice to have some martial arts action on the 360.  These guys seemed to go all out with getting city styles from Japan in game along with making the main character look very deadly — maybe not too powerful, but he does indeed seem to be quite the fighter.

One thing that makes me really want to get this game is the sheer amount of different weapons he seems to carry and be able to use.  The standard ninja style katana is there, but you can also dual wield smaller swords, carry a giant sword for whatever reason you may see fit, and even a whip weapon of sorts.  You are going to get a lot of different playstyle abilities with all the different weapons.

Did I mention you can upgrade them?  The game includes a system to, of course, make those awesome weapons even more awesome to eliminate the bad guys faster and faster as the game progresses.  You aren’t just limited to melee weapons, though — there are of course ninja stars or “kunai” for those of you up on your Japanese, and let’s not forget the ninja magic.  The descriptions of the magic seem fairly light, though, so I think they are really wanting you to focus on weapon play over all other styles of combat.  The outfit our ninja friend Ken wears can also be changed giving better stats to help get past the trials at hand.

This game has something for everyone, and some people tire of constant battle so for those of you there are small mini game style parts where you may have to press button combos to do specific attacks to bosses, or just mash a button to keep hanging on.

All in all I think for a straight action title, it looks to be a solid game with some decent replayability.  You will also notice that in the picture I chose to show off this title to you all he is riding a sword. That’s right, a sword.

Source:  Famitsu

Shacknews reports that Fallout 3’s first downloadable content pack will be available on 27 January. Operation: Anchorage (the name of the pack) will allow players to liberate Anchorage from China, and you can play in the snow it will take about 4-5 hours to complete. The pack costs 800 MS points on 360 and PC, and nothing on the PS3. Seems like a good deal, but when you factor in that Microsoft’s exclusivity arrangement, your $0 will get you nothing. Still no love for PS3 owners, I suppose. The next packs are coming in February and March, if you’re not a snow fan.

[Update] Patch details after the jump, comes with free PC download link.

Bug Fixes

* Friends notification no longer causes the game to pause. (Playstation 3)
* Fixed occasional crashes during loading and waiting.
* Friendly or neutral NPC health bars, when taking damage, no longer flicker repeatedly.
* Fixed issue where certain NPCs would occasionally disappear from the game.
* Fixed issue where dead NPCs would occasionally come back to life.
* Fixed rendering issue with the Gatling Laser gun’s tracers.
* Fixed issue where the haircut menu would occasionally not appear properly.
* Added ability to remap your VATS and pip boy buttons.
* Fixed rare load/save issues that would cause NPCs to behave incorrectly.
* Fixed issue where quest objectives would occasionally not update properly due to talking activators, intercoms and conversations.
* Using Radaway from the Pip-Boy’s Status Menu repeatedly no longer crashes the game.
* Player no longer gets stuck in level up menu if their skills are maxed out.
* Fixed issue where multiple followers would occasionally not load into an interior.
* Fixed rare issue with getting stuck in VATS mode.
* Fixed rare crash with fighting NPCs with corrupted data.
* In game radios will now play properly if player was listening to the radio in the Pip-Boy first. (Playstation 3)
* Fixed rare crashes while loading and saving games.
* Fixed rare issue where player would fall through the floor while in VATS.
* Fixed occasional crash after scoring a critical hit in the head with a Railway Rifle.
* Prevent NPCs from inadvertently dying from falling.
* Fixed occasional issue where the controller would stop working properly.
* Fixed crashes related to repeatedly equipping and dropping clothing and armor into the world.

Quest Fixes

* Fixed several instances where quest item stayed in inventory permanently after completing quests.
* Fixed an issue where the distress message would occasionally not play in Trouble on the Homefront.
* In The Waters of Life quest, the Citadel gate will open properly if the player fast travels away after exiting the Taft Tunnels but before reaching the Citadel gate with Doctor Li.
* For the Home Sweet Home quest, the broken protectrons in Big Town become active at the proper time.
* In The American Dream quest, fixed specific issue which prevented the player from accessing their belongings in the locker by the door if they left the room first.
* Fixed infinite caps exploit in Strictly Business quest.
* Fixed rare instance where Dad would have no valid dialogue during The Waters of Life quest.
* Prevent issue during the Finding the Garden of Eden quest where player would fade to black, instead of traveling to Raven Rock, while in combat with a follower.
* Fixed several XP speech exploits with certain NPCs.
* Fixed XP exploit with a robot in Fort Bannister.
* Fixed issue where player’s controls can become locked permanently during The American Dream.

Download it here or here.

These stories are getting a bit stale, aren’t they?  Not stale enough, apparently, or maybe it’s just not important for Microsoft to fix their shit.  You see, my latest Xbox 360 is dead.  I purchased a new Arcade version in January after my then current 360 was assassinated.  I’ve been using it since then until it started freezing, at which time I moved it to the other television and used it solely for movie-watching.  Less than eight months later, it does nothing but blink red and laugh at me.

Seriously, Microsoft, what is your fucking problem?  Every few months I read about how all these improvements are being made and that 360’s are becoming more reliable.  Do you just make this stuff up?  Do they break more reliably or something?  My latest 360 demise came earlier than the other two, so if by more reliable you mean less reliable, then congrats — you’re definitely on the right track.

Everything that’s great about the 360 and all of this exclusive content you’re getting doesn’t mean a goddamn thing if I’m unable to enjoy any of it because my shit’s all busted.  The new Xbox Experience can go fuck itself unless my Avatar will sit inside my console all day performing maintenance to keep it running.

Don’t you realize that you are only hurting yourself?  Don’t you realize that the public opinion of the Xbox 360 is that it is an unreliable piece of garbage?  Don’t you realize that you are costing yourself more money by replacing 360’s over and over than you would if you just fixed the problem? What happened between the original Xbox, which I gamed on for 4 years with no problems whatsoever (and it still works to this day), and the 360, which I’ve owned 4 of so far in less than 3 years? And now it appears likely I will be getting a fifth one…

There are plenty of 360 fanboys out there that will claim “I’ve never had a problem”, and that may be true, but I don’t know a single person that has owned a 360 for more than a year that has not had to send it in for repair.  My guess is that the people that haven’t had any problems are most likely not using it multiple hours every day.  The failure rate is clearly 100% — it’s just a matter of when, not if.

My relationship with the 360 has become abusive.  I try to remember only the good times we had and pretend that the times he hit me are long gone.  The 360 keeps telling me that he’s changed, and I believe it because I love the 360.  Then, for no reason, the 360 gets mad and throws me down a flight of stairs, I call the police, and the 360 goes into rehab for 2 weeks.

Then he shows up at my door, gift-wrapped, and we go back to doing all of the fun things that made me love him in the first place.  Every time we get together, though, I’m always fearful that he will slip into his abusive ways.  Sometimes the 360 will freeze during a game, and I reset it hoping that I will see green lights and not red ones.  Sometimes I turn it on and see no lights for a few seconds, and I get scared.  I never know when the 360 is going to hurt me again.

For real, Microsoft, I am not very happy.  There are millions of 360 owners out there that you are also making not very happy.  That is not good.  You need to fix this problem NOW before one of us shoots you in the face.

Source: That blinking-red piece of shit in my living room.

It’s kind of hard to argue with the popular belief that the console versions of TF2 are massively inferior to the PC one. They don’t have 32 player matches, they’ve got awful controls, there’s barely any community to speak of, it used to be obscenely laggy, and they’ve never gotten any of the cool (and free) updates the PC version has, like Achievements and new weapons for the Medic and Pyro, and most recently the Heavy.

Well, maybe things will get better when Valve releases a massive update to the 360 version of TF2 later this year. Speaking with Kotaku, Valve’s Doug Lombardi remarked that they’d be bringing the whole suite of new stuff in one big happy box full of downloadable TF2 goodness to Xbox Live Marketplace – new maps, modes, class updates, everything. Since, unlike the PC version, Valve has to charge for this update, they thought they’d make it worth gamers’ money by making it a substantial package.

10 bones seems to be the going estimate for all this, but otherwise no official word on pricing or any incoming PS3 updates.

Source: Kotaku

So it comes with great, great relief and welcome that reports from the Leipzig show floor are coming of a new, redesigned 360 controller with an improved d-pad. The rest of the controller seems to be look the same, but the d-pad has been re-engineered to have eight-way input (hello shoryukens), and in general just feels smoother, more responsive, more tactile – better in every way. Hardcore Street Fighter IV players will obviously still want the arcade stick, but at least we know we won’t be completely gimped if we’re ever forced to use the controller.

According to IGN the controller will come out at the same time as Pro Evolution Soccer 2009 – which means autumn for Europe, but leaves us Americans clueless for now.

Source: IGN

For dedicated achievement whores who are strapped for cash but don’t want to sell their entire game collection, there’s a new option-– sell the time you spend playing them.

It’s widespread practice, it seems. Den of Geek has found an auction offering such services for Gears of War. The Ebay link is nowhere to be found, but plenty of others – like this one for Guitar Hero and another for Gears of War – are out there. A bit more digging and you can even pimp your gamerscore on a grand scale.

This works because you’re not actually selling your own achievements or gamerscore, which are technically property of Microsoft anyway. You’re selling your time to do it for someone else. All you need is their live ID and password.

Would I buy them off you? Probably not. Sure, having them all would look great, but it’s still someone else’s score. I’ll still be as good (or rather, as bad) as I was before I paid to have these false accolades bestowed on me. Still, plenty of people out there fed up of being a noob.

Here’s the ad as posted on Den of Geek:

GEARS OF WAR – ACHIEVEMENT GLITCH!

The following auction is for the following achievements to be unlocked on your xbox 360 account :

SERIOUSLY… – 50G

All weapon achievements, including sniper, hammer of dawn etc.

Once payment is recieved., please send me the following details :

Your Gamertag, Email & Email Password.

And we will discuss a convenient time for both of us on when i should do it

Once recovered, i will have finished in around 15 minutes

After the achievements are unlocked on your profile, i will delete your account from my hard-drive and email you so that you know i have finished.

In a recent opinion poll, 74.7% of the PlayStation 3 owners surveyed considered Xbox Live to be the online service with the best feature set when compared to PlayStation Network and WiiConnect24.  In addition, 71.4% of the people that actually own an Xbox 360 feel as though Xbox Live is worth the subscription fee.

Possibly even more intriguing is the fact that of the people that owned all three consoles, meaning they had the option of playing multiplatform games online for free, 63% still found Xbox Live to be worth the price. Another statistic that I found particularly interesting is that an in-game XMB is the feature most wanted on PSN, even more so than Home, Trophies, and further PSP integration.

The survey was conducted by Game Informer and printed in their August 2008 issue.

Major Nelson let loose on his latest podcast that the upcoming Dashboard update for the Xbox 360 will be entirely optional.  Well, you’ll most likely still have to download it, but you can continue to use the old blades system and even forgo the new Miis Avatars and stick with your Gamerpic.  Oh, and you can do it all in game.

Here are the words straight from the Major’s mouth:

“The Dashboard as you know it today, in other words the ‘blades’; Games, Live, Media and System, We’ve taken those blades and moved them to the Guide. Every single function that you can do today in the Dashboard you are going to be able to do in the New Xbox Experience in the Guide.

When you press the Guide button on the Xbox 360 controller, the new Guide will come up and you’re going to be able to do everything in there. You’re going to be able to contextually browse Marketplace, did you know that? So when you have Gears of War 2 of Halo 3 in there you’re going to be able to go straight to that section. And if you don’t like the avatars, they’re not required. You can use your Gamer Pictures.”

Yay!  Microsoft is doing one of the things that I actually like about them: they’re giving me options.  Now they just need to release a Blu-Ray player, and everyone will be happy.

Source: Play.tm

After moving houses just a few short days ago, and with no internet to speak of, I was settling down to a nice relaxing week away from the daily buzz of the net to get some quality time with Beijing 2008, which Sega kindly sent me to review. However, it appears Microsoft had other plans. Read on for my full review of System Error – E 74.

Unlike the highly popular and successful Red Ring of Death or its sequel, Disc Read Error, System Error – E 74 (SEE74) is a surprisingly hard title to get hold of. To get yourself a copy, you need to have an older model Xbox 360 (1 or 2 weeks old should do) as well as a game you want to play. In my case, my review copy of Beijing 2008 and my Xbox Premium.

Simply insert the game you want to play into your Xbox and, with a bit of luck, nothing will happen and you get a single flashing red light and an error message. If this happens, congratulations, you’re now playing SEE74.

The story crafted into SEE74 is one of mystery, sadness and dragons. An epic tale of a system error gone too far. Left along in an uncaring console to try to find itself in the ever changing and patching world. 74 began as just an idle error code, alone for months in hibernation as the console world changed around it.

The game starts as 74 is awoken by an unknown force. With nothing more than its message written in several languages, it is the player’s job to help 74 track down its fellow errors and solve the mystery of why it was awoken and why it was chosen over the others.

With several surprising plot twists and an ending sure to make even the toughest gamer well up, the story really is one of the finest examples of the power of video games as a story telling medium to date.

Graphically, SEE74 is a little on the disappointing side. Using simple text and only a few different fonts, the designers really did limit themselves. Displaying the message “System Error. Contact Xbox Customer Support” in 11 languages feels very standard for this generation and leaves a lot to be desired. The hardware accompaniment of a single, flashing red light is nice a touch and clearly a subtle reference to SEE74’s inspiration, RROD.

In-game soundtrack is again on the poor side. The loud internal fans do a good job of reminding the user where they are, but a little more would have been appreciated.

The gameplay feels very similar to RROD, which isn’t necessarily a bad thing. The game takes the classic “Ring customer support, give all your details, turn it off, turn it on, repeat”. However, there are a few differences experiences players will defiantly pick up on. Once you get to the later levels of customer support for example, it becomes apparent that your warranty will not cover 74 and you will have to pay to get it fixed.

The Customer Support AI is solid, if a little buggy from time to time leading to occasional frustration. You will also be asked for a lot of information which will cause you to have to switch between your phone and your inventory several times. The interface here could use a little more polish, but remains practical and doesn’t detract from your game

The story of little 74 is stunning and truly the games strongest point, however you will feel a little let down that the presentation is not up to the same level. The bugs with the AI are noticeable but bearable and although frustrating, won’t detract from the overall experience of the game.

With that in mind I would have to recommend this game as a rent, even with its top notch story, you probably won’t want to play it more than once.

The Xbox 360 has now passed the landmark sales figure of 5 million units sold across Europe, a figure reached by the PS3 nearly 2 months ago. Regardless, Microsoft insist they are ahead in sales.

Before you start getting confused because everybody is saying contradictory things, remember, these are PR people. Sales figures are never very accurate for many reasons, and even if they are, you will never see a breakdown of numbers to find out what they really mean.

With that in mind, David Gosen, the European VP of strategic marketing for interactive entertainment at Microsoft, told MCV that the Xbox has now sold “well over” five million units across Europe.

He also went on to dash claims by analysts who have said that this Christmas season will see the dominance of the PS3 saying that “anyone trying to call a winner this Christmas is calling too early”. He went on to say that “contrary to what’s been reported we are at least, if not more than, three quarters of a million ahead of PS3.”

Further hammering home of his message, if needed, comes in his response to industry analysts who have said that sales of the Xbox are slowing dramatically. Gosen said that his message to them “is to check their numbers”.

So I did. Granted, vgChartz are never the most reliable source of industry sales figures, but they do give at least some indication to the state of the main consoles. The 360 is selling fine, no wall to report on.

However, I did discover few more interesting facts. The Hardware Sales From Launch graph shows that the total sales between the PS3 and the 360 are basically the same right now in Europe, give or take a few tens of thousands. Even though the 360 launched a year before the PS3.

Looking at the Weekly Hardware Sales Chart paints a much bleaker picture for the Xbox in Europe, showing the PS3 has outsold its rival every month, consistently, since last September.

What do you think, are these numbers enough to convince you we are likely to be seeing a blu-ray Christmas, or does Microsoft have something planned to turn the tables back on Sony?

Source: MCV

With just a few short weeks until E3 ’08, it looks like Microsoft has another trick up its sleeve.  Spurred from a few snapped photos of a K-Mart add for July 6th, it would appear that Microsoft is planning on dropping the Xbox 360 Pro Bundle from $349.99 to $299.99.

If this and the Xbox Avatars rumor turn out to be factual, it would seem that Microsoft is serious about grabbing some of the casual market from Nintendo.

Although this price cut could simply be a sales promo for K-Mart’s July 4th weekend sale, it is more likely to think we might see other retailers following suit in the near future. Here’s hoping.

Source: Shacknews, High-Def Digest Forums

Hand painted by Maritza Torres, this Xbox 360 Elite has possibly the coolest paint job I’ve seen in a long while.

Commissioned as part of a cunning competition being run by Titanstrike (a social networking site for gamers) this 360 would make any gamer weak at the knees. Though I know I wouldn’t dare turn it on for fear of having to ship it off to Microsoft, and I don’t think anybody would want to do that.

Possibly on par with the coolness of the console itself (more pics can be found in the gallery at the bottom) is the time-lapse video shown below of it being painted.

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To try and get your dirty hands on this one of a kind 360, head over to Titanstrike.com

With the hype beginning to build for GTA IV’s release this summer, Microsoft decided to ramp it up another notch by giving out 500 free GTA IV branded Xbox 360s.

As well as a freshly painted Xbox 360 Elite, the lucky few who received their gift also got a briefcase containing all the accessories they could ever conceivably need for their new toy; wi-fi connector, webcam, media remote control, blu-ray drive, it’s all in there (ok, maybe there isn’t a blu-ray drive).

Sadly, you wont be seeing one of these any time soon as they are only for the chosen few. You are stuck with your far inferior, unbranded, plebby 360. I would also like to make it known that I called it first: limited edition GTA IV PS3.

Source: Complex

As the not-very-ambiguous headline hints we’ve been told that the embargo has lifted and we know bring you the official confirmation of Prey 2 and its existence, this is as official as it gets, kids. Hit the break for more info and high-res concept art.
I believe it’s safe to call Prey a franchise now with this announcement, especially when you consider that it was among the first FPS’ to establish its foothold in this generation of consoles.

That’s right, more vaginal doorways for us all! As if it wasn’t expected– I mean, the ending of Prey itself proclaimed “Prey will continue…” and it wasn’t lying.

We’re told that the sequel, as you would expect, will build and expand on the established plot and original game mechanics, such as gravity altering and portal technology. Human Head studios are at the helm of Prey 2’s development and it’s slated to hit the PC and Xbox 360, just as the original did.

The original Prey and its aforementioned sequel surely have great ideas behind them, but that’s just it — as of now they are ideas, nothing more. I don’t mean to pull any punches and I don’t mean that in a cold-hearted, snarky manner, but more like an inquisitive one.

To quote Paul Wedgewood, the Creative Director of Splash Damage (makers of Quake Wars: Enemy Territory), “I’ve learned the hard way that ideas are cheap. Naturally, the more time you invest in the study of game design, the easier it gets to have great ideas. But it’s the actual execution that’s so important and expensive.”

If Human Head can indeed execute on their ideas – and we have no reason to believe otherwise, it’ll surely make us all happy to be gamers.

How many gaming facts can you get wrong in one article? The New York Times says five. Five relatively well known gaming facts were right muddled up governor! The New York Times needed to get things straight, and it took them a week to do so.

Last Friday the New York Times discussed “essential hardware”, which was fine until reaching the joy that was the gaming section of this piece. It was full to the brim with factual errors that’ll make you cringe.

First up is Gran Turismo 5. According to the New York Times this game has already been released and is a worldwide bestseller for the Playstation 3. If only it had been released, but GT5:Prologue is only just reaching those in Japan.

Moreover, the author wrote with vigour that the Playstation 3 was available for a low price of $299. We wish! Does this inaccuracy reflect on the position of the Playstation 3 in the US psyche? No, it just shows the Time’s disinterest in video games. A theory supported by their following errors.

Halo 3 is not the first Halo outing on the Xbox 360, according to the Times. Since the original Halo games are playable on the Xbox 360 through backwards compatibility, they are apparently Xbox 360 games. At least they knew the game was out, and could justify writing about it being a best seller.

But wait, the New York Times can top this all with the piece de resistance: the Xbox 360 is powered by Cell. Aye, Sony has joined with Microsoft to put Ken Kutaragi’s brain child into the Xbox 360. That’s one of the Playstation3’s selling points, no wonder the Xbox 360 is trouncing it in the US.

Here’s the New York Time’s full correction in all its innocent glory, posted on the 4th December:

An article in Business Day on Friday about favorite gadgets of executives referred incorrectly to the video game Gran Turismo 5. It has not yet been released, and thus is not a best-selling game. The article also referred imprecisely to the game Halo 3. It is the first game in the Halo series designed for the Xbox 360; the earlier games, though playable on the Xbox 360, were designed for the original Xbox. The chip in the Xbox 360 also was misidentified. It has a Xenon chip, not a Cell processor. And the article also misstated the price of the Sony PlayStation 3. The PlayStation 3 starts at $399, not $299.

Bless. I said it’s like your Grandmother attempting to talk about the Pussycat Dolls; it’s also reminiscent of the current Prime Minister of Great Britain name dropping the Arctic Monkeys. Cringe.

Rockstar revealed the official box art for Grand Theft Auto IV today, albeit in a manner we’re not very used to seeing. A video clip on GameTrailers shows several artists constructing it piece by piece on a wall until we’re given the full picture at the end.

The final product doesn’t stray too far from its pedigree, but the painterly style does shy away from the flat, cartoon-styled covers we’ve seen in the past. It really fits in with IV’s classier, more mature aesthetic.

Looking back at the art for previous GTA games reveals some pretty interesting trends, from each depicting a helicopter in the top-left to the “frames” becoming more and more dynamic over the years (GTAIII looks like The Brady Bunch, in comparison to recent fare). These are nuanced details, to be sure, but they serve as a small marker of the series’ evolution from the third on.

As neat as the box art is, perhaps the most exciting bit of the trailer comes at the end, revealing a new trailer entitled “Move up, ladies” to be released on December 6. Citing frame rate and other graphical woes as part of the reason for delaying GTAIV’s release, we can only hope the new teaser shows some progress.

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To watch the unveiling please go to this link at GameTrailers.

Broken links on both Xbox.com and Bungie.com? What’s the deal here? It appears that Microsoft has “updated” the details to the promotion which originally stated that those who bought an Xbox 360 between November 21st and December 21st would receive a free copy of Halo 3.

The update now states that in order to qualify for the free copy of Halo 3, you must have an active XBL subscription on the original Xbox. Seems like poor logic if you ask us, as Microsoft is essentially telling new customers “take your money elsewhere”.

Source: Kotaku

It’s quite funny what rumors can start in gaming forums, all from the poor comprehension of the few. So now, here’s a good one. Uncharted: Drake’s Fortune, developed by Naugthy Dog for the Playstation 3, could be ported to the Xbox360. We like this. Just as moronic as PS3 fanboys screaming about Bioshock coming over to their little baby.

So it all starts in an innocent interview with Evan Wells, Naughty Dog’s co-president, at Eurogamer. The question in question is this one, “How hard would it be to port Uncharted to the Xbox 360?” I will cut down Evan’s response into manageable chunks, and we’ll see what we can discern from it.

Firstly, he says “I won’t say that it would be impossible, but it would be very difficult and we most certainly would have to make enough concessions that it would start to feel like a different game”. Naturally, of course it isn’t impossible, or at least it would be hard to say it’s impossible without actually attempting to port the game. And since Naughty Dog developed the game exclusively for the PS3, it would indeed be very difficult.

We’ve already seen how third party developers are struggling with porting to the PS3 from the Xbox360. Quite simply, porting is a bitch. However, it’d be even more difficult in this case. Naughty Dog have used the SPU’s (mini processors on the PS3’s Cell) in their animation system, calculating physics and more. They have perfected this so much, that at this moment, much of the game relies on the specific nature of Cell. For example, Christophe Balestra (Naughty Dog’s co-Vice President) states; “We developed a brand new animation system that took full advantage of the SPU’s. Nathan Drake’s final animation is made of different layers like running, breathing, reloading weapons, shooting, facial expression, etc; we end up decompressing and blending up to 30 animations every frame on the SPU’s.”

Whether this animation system will translate over to the Xbox360 is hard to say. It’s certainly not impossible, but since the game was made with Cell in mind, some concessions would need to be made. Furthermore, since Uncharted is the best looking PS3 game, Naughty Dog have had to work very close to the PS3’s hardware to get the visuals they have achieved, and would need to work just as hard to achieve them on the 360 – meaning a port might take over a year.

Evan then gives an example of what might be conceded in the port: “One thing that would be particularly difficult would be keeping the game load-free. The HDD really came in handy and allowed us to have pretty big open levels with lots of detail.” Yes Uncharted is one of the very few games that has zero loading throughout the whole game. The game is completely streamed, and this is only possible with the PS3’s Hard Drive, which not every Xbox360 has. Not game breaking perhaps, but it would make it a very different game, making it less of the movie experience that it is trying to achieve.

Furthermore, the game takes up 22GB of a Blu-ray disc, whereas an Xbox360 DVD is only 9GB. Lets not get into a fanboy war about the advantage of Blu-ray, since the Xbox has Mass Effect, a huge game, in fact far longer than Uncharted in game length. But that somewhat misses the point, could Naughty Dog have compressed the game to fit into 9gb? Perhaps. However, once again they would need to make a lot of concessions, and spend money doing so, removing resources from making the visuals and gameplay as good as they are. The high quality surround sound, the hundreds of minutes of HD cutscenes, and the high-res textures all take up space. As Christophe says, “To get such high-resolution textures and movies, a Blu-ray was indispensable to achieve the graphic quality of Uncharted. We fill the disc at 91 percent and it’s optimized, meaning we don’t duplicate any data. That includes all our game data, sounds, 7 spoken languages and 102 minutes of movie.”

Some how Evan’s reply drew this response from a particular gaming blog: “In order to have those huge levels, it has to be installed on the hard drive, because the Blu-Ray drive is far too slow to load quickly (which is why in many PlayStation 3 games have repeated content on the discs.)” No the game doesn’t have to be installed on to the hard drive because the Blu-ray drive is too slow. There is no loading in Uncharted, none, and the hard drive helps with this yes, but the game isn’t actually installed onto the PS3: “We’re only using the hard drive as a cache, the game doesn’t need to be installed, but the fact the hard drive is on every PlayStation 3 helped our streaming technology dramatically.”

Moreover, the PS3’s blu-ray drive is not slower than the Xbox360’s drive when the 360 is reading a double-layer DVD, and let’s face it, most if not all games are on a double-layer DVD. Read speeds are approximately equal. And no, many PS3 games do not have repeated content on the discs. Oblivion is said to do this, for unknown reasons, but I can assure you that the 22GB’s of Uncharted does not include any duplicated data, though of course much of it will be extras and HD cutscene movies.

And so, does Evan’s comment mean Uncharted could be ported to the Xbox360? I don’t bloody know! Both consoles have not hit the roof of their capabilities yet, they both have a long way to go with developers squeezing more and more out of them each year. What I do know, is that they are very different beasts, and if you develop exclusively for the PS3 you have to think very differently about your game engine. Using the SPU’s means you have to program to the specificity of the PS3 hardware and this can result in very specific things, like Nariko’s hair (Heavenly Sword) or Naughty Dog’s animation system. Porting this over to the Xbox360 might just be more trouble than its worth. Let alone Naughty Dog is owned by Sony and anything they make will only be on a Sony console…

So in celebration of this gloriously absurd rumor I present to you Nathan Drake dancing in this hilarious little video:

According to a link posted on N4G.com there is a podcast on zmedia that mentions (about half way through) a deal between Epic and Sony to potentially bringing a Gears of War like I.P. to the Playstation 3.

When asked about the impact of the exclusive deal between Sony and Epic for Unreal Tournament they said “The guys who are making the biggest selling game for your platform (before Halo 3 ships) are all mobbed up with Sony.”

“I am excited, defiantly, about being able to play (unreal tournament) on a PS3 with my 5.1 sound … It’s like Gears of War quality with like much bigger levels.”

Will the rumors ever end. This is far from confirmed in terms of news, but the podcast is very interesting to listen to and does discuss the good, bad, and ugly of this years E3 as well as gaming in general.