In a bid to undercut Nintendo’s Wii in Japan, Microsoft plans to slash the price of the Xbox 360 by almost 30%.

Japanese demand has been low for Microsoft’s console, but after a recent surge, thanks to Bandai-Namco’s ‘Tales of Vesperia,’ things are looking up for the American company.  To further rally Japan behind the Xbox 360, Nikkei business daily reports that Microsoft will drop the Arcade model’s price to 19,800 yen ($180).  This follows a previous 20% price cut from 34,800 yen to 27,800 yen earlier this year.

The Xbox 360 will now be the cheapest contemporary console on the market, with the Nintendo Wii in close second at 25,000 yen, and Sony’s PlayStation 3 in a distant third at 39,800 yen.

Although the hard-drive’less Arcade is the only model reported to recieve a price cut, we expect the other models to fall in line, along with announcements for world-wide price cuts.

Source: Reuters

If, like me, you are looking forward to the brand new space-based, real-time-combat-using, better-than-WoW, totally-awesome new MMO from Codemasters that is Jumpgate Evolution, then you may feel your pants tightening with the following trailer.

Nations At War is the first trailer for the game developed by NetDevil to really show its scale. With dozens of ship types and several beautifully crafted space scenes, this trailer not only gives us what we want, but is also a clear indication of what the end result will be.

If you would like to find out more about Jumpgate Evolution (and you know you want to) then have a read of our initial impressions, or our interview with the game’s producer, Hermann Peterscheck. Also, make sure to keep your eyes out for our hands-on with the game at this years PAX in a couple of weeks.

Jumpgate Evolution is currently in closed beta and is expected to release in Spring ‘09. You can sign up for the open beta at the official website.

Via: IGN

If you’re a European detective, you might have discovered that the German software ratings board (USK) is listing every game to appear at the upcoming Leipzig Games Convention. At least, most of them.  This can result in some lovely new game titles, possibly spoiling certain publisher’s announcements. 

The Unterhaltungssoftware Selbstkontrolle (USK) software ratings board have a listing on their website for a Sony game titled Savage Moon, which is described to be a Military Strategy game and is rated 12. Naturally, since Sony is the publisher, it’s exclusive to the PlayStation 3.

You can now tick off one of David Reeves’ advertised 12 Leipzig announcements.

Via Neogaf

I’ve got some good news and some bad news. The bad news is that Eat Sleep Play’s new PlayStation 3 game won’t be at the Leipzig Games Convention, despite our hoping and praying. The good news is that I’ve coaxed David Jaffe into detailing when we might be lucky enough to see the new project.

In a previous post I explored David Jaffe’s words for the possibility of Leipzig Games Convention reveal, where Sony will have a considerable selection of titles on show. However, previous fears were correct.  Eat Sleep Play’s “dog and pony” is in reference to an internal showing of their new game.  David Jaffe clarifies his words in a Ripten thread on the Neogaf Forums:

Hey ya’ll- as for our new game, no, we re not showing it next week. Or next month. Or the month after that.

We’re prob. a good 6-10 months away from letting anyone outside of Sony see it. And at that point, I have no clue if they will give it its own showing to the press or make it’s unveiling a part of something like GDC or E3.

Will let ya’ll know- hope you like what we are doing!”

While you lament over that news, there’s even worse to come.  The game won’t even be announced at Leipzig.  No name, no CGI trailer, no anything.

You mean OUR game? Not sure if you are talking about what we are working on. But if you are, hells no. We are just too early. This stuff takes time, man. But trust me, I’m dying to show it and talk about it and show off some of the amazing stuff the team has been up to.

At least David Jaffe let us know before we got too excited.  Nevertheless, we have much more Leipzig content to be excited over.

After receiving the Edge Award for Interactive Innovation, Halo 3 creators Bungie have thanked the publication via a highly entertaining video.  In it there are hints towards a new Halo development, but not a new game as many have been suggesting.

We suspect that when Luke Smith says, “Even though in Halo 3 you finished the fight, it doesn’t necessarily mean the ride’s over,” he is referring to the often teased Halo 3 online expansion. For example, a few weeks ago this was said on Bungie’s very own blog:

While a lot of the changes done this month were backend things that players will never notice, you would be right to think that August’s changes feel very minimal. The reason for this is that we’ve been focused on preparing a larger series of changes to Matchmaking for September. Much larger.

Much, much larger.

No, really. It’s huge. You should see how giddy Luke gets when I talk about the tentative plan.

And even before then “major changes to the Halo 3 Online experience” were teased. Check out the video below.

After the controversy of E3, where Bungie were stopped from making a new game announcement by Microsoft, it seems all they can do is hint and tease.  Well, we’re taking notice and we expect to hear more about an online expansion very soon.  September maybe…

Image Credit: DeepBlue of Neogaf

Sony are the only console giant to have an official showing at this years Leipzig Games Convention and with promises of blockbuster announcements and possible new game revelations, what games do we actually know will be on show from the 20th-24th of this month?

The good news first.  Heavy Rain will be on show with no curtains to hide the presentation from public eyes, so we’ll get to see much more than the already revealed screenshots and behind the scenes footage.

It’s looking less likely that Eat Sleep Play will reveal their new PS3 game at the convention, since previous evidence looks to suggest an internal development showing.  However, there should be a healthy list of titles on show, including the following:

- MotorStorm Pacific Rift
- LittleBigPlanet
- Resistance 2
- Free Realms
- The Agency
- DC Universe Online (announced at E3)
- Infamous
- PlayStation Home
- Killzone 2 (single player and multiplayer hands-on)
- Heavy Rain

Not too shabby, but we certainly hope for more new exclusive game announcements.

The wait for Street Fighter IV should be reduced a little with the announcement that Street Fighter Alpha is making its way to the PlayStation Store this Thursday.

The announcement of this PSOne classic confirms our revelation earlier in the year that the title would soon be on the way.

All things considered, Street Fighter Alpha 3 would probably have been a better decision. And you most likely own a platform that has a superior iteration of Street Fighter. In order of descending radness: Street Fighter III: Third Strike (Dreamcast, PS2, Xbox), Capcom vs. SNK2 (Dreamcast, Gamecube, PS2, Xbox), and finally Street Fighter Alpha 3 (Dreamcast, GBA, PSX, PS2, PSP).

Source: Capcom-Unity