Xbox Gets USB Storage Support April 6th

I'm one of the few lone wolfs out there who are still rockin the first generation 20GB Xbox 360. So this news is especially exciting to me because I have no intention of buying another 360 for a larger HDD. Don't think that I haven't been temped, as the thought of running saved games on my 360 instead of letting the system read from the CD-ROM (very loud I might add) is very appealing.

So imagine my happiness when Microsoft decided to support ANY and all USB sticks (1GB and over) starting April 6th!!!

There are limitations, as the usable partitions is capped at 16GB. So don't think you're going to throw a 1TB thumb drive on there and expect to use it all. But it will support multiple 16GB drives (two at a time) which will give you a 32GB boost. This is a major deal for some of the early adopters of the Xbox 360 like myself, and I look forward to running games directly from the drive.

Anything that makes my Xbox 360 run more quiet is a good thing.

[Crunchgear]

Yathzee leaps off Mirror's Edge

Yahtzee is a British-born, currently Australian-based writer and gamer with a sweet hat and a chip on his shoulder. When he isn't talking very fast into a headset mic he also designs freeware adventure games and writes the back page column for PC Gamer, who are too important to mention us. His personal site is http://www.fullyramblomatic.com/.

And as usual, it is very NSFW.

Ben Heck updates the Xbox 360 laptop with the Xbox 360 Portable

Ben Heckendorn has done it again with another Xbox 360 Portable. Unlike his last Xbox 360 Laptop though, this isn’t just an upgraded Elite version.


Calling it the Xbox 360 Portable, Ben has nixed the keyboard, but has added the ability to swap hard drives, more accessible memory cards, better layout of ports and buttons and internal Wi-Fi.

Seriously, why isn't a company banging this guys door down.  Some of his portable ideas could make a mint for an enterprising company.  Maybe Alienware or a gaming PC type of company could produce some of these.  If Colorware can sell custom painting of a console and charge an arm and a leg, why can't a company make a line of these with this guy at the helm of design.

GTA IV DLC revealed

Rockstar Games is proud to announce that the eagerly anticipated first episode of downloadable content, Grand Theft Auto IV: The Lost and Damned, will be coming to the Xbox 360® video game and entertainment system via Xbox LIVE® online entertainment network. Available exclusively on Xbox LIVE worldwide on February 17th 2009, The Lost and Damned will feature all new content and is the first of two episodes announced for Grand Theft Auto IV on Xbox 360.


Developed by Rockstar North and set in Liberty City, The Lost and Damned features a new main character and plot that intersects with the storyline of Grand Theft Auto IV; new missions that offer an entirely fresh way to explore Liberty City with new multiplayer modes, weapons and vehicles; and a diverse soundtrack with additional music - all with the incredible production values that are the trademarks of Grand Theft Auto.

Grand Theft Auto IV: The Lost and Damned requires players to have the full version of Grand Theft Auto IV for Xbox 360 and Xbox LIVE membership to download. Further details will be announced soon.

Check out high-res screens at www.rockstargames.com/thelostanddamned

Now this is what I call downloadable content.  It looks like you'll play as a one of the Lost biker gang members.  Hopefully they'll have a little less whiny stuff this time.

New Contest - CVG

Well, since I won that contest for a free copy of Pirates Vs. Ninja Dodgeball, everyone wanted to know how they could win stuff.  So here's a great contest over at Computer & Video Games where you can win a a custom Gears Of War 2 Xbox 360 console.  Even if you have a 360, this would be a great item to win.  So here's the contest page and good luck to everyone.

Been Busy Gaming

   OK, I've been a little busy playing some games the past week or two.  The first of the three games I was eagerly anticipating was Saints Row 2.  The Saints Row series has a lot in common with the GTA series, except with their latest offering they didn't decide to go the more realistic route and just up the fun factor from a very underrated game. 
   Now, I won't lie to you, the plot is nowhere near the quality and depth of Grand Theft Auto 4.  But as with the first one, the plot is just a means to get right to the meat of the game, the action.  And the action is fast and abundant.  As opposed to the start of Grand Theft Auto 4, where your first mission is to drive from the ship you disembark to your cousins apartment (not exactly a ramp up of action), you start off waking up from a coma in prison and have to fight your way out of jail (as opposed to the way Prison Break decided to make it an everlasting way of breaking out of jail.)
   And the game does not slow down from there.  The next few missions have you assaulting strongholds, killing rival gang members and just causing general mayhem until the final missions.  The main story line is not extremely long (42 story missions and 14 strongholds necessary to finish game), but they extend the game with the fact that to do a certain level of the game you need to achieve a certain level of respect.  Even though it seems this is just a cheap way to lengthen the game, earning respect actually makes the game easier.
   You earn respect by playing through missions and strongholds, completing activities and diversions and killing rival gang members.  In addition, you earn higher respect multipliers by buying new clothes and and items for your cribs.  Once your respect bar fills up, you can access higher missions.

   Now the part of the game that I like better than GTA4, the variety of activities and diversions, and the territory aspect.  The territories of rival gangs are eventually taken over when you complete a mission or stronghold, when that is accomplished, you earn a certain amount of money per day.  You can also purchase businesses in territories you own, and they give you a certain amount of money per day.  Trust me, the price of ammo really makes this necessary.  Plus the activities (Hitman and Chop Shop) and diversions (stunt jumps, barnstorming, driving activities, mini-games) all earn you money, respect and certain levels give you perks like certain weapons or unlimited ammo.  Also, in addition to your star rating with police, you have the same with the other gangs, if you go in their turf and smoke a couple of their guys, they will come after you, the more you kill the more they send after you at once.  This can cause additional problems during missions and everything. 
   Overall, I give the game a 8.5 out of 10.  A solid B effort.  There are a lot of graphical glitches and slowdowns that preclude it from getting a better rating, but its worth buying.  So far, I've completed 81% total (the finished game and a lot of the activities). 
   Next I'll let you know about Fable 2 which was the next game I was playing, but my download of Fallout 3 from Steam is complete so I have to start the 3rd game of my trifecta.  If you have any questions or comments feel free to email me, I can let you know more stuff in detail than I can on this little review.

Dell Offers Xbox 360 Elite For $300 And Arcade For $179

For some of you luck bastards that wanted to wait for the best price for an Xbox 360, its time to jump on the band wagon. Dell is offering the Xbox 360 Elite for $300, which is a steal. But if you're one of those absolute cheap penny pinching gamers, you can pick up a Xbox 360 Arcade, bundled with Madden '09 for $179.

Just go to Dells site and plug in the coupon code (5Z051006DSW7DJ) for the Elite, and (GNZ5SVNKLJ8924) for the Arcade. Hey Dell will even throw in free shipping, so you've got no excuse for not picking one up.

[Dell via Gizmodo]

Manifesto Of The Red Ring Of Death: How Not To Launch A Console

If you wanted to know the ins and outs of why the famous "Red Ring of Death" that has plagued the Xbox 360, you might want to check this article out. It certainly is a long read but if you own a 360, you owe it to yourself to go through it.

After I read it I wasn't sure if I should praise the engineers who had to pick up this mess, or shake my head for a disaster that could've been averted. Let this be a lesson to everyone that sometimes, going cheap can cost you in the long run.

In Microsoft's case, the cost was huge!!!

[via Crunchgear]

Saint's Row 2 Trailer

This game is looking good. In case any of you missed the first game, it was every bit as good as the GTA series, as far as depth and way better in mission variation. It was very reminiscent of the GTA 3 games where you would have rival gangs just start spraying bullets every time they saw you. Plus you can recruit posse members from your side at any time. If you have a 360, find this game in the bargain bin and enjoy.

Too Human for Xbox 360

 

A lot of people have been waiting for this game for a long time.  Not quite as long as Duke Nukem Forever, but nothing has taken longer than that.  But this game was originally going to be a 4-disc game on the Playstation, then  possibly the Gamecube.  Well, it has now arrived finally on the 360.  And I believe Silicon Knights has a hit on its hands.  The story is pretty original.

The player takes on the role of Baldur, one of the Aesir.  In Too Human, the Norse gods are cybernetically enhanced humans. Baldur, son of Odin, is one of these gods and it is his duty to protect the human race from an onslaught of an advancing machine presence determined to eradicate all human life. The story chronicles the ongoing struggle between cybernetic Norse gods, the invading machine presence and mortal men, it features many Norse gods and characters from Norse mythology including Thor, Loki, Odin, Heimdall, Freyja, Hel, and Mimir. Yggdrasil: the tree of life acts as a gateway to an alternate world known as Cyberspace that is accessed through the advanced technology of the gods.  The human gods are using cybernetic implants to supplement their own abilities, thus becoming more machine like. Conversely, the advancing machine army is harvesting human blood and limbs in an attempt to become more human.
Baldur, the main character is viewed by the other Norse gods as being insufficiently enhanced, thus "too human".

I plays a lot like a Diablo clone, except in 3D.  the action is furious and pretty fair balanced.  The story in even the demo gets you drawn in.  I am having a great time playing the demo currently and plan on getting this game very soon.

[via Myself and Wikipedia]

Video Of Xbox 360 Fall Dashboard Leaked

Never underestimate the power of the hacker!!!

Such is the case with Xhavok87 who posted some video of the new Xbox 360 dashboard that's due out in the fall. He (or she) even posted the details on how they did it too. via G4TV]

[hacker's blog]

Thanks G4TV

60GB Xbox 360 Spotted At NYC Target

With all the buzz around the new 60GB Xbox 360 coming this August, a sighting has just been reported. It looks like a New York City Target has already begun shelving the newer models, and there's no word on if this was a mistake. You can check to see if your local Target has made a similar boo boo, but my guess is that they'll pull these soon.

[Penny College]

Xbox 360 Dashboard to support Netflix Streaming

This morning we announced support for Netflix service as being built-in in an upcoming software update to 360 service. As C|Net points out, there have been some workarounds for this in the meantime, but this solution will allow you to stream natively and without a dedicated Media Center PC.

Also announced is a shared movie experience that will let you watch a movie at distance with up to 7 friends at once. Major Nelson promises more details on this later today.

[via Channel 10]

I am looking forward to it, hopefully it'll fix the problem with fast forwarding and rewinding.  It can jam up with the current workarounds.

Microsoft Loses $1 Billion In Xbox 360 Warranty Repair

Have you ever made a really bad decision?

Well Microsoft is certainly feeling the effects of this one, as word comes that the "Red ring of death" has cost the company about a billion dollars in warranty repairs. And the kicker is that it didn't have to, according to research vice president and chief analyst at Gartner. Microsoft chose to go the cheap route with their graphics chips and not go with a application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC) vender. Microsoft figured they would design it themselves and had Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing make it.

That call saved them tens of Millions of dollars in design costs..... Yeah, that's what I was thinking too!

Dumb!!!

[EETimes via Gizmodo]

'SoulCalibur 4' Apprentice Trailer

If you're looking forward to the upcoming games SoulCalibur and Star Wars: The Force Unleashed, you might be interested in this game trailer. SoulCalibur will be on the PS3 and Xbox 360 consoles and Star Wars: TFU will be on the PS3, Xbox 360, Wii, Nintendo DS, PS2, and PSP on September 16th.

The best of both worlds!!!

[G4TV]

Rumor Central: Sony Cloning Wiimote?

In light of the incredible success of the Wii due largely in part of the Wiimote, Microsoft responded with rumors of a similar controller code named Newton for the 360. Now comes whispers that Sony is creating their own copy of the Wiimote controller, and is in the process of testing different designs with people for comfort. According to PlayStation Lifestyle focus testers demoed a paintball game that is said to be great with the new controller.

Of course these are rumors and should be taken with a block of salt. But I get the feeling that there might be some truth to this one.

[PlayStation Life via Gizmodo]

No Multiplayer For 'Force Unleased' On PS3/Xbox 360

I'm not sure what Lucas Arts was thinking with this decision but it's clearly a mistake!

It looks like the highly anticipated game Star Wars: The Force Unleashed will only be multiplayer on the Wii. The Wii will get the cool dual mode, while the Xbox 360 and the PS3 will not have any multiplayer component. Check the quote from Lucas Arts:

"To be specific, there's no multiplayer in the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 versions, because there is on the Wii, PSP, and DS. As far as specific reasons are concerned, we don't really like to get into the reasons why we don't do things because I don't think there's really a satisfactory answer that people would really be happy with. So, there isn't multiplayer and that's kind of how it is..."

That's your answer Lucas Arts? Just deal with it?

So they don't put multiplayer on the two platforms with the best online multiplayer service, because they're going to put it on 3 platforms with the worst? That is the most ass backwards decision I've ever heard.

Good going Lucas Arts!!!

[Destructoid]

Microsoft: Sony Doesn't Keep Their Promises

I love it when game console makers have something negative to say about one another. Case in point is Microsoft's representative Aaron Greenberg, who says that Sony failed to keep their promises to gamers. He says that they failed to deliver the games promised to PS3 owners prior to the release of the console. He goes on to say that the online content, or the revolutionary "Home" that Sony has paraded about has not materialized.

Them's fight'n words!!!

Being an owner of both consoles, it's hard for me to dispute any of the claims that Greenberg makes. Although I do enjoy the PS3 and some of it's functionality, I mostly like it as a Blu-Ray player. Plain and simple, from top to bottom the Xbox 360 has the best games available. So far as the online content it's not even a contest, the 360 has the best online interaction in the business. And everytime I have to choose which console to buy a game on, it always seems to come down to the online gaming expirence; and that isn't a hard choice at all.

[Next Generation.com via G4TV]

'Grand Theft Auto IV' Slip The Cops Video

With the launch of Grand Theft Auto 4 on Tuesday, the feeding frenzy for info on this game is starting to mount. So what better way to feed the masses than with some cool video from the game.

The only decision is if I should get it for the Xbox or the PS3?

Which do you think will be better?

[G4TV]

Microsoft: No 5 Minute Install For GTA4 For Xbox 360, Unlike PS3 Version

When Grand Theft Auto 4 hits the streets soon, there will be pandemonium for most gamers to get their hands on it. The new installment will come out for both Xbox 360 and the PS3, and if you're fortunate to have both systems like myself, you'll have to decide which one to get it for. Rumor has it that the PS3 version will have a 5 minute install (similar to a PC) where is the Xbox 360 is ready right out of the box. While that might be a ding on the PS3, it's said to have considerably shorter load time between cut sceens and levels.

Well Microsoft is going to take advantage of the diffence by sending its mailing list some pretty interesting comments. The one I like is by the time you see the Intro screen on the PS3, you could've jacked a dozen cars on the Xbox 360. I'm a little shocked at Microsoft for the simple fact that they normally don't respond very snarky about anything. While I still haven't decided which game console I will pick for GTA4, I'll give Microsoft credit for letting me know which one they think I should buy.

I wish Microsoft's OS was strong enough to act this way with Apple.

[Crunchgear]