Tag: Microsoft

In what could be a serious blow to Microsoft’s exclusivity on the popular Project Gotham Racing franchise, developer Bizarre Creations is no longer an independent player. The UK development studio was gobbled up by Activision today.

Ah, the good old Nintendo Entertainment System. Like a hermit crab’s shell, its been modded to hold everything from DVD players to complete PC systems. Now an enterprising young modder going by the name of xmod4u has managed to stuff an original Xbox inside the case of the classic 8-bit NES console.

The latest in Bizarre Creations’ critically-acclaimed racing series is officially “in the can”. Project Gotham Racing 4 has gone gold, and is off to production for us to get our grubby little hands on in the very near future.

Has your Xbox 360 ever overheated? Do you dread the three Red Rings of Death? Have I got a t-shirt for you. Inspired by the demented HAL9000 computer from the classic science fiction flick, 2001: A Space Odyssey, it shows the inimitable RRoD symbol along with the saying “I’m afraid I can’t let you play that, Dave.”

Some guy over on the Xbox-Scene forums started to work on what will hopefully one day be the finest Xbox casemod of all time. The Xbox Mini case that he fabricated is a thing of beauty, reducing the ugly black behemoth that was the original Xbox into a svelte little package.

The gaming world is full of MMORPGs, games that feature interaction of hundreds or thousands of players. However, these games usually don’t put them all in the same place at the same time, and don’t have hundreds battling each other at the same time.

Electronic Arts has started to circulate a list of 30 tracks that are currently on the playlist for their upcoming multiplayer music game Rock Band. The list includes a number of classic rock tracks, but also offers up some great alternative and more edgy tunes.

You’ve gotta love this. Apparently some dirty little troll over at SCEE (Sony Computer Entertainment Europe) has been sneaking around over at Wikipedia and edited Microsoft’s Halo 3 entry. Back in April, the SCEE poster added the small notation “Although it wont look any better than Halo 2” to the listing, implying that the game’s graphics won’t live up to the Xbox 360’s potential.

The gang over at Gamersyde shot this video showing off the beginning of Project Gotham Racing 4 for the Xbox 360.   After looking at the gorgeous in-game screenshots that Microsoft released the other day, I was starting to get excited about this upcoming racer.

Bungie today confirmed that Halo 3 has gone gold. In other words, the game is done, complete, finito and in the can. After three years of design, development and testing, the latest installment in Microsoft’s FPS juggernaut is ready for the world.

If you’re looking for a serious conversation piece, check out this 7-foot tall statue of Halo’s Master Chief that someone has for sale over on eBay. I guess Microsoft made a very limited number of these to promote Halo 2 when it came out.

While Microsoft bundles a headset for Xbox 360 online gameplay, it would be an understatement to say that the sound and build quality is a bit sketchy. So what’s a heavy-duty online gamefreak to do? Turtle Beach may have the answer with their Ear Force X3 headset for the Xbox 360.

[UPDATE: It appears that the problems with the update and Xbox Live Marketplace have been corrected as of about 11:30 Central Time this morning.] The latest Xbox 360 System Update appears to be causing major problems for gamers today.

Just moments ago, Microsoft announced that the price on the Xbox 360 product line has dropped across the board. This confirms all of the earlier reports that have been rumored for quite a while now. All consoles in the Xbox 360 line will get the cut starting on Wednesday, August 8th, with the Premium dropping to $349.99 (was $399.99), the Elite dropping from $479.99 (was $449.99) and the Core system coming down to $279.99 (was $299.99.)

Bungie today confirmed that Halo 3 will not only support online cooperative play, but that it will support up to four simultaneous players in the same game. The game will support up to four players in Campaign mode on either Xbox Live or System Link, helping you to get through the toughest battles in the game with the assistance of your online buddies.

There’s been a ton of speculation about a price cut for the Xbox 360 over the last few weeks. With all sorts of scans of forthcoming retail ads starting to pop up the last couple of days, it’s looking more and more definitive.