Today’s Microsoft press conference held one big piece of news for 360-owning movie fans: a new partnership between the software giant and the pioneer of online movie rental, Netflix, will link the console to Netflix’s streaming movie service.
You’ll need both an Xbox Live Gold account and a Netflix subscription to join in the fun, but assuming you don’t mind shelling out for those, you’ll have instant access to over 10,000 streaming movies and TV shows. Microsoft tells us they should start streaming within 30 seconds of being selected, so lucky subscribers won’t have long to wait. Previously, the only way to enjoy Netflix’s streaming service on your TV was either to hook it to a PC, or to pay extra for a $100 set-top-box.
As if that wasn’t enough, you can also get together with groups of Xbox Live buddies to watch the same movies simultaneously. The prospects for heckling, arguing over bathroom breaks, and movie-inspired drinking games are nothing if not impressive. Plus there won’t be anyone around to steal your chips. Sold.
That wasn’t the only news to come out of the press conference, of course, and here’s a round-up of the day’s other announcements:
Final Fantasy XIII will come out on the Xbox 360
Gears of War 2 hits the mean streets on November 7
Resident Evil 5 will feature online co-operative play; launches March 13
Fable II will be out in October
Xbox Live is getting a cleaner facelift, and Mii-like avatar characters
You’ll be able to install Xbox 360 games to the console’s hard drive, cutting load times
Rock Band 2 will include AC/DC’s “epic rock anthem” Let There Be Rock, and Bob Dylan’s Tangled Up In Blue
Xbox Live will gain a new service called Primetime, “the world’s biggest virtual game show stage”. First out of the gate is a quiz show called “1 vs. 100″, which pits one lucky Xbox Live player against 100 others.
The 360 will get a motion-sensitive microphone controller, and a karaoke game (”Lips”) to go with it
New game “You’re In The Movies” promises to — well, put you in the movies, courtesy of an included video camera and a set of comic backgrounds
Don’t eat your Xbox, says Greenpeace
The next casualty in the console war might be you.
In their new ‘Playing Dirty’ report, environmental organization Greenpeace found that all three home video game consoles - Sony’s PS3, Microsoft’s Xbox 360 and Nintendo’s Wii - tested positive for a variety of hazardous chemicals, including polyvinyl chloride (PVC), beryllium, bromine, and phthalates.
The latter, found in relatively high levels in both the Xbox 360 and PS3, are not permitted in components of toys or childcare products sold in the European Union. However, game consoles are not classified as toys and therefore are not subject to existing legislation.
“Whether game consoles are classified as toys or not, they can still contain hazardous chemicals and materials that could harm humans. The technology is available for the manufacturers to design out toxics and produce greener game consoles now,” said Greenpeace’s Dr. Kevin Brigden in a press release.
The report found that all three systems also contained significant levels of bromine, a chemical linked to impaired memory functions and other health problems. One of the phthalates found in the 360 and PS3, a chemical called DEHP, is also known to interfere with sexual development in mammals, especially males.
Hold on — you don’t need to start wearing a cup made of reinforced steel every time you play Halo 3 just yet. Greenpeace points out that the three console manufacturers have “avoided or reduced uses of individual hazardous substances in certain materials within their consoles.” Nintendo’s Wii showed no traces of beryllium in its electrical contacts, the Xbox 360 used fewer brominated materials in its housing materials and the PS3 circuit boards were bromine-free.
“Our test clearly shows that a greener game console is possible, said Casey Harrell, Greenpeace International toxics campaigner. “By combining the best practices of each console design, we could replace most of the hazardous chemicals found in these game consoles with toxic free materials.”
And whatever you do, don’t dump your broken 360 in the trash. The group has further identified game consoles as key contributors towards a growing waste product called “ewaste.” Once console have reached the end of useful life, the group said, game consoles are “often dumped and end up in unsafe and dirty recycling yards in developing countries, where toxic contents harm both the environment and the health of workers.”
By Ben Silverman
Once, the videogame industry had to fight against the perception that all games were for children. Nowadays, some game companies are struggling to make quality games for kids.
Microsoft has assembled a crack team of studios that churn out Mature-rated titles like there’s no tomorrow. The Xbox 360 has no shortage of Gears of War or Halo. But the company has not been nearly as successful at creating family-friendly entertainment. When Microsoft entered the console war in 2001, it purchased Rare, a Warwickshire, UK-based game developer, from Nintendo. Today, the company unveiled two new games that it hopes will re-energize the family market on Xbox 360 — Banjo-Kazooie: Nuts and Bolts and Viva Pinata: Trouble in Paradise (pictured).
Rare’s designers stress that what they’re making aren’t games for kids. They’re games for families.
“It’s like a Pixar movie,” says Justin Cook, lead designer of Trouble in Paradise. “I love some of those movies more than my kids do, but we’ll all sit and watch them. There should be more games that do that. When I was a kid, games were for kids because kids were buying them — but now we’re grown ups. I sometimes wonder how kids are going to get to the place where we are, in the same way. It’ll be nice if there was this gentle ramp of games they could buy and build up to.”
Microsoft wanted the original Viva Pinata, which it released in 2006, to be the vanguard of its kids-games strategy with Xbox 360. In the game, players raised a garden full of living pinatas, maintaining their ecosystem and growing their paper menagerie. Although the game was critically acclaimed, sales didn’t quite live up to the scores.
The chance to crack open the Pinata for a second time has allowed Rare to re-examine the game. “When we set off to do a game for kids, we wanted it to be on lots of levels so everyone could enjoy it on their own terms, which is why the game is structured the way it is,” says Cook.
Open-ended gameplay is one thing, but some people felt the original Viva Pinata felt too aimless. To that end, they’re spreading the design of the new game in both directions — a more structured main game with harder challenges, and a less-punishing, more open “Just For Fun” mode.
Rare’s other big project is Banjo-Kazooie: Nuts and Bolts, the long-awaited followup to the developer’s classic pair of Mario-style platform games for Nintendo 64. The game’s lead programmer Sal Fileccia isn’t shying away from comparing the game to Nintendo’s own recent smash hit.
“It’s just the next evolution, in the same way that Super Mario Galaxy did an amazing job of evolving the platformer,” says Fileccia. “We’re taking it in a slightly different direction, but with the same aim,”
A traditional platformer is defined by the abilities possessed by the character, with them following a pre-determined route across fantasy landscapes. But Nuts & Bolts changes things up. The player must use sets of mechanical blocks, assembling them into vehicles according to their needs — and whim.
The idea of user-generated content has become the game industry’s latest buzzword, led by games like Sony’s upcoming LittleBigPlanet and Electronic Arts’ Spore. It’s a terribly fashionable thing nowadays to have user-generated content. “I think we were lucky in that respect. We just thought it was a cool idea for a game,” says Fileccia.
In attempting to create high-quality games that don’t rely on blood and guts to appeal to all ages, Rare is reminded of how in the rush to mature the medium, American comic book publishers sacrificed the child reader — to the industry’s long-term ill.
“Comics were trying really hard to prove they were for adults not so long back,” says Cook. “We have to go the other way.”
–Kieron Gillen
The U.S. midnight release of the fourth “Grand Theft Auto” video game Monday, comes with a new wave of concern about its violent content, critics say.
The game features mobster-like characters who have the ability to fire grenades, shoot police helicopters and punch cab drivers in the face, among other acts, as they follow game’s unique story lines.
Controversy regarding the game’s release prompted the Chicago Transit Authority to take down ads promoting it in the city, the Chicago Tribune reports.
Critics of the game reportedly argue it influences children with violent themes and ideas.
“People think video games equal kids, and that if it’s just a game, it should be fine. But the idea that a game is made for a mature audience, we (as a society) don’t have our arms around that yet,” said Robin Burke, a game-development professor at DePaul University.
The game is projected to pull in at least $400 million in its first week, said Wes Sand, Game Crazy senior vice president.
Gamedaily writes: “Xbox 360 and PS3 players don’t get it. Here’s why Rockstar’s crime opus belongs on Nintendo’s console:
1) Because we don’t care about online play
Online gaming is a cesspool for racists, pedophiles and other scumbags that don’t deserve our company. Not to mention, Microsoft can’t even get Xbox Live to work for more than a month, so there’s no reason to play GTA IV online. Enough with the lag and the morons. We’re all about the single player campaign.
2) Because Mario will somehow work his way into Liberty City
Rockstar is a powerful force in the video game business, but Nintendo could crush it with a single digital pinky. Not even the GTA peeps could withstand the repeated demands to include Mario, Luigi and Princess Peach as unlockable characters, and the thought of cruising the streets as everyone’s favorite plumber has us absolutely tickled.”
Read the full article @ http://www.gamedaily.com
MMOCrunch reports:
”Before I begin, let me clarify that I do not know anybody who works in the higher ups at either Realtime Worlds, or Microsoft Game Studios. This entire post in generally just pure speculation given by the recent courses of action by the two companies in the last few months.
Anyways, now that’s out of the way, lets carry on. Is there a possibility that All Points Bulletin, Realtime Worlds newest crime MMORPG, could be getting the publishing treatment from mega-corporation Microsoft? Absolutely and it really shouldn’t come as a surprise to anybody after what we have witnessed over the last few months.”
Read the full article @ http://www.mmocrunch.com/
Jereme Puik from XboxFocus.com writes:
“Circuit City is giving gamers something good to eat if you don’t like waiting 6 months for the new Legendar map pack to become free on Xbox Live. If you are solely interested in Ninja Gaiden II which releases later this year, you can pre-order it at Circuit City. Circuit City will give you a code that you can use to download the Halo 3 Legendary Map Pack that is now available. Circuit City has always been known for some great deals and this is one of them. Don’t pass this up if I were you. Your redeem code will be sent to your email within a week, so you can expect to have some fun with thsoe maps on no time.”
With the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 hardware, many developers claim they’re finally able to achieve destructible environments. The thing is, Red Faction achieved it in 2001 on the PlayStation 2. With that background, it’s not surprising to see Volition pushing the envelope once again with Red Faction: Guerilla, which ships for PS3 and Xbox 360 later this year. As the third game in the series, Red Faction: Guerilla marks a step forward for the franchise, both in plotline and technology. But more important, it marks a step forward for third-person shooters, as it takes environmental destruction and strategy to the next level. READ THE FULL ARTICLE @ DailyGame.net
THQ has released the first videos of Saints Row 2 for Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3. The the first video shows the taunting system and the second shows combat using satchel charges.
See the Videos Here >>>
Developed by THQ’s critically acclaimed internal studio Volition, Inc. using their proprietary open-world engine, Saints Row 2 will offer vastly expanded customization options, a totally transformed and expanded city of Stilwater, all new vehicles, sandbox tools and toys as well as both online co-op and competitive multiplayer.
When it comes to the rumors surrounding the possibilities of any kind of Xbox 360 support of the disc that won the format war, the one shred of truth is this: people love to talk about it! You don’t have to look very hard to see that there is a great amount of interest in not only reading about, but starting rumors about Blu-ray coming to the Xbox 360. At this point, Microsoft is probably on the verge of going on national television and screaming “It’s not happening already!”, and yet, that would probably not quell the recurring speculation, or should we say demand?
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