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OXM bribes readers with free GRAW Chapter 2
Speaking to Godfree from Gamertag Radio, Official Xbox Magazine writer Ryan McCaffrey revealed that the April issue will include Chapter 2 of Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter for free (the revelation is found 61 minutes into the interview). Chapter 2 was initially released on Xbox Live in June for 1,200 MS points but has since been halved to 600 MS points, or $7.50 in US dollars. Early in the interview, which starts about 36 minutes into the podcast, McCaffrey laments the struggle of getting good content on the included disc to justify its existence, especially with Xbox Live Marketplace being an efficient and convenient means to obtain demos for free. Still, with a purported subscriber base of 425,000, they don't seem to be doing too bad. McCaffrey cited an issue from early last year where their disc included a free 6-week trial of Final Fantasy XI, and noted that they will try to have similar goodies whenever an MMO is slated for Xbox 360.Around the 39 minute mark, McCaffrey also revealed OXM Universe, "a persistent game" found on the disc. The point of the game is to build a probe and spaceship and interact with other OXM subscribers online (presumably online via the computer, though an Xbox Live title would be an interesting test of convergence).Also available on the OXM disc will be the GRAW2 demo as well as an "exclusive review" of the full game. The April issue of OXM will hit newsstands soon for $10 (or $2.50, if you exclude the standard price of GRAW Ch. 2)
New Platinum Hits games coming in March
The Gamerscore Blog guys are confirming a few games that will be headed to the Xbox 360 Platinum Hits lineup on March 16th in North America. If you didn't know, the Platinum Hits program is a list of games that have been singled out to retail for $29.99, because they "supposedly" achieved greatness during their lifetime. We may not always agree with certain games that come to the Platinum Hits, but nobody can disagree with the cheaper pricetag. Below is a list of games that will become Platinum Hits in North America. Battlefield 2: Modern Combat Burnout Revenge Call of Duty 2 Dead or Alive 4 Fight Night Round 3 Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter Top Spin 2 Rockstar Games presents Table Tennis
US Army using Xbox 360 controller in Future Combat Systems tests
The US Army recently conducted its first live-fire exercise using Future Combat Systems technologies and equipment, including what appears to be anti-sniper bot RedOwl. The assortment of robotics and unmanned vehicles are controlled, in part, by modified Xbox 360 controllers, which look to be wired into Cross-Com devices straight outta GRAW. What?! The military didn't budget for wireless controllers? That's, like, sooo last-gen...But seriously, how far could FCS technology evolve? Will future American soldiers be judged by how fast they can work their thumbs? Will boot camp become a LAN lab? Will combat become as distant as an Xbox Live deathmatch? [Thanks, Sgt Malcolm W. Thomas Jr.]%Gallery-1473%
GRAW 2 demo assaults XBL Gold members
Ever since we told you that the GRAW 2 demo would arrive on the Xbox Live Marketplace "possibly by the end of the month," we have been shivering with anticipation, hoping our conjecture might side with truthiness. With over 12 hours left, we're happy to tell you that you can now enjoy Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter -- but only if you're an Xbox Live Gold member. The Silver member version, presumably, will arrive in a little while.The 650 MB download may not make up for XBLA's vacation, but we do have Frank Black asking for us to give him danger, little stranger. Let us know what you think of the demo.[Thanks, Jonah Falcon and Stephen W.]
GRAW 2 Marketplace Demo "Coming Soon?"
Ubisoft sent out emails this morning with a few morsels of information to make us fanboys out there starving for more. They gave word that there will be a demo for Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter 2 available on Xbox Live Marketplace in the very near future. No word yet if the demo will be either single player or multiplayer, although in a perfect world it would be both. News0r presupposes that the demo will be available before the end of January, which isn't too much of a stretch, so hopefully we'll be taking headshots on tangos before dying of hunger. So, if you could have only one or the other, what kind of demo would you want, Single or multiplayer?
Ridiculously nice shots of GRAW 2
Our brothers in arms over at Gamertag Radio (also running a cool Bullet Witch contest, by the way) have posted some 'effing amazing shots of Ghost Recon: Advanced Warfighter 2. Seriously, if we hadn't already seen how nice the first GRAW turned out, we wouldn't have bought these screenies for a minute. Just look at the smoke. Look at it! Head on over to GTR and check 'em out. You'll even get a chance to check out the European cover for the game, which isn't nearly as exciting as the actual screen shots. Any GRAW fans chomping at the bit to get this yet?
GRAW Chapter 2 expansion is now 1/2 off
When Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter's expansion pack came out on the XBLM there was a little uproar from the fans. Not due to the luscious content it held, oh no, but because the download cost a whopping 1200 Microsoft Points! But today Ubisoft announced that the Chapter 2 expansion pack has been discounted to a more reasonable 600 Microsoft Points. Go download the expansion pack for the new uber low price and if you already purchased it for 1200 ... that kind of sucks. Maybe Ubisoft will be nice next time and not gouge their loyal fans who ate up the content right away. [Thanks, Derka]
New GRAW 2 and Bioshock trailers
Some brand spanking new trailers were unveiled at the Spike Video Game Awards last night. It's a good thing that somebody was actually watching the show, otherwise we never would have known about these new trailers for Ghost Recon: Advanced Warfighter 2 and Bioshock. GRAW 2 is of course the highly anticipated sequel to GRAW (perhaps you've heard of it). Bioshock is the spiritual successor to the System Shock series and contains some very, very freaky environments and monsters. The GRAW 2 trailer is embedded above, and the Bioshock trailer is (appropriately) embedded below the break. (Underwater humor, get it? ... oh, never mind.)
Wait ... what's up with GRAW's achievements?
After snooping around Xbox 360 Achievements we found one game's achievements to be rather interesting. Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter has been out for a long time and now it has just came to our attention that its achievement point totals are extremely odd. Take a look at the whole list of them, notice anything a little weird? If you look closely you'll notice that there are achievements that award you Gamerscore points listed at 2, 8, 16, 24, 28 and 32. We've never seen any games offer such odd Gamerscore point totals, usually they are in increments of five, never being as odd as these. Are we missing something here or are there other games out with such odd Gamerscore point totals attached to achievements? Microsoft, don't let them do this to our nice rounded multiples of five ... it's just not right.
Sweet Xbox 360 bundle from Future Shop
We got a great deal for all the Canadian readers in Xbox 360 Fanboy land. Future Shop (the "it" electronics retailer in Canada) is offering an irresistible Xbox 360 bundle. What's included is a premium Xbox 360, G.R.A.W, XBL Arcade: Unplugged, Ridge Racer 6, and our little gem Gears of War. The price is pretty nice and may make you want to slap yourself and call your pet salamander Sally. You get everything for the low, low Canadian price of $449.99. Better than playing hockey in the Summer and is just an all around good deal isn't it, eih?[Thanks, Randy]
Assassin's Creed & BIA slip, GRAW2 must satisfy
Expected to headline Ubisoft's early 2007 release list, Assassin's Creed and Brothers in Arms: Hell's Highway have been delayed at least six months, likely pushing their releases into Q3 2007 or beyond. Ubisoft did not give specific reasons for the setbacks.Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter 2 is now set to fill the fourth fiscal quarter gap (January–March 2007), meaning, for better or worse, the sequel to this year's hit will be developed and released in roughly a year's time. Despite critical and consumer acclaim, the original GRAW had some glaring flaws that should not be ignored the second time around -- laughable (and often frustrating) A.I. being the most obvious. At least GRAW2 will be up against some genuine next-gen competition when it hits the market.[Thanks, Indy; Via Digital Battle]
Assassin's Creed, BIA pushed back, GRAW2 coming
Dutch gaming site, Xboxworld, is reporting that Ubisoft has delayed the launches of both Assassin's Creed and Brothers in Arms: Hell's Highway, pushing them into late 2007, possibly next Christmas. This information was contained in Ubisoft's quarterly earnings report, along with the announcement of a sequel to the massively popular Ghost Recon: Advanced Warfighter. There is some more good news here, too. GRAW 2 is apparently set to release in the first half of 2007. The delay of Assassin's Creed is upsetting to be sure, but GRAW 2 makes a damned fine replacement. Still, we're very excited to see Assassin's Creed and we hope that it comes out sooner rather than later.[Via Xboxic]
GRAW / XBLA Bundle on the way?
Club Skill reports that Microsoft will release a new 360 Premium bundle on September 30 that incudes a copy of Ghost Recon: Advanced Warfigher and Xbox Live Arcade Unplugged for $399.99. XBLA Unplugged includes 6 titles: - Geometry Wars Evolved - Bejeweled 2 Deluxe - Wik: Fable of Souls - Hardwood Backgammon - Outpost Kaloki X - Texas Hold'em That's a great deal. But Club Skill doesn't reveal their source or offer any proof. File this under "wishful thinking" until we get official confirmation. Nice idea though. While we're talking fantasy bundles, why not throw in Oblivion and a 12 month subscription to XBL? [via 360stuff]
Top 10 awful achievements
Let's face it, some 360 achievements are pretty difficult to get. Others are pretty easy. However, there are some that are too easy or too hard. And of course there are those that are just stupid (here's looking at you Kong). GamersReports has taken our distaste for crappy achievements and combined them with our love of easily digestible lists of information. The product of this peanut butter/chocolate creation? A top ten list of the worst achievements on the Xbox 360, of course! Even better, Joystiq went to the trouble of recreating this list, which we will delicately lift for our own personal gain. It's the American way. Behold: Mini-Games (Enter the Mini-Games mode); Madden 2007 Pyromaniac (Jack used fire to scare off enemies and get out of harm's way); King Kong The Graduate (Earn the highest score on every drill in Training Mode); Rockstar Table Tennis Tactical Instructor (Top marks in every Story Mode mission); Chromehounds Play Some Online (Compete in each of the online game modes at least once); Tiger Woods PGA Tour 2006 Food Bank; Feeding Frenzy Game Master (Finish the entire game without continuing while using default settings); Smash TV Complete 99 Stages (standard mode); Bomberman: Act Zero Transmissionary (Answer all calls from Otis); Dead Rising World Champion (Multiplayer: Climb to the top of the universal leaderboard); GRAW Do you agree with this list? Any others you'd care to throw up there?[Via Joystiq]
Molyneux - "Apple needs to get behind games"
Last week I carried out an interview with Peter Molyneux (the founder of Lionhead Studios which has games like Black & White, Fable and The Movies to its name) over at TUAW sister site Joystiq. I made sure to ask him a question or two about the state of Mac gaming because one, I *used* to be a relatively hardcore Mac gamer and two, Lionhead has a track record of bringing all of its games to the Mac. That isn't changing with Microsoft's recent acquisition of the company (haven't we heard all this before?!).The relevant part of the interview:"There's this Catch 22 situation where not many people play games on the Mac and therefore developers don't want to make games for the Mac. Exactly. I think it would need Apple to get behind games. There's nothing in their operating system that panders to games at all and I take my hats off to Microsoft. I think they've realized that games are important."Macworld's Peter Cohen suggested that Molyneux was referring to Apple's lack of a unified application programming interface that would make the jobs of game programmers much easier. I think this suggestion is spot on, but not the only thing that Molyneux was referring to. One passive improvement could include getting Apple to kick its recent integrated graphics habit (Molyneux called my MacBook "a perfect thing" in the interview - pity it can't play games). Sure, we'd all like an iTunes Games Store, a mid-range upgradeable Mac with a decent graphics card and an Apple that publishes games, but it ain't gonna happen while you-know-who is still around.Unless Apple gets off its arse and gives game developers more than the bare minimum of support, Mac gaming is going to disappear thanks to the rapid emergence of easy access to Windows games via Boot Camp or GPU virtualization (when it finally appears). Only then will we see articles on Apple.com about how awesome Ghost Recon: Advanced Warfighter looks on the Mac, instead of long features about how the GRAW music was composed using a PowerMac G5.
Sunday at X360F: GRAW aftermath
The results of last Sunday's GRAW poll are in. A full 26% percent of those polled have already downloaded the new GRAW content. While a majority of those players seem to be happy with the purchase, just over a quarter feel that the content wasn't worth the money. Comparing those who've already purchased it with those who'd only get it for free, it's pretty close with 575 votes and 509 votes respectively. Looking at the overall results, it seems that the sweetspot for content downloads is somewhere between free and $5 US. Still, a quarter of GRAW players are willing to shell out 15 bucks, and another third are willing to pay 5 or 10. That means 60% of those polled are willing to pay something. That's a pretty clear message for would be content providers. Remember folks, you vote with your dollars...er...points. Judging by these results, Ubisoft didn't quite hit the nail on the head, but they made out pretty well. What do you think?
Sunday at X360F Poll: Who's got GRAW content? [update 1]
Some of you may have noticed the rather vocal response to the news that new Ghost Recon content costs 1200 points. Most responses went to the tune of "Kiss my ass." Some have bitched and moaned, others gladly opened their wallets, and one person actually burst into flames. So, now that the content has hit, bringing with it the first signs of the apocalypse, the question is: did you get it? We'll take a look at these numbers next week. Who's got GRAW content? I got it. It's GRAWsome. I got it, but it's not worth 1200 points. 15 bucks? No way. I'd buy it for 800. I'd buy it for 400. I'd only get it if it was free. Basic poll stuff: don't vote if you don't have XBL and a copy of GRAW. And yes, you could spam the poll and throw off the results, but then you'd be a stupid jerk. You're not a stupid jerk, are you? Update 1: this poll is now closed. Check out the results here.
GRAW backlash: "1200 MS Points? Kiss my ass"
That low, droning whine you hear is the predictable response to the price of the Ghost Recon: Advanced Warfighter's Chapter 2 Expansion pack, now available for download on Marketplace. Here's what you get for 1200 MS Points: Continuation of the multiplayer Co-op campaign with 4 all-new missions in Chapter 2 8 revisited, relit multiplayer Adversarial maps 2 all-new game types with 1 new game mode – Team Battle 2 new camouflage patterns 4 new character customization faces 5 new weapons Holy crap! 1200 MS Points! That's 171.75 Pesos, 576.453 Thai Baht or $15 American Dollars, the most expensive downloadable content we've seen so far. I think your level of acceptance/disgust with Ubisoft's Ghost gouging depends on whether you convince yourself this content is a true expansion pack ( the kind you used to pay $20 or $30 on an old-fashioned disc) or glorified horse armour. Team Xbox's hands-on will help you make up your mind. Of course, some people over at Major Nelson's complaint repository already have. Sample quote: "1200 MS Points? Kiss my ass." How many people will be shelling out for this relatively expensive expansion? Also, can somebody tell me what the PC people are getting for free? [Thanks Andy]
GRAW downloadable content up for 1200 MS bux
The much-anticipated downloadable content for Ghost Recon: Advanced Warfighter is finally here. Dubbed Chapter 2, this 724Mb download promises new weapons, new game types, and new missions, all for the low, low price of 1200 Microsoft points ... ... wait, 1200 Microsoft points? That's $15 in the US! That means a fully-loaded Xbox 360 version of GRAW is going to run you $75. Granted, that $75 nets you one of the best looking next-gen games along with an absolute crapload of downloadable content. Check out Team Xbox's hands-on to see what your $15 nets you or read this concise list and start making assumptions over whether or not it's worth it: Continuation of the multiplayer Co-op campaign with 4 all-new missions in Chapter 2 8 revisited, relit multiplayer Adversarial maps 2 all-new game types with 1 new game mode – Team Battle 2 new camouflage patterns 4 new character customization faces 5 new weapons [Thanks, Scott and X Budd]
Chileans get their 360 on
Still don't have an Xbox 360? Do you live in Chile? Then you're in luck my friend! The curvy white box hit store shelves in Chile last week, inspiring these ladies to impersonate protagonists from mediocre launch titles. Just for a moment, recall how disappointed you were when you played Perfect Dark Zero for the first time. Let that sink in for a second. That is what it's like to be a 360 fan in Chile right now. At least they have access to the best launch title, right? Good lord, can you imagine having to wait 5 months for GRAW and Oblivion again?
