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New Year's XBLM sale discounts multiple items, offers daily deals
Microsoft has launched its "Countdown to New Year's" promotion today on Xbox Live, which will see numerous pieces of Marketplace content discounted in the days leading up to the ball drop. The deals are highlighted by several XBLA games on sale now through December 31, including Super Meat Boy, Carcassonne, Comic Jumper, Castle Crashers and Risk Factions; all of which are 33–50 percent off. Daily deals are also on offer, beginning with today's deal: Red Dead Redemption DLC. Both the "Liars & Cheats" and the "Legends & Killers" packs are available for 400 Microsoft Points ($5) each, half their usual price. Meanwhile, "Undead Nightmare" and the "Undead Nightmare Collection" (which bundles together all three aforementioned add-ons) are 25 percent off at 600 ($7.50) and 1200 points ($15), respectively. And tomorrow, December 22, Lara Croft and the Guardian of Light will be available for half-off at 600 points ($7.50). Additionally, Microsoft has listed clues to the rest of this year's daily deals on the Xbox Live Dashboard. We've compiled the clues, along with our best guesses, after the break. Be sure to check it out before you start spending your holiday points! Finally, buying discounted items, watching Netflix movies or playing Halo: Reach and Fable 3 multiplayer during this 11-day promotion will automatically enter players into a sweepstakes to win a massive prize package, featuring a 50-inch HDTV.
Halo: Reach infographic spills stats for first three months
The Grunt genocide continues, a fact highlighted in Bungie's latest and very thorough infographic for Halo: Reach. 11 billion grunts have met their demise at the hands of a Spartan, representing a full third of all Covenant kills across all gametypes. Between September 14 and December 10, players have logged "just over 1.3 billion games," taking up a collective 24,000 years of actual human time and earning 900 trillion credits. A stunning 1,500 people have managed to hang on to enough of those creds to nab the "Pestilence" armor effect, while only 1,000 have earned "Inclement Weather." More unbelievable? 320,000 people have won the "Unf-believable" medal, earned by completing 40 kills without dying. We totally would've gotten that one too, had that kamikaze Grunt not popped around the corner at the last minute. Never again! The infographic can be seen in full just below the break.
Buy any Windows Phone 7 model, get a free Xbox 360 game
Anyone who picks up a Windows Phone 7 starting today on through the rest of the month can snag a free Xbox 360 game on Microsoft. The contest page lists four eligible games as part of this deal, two of which can only be played with Kinect: Fable 3, Halo: Reach, Kinectimals and Kinect Joy Ride. It's hardly incentive enough to yank anybody down off the fence, but it's a good deal if you were going to get a WP7 handset this month anyway.
Fallout 3's Megaton recreated in Halo: Reach
Put a megaton of Fallout 3 in your Halo: Reach with an impressive Forge World recreation of the town that has an undetonated nuke* as its centerpiece. *Nuke does not actually explode in Reach version.
Walmart offers 12 months of Xbox Live and a (good) game for $81
Walmart has a pretty spectacular deal going on for Xbox owners. The chain is currently offering one year of Xbox Live Gold and a select game for $79. SlickDeals notes that shipping is only $1.97. Don't fret about that "select game" business in the previous sentence either, as the eligible games are actually pretty good, including Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood, Call of Duty: Black Ops, Need For Speed: Hot Pursuit, Castlevania: Lords of Shadow and many, many others. Considering a 12 month Xbox Live sub usually runs for $60 on its own, you might as well toss in a $20 game (that also usually runs for $60), right?
Halo: Reach machinima features live-action footage for a cheesy-good time
Alan Marsala and Chance McManus (best name ever, by the way) both like Halo: Reach. They also like making movies. Perhaps it was inevitable then that the two would be combined. Whatever the reason, we're glad it happened -- their short film, You Will Never Get the Power Core, is a whole lot of fun.
Halo: Reach Mythbusters rips the lid off
Defend The House, a troupe of game sleuths, just debuted its fourth episode of Halo: Reach "Mythbusters," dispelling the hearsay of the land's people and offering us the cold hard facts we desire. Be sure to thank them the next time you almost try to trick a sniper with a hologram.
'Splosion Man 'splodes to top of XBLA sales chart
'Spolsion Man, one or our absolute favorites of 2009, enjoyed a surprise sales surge last week, rocketing to the top of the Xbox Live Arcade bestseller list. That's the power of Black Friday and a one-day, 75-percent discount. In fact, thirteen of the top twenty bestsellers for the week of November 22 were on sale for at least part of the period, and the only discounted XBLA title not to chart was poor Voodoo Dice. Amidst the apparently too-good-to-refuse deals, Crazy Taxi made a strong debut in the number six position in its first week of release, and Pac-Man CE DX ate up a top-ten spot in its second week of availability. As for Xbox Live activity, Black Ops recruits and Modern Warfare 2 veterans (who aren't about to surrender that easily) continue to hog the most bandwidth, followed by the Reach faithful and -- watch out for that Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood sneaking up the activity chart! Speaking of no surrender, how about World at War and Call of Duty 4 (remember that one?) hanging around the top twenty most-played Xbox Live games? No wonder Activision wants to better tap its gold mine next year. Both Top Twenty charts are posted in full after the break.
Microsoft has 'nothing to announce at this time' regarding Halo remake rumors
Microsoft has responded to European chatter surrounding a Halo: Combat Evolved high-definition remake by saying, "Right now our focus is on supporting Halo: Reach. We have nothing to announce at this time." Putting that through the Joystiq PR Translation Machine pops out one thing: "42." Clearly, we need to call maintenance. Eurogamer published the quote from Microsoft after Games Master magazine implied that a Halo remake was underway at 343 Industries (the current Halo custodian), using the Reach engine. Allegedly, the HD Halo would drop next November, to celebrate the 10-year anniversary of the original Xbox shooter.
PSA: Halo: Reach Noble Map Pack now available
INCOMING MESSAGE ORIGIN: OFFICE OF NAVAL INTELLIGENCE CLASS: SSSS | ORIG MSG IDENT: 19738244 | DISTR: LIMITED / CODE-WORD RESTRICTED SUBJ: ENVIRONMENTAL TRAINING PROGRAM (NOBLE MAP PACK) Message to all Spartan III operatives: Environmental training program classified "Noble Map Pack" is now available for download and evaluation. Program contains three new environments: Breakpoint, Tempest, Anchor 9 (see: visual archive). 800 Microsoft Points ($10) required for program access. New honorary distinctions (classification: "Achievements") will be awarded to the most dedicated personnel. Access to program may be obtained at this node. MESSAGE ENDS
Bungie offers a trio of video tours of Halo: Reach's Noble Map Pack
We got a brief demonstration last week of the three new Halo: Reach battlefields present in the Noble Map Pack -- however, don't you want a tour from the sage minds who created said arenas? Well, then, look no further than the three Bungie video tours posted just after the jump.
Best Buy's Cyber Monday deals revealed, available right now
Halo: Reach for $40? Split/Second for just $20? It's just Cyber Monday -- the online equivalent of last Friday's big brick-and-mortar shopping day -- at Best Buy. Other highlights include Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit at just $35, and Medal of Honor gets the same $25 discount. If those deals weren't enough, for every two games you purchase Best Buy even throws in a free $10 gift card. All without leaving your computer! Head past the break to see all the deals.
Amazon deal overload: Halo: Reach, Fable 3, Red Dead Redemption and more
Less reading, more buying! Amazon's lightning deals for today include Halo: Reach ($30), Fable 3 ($30), God of War 3 ($35), God of War Collection ($10), Red Dead Redemption ($29) and Fallout: New Vegas ($35). More deals open up at 12:15 PM PST (likely to add Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit for $35) and 6:15PM PST, which might bring in NBA Jam for $27. Let us know what you decide to pick up ... and how you intend on finding enough time to play some of these excellent games.
Spend 3 minutes with Halo: Reach's Noble Map Pack
Did the trailer for the Noble Map Pack fail to sate your still-watering palette? Did you need a more extensive taste of the new Halo: Reach multiplayer arenas before their release next Tuesday? S'cool, we gotcha -- IGN has posted a video tour of the new maps, which we've embedded past the break.
Reach for your wallet and bid on Emile's helmet for charity
Looking for a fashion statement that says, "Hey, I'm potentially violent, but I've also got a big, sweet heart?" Look no further than this Good-Game-Media eBay auction: a replica of the Halo: Reach helmet worn by Emile; the proceeds from which go to Child's Play and the Brian Wood Memorial Trust.
October NPD: NBA 2K11 tops charts, Xbox 360 'best selling console in 2010'
Here is the second edition of the revised (and less informative) monthly NPD report. With the market research group no longer sharing specific hardware figures, it's noteworthy to point out that only Microsoft has (as of writing) released concrete sales numbers. Major Nelson tweeted that Microsoft sold 325K Xbox 360s in October. Although the figure represents a 32-percent drop from the previous month, it was enough to secure Microsoft's spot as best-selling console of the month. Major Nelson also added that the Xbox 360 "is the best selling console in 2010 [with] 3.5 million" sold so far. Sony's response doesn't offer console sales numbers, but Patrick Seybold commented on increased momentum for the company's PlayStation Move motion controller. "The PS3 Move Bundle had a 15-percent increase in sales since launch last month, and we're working hard to keep the inventory up across the country to meet strong consumer demand." In addition, Seybold reminded us of the impending launch of Sony's big holiday game: "With next week's launch of the industry's most anticipated title, Gran Turismo 5, we're sure to carry the momentum through the holidays." Nintendo, as of the time of publishing, had not offered comment. Software sales jumped 6 percent year-over-year for the month to $605 million. The multiplatform release of NBA 2K11 helped propel it to the top of the charts, undoubtedly aided by EA Sports' cancellation of NBA Elite 11. Fallout, Medal of Honor and Fable all made strong debuts -- but Rock Band 3's 15th-place position in sales has us concerned. NPD analyst Anita Frazier did make a special note in the report, assuring us that "this game has the potential to perform well over the holidays." The top-ten software breakdown is posted after the break.
Black Friday: $170 Wii bundle and more at Best Buy
What's that? You want another Black Friday deal post? Well ... okay, but you'd better finish your vegetables first. All done? Great. Best Buy has some killer deals on console bundles, with the best probably being the Wii (black or white) bundled with Wii Sports, Wii Sports Resort, a Wii Remote Plus and a Nunchuk, all for $180 ... while -- no doubt limited -- supplies last. If you're in the market for a PS3, Best Buy is bundling the 160GB model with LittleBigPlanet, ModNation Racers and a Cars Blu-ray for $300. Meanwhile, 4GB Xbox 360s will be packed with LEGO -- namely LEGO Star Wars: The Complete Saga, LEGO Batman and Lego Indiana Jones: The Original Adventures -- all for $200. The store is also stocking the red and green DSi bundles first spotted in the Sears Black Friday ad for $150. Finally, several big titles will see impressive discounts. Check out some of the highlights after the break.
Pre-order Halo: Reach Noble Maps at GameStop for flaming helmet, inconvenience
If you pre-order the Halo: Reach Noble Map Pack from GameStop, you'll receive a Flaming Mark V Spartan Helmet for your Xbox Live Avatar. Yay, free stuff -- but that's beside the point. The point is that GameStop is taking pre-orders on downloadable content. Isn't the reason for pre-ordering to secure a copy in case the store runs out of stock? Not ... really a problem for DLC. It would seem that GameStop's strategy for dealing with a scarcity-free market is to hope nobody notices the lack of scarcity. The best part: This offer is available in-store, but doesn't appear on GameStop's website. So you have to go to GameStop to pre-order the DLC, and then go to GameStop again so you can get the code to download your map pack from Xbox Live. Unless you're a Power-Up Rewards member, in which case you only have to visit a GameStop once, and then the code is available to you online. That's ... more convenient. %Gallery-105054% [Thanks, Matt]
November Xbox Live Marketplace schedule: Noble Map Pack for $10, Crazy Taxi and Hasbro Family Game Night deals
Major Nelson has posted a schedule of content coming to Xbox Live Marketplace this month. Some stuff we knew about -- Crazy Taxi on the 24th and the Halo: Reach Noble Map Pack, to name a few -- but others, including the Deal of the Week beginning on the 22nd and a special promotion for non-Gold members of Xbox Live, are news. You can find all of the pertinent details past the break. %Gallery-105054%
Xbox UK boss won't take a bet on Halo: Reach outselling Black Ops
About a month ago, Microsoft's UK director of Xbox and Entertainment, Stephen McGill, said he expected Halo: Reach to outsell Activision's Call of Duty: Black Ops. We had a nice laugh about it in the company of some analysts. Later, in an interview with Eurogamer, McGill waffled like an Eggo and wasn't willing to put money down on the claim. Asked if he would bet a "tenner" that Halo would outsell Call of Duty: Black Ops, the executive said Activision's shooter would jump ahead because it's multiplatorm (logical!), whereas Reach is only available on the Xbox 360. When the bet was adjusted to be only for the Xbox 360, McGill stated, "I'm tightfisted with my cash, so I'm not going to bet anyone any money about anything." We have an exercise routine after the break that won't cost a dime.
