David Dreger
Articles by David Dreger
Video: Silent Hill V coming to 360
Prior to Konami's Press Briefing they sent out a cryptically poetic email about some announcement at the conference. The surprising thing is that it was actually worth announcing. Silent Hill V will be coming to the 360, starring a soldier who just came back home from war, and searches for his son who has gone missing. Naturally, he can be found in the town of Silent Hill. Akira Yamaoka is returning to the series to supply the soundtrack. We can't wait for Konami to give us more details in the future.
Sighted in Halo 3 demo: Gravity Hammer
We got looks at Halo 3 (more on that soon) today, and during a walk through of the multiplayer "Save Film" feature a weapon was noted, and Sketch even went so far as to point it out specifically just to say that he couldn't comment on it, twice. The first time players saw this weapon was in Halo 2, in the hands of Tartarus. Of course, we're talking about the Gravity Hammer. We only saw it in a character's hands when the camera was panning across the battle field, and again attached to a character's back. We can't wait to see it on hte battlefield.[Image Via Halopedia]
Turok coming February 5th, revitalizes franchise
During Disney Interactive's Press Conference this afternoon General Manager of Propaganda Games, Josh Holmes cames on stage to show off Turok's facelift and how Propaganda has plans to reinvent the series. The video they showed included stealth kills by stabbing someone in the face, and using the bow and arrows. It's rather unfortunate the main character got eaten by a T-rex. They also anneaournced that Turok will be released on February 5th, 2008. Let us know if this this game coming in Q1 2008 piques your interest, you must.
Burnout Paradise screens careen online
Electronic Arts released a slew of screenshots for Burnout Paradise after the Press Conference earlier today. Shots show off an exotic and muscle car racing through the streets of Paradise City. Joystiq has some impressions up, though the only version showing at E3 is the PS3 version. Either way, the game is looking great, and we'll try to get some time to talk with EA/Criterion about the 360 version and should the versions be identical, get some hands on impressions, blasphemous or not.
X3F Hands On: Assassin's Creed
Earlier today we got a chance to sit down with Ubisoft and get shown Assassin's Creed up close and personal, while at the same giving us a chance to actually control Altair ourselves. The demonstration was the of the same mission shown at Microsoft's Press Briefing from Tuesday night. Fortunately, we got to see the objective through to its completion, whereas Jade Raymond's cut off as soon as the slaver was assassinated. After our Ubi rep went through the mission, he handed us the controller and let us have a go at the streets and rooftops of Jerusalem, which is 15 times larger than the previously demoed city at E3 06. Did it play as good as it looked?
Rock Band to have weekly DLC, Full Album downloads, and Metallica
Harmonix CEO Alex Rigopulos announced that Rock Band has some serious plans for delivering content to players. First off, Harmonix plans to release new music tracks every week. They can be released in singles, multi track bundles, or more deliciously, full albums. As an example Alex announced that The Who's Who's Next would be available for download following the game's release. As icing on the proverbial cake, selections spanning Metallica's musical career will be made available, with "Enter Sandman" playable on the retail disc. All in all, Harmonix is pushing Rock Band more as a platform than just a game, and we couldn't agree with the prospect more. We'll be back with hands on impressions and a proper tribute to Weezer as soon as we can.
Konami's Press Briefing peculiar poetic precursor
A cute little email hit our inbox from Konami in regards to their press briefing taking place this evening, and should be interesting. Here's the poem:"What better way to end your dayat Konami's media briefing collecting...News for a major announcementyou were not expecting."Curiouser and curiouser, upon being confronted with this new information, our intrepid lead gave his best raised eyebrow akin to a well renowned Vulcan. The sign in for the briefing is in just over an hour, and we'll be there to bring you this unexpected announcement. Until then, rampant speculation ... GO!
Assassin's Creed shows chases, combat, and Matrixish code
Ubisoft shed some more light on Assassin's Creed with a demonstration, where plenty of tidbits could be gleaned. The level demonstrated was Jerusalem, using ancient texts as a source for creating the environment. Speaking of the locale, every building visible in the city can be climbed by you, and all are accessible, which definitely is good news. The combat system is allegedly advanced, where your performance is dependent on well timed button combos, and countering your opponent's attacks, based on their animation. When hunting down a target, you may end up chasing them through the city streets. The "Chase AI" is advanced and will make each chase a different experience, especially since your target's mannerisms are dependent on their personality. Also, through the demonstration, characters and the immediate area around your character would see flickering and feedback, giving it a psuedo "Matrix Code" feel. All in all, Assassin's Creed is looking like a solid winter release, though we'll have to see how it compares to the big guns.
Sonic and Golden Axe speed to Xbox Live Arcade
This week's Xbox Live Arcade titles are Golden Axe and, finally, Sonic the Hedgehog. Both cost a mere 400 Microsoft Points, with Golden Axe allowing for co-operative play on Live and locally. The Achievements for both titles were made available yesterday, and led us to believe that at the very least, GA was coming today. Fortunately, we were only half right, as Sonic finally made its debut under the Sega Vintage Collection line of titles. With any luck, we'll see Ecco and Sonic 2 follow suit.
COD4: Modern Warfare demoed & beta announced
Infinity Ward's Jason West demoed Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare, showing off the game's visceral visuals and gameplay. The mission seen takes place 15 years prior to the present in the game, with you and your sniping partner infilitrating a base. The graphics are crisp, and the lighting, explosions and smoke look especially realistic. The trailer has some intense firefights and some heavy duty missile blasts.To show that all good things come in threes, Infinity Ward announced an Xbox Live exclusive Public Beta and gave a URL to watch for developing info. This looks to set new standards in contemporary combat games.
PGR4's motorcycles expanded upon
At the Media Briefing, Bizarre Creations' Craig Howard and Brian Woodhouse showed off Project Gotham Racing 4. The game will include manufacturers Honda, Ducati, and Suzuki for motorcycles, which can race alongside cars, of which there are over 120. When riding the motorcycle, you can pull some fancy tricks, wheelies, endos and taunting maneuvers. On the Live side of things, for the first time, gamers will be able to share photos and videos with what's called "PGR On Demand". We can't wait to get some hands on time in the coming days.
Europe and Canada to get Video Marketplace in Fall
At Microsoft's E307 Media Briefing, Peter Moore announced that Xbox Live's Video Marketplace would be going worldwide, or more specifically, to Europe as well as Canada. Apparently, XBLVM will be available in these new locales this fall, a full year since the announcement and launch in November 2006 in the States. This came hot off of the announcement of Disney partnering with Microsoft to bring HD movies to Video Marketplace tonight. We're very happy to see Video Marketplace have a broader reach, though it will be interesting to see what content discrepancies there are when it launches in the coming months.
We're off to E3, twittering away
So, today two thirds of our intrepid trio of X3F journalists are headed off to the ever elusive Electronic Entertainment Expo taking place this week. For the sake of keeping our readership in the loop, we're going to track half of our trek on twitter, which you are more than welcome to follow. It may even bleed over into updates of some of the events attended during the show. That being said, another twitter account worth following is Gamertag Radio's E3 account. Meanwhile, the remaining reporter will continue to keep a keen eye over Fanboy Towers, and take over some of the lesser known custodial tasks whilst holding down the fort. This includes, but is not limited to feeding the cat, oiling the NERF automated turrets, and cleaning out the moat. Oh, and covering news, too. That's a big one. Either way, we have a lot in store for you this week, so keep your eyes peeled, and as we said before, check out the twitter account for mini-updates today and potentially throughout E3.
X3F Achievements 101: Pre-E3 lull
Welcome to another edition of the weekly Gamerscore whoring extravaganza, X3F Achievements 101. As usual, I'll discuss the last week in unlocking Achievements, or discuss any news that's especially pertinent to the Achievement obsessed. Unfortunately, this week was pretty light, with E3 just around the corner, there wasn't much spare time to grind through any games. I didn't rent anything this week, but I did get my feet wet with Rainbow Six: Vegas, as well as made a couple discoveries whilst playing some Arcade titles locally with friends.
Reminder: R6V Player's Pack Red Edition now Free
Just a reminder to all those Rainbow Six: Vegas fans who may have not gotten the memo, the Player's Pack Red Edition has been available to download for free since Friday, the 6th, like the Black Edition when it returned to Marketplace. The pack, if you didn't already know, includes Assassination and Total Conquest game modes, as well as 5 maps, 2 of which are relit. Roof, Doscala Restaurant, and Marshalling Yard are the new maps with Killhouse and Border Town getting the face lift. As they say, the best things in life are free, so go grab the Red Edition if you haven't yet.
Rock Band Guitar Prices PS3 vs 360
An anonymous employee from Game Crazy sent a tip and scan to Joystiq of their pricing for Harmonix's Rock Band peripherals for both the PS3 and Xbox 360. The microphone and drum kit cost $29.99 and $79.99, respectively. Unfortunately, the guitar controller has a price discrepancy between the two platforms, with the PS3's wireless guitar costing $59.99 and the 360's $79.99, a twenty dollar difference.As the story goes, Red Octane supposedly couldn't get a wireless guitar because using Microsoft's proprietary wireless technology would jack the price on the controller. Could the PS3's wireless technology be easier and cheaper to implement that would cause it to be cheaper than the 360's? Harmonix denied their being any discrepancy when asked that question, so we'll have to wait for either an announcement on pricing or some more concrete evidence from retailers.
Video: Rock Band's Mississippi Queen
Update: It looks like the video has been pulled.Gametrailers has a new video up of a Pre-E3 Rock Band playtest, akin to the one our fellow 'Stiqqers attended, and shows off the menu UI, along with band member selection prior to the song. Speaking of which, today's performance is "Mississippi Queen", and despite Player 2 pausing twice during the jam session, it all went well, especially since the song featured more cowbell. The guitar players are using the Fender Stratocaster, and the drum kit is different than the one seen in the earlier video, as it is all black. Also, at the beginning, other songs in the play list that are different from the ones revealed earlier are David Bowie's "Suffragette City" and The Hives' "Main Offender". All in all some cool tidbits, and we can't wait to play "Say it Ain't So" at E3 next week. [Thanks, DarkStar]
360's Warranty extended to THREE years!
The guys over at Gamerscore Blog expressed their discontent with the failure rate of Xbox 360s and the customer service for getting consoles repaired. As such, they are changing the warranty policy worldwide to 3 years after the consoles purchase when dealing with the 3 red rings of light hardware failure on Xbox 360s. Anyone who's payed for any repairs up to this point will be reimbursed in full. This means that anyone who bought their console at launch will be covered until November 22nd 2008. On top of the press release, Peter Moore himself posted an open letter to the community on the policy change, which is included after the break, as well as a FAQ on how it's being rolled out.
USK: Switchball rolling to Arcade
The Unterhaltungssoftware Selbstkontrolle is losing self control (Uh oh; ding!) over revealing games existence prior to their official announcements, and the latest is Switchball, which Xbox-Archiv.de has found the rating for on the USK's site. The video above is the trailer for the PC version, and it seems reminiscent of Marble Blast Ultra, which isn't a bad thing, especially if it brings a new flavor to the table. According to an Xboxic reader (link below), and the PC version's demo has 12 Achievements listed in the menu, so that makes this all the more likely to be true.[Via Xboxic]
BioShock Achievement list raptured
The Achievements for BioShock have become available for you to scrutinize and it has some standard level completions and researching tasks found within. Fortunately, the art style of the Achievements maintain their retro-50's style feel, and the names are amusing. Interestingly, there's an achievement for not harvesting any Little Sisters, as well as one for interacting with all of them. We may not be the betting types, but there's a chance that 100 Gamerscore secret Achievement maybe be the yang to the Little Sister Savior's Yin, requiring you to Harvest to your heart's content. We'll have to wait and see after the game's release.[Thanks, Jonah]