David Dreger
Articles by David Dreger
Worms Music and Terrains crawl on Marketplace
A bunch of new Worms content hit Marketplace today. First off, outside of the game, there are a themes and gamer pictures for 150 and 100 MS Points, respectively. Inside the game, there is a Music Pack, which is free to download. On the pay side of things, for 150 MS Points a piece, Desert and Manhattan are available for the invertebrate internecion between you and your friends. That all being said, we got one report from X3F reader Tucker that the update broke his game, though no other such scenarios have come in, so be careful out there, San Diego.
Bungie adds to the Beyond the Beta blowout
Bungie came forward with some more Halo 3 screens and details on the maps Last Resort and Epitaph. They even briefly acknowledged the leaks that have riddling the interwebz before the Beta became public. They also discuss the two Spartan armor permutations shown thus far, the E.V.A. (Extra Vehicular Activities) and C.Q.B. (Close Quarters Battle), with assurances that they are only of the many available to be unlocked. Finally, they discuss the Brute Chopper, which evidently tops out at 75 mph. Feel free to glean the article for more info after the jump.
F.E.A.R. Nightmare pack on X.B.L.M.
After setting the foundation down with the free update that released last week, F.E.A.R. now has multiplayer maps available on Xbox Live Marketplace. The 4 maps cost only 500 Microsoft Points, which is a reasonable price for the content. CTF and Conquer All maps are Spill Kill and Heliport, while Cafeteria and Asylum will supply your fix for Control and straight up Deathmatch. Perhaps this will persuade us to actually break the seal on our still shrink wrapped copy of the game.
Video: Shaky Left 4 Dead zombownage
Video footage has surfaced from the showdownLAN of the upcoming PC and Xbox 360 zombie vs. human shooter, Left 4 Dead. Brought to us by Turtle Rock Studios and Valve, who made a little ditty called Counter-Strike. The video above shows four survivors fighting off a bunch of the Infected. Gameplay looks fast, furious, and bloody. Not shown in the video are the "Super Infected' which are more formidable than the fodder shown above. We'll be sure to keep a keen eye on this as more details emerge.[Via Joystiq]
T. Hawk gets HD Remix'd, plus more remastering info
Just so you fanboys know, that shot of T. Hawk is full resolution, from Super Street Fighter II HD Remix, of course. Capcom Digital posted that image, complete with an analysis of how they remaster frames to incorporate the new artwork. They use Sagat's standing Roundhouse as an example. Rey then demonstrated how the art is broken up into tiles, and they use those as a guide for when they're redrawing the frame. This prevents a scenario causing a foot to go through an opponent's head due to a hit detection issues. A good read, and it also shows the comparison shot of T. Hawk, as well as the line art for Sagat. Go take a look!
Missile Command Launches onto XBLA
Today's Xbox Live Arcade release is Missile Command, the retro crap Atari shooter where you fire at ... oncoming missiles. With updated graphics, a new Throttle Monkey gameplay mode, and multiplayer over Xbox Live or locally, this nostalgic classic costs 400 Microsoft Points. Unfortunately, according to the read out at Major's blog, this game is currently unavailable in Japan or Korea, but everyone else is free to check out the trial and see if this oldschool goodness is up their alley.
X3F Achievements 101: Dark Pirates
Welcome back to another edition of X3F Achievements 101, complete with Gamerscore whoring goodness. This week we take a look at finishing up Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End, a very quick look at the ever distracting and delicious Darkness, as well as some personal Achievements, while not exactly adding any value to my Gamerscore, are still pretty cool little accomplishments that occurred over the past week. All in all, it was a solid week, with a few minor hiccups that'll you'll have to check it out for yourself.
Live Top Ten: Old favorites
Another week goes by and another Live Top Ten is upon us. This week sees some things that don't change, the return of a few old faces, and other movements. The top four remain the same, with Shadowrun also remaining at tenth, though its demo dropped to 9th, which is unfortunate. Oblivion and GRAW 2 make returns at sixth and seventh respectively, as it looks like players are coming back to those in the summer lull. Full list breakdown after the break.
NCAA Achievements have product placement
Xbox 360 Achievements got their hands on NCAA Football 08's Achievement list earlier this week. It looks like this year, EA's making an effort to require you to play the game, rather than just simming your way through it, though we can't say for certain that you can't get any of them via simming. The last three did grab our eye, though, they all have blatant product placement for Pontiac and Old Spice, even using the company's respective logo. Fight Night Round Three kind of did the same thing, though the events were "sponsored by the companies". Still, give the list a look, and if your like EA Sports previous offering, hopefully this will fit the bill this year.
Geometry Wars Galaxies coming to 360?
Gamespot has a video hands on demo of Wii/DS title, Geometry Wars Galaxies, and while it is for a competing platform, there is one thing worth bringing to your attention. During the gameplay demo, whenever the Bizarre Creations developer pauses the game, the word "Achievements" is clearly shown in the pause menu. Also worth noting is that the selection is skipped over whenever scrolling down to "Exit Game". So, the tradition may be kept alive with a new Geometry Wars game released alongside PGR4. Either that, or else the Wii version will have in-game Achievements, which may or may not be "allowed". Either way, very interesting stuff.
IGN's GHIII Preview on XBLM
IGN has put a preview for Guitar Hero III up on Xbox Live Marketplace in all its HD glory. The video gives us a first look at the new Les Paul wireless guitar, as well as some other cool features. One thing that impresses us was their use of face capture to have the lead singer properly lip-synced to the songs lyrics, as opposed to the previous iterations generic lip service. The video also touches on some of the visual changes, in the HUD as well as the art direction. A solid watch, if you're a fan of the series.
Eterna Sonata trailer now on Marketplace
The Eternal Sonata trailer that was showed you from IGN is now available on Xbox Live Marketplace in HD. It weighs in at 71 MB, and gives you a better scope on the the game's world, art style and gameplay. As we said before, the game follows the final hours of composer Frederic Chopin, while in a feverish dream state. All of that to say that we still can't wait for this to hit come September, though we hope it doesn't get crushed under the weight of Halo 3's release on the 25th. Either way, if you didn't watch the embedded trailer, or thought the quality didn't give you a proper impression, check it out on XBLM.
Bungie Update hints at vehicular gametype
In the most really Bungie Weekly update, Frankie started off to talk about a vehicle based gametype in Halo 3. Apparently it had everyone suited up with Rockets, a bunch of vehicles, and the "greatest Halo experience ever experienced." Frankie went on to say that Halo 1 fans would really have a bunch of fun with it. To us, this means one of two things: They're either bringing back Rally and Racing gametypes, or they're making an official version of "Warthog Jousting". Rockets, infinite Ammo, Indestructible vehicles, and increased health would definitely do the trick, based on the options seen in the Beta's custom matches. The update also touches on them knuckling down for the retail build, and polishing and tweaking the game. A good read, and that gametype sounds like it could make Randy Glass proud.
The Darkness Achievements menu shows progress!
When browsing through the Achievements menu in the pause screen in The Darkness, we came across a nifty feature that we saw in GRAW 2: Achievement Progress reports. Any Achievement that requires you to do an action multiple times, it will display a percentage for completion on the bottom. Also, the "collectibles" Achievements show which ones you're missing in numerical order, so that is very handy indeed. Starbreeze knows where it's at.
Hitman movie teaser shows promise
The trailer for the upcoming Hitman movie hit the internet yesterday, and we've got the somewhat shoddy YouTube video above for your quick Schubert fix. IGN has some high res Quicktime and Windows Media formats that have less obtrusive watermarks. Timothy Olyphant dons the bar code as Agent 47, and while he's not exactly David Bateson, the voice actor from the games whom the character is also modeled after, we're confident in his potential to nail the part. Our major glimmer of hope that this game-to-film may work is that like Hitman: Blood Money, the iconic "Ellens dritter Gesang" by Franz is present, accounted for, and always as moving and poignant. So, if anyone tries to tell you the song is "Ave Maria", quite simply, they're wrong. Perhaps we're overly optimistic because we were a fan of Blood Money and its well done Achievements, or because we actually thought Kelly was a badass character in The Girl Next Door, but this could go against the trend of game franchises becoming motion pictures.[Via Joystiq. Thanks DjDATZ, Vik, & NitroFrost for being awesome]
Carcassonne tiles onto Arcade
As we announced on Monday, today's Xbox Live Arcade offering is Carcassonne. For 800 Microsoft Points you can get your hands on some castle building action. It's got 5 player live multiplayer and 4 player local MP, Live Vision camera support, and a nice range of balanced Achievements. It hopefully will bring a similar crowd as Catan did, allowing for a more laid back and social experience, so long as the camera support isn't abused. Hopefully we'll catch you online soon.
Win a copy of Shadowrun from X360A
The generous gents over at Xbox 360 Achievements are giving away a copy of Shadowrun to celebrate the 250,000th post on their forums. To enter all you need to do is post your gamertag on this thread, though registration is required. This is definitely a pretty good deal, then again, when is anything free not one? Speaking of free giveaways, we'll be announcing the winner of our The Darkness contest soon, so stay tuned.
Penny Arcade questions Doritos Unlock Xbox contest
The guys at Penny Arcade seem a little perplexed as to the Unlock Xbox marketing campaign from Doritos. Apparently, putting together a videogame based on a tortilla chip is pushing the envelope for ridiculous ideas, intense experiences notwithstanding. While the idea of getting your Arcade title's concept published on Xbox Live Marketplace is definitely a cool one, the necessity to incorporate some Doritos branding into the gameplay does seem a little cheesy. Do you mind the product placement suggested for submissions to the contest, or do you think the opportunity is too good to complain about such details?
F.E.A.R. D.L.C. for F.R.E.E. on X.B.L.M.
There's free new content available for F.E.A.R. on Xbox Live Marketplace. The Control and Conquer All Map Pack has two new gametypes, "Conquer All" and "Control". On top of the extra gametypes, there is also a title update that adds a few functionality features to the gameplay and Xbox Live experience. on the in game experience, blood splatter has been added to enemy uniforms after having been shot, as well as an option to fade the HUD so it only shows information when you need it, without cluttering your screen. Extra functionality has been added to Player Matches, allowing the host to invite friends into both private and public slots. There also were hints made towards new maps being available later this summer.
Bomberman Live explosive interview
DAKing240 over at Xbox 360 Achievements got to sit down with Peter Dassenko, Associate Producer at Hudson Entertainment about their upcoming Xbox Live Arcade release, Bomberman Live. The interview covers a lot of interesting points, like the development process for the game, and how they came up with some of the title's more interesting Achievements. It's a good read,and Peter has some uniquely clever ways of answering some of the questions. Check out the full interview by clicking the "Read" link.