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Skate demo is now available on Xbox Live, PS3 demo coming soon
After being held up for six days, EA's Skate demo has finally arrived on Xbox live, begging to be downloaded and obsessed over. We're just a tad bit obsessed with it ourselves, going as far as calling it "a spiritual experience." Will you reach gaming nirvana as well? Not unless you can achieve that state within thirty minutes of this timed demo.Your thirty minutes in heaven takes place in the community center skate park in the suburbs and it's fully equipped to experience a good chunk of what's possible in Skate. After a brief tutorial of the flick-it controls, you'll be let loose on the park, free to do whatever you please.What really makes this demo special is the ability to save and upload a movie using the saved films feature so please, feel free to share your creations with the rest of the class. As for PlayStation 3 owners, your demo will be arriving sometime soon as folks at EA have said that it's been completed, sent out and is now in Sony's hands.
Loads of new game trailers on XBLM
If you haven't powered on your Xbox 360 today, you're missing out on a boatload of new trailers. In all, we've got Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (girlish squeal!), Overlord (which we can't download for some reason), and a trailer for Conan. Conan, perhaps, deserves the most attention. Unfortunately, that's not because it's the best of the three (far from it, in fact). Not to be confused with the Age of Conan MMO from Funcom, Conan, quite frankly, just looks awful. The gameplay looks decent enough, but the graphics lack anything even resembling polish. Seriously, it's like they decided to release a trailer of an alpha build (which may be exactly what it is). The character models themselves look alright, but they seem completely separate from the environment, like they're really in front of a green screen. Joystiq seemed to be impressed by the game back in March, so we remain hopeful that the final product will be a solid experience.
Brady Quinn joins team Xbox 360
Brady Quinn, that all-star quarterback from Notre Dame, has officially joined team Xbox 360. And what the heck does that mean? It means Quinn will chronicle the road to draft day including his training regimen, life events, practice, gaming sessions, and what he likes to do to relax. Starting this Friday on Xbox.com Brady will post a weekly blog and HD videos will also hit the Xbox Live marketplace. This weekly insider access will come to an end on April 27th with a Game with Fame session. So, for all you Brady Quinn stalkers, you've officially hit the motherload. For those of you who are less than impressed ... just move along, stay clear of the grills, drop the booze, and avoid anyone wearing face paint.[Thanks, Jonah]
Xbox Live Video Marketplace downloads stalled by glitches
The two biggest questions since Microsoft announced its Xbox Live Video Marketplace have been: 1. does anyone still has enough space on their Xbox 360's 20GB hard drive for movie downloads in high definition? and 2. does anyone -- even the guys at Redmond -- have enough bandwidth to feed the HDTVs of millions of Xbox Live subscribers? Since launching two days ago those questions have been answered with a yes and resounding no, respectively. Users have complained of slow downloads that time out, receiving different files than the ones they requested and being charged twice when trying to complete timed-out rental downloads. Major Nelson has chimed in on the issue, letting us know that the company is aware of the problem and will refund Microsoft Points to all those who call 1-800-4MYXBOX for assistance. Good luck with that, though, as at least one person was told there aren't any managers available to refund customers until after the holiday weekend. So while network engineers and management sleep off yesterday's turkey and camp out for cheap plasmas, you may want to hold off trying to download Clash of the Titans in 720p 'till things get straightened out.[Thanks, WiFiSpy]Read - My Xbox 360 video rental nightmareRead - Video Marketplace Status
Microsoft to take a bite out of "consumables"
Microsoft's Xbox Live Arcade and Marketplace have been hot topics this week, especially following the announcement of XNA Game Studio Express on Monday. Speaking at Gamefest 2006, Microsoft has further clarified some of their plans to enhance their online nexus of downloadable demos and managed microtransactions, most interestingly annoucing their intention to make a meal out of Marketplace "consumables." As enticing as the prospect of downloading a slice of lemon meringue pie might be, the experience is considerably dulled when you have to watch your in-game character devour it. Items that would be considered as consumables would be ones that you could purchase multiple times and whenever you needed them, and the example cited by the 1UP article points to this being a potentially ludicrous concept. Let's say your level 54 sorcerer (call him ... Tim) is in need of a Phoenix Down, but your party doesn't have enough gold to purchase one. Solution: rather than traipsing through a dungeon and obtaining items from slain beasties (why was that dinosaur carrying a potion?), you could be hitting the Xbox Live Marketplace and buying more gold.So, let's see if we understand how this goes. Use your real money to buy Microsoft's fake money to buy fake gold in order to buy fake potions from a fake in-game marketplace. Obviously, this is a rather extreme way of looking at consumables, but it certainly provides food for thought -- especially so should you consider the fact that by purchasing the game, you've ostensibly purchased the entire game world, marketplaces and overpriced inns included. Thankfully, just as with any marketplace transactions, it's still up to you to decide when something is worth the extra money and when it isn't (hint: equine items of protection).
Table Tennis demo now available on Live Marketplace [Update 1]
If your eyebrow is still in a raised position with regards to Rockstar's foray into the explosive, prostitute-less world of Table Tennis, be sure to grab the newly served demo from the Xbox Live Marketplace. Coming in at 526MB, the curtailed code should give you fine opportunity to beat innocent balls senseless and engage in more back-and-forth whacking than a Sopranos episode. Feel free to gawk at the shiny graphics and the ball physics, but don't make the crucial mistake of forgetting to press the green button. You can be sure that Conrad's sister will capitalize and promptly crush your ego in the palm of her adorable hand. Update: Major Nelson made this addition to his blog: "Hey, I forgot to post that this is a limited time demo. (sorry about that) That means that you can only download it and play it until the end of August. After that...the title will not work, even if you have already downloaded it! So get it and play it while it lasts!" Looks like someone's worried the demo might be a little too good.
400 XBLM points for free -- sort of
Outpost.com is selling 1600 Marketplace points for $14.99 (the usual price is $20.00). Over the weekend, the status of this deal was "Call for Availability." However, they seem to be back in stock now. The site is also selling 12 and 3 month Live subscriptions for $54.99 and $29.99 respectively. That's $10 off of a three month subscription and a full $15 off of a 12 month subscription. 360 Fanboy does not endorse this site, and I have no idea how reliable it is so, buy at your own risk. Anybody scored any other deals lately? [Via The Hottest Deals]
