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MS: Video Marketplace still booming
According to a recent article in The New York Times, Microsoft continues to do some damned good business with its Video Marketplace. Business is so good, in fact, that Microsoft claims that the service has maintained double-digit growth every single month since it went online last November. The article is filled with praise from Microsoft's content partners like Comedy Central and Warner Brothers. The true strength of the service, according to the article, is that it essentially hits gamers where they live. As many gamers watch less television and see fewer movies, Video Marketplace places content right where they spend most of their time: in front of the Xbox. Of course, that's not to say there isn't room for improvement. As noted by Josh Roberts, a gamer interviewed by The Times, downloads still take hours and the Microsoft Points system is confusing and annoying (he compares it to carnivals forcing patrons to buy food with tickets rather than real money). Still, quibbles aside, there's no denying the convenience of Video Marketplace, something we're sure even more companies will eventually realize.[Via Gamasutra]
Fallout 3 teaser radiates Marketplace
Continuing the tradition of releasing trailers on Marketplace long after we've seen them on the internet, the teaser for Fallout 3 is now available on XBLM. It is a teaser trailer in the strictest sense of the word. You won't be seeing any gameplay, just getting a look at the world of Fallout. In case you don't know, that world isn't particularly sunny. It is definitely pretty, though, in that destroyed beauty kind of way. Go download it and enjoy. Failing that, you can always watch the streaming trailer right now.
NCAA Football 08 trailer tackles Marketplace
A new trailer for NCAA Football 08 popped up on Xbox Live Marketplace this morning. Try as we might, it's hard for us to find ways to colorfully describe it. It is football, of that we're certain. There are players, a field, and there is most certainly a ball. The graphics look decent enough, and the hits look good. All in all, it looks to have most of the necessities required by a football game. What more do you need, right? Check out the trailer for yourself, conveniently embedded at the top of this post.
Watch Ace Combat 6 and The Bigs on XBLM
A couple of new trailers landed on Xbox Live Marketplace this morning. First we have a trailer for Ace Combat 6, it's the same cheesy trailer we saw released before, with lots of American pride and important-sounding music (think Armageddon). Our favorite moment is when a woman's voice breaks through the chaos: "I don't know a whole lot about war, but there's something I need to tell you." Yes, the cheese-factor is strong with this one. The Bigs trailer, on the other hand, is straight up balls-to-bat action (still no demo, by the way). You've got big, beefy players, flaming baseballs, and home runs so powerful that they could bring down small aircraft. For those of you without access to your 360, we've embedded it at the top of the post. Enjoy.
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.
Dark Messiah rises on Marketplace
A new Dark Messiah of Might and Magic Elements video is risen on Xbox Live Marketplace. The video is short and to the point, making sure to emphasize the violent first person combat of the title. There's plenty of slicing, dicing, whacking, and thwacking to be had, and just so you remember that there is both might and magic, a few spells are thrown in for good measure. We imagine most players will get a kick out of telekinetically launching opponents off cliffs. One new tidbit revealed in the trailer: the 360 version of Dark Messiah will have a new multiplayer mode designed by the Splinter Cell team (how will that work? Spies versus orcs?). Dark Messiah of Might and Magic Elements ships September 7.
Transformers videos meet the eye
There are 4 Transformers: The Game videos available on Marketplace. One of them is the opening cinematic of the game, whilst the other three are all interviews. The first interview is with the game developer itself, and the other two are with lead actors from the film, Shia LaBeouf and Megan Fox. Also worth noting is that in the text field that usually has some information like the developer or something above the file size is "<String text>". Very nice. Either way, the interviews vary from 67 to 94 MB a piece and the cinematic weighs in at 102 MB. Minor flub in the tagged information notwithstanding, are you interested in this movie to game adaptation, or do you think it will just end up as Achievement fodder?
Free and Premium MLG content on XBLM
Xbox Live Marketplace has a couple of videos and a Gamer picture pack from MLG, or Major League Gaming. The pack costs 80 MS Points and the videos are free. One video is sort of an introduction into the world of competitive gaming, while the other sort follows around one of the top tier players, Walshy, and is a lot meatier than the former. The video follows him around and gives insight into the life of a "professional gamer", and does a good job of representing those who compete. To say the least, he makes a bunch of really cool t-shirt designs. Definitely worth a watch, if you're interested in seeing what MLG is all about.
SEGA hopeful for Rally Revo demo
Speaking to Eurogamer, Guy Wilday, the head of SEGA Racing Studio, claimed that he'd like to see a pre-release demo of their upcoming title, SEGA Rally Revo, which is set to debut in September. Wilday noted that the team will "look to do potentially 360 and PS3 downloadable demos before release." Not exactly the most concrete of promises, but we'll take what we can get. Wilday further comments that the challenge of creating demos comes from balancing how much of the game one is allowed to play. As Wilday puts it, "We want people to get the experience of the game without giving the game away." Whatever the team decides to do, finishing touches are still being put on the game proper, so the demo will have to wait.With two major racing titles -- Forza 2 and DiRT -- just released for the 360, are you considering SEGA Rally Revo?
1-800-Magic episode 2 smells like bacon
We always knew that teleportations are accompanied by a BAMF! sound effect -- caused by the rushing of air into the newly created vacuum. What we didn't know, however, was that teleportation is also accompanied by the hearty smell of bacon. At least, that's what the newest episode of 1-800-Magic tells us. Episode 2, cleverly subtitled "The Second Episode," is now available on Xbox Live Marketplace. Of course, it's been available online for a week, but we likes our "high resmolutions."So, what do you think of this new series from the creators of Red Vs. Blue?
Sneak a peek at C&C3 map pack 1 on XBLM
Perhaps you find yourself in the unenviable position of wanting the new Command & Conquer 3 maps but not knowing if they're worth the money. Lucky for you, EA has released a free video on Xbox Live Marketplace detailing all of the new maps. The video is narrated by one of C&C3's developers, who gives you the scoop on each map, noting where the tiberium is and where most of the action will take place. Each map gets a fairly thorough overview, so the video should serve as a decent way to gauge whether or not the maps are worth 500 MS points.Have you downloaded the maps yet? What do you think?
Soltrio Solitaire DLC flies under radar
New game content is available for the Xbox Live Arcade card game, Soltrio Solitaire. It adds 10 new game modes for the low price of 150 MS Points. Considering the game started out with 18 modes of play at 800 Microsoft Points, that's a pretty dang good price. Then again, you have to remember that it is Solitaire, which may not exactly be up your alley. Either way, the content is there and reasonably priced if you're interested.
Project Sylpheed demo warps onto Live
"Okay, outer space shooting games for the Xbox 360, raise your hand. What ... no one? Not one outer space shooting game? Wait, you there, in the back, what's your name? Project Slip ... sliph ... Sylpheed? What does that even mean?"Yes, the space shooter is somewhat underrepresented on the Xbox 360 (along with platformers and RPGs). Thankfully, Microsoft has decided to rectify that situation by bringing the Game Arts developed title, Project Sylpheed to American shores (published by Square Enix in Japan). As such, Microsoft has deemed it worthy to release a demo on Xbox Live Marketplace. We don't know much about the game, other than the fact that it does indeed involve shooting things in space. The demo clocks in at just over 600MB and is available now. Has anyone managed to take it for a spin yet?
New Maps for Monster Madness
Xbox Live Marketplace has two new multiplayer maps available for Monster Madness, both costing 200 Microsoft points individually. The first is a 4v4 Capture the Flag level called Zack's House, and is a close quarters indoor map. The second map is called High School and is fit for 16 players, and has opportunities for vehicular combat outside, with close quarters action inside. Does this float anyone's boat, and do you think the 200 MS points is a fair price for each map?
Kane & Lynch trailer terrorizes Marketplace
You may recall the German Kane & Lynch: Dead Men trailer we posted yesterday. If you happen to speak English, then we have good news for you, the trailer has been released (in English) on Xbox Live Marketplace (it's also embedded at the top of this post, because we love you). Yes, now you can enjoy the trailer in both English and high definition goodness. The trailer focuses on Lynch, the long-haired, heavily medicated psycho. We've been intrigued by Kane & Lynch ever since we first laid eyes on it, so here's hoping there are more details coming our way.Note: This trailer contains loads of blood, guts, and foul language. Definitely NSFW.
Overlord demo rules Marketplace
After a bunch of demos hit Marketplace over the last three days (some more important than others), new ones still keep showing up. Today's offering so far is Overlord, which recently had a few videos pop up on the intertubes, and follows through on our plea. You may want to watch those before committing the 891.78 MB of space for the content, although some of you may already be convinced. So, are you enjoying this influx of interactive content, or do you not have the time to play these demos anyway?
1-800-Magic Episode 1 calls XBLM
The first episode of the Shadowrun machinima by Rooster Teeth Productions that we showed you yesterday, 1-800-Magic, is now available on Xbox Live Marketplace. As you may have saw, the production values are rather high, but that's to be expected from the RvB crew. The video weighs in at 227.59 MB, which shouldn't take too long, and getting a higher resolution version to appreciate the finer details of their work is never a bad thing. If the series was regularly added to Marketplace, and continue to be free, would you follow it on XBLM?
Vampire Rain demo available in Canada & Mexico, not U.S.
The Vampire Rain demo was first released in Japan on Tuesday, and we suspected that it would become available in North America shortly thereafter. Well, we were right and today it is, but unfortunately for some (or rather, most), it's only available in two thirds of this continent. While being available in Mexico and Canada, as well as portions of Europe, Asia, and Australia, the demo is not on Marketplace in the US. Quite frankly this is quite odd, and we hope the rest of you get your hands on it sooner rather than later. We guess we can get you "exclusive" hands on impressions later today, if we aren't too busy.
Tomb Raider Anniversary coming to 360 (as DLC?)
Is there anything the ESRB can't do? Routinely revealing numerous Xbox Live Arcade games, the ratings board has now revealed that Tomb Raider: Anniversary is headed to the Xbox 360. In an interesting twist, the ESRB actually lists five different entries for the game, each with a different locale specified. In all, Peru, Lost City, Greece, Egypt, and Croft Manor are listed. This specificity leads us (and Joystiq) to conclude that Anniversary will be offered as downloadable content. Whether this is done via Tomb Raider: Legend or as independent downloadable episodes remains to be seen (if we had to guess, we'd say it'll be Legend DLC). Considering Anniversary costs $30 on other platforms, a $5-6 price tag for each episode on Xbox Live Marketplace would be reasonable (though we're not necessarily expecting it).We really enjoyed Lara Croft's first outing on the 360, so here's hoping Eidos makes an official announcement soon.[Via Joystiq]
New Catan content settles on Xbox Live
While it may not be as exciting as, say, a downloadable expansion, there is new Catan content available on Xbox Live Arcade. It's not particularly exciting though, as it won't significantly alter your game at all. First, there is a picture pack available that will set you back 100 MS Points. Somewhat more interesting, you can download the Mayfair skin, which will give your gameboard the appearance of the original Mayfair Games version. The Mayfair skin will set you back 100 points as well.Anyone planning on downloading this content, or will you save your money for an expansion?
