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Masochist sits through 24 straight hours of Olympics, writes about it
Just because there are 3,600 hours of Olympics coverage being beamed out in one form or another this year doesn't mean you actually need to watch all 3,600 of them. For one particular pain lover, however, he consumed 24 straight, and thankfully, he had the decency to write about it. Starting at midnight ET on August 12th, he flipped on NBC just in time to catch Alexander Artemev save the bronze for the US in men's gymnastics. 24 hours later, he watched the women's team disappointingly snag a silver in the same sport. Nearly every minute in between is chronicled in the read link below -- seriously, this is a read you can't afford to miss.
Marathon 2 map pack thrown up on Wednesday
Yes, we know, you've been clamoring for more multiplayer maps like an irate, "plz sir can I hav sum moar" Oliver Twist. You yearn for more of Bungie's first-person shootery, dreaming of running and gunning down corridors you haven't been through countless times already. It'll genuinely make your day to see new downloadable content pop up on the Xbox Live Marketplace, but until a new Halo 3 map pack is announced, that day is still quite a ways off. But here, have some Marathon 2: Durandal stuff in the meantime.For 250 MS Points (an awkward $3.125), the Jjaro Map Pack will net you 12 new multiplayer environments, playable in King of the Hill, Kill the Man with the Ball and Tag modes, and two achievements worth a combined 30 gamer points. If the game's infamously sickening motion doesn't make you throw up, be sure to grab the content just in case Marathon gets thrown off Xbox Live Arcade.
Marathon DLC (Jjaro Map Pack) hitting tomorrow
We here at X3F love our old-school FPS's just as much as the new-school ones, and at a price of 250MSpts, the upcoming DLC for Marathon 2: Durandal looks to get us back into the archaic swing of things. The new Jjaro Map Pack will hit the Marketplace tomorrow and includes twelve multiplayer maps, two Achievements (worth 30pts total) and three new multiplayer modes (King of the Hill, Kill the Man with the Ball, and Tag). For those obsessed with such things, the Achievement details can be found after the break. Oh, and according the post at 360sync, the devs will be Live and playing on the night of release.
Poll Results: Poker best, Shrek worst of XBLA chopping block titles
Over the last few days, we asked you to pick the best and worst of the Xbox Live Arcade titles that are potentially up for delisting. We've now tallied the votes and the results are in:Best: Texas Hold 'Em (12.77%) Marathon: Durandal (12.48%) Contra (9.18%) Worst: Shrek N Roll (12.00%) Yie Ar Kung-Fu (8.37%) Screwjumper! (6.48%) You can view our picks for best and worst here. We want to make a special note regarding the Yaris game, which was not included because it would pass the delist hurdle of over 6% conversion rate (hint: it had no demo and was free; the devil is in the details). We don't know if Microsoft will be that stringent regarding its guidelines, but there is poetic justice in noting that the developer, comprised of former Blizzard North staffers, suspended operations in April.
Marathon: Durandal DLC video blowout
Looks like 360Sync decided to turn the drip feed of Marathon: Durandal DLC info into a full torrent. There is now video of seven more maps in addition to the two that were revealed already. According to 360Sync, they also have video footage of one more, making ten maps so far. Here are all the maps currently revealed: Duality Thick and Chunky Melatonin Mime Target Fortress Lh'owon Arena Mars Needs Women Vulcan Beyond Thunderdome Not only that, but Bruce Morisson, project lead for Marathon at Freeverse, has left a comment stating there are "several" more to be included with the upcoming DLC. That's a lot of maps. Check out video of all of the maps revealed so far embedded above. Once the first video is over, the next will automatically load (alternately, you can skip to the next video using the navigation buttons). [Thanks, StLouisRibs]
New Marathon maps and achievements on the way
It's kind of strange when you think about it. Here we have Marathon, a very old game getting DLC thanks to the magic of Xbox Live Arcade. 360Sync got a look at the new DLC (complete with new achievements) including some super spiffy videos. The first video, embedded above, shows off the map Duality (originally from the Marathon series and remade as Gemini in Halo 2). Fun fact: Duality was named for a game being created by Double Aught, a company comprised of former Bungie employees. Duality the game, sadly, was never released. The second video (embedded after the break) showcases "Thick and Chunky." The primary feature of the level is the large lava pit in the center, which also happens to be where the hill is located in King of the Hill mode. Ouch.We're not sure how many more maps could wind up in the upcoming DLC. Keep your eyes on X3F for the latest on what to expect and details on when the DLC will be available.
English of the Judo chop
If we lived in Japan and needed to learn English, English of the Dead would clearly be our choice of software. Yet, we're not saying that Paon doesn't have a fun idea for their English training game, too. New Horizon English Training Course DS might not have zombies, but it does have Judo.As you may have guessed, the way in which this title handles its English quizzes is through sports minigames. It's unclear how exactly the Judo game works, but there's also a marathon event (during which players must write out the correct letters quickly in order to run fast), and a weight training game (which has players identify whether or not a translation is correct). Of course, in our hearts, zombies still win -- every time.[Via Siliconera]
Bungie's next game is like, 'totally different'
One of Bungie's many skills is to talk up future projects without saying much at all, with the latest edition of the now independent company's podcast providing a sterling example of vague vocalizing. In a discussion between Luke Smith, Frank 'O Connor, Brian Gerrard and lead designer Christian Allen, we learn that Bungie's next title will be "totally different" to what you may have envisioned. Though it's early days yet, we're assured the work-in-progress is looking "very cool." As an adventure involving armor-clad tough guys gallivanting across mysterious space hoops is almost certainly ruled out (we're not mad about it), what do you think is nestled within Bungie's chiffon sleeve? %Poll-9154%[Via Eurogamer]
Four48 crew takes on the world in Resident Evil 4 race
With three marathon gaming sessions neatly tucked under their belts, the Four48 crew are starting to get a little overzealous. Attempting to beat four Zelda games in forty-eight hours was a lofty enough goal -- but for their latest effort to raise cash for Child's Play, they're attempting to establish global domination by besting seven other teams in a race through Resident Evil 4.The first team to cross the finish line (via jet ski, if memory serves) nets themselves a copy of No More Heroes, along with bragging rights in the rapidly expanding competitive marathon gaming scene. As always, you can watch their live webstream to see if the Four48ers can back up their boasts -- that is, if you can stand ten straight hours of listening to the death rattles of Spanish pseudo-zombies.
Four48 crew tackling Paper Mario for weekend Child's Play marathon
Remember those wacky kids who tried to beat the four 3D Zelda games in a single two day sitting, and failed miserably due to technical difficulties and general overzealousness? Well, they're back, comically tiny TV and all, to take on the N64 cult classic Paper Mario, in an attempt to raise more donations for Child's Play (their first outing netted a total of $1200 for the charity).These weekend warriors (called the Four48 crew in honor of their first ambitious marathon) are planning on sitting down with a new game every Saturday morning, and not getting up until the ending credits roll. You can watch their exploits on their video webstream (and donate to a worthy cause) on their site. We highly suggest it -- if watching these guys trudge through classic games doesn't trigger your nostalgia gland, at least it's interesting to watch bedsores develop in real time.
Four Zelda games in 48 hours
We've all, at some point, had a game that we decided not to put down until the closing credits. Whether you uncompromisingly soldiered on through a Warcraft III campaign, or decided to topple Bowser before turning in for the day, we're all familiar with marathon gaming. However, a small gathering of Zelda enthusiasts are attempting a seemingly impossible gauntlet of non-stop dungeon raiding -- all four 3D Zelda games (Ocarina of Time, Majora's Mask, Wind Waker, and Twilight Princess) in just 48 hours.That's four water temples, three Ganondorf confrontations, and a whole mess of heart containers, stretched over a two day period. With nearly thirty hours to go, the CameronBanga.com team have already bested Ocarina of Time, and are currently trudging through the most tedious of all the Zelda titles, Majora's Mask. We can't think of a better way to spend a Saturday night than watching these goons sink into sweet, Hyrulian madness via their live webstream -- but then again, we're what most camp counselors would call "indoor kids".
Hitchcock marathon to ring in the New Year on HDNet Movies
Got any big plans for New Year's Eve? If not, HDNet Movies is hoping you'll spend the evening glued to the Alfred Hitchcock marathon that will be broadcast as 2008 rolls in. Starting at 3:30AM on December 31st, viewers can catch nine of Hitchcock's classics before the feature presentation takes over at 10:30PM. 'Course, we needn't tell you that Psycho will indeed be the main act, but horror aficionados will also appreciate the likes of Vertigo, The Man Who Knew Too Much, The Birds and Rear Window (just to name a few). Reportedly, each of the movies were "meticulously converted from original film sources" in order to be shown in 1080i, and hey, if you've already made plans to get out of town, just pick up a capacious new DVR and catch up when you return.[Image courtesy of BuyCostumes]
Freeverse discusses porting Marathon 2 to XBLA
Gamasutra's postmortems are excellent opportunities to look back at certain games, and hear with unabashed honesty what went right and wrong throughout the course of development. Such is the case with developer Freeverse's postmortem on their enhanced port of Bungie's classic Marathon 2: Durandal for Xbox Live Arcade.Freeverse employee Mark Levin goes into insane levels of detail describing the arduous task of bringing Marathon 2 -- originally a Macintosh title -- over to the Xbox 360. He discusses the team's decision to re-work the graphics for HD, and the difficulty of bug-testing very old code, but somehow neglects to discuss the game's propensity for causing upset stomachs.Regardless, it's a great and honest read, with some real insight into the treacherous task of bringing old games to new consoles.
Bungie finds balance between new IPs and Halo
In an interview with Develop, Bungie studio manager Harold Ryan elaborates on what's in store for the Halo developer after it the left the Microsoft fold. The answer being moar Haloz shouldn't elicit a gasp from anyone, but the studio's return to independence now allows it to find a better balance between the guaranteed moneymaker and new intellectual properties. "During the development of Halo and Halo 2, we had other, non-Halo IPs in development and we killed those projects both times," said Ryan. "Both teams were swallowed whole by the Halo team. With Halo 3, that was the first time we know that we couldn't let that happen – it's not an acceptable way out to add 20 people to the project by killing that prototype."With the prototype having survived and creativity culling quelled, Bungie is now "actively engaged" in exploring worlds of a different kind and quite possibly, a different shape (look for Cubee in 2009). That isn't to say everybody's sick of Master Chief, of course: "We shipped Halo with 45 people and now we're 115, so two thirds of the studio have only shipped one or two games in the Halo series. For the most part they came here because they were really excited to work at Bungie and in the Halo universe. So from that point of view we don't have a shortage of people happy to make Halo games." It's just as well, since we're fairly sure there's no shortage of people happy to play them either.
Speculation: Bungie's next project is an MMO?
I'm not quite sure where Hardcore Casual gets this from (I'm guessing it's somewhere between thin air and someplace a little more "intimate"), but he's got an interesting bit of speculation coming off of the big news last week that Halo-maker Bungie and their publisher Microsoft are cutting some ties. He traces Bungie's growth along side Blizzard's (Myth: Warcraft:: Oni: Ghost), and concludes that, now that they're free of Halo and Microsoft's direct influence, Bungie's next project will be their World of Warcraft: an MMO. Now that is an interesting idea. Like Blizzard, Bungie has always been all about the possibilities of online play, and even though Halo 3 is not actually an MMO, there is no shortage of ways for people to interact with each other through the game-- from Forge to the different coop modes, to the "XP" system in multiplayer, Bungie knows how to get people online and keep them there. And Bungie definitely knows how to build worlds-- the Halo universe alone has inspired many books and countless pages of fan fiction and speculation, not to mention that there are big hints that it's connected to Bungie's other big series of games, Marathon. When you look at Bungie's past and the type of games that they've created, they definitely do seem like a great candidate to make a popular MMO.Of course, whatever Bungie does next is up to Bungie, and, as Blizzard well knows, taking on as big a responsibility as an ongoing MMO can change a company all the way down to its foundation-- for better or worse. But as much as he probably just made it up, Hardcore Casual is right-- Bungie's got the reach, the funds, and the knowhow to create the next big virtual world. Whether they choose to tackle it or not is up to them.
Bungie says Mac games are still a possibility
Macworld has a quick chat with Bungie after this morning's big announcement that the company is "evolving" away from Microsoft a bit, and the good news is that a new Mac release from our favorite game developer (before they were bought out by the Evil Empire, that is) is not out of the question.Spokeman Brian Jarrard plays pretty loose with the announcement, and says that while Bungie and Microsoft are going to retain their developer and publisher relationship, his company won't "rule out anything going forward." He says the move will let Bungie "[control] our destiny, and that puts us in a position where we could put ourselves back on the [Mac] platform definitively again."We can only hope. EA and id games made a big appearance at this years' WWDC, and I think I speak for many, many Mac gamers when I say we'd love to see Bungie announcing a brand new game at Macworld in a few months.
Marathon motion sickness gets cured
Freeverse sends word that a title update for Marathon: Durandal is now available. Among other things, the update gives players the option to choose a wider field of view. This option is supposed to help players that have experienced motion sickness whilst playing the game. We haven't personally experienced the alleged motion sickness, so we can't tell you whether or not a wider field of view fixes the problem. If you've fallen victim to the illness yourself, you may want to fire up Marathon and give the new setting a try. Once you're done, come back here and share the results with the rest of the class (unless the result is vomit; you don't need to share that).
Palm Foleo specification details begin to flow
As the rumored launch date of Palm's Foleo draws closer, it follows logic that the pieces would start to come together regarding the innards of this thing. Shortly after naming Wind River Systems as its preferred Linux provider, Palm is reportedly divulging details about the specifications to developers at the LinuxWorld conference. Under the hood will supposedly be goodies such as a 416MHz Intel / Marvell PXA27x processor, Marathon 2700G graphics accelerator with video output, 128MB of RAM "for holding currently running applications, and 256MB of non-volatile memory," a CompactFlash slot located behind the battery, an SD expansion slot (though some reports suggest SDHC works also), and WiFi support. Most intriguing, however, was the note that some developers at the expo were "given a unit already in its retail packaging" after attending a seminar about writing applications for the Foleo and "signing a non-disclosure agreement," which certainly leads us to believe that this gizmo will hit shelves sooner rather than later.
Freeverse to offer advice on Marathon: Durandal motion sickness
Perhaps noticing a few of his soldiers dropping like flies, Microsoft's Larry "Major Nelson" Hryb spoke with Freeverse regarding the fits of motion sickness caused by their latest release, Marathon: Durandal. While they're not offering a technical solution just yet, they do plan on giving folks fair warning and a bit of advice. Within the next few days, Freeverse will "implement a [dashboard] message on the download screen to advise users on steps they can take if this affects them and are investigating other options to address the issue."When we spoke to Marathon:Durandal's project lead, Bruce Morrison, he suggested a simple flip of the "camera bob" option and that seemed to work wonders. With so many folks -- many with no prior history of motion sickness -- getting ill from playing, it may still require an alteration of the game itself.
Marathon causes loss of lunch?
While we have yet to enjoy such things ourselves (thanks to an unwelcome visitor), reports are coming in that the Xbox Live Arcade version of Marathon: Durandal is making people a little queasy. As many gamers know, first person shooter games can often induce motion sickness, and it seems that this effect is magnified by Marathon. Joystiq spoke to Freeverse, developers of the XBLA port, about this issue to see if they could get some answers. Freeverse noted that Marathon's popularity and the spreading internet rumor that it can make people sick is probably responsible for most of the outcry. Frankly, we find the idea of a gamer-centric, psychosomatic illness spread via the internet to be highly entertaining.Freeverse isn't laughing the matter away however, and is investigating the issue. In the meantime, they suggest that players play the game with the "camera bob" option turned on. This should keep the game from appearing smoother than it should be. Furthermore, make sure you're not sitting to close to the TV (duh).Out of curiosity, have any readers out there experienced motion sickness while playing Marathon: Durandal?
