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Epic Games' next is Shadow Complex for Xbox Live Arcade
Epic's Cliff Bleszinski just took the stage at Microsoft's E3 keynote and revealed Shadow Complex, a new game for Xbox Live Arcade in collaboration with Chair Entertainment, the folks behind XBLA title Undertow. Mixing elements from titles such as Contra and Super Metroid, the game is a 2D title infused with slick 3D graphics. Big guns and big enemies are the name of the game here, as Bleszinski promises big boss battles and a summer release for the title.
Even more of your Halo Wars questions answered
Technightly posted an extensive Halo Wars Q&A that aims to answer some common and rather peculiar game-related inquiries. The list of 74 questions covers topics from UNSC and Covenant unit details, to the explanation of Flood's involvement in multiplayer. If there's a random Halo Wars question in need of answering, reading through this informative Q&A would be a good place to start. Then again, one could wait a week for the game's retail release to become an all-knowing Halo Wars expert.[Thanks, Mills]
Rumor: Design studio leaks Forza 3 artwork
click to embiggen This has been making the rounds for a couple of weeks now, but in case you missed it over the holidays, Kaarbo Design owner Noah Kaarbo allegedly let slip (and then promptly removed, but not before Google cached it) some of the sample work his company had done for Forza developer Turn 10 Studios and -- cue the fake surprise -- Forza 3.Community site Forzacentral managed to grab all four posters, which are said to be samples of what could have appeared on the race selection screen. Of course, this doesn't confirm the existence of another Forza game per se, but should Microsoft Games Studios decide to maybe revisit the successful racing franchise, it looks like it already has a logo to use. Gallery: Forza 3 - Leaked Artwork [Via X3F]
Rare to fix Banjo-Kazooie's text issues after all
Hastily abandoning an ill-advised plan to include a magnifying glass with every purchase of the game, Rare has resolved to solve reported text issues in its build-a-bear's-car adventure, Banjo-Kazooie: Nuts & Bolts. After stating that the in-game text, allegedly illegible on standard-definition television sets, would be "too expensive in terms of time, resources and money to alter," the company has committed to releasing a correctional title update within the next 30 days.This is "good news for everyone," according to a post on the developer's website. "Including us, as we would actually like people to enjoy our game and not revile us with a fiery passion." There you have it, internet. You may now return to being angry about other things, like Banjo's square nose.
X3F TV -- Gears of War 2: Flashback Map Pack
Tomorrow, one of the most anticipated titles of the year ships with a sizable bonus regardless of which version you pick up. On top of the ten included multiplayer maps in Gears of War 2, Epic Games has included a download code within each new copy of the game to download five additional maps. Taken from the original Gears of War, the Flashback Map Pack not only adds a dose of nostalgia to the Gears of War 2 multiplayer experience but it keeps the action fresh with new designs for each of the maps in the pack.The waters of Canals have been frozen, Gridlock has been taken over by lush vegetation, Tyro Station seems to have had an upgrade in tech, Mansion appears more abandoned than ever before and Subway had dried up and now rains pieces of ash from the ongoing war.Want to see the changes for yourself, in action? Check out our video that includes footage from the in-game Battle Camera.[iTunes] Subscribe to X3F TV directly in iTunes.[Zune] Subscribe to the X3F TV directly (Zune Marketplace link coming soon).[RSS] Add the X3F TV feed to your RSS aggregator and have the show delivered automatically.[MP4] Download the MP4 directly.
Microsoft exec. sends breakup letter to Ensemble
GI.biz got a hold of the letter sent out by Phil Spencer, big cheese of Microsoft Games Studios, to the staff about the closure of Ensemble Studios. He explains that the closure isn't Ensemble's fault, it's Microsoft's; the company just needs to grow, and is "accountable for making tradeoffs and the right level of investments that will drive profit and future growth." Of course, like any good break-up, Spencer still wants to be friends with the newly dejected. He says that Microsoft will try to pick up any employees not moving on to the new company being started by Ensemble's leadership team. Spencer emphasizes in the letter that Microsoft is still heavily invested in making video games, but is looking to put the money where it can get "the most ROI" (return on investment) -- and yet, Rare survives? We'll take that to mean Microsoft wasn't getting the bang for its buck from RTS-developer Ensemble.
Rare: No plans for Viva Pinata DLC, working on 'something new'
Worried that game dev Rare lost its knack for shooting stuff, taking a prolonged three-game detour through kiddie-town? First Viva Piñata, now Viva Piñata: Trouble in Paradise and Banjo Kazooie: Nuts & Bolts, but what of the Goldeneyes and the Perfect Darks and the Conkers? In a (lengthy!) Q&A with Rare's Justin Cook, Trouble in Paradise's lead designer, says the team doesn't have "any plans for DLC" and "are taking a break from VP for a while to make something new." Of course, Mr. Cook doesn't elaborate on what that "something new" may be, but it would appear we can safely cross "Viva Pinata DLC" off the list of anything else possible in the world. The rest of the three-page interview is chockablock with details on the new game so, if you're really curious about those new pinata races, hit up that Source link.
This Wednesday: Schizoid and Golf: Tee It Up! tee off on XBLA
We've been covering Schizoid, the first home-grown XNA game to hit XBLA, since this time last year. Now it's finally blasting bumping its way onto the Marketplace, unique gameplay mechanic in tow. Priced at 800 MS points ($10), the game is entirely co-op centric, tasking players with ramming their ship (or ships, should they feel up to the dual-ship-controlling "Überschizoid" mode's challenge) into enemies of the same color. Play with another Live user or let the CPU control ship two. Super Stardust HD developer Housemarque brings Golf: Tee It Up! to XBLA ... and an incredible likeness to Sony's Hot Shots Golf franchise to mind. Endless rounds of this golf game for beginners and seasoned vets alike (dare we say it's "golf for everyone"?) will set you back 800 MS points ($10). %Gallery-1947% %Gallery-26995%
Schizoid, Soulcalibur pages appear on Xbox.com
Our frenemies at Xbox 360 Fanboy have noticed an interesting trend: Pages appear for games at Xbox.com, then they're the next XBLA games released. Seriously, it's happened twice. If we're in for a repeat performance, you can expect fighting classic Soulcalibur and former XNA title Schizoid to appear on the service next week, as pages for both have been discovered on the site. As developer Torpex has already said Schizoid is due next month, which would lend a little credence to the rumor, though Soulcalibur remains a wild card. The the suspense is all but unbearable, but at least we know it will end Monday when the real additions are revealed. Source -- Schizoid Source -- Soulcalibur %Gallery-1947% Gallery: Soulcalibur (XBLA)
Prepare for sploderific Schizoid-phrenia this July
The sploderific XBLA game Schizoid will release in July according to developer Torpex Games. Judging by the latest image in the gallery below, the co-op omni-directional shooter knock-into-er appears to have been cleaned up quite a bit since we last saw videos back in December. Guess we'll just have to wait another month to find out how significant the upgrades are. Gallery: Schizoid (XBLA)
Shane Kim on Marvel Universe Online MMO cancellation
During a dinner on Monday night with Microsoft's Shane Kim and Kudo Tsunoda, we got the chance to quiz the former about Microsoft Game Studios' rationale for abandoning Marvel Universe Online MMO. After years in development, the console-bound MMO died a slow and painful (-ly vague) death. The culprit: Kim tells us, "We don't have a heritage in MMOs." Of course, previous experience isn't a necessary ingredient in success (fun fact: World of Warcraft is Blizzard's first MMO!) and after rattling off the forces Microsoft could marshal in its pursuit of bringing an MMO to the Xbox – financial resources, first-party console support, a robust online component, a proven developer, a stellar license – Kim agreed. "All those reasons are why we started the project." But MUO still failed to make it to market, recalling Microsoft's many previous attempts to successfully deliver and sustain an MMO: Asheron's Call 2, Mythica, the console-targeted True Fantasy Online, and Vanguard (read more here). At what point will the company give up, consider its lesson learned? "I would never say we're done," Kim said confidently. So why does Kim think a company with Microsoft's significant resources continues to fail to bring an MMO to market? "It's a hits-driven business ... it's all about quality, all about hits." But he's not ready to give up yet. He says Microsoft has "learned the lesson" that it takes a lot of people to create and serve an MMO (good lesson!) and that he's reminded of how little success its had in the MMO space. In other words: MMO-icrosoft hopefuls shouldn't fret. The corporate behemoth will undoubtedly try again. How many lessons could there possible be left to learn?
The Digital Continuum: A Cryptic future
These days, if you don't keep your head down, a rumor about Cryptic Studios is bound to hit you in the face. In fact, quite a few of them probably already have at this point. It all started with a letter to the community. After that plural hit, it wasn't just Marvel Universe Online that people were chattering about, but upcoming "projects" from Cryptic Studios as well. Ever since they managed to take one of my favorite things in the world -- superheroes -- and turn that world into a fun and successful massively game, I've loved the people at Cryptic.So it was with plenty of excitement that I discovered Cryptic would be handling the Marvel Comics license for their next massively game. Unfortunately for all of us excited fans -- of Cryptic, Marvel or both -- the entire operation went into super-secret-silent mode. Aside from CoX news, (which came from a different team at Cryptic, now NCsoft NorCal) we haven't heard even a faint murmur of information. After a while, this leads to lots of speculation about whether or not Marvel Universe Online is canceled. So far, there still hasn't been any additional official information on the game and all we are left to is pure speculation.What could be in the future for Cryptic Studios? Nobody knows except them, but that shouldn't stop anyone from guessing.
Schizoid video is kind of puzzling
You may remember Schizoid as the first game set to officially make the jump from the XNA platform to the Xbox Live Arcade. Now, a snippet of video has emerged to help you put some gameplay to a name, as it were. Just because we've seen the game now though doesn't mean we're any closer to understanding it. It's a puzzle, really. We were all ready to dismiss it as just another multi-directional shooter until we noticed that there's no actual shooting. It appears that red and blue Spider-Man chest emblems are trying to destroy similarly-colored lobsters by tackling them to death. Ah well, thank goodness for demos.
Forza Motorsport 2 gets its due date
Live Gamer's dpcough got his hands on an Xbox Japan press release about Forza Motorsport 2 and gleaned some very interesting information from it. According the release, Forza is expected to have a world-wide release on May 24th, 2007. This proves to be very promising, although dpcough admits that he's been wrong before. Still, we have faith in him, as our own babelfishing seemed to definitely agree with his claims, and even begot a couple chuckles out of the malapropisms found therein. So, do you think the "wood" will get Forza 2 complete with full "fourth" feedback support in late May?[Via Live Gamer]
GDC has Mass Effect demo, books in May
Mass Effect will be demoed at GDC '07 next week, although BioWare and Microsoft aren't revealing any details on what we'll be seeing or whether or not it will be playable. Fortunately, our very own Richard Mitchell will be attending the event and has now been essentially cornered into giving you a hands on report on what he sees and hopefully plays in regards to Mass Effect. Then again, we don't see reason why he wouldn't tell you about it in the first place.Also worth noting is the recently announced prequel novels by game writer Drew Karpyshyn, and they will help flesh out the backstory on the Mass Effect universe. The first book, Revelation, will go on sale in May for $7.99 USD. So, will a couple books and some hands-on reporting hold you over till the early summer release?[Via XboxAddict]
Halo 3 meets Battlezone in Bungie's update
Bungie's Weekly Update brought forth many details about Halo 3's progress, especially on the graphical front. From glass shaders, to foliage reacting convincingly to its environment, to realistic water effects, things are definitely looking good for our flagship franchise. A cool tool they've been toying around with is the ability to toggle a vector outline view of the game, pictured above. On the audio side of things, Marty has been busy in LA recording dialog from various voice actors. In terms of gameplay audio, they go into detail about how gunfire, for example, has two samples, based on proximity, and how the fade from one to the other depending how far you are from the firefight. There are a bunch of cool details available for you to digest, so click the "Read" link and get yourself stoked.
A Rare interview concerning Banjo Kazooie 3
Rare is in good company these days. As a part of Microsoft Games Studios, they exist under the same umbrella as Bungie -- another studio that loves to be elusive. This of course means that if they let out so much as a squeak, we listen. GameTrailers caught up with one of the crafty devils (Concept Artist, Ryan Stevenson) recently to talk about everything Rare. Banjo Kazooie 3 in particular. If you enjoyed previous entries in the Banjo Kazooie saga there will be plenty for you to love on your 360 as Stevenson says "It's still the same characters and the same thing. It's a game for the people who appreciated the game years ago and also for new people that are coming to the 360." A hint concerning the main villain of the series, Grundy, is also dropped and the Stop'N'Swop drama makes a special guest appearance. Stevenson gives the most rational idea for the infamously dropped Banjo-Tooie feature in that it was probably just a really bad idea. We, however, still believe.
Crackdown disc required to play Halo 3 Beta
On Monday, we showed you a screenshot of the Halo 3 Beta download screen in retail copies of Crackdown. Today, we have a picture of the invite card, which confirms how the process works. In short, you need to have the Crackdown game in your Xbox 360 to play the Halo 3 Beta. It does NOT show up in your "Demos and More" tab on the dashboard after downloading it through Crackdown. This coincides with the original press release, which stated you had to load the game to download the beta. Check out the invite card after the break.
"Rule of 3" entries today [update 1]
Update: Registry was opened at 1 PM EST. Some people on the HBO IRC are saying they got in at that time. Now the registry page is showing a connection error, either from the heavy refreshing everyone is doing or the 13,333 are done and the site went down after.So, did you get your 3 hours of Halo 2 multiplayer done before 11:59 EST on Saturday? If so, be one of the first 13,333 entrants today to get accepted into the Halo 3 beta this Spring. Well, it's February 5th and the Halo 3 site is the same as it was an hour ago. So, at the moment there is no Rule of Three entry point, though within the next 23 hours and 14 minutes it will have changed and you hopefully caught it within the first 3 minutes or so to get registered, perhaps for the second time. In any case we'll be keeping our eyes on the site and will update this post as soon as we see a change. Good luck, and let us know when you registered and if you got notified whether or not you were of the first 13,333 entrants.
Mass Effect won't be in May
On Friday we pointed out that the Australian Xbox site had a May 18th release date posted for Mass Effect. It turns out that Microsoft has since debunked the rumor and changed the date on the site to "TBD", matching the North American regions. While the monkeys keep working away over at BioWare, there are no release date related announcements pertaining to the title other than it's not May 18th. Still, don't rule out a May/June release, but we'll have to wait until we get an official announcement.[Thanks, Mythor & Jonah]
