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Xbox Live Fall Dashboard update coming November 1
Looks like the handful of folks with early Kinect games who're locked out of Xbox Live won't have too much longer to wait -- Microsoft emailed fall Dashboard preview users last night with the announcement that the forthcoming Xbox Live update will go public on November 1. "On November 1, 2010, there will be a mandatory service update to Xbox Live. This update will both add new features to your service and also enhance the interface, navigation, and responsiveness of Xbox Live," the email reads. Beyond Kinect functionality, the fall Dashboard update will add ESPN3, refreshed Avatars, and a new voice codec for chat (among other things). This means, besides all that stuff, you'll finally be able to chat with your friends in the Dashboard preview once more. It's been so long, friends! [Thanks to everyone who sent this in!]
GameStop calling early Kinectimals purchasers about XBL lock-up
In response to yesterday's news about early copies of Kinect games locking users out of Xbox Live, GameStop has begun calling up customers to warn them of the issue. Amazon.com forum user Sam Beckett and a Joystiq tipster both reported calls warning them not to play the games before their intended release date; all reports indicate Kinectimals is the only game that's been shipped out early thus far. Additionally, GameStop customer support is said to not have offered any compensation for the mistake, resulting in at least a week of Xbox Live downtime until the public release of the Xbox 360 fall Dashboard update (read: by November 4) for those affected. We can only hope the potentially affected folks now receiving warning calls from GameStop are also avid Joystiq readers -- for their own safety, of course. [Thanks Justin!]
Red Dead Redemption Avatar gear moseys on over to Xbox Live
Does Rockstar's Red Dead Redemption not satiate your need for rough and tumble cowboy stuff? Relax a spell, friend. We'd like to tell you about some new Xbox Live Avatar items now available for download. You'll find several full outfits are on offer, including the John Marston uniform above and the Walton Gang outfit in the bottom-right corner for the boys, while the fairer gender gains access to Bonnie McFarlane's in-game getup, as well as an Armadillo Woman ensemble -- each full outfit will set you back 320. If you're a bit short on coin (what did we tell you about spending all your time playing poker in the saloon?), there are cheaper fashions available -- including T-shirts with various characters and sayings on them and some hats. There's even a lasso prop your virtual self can play with. Xbox.com: Add Red Dead Redemption Avatar gear to your Xbox 360 download queue
JBO: Joystiq Box Office, April 5 - April 9
We can't be gaming all the time, despite our best efforts, and from time to time we'll actually take advantage of the movie-playing abilities on our gaming systems. JBO features our top picks for XBL, PSN, Netflix's Watch Instantly and Blu-ray each week. Recommendation of the Week: The Killer (Blu-ray: $29.99 MSRP, much lower at most retailers) This week's recommendation is a bit tongue in cheek, mostly because the video quality isn't the sharpest in the world. Granted, the source material is 21 years old, but I've seen what they can do with movies like The African Queen and The Wizard of Oz on Blu-ray, so why not one of director John Woo's and actor Chow Yun Fat's best films, The Killer? Still, all of that complaining aside, the film does look better than I've ever seen it look on home video format, and it runs circles around the murky theatrical print I saw back when I was in college. While probably not a disc you'll slap in to show off how much Blu-ray rocks, it still looks fantastic, and it's got a completely new interview on the disc with Woo (where's Yun-Fat, though?) that is well worth it. There's also a Q&A session where he talks about The Killer and Hard Boiled. This is being produced by Dragon Dynasty, a joint company venture from the Weinstein brothers and Genius Products, and I'm hoping things improve a bit in the transfer department. Let's get Chow Yun-Fat's God of Gamblers, A Better Tomorrow trilogy, City on Fire, and Treasure Hunt on Blu-ray, stat. Read on after the break for the rest of our recommendations, then chime in below!
Xbox Live 12 Month Messenger Gold Pack for less gold
Are you late to the Xbox Live game? If you've been delaying the jump to Gold membership (which you can try for free right now), this might be what you've been waiting for. The kit includes a 12-month Xbox Live gold subscription card (retails for $49.99), the Xbox Live Text Messaging Kit that includes the chatpad and a headset (normally $29.99), and Project Gotham Racing 4 (retails for $19.99). Normally all of that would go for about a hundred bucks, but Amazon has the pack for $52.54 with free shipping (it usually lists for $69.99). It's a great deal if you're needing to jump back in or renew, and you pick up a game and a chatpad in the process. We wish they'd included something sexier than PGR4, especially because you'd have to be nuts to pick that up for $19.99. But at this price, it's practically a freebie.
JBO: Joystiq Box Office, March 22 - March 26
We can't be gaming all the time, despite our best efforts, and from time to time we'll actually take advantage of the movie-playing abilities on our gaming systems. JBO features our top picks for XBL, PSN, Netflix's Watch Instantly and Blu-ray each week. We're back! The Game Developer's Conference in San Francisco and South by Southwest in Austin combined to double-whammy JBO out of existence, but it's back with a vengeance this week, even during the midst of PAX East. So read the gaming news, cue up a movie, and let us know what you're watching. Recommendation of the Week: Breaking Bad (Blu-ray, Season 1 -- $49.95 and Season 2 -- $39.95, lower at retailers) Why are you reading this? You should be watching Breaking Bad. Seriously, I can wait until you're back to carry on. The internets will still be here. Back? See what we're talking about? Bryan Cranston is pure genius in this as a man at the end of his rope. He's a low-paid high school science teacher with a disabled son and a pregnant wife. He's working a demeaning second job at a car wash just to make ends meet, and, on top of that, he finds out he has inoperable lung cancer. So what does he do? He decides to start cooking crystal meth so he can leave his family a small fortune. The opening scene of episode one is worth the cost of both sets alone. This is genius basic cable programming from AMC that just started its third season this past week, so catch up on the first two seasons with these Blu-rays that look ultra-sharp with tons of extras. Read on after the break for the rest of our recommendations, then chime in below!
'80s Track Pack available now for Guitar Hero 5 and Band Hero
As expected, the '80s Track Pack for Guitar Hero 5 and Band Hero is now available for download on all the various consoles, featuring three respectable songs from the decade of New Wave and hair bands. Well, two or three, depending on how you like The Go-Gos. The entire thing is available for 440 on Xbox Live, $5.49 on PSN, or 550 Wii Points, and the individual songs are as follows: "Girls, Girls, Girls" by Motley Crue (160/ $1.99 / 200 Wii Points) "We Got the Beat" by The Go-Go's (160 / $1.99 / 200 Wii Points) "Sister Christian" by Night Ranger (160/ $1.99 / 200 Wii Points) Say what you want about "We Got the Beat," but we won't tolerate hating on the Crue or Night Ranger and, from the looks of those hairstyles above, they won't either. These songs are available now for both games, so get yourself mo-tor-in' on over to the store if you want 'em.
Microsoft announces Windows Phone 7 Series dev partners and details apps: Sling, Pandora, Foursquare and Xbox gaming (video!)
Microsoft just dropped its first press release of MIX10 on us, and in addition to detailing the Sliverlight and XNA-based Windows Phone 7 Series development situation, we've also got a list of launch software partners and some screenshots of apps in action. There's some heavy hitters here, and everything from games to enterprise apps are represented -- notables include the Associated Press, Citrix, EA Mobile, Foursquare, Namco, Pangeonce, Pandora, Seesmic, Shazam, and Sling. We've seen a handful of this new software in action, so check out the full list and details after the break. Updating with impressions (and video!) after the break! %Gallery-88236% %Gallery-88246%
JBO: Joystiq Box Office, March 1 - March 5
We can't be gaming all the time, despite our best efforts, and from time to time we'll actually take advantage of the movie-playing abilities on our gaming systems. JBO features our top picks for XBL, PSN, Netflix's Watch Instantly and Blu-ray each week. Recommendation of the Week: Ponyo (Blu-ray, $39.99 MSRP, much lower at most retailers) If you don't know who Hayao Miyazaki is yet, then you need a crash course in gorgeous Japanese animated films with amazing storytelling. He's like the Japanese Walt Disney, and Ponyo is his latest film. It's a wonderful fantasy that was inspired by Hans Christian Andersen's The Little Mermaid and he's put his own particular spin on it. A young boy named Sosuke rescues a female goldfish, Ponyo, and they set off on an adventure together. The Blu-ray disc includes an ultra-crisp transfer of the film, which features hand-drawn animation, and a look inside Miyazaki's Studio Ghibli. We're offering up five sets of Miyazaki films with this Joystiq Box Office, so read the rules at the bottom of the post to enter. Five winners will receive Ponyo on Blu-ray, and standard DVDs of My Neighbor Totoro, Kiki's Delivery Service and Castle in the Sky. Truly magical filmmaking. Read on after the break for the rest of our recommendations, and let us know what you're watching!
JBO: Joystiq Box Office, February 22 - February 26
We can't be gaming all the time, despite our best efforts, and from time to time we'll actually take advantage of the movie-playing abilities on our gaming systems. JBO features our top picks for XBL, PSN, Netflix's Watch Instantly and Blu-ray each week. Recommendation of the Week: Clash of the Titans ($34.99 MSRP, much lower at most retailers) Kratos is coming back again soon for his final vengeance (and let's hope an anger management course or two) in God of War III (look for new interviews and a hands-on with the complete opening on Monday), and with Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Lightning Thief and a massive-budget remake of Clash of the Titans on the way, this is the Year of Olympus. To get that rolling, we're totally recommending the original from back in 1981. Yes, it's dated. Yes, it stars Harry Hamlin, and yes, it's completely amazing. There's an all-star cast with Sir Lawrence Olivier, Dame Maggie Smith, Burgess Meredith, and Ursula Andress, among others, and the incredible stop-motion effects of wizard Ray Harryhausen. The film looks impressive (for 1981) on Blu-ray, includes a conversation with Harryhausen and a trailer for the remake, and is packaged in Warner's nifty Digibook format. We recommended this back on New Year's as an XBL purchase, but this disc just gets the whole Olmypus thing Kraken. (Get it?) Read on after the break for the rest of our recommendations, and let us know what you're watching!
XBL Indie Game cover parodies ICO cover
[Siliconera] Who doesn't like cover art inspired by Giorgio de Chirico and, more directly, Ico? Monsters, that's who. That'd be like saying you don't like playing games that require the combining of three objects in various patterns to earn points, especially when said games use Japanese food items. 'Cause it's those two things that Yaruhara no Omochi meshes on the Japanese Xbox Live Indie Game channel, mesmerizing Siliconera as it does us. As if the idea of playing an XBL Indie Game with the premise of stacking "mochi (sticky rice cakes), fish, and seals" in a match-three-style game weren't enticing enough, it would appear from these screens that the game is gaijin-safe (read: in English). Time to fire up that dusty Japanese Silver account you've got sitting around, eh?
'Extensive' 90-min Darksiders demo on XBL, PSN Feb. 25
If a batch of positive reviews has yet to sway you towards picking up Darksiders, THQ and developer Vigil Games are hoping to change that by means of a demo planned to hit Xbox Live and PlayStation Network on February 25. Not just any demo, mind you, but one its publisher claims will "take approximately 90 minutes to complete for the average player." That claim is backed up by the fact that it will include the entire first dungeon -- which is home to two bosses -- from the retail release. Vigil general manager David Adams explains in the demo's announcement that the dev "really wanted to give gamers a true idea of the variety of gameplay that the game offers," adding, "rather than just making a standard 20-minute demo version of the first few levels, we decided to give away this massive level and reveal the true essence of the game." Here's what we want you to do. Bookmark this post, then, once the demo hits, come back here and leave a comment letting us know how long it took you to complete. Nothing official-like, but it'll be fun to put THQ's estimate to the test. Just remember -- it said "for the average player." We know you're all well above average.
JBO: Joystiq Box Office, February 8 - February 12
We can't be gaming all the time, despite our best efforts, and from time to time we'll actually take advantage of the movie-playing abilities on our gaming systems. JBO features our top picks for XBL, PSN, Netflix's Watch Instantly and Blu-ray each week. Recommendation of the Week: District 13: Ultimatum (800($10) HD, 480($6) SD, to rent) It's Mirror's Edge, the movie! Well, sort of. There's a hell of a lot of Parkour in both, but District 13: Ultimatum has much more plot, explosions and general ass-kickery. Written and produced by Luc Besson, D13:U is set several years after the original District 13 (and no, you don't have to have seen that to enjoy this one), and takes place within the same walled-off Parisian ghetto. This time around, some of the residents of D13 are falsely accused of murdering some cops, which sets up a race against time to contain the situation before the rival gangs blow it out of hand and mass hysteria reigns. Which wouldn't be so bad, would it? Everyone is so anti-mass hysteria. I say bring it on. Especially when there's a ton of Parkour involved, even though the word itself sounds so pretentious. Let's just agree to call it crazy running and jumping. Also, just a reminder that today is the day that The Dungeon Masters is available on Amazon VOD. Go find your lucky 20-sided die, plunk down the $3.99 to rent this (or $14.99 to buy it) and enjoy. Read on after the break for the rest of our recommendations, and let us know what you're watching!
Pour one out for Halo 2 and the original Xbox with Bungie on April 14
The plasma party may be almost over for those of you still gripping tight to your Xbox 1 and copy of Halo 2, playing game after desperate game before Microsoft shuts the online servers, but Bungie is looking for fans to join staff members in a last hurrah on April 14. Community manager Brian "Sketch" Jarrard proclaims on Bungie.net that, "We're all saddened at the realization that an era is coming to an end," before asking fans to "mark your calendars now - on April 14th let's all rally to go online for one last hoorah." And sure, he might not explicitly mention the emptying of various malt beverages from 40 ounce glass bottles, but that's why we read between the lines. It's right there, people!
JBO: Joystiq Box Office, February 1 - February 5
We can't be gaming all the time, despite our best efforts, and from time to time we'll actually take advantage of the movie-playing abilities on our gaming systems. JBO features our top picks for XBL, PSN, Netflix's Watch Instantly and Blu-ray each week. Recommendation of the Week: Zombieland (Blu-ray: $39.95, much lower at retailers) What goes perfectly with Zombieland on Blu-ray? Twinkies. Or Sno Balls, depending which side of the Hostess line you fall on. Although I have to agree with Woody Harrelson on this one: Sno Balls are disgusting. When I first heard about Zombieland, I didn't think I'd care for it much, but it ended up being fairly irresistible. The combination of Harrelson, Jesse Eisenberg, Emma Stone and Abigail Breslin fighting zombies is a post-apocalyptic, abandoned United States just works extremely well, and it makes you wish you had the same playground to explore. (Zombie-free, of course.) Between Eisenberg's essential rules for zombie survival and an extremely hilarious cameo appearance (don't spoil it for people who haven't seen it yet!) this movie rides the comedy-horror line perfectly. There's also a sweet Zombieland PS3 theme on the disc, just move to the game tab and you'll see it there to download. It's not advertised on the package, but it's a nice extra. Read on after the break for the rest of our recommendations, and let us know what you're watching!
Just Cause 2 demo falling from the sky any day now
In the land of Twitter, Just Cause 2 developer Eidos is a fairly new entrant. Having just, 10(ish) hours ago, joined up via Square Enix Europe community manager Keir Edmonds, the company account has already dropped one bombshell: a Just Cause 2 demo is "on its way." Though the account merely alludes to "details to follow," we'd be downright surprised if the demo hit any later than the game's March 23 release date. Just to make sure Eidos didn't want to say anything else, we've reached out for more information and we'll update this post if we hear anything else. %Gallery-65577%[Via CVG]
Dishwasher dev announces Charlie Murder for Xbox Live Indie Games, coming 'March 2010'
Between Ska Studios' The Dishwasher last year, this year's I MAED A GAM3 W1TH Z0MBIES 1N IT!!!1, and the recent announcement of Charlie Murder for Xbox Live Indie Games, the nascent developer has certainly been establishing a name for itself. The game's Facebook page offers us a first look at the characters and a bit of the gameplay (which seems to be an arcade beat-em' up with punk rockers/zombies), as well as a glimpse into the fictional band's history. The game's announcement tells us that Charlie Murder follows the eponymous punk rock band on a side-scrolling journey to find the lead singer's girlfriend, Skelekitten, murdering everything in its path along the way. Ska Studios will be heading to PAX East and we've been told there's a "good chance" the game will be there, though a release window of "March 2010" means we might even be playing from the comfort of our couches before that. %Gallery-83449%
JBO: Joystiq Box Office, January 11 - January 15
We can't be gaming all the time, despite our best efforts, and from time to time we'll actually take advantage of the movie-playing abilities on our gaming systems. JBO features our top picks for XBL, PSN, Netflix's Watch Instantly and Blu-ray each week. Recommendation of the Week: The Dungeon Masters ($3.99 three-day rental, $14.99 to purchase, Amazon VOD) We don't normally include Amazon VOD in this list, simply because it's not (readily) accessible from gaming consoles ... although you can watch it on your Mac or PC. However, I just had to share this movie with you. I was lucky enough to see director Keven McAlester's The Dungeon Masters at the Toronto International Film Festival in 2008, and it is finally coming to a screen near you. The documentary chronicles the exploits of three D&D dungeon masters (and one who is also a gamer) and the trials and tribulations of living with their obsession. You can watch the trailer for the movie and pre-order it on Amazon VOD. The bad news? It doesn't come out until February 12. (Buy now, watch later!) The good news? It's amazing. Depressing at times, sure, but a telling and realistic portrait of certain types of gamers. You know the ones. A perfect movie to watch as you bust out the 4th Edition and start rolling. Read on after the break for the rest of our recommendations, and let us know what you're watching!
Left 4 Dead 2 goes free-to-play on Xbox Live next weekend
If you've been sitting around on your hands waiting for the next free opportunity to play Left 4 Dead 2 on Xbox Live with your friends, well, we think you're a bit strange and should likely find a better habit. That being said, you'll be happy to hear that the game will be free-to-play for all Xbox Live members (even you lower class Silver folks) next weekend, starting promptly at 12:00PM ET on Friday, January 15, and finishing up on Monday the 18th (also at noon, as confirmed to CVG by Microsoft). We can't imagine that those of you still holding out will be convinced of an Xbox Live Gold account's worth after just one weekend, but it certainly can't hurt, now can it? Update: The free weekend has been confirmed for Europe only. A Microsoft representative tells Joystiq the company has "nothing to announce at this time" about a North American promotion. When asked if they had a timetable to announce something, the representative politely said that we'll hear something soon one way or another. %Gallery-64704%
Scrap Metal rolls onto XBLA this Spring
Amidst the handful of CES 2010 bombs that Microsoft dropped we found a small fact sheet and a smattering of new media for upcoming XBLA racer Scrap Metal. First revealed back in August with a trailer and a handful of screenshots from developer Slick Entertainment (the folks behind the XBLA port of N+, a game that we hold dear to our hearts), we now know that the title will be hitting Microsoft's digital distribution platform sometime in "Spring 2010." While we anxiously await its arrival, we'll be furiously practicing with Rock n' Roll Racing and Super Off-Road -- two games that Scrap Metal clearly draws inspiration from. %Gallery-82473%
