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Ace Combat 6 demo flies out next week
In the latest episode of GameSpot's On the Spot, In Joon Hwang, Product Marketing Manager for Namco Bandai, revealed that a demo for Ace Combat 6 should be available on Xbox Live Marketplace next week. Ace Combat 6 is the first in the flight combat series to appear on a non-Sony console and also the first new-gen entry in the series. Hwang notes that the game's support system has been revamped, and players will now be able give commands to naval, air, and ground combat units during play. Expect to hear more about Ace Combat 6 from E3 next week. [Thanks, Dark Mobius]
Special Bungie goodies on XBLM tomorrow
Tomorrow, whether you know it or not, is Bungie day. Fans of Bungie will know that the number 7 has a special significance to the company and its games. As such, July 7 (7/7, get it?) has become known as Bungie day. Seeing that tomorrow is 7/707, this year marks a super special Bungie day (so special, in fact, that it won't happen again for one hundred years). To celebrate, some extra special Bungie goodies will be appearing on Xbox Live Marketplace tomorrow. What sort of goodies exactly? We don't know. All we do know is that it won't be related to Halo 3 and is "of a more decorative nature." Naturally, we're guessing themes and gamer pictures. You'd better act fast though, as these downloadable morsels will only be available tomorrow. At the stroke of midnight, they will vanish into the intertubes.
Free Live Earth downloads make Earth happy
Live Earth, that hugely huge worldwide concert series aimed at raising cash for global warming, is offering up a few free downloads on the Marketplace today. Available for free is a set of five Live Earth/SOS gamer pictures and a less than exciting theme featuring an interesting dot-line background guide. These free downloads are available to all Xbox Live regions, so support Earth and download away! For more information on this whole Live Earth thing, head on over to MSN's Live Earth page to get all the details.
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.
Velvet Revolver is July's Artist of the Month
In celebration of their latest album release Libertad, rockers Velvet Revolver have been honored with the title of July's Artist of the Month. Head onto the XBLM to download the making of video of their music video "She Builds Quick Machines", but not actually the music video. Odd, we know. If Velvet Revolver doesn't excite you check out Ryan Adams' very "unique" music video for "I Taught Myself How to Grow Old". Both downloads are free, so download at your own musical risk.
Microsoft 'Bringing it Home' again for Min-E3
Microsoft is reemploying their Bringing it Home campaign for this year's Min-E3. The campaign has previously been seen during last year's E3 and their X06 event in Barcelona, Spain.As part of Bringing it Home, a barrage of content will be made available via Xbox Live, including their July 10 press conference, game trailers, themes, gamer pictures, demos and other video updates. Some of the games mentioned include Assassin's Creed, Bioshock, Blue Dragon and Project Gotham Racing 4. A partial list (expect surprises from the show) is available after the break.[Via X3F]
Free XBLM TV downloads are body shop'able
We just thought we'd let our fellow US Xbox Live members know that there area few free TV episodes to download off the Marketplace this week. Continuing to be free, you can download all four episodes of CBS's Clark and Michael as well as the season premiere of Comedy Central's American Body Shop and VH1's Acceptable.tv Tutorials. All downloads are free for US subscribers for an unknown amount of time, so we recommend getting online and grabbing them while you can. You know, before "the man" makes you pay for 'em.
Microsoft will be Bringing it Home during E3
Sweet, sweet news just hit our inbox a little bit ago confirming that Microsoft will be Bringing it Home once again for this year's mini-E3. The Bringing it Home campaign kicks off July 10th and will run through July 13th giving Xbox 360 fans a chance to experience E3 media through Xbox Live and Xbox.com. You'll be able to download free E3 news updates, HD trailers, themes, gamer pictures, and game demos straight off the E3 floor and onto the XBLM. Microsoft also promises a few surprises along the way, so be sure to keep an eye on the Marketplace ticker for the latest updates. Make your way to the break to see what content and which games will be offering up media when Bringing it Home kicks off.
Free Olympic Stadium download for MLB 2K7
It's time to dust of your copy of MLB 2K7, because there is free content to download. Make your way to the XBLM and download the Olympic Stadium for free as it's the first of presumably more in the MLB 2K7 stadium Classic Collection. And our European friends will be happy to know that the free stadium download is only available to US and Canadian Xbox Live members. But it's not like you've ever been shafted before. Honestly, we just worry that the 2K Sports labor strikes didn't make this in-game stadium structurally unsound or prevent it from having a retractable roof. That would just be bad.
Rainbow Six Vegas Red and Black edition now free
Yes, you read the headline correctly, because both Rainbow Six Vegas Players Packs are going to be free for download. Major Nelson just informed us that the Black Edition was pulled from the Marketplace earlier this week, because Ubisoft didn't want the content to cost 800 Microsoft points ... they wanted it to be free! The Black Edition is now available on the Marketplace and is free for download, so go get it! But wait, did you pay for the content before the Black Edition was pulled? Not to worry, because Microsoft will be reimbursing those who paid for the Black Edition within' the next ten weeks. Sweet, isn't it?But that's not all the good news. As a thank you to the Rainbow Six community, Ubisoft decided to make the Red Edition Player Pack a free download starting next Friday, July 6th. That's a 800 Microsoft point value! But sorry for those who already purchased the Red Edition, because no reimbursements will be made for the content. Ubisoft rocks ... they rock hard!
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.
Canada Day brings free presents for Canadians
Canadian fanboys will be be happy to know that Microsoft hasn't forgotten about your country's birthday. In celebration of Canada Day, on July 1st our Canadian friends will be treated to free downloads including a theme and a few gamer pictures featuring characters from the comic 360 Prophecy. Again, the downloads are free and will only be available for a short time to help celebrate Canada's birthday. Also, Jade posted an article over on Xbox.com counting down her favorite Canadian gamers and our very own David Dreger (aka Knuckles Dawson) made the list! We knew his achievement addiction would pay off. Congrats to you David, Canada, every Canadian, and free Marketplace downloads this July 1st. Now let's prepare to celebrate![Via 360 Prophecy]
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.
R6 Vegas Black Edition pulled from Marketplace
For unknown reasons, the Rainbow Six Vegas Player's Pack Black Edition downloadable content that released yesterday has been pulled from the XBLM. Major Nelson updated his post stating that new content was pulled, but didn't give a reason for it not being available. Some people who have downloaded the content are stating that the new maps seem to load slower than others, but other than that they didn't find a problem with the Black Edition pack. Stay tuned as we'll be sure to let you know when the content gets placed back onto the Marketplace or when we learn more about what went wrong.
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?
Burgercon offers free Austin Powers movie rental
Burgercon, McDonald's latest marketing campaign aimed at trying to get you to eat their Big Macs, is offering a free movie rental for Xbox Live members in the United States. Make your way to the Video Marketplace and rent Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery for free! All thanks to the kind folks over at McDonalds ... Burgercon rocks! Also, if after watching the original Austin Powers and you have a jonesing for more Mike Meyers, Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me is available for rental, but for 240 Microsoft points.It's also worth mentioning that we ran into some technical difficulties trying to download the movie from the Xbox Live Burgercon ads. But there's an easy workaround. Simply make your way to the "all movies" list on the Marketplace and you'll find Austin Powers listed. Try downloading it from there, it worked for us.
Rumor: Experience The BIGS next week
The Xbox Domain is reporting that after a 2K Sports conference call they learned that a demo for The BIGS will making its way onto the XBLM sometime next week. No exact date was given, but the game's developers did confirm that the demo would include three innings of gameplay. In the conference call 2K Sports also made it very clear that The BIGS is not a next generation version of Midway's Slugfest almost as if Slugfest was an airborne virus that 2K Sports wants to avoid. Actually, Slugfest may be an airborne virus that we should recommend everyone stay away from. Stay tuned.[Via Game Stooge]
