August 7, 2008 – 5:38 pm
Fable II topped my recent list of my most anticipated video games, and it’s still the game I’m practically foaming at the mouth to play. Sure, Peter Molyneux might have fooled me once with Black & White. Or twice with Black & White 2. Or three times with Fable. Or… okay, enough, Fable 2 is going to be awesome. End of story. And now we know exactly when to expect that awesomeness to be landing on the XBox 360.
October 21 is the official release date, and courtesy of the Gamerscore Blog, here’s a rundown of what goodies you can look forward to if you pick up the limited edition:
- DVD with “Making Of” feature
- Extra in-game content, including a new dungeon, an additional weapon, and an “Otherworldly Bonus”
- A special edition Hobbe Qee figure
- 48-hour XBox Live Gold trial code
- Five printed Fate cards
The regular edition will be $59.99, and the limited edition will be $79.99. Both editions will net you a free download code for Fable 2 Pub Games if you place your preorder while supplies last.
Source: Gamerscore Blog
August 4, 2008 – 7:00 am
Way back when the XBox 360 first launched, I remember my inaugural dip into the XBox Live Arcade including the download of the Geometry Wars demo. GW was a psychadelic flurry of crazy, reflex-demanding action, and I played the heck out of that demo. I never got around to actually buying the game, but I definitely logged some time on that demo. Now Geometry Wars Retro Evolved 2 is out, and I did drop my hard earned Microsoft points for this one. Is it worth the 800 points, or should I have just stuck with my demo-playing practices of old? Read on for my review after the jump.
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July 23, 2008 – 5:30 am
The much anticipated expansion to Puzzle Quest drops onto the XBox Live Arcade today at 700 MS Points. Titled Revenge of the Plague Lord, the expansion touts the following additions to the hit puzzle RPG:
- New classes: Bard, Warlock, Ranger, and Rogue
- 50 new spells
- 40 new items
- More than 25 new quests
- Level cap raises to 60
This follows the recent price drop on the XBLA for the original Puzzle Quest, down to 800 points.
July 16, 2008 – 5:45 am
There’s been a lot of odd hype and counter-hype about the upcoming XBox 360 hack and slash game Too Human. Over on the Neogaf forums, the developer even got into some heated conversations with posters about his own game, pre-release. The Too Human demo has dropped onto the XBox Live Marketplace now, and I’ve had a chance to play through it. So how good is it really?
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July 8, 2008 – 4:01 pm
The official XBox site has announced more details about the pub games that previously were announced for release in conjunction with Fable 2. Fable 2 is scheduled for release on the XBox 360 later this year, and preceding its release will be a series of gambling games that you’ll be able to download and play via the XBox Live Arcade. Gold you accumulate through those games will be transferable to your Fable 2 character once you get the full game. Gold really will be an in-demand commodity, considering that Fable 2 will allow you to buy literally anything and everything in the game world, from weapons to buildings to towns to kingdoms.
The new announcement shows off some new screenshots and also specifies that the Fable 2 Pub Games will be one downloadable game that includes three mini games:
- Keystone: A combination of Craps and Roulette
- Spinnerbox: An updated take on Slot Machines
- Fortune’s Tower: A “press your luck” style of game
There also will be a “Shell” tutorial of all three games for new players.
The most interesting announcement is that you’ll receive a free download of the Pub Games if you preorder Fable 2 before its release. If you don’t preorder, you can get Pub Games for 800 Microsoft Points (but why would you play it if you weren’t going to be building your bank for Fable 2?).
Fable 2 Pub Games will be downloadable on the XBox Live Arcade in August.
Source: XBox.com
July 1, 2008 – 11:23 am
Yesterday Harmonix dropped the official announcement of Rock Band 2, the follow up to their immensely successful music game that released late last year. The second installment in the series will not introduce a new instrument, as previously rumored, but it will be improving on the instruments that already are out there. The new guitar will be a replica of the Fender Stratocaster and will feature faux woodgrain buttons. The new drum kit will be sturdier than the original (which occasionally had problems reported of the plastic base pedal mount breaking) and should be designed to be quieter in use (as opposed to the original, which sounds like a herd of elephants running through whenever it’s played).
The biggest news about Rock Band 2 is that it will be completely compatible with any songs you’ve downloaded for Rock Band 1. In fact, all Rock Band song downloads will be universally playable across both games, which means that even if you don’t buy Rock Band 2, you’ll still be able to buy and play new songs with your original Rock Band game. This is exciting stuff that works in the consumer’s favor, and it looks like it’s becoming an industry standard for music games, as Guitar Hero World Tour will be adopting a similar policy for reverse compatibility with Guitar Hero 3 downloads.
Additionally, Rock Band 2 will feature brand new online play modes and over 80 new songs, all of which will be master recordings from the bands. There haven’t been confirmations about the new online modes, but the strong hint has been that you’ll be able to play the Band World Tour mode online now. Rock Band 2’s tracks will feature more female fronted bands, as well as a number of groups that have never been featured in music games before. Harmonix CEO Alex Rigopulos says in an AP interview, “With the original ‘Rock Band,’ the focus was on innovation. With ‘Rock Band 2,’ the focus is on perfection of the experience. We’ve had a year to listen to our fans and build out the scope, depth and polish of the experience, so it feels like a second-generation band game.”
Rock Band 2 will ship first for the XBox 360 in September and then later in the year for the Wii, Playstation 2, and Playstation 3. There’s no comment yet on how much the game will cost or exactly what configurations will ship. It’s safe to guess that there will be a big bundle that comes with all the instruments, as well as a standalone game and the ability to buy the instruments separately, though. The September release will put Rock Band 2 on the shelves a month before Guitar Hero World Tour’s October release.
Source: Yahoo! News and IGN
June 26, 2008 – 4:15 pm
Microsoft has announced a new contest that has them partnering with Domino’s Pizza to promote the upcoming film The Dark Knight. By ordering the special Batman-themed items from Domino’s, you’ll have a shot at winning a bunch of cool prizes, including a beyond awesome Batman-deco’ed XBox 360 Elite. Here are the official details:
Starting July 7, 2008 if you order The Gotham City Pizza Large pizza for $9.99 or The Dark KnightTM Deal, (Gotham City Pizza plus 10 piece wings and a side of bread for $19.99) you have a chance to win $10,000 delivered to your door.
Order your pizza online or by phone and instantly access The Dark Knight™ Vault for unique content from the movie including an exclusive trailer, wallpapers, and lots more. The vault will be open from June 30 to July 27, 2008.
At www.dominos.com , track your pizza all the way to your door with the Domino’s Pizza Tracker. This is also your key into the Vault. When you receive your pizza, the promotionl pizza box has all the details on entering the “Cards Tell the Tale” Instant Win Promotion. The exclusive The Dark Knight™ Xbox 360 consoles are very limited in quantity and are sure to be a coveted item for any gamer, BATMAN fan, or collector.
Source: XBox via XBox360Fanboy
June 26, 2008 – 11:06 am
As I’ve mentioned in the past, it’s a rare thing these days for me to find a game on the XBLA that I’m willing to drop actual Microsoft points to buy. Ticket To Ride is one game that did manage to pry 800 points from my miserly hands, and it’s a fantastic buy.
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June 24, 2008 – 5:45 am
Starting today on the XBox 360 and Thursday on the Playstation 3, you’ll be able to download the full album Doolittle by The Pixies, as well as a pack of three songs from Weezer’s new Red Album. Here’s a rundown of exactly what you’ll get and what you can expect to pay:
The Pixies:
- Crackity Jones - 160 MS Points ($1.99)
- Dead - 160 MS Points ($1.99)
- Debaser - 160 MS Points ($1.99)
- Gouge Away - 160 MS Points ($1.99)
- Here Comes Your Man - 160 MS Points ($1.99)
- Hey - 160 MS Points ($1.99)
- I Bleed - 160 MS Points ($1.99)
- La La Love You - 160 MS Points ($1.99)
- Monkey Gone To Heaven - 160 MS Points ($1.99)
- Mr. Grieves - 160 MS Points ($1.99)
- No 13 Baby - 160 MS Points ($1.99)
- Silver - 160 MS Points ($1.99)
- Tame - 160 MS Points ($1.99)
- There Goes My Gun - 160 MS Points ($1.99)
The whole Doolittle album is available as a big pack of all 14 songs for 1520 MS Points ($18.99).
Weezer:
- Dreamin’ - 160 MS Points ($1.99)
- The Greatest Man That Ever Lived - 160 MS Points ($1.99)
- Troublemaker - 160 MS Points ($1.99)
The pack of all three Weezer songs is downloadable for 440 MS Points ($5.49).
All the tracks released this week are master recordings from the original artists. Sadly, there’s no “Pork and Beans” from Weezer in sight.
June 24, 2008 – 5:00 am
Starting tomorrow, you’ll be able to grab these two new games on the XBox Live Arcade: Happy Tree Friends: False Alarm and Ticket To Ride. The games will be available for the recently standard XBLA price of 800 MS Points ($10) each.
Happy Tree Friends is a game adaptation of the overly violent and disturbing cartoon, putting you in control of Lumpy the Moose, who must save his animal friends from grisly ends. Here’s the official blurb:
Based on the popular and twisted Web series, Lumpy and his accident-prone friends face one gory, horrible disaster after another in Happy Tree Friends False Alarm™! Armed with a helicopter pack, Lumpy rescues his pals by blasting open areas where they may be trapped with flaming napalm or explosive nitro, or he can put them into a deep freeze if they are about to stumble into danger. Try to keep the friends from peril in ten exclusive disaster-filled scenarios, each with three frantic levels, and brand new cutscenes.
Ticket To Ride is based on the award winning board game from 2004 that has players competing to run train tracks across the United States (and, in later expansions, across other countries) to connect cities and complete routes for profit. Here’s the blurb for this one:
All aboard! Travel from coast to coast and visit all the stops on the exciting train adventure Ticket to Ride™. Plan your routes and connect your cities across the country to become the ultimate traveler. Earn points as you claim your tracks and complete your tickets for your chance at the big score. From sea to sea, crisscross the nation as you build the longest route and take home the prize. It’s hours of fun for your family and friends. Who will come out on top when the steam clears? Get your Ticket to Ride and see!
Ticket To Ride is one I’ve personally been looking forward to, but I’m intrigued enough by Happy Tree Friends to at least give the demo a download.
