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Xbox 360 Spring Backward Compatibility Update Now Live
Posted by Christopher Sasaki Categories: Xbox, Xbox 360,
Xbox 360 owners looking for a backward compatibility update have been getting antsy over the couple of weeks, wondering if Microsoft had abandoned their efforts in improving the emulation for older Xbox titles. Now, though, a new update has been published online, with quite a few long anticipated additions to the list. Some great titles are now playable on the Xbox 360, including Panzer Dragoon Orta, Street Fighter Anniversary Collection, and Jet Set Radio Future. Mech Assault 2 is now playable, and Soul Calibur 2 received a mysterious compatibility update. Of course, no update would be complete without at least some questionable games that just happened to work because of other bug fixes, like Reservoir Dogs and NFL Fever 2004.
The full list of updated titles continues below.
Click to continue reading Xbox 360 Spring Backward Compatibility Update Now Live
Read More 
| Xbox.com
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Weekend Deals Roundup - Hooray for Last-Gen!
Posted by Michael Cardiff Categories: Hot Deals, PlayStation 2, PSP, Wii, Xbox, Xbox 360,
Everybody may be talking about this “next-gen” newfangledness, but there’s still some great games to be found for consoles that are older than a year. If you’re looking for some new games to tide you over until Lair or Metroid Prime 3 or GTA IV hits (whatever floats your boat!), then these may help out.
KB Toys is offering a buy-one-get-one-free deal for a variety of PSP titles. Walmart is offering a variety of bundle deals (2 for $20, 3 for $25, or 2 for $30) on select games for the PS2, Gamecube, and Xbox. And for those of you looking for some next-gen games, we’ve also recently seen THAW for Xbox 360 at $19.99, and even Super Paper Mario for Wii, $44.99 at Amazon.
Enjoy the deals! Just try to leave a bit of money in your bank account to pay taxes with…
Bungie Dropping “New” Maps For Halo 2
Posted by Christopher Sasaki Categories: Bungie, First Person Shooters, Internet, Xbox, Xbox 360,
Bungie today announced that coming in April, two “new” multiplayer maps will be available for download in Halo 2. The maps, new to Halo 2 are recreations of original maps found in the original Halo: Combat Evolved. The two maps, “Hang ‘Em High” and “Desolation,” will be downloadable on both the original Xbox and Xbox 360 for $4 on April 17th; luckily, original Xbox hold-outs won’t be left in the cold for this content update.
The full press release continues after the jump.
Click to continue reading Bungie Dropping “New” Maps For Halo 2
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Microsoft Wants Your Help to Improve Xbox Live
Posted by Michael Cardiff Categories: Corporate News, Internet, Strategy, Xbox, Xbox 360, Xbox Live,
It’s fairly safe to say that Microsoft is currently in the enviable position of currently having the most versatile and robust online service of all the next-gen consoles. With everything they’ve learned from the original Xbox, and their year head start on the other two next-gen consoles, the Xbox 360 was able to gain this upper hand in the online department. But does this mean the big M$ is going to rest on their laurels? Heck no. In fact, Microsoft wants suggestions from you, Mr. Xbox 360 owner, on how exactly Xbox Live can become even better.
Head on over to MajorNelson’s blog to check out his call for suggestions. Interestingly, MajorNelson seems to be focused on the question of how Xbox Live can be made better for Xbox users, while the original call from Ozymandias is more interested in the question of the “Live” service pertaining to multiple devices (i.e., Zune, PC, Xbox, etc.), so it’s not clear what the focus of their new developments will be. Given that the big Bill has recently admitted that the Xbox 360 is M$‘s way of getting its tentacles into your home entertainment center, though, it’s a pretty sure bet that they’re eventually working on dominating your entire living room.
Read More 
| Ozymandias’ Blog
Read More | Major Nelson's Blog
EA Drops Prices for Lots of Soon-to-be-Obsolete Games
Posted by Michael Cardiff Categories: Electronic Arts, Hot Deals, Nintendo Gamecube, PlayStation 2, PSP, Xbox, Xbox 360,
Hoping to clear off shelf space for next year’s iteration of Madden, Fight Night, and Tiger Woods, EA has dropped the price on a few games in their library. Starting tomorrow, you’ll be able to pick up many of EA’s titles for $10-$30 off of their usual price. Of course, with EA’s habit of shutting down servers for unpopular games, you might want to think twice before picking up anything that has a year attached to the title. Still, there are some fairly well reviewed titles to be found, including The Godfather and Need for Speed Carbon, so this might be a good way to get some extra bang out of that gift certificate you got this Christmas.
See the full list of reduced-price titles, after the jump…
Click to continue reading EA Drops Prices for Lots of Soon-to-be-Obsolete Games
Read More | Game Invasion @ Comcast.net
Xbox 360 Backward Compatibility Update Now Live
Posted by Christopher Sasaki Categories: Xbox, Xbox 360,
Earlier this week, an updated list for the Xbox 360 backwards compatibility feature was briefly listed on the UK site. The new list was quickly pulled down, and no indication was given to any time frame for the new update. Now, Microsoft has officially released the backward compatibility list, and there are a number of additions. Some of the newly backward compatible games include Soul Calibur 2, Destroy All Humans!, Conker, and the game that people on the Internet campaigned for inclusion, Psychonauts.
The list of new and updated games continues after the jump.
Click to continue reading Xbox 360 Backward Compatibility Update Now Live
Read More | Xbox.com
Halo Movie Postponed
Posted by Christopher Sasaki Categories: Culture, First Person Shooters, Xbox, Xbox 360,
While Microsoft and Wingnut Studios had previously strongly committed to making a Halo movie a reality, despite losing financial backing from Universal Studios and Fox, today the two issued a joint statement claiming that the feature would be postponed. Gamasutra reported on the press release, which in part states:
We are fully supportive of Director Neill Blomkamp’s vision of the film. Neill is a tremendously gifted filmmaker and his preliminary work on Halo is truly awe-inspiring. While it will undoubtedly take a little longer for Halo to reach the big screen, we are confident that the final feature film will be well worth the wait.”
While disappointing for Halo fans, the stalling of production is not unusual in the film world. Neither Microsoft nor Wingnut Studios discussed how this would affect Peter Jackson’s Halo tie-in game for the movie, but it would be safe to assume that this would be delayed as well.
Read More | Gamasutra
Analysts Talk Latest NPD Data
Posted by Christopher Sasaki Categories: Hardware, Nintendo, Nintendo DS, PlayStation 3, Xbox, Xbox 360,
The latest NPD data showed strong September sales growth; 38% over 2005. Nintendo and the DS showed strong growth, and the “next generation” transition doesn’t seem to have hurt the industry as much as expected. But hidden in the NPD data are some interesting points that various analysts have started to dissect. GameDaily reports on analysis from Michael Pachter of Wedbush Morgan Securities, and Deutsche Bank analyst Jeetil Patel. Pachter sees the PS2 growth as a good sign, with software sales up 12 percent compared to last year. But the original Xbox has been fading fast. As one looks at the numbers, it appears that the Xbox 360 is completely cannibalizing the original Xbox user base. The Xbox 360 seems to be pushing better than expected software sales, a good thing for Microsoft.
Still, things don’t appear to be completely rosy in the Xbox 360 camp. Jeetil Patel feels like the Xbox 360 is underperforming. Tracking the Xbox 360 versus the original Xbox’s sales path seems to indicate that the Xbox 360 has moved fewer net units than the original Xbox at this point in the console life cycle; the lack of units during Microsoft’s holiday launch last year really set the company back. In addition, NPD data has the total Xbox 360 sell through at approximately 2.7 million units. Japan adds only a fraction to that number, with well under 200,000 units sold through in that territory. An optimistic projection for the Xbox 360 in the rest of the world might match the US total. At this point, it is starting to look like Microsoft’s projections of a 10 million unit head start by the time the Playstation 3 launches was extremely aggressive. With probably just over six million Xbox 360 consoles moved worldwide to date, Microsoft would have to nearly double their worldwide sales in October and November to match their goals before Sony’s November launch of the Playstation 3.
Read More | GameDaily BIZ
Burger King Offering Exclusive Xbox/Xbox360 Games, $3.99
Posted by Christopher Sasaki Categories: Corporate News, Xbox, Xbox 360,
Burger King announced that they will be offering three exclusive Xbox/Xbox 360 games this holiday season for $3.99. The games will be available starting on Sunday, November 19, and will be compatible with both the Xbox and the Xbox 360. The three game titles will be Pocketbike Racer, Big Bumpin, and Sneak King. Gamers will be able to play as their favorite creepy mascot as well as the subservient chicken. The games were developed by Blitz Games, whose contributions to the gaming world include titles like Barbie Horse Adventures. Jeff Bell, vice president of global marketing for Microsoft’s Interactive Entertainment Business stretched a “Have It Your Way” metaphor to the breaking point, stating, “Consumers are saying, ‘Let me have what I want, the way I want it. In essence, Xbox also is an invitation to consumers to have it their way.”
Read More | Gamerscoreblog
Xbox August Backwards Compatibility Update - Still No Psychonauts
Posted by Michael Cardiff Categories: Corporate News, Release Dates, Xbox, Xbox 360, Xbox Live,
Over at Major Nelson’s blog, you can see all the latest Xbox titles that are now officially compatible with the Xbox 360. There’s some good news here, including backwards compatibility for Burnout 3: Takedown, Dead to Rights, Sid Meier’s Pirates, Serious Sam. Above all, the real biggie on the list here is back-compat for Counter Strike, which is sure to see a boost in the Xbox Live numbers now.
Fans are juust going to have to keep waiting for some big names on the list - notably missing from the list are Psychonauts and Jet Set Radio Future. You also won’t see Panzer Dragoon, Conker, Rally Sport Challenge 2, Shenmue II, Unreal Championship 2, MechAssault, or Midtown Madness 3, titles that seem to be in fairly high demand in the comments.
The complete list of titles now officially backwards compatible can be found after the jump!
Click to continue reading Xbox August Backwards Compatibility Update - Still No Psychonauts
Read More | Major Nelson's Blog
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