Bulletstorm Demo January 25th January 17, 2011
Posted by Maniac in Game News.add a comment
For those of you interested in the next major release from Epic Games, Bulletstorm, an unapologietic First Person Shooter which harkens back to the glory days of the genre, is getting a demo release on January 25th for the PS3 and Xbox 360. Unfortunatly, there have been no announcements about a PC demo for the game, although a PC release of the game is coming.
The Bulletstorm Epic Edition for Xbox 360 will include an invite to the Gears of War 3 Beta. Bulletstorm releases Feb 22nd, 2011 for PC, Xbox 360 and PS3.
Kinect Cable Close-Up January 17, 2011
Posted by Maniac in Site Videos.add a comment
I wanted to give people online a good look at the unique cable design for the Xbox Kinect AUX port. It has shades of USB but it has an extra notch at the end to break compatibility. Wikipedia says this is so the unit doesn’t need an extra power cable, which is appreciated as my 8-plug home theater monster power strip is maxed out. Enjoy.
Mortal Kombat to Get Webseries January 15, 2011
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A long time ago I posted about a viral video which hit the web and overnight had a million hits. It was a more realistic take on Mortal Kombat, and starred big name actors/actresses like Michael Jai White and Jeri Ryan.
Normally these kinds of projects are considered fanfilms, independently made videos which were produced only for online distribution, however the fact that big named actors appeared in it made it stand out as something more.
Unfortunately the original video has been taken down a while ago, so I can’t repost it here, but if you had seen it on my site earlier I invite you to picture it in your minds now.
Portal 2 Has a Theme Song January 14, 2011
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Fans of “Still Alive”, the theme song to 2007’s Portal, will be very happy to know that Jonathan Coulton, the artist behind the hit song, is recording whole new one for Portal 2. He has confirmed in his twitter account that he is in the process now of recording this song for it’s use in the game. No details on the song yet, it probably will be a suprise strictly for anyone who finishes the game. Knowing that Coulton was involved, you can probably rest assured there will be a comedic twist to it.
Jonathan Coulton has many other hits to his credit including “Code Monkey” and “Re: Your Brains”.
Dead Space 2 Launch Trailer January 13, 2011
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This trailer was just so awesome I had to show it to all of you.
Looking back, if there was a list of bands whose sound defined my generation, Smashing Pumpkins would be on that list.
Dead Space 2 launches Jan 25th, 2011 for PC, Xbox 360 and PS3. GameStop is now offering the Rivet Gun, first used in Dead Space Extraction, as an exclusive weapon if you preorder the game there.
What’s Going on With Planet Moon? January 12, 2011
Posted by Maniac in Game News.1 comment so far
Planet Moon Studios is another one of the classic game development houses that I followed a lot over the last ten years. In a generation of overcrowded PC faceless action shooters, they were able to mix up gameplay in a way that had never been seen before. They added a pretty funny story to the mix, with some pretty zany characters in a wild fantasy setting. Copies of Giants: Citizen Kabuto, Armed and Dangerous, and Infected, all have permanent places on my shelf.
However, after releasing Infected, Planet Moon dispatched with a lot of their game style as they knew it, and released a lot of games that were unlike the style they had previously established. An action oriented company with a focus on humor was releasing handheld ports, puzzle and family oriented games.
Today they announced that thirty-seven of their employees have successfully been transferred to another company to work on a different project. These employees were working on an unannounced game for Planet Moon, which after December got defaulted on for an unknown reason by the funder, and someone apparently owes them a lot of money.
Obviously this is just an event that sucks for everyone involved, but it could’ve been a lot worse. Those thirty-seven developers could’ve been left entirely without a job. Obviously lawsuits are being filed against all parties by Planet Moon, and things are probably going to be hush-hush until that clears.
Step By Step Process on How to Transfer Xbox 360 Hard Drive Data January 10, 2011
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It seems that I’ve been getting the same comments back from different people who have watched my video on how to transfer an original Xbox 360 Hard Drive’s data to a new Xbox 360 Slim.
The problem seems to stem from the fact that they’re buying aftermarket refurbished transfer cables which provide no instructions on how to do the transfer process properly, or if they did, those instructions are in another language. Because they don’t have understandable instructions, these commenters are doing the transfer procedure incorrectly, which if done “very” incorrectly can easily result in a loss of your data or incorrect formating of a 360 Hard Drive.
I’ve updated the YouTube hosted video with a step by step process. Their problem seemed to stem from the fact that they were not removing their old hard drives from their Xbox 360s, instead connecting the new hard drive through the transfer cable. These hard drives are so new they’re not formatted, and it’s causing an error when plugging them in through the transfer cable (they’re being confused for USB memory sticks).
So if you have a new Xbox 360 Hard Drive you want to get your old data transferred into, please read this step by step instruction on how to get all of your data into it.
Step 1: Remove your OLD Xbox 360 Hard Drive from your Xbox 360.
Step 2: Install New Xbox 360 Hard Drive into your Xbox 360, or if it’s a new 360 with a Hard Drive already installed, do nothing.
Step 3: Connect OLD Hard Drive to Hard Drive Transfer cable. Insert Hard Drive Transfer Cable USB connection to rear 360 USB port.
Step 4: Turn your Xbox 360 on, wait a few seconds for the system to prompt you if you want to transfer your content now. Tell it to transfer TO console.
Step 5: Check to make sure all your data is in place in the Transfer Content Menu. When satasfied, START the transfer process.
Step 6: Have a Coke, this’ll take a while.
Notice: Not all your files may transfer, some misc legacy data, half downloaded files, and a few other things may not go with the transfer. This is not much to worry about, you can always re-download whatever DLC would not transfer.
Step 7: Once all the data is transferrred, log into your Xbox Live profile. You may have to re-download the latest Xbox Live Update.
You’re done. You can transfer your Xbox License at http://xbox.com/drm so you can use your console-locked content without an internet connection on your new Xbox if you bought one. It will not be needed if you’re transferring data on the same 360. Also, you will not need to do an Xbox Live profile recovery or anything of the sort.
Why Do Playstation 3 Games List 1080p Support Even if the Game Doesn’t? January 9, 2011
Posted by Maniac in Editorials.add a comment
This is a small gripe but I’m worried it’s going to turn into a trend and I don’t like it one bit. Unlike the Xbox 360, the Playstation 3 does not have its own way to upsample PS3 games or Blu-Ray discs to support the maximum resolution of your HDTV. About the only things it does upsample are regular DVDs, video files, and PS1/2 games (if compatible). This was a serious problem at launch, as many early HDTVs lacked support of the native 720p resolution. Since they couldn’t be upsampled to 1080i like what the Xbox 360 could do, many unfortunate gamers would have to play their games in progressive scan (480p) and be forced to like it, while Xbox 360 games would play just fine in full HD resolution on their HDTVs. Many at the time thought this was going to be a temporary inconvenience, like something that Sony just forgot to implement into the hardware. However, PS3s have been out since the end of 2006 and PS3-Game upsampling is still not a part of its internal software. By this point it’s unlikely they will add it, and after three years many of the early adopters like myself who had the problem upgraded to newer HDTVs that had 720p support.
So since the Playstation 3 doesn’t upsample its PS3 games, it falls to the developers to have their game support the resolutions they want. While the typical HD resolution in a PS3 game is 720p, many Playstation 3 games can support resolutions of 1080i and 1080p, either natively or through their own graphical upsampling.
I submit for your approval the PS3 case of the game Dead Space. On the Greatest Hits box released in the US, it lists native support of 720p, 1080i, and 1080p resolutions. When I popped in the game a week ago, I was looking forward to seeing my tv announce 1080p resolution as the game booted. It didn’t. The game was actually 720p. For whatever reason, the information on the box was incorrect. While I don’t have the original box (the non-greatest hits one) I know for a fact that it also listed 1080i and 1080p resolutions on it as well. I can understand the mistake made on an original box, but there was plenty of time to fix the mistake
Dead Space isn’t alone. Brutal Legend for the PS3 also incorrectly listed 1080i and 1080p resolution support, and did not actually provide it. I guess the demo should have tipped me off to that (the demo is also 720p), but I guess I trusted the packaging more than I should have.
The only clue the packaging provided which could’ve clued me into this support being iffy was the statement next to the resolution support on the bottom of the packaging that 1080p could only be supported through the HDMI connection using HDCP compliant HDMI cable. Well, I have that. My HDMI cables are fully HDCP compliant, and have no problem whatsoever with Blu-Ray transmission, and my TV and Receiver are also fully HDCP compliant.
So, what’s with the false advertising? I’ve seen plenty of other PS3 games list the proper resolution support on their boxes, so it can be done. Granted, the Xbox 360 will usually list 720p, 1080i, and 1080p supported resolutions on all their game packages even if the game does not natively support those resolutions, but that’s because the game can display on those resolutions using the native upsampling feature of the Xbox 360. Unlike the lies on some of the PS3 cases, the Xbox 360 games are accurately listing what HD resolutions their games will display on.
Sony, have better oversight on what resolutions your games can and can’t do, and if you made a mistake on a package, don’t keep the mistake when it’s re-released. Either that, or finally introduce a native upsampling feature into the PS3. That’s been requested for years already, it would be a nice feature your customers would happily download.
Xbox Rewards Program Invites Being E-Mailed January 8, 2011
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Microsoft is now e-mailing Xbox Live members to participate in their own rewards program. Since the program is currently invite only, you have to choose to opt-in in order to be a part of it. However, if I got an e-mail about it, likely so has everyone else on Xbox Live.
The program will be avalible to anyone using Xbox Live Free or Xbox Live Gold accounts, although the rewards are greater for those who are currently Gold Members. The reward is quite literally money, in the form of Xbox Live points. For doing things such as renewing your Xbox Live account (by month, several months, or year) or completing a monthly survey, you will get free Xbox Live Points you can spend on whatever you want, like Avatar Items, Xbox Live Arcade Games, Gamer Pictures, DLC, or Themes.
So if you see an e-mail from Xbox titled “The Rewards Program is here” make sure to click on it and opt-in.
Microsoft Announces Avatar Kinect January 7, 2011
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At CES, Microsoft has announced the Avatar Kinect program, which is coming to the Xbox 360 this spring.
The program will allow people to have a live virtual conversation through their Xbox 360s using the Kinect’s motion tracking features. You will be able to use your Live Avatar to carry on your conversation in a virtual environment. All your actions, emotions and expressions will translate over to your avatar.
Now we all know how disappointed I was about the quality of the Kinect’s video chat program. The picture quality and video motion were terrible. This looks to be an improved way for people to chat through Kinect, and provide an alternative to that service.
Avatar Kinect will require gold membership and will be coming in the spring to Xbox 360 owners who have a Kinect.
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