The Xbox 360 Compendium, Version 2.2
08-03-06 | 09:29 AM
#503
DVD Talk Godfather
thanks miyu. not much on there that screams buy me! to me at any rate.
08-03-06 | 09:46 AM
#504
Gears of War date announced:
Since the first frightening images appeared a little over a year ago, gamers worldwide have felt the ominous rumblings of something approaching that defies all convention. Sightings as recent as at the Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3) 2006 have confirmed its existence, leaving gamers breathless. Microsoft Corp. today announced what anxious players have been eagerly awaiting: Emergence Day 2006. Available exclusively for the Xbox 360™ video game and entertainment system from Microsoft, the highly anticipated title “Gears of War” will be available in North America on Nov. 12, 2006.
Developed by Epic Games Inc. and published by Microsoft Game Studios, “Gears of War” tells the harrowing story of mankind’s struggle against the monstrous Locust Horde through stunning high-definition graphics and an intense storyline on the scale of a blockbuster movie.
One of the most anticipated next-generation console titles of 2006 and the critic’s choice winner for the E3 2006 Best Console Game, “Gears of War” will explode onto store shelves with a standard edition available for $59.99* and a limited collector’s edition available for $69.99. The limited edition will offer an even deeper look into the graphically stunning and frightening world of “Gears of War,” providing an official “Destroyed Beauty” art book and a bonus DVD featuring an inside look at the making of the game — all enclosed in a highly collectible metal box.
“‘Gears of War’ represents the emergence of a thrilling new franchise for Xbox 360 and is the must-have game of 2006,” said Shane Kim, general manager of Microsoft Game Studios. “Combining the best in innovative gameplay, next-generation graphics and interactive storytelling, Epic has harnessed the extraordinary power of Xbox 360 to create an extremely powerful and immersive entertainment experience.”
“Our vision is to deliver a one-two punch of cinematic action paired with a thrilling and compelling interactive experience,” said Cliff Bleszinski, lead designer at Epic. “With ‘Gears of War’ we’ve created a title that will place gamers directly in the shadows of a ravaged world, surrounded by the beautiful remnants of a destroyed city and the horrific dangers that hide in the rubble.”
“Gears of War” thrusts gamers into humankind’s epic battle for survival against the Locust Horde, a nightmarish race of creatures that surface from the bowels of the planet. Blending the best of tactical action games with the best of survival horror titles, “Gears of War” features cinematic, beautifully rendered interactive environments with high-definition visuals.
Demand for the game is high as retailers anticipate the one-two punch of “Gears of War” and Xbox 360 appearing in quantity on store shelves this holiday season. “The interest and buzz on this game has been intense,” said Bob McKenzie, senior vice president of merchandising at GameStop Corp. “Certainly gamers are counting the days until Emergence Day arrives, as pre-orders have been very strong.”
Since the first frightening images appeared a little over a year ago, gamers worldwide have felt the ominous rumblings of something approaching that defies all convention. Sightings as recent as at the Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3) 2006 have confirmed its existence, leaving gamers breathless. Microsoft Corp. today announced what anxious players have been eagerly awaiting: Emergence Day 2006. Available exclusively for the Xbox 360™ video game and entertainment system from Microsoft, the highly anticipated title “Gears of War” will be available in North America on Nov. 12, 2006.
Developed by Epic Games Inc. and published by Microsoft Game Studios, “Gears of War” tells the harrowing story of mankind’s struggle against the monstrous Locust Horde through stunning high-definition graphics and an intense storyline on the scale of a blockbuster movie.
One of the most anticipated next-generation console titles of 2006 and the critic’s choice winner for the E3 2006 Best Console Game, “Gears of War” will explode onto store shelves with a standard edition available for $59.99* and a limited collector’s edition available for $69.99. The limited edition will offer an even deeper look into the graphically stunning and frightening world of “Gears of War,” providing an official “Destroyed Beauty” art book and a bonus DVD featuring an inside look at the making of the game — all enclosed in a highly collectible metal box.
“‘Gears of War’ represents the emergence of a thrilling new franchise for Xbox 360 and is the must-have game of 2006,” said Shane Kim, general manager of Microsoft Game Studios. “Combining the best in innovative gameplay, next-generation graphics and interactive storytelling, Epic has harnessed the extraordinary power of Xbox 360 to create an extremely powerful and immersive entertainment experience.”
“Our vision is to deliver a one-two punch of cinematic action paired with a thrilling and compelling interactive experience,” said Cliff Bleszinski, lead designer at Epic. “With ‘Gears of War’ we’ve created a title that will place gamers directly in the shadows of a ravaged world, surrounded by the beautiful remnants of a destroyed city and the horrific dangers that hide in the rubble.”
“Gears of War” thrusts gamers into humankind’s epic battle for survival against the Locust Horde, a nightmarish race of creatures that surface from the bowels of the planet. Blending the best of tactical action games with the best of survival horror titles, “Gears of War” features cinematic, beautifully rendered interactive environments with high-definition visuals.
Demand for the game is high as retailers anticipate the one-two punch of “Gears of War” and Xbox 360 appearing in quantity on store shelves this holiday season. “The interest and buzz on this game has been intense,” said Bob McKenzie, senior vice president of merchandising at GameStop Corp. “Certainly gamers are counting the days until Emergence Day arrives, as pre-orders have been very strong.”
08-03-06 | 09:47 AM
#505
Originally Posted by xmiyux
Have you guys checked out the list in the newest OXM of all the games supposedly heading to the Arcade? There are some interesting things there. I'm excited for that game called Small Arms now, it looks to be like classic Worms.
08-03-06 | 10:10 AM
#506
Originally Posted by Liver&Onions
Gears of War date announced: Nov. 12, 2006.
Good news for the 360 holiday season.
08-03-06 | 10:35 AM
#507
DVD Talk Hall of Fame
Originally Posted by Liver&Onions
with a standard edition available for $59.99*
So much for sticking to "all games published by Microsoft will be priced at $49.99". I guess they figure they'll sell a shitload of these regardless of how much they charge.
08-03-06 | 10:46 AM
#508
exactly, it's like with Halo taking forever to drop to 19.99. Why drop the price when shitloads are going to sell anyway.
Where did you read that all MS published titles are 49.99? Was that official or what that assumption based on the launch?
Where did you read that all MS published titles are 49.99? Was that official or what that assumption based on the launch?
08-03-06 | 10:54 AM
#509
Originally Posted by Liver&Onions
I think it's actually more like Super Smash Bros Melee, but with guns.
08-03-06 | 10:56 AM
#510
Originally Posted by Obey The D
So much for sticking to "all games published by Microsoft will be priced at $49.99". I guess they figure they'll sell a shitload of these regardless of how much they charge.
08-03-06 | 10:59 AM
#511
On that list there are a few titles i will pick up depending on price. For instance Dig Dug was one of my fav games so if it is only 400 points i'll pick it up. Lumines is a must buy as well. MK3 is also a must own.
After that i'm interested in a few based upon the trial. Things like Small Arms, HoopWorld, Mutant Storm Empire, and Pinball. I think TotemBall is one of the games that will use the camera like an Eyetoy.
After that i'm interested in a few based upon the trial. Things like Small Arms, HoopWorld, Mutant Storm Empire, and Pinball. I think TotemBall is one of the games that will use the camera like an Eyetoy.
08-03-06 | 01:49 PM
#514
DVD Talk Hall of Fame
Originally Posted by Liver&Onions
exactly, it's like with Halo taking forever to drop to 19.99. Why drop the price when shitloads are going to sell anyway.
Where did you read that all MS published titles are 49.99? Was that official or what that assumption based on the launch?
Where did you read that all MS published titles are 49.99? Was that official or what that assumption based on the launch?
08-03-06 | 01:50 PM
#515
Originally Posted by Obey The D
I'll have to look it up. I'm pretty sure I read an article before the 360 release which was critical of the announced $59.99 pricing of games. Microsoft's reponse was that third parties could set their own pricing, but Microsoft published games would remain $49.99.
08-03-06 | 02:03 PM
#516
DVD Talk Hall of Fame
Originally Posted by Liver&Onions
If you find it, let me know..I'll talk to the PR department to get an answer for it!
08-03-06 | 02:20 PM
#517
Senior Member
Joined: Apr 2005
Posts: 530
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Texas Hold 'Em XBLA news.. sorry no release date but here's info on how your money works.. sounds pretty cool. Trimmed out from an interview on IGN.
We're not going to be betting money. We took a step back on poker and we did something very cool that hasn't been done before. Poker -- and this is one of my pet peeves around casino games on consoles and systems out right now -- was designed for those games based around money. And poker isn't just about money, it's about risk-reward. If there is nothing to risk, then people don't play right. So, that's why blackjack just sucks. After a while those games are just dumb. Because what is the point? It isn't a very fun game in and of itself from a play mechanic standpoint, and if there isn't any money, people stop playing it right. Poker, if there is no money, is then played wrong. People just go all in, all in, all in on every hand, and it's frickin' stupid. If there is no money or nothing to lose, they just ruin the game. If you try to play party or poker stars, I won't play anymore on points. I tried.
So we took a step back and said, OK, this could be a tent pole franchise for us, a huge, huge franchise for us. We have Live. We have all the raw materials, we're going to build a poker game. What are we going to do? So we came up with this concept of virtual consistent bankrole. Virtual consistent bankrole is the concept of, it's not money, but it's a theoretical point system -- but specific to poker. It's not Microsoft points or GameScore, or anything like that. You have three different versions of the virtual consistent bankrole: one for single-player play; one for player-match play, and one for competitive play. And it's tied to your Gamertag. We track how many times you go to the ATM and we actually put you in the negative. You're going to start off with $5,000 or whatever, and it's tied to your profile. You can't lose GamerScore points, but it's tied to your profile and that's permanent. You can go into the negative. So if you choose to be an idiot and go all in, all in, all in, and you lose all your money, typically in these games you go to the ATM and you withdraw another $5,000 and you start over. You can go negative $5,000, negative $10,000, negative $15,000. That will do two things: it will be permanently tied to your GamerTag. It's non-erasable. Ever. The second thing is we have rooms. And the higher stakes rooms have entrée fees. So if you don't have a certain balance in your point account on your Gamertag, you don't get into the higher rooms. And that's where you make all the money. You're going to have to dig yourself out of your negative GamerScore by playing the low-stake rooms and playing well, or you're never going to get out of your negative situation.
It will show when you're in the poker game. You'll have a point balance and when you're in the game you'll see everyone else's virtual bankrole and they can see yours.
Right, so in play-testing we've seen that people actually, suddenly, play right. They play the way they're supposed to play, and they don't go all in unless they have the cards or they really want to go all in.
So we took a step back and said, OK, this could be a tent pole franchise for us, a huge, huge franchise for us. We have Live. We have all the raw materials, we're going to build a poker game. What are we going to do? So we came up with this concept of virtual consistent bankrole. Virtual consistent bankrole is the concept of, it's not money, but it's a theoretical point system -- but specific to poker. It's not Microsoft points or GameScore, or anything like that. You have three different versions of the virtual consistent bankrole: one for single-player play; one for player-match play, and one for competitive play. And it's tied to your Gamertag. We track how many times you go to the ATM and we actually put you in the negative. You're going to start off with $5,000 or whatever, and it's tied to your profile. You can't lose GamerScore points, but it's tied to your profile and that's permanent. You can go into the negative. So if you choose to be an idiot and go all in, all in, all in, and you lose all your money, typically in these games you go to the ATM and you withdraw another $5,000 and you start over. You can go negative $5,000, negative $10,000, negative $15,000. That will do two things: it will be permanently tied to your GamerTag. It's non-erasable. Ever. The second thing is we have rooms. And the higher stakes rooms have entrée fees. So if you don't have a certain balance in your point account on your Gamertag, you don't get into the higher rooms. And that's where you make all the money. You're going to have to dig yourself out of your negative GamerScore by playing the low-stake rooms and playing well, or you're never going to get out of your negative situation.
It will show when you're in the poker game. You'll have a point balance and when you're in the game you'll see everyone else's virtual bankrole and they can see yours.
Right, so in play-testing we've seen that people actually, suddenly, play right. They play the way they're supposed to play, and they don't go all in unless they have the cards or they really want to go all in.
08-03-06 | 02:24 PM
#518
Video Game Talk Reviewer
Joined: Dec 1999
Posts: 13,856
Likes: 0
Received 1 Like
on
1 Post
From: Formerly known as "Vryce"/Detroit, Michigan
Now that sounds like the right way to do it. Too bad the game isn't free any more.
But if its isn't too expensive, I'll be picking it up. Will be a fun social game for sure.
But if its isn't too expensive, I'll be picking it up. Will be a fun social game for sure.
08-03-06 | 02:35 PM
#520
DVD Talk Hall of Fame
Here's one artice that mentions the pricing of first party titles:TeamXBOX
8. How much will the Xbox 360 games cost (average)?
The same as current generation: $49.99 USD for new releases. Microsoft has confirmed that they don’t have plans to charge more than fifty bucks for their first-party next-generation titles, although some games will have special editions that will be sold at $59.99.
The price of games is often determined by individual publishers and retailers. Therefore, many third-party games are currently listed to retail for $59.99.
8. How much will the Xbox 360 games cost (average)?
The same as current generation: $49.99 USD for new releases. Microsoft has confirmed that they don’t have plans to charge more than fifty bucks for their first-party next-generation titles, although some games will have special editions that will be sold at $59.99.
The price of games is often determined by individual publishers and retailers. Therefore, many third-party games are currently listed to retail for $59.99.
08-03-06 | 02:47 PM
#521
DVD Talk Godfather
box art and info on the Live Arcade "unplugged" retail disc: Original Info
Well that is disappointing. Especially for the price.
As you can see, the official preliminary box art indicates that the game "Includes the hit game Geometry Wars and a 1-month subscription to Xbox Live Gold." But since Xbox Live Arcade Unplugged is listed at $39.99, one would hope that the other Live Arcade games pictured on the box would be included as well. Arcade fans may recognize titles like Wik: Fable of Souls, Bejeweled, Hardwood Backgammon, and Texas Hold 'Em Poker.
GameStop lists Xbox Live Arcade Unplugged: Volume 1 as shipping on September 2.
GameStop lists Xbox Live Arcade Unplugged: Volume 1 as shipping on September 2.
08-03-06 | 02:56 PM
#522
Thread Starter
Video Game Talk Editor
Joined: Jul 1999
Posts: 4,097
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
From: Westchester, Los Angeles
I believe it also includes Texas Hold 'Em Poker, Bejeweled 2, Outpost Kaloki X, Wik: Fable of Souls, and Hardwood Backgammon. Hence the $39.99 price.
The packaging just doesn't say that on the front of the box.
The packaging just doesn't say that on the front of the box.
08-03-06 | 03:35 PM
#523
Originally Posted by Obey The D
Here's one artice that mentions the pricing of first party titles:TeamXBOX
8. How much will the Xbox 360 games cost (average)?
The same as current generation: $49.99 USD for new releases. Microsoft has confirmed that they don’t have plans to charge more than fifty bucks for their first-party next-generation titles, although some games will have special editions that will be sold at $59.99.
The price of games is often determined by individual publishers and retailers. Therefore, many third-party games are currently listed to retail for $59.99.
8. How much will the Xbox 360 games cost (average)?
The same as current generation: $49.99 USD for new releases. Microsoft has confirmed that they don’t have plans to charge more than fifty bucks for their first-party next-generation titles, although some games will have special editions that will be sold at $59.99.
The price of games is often determined by individual publishers and retailers. Therefore, many third-party games are currently listed to retail for $59.99.
RE: Poker - it's a cool system so far from what I've seen, and should be able to keep the crappy players out of the higher stakes tables.
08-03-06 | 11:04 PM
#525
Senior Member
Joined: Aug 2006
Posts: 556
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts