Xbox 360 Game News, Reviews, and Columns - XboxFocus

Search Newss

Page Listing: 1234567

News List

• 120GB Hard drive now for U$149

  by Gus Lanzetta September 12th 2008 2:19 PM CDT0 Comments

  Still waiting to stick a hard drive on that arcade machine of yours? Running out of space on your measely little 20 gigger? Well, Microsoft dropped the price of the 120GB hard drive. It now costs 149.99 dollars, that's a drop of 30 bucks... That's enough to buy 6 DOOMs on the Xbox Live Arcade! Run my children, run and catch those HDs that must flying off shelves... or not. Wow, it just occurred to me that for an extra 50 you can get a whole new arcade system. Talk about exploiting the customer... And talk about stream-of-consciousness posting.
  
• Microsoft is excited about Age of Empires' "future potential"

  by Gus Lanzetta September 11th 2008 6:34 PM CDT0 Comments

  
  Yesterday's announcement about Ensemble Studios' closing left fans of their games very weary of the fate of said games. So after stating that Halo Wars was still right on track for its release date, Microsoft reasured fans of the Age of Empires series and one of its representatives, Kevin Unangst declared that "As a company, we're very excited about the future potential for Age of Empires, and as a PC gamer I'm looking forward to what that future holds."
  
  I don't know how many of you out there believed Microsoft would just throw away such an iconic and succesful RTS franchise when they can just have its development switched to their new RTS studio, which is formed by "key members" of Ensemble.
  
• Rare defends Avatar comparisons

  by Beau King September 11th 2008 5:25 PM CDT0 Comments

  
  The Microsoft Avatars (Mavatars) may resemble the Wii-Mii in shape and form. However, Rare who developed the Mavatars strongly denies any copycating. In fact, Lead Art Director Lee Mustgrave admits that the Avatars were in development pre-Mii. He told Eurogamer, "It was an idea we had, even before Miis were part of the gaming scene, of putting these characters that you have an affinity with, not necessarily as part of the Xbox dash, but somewhere in the Xbox that you would play multiple games with, that you would have multiple experiences with that same character."
  
  Later in the conversation Mustgrave speaks of how they wanted the whole clothing option from the getgo, as well as how the look of the avatars came from a balance between aproachability and likeness. Ergo the cartoony shapes. In essence, the whole idea has been something they have been working on quite a while rather than an afterthought to grab onto that ever desired casual market.
  
• Left 4 Dead demo coming

  by Beau King September 11th 2008 4:39 PM CDT0 Comments

  Adding to the try before you buy offers developers are popularizing will be Left 4 Dea. The cooperatie survival horror/zombie killer is certainly an anticipated title. Allowing others outside the survival type fanbase to try the game before release may increase that following.
  
  In an interview with VideoGamer Gabe Newell, co-founder of valve, had this to say, "I don't know what the date is for release [of the demo] though. I think it's going to contain the first part of one of the campaigns. I think it'll probably be Hospital but I'm not sure." Many an uncertainty exist, but we're glad its coming.
  
• Fracture demo comes to Live September 18th

  by Chris Holmes September 11th 2008 11:54 AM CDT0 Comments

  LucasArts today confirmed that a demo of Fracture is coming to the Live marketplace on September 18th. Not much is known about the demo but LucasArts has said that it will feature elements of the terrain deformation mechanic found in the full game.
  
  However, this gimmick might not be enough to carry the game or propel the gameplay further beyond other shooters, and it is looking pretty rough in videos released so far. The full game comes out on October 7th in North America and October 10th in Europe.
  
• Fifa 09 demo hits Live

  by Chris Holmes September 11th 2008 11:38 AM CDT0 Comments

  EA has today released a Fifa 09 demo on the Xbox Live marketplace. This demo features teams such as Real Madrid, AC Milan and Chelsea, encompassing the main sides in Europe but sadly lacking Manchester United. Also, EA has been rather tight with the demo time limit, with halves locked to two minutes, with penalties at the end of each match if the score is level after normal match time.
  
  However, you can try the new custom team tactics feature to see if it makes a blind bit of difference since last year's version. The full version hits stores on October 3rd in Europe and October 14th in Asia and North America.
  
• Ensemble Studios closes its doors

  by Beau King September 10th 2008 6:25 AM CDT1 Comments

  In a strange turn of events it appears that Halo Wars developer is closing its doors. Microsoft announced late last evening that they are pulling the plug. More widely known for the Age of Empires series, and solely the Age of Empires series, Ensemble branched out to work on the aforementioned Xbox 360 RTS. The good news though is that they will shut down after Halo Wars is complete.
  
  Microsoft contributed the shutdown to some "fiscally rooted" cause. The fact that creating a Halo game can't keep a developer afloat may ring ominous to some ears.
  
• Project Origin now F.E.A.R 2: Project Origin

  by Beau King September 9th 2008 6:27 AM CDT0 Comments

  Not to be outdone by a petty gradeschool bff falling out, Monolith has come full circle in losing its licensing rights to the F.E.A.R name and then just recently reacquiring it. To recap where it all began, Monolith gets absorbed by a division of Warner Bros. Sierra holds onto some intellectual property rights, and a race to make a F.E.A.R sequel ensues.
  
  Unfortunately Sierra suffers many a setback, so now they have reextended licensing rights back to Monolith. With their shiny new license in hand Monolith has since decided to use it everywhere they can; including the title. Once Project Origin will get the drastically new name F.E.A.R 2: Project Origin. Just in case anyone with an IQ below 45 didn't know Project Origin was the sequel, a good ol' 2 will reiterate things nicely.
  
• Nuts and Bolts preorder gets the XBLA original

  by Beau King September 9th 2008 6:11 AM CDT0 Comments

  More than just gauranteeing a first day hold on the game or a fancy artbook, preordering Banjo Kazooie: Nuts and Bolts also comes with acces to the original version on XBLA ahead of schedule. Nutsand Bolts is due out on November 14th while most consumers will have to wait "a couple weeks later" for the XBLA version; unless preordering the newer title of course.
  
  When the announcement was made, only the U.S. was confirmed for this special offer. Now it also seems that our friends across the pond will be allowed the same privileges instead of getting shat on per usual.
  
• XBLA getting another triple threat

  by Chris Holmes September 8th 2008 3:21 PM CDT0 Comments

  Microsoft has today confirmed this week's Xbox Live Arcade releases, and again they are bringing three games to the service, and again they don't include games we actually want to play. This week sees RocketBowl (800 MS points), Shotest Shogi (800 MS points) and Samurai Shodown II (400 MS points) hit the service. Megaman 9 and Duke Nukem 3D are still nowhere to be seen, but hopefully Microsoft will get there once they finish clearing out all these lesser releases.
  

Page Listing: 1234567