Gamernode: Latest Xbox 360 News

Saints Row 2 delayed till October; PC release?

Previously holding an August 26th release date, THQ and Volition, Inc. confirmed that its upcoming openworld action sequel Saints Row 2 has been delayed till October 14th for the Xbox 360 and PS3.

According to a THQ representative, reasons for the delay were attributed to "marketing and issues and products quality." The representative also confirmed that they're working with a PC SKU but didn't comment further.

In related news, this product page on THQ's website notes that a PC edition of Saints Row 2 will be released in October, perhaps on the same date with its console brethren? The original Saints Row was only released for the Xbox 360 back in 2006.

[Via mcvuk.com]

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Cole Train alludes to November 16 Gears 2 release ...

Mark this as just a rumor for now, but Lester "Mighty Rasta" Speight, better known as the voice of Gears of War's "Cole Train," may have just unofficially announced the release date of Epic Games' upcoming Gears of War 2.

The charismatic actor was recently on hand at the Wizard World convention in Philadelphia, where he spoke at the TriForce panel about the company's life-sized Gears of War replica weapons. Members of the press questioned the panel about the sequel's release date, and while TriForce representatives refused to comment, Speight volunteered that they might consider asking him again on November 16.

This comment was overheard by David Hinkle from DS and Wii Fanboy, and while it was by no means an official statement, the date sounds very believable. Lead designer Cliff Bleszinsk...

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Gears of War 2 will have flamethrowers

Yes, Gears of War 2 is on its way, and if CliffyB delivers on his promise it will be more badass than anything the original Gears threw at us. While the environments are going to be grander, the enemies meaner, and the story more epic than ever before, the biggest selling point for some gamers is the new arsenal Marcus and crew are going to wield. Just how will we take out the new Locust and our rivals online?

How does a flamethrower sound? While it took Halo close to three iterations of the franchise before gamers finally got the chance to burn away their enemies on consoles, Gears is only doing it in two. With the brutality Gears is known for, we can only imagine how the flamethrower will handle.

[Via Xbox360 Fanboy]

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Still no date for next Splinter Cell

It's been a while since we last saw the gruff yet stealthy agent Sam Fisher, and it seems like it is going to stay that way for some time. While Ubisoft recently held their Paris games showcase, Ubidays, fans were disappointed to see that Sam Fisher was absent. Even more odd is that Splinter Cell: Conviction was on display in 2007 at various events. Has Ubisoft gone back to the drawing board? All indications point to yes.

Realistically, this isn't such a bad outcome. The last Splinter Cell, even though it had amazing multiplayer, lacked the spark of Sam Fisher's previous games. Playing both sides of the coin was cool, but ultimately fumbled in its execution. Splinter Cell: Conviction was a step even further away from what made Splinter Cell a stealth genre contender.

With a release window no...

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New Resident Evil 5 trailer

If there's any game I'm looking forward to playing this console generation, it's Resident Evil 5. Utilizing the capabilities of the current generation of hardware, it is sure to build off of what was a nearly perfect gaming experience in Resedent Evil 4.

This newest trailer only augments my desire to play the game, although the overall brightness of the footage is somewhat disarming to a seasoned Residet Evil-er. It's almost more frightening to find yourself vulnerable in broad daylight. Anyway, that's enough out of me; take a look at this lengthy and revealing trailer:

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Microsoft confirms and details Gears re-issue

The buzz of a Gears of War re-issue has been floating around the interwebz for a few days now, but the speculation was confirmed yesterday when Microsoft issued an official press release detailing the package.

The new two-disc edition of Gears will arrive on June 4th for the Xbox 360 only, and will be priced at $39.99. It will include two multiplayer map packs, Gears of War and Gears of War 2 dashboard themes, and two collections of gamer pics, as well as a Gears 2 trailer. Unfortunately, the PC-exclusive Brumak level will NOT be coming to the 360, even with this special release.

Everyone put on your sad face.

"Gears of War" updated two-disc edition and price drop arrive in June

On June 4th, "Gears of War" will be offered at the new estimated retail price of $39.99 (Xbox 360) and $29.9...

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Resident Evil 5 online co-op details emerge

So what would be the biggest selling point of Resident Evil 5? Sure, it has the similar control set up of RE4, and undoubtedly some of the prettiest graphics to hit the Xbox 360, and PlayStation 3.

But does a tweaked control system and HD visuals make it worth buying? Many, including myself, would say yes. Still, there is a part of all of us who hopes there will be more to RE5. Good thing these hopes came true.

How does online co-op sound? UK magazine Xbox 360 has recently thrown up a new preview of RE5 and the biggest highlight of the article is the ability for players to fight through hell together.

For those too ignorant to understand how cool this is, or for the others to pass it off as a feature that surely all games have, remember back to playing RE4 with friends watching. Remember th...

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Beyond Good & Evil 2 teaser trailer

Who would of thought; after years of outcry and badgering from the fans, Ubisoft turned on the green light for Beyond Good & Evil 2 with the release of this teaser trailer. Hopefully you don't mind Pey'J and his "snouty" business. Also celebrate the news by buying the first game off of Steam for only $9.99 if you don't own the game already.

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XBLA getting bigger, file size follows

When the Xbox Live Arcade launched, Microsoft was pretty stingy with their file size limiting it to 50 megabytes. The reasoning for this seemed sound at the start, Microsoft wanted hard drive owners and memory unit owners to be able to store XBLA games. At the time the memory unit size was a meager 64 megs. Since those dark times, however, we have seen the introduction of 256 and the 512 megabyte cards.

Last year the file size was increased 150 megs due to the influx of larger games and Microsoft granting more 'hall passes' to developers. Now, it seems, the good people at Microsoft have decided to up the ante again. This time we're looking at a 350 megabyte file size for XBLA games.

It seems a combination of good and evil. On the one hand its kind of awesome that bigger developers are ...

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Reconstruction is Red vs Blue evolved!

This message is for fans of the popular web series Red vs Blue. You will be happy to know that yesterday's episode one, of their new series, went live. Called Red vs Blue: Reconstruction, it isn't much more than a regurgitation of information setting up this series proper.

From what we learned it seems to tie in to the original Red vs Blue series and the offshoot miniseries, staring Tex, from a few months ago. If you are completely confused by what I'm saying then you need to catch up. You can buy RvB DVD's or (the poor mans way) watch entire seasons in giant clips on Google video. While I recommend supporting the cause and paying for what you watch, you should also remember that no one will know if just did a search in Google.

I am a relatively new RvB fan coming to the party during t...

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Square Enix Unveils new franchise for Xbox 360

Let's admit that the Xbox 360 RPG scene still isn't the best. It's certainly better than it used to be, but it's still the one area where Microsoft's console is lacking the most. Square Enix, being clever, has decided to capitalize on this weakness by being one of the premiere providers for the RPG genre on the 360. They are specifically creating an RPG franchise unique to the Xbox 360. That franchise is called Infinite Undiscovery, and will be hitting stores on Sept 2nd.

Predictably, the game looks like it will go deep into the roots of the Japanese RPG genres of the past in terms of both story and gameplay. Infinite Undiscovery will tell the tale of a young boy who must save the world from an evil Dreadknight and his organization, the Order of Chains. It's not entirely original, but it ...

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Microsoft adding XNA games and increasing download...

Now that Microsoft is finally getting a little bit of competition from both the PlayStation Network and Nintendo's WiiWare, one might wonder what they plan to do to keep their edge. Game Xbox Live Arcade worldwide portfolio planner David Edery asserts that XNA-created content is next on Microsoft's plate, and will help the company "leapfrog the competition."

"I certainly think from an innovation perspective it's going to help us leapfrog the competition, effectively until they find a way to duplicate it, assuming they ever do.

To some extent it will certainly help us have more innovative content than either of them, just by definition. With all this random stuff coming from the community, every once in a while there's going to be a real gem in there that you just couldn't have found otherwi...

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Cliffy B says GoW2 will have 5 times more action

Cliff Bleszinski, aka Cliffy B, the lead designer for Gears of War 2, said that the game would be "larger," but didn't really go too deeply on the comments he made earlier this week. But in an interview with CVG, Bleszinski added a tad more elaboration for Gears fans.

He said Gears of War 2 would have five times more action than the first Gears.

"The character lighting is vastly improved, the environment is chippable and the tress get knocked down as physics objects. There's just so much sh*t going on, it's five times bigger this time. I think it shows the [Unreal Engine] got smoother."

The original Gears was no sloth in the action area and Cliffy is promising five times more in the new Gears? How did his development team do it?

"It's sheer hard work, a lot of practice, having artists that a...

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Microsoft Unveils TouchWall

We seem to keep getting closer to the computing experience Minority Report introduced with its vision of the future. Touch based computers, or machines which respond to gestures as input are all the rage these days with the software researchers.

Nintendo has put a basic form of it to use in the Nintendo Wii, with much success. Now Microsoft has unveiled another prototype in its drive to create a touch based computing experience known as TouchWall. Like Surface, Microsoft's tabletop touch based computer, TouchWall responds to user input when they touch a huge glass screen.

Microsoft's goal is make computing accessible everywhere, whether it is the kitchen, living room, or hallways. Imagine taking the laundry through a hallway and glancing at the wall to your left check if your received any ...

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Done! Castle Crashers finished, on XBLA by 2009

My most favoritest developer blog, The Castle Crashers Development Blog of Love, has announced that the long awaited XBLA game Castle Crashers is indeed complete. The game, originally announced in 2006, looks to be reminiscent of the sidescrolling beat em ups like Turtles In Time, and River City Ransom...only with knights, and really cool art.

The Development Blog of Love says that the game is done and it is off to Microsoft certification where it will take "a couple months at the very least from this point." Knowing what little I do about the actual cert process it could be more than a couple of months. If MS doesn't like what they see it could be more than six months, and that brings us into good old 2009.

Dan Paladin was appreciative of the fanbase through this long development saying, "...

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Some new Gears of War 2 info

In recent news, Cliff Bleszinksi, creator of the popular Gears of War game for the Xbox 360 has his hands all tied up with the newest installment in the series, Gears of War 2. Luckily he was cool enough to show us some sneak peaks of new gameplay from Gears of War 2.

Bleszinksi sat down with GamePro and talked about some of the features you are expected to see in this Gears of War installment that was not implemented in the previous. He confirmed that the single-player campaign in Gears of War 2 would be "longer" than the one featured in the original Gears of War, addressing one of the most common complaints about that game. He also said that the game's multiplayer mode would be "bigger and better," but held off on explaining any more details for the time being.

Expect a few new moves that ...

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Xbox 360: 10 million served

Microsoft has just announced that the Xbox 360 has become the first console this generation to sell 10 million units in the US. In addition to the 10 million now sold in the US, Microsoft has sold 9 million consoles in other parts of the world, making the total sales for the Xbox 360 19 million.

"This year will be the largest in the history of the video game industry, with Xbox 360 leading the charge in the U.S. and abroad," said Don Mattrick, senior vice president of the Interactive Entertainment Business in the Entertainment and Devices Division at Microsoft. "History has shown us that the first company to reach 10 million in console sales wins the generation battle. We are uniquely positioned to set a new benchmark for the industry."  

No doubt the sales were fueled by GTA4, which also he...

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Xbox 360 games list and launch dates revealed

Microsoft released its list of blockbuster games on the Xbox 360 for the rest of the year and the mix looks like a nice balance for both hardcore and casual gamers.

First on the illustrious list is Penny Arcade Adventures. Next is Ninja Gaiden II, followed by Too Human, Viva Piñata: Trouble in Paradise (which will offer online co-op), Banjo-Kazooie: Nuts and Bolts, Gears of War 2, and Fable 2.

The release dates for these games are as follows:

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Xbox 540 coming in 2009

About a year ago, Chartered begun the process of creating a smaller CPU for the Xbox 360, from 90 nm to 65 nm. At this point Microsoft ordered approximately 10,000 300 mm wafers from TSMC, which will help Microsoft economically support the company's ongoing strategy to reduce the production cost of the console.

TGDaily reported that the Xbox 360 is scheduled to ship in an "all 65 nm" package this August.

"Consumers won't notice the refresh, unless Microsoft decides to put a Blu-ray drive into the Xbox 360. We were not able to receive a confirmation either way, and we keep digging to find out if the Asustek subsidiary Pegatron will manufacture regular Xbox 360's or units with an integrated Blu-ray drive. In any case, Celestica, Pegatron and Wistron will have a busy summer cranking out milli...

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Gears of War 2 debut gameplay video

If you've played Gears of War, then you are probably looking forward to Gears of War 2, which hits store shelves this November. Epic has released the sequel's first gameplay footage in an excerpt from a level entitled "Assault." It looks like there are going to be some very intense action scenes in this game - something fans will be happy to partake in. Check it out:

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