Gamernode: Latest Xbox 360 News

EA producer compares Army of Two with Contra

Other than Halo 3, Gears of War, Rainbow Six: Vegas, Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter 2 and perhaps Crackdown (feel free to disagree), there haven't been many excellent (and the key word is excellent) cooperative games for the Xbox 360.

Electronic Arts is hoping to change that with its impending, or currently, release of Army of Two; hopefully it'll provide some actual decent co-op gameplay and also remain fun to play (unlike Kane & Lynch).

Game Focus sat down with Reid Schneider, senior producer on Army of Two, and topics discussed include the game's uniqueness and sequel plans.

Regarding Army of Two's uniqueness, Schneider compared the game's co-op backbone to Contra, in terms of that both games were built from the ground up to completely support cooperative gameplay. He also mentions that ...

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Volition says Saints Row 2 can compete with GTA IV...

During its official unveiling in London, Greg Donovan, producer at Volition, made comments regarding how Saints Row 2 can compete with Rockstar's upcoming GTA IV. One of the big deciding factors between the two games will be the implementation of co-op gameplay.

Regarding co-op, Donovan believes that co-op gameplay will be "a plus for us," but doesn't believe that Rockstar is holding anything back. Donovan confirmed that Saints Row 2 will continue expanding the co-op gameplay featured in the first game.

"I think co-op is a huge distinguishing factor. Unless they are really holding something, I don't think they are. I think that's a big step, a plus for us. We also remember that Saints Row 1 was the first one to do competitive multi play - we're going to continue to blow that out as well."

Whe...

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Undertow expansion deploying this week

For you fans of the Unreal Engine 3-powered, underwater shooter XBLA title Undertow will be happy to know that developer Chair Entertainment will release an expansion pack this week. Subtitled Path of the Elect, the expansion will include five new single-player levels, four new multiplayer levels and a new playable race, the Elect.

To enjoy the expansion, you'll have to slap down 400 MS points ($5). The Elect are described as "armed with superior technology and fire power" and are "determined to rule the earth and destroy those who seek to stop them."

According to Chair Entertainment, Undertow has been downloaded nearly a million times since its release in November. The game was released for free back in January for compensation due to the various Xbox Live outages during the past holidays; ...

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Microsoft wipes out rare Xbox 360...literally

Seeing the Red Ring of Death, nowadays, is as common as seeing clouds in the sky. However, one Xbox 360 user got less than he bargained for, so to speak.

Over the course of two years, "Nathaniel" was able to get key personnel from Halo and Microsoft to sign his Xbox 360; a highly prized possession, indeed. But one dark and dreary day, his Xbox 360 succumbed to the dreaded RRoD.

And as many of us have experienced, he had to send in his 360 for repairs. But before doing so he wanted to make sure that his Xbox case would not be altered in any way after repairs, for obvious reasons. He took care to call the Microsoft repair center to explain how important it was that his case be intact upon return and how valuable this console was to him.

In addition he included a letter along with his Xbox 360 ...

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Not so Alone anymore: The AITD Special Edition

Last generation special edition versions of games were not so special, charging an extra ten dollars for nothing more than a DVD most people never watch, and the occasional tin box.

This generation we're seeing some pretty sweet deals. The Big Daddy figure in the BioShock special editon and the duffel bag/safety deposit box combo coming with GTA4 are far above and beyond anything we've seen before.

Details on the Alone In The Dark SE have come through the wire, and I must say, I am impressed. Besides the standard game + DVD scenario gamers have become accustomed to, Atari is also including a ton of other goodies. You will be getting a 60-page art book and an audio CD all wrapped up in a sweet-looking box.

It will also have the one thing that can always push me over to the SE side of thing...

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Misinformed McGuire mulls mandatory memory

Rory McGuire, PS3 fanboy and lead game designer on the Bourne Conspiracy, should probably do his homework before speaking to the public. In a recent discussion with ComputerAndVideoGames McGuire said that it was a 'mistake' to not include a hard disc drive (HDD) with every Xbox 360.

He also added, "They did it with the original Xbox. I'm not sure why they decided to not require a hard drive on the 360. If you have a hard drive, the whole game loads faster... the developer benefits from it and you definitely benefit from it as a player." And this is true to an extent.

Unfortunately all the game data is stored on a disc to begin with. So you're either pulling data off the disc onto the hard drive or pulling it off the disc into the memory and playing the game.

I, for one, like fewer steps....

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King of Fighters XII is fully hand-drawn

Kotaku just had the pleasure of being sent down to SNK's Japanese offices in Osaka to check out the latest build of King of Fighters XII. Everybody is used to getting their minds blown by the graphics of fighting games, but this is something entirely different. KoFXII is not only spectacular looking, but it's also entirely hand drawn. Yeah, as in every single frame of motion was drawn by an artists' hand, and then scanned in and put into a videogame. The game itself may not be groundbreaking, but this is some cool new ground for a fighting game to tread on graphically.

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Wrap me in Velvet please

Sometime in 2006 I saw screen shots for a World War II game called Sabotage. Overall the game looked absolutely gorgeous and the unique visual style kept me interested. Anytime there was any news about Replay Studios or Sabotage I made sure to read every word twice, so as not to miss anything.

Replay Studios has announced that the name Sabotage is no more. The new name for their WWII stealth action game is now Velvet Assassin. Velvet. Assassin. Say it with me. Velvet Assassin. Turns you on a little, no?

From the Replay Studio press release, "Rather than a trite, overused, and generic working title like 'Sabotage,' 'Velvet Assassin' captures the heart of what we're trying to accomplish."

If they were trying to make a sexy looking game with a sexy sounding title I'd say mission accomplis...

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Dark Sector multiplayer details

From what we've seen so far, Dark Sector will likely deliver an incredible single player experience. The modern videogame community, however, is just as interested in online multiplayer as they are in the game's core adventure. What, then, does Dark Sector's multiplayer have to offer?

According to WorthPlaying, the game's multiplayer will be broken up into just two gametypes: Infection and Epidemic (do I sense a theme here?).  Hopefully that will be augmented via some free dowloadable content soon.

In an Infection match, one player will assume the role of the game's protagonist, while up to nine opponents work together as Lasrian Troopers to bring him down. Once a player kills Hayden, he or she will assume the role of "the infected" and a new round will begin. Points will be earned wit...

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Worst gift ever: Xbox 360 box filled with clothes...

So wht does every kid want on Christmas - a video game console, perhaps? Here's a cruel and unusual video clip of a kid who thought he was getting an Xbox 360, only to discover that his family was playing an evil, evil joke on him. Either this kid was a terror all year long, and this was his punishment, or he seriously has the worst, psychologically-torturing parents ever.

Since the video was made public, the folks over at Engadget have made an effort to get this kid the 360 he thought he was getting months ago. (PS: I love your hair, kid)

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Rockstar won't let you try before you buy

Rockstar probably hates you. Secret insider ninjas (actually, VideoGames.com) have informed us that Xbox Live and the PlayStation Network will not be seeing a demo for the year's most anticipated game, Grand Theft Auto 4. A Rockstar representative was quoted as saying, "Most people know the concept of GTA anyway. I don't know that the demo is worth the time and effort."

Most people know the concept of driving, but they still take a test drive in a car before the buy it. While it's true that not all games have demos, I think Rockstar is wrong for not putting one out. They are the ones who keep saying that this game is different than their other games. Showing off the new features (i.e. new targeting system!) to players, like myself, who are just burnt out on the GTA franchise would benef...

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Newly announced 'Lego Halo' is probably fake

Scans of the newest issue of Electronic Gaming Monthly reveal a somewhat interesting, yet extremely questionable exclusive preview. The story introduces "Lego Halo", a brand new installment in both the Lego, and Halo series.

While this momentarily piqued my interest, on closer inspection, this story is probably one big farce. The first red flag is that the story appears in EGM's April issue, so even though it's barely even March yet, this would be the issue in which EGM's trend setting April Fools' joke will appear.

"Finished, shall you say?" the preview begins. "Or is it? Of course not! Master Chief might be good at saving the universe, but he's better at something else: making mountains of money. That's why developer Bungie is looking to construct some more cash with their newest project:...

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Lego Batman: The Video Game trailer

Now confirmed for release in September on about every gaming platform imaginable, Lego Batman: The Video Game is your next spin started by the success of the Lego Star Wars series. You got your share of gameplay scenes in the trailer, in addition to an introduction of a few villains. It's looking pretty entertaining to me!

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John DiMaggio talks Gears of War 2

With GDC just passing, info on a bunch of new games sputtered out of the pipes, one of which was the newly announced (but to no surprise) Gears of War 2. There wasn't much else said about GoW2 after that, until IGN had an interview with voice-actor John DiMaggio, voice of Futurama's Bender and Gears of War's Marcus Fenix.

On top of continuing his voice role as Marcus Fenix, he also voices the character of Franklin, leader of the Stranded back during the Nightfall level. DiMaggio said, "We're doing Gears of War 2 right now; we're in the middle of production. I'm reprising my role as Marcus again." He continued, "I'm doing one of the characters, Franklin - those are the two that I'm reprising."

"It's badass. In fact, I saw some of the stuff yesterday! Which level was it? It was, well listen, ...

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A possible Lost Odyssey 2?

I am a huge RPG fan and I have not yet had a chance to play Lost Odyssey because of my poor decision of letting my cousin in Florida borrow it for a few weeks.

But once I get that baby back, I'm going to be all over that game! So fans of Lost Odyssey might feel a bit happier when the first rumblings of a sequel, which orginates from a Japanese report on site Nikkei Trendy.net, came up a few hours ago.

According to the site, Microsoft has been quoted as saying that it's happy with the Blue Dragon follow-up's 100k sales in the Far East and that "the series will grow as time goes on."

Lost Odyssey is the second Xbox 360 exclusive RPG from Final Fantasy's creator-man, Hironobu Sakaguchi. Since Microsoft was happy with the sales of Blue Dragon in Japan, they are banking on a similar, if not mor...

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XBLA Peggle will feature downloadable content

It's only a matter of time till you Xbox 360 owners who haven't experience the wonderful, time-sink gaming addiction that is Peggle, will get to do so. While you still have a few more months to wait, the XBLA version of Peggle will contain additional features not shown in the PC version.

Over on 1UP, they have comments made during GDC from Garth Chouteau, public relations director for PopCap, saying that in addition to new (though still undetermined) multiplayer modes, players will be able to download new Peggle levels that'll be distributed through the Xbox Live Marketplace.

Other than that folks, that's it. So you got your downloadable content for Peggle, but prices haven't been confirmed.

I don't know about you, while I certainly enjoy Peggle for PC, I think the game's included 55 levels ...

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It's true! Xbox 360 HD DVD going for $50

Last week we reported a rumor that the Xbox 360 HD DVD add-on player might be going for sale for only $50--an attempt by Microsoft to unload the obsolete technology in light of Blu-ray's victory in the high definition DVD wars.

Apparently the rumors have proven correct as various websites are reporting that Microsoft has made it official and is cutting the price of the Xbox 360 HD DVD player from $129.99 to $49.99.

According to the stories, the new price is effective immediately. Amazon.com quickly sold out its allotment of the units early this morning while K-mart made the units available at the new price even earlier on its website this past Sunday.

With the demise of the HD DVD player from the 360's roster, many have speculated that Microsoft has a Blu-ray player in the works to repla...

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Microsoft: Xbox 360 World is WRONG about Goldeneye...

Remember that fishy story GamerNode ran last week about Goldeneye once again being a "go" for Xbox Live Arcade? Well it appears to be a total farce - maybe a joke or maybe just a sleazy ploy to sell more magazines.

Eurogamer contacted Microsoft Games Studios about the matter, and an MS spokesprson told them that the story is in no way true:

"The story in Xbox World 360 is based entirely on rumour and speculation. Unfortunately, we were never contacted by the publication to confirm information or participate in the story in any way, as we would have confirmed that we do not have the necessary rights to release GoldenEye on Xbox Live Arcade."

Xbox World 360 has responded, saying that their feature contains "No rumour. No speculation. Oh, and contrary to reports, comment from Microsoft too." ...

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Famitsu confirms Tales of Vesperia for 360

Last December, GamerNode showed you a video of the upcoming Tales of Vesperia from Namco Bandai Games. At the time, we could only assume that the game would be coming to the Xbox 360 console because of some conspicuous website tagging, but now those suspicions have been confirmed.

Famitsu magazine has done the legwork and contacted Namco Bandai regarding the matter.  According to a company spokesperson, the next game in the lauded Tales series will indeed be an Xbox 360 title. That doesn't rule out other consoles, however;  Namco Bandai is still open to porting Vesperia:

"Yes, we have decided to release TOV overseas on the Xbox 360...We've decided to release TOV on the Xbox 360, but regarding other platforms, we're looking at all possibilities."

As for an official release date, nothing ha...

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Ninja Gaiden II demo is a...video?!

Xbox 360 owners (some, at least) have been eagerly awaiting the chance to get their paws on a playable demo of Ninja Gaiden II since the game was announced.  Well the "demo" has arrived, and it's not exactly what one might expect.

When you consider the definition of the word 'demonstration,' then technically this download counts as one. It's a video. That's right, a video demonstration of Ninja Gaiden II in action, with a neat little message below it that reads, "Ninja Gaiden II Demo - Coming Soon."

That's just wrong. To claim that a demo release is forthcoming only to deliver a simple video clip seems a bit slimy to me. What's your take on the situation?

As for an actual demo, there has been no specific word regarding its release as of yet.

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