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February's Xbox LIVE Marketplace Updates
by David Oxford | 02/09/10 | 12:41 PM PST



Xbox LIVE Director of Programming Larry "Major Nelson" Hryb has updated his blog to inform us of what to expect over the coming month in the Xbox LIVE Marketplace.

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Media: Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time Super Bowl Movie Ad
by David Oxford | 02/09/10 | 11:43 AM PST

Just in case you for some reason missed the "big game" on Sunday (or, like me, could get the game but not the commercials), here is the 30-second ad for the upcoming film "Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time:"



For this reason or that, I've just never really played a Prince of Persia game, but this does look neat. Maybe I'll go see the movie first, then play the games and tell people I'm doing so because of the movie. Maybe I'll even say "they should make a game on this, it would be great," just to rile all the purists and such types up.

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Netflix Content Coming in 'True HD' to Xbox 360 and PS3 Soon
by Alex Osborn | 02/09/10 | 8:31 AM PST



It was only a matter of time before Netflix sought to match the level of quality the PlayStation Store and Xbox Live Marketplace offers with their movies and TV shows. The mega movie distribution company announced today that streaming Netflix content from your console will soon support 1080p resolution as well as 5.1 surround sound support.

As of right now, all we know is that it will be coming later this year and while only 6% of Netflix's library supports true HD content, that number is sure to increase in the future.

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'Future Soldier' to be the Next Installment in the Ghost Recon Franchise
by Alex Osborn | 02/09/10 | 8:10 AM PST



Tactical shooter fans rejoice! Ubisoft made an official announcement earlier today, confirming the release of a new Ghost Recon title. Subtitled Future Soldier, the latest installment in this series promises to "go beyond the core Ghost Recon franchise and deliver a fresh gameplay experience." Plus, those are planning on picking up Splinter Cell: Conviction in a couple of months will get some hands on experience with the game when the multiplayer beta launches this summer.

Add one to the list of high profile titles to keep on your radar for this holiday season.

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Molyneux Fears People Will Get "Super Pissed Off" at Fable III Reveal
by David Oxford | 02/08/10 | 4:42 PM PST

You are going to kill Peter Molyneux.

At least, it seems that may be a fear the creator of Fable has, as he explained to Gamereactor during an interview that "There's some very, very big things happening in Fable III, and it's really going to upset people. I'm really scared when I go out and tell people what it is [that] they're going to get super pissed off. They really are."

But even then, he adds that "it's the right thing to do, man. I'm sure it's the right thing to do."

It has already been confirmed that the third Fable will somehow implement Project Natal, which could be what Molyneux feels may anger fans of the series... especially if it is a requirement for play, Destructoid guesses.

The Natal-utilizing Fable game will be shown at X10 this Thursday in San Francisco, so we might get to find out sooner than later if that is indeed what is feared to "piss off" gamers.

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Microsoft Registration Error Gets in the Way of Transferring Xbox HD Data to New Unit
by David Oxford | 02/08/10 | 2:54 PM PST

It all began so simply: Ben purchased one of the new Modern Warfare 2 Xbox 360's which include a 250 GB hard drive so that he could transfer his old game saves and downloads to the new unit.

Unfortunately, however, he ran into a problem with a Microsoft customer service representative named "Patrick," who would not let him purchase one of the company's data transfer kits. The reason? The registration information in Microsoft's system was not matching what Ben told them.

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Modern Warfare 2 Care Package Glitch Patch Is Coming
by Cory Dickson | 02/08/10 | 12:29 PM PST



After being fed up with the annoying care package glitch, this past weekend Andrew Reiner over at Game Informer decided to tweet Infinity Ward's Robert Bowling. He asks, "Any updates on the care package patch?" And sure enough Bowling quickly responds, "the care package fix patch went to Microsoft for cert on Friday. Not too much longer before it's a thing of the past."

This is by far one of the most annoying glitches in Modern Warfare 2. I would go as far as to say that this glitch was worse than the 1887s pre-patch. The constant airstrike barrages on your spawn got old quick. Hopefully the patch will go live later on today or sometime this week.

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Xbox 360 120 GB Hard Drive Discounted, Possibly Discontinued
by Eric Jones | 02/08/10 | 12:02 PM PST

It appears that the vaunted 120 GB Hard Drive that powers the Xbox 360 Elite may be seeing its last days in North America. Microsoft has told Joystiq that the drive has been discounted to $129.99, and will be that way "while supplies last"...presumably, until the device sells out.

Of course, this begins speculation that Microsoft may be preparing to roll out a sold-separate version of the 250 GB Hard Drive, seen most recently in the special edition Modern Warfare 2 Xbox 360. When will it come? Microsoft will probably tell us all very soon.

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Media: Sonic & SEGA All-Stars Racing Demo and Theme Hit Marketplace, Character Site Updated
by David Oxford | 02/08/10 | 11:32 AM PST

There is some great news today for Xbox LIVE members, as SEGA has announced that the Sonic & SEGA All-Stars Racing demo is now available for download on the Xbox LIVE Marketplace. Playable in the demo are Sonic the Hedgehog (of course) and the Rare bear-bird duo of Banjo and Kazooie.

Via TSSZ News, here is a video of the demo in action:



In addition to the demo, there is a premium Xbox theme to be had for 240 points. If you'd like to get a good look at how the theme looks across your 360 dashboard, check out the pics on SEGA's blog.

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Dante's Inferno Prefers Limbo Over Middle East
by Tim Young | 02/08/10 | 9:14 AM PST

Dante's Inferno has voluntarily joined the not-so-exclusive club of being banned in the Middle East. Following suit with titles like God of War, Grand Theft Auto IV and Darksiders, Electronic Arts and Visceral Games decided that they would forgo a Middle East release of the divinely, violent game, based loosely on "The Divine Comedy," according to GamesLatest.

In a statement, EA said, "Electronic Arts has decided not to release Dante's Inferno in the Middle East after an evaluation process which is based on consumer tastes, preferences, platform mix and other factors."

Judging how one of the reasons God of War was banned was because it contained the word "God" in the title, it's no surprise to see EA not even try to get the United Arab Emirates to approve a game that focuses on the nine circles of Hell.

Dante's Inferno launches tomorrow for the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3.

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BioWare Shines Light on Mass Effect 3 Importing
by Tim Young | 02/08/10 | 7:55 AM PST

Importing a saved game from Mass Effect into the sequel was one of BioWare's major selling points. Importing allowed players to continue the dynamic story that they had built from the first game. However, BioWare said that Mass Effect 3 could be different depending on the choices a player made in Mass Effect 2.

The Mass Effect franchise is all about causality. Every decision a player makes can either pave the way to victory or signal his or her character's demise. This is exactly the case in Mass Effect 2. During development, BioWare didn't shy away from the fact that the plot of Mass Effect 2 revolved around a potential suicide mission. It looks like they were serious.

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BioWare Defends Allegations of Self-Censorship in Mass Effect 2
by Alex Osborn | 02/07/10 | 11:03 AM PST



Mass Effect 2 is a game about making choices; a game in which the player dictates who his/her character will not only become, but also who they interact with. From violent to more intimate options, the possible pathways are quite plentiful.

You might remember however, the original Mass Effect got a decent amount of backlash for it's optional love scenes. The question that remains, is whether or not the sequel was toned down in response to the flack the first game got.

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REVIEW: Lay down some phat beats for charity with Chime
by Eric Frederiksen | 02/07/10 | 10:35 AM PST

What the Game's About
Chime is the first release from One Big Game, "a videogames charity initiative… best compared to Live Aid," with the goal of donating the proceeds from releases under their banner to children's charities around the world. Chime is not, on the other hand, developer Zoë Mode's first release. Zoë Mode is the developer behind a variety of music games, including some SingStar and SingIt games.

Chime takes inspiration from games like Tetris and Lumines to bring a surprisingly addictive music puzzle to Xbox Live Arcade. Placing various block shapes on the board to form 3x3 or larger blocks changes the music as the clock ticks down. Cover the board and keep your combo going to rack up more time and a higher multiplier.

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BioWare will not be Fixing Mass Effect 2's Text Issues
by Alex Osborn | 02/06/10 | 8:55 PM PST



A couple of days ago, complaints began to surface in response to issues regarding unreadable text in Mass Effect 2 on standard-definition televisions. The big question that remains is whether or not BioWare will be doing anything to fix the problem.

According to BioWare's official forums, "We understand that on some Standard Definition TVs the smallest text in Mass Effect 2 can be difficult to read. While this was not an intentional result, it was a byproduct of enhancements to the user interface. After investigating potential solutions, we have determined that while this issue does affect a small portion of SDTV owners, we are unable to resolve it for Mass Effect 2 through a title update. However, we have taken note of this issue and will take it into consideration as we plan future games in the Mass Effect franchise."

So there you have it, go out and get an HDTV if you hope to read all of Mass Effect 2's text offerings.

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Final Fantasy XIII DLC Confirmed?
by Cory Dickson | 02/06/10 | 8:24 PM PST


GameStop has recently uploaded the back cover art of Final Fantasy XIII. At first glance, nothing is really that impressive. But take a closer look, and by the specs of the game it says that it supports "game-content download". Does this in fact confirm DLC?

All of the Xbox 360 games I own that have "content download" written on the back of them, had some sort of DLC in the future. So I would assume the same for Final Fantasy XIII. But, then again all those games announced DLC prior to the release.

Essentially what I am trying to say is, take this with a grain of salt. Hopefully we will see downloadable content, but nothing is for certain until Square Enix says anything.

We will just have to wait and see.