Alan Wake review
Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Features, Microsoft, Reviews, Survival Horror,
“Nightmares exist outside of logic, and there’s little fun to be had in explanations; they’re antithetical to the poetry of fear.”
- Stephen King
And so begins the story of Alan Wake. When you begin the game, that line is spoken by the main character, writer and horror novelist Alan Wake, and it sets the tone perfectly for the adventure that you are about to embark upon. Alan Wake is a game where you’ll spend time searching for answers, questioning what is real, and answering questions that the main character never wanted to have asked. The beauty of the title is that the premise is simple and enthralling all at once—a horror novelist’s story has come to life, and he is in the middle of it. Even stranger, he doesn’t recall writing it.
We must say, we’ve been excited about Alan Wake since we first heard about it some five years ago. The narrated gameplay makes it feel like you are playing through a novel, or maybe more closely, a series of Twilight Zone episodes. This is a welcome difference from the all-to-common feeling that developers often try to make it feel like you are “playing” a movie. The game has been in development forever, and saw a couple of delays, which normally signals trouble (just look at Too Human.) However, we are here to tell you that Alan Wake didn’t suffer for it. This is one book that you won’t want to put down until the very last word.
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Gallery: Alan Wake review
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Too Human quick review
Earlier this morning, our copy of Too Human finally arrived. You know, the one we’ve been waiting over a decade for? Well, Silicon Knights baby will finally be available for all to purchase tomorrow. We figured we would give you a glimpse into our initial impressions of the game. I’ve been playing Too Human for about three hours now, and feel like I am about halfway through the story. I’ve destroyed creatures, upgraded weaponry, and chosen my path. Hop on down to get our full thoughts on Too Human, the next big title for the Xbox 360.
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Gallery: Too Human quick review
Halo 3 Racks Up $170 Million in Day One Sales
Posted by Steve Van Neil Categories: Bungie, Corporate News, First Person Shooters, Microsoft, Xbox 360, Xbox Live,
The internet has been set ablaze with hyperbolic phrases like “biggest day in US entertainment history” and “redefining entertainment” and “worldwide celebration,” all used to describe Halo 3’s truly mammoth first 24 hours on the market. Microsoft estimates that the game garnered $170 million in US sales in its first day, eclipsing previous records set by movies like Spiderman 3 or even the latest Harry Potter novel. In addition, Microsoft claims that over a million players went on Xbox Live to play Halo 3, making September 25th “the most active Xbox Live gaming day in history.”
All that remains to be seen is just how big of a sales surge the Xbox 360 will experience for the month of September and beyond.
Read More 
| Major Nelson
Gallery: Halo 3 Racks Up $170 Million in Day One Sales
Lost Odyssey Spread Across Four DVDs
Posted by Steve Van Neil Categories: Microsoft, Role Playing Games, Xbox 360,
When Microsoft executives call Lost Odyssey epic, they mean it. At TGS, Hironobu Sakaguchi announced that his upcoming Xbox 360-exclusive RPG will span four discs, at a game length of forty to fifty hours. In addition, the game will ship with multiple language options, so we know that the insane amount of disc space is going to good use. Gamers will be dreaming of Xbox-branded multi-disc changers when the game launches in Japan later this year, and in the rest of the world in 2008.
Gallery: Lost Odyssey Spread Across Four DVDs
Watch the First Five Minutes of Mass Effect
Posted by Steve Van Neil Categories: Action, Microsoft, Role Playing Games, Trailers, Xbox 360,
Forgive yourself if you mistake the opening of Bioware‘s upcoming Xbox 360 RPG for an early peek at Ridley Scott’s interstellar follow-up to Blade Runner. From the woozy synth-phonic score, to the pre-credit crawl that leads into the main title reveal, to the camera movements that just feel so [i]right[/i], Mass Effect oozes pure cinematic goodness. Those of you who don’t want to know anything about the game before playing it should stay away from the above video. For everyone else, however, this is a must-see, if for no other reason than it provides us with our first glance at a created character who doesn’t look like the bald space marine Bioware has used to promote the game so far.
Mass Effect is sure to be one of this year’s biggest games when it hits the Xbox 360 on November 20th.
Read More | Bioware
Gallery: Watch the First Five Minutes of Mass Effect
Crackdown Sequel Not Happening
Posted by Steve Van Neil Categories: Action, Microsoft, Third Person Shooters, Xbox 360,
In an interview with Develop, Realtime Worlds, developer of the titular Xbox 360 sandbox action game, revealed that a sequel to Crackdown is not in development at this time. Why would Realtime Worlds abandon its hot new IP that has already topped a million sold? Producer Phil Wilson explained, “Microsoft were a little late in stepping up to the plate to ask for Crackdown 2, and by then we had already started working on bigger, better things.”
Wilson let slip that the studio is busy working on two projects: a cops-and- robbers-themed MMO called APB, as well as a top secret project planned for a 2009 release. In other words, a Crackdown sequel could happen someday, but don’t hold your breath.
Read More | Develop
Gallery: Crackdown Sequel Not Happening
No Downloadable Content for Viva Piñata
Posted by Steve Van Neil Categories: Downloadable Content, Microsoft, Simulation, Xbox 360, Xbox Live, Xbox Live Marketplace,
Here is some sad news for fans of one of the Xbox 360‘s best and most criminally underplayed games, Viva Piñata. Rare has officially confirmed that the game will see no downloadable content whatsoever. Following the announcement of a DS version of Viva Piñata, many fans had hoped that this news would presage the release of new piñatas, items, and features (specifically the ability for players to visit each other’s gardens), but apparently it wasn’t to be. A Rare developer cruelly crushed our dreams in response to a fan’s request, saying, “We aren’t doing any downloadable content for Viva Piñata because we are much too busy doing [i]something else[/i].”
Take special note of the italics. Do they imply the development of a proper 360 sequel? Only the ninjas that have been dispatched to Rare’s headquarters can know for sure.
Read More | Rare
Gallery: No Downloadable Content for Viva Piñata
Mass Effect Gets Official North American Release Date
Posted by Steve Van Neil Categories: Action, Adventure, Corporate News, Microsoft, Release Dates, Role Playing Games, Xbox 360,
The long wait for Mass Effect is about to come to an end. Microsoft has announced that Bioware‘s highly anticipated sci-fi RPG will release on November 20th in North America, exclusively for the Xbox 360. The game, which incorporates GRAW-style action with role-playing elements familiar to anyone who played Knights of the Old Republic, has been one of the 360’s most-wanted games since the day it was unveiled. Until now, it had been pegged with the precarious and open-to-delay release time frame of “November.” So the news that the game will officially be here in just a few short months is definite cause for celebration.
Read More | Microsoft's Gamerscore blog
Gallery: Mass Effect Gets Official North American Release Date
Amazing New Halo 3 Videos
Posted by Steve Van Neil Categories: Action, Bungie, First Person Shooters, Microsoft, Trailers, Xbox 360, Xbox Live,
Any gamer with even an inkling of interest in Halo 3 should head over to Gamersyde right away and check out some of that site’s stunning off-screen campaign footage, a sample of which we have posted above. This video shows off the game’s unique replay feature, which allows you to record and play back entire levels of the single player campaign, as well as multiplayer matches, at your leisure. Players can then use the footage to analyze their enemy’s defenses, exploit weaknesses, and polish their own skills to a Legendary sheen. Note how the Bungie representative in the video uses the feature to check up on the exploits of a group of Marines on the other side of the battlefield! This is awe-inspiring stuff.
Halo 3 hits the Xbox 360 on September 25th, but of course you already knew that.
Read More | Gamersyde
Gallery: Amazing New Halo 3 Videos
Project Gotham 4 In North American Stores October 2nd
Posted by Steve Van Neil Categories: Driving, Microsoft, Release Dates, Simulation, Xbox 360,
Bizarre Creations’ Project Gotham Racing series has always masterfully toed the line between out-and-out arcade racing and actual driving simulations. And now, with the fourth installment in the series and second for the Xbox 360, Bizarre is adding motorcycles to the mix. Yes, the road isn’t just for four-wheelers anymore, as the scruffier set can now take to the streets of St. Petersburg, Shanghai, and Macao (to name a few cities) and snatch up those elusive Kudos. Throw in dynamic weather effects and a revamped career mode, and you’ve got the 360 PGR that we should have gotten the [i]first[/i] time around. Better late than never, I suppose.
PGR 4 speeds onto the Xbox 360 in North America on October 2nd, and in Europe on October 12th.
Read More | Xbox.com
Gallery: Project Gotham 4 In North American Stores October 2nd
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