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Enhanced online features…. And more!

SEGA Europe has announced a patch for the Xbox 360 iteration of their superlative fighter Virtua Fighter 5 that tightens up the online experience as well as offering a number of minor gameplay tweaks, available for download today.

Virtua Fighter 5 – which for our money is currently the best way to pummel someone’s face without getting blood over our freshly-pressed slacks – is the latest instalment in SEGA’s ultra-toned fighting series, and on Xbox 360 at least is also the first home version to offer online play.

The majority of the patch is given over to fine-tuning the online game, with the ability to save online battles and an indicator of signal strength before a fight. But enough! The full feature list is as follows:

• Some characters will now be able to select costume-specific pants in alternate costumes, for example equipping Costume A pants in Costume B.
• Replays of online battles can now be saved.
• One additional item per character (appear as “Downloaded item” in Costume settings/Item edit dialog).
• Gamer pictures will now be shown in online battles.

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Marco and Tarma see in the New Year with style.

The fourth instalment (yes, we know the title is confusing, but Metal Slug X screwed the lineage) of SNK’s definitive arcade series Metal Slug is available for download over Xbox Live today, giving 360 users a little running and gunning to ease them into the New Year.

For 800 points players can get access to a sparkling HD version of the classic game, with multiplayer co-op enabled both on- and off-line.

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Game tourneys, hot cars and IGN promo babes abound!

After last year’s Game1 proved massively successful, IGN has hopped onboard for official sponsorship. This year, we’re going to have some supremely hot babes in IGN gear giving away freebies and looking sexy in the process.

Game1 will also have the first public and official tournaments for Halo 3 and Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare by Xbox 360 and Activision respectively. “We are absolutely thrilled to be holding the first official tournaments for both these games,” stated Cisco Corea, Game1 marketing manager, “last year Game1 was a huge success, and now we are looking forward to doing it [Game1 expo] all over again starting with the official Xbox 360 tournament for Halo 3 and Call of Duty 4,” he added.

The Game1 tournaments last year attracted players from across the country with the best teams going head to head for thousands in cash and prizes. This year Game1 has added dedicated tournament arenas to separate the gaming enthusiasts from the casual players, making it easier for more people to win the thousands in cash and prizes up for grabs once more.

The ‘Pro-League’ class will be for pre-registered teams wanting to tackle head to head for the big titles. Whilst the ‘Sit n Go’ tournaments will be the self-contained competitions for casual player wanting to give it a shot and a chance at winning some cool prizes too. Organisers have been planning for months for another large-scale event similar to last year’s inaugural show. This year Game1 has been joined by official media partners IGN.com, Hyper Magazine and PC Powerplay magazine.

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Microsoft’s casual service is going highbrow.

Today Ubisoft announced it will release Chessmaster Live on the Xbox Live Arcade this January. This digital version of the classic game will include hundreds of AI opponents, 3D boards drafted by Chess designer House of Staunton, and new modes of play.

Chessmaster Live will support the Xbox Live Vision Cam so you can see the pwned expression on your opponent’s face when you shout “checkmate!” into your headset as loud as possible.

“Bringing the Chessmaster series to Xbox Live Arcade makes the game accessible to a whole new audience,” said Peter Helm, business development associate at Ubisoft. “Chessmaster LIVE is not only a comprehensive chess program, but it is also one that has expanded beyond the traditional game to include exciting features for fans, both old and new.”

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The fall Dashboard update will introduce a new ‘Friends of Friends’ feature.

After the Xbox Live fall Dashboard update goes live next month, your friends list will be visible to other users, Microsoft announced today.

The new Friends of Friends feature will automatically be active for most users once the update hits on Dec. 4. Here are the three available settings:

• Everyone (only available to members 18 and older)
• Friends only (available to members 13 and older)
• Blocked (available to all members, and automatic for anyone under the age of 13)

The default setting will be Everyone for gamers 13 or older, but you can log in to the Xbox web site in advance to change your preferences before Dec. 4.

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Microsoft celebrates five years of Xbox Live.

On November 15, Xbox Live turns five years old. To help mark the occasion, Microsoft has announced several bonuses and a new feature for its over 8 million members. If you missed out on the fun of the original Xbox, it looks like you won’t have to scrounge through the used games bin for a second chance.

The big announcement of the day is unquestionably the upcoming launch of Xbox Originals. Beginning December 4, Xbox 360 owners will receive a free system update when they log onto Xbox Live. Along with a number of unannounced features, this update will give players the ability to download original, full Xbox games to play on Xbox 360. Each download will cost 1200 Microsoft Points ($15 USD).

The initial release list includes Halo, Psychonauts, Crimson Skies: High Road to Revenge and Fable, as well as other as of yet unnamed titles. Microsoft has promised that this lineup is only the beginning and that Xbox 360 owners can expect to see the catalog grow in the coming year.

Microsoft is also giving away, as a gesture of thanks, a free game for all Xbox Live members. Between November 15 at 12:01 PST and 11:59 PST on November 16, all active Xbox Live members can download an Xbox Live Arcade game for free. For those in Korea, the game will be Hexic 2. The rest of the world will have the opportunity to snag Carcossonne.

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Microsoft to celebrate next week’s anniversary of its online gaming service by letting players go toe-to-toe with the creators of a slew of multiplayer hits.

November is a big month for Microsoft gaming milestones in North America. The original Xbox launched on November 15, 2001, and went online with the official launch of the Xbox Live service on the system’s first anniversary. More recently, the Xbox 360 and its revamped Xbox Live Arcade debuted on November 22, 2005.

With a handful of anniversaries to acknowledge this month, Microsoft is starting by celebrating the fifth anniversary of Xbox Live with the “Xbox Live is 5ive” promotion. To mark the occasion, from 9 a.m. to 8:30 p.m. Pacific on November 15, developers from 17 of the newest Xbox Live games will be playing their titles online and available to mix it up against all comers. Members of the Halo Wars development team will also spend time on Halo 3. A schedule of which devs are playing and when is available at Xbox.com.

In addition to the “Game with Fame” sessions, Microsoft is also holding a “Play and Win” contest. Xbox 360 owners who register their gamertags before November 15 and play an online multiplayer game on the anniversary will be entered to win an array of accessories for the system from an HD-DVD player add-on to a 1,600 Microsoft points card.

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A patch is also in the works for both the console and the PC version of the RPG.

Polish developer Reality Pump has released a playable demo of its open-ended RPG Two Worlds on Xbox Live.

The demo includes a portion of Two Worlds’ expansive single-player map to explore, complete with quests to solve and wandering monsters to battle. The full game was released Aug. 24 for PC and Xbox 360.

The company also announced a free downloadable update designed to address a number of player concerns about the game. Here’s what Two Worlds players can expect from the patch:

Both platforms (PC and Xbox 360)

- Horse steering has been improved

- Character development curve not as steep over level 25

- HP regeneration slower for max values above 2000

- Death strike skill - executable by strike button while in sneak mode

- Critical hit skill fixed

- Damage is now allowed over 32000

- There is a cap on damage and armor at 99999

- Necromancer spells have been balanced

- Magical boosters - effect restricted to 5 boosters

- Stacking potions with different statistics - fixed

- Objects stacking - objects can’t be stacked up if result has higher level requirements than current player level

- Equipment Class cap on 50

- When killing in towns - after you leave the town and go back guards will ask you to pay instead of immediately attacking you

- NPC’s in towns don’t resurrect

- Tweaked hi- level monster balance

- Wing Membrane ingredient added to Helllord

- Dragons strike not breakable by player hit

- Bomb traps attached to some chests and wardrobes

- Balanced number of lock picks in chests and wardrobes

- Walking under water and not dying has been fixed

- Inaccessible Cave north of Ashos has been fixed

- Multiplayer Lag issues have been improved

- Multiplayer too many skill points generated due to combat stats has been fixed

- Friendly fire disabled in RPG mode (players cannot damage each other)

- Resurrect spell on players has been disabled

- Experience points for killing players has been removed

- Disarming skill disabled against other players

- Freezing/stopping spells disabled against other players

- Multiplayer RPG quests given to all, reward splitter between players

- Team assault - main monuments 50 times stronger

- Barbarian - berserk skill in PvP reduced to 5

- Chest and wardrobe lock levels improved in multiplayer

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XBL director of programming Larry “Major Nelson” Hryb tells users not to tamper with their gamerscores or jointly own a Live account–or else!

Microsoft’s Larry Hryb, aka Major Nelson, has told gamers on his blog not to share their accounts with friends or tamper with game saves.

The Xbox Live director of programming stated that those who refused to heed his warnings could find that they permanently lose their account. Hryb says that some gamers are giving in to the temptation to give their account ID and password to people in return for promises to build up their score on games such as Halo 3.

But, says Hryb, it’s just not worth it–just say no. He writes, “While it may be appealing, in addition to violating the Xbox Live terms of use, it can also result in you permanently losing your account. If that ‘friend’ of yours decides not [to] return your account and buys a bunch of Arcade titles and movies on your account, there is nothing we can do except cancel the account since you willingly shared your information… Cancelled. As in you can never get it back. In addition to losing your Gamertag, you’ll also lose your Gamerscore, saved games, and any points you have on the account.”

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Console maker prepares for the shopping season in island nation with new titles, budget reprints, and additional hardware.

TOKYO–At the Xbox 360 Briefing 2007 in Japan today, Takashi Sensui, general manager of Xbox Japan, disclosed Microsoft’s upcoming holiday strategy for the retailers and game dealers in attendance.

Addressing the current statistics of the Xbox 360, Sensui noted that there are 170 titles available for the console in Japan, including those on Xbox Live Arcade. The library will grow to 250 titles by the end of the year. Sensui emphasized that Microsoft won’t be pulling its punches for this shopping season in Japan and is readying a significant lineup of games as well as new hardware.

The major titles for this shopping season are similar to those anticipated elsewhere in the world, including Project Gotham Racing 4, Halo 3, Beautiful Katamari, Ace Combat 6, Viva Pinata: Party Animals, and Lost Odyssey. Microsoft will also be adding new best-selling Xbox 360 games to its discounted Platinum Collection beginning November 1. Tecmo’s Dead or Alive 4 and Dead or Alive Xtreme 2, Microsoft Game Studios’ Blue Dragon and Gears of War, D3 Publisher’s Chikyu Bouei-gun 3 and Onei-chanbara, and Square Enix’s Project Sylpheed will be released at 2,940 Yen ($26), while Capcom’s Lost Planet: Extreme Condition will be offered at 3,990 Yen ($35). A special bundle featuring Dead Rising and Gears of War will also be available for 5,240 Yen ($46).

Microsoft also plans to release in Japan the same lineup of hardware that’s offered in North America. As previously reported, Japan will be getting the Xbox 360 Elite bundle and black wireless controller on October 11, with the light blue and pink wireless controllers following on November 1. The Xbox Messenger Kit, which includes an attachable chatpad and a headset, will also be released in Japan, although no date was announced at today’s briefing.

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Arcade racer and sim basketball trials hit XBL; Konami updates football roster; Koei’s crossover complete; concert group makes a CD.

Microsoft FlatOut jams NBA Live 08 demos
As part of Microsoft’s weekly Xbox Live update, Fatal Fury Special and Cyberball 2072 were added to the service for 400 Microsoft points ($5) apiece. In addition to those releases, two demos have also worked their way onto Microsoft’s online service. Previously available only in Europe, a demo for Bugbear’s FlatOut: Ultimate Carnage is now available to North American Xbox 360 owners. The free trial includes three player modes: Carnage Race, Deathmatch Derby, and FlatOut Race. Also available is a sampler for EA Sports NBA Live 08. Players can don their NBA sneakers as either the Cleveland Cavaliers or San Antonio Spurs, or play international b-ball as either France or Spain.

PES 08 signs on more leagues
Mystifying to some, Konami’s Pro Evolution Soccer 2008 walked away with top honors on Sony’s consoles at this year’s Games Convention in Leipzig, Germany, beating out heavyweights like Kojima Production’s Metal Gear Solid 4. Building on its early success, Konami today announced that the national teams of Brazil, Portugal, Greece, Scotland, and Ireland have all been added to the game, as have club teams for Newcastle, Tottenham, RSC Anderlecht, HJK Helsinki, IFK Goteborg, Panathinaicos, Spartak Moscow, Fenerbache, NK Dinamo Zagreb, and FC Basel. PES 2008 now boasts more than 3,000 licensed players and more than 250 teams. PES 2008 will be available for the PlayStation 3, PlayStation 2, PlayStation Portable, Xbox 360, PC, and Nintendo DS in October.

Warriors Orochi plunder gold September 18
Late last month, Koei’s first synergistic crossover property, Dynasty Warriors: Gundam, landed on North American shores to less-than-stellar reviews. Today, Koei announced that Warriors Orochi, a mash-up of Koei’s internal Omega Force studio’s Dynasty Warriors and Samurai Warriors series, is primed for a September 18 release. Pulling from both games’ rosters, Warriors Orochi boasts 77 playable characters in four different storylines. Warriors Orochi has been rated T for Teen and is slated to ship for the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 2.

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Long trapped in the space-time continuum, the Sierra shooter finally emerges.

A demo for TimeShift, Sierra’s upcoming world-warping first-person shooter, is scheduled for release today on the Xbox Live Marketplace.

TimeShift allows players to control time using an experimental Beta Suit as they track Dr. Aiden Krone across the space-time continuum in the bleak and rain-soaked Alpha District.

In addition to a campaign mode, TimeShift features an online 16-player multiplayer mode.

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Sega Genesis beat-’em-up arrives on Microsoft’s downloadable game service without warning, but with online multiplayer.

Earlier this month, Sega’s Genesis-era beat-’em-up Streets of Rage 2 surfaced on a list of Xbox Live Arcade titles set to be released “in the coming weeks.” When Microsoft’s weekly missive for Xbox Live Arcade games arrived on Monday and only mentioned Capcom’s Super Puzzle Fighter II Turbo HD Remix, it was thought that would be the only new release for the downloadable game service.

That assumption proved wrong, as Streets of Rage 2 also arrived on Xbox Live Arcade today. However, this isn’t a straight port of the Genesis classic. The game includes online cooperative and versus multiplayer modes, a graphics-smoothing option that can be turned on and off from the game’s pause menu, leaderboards, and achievements.

Streets of Rage 2 follows up on the first game with a story revolving around the same three protagonists. When Adam is kidnapped by the nefariously anonymous Mr. X, it’s up to Axel and Blaze to save him. Helping the pair out are two new characters, Adam’s younger brother Skate and the muscle-bound Max. As in the first game, players pummel their way through waves of street gangs, making use of a variety of weapons and techniques along the way.

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Space Giraffe, Puzzle Fighter and Hexic 2 heading your way in the weeks to come.

As the weather finally decides to heat up the UK, Microsoft is celebrating by releasing a host of hot new titles for Xbox Live Arcade over the summer, including the classic Super Puzzle Fighter II Turbo HD Remix and Jeff Minter’s peculiar shoot-’em-up Space Giraffe.

Things kick off this Wednesday (August with an updated version of the retro-button-basher Track & Field. Featuring every events from the 1983 athletic arcade game, the 360 remake is available to download for 400 Microsoft Points.

Microsoft has also confirmed that August sees the release of Ecco the Dolphin (a “whimsical update” of the SEGA title apparently), Hexic 2 and Ubisoft’s action-packed mech-based shooter War World.

Plus, as if that wasn’t exciting enough, we can also expect to see Geon: Emotions from Eidos, Puzzle Quest: Challenge of the Warlords, Space Giraffe, Streets of Rage 2 and Super Puzzle Fighter II Turbo HD Remix in the coming weeks. Specific release dates for these games are set to be revealed soon.

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Hudson’s explosives enthusiast headed for the Xbox 360 next week; Yie Ar Kung Fu also punching in.

SANTA MONICA, Calif.–The very first Bomberman game seen in the wild was developed by Hudson and first released way back in 1983. Since then, the series has spanned nearly every major console, adding the Xbox 360 to its list last year with the poorly received Bomberman: Act Zero.

Now the series is getting a chance at redemption on Microsoft’s console, as Bomberman Live will make its debut on Xbox Live Arcade this Wednesday. The game has both a single-player and multiplayer mode (up to four on the same console or eight online), and players will be able to personalize their very own explosive bomber with mix-and-match outfits.

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Microsoft’s Bringing It Home campaign concludes on day three of trade show; GHII tracks, game demos highlight week’s offerings.

SANTA MONICA, Calif.–Attempting to lend an as-if-you-were-there feel to this year’s E3 Media and Business Summit, Microsoft’s “Bringing It Home” campaign has been in full swing this week. While trailers and video dominated Microsoft’s offerings, the online service also saw a substantive amount of demos, dashboard themes, and picture packs.

Officially kicking off Wednesday, Xbox Live was updated with a number of trailers. Included among these were teasers for highly anticipated games such as BioWare’s Mass Effect, Mistwalker’s Lost Odyssey, and Firaxis’ Civilization Revolution. Also added was a dashboard theme and picture pack for Ensemble’s upcoming real-time strategy game set in the Halo universe, Halo Wars, for 150 Microsoft points ($1.87) and 80 Microsoft points ($1.00), respectively. Picture packs were also added for The Idol Master for 200 Microsoft points ($2.50) and Double Dragon for 100 Microsoft points ($1.25).

Day two of Bringing It Home saw the addition of several more trailers for big-name games. While not as formidable as the first day’s offerings, previews added to the service included Assassin’s Creed, Eternal Sonata, and BlackSite: Area 51. Microsoft also made its press conference available for download, as well as a making-of video for Sierra Entertainment’s The Bourne Conspiracy.

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FUNimation and Geneon commit to Xbox Live Marketplace along with Country Music Televisiona and Logo.

Two more anime channels will be joining ADV Films, which partnered with Xbox Live Video Marketplace in March, in putting up content on XBLM for US users to download: FUNimation and Geneon Entertainment.

FUNimation will be releasing episodes from the epic adventure series Samurai 7 onto the network, along with other titles including Trinity Blood, Gunslinger Girl, and Basilisk. Geneon Entertainment will be adding games including the US HD debut of classic Akira, along with Gun Sword, Last Exile, Gankutsuou: The Count of Monte Cristo, and Lupin the 3rd.

Also this month, country music fans will be getting a treat on June 6, when content from Country Music Television will start to become available on Marketplace, including shows Comedy Stage, Foxworthy’s Big Night Out, and Prankville.

On June 11, Logo, the MTV network for gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender people, will also be making content available, including comedies Wisecrack, and The Big Gay Sketch Show, drama Noah’s Arc, and other series Curl Girls and Real Momentum Documentaries.

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Goldman-Sachs expects first-week sales of Bungie’s shooter to reach about $170 million, giving Microsoft’s gaming division its first profitable quarter.

There’s no question that Halo 3 is going to be big. Several weeks ago, a rumor surfaced that GameStop had already collected an outlandish 4 million preorders for the game. Today, a quartet of Goldman-Sachs analysts released their own projections for the game’s September 25 launch, with numbers nearly as gaudy.

While Halo 3 is releasing right at the end of Microsoft’s first fiscal 2008 quarter (which runs from July through September), Goldman-Sach’s industry watchers are expecting the game to contribute about $170 million in revenue for the quarter, with more than 4.2 million copies shipped into the retail channel. That’s nearly one copy for every three Xbox 360s in the world, going by the analysts’ projections of an installed user base of 13.2 million by September.

They also note that the $170 million figure could be low by as much as $50 million if they’ve low-balled the installed user base. Microsoft’s tendency to put revenue from games on its books as soon as they’re shipped out could also boost the revenue number, as could any change to the analysts’ royalty model, which assumes Microsoft keeps 80 percent of the retail price on first-party games.

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“Heroes” Phenomenon Hits Xbox Live Marketplace

Responding to the program’s fanatical following and viewers’ passionate identification with the show’s characters and storylines, the Universal Studios Consumer Products Group announced that content based on television’s #1 new series, “Heroes”, is now available for download on Xbox LIVE® Marketplace for the Xbox 360™ video game and entertainment system from Microsoft.

For the first time, fans of the series can customize their Xbox 360 experience with images depicting key events and characters from the “Heroes” universe. Taking a creative lead from the series, the graphically stunning images are rendered as paintings which foretell iconic events in the program’s mythology. The downloadable content includes both a “Theme Pack” and “Gamer Pictures” featuring popular characters from the show such as Hiro Nakamura, Claire Bennet, Peter Petrelli, and Niki Sanders.

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Many of the 300,000 users that are currently playing the Halo 3 beta are skillful modders who over the last few days have been examining the beta’s code. They have found references to unannounced weapons, new vehicles and game types but probably their most precious finding is the fact that Halo 3 will support up to four players co-op on Xbox Live and System Link.

Scrolling through the list of on-screen text for party menus, one sentence revealed the following:

The game cannot start because all players are set to observer. Too many players for splitscreen. Only 2 players may play splitscreen coop on the same Xbox 360 console. The party size is too large to start the game. Up to 4 players may play coop on Xbox Live or System Link. Loading information from Xbox Live…

Weapons

• Assault Rifle
• Battle Rifle
• Beam Rifle
• Brute Shot
• Carbine
• Excavator
• Gravity Hammer
• Flamethrower
• Magnum
• Missile Launcher
• Needler
• Plasma Pistol
• Plasma Rifle
• Fuel Rod Cannon
• Rocket Launcher
• Shotgun
• SMG
• Sniper Rifle
• Spartan Laser
• Spiker
• Sword

Vehicles

• Mongoose
• Warthog
• Hornet
• Pelican
• Scorpion
• Ghost
• Brute Chopper
• Spectre
• Shadow
• Banshee
• Phantom
• Wraith

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