Video Games Today

Earlier this week, we reported a rumor that Gears of War 3 would be announced on CliffyB's late night appearance. Well, Clffy's been rescheduled to this upcoming Monday...but I guess someone forgot to tell the Inside Xbox crew. The Xbox team prematurely put the release date of Gears 3 on the Xbox Dashboard of Xbox Live members, because CliffyB was supposed to announce it the night before. This "leak" has now been removed from your Xbox, and Microsoft is refusing to comment. But we'd say it looks like our rumor was true. The "leak" does not mention specific dates, besides April 2011; but it is safe to assume, since our sources have been right so far, that April 11th, 2011 is the EPIC date.

Source: http://www.joystiq.com/2010/04/09/gears-of-war-3-announced-by-your-xbox/

Enjoy!
The VGToday Crew

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There are still three more days left in the Xbox Live Arcade Inventory Blowout Sale! There are ten full arcade games with as much as 53% off the regular price. And we'd like to say, most of these games are some of our favorites! Hit the jump to check out all the sales.

South Park - 400 MSP - 50% Off
Super Street Fighter II HD Remix - 560 MSP - 53% Off
Defense Grid - 400 MSP - 50% Off
Rocket Riot - 400 MSP - 50% Off
Mad Tracks - 400 MSP - 50% Off
Track & Field - 240 MSP - 40% Off
Lumines Live - 400 MSP - 50% Off
Age of Booty - 400 MSP - 50% Off
Schizoid - 800 MSP - 50% Off
Wallace & Gromit episode 1 - 400 MSP - 50% Off

Get all the links to download these games here:
http://majornelson.com/archive/2010/04/01/xbox-live-arcade-inventory-blowout-sale.aspx

Enjoy!
The VGToday Crew

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One of our favorite XBLA games is this week's Deal of the Week for Xbox Live Gold Members. You can grab this awesome game for only 400 Microsoft Points! Just click the download link below to get playing!

http://marketplace.xbox.com/en-US/games/offers/00000001-0000-4000-8000-0000584108ff?cid=SLink

Update: We've heard reports Geometry Wars 2 is still priced at 800 MSP on Xbox.com, but via the Xbox 360 is is now 400 MSP. We are contacting Microsoft support now! Update soon!

Enjoy!
The VGToday Crew

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Need more incentive to download the free Lost Planet 2 demo? Well, earlier today Capcom confirmed that the "MG SP" gun, which is available in the demo, is only unlockable in the demo and will carry over, to the retail game, for folks who manage to unlock it in the demo. According to Joystiq, "...the MG SP could stagger opponents with a single shot and prevent them from squeezing off shots of their own with subsequent hits -- sounds useful."

Enjoy!
The VGToday Crew

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According to Major Nelson's blog, the title update which will allow for USB storage on your Xbox 360 console will be hitting on April 6th. Microsoft is offering their own "brand-name" Flash drives for 39.99$ (8GB) and 69.99$ (16GB). Now, before you go and spend all your money on a third party 1 TB drive, remember you can only use drives of 16 GB or less. We suggest looking at ebay, amazon, and newegg for two cheap 16GB drives, one for each USB port on the 360.

Enjoy!
The VGToday Crew

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The long awaited Modern Warfare 2 map pack has finally hit Xbox Live shelves. The map pack, which costs a staggering 15$ (1200 Microsoft Points), includes three new maps, along with two old favorites (Overgrown and Crash) from Call of Duty 4. Personally, we will be waiting until the price drops (or it is a deal of the week) to be joining in on the preadolescence fun. Hit the jump to see what we mean.

Enjoy!
The VGToday Crew

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This week's "Deal of the Week" for Xbox 360 Owners is Bionic Commando Rearmed for only 400 Microsoft Points.

Enjoy!
The VGToday Crew

Download Link: http://marketplace.xbox.com/en-US/games/offers/00000001-0000-4000-8000-0000584108f1?cid=SLink

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The weight of a new Street Fighter game is not to be taken lightly. After about 10 years of ridiculous turbo hyper super extreme installments which added a new character or a new combo meter in piecemeal, we’ve finally gotten a full-on, true sequel in Street Fighter 4. And as someone who’s not even that big of a Street Fighter fan, it’s easy to see just how good it is. It’s the best 2D fighting game I’ve ever played, the best looking fighting game I’ve ever played and is definitely going to be a standard for a long time to come.

The basics: 25 characters, six of which are brand new playable characters in a Street Fighter game. There’s an arcade mode (a series of AI battles, book ended by story-driven animated sequences), a challenge mode (basically AI Time Trial and Survival challenges for leaderboards and unlockables), a training mode to walk you through each of the characters moves and online play. From a feature-list perspective, it’s pretty basic stuff. There’s no Virtua Fighter-esque quest mode to earn in-game cash or conquer virtual game arcades. There aren’t even minigames to beat up cars! But in place of all that, you have near flawless gameplay.

It’s hard to summarize the depth of Street Fighter, but the comparisons to chess in high speed seem pretty accurate. Everything has a counter, every character can beaten by someone of a higher skill level, and, unlike Soul Calibur, button mashers will be annihilated within seconds of stepping up against another opponent. To a certain extent, this makes it hard for newcomers, as you’re better off playing people around your skill level, but the whopping number of characters means you can always handicap yourself by picking someone you’re not really familiar with.


The biggest new additions to the fighting mechanics are focus attacks. Activated by holding down the Medium Punch and Medium Kick buttons, a focus attack is basically a charged attack that can absorb a single attack from your enemy, allowing you to unleash fury back at them. It’s easy to pull off, requires no complicated button combos, and adds another layer to the combat.

Ultra combos are also new. After taking a certain amount of damage, you’ll be able to unleash an extremely devastating attack back at your enemy. Usually this requires some complex button presses, but if the attack lands you’ll be taking about 1/3rd of your opponents life. It’s hugely telegraphed, but if you’re in mid air or getting up from the ground you may not be able to block it. The idea is to keep everyone in the game. Even if you’re getting crushed, you can still hope to land an Ultra and make a comeback. They also come with super flashy animations and are unique to each character, which makes pulling one off even more satisfying.


The visuals, though, may be the start of the show in Street Fighter 4. The level of detail poured into each and every character and fighting arena borders on OCD. Eyes bulge when hit, barrels knock over when you land an attack near them, monkeys do backflips in the background. Street Fighter 4 is full of life, and looks crisp and bright, a nice change of pace from the browns and dark greens of this generation of games.

There are qualms to note, though. In testing the online play alongside the public, we had major issues when trying to play ranked matches or quick join games. Either it wouldn’t let us connect or we’d be left playing in extreme lag, with a slideshow level of frame rate. Playing against friends in player matches seemed to cure this problem, but the lack of a party lobby system (as seen in Super Street Fighter 2 Turbo HD Remix) means that you can’t have all-night round robin sessions.


The other big issue to consider is that the standard PS3 and 360 controllers are pretty inadequate for playing Street Fighter (or pretty much any other 2D fighting game). You can get by, for sure, but anyone with a joystick or a special gamepad will have a definite edge on you. That’s not really a fault of the game itself, but it’s something to consider if you’re looking to pick it up.

Lastly, we were a bit bummed by the lack of character customization in SF4. The game allows you to unlock 10 alternate colors for your characters, but secondary costumes are relegated to DLC. After seeing incredible character customization in games like Soul Calibur 4 and Virtua Fighter 5, it’s a shame Capcom didn’t go all the way with this one. We would’ve loved to have seen Guile with a big kitty helmet.

With all that said, though, Street Fighter 4 is an immaculate fighting game. The depth of play matched with the incredible visual fidelity makes it a new standard for 2D fighting games and may just revive what has become a niche genre.

Final Rating:8.5/10

Enjoy!
The VGToday Crew

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A sad day for those who spent an actual 10$ just to get the golden lancer that was supposed to be exclusive to the Limited Edition. EPIC and Microsoft have released the gold plated lancer for free to all Gold and Silver Xbox Live members to use. No word on if the Midnight Mayhem Exclusive Golden Hammerburst will be coming for free soon.

Download: http://marketplace.xbox.com/en-US/games/media/66acd000-77fe-1000-9115-d8024d53082d/?p=1&of=6&sb=1&did=0ccf0001-0000-4000-8000-00004d53082d

EDIT: Microsoft goes "oops!"! They said adding the lancer to the marketplace was a mistake, and will be removed shortly. More information on this soon, once it happens!

Enjoy!
The VGToday Crew

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Us at VGToday just wanted to wish you all a Happy New Year. We also have a special report from a Private Investigator finally proving how the Xbox 360 copied the Playstation 3! Click to view the rest of the post to see it!

Enjoy!
The VGToday Crew

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Epic Game's latest blockbuster release Gears of War 2 only held it's grip on the number one seat of the xbox live charts for a short while. It has now fallen down to the number four seat. Halo 3 is back to the number one, followed by CoD:WaW and CoD4...then Gears 2. This also means even slower matchmaking for the Gears folks. Hopefully those Christmas Sales will boost Cliffy B's confidence again, and ours!

Enjoy!
The VGToday Crew

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Banjo-Kazooie for the Xbox Live Arcade has finally been released today! After two delays of nearly three weeks, the game has hit the XBLA. The game is priced at it's expected 1200 Microsoft Point($15.00 USD) tag. The game features new, updated graphics, HDTV support, easier control scheme, and possible future DLC for the title. Note, this is NOT a new Banjo-Kazooie title, it is the original 1998 title that was previously on the Nintendo 64. There are no additional story elements or missions added to this version, and there is not any expected or announced by Rare. We have already downloaded our copy and will have the review up for this game this weekend.

Enjoy!
The VGToday Crew

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The New Xbox Experience has arrived to the Xbox 360! In case you have not heard of the NXE, let's go over what it is. This is basically Xbox 360 2.0 (Although this would really be 3.0, the 2.0 change was minor compared to this). If you are connected to Xbox Live as a Gold or Silver, you get the update for free. This update took me about 10-15 minutes on a good connection, so do not expect it to take the normal 30 second dashboard update time. The NXE will change how the dashboard looks forever.

In addition to the fresh new look and design, many great features have come with NXE. If you are a Netflix subscriber, you get to stream movies in HD to your Xbox, no downloading required. The video simply buffers for a few minutes and off you go! To get this to work just put any movie into your queue on Netflix.com, and it will show up on your Xbox 360 within 2-5 seconds for you to watch, instantly! Also, if you have friends with Netflix, up to 8 of you can watch the movie together in a chat (Note, you NEED Xbox Live Gold Membership for this feature)!

Another great feature is the party system! Now, you can have up to 8 people in a private chat! In addition, you can start a party of up to 8 people from the dashboard, decide what game to play, and everyone starts it up and...wala! You are all put into the multiplayer menu upon game start up, in a party! You never have to leave the party when joining a game again!

Also, gamerpics are so yesterday. Avatars, now replace gamerpics (you can still use previously purchased gamerpics) as your virtual self. You can customize these incredibly. I thought this was just a gimmick, and a copy of the Nintendo "Miis". They are not. I cannot explain them as well as show you, so see for yourself.

One last thing before we go play with NXE. You cna now access the full marketplace online! And use microsoft points to purchase marketplace items from Xbox.com. Then, they will be in your Xbox Download Queue next time you turn your xbox on!

Enjoy!

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Xbox Live is currently down for a majority of it's users. So far Microsoft has released no details other than Major Nelson saying the following on his blog:

In the past few hours, the Xbox Operations Center noticed that large number of members were disconnected from Xbox LIVE, some more than once. Our Engineering teams are actively working to determine the root cause of this issue and to prevent it from happening again. If you are disconnected, you should be able to reconnect after a few minutes. Thanks for your patience as we work quickly to solve the issue.

That was posted earlier today, and as of now the problem has only gotten worse. Now you can connect to Xbox Live, but you cannot play any multiplayer games. This is shown in Call of Duty 4 having a mere 500 users online right now. Maybe it is not so bad, they might give us a free Arcade game like last holiday, but I doubt it.

EDIT: It appears as Xbox Live is back up. Post a comment here if you are still having issues.

Dark Kitsune:
Well Major Nelson has released another update.

From reading comments, I see that some folks are still having issues. The Operations center is investigating.

I'm one of those unlucky people who are still having problems. This has throughly messed up my gaming weekend.

Edit: Another update! Though it isn't very helpful to me!

We’re noticing a few members are still having issues. We’re investigating. Thanks.

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• Gears of War 2; Xbox 360
• Resistance 2; Playstation 3
  
• James Bond: Quantum of Solace; Xbox 360, Wii, Playstation 3, Playstation 2
  
• Tom Clancy's EndWar; Xbox 360, Playstation 3, PSP
  
• Naruto: Ultimate Ninja Storm; Playstation 3
• Legendary; Xbox 360
• Secret Service; Xbox 360
• Valkyria Chronicles; Playstation 3
• Dragon Ball Z: Infinite World; Playstation 2
  

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Fallout 3, one of this year's Triple-A RPG's (Roleplaying Game) hit shelves this past Wednesday. The game places you in post-apocalyptic Washington, D.C. The game begins with you being born "in Vault 101", an underground fallout shelter, where you can custom the appearance of your character to be. You then have segments of your childhood, at one year old and your first time walking. This fits great into the walking and movement tutorial. Then you eventually turn 10 years of age and receive your Pip-Boy 3000, which is basically a personal PDA device strapped onto your arm. At this segment you meet some of the people in the Vault like Butch, the Overseer, Amata, etc.

I am going to stop there with story details to avoid spoilers, needless to say you soon escape the vault. Note, this is just my first impressions not a review as I have not finished the game fully yet. The game controls handle well and the graphics look amazing on my HDTV. You should save before leaving the vault because the opening scene is one of the best scenes in recent video games. Stepping out from the vault, the first sunlight you ever see hits your eyes and you are blinded for a few moments before adjusting to the light and seeing the ruins of, what used to be, Washington D.C. Not only is the scene great, but once you realize, "Hey, I can go ANYWHERE I can see right now" you realize this is what "Triple-A Game" really means. From atop the hill you exit the vault from you can see famous buildings such as the Washington Monument and the Interstate Super Highway.

From there it is up to you. You can proceed with your Main Story and go to a town named "Megaton". Megaton is a city built around an atomic bomb that landed but never exploded. This transitions into what I will talk about next, the moral choices in the game. Many RPGs try to bring this into their games...but Fallout 3 really succeeds. You will soon face a hard decision in Megaton that will ultimately shape how you play the game. When you enter Megaton you can, and will, go to the local Saloon. You meet a Mr. Burke who wants help detonating the A-bomb in the city so wipe the town off the map. Now, you can agree to this and go through with it. Or you can run to the sheriff you met when you first entered Megaton. I choose to be the "goody-goody" during my first play through so I immediately run to the Sheriff. I tell him what happened and we heads to the Saloon. After telling Burke he is arrested and turns his back for a second, Burke pulls out his 10mm Silenced Pistol. This is another point in the game that sees how you react to what is happening. You can sit and let the Sheriff die, or you can kill Burke before he assassinates the Sheriff. This is what RPGs are supposed to be like, your decisions REALLY matter. This is not some Peter Molyneux "fake" moral decisions as seen in past Fable games.

I will stop there and leave you to think upon what RPG you will be picking up this holiday season. With the November rush of games this year, Fallout 3 really stands out well in the crowd.

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...in bringing one of the best RPG experiences to date. Everything looks great and stepping out of the vault was one of the best gaming moments I've have in a long time. I even suggest saving before leaving the vault so you can see it again. It is one of those "Wow, this is what a good game looks and feels like!". I will have a full review up soon (Once I finish the story once). Below are the list of achievements:


Vault 101 Citizenship Award: 10 points
Got the Pip-Boy 3000

The G.O.A.T. Whisperer: 10 points
Took the G.O.A.T.

Escape!: 20 points
Completed "Escape!"

Following in His Footsteps: 20 points
Completed "Following in His Footsteps"

Galaxy News Radio: 20 points
Completed "Galaxy News Radio"

Scientific Pursuits: 20 points
Completed "Scientific Pursuits"

Tranquility Lane: 20 points
Completed "Tranquility Lane"

The Waters of Life: 20 points
Completed "The Waters of Life"

Picking up the Trail: 20 points
Completed "Picking up the Trail"

Rescue from Paradise: 20 points
Completed "Rescue from Paradise"

Finding the Garden of Eden: 20 points
Completed "Finding the Garden of Eden"

The American Dream: 20 points
Completed "The American Dream"

Take it Back!: 40 points
Completed "Take it Back!"

Big Trouble in Big Town: 20 points
Completed "Big Trouble in Big Town"

The Superhuman Gambit: 20 points
Completed "The Superhuman Gambit"

The Wasteland Survival Guide: 20 points
Completed "The Wasteland Survival Guide"

Those!: 20 points
Completed "Those!"

The Nuka-Cola Challenge: 20 points
Completed "The Nuka-Cola Challenge"

Head of State: 20 points
Completed "Head of State"

The Replicated Man: 20 points
Completed "The Replicated Man"

Blood Ties: 20 points
Completed "Blood Ties"

Oasis: 20 points
Completed "Oasis"

The Power of the Atom: 20 points
Completed "The Power of the Atom"

Tenpenny Tower: 20 points
Completed "Tenpenny Tower"

Strictly Business: 20 points
Completed "Strictly Business"

You Gotta Shoot 'Em in the Head: 20 points
Completed "You Gotta Shoot 'Em in the Head"

Stealing Independence: 20 points
Completed "Stealing Independence"

Trouble on the Homefront: 20 points
Completed "Trouble on the Homefront"

Agatha's Song: 20 points
Completed "Agatha's Song"

Reilly's Rangers: 20 points
Completed "Reilly's Rangers"

Reaver: 10 points
Reached Level 8 with Bad Karma

Mercenary: 10 points
Reached Level 8 with Neutral Karma

Protector: 10 points
Reached Level 8 with Good Karma

Harbinger of War: 20 points
Reached Level 14 with Bad Karma

Pinnacle of Survival: 20 points
Reached Level 14 with Neutral Karma

Ambassador of Peace: 20 points
Reached Level 14 with Good Karma

Scourge of Humanity: 30 points
Reached Level 20 with Bad Karma

Paradigm of Humanity: 30 points
Reached Level 20 with Neutral Karma

Last, Best Hope of Humanity: 30 points
Reached Level 20 with Good Karma

Weaponsmith: 30 points
Made one of every custom weapon

Doesn't Play Well with Others: 20 points
Killed 300 people

Slayer of Beasts: 20 points
Killed 300 creatures

Silver-Tongued Devil: 20 points
Won 50 Speech Challenges

Data Miner: 20 points
Hacked 50 terminals

Keys are for Cowards: 20 points
Picked 50 locks

One-Man Scouting Party: 20 points
Discovered 100 locations

Psychotic Prankster: 10 points
Placed a grenade or mine while pickpocketing

The Bigger They Are…: 20 points
Kill all the Super Mutant Behemoths

Yes, I Play with Dolls: 10 points
Collected 10 Vault-Tec Bobbleheads

Vault-Tec C.E.O.: 30 points
Collected 20 Vault-Tec Bobbleheads

Everyone enjoy!

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I find myself with a spare 1 year subscription code to the XNA Creators Club thanks to the guys over at Microsoft. I am selling this code for 65$ (The code is valued at 99.99$). Make a comment on here or email me if you are interested. I take Paypal.

Email: lavathing@rochester.rr.com

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After one day (24 Hours) of no Xbox Live worldwide, it is back. Incase you didnt know what this update was, here is what Major Nelson said:

On Monday, 9/29/2008 from 12:01 AM PST for up to 24 hours, Xbox Live will be offline for maintenance. As a result, Xbox LIVE and the ‘My Xbox’ section of Xbox.com will be unavailable, and the Xbox forums will be in read only mode (you won’t be able to post.) The remainder of Xbox.com will be available with limited interruptions.

This service maintenance is in preparation for the new Xbox experience which will be available later this fall.

Let me reiterate: When the service returns, you will not have any new features and you will not have the new Xbox experience update. That will happen later this Fall.

So I will once again say for everyone that you will NOT be getting the new experience when you turn on your Xbox today.

Anyways, Xbox Live is back online and hit me up if you want to play, my gamertag is at the right.

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