2K returns to gridiron

2K returns to gridiron - PlayStation 3 News at GameSpot: "Now it appears 2K Sports is feeling like it wants to get off the sidelines as well. Today, the publisher announced that Visual Concepts is returning to football with All-Pro Football 2K8. The game is scheduled for release on 'next generation video game systems' this summer.

'Football gamers have been awaiting the return of the 2K series,' said Visual Concepts president Greg Thomas. 'All-Pro Football 2K8 will deliver an authentic next generation gridiron experience and we are happy to give fans another choice in the football category.'

However, it's unclear what sort of players and teams will fill up All-Pro Football 2K8's rosters. While Blitz had the luxury of spicing up a roster of nobodies with gratuitous violence and performance-enhancing substances, Visual Concepts has an affinity for authentic simulations. One possiblity is 2K will opt for signing popular players of years past to fill out its teams, with Hall of Famers spanning decades going toe-to-toe against each other. However, that kind of roster would require 2K Sports to sign deals with each player individually.

For more on today's news announcement--and greater insight on the gritty details of All-Pro Football 2K8--check back shortly for GameSpot's Q&A with Greg Thomas, president of Visual Concepts." Thanks Trey

LG BH100 HD DVD / Blu-ray hybrid player reviewed

Engadget: "As promised after teasing us with their unboxing pics, the folks at Gadgetaholic have put down the camera and delivered a full review of LG's format-agnostic BH100 HD DVD / Blu-ray hybrid player. On that all-important point, they found that the player handled both formats 'flawlessly,' with picture quality for each pretty much in line with standalone HD DVD and Blu-ray players. Of course, you'll have to make do without HDi functionality or HDMI 1.3a support, which LG now says won't be able to be remedied with a firmware update. They also found the player to be somewhat lacking when it came to the still-important question of DVD playback, with the quality of upconverted DVDs varying noticeably from disc to disc. Add all that to the relatively steep $1,199 price tag, and Gadgetaholic has a tough time recommending the player for most users, finding it notable for what it achieves, but ultimately viewing it as more of a historical footnote than a serious contender."

Ten New Titles Coming to Xbox Live Arcade

Ten New Titles Coming to Xbox Live Arcade - Xbox: Vampire hunters, artillery-toting worms, rambunctious aliens and trailblazing settlers are among the “likeable” characters that will soon make their debut in living rooms everywhere via Xbox Live® Arcade for Xbox 360™ as part of the award-winning service’s upcoming round of new game releases. Starting with the first release in February, 10 highly anticipated titles will begin making their way to Xbox Live Arcade, including these (titles are not listed in chronological release order):

“3D Ultra Minigolf Adventures,” from developer Wanako Games and publisher Sierra Online, allows gamers to putt their way through 36 fun-filled holes of manic minigolf action on wild courses that range from the Old West to outer space and feature a bevy of crazy hazards and obstacles.

“Alien Hominid HD” from The Behemoth features side-scrolling, hysterical cartoon action with a quirky twist and exclusive Xbox Live Arcade features.

“Band of Bugs” from NinjaBee is a fast-paced tactical strategy game that offers gameplay deep enough to satisfy tactical genre fans and friendly enough to appeal to casual gamers. Creative gamers can even design their own levels with the built-in level editor, then play them solo or over Xbox Live with friends.*

“Castlevania: Symphony of the Night” from Konami is a faithful version of this legendary classic updated for Xbox Live Arcade and featuring the game’s full soundtrack and memorable side-scrolling vampire-hunting action.

“Catan,” from developer Big Huge Games Inc. and publisher Microsoft® Game Studios, is a faithful remake of the immensely popular strategy board game.

“Eets: Chowdown” from Klei Entertainment Inc. is a completely revamped version of the popular PC title of the same name. It offers new items, 120 new levels and the exclusive debut of Marsho Madness, a high-adrenaline action game in which players must keep the impending evil marshmallows at bay.

“LUXOR 2,” from developer MumboJumbo LLC, sets a new standard for action puzzlers as players match and shoot their way through the land of ancient Egypt.

“Paperboy,” from developer Digital Eclipse and publisher Midway, is a classic coin-op hit, specially enhanced for Xbox Live Arcade.

“Root Beer Tapper,” also from developer Digital Eclipse and publisher Midway, features fast-paced reflex action as players scramble to keep thirsty patrons happy without dropping root beer mugs in the scramble to earn the biggest tips.

Xbox 360 Dominates Gamefly Requests List

Planet Xbox 360 - News - Xbox 360 Dominates Gamefly Requests List: "The Xbox 360 dominated the most requested titles list from Gamefly for the week ended 28 January with Lost Planet taking out the top spot. Crackdown came in second, with Battlestations: Midway third, and R6 Vegas fourth.

Here's the full list:

1. Lost Planet
2. Crackdown
3. Battlestations: Midway
4. Rainbow Six Vegas
5. Wario Ware: Smooth Moves
6. Rogue Galaxy
7. Call of Duty 3
8. Grand Theft Auto IV
9. NBA Street Homecourt
10. F.E.A.R.

Grand Theft Auto IV also came in at the 8th spot, and this is why it is the top 10 most requested games list - Gamefly most likely just added this title to their database of coming Xbox 360 games. GTA4 does not yet have a solid release date.

Pre-Order Halo 3, Get 1,600 Microsoft Points for $4.99

Remember the great deal Best Buy offered for those who pre-ordered Gears of War? Well, Best Buy is once again offering a great pre-order deal for the most ancitipated Xbox 360 game.

If you pre-order Halo 3, you'll get a card loaded with 1,600 Xbox Live Marketplace Microsoft Points for just $4.99!

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Xbox 360 HD-DVD Interview

[H] Console - Xbox 360 HD-DVD Interview: "In addition to the amazing high quality video and awesome surround sound you’d expect from a standard HD-DVD player, the Xbox 360 HD-DVD player also features integrated chapter selection, bookmarks and a secondary video decoder that allows the disc to play separate video streams to simultaneously watch additional content like behind the scenes features as the movie plays. Not only that, but the HD DVD player is network capable which allows for the HD-DVD player to be updated if needed."

Who are you and what do you do?

My name’s Shaheen Gandhi. I’m a developer on the Xbox Console & Consumer Software team. We own all the software that goes on Xbox 360 that’s not a game. We wrote the operating system, dashboard, guide, etc. For 360, I did a lot of work on the input and voice software. For the HD DVD Player, I did a bunch of DRM and integration.

How long have you worked for Microsoft?

I’ve worked at Microsoft full-time for about 3.5 years. I had interned for Microsoft a couple of years before hand in a related Xbox group. I consider myself insanely lucky to have worked on Xbox 360 as my first product outside of college.

How did you become part of the HD-DVD development team?

This was pretty natural. After Xbox 360 shipped last year, I looked around at the various projects going on around Xbox and decided it was the most interesting for me. I was given the opportunity to own a lot of the security architecture for the player, while other, more capable, people handled the software architecture.

CoD3 maps back up and playable

Xboxic » CoD3 maps back up and playable: " Hi Call of Duty 3 fans:

Thank you for your patience as we worked to resolve the issue surrounding the Valor map pack. We are happy to announce that we have resolved it, and that the map pack is now fully available for download over Xbox Live Marketplace. We have also released a Title Update which, in addition to addressing the map pack, also remedies key issues regarding Ranked Lobbies and Ranked Matches that some users have experienced.

If you downloaded the Map Pack on January 18, please download the new Title Update which resolves these issues. If for any reason you deleted the Valor Map Pack after your purchase, you are entitled to re-download it without charge.

We apologize for any inconvenience this may have caused you, and look forward to playing you in the new maps!

– Call of Duty team "

DIRT to redefine new gen

DIRT to redefine new gen - Xbox 360 Fanboy: "Last week we brought you a release window for Colin McRae: DIRT, and this week starts off with more news from the horse's mouth. Codemaster's Executive Producer Gavin Raeburn was very confident in the performance of the upcoming Rally racer, courtesy of the new 'Neon' engine. According to Raeburn, DIRT's built from the ground up as opposed to previous incarnations being mere extensions of their respective predecessor.

'The damage, particle effects, post-production, car physics, car audio and AI are all far in advance of anything we have yet seen on next gen', says Raeburn.

That's a pretty hefty claim, with PGR , Forza Motorsport, and even MotorStorm putting out fine displays for how immersing racing should be this generation. DIRT will be nearly identical across the 360, PS3, and PC, barring the online experience. Raeburn acknowledges the superiority of the Xbox Live platform, and is striving to meet that quality of service for the PC and PS3's online components. While screenshots have been promising, seeing a game in motion is the true test in graphical fidelity. Raeburn wants to deliver on that front with trailers hopefully coming down the pipeline soon. Do you think that Colin McRae: DIRT can live up to the claim of showing us an unprecedented new gen racing experience?"

Rumor: Achievements Unlocking Rewards for Gamers?

Rumor: Achievements Unlocking Rewards for Gamers? - Xbox 360 Fanboy: "Deacon Blade of Unscripted360 broke a very interesting story this morning. Apparently, he and some fellow MVPs came across at 'torn document' that contained intriguing ideas for the future of the Xbox 360, and more importantly, its Achievement and gamerscore system. According to Deacon, Xbox is working alongside sponsors to initiate a program in February to reward gamers for their Achievements. Participation is free of charge, and the number of prizes are limited, although you will need to register to get in. We don't know if this will be limited to Xbox Live Gold subscribers, or open to Silver as well, but don't be surprised if only paying customers are eligible. Gamesaving was also brought up on the document as a 'top priority', and will supposedly be taken care of.

All in all, the release of this information seems a little fishy. It's very likely that Microsoft gave the go ahead for its high ranking community members to give a few tidbits of information without revealing much more than the concept. Deacon, and the others at the event probably know more than they're letting on regarding the program, and just want to leave people wanting more and thus building hype. Well, it's working. We're excited about this opportunity for casual and hardcore gamers alike to get free stuff for "

PS3 has no advantages over 360, says Peter Moore

"I really don't know what I would look at there that we're really missing. I look at the games and I feel really good at where we stand from a portfolio point of view. The online service...there's nothing really there that I can really point to that I wish we had. The innovation that the Wii is, I'm certainly a big fan of."

PS3 has no advantages over 360, says Peter Moore