Xbox 360 Fanboy

Xbox 360 Fancast 030 -- Omega-Cast

Posted Aug 20th 2007 9:30PM by Richard Mitchell
Filed under: Podcasts

Wow. Sitting, as we are, atop this mound of Fancasts, we can truly appreciate the trail of ruin left in our 30-episode-long wake. 30 episodes. Let that sink in. That's more episodes than Freakazoid!, and that's saying something. We're not sure what it is, but it must say something. Anyway, it calls for a celebration, and so we bring you a very special guest, Chris Paladino of Gamerscore Blog. With our powers combined, we talk about BioShock, Iris, the Xbox Live Server Platform, both pirates and ninjas, and ... um ... panties.

We also take some time to answer some special 30 episode fanmail and pick Chris's brain. Now is probably the time to tell you that he did have a Jeff Bell story. Alas, it was forever destroyed by the evils of Skype. Next time, Chris. Next time.

Download below or face ultimate suffering.

Get the Fancast
[iTunes] Subscribe to the Podcast directly in iTunes (MP3).
[RSS MP3] Add the Xbox 360 Fanboy Podcast feed (in MP3) to your RSS aggregator and have the show delivered automatically.
[MP3] Download the MP3 directly.

Continue reading Xbox 360 Fancast 030 -- Omega-Cast

Wired chronicles the development of Halo 3

Posted Aug 20th 2007 5:45PM by Richard Mitchell
Filed under: News, Halo 3

If you've moseyed on by your local newsstand, or whatever the kids call 'em these days, you may have seen the Master Chief plastered on the cover of Wired magazine. As our more astute readers have probably surmised, the issue contains a lengthy article on Halo 3. Specifically, the article deals with the extensive testing process that Halo 3 has undergone to ensure that the game is as close to perfect as it can be. Believe it or not, Bungie knows that lots of people were unsatisfied with Halo 2 (many Bungie employees weren't satisfied with it). The combat wasn't balanced, there were plenty of glitches, and the story, well, the story wasn't what Bungie wanted it to be. This time though, Bungie has employed an army of testers to make sure that the game is satisfying to everyone from the pros to Halo n00bs to Grandma (well, maybe not Grandma). As noted by the article, the Halo 3 testing process leans more towards science than artistry. Bungie recorded play sessions, recorded players' reactions during those play sessions, had players stop to note their satisfaction every 20 minutes, and much more. The amount of statistics recorded is really staggering, and all of it done to make sure that Halo 3 -- particularly Halo 3's campaign -- is the best damned game it can possibly be.

The article hasn't made it online yet, so you'll have to pick up a copy of Wired if you want the full scoop.

[Image: 360WTF]

Paramount, Dreamworks Animation drop Blu-Ray

Posted Aug 20th 2007 4:30PM by Richard Mitchell
Filed under: News

And the high definition format war rages on with Paramount and Dreamworks Animation opting to drop Blu-Ray support in favor of HD DVD exclusivity. According to Kevin Avery, president of Paramount Home Entertainment, the move was made because HD DVD offers better quality, cheaper players, and lower manufacturing costs. So, when you go shopping for the hi-def version of Transformers this fall, the only place to find it is in the HD DVD section. Furthermore, Dreamworks Animations films like Shrek 3 will also be exclusive to the format. Thus, you have one more reason to not regret buying that 360 HD DVD player (unless you hated Transformers, in which case ... um, sorry?).

Us, we're going to hide in a bunker with our DVDs and wait for it all to blow over.

[Via Major Nelson]

Shipping this week: rapturous edition

Posted Aug 20th 2007 3:30PM by Richard Mitchell
Filed under: Shipping this week

Well kiddies, it's finally here. BioShock will officially hit store shelves tomorrow. Now everyone will be able to share in the joy of the lucky few who nabbed the game early at Toys R' Us (or the lucky four that won it from us -- yes, the giveaway is over, by the way). So, go out and buy it already! Don't forget that you can get it on the cheap if you know where to look. Also of interest, Two Worlds is finally shipping this week, though most advertisements list it as being available this Friday, so you may not be seeing it in your local stores on Tuesday.

Now, if only we could find an honest review of BioShock, we'd be set.

Gallery: BioShock

[Via Joystiq]

Shadowrun gets some title update #3 love

Posted Aug 20th 2007 2:30PM by Dustin Burg
Filed under: News

FASA Studios just released a freshly new title update for Shadowrun (number three in fact) which fixes some bugs, alters gameplay a little and enhances the overall Shadowrun experience. The title update is free (as always) and should download the next time you pop in the game. A complete list of enhancments, fixes and all the jazz the Shadowrun title update brings is viewable after the break. Haha Elves, your healing powers are a quarter second slower ... mwahahaha!

[Thanks, MageGriff]

Continue reading Shadowrun gets some title update #3 love

This Week in HD DVD: movie theater trip edition

Posted Aug 20th 2007 1:30PM by Dustin Burg
Filed under: News, HD-DVD Releases

If your eyes have already wandered below, you've already noticed that there are no new HD DVD releases this week. No blockbusters, no classics, no bad movies, no nothing thing this week. But we wouldn't leave your entertainment needs unfulfilled, so we have a recommendation to how we think you should spend the extra bucks in your pocket that you were saving to purchase a new HD DVD. We advise heading to your local movie theater and purchasing a ticket for the movie Superbad. It's very good, 100% X3F approved and will make you laugh ... hard. Just be sure to stay away from the overpriced popcorn.

HD DVD Movie Releases: August 21st

No HD DVD releases this week.

SDF Reviews BioShock; first unbiased look at title

Posted Aug 20th 2007 1:00PM by David Dreger
Filed under: News, BioShock

During the recording of this week's fancast, we were discussing BioShock's spectacular reviews scores thus far, and our special guest pointed out Sony Defense Force's take on the title. It was nice to see the journalist in question take a step back and look at the game for what it is, regardless of the platform the site specializes in. Time is taken to make accurate comparisons between the performance on the 360 as well as the potential differences found should BioShock ever run on the PS3. All in all, it was a good read, and nice to see an unbiased review that isn't afraid to point out BioShock's glaring flaws that take away from a potential immersive experience.

Under the advisement of Heliophage: "Tee-hee-hee loljk guyz ^_^"

Space Giraffe And Street Trace: NYC on XBLA twofer [update 1]

Posted Aug 20th 2007 12:30PM by David Dreger
Filed under: Xbox Live Arcade, Game announcements

Hot off the wire is that this week is that we're in for another Xbox Live Arcade twofer this Wednesday, with the release of Space Giraffe, as well as Street Trace: NYC. The former of the titles is from Llamasoft, and designer Jeff Minter, featuring 100 levels of gameplay, and completing them unlocks a new game mode (as long as you have a high enough anal score).

On the Street Trace side of things, you get get your fill of arena battles and racing across the futuristic wastelands of New York City, Marty McFly style. You have your choice of up to 8 player multiplayer over Live or 4 player splitscreen locally across the four arena stages. Space Giraffe will run you 400 MP and Street Trace clocks in at 800 Microsoft Points, and will be available 9:00 AM GMT or 2:00 AM PT and 5:00 AM ET.

Update: Fixed price point for Space Giraffe.

Rumor: New Xbox 360 Arcade console and re-branding

Posted Aug 20th 2007 12:15PM by Dustin Burg
Filed under: News, Rumors

Juicy news is making its rounds on the internet this morning with a Belgian Microsoft source revealing details about a new Xbox 360 console, potential re-branding and the extinction of the Core as we know it. Gamernode received the presentation slide you see above (larger version here) from their secret Microsoft source who said that a new Xbox 360 Arcade console will be priced at 279 GBP, replace the Xbox 360 Core and include the addition of a wireless controller, 256MB memory card, five XBLA games and possible HDMI connectivity. Also revealed was the re-branding of all three consoles offerings with the Elite getting a "Go Big" slogan, the Premium losing its name and becoming "Go Pro" and the Core being renamed to Arcade with a "Just Play!" slogan.

It's also interesting to note that Gamernode was told that the new Xbox 360 Arcade console will be a world wide offering and, presumably, so will all the re-branding efforts. And it's not like we didn't see the death of the Core coming. Best Buy and Target have reportedly pulled the Core from their shelves and overall no more Core sentiment has been building among retailers and consumers alike. The addition of a memory card, games and wireless controller make the Arcade console a much more complete offering than the Core ever was. Again, we haven't received any official word from Microsoft about this rumor, console changes, prices, availability or future console plans. So, patience will need to be practiced.

[Via Joystiq]

Unlock Xbox games and winners announced

Posted Aug 20th 2007 11:30AM by Dustin Burg
Filed under: News, Xbox Live Arcade

Major Nelson is back home from his North American mystery tour and so the Doritos team has now officially announced the five winners of the Unlock Xbox contest. The top five XBLA game ideas can be seen over on the official website in all their glory with winning game ideas including psychedelic effects, dinosaurs galore, chip hungry monkeys and some dodge-ball. These five winning entries have already scored their creators some sweet prizes and will now be made into game demos for everyone to try and vote on starting October 29th.

There you have it fanboys, one of these five game ideas will be making it onto the Xbox Live Arcade in the coming months for everyone to download and play. And as a consolation prize for those who submitted an idea that didn't get picked (and are a tad bitter), the Doritos folks are giving away an Xbox 360 bundle every day. See, it's not so bad.

Exclusive Halo 3 360 theme & gamer pics spotted

Posted Aug 20th 2007 10:45AM by Dustin Burg
Filed under: News, Halo 3, Xbox Live Marketplace

One of the bonuses you get for purchasing the Halo 3 Xbox 360 is a special Halo 3 dashboard theme and set of exclusive gamer pictures to show the world that you're the proud owner of a Halo 3 360. And, of course, nobody has seen these exclusive downloads yet ... until now. Over on Xbox.com the powers that be have already placed previews of all seven exclusive gamer pictures as well as all the blade backgrounds from the Halo 3 Special Edition theme. It could be be accident that they've already uploaded the pictures or they did it on purpose, because they want consumers to know what goods they're getting before ploping down their cash. But no matter the reason, you can preview both uber exclusive theme and gamer picture downloads on Xbox.com. Enjoy.

[Thanks, SpaceGhostFlyer]

Read - Halo 3 Special Edition theme
Read - Halo 3 Special Edition gamer pictures

Eek! It's a Ratatouille demo on the XBLM!

Posted Aug 20th 2007 10:00AM by Dustin Burg
Filed under: News, Xbox Live Marketplace

If you've wiped your hands clean and are over the BioShock, Beautiful Katamari or Stranglehold demos that were recently released to the XBLM, then we've got some Disney ~~not so~~ fun for you. Available now on the XBLM is a new Ratatouille demo for you to ~~suffer through~~ enjoy. The demo clocks in at a middle-weight size of 708MB and is ready for download by anyone (except Japan), so ~~please don't~~ go give it a whirl and see what comic mischief awaits. Okay, okay, we'll quit* with the childish evil we're projecting towards Ratatouille's general direction. It ~~simply can't~~ could be a good game (though highly doubtful), so go ahead and give the demo a try and garner ~~a reason for hating the game~~ an opinion for yourself. And don't forget to have fun!

*Childish evil be damned, we just can't quit!

Europe gets Xbox 360 price cuts this Friday

Posted Aug 20th 2007 9:15AM by Dustin Burg
Filed under: News

Early this morning, Microsoft announced that all of Europe will be jumping in on the Xbox 360 price cut fun this Friday. Europe, being one of the last territories to receive an Xbox 360 price cut, will see price cuts for both 360 versions dropping the Core from 299 EUR / 199 GBP to 279 EUR / 179 GBP and the Premium falling from 399 EUR / 279 GBP to 349 EUR / 249 GBP. Also announced was that the Xbox 360 Elite will be launching this Friday in Europe and retail for 449 EUR / 299 GBP with the 120GB HDD available separately for 179 EUR / 129 GBP.

It looks like the Xbox 360 price cut fun has come to an end and is complete friends with North America covered, Australia getting theirs and now Europe taking the plunge. Get ready to empty those wallets ... empty 'em hard!

It's time for Castle Crashers dress up!

Posted Aug 19th 2007 6:00PM by Dustin Burg
Filed under: Fan stuff

Diehard Xbox 360 fanboy, Half-Life case modder to the stars and all around Castle Crashers enthusiast PiNPOiNT thought he'd share his latest artsy project with the fanboy community. So go ahead, take a look at the photo above and witness his brand new, custom made Castle Crashers costume modeled after the game's blue knight. It's very well made, designed beautifully, so very attractive and the big head makes us chuckle for some reason. It's a damn nice costume design PiNPOiNT, but we're sorry to say that it'll be a long wait until Castle Crashers is playable on the XBLA. Ah who cares, all we know right now is that Castle Crashers dress up rocks!

Rumor: Ninja Gaiden 2 on the 360 at the TGS

Posted Aug 19th 2007 3:00PM by Dustin Burg
Filed under: News, Rumors

An interesting turn of rumored events have surfaced regarding Team Ninja's sequel to the beloved Ninja Gaiden franchise and its console future. According to Gamespot Korea (which is in Korean, so have fun reading that), they've "confirmed" with a Japanese gaming insider that Ninja Gaiden 2 will be released on the Xbox 360 and will be shown on the 360 at the Tokyo Game Show. They supposedly will be demoing the game on a 360 due to their strong relationship with Microsoft and because they probably love having fists full of cash. Also interesting to note is that the Japanese tipster said that a PS3 release wasn't detailed yet, hinting at a possible timed exclusive for the 360. Juicy stuff.

But remember kids, we're nearly required to file this Ninja Gaiden 2 news in the rumor / spec folder, because of all the vagueness. Heck, we can't even read the Korean Gamespot story to confirm its text. But we have to admit the thought of Ninja Gaiden 2 on the 360, at the TGS and being a timed exclusive just makes us giddy.

[Thanks, Jim]

Next Page >

Retailers say Eye of Judgment is $60, camera included Heavenly Sword animation: The Rise of Evil Six quest packs planned for Folklore Bladestorm bundle to invade Japan later this month Factor 5's Eggebrecht annoyed at ESRB's censorship Subscribe with My AOL, MyYahoo or Bloglines	Are instance drops really random? Patch 2.2 on the PTR: New Violet Eye Recipes Forum Thread of the Day: Quest text that makes you laugh Real friends vs. virtual friends Harry Plotter and the Ninja of the Phoenix Subscribe with My AOL, MyYahoo or Bloglines
Dungeons & Dragons video reveals lengthy loads Folklore will get some life on the PSP A closer look at PSP's AV cables Hacked Silent Hill demo smuggled, released to public SOCOM Week: Interview with Slant Six Subscribe with My AOL, MyYahoo or Bloglines	The Joystiq Weekend: August 18 - 20, 2007 Rumor: Ninja Gaiden 2 for 360 to be at Tokyo Game Show BioShock PC demo is now available 'Vast' memory card claims tool-less unlock for PlayStation 2 Crysis Special Edition promises featurette, vignette and kitchenette sink Subscribe with My AOL, MyYahoo or Bloglines
Fido outs Nokia 5200 Faking one's death still not enough to escape Verizon contract Nokia N95 with American 3G gets FCC'd! It's on: FCC sets 700MHz spectrum auction for January 16, 2008 Nokia sneaks 6263 with T-Mobile 3G through FCC Subscribe with My AOL, MyYahoo or Bloglines	Liveblogging: Eco-tech future fuels Edwards' Plan: 40 MPG Cafe, all cars flex fuel and more The Chevy Volt range extender will remain E85 capable Safe, cool and practical: Reactiv Cycling Jacket - with video Citroën C5 Airscape is a green executive cabriolet with new UrbanHybrid system Subscribe with My AOL, MyYahoo or Bloglines
IBM's next gen flash storage to feature spinning electrons HP MediaSmart servers get priced? Poll: still reading Fake Steve? Has Building B created an internet video "God box"? Faking one's death still not enough to escape Verizon contract Subscribe with My AOL, MyYahoo or Bloglines	Apple earns a silver in environmental evaluation Want an iPod shuffle and have way too much money? Paramount and Dreamworks leave Blu-Ray behind Ultimate Buds Apple-Etymotic ER-6i iPhone Earphones More on application access to the iPhoto '08 library Subscribe with My AOL, MyYahoo or Bloglines
VW R32: So fast you'll need shorter songs Woodward Dream Cruise 2007: V6 'Vette, as in Chevette eBay Find of the Day: 1948 Tucker #46 Woodward Dream Cruise 2007: Reliving memories with options India's Tata Motors cheap car could be good/bad for country Subscribe with My AOL, MyYahoo or Bloglines	Spirit Airlines CEO: "Let him tell the world how bad we are." Chinese Buffet - Part 16: Shanghai's Culture Square Ferries for Hawaiian Island Hopping International Beatles Week Photo of the Day (8/20/07) Subscribe with My AOL, MyYahoo or Bloglines
HDTV Listings for August 20, 2007 Fox, MGM strike back -- proudly unveil slew of upcoming Blu-ray films Does your HDTV support 1:1 pixel mapping? Paramount, Dreamworks dropping Blu-ray in favor of HD DVD exclusivity HD DVD and Blu-ray releases on August 21st, 2007 Subscribe with My AOL, MyYahoo or Bloglines	iRed Lite - control any app with your Apple remote Simple HTML to Wiki Converter Go to church, get some iTunes Unofficial Windows Mobile 6 update for Dell Axim X51v ISOPuzzle - recover data from damaged disks Subscribe with My AOL, MyYahoo or Bloglines