Today, we're officially declaring it an Xbox Live Marketplace Demo Extravaganza day, because we're seeing the release of not just one, but TWO super new video game demos to the XBLM. Like we said, it's a demo extravaganza!
First up is a new 1.25GB Sid Meier's Civilization Revolution demo, featuring both single and multiplayer play and enough turn based strategy to shake a stick at. And for those of you who didn't winearly access last week, the new 1.5GB Battlefield: Bad Company single (slash) multiplayer demo is ready to be consumed by you, the masses. Hit up the XBLM, queue some demo deliciousness up for download and get your game on.
Posted May 22nd 2008 12:30PM by Dustin Burg
Filed under: News
Update 2: Okay, we admit it ... it's true. BioShock is headed to the PS3.
Update: This rumor is beginning to be more factual then not, with news that next month's EGM will also be revealing the PS3 version of BioShock. And it's reportedly scheduled to release around Christmas '08. Interesting ...
A warning to 360 fanboys who pride themselves on being selfish and protective over their 360 exclusive titles. We have rumor news that will not sit well with you.
CVG is reporting that next month's issue of UK PSM3 promises an in-depth look at (deep breath kids) BioShock for the PS3. ZOMG! Shocker! According to early magazine reports, the PS3 version of BioShock is said to be superior to the currently Xbox 360 exclusive version, packed with all previously released DLC and improved visuals. While you wipe your selfish fanboys tears, take comfort that this news is still firmly planted in the rumor garden and know that even if it does turn out to be true, you being the 360 fanboy that you already experienced the world of Rapture last year. Now, buck up.
Feeling charitable yet you still want to receive something tangible for your tax write-off'able donation? Then how about bidding on a Ken Levine autographed copy of BioShock (the Xbox 360 version, of course) which is currently on the auction block over at eBay by the folks at Game Giving. A non-profit organization who donates all auction proceeds to various charities that help children worldwide. You have nine days to bid on this piece of Ken Levine, BioShock, 2K Games history, so get to it! Heck, if BioShock doesn't float your boat (no pun intended), then we advise focusing your bidding efforts on Game Giving's Rock Band bundle. Just stay far, far away from Eragon ...
For those of you who are interesting in exploring a world during the days of prohibition (in the prequel to the main story) and the Brooklyn Dodgers, comes the 2K Czech developed sequel; Mafia II. Taking place between the 1940s to 1950s and set in fictional Empire City, Mafia II follows the story of Vito. After returning from World War II, where he enlists to run away from robbery charges, Vito meets up with old friends to join in the ranks of la cosa nostra. The game looks more and more polished every time we see it and we think it could be a refreshing shot in the arm after nearly a year of that other sandbox game when it hits at the end of 2008.
Comic Con is not only good for comic related news and culture, but also for semi-official video game sequel announcements as well. It's true!
According to The Quarter Bin's recap of Top Cow Production' Comic Con panel, when talking about their future comic book licensing agreements they responded by hinting pretty heavily that The Darkness 2 is real and in the works. More specifically, Top Cow told everyone in attendance that "we can't say DARKNESS and video game sequel in the same sentence. So, DARKNESS. Wink. Sequel." So, there you have it. A possibly, maybe, probably The Darkness sequel announcement straight from The Darkness creators Top Cow. Fun stuff.
Behold! It's the debut trailer for Don King's upcoming boxing game Prizefighter and it's really, really ... boxy? The first thing we must mention is that Prizefighter's graphics are best described as "meh, okay", only because EA's Fight Night is so freakin' gorgeous. The other thing we must say is that the game's button mashing training sequences are actually an interesting idea that look to switch things up a bit. We're serious about that. Other than that, Prizefighter looks like a boxing game, one that's full of Don King chatter, blood, sweat and (hopefully) tears. Watch the trailer and see if you like.
2K Games has announced gamers will be able to get their classic, prohibition era, mob style action in on the Xbox 360, PC (Games for Windows) and PS3 in Mafia II. The 1950s sandbox-style crime drama is currently in development at the newly formed 2K Czech, and with the announcement they sent our crime boss (Joystiq) a handful of screens. Check them out below, but don't you dare fuggetaboutit.
Next Generation was able to catch up with 2K Marin Creative Director, Jordan Thomas, after a presentation on emergent gameplay he delivered at University of Teesside's Animex festival. Next Gen's interview is in the main concerned with gameplay theory, but towards the end shifts focus to Bioshock 2. As his presentation and interview had to do with emergent gameplay, Next Gen assumes that this will be a larger focus in Bioshock 2. Thomas comments that "I really like the idea of the player being able to create dynamic physical attachments – Rube Goldberg machines of death!" which gives us a pretty good idea of the creative direction that the sequel will be taking.
Along with that choice quote was another one that was hopefully a bit more of a promise than a hyperbole: "in the future I'll want to generate much more of that – maybe give the player the ability to steal superpowers from characters that are wandering around the world, or alter their behavior in ways that amount to more than just getting them to fight each other. There's a lot of potential real estate there." So long as they make good on that potential, we'll be here to play it.
Major Nelson and Elizabeth from 2K Games just partnered up to offer a few short, sweet and completely downloadable audio clips from everybody's favorite Big Daddy adventure, BioShock. The audio clips are all master tracks taken from Rapture's quirky odd talking vending machines. As an added bonus, once you play but one of these audio clips, we guarantee that you'll be instantly taken back to your Rapture gaming days. Ahhh ... Rapture ...
Now, you may be asking what the heck you want with a few random (yet very yummy) audio samples from BioShock's vending machines. Well, if you were a creative fellow, you wouldn't be asking that now would you? Use them as a ringtone, apply them as your computer's error message, mix some samples into a full fledged song or just keep looping a clip while you sleep at night. Be creative and share how you'll be using your newly downloaded BioShock vending clips.
In our continuing effort to bring you fresh and interesting content, X3F presents Would You Rather ... a weekly feature that asks you the hard questions. The point? If you had to choose one or the other, which would you go for?
Consolidation. The word sounds so ... dirty. Yet, companies seem to be piling on top of each other to stay afloat as rising costs of game creation threaten to ruin the little guys. Sometimes, like in the case of this week's WUR, larger companies decide they should absorb their competition having some gamers scream MONOPOLY! Speaking of Monopoly, this week's WUR is all about EA and their recent bids to gobble up competitors Ubisoft and Take Two Interactive. Well X3F Army, which would you rather join Team EA?
Feel free to share the reasons for your vote in the comments. We'll share the results of the poll during the next edition of Would You Rather ... which hits X3F every Wednesday.
Last weeks WUR results can be find after the jump ... and bid!
We briefly mentioned this during our recap of the Take Two earnings call last night, but we wanted to echo the story so BioShock fans can sleep easy. At the tail-end of the Take Two earnings call last night Chairman Strauss Zelnick clarified questions we had regarding the BioShock sequel that was announced during the 2K investors call earlier in the day. When discussing the upcoming sequel Zelnick assured listeners that BioShock series creator Ken Levine, "will be working on BioShock 2."
While we hope this means Ken will lend his vision to the 2K Marin team in hopes of creating yet another successful foray into the franchise, who knows if it means Ken will just be in Australia on a LOST landmark bus tour. So readers we ask, how important is Ken Levine's involvement in a sequel to BioShock?
After BioShock was met with critical and commercial success the prospect of a sequel seemed to be a foregone conclusion and today 2K Games finally admitted that the title is in the works. The surprising news is that 2K Boston, formally Irrational Games, will not be at the helm of BioShock 2's development, rather the job has been tasked to 2K Marin, who are reportedly staffed with former Irrational Games members. No involvement from Ken Levine was mentioned during the announcement.
The info dropped from an investor relations report 2K released today. With talks of an impending buyout on the horizon for parent company Take Two, the timing of this announcement couldn't be better. While the average gamer doesn't care about the business side of the industry, it will be interesting to see how Take Two's stock spikes based on the announcement. Either way, gamers can expect to take-out another group of Big Daddies in the last months of 2009 - so start lining up.
[Thanks to everyone who sent this in. Via, Joystiq]
After hopping onto the XBLM this morning, we were surprised to come across new downloadable content for none other than The Darkness. Odd, no? The new DLC can be found under the "New Releases" section of the Marketplace under the not so convenient title "Darkness MP Map: DM_Haunt" (uhh, wha?). The content features the multiplayer map DM_Haunt which is set in the streets of New York City, a new death match and team death match game mode as well as the ability to customize your shapeshifter, darkling or human character. The best part about the DLC is the fact that it is 100% free. Worst part about the DLC is that it's for The Darkness' multiplayer of which we don't know of anyone who has played it in the last three months. Oh well, free content is free content.
As a preemptive warning to those searching for any BioShock 2 news, details or leaked assets. This concept art isn't real. Well, actually, let us re-phrase that. This concept art is real, but is not tied to the yet to be announced BioShock 2 and is actually the work of a talented artist by the name of Ben Mauro. The reason the artwork looks very BioShock'esque is because Mr. Mauro actually took inspiration from BioShock to create the concept art and a BioShock 2 "pitch" for his college architecture course. We think everyone can agree that it's lovely art and it makes our head ponder what will be in the BioShock sequel ... what ideas we have.
Here at X3F we aren't known for our love of the sports genre, but we know there are a few fanboys who can't get enough testosterone filled sports gaming. And for those gamers, we send word of an Xbox Live exclusive College Hoops 2K8 Virtual NCAA Final Four tourney where fame, a trip to San Antonio and a brand new car can be won. Registration for the online basketball tournament begins on February 22nd and will bounce its way through March 14th. As an added bonus, if you participate in the online tournament, complete all ten qualifying games and end your run with one final tournament you'll earn an uber exclusive gamer picture that'd make any NCAA fan proud. Now go, go and dunk that rock.
Today, we're officially declaring it an Xbox Live Marketplace Demo Extravaganza day, because we're seeing the release of not just one, but TWO super new video game demos to the XBLM. Like we said, it's a demo extravaganza!
Feeling charitable yet you still want to receive something tangible for your tax write-off'able donation? Then how about bidding on a Ken Levine autographed copy of 
Major Nelson and Elizabeth from 2K Games just partnered up to offer a few short, sweet and completely downloadable audio clips from everybody's favorite Big Daddy adventure, 
We briefly mentioned this during our 
After 
After hopping onto the 
Here at X3F we aren't known for our love of the sports genre, but we know there are a few fanboys who can't get enough testosterone filled sports gaming. And for those gamers, we send word of an 
