Xbox 360 Fanboy

Last night, we went out of E3 in style and on our own partying terms by hosting a Joystiq and X3F Reader Meetup event in Santa Monica, California. The turnout was great (something close to 300 readers attended), we ate some pizza, chit-chatted some, gave out a couple hundred pounds of swag and the highlight of the meetup was Rock Band 2. You read correctly, the guys from Harmonix showed up with Rock Band 2 (which is freakin' amazing btw) and new instruments in hand to let everyone try out the new setup. All in all it was a great way to close out the E3 week and for those who attended, we send a gigantic "thank you!" your way. Without your support we'd be nothing but a few sad and lonely fanboys.

Check out the photographic reader meetup recap below and for more meetup coverage, jump on over to Joystiq and browse their photos too.

Our community is oh so important to us, so whenever we get a chance, we love to chat it up with our fellow fanboys face to face, person to person and mono y mono. That's why we're doing it again this year, partnering with our gentle overlords over at Joystiq for the second annual E3 Joystiq reader meetup in Santa Monica next week! At Mahalo's headquarters, no less!

The E3 reader meetup will feature plenty of social fun, free food and drinks, a bunch of video games to play (hooked up to a few very expensive projectors) and hundreds upon hundreds of pieces of swag will be given away. Over 200+ pounds of swag, ranging from video games to faceplates to peripherals to wearable swag. All being given away for FREE at the meetup! Though, we must admit, the most important reason you should attend is to meet the X3F crew. Yup, Richard and Dustin will both be in attendance along with a bunch of the Joystiq bloggers. Good times will be had!

Be a social butterfly, stop by Mahalo HQ next Thursday, mingle a bit, win some swag, get your game on, meet the blogging crew and smile from ear to ear. Everyone can attend and don't forget to RSVP.

When: 6-10:00PM pacific on Thursday, July 17th
Where: Mahalo HQ, 902 Colorado Avenue, Santa Monica, CA 90401 (map it!)
Who: Every man, women and child of every age. Yes, even YOU can attend!
Why: Because it's "good times".
RSVP: Facebook

Our fearless leader and overall cool cat Christ Grant, from the widely popular video game news site Joystiq, recently got a chance to chat with the crew working on Hail to the Chimp and, using his finely tuned negotiation skills, was able to setup a special deal for Joystiq network readers. If you pre-order Hail to the Chimp at Gamestop stores before June 15th, Gamecock will send you a FREE $10 gift card to the Onion Store. And we don't have to tell you how awesome the Onion is. Not too shabby of a deal, so make the jump and read all the fine print pre-order details.

[Via Joystiq]

During the Halo 3 beta preview in New York, the guys over at Joystiq cornered Bungie's very own media man Frankie to discuss everything Halo. And even though he was tight lipped about Halo 3's story and future projects, he did talk about the Halo movie, what Bungie wants from the beta, and what kind of input they'll be taking from fans. Frankie also throws a hard left hook at Nintendo's Miyamoto for his remarks about Halo ... and let's just say we're looking forward to Bungie's new 2D side-scroller. Read the full interview after the jump.

Over at the Fat Wallet forums truematic posted a flier for the store Game Play where the Xbox 360 HD-DVD drive is listed at $99.95. That's an astonishing $100 off of the normal price guys. Though it all seems a little fishy and is probably is just a typo. But if anyone has a Game Play nearby or tries to go to Best Buy to price match, then please post your stories. I'm thinking printing out a flier from home just won't be enough for the powers that be to complete a price match ... but we're crossing our fingers. $99 HD-DVD drive FTW.

[Via Joystiq]

Sure, we all know that Valve announced the release of it's 360 Source engine to 360 developers. But that wasn't enough for Joystiq. No, they had to go and ask questions. They needed answers straight from the proverbial horse's mouth. As if they were journalists or something. The short but sweet interview covers the differences between the 360 middleware engine and the free PC version, the ease of cross-platform portability, and integrated networking possibilities (i.e. Live). Check it out if you're so inclined. Anybody have any pet source projects they'd like to bring to the 360?

Ludwig over at Joystiq passed this little gem onto us today. Looks like the 360 will be getting an arcade stick after all, courtesy of Mad Catz. While it's obvious that the stick should be perfect for old school favorites like Galaga, certain elements are rather curious. First of all, the controller has both a joystick and a D-pad, suggesting that the stick is in fact analogue. Also, the triggers and shoulder buttons don't appear to be on the face of the controller at all. As such, hopeful Street Fighter purists may still be left without a suitable control.

The original item on EB Games has since been yanked from the internet, but we managed to snag a shot of the page, which lists the controller for $69.99 (ouch) with a release date of October 1st. That's a pretty hefty price for a decent game of Pac-Man.

Speaking with my grim enemy bosom compatriot Ken Weeks earlier today, I lamented the death of E3. As Ken said, it was as if someone had canceled Christmas. When I signed up to blog here, Chris G. dangled E3 in front of me like some kind of golden carrot. Over the months I've been blogging, E3 '07 drove me onward, gave me purpose.

Then, like a punch to the gut, it hit me out of nowhere. E3 was gone. The first year I would have a chance to go, it was canceled. Perhaps it's fate, I thought. Maybe it means I shouldn't be blogging and should instead learn to enjoy the fake woodgrain of my crappy office desk at my crappy "real" job (don't ask).

Enter Joystiq with this news: E3 lives again! Though it will be somewhat smaller and more "intimate" (rowr), it is still definitely "on." It's still going to be in glamorous, smog filled LA, but will lose the circus/trade show feel. All I'm saying is this: Microsoft, when you're hosting those new and improved "intimate" media events, just put my name on the list. I will be there.

Sure, we're supposed to love the Xbox 360, with its sexy inhale design, smooth white plastic, curvy wireless controller... droooool...

Where was I? Oh yeah, introducing the newest member of Joystiq's dysfunctional Fanboy family: PS3 Fanboy! Since I have a flair for hyperbole, I'll extend the family metaphor far past its usefulness by comparing the PS3 to a younger sibling.

Sure, the Xbox 360 console has been around for near six months already, but lets not jump to criticize our younger brother, the PS3. After all, it's young and still not sure how to behave. But we understand, it's hard to define yourself and make your own path with a cool older sibling around so they: act out (boomerang controller); dress funny (George Foreman grill); and even crib our style (Network Platform), but it's cool. Why? 'Cause they're family.