Go back to school with your Mac, iPhone and TUAW
GameDaily
Posts with tag orange-box

Team Fortress 2 updates on 360 this year (for a price) [update]

Update: It seems GameSpot has pulled this story, though as of this update the story headline is still displayed on GameSpot's 360 page. For what it's worth, Kotaku is reporting the same thing, so we're not sure exactly why GameSpot's article has been pulled. See our original post below.

Gamers with the Xbox 360 version of Team Fortress 2 have had kind of a rough time. First we see the PC version get Medic updates and achievements, then the Pyro gets the same treatment, and now our good friend the Heavy is getting his own update (not to mention the Sandvich). We 360 gamers have sat idly by as PC gamers get to romp about with new weapons and there's a even a new map on the way. It's time to cheer up fanboys, because Valve has confirmed to GameSpot that all of the TF2 content released thus far should be hitting the Xbox 360 before the end of the year.

And now be sad again, because it looks like it's going to cost you. In an interview with VideoGaming247, Valve boss Gabe Newell spoke about the updates saying, "On the consoles, they want us to charge money for them, because that's in their model, and our model is very much more to grow the community by giving out free updates." Boy, we like the sound of Valve's model much better. From the sound of things, it's soundling like Microsoft wants Valve to charge for their content even if Valve doesn't want to (now that sounds familiar).

Valve's Lombardi talks Portal XBLA, achievements and other platforms


Valve's Doug Lombardi (seen muzzled by an X3F sticker at E3 2008) recently cleared up some confusion regarding the content of Portal: Still Alive for the Xbox Live Arcade in an interview with OXM. "It's just a series of new challenges," Lombardi told the magazine. "[Portal: Still Alive is] another way for people to experience Portal, without having to buy the full Orange Box."

We can't say we're surprised. With such a focus on story we didn't expect Valve to do anything exclusively for the Xbox that would factor into actual canon of the series.

Lombardi later detailed that Valve has new projects in the works for the Xbox 360 but remain firm on its disinterest for PS3 and Wii development. It was also confirmed that Team Fortess 2 that the achievements and content added to the PC version of the game will come to the Xbox 360 at some point, when
Valve has worked out how it wants to package and release that content.

No joke, it's Portal's 'Still Alive' in Japanese


Nearly every fanboy knows about Portal's hit song "Still Alive". A Jonathan Coulton original song performed by Aperture Science's artificial intelligence GLaDOS that has been so popular, it made its way onto Rock Band. Well, now Japanese and not so Japanese Portal fans can experience "Still Alive" a new way, translated into Japanese and sung by Hatsune Miku, a character voice that's included as part of the Vocaloid software package. What more can we say? It's "Still Alive", it's Japanese, it's odd and it's hella' entertaining.

Points>Life: Recap Edition


Each week, X3F tips gamers to the tricks of the trade of Achievement hording in Points>Life. Every week a new achievement is unlocked to help you continue your unhealthy obsession with the Xbox 360 meta-game.

This week on Points>Life we're giving you nothing! Well, actually what we're doing is going back and recapping the tips we've given you and added a little postmortem comment. After releasing each feature the X3F Army shared best practices on other methods to obtain similar achievements.

This week we go back to the last eight weeks of tips and tricks, so if you're new to Points>Life ... today is your day!

Continue reading Points>Life: Recap Edition

Valve distances themselves from PS3 development

Big Xbox 360 fanboy brownie points goes to developer Valve, not only for giving the 360 a superior version of the Orange Box, but because they openly diss the PS3. Now that's the kind of developer we love.

Chatting with CVG at a recent Left 4 Dead preview event, Valve's Doug Lombardi was blatantly honest about why they aren't planning a PS3 version of the game, saying that "we're not PS3 developers - we're doing PC and 360 like with Orange Box." Zing! Lombardi explained that "EA came to us and said 'wow, Orange box was an incredible project, can we do a PS3 version?'", so that's why a (craptacular) PS3 version was created without Valve's magic touch. Though, it's still possible we'll see Left 4 Dead on the PS3 if it becomes a huge hit on the 360 and PC, just don't expect Valve to be involved ... mwahahahaha!

[Via NeoGAF]

Microsoft rejected Portal from XBLA lineup

GamesIndustry.biz is reporting that Valve's Orange Box hit Portal was rejected by Microsoft after Valve made an effort to get the title on the Xbox Live Arcade.

Valve's Doug Lombardi recently told GamesIndustry.biz that he'd "love to sell Portal on Xbox live" but that "the platform holders aren't doing that right now" because of "size limit and all kinds of other things." Because, if you recall, Microsoft has strict rules on XBLA games maxing out at 150MB in size. Though, Lombardi is optimistic about Portal hitting the XBLA, saying that "it always happens once it's been proven and I think it's been proven now on Steam, so I'm sure it'll migrate back to the consoles just like everything else does." Meh ...

So, there you have it, Microsoft crushed our Portal XBLA dreams. Those evil monkeys. Maybe the N+ guys were right about MS and their iron-fisted rule over the XBLA. Maybe?

Valve: No Portal sequel in 2008

Sad news fellow Companion Cube lovers, Valve just confirmed that gamers won't be able to experience a second round of Portal fun anytime this year. The reason? They simply don't want to make it a rush job.

Speaking with Eurogamer, Valve's Doug Lombardi broke down their decision by saying that they don't want to "quickly replicate it [a Portal sequel] and stick it out there - do the opportunistic thing and cash in on it", and will instead be sticking to a formula where a Portal "successor has to be equally as revolutionary as the first." Lombardi went on to say that "you won't see a new Portal at retail this Christmas because of that. That's the trade off. People want more, but we don't want to give them more of the same right away because that would just be boring."

There you have it, no new Portal funnery this year. But we have a feeling a fully beefed out and revolutionary Aperture Science experience will be headed our way come 2009.

Rock Band 'Still Alive' DLC will always be free

Just in case you were worried about not being able to grab the new "Still Alive" Rock Band downloadable content for free before it's promotional period (you procrastinating bum), you can rest easy now. Major Nelson just confirmed that Jonathan Coulton's "Still Alive" will forever be a free DLC download off the XBLM. That means future Rock Band purchasers will be able to get their GLaDOS fix for free, whenever they get around to downloading it. Applause to Microsoft, EA, Harmonix and Valve for working together to make this happen. Teamwork FTW!

Rock Band: 'Still Alive' DLC tomorrow ... for FREE!


We have super, fantastic, amazing, glorious, superb and geeky Rock Band news for you today. Hmxsean just announced tomorrow's Rock Band downloadable content (seeing that it wasn't announced last Friday) and folks, it's finally here. Revealed back during GDC, Portal's hit song "Still Alive" by Jonathan Coulton will be available for download tomorrow off the XBLM for (get this) 0 Microsoft points. Yes sir, they're offering the "Still Alive" Rock Band DLC for FREE! And even though it's April Fool's day tomorrow, we don't expect this announcement to be a fool. Because, if it were, Harmonix employees would have to fear for their lives. We just have to say it again, but this time in caps ... "STILL ALIVE" WILL BE A FREE ROCK BAND DOWNLOAD TOMORROW! W00T!

Also, just to fuel the fanboy fires, the rockers over on the Playstation 3 will have to wait a few weeks to get their "Still Alive" DLC fix. Mwahahaha, enjoy!

[Thanks, to everyone who sent this in]

Valve hopes to release upcoming TF2 DLC for free

More news on the Team Fortress 2 front as Valve busily plans the release of a new set of DLC and how they are planning on offering the content for free

Speaking with Eurogamer, Valve's VP of marketing Doug Lombardi mentioned that their development team is hard at work on new TF2 multiplayer maps for the 360 version and that their plan is to offer the content for free. Lombardi tells Eurogamer that "free is the way to go. The gamers play the game, they want to keep playing the game, so we've collected their fifty bucks at the start, and once they're in the park, they can ride any ride they want in the park. So, for us that's been the philosophy." And a DLC philosophy we whole-heartily agree with. But nothing is set in stone just yet as Microsoft has certain rules pertaining to free content and we all know how much Orange Box publisher EA loves to make a quick buck off of DLC. In a perfect world we would see TF2 DLC for free, but we have a feeling we're in for another Hidden Fronts disagreement either between Valve and Microsoft or between Valve and EA.

Valve gives us Team Fortress 2 update specifics

Yesterday, we mentioned that a new Team Fortress 2 title update was released via Xbox Live but that we were in the dark pertaining to any of the specifics. We went as far as to call out Valve on their lack of information support surrounding the Orange Box for consoles. But today, we eat our words. Valve developer Kerry hopped onto the Xbox.com forums to inform the masses about the TF2 update and tell us exactly what it fixes. We've posted Kerry's complete list of changes after the break as we're sure our fellow TF2 exploiters are ever so curious to know which exploits in their vast exploit arsenal are no longer effective. Anyway, check out the update list as we go on to officially retract out "evil Valve" comment that we made yesterday. We acknowledge that our name calling was a bit much, but we still stand behind our request at having some sort of Valve supported news hub for getting Orange Box updates. We still cool?

[Thanks, Will]

Continue reading Valve gives us Team Fortress 2 update specifics

Latest Team Fortress 2 update is now live [update]

Update: We're now more informed about the changes that went into effect with this latest update. Check out all the details here.

Recently, Valve's magical Orange Box received a title update with its sole purpose being fixification of Team Fortress 2. Though, sadly, we don't know exactly what changes the update made seeing that Valve has no central news hub for Xbox 360 Orange Box owners. All we get are PC centric updates like this. Evil Valve. But we're guessing the update has something to do with changes that were mentioned a few months back. We're also hearing from our oh so reliable X3F tipsters that the TF2 update adds the option for 14 player games, auto-balance management and other general class enhancements. Again, we can't be exactly sure what modifications were made seeing that Valve doesn't have a central news hub. Did we get that point across yet? Ahem, Valve, we need you to update us on things like this. Mmkay? And until they do, if while surfing the internets you spot a list or breakdown of what changes were put in place with the latest auto-update, please drop us a line. Thanks much.

[Thanks, to everyone who sent this in]

Video: Coulton performs Rock Band DLC 'Still Alive'


Our Joystiq pals just posted a video of Jonathan Coulton's Friday night performance of (recently announced as Rock Band DLC) "Still Alive" at San Francisco's Great American Music Hall. Coulton brought a few folks on stage including tech guy Leo Laporte and Mahalo's Veronica Belmont to participate in the "Still Alive" performance. Their Rock Band skills are lukewarm at best, but we get the general idea and can't wait to sing to "Still Alive" from the comforts of our Rock Band setup at home. And in even more exciting news, Joystiq got a chance to chat with a few Harmonix employees who attended the concert and learned that currently (though subject to change) the "Still Alive" DLC single will be downloadable for $.99. For that price, no true Rock Band'er or Portal'er should be without GLaDOS' mega-hit.

Sunday Deals: H3, BioShock, Lost Planet and more

Hey, it's Sunday and that means its time to surf the internets, open those newspapers and look for the best gaming deals this week. But we've already done the work for you, so please, allow us to share ...

This week, Best Buy has two decent offers, one being that you can get a free $10 gift card with the purchase of Turning Point: Fall of Liberty and the other being $10 off Call of Duty 4. Heading North to our Canadian Best Buy friends, not only can you grab Kameo for $15, but they're also offering BioShock for free with the purchase of an Xbox 360. And remember, Xbox 360 prices in Canada recently dropped (Pro: $349, Elite: $449 and Arcade: $279), so that's a very juicy offer. Next up, Circuit City. They've heavily discounted Lost Planet to $20, cut the price of Conflict: DO to $40 and have taken 20% off the price of BlackSite, Kane & Lynch, Turok, Halo 3 and BioShock dropping their price to $48 each. Finally, this week at Target stores, they're selling PGR4 for $30, Scene It? for $50 and The Orange Box or NFS: ProStreet for a cool $40.

That's all the deals we could spot this week, but feel free to share with your fellow fanboys any other offers you spot while out and about this week. Happy shopping and stay safe.

GDC08: Portal's "Still Alive" to be Rock Band DLC


Filed under news that'll make Portal fans squeal with joy, Rock Band's hmxsean just confirmed that the Portal hit "Still Alive" by GLaDOS will be releasing as Rock Band DLC in the near future. And that deserves a w00tacular! The news was revealed last night at Harmonix's GDC party where the man behind "Still Alive", Jonathan Coulton took the stage to make the announcement and play through the song with a few Harmonix developers. We guess this time the cake ended up not being a lie. Sweet.

[Via Joystiq]

Next Page >



Upcoming and Popular Games
Banjo Kazooie: Nuts & Bolts (13)
Dead Space (22)
Fable 2 (54)
Fallout 3 (11)
Far Cry 2 (7)
Gears of War 2 (41)
Guitar Hero World Tour (13)
Halo 3 (664)
Halo Wars (16)
Left 4 Dead (5)
Mirror's Edge (4)
Prince of Persia (5)
Resident Evil 5 (7)
Rock Band 2 (38)
Saints Row 2 (3)
Silent Hill: Homecoming (8)
Tomb Raider: Underworld (7)
Too Human (35)
Viva Pinata: Trouble in Paradise (9)
On X3F
Contests and Giveaways (172)
Deals and Bargains (205)
E3 (206)
Fan stuff (1190)
Galleries (3)
Hacks / mods (146)
Interviews (130)
News (7556)
Peripherals (247)
Podcasts (96)
Polls (36)
Reviews (44)
Rumors (350)
Shipping this week (70)
Video Marketplace (84)
X3F Features (18)
X3F TV (78)
Xbox Live Arcade (1031)
Xbox Live Marketplace (1047)

RESOURCES

RSS NEWSFEEDS

Powered by Blogsmith

Worth reading

  • 360 Arcadians
  • 360Sync
  • Achieve360Points
  • Gamerscore Blog
  • Gamertag Radio
  • GameTrailers 360
  • Halo.Bungie.Org
  • Major Nelson
  • Planet Xbox 360
  • TeamXbox
  • Unscripted 360
  • XBLArcade
  • Xbox 360 Achievements
  • Xbox Domain
  • Xbox-Scene
  • Xboxyde
  • Xboxygen (French)

Featured Galleries

Alan Wake
New Xbox Experience - XBLM
Gears of War 2 - Manual
LEGO Batman
Gears of War 2 COG Tag
Dead Space Console Themed Skins
Gears of War 2 - Art/Renders (9/29/08)
Gears of War 2 - Screenshots (9/29/08)
Resident Evil 5

 

Most Commented On (14 days)

Recent Comments

Worth reading

  • 360 Arcadians
  • 360Sync
  • Achieve360Points
  • Gamerscore Blog
  • Gamertag Radio
  • GameTrailers 360
  • Halo.Bungie.Org
  • Major Nelson
  • Planet Xbox 360
  • TeamXbox
  • Unscripted 360
  • XBLArcade
  • Xbox 360 Achievements
  • Xbox Domain
  • Xbox-Scene
  • Xboxyde
  • Xboxygen (French)

Weblogs, Inc. Network

  • Autos
    • Autoblog
    • AutoblogGreen
    • Autoblog Spanish
    • Autoblog Chinese
    • Autoblog Simplified Chinese
  • Technology
    • Download Squad
    • Engadget
    • Engadget HD
    • Engadget Mobile
    • Engadget Chinese
    • Engadget Simplified Chinese
    • Engadget Japanese
    • Engadget Germany
    • Engadget Korea
    • Engadget Polska
    • Engadget Spanish
    • Switched
    • TUAW (Apple)
  • Lifestyle
    • AisleDash
    • DIY Life
    • Gadling
    • Green Daily
    • Luxist
    • ParentDish
    • Slashfood
    • Styledash
    • That's Fit
  • Gaming
    • Joystiq
    • DS Fanboy
    • Massively
    • Nintendo Wii Fanboy
    • PS3 Fanboy
    • PSP Fanboy
    • WoW Insider
    • Xbox 360 Fanboy
    • Big Download
  • Entertainment
    • Cinematical
    • TV Squad
  • Finance
    • BloggingBuyouts
    • BloggingStocks
    • WalletPop
  • Sports
    • FanHouse Main
    • NFL
    • NBA
    • MLB
    • NCAA Football
    • NCAA Basketball
    • NASCAR
    • NHL
    • Golf
    • Free Fantasy Football
  • Also on AOL
    • African-American Culture
    • Cars
    • Games
    • Maps
    • Money
    • Movies
    • Music
    • News
    • Radio
    • Sports
    • Stock Quotes
    • Television
    • Travel

Other Weblogs Inc. Network blogs you might be interested in:

PS3 Fanboy
  • WRUP: What are you playing?
  • Quartermann: Kojima wants full-blown FPS?
  • Rock Band DLC brings on The Offspring, and more
WOW Insider
  • Breakfast Topic: Last minute preparations
  • Compare items on Wowhead
  • Phat Loot Phriday: Heroic Judicator's Chestguard
Nintendo Wii Fanboy
  • Nerf N-Strike performs pre-emptive attack, debuts first trailer
  • Manhunt 2's extra-scary, extra-late UK date
  • Square Enix trademark could be new Crystal Chronicles game
DS Fanboy
  • Japanese hospitals want Dementium off store shelves
  • Team 17 boss wary of DSi features
  • Reggie: DSi not in North America until 'after April'
PSP Fanboy
  • It's not your tran, it's Mytran Wars for PSP
  • Star Ocean for Europe out October 24
  • Enkaku Sousa and Diamond Gunshot websites open
Big Download Blog
  • Former EA CEO takes over as head of US Olympic Committee
  • Gamestop offers extra Far Cry 2 missions with pre-order
  • Prince of Persia dev diary confronts corruption
Fanhouse Golf Blog
  • John Daly Comes Up With Another Fail-safe Plan, European Tour in 2009
  • Golf's Winners and Losers of 2008
  • Vijay Out For Two Months With Tendinitis