Hey, remember that rumor that Microsoft was developing a service called My GamerPad that was an awful lot like Sony's (still unfinished) Home service on the PS3? You can stick a fork in that rumor. It's done. DCEmu reports that the supposed image from My GamerPad (top left) is nothing more than a Photoshopped version of an image taken from deviantART user saffiq. So there you go kids. Remember, if it looks Photoshopped, smells Photoshopped, and tastes Photoshopped, it's a duck Photoshopped. You might also want to remember to make sure no one is around when it comes time to sniff and lick your computer screen though.
Geekpulp reports that some interesting things have come up during their attempts to schedule Microsoft appointments for E3 (note to self: schedule Microsoft appointments for E3). According to Geekpulp, Microsoft's appointment list is headed up by two slots for "Surprise Games" and a third slot listed simply as "Surprise Thing." We have to admit, we're really not sure what these surprise games are. We'd like to thing one could be Alan Wake -- it certainly would be a surprise to see it come out of hiding -- but we get the feeling they will be unannounced titles (Lips perhaps?). As for the surprise thing, that could be Avatars, Microsoft's answer to Nintendo's Miis.
The article also mentions an EGM rumor that Microsoft will soon begin allowing third parties to manufacture 360 hardware. In other words, companies other than Microsoft could cram 360 hardware into their products. Similar rumors were swirling around late last year, saying that a new "standard chassis system" had been created that would allow 360 hardware to be added to HDTVs. Could Microsoft be shooting for the Trojan Horse strategy of the PS3, getting consumers to buy their game console because it's built into another piece of desirable hardware (in the PS3's case, a Blu-Ray player)? Gasp! is that where the Blu-Ray 360 rumors keep coming from, a Blu-Ray player that just happens to play 360 games, too? The head reels at all the possibilities. Whatever Microsoft's new "thing" is, we're definitely intrigued.
Source - Geekpulp: Two New Microsoft Titles (and more) to be Announced at E3 Source - 1UP: Will Microsoft allow other companies to make 360s?
Remember the rumor that a 360 price cut was imminent and that a new 360 SKU was headed our way? Trusted Reviews has taken it upon itself to speculate on exactly what the supposed new SKU will be (and this rumor didn't even come from a survey!). Specifically, Trusted Reviews believes it will be a new 360 model that includes a 60GB hard drive. Obviously, 60 gigabytes is less than the 120 gigabyte hard drive that comes with the Xbox 360 Elite, meaning that the supposed 60GB 360 would likely replace the current 20GB 360 Pro. Supposedly, the announcement is set for E3 with an actual release in early August (before August 10 according to Trusted Reviews).
The question that remains is whether the Xbox 360 Arcade would then be bundled with the 20GB hard drive or if it will remain without a hard drive. Also still up in the air is how the 60GB model would affect the possibility of a price cut. Is it possible that Microsoft will release a new SKU and offer it for a lower price than the current model? Oh, we hope so. Let's throw in cuts for the Arcade and Elite while we're at it.
'OMG Megaton' is a phrase often uttered by fanboys everywhere. Rarely, however, is it done with any sort of sincerity. After yesterday's massive leak of Intellisponse Survey info, we think it's safe to use the phrase with complete and utter confidence: OMG MEGATON!!!!111LOLZ1! Seriously, there is so much information being disseminated that people are actually starting to mock up fake survey pages in an attempt to grab the spotlight. Here we have gathered up all the rumors -- they are just that, by the way: rumors -- that we've posted so far as well as some that Joystiq posted while we foolishly slept.
Of particular interest, note the video above, which reportedly comes from an as yet unreleased Silicon Knights game entitled Crucible: The Evil Within. Looks like Too Human set in a more traditional fantasy realm, which is an idea we fully support.
The mystery of the "Lips" game (news that was leaked days early thanks to Microsoft's press site) is seeing another twist, with word that "Lips" really isn't a game. Instead, "Lips" is rumored to be the codename for a new Xbox 360 accessory.
8Bit Joystick is reporting that months ago they got a hold of insider documents from the Xbox 360 engineering team and came across mention of a new 360 voice accessory code named "Lips". No more information was detailed in the supposed insider documents, but 8Bit Joystick speculates that these "Lips" will either be a new way to communicate or will add voice recognition to games. We aren't sure if that makes much sense seeing that we have a perfectly functioning headset that does voice recognition, but we'll go with it seeing that "Lips" speculation is more fun when thinking about new accessories. So ... is tomorrow's news here yet?
More rumors folks! This time it's in regards to that unannounced Rare game that's going to be hitting before year's end. According to a poster on NeoGAF who claims to be under NDA (a claim backed up by other posters' reactions to the info), the title is a sequel to a game of Rare's that has already been released on the 360. Logically, that narrows things down quite a bit. Is it Kameo? With Banjo Kazooie on the way? No. A Perfect Dark game? With Gears 2 on the way? No. Jetpac Re-Refueled? HellNo.
Given that this is a rumor, we could still be way off base, but we're gonna call this one as a Viva Pinata sequel. If it is, hopefully Microsoft will actually market it this time around, so people know about it and it actually sells.
A website by the name of Fudzilla is reporting that Microsoft is looking to launch its own chain of retail stores. The rumor comes via "sources close to Microsoft," and claims that MS will open said stores to showcase Microsoft products and will employ "skilled people," to show customers "the true Microsoft experience." Yes, it sounds more than a bit like the strategy currently utilized by Apple and its chain of boutique stores.
A key distinction here is that Microsoft doesn't have the same range of hardware that Apple produces, which makes one wonder exactly what will be on display. Of course, one would expect to see Zunes and Xbox 360s, but beyond that and a handful of PC peripherals, Microsoft is mainly a software producer. Maybe we'll see PCs loaded with MS software?
The only other question that remains is whether or not Microsoft can capture some of the mindshare that has been lost to Apple. If Microsoft can manage to make customers pay a ridiculously high price for socks, then they're on the right track.
Remember, a whole 3 days ago, when Epic announced Gears 2? Sure you do, there was the stylized trailer of Marcus Fenix and a locust engaging in an honorable chainsaw duel. Well, the rumor mill is working a bit slowly as of late, as it did take a whole three days for word to get started that the chainsaw versus chainsaw moment seen in the GDC teaser is actually an ingame feature now. According to a Variety blogger who spoke with several people close to the Epic dev team, a melee attack from a chainsaw can be countered, and even repelled, by the person being attacked. How this effects balance, or what it says about future locust weaponry is all speculative at this point though. All in all, true or not, this could possibilty be cool so long as it doesn't end up being a button-mashing mess.
It seems as we slept last night, big things were happening over at GameSpot. Rumors are flying (flying we say) that GameSpot's Editorial Director Jeff Gerstmann was fired thanks to a negative text review and a very negative video review of Kane & Lynch: Dead Men. As you can see from the above image, Eidos is obviously sending a lot of advertising money GameSpot's way, leading many to think that publisher pressure had something to do with the firing. Adding fuel to the fire, the Kane & Lynch skin at GameSpot seen above has since been removed, within hours of the story breaking. It's all still hearsay at this point -- the only confirmation is currently coming from anonymous sources -- but if it's true, it's likely to rock the game industry. The news is already exploding on GameSpot's forums, while the resulting posts on the Eidos forums have apparently been purged. There's a lot to go over with more likely to break. Hit the links below to read Joystiq's coverage from early this morning. Check out Gerstmann's video review of Kane & Lynch after the break.
Read - Rumor: GameSpot Editorial Director fired over Kane & Lynch review Read - Eidos and GameSpot forums exploding over Gerstmann incident
Todo Juegos (translated) is reporting that Microsoft is planning a new promotion for Europe. Said promotion should run between November 1st, 2007 until January 31st, 2008. The gist of it is pretty simple. Just get a friend to purchase a new 360 at some point during the promotion, attach a copy of the receipt to a special coupon (PDF link), mail it in, and both you and your friend will receive ten free Xbox Live Arcade games. The games reportedly offered are:
Sensible World of Soccer
Sonic the Hedgehog
Street Fighter II: Hyper Fighting
Bomberman LIVE
Marble Blast Ultra
Spyglass Board Games
Small Arms
3D Ultra MiniGolf Adventures
Assault Heroes
Zuma Deluxe
Not a bad deal at all, especially if you're on the convincing side and not the purchasing side. We can't guarantee that the offer is real, but the coupon certainly looks legit. If any of our European readers have heard rumblings of this offer -- especially if you can find an English version of the coupon -- please let us know in the comments.
We've got a big, juicy Xbox rumor today, kiddies (one we've heard before, but juicy nonetheless). Smarthouse is reporting that Microsoft and Toshiba are teaming up to manufacture a new Xbox 360 with an internal HD-DVD drive. The new box would be aimed squarely at the entertainment market, and would include new "entertainment software" with functionality similar to Media Center. The article notes that the software wouldn't actually be Media Center, but a "spin off" instead. The machine also supposedly sports a host of other features including a dual HDTV tuner, large hard drive, wireless networking, and a docking port for an MP3 player. Added to this pile of speculation is the development of "a new open standard chassis system that allows an Xbox to be slotted into a HD TV screen over 40-inch." If we're reading that right, that means a TV with your Xbox 360 build right in.
All of this is apparently being done to combat Blu-Ray, which is being pushed by the Playstation 3. Frankly, it sounds a bit like overkill, but Smarthouse claims to have inside sources, including a Toshiba executive. The mysterious executive had this to say: "An Xbox with a built in HD DVD drive is critical. They and we are working on it. It also has to be more than a gaming machine. Microsoft recognise this." The exec added that the device might be marketed as a Toshiba product as well as a Microsoft product.
We'll see. Honestly, it doesn't make sense. HD-DVD might need a boost, but the 360 is doing just fine without it. We have to wonder about this Super Xbox, though. As something designed primarily to sell HD-DVD, how much will all these extra features cost? Assuming the rumor is correct, we'll find out in late 2008 or early 2009.
A little bird told Opposable Thumbs that two new Xbox 360 bundles are headed to retailers in time for the holidays this year. The first rumor concerns a new Xbox 360 Premium system that comes with both Forza 2 and Marvel: Ultimate Alliance. The games are rumored to be contained within a single case, though they will be pressed on separate DVDs, unlike the Sega GT / Jet Set Radio Future bundle on the original Xbox. This bundle is supposedly dropping October 9th with an Elite version of the same bundle following on October 23rd. If this sounds familiar, it's because the same bundle was first rumored last month, although no date was given at the time.
The second rumor concerns a new version of the Core system that includes a 256MB memory unit and 5 Xbox Live Arcade games (Boom-Boom Rocket, Pac-man, Uno, Feeding Frenzy, and Luxor 2). The system is also supposed to have an HDMI port. This rumor also began last month, branded as the Xbox 360 Arcade console. This second round of rumors would seem to lend credence to the first. We'll see soon enough.
While not the most reliable of sources, an employee of Game, one of the UK's major gaming retailers, claims that Microsoft has shipped 10-20,000 American Premium Xbox 360s to the UK by mistake. The problem became apparent when the employee, known only as King Antonius, received a returned Xbox 360. It turns out that the returned unit was an American console, and thus had an incompatible power cord for the UK. A quick check of the remaining Premium 360 stock revealed that all the Premium consoles at King Antonius' store were American. Apparently this is a widespread issue.
While we can't verify the authenticity of the claims, we'd suggest that our UK readers check the contents of their Xbox 360 box before leaving the store.
Following last week's rumor that Best Buy will no longer stock the Xbox 360 Core system, Joystiq has received an anonymous tip that Target will be doing the same. The tip was accompanied by several images of the product listing in a store PDA, with the image above regrettably being the clearest. The upper right corner displays the Core system's status as "Discontinued." Coupled with the Best Buy rumor, it's starting to look like the Core is definitely being phased out. The question is whether or not another product will take its place or if the Premium and Elite models will become the only remaining choice.
We're curious to see what our readers think about the possibility that the Core is going the way of the dodo. While it would eliminate the cheapest 360 offering, it would also ensure that future 360s would all benefit from a guaranteed hard drive, which would also conceivably allow game developers to utilize the hard drive for more detailed games. What do you think? Should the Core be discontinued or is it better for Microsoft to keep its bottom tier choice?
And so, the twisted web of Crysis on consoles is woven ever tighter. Some of you might recall a Crytek senior game designer claiming that the PS3 and Xbox can't handle Crysis. Afterward, a lead artist claimed it was definitely possible to port the game to consoles, though he didn't know of any plans to do so. After that, we reported about a specially designed version of Crysis for Xbox 360 that wouldn't really be a port at all. It should come as no shock that EA later denied that such a project existed, claiming that it was a "miscommunication."
So, now that we're up to date, here's the latest: according to CVG, Crytek CEO Cevat Yerli has now gone on record saying that "Crysis could be on the 360 or PS3." Yerli goes on to say that bringing Crysis to consoles would require optimization and, furthermore, this has always been the stance of Crytek. O RLY? Yerli concludes that there are no current plans to bring the game to consoles and that Crytek's priority is finishing the PC game. Still, hope springs eternal, right?
Geekpulp
