Microsoft Kills Private Chat from MW2 and Possibly More

November 2, 2009

Call of Duty Modern Warfare 2 Screen

How many of you spend an inordinate amount of time playing online shooters? A lot of hands in the air, great. How many of you do not wear a headset because you don’t want a teenager yelling racist/homophobic slurs at you because you didn’t listen to their directions on how to flank the enemy? Yeah, still a lot of hands. I rarely ever wear a headset for those reasons and only do so when I can play with friends in a private chat. This was the case in Gears, CoD, Halo 3, you name it. Now, that dream is no more. MS is killing Private Chats in Modern Warfare 2 because players could give away enemy locations when dead and gain a competitive advantage. Really?

Hit the jump for more »

By Steve Kohlbecker | Tagged , , , , | Comments (12)

Forza 3: Demo Impressions

September 28, 2009

Forza 3 Screen

Let me just say this right now, Forza 3 has got 60 frames per second 1080p high-definition racing.  I should probably stop my thoughts on the demo right there, because that’s all you really need to know about Forza 3.  1080p auto-racing porn goodness.  Wait a minute though, there are over 450 cars, 100 real-world tracks to race on, the graphic and lush environments of those tracks, and the stats to possibly take down Gran Turismo.  Does looking under the hood of Forza 3 show the same amount of detail?  Find out how it stands up to other racing titles hitting store shelves after the jump.

Hit the jump for more »

By Justin McCullough | Tagged , , , , , | Comment (1)

Rumor: Microsoft in Talks to Buy Electronic Arts?

September 23, 2009

EA Logo

In what would be an unprecedented merger/buyout, there is chatter on Wall Street that Microsoft is in talks to buy Electronic Arts. As you know, EA is the largest game development studio and has been gobbling up smaller companies as well. There is no concrete evidence that this deal is going to happen, but sources say there is definitely “chatter” out there. EA’s share price jumped 4% and Microsoft 0.9% amidst this chatter. IF this were to ever happen, would MS close out sales on its franchises to Sony such as Madden, or would it only allow certain titles to be mulitplatform and keeping the rest for itself?

By Steve Kohlbecker | Tagged , , , | Comments (6)

Xbox 360 Elite Only $250

September 22, 2009

Untitled-500

Microsoft has done it again. The cost of the Xbox 360 Elite has been taken down to $250 after a $50 mail in rebate. In order to qualify for the rebate, you must purchase your system before October 5th, 2009. After looking over the instructions online it seems like there aren’t any crazy hoops to jump through to get the rebate approved. They even give until November 20th to fill out everything so buyers should have plenty of time to fill out the required forms.

Nice job Microsoft and of course Netflix.

By Chris Stone | Tagged , , | Comments (3)

Modern Warfare 2 Limited Edition Xbox 360

September 16, 2009

limited-edition-mw2-console

Microsoft and Infinity Ward have revealed a new Limited Edition Xbox360 with a Modern Warfare 2 theme. And let me tell you, this baby is SWEET.

At the moment, Amazon is taking pre-orders for this Limited Edition console bundle.

It features a custom designed case, complete with authentic military GSA numbers, MW2 logos and graphics on a gunmetal gray case. It’s pretty freakin’ sweet guys.

The Limited Edition Xbox 360 Modern Warfare 2 bundle includes the custom designed Xbox 360 console, 250GB HDD for storage, two black wireless controllers, 1 black Xbox 360 Wireless headset, Xbox 360Composite A/V Cable and standard Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 game. This console will probably NOT include the HDMI cable, as that has been removed from the Elite packages since the price drop.  Apart from that, Microsoft also packs the standard free one month subscription to Xbox LIVE Gold and free Netflix trial offer.

This package has an expected MSRP of $399.99.

Hit the jump for more »

By Ryan Sullivan | Tagged , , , | Comments (8)

Halo 3 ODST Was Done in May

September 14, 2009

Halo 3 ODST Sgt Johnson Screen

Bungie only took a little over a year to complete development on Halo 3 ODST, which was completed back in May. The game has been both feature and bug fix complete for almost 4 months now, being held back for the Holiday season to garner bigger sales. The news was revealed by Brian Jarrard, Community Director at Bungie, on a recent episode of GameTrailers Bonus Round recorded at PAX.

The Halo team at Bungie moved over to Halo: Reach back in May to develop a completely new game engine, meaning Halo: Reach will be that true next generation of Halo that gamers have been wanting. Halo 3 ODST will run on the same engine developed for Halo 3.

Personally, I can’t wait for both games. I’m a big fan of the Halo universe, so I’m excited to see how Bungie will bring these games into the fold, especially Halo: Reach.

By Matt Banks | Tagged , , | Comment (1)

Microsoft and THQ Don’t Understand the Word “Free”

September 10, 2009

UFC Roster DLC Screen Capture

While browsing the Xbox Live Marketplace today, I came upon a new item for UFC 2009 Undisputed which offers two new fighters, Ryan Bader and Efrain Escudero. What struck me as odd is the description accompanying the DLC. As you can see in the above picture, this item costs 320 Microsoft Points. However, the description states “Download these free roster additions…” Did I miss something here?

I may have slept through a couple classes in college, but last time I checked, free did not equate to $4. Requests to Microsoft and THQ were not returned by press time, but we’ll keep you posted when we hear from them regarding this confusion.

[Update] Yes, I am aware that these are the same fighters that were offered as pre-order bonuses as GameStop.

By Matt Banks | Tagged , , , | Comments (5)

Obama Hates Xbox 360

September 8, 2009

Burnout Obama

Obama’s a fanboy…..pphhssssttt. Lame.

President Obama’s prepared remarks to the nation’s schoolchildren, scheduled to be delivered Tuesday, were released in written form today so that parents could review them and make sure he wouldn’t be saying anything they didn’t want their kids to hear. The release was also meant to placate Obama’s opponents, who have expressed concern that the speech would give him an unfair opportunity to advance a political agenda. But after seeing the text, maybe Microsoft should be the one objecting.

“Now I’ve given a lot of speeches about education. And I’ve talked a lot about responsibility. I’ve talked about your teachers’ responsibility for inspiring you, and pushing you to learn,” Obama will say, according to the text of the speech. “I’ve talked about your parents’ responsibility for making sure you stay on track, and get your homework done, and don’t spend every waking hour in front of the TV or with that Xbox.” Hey, what about the Nintendo Wii?

Hit the jump for more »

By Ryan Sullivan | Tagged , , | Comments (2)

Rumored Xbox 360 Elite Price Drop Official

August 27, 2009

Xbox 360 Elite - Contents Image

Sony announces some of their biggest news in years in dropping the PS3 to under 300 bucks and also introducing a new SKU, the PS3 Slim. What does MS do? They answer right back. The Xbox 360 Elite will now be $299.99. The only small difference is there will be no HDMI cable included. Go to monoprice.com and type in 3661 in the search bar. They are 10 bucks, not 70 as Best Buy would lead you to believe. The 360 Pro will be now $250, but will only be available until supplies run out. The Arcade version is down to $199.99.  Here is the official announcement. There has never been a better time to buy consoles than right now. Sucks for me since I am gaming nerd and bought them all Launch Day for an exorbant amount of money.

By Steve Kohlbecker | Tagged , , | Comments (8)

Sony Producing PS3 Slim vs. Xbox 360 Elite Price Drop to $299.99

August 17, 2009

Next Gen Consoles

Mostly Confirmed: Sony producing new PS3 Slim.

Mostly Confirmed: Microsoft pee’s pants a little, and responds by making the Xbox 360 Elite a little bit smaller a whole butt-load cheaper.

Anyways, some of you might remember the rumors of a PS3 Slim floating around our dear interwebs around the end of May, via an Arstechnica Mole. Then again in early July with Sony reportedly signing manufacturing agreements with both Foxconn and Pegatron. There is no mention of a price change there, so…whatevs. It’s a smaller PS3.

So, the Xbox 360 Elite will replace the Pro at the end of August, with a price drop to $299. This is pretty much a brilliant move by Microsoft, since the biggest shopping season of the year is LITERALLY knocking on our door. Just think, Black Friday is only 101 days away.

I personally don’t see how Sony can’t put in a price drop though. When Christmas rolls around, do you think Mom and Pops are going to spring for $299 top of the line Xbox Elite, or spend $469.99 for a PS3? HECK, for only $30 more, they could buy an Xbox Elite and an Xbox Arcade model. That’s 2 consoles for the price of one folks. Now, for extra credit, try to convince me how that’s not going to affect Sony’s Fall/Winter Sales Data.

Yeah, yeah, I know, Sony has the Blu-Ray. Sure, you don’t have to pay for every goll-danged extra thing like you do with the Xbox (wireless connectivity, online play), and the PS3’s DLC tends to be a lot cheaper too. but I really don’t think this outweighs the fact that the Xbox is now almost HALF the cost of a PS3.

These developments will definitely make the never ending debate of “PS3 vs. Xbox 360/Hardware vs. Value” more interesting.

By Ryan Sullivan | Tagged , , , , | Comments (44)