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Metal Gear Solid 4 on Xbox360? That was the rumour flying
around gaming forums this week. According to Electronic Gaming
Monthly, a US multi-format publication, Konami are pressurizing
the games developers to make the title multi-format in an effort
 to
recoup the ever growing size of the game’s budget. Obviously the
loss of exclusivity of one of videogaming’s biggest franchises would
be a huge blow to SONY and a coup for Microsoft, however, when
contacted, Konami stated that Metal Gear Solid 4 was still a
PlayStation 3 title. With similar rumours – and comments from the
development team themselves - abound that Capcom’s Devil May Cry
4 may be heading toward Xbox360, and SquareEnix reaffirming
their own multi-format commitments, will Xbox360 gamers also see
Metal Gear Solid 4? Nothing is set-in-stone in this industry, as
the recent announcement that The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion
will be arriving with the PlayStation3 at launch shows.
Finally, the long awaited XboxLIVE! Fall Update is here. It’s
not a total over haul, but there’s certainly some improvements, 85
of them in fact. Straight from the horse’s mouth:
“Xbox360 to Add More than 85 Enhancements with the Fall System
Update and Raise the Bar for High Definition Interactive Gameplay
and Entertainment
The
fall update ushers in the 6th generation of XboxLIVE!, the
world's largest online gaming & entertainment network with four
million members and growing everyday.
Beginning the morning of Tuesday October 31, owners of the Xbox360
video game and entertainment system from Microsoft will be able to
download a free system update that will provide more than 85 new
features and enhancements, including support for native 1080p games
and movies, faster XboxLIVE! Arcade game list display times
and even more choices when it comes to video playback options.
This free update will be distributed via the XboxLIVE! online
gaming and entertainment network to all members (XboxLIVE!
Silver and XboxLIVE! Gold) with no disc or hard drive
required. Gamers without an XboxLIVE! account can easily sign
up for free by connecting their console to a broadband Internet
connection. Once online, downloading the update is fast and simple,
and provides instant access to features such as:
Expanded HD Display and Video Playback Options
With
1080p resolution, gamers now have the ability to enjoy both game and
video content in the best HD resolution currently available.
Expanded video playback options increase the ways gamers can enjoy
video content on Xbox360. It is now possible to stream WMV video
from a Windows PC running Windows Media Player 11 or Windows Media
Connect.
Gamers
can now play video files from data CDs and DVDs, as well as from
storage devices like USB 2.0 flash drives and Xbox360 Memory Units.
Xbox360
will support 50hz HDTV display modes, providing viewers greater
choice in how they watch DVD and HD DVD content.
XboxLIVE!
Arcade Enhancements
Keeping
up to date on XboxLIVE! Arcade games is now even more
convenient with the ability to automatically download newly released
XboxLIVE! Arcade trial games. This eliminates the need to
manually search for new downloads on XboxLIVE! Marketplace
each time a new game trial is released.
Fast
enumeration of games: you'll see the games in your XboxLIVE!
Arcade collection appear almost instantly. Get in and play right
away.
With so
many games to choose from, XboxLIVE! Arcade added new sorting
options such as "Recently Played" and "By Category." These
enhancements make managing XboxLIVE! Arcade collections
faster and easier than ever.
A new
expanded Friends Leaderboard within XboxLIVE! Arcade allows
gamers to compare themselves directly against their friends and view
leaderboard details of their top 10 friends.
A new
expanded Achievements View within XboxLIVE! Arcade lets
gamers view their full Achievement details for their XboxLIVE!
Arcade games including descriptions, icons, allotted Gamerscore and
more, right from the XboxLIVE! Arcade dashboard interface.
The
"Play Now" launch feature has been streamlined. Selecting "Play Now"
after downloading a game in XboxLIVE! Marketplace now
bypasses XboxLIVE! Arcade and takes you directly to the game.
XboxLIVE!
Arcade now offers a "Tell a Friend" feature. Select this option from
the game info screen to send any friend on your friends list a
message telling them about the XboxLIVE! Arcade game.
XNA
Support
Amateur game designers will be able to test and play the games they
create using XNA Game Studio Express on their Xbox360 systems when
it launches later this year (separate download and subscription
required).”
Streaming video from a portable device, perhaps in anticipation for
a Video enabled Zune? The fabled 1080p resolution is here for all
you tech-heads and a streamlined XboxLIVE! Arcade Menu
Screen, now we know where our Ł39.99 a year goes.
Speaking of XboxLIVE!, available now is an update for the Ho
pimping, gang fighting, car stealing extravaganza that is
Saints Row. The patch fixes a few Single-Player bugs and a
wealth of Multi-Player issues, sure to please the Gangstaz of the
XboxLIVE! community. Also, out next month are two new Maps
for
Perfect Dark Zero’s Multi-Player Modes. The Maps,
entitled Facility and Ruin, are remakes of the two most popular
Multi-Player Maps from the Nintendo64 classic Perfect Dark.
The Maps should arrive on XboxLIVE! Marketplace mid-November,
however, while the pack is set to be offered for free in the US, no
European prices are confirmed as yet. |
