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It seems X06 stole all the news last month, as there are still few
 revelations about Microsoft’s big white box and its upcoming games
floating around. Nevertheless, the boys from Redmond are rarely
completely silent.
Congratulations XboxLIVE! gamers! Last week signalled the
release of the much hyped XboxLIVE! Vision Camera; allowing
gamers from all around the world to showcase their ugly mug to
all-and-sundry via personalised GamerTag pictures. The accessory
allows you to take a photo of anything you like, and replace your
Personal Image on your GamerTag with such a picture, however, at
current, only those on your Friends List will be able to view your
Personal Image. Included free with the Vision Camera is a free
downloadable XboxLIVE! Arcade game; Totemball.
Unfortunately, despite its grand claims of interactivity,
Totemball has met with poor reviews from industry critics,
stating repetive gameplay and Eye-Toy like setup issues to be
the biggest problems. However with Robotron 2040, UNO
and a 12 Month XboxLIVE! Subscription also included in the
full package alongside the Vision Camera, there are still far worse
Xbox360 peripherals to waste your money on.
After a public announcement from Crytek at the Leipzig Games
Convention that the simply amazing-looking PC First-Person Shooter,
Crysis, would not be coming to Xbox360 and PlayStation3 due
to the consoles lacking sufficient power, many gamers were upset,
thinking that the only chance they would get to play the graphically
astounding title would be if they bought an extortionately priced,
DirectX10-enabled gaming PC when the game launched. However, EA now
own Crytek and, given the history of company, a single-platform
release of such a high-profile title did seem a little strange.
Well, despite killing the speculation at Leipzig, Crytek,
specifically Michael Khaimzon, lead artist on the project, are,
quite predictably, back with a new statement: “I don’t think there
would be any problem to convert anything we work on to the Next-Gen
consoles if we decided to. We have enough power here, with
programmers and artists, to be able to do such a thing. It's just a
matter of making the decision.” Knowing EA, I doubt that decision
will be anything else than a resounding “yes”. We’ll just have to
see how well Crysis takes the transition.
Bored of Final Fantasy XI but still gunning for a Massively
Multi-Player Online RPG on your Next-Generation console? Great news
for you then, as SEGA is launching the Beta of its newest iteration
of the classic franchise,
Phantasy Star Universe,
 on 11th
October, 2006. The Beta will be available through the XboxLIVE!
Marketplace on the 11th and 12th, and
playable until the 18th. Hopefully this will reduce the
amount of server problems when the game is released on 6th
November 2006, issues that have marred previous SEGA online titles
such as
ChromeHounds. The full game is playable by both Gold
and Silver XboxLIVE! Subscription holders, as is the Beta,
however the full game will have a Subscription Fee which is yet to
be announced, however, most likely to be in the range of £7-8 a
month.
You have got to give it to them, they are determined. Microsoft is
giving Japanese gamers yet other special offer, and this time, it
might just work. It’s no secret that Microsoft considers the hugely
anticipated Blue Dragon, the epic RPG from Hironobu Sakaguchi,
the creator of the Final Fantasy series, to be among its best
chances of success in Japan. In order to make Blue Dragon the
title to sell the Xbox360 in the region, Microsoft is offering a
special Hardware Bundle that includes an Xbox360 Core Unit and
Blue Dragon. For gamers that Pre-Order the system, there is the
added bonus of a Limited Edition Faceplate and five miniature
figures of game characters designed by the legendary Manga artist
Akira Toriyama, creator of the huge
DragonBall franchise and
lead character designer for the Dragon Quest series and the
seminal ChronoTrigger. The bundle will available in Japan
from December 7th, 2006, and retail at 29,800 Yen
(approx. £134). As many of you may know, that date is after the
launches of both the PlayStation3 and Nintendo Wii. We at
Electronic
Articles would like to wish Microsoft good luck, they are
certainly going to need it.
Finally, news on possibly the most ingenious way of raising the cash
for the high-priced PlayStation3, selling your Xbox360 Hard Drive.
No, your standard Hard Drive isn’t worth £500, unless you have every
XboxLIVE! Arcade game on it and hold the title of the highest
GamerScore in the world, then its worth, at present, over £3000.
That’s right, Rance6, an Italian gamer with a GamerScore of over
81000, is selling his Xbox360 Hard Drive at an online auction-based
website to the highest bidder, with a reserve of $5000. Why anybody
would want the Hard Drive and GamerTag - knowing full well that
every serious title contender will know they are a faker - is
strange, but then, playing Xbox360 for sixteen-hours-a-day since
launch to achieve those points is too. |
