Video: New XBL Avatar Marketplace

Here is a quick video I took after I received my early access to the Dashboard update coming to everyone on August 11th.

Gaming News: Joystiq offers a sneek peak into upcoming NXE dashboard update.

Avatar Apparel Color Options:

New Netflix Experience:

Playbrains Announces Madballs in… Babo: Invasion for Xbox LIVE Arcade in Summer 2009

Balls, Guns and Avatars. Quite possibly the greatest gameplay combination ever set to release on Xbox LIVE(R) Arcade in Summer of 2009!
OTTAWA, CANADA- May 28, 2009 Playbrains, an independent game development studio specializing in the digital download arena, are proud to announce that their debut console title, Madballs in Babo Invasion, will be releasing on Xbox LIVE(R) Arcade in Summer of 2009.

A gameplay rich, feature laden ‘casually hardcore’ action shooter, Madballs in Babo: Invasion (MiBI) is that rarest of gaming commodities; a genuinely unique title. Featuring the recently re-released Madballs ™ characters, Oculus Orbus(tm) and Horn Head(tm), from the popular 1980’s toys best remembered for their outrageously bad looks and graphically colorful names. MiBI is an arena based 3D shooter where players are able to design their own combat maps almost instantaneously by placing a combination of map tiles to create a never before seen map before gameplay starts. Truly, no two games are ever the same. And with up to 16 player Multiplayer support, MiBI will boast the highest number of players over Xbox LIVE Arcade upon its release.

Offering players a satisfying and immersive experience in both single-player and multiplayer, Madballs in Babo:Invasion has a plethora of features and game modes such as 4 player online co-op along with, never-before-seen in an Xbox LIVE Arcade title, being able to incorporate your Xbox LIVE Avatar into multiplayer combat via the ‘Avatar Attack’ mode. Yes, Xbox LIVE Arcade combat just got personal.
Much more on this groundbreaking game will be revealed in greater depth leading up to its release in the Summer of 2009, including additional information on the following features;

· Single Player – Hours of repeatable gameplay through 10 epic levels

· 2-4 Player Online Co-op – challenge individual campaign levels with your friends or play the whole campaign in ‘Enduro’ mode

· 16 Player Multiplayer – 21 maps to match all game sizes

· ‘Invasion’ Mode – the signature mode of the game, players take turns placing map tiles to create a unique multiplayer map prior to each match

· ‘Avatar Attack’ – Multiplayer combat with your Xbox LIVE Avatar

· Classes – 10 character classes (each with 2 special abilities) over two warring factions, with each faction having 5 unique weapons each with two distinct firing modes

· Madballs Characters – Oculus Orbus(tm) and Horn Head(tm) from the infamous 80’s toy craze as in-game characters

· 5 Archetypes – Assault, Heavy, Runner, Flyer, Support

· Deployables – active (rocket turrets) or passive (healing towers) can be placed in Invasion mode

· Unlocks and Secrets – 50 unlocks and 50 Secrets to find during campaign gameplay

· Action – emphasis on fast-paced, visceral action that is easy to pick and play, yet offers a real strategic challenge for hardcore gamers

About Playbrains
Playbrains is an independent game studio that works with leading entertainment property owners to bring PC and console games to market. Playbrains specializes in digitally-distributed fun, and has three titles currently in development, including “Madballs in Babo:Invasion”, a fast-paced, 3-D shooter game set for Summer 2009 release for Xbox Live Arcade and PC that promises mayhem-filled action. For more information, visit www.playbrains.com.

Website: http://www.playbrains.com

Madballs, Oculus Orbus and Horn Head are trademarks of American Greetings Properties. Microsoft, Xbox, Xbox 360, Xbox LIVE, and the Xbox logos are trademarks of the Microsoft group of companies.

Screenies…!

Lost Odyssey load times: DVD vs HDD, Big difference!

I have been debating that the installs of game DVD on the Xbox 360 are a good thing for those who have the HDD space to spare. I have an Xbox Elite and have it totally stripped of any non essential data on my HDD so I am now up to 92GB of free space. No demos no trailers, movies or music. I will now only stream all pictures, music and videos right from my networked PC. I love the ease of use that the Xbox360 offers it’s user base.

I love Lost Odyssey and all of it’s 4 DVD goodness but wished I didn’t have to swap out my DVDs or have suck long load time and this game has some long load times…lol

Here is a somewhat blurry youtube video of Lost Oddesey installed on the Hard Drive vs DVD load times.

I was blown away at the amount of time that is actualy saves you on load screens..OMG..!

Can the NXE Lessen the Risk of RROD?

Gamers Platform has a good article written by author: Mark Fajardo

“One of the most appealing features in the New XBOX Experience is the ability to download the game file over to your Hard Drive to minimize loading times. As we go hands-on with the New XBOX Experience and tried downloading numerous XBOX 360 games to our hard drive, there is one thing that we notice that will really lessen the XBOX 360 from overheating, which will lead to the RRoD.

If we remember when we played the game without installing the game files to our hard drive, our machines would use twice the power it needed, making the fans go loud, and, of course, making the system produce too much heat that can eventually lead to overheating to a Red Ring of Death. We observed a new feature of the NXE that lets you download the game through your hard drive. Once the game is downloaded to the system, we noticed that our machine doesn’t produce the same heat it does when playing the game without installing it to our hard drive. The fan is not loud as it used to be, and the system feels like you just turned it on.

Could this be the solution of Microsoft to decrease the chance of RRoD in their system?”

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Video tour: New Xbox Experience Exposed

Head on over to our NXE page for the link. This videos are great and give you a more current feel of what to excpect from the update this November 19th. Remember to scroll to the bottom of post for all updates.

<The Social Gamer’s NXE Page>

Xbox Experience will have special Avatar Store/Shop.

“Where you’ll be able to buy branded items for your Avatar.”

Microsoft is planning to launch an ‘Avatar Store’ next spring, which will allow gamers to buy branded items for their Avatars, a new feature coming with the release of the New Xbox Experience update on November 19.

Gamers will be able to buy game related items from publishers, like T-shirts, as well as non-game related items, perhaps related to football, Microsoft has revealed.

Robin Burrowes, Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA) product manager for Xbox LIVE, told VideoGamer.com at a recent hands-on preview event for NXE that it believes the potential is there for fashion brands to launch new clothing ranges through the store, and that gamers will be able to dress their Avatar like a character from a game.

The New Xbox Experience update will allow gamers to create an Avatar, which will become the virtual representation of their 360 gaming self. For launch there will be a raft of free accessories and clothing items, but Microsoft said it has plans for gamers to be able to buy new items, like game-branded T-shirts, and unlock accessories that are related to in-game Achievements, like Guitar Hero guitars.

Burrowes said: “The plan of record will be to launch a more extensive Avatar Store from spring time onwards next year, and that store in theory would have branded content in there, game publisher IP stuff in there as well.”

When asked what might be sold through the Avatar Store, Burrowes replied: “There’s a whole creative canvas for these things. Due to tight time lines there’s nothing at launch as such but our vision for these in the future is well and truly tied to game releases and us working with publishers very closely to encourage rewards from those games to be tied to your Avatar.

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HDD vs DVD drive loading

Updated video on NXE page. The video is located at bottom of page. After we get the NXE update we will have the option to install full games onto the HDD for faster load times less pop ups in the background and over all quiteness to the 360 while playing games.

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Microsoft is an online retailer through Xbox Live!

Head of Xbox Live says console service eases pressure on High Street space.

Xbox Live boss John Schappert has told MCV that Xbox Live’s role as an ‘online retailer’ is taking the pressure off the battle for High Street shelf space.

Speaking in the build-up to the ‘revolutionary’ Xbox Live Dashboard update next month, Schappert said:

“There are games coming that would not get the space at retail, and that’s a big part of why we’re refreshing the system.”

“We want to widen the content to make it more accessible for different users. It’s pretty hard to get retail distribution these days, and shelf space continues to be a challenge and people are opting for that – Penny Arcade is a great example of that.”

<Read ful Artical>

Does the NXE enhance your Live! experience?

There were two main reasons Microsoft decided to totally redo the Xbox 360 interface: 1) to make everything easier to find and 2) making it easier for the Xbox team to make changes to the system on the fly (instead of having to wait for semi-annual updates).

After spending a little hands on time with NXE, I’m pretty convinced they’ve succeeded with that first goal (time will tell with the second). A whole slew of navigation options make it easier to locate anything from a recently downloaded demo to a group of friends playing Call of Duty 4 that you can party with. The Spotlight channel highlights whatever’s new in any channel (movie trailers, content packs, demos, etc.) and the actual game library (gasp!) has a details page that will display all the stuff you’ve downloaded for it. You can even see stuff you haven’t downloaded, like if there’s a new map pack, and jump from the detail page directly to Marketplace to buy the content.

So no more frantically scrolling this way and that, trying to find the Alpha Protocol demo I just downloaded or figure out where they put the Fable 2 trailer. Even better, the game detail page displays box art, screen shots, streaming videos – the kind of stuff you normally have to go to a website to find. So maybe we won’t need a web browser with NXE (and if we do, they can apparently add one with a quick updated that we don’t have to wait half a year for).

The big ticket item for me is the avatar system. It’s the only part of NXE that I’m skeptical about. I don’t mind that they were replacing the left-to-right scrolling “blades” with up-and-down scrolling “channels” (that are populated with “slots” – gotta love that 360 vocabulary). I also don’t care one way or the other that the visual style of the interface is more “casual-friendly” with a simple (if dull) layout and punched up movie/Netflix features.

I do mind that they’re spending money to make a total rip off of the Nintendo Miis. I mean, really, does capturing the casual audience really mean you’ve gotta have chunky people with big, bright eyes that wander around, doing nothing but sneezing, winking and waving?

As soon as I started making my NXE avatar, I had to stop comparing it to Nintendo. The system Rare came up with has more in common with the Sims than it does with anything else. There were more options for facial and body structure, color and decoration. I could have freckles, vampire fangs, or a mullet. There were ear piercings, soul patches and whacky skin colors (e.g. green). There are idle animations (my favorite is the guy one where he picks lint off his arm, grimaces and flicks it away), and hidden “treats” that the avatars react to (like when you zoom in too fast – you might bump your avatar in the head and knock him senseless).

It’s all very cute and accessible – the kind of thing I’d give to my grandma to get her to even go near the 360. But there’s also a larger goal that the avatars accomplish for seasoned 360 users: they give you a sense of personality.

“We wanted gamers to be able to express themselves,” says demo expert Albert Penello, Director of Global Marketing for Microsoft’s Xbox 360. “Like when you’re going into Friends to party with [strangers]… we wanted you to be able to look at a group of avatars and [automatically] know whether or not you’d like to party with them.”

<read the rest>

NXE dedicated page is up…!

We put up a dedicated Xbox Experience page to detail the functions and features that all connected Xbox 360’s will get come this November 19th. Information will be added as more become available. Please feel free to comment and leave any suggestions you may have. You can find the link to the NXE Page on the left under the Pages section.
Have a great day…!

1st no Netflix Party Mode, now NO PRIMETIME?

This morning I was looking over the usual major blogs and to my surprise I ran into this little bit of news on the Forbes website game shows for the NXE. I was really looking forward to this offering as well as the Netflix party stream mode but look like the only functional feature other than the ability to install me games is, creating a cool avatar. Why oh Why are we losing Xbox 360 losing all of the main functions stated throughout the entire marketing campaign?

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Major Nelson asks… Do you want the NXE early?

Here is Major Nelson’s podcast.

Major Nelson Blog

Saints Row 2 is everything GTA4 should’ve been “REVIEW”

OK, now I am going to state “MY OPINION” alright?  Now that I got that out of the way here I go.

I have been a GTA gamer since the begining I even loved the series when it was 2D top down graphics on the PC.
Secondly my favorite GTA was and still is San Andreas it just felt so adventurous, I loved it.
So now onto SR2 (Saint’s Row 2)….I think that Volition really wanted to add everything into this game that they
didn’t add into the 1st Saints. I like the way that you really do make the game yours. I kid you not when
I tell you that you can customize just about everything you get your hands on.

Customize – Apartment
Customize – Gang Hangout
Customize – Your self…lol
Customize – Your cars, trucks, bikes (motorcycles)

Everything that is customized (“everything” crib, hangout, cars clothing “everything”)
is represented into the all of the actual games in engine cut scenes.
I have been playing this game non freakin stop. GTA4 I stopped playing it and was bored of the story
very quickly. About 7-9 days it was back on Gamestops pre-owned shelves and I never missed it and still don’t.
Not to mention the character I just never liked him. LoL
The aiming in GTA4 was OK at best and the driving after a little while was OK as well but nothing I could recommend.
You only fly in a attack helicopter with no missiles or lock on…On SR2 you have News Helicopter, Appatchi Helicopter
with reticule for both turret and missile “lock on”, You can fly a small propeller plane and a fast private jet that really
needs runway space to take off of land. lol
Cars, trucks, and bikes so many I just can’t name them all since I never say them all.
Boats, tons of fast boats, jet ski, sail boats and others…All of the same activities that are found in GTA4
like taxi driving, ambulance, and cops. their are 5 gangs and I put over 20 hrs into the game and all
I did was completed one of the gangs story arch.
COMBAT:
I love the combat system. You can grab anyone and use them as a shield like the new system in Gears2 while shooting
from behind victim. You actually learn different fighting techniques, it’s amazing what you can do.
You also have the option to snap the victim your holding’s neck or shot them in the head if your using a gun.
The option are so vast and so customizable that this is a closer step in the right direction for sandbox gaming / games.
MONEY:
You can earn money anyway you want. Robing stores or people, activities missions, story. Many, many, many options.
I mean you can even brake of the parking tolls from the sidewalk and use them as weapons and pick up the coins that
fall out. This is true for the environments. You can use many items as weapons and projectiles.
For instance chairs, bottles, new paper machines, bricks ……..you get the point you can pick up almost anything
including the garbage bags outside and even break off fire hydrants and yes the water will gush out of the ground.
As you see this is a huge game and very fun indeed. I am hooked and I hate to say this but the NEXT GTA will
have to top all of this and then some to make me go back to them. I know my layout here is all over the place
but I just had to express my feeling on the game.

I have only played the XBOX version so I can’t vouch for the PS3 version. The online is rock solid with no lag
ever. At least not for my friends or myself.

No Netflix for Silver Account..go get Gold already

Over at the Multiplayer Blog there is a cool article about Netflix and “only” using a XBL Silver account.

MTV Multiplayer Blog