Unofficial Xbox 360 News Blog

360voice.com

2008-01-01T22:28:00.000-08:00

Take a look here! You can set up your oqn Xbox 360 blog, for free, without needing to write anything! As long as your Xbox 360 is connected to the internet under the corresponding Gamertag, the site will moniter everything you do each day and 'write' about it! Take a look at mine at http://www.360voice.com/tag/CovertBike.

Sorry!

2007-12-31T18:53:00.000-08:00

I couldn't complete a post yesterday, I was unexpectdly invited around to a friends, but anyway, happy new year! A great year of gaming awaits us!

-Seb-

Halo 3 Ending...

2007-12-29T18:42:00.000-08:00

You probably all know that if you completed Halos 2 and 3 on legendary, you get a bonus movie at the end. Well my friends, if you haven't already seen the movie on Youtube, go down to your Xbox 360 and pop Halo 3 in (if it isn't already in there which is unlikely). Start the second half of the 'Halo' mission on easy, yes, easy! Complete the level and when that letter from Bungie thanking you opens, wait and credits will appear. These take a while so please be patient. After that the screen will turn black then the movie will commense.

Cheers and happy gaming!
-Seb-

Whoops!

2007-12-28T21:05:00.000-08:00

Sorry, I should have mentioned this in yesterdays post, but you can now gift Microsoft Points to other users. However you must know the recipients Windows Live Hotmail email address and live in the United States to use this feature. I haven't used this yet (I live in New Zealand) however apparently it is possible to use Microsoft Points not only for use on the Xbox Live Marketplace, but also on the Zune Marketplace! More info at http://tinyurl.com/2spyy4.

Thanks for reading and enjoy your gaming!
-Seb-

Gears of War is 'not very good'

2007-12-27T23:35:00.000-08:00

See above! That's what friend of mine said today. Try telling that to all the major gaming sites who gave it very generous scores, most 9+. Please feel free to flame this post!

Cheers and enjoy your gaming!
-Seb-

This is my 50th post!

2007-12-26T21:42:00.000-08:00

Well, according to blogger.com, this is my 50th post! I would love some feedback on the blog and please, feel free to comment on my posts, however please note that unacceptable language will not be tolerated.

I am also the proud owner of Fifa 08, the most realistic soccer game on the market. I am not that good at it, scored a couple of crackers, that should be in my EA Sports World account, look under 'Covertbike'.

Thanks for reading and happy gaming!
-Seb-

Fifa vs. PES

2007-12-25T21:50:00.000-08:00

After playing Pro Evolution Soccer 2008 today, I was left bewildered in what game to buy next. Fifa or PES? Well, this head-to-head comparison helped me figure out the best choice. Note that I am not a fanboy of either franchise.

Fifa 08 vs. PES 2008

Presentation – FIFA

While both games have true next-generation graphics, FIFA excels in the life-like look of the players, unlike some from PES, who look nothing like their real-life counterparts.

Sound – Tie

PES’ horrible soundtrack is what it lacks in the sound department. FIFA’s is considerably better, although with the Xbox 360 you always have the option to use your own music. In my mind, PES’ match commentary is better than FIFA’s, that maybe because I live in New Zealand and do not listen to the Sky Sport commentators featured in the FIFA game, whereas regular Barclays English Premier League matches broadcasted in New Zealand are often commentated by Jon Champion.

Online – Fifa

I was unable to test PES 2008’s online capabilities, however I was fortunate enough to try out FIFA’s, and boy, did it rock! With the newly addition of 5v5 on Xbox Live and Playstation Network, FIFA 08 puts many other multiplayer games to shame, being beaten by only some of the greatest shooters in history.

Gameplay- PES

This is one area that PES has always been marginally better than FIFA in, however this year was closer than ever. FIFA has opted for a more realistic, slow game, whereas PES has stuck to quick ball control and speedy players. With the addition of fake dives and quick free-kicks, PES looks certain to dominate for a while.

The winner is… FIFA 08! I will be heading down to Noel Leeming tomorrow to pick it up, however only just did it scrape past PES. Congratulations EA, you have created a successful football title!

Thanks for reading and enjoy your gaming!
-Seb-

Merry Xmas!

2007-12-24T17:40:00.000-08:00

Merry Chrisrmas and I hope you enjoy this very special day as 2007 draws to a close. Fear not, another great year of gaming, Burnout Paradise (of which I played the demo and looks amazing!), Alan Wake, MGS 4 and of course, the highly anticipated Grand Theft Auto! 2008 could well be the deciding year of the next-gen console war, will it be Sony and the Playstation 3 with thier enourmous fan base? Will it be Nintendo and the Wii with thier simplicity and huge sale numbers? Or will it be Microsoft's very own Xbox 360, with the largest library of games on any next-gen gaming system? Whoever the winner turns out to be, this will be one hel* of a ride and I will be there, writing once daily, keeping you informed of latest news, reviews, previews, opinions and rumors.

Merry Xmas!
-Seb-

SWOS Avalible!

2007-12-23T16:17:00.000-08:00

After months of delays Sensible World of Soccer has finally been released on the Xbox Live Arcade. I was lucky enough to be able to try out the game and all I have to say is 'WOW'. The game is still ar arcadey as ever, but more colourful and in glorious 720p high-definition. IGN.com are yet to review it and I will provide a link as soon as I find out!

Merry Christmas Gaming!
-Seb-

I got my 120gb HDD, what about you?

2007-12-21T22:19:00.000-08:00

The title really sums up the first part of the post, but don't fear, there is more to come!

Sensi Soccer is back on the Xbox Live Arcade after being removed due to an online bug only a couple of days ago. More info at http://tinyurl.com/262vyj and http://tinyurl.com/yo96qr.

Thanks for reading and happy gaming!
-Seb-

P.S. I tried the Burnout Paradise demo and it rocks!

Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six Vegas 2 Preview!

2007-12-20T15:23:00.000-08:00

The original Rainbow Six game by Ubisoft left many in apprehension, due to the games anti-climatic ending. A sequel was sure to be on the way and was previewed in the very early hours of the 21st of December. The full preview can be read
here: http://tinyurl.com/39vmgs

Not that this is the christrmas season and expect not to recieve a post everyday, at least once every two days

Thanks for reading and enjoy your gaming!
-Seb-

Sensi Soccer Delayed AGAIN!!!

2007-12-19T14:55:00.000-08:00

Oh my god, I feel like ripping my hair out! The Sensible World of Soccer has been removed from the Xbox Live Arcade due to 'an online bug'. Only after hours after appearing on Xbox Live, the game was pulled down due to issues when playing online. Codemasters is working on a fix and whether Sensi will be ready to download before Christmas as they promised is looking doubtful. More information at http://tinyurl.com/ytbyt6.

Sensi Soccer Finally Released!

2007-12-18T19:13:00.000-08:00

The title was delayed for month by Codemasters. Possibly the most anticipated arcade game of al l time. But today, on the 19th of December 2007, The Sensible World of Soccer has finally been released on the Xbox LIve Marketplace. Rumors and expectations aside, this game has yet to be reviewed by IGN.com and I will post as soon as I find out it's score out of 10.

Also according to Major Nelson's blog, Halo 3 is STILL top of the Xbox Live charts holding off extremely strong competition from Call of Duty 4 which has to settle for second place. Also amazing is that Gears of War, which has already celebrated it's first birthday is all the way up in THIRD, ahead of new boys Guitar Hero III, Assasins Creed and Mass Effect!

Tanks for reading and enjoy your gaming!
-Seb-

Upcoming Call of Duty 4 Patch!

2007-12-17T16:41:00.000-08:00

Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare will be patches sometime, with no date confirmed however is expected 'inside this month'. The main tweaks inside tha patch come in the form of new maps being added to playlist rotations. For more information on this patch visit http://tinyurl.com/2m3oga and for a complete features list go to http://tinyurl.com/2v5rxc.

Not much today either!

2007-12-16T16:29:00.000-08:00

Now it's not all that rare to find a few days in a row where we find nothing interesting in the world of the Xbox 360. Do not despair, usually when there is a fairly large gap in news, something good and big comes along. God hopes now is one of those times

Cheers and happy gaming!
-Seb-

Halo 3 Legendary Edition

2007-12-15T20:42:00.000-08:00

This is amazing, the Halo 3 legendary edition is selling for $60 in Walmart. This may not bother me as I do not live in the US, however I am sure some of my readers are. Whether this phenominal price drop has anything to do with the success of Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare I am not sure. Check it out at: http://tinyurl.com/yx4j3p

Also some Guitar Hero III DLC is set to launch ' in time for the holidays'. Take a look at: http://tinyurl.com/2zqnog.

Thanks for reading and enjoy your gaming!
-Seb-

Nothing interesting today

2007-12-14T18:13:00.000-08:00

Sorry I was unable to find any interesting news to post today. If you find any interesting news I would really appreciate it if you could send it to smbailey900@hotmail.com as so we can all share news and learn more!

Thanks!
-Seb-

First Halo 3 DLC Released!

2007-12-13T17:24:00.000-08:00

Yesterday, the first piece of downloadable content for the best-seller Halo 3 developed by Bungie was released. Dubbed the 'Heroic Map Pack' the content cost a whopping 800 Marketplace Points, the equivalent of around US$10. Three new maps were included in the pack, named Rats Nest, Foundry and Standoff. Foundry being the most interesting, as it lets users completely wipe the map in Forge, leading to interesting creations. A quick scan of Bungie.net's File Share should see you through a couple of classic map remakes from Halo's 1 & 2. The inclusion of a giant soccer ball in the map editor has sparked some creativity, using dumpsters as goals and using Gravity Hammers (and your opponents body) to force the ball into the net.

Meanwhile the Burnout: Paradise demo has been released on the Xbox Live Marketplace and the Playstation store for the Xbox 360 and Playstation 3 respectively.

Thanks for reading and happy gaming!
-Seb-

The Orange Box is released on the Playstation 3!

2007-12-12T18:27:00.000-08:00

The Orange Box, which was only an Xbox 360 exclusive for mere weeks, has been released on the console's main rival: the Playstation 3 from Sony. Many gaming websites have done a head-to-head review of the multi-platform game/s. The two I read (IGN.com and oxm.co.uk) both stated the Playstation 3 version being inferior the the Xbox 360 one, long loadong times caused by the Blu-Ray disc and frame-rate issues being the main culprits

Cheers and happy gaming!
-Seb-

Bioshock is the Game of the Year!

2007-12-11T21:35:00.000-08:00

Bioshock from 2K has been announced the best game of 2007, edging ahead of immense competition in the form of Halo 3, Mass Effect and Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare. If you were to take a peek at the Halo 3 forum on Xbox.com (http://forums.xbox.com/508/ShowForum.aspx) you will see many posts flaming the game of the year for 2007, some that consist of several pages! In my mind, Bioshock deserved Game of the Year. It brought something new to FPS shooters and was very innovative. That is not saying that Halo 3 is not innovative, of course not, but it is still the same Halo we have been playing since the original one came out with the original Xbox. Bioshock was something fresh and exciting and thoroughly deserved being the best game of 2007. Although, Halo 3 is undoubtedly more fun to play.

Thanks for reading and enjoy your gaming!
-Seb-

Leaked information about Call of Duty 5!

2007-12-10T17:54:00.000-08:00

Activision have announced that the next game in the long-running Call of Duty series will NOY be set in present time and we will go back to fighting the Nazi's.

Time.com has released 50 top-ten lists (in 2007) on it's site, one of those being video games.  The list stands as follows:

1. Halo 3
2. The Orange Box
3. Rock Band
4. Super Mario Galaxy
5. Bioshock
6. Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare
7. Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass
8. Mass Effect
9. Ace Combat 6: Fires of Liberation
10. God of War II

This almost sums up the dominant games console on the market:

#1   Xbox 360: 7 Top 10 games
#2   Playstation 3: 2 Top 10 games
#3   Playstation 2: 1 Top 10 game
#3   Nintendo DS: 1 Top 10 game
#3   Wii: 1 Top 10 game

Thanks for reading and enjoy your gaming!
-Seb-

Bungie Interview

2007-12-09T21:19:00.000-08:00

Ign.com have interviewed Bungie and asked them to talk about the upcoming 'Heroic Map Pack' for Halo 3 and future Downloadable Content for the game (DLC).

Due to my average dial-up speeds (under 10 kb/s) I am unable to post the entrire interview on this blog post, however can be viewed here: http://tinyurl.com/2y6fyk. Sorry no link, the toolbar which lets me hyperlink words/phrases refuses to load today.

Cheers and enjoy your gaming!
-Seb-

Castlevania: Symphony of the Night

2007-12-08T19:31:00.000-08:00

Today I had the pleasure of playing this timeless classic on the Xbox Live Arcade, with a memorable soundtrack and true, nostalgic gameplay, this game is brilliant use of your 800 Marketplace Points. I would recommend the demo to anyone, now, since the arrival of the 2007 Fall Dashboard Update has fixed the issue of Arcade demos appearing on one's gamercard.

Thanks for reading and happy gaming!
-Seb-

A bit busy

2007-12-07T20:35:00.000-08:00

Sorry, I am very busy today and am unable to complete a proper post. :-((

Sorry
-Seb-

New Heroic Map Pack screens for Halo 3!

2007-12-06T21:24:00.000-08:00

The Heroic Map Pack must be coming soon, for even more screenshots have been released on oxm.co.uk. I, personally was unable to view them due to my c*appy internet connection. They can be viewed at http://tinyurl.com/33ulza

Thanks for reading and enjoy your gaming!
-Seb-

Blogging Daily is hard!

2007-12-05T21:45:00.000-08:00

Wow, I can't believe that this is my 30th post! It is NOT easy blogging once a day, escpecially when your internet connection has been reduced down to dial-up speed! OMG! I loaded an Ign.com page in under 10 minutes!

Anyways, a demo for the upcoming Burnout: Paradise is set to be arriving on the 13th of December for the PS3 and the Xbox 360.

The team at Ign.com went head-to-head with the upcoming Halo 3 Heroic Map pack. The full article can be read here: http://tinyurl.com/yojq5a (Warning! The three pages may take up to half an hour on dial-up speeds, under 10kb/s)

Thanks and happy gaming!
-Seb-

2007 Fall Dshboard Update... A disappointment

2007-12-04T21:01:00.000-08:00

Alright, I finall managed to download the Fall Dashboard Update, no thanks to Microsoft and I notice some nice new features. The Xbox Guide opens and closes much faster, plus when you turn the console off you get a nice fading effect. The rest is poor. The marketplace does not only not look as good as the previous one, but it is not nearly as easy to navigate around. Plus, I am unable to access my video collection on from my computer. File streaming in the form of
music and pictures has been okay however. Not to mention that the 'Inside Xbox' news feeds are not avalible to New Zealand residents is another major drawback. I managed to access these feeds using my dummy US account 'HatefulUniform'. Add him if you want to.

Thanks for reading and enjoy your gaming
-Seb-

Sometimes I HATE Microsoft!

2007-12-03T21:13:00.000-08:00

Here I am, sitting writing this on Tuesday, 4th December 2007 at 6:14pm (GMT + 13) and still no Dashboard Update. Heck, I hardly got any sleep last nigh (Not really), I mean, wtf (excuse the bad languague). But Microsoft, get real! Have the Americans got it yet? I bet my life they have! Is this racism Micro$oft? First you leave us without any sort of Video Marketplace (with the exception of a few *rappy 360 ads) and now what? You delay the 2007 Fall Dashboard Update???

Whatever happened to 'The customer is always right'?

Jeez, Microsoft
Vista > Leapord

Fall Dashboard Update... Tomorrow!

2007-12-02T21:36:00.000-08:00

The 2007 Fall Dashboard Update will be released tomorrow, on Tuesday the 4th of December, 2007 (obviously). I have already included a link to the complete list of new features about to be added in a previous post.

Some day next week, a patch will be released for the 2K first-person shooter, Bioshock.

Oh and by the way, I finally completed Halo 3!!!!! ...On easy...

Thanks for reading and good luck sleeping
-Seb-

Very boring...

2007-12-01T23:32:00.000-08:00

Nothing interesting today, sorry :((

-Seb-

Complete 2007 Fall Dashboard Update features list!

2007-11-30T21:52:00.000-08:00

This news is genuine, unlike the other list released a few months ago, for this is on Xbox.com, all the features I previously mentioned are in here, as well as a few others that look pretty cool. The complete list is at: http://www.xbox.com/en-US/support/systemupdates/default.htm

A mere trickle of news...

2007-11-29T21:22:00.000-08:00

Sorry, I should have mentioned this in yesterdays blog, but Ubisoft is putting its long-running Chessmaster series onto the Xbox Live Arcade, rejoice for many chess fans, including me! This may prove to be a worthy purchase.

Thanks for reading!
-Seb-

More leaked information about the 2007 Fall Dashboard update!

2007-11-28T21:47:00.000-08:00

According to Oxm.co.uk, the 2007 Fall Dadhboard Update will also offer a Personal Prifile section, and yes, FINALLY... The ability to remove arcade game demos from your played games list!!!! Finally!!! More information at: http://tinyurl.com/2gbw9v

New backwards-compatible titles!

2007-11-27T18:55:00.000-08:00

72 more original Xbox titles are now able to be played in high-definition 720p or 1080i on the Xbox 360. The complete list of new games made backwards-compatible is here:

2006 Fifa World Cup Germany
25 to Life
AMF Bowling 2004
Apex
Arena Football
Armed and Dangerous
Baldurs Gate: Dark Alliance
Batman Rise of Sin Tzu
Bionicle
Blade II
Blinx: The Timesweeper
Blitz The League
Blood Omen 2
Blowout
Breakdown
Burnout 2: Point of Impact
Cabelas Dangerous Hunts 2
Championship Manager 2006
Colin Mcrae Rally 2005
Crime Life: Gang Wars
Dave Mirra Freestyle BMX 2
Dungeons& Dragons Heroes
ESPN College Hoops 2k5
ESPN NFL 2k5
Fantastic 4
FIFA 06 Soccer
Fight Night: Round 3
Final Fight: Streetwise
Forgotten Realms: Demon Stone
Freedom Fighters
Freestyle Street Soccer
Future Tactics: The Uprising
Godzilla Destroy All Monsters Melee
Godzilla Save the Earth
Goldeneye Rogue Agent
Greg Hastings Tournament Paintball Max'd
High Heat MLB 2004
Hunter: The Reckoning
Indiana Jones And The Emperors Tomb
MLB Slugfest Loaded
MVP Baseball 2003
MVP Baseball 2004
Nascar Thunder 2002
Nascar Thunder 2003
NBA 2k3
NBA Ballers
NBA Inside Drive 2002
NBA Street V3
NCAA College Basketball 2k3
NCAA March Madness 2005
NCAA March Madness 2006
NFL 2k2
NFL 2k3
NHL 2005
NHL 2K3
NHL Hitz Pro
Nightcaster: Defeat The Darkness
NTRA Breeders Cup: World Thoroughbred Championships
Playboy The Mansion
RLH Hunt or be Hunted
Robin Hood: Defender of the Crown
Rocky
Rugby 2006
Shattered Union
Shrek Super Party
Star Wars: Jedi Starfighter
Starsky & Hutch
Syberia II
Techmo Classic Arcade
Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines
Test Drive
The Bard's Tale
The Chronicles of Narnia The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe
The Guy Game
The Lord Of The Rings: The Third Age
Thousand Land
Thrillville
Tom and Jerry in War of the Whiskers
Turok: Evolution
Van Helsing
WarPath
Worms 3D
Zathura

I can't believe it! Finally I can play Rugby 06 on the Xbox 360!!! This is great, so what are you waiting for? Just insert the game into the Xbox 360!
P.S. Worms 3D is s***!

Thanks for reading and enjoy your gaming
-Seb-

Another boring day...

2007-11-24T19:39:00.000-08:00

No interesting news about the Xbox 360 in the last few days, other than the free Halo 3 song avalible to download for FREE for Guitar Hero III on the Xbox Live Marketplace!

Thanks and happy gaming!
-Seb-

Nothing much...

2007-11-23T21:15:00.000-08:00

Very little news has been splashed around in the past 24 hours in the world of the Xbox 360. However, I did manage to stumble upon some interesting news, not directly linked to the Xbox 360.

Trend Micro has launched anti-virus software for the Playstation 3, the free download (only until April 2008) has many features such as blocking of malicious web pages on the consoles in-built internet browser, as well as parental controls, which can filter out innapropriate content. More can be read at http://tinyurl.com/23pfxo

Also a study conducted by Nemertes Research shows that "Consumer demand for bandwidth could see the internet running out of capacity as early as 2010."
They predict "A drastic slowdown as the network struggles to cope with the amount of data being carried on it." Now guys, stop downloading those HD movies on the Xbox Live Marketplace, or on the other hand, go on a download spree, make the most of the time you have! More information on this article can be found at http://tinyurl.com/234a5d.

Cheers and happy gaming!
-Seb-

Worst Achievment ever!

2007-11-22T22:53:00.000-08:00

According to oxm.co.uk, the worst ever achievment made is located in the game Turok. The description reads as follows: "Kill at least 1 creature, 1 enemy, 1 teammate, and yourself in the same round of a public match." What are they trying to do, encourage team killing and suiciding? No wonder all the people
who play Turok have such low rep! More information at http://tinyurl.com/36c7jm

Thanks for reading and enjoy your gaming!
-Seb-

Xbox 360 is two!

2007-11-21T22:30:00.000-08:00

The Microsoft Xbox 360 is celebrating its second birthday on the 22nd of November (today)! What the console has achieved this year is incredible, with cutting-edge games such as Bioshock, Halo 3 and Mass Effect. New additions to the Xbox 360 family, a new arcade console, the new black, the Elite, plus all new Xbox 360 consoles come with a 65nm core, compared the the previous 90nm one. And, if your new Xbox does crash, Microsoft has extended the RROD warranty to a whopping three years. With the best online services available, and the biggest selection of games to enjoy there has never been a better time to immerse yourself in the world of money-making ********.

Xbox 360
Jump in!
-Seb-

Rainbow Six Vegas 2 announced!

2007-11-20T20:54:00.000-08:00

The sequel to Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six Vegas has been confirmed by game developer Ubisoft, following the success of the original game. More information on this title can be found here: http://tinyurl.com/2n5h9d

Halo 3 maps on the way!

2007-11-19T20:54:00.000-08:00

Tipped the heroic map pack, this piece of DLC for Halo 3 will include three new maps, named Standoff, Rat's Nest and Foundry. The pack will cost 800mp, yes 800mp, when
it is released on the 11th of December, however will be made free in Spring 2008.
More information about the new maps can be found at: http://tinyurl.com/yr4tqe, and some scrrenshots can be found here: http://tinyurl.com/yrc6h6.

I, personally am not going to spend $10 dollars on a few more maps, see you in Standoff in spring!

Thanks for reading and enjoy your gaming!
-Seb-

Xbox Live is five!

2007-11-18T20:26:00.000-08:00

Sorry, this is particularily late new, but Xbox Live is celebrating its 5th anniversary! Oh my god, how far Xbox Live has come in half of a decade. If you hit the "Live is five!" advertisment on the marketplace (avalable in all Xbox Live enabled countries) you will find a few free goodies to download, my favorite being the Halo 2 theme. There is also a video and a free them celebrating Xbox Lives fifth birthday.

Oh and by the way, Rocket Race in Halo 3 rocks!!!

Thanks for reading and happy gaming
-Seb-

Halo 3 still top of the Xbox Live charts

2007-11-17T11:21:00.000-08:00

After about 1.5 months after its release, Halo 3 is still top of the Xbox
Live charts according to Major Nelsons blog, with Call of Duty 4:
Modern Warfare a close second. Gear of War which will very soon be experiencing its first birthday is all
the way up in third.
The addicting Guitar Hero III stands tall in fourth place.
More information at: http://tinyurl.com/35vc6x

Thanks for reading and happy gaming!
Regards
-Seb-

Nothing much to blog about...

2007-11-16T21:52:00.000-08:00

Well today, my Xbox 360 had some problems starting up Halo 3. I thought "That's weird, maybe the disc tray is broken." So I put the NFS Most Wanted disc into the console and it worked perfectly. So I restarted the console and re-inserted the Halo 3 disc and "Whoola!" It worked! This is funny because this is the very first problem I have experienced with my re-furb, with the exception of the odd freezing.

Tip: Make sure your console is horizontal, never had any problems that way!

Cheers and enjoy your gaming
-Seb-

More important information!

2007-11-15T20:34:00.000-08:00

The Xbox original titles avalible after the 2007 Fall Dashboard Update have been confirmed to have NO gamerscore or Xbox Live play. You heard right, 1200mp for a game consisting of absolutley no gamerscore points and lack of online play, other than the convenience of storing your games directly to the Xbox's hardrive one should consider buying the normal version from a store, for a possibly cheaper price.

It has also been announced by 2K that Bioshock will remain an Xbox 360 exclusive, following its sucess on the console.

Thanks for reading and happy gaming!
-Seb-

2007 Fall Dashboard Update Leaked!

2007-11-14T20:38:00.000-08:00

From OXM:

The Fall update has been revealed to OXM from Microsoft and it's by far the best update the white console has received thus far, showering 360 owners with gaming classics and films on demand. Circle December 4th in your calendar people, this one is going to be big.

Why is it so good? In short - you'll be able to download Halo. In slightly less short - you can buy original Xbox classics and download them through Marketplace, such as Halo.

Thanks to the Elite and its monster HDD, Microsoft is introducing games it has published for Xbox to Marketplace, with the eventual plan to bring as much of the back catalogue across as possible. With games clocking in at 1200MP (roughly £10), they'll be a damn sight cheaper to download than they are to buy second hand.

Advertisement:

The initial list to download will be Halo, Fable, Fahrenheit, Crimson Skies: High Road To Revenge, Crash Bandicoot: The Wrath Of Cortex and Burnout 3. We're excited about all of those games. Except for Crash. Maybe.

In addition to that, films on demand will play a central role for European Xbox 360 owners too. Though not confirmed for the same December 4th date, signs are the films on demand service isn't too far away now. With studios such as Warner Bros potentially lined up for the service, we can look forward to films such as The Dark Knight, The Assassination of Jesse James and I Am Legend.

Films will cost less than a fiver and come in 720p resolution. You have 14 days to start watching a film once it has downloaded. Once you started watching a film, you have 24 hours to finish it. After that, the film deletes itself from your hard drive. It's essentially an online rental service, save the long walk in the miserable weather to Blockbusters. Excited? You should be. While TV on demand hasn't yet been examined in detail, films on demand should be enough to keep Xbox 360 owners happy at their console's slow evolution into a multimedia machine."

Unbeilievable! I am proud to own an Xbox 360!

Cheers and happy waiting!
-Seb-

A few more things...

2007-11-13T20:31:00.000-08:00

IGN.com have released a new trailer for the upcoming EA game Need for Speed: ProStreet. I personally think this game looks great. The trailer can be viewed here: http://tinyurl.com/2v2a48.

New Arcade Releases!

2007-11-12T21:33:00.000-08:00

Today we see two more Xbox LIve Arcade releases, those being 'Screwjumper' and 'Shreck N' Roll.' Both games cost 800mp and can be downloaded from the Xbox Live Marketplace. However, what is so amazing about 'Screwjumper' is that is the 100th title to be released in the Xbox Live Arcade. More information about both of these games can be found here: http://tinyurl.com/25t4zv and here: http://tinyurl.com/ysxltf.

Everyone should have recieved a message from Xbox Live stating that "On Tuesday November 13th from 0000-0200 PT our engineering team will be performing server maintenance." The servers on Xbox.com will stop at 0000 PT and resume at 0100 PT, wheras the Xbox Live servers will be down between 0100 PT and 0200 PT.

Thanks for reading and happy gaming!
-Seb-

New Assasins Creed Behind-The-Scenes Interview!

2007-11-11T22:17:00.001-08:00

With Assasins Creed only days from release the hype surrounding the game has grown. X-Play talked with Jade Reymond and have a video of the interview here: http://tinyurl.com/2yvwym.

It's Official!

2007-11-10T15:14:00.000-08:00

The Parental tool which can set limits to how much time your child can spend on the Xbox 360 will be released sometime in December, possibly part of the much-awaited 2007 Fall Update.
More information st http://tinyurl.com/2n72k3.

According to Major Nelsons blog, Halo 3 is still top of the Xbox Live gaming charts. While Gears of War has to settle for second. Newly-released Guitar Hero III stands tall in third place, and the very hyped up Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare sits at fourth. More information athttp://tinyurl.com/2nscm2

Thanks for reading and happy gaming!
Seb

Breaking News!

2007-11-09T15:24:00.000-08:00

According to sarcasticgamer.com multi-platform games developer EA are about to sell of their longstanding NFL football franchise Madden. EA marketing vice-president Josh Bettham said that "Making football videogames is hard. I mean, we try to put new rosters in every year, but other than that, we just don’t know what to do. I mean, we’ve already given up on boxing [Fight Night] why not just give up on this too?”

More information at http://tinyurl.com/2ybulo

This does not bother me much, as I am not a fan of NFL, however I know there are many of you who will possibly suffer greatly from this loss. Personally I love the FIFA franchise and their latest game 'FIFA 08' was given a juicy 8.5/10 by Gamespot.

Also in the news is some upcoming DLC for Halo 3, including 4 new maps! Sadly Sidewinder has been left out, as have all of the previous Halo 1 and 2 maps :-(. The four new maps are named 'O.K" "Jodrell Bank," "Vandelay" and "Purple Reign" It's cost and release date are TBA. More information at
http://tinyurl.com/yvwgub

Thanks for reading and enjoy your gaming!
Seb

Smackdown vs. Raw 2008

2007-11-08T21:30:00.000-08:00

This game looks pretty cool, with a couple of new features:

"As a 360 owner you're in for a few additional treats as well. For the first time, you'll be able to rip music from your hard drive and put it in as your created superstar's entrance music in a simple, easy step in the creation of an entrance."

THAT sounds awsome! I will look forward to getting it, and getting wasted on Xbox Live, while I'm at it my GT is CovertBike, add me if you want, but send me a message saying how you met me, thanks! My account is currently a silver :-(( but I'm gonna upgrade back to gold very soon, as my exams are now over! I will play Halo 3 alot and I look forward to playing you again! Sweet, sweet Xbox Live!

Happy Gaming, (and christmas shopping!)
Seb

2007: The greatest year of gaming... EVER

2007-11-07T22:07:00.000-08:00

2007 has seen some great innovations in gaming. The Wii, PS3 and Xbox 360 are all competing for the Console King crown. We have seen some of the greatest games ever made such as Halo 3, Bioshock, Call of Duty 4 and Fifa 08. Plus we have Mass Effect and GTA IV coming our way! Not to mention the price drops!

Cheers and Happy Gaming,
Seb

Welcome!

2007-11-07T21:41:00.000-08:00

Hi, and welcome to the Unofficial Xbox 360 News blog. This blog transmitted via RSS will cover game realeases and Xbox 360 news taken from various sources around the net, all in one easy one-stop-shop.

Happy Gaming
Seb