The Xbox 360 Fall Update (Dec 4th 07) Details! Xvid and Divx!!

Fall Update Details

Movie previews, Xbox news feeds, and expanded user profiles highlight the new additions to the Xbox 360 dash.

by Nate Ahearn

US, November 30, 2007 - Every six months the Xbox community is aflutter with wonderment as to what the next system update will bring. Message boards are inundated with guesses and theories, rumors flow through the entire Internet, and then the moment strikes when the update is released and the world knows for certain what new improvements Microsoft has added to its system. That time has come again and we've gotten our grubby paws on a pre-release version of the fall update to bring you all of the details before it hits the streets. Strap yourself in and get ready to find out how your Xbox 360 dashboard will be changed forever once December 4 rolls around.

Xbox Originals -- While this one was announced a few weeks ago, that doesn't take away from its magnitude. On the first day the update is available you'll be able to download Halo, Fable, Crimson Skies, Psychonauts, Fuzion Frenzy, and Crash Bandicoot: The Wrath of Cortex each for 1200 Microsoft Points (US$15) on December 4. Plenty more backwards-compatible titles are in the works.

The Xbox Originals Menu

Xbox Live Blade -- The first thing that you'll notice when you fire up your console with the update installed is that the Live Blade has been reorganized a bit. Messages and friends have been consolidated into one menu item to make room for Inside Xbox, a new section that acts much like an RSS feed of content from Xbox.com. There you'll find things like videos, pictures, news items, The Major Nelson Minute, and pretty much whatever else the folks at Microsoft want to add to it.

New Xbox Live Blade

Inside Xbox

Marketplace Blade -- The hub for marketplace content has clearly received the most attention when compared to the rest of the blades. Gone is the old set of six gaudy buttons and in its place is a much more concise package. Now you'll see four prominent options: There's Spotlight, New Arrivals, Game Store and Video Store. Spotlight points out the hottest items that have been added to Marketplace. Be it demos, videos, movies, arcade, whatever it is, you'll find Xbox Live's most popular offerings there. New Arrivals is arranged similarly only there you'll find the newest content, rather than the most popular. Game Store and Video Store house all of their respective content types, be it demos and Xbox Originals in the Game Store or TV Shows in the Video Store. It should be noted that the Video Store can also be located on the Media Blade.

New Marketplace Blade

Game Store Content

New Arrivals to Marketplace

Xbox Live Arcade Hits --Gamers have been wondering why XBLA games rarely see price drops. Well, this is your new bargain bin, ladies and gents. This one is essentially Platinum Hits for Xbox Live Arcade games. Bankshot Billiards 2 and Lumines Live can be found here for 800 MP (US$10) with Marble Blast Ultra, Small Arms, and Zuma Deluxe dropped to 400 MP (US$5).

Profile Expansion -- The oddest addition, and likely one that nobody saw coming, is the biographical additions to the profile page. Now while editing your online persona you can add in any name you like, as well as any location; city and state, and a short bio about yourself. We were able to create the oh-so-mature name of "s3cks with elephants" without a problem so we're sure to see plenty of inappropriate and fake titles out there once the update drops. Sure, that kind of defeats the purpose (the intention is to have a proper name to go with someone's Gamertag), but it's too much fun making up obnoxious fake names not to give it a try.

Profile Expansion

Enhanced Video Codec Support -- This addition will please the majority of the video streaming Xbox 360 community. MPEG4 Part 2 support which, in layman's terms, opens up DivX, Xvid, and Nero Digital compatible videos to being sent through your Xbox 360 from your PC and onto your TV. What kind of content that is, well, Microsoft had no comment on that.

Movie Previews -- Another exciting addition for the video and movie enthusiasts of the world is the movie preview which can be accessed by simply clicking on any piece of marketplace video media for purchase. Whether it was movies or TV shows, every one that we clicked on had a short preview available that played after a short buffering sequence. Who knew that Bad Girls from Mars was worth renting?

Movie Preview Now Available!

Parental Controls -- The only item on the list for the parents of the world to hang their hats on is the new Family Timer. For Mom and Dads out there who feel like their children are sitting inside too long playing that blasted Xbox 360, Microsoft has given you the ability to set daily or weekly limits on the amount of time the system can be turned on. Play for a second longer and the system will shut down.

Family Timer

The Little Things -- There were two nuances that we saw while tooling around that were worth mentioning as an aside to the main features listed above. First, there's a snazzy new fade to black that happens when you turn the system off. The Xbox 360 used to pop off instantly, and while it may be a small change, we do like the gentler power-down procedure in comparison. Second, and this is an even smaller detail, some of the Guide's menu items, such as your friends list, now expand and contract depending on where you're scrolling. Essentially it makes the gamertag you've landed on more prominently featured on the screen. Again, it is small, but it's an improvement nonetheless.

While this fall's update is generally small in the way of bona fide new features that will advance your experience with an Xbox 360, what is here can be described as nothing but solid additions to the system. Xbox Originals are sure to have thousands downloading the original Halo onto their hard drive, added codec support will appease videophile gamers the world over, and the new parental controls will hopefully force more children away from their television for a few hours out of the day.

Keep an eye out for the fall update to hit Xbox Live starting around 2 AM PST on December 4.

Just ordered my 8800GT + Crysis!

Spotted this great deal and could resist any longer, so glad I returned my GTX.
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=GX-041-EA&groupid=701&catid=56&subcat=1008

On a separate note I received an unexpected order confirmation from Play earlier today. For a moment I thought someone had hacked my account as I haven't been onto play.com in ages. Checked the email and it was my preorder for UT 2007 / UT3 that I placed over a year ago when the due date was 2nd Jan 07! Anyway should be busy with two great PC games now. So, anyone else getting these gaming beauties?

Crysis Demo

Tried the Crysis demo last night. Wow it's the most beautiful interactive slideshow ever! ;-)



Damn wish I still had the 8800GTX :-(
TBH with everything on low using my old 6800GTS I get about 25FPS which is just about playable, but obviously doesn't look nearly a nice. Just waiting for 8800GT to come out so I can get two! Should then be able to play it with everything maxed out so it looks like this!

Ghost town

Getting a bit quiet here.

Is that tumble weed?

Escapist's Review of Halo 3

Loving the escapist reviews, this guy has a great style.
Here's his 'reality check' review of Halo 3.
Perhaps a little harsh given he didn't play the Halo 1 & 2 but he does make some valid and amusing points. Lee knowing highly you regard Halo 3 you may find this a bit upsetting! ;-)

http://www.escapistmagazine.com/articles/view/editorials/zeropunctuation/2304-Zero-Punctuation-Halo-3

Orange Box

Anyone else tried this? I got the PC version I love every game on it, even though I already have 2 of them! Can't really complain for 25 quid!

• Portal is an awesome game, short but very sweet! Great humour and the dev comentary is fascinating. Oh and that song at the end is just pure class!
  

• TF2 is great fun, really well balanced and differing class to suit every play style, my current favourite is the Spy!

• HL2 Ep2, more of the same goodness we have come to expect from Valve. Only played a couple of hours but loving it so far.
• HL2 & HL 2 Ep1. Great games I can now handily give as a gift to my father in law for Chritsmas! ;-) Yes I'm a cheapskate!
  

Found this great site which gave a spot on review for Orange box, he has great style too, will definatley be keeping an eye on his posts.

http://www.escapistmagazine.com/articles/view/editorials/zeropunctuation/2541-Zero-Punctuation-The-Orange-Box

Anyone else completed Halo 3?

Wow what a game, the ending was a bit disapointing i feel, but i won't give it away. Still a great game, one of the best i have ever played. Although playing on Heroic mode meant the flood bit towards the end was solid, i lost count of the times i ran out of ammo or died :( How about some Coop games of Halo once you have all completed it?

Forgive me Apple...

For i have sinned!!



Ok i know its not strictly gaming, but i spent an hour or so this morning hacking the barry manilow out of my ipod touch, it's gone from being great to being awesome, it can do pretty much everything a laptop can now! Added email, notes, proper calendar, google maps and more!

Put in all the stuff Apple should have added anyway! I think it may become like the PSP Sony vs Hackers battle of last year, but then your not forced to upgrade :)

You need one of these =)

New Monster Gaming Machine!

It's been very quiet here since Halo 3 was released, so just to prove there is more to life then Master Chief I thought I post the details of the new PC gaming rig I'm putting together ready for Crysis and more fitting of a BatCave! ;-)

Decided to go the whole hog in the end an pretty much replaced everything except the case.

Here's the specs-
Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600 (G0 stepping) - Initiallay wasn't convinced about Quad cores and bought the E6600 but then heard about the new G0 Quad cores so return the Dual core unopened and got that this. Should be worth the extra 50 quid with Alan Wake and Crysis both multi threaded and with water cooling should easily be able to get 3.5Ghz!

nVidia 8800GTX 768Mb - Did toy with the GTS but that extra 30% was just too tempting. This thing is huge, doesn't even fit in my case without pulling out the HD cage!

Asus P5KC Motherboard - CPC recommended, great overclocker and it supports DDR3. No RAID support but who needs that!?

2Gig of Corsair XMS 800 - Another great overclocker and should be fine until DDR3 becomes affordable.

Looking forward to getting this all up an running! I'll post my benchmarks once I finally put it all together.

Halo 3

I received my copy of Halo 3 yesterday but only had time to play it for an hour. Really impressed with it so far, they haven't really messed with the gameplay from the other two which is good. The graphics so far are pretty impressive, im currently in a jungle environment and they have done a good job with it. What is needed now though is to try the 4 player coop i think that will be a blast! Who's going to pick halo 3 up?

Best goal. Ever

As you may or may not know, I'm a bit of a PES fan, today I scored the greatest goal of my PES career.. share in the moment with me...



Joy...

I have finally had enough of BioShock

Just completed the game for the second time last night having this time harvested every little sister (which I must admit initially found very difficult to do the first time and slightly disturbing as they remind me alot of my daughter Sophie who is about the same age) in order to see the alternative ending. Bit disappointing, I was expecting the whole game to branch off when you kill Ryan as the first time round Tennenbaum helps you for saving her children. But as I had killed them all this time, I was expecting her to be a bit pissed off with me and maybe have to take her on! Nope, she still helps you but just calls you "bad man". Shame. I must admit I did feel a bit guilty though.

Nevermind at least this time I got my "Seriously good at this" achievment!

Next up, Stranglehold I think!

Hitler's Xbox Live Account gets banned....

I'm practically in tears this morning watching this. Too funny.

Enjoy

Guitar Hero III Shocker... Coming to PC & Mac!

Excellent!

At last air guitarist PC users needed envy the console boys any longer!

http://biz.gamedaily.com/industry/feature/?id=17373

Geometry Wars Waves

Suffice to say, I cannot wait for this. Its one of the best things about PGR and it's only a minigame. Pure brilliance tho and this looks to build on what was a great game

Ninja Gaiden 2 screens leak on Xbox.com

...and they leak copious amounts of blood. The pictures were taken down pretty sharpish, but it's pretty much confirmed that these screens are from Ninja Gaiden 2 and they're beautifully brutal. One of the best games out last gen. The sequel is destined for great things hopefully. Enjoy the screens

BioShock review

Having played the game through and gone a fair bit through my second attempt I felt compelled to give my final assesment of BioShock.

Definatley a slow burner, I was initially convinced the game was never going to live up to all the hype. The demo really didn't do it justice and only really showed off the excellent graphics.
The game really comes into it's own after a few hours when you begin to immerse yourself in the world of Rapture, an underwater city created by mad idealist Andrew Ryan. The story is very cleverly unfolded by tape recordings left lying around allowing you to try and piece together to the various causes of the city's downfall and the inhabitants. The voice acting is very good and really helps to develop a great story. Story is definatley a key element in this game and it feels very much like an interactive work of fiction. Deserving of it's 18 certificate, the game is dark and disturbing but has a strong enough plot to justify the shocking events as opposed to games like as manhunt which just use gore and mindless violence for the sake of it.
There have been a number of technial issues with the game and a few reviews have been critial of this in their scroing. For me the game does struggle to run reliably on the PC but I have had no issues playing it on the 360. Graphically the two versions are virtually identical and unless you have a very beafy PC (at least Geforce 8800) then XBox version will provide a much better experience especially at 1080P.
The sound in this game is very good and played through decent 5.1 THX system sounds incredible. The low rumbles of the Big Daddy as he moans and his heavy footfalls really test the subwoofer. Gunshot sound a little weaker then I would like but otherwise I can't fault it.
In conclusion, certainly one of the best FPS ever it not the best, a very close contest between it and Half life 2. Bioshock definatley has the better and more involving story but Half life 2 has better puzzle and gameplay elements.
95%

Halo 3 goes Gold

Halo 3 is done and gone to manufacturing.

Never been much of a halo fan but will probably pick this up.. gonna be an expensive couple of months.. Warhawk is out today on PS3 (PSN Download) Heavenly Sword, Lair..

Link

If you would kindly...

I have decided, BioShock is THE best game ever!
Last night I defeated Ryan thinking that was the end of a very enjoyable game.
Oh how wrong I was...
I'm struggling not to say anything to spoil it but I'm still grinning inanely over what unfolds. I was blown away.
Can't wait to get back to Rapture tonight to find out how it continues.
Never has a game had me so absorbed. Half Life 2 comes close but has a very predictable storyline in comparison.
I remember reading some review saying that there were some key moments in the game that made the reviewer sit back in awe, defeating Ryan is definatley one!

Gamer Chat welcomes The Badger!

Chris Blandford becomes our newest member and has just got himself an XBox 360 Elite.
So what do you think Chris was it worth the extra money?

Killzone 2

New screenies from Leipzig, looking awesome.

Gamer Chat 100 posts and going strong

Looks like Mal recieves the honour of being the 100th poster.
Shame it had to be about some irrelevant PS3 news!
Only kidding Mal all gaming news is welcome! ;-)

Still not sure about the site name though, might be time for a little makeover.
Any suggestions?

Lord.. Why do you mock me so?

Today I have a day off work, because I have an interview later. I'm doing my preparation etc and the post comes and what do I find?



Great.. I'm supposed to be reading up on the company, instead I'm sat down looking at my copy of bioshock (didn't see the limited edition on Play.com) trying to justify opening it now and beginning my tour of Rapture...

Help!

PlayTV

Superb! Record TV onto PS3.. series link etc. Transfer it to PSP for when your on the move.. 2 1080p tuners as well! Count me in.

Hopefully the turnaround for PS3.. there are even some games due in the next few weeks as well!

Link

edit: Woo! Gamer Chat 100th Post!

360 Price Cut

All models of the Xbox 360 are dropping in price in Europe, after a similar drop in the US.. the new Elite model will be £299 now when it comes out here on Friday (confirmed by Game)

Its a swift kick in the nads for Sony, who really need to get some PS3 momentum going.

Link

Bioshock Figurine

How cool is this? Picture of the figurine that comes with the collectors edition of Bioshock, it has some other stuff like a music cd and a making of DVD that no one ever bothers with, but the figure is cool.

Think i might preorder it! Look great on my desk at work

For some idea of scale its 6 inches tall apparently.

7000 gamer points and counting

Sorry had to mention it.
Thanks to "The Darkness" I'm another step closer to the 10K mark, and I reckon with BioShock, Stranglehold and Halo 3 around the corner I'm going to enjoy trying to reach it!

Bioshock demo

Bioshock demo has gone up on 360 Marketplace, im stuck in farnborough for the week, someone give it a go and let me know if it lives up to the hype! Can't wait to try it.

Tried Blue Dragon demo at the weekend, quite dissappointing, really really wants to be Final Fantasy but just doesnt quite cut it.. felt like it was aimed at 10 years olds too, shame.. Graphics were nice tho, oh well, roll on Final Fantasy XIII *drool*

A new member of the Red Ring of Death club!

As you can see the "Bat Cave" is coming along nicley but apart from the mess, whats the problem with this picture?
Lots of blue lights except for the flashing red ones around the 360 power button thats what!
Just recieved a new update on the 360 last night and when it restarted got that lovley ring of red lights that signals no XBox gaming for a while!

Oh well, good job Bio Shock's almost out, guess I 'll be getting it on the PC then!

Warhawk goes Gold

Eagerly awaited multiplayer online shooter Warhawk is done, can't wait for this one, went down a storm in the beta. In a previous existance being a big fan of the Battlefield series on PC this one is right up my street.

August 28th for the US, Unknown in Europe as yet, interestingly will be available as an online download for $39.99 or on Blu-Ray disc with BT Headset for $59.99, i already have a headset and im a lazy arse so i'll be getting it online!

GTA IV Delayed

Grand Theft Auto IV has gone back to a Q2 2008 release.

Link

PGR4 Environment shots... Seriously.. Wow

No more words... Halo 3 and PGR4.... There is a God

This holiday season is going to be immense on the 360 with the sheer depth of quality in the titles being released, not just multiformat either, there's some massive exclusives due as well... Time to quit my job and dedicate my life to a state of gaming nirvana...

Bioshock reviews begin trickling in... Prepare to part with cash...

E3 2007: BioShock Update

Irrational gives us another glimpse of Arcadia.

by Charles Onyett

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US, July 11, 2007 - 2K showed off the Arcadia level for BioShock again today, something we'd seen at a Pre-E3 event recently in San Francsico. Ken Levine was on hand to demo all the different ways enemies can be wiped out in the game. The action started off by loading what's known as a Lazarus Vector into an irrigation system. The appropriately named compound would eventually revive a grove of trees that lay beyond the control room in which we were standing. In the meantime, we had to kill quite a few enemies.

This action in the demo was said to be about seven hours into the game so some advanced weaponry was available. A mine launcher, crossbow, and flamethrower were available. Not only will the flamethrower be able to belch flame, but can also be loaded up with liquid nitrogen for flash freezing, and liquid gel, a craftable item that stuns and electrifies enemies. We also saw an upgraded shotgun, with a rotating pulley system strapped on for increased reload speed, as well as augmented shell capacity.

Crafting items in the game is accomplished at special vending machines. They'll list the items that can be constructed and eat up money and items from your inventory. Other craftable goodies include special bolts for your crossbow that are much more resistant to breaking, which are apparently quite pricey to create. We also saw a trap bolt, which is basically an electrified wire that can be slung across hallways to surprise and shock charging foes. Ken was using the Telekinesis plasmid to properly situate the trap.

As enemies charged in at us while waiting for the trees to turn green, the most interesting attack we saw involved setting wind traps. With this plasmid you place small vortexes on the floor that fling anything that steps on them upward. Ken dropped a few on the ground, then stuck two mines up on the ceiling. When two enemies charged through a door, they hit the traps, hit the ceiling, and were killed by the ensuing explosion.

Then, like we've seen before, Ken demonstrated how enemies standing in water get electrified if you shoot a lightning bolt at the liquid. If you ignite someone or some environmental object, like oil spilled from barrels, with the fire-spewing plasmid, the object or body will set whatever it touches on fire as well. If the engulfed enemies fly to water to douse the flames, you can always shoot an electro bolt into the pool to put them down for good. Telekinesis can be tossed around pretty much anything in the game. Like before, it's clear the amount of variety to this game's combat, in addition to its storyline and slick graphics, of course.

Irrational told us the game is pretty much finished at this point on Xbox 360, and they're still doing some tweaking for the PC. With increased media attention since E3 2006, Irrational is particularly excited about BioShock's release, specifically for what it means for games in the future. "All I want to do is be able to create more games like this," says Ken Levine. "That's all I care about in my career is just make more cool games, be able to break down some barriers, things that aren't World War II shooters. That's what I want for the industry, it's the games I want to play and the games I want to make. If BioShock's successful, that to me is a ticket for making more games like this. We're not going to mention any of the story elements in the game, because honestly, they'd be better to find out for yourself when the game releases later this August.

10/10 in OXM and 95% in PC Gamer

Review scans can be found here

Forza 2 DLC races onto Live (see what I did there?)

Forza 2 DLC Races onto Xbox Live

First downloadable content pack features three new Nissan cars.

by Rob Burman, IGN UK

<A HREF="http://de.ign.com/event.ng/Type%3dclick%26FlightID%3d61869%26AdID%3d66779%26TargetID%3d11666%26Targets%3d11708,6743,7873,7697,8633,10619,11666%26Values%3d25,30,46,50,60,72,83,90,100,110,150,152,218,227,240,268,469,829,1187,1404,1481,1503,1591,2522,2662,2679,2721,3480,3543,3887,4056,4295,4525,4799,5137,5666,6612,6744%26RawValues%3d%26Redirect%3dhttp://www.direct2drive.co.uk" target="_blank"><!-- --></A>

UK, August 1, 2007 - A brand new downloadable content pack for Forza Motorsport 2 featuring three Nissan cars - the 2007 Sentra SE-R, Altima and 350Z - is available for free from Xbox Live Marketplace today.

To celebrare, Microsoft and Nissan have teamed up to run a series of Forza-themed events in the US, the first of which is an Xbox Live tournament in which competitors can only drive the Sentra SE-R. The second is a customisation contest, with budding car-tists encouraged to create the most stunning paint jobs imaginable. Entries will be judged by members of the Turn 10 dev team and Nissan, but as yet there's no word on what the prize for best design will be. More details about both competitions will be announced on the official Forza website in the next few weeks.

Finally, joining the Nissan trio of cars on the download list is the Peugeot 908 race car, which costs 50 Microsoft Points and is the only "paintable" race car in the game. Head over to Marketplace now to get behind the wheel of any of these four gas guzzlers.

Halo 3 = 4 player online co-op

I just cried tears of pure joy...

I'm just going to post the full thing and allow people to revel in this news

The Tru7h About Co-Op in Halo 3

Posted by lukems at 7/31/2007 1:49 PM PDT

It’s time for us to sack up and tell you what’s what regarding online co-op.

So you were probably wondering why we didn’t want to commit to two player co-op online over Xbox Live. We certainly got plenty of mail asking, no, demanding that we make it happen. Of course we were working on it, but we were also working on something better. Not two player co-op. Not three-player co-op, but up to four player co-op. Online. On Xbox Live, or sure, System Link if you prefer.

That is correct – up to four player co-op in Campaign mode on Xbox Live or System Link.

We’ve been playing it for quite some time, and bluntly, having some of our greatest ever Halo experiences. We wanted to make sure all our “t”s were crossed and our “i”s dotted before unveiling this important new part of Halo 3’s Campaign mode.

Apart from the horrifying network challenges this new mode presented us, were the various gameplay balance issues it adds to the fray. So we got it all together, polished it, and that’s why we’re revealing it now. As a result, you’re going to want to play co-op as hard as you can stomach it. We’d certainly recommend Legendary, but we’ll be revealing some more ways to make the game more interesting and challenging for multiple players in the very near future.

Acting as a team is a fantastic new twist to the Campaign gameplay – something that works as well on foot, in close confines as it does on the battlefield, with large scale vehicle mayhem. Scared of Jackal snipers? Send out a scout to see what dangers lie ahead. Terrified of an open field? Flank your enemies and swipe their rides. The combinations and scenarios are endless – and you’ll be able to enjoy them time and time again in Saved Films of your co-op exploits.

We mentioned that we’ve been having a blast. We have a lot of stories. Many of them would require that we explain some of the reasons replay will be a big factor, but not quite yet. Soon, we promise.

Like every other aspect of Halo 3, this mode is chosen from a Lobby. Simply select Campaign, choose your network (Xbox Live or System Link) and invite your friends to join you, or they can simply join your session once it’s set up and in a lobby (but they cannot join a game once it’s in-progress). They will pop into your lobby instantly, and when you have all the players you need (anywhere from one to four) you can begin the game from the beginning – or from any of your saved checkpoints.

Split-screen co-op is as ever, limited to two players per screen – but they can if they wish join two other friends online or via System Link.

For fictional reasons, we decided to avoid Halo’s slightly surreal compromise of two identical Master Chiefs and rather, use this opportunity to expand the Halo universe just a little bit. Player one will control the Master Chief, player two will control the Arbiter and players three and four will get the chance to control two brand new Elite characters.

Allow us to introduce them:

PLAYER 3 (Sangheili)

Name: N’tho ‘Sraom
Affiliation: Fleet of Retribution/Special Warfare Group/Special Operations
History: N’tho ‘Sraom is the youngest member of his Special Operations unit and is one of a growing number of human sympathizers amongst the Sangheili youth. He is a fairly typical young male adult Sangheili—he began compulsory military service at the end of adolescence, and remains unmarried with no close, non-familial relationships outside of his martial order. N’tho Sraom refused to stand idly by while the Prophets replaced Sangheili units with Jiralhanae packs, and now bears deep resentment toward those Sangheili politicians who landed his kind in their current predicament.

Although N’tho ‘Sraom’s romanticized nationalism is emblematic of all Sangheili, he has developed a healthy respect for humanity—not for their physical abilities or martial prowess, but for their audacity and resolve.

PLAYER 4 (Sangheili)

Name: Usze ‘Taham
Affiliation: Fleet of Retribution/Special Warfare Group/Fleet Security
History: Although Usze ‘Taham was born into a respected merchant family he was fathered by Toha ‘Sumai—one of the preeminent swordfighters of this age. Usze graduated with honors from the top War College in the Iruiru region of Yermo, Sanghelios (a distinction he shares with Rtas 'Vadum). Shortly after receiving his first post within the Covenant Navy he was offered a place on the Prophets’ Honor Guard but he declined citing “lack of practical experience”. In truth, he had no desire to be part of a largely ceremonial unit, and at the end of his third combat tour, Usze ‘Taham again refused the post—even though his superiors warned him such behavior could be misinterpreted as apostasy.

Since that time Usze has evaded countless punitive actions, at least two assassination attempts, and served with distinction for two additional tours before the Schism. Following the dissolution of the Covenant, he was approached by the Ascetics to become one of their liaisons within the Navy.

---

Every player will have identical abilities – only their appearance and weapon starts are different (Elites will start with Carbines versus Battle Rifles for example, depending on the mission). So there you have it. Mystery solved. Internet dramas ended. Four player online co-op it is. And a special thanks to the test, engineering, production and design teams who worked incredibly hard to make this feature happen.

Bam!

By Eck! GT5 Prologue Screens

New GT5 Prologue Screens.. Its not even the full GT5 either, the final car list is apparently going to be 10,000 too! altho not all available from the start.