Resistance 2

Details are finally leaking on Resistance 2 for PS3, there showing that this is going to be an incredible title, amazingly for Insomniac who have already put out the fantastic Ratchet and Clank this year, this title will also be out in 2008!

- 8 Player Coop!
- 60 Player Matches Online!!
- Levels are partially random generated so are never the same each time you play them.
- 3 Different Classes
- Each team in the 60 player matches will have different objectives! So lots of mini battles/objectives going on inside one huge battlefield!

A completely overhauled graphics engine, i was gonna put some screen shots up but the place i was going to get them has just pulled them due to copyright! Believe me, they are jaw dropping.

MGS4!

Drooool!

Finally confirmed for a Q2 2008 release, apparently Konami can now play the game from start right through to finish, they are on the 'final push'

Highlights from the new clip from CES are the lighting in particular is fantastic and if you notice his octocamo suit changes to look like the material snake is taking cover against.

Will ship with Metal Gear Online Starter Edition, not much detail on it yet, it will be online playable out of the box as well but looks like there will be DLC to follow to get the most out of it.

Devil May Cry 4!

Stunning!

Looking forward to this one! Already pre-ordered for release day (8th of Feb!) Capcom have confirmed that the PS3 and 360 releases will be identical, the only difference ive found mentioned is that the PS3 version can install 5 gig to the hard drive to remove load times between areas.

Slightly dissappointed that you aren't going to be Dante this time but a new character called Nero, shouldn't distract from the fun too much tho i imagine, especially with 60fps at 1080p, Yummy!

Turning a corner

Hey!

Sorry havent been on this for a while, just wanted to wish you all a happy new year!

Couple of interesting things happened last week in the technology world

Warner are giving up on HD-DVD from May 2008 and going Blu Ray exclusive, The HD-DVD group promptly cancelled there appearance and presentation at CES, New Line Cinema quickly followed suit in switching leaving only 2 studio's supporting HD-DVD.. all predictions are now that HD-DVD will die a quick death. Rumours of a 360 with a built in HD-DVD drive have been around for a bit, i would have thought MS would now be seriously reconsidering its release.

Apple are expected to offer Mac's with Blu Ray starting at Macworld in January also, i really don't see any other outcome but the death of HD-DVD in the current situation.

My main concern was Lord of the Rings being on Blu Ray which is now definite!

Another exciting change for 2008 is the final studio, Sony BMG, have now committed to releasing Music without DRM, finally! Its really beginning to look like 2008 could be the death of music DRM.

1 HD format and No Music DRM! 2008 is looking up!

Ill try and get back into the swing of posting, hope your all good.

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!