Richard received a BFA from the University of Oklahoma. Foregoing the endless rejection that is the life of an actor, Richard opted instead to follow his true passion, games. Lucky for him, the internet has turned writing about games into a financially viable occupation. Otherwise he would be condemned to a life in hell, also known as community theatre.
Peter Molyneux lives a fearful life. Ever since he promised the moon and failed to deliver with the original Fable, he has been relentlessly trailed by PR ninjas. We were expecting a special Fable 3 reveal during GDC, and Molyneux obliged, but not before checking with PR. During the Fable 3 panel at GDC, Molyneux said that people have referred to Fable as a "Monty Python-esque" game, and so Lionhead decided to recruit John Cleese himself to play your butler in Fable 3.
He noted that Lionhead has record a "vast amount of AI dialogue" for Cleese, whose job as the butler is to "big you up, in a slightly sarcastic way." Unfortunately, Molyneux stated that the rights for Cleese's voice hadn't been secured "just yet," so we didn't get to see Cleese implemented in the demo. He's definitely a perfect fit for Fable though, and we can only be thankful that he hasn't run down the curtain and joined the choir invisible.
The previously announced Jalopnik DLC for Forza Motorsport 3 is now available on Xbox Live Marketplace. The pack includes 10 cars, which were chosen by the editors of Jalopnik.com, and include "some of the most coveted 2009 and 2010 models." The pack contains the following cars:
2008 Mazda Furai
2010 Jaguar #33 Jaguar RSR XKR GT
2009 Ford #40 Robertson Racing Ford GT Mk7
2010 Aston Martin V12 Vantage
2010 Porsche 911 Sport Classic
1992 Bugatti EB110 SS
2011 BMW Motorsport Z4 sDrive35is
2010 Audi TT RS Coupe
2010 Aston Martin Rapide
2010 Honda Mugen Civic Type-R 3D
The car pack costs 400 ($5), but you can also grab a sample -- the 2010 Honda Mugen Civic Type-R 3D -- for free. Head over to the Forza Motorsport website for more info on each car.
Thus far, we've really learned only one thing from the trailers released for Zeno Clash: Ultimate Edition: You can plan to spend a lot of time in the game pounding very strange looking people in the face. Whether you do so by yourself or with a friend is up to you. Now, thanks to the latest trailer from Atlus, we learn a little bit about the story of Zeno Clash. It seems that the main character kills someone or something known as Father-Mother. We're not sure what started the dispute -- perhaps a forgotten Father-Mother's Day present -- but the end result is a dead tribal leader, banishment and a quest for the truth. You know, that old chestnut.
Zeno Clash: Ultimate Edition hits XBLA on March 31.
When your Xbox 360 suffers from the Red Ring of Death (and it will), there are a great many things you may want to do to it. You might feel like hurling it from the roof into a waiting wood chipper. You might feel like drowning it in your own tears in a desperate attempt to cool its heat-blasted insides and restore it to life. Ultimately, however, you'll probably do what we all do: Send it in for repair. That is, unless you're Jasper Stevens.
Stevens, you see, decided to turn his busted box into a robot sculpture. Featured at technabob, Stevens' RRoDMan is most productive form of nerd rage we've ever seen. Even more impressive, Stevens claims that the uses no tape or glue. We can only assume that the sculpture is held together by broken dreams.
There's an old saying: "Beating the snot out of people is better with friends." At least, we think that's a saying. It really doesn't matter, though, as the video above pretty much proves it anyway. When Zeno Clash: Ultimate Edition lands on XBLA, it will bring with it new co-op modes that weren't seen in the PC version. Specifically, the game will feature split-screen and online co-op in the Pit and Tower challenge modes, which will also include leaderboards.
So, if ganging up on helpless bad guys and pummeling them to death sounds like fun, you should probably keep an eye on Zeno Clash.
As promised, the Just Cause 2 demo is now available on Xbox Live Marketplace. While this post was written as a reminder of that fact, the game itself also serves as a reminder. You see, it reminds just how incredibly handy grappling hooks are. Watching the varioustrailersreleased for the game thus far, it's kind of hard to imagine starting a revolution without one. Just remember to bring your parachute.
Tower defense fans, rejoice, for Toy Soldiers has arrived. Take note, however, because Toy Soldiers adds a few twists to the standard tower defense formula. First and foremost, players can take direct control of the various towers, turrets and vehicles that are placed on the map. Whether it's sniping army men from the sniper tower or dogfighting enemy planes, there's plenty of variety. The game even packs Facebook integration (note: stay away from the Facebook app if you value productivity). Watch the latest XBLA in Brief and decide if Toy Soldiers is worth 1200 ($15).
Shortcut: Download the trial version of Toy Soldiers [via Xbox.com]
[iTunes] Subscribe to X3F TV directly in iTunes.
[Zune] Subscribe to the X3F TV directly.
[RSS] Add the X3F TV feed to your RSS aggregator and have the show delivered automatically.
[M4V] Download the M4V directly.
Well, congratulations, internet, you got it completely wrong. The image above and to the left is the "democratically" chosen digital box art for the upcoming XBLA title, Raskulls. It won over the image to the right by a minuscule 15 votes. Just look at it. It tells you nothing about the game. It's just a skull king dude pointing. Now look at the image to the right. You see that the king is searching for something, a precious gem of some sort. What's more, he is clearly not the only one, as he is pursued by many competitors and what appears to be a giant, flying pirate ship. Also, there is a laser. This is box art. This is the stuff of great literature. Alas, the public totally flubbed it.
And that, ladies and gentlemen, is why we have the electoral college.
Attention would-be wastelanders, Fallout 3 is now available on Xbox Live Games on Demand. The game clocks in at 5GB and is available in all Xbox Live regions except India, Japan and New Zealand. It costs $29.99 in North America, which is about even with most retailers. As usual, prices for other regions will vary.
We're sure that somewhere, someday, gamers will learn what a boycott actually is. Thankfully, that day is still far in the future, allowing us to bask in the hilarity. Also featured on the show this week: News, mail and gold medal fever. But mostly it's just us jawing about how incomprehensible the Sonic the Hedgehog 4 boycott is. Download it and nourish your earholes.
[iTunes] Subscribe to the Podcast directly in iTunes (MP3).
[Zune] Subscribe to the Podcast directly in Zune Marketplace (MP3).
[RSS MP3] Add the Xbox 360 Fanboy Podcast feed (in MP3) to your RSS aggregator and have the show delivered automatically.
[MP3] Download the MP3 directly.
CaptiveMotion has announced that it has completed work on the facial animation for Alan Wake. The company provided facial capture services for the developers at Remedy to use in the upcoming thriller. One of the more intriguing aspects of the announcement is that the facial capturing done by CaptiveMotion was actually done separately from the full body motion capture used in the game, which was completed six months prior. As a result, CaptiveMotion had to "present the data in a fashion that Remedy could easily integrate it into their pipeline."
The capture technology itself is called Embody, which allows up to 1,600 markers to be mapped on a single motion capture actor. See it in action in the (somewhat bizarre) video after the break.
Remember when Lionhead and Microsoft decided to make the collector's edition of Fable II much, much less appealing by removing the sweet little Hobbe figure? Now is your chance to make that right, thanks to a Fable IIImerchandising survey posted by Lionhead. The survey asks users to rate different categories of merchandise, based on how much said merchandise is desired. Do you want book? Coffee mugs? A nice T-shirt, perhaps?
Of course, the answer is no. You don't want those things. What you want is collectible Hobbe figurines. Preferably with mix-and-match accessories. Also, just remember that we would never influence our readers for personal gain. Now go ask Lionhead for some Hobbes.
Comm scan has detected that new Star Wars: The Force Unleashed Avatar items are now available on Xbox Live Marketplace. Yes, even moreStar Wars stuff for your digital self. Normally, we would scoff at things like this, but hey ... there's a Stormtrooper outfit. Oh sure, you could get a clone trooper outfit before, but why waste money on that when the obviously superior Stormtrooper armor is available?
A quick note for all the apocalyptic adventure-seekers out there: The promised Darksiders demo is now available on Xbox Live Marketplace. As previously announced, this is no ordinary demo, either. No, this sucker contains the game's first dungeon in its entirety, a chunk of gameplay that should take approximately 90 minutes to complete for the "average player." It's not often that publishers give away that much game for free, so be sure to give it a go.
Oh, and don't forget to post your completion time here in the comments. We're curious to see how close to the mark THQ's estimate is.
Three very different games on Xbox Live Arcade this week, gang. We've got the turn-based strategy of Greed Corp (800 / $10), the reverse platforming of Lazy Raiders (800 / $10) and the ... guitar-controlled platforming of Fret Nice (1200 / $15). Okay, so both Lazy Raiders and Fret Nice are basically platformers, but they're definitely different. Watch all the games in action in today's XBLA in Brief.
{ 8 days ago } 
($5), but you can also grab a sample -- the 2010 Honda Mugen Civic Type-R 3D -- for free. Head over to the Forza Motorsport website for more info on each car.
When your Xbox 360 suffers from the Red Ring of Death (and it will), there are a great many things you may want to do to it. You might feel like hurling it from the roof into a waiting wood chipper. You might feel like drowning it in your own tears in a desperate attempt to cool its heat-blasted insides and restore it to life. Ultimately, however, you'll probably do what we all do: Send it in for repair. That is, unless you're Jasper Stevens.
