Joystiq [Xbox]

PSA: Xbox mandatory update isn't 'The Big One,' adds WPA2 support for wireless adapter

by Ben Gilbert { 12 days ago }

Those of you who woke up extra early this morning to get in precious alone time with your Xbox 360 (we understand – we do it all the time) may have been tricked when a mandatory system update greeted you in place of the dashboard. Alas, the much ballyhoo'd Facebook/Twitter/Last.fm update has not yet arrived, as Microsoft's Major Nelson points out on his site.

Instead, the update brings with it support for the now five-year-old WPA2 security protocol. With that new and improved 802.11n wireless adapter hitting retailers next month, and with WPA2 certification being mandatory for all new Wi-Fi devices as of March 2006, Microsoft seems to be rolling out that addition in software. That's good news for those of you with a four-year-old Xbox 360 Wireless Adapter!

X3F TV -- XBLA in Brief: Inferno Pool, Rainbow Islands

by Richard Mitchell { 12 days ago }

Once again, a new week has brought two drastically different titles to Xbox Live Arcade. Inferno Pool allows gamers to play a fast, frenetic round of multiplayer pool (all in what appears to be a bar in Silent Hill). On the other side of the coin, we have Rainbow Islands: Towering Adventure, which has players killing adorable enemies with rainbows. Both are available for 800

($10) and you can see what they're all about in this week's XBLA in Brief. Enjoy.

Download the trial version of Inferno Pool
Download the trial version of Rainbow Islands: Towering Adventure

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Gamasutra examines Gamerscore and game completion statistics

by Xav de Matos { 12 days ago }

In a new feature, Gamasutra looks at Xbox 360 Gamerscore and game completion statistics in search of a reason why some players stop playing games in their library.

According to the feature, a game's overall difficulty is the biggest culprit from discouraging players from completing a game. Using data of 14,000 players regularly surveyed provided by Microsoft and the top 13 Xbox Live titles in 2008, it was concluded the group unlocked less than half of the possible Gamerscore on average. Gamasutra notes that the selected users in the survey tend to be more hardcore than the average player, so overall completion rates are expected to be even lower.

Another point of the study was to determine the average completion of a game's campaign mode. Using data of games that award campaign completion Achievements, it was determined that only 30 percent of the surveyed group did not play games until the end. Gamasutra theorizes that the reason so many gamers neglect a game's campaign is due to frustration. Having experienced the -- sadly, often horrific -- world of Xbox Live, we'd also guess many of the hardcore gamers examined skipped the campaign in favor of pwnin' n00bs online.

Latest Ballad of Gay Tony trailer showcases Luis Lopez's many exploits

by Ben Gilbert { 12 days ago }

Rather than offer interesting social commentary or moody atmospheric tone, the just-released Ballad of Gay Tony teaser instead teaches us that Luis Lopez is not a joking around kinda guy. He takes shots, tosses dudes off buildings – he even goes to the driving range!

In case it weren't already glaringly obvious to you, the second Grand Theft Auto IV expansion will be taking itself quite a bit less seriously than the first digital release. Thankfully, the wait is nearly over and we can find out for ourselves tomorrow just how much Rockstar Games has twisted its latest opus.

Gallery: GTA IV: The Ballad of Gay Tony

Xbox 360 Sky Player down, relaunching 'in phases' today

by JC Fletcher { 12 days ago }

While the Xbox 360 Sky Player apparently launched in the UK yesterday as planned, things veered away from the plan almost immediately thereafter. The service was "suspended" shortly after launch, for what must be the best possible problem in Microsoft's eyes: too many subscribers.

"Unfortunately due to the unprecedented levels of simultaneous demand," a statement on Xbox.com reads, "we did not have the capacity to satisfy all service requests and therefore temporarily suspended all access to the service." The service is being reinstated in phases today, presumably with some upgrades in place to deal with the demand. An earlier statement (reproduced on Engadget) specified tomorrow as the target date for the relaunch -- it seems likely that all users will be returned to their regularly scheduled programming then.

Fairytale Fights DLC free for first 90 days with online registration

by Ben Gilbert { 12 days ago }

Playlogic Entertainment's Fairytale Fights may have just been released today in North America, but the game's developer is wasting no time at all in kinda, sorta announcing the first downloadable content. We say "kinda, sorta" because the promised four "new playable characters" and three "new PvP arenas" aren't detailed whatsoever in the press release. Instead, Playlogic opted to announce the DLC with the promise that those who sign up on the Fairytale Fights website will receive a code giving them free access to the digitally-distributed content.

The various content is alleged to be "valued at over $15," so it would serve you wisely to snag your free code if you have any interest whatsoever in picking up a copy of the game. Hell, even if you're renting, free is free, right? And hey, at least "part of" the DLC will be exclusive to those who register online. Seems like a no-brainer to us.

Gallery: Fairytale Fights

Spend $80 on games at Amazon, get $40 in credit

by David Hinkle { 12 days ago }

There's no denying it: the holidays are right around the corner. Have you even begun to make your shopping list yet? Yeah, we thought so -- how'd you like some help? If you're planning on picking up some disc-based fun for a friend or loved one this year, then you may want to consider Amazon's current promotion.

So, like the headline says, if you pick up $80 worth of (select!) gaming goodness from now until October 31, you'll get a voucher worth $40 from Amazon seven days after your items ship. This credit comes through your email so, when it's all said and done, you should be able to treat yourself on top of making it a special season for a few of your closest. But, as for the games that qualify, well -- there's some really great titles in here for just about any type of gamer.

Know a music lover? Hey, how about The Beatles: Rock Band? If you know a comic junkie, then there's always the exceptional Batman: Arkham Asylum. Heck, if you got a couple friends, give 'em Borderlands, then use the credit to get yourself a copy for some co-op delight. How about some Uncharted 2? See what we mean? There's lots of good stuff in this sale.

Of course, there's always the option to just buy yourself a bunch of stuff, but we know even you aren't that selfish, right? Right?

[Via CAG]

Crave bringing Man vs. Wild, new Deadliest Catch to consoles

by Justin McElroy { 12 days ago }

It's not quite as titularly perplexing as the continuation of the Final Fantasy series, but we do have to wonder about Crave's decision to bring another game based on crab fishing show Deadliest Catch to market. If we've already reeled in the catch that's most deadly, what's the allure of returning to the water? Our hope is that an undiscovered species of crab with the faces of adorable babies will be at the center of An Equally Deadly But More Morally Taxing Catch in the spring of 2010 on Wii, PS3 and DS.

What makes much more sense is Crave's announcement that it will also be releasing a game based on the awesome Man vs. Wild to the 360, PS3, DS and Wii in the same time frame. A game based on a survivalist's battles with nature could make a really fresh take on the action adventure genre, but this is Crave we're talking about, so count on a series of minigames in which host Bear Grylls eats increasingly obscure and difficult to chew organs from a deer carcass.

Reminder: DiRT and Dead Space join Games on Demand

by Alexander Sliwinski { 12 days ago }

Dead Space and DiRT are ready to download now through Games on Demand. Hmmm, maybe we should try a new formatting for these posts:

Dead Space through Games on Demand is $20. Meanwhile, used from GameStop it's $18.
DiRT through Games on Demand is $30. Meanwhile, used from GameStop it's $18.

Currently, neither is available through GameFly's store. Dead Space is also priced £19.99 ($32.75 USD) in the UK through Games on Demand, while it's only £14.99 new and £9.99 used at retail. That ain't right.

Review: DJ Hero

by Griffin McElroy { 12 days ago }

DJ Hero could end up being the most divisive video game ever created. It flies proudly in the face of certain qualities I've come to expect of the casual-aimed rhythm genre -- qualities such as accessibility, recognizability and general ease of play. Activision's latest possesses none of these characteristics: It's got a sheer learning curve, it exclusively features music that has been mashed into an indistinguishable pulp, and it's easily the most difficult peripheral-based rhythm game I've ever played. (Dance Dance Revolution notwithstanding, of course. These legs just weren't made to flail.)

Everyone who plays DJ Hero will either hate it to its core, eject the disc and toss in a more familiar musical standby, or, if they possess a certain collection of odd inclinations, they'll fall wildly in love with it. I fall into the latter group, though the small assembly of friends I recently had try their hands at the game fell firmly into the former. Yes, those people aren't writing this review, but I thought it important to note their existence.

For my part, I found DJ Hero to be fresh by every conceivable definition of the word.

Gallery: DJ Hero

Continued →

L4D2 pre-order demo MIA on Steam

by Richard Mitchell { 12 days ago }

We knew that the pre-loadable Left 4 Dead 2 demo on Steam would send withering waves of madness through the world's populace, but we never considered what would happen if the demo failed to materialize on the promised date. Steam users have been reporting that the demo is still unavailable, and Steam's own events page -- pictured above -- notes that it won't be available until early tomorrow.

The delay seems to only affect Steam users at the moment, as the Xbox version of the demo is currently available on Xbox Live Marketplace for those that have the redemption code. We've contacted Valve regarding the delay and will update this post as soon as we have more information.

PSA: Gearbox isn't working on an XBLA game

by Richard Mitchell { 12 days ago }

We're not too proud to imagine we're the only video game blog you read (no, really ... it's okay, we understand). As such, earlier today, you might have read a story elsewhere speculating that Gearbox was busy working on an XBLA game. The rumor began as the result of a Twitter update from Gearbox level designer Zach Ford, which mentioned that he had just seen "our XBLA character rigged." We decided to contact Ford to see just what it was he was talking about, and he was nice enough to clear things up.

"This is just a side project where we're trying to expand our skill sets," Ford told Joystiq. "The project is in no way affiliated with GBX. Just something to play around with after work." So there you have it, no XBLA games on the way from Gearbox -- at least not officially. Now go back to Borderlands.

Big news, Phil! Call of Juarez: Bound in Blood gets multiplayer patch

by Justin McElroy { 12 days ago }

We have great news for Phillip Arnasus of Sterling, Virginia. Ubisoft's Twitter feed says that a patch, arriving tomorrow on Xbox 360 and PS3, will focus on bringing balance to the different classes in Call of Juarez: Bound in Blood's multiplayer mode. As the one person who frequently plays the Bound in Blood multiplayer, Arnasus says he's "really looking forward to it" and hopes the fixes will help the mode to "finally catch on," which even his closest friends agree is a long shot.

We give publishers so much heat for the important things they don't do, that we feel obligated to note when they go the extra mile for nobody. No offense, Phil, it's just a figure of speech.

Halo: Evolutions book cover, authors revealed

by Richard Mitchell { 12 days ago }

It's been a while since the Halo: Evolutions story collection was announced. Now, just a month away from its November 24 launch, Tor Books has revealed both the book's cover art and all of the authors who will contribute to the compilation. Contributing to the book will be John Goff, Frank O'Connor and Kevin Grace of 343 Industries, as well as authors B.K Evenson, Jeff Vandermeer, Tessa Kum and Fred Van Lente. As previously announced, Eric Nylund, Tobias Buckell and Karen Traviss will also be penning stories for the book.

Tor editor Eric Raab promises the collection will appeal to "every kind of Halo fan from straight up action with the Master Chief to glimpse [sic] into the Elite mindset post Halo 3" and will also delve into characters like Cortana, the Gravemind and Admiral Cole. One thing's for sure: If you like teabagging and reading, this book is for you.

Click the book cover to the right to check out a Spartan-sized version.

Gearbox details known Borderlands glitches, workarounds

by David Hinkle { 12 days ago }

After dealing with shortages and that PS3 friends list thing, a few Borderlands players have now reported encountering an online glitch that erases everything. Yes, folks -- it's so bad, we had to put it in italics.

You can check out the list of ongoing issues for yourself over at the Gearbox forums, where the biggest perpetrator is undoubtedly the glitch that causes a player's stats to be downgraded to a big fat zero following another player joining or vacating an online match. Another glitch does the same thing, only with your entire inventory of weapons; Gearbox says the worst issues are fairly infrequent, as scary as they may sound.

As of right now, there's currently no fix or workaround for a lot of the potential game breakers, though the majority of issues aren't as bad as those listed above. Still, Gearbox is working to resolve these issues and if you've found something that isn't on the list, we suggest you hit up the technical support section. We can all make these lands a better place ... together.

[Via 1UP]

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