BFMEII posts (Subscribe to this feed)

The first batch of Marketplace content has (mostly) gone live. For your downloading pleasure, the following is now available.

DOA X2 E3 Trailer (Japan)
Project Sylpheed Trailer (Japan)
Tenchu Senran Trailer
Half-Life 2 - Episode 2 Trailer
TGS Picture Pack
Tenchu Senran Demo (Japan)

There are also map packs available for BFMEII, though one of them -- Aragorn's Journey -- is supposed to be free, it's not working correctly right now. Don't download it or you will be charged. The other pack -- Northern Badlands -- is not supposed to be free so, you can grab it for 350 MS Points if you want. Also, as of this writing, the Half-Life 2 - Episode 2 trailer doesn't seem to be up.

We're not really sure if this counts as TGS content, but several XBLA games have been updated to take advantage of the Vision camera.

360 at the Tokyo Game Show:
HD-DVD for $170, $250 Core w/ Blue Dragon
1080p for 360!

Microsoft released some updated retail sales numbers yesterday, and the results are good. First, the big M reiterated its goal of shipping 10 million Xbox 360 consoles by the end of Holiday '06, and 13-15 million by the end of the fiscal year in June '07. As for the numbers, the 360 has maintained a very high accessory attach rate at 2.9 accessories per console (apparently a record). Of course, this is somewhat misleading as Microsoft has made accessory purchases somewhat essential (battery chargers, play n' charge, memory card, etc.). It would be interesting to see what the attach rate is for optional accessories like faceplates.

Software attach rates are also becoming larger, with an average of 4.6 games sold per console. Most of our readers will know that 4.6 is a very high attach rate for games. Also mentioned in the announcement, the 360 has four of the top ten games sold in the US this month, including: Chromehounds, NCAA Football 2007, Prey, and LOTR: BFME II. Don't be shocked if Madden '07 and Dead Rising make that list as well.

Very encouraging numbers for Microsoft, indeed. Now if they could just get some momentum going in Japan ...

EA has released some new maps for Battle for Middle Earth II on Marketplace. There are three in total: Argonath, Umbar, and Weathertop. Fans will recognize Argonath as the location of the giant statues from Fellowship, and of course Weathertop is where Frodo was stabbed by the Witch King's Morgul blade.

Sniff, sniff. Man, does it smell like nerd in here?

[Via Into the Mind of Gerlach (no, really)]

Gamespot is holding a LOTR:BFME II tournament. The top three players will take home Best Buy gift cards worth $600, $300, and $100 for first, second, and third place respectively. If you think you're up to snuff (me, I'm still working on beating one Medium level opponent) you can register here starting today at 3PM Pacific.

Good luck registering, and more good luck if you make it in!

If you haven't noticed, there is now a Battle for Middle Earth II demo available on Marketplace. It's available for every region, too -- and it's the perfect complement to the recently released walkthrough video. So, yeah, go get it.

Cheers.

[Thanks, Luis and KingOfGods]

Our overlords friends at Joystiq have posted a metareview of the RTS that would be king, LOTR: Battle for Middle Earth II. Most of you are probably sick of hearing how the controls are going to revolutionize the RTS experience on a console, but it looks like EA managed to pull it off -- you'll probably have to get cozy with the manual for a while, though. And make sure you check out the tutorial because somebody seems to have missed it.

Overall, the game averages out to an 84/100. Not bad at all. Hit the read link to see excerpts from major reviews. I plan to pick this up just as soon as I've got the scratch. Anyone care to join me?