XBox Game Players

Filed under: News

Our compatriots at Joystiq have uncovered some more information regarding the firing of Jeff Gerstmann, GameSpot’s (now former) Editorial Director. The news that he was fired broke this morning, with certain sources citing that he was fired do to pressure from Eidos in the wake of Gerstmann’s harsh text and video review of Kane & Lynch. Eidos publishes the game in question, and had purchased pervasive ads on GameSpot including a page skin that was removed soon after Gerstmann’s firing.

Joystiq has now secured new comments from CNET, which owns GameSpot. The comments come in the wake of a fairly ambiguous statement made by CNET earlier today. According to Joystiq, a CNET spokesperson by the name of Sarah Cain noted, “we do not terminate employees based on external pressure from advertisers.” When asked whether or not such pressure had been exerted, Cain provided no comment. Joystiq also inquired about the video review, which has since been removed from GameSpot. Cain said that a note of “clarification” had been added to the text review — which also applied to the video review — and that it was CNET’s decision to pull the video review.

Make sense to you? Yeah, well we don’t get it either. Check out Joystiq for more details.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments

Originally Syndicated via RSS from Xbox 360 Fanboy

Filed under: News, Too Human

> /> /> /> /> > The folks at Silicon Knights have served up the second video in its series of Too Human developer diaries, this time focusing on the company’s theory behind game design. The video actually brings in a pair of university professors to discuss the theory behind game design as it relates to film and psychology. Along with these well-versed experts, the Silicon Knights team elaborates on the immersive nature of good video games, noting that they can engage a player on a deeper level than cinema (take that, Ebert). The diary doesn’t really go into exactly how Too Human will accomplish this, but asserts that the team is attempting to make the best game possible. As Director of Design Hentry Sterchi puts it, “if they pick up the controller and they’re smiling, that’s the goal.” An admirable goal to be sure.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments

Originally Syndicated via RSS from Xbox 360 Fanboy

Filed under: News

Way back in April, we tried out the Monster Madness demo and walked away less than impressed. What was present in the game wasn’t bad, but it definitely had issues. Particularly, the game had serious camera and control issues, which made the demo much more difficult than it had to be. It looks like the developers have taken many of the game’s criticisms (we weren’t the only ones who made them) and addressed them in a title update available now on Xbox Live. SouthPeak informs us that the update includes several tweaks to the gameplay but the biggest change is definitely a revamped control scheme and camera. You may recall (but probably don’t) our major gripe with the demo: “the directional aiming is constant. In other words, if your character is facing left, he keeps facing left until you adjust the right stick. It works fine for ranged weapons, but it’s a pain to have to manually aim a melee weapon.” The new control scheme makes it so the camera and character point in the same direction as the left stick, which is definitely a step in the right direction. Find a complete list of the other changes after the break.

Those out there with the game, let us know what you think of the changes.

GENERAL REVISIONS

• Additional camera options and speeds have been added.
• Top down Camera zoom is gradual; not as fast.
• The players turn speed has been increased globally.
• The frame rate issues have been fixed for render targets and in-game menus.

MONSTER UPDATES

• A transparent Health Bar has been added to all enemies with health greater than 300 hit points.
• Stun attack effect on players has been shortened.
• Zombie Bikers amount of health has been decreased significantly

CONTROLS

• Camera and character turn together with left stick.
• The A button is for Jump, while the B button is for Dodge. Or you can click the analog sticks as in the original controls.
• The controller vibrations have been toned down.

WEAPON CHANGES

• All Level One Weapons will be slightly more powerful.
• A new “random” weapons option has been added to Multi-player gameplay.

ACHIVEMENT EDITS

• Golden Zombie Achievement has been fixed.
• Dojo Achievements are easier to accomplish.
• Highest grade will be updated in achievements.

NEW MULTIPLAYER OPTIONS

• The Auto-target option has been added to arena battles.
• Frames Per Second is improved with up to 4 players.
• Cooperative Dojo waves have been re-balanced.
• Werewolf attacks will not cripple the player completely.
• Several multiplayer game options have been added.

Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments

Originally Syndicated via RSS from Xbox 360 Fanboy

Filed under: News

Harvey Smith, who recently made a stink about the “f*cked up” development of Blacksite: Area 51, has parted ways with Midway. According to GameTap, the separation was a mutual decision between Midway and Smith. Word on the street, according to Joystiq, is that Smith actually made the BlackSite comments in order to get fired in the first place. The purely speculative reason he did this: so he could join Eidos to work on the recently announced Deus Ex 3. Smith has worked on previous Deus Ex titles for the now defunct Ion Storm game studio, so it makes sense (speculatively, mind you). We’re glad it’s Friday because, frankly, all the firings, rants, and ad agency shuffling is getting confusing.

[Via Joystiq]

Read | Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments

Originally Syndicated via RSS from Xbox 360 Fanboy

Filed under: News, Hacks / mods

>>>>One of the principle precepts in science (at least, according to the film industry), is that once you figure out how to do something, you must do it. Why? Because you can. It brought dinosaurs back to life, and it made a neat gun for the people who are still alive. And now, science has brought us the ability to play Guitar Hero III with a MIDI drum kit. But why, you ask? Well, actually it’s because the creator injured a finger by rocking too hard with the guitar, so he devised this method so he wouldn’t have stop playing altogether. You can read the technical stuff by hitting the “read” link. You can actually watch it work in the video above.

[Via Joystiq]

Read | Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments

Originally Syndicated via RSS from Xbox 360 Fanboy

Filed under: News

Sad news fellow fanboys. We know you and pretty much the entire Fanboy community was excited to hear that the Fall Update would allow for deletion of XBLA game trials from your recently played history. But, according to the tech heads over at Xbox Team’s blog, this deletion feature isn’t what we thought it to be. Instead, the Fall Update will get “support to not write trial-version Arcade games to user’s played games history (this is only for newly downloaded games after the Dec’07 update is released)”. See the key words there? The 360 will not write XBLA trials to the games history after the update gets released, but anything prior to Tuesday’s update is set in stone. So, no deletion option, it’s just an enhancement that will stop future XBLA trial games from appearing on the your games played list. Sad … we thought we were finally rid of our old XBLA trials.

[Thanks, xenocidic]

Read | Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments

Originally Syndicated via RSS from Xbox 360 Fanboy

Filed under: News

They call him Johnny Rotten for a reason folks, and it’s not because he’s all sweet and cuddly. Far from it actually, as he recently took the opportunity to bite the hand that feeds him at a UK Guitar Hero III launch event … in a manner of speaking. During the event, Rotten went on record saying that he received the offer to be featured in Guitar Hero III, took it home and played it, and “loved” it. The intriguing part is why he loved it: “it weren’t teaching you how to be a rock star, it was teaching you how not to be a rock star.” He elaborated that the game taught gamers, “how not to be an asshole in your life, and how not to seek fame and fortune, because the whole f*cking thing’s a joke.” He then expressed his disappointment that Virgin records was unable to recover the Sex Pistols’ master recordings, requiring the group to spend their advance payment to re-record the tracks. Rotten spent the rest of the event rambling back and forth about England, soccer, politics, and even his theological beliefs. It really was a bizarre moment in gaming history, one that the UK Official Xbox Magazine blessedly caught on video (taking care to censor Rotten’s rotten language while they were at it). Watch the whole thing if you so desire (warning: it’s long). If nothing else, you can amuse yourself with the swear counter placed at the bottom by the cheeky folks at OXM.

[Via Xboxic. Thanks, Jonah Falcon]

Read | Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments

Originally Syndicated via RSS from Xbox 360 Fanboy

Filed under: News, Video Marketplace

All the talk about the impending release of the Xbox Live Video Marketplace to Europe and Canada sort of made us think it would launch in cohesion with the Fall Update on Tuesday. It just seemed like a no brainer. But Microsoft decided to keep us in suspense for a bit longer, because there will be no European or Canadian Video Marketplace rollout next Tuesday. Joystiq confirmed the news with the super powers over at Microsoft HQ and they specifically denied a XBVM launch next Tuesday, but reiterated the fact that they’re aiming for a Fall release. Hmm, Fall is running out Microsoft and we have plenty of proof of what’s to come, so just give Europe and Canada their Video Marketplace love already. Jeez.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments

Originally Syndicated via RSS from Xbox 360 Fanboy

Filed under: News

The Old Spice Experience Challenge is coming back for a second helping with extra gravy, but this time they’ve got a new format and a new partner.

If you recall, earlier this year Old Spice and Xbox.com sponsored a challenge where they gave out prizes to participants who achieved a certain Gamerscore goal. But now, with the ushering in of this second Old Spice Experience Challenge, they’ve decided to kick Xbox.com to the curb and team up with 360voice. The new challenge will start on December 5th, will be hosted by the 360voice crew and will allow gamers to create challenges, climb the ranks and win thousands of prizes including gift cards, Microsoft points, hardware and more. Details are a bit vague at the moment, but you can read all about it here, here or here. And remember kids, Old Spice loves you!

Read | Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments

Originally Syndicated via RSS from Xbox 360 Fanboy

Filed under: News, Videos

>>>>
Hey kids, heads up! We just revealed what new goodies will be headed our way when the new Fall Update releases next Tuesday, but reading about it is only half as fun as seeing it in action. And that’s where the Gamerscore Blog comes in. They just posted a nine minute video showing off and showcasing the impending Fall Update’s features and demoing everything in an easily consumable YouTube video. Get excited, get watching and take it in all. The Fall Update has a lot to offer. Oh, and by the way. We’re digging the new dashboard navigation and re-organization … much love to that.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments

Originally Syndicated via RSS from Xbox 360 Fanboy