Xbox News

• Halo: What's The Big Deal?
  Neocrisis - Halo was Xbox's staple game in the early days. It was the driving force behind the success of the Xbox. Halo 2 solidified the Xbox's spot among the top game consoles, beating out the Playstation 2 in sales across the USA. Halo 3, being the newest release, and the supposed last installment of the Halo series, has enjoyed a ridiculous amount of success. According to Wikipedia, "Halo 3 grossed $300(US) million in its first week. More than one million people played Halo 3 on Xbox Live in the first twenty hours. As of January 3, 2008, Halo 3 has sold 8.1 million copies, and was the best-selling video game of 2007 in the US."
  
  
• The Top 10 Boss Battles of Last Generation
  Thunderbolt writes: "Sometimes they're like a reward, sometimes they're more like a punishment, but most games feature boss encounters, to some degree, and often they incorporate the most spectacular and memorable parts of said game. Here is a rundown of what we think are ten of the very finest bosses to feature in games on the PS2, GameCube and Xbox:
  
  10. Crimson Helm ? Okami
  
  Following the template Zelda has all but perfected over the last couple of decades, Okami is abundant with bosses waiting at the end of dungeons to challenge you and test your Celestial Brush proficiency. Far from the toughest, but arguably the finest of the bunch is this monstrous beast. Coated in flames, heavily armoured and wielding a pair of swords each sizeable enough to eviscerate heroine Amaterasu, this brute's bark may be worse than his bite but he's still the most brilliantly-designed and enjoyable boss encounter in a game full of them."
  
  
• PSN boss disses Xbox Live's interface, game de-listing
  Joystiq.com writes "No sooner does Sony (briefly) improve the PS3 user interface with the much-talked-about version 2.4 firmware update, than some at the company feel cocky enough to start badmouthing the competition's interface. Speaking to Next-Gen, PlayStation Network Director of Operations Eric Lempel took the bait in taking a few moments to compare Sony's redesigned PlayStation Store to Microsoft's Xbox Live Marketplace."
  
  
• Strategy Informer: Why EA needs to re-think its Design
  From Strategy Informer: "In the US, there are cheers from around the country. The latest Madden has been released. If American Football games aren't your cup of tea, then maybe it's the latest edition of NASCAR. Often that results in a disinterested grudge from us Brits. The last US-sport game I played was Madden on the Mega Drive. It kept me interested, but purely because pocket money was short and review samples a distant dream. With a copy of NASCAR 09 to review, tentative steps were taken. Those apprehensions were not unfounded."
  
  
• Retro Rewind: James Bond Video Games
  Super-suave secret agent James Bond's history with video games is just as extensive as the filmography. GameDaily look at his numerous video game adventures in this week's Retro Rewind.
  
  
• Games you should still be playing / Halo edition?yes the first one
  TVGB: "Yeah, I know what you're thinking. I can hear you all yelling at your computer monitors right now, "You're living in the past!". Well, while that may be true in some aspects (I still pretend that Futurama and Mystery Science Theatre 3000 were never cancelled), I can safely say that it is not the case when it comes to videogames."
  
  
• How did Bill Gates get popular?
  Everybody has an opinion about whether Gates is a good guy or a bad guy. But there is no doubting that his image is a lot different than in 2000, when Ken Auletta painted an unflattering portrait of Gates in his book, "World War 3.0," about the Microsoft antitrust trial.
  
  With Xbox, Gates had a chance to play the white knight. When Sony started dropping hints about the PlayStation 2 in 1998, Microsoft went into a panic. Sony's executives were boastful. Soon, they were saying it was going to be the comet to wipe out the dinosaurs and was "more than a PC." Microsoft had to defend the living room, and Gates' attempts to partner with Sony fell flat.
  
  
• Warzone#6 - Hiphopgamer Plays The Wii
  On today's episode we discuss:
  
  - Will the winner of E3 win the year?
  - PS3 only 2 million after 1 1/2 years in Japan
  - The necessary evil of paying $50 for Xbox Live
  - Hiphopgamer's first press event
  - Mistertwoturbo gets Fanboy Of The Week
  - And much much more?
  
  
• Unreal Tournament 3: Six Months On
  Earlier this month, Epic Games teased Xbox 360 owners with some screenshots of the upcoming port of Unreal Tournament III. They failed to summon any interest. It's extremely unusual for such an event to occur. If we take Epic's track record, (let alone the success of the Unreal Tournament series), their games have been at the forefront of Shooter fans' minds since 1999. The Unreal franchise is a legacy, one that even commands a widely accepted graphics engine. Is the reason simple ignorance or is there something more worrying at work? Strategy Informer attempt to find out.
  
  
• UK Charts: MGS4 Still top selling software for each console
  UK chart track shows that MGS4 clearly is the best selling title for each individual console.
  
  
• Xbox 720 : Every Myth, Speculation, Rumor And The Truth That You Should Know
  What will the next-generation Xbox 720 be like? Is it already in development? Much more questions answered in this extensive article. An in-depth look on the rumors and hype surrounding the Xbox 720, what features we can expect and what should be included. And finally, will Microsoft drop support for the 360 once its new console ships?
  
  
• Apple's next iPod Advert Campaign is MGS related
  New photos of Apple's latest iPod advertising campaign, starring the cast of Metal Gear Solid 4.
  
  
• The secret of Bill Gates' success (Video Interview)
  As Bill Gates prepares to end his full-time work at Microsoft, he tells the BBC in an interview that it wasn't just what Microsoft did, but what his rivals didn't do that let Microsoft get ahead.
  
  "Most of our competitors were very poorly run," he tells Fiona Bruce, for The Money Programme.
  
  "They did not understand how to bring in people with business experience and people with engineering experience and put them together. They did not understand how to go around the world."
  
  
• Xbox 360 gamers love books more than PS3 owners, while PS3 lovers play more Monopoly
  A new Experian Consumer Research survey comparing Xbox 360 and PS3 owners has thrown up some great, and frankly comedy, results.
  
  Apparently, Xbox 360 users are more likely to say they are unable to live without books than their PS3 counterparts.
  
  But the PS3 contingent hit back hard on the newspaper front, with way more respondents (well, 103 compared to 60) saying they would be dead if they didn't have newspapers.
  
  The age of console owners is also interesting?with more in the 18-24 age bracket loving their Wiis, but by the time you reach 44, you're far more likely to own a PS3?almost twice as likely in fact.
  
  
• 'Brain fitness' market booming with Boomers
  usatoday.com writes "Chester Santos has been training his brain for seven years.
  
  At 32, he's not worried about losing his memory. He's taking advantage of a growing market in "brain fitness" spurred by aging baby boomers.
  
  Teenagers cramming for tests and people worried about "senior moments" can now turn to an explosion of brain-assisting video games, such as Nintendo's Brain Age; puzzles that are said to ward off dementia, such as Sudoku and crosswords; and online tips that claim to train the brain."
  
  
• Feature: The 10 Weirdest Sports Games Ever
  Mutants playing hockey? Leather fetishists on the links? These crazy games are the anti-Madden.
  
  There's nothing that draws the ire of hardcore gamers more than sports games. The same slate of games, year in, year out offering little but roster updates and a realistic experience of running around with a ball or a stick. Thankfully, a few oddball developers have created some pretty unique sports games that think out of the (batters) box.
  
  
• Games That Let You Behave Badly
  Why be good when you can be evil? Here are 12 games that let you explore your dark side.
  
  
• Xbox 720 in 2011? Count me out.
  Sarcasticgamer.com wrote: "No matter what anyone wants to say about the Xbox, the bottom line is that Microsoft gave up on the Xbox after only 4 years. That's nothing in gaming years. Microsoft simply took their ball and went home, leaving fans that paid hard-earned money stranded at the carnival without a ride home. Fortunately for Microsoft, Xbox fans, in general, are a loyal lot.
  
  Well, if Bobby Bach is to be believed, Microsoft is getting ready to do it all over again. If that's the case, count me out...
  
  
• Ironside's ego and demands were too much for Ubisoft
  Sarcasticgamer.com wrote: "As we reported on last week, a source very close to the Splinter Cell: Conviction project told us that Michael Ironside would not be back as Sam Fisher, marking the first change ever for the famous gun-toting agent.
  
  This "rumor" took another small step towards getting its fact wings this morning as our source tells us, the issue at hand was an age-old problem. According to our source?"
  
  
• Dutch Software Charts ( Week 24,2008)
  1 METAL GEAR SOLID 4: GUNS O/T PATRIOTS (PS3) KONAMI
  2 NINJA GAIDEN 2 (X-BOX 360) MICROSOFT
  3 SPORTS ISLAND (Wii) KONAMI
  4 GRAND THEFT AUTO 4 (X-BOX 360) TAKE 2 INTERACTIVE
  5 GRAND THEFT AUTO 4 (PS3) TAKE 2 INTERACTIVE
  6 BRAIN TRAINING (Nintendo DS) NINTENDO
  7 MARIO & SONIC AT THE OLYMPIC GAMES (Wii) SEGA
  8 MARIO KART (Wii) NINTENDO
  9 MORE BRAIN TRAINING (Nintendo DS) NINTENDO
  10 WII FIT (Wii) NINTENDO