All Topics Gaming older than one year ago

If you've been sitting around on your hands waiting for the next free opportunity to play Left 4 Dead 2 on Xbox Live with your friends, well, we think you're a bit strange and should likely find a better habit. That being said, you'll be happy to hear that the game will be free-to-play for all Xbox Live members (even you lower class Silver folks) next weekend, starting promptly at 12:00PM ET on Friday, January 15, and finishing up on Monday the 18th (also at noon, as confirmed to CVG by Microsoft). We can't imagine that those of you still holding out will be convinced of an Xbox Live Gold account's worth after just one weekend, but it certainly can't hurt, now can it?

We were really hoping that Nintendo and Microsoft could rally after their near-bottom finishes in former annual iterations of Greenpeace's green business practice rankings -- after all, we bet they're pretty sick of getting beat by Nokia. (Ewwww!) Unfortunately, this latest "Guide to Greener Electronics" report (.pdf link) looks a lot like all the previous ones: Nintendo finished dead last, and Microsoft finished not far behind. Sony, on the other hand, finished a bit closer to the middle of the road. Nintendo gets bashed for its increased greenhouse emissions and for failing to control its e-waste recycling. Microsoft, which fell from 15th place to 17th since last year, lost points for not following the statutes set by the "Restriction of Hazardous Substances in electronics directive." Sony did relatively well in most categories, but also lost a few points for its e-waste management. You know what this means, right? Greenpeace is obviously just a shadow organization for PS3 fanboys. We knew it all along!

This looks like one hell of a production! I wish I could understand the details of the game, but Spanish isn’t exactly a native language of mine. Still, I love seeing when Nintendo fans really stretch their imaginations when showing their love for the big N. Check out more pics here (thanks Brenda!)

Reader huns28 grabbed some of this gum, and reports that it’s actually quite tasty. It actually gets better, as the gum comes with tattoos as well! Looks like you might have to travel to Mexico to get some, as that’s where huns28 is from.

“Cheat Shield” by Andrew Green Fans always come up with unique ways to visually reinterpret classic characters, and this is no excuse. Again, I find myself wishing that Nintendo would do something like this!

If this MMO was made for kids, why are so many adults lining up to check it out?

With the news that Project Natal would offload the image processing to the Xbox console - as opposed to handling those duties in hardware on the device itself - and consume as much as 10 to 15 percent of the console's overall "computing resources," we became concerned that the potential for "supplemental" input in core games would be blunted. When asked what percentage of the Project Natal-enabled games in development would be Natal-exclusive as opposed to Natal-enhanced titles, Microsoft's Aaron Greenberg told Joystiq, "Our focus is on most if not all them will fall into that category of completely unique, brand-new experiences for Natal." "We're going to manage the portfolio very carefully and our focus is going to be on bringing completely brand new original experiences to the market when we launch Natal," Greenberg said. "We're not looking at just adding little Natal components to games, we're looking at how do we actually bring an entirely new category of controller-free games and entertainment to the market so I think that's where we will continue to focus." But that doesn't mean that other developers aren't able to supplement their game's input with Natal controls. After the release this holiday, "developers will have that out there at their fingertips if they want to enable those features," Greenberg told us. "But I can't speak to what that means from a game development standpoint. As far as I'm aware, there's no real sacrifice." But Greenberg wasn't just talking up "new games" and "new ways to navigate" the console, but Microsoft is mysteriously promising "new entertainment-like experiences that will be enabled" because of the new interface. With the "focus" on "controller-free games" and not just adding "little Natal components to games" we're left wondering how Peter Molyneux's Fable 3 - which he confirmed will have Natal support - will implement that support. With a 2010 launch for both Fable 3 and Project Natal, we expect it will be one of the device's bellwether games.

Discussing specifics of the company's forthcoming Project Natal, Microsoft's Aaron Greenberg told Joystiq, "We think that there will be millions of Natals in consumer's homes this holiday." To put that number into context, Microsoft sold 2.3m Xbox 360 consoles and Nintendo sold 1.7m copies of Wii Fit with bundled Balance Board in the US during the months of November and December, 2008. "Millions" of Natal units in a single holiday season is certainly an ambitious goal and one usually out of reach of most video game peripherals; however, Project Natal will be released with more than a year of hype behind it, not unlike the highly anticipated Wii Fit. With more than 39 million Xboxes worldwide, there's certainly a large enough platform footprint, and Greenberg (re)assures us that Project Natal will work on every Xbox 360 released to date, whether a hard drive is present or not. "As far as I'm aware, there is no requirement for a hard drive," Greenberg said. There is a 50mb software package that powers some of Natal's magic, which raises concerns that original Xbox 360 Arcade units wouldn't have the storage availability to use Natal. Greenberg assuaged our concerns, reminding us of Microsoft's NXE outreach, offering a free 512mb Memory Unit or a discounted hard drive. "It's kind of like the digital TV conversion you know, [subsidizing] the box," Greenberg said. "We did that with the New Xbox Experience because it did require some space and so we feel like now we're in an environment where we feel like we're fine."

Capcom's aggressive digital distribution strategy has led to major releases on everything from WiiWare to Xbox Live Arcade to PlayStation Network to Windows to iPhone, but there's been one notable absence: DSiware. Nintendo's underpromoted service hasn't had the support of a major release, so its easy to understand why Capcom targeted the platform with Dark Void Zero, the "8-bit" tie-in game due for release later this month. But while Capcom has found great success on the console platforms - including its 8-bit Mega Man 9 - they don't have any plans to release Zero there. However, they do have plans for some other platforms. "We are actually going to be releasing on iPhone and PC, can't say exactly when but I'll say 'soon,'" a Capcom producer told Joystiq. "Xbox Live, PSN, I don't know yet. I would love to do it on those consoles." And there you have it: If you want to try and play a "very hard" game (her words) on your iPhone, with no physical buttons, you're welcome to do that "soon." We'll stick to the DSiware and PC releases, we think.

A portion of an NWR review… Avatar’s control issues and mediocre utilization of the Wii’s unique features lessen the enjoyment it provides a great deal. It looks good, but it doesn’t have the gameplay to match its visuals. In the end, Avatar is a long on style but short on substance.

Old games getting the 3D upgrade.

“[Studies have] found that violent video games are much bigger a negative influence on kids (than porn)” - Ron Jeremy Normally I would get upset over a statement like this, but I don’t think Mr. Jeremy has really done much research on the topic. I think he was busy doing other things…and people.

Amidst the handful of CES 2010 bombs that Microsoft dropped, we found a small fact sheet and a smattering of new media for upcoming XBLA racer Scrap Metal. First revealed back in August with a trailer and a handful of screenshots from developer Slick Entertainment (the folks behind the XBLA port of N+, a game that we hold dear to our hearts), we now know that the title will be hitting Microsoft's digital distribution platform sometime in "Spring 2010." While we anxiously await it's arrival, we'll be furiously practicing with Rock n' Roll Racing and Super Off-Road -- two games that Scrap Metal clearly draws inspiration from.

All new gameplay footage from CES 2010.

A few details about Project Natal's technical capabilities slipped out alongside the holiday 2010 release window at Microsoft's CES press conference. The most revealing of these specifics is that the hardware will only siphon 10 to 15 percent of the 360's computing resources, according to a statement from Natal lead developer Alex Kipman. "Natal has to work on the existing hardware without taking too much hardware processing away from the games developers," Kipman added. However, according to a report obtained by GamesIndustry, the processing power could have been further reduced. The original build for Natal included a chip that processed the "bone system," assumed responsible for creating a skeleton of the player in front of the device's glossy eye. However, in an attempt to lower costs, the chip was removed from the device's final build, putting that processing onus on the software that will utilize Natal. In other words, it's extremely unlikely that any software will be able to have Natal support patched into it -- a fact that Digital Foundry's Richard Leadbetter says could help "serve to focus developers on Natal-specific concepts as opposed to revisiting old classics." Update: Updated language to reflect that of the original source -- Natal will use 10 - 15 percent of the 360's overall computing power, not just its CPU.

Where else in the world but a pawn shop could you find Earthbound for this cheap!? Clearly, the store owner doesn’t realize the gem he’s got his hands on!

Reader Wait1minplz got himself a special gift from XSEED…one that contained a promo booklet and a soundtrack CD. Check out the video below for the goods! Direct link here (thanks Wait1minplz!)

Do you have any plans of picking up Glory of Heracles, the next title hitting the DS to be published by Nintendo? I’m sure it’s not even on the radar for most gamers, which seems to be a shame. The Heracles series is actually a long-running one over in Japan. While not [...]