The new demo for Splinter Cell: Conviction has just arrived on the Xbox Live Marketplace for Xbox 360.
Experience original game play based on improvisation where your environment becomes your weapon. You need to react to changing situations and use the environment and the crowds around you to create diversions, and deter your enemies.
For years, Sam Fisher has been off the grid and on his own, chasing his daughter's murderer. But the trail leads to the last place Sam wants to see again: Washington D.C. Now Sam must work with old friends he can no longer trust, forced to save a country he no longer serves. For unless he can stand against both a vast, faceless enemy and the shadows of the past, he'll never know what happened to his daughter - or himself. SPLINTER CELL - CONVICTION (Co-op) Russian weapons of mass destruction have been stolen and need to be recovered before they are sold on the black market. Third Echelon and their Russian counterpart Voron must work together to find them, sending American agent Archer and Russian agent Kestrel into the darkest heart of Russia's criminal underworld. Together, they will embark on a mission that will require their cooperation and combined skill, one that will test their very conviction in everything they think they are.
Content: Splinter Cell Conviction Price: Free Availability: All Xbox LIVE regions
Dash Text: Experience the highly-anticipated stealth action blockbuster critics have been raving about. Enter the treacherous world of rogue agent Sam Fisher and witness an unparalleled level of action. Arm yourself all with the high-tech weaponry and lethal skill of an elite operative, then take full advantage of cutting-edge gameplay innovations that let you outflank foes, mark enemies for execution, and much more. When you’re ready to take to the next level, get the full Splinter Cell Conviction. Inside you’ll find hard-hitting multiplayer modes, a co-op campaign with split-screen functionality, and a gripping single-player storyline that’ll keep you on the edge of your seat.
Maximus has just announced news on his new professional tool for all your xbox 360 homebrew needs.
The nandflasher is basically a JTag device that lets you read and write to the X360 NAND. This requires an Exploitable console. Is your console exploitable? Well if you have a dash kernel before 8xxxx and the console was manufactured before Jun 18, 2009, then you most likely can use this device.
What is the NANDFlasher?
THE FIRST PROFESSIONAL TOOL FOR ALL YOUR XBOX 360 HOMEBREW NEEDS !!
The nandflasher is basically a JTag device that lets you read and write to the X360 NAND. This requires an Exploitable console. Hmm, is my console xploitable? Well if you have a dash kernel before 8xxxx and the console was manufactured before Jun 18, 2009, then you most likely can use this device.
The product can be pre-ordered right now from divineo.com and is scheduled to ship on March 26th, 2010. The new "NANDFlasher" by Maximus will retail around $45 USD. There are two different models and both come with a wiring kit.
Over 2.3M Units Sold Mark Battlefield: Bad Company 2 as Top Selling March Title on Record in North America and Europe.
Guildford UK – March 18, 2010 – DICE, an Electronic Arts Inc. studio (NASDAQ: ERTS), today announced that Battlefield: Bad Company™ 2 is on pace to be the top selling title for March 2010. With over 2.3M units sold-through*, Battlefield: Bad Company 2 has become the best-selling March release on record in North America and Europe. Battlefield: Bad Company 2 is winning accolades from fans and critics for outstanding visuals and action-packed gameplay with no less than 46 outlets having awarded the game a score of 90 or above. GameSpot.com commented that, “whether or not you're looking for a new shooter in your life, you owe it to yourself to play Battlefield: Bad Company 2.”
The momentum of Battlefield: Bad Company 2 can also be seen across social media networks and in the game’s statistics:
• 81B points have been earned in online multiplayer sessions
• 43M weapons and gadgets have been unlocked in online multiplayer
• Over 6M video views on YouTube
• 2.9M hours have been spent playing online in the last 24 hours alone
• 230K peak-concurrent-users (PCUs)
• Over 44k Twitter fans (most out of any EA title)
“We are so thrilled with the success of Battlefield: Bad Company 2 sales and fan response. In the first 48 hours we had such a tremendous rush to multiplayer gameplay that our servers experienced overwhelming demand. This is a testament to the massive response players have had worldwide for the extraordinary action experienced in the Battlefield sandbox,” says Karl Magnus Troedsson, Executive Producer, Battlefield Franchise. “DICE and EA have brought more servers online. We now have enough capacity to handle all BFBC2 connections seamlessly and we continue to monitor online play daily.”
Defined by its exceedingly intense vehicular warfare, destruction, variety of weapons and huge sandbox environments, Battlefield: Bad Company 2 is one of the finest online FPS games of 2010. Developed using state-of-the-art graphics technology, the PC version of Battlefield: Bad Company 2 is the first title in the Battlefield franchise to be 3-D-ready, playable in DirectX® 11, and support multiple monitors for properly equipped PCs.
Battlefield: Bad Company 2 is available in North America and Europe for the Xbox 360® videogame and entertainment system, PlayStation®3 computer entertainment system and PC. Two all-new multiplayer maps for the game are coming on March 30 at no extra charge**. These two maps can be unlocked by inputting a VIP code***.
For more information on DICE, please visit www.dice.se. For more information on Battlefield: Bad Company 2 please visit: www.battlefield.com. Or follow us on Twitter at http://twitter.com/OfficialBFBC2.
*According to internal data.
** Internet connection required.
*** VIP codes included with original retail purchase. Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 players that do not have a code can purchase one via the in-game store for $15. PC players will get the content as a game update. Internet connection required.
Documentation obtained by Joystiq – and subsequently confirmed with two separate sources – reveals that "USB Mass Storage Device Support on Xbox 360" will soon be a reality. The document, authored by a senior software development engineer at Microsoft, states that due to "increased market penetration of high-capacity, high throughput USB mass storage devices, a 2010 Xbox 360 system update" will allow consumers to save and load game data from USB devices. The update is purportedly coming in Spring 2010.
Once the update occurs, Xbox 360 owners will be able to download Xbox Live Arcade games, Xbox Live Indie games, Games on Demand, DLC and Title Updates to the storage device. "USB storage devices may, however, have far greater memory capacity than MUs (at the date of writing, the largest MU is 512 MB), and may therefore support previously infeasible operations-such as installation of a full disc-based title." That's right, you can also store disc-based games to the USB device; however, it will require the disc to be in the tray for authentication, identical to the current functionality.
According to the document, the USB mass storage device must be at least 1GB and the system will do a compatibility check. "The system partition occupies 512 MB of space, and by default the consumer partition occupies the remainder of the device capacity, or 16 GB, whichever is smaller." Upon inserting a blank USB storage device, "consumers are offered two choices: 'Configure now' or 'Customize'." The "Configure now" option will use "the entire device capacity, up to the maximum of 512 MB plus 16 GB" meaning, regardless of the overall size of the device you're using, the Xbox will only enable 16 GB of usable, non-system storage. The "Customize" option will allow you to "preserve some pre-existing, non-console data on the device" such as music.
It should be clear by now that Microsoft is simply pulling out of the Memory Unit business and not the highly lucrative Xbox hard drive business. With an artificial cap of 16 GB – still shy of the 20 GB hard drive that shipped with the original 2005 Xbox Pro and a fraction the size of the currently shipping 120 GB hard drive – USB storage support simply removes the onerous requirement for a Memory Unit on Xbox 360 Arcade units, and brings the Xbox 360 platform a feature that's been present on the PlayStation 3 since that console's 2006 launch.
If you're intent on circumventing Microsoft's cutthroat hard drive pricing the Xbox 360, you can use two USB storage devices for a maximum of 32 GB of usable storage; however, the console "has a fixed limit of two external USB mass storage devices" regardless of whether they're "formatted for the Xbox 360 or not." If you fill all three USB ports on the console, only the first two to be connected will be recognized.
With talk of a new (slim?) form factor for the Xbox 360 picking up, and plans to abandon (or at least obviate) Memory Units underway, we're guessing those Memory Unit slots could be cut entirely from future iterations of the console.
Stuart Black and other members of the Black development team are working on an all-new new modern shooter with Codemasters.
Bodycount probably doesn’t mean anything to you right now. After you read this, it will.
Codemasters member Stuart Black is the man behind this new shooter monster that picks up and runs with Black‘s spirit. From the man who created “Black” last console generation (2006), we expect nothing else.
Stuart Black is a man who created a pioneer FPS. Black was a game with immensely interactive environments; a player was encouraged to blow up a guard tower rather than kill the guards inside; because they could, and it was fun. Almost everything in the game was destructible, or interactive. The graphics were great, and it featured game play that still sticks out in this writer’s mind.
Bodycount’s interactive environment can be summed up by the following: “Take a gun to a wooden weapons crate, and it will slowly, believably disintegrate, the wood chipping away to reveal a more stubborn metal frame and within an ammo box that sits atop a bundle of straw - shoot the ammo box and as you'd expect it's fireworks time. None of which may sound thrilling in itself, but here's the thing – this extent of destructibility extends to nearly everything in Bodycount's world. Spray a vending machine with bullets and it'll begin to tear itself apart convincingly until all that's left is a metal skeleton and a pile of broken glass. It's a first-person shooter with an exacting eye for the explosive.” (Martin Robinson, IGN)
If that doesn’t have you interested, please check yourself for a pulse. Bodycount’s single player follows main character John Doe as he blows up, shoots apart, and kills everything he (you) can. The game boasts an intriguing, mysterious story driven by testosterone through what will become one of the best game environments to date. The main character, John Doe, is “dragged out” of retirement by a shady organization named simply “The Network”. The player soon finds that the Network is not a good place to work, though, as Doe is drugged by the organization; then wakes up free falling from a few thousand feet in the air. A message scrolls across the screen, “Welcome to the Network. Your safety is our concern.”
Bodycount implements a distinct class system with its enemies, much like Killzone 2, but in more depth. At the top of the bad guy food chain is the tank. As in every game, the tank is a well armed and hard to kill opponent. A great thing about the game is that the enemy ranks are not just broken up by the size of a health bar. For a little strategy, shoot the medic first in a group of soldiers and the rest will be weaker. Shoot an officer and they may become disoriented. Bodycount looks to be a game where a player can do anything. Run through the campaign with guns blazing, or develop strategy for each enemy encounter.
The game is also said to feature a chain multiplier that will unlock special abilities such as a minigun, predator drones, and helicopter strikes. How will it work? By the body count, of course. The faster and more you kill, the more points you receive. This feature will also be a part of Bodycount’s separate co-op campaign, but no word yet on whether or not the multiplayer will sport a similar system. Multiplayer and co-op from the spiritual successor to Black; the game looks to be an all-in-one package to redefine FPS once again.
The game is also said to feature colorful and beautiful areas, “other networks” with high-ranking agents, an intuitive cover system, and some of the same developers that worked on Black. Look for more news in the coming months, and hold your breath for Bodycount to hit shelves early next year.
The highly anticipated remake of Perfect Dark is now available for download from the Xbox Live Arcade for Xbox 360. Perfect Dark is available in All Xbox Live regions except Japan and Korea. The game weighs in at 239MB.
Play the original full game beautifully restored and back in full HD, 1080p at 60 frames per second! All the original game features are included plus new Xbox LIVE ones.
Content: Perfect Dark Price: 800 Microsoft Points Availability: All Xbox LIVE regions except Japan and Korea Dash Text: (ONLINE INTERACTIONS NOT RATED BY THE ESRB) Buy the full version of Perfect Dark to unlock the classic package in its entirety. Experience every twist of the story, every stray bullet, every gadget and upgrade, every newly polished texture – and top it all off with full access to multiplayer modes now playable across the globe through Xbox LIVE.
A new "Final Fantasy XIII" comparison video which compares the load times between the Xbox 360 and PS3 and version has popped up on Youtube.
The following video compares the load times between the PS3 and Xbox 360 version of Final Fantasy XIII. While the Xbox 360 version has been fully installed on the hard drive, the PS3 version gets all the data from the Blu-ray.
“Final Fantasy XIII” uses the power and cutting-edge technology of Xbox 360 to deliver seamless transitions between real-time gameplay and in-game cinematics as gamers summon the courage to execute powerful attacks with an evolved Active Time Battle system and ultimately fulfill their destiny.
The explosive open-world action game Crackdown 2 is slated to hit store shelves on July 6 for the Xbox 360, Microsoft has revealed.
The sequel to 2007's Crackdown features the law enforcement group the Agency as they attempt to thwart criminal activities in Pacific City.
The game will feature four-player cooperative action as well as a 16-person competitive online multiplayer mode.
The first Crackdown, best known for packing a beta code to Halo 3's multiplayer, became one of the surprise hits of 2007, receiving a pretty strong critical response.
For more details, check out a trailer of Crackdown 2 released last December. Readers, looking forward to more Crackdown?
DICE have just announced the second VIP map package for Battlefield: Bad Company 2.. The new DLC maps are coming March 30th, 2010..
While the core of the dev team here at DICE as well as all the back-end teams at EA are 110% focused on stabilizing the game experience we do have some other, great news to reveal. Today we’re happy to announce the release date of the second VIP map package for Battlefield: Bad Company 2! It will be made available on the 30th of March on all platforms at no extra cost to all of you who’ve got your VIP codes entered in the game. VIP Map Pack 2 contains the following:
Arica Harbor Conquest mode - US Command launches a break through action directly at the Russian base. Collateral damage is of no consequence. Capture and secure tactical positions in Conquest Mode across the vast Arica Harbor map.
Laguna Presa Rush mode - The valley and surrounding mountains possess a strategic value in the battle for South America, and an infantry assault supported by light armor vehicles is likely by both armies as US forces defend the nearby Dam.
VIP Map Pack 2 will expand the multiplayer experience on Arica Harbor and Laguna Presa.
VIP members will be able to expand on the deep and ever changing sandbox experience, which in itself provides near endless hours of entertainment, by having new content to keep things fresh. It also plays a vital part in making sure you, the players get proper value for the money you’ve invested in Battlefield: Bad Company 2. This is why these map packs are available at no extra cost, contradicting the industry standard and what our direct competitors are doing. Of course, it also helps avoid segmenting the community, making sure everyone can play together having the same maps available. There will be future paid downloadable content as well but these packs will focus on expanding other parts of the game experience rather than the selection of maps available for the basic game modes. We’re dedicated to taking care of this product for a long time – helping you avoid “mapathy” without getting nickel-and-dimed.
Senior Producer Patrick Bach and Executive Producer KM Troedsson are VIP (at yesterday’s BFBC2 launch party) – are you?
Finally, a big shout-out to all the fans that are playing Battlefield: Bad Company 2 at the moment. We can see from the logs that you’re spending some crazy hours on the Battlefield – in only the last 24 hours you all logged more than 2.5 million game hours. Impressive!
Yoshihiro has just released a new emulator for Xbox 360 Homebrew. PCEngine360 Alpha v0.1 is a Nec PCENGINE emulator for the Xbox 360.
This is an alpha release, the first one written and coded for the xbox 360 so this emulator has been only coded in big Endian. It can emulate every Nec PCENGINE games and only the hardware mouse is missing.
This emulator is not a port but a full written emulator for the xbox360 based on every docs and patterns about PCE hardware and i used hugo for the arcade Card support.
supergraphx doc , pce sound generator , CDROM io , pads ,VDC , VCE ect.. .
How to use this emulator:
put every games pce , sgx , Arcade CD , cdrom images inside the pceroms folder dont forget to put the bios rom inside the bios folder renammed as syscard.pce
This emulator needs the SuperCD Card 3.0 bios to play CDROM games .
supported formats for Hucard zip , gz , pce , sgx .
supported formats for CD game images : .iso and .bin.
PC Engine History / The Beginning
On the 10th October 1987 the Japanese electronics giant NEC launched a powerful video games system which they named the PC Engine HE System. It was the centre (or engine) of a much larger entertainment system incorporating keyboard, disc drive and a printer. However, in the 1st few months the system did not appear to be very popular. NEC shelved the idea of making the machine the centre of a home entertainment system and concentrated their time and resources in marketing the machine as a games only system.
Still, it took time for the new machine to be widely accepted in Japan. The Nintendo Entertainment System was still the market leader with 3 in 5 Japanese homes owning one.
It was not until game companies such as Hudson Soft and Irem started to produce quality software that the Japanese public started to take notice. Games such as Chan & Chan and Dragon Spirit were now being produced. In particular it was a game called R-Type which started the now tremendous popularity of the system. From the beginning of 1988 the PC Engine became the second most popular games system in Japan.
A year later NEC released the CD Rom drive. From this point the popularity of the system was assured with many other software companies such as Namco and Taito producing games on both card and CD format.
Team-Xecuter have just launched the XFRAG 360. The Xecuter XFRAG 360 is the ultimate accessory for the hardcore gamer who craves the accuracy and freedom of using their beloved keyboard and mouse on an Xbox 360.
We have looked at other products on the market and taken it to the next level by looking at gamers wish lists and then fine tuning every aspect of quality and performance and giving it to you at a price that doesn't break the bank.
This device is not meant for the average gamer who likes to take pot shots at tin cans, this is for the gamer who loves to frag the living hell out of anything that moves - whether it be Call Of Duty, Gears of War, Rainbow Six or Halo - you will simply OWN anything that crosses your path. For the discerning Playstation addict - you can even connect a PS2 DualShcok2 controller to your Xbox 360 (though why anybody would prefer the PS2 controller over the soul-soothing goodness that is a 360 controller is beyond us) - we've added it anyway !
We have struck a deal that will see this distributed in several global high street retail chains so you can be sure to be able to get your hands on one of these for only $69.95 ! (Similar products sell for upto $100)
Features:
* Connect a PS/2 or USB keyboard & Mouse to the Xbox 360
* Connect a Playstation DualShock2 controller to the Xbox 360
* All Xbox 360 buttons including analogue can be mapped to any keys on the keyboard
* Rapid Fire and Auto Fire Function (8 Customizable Buttons)
* Adjustable X&Y Mouse Sensitivity
* Compatible with most PS/2 or USB Keyboard & Mouse combination's
* Compatible with all Xbox 360 Games
* Compatible with all Xbox 360 Console Versions
* Compatible with both CL & the new Matrix Xbox 360 Wired Controllers
* Connect any PS2 peripheral including Guitars, Dance mats, Light Guns, Racing Wheels etc
* Trusted Xecuter Design & Quality
Team Xecuter have just released more detailed information about the Xecuter CK3-CP. Check out the info below..
Xecuter CK3-CP Update
The Xecuter CK3-CP is the crown jewel in the range of CK3 products. We have combined all the functionality of the CK3 Pro plus into a fully featured PC driven LCD Display & Control Panel, not to mention a slew of new automated features. Please note that the following image is a prototype. We expect to begin shipping sometime in April 2010.
Xecuter CK3-CP
Features:
* Fits into any 5.25″ PC bay
* 2×16 Custom Design LCD Display
* 4 x Button Directional Keypad (e.g Jungle Flasher No-Mouse Operation)
* 1 x SATA Port
* 2 x USB 2.0 Ports
* CK3 Power Connector for any XBOX 360 DVD Drive
* Xbox 360 DVD Eject Button
* IVM (Intelligent Vendor Mode) - Software can control DVD Power and Eject (inc half tray) for fully automated DVD fw access (vendor mode etc)
* 2 x Programmable LED's (Many uses with apps like Jungle Flasher)
* When not being used for CK3, the LCD can be used to display ANY information (Huge Possibilities)
* LCD Smartie open source software is fully compatible with the LCD. Includes custom driver.
* The LCD display is fully customizable from the PC, including the directional pad and the notification LED's.
* LCD backlight and contrast are software controllable.
* The simplified and robust protocol allows anyone from hobbyists to professionals to interface the CK3 CP.
* Great for displaying system statistics like temperature, cpu usage, and ram.
* Compatible with all versions of Windows. Most linux distributions and even PowerPC and Intel Macintosh systems.
CK3 Related (Sources and info available for 3rd party software developers)
* IVM (Intelligent Vendor Mode) - DVD Power and Eject (inc half tray) full software controlled
* The LCD display can guide you step by step when flashing a 360 drive (or other app functions)
* Any input inquiry can be done right on the directional pad - and also an OK/ENTER button.
* No need to keep looking to the monitor or fiddling with the mouse to control the PC for the next step.
* Metal frame means the unit is sturdy and reliable.
* CK3-CP works with all current 360 drives.
* Industry standard, PL2303 transceiver for communication. This means you get great stability and compatibility.
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Bungie's popular first-person shooter makes its debut on the Xbox 360 with Halo 3.
