At 7pm tonight, Eastern Australian time, (Work out your own time zone conversions for your area guys) 2k will make available on Xbox Live Both a Patch and FREE DLC including some brand new plasmids. But it does not look likely any new maps or areas will be added..
Below is the content that is known to be added to XBL tonight, there is a small possibility there may be more. Patches and DLC for both the 360 and PC as follows.... (Note) PC Patch details can be seen by clicking the Extended Text link below.
Xbox 360 patch
--Added widescreen option: Horizontal FOV
--Fix for rare case where a partial cache is not cleared
--Increased Atlas’ volume in German
--Fix for GUI sounds not playing during heavy action
--Fix for not being able to take picture of Cobb in Rec
--Possible fix for pauses or hangs when opening flash bink movies
--Fix for switching difficulty breaking achievement
--Fix for small texture streaming bug
--Fix for rare hang when a lot of things are going on at once
Xbox 360 DLC
-- Added Disable Vita Chamber option
--Plasmid Pack is included in this DLC (Machine Buster 1 & 2, Vending Expert 1 & 2, Sonic Boom 1 & 2, EVE Saver)
--100 point achievement for beating game without Vita Chamber called "Brass Balls"
Famed game designer Peter Molyneux (Fable, Black and White) says "Fable 2" will be available in fall 2008.
Specifically, Molyneux said the game would come in "Late 2008. Maybe when the leaves have a slight brownish tinge - but are still on the trees, if you see what I mean."
Molyneux also dropped hints on what's coming after Fable 2: "I am really, really pushing the powers-that-be to allow me to tell/show the world this new project," Molyneux said. "I know I am prone to say things like 'great', 'revolutionary' and 'ambitious', but this new project its absolutely great, revolutionary and ambitious!"
In an unrelated note, I left for one long lunch, and came back to a smoking ruin instead of an office. JrmyLmb is babbling to himself in our underground bunker and Bleahy is just gone. Damn you, Robots!
Ubisoft to Release Chessmaster Live on Xbox Live Arcade
SAN FRANCISCO – Today Ubisoft, one of the world’s largest video game publishers, announced that it is releasing Chessmaster® LIVE on the Xbox LIVE® Arcade for the Xbox 360® video game and entertainment system from Microsoft.
"Bringing the Chessmaster series to Xbox LIVE Arcade makes the game accessible to a whole new audience," said Peter Helm, business development associate at Ubisoft. "Chessmaster LIVE is not only a comprehensive chess program, but it is also one that has expanded beyond the traditional game to include exciting features for fans, both old and new."
Chessmaster LIVE will feature:
Hundreds of AI opponents to play in ELO-ranked matches
Voice-chat and LIVE Vision capabilities for head-to-head matches
New 3D chess sets inspired by luxury board designer, House of Staunton
Five original chess variants, including the all-new Message Chess option, which will allow players to engage in a match over the course of days, weeks or even months
Chessmaster LIVE will be available for download in January 2008.Ubisoft will also be publishing Chessmaster for the PSP® (PlayStation®Portable) system, scheduled for a worldwide release in Spring 2008.
A new study suggests that gaming is one of a number of factors contributing to a drop in literacy levels amongst UK children.
The literacy study found that England’s place in the worldwide reading league has declined sharply, dropping from third to fifteenth, something UK tabloid The Sun attributes to children spending too long playing videogames, MCV reports.
“Kids hooked on computer games have sent England plummeting down world league tables for reading,” reads the intro to the story in The Sun.
According to the study, 37 percent of UK children play videogames for three hours a day, much more than children in other European countries.
However, schools secretary Ed Balls noted that gaming is just one of a number of pastimes that has led to children neglecting reading.
“Today’s youngsters have more choice now than in 2001 about how they spend their time. Most of them have their own TVs and mobiles and 37 percent are playing computer games for three hours a day. We all need to help our children of all ages to see that reading can bring fun to their lives.”
UPDATE - Microsoft’s Aaron Greenberg tells Next-Gen that top retailers had reported Xbox 360 hardware outages during Black Friday week, as the new Arcade package performs above expectations.
Microsoft announced Thursday that Xbox 360 sold 310,000 units for the week of November 18 in the US. This compares favorably to the year-younger Nintendo Wii, which sold 350,000 units during the same time frame.
It’s highly likely that the gap could’ve been wider if Nintendo was able to keep up with the Wii’s runaway demand.
Regardless, Xbox 360 had an impressive week. Greenberg told Next-Gen that Microsoft’s top retailers sold out of hardware coming out of the busy Thanksgiving shopping week.
“We turned around and replenished those units,” the Xbox 360 product manager said in a phone interview. “We’re seeing thousands and thousands of top big box retail stores reporting outages depending on SKUs, and some reporting outages of the whole Xbox 360 line.”
Microsoft said that it outsold Sony's PlayStation 3 2 to 1 last week, according to retail estimates.
Greenberg also said that the newly-introduced entry-level Xbox 360 Arcade package ($280) is performing considerably better than expected.
“We heard from one of our top retailers that the launch of Arcade was the biggest Xbox 360 sales week since Christmas of last year. It’s performed above what we’ve expected and is a bigger percentage of the mix than what we thought it would be.”
Though some other instrument-based music games may be making the headlines with their steady supply of new tracks, the Xbox 360 version of Harmonix's Guitar Hero II is still receiving some downloadable love as well.
Available now from the Xbox Live Marketplace, the Indie Label Pack includes "State of Massachusetts" by Celtic punk rockers Dropkick Murphys, "You Should Be Ashamed of Myself" by the metal-loving The Bled, and "Memories of the Grove" by metalists Maylene & The Sons of Disaster.
As with all of the other Guitar Hero II DLC, the package sells for sells for 500 Microsoft Points ($6.25), with a free trailer allowing potential buyers to get a taste of the songs and their note patterns.
RedOctance executive producer Jeff Matsushita previously told Shacknews that the company intended to support the Xbox 360 edition of Guitar Hero II with downloadable content through the end of 2007.
Metro Simulator 2 is coming soon for Xbox and PlayStation consoles Ultimate Games (@ULTGames) confirmed that Metro Simulator 2, the realistic and relaxing simulator with faithfully reproduced subway realities and train control mechanics from KishMish Games, will laun..
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"Bringing the 
“Kids hooked on computer games have sent England plummeting down world league tables for reading,” reads the intro to the story in The Sun.
It’s highly likely that the gap could’ve been wider if Nintendo was able to keep up with the Wii’s runaway demand.
