Atlus USA has become an official third-party publishing partner with Microsoft, initiating a relationship that will bring more niche Japanese games to the Xbox 360.
The first two games that Atlus is bringing to Xbox 360 in the US are the strategy RPG Operation Darkness and Idea Factory's RPG Spectral Force 3 (pictured). Both games are slated to arrive in 2008.
Atlus has eased itself into the next generation of consoles, releasing a relatively steady stream of games to the PlayStation 2, such as Shin Megami Tensei: Persona 3 and Odin Sphere. The publisher also published the Trauma Center games on Wii and DS.
Singapore's Media Development Authority has reversed its earlier decision to ban Mass Effect, and will now allow the game to be released under an M18 rating.
As reported earlier, the Media Development Authority originally decided to ban the game in Singapore due to the inclusion of a sex scene between a human woman and a female alien.
The Board of Film Censors said in a statement that it will selectively use games ratings to "enable highly anticipated games to be launched in Singapore" until it puts a games classification system in place in January.
This will allow games to "enter the market with immediacy" while giving the games industry and members of the public a better understanding of the benefits of the proposed games classification system, the BFC said.
Singapore has previously banned games such as God of War 2 and The Darkness for nudity and religious expletives, but has allowed games with graphic violence to be sold with consumer advisory labels.
Infinity Ward has announced it is already working on an update for the Xbox 360 version of Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare. Straight from the horse's mouth:
Wanted to give you a heads up for an update in the works for the Xbox 360 version. We're going to be optimizing a lot of things behind the scenes with matchmaking and host selection as well as adding a few new features via the update which I have outlined below. No ETA on when this update will be available for download, just giving a heads up on what's to come in the future in the first potential update:
Additions / New Features:
Added Kill cam to Airstrike bombs and Claymores
Addition of Host Migration so if Host Leaves auto-chooses next best host
Tweaked Oldschool Mode settings based on feedback:
Added Unlimited Sprint
Increased Magazine Size
Added Ragdoll Cam
Optimizations / Tweaks:
Identify party by background color (in Lobby)
Optimized server selection for first match for better connections
Improved network performance for 18 player games
Optimized 'Chase Cam' when Spectating
Fixed Playlist error when attempting to join from other games
Handle Corrupt Create A Class data instead of kicking player
EZ-DVD 360 is a Handy tool to aid the burning of xbox 360 backups and was written by STATUSPHERE
This program was designed to help people with burning Xbox 360 Backups that did not come with a .dvd file. EZ-DVD 360 will automatically create a
compatible .dvd file for any Xbox 360 Game no matter what the image type might be i.e bin, iso, 000, etc…"
Microsoft is cooking up a host of family friendly games in a bid to corner the casual market currently bossed by Nintendo.
Specifically, says Microsoft Asia-Pacific's Alan Bowman, the platform holder intends to cater for different age groups by releasing cartoon-based titles and word-puzzle games in a bid to compete with the Wii.
"We're doing a lot in broadening the content for the Xbox 360," said Bowman.
"A key strategy for us is to give broad choice for people. You need to provide content which broadens your base of users from core gamers to different age groups… If you look at Guitar Hero, it's something which can be played by the whole family, by kids, males, females, adults.”
Bowman added that British developer Rare will play a central role in Microsoft’s family friendly push.
"Now they're starting to produce games with very, very broad appeal. Kids also love our Viva Pinata Party Animals game, so it's games like that."
Microsoft Game Studios’ Phil Spencer said recently that Rare’s development of a DS version of Viva Piñata was important in helping the company “... understand what it means to build lightweight, maybe shorter session experiences, and maintain that design innovation”.
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The first two games that Atlus is bringing to Xbox 360 in the US are the strategy RPG Operation Darkness and Idea Factory's RPG Spectral Force 3 (pictured). Both games are slated to arrive in 2008.
As reported earlier, the Media Development Authority originally decided to ban the game in Singapore due to the inclusion of a sex scene between a human woman and a female alien.
Wanted to give you a heads up for an update in the works for the Xbox 360 version. We're going to be optimizing a lot of things behind the scenes with matchmaking and host selection as well as adding a few new features via the update which I have outlined below. No ETA on when this update will be available for download, just giving a heads up on what's to come in the future in the first potential update: 
"A key strategy for us is to give broad choice for people. You need to provide content which broadens your base of users from core gamers to different age groups… If you look at Guitar Hero, it's something which can be played by the whole family, by kids, males, females, adults.”
