Sorry all, but I must have missed this press release and just wanted to get it up for all those Shadowrun guys looking for the interview.. Enjoy the site and our endless endeavour to keep you all updated on the world of Xbox 360.
February 2007 FASA Studio Manager, Mitch Gitelman
Q: What is “Shadowrun”? A: “‘Shadowrun™’ is the best game FASA Studio has ever made. It’s an intense, team-based first-person shooter that combines ancient magic, modern weapons and advanced technology in a way that’s never been done before. Rather than turn magic and tech into just another weapon, we’ve made them into tools the player uses to outwit and outfight the enemy. Notice that I used ‘outfight’ instead of ‘outshoot.’ That’s because ‘Shadowrun’ isn’t just about putting your cross-hairs on a troll and pulling the trigger. It’s about using the right abilities and the right weapons at the right time to get the advantage in combat. It’s really a thinking person’s shooter—but someone who thinks on fast on their feet.”
Q: Tell me about how the Live system works on Windows. Is it just like Xbox Live?
A: “It’s not just like Live, it is Live, but on Windows Vista™. You can voicechat, you can create a Friends list, and you can earn achievements. If you’re already a member of Xbox LIVE®, you’ll see your friends, messages, gamerscore – all the great stuff that makes Live a great online games service. You use the same gamertag, and can show off same gamerscore and achievements on each platform. The rest of the Xbox LIVE features, like Marketplace are coming later.”
Q: Okay, everyone talks about mouse/keyboard vs. controller. You’ve said it’s fair in the past but most people think that’s impossible.
A: “Most people aren’t professional game developers who specialize in making games with great controls like ‘MechWarrior,’ ‘MechAssault,’ ‘Crimson Skies’ and ‘Halo®.’ We also have developers from ‘Counter-Strike’ on the Xbox® on the team as well. No offense, but a lot of people balked at the idea of dual stick move/look controls when Bungie was making ‘Halo’ and now it’s the default control method for console shooters. Any time someone attempts to innovate, there will be naysayers. I know there are a lot of people who don’t believe we could make the controls fair but we did it. Remember that ‘Shadowrun’ isn’t just about putting your crosshairs on the enemy. You can be a great shot but get crushed by someone who uses tech, magic, and character abilities better than you. We have great testers who helped us balance the game. These guys are league FPS players, so they know what they’re doing. About half are ‘Counter-Strike’ players and the other half are ‘Halo’ players. They say it’s fair. Since they can kick my butt on either platform, I have to believe them.”
Click the read more link to view the entire interview..
Hot off the press from Microsoft is the fact that Xbox LIVE® have just reached 6 Million Members 4 months ahead of schedule. :) This is good news for all us Xbox fans.
Press Release in Full:
Xbox LIVE Connectivity & Usage:
* More than 6 million people are members of Xbox LIVE.
* Following the launch of the Xbox LIVE online gaming network in November 2002, gamers have spent over 2.3 billion hours on the network playing games online with their friends around the world. This is equal to 95 million days of gaming or over 260,000 years. With our top title, Halo 2, which is being played on both the Xbox and Xbox 360, gamers have spent over 710 million hours playing online with over a half a billion games played.
* Xbox LIVE on Xbox 360 continues to grow as a social community; we are seeing an average of over 2,000,000 text and voice messages sent every day between members on the service.
· The average Xbox LIVE Gold subscriber has 22 friends on their Xbox LIVE friends list.
· To date, Xbox 360 owners have unlocked nearly 300 million Achievements. All of those unlocked Achievements have created a total combined Gamerscore of nearly 7.5 billion.
Top WW Xbox LIVE Titles on Xbox 360 to date:
1. Halo 2
2. Gears of War
3. Hexic HD
4. Call of Duty 2
5. Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter
6. Call Of Duty 3
7. Oblivion
8. PGR3
9. Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six® Vegas
10. Perfect Dark Zero
Thanks to latest release of Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter 2 on the Xbox 360 all Australian and New Zealand Silver members will receive access to the full Xbox Live Gold gaming experience on Xbox Live during the times listed below.
Begins: Friday March 9th @ 15:00:00 Ends: Sunday March 11th @ 21:59:00
If you have any friends with only silver be sure to let them know.. It's a great way for everyone (including you) if they have'nt had the chance themselves to try out xbox live gold..
News has just been annouced by a trusted developer who wishes to remain Anonymous about his work on porting the MAME and ScummVX emulators to the Xbox 360.
With the most recent news about the Hypervisor Exploit there is a glimmer of hope for all homebrew lover's that we may be able to run these emu's on a retail xbox 360 sometime in the future.
Here's a direct quote from the Anonymous Developer:
In light of the recent 360 hack and possibility of widespread homebrew in the future, I wanted to share some news with you.
I've been working on a port of MAME to the 360. I call it 'MAME360'.
Now for a bit about the project:
- It's based on MAME 0.112 and is fairly easy to keep up-to-date (doesn't need any messing around with like Mameox on the xbox).
- Originally it was based on SDLMAME but I've since ported a 360 specific osd layer (so SDL for the 360 exists - as an aside I also have a port of ScummVM in the works too).
- Mame doesn't include any dynarec cpu emulation on anything other than an x86 platform. So any game that is PSX or N64 based for example doesn't run at all well.
- Most other stuff (that I've tried) runs pretty well.
- At the moment it will only run on 360 dev/debug/test kits. Whether it will ever run on a hacked retail box remains to be seen.
Stay tuned to our Xbox 360 Homebrew Database for all the latest updates, news and download.. 360-Hq Homebrew Database:Mame360 for Xbox 360
In a recent email Microsoft have announced its 'Dream-Build-Play' contest. This contest provides the opportunity for game developers to create visions in a world where they make the rules, shape the characters and create the evolution of the story.
Anyone that enters the competition is up for the chance of winning $10,000 and getting their game published on Xbox LIVE® Arcade, a truly worthy competition for all you budding game developers out there.
Press release in full:
Microsoft Unlocks Game Development and Encourages Everyone to “Dream-Build-Play”
Microsoft challenges developers to bring ideas to life on the Xbox 360 and Windows platforms.
SAN FRANCISCO — March 4, 2007 — Providing the opportunity for game developers to create visions in a world where they make the rules, shape the characters and create the evolution of the story, Microsoft Corp. today kicked off the Dream-Build-Play game development contest, offering a $10,000 (U.S.) grand prize and the opportunity for a winner’s game to be published on Xbox LIVE® Arcade, the premier destination for digitally distributed, high-definition original and classic games. Enabled by its XNA™ developer tools, the Dream-Build-Play contest was announced at the Game Developers Conference (GDC) 2007 in San Francisco.
Delivering on its commitment to offer the best and most accessible hardware, software and services for game developers on the Microsoft® gaming platforms, Microsoft and its partners also showcased a suite of new products that will help developers of every level turn their dreams into reality. From the hobbyist to professional developers in the largest studios, Microsoft’s investments in game development technologies are helping to spark a new creative era while ensuring the best games are being built for Microsoft platforms.
Dream-Build-Play XNA Contest Offers $10,000 Grand Prize
Dream-Build-Play is a global contest that offers aspiring game developers the opportunity to showcase their innovation and talent to the world. More than 20 winners will be selected to win fantastic prizes with a total value of more than $40,000 from Microsoft, Alienware, Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) Inc., Autodesk Inc. and Softimage Co.
The contest will culminate in the extraordinary grand prize that includes an opportunity for the winner to receive an Xbox LIVE Arcade publishing contract, providing a chance to showcase the winner’s game on Xbox LIVE Arcade. Dream-Build-Play is open to any user of XNA Game Studio Express, including the GarageGames Torque X platform. No purchase is necessary to compete. The contest ends July 2, 2007, and winners will be announced Aug. 13 at Microsoft Gamefest 2007 in Seattle. Additional contest details, including detailed eligibility and entry requirements, are available at www.dreambuildplay.com.
Microsoft just emailed us to let us know that they are officially unveiling the 512MB Memory Unit for the Xbox 360. They also announced that starting today games will no longer be limited to 50MB and the new limit will be 150MB. I would guess that Castlevania will be coming out near the release of this new product. Also included on the Memory Unit will be a free copy of Geometry Wars for those two or three people that have not purchased it quite yet.
Press Release:
Microsoft Announces 512MB Memory Unit for Xbox 360 and Increased Xbox LIVE Arcade Game Size Limit
512MB Memory Unit enhances storage capabilities and choice for Xbox 360 gamers; increased Xbox LIVE Arcade size limit provides additional flexibility for game developers.
SAN FRANCISCO — March 4, 2007 — At the Game Developers Conference (GDC) 2007, Microsoft Corp. today announced plans to launch a 512MB Memory Unit for the Xbox 360™ video game and entertainment system and an increase in the official size limit of Xbox LIVE® Arcade games from 50 MB to 150 MB.
The 512MB Memory Unit, available worldwide beginning April 3, 2007, will retail for an estimated retail price of $49.99 (U.S.) in North America.* The 512MB Memory Unit will be pre-loaded with the hit Xbox LIVE Arcade game “Geometry Wars: Retro Evolved” from developer Bizarre Creations Ltd. for a limited time. The original 64MB Memory Unit will simultaneously drop in price from $39.99 to $29.99 (ERP).*
Eight times larger than the 64MB Memory Unit, the 512MB Memory Unit will provide Xbox 360 owners with vastly expanded storage capabilities for gaming on the go, allowing gamers to easily store and transport their gamer profile and save game data, Xbox LIVE Arcade games and Xbox LIVE Marketplace content. The 512MB Memory Unit also gives Xbox 360 owners the ability to download exclusive content from any of the 45,000 Xbox 360 kiosks accessible at retail outlets worldwide.
Beginning today, the Xbox LIVE Arcade game size limit has increased from 50 MB to 150 MB, giving developers greater flexibility in game design and expanding the opportunity to add advanced game features while still keeping games compact.
“The new size limit offers developers increased flexibility and continued opportunities for innovative game development, while also ensuring that the millions of gamers on Xbox LIVE can continue to easily access, download and play all Xbox LIVE Arcade games on Xbox 360,” said Chris Early, product unit manager for Xbox LIVE Arcade and Microsoft Casual Games at Microsoft. “If you take a look at current games like ‘Roboblitz’ and ‘Small Arms,’ it’s clear that our developers deliver amazing game experiences within a compact size limit. Our focus is on continuing to provide developers with an environment that allows for the creation of cost-efficient games and that nurtures an artistic and creative approach to game development.”
“As we prepare to launch our first Xbox LIVE Arcade game, ‘Boom Boom Rocket,’ we’re able to see how dynamic and creative this platform is,” said Chip Lange, vice president of Online Commerce for Electronic Arts Inc. (EA). “Having ‘Wing Commander Arena’ on Xbox LIVE Arcade allows us to take full advantage of the online play and bring to life a 16-player online arcade experience that delivers unparalleled arcade action.”
This week at GDC, Microsoft will showcase forthcoming Xbox LIVE Arcade games from a cross-section of genres to the game development community:
· “Boom Boom Rocket” (EA and Bizarre Creations). This eagerly anticipated title from EA and Bizarre Creations is a hypnotic rhythm music game that will launch on Xbox LIVE Arcade this spring, priced at 800 Microsoft Points.
· “3D Ultra™ Minigolf Adventures” (Sierra Online and Wanako Games). The first outdoor sports game on Xbox LIVE Arcade, “3D Ultra Minigolf Adventures” lets players putt their way through 36 fun-filled holes on wild courses that include settings such as the Classic Carnival and the fantastical Outer Space.
· “Eets: Chowdown” (Klei Entertainment Inc.). A completely revamped version of the popular PC title, “Eets: Chowdown” offers a fun puzzle game experience unlike anything else available on Xbox LIVE Arcade, and features new items and 120 new levels.
· “Jetpac Refuelled” (Rare Ltd.). This is a new take on Rare/Ultimate’s 1983 classic space blaster with enhanced graphics and Xbox LIVE features; players must clear a path through hordes of aliens to refuel their ship and amass a fortune over the course of more than 100 high-definition levels.
· “Pinball FX” (ZEN Studios Ltd.). “Pinball FX” offers an unparalleled pinball experience that will be fun for novices and experts alike, with realistic ball physics and stunning 3-D tables. “Pinball FX” also features real-time, head-to-head competition over Xbox LIVE and Xbox LIVE Vision camera support.
Dune: Awakening Shows Off Stunning Unreal Engine 5 Gameplay & More Funcom (@Funcom) revealed a stunning new gameplay trailer and featurette for Dune: Awakening, the first episode of the new Dune: Awakening Direct series. Embark on a breathtaking journey across Arraki..
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