X Box - A thought on XBLA and its file size cap Given

A thought on XBLA and its file size cap
Given the 50 MB limit file size for games on XBLA, we could only imagine traditional developers shouting at Microsoft, "WTF! That is so small!" While the allotted size is indeed quite minimal, the scenario at hand is not really something we'd call WTF. After all, a good number of small scale developers have proven that there's actually a work-around to this little obstacle.

RoboBlitz, for example, is one of the more anticipated titles to come out from XBLA. It actually went live last week and fans can get it for 1200 MS points. As expected, the game came at par with some X360 launch titles, and even exceeding Xbox ones. Online site What The Geek gives its accolades for the game:

Naked Sky was able to make a game that visually stacks up against high end Xbox games, fits snugly within that 50MB size limit. A game of this visual quality that utilizes the Unreal Engine 3 (You know, the one that powers Gears of War) would have taken at least a gig or two of disc space just a few short years ago.

Quite true, huh? Actually, developer Naked Sky used a programming software from Allegorithmic. This program utilizes a technique called procedural texture, that intends to create a realistic representation of natural elements. And so in the end, does size matter? Of course, it does. But is the word size always equal to massive? Not necessarily. Their conclusion reads:

Instead of larger optical discs for retail games, devs could utilize these methods to pack 25 gigs worth of game into 9 gigs worth of space. My prediction for the next console cycle (PS4, Xbox 720) is that optical discs will go the way of the dinosaur. Larger, less expensive hard drives and smaller games will take their place.

Well, to be quite frank, what more can we say? Those guys actually have a point, don't you think? This belief, as you might not be aware of, is also being held true by some key people across the industry.

New Halo 3 trailer coming on December 20

For those who've seen the 60-second Halo 3 ad from a couple of days ago, we know you're itching to see more. I don't blame you. I can't remember how many times I've watched the vid from my list of Favorites on YouTube (as well as the GoW "Mad World" cinematic). Ever wondered when you're going to see some new Halo 3 footage?

When fans ask for more, Bungie answers back... with a whopping 7-minute video! The said video will be available next week on the Xbox Live Marketplace, but more than that, we don't know how much it's going to cost in MS points (the wishful thinking in me says it's going to be free, but hah! who am I kidding?).

Yves from Microsoft posted this info:

On December 20 a new Halo 3 video will be available on marketplace. It's a 7-minute video that will be released next week. It highlights the emergence of the Brutes as playable characters in the game. It touches on their skills, origins, and how they are being created. It has about 2-and-a-half minutes of gameplay footage.

Oh yes, you heard him. Seven full minutes of juice. Seven full minutes of Halo-heaven. No doubt about it, this could possibly be the next vid on my Favorites list. Stay alert, we might even be able to post a vid of it here soon!

NPD says: best-selling accessories for November
As you may know the NPD Group has been a trusted source of consumer and retail information since 1967 (if the end of the world was coming and the horsemen of the apocalypse wanted to know anything, they'd ask the NPD Group for advice).

Recently the NPD Group shared what they thought were the sales figures in the US for game consoles (and when the NPD Group's market analysts speak, businesses listen). Now they have sales figures for gaming accessories in the US for the month of November.

1. Wii Remote Controller 270,000
2. 360 Wireless Controller 251,000
3. NDS Lite Starter Kit 154,000
4. Wii Nunchuk Controller 153,000
5. PS2 8 MEG Memory Card - Sony 152,000
6. PS2 8 MEG Memory Card - Nyko 100,000
7. PS3 Sixaxis Wireless Controller 98,000
8. PS2/PS Dual Shock2 Controller 97,000
9. PS2/PS Blue CL SH2 Controller 89,000
10. 360 Play & Charge Kit 84,000

Finally, let's put those numbers into perspective. According to Next Generation, the Xbox 360 HD-DVD sold 42,000 units: please remember that it only launched in the middle of November. Also, there were 476,000 Wiis sold in the US in November - so the number of Wiimotes sold is more than half of console sales number. As for the PS3, there were 197,000 consoles sold and 98,000 Sixaxis controllers were sold.

Look for our next article: NPD Group tells Santa which consumers are sleeping or awake, naughty or nice. Hehe.

Has Kristen Bell spoiled Assassin Creed's twist?
Exactly just how much is an actress, involved in an upcoming game, entitled to reveal about the project? Depends on what the marketing strategy probably is. Or maybe depends on how much mystery the developers and publishers would want to be engulfing the title.

As to Assassin's Creed, we don't know if Ubisoft has given Kristen Bell the green light to divulge the sci-fi premise underpinning the game. According to the Veronica Mars star in her interview with IGN TV,

It's sort of based on the research that's sort of happening now, about the fact that your genes might be able to hold memory. And you could argue semantics and say it's instinct, but how does a baby bird know to eat a worm, as opposed to a cockroach, if its parents don't show it? And it's about this science company trying to, Matrix-style, go into people's brains and find out an ancestor who used to be an assassin, and sort of locate who that person is.

Right. Did you guys get all that? Sure was a mouthful. Anyhow, we guess it's not just the medieval action title we all thought it would be then, after all. If ever that is the real case regarding the game, that sure was some twist there. We just hope it wasn't all that spoiled by this revelation.

Assassin's Creed will be porting to both the Xbox 360 and PS3 come the 4th quarter of 2007.

Tactical air strikes in this Battlestations: Midway trailer
It takes a lot of effort to make an air strike. Not only do you have to buy planes, you also have to get yourself some pilots, fuel, bombs, and some mad flying skills. That way, when you start flying your plane, you can start yelling, "I'm in ur airzpace, bombin ur shipz!" at your foes.

Now, we can't give you any of the equipment you'll need to wage a full-scale assault on your cousin's rubber ducky in the bathtub, but we can refer you to someone who can teach a little bit about strategy. Your teacher will be Eidos, and you'll be taking your notes inside Battlestations: Midway, with a lovely pin-up girl as your tutor, confidant, and mascot. Yeah, we like giving our students some perks.

Anyway, while we're waiting for Eidos to show u with their strategic teaching tool, you better see this. It should get you into more of a studying mood to learn about the art of war, and the strategies you'll need to master if you intend to defeat your enemies. Till Eidos and the PC and Microsoft Xbox 360 versions of the game show up in 2007 though, we'll just have to be patient and wait. Don't worry, we're sure this video will keep you company for the time being. Enjoy!

Dave Mitchell: PS3 Linux can't compare to XNA
As you know, XNA is a set of tools from Microsoft to help homebrew developers make their own applications and games. To run your games on Xbox 360, you pay a year to join the "Creators Club" (those are US dollars). If other people want to run your games on their Xbox 360s, it looks they need to get your source code and they also need to be Creators Club members - but it looks like that will change and everybody can access homebrew games (more about that later).

Let's look at Dave Mitchell's interview with Gamasutra. Dave Mitchell, the Director of Marketing for the game development branch of Microsoft, has a right to talk like a fanboy because that's his job. So when he's trying to drum up support for the new XNA Game Studio Express and Creators Club, he doesn't just talk about MS plans; he also has to answer questions that compare them to Sony's PS3 features.

Sony PS3 Linux is not the same thing. Sony made a pro-homebrew move with the PS3 by allowing Linux (but has some big restrictions like not giving access to the RSX graphics chipset). Mitchell said that Sony should be "commended" for that pro-homebrew move, but it is not "a competitive offering or trying to do something in the same vein." The big difference is the level of support - PS3 Linux is a matter of giving access, but XNA is a matter of giving people tools and encouragement.

He throws out some press-friendly quotations:

• "The fundamental difference here is not just about providing access to a platform, it's really about making an investment in something, and ensuring that people who will want to make games on your game console are successful in doing that."
• "What we are focused on doing is providing great tools at a free or low price point that are going to enable consumers to be absolutely successful at creating games for both the Windows and the Xbox 360 platforms."

He compared it to YouTube, and we agree with that kind of vision. For us YouTube is an organization where people upload their own videos - it's a flood of user-generated content - and these users are normal people like the creepy people across the street to huge business like CBS and NBC. XNA has that kind of vision of user-made applications and games - and that vision actually fits in with the business model of Microsoft.

Universal sharing of homebrew games for all Xbox 360 users (not just Creator Club members). According to Gamasutra, "The Microsoft exec also hinted that sharing Creators Club games universally over all Xbox 360 users was a major priority for the company next year." According to Mitchell, it's like this:

I make a game and I send it over to you to have you check out my game, and you're not a member of the Creators Club, I'd still love for you to be able to play it. That's absolutely the scenario that we want to support and start working on and enabling that in 2007.

Good news, don't you think?

? whao
i'v never even heard of bigfoot in san andreas, but anythings possible in san andreas
playstation92

Gears of War, DRE, Glitch of War

Unlike the little breakdancing glitch from earlier, which were good for a small laugh, this account from 1UP blogger Rappateng, is more worrisome. He has run into (1) repetitive Disc Read Errors from his Gears of War, and (2) forums with people who have run into repetitive Disc Read Errors from Gears of War.

Rappateng's GoW was new-buy, his 360's relatively new (bought May 7, 2006). Still, on November 12th, while trying to get into a multiplayer session, he got his DRE. Checked his disc - "it was flawless" - loaded it up, got a DRE again. Played other games, which worked, played a movie, then tried GoW: DRE. After calling up Xbox support without any helpful result, he went over to the GameStop where he purchased the game - seems that two other guys had the same problem.

Rappateng got home with a new copy. Worked fine until fifteen minutes later: DRE. Worse yet, his 360 refused to load the game at all... Long story short, he's got a non-working Gears, then he did a little digging, to find a ton of forums with players who're having similar Glitches of War. MS support can't help, and Rappateng cites Mark Rein dropping by in one of those forums, pointing out that Epic can't help either since Epic Games doesn't print the discs - Microsoft does that.

Potentially it could be the difficulty of the laser in the DVD drives of some 360 manufacturing batches to read the dual-layered discs that Gears and other games are usually stamped on. Another theory could be the discs themselves, which also makes it a quality control problem. We haven't seen anything official yet to explain the glitches.