Xbox Live – Page 3

Halo: Reach – a review and a fond farewell

September 14, 2010September 20, 2010 Doug Groves Bungie, FPS, game review, Halo, Halo: Reach, Microsoft, multiplayer, ODST, review, Xbox, Xbox Live1 Comment

A Fond Farewell When Halo: Reach was announced as a prequel, a lot of gamers expressed their concerns,making comparisons to Lucas’s critical failure with the Star Wars movie prequels. This totally ignores that one of the defining differences between film and video games is that it’s pretty hard to make a game worse than the original. Unless, as a developer, you’re completely phoning it in, a large part of the art of game making, as opposed to film making, is tweaking the elements of gameplay, not just making the graphics…

At X’10 – Fable III interview with Josh Atkins

August 31, 2010September 20, 2010 Doug Groves fable 3, Fable III, interview, josh atkins, lionhead, Microsoft, PC gaming, preview, Show, x10, Xbox 360, Xbox Live3 Comments

In our final interview at Microsoft’s X’10 event in Toronto, we talk with Design Director Josh Atkins of Lionhead Studios about what to expect in Fable III, and the importance of storytelling in video games, from the writing to the voice talent. One of the goals was to engage the player enough to actually put down the controller and think about the moral decisions they make. “For us, the idea of a choice, it really has to make you care. It can’t just be so good/evil. It’s got to be…

At X’10 – Halo: Reach sneak peak

August 27, 2010August 28, 2010 Doug Groves Bungie, co-op, event, Forge, Forge World, FPS, gallery, Halo, Halo: Reach, multiplayer, sneak peak, video, x10, Xbox 360, Xbox Live0 comment

One of the closed door events at X’10 this year was for the highly anticipated final chapter of Halo, at least from Bungie. Unfortunately, once we were ushered behind the heavy curtains we weren’t allowed to actually record anything, but we did get to see the first single player missions, Noble Actual and Winter Contingency in action. The single player gameplay was exactly what one would expect out of Halo, with even more polish put on the engine itself. While Reach introduces squad play, there’s no real squad mechanic in…

At X’10 – Microsoft Kinect

August 27, 2010September 20, 2010 Doug Groves Dance Central, Dashboard, Kinect, Kinect Adventures, Microsoft, motion control, x10, Xbox, Xbox 360, Xbox Live4 Comments

One of the highlights of X’10 was getting a chance to go “hands on” with Microsoft’s controller-free controller Kinect. The various mini games in Kinect are actually quite the workout (see about 1 minute in the above video), and though there is lag, it didn’t seem to affect gameplay. We also got a sneak peak at the Kinect friendly version of the Xbox Dashboard, which allows you to navigate the console with either gestures or voice commands. Both features were working spot on, and it seems that Microsoft’s goal of…

Halo: Reach – Deliver Hope live action trailer

August 26, 2010September 20, 2010 Doug Groves Bungie, Halo, Halo: Reach, Hybrid long, Microsoft, trailer, Xbox 360, Xbox Live0 comment

With less than a month to go until Halo: Reach hits store shelves, wrapping up Bungie’s involvement with the seminal Xbox franchise, new live action trailers have been coming out on a regular basis. Besides making a great game in its own right, the live action trailers are effective at delivering an emotional impact, and for me, always leave me saying… “Movie please?” Catch the earlier Hybrid live trailer after the break…

At X’10 – Assassins Creed Brotherhood brings new multiplayer mode

August 26, 2010September 20, 2010 Doug Groves Assassin's Creed, Assassin's Creed Brotherhood, interview, multiplayer, Show, Ubisoft, Ubisoft Montreal, Wanted Mode, Xbox 360, Xbox Live0 comment

(or hit the YouTube version) Aleissia Laidacker from Ubisoft Montreal takes us through some of the opening of Assassins Creed Brotherhood, and chats with us about some of the new features in both single and multiplayer modes. Ubisoft appears to have further refined and added new elements to the engine, which includes a lot more horseplay (literally), some new mission variety, and at least one multiplayer mode that they’re openly talking about. There ARE some spoilers in the video above, and after the break, so keep that in mind.

At X’10 – Windows Phone 7 with Xbox Live

August 24, 2010September 20, 2010 Doug Groves hands-on, interview, Microsoft, Mobile, mobile gaming, smartphone, Windows Phone 7, WP7, x10, Xbox Live68 Comments

Alex and I attended Microsoft’s X’10 event in Toronto, and the first order of business was to get a look at Windows Phone 7 in action – actually, I played a little Fable 3 before Alex showed up, but that’s another interview in the pipeline, but I digress. Greg Milligan of Microsoft gave us a demonstration of the new mobile platform, and showed off some of the Xbox Live integration as well. All in all it looks pretty impressive, and the screen response, even on the LG prototype phone (which…

Left 4 Dead’s Sacrifice not written in stone

August 23, 2010August 23, 2010 Doug Groves DLC, L4D, L4D2, Left 4 Dead, Left 4 Dead 2, Mac gaming, PC gaming, Steam, Steam powered, The Sacrifice, Valve, Xbox 360, Xbox Live, Zombies2 Comments

When Valve released “The Passing” DLC for Left 4 Dead 2, it was the first time that we got to see the cast of the original L4D in the new game. We also saw the ultimate fate of one of the original characters, but I won’t spoil it for those who haven’t seen it yet. The newest DLC for the franchise is called “The Sacrifice”, and will finally fill in that bridge (no pun) between the two, as it will tell the story leading up to “The Passing” from the…

Windows Phone 7 launch games announced

August 19, 2010 Doug Groves bing, Bing maps, Crackdown, Microsoft, Microsoft Canada, Project Sunburst, Star Wars, THQ, Windows Phone 7, WP7, x10, Xbox, Xbox 360, Xbox Live2 Comments

In anticipation of the international fall launch of Windows Phone 7, Microsoft has announced the starting line up of games, clocking in at over 60 titles. This includes some casual mobile classics like Uno and the always addictive Bejewelled, and mobile interpretations of console titles such as Guitar Hero 5, Halo: Waypoint, and Assassins Creeed. For Star Wars fans there’ll be a couple of games developed by THQ – Cantina, which puts you in the role of a Tatooine bar owner, and Battle For Hoth, a tower defense game set…

Halo: Reach – The Battle Begins trailer

July 29, 2010 Doug Groves Bungie, campaign, Halo, Halo: Reach, Limited Edition, trailer, video, Xbox 360, Xbox Live8 Comments

A new trailer was launched today for Halo: Reach, and this time around, it’s focusing more on the dramatic elements than the multiplayer gameplay. Although thoroughly impressed with the multiplayer beta that came out in the spring, it’s good to see some more focus on the single player story. Gamers have logged millions of hours of game time on the Xbox Live servers, but for me, the Halo series has always been about the epic space opera. There are few game franchises that manage to capture that sense of scale…

Alan Wake: The Signal available now

July 27, 2010 Doug Groves Alan Wake, DLC, giveaway, horror, Remedy Games, survival, The Signal, trailer, Xbox 360, Xbox Live1 Comment

The Signal DLC for Alan Wake is available on Xbox Live as of today, for 560 MS Points. For many out there who’ve already bought Alan Wake, you should have a redemption code for The Signal in your Alan Wake box. On that note, congratulations to danfalone, who won a copy of Alan Wake, along with The Signal, in our giveaway yesterday. See the full press release after the break.

Hydro Thunder Hurricane review

July 27, 2010 Doug Groves Arcade, game, Hydro Thunder, Hydro Thunder Hurricane, review, speedboat racing, Summer of Arcade, Vector Unit, XBLA, Xbox 360, Xbox Live3 Comments

For those who may not recall, Hydro Thunder was a Midway Games sit down style arcade speedboat racing game from 1999. It also spawned versions for the Dreamcast, N64, Playstation and the PC, though I’m only familiar with the arcade version, which probably still haunts more than one Dave & Busters outlet across North America. Though I haven’t played it in years, it certainly delivered on over-the-top speedboat racing back in the day. Now, Vector Unit, a small developer, has resurrected the franchise for Microsoft Game Studios as Hydro Thunder…