360 Rant Rave Forums

Microsoft confirmed yesterday that they will be launching the ZuneHD this fall.  The new Zune featured HD video output (720p), HD radio, a web browser and a touch-screen - essentially making it a direct, yet more full-featured, competitor to the iPod Touch.   

Microsoft will also be replacing the Xbox Live Marketplace with the Zune Video Store, increasing their integration of the Xbox & Zune brands.  There’s no word on pricing yet, but expect more info/details at E3.

Could this be the precursor to a Zune Phone to challenge the dominance of the iPhone?  I guess we’ll just have to wait & see. 

Game on!

360 Rant Rave has obtained some new sreeenshots for the upcoming MMO title, Huxley.  We’ve also received word that Huxley will be on hand for gamers to demo at this year’s E3 Expo. 

Screenshots:

Screen1

Screen2

Screen3

Screen4

With Huxley and APB coming to E3, could this be the year of the MMO for consoles?  I guess we’ll find out.  Fore more info about Huxley, including all previously released screenshots, check out the official site HERE. 

Game on!

Jack Thompson is gonna have a field day with this one…

Imagine yourself in the not too distant future.  Gaming technology has evolved to the point where you can control your in-game character via an advanced VR-style interface, where your character will mimic your actual body movements and respond to your thoughts.  You can jump into a match with other gamers and engage in a shooter/deathmatch-style game for victory.

So what’s the rub?  This is no video game.  The upcoming movie, Gamer, depicts a world where gamers take over and fully control the actions of their in-game ‘characters’ who are actually death row inmates hoping to survive and gain their freedom.  Their game is called Slayers. 

It’s vaguely reminiscent of the 1987 movie, The Running Man, staring Arnold Schwarzenegger.  The inmates on death row are given a choice - stay where they are and wait for their date of execution or join the game and take their chances.  If they can survive 30 rounds without getting killed, they’re free. 

Of course, nobody has ever survived the 30 rounds necessary for freedom.  Go HERE to see a preview video for the movie. 

Boy, talk about a ‘murder simulator’, ‘eh?  Personally, I hope gaming never, ever gets this realistic.  Great graphics & motion control and all are fine, but please let’s never get to a place where we use other humans as our playthings in deathmatches. 

Game on!

Aparently, any reports of Duke Nukem or 3D Realms’ demise have been greatly exagerrated. 

What’s happening now is a full-blown bitch fight between 3D Realms and Take-Two, which has held publishing rights to DNF for years.  Take-Two is currently trying to sue 3D Realms for the extreme delays in the game (it started production in 1997). 

 ”[3D Realms parent company] Apogee continually delayed the completion date for the Duke Nukem Forever,” Take-Two said in the complaint. “Apogee repeatedly assured Take-Two and the video-gaming community that it was diligently working toward competing development of the PC Version of the Duke Nukem Forever.”

3D Realms has a differnt take, saying that all this time Take-Two has been paying the game’s previous developer: Infogrames/GT Interactive, and that they  haven’t seen a dime of that money but have sunk over $20Million into DNF development. 

It’s a legal mess that could take a while to sort out.  We all know what that means, right?  Even more delays.  Will DNF ever see the light of day or will it continue to be the very definition of vaporware? 

Game on!

While nothing seems able to topple the King of portable media players: The iPod, the Zune has done a respectable job of increasing their PDMP market share (up 33% from 2007-2008).  Even during the current economic slowdown, the Zune continues to sell well and sway new users with features the iPod just doesn’t have: a bigger screen, an FM tuner, built-in wi-fi capabilities, etc. 

Since before the Zune first appeared, however, there has been speculation that it was merely MS’ prelude to a portable gaming device or even, possibly, a Microsoft phone.  Microsoft has repeatedly denied such rumors, but the rumblings have started again across the web.  Will there be a Zune phone?  How about a portable Xbox?  Microsoft still denies it, but here’s what we’ve been hearing:

Zune Phone:

Rumors of a Zune phone first started appearing in mid 2008.  Here is the first ‘mock up’ of the supposed Zune Phone, which appeared in December 2008:

There were few details, other than it was supposed to be MS’ ploy to compete with the insanely popular iPhone.  Since these early images, I havent seen any more recent mock-ups to compliment this rumor. 

Xbox Portable:

An even earlier rumor was that MS was woring on some sort of portable gaming device to compliment the Xbox 360 and compete with the PSP/Nintento handhelds.  Some thought that the Zune itself was going to be a portable game device rather than a competitor for the iPod. 

Once the rumors began, however, it seems everyone went crazy with photoshop.  Here are several mock-ups of a supposed Xbox portable game system:

Very creative - but obvously not real.  Every one of these was spawned from the imagination of gamers who were speculating on what a portable Xbox gaming device might look like. 

MS denies these rumors as well, and with the stonghold Nintendo has on the handheld market (with minor competition from the Sony PSP), many believe that MS won’t gamble in this arena. 

Zune/ Xbox Phone/Gaming Device All In One:

The latest resurgence of the Zune phone or portable Xbox rumors is that it will be an all-in-one device that will tackle both tasks at once - gaming & phone capabilities; an ambitious plan, if true. 

We still have no proof, but here are the latest image appearing on the web of what could be the Zune/Xbox Phone/Gaming device:

This one is still most likely a mock-up, as it has been around the web for a few months now:

Even as just a mock-up, however, I like the design of this one better than the others shown above.  It looks more like the basic Zune design, wich is more what I’d expect. 

This could be it.  Again, these could easily be mock-up images, but they are what I consider to be the most believable images yet of a possible Xbox Portable/Zune phone device.  There are even a series of images detailing the specs and showing someone actually holding/playing one (and they do not appear at first glance to have been made in photoshop):

The New ZuneX(?):

A supposed closed presentation, showing the ZuneX.

The ZuneX

Doesn’t look Photoshopped to me (but the graininess of the photos is troubling).

Spec Sheet Images:

Image1

Image2

Image3

Image4

Take this info with the obligatory grain of salt.  The Xbox portable and Zune phone may still come out as seperate devices, but for an Xbox portable, this is the most believable images/info I’ve seen yet.  It’s also prudent to consider the following facts:

-In late 2008, MS split the Zune team at MS into hardware and ’software-plus’ services (MS has been reminding everyone lately that software-plus services as the future.

-Craig Eisler, manager of Zune software-plus services, is involved in creating a new platform for digital media delivery across Windows, Windows Mobile and Xbox. Essentially, MS it taking the Zune software and using it as the jumping off point for digital delivery/playback across all of their procucts. 

If the rumors come to pass, some analysts believe we could see the ZuneX on the market as early as Fall 2009.  Hopefully, with E3 aproaching fast, MS will make an annoucement to either confirm or squash these rumors once and for all.

Game on!

Introduction:

A giant, open-ended and seamless world, filled with gorgeously crafted detail, hundreds of dungeons, treacherous opponents and a variety of challenging quests. Sacred 2: Fallen Angel provides numerous unique items that can be gathered and improved.

At least that is how it was described to me.  In truth the game play is addictive and the co-op is quite seamless, but something about the quality of the graphics seems lacking.  There is so much to do that a player can feel overwhelmed at times.  While the character creation is not very customizable, the character development and various loot types and qualities make for an interesting time.  Sit back and grab your floating lizard’s reins, here’s the world of Ancaria in Sacred 2.

Gameplay:

Hack and slash!  How can you go wrong with this?  Well for starters the camera has been an issue for others such as Too Human, but Sacred 2 handles some of the problems others have faced in a unique way.  Some object is in your way like a tree top or a roof?  How about we just put a hole in it so you can see whats happening on the other side.  Though there are times where the camera cannot make up its mind what it wants to do.  Combat is less like your average adventure game and more like a party RPG, such as Baldur’s Gate on PC.

The customization in character creation is very limiting, but the large number of equipment slots on the character and the vast amount of gear to put in each of them does wonders to make the development of your avatar in the world of Ancaria unique.

Questing!  That is what these games are all about.  Kill the dragon and save the world.  Well Sacred 2 is full of quest, over 600 in fact.  They range from anything like a simple “fetch me this wine”, to escorting a widow to her cursed lover’s grave site so they can be together forever - while at the same time attempting to find the lost instruments for Blind Guardian so that they can have their last concert of the tour here on Ancaria.  Not to mention that you can play through the game two different ways, trying to save the world or trying to aid in its destruction.

Extras:

Co-operative multiplayer, I can’t say it enough that is what gamers want the most now.  And four player co-op is even better, this is exactly what Sacred 2 brings to the table.  Its the primary reason that so many gamers were excited about it.  Play with three of your best friends or total strangers on xbox live or hook up with one other person from the couch you share.  Either way is possible.

Co-op not your thing?  How about PVP, that’s player verses player.  A little bit of ganking or dueling whatever you like, never fear my light hearted friends.  It’s easy enough to avoid the PVP by just not enabling it in the game you host.

Fighting from horseback is finally a viable option.  In most games that feature mounts they are only used to get from one place to another faster.  They are used for that as well as altering the way you fight.  You can even fight from mount back.  Horses are available early on in the game but later your character has a chance to get a unique mount that is special just for that class.  So you could have a Tiger or some other mystic creature to ride around on and look cool while doing it.

Conclusion:

While a solid and addictive game for the RPG/Hack and Slash fan, Sacred 2 leaves something to be desired for your average player.  Though for some that is not always a bad thing.  With easily hundreds of hours of game play and six very different characters an addicted gamer could spend his whole summer closed up with beautiful renditions of angels with blue pig tails.  As long as they can forgive the flaws and repetitive quest then they will be able to enjoy some of last year’s latest Blind Guardian music and Ascaron’s unique  humor.  Sacred 2 is my game for the summer of 2009.

Score:6.5

Last week, Duke Nukem Forever developer, 3D realms, bit the dust.  That left the fate of Duke Nukem Forever-In-Development up in the air.  Would someone else be taking over?

We still don’t have a firm answer on that front, however, here is some ‘leaked’ footage from the game.  It doesn’t look half bad, but it does look like it isn’t as far along as you’d expect a game to be that’s been in development for 13 years!

Game on!

DJ Hero from Twitter.com has posted up what are, supposedly, the first images of the ‘turntable’ controller for the upcoming game, DJ Hero.  We’re still awaiting official confirmation from Activision.  However, a recent Activision press release in the UK included these images.  As such, this info is probably pretty reliable.

Look HERE to see DJ Hero’s photo set of the new controller. 

HERE is the DJ Hero official website. 

Game on!

Sacred 2: Fallen Angel is now available for Xbox360 and PS3. 

Finally the long expected day has come: cdv usa released today the XBOX360 and the PS3 Version of Sacred 2 Fallen Angel.

As a world premiere of hack & slay action RPG Sacred 2 Fallen Angel is the first and so far only game of this kind to conquer the Xbox360 and PS3 communities.

A giant, open-ended and seamless world, filled with gorgeously crafted detail, hundreds of dungeons, treacherous opponents and a variety of challenging quests. Sacred 2: Fallen Angel provides numerous unique items that can be gathered and improved. A deep reward system further enables advancements of character, individual attributes and character-specific fighting styles, each designed to keep players returning to the world of Sacred 2: Fallen Angel to discover what is around the next bend.

Whether you want to play the storyline alone or together in offline or online coop, or just join the company of a fellowship for the fun of the battle: Sacred 2 is just the game you have been waiting for. A unique hack&slay experience is awaiting you.
More information on Sacred 2 Fallen Angel can be found here.

Game on!

Are you a gear-head?  Would you like to meet the creators of the Gears of War franchise?  Would you like a chance to be among the first to play the new GoW2 ‘All Fronts’ collection?  Can you be in Seattle, Washington on May 15th? 

On Friday, May 15, the Sky Church at the EMP|SFM will be transformed into a Gears of War arcade, complete with 20 Xbox 360 kiosks featuring the new multiplayer content from Gears of War 2: Dark Corners, which is included in the All Fronts Collection.

Fans will also get to hear directly from the makers of Gears 2 during a creators panel featuring Epic Games President Dr. Michael Capps and Gears 2 writer Joshua Ortega. Moderated by Larry “Xbox LIVE’s Major Nelson” Hyrb, the panel will talk about some of the latest developments in the Gears franchise.   

The event runs at the Experience Music Project | Science Fiction Museum at 325 Fifth Ave. N. in Seattle from 8 PM–11 PM. But show up early—the festivities are limited to the first 800 attendees. Xbox LIVE Gold account holders can register for priority admittance by going to www.xbox.com/firsttoplay-gearsofwar2 and registering their gamertags, but registration does not guarantee admittance. Attendees must be 17 or older, or be accompanied by a parent or guardian. 

Game on!