At Gamefest earlier today, Microsoft held a panel on their current and upcoming plans for accessories for their Xbox 360 console. Rob Walker, the hardware unit product manager for the company, spoke to the panel and gave some very interesting tidbits and hints about their future plans (and also threw some digs at Nintendo and Sony's controller plans). Walker began by looking back at what Microsoft has released so far, including wired and wireless controllers, the 20 GB hard drive, controller charging kits, A/V cables, TV remote controllers and more. He also touched upon current and upcoming third party accessories from companies like MadCatz, Logitech and more.
Walker then went into the future and talked about things that are on the immediate horizon (i.e. this holiday season) that have already been announced. Microsoft's Xbox 360 racing wheel is a big upcoming product, promising true force feedback support (if you plug in the power cable) and support for current and upcoming titles like Project Gotham Racing 3 and Forza Motorsport 2. Also in the works is the Vision camera which will allow people to have video chat with each other along with features like taking a picture of your face and adding your face to an in-game character, complete with facial animation (no games that support this feature have been announced yet). A wireless headset for voice communication is also due for release this holiday season, as is the much anticipated HD-DVD disk drive add-on. Walker didn't reveal anything new about this accessory that hasn't been revealed before (still no specific price point) but it will still only be used for movie playback and will still hook up to the Xbox 360 via the USB connection. During the Q&A session following the prepared remarks, Walker said that they are still discussing what will happen if the movie companies decide to move to HDMI inputs being required for HD-DVD for keeping copyright protection for their movie disk.
More shots have been fired in the platform holders' war of words this week, with Microsoft claiming that this year will be an "Xbox Xmas."
"We're now ramping up with our partners and you'll see our marketing campaigns continue to pick up pace over the coming months. We're very confident."
And McGill stressed that 360's games portfolio and marketing push will be key. "We've got so much to talk about: 160 high definition games on 360. A ten million plus installed base head start. Games for everyone including Gears of War, Pro Evolution Soccer, Viva Piñata, Xbox Live Arcade, Forza 2, Rainbow Six and Dead or Alive Extreme 2, to name but a few. Then there's the promise of being the only place to get Halo 3.
And all this has given Microsoft even greater confidence that it will clean up over the pivotal festive season, according to McGill: "Nowhere else have consumers got a better choice of great gaming and entertainment today, tomorrow and long into the future. I'm very confident this is going to be another Xbox Xmas."
t was revealed yesterday that a major new IP from Microsoft Game Studios is going to be announced in the near future, with the European Xbox event X06 most likely to be playing host to the news. Fresh information obtained by SPOnG today reveals Bungie will be announcing a brand new IP in the near future, with the X06 announcement likely coming from the Halo-famed studio.
Speaking to a Microsoft source close to the management of the entire Xbox 360 project today, we were told that, "As far as things stand, Halo 3 is the last game [in the series] and it's more than just 'a thing to say' which I know came as a surprise to everyone [at Microsoft Game Studios not involved with the decision-making process] when it was announced. A new game from Bungie, not Halo 4, will be announced soon and pre-production has begun. So if you're looking for what to expect at X06, you should be looking at that."
Bungie says it is testing the single-player portion of its FPS; reveals new info on weapons, comic, game modes, documentary, matchmaking playlists, and more.
Development on perhaps the most-anticipated game of 2007 seems to be running smoothly.
After announcing two months ago that multiplayer testing of Halo 3 was under way in the Bungie Studios' offices, the developer has revealed that the game's single-player campaign is getting its fair share of action. The announcement came late last Friday, just before the stretched-out Independence Day weekend began in the United States.
"Multiplayer, single player, you name it, folks are playing it," said Bungie's Frankie O'Connor. "The lab formerly known as the multiplayer lab is now also the single player lab."
O'Connor used the company's weekly update posted on Bungie.net to say that it is running through the single-player game as "a gameplay test, not a graphics one."
Since the graphics are unfinished, he shifted the focus to gameplay and praised the increased power of the Xbox 360 to churn out more advanced artificial intelligence among Halo 3's enemies. "That counts for your human allies," he wrote, "but it's more noticeable at this early stage in the behavior of your opponents."
O'Connor described a heated encounter he experienced in the game, which he said showed off Halo 3's improved AI.
"At this point, they're testing out the new AI and encounters as much as anything else. ... Today, I swear I saw some Grunts do a classic pincer-movement to trap me in a narrow canyon," he wrote. "I was battling um, something bigger than a Grunt, and suddenly, I'm being peppered by a second group of jerks, mostly Grunts, who'd been sent in around my flanks to take me out. Grunts are still grunts though, and once I showed some serious opposition, a couple of them panicked and fled, but they nearly had me and it was quite a shock."
O'Connor's "um, something bigger than a Grunt" may be a likely indicator that some new enemies will be thrown into the intergalactic mix.
He also officially revealed several more tidbits relating to the Halo franchise, from a new Halo 3 multiplayer mode and revamped weapons to Halo 2 matchmaking playlists and the release of the Halo comic book.
--Since multiplayer testing began two months ago, a new "utterly terrifying" Halo 3 game mode has been developed. "I have never, ever heard so much frightened screaming during a play test of anything. And plenty of laughing too," O'Connor said, without offering any further details.
--The seven-minute mini-documentary that profiled the development of the Halo 3 E3 2006 trailer was released a month ago on Bungie's Web site, but it will just now be coming to Xbox Live Marketplace. The documentary will be available for download sometime this week or next week, O'Connor said.
--Many of the classic Halo weapons, such as the Covenant sniper rifle, are getting a graphical makeover for Halo 3. "I wanted to go back and make everything better," said Bungie weapons designer Tom Doyle. "The Covenant sniper is one of my favorite weapons--it just feels so powerful. I wanted to emphasize that in the new version, so we're adding some detail that will really show off the building energy in the weapon."
Best Buy has listed Halo 3 as being released on November 16, 2006 for the Xbox 360. Which means it will be in stores this holiday season, a great stratgey to get gamers off of the Ps3 and on to the 360!
With news being so slow and nothing new being annouced for release i thought i would add some statistics on our 360-Hq Members.. Im adding a full list (ranked) of the most popular games owned by 360-Hq.Com members.. We will also add the Most Popular Wishlist titles too..
If you would like to track your own xbox 360 games on our website please feel free to do so.. Its very easy.. Just login with your free username and password and then browse our Xbox 360 Games area.
You can choose to add any titles you like to your My Collection, My Wishlist or Now Playing.. The website also shows each members information.
Predator: Hunting Grounds coming to Xbox Series & PS5 in 2024/25! Predator: Hunting Grounds, the 1v4 asymmetrical multiplayer experience from the asymmetrical multiplayer masters ILLFonic, Inc. (@IllFonic), expands the jungle onto Xbox Series X|S and PS5 alongside m..
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