XBox Gaming Blog

Gamerscore Blogcast - Episode - 033 - Halo 3 Launch Show

Despite the madness that was the Halo 3 Launch, we brought you a show!  We didn’t get to any of your questions, but we will next week.

MP3 File: 8.5 MB, 25 minutes

Remember that these podcasts are available via the RSS feed, or the iTunes feed as well.

This week Tony, Chris, Nelson, and Laura talk about:

• Intro/Outro Music - Phylum Sinter
• The Launch of Halo 3
• Upcoming Game Releases
• Activision’s Aquisition of Bizare
• Tokyo Game Show ‘07
• Mass Effect
• Email us at GSBlog@Microsoft.com with questions/comments/audio 

Video Version of the Show - http://www.on10.net/Blogs/laura/gamerscore-blog-cast-the-post-halo-launch-coma/

Halo 3 Game with Fame featuring Marques Colston

At 2:30pm PDT Marques Colston of the New Orleans Saints will showing off his Halo 3 skills in our latest Game with Fame. Want to play along? Just add Halo3GWF to your friends list to play (and chat) with one of the most talented wide receivers in the NFL. Hope to see you all there!

Free update for Blue Dragon

So you beat Blue Dragon but want a greater challenge? Well, you’re certainly in luck!

Here are the details:

For those looking for an even greater challenge in “Blue Dragon” for Xbox 360, look no further than the new gameplay difficulty DLC package, available now on Xbox LIVE for free download. The DLC package includes three new levels of difficulty that will challenge even the most demanding RPG fans.

·         Game Plus - Allows players to start their game over using a saved game from near the end of “Blue Dragon”

·         Hard game - Allows players to play at a difficulty level that is twice as high as the original

·         Impossible game - The ultimate in difficulty, meant to be played starting at level 50 or higher

MGS Committed to Project Gotham Racing

Most of you have heard the news that Activision has acquired Bizarre Creations, the creators of the Project Gotham Racing series.  We’re getting some questions about what this means for the upcoming release of PGR 4 and subsequent sequels.
 
Microsoft Game Studios is completely committed to PGR 4 now, and in the future.  We consider Project Gotham Racing a signature franchise for the Xbox 360 and Xbox LIVE, and we have definite plans to continue the series (though we have nothing further to announce now). 
 
Bizarre Creations has been a great partner for MGS, and everyone wishes them all the best in the future.   They’ve built an amazing franchise for the Xbox and the Xbox 360, and one of the most popular racing games on Xbox LIVE (not to mention one of the most popular Xbox LIVE Arcade releases, Geometry Wars).  The team at Bizarre is already working on downloadable content for PGR 4, and we’ll let you know more about that later on. 
 
PGR 4 is far and away the best of the series.  It’s getting great reviews, and we’re extremely excited for its release next week in the US, and a few weeks later in other regions.  Find out more by visiting www.xbox.com/pgr4. 

There Are a TON of Great 360 Games

True story:  My youngest brother Brian just picked up an Xbox 360 this past week.  I’m the type of guy who enjoys helping people stock their gaming libraries so he asked me what games he should get.

I told him to get “all the good games”, and being curious, I went onto Metacritic to see what the best 360 games are.

Holy Cow!!!  There are 18 games for the Xbox 360 that are scored above 85/100 (with 8 games scoring 90/100 or higher!)

1. BioShock - 2k Games - 96
2. Halo 3 - Microsoft - 96
3. Gears of War - Microsoft - 94
4. Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion, The - Bethesda Softworks - 94
5. Guitar Hero II - RedOctane - 92
6. Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter - Ubisoft - 90
7. Forza Motorsport 2 - Microsoft - 90
8. Call of Duty 2 - Activision - 90
9. Castlevania: Symphony of the Night - Konami - 89
10. Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six Vegas - Ubisoft - 89
11. Burnout Revenge - Electronic Arts - 89
12. NHL 08 - Electronic Arts - 89
13. Project Gotham Racing 3 - Microsoft - 88
14. Elder Scrolls IV: Shivering Isles, The - Bethesda Softworks - 86
15. Geometry Wars: Retro Evolved - Bizarre Creations - 86
16. Fight Night Round 3 - Electronic Arts - 86
17. Elder Scrolls IV: Knights of the Nine, The - Bethesda Softworks - 86
18. Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter 2 - Ubisoft - 86

A special “thank you” to all of the publishers and developers who have made the 360’s game library what it is - friggin’ amazing!

It’s a great problem for 360 owners to have when there are so many great games to choose from - and we haven’t even talked about the upcoming titles like Guitar Hero III, Mass Effect, Rock Band, PGR4, The Orange Box, Call of Duty 4, and many more!

To finish up my story, my brother didn’t have the extra $700 to buy all 18 games, so he ended up getting Halo 3 and a few arcade titles (including Castlevania).

Note - I used Metacritic for this blog post, but looking at Gamerankings showed very similar scores.

User Cleans Halo 3 Maps, So You Don’t Have to

I used to think that “user-created content” was a fancy way of saying “dress up as Shakira and make a video of yourself dancing creepily.”  Some dedicated Halo 3 fans are already proving me wrong.  After just a few days of the game, and its sweet new Forge feature being available to the public, people are already cranking out some very well thought out maps and custom games.

One fellow, known as Chevmeister, went for minimalist perfection by deleting each and every item spread across every Halo 3 map, leaving only the raw maps to let you run free in your Forge sessions.  As reported by Xbox 360 Fanboy, he has placed the maps in his file share for all to snag, so that his hard work can keep you rested and happy.  Don’t just be a mooch, though.  Remember to share your Halo 3 custom maps and games with the world.

Until we see a Saved Film set to Shakira music, we are witnessing a noble age of easy to build and easy to access user-created content for the console.

Texas Hold’ em and Hexic 2 Title Updates Coming

When I think about life, I wish that someone could just come along and make all my bankroll problems go away.  As a bonus, it’d be good if I had someone to let me know when a bomb was about to blow up near me (even a 5 minute warning would be nice).

If you enjoy Texas Hold’ em and Hexic 2, my sick thoughts will make a lot of sense to you, because you’re about to get a title update to make your gaming life better.  The updates will clean up some exploits and bankroll troubles in Texas Hold ‘em and some bomb and timer issues in Hexic 2.  Leaderboards will also be reset to keep things fair.  Read the detailed update descriptions below to get the full scoop.

Texas Hold’em:
 
A Title Update for Texas Hold’em will be released later this week, which includes the following updates:
 
•         Players must now have adequate buy-in to start a game
•         Enhancements in the quality of language translation
•         Resolved exploit for increasing competitive bankroll
 
As such, the competitive bankroll and corresponding Leaderboards will also be reset at the time of the title update to restore competitive balance. Player Match and Single Player bankrolls and Leaderboards will remain intact.
 
 
Hexic 2:
 
We’ve listened to the community and are making the following updates on 9/28 to enhance the gameplay experience in Hexic 2: 
 
•         Bombs now appear as intended in continued saved games for Marathon or Timed modes; previously they did not appear if the game was saved on Level 8.
•         In Timed saved games, the timer will now start as soon as a rotation is made in a saved game, rather than when the first combo is made. It still takes a valid combo to start the timer at the beginning of a new game.
•         When there are no more available moves (detonating a special piece is still considered a valid available move), the board will now reset with new pieces.
•         A sound is now played when a bomb first appears in Marathon or Timed more to give the player appropriate warning.
 
Marathon, Marathon Weekly and Timed Leaderboards will be reset when the title update is available to ensure all scores posted are valid. No other Leaderboards will be affected.
 
All Timed saved games and Level 8 Marathon saved games are no longer valid and will not load. Survival saved games are not affected

Halo 3 Midnight Madness

Did you pick up your copy? 

Pictures from New York

Pictures from Seattle (uploading slooowly now, link coming soon)

Exclusive Content for Xbox LIVE Gold Members

Shhhh.   Just between us Xbox LIVE Gold members, I got a tip for you.  You can access free, exclusive Halo 3 content available Sept 25 – 30.   It’s just for Xbox LIVE Gold members, to say thanks for your loyalty.

All you have to do is click on the the Unite to Fight ad in Xbox LIVE to get access to this content:

1. Halo 3 Theme – Available starting tonight at midnight
   
2. Halo 3 Gamerpic – Available starting tonight at midnight
   
3. “Inside Bungie: Halo 3 – The Story” video: Interviews with the Bungie team. Available on Thursday, Sept 27
   
4. “Inside Bungie: Halo 3 – New Features” video: Interviews with the Bungie team about the new Halo 3 game features. Available on Friday, Sept 28

See You All Tonight…

…either online playing Halo 3, or in person at a launch event.  Halo 3 goes on sale (at least here in Seattle) under 11 hours.

Tony, Chris, Nelson, and I will all be at the Best Buy in Bellevue, Washington, and Sara will be at the Best Buy near Times Square in New York City, along with Major Nelson. 

Mountain Dew Game Fuel?  Check.  Halo-themed giveaways?  Check.  Tee shirts?  Check.  A bus full of folks from Bungie will show up sometime after 9PM, to hang out with people in line.  Several community members are in town for the launch–like JVB from Podtacular, Nick from Evil Avatar, Knuckles from Xbox 360 Fanboy, and moreAnd Aaron made sure to remind me to say he’ll be there too, along with some celebrities that ought to make the evening more fun. 

Hope to see you tonight!