Category: Xbox 360 (Page 16 of 31)

Easy achievements = easy sales

October 8, 2009 / Jeff Morgan

Xbox Achievement panties. If you have an active Xbox Live friend list, you probably know one or two achievement whores. They usually have a huge Gamerscore and tend to be the type to brag about that thing no one else in the lobby seems to care about. As it turns out, those hard won achievements might have get nerfed by the developer to increase sales.

According to a recent OXM interview with Gearbox prez Randy Pitchford, developers can sell between 10,000 and 40,000 more units of a given game if the achievements are a bit easier to pick up. Make things too hard and those Gamerscore freaks look elsewhere for easy points.

Here’s an idea for Microsoft – sell Gamerscore points on Live. Even better, sell Gamerscore points via some dummy company so those goons don’t get all high and mighty. Really, what’s the difference between purchasing the points right out and buying a crappy game with easy achievements for the same purpose?

Xbox 360

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Forza 3 has more than 400 cars

October 7, 2009 / Jeff Morgan

If you’re worried you won’t have anything to do over the holidays this year you can stop. From the looks of things, the release of Forza 3 should keep you busy well on through the new year and into 2010, when you can catch all the major releases that got delayed. Turn 10 released the full list of cars on its upcoming 2-disc racer, a list that boasts more than 400 cars from the last 50 years or so.

The oldest car, the legendary 1954 Mercedes 300SL Gullwing, is like a teaser to a great meal. All 400+ vehicles will be available with complete customization when the game launches on the 27th this month. You really do get a chance to drive almost anything in the game, from Asian imports to European classics, American Muscle to the Italian supercar, there’s something for everyone in a game that looks to expand Microsoft’s answer to the Gran Turismo franchise. You can see the full list of cars at the official Forza Motorsport website.

Previews, Xbox 360

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Valve drops $25M on L4D2 ad campaign

October 6, 2009 / Jeff Morgan

According to a Steam press release yesterday, Valve is dumping a pile of money on L4D2 in hopes of winning big sales. It’s probably going to work, too. The sequel to everyone’s favorite zombie splatterfest is already performing at 300% in pre-orders of the original. Gabe Newell is calling the game the fastest selling title in Valve history.

The first Left 4 Dead got a similar treatment, though only at $10 million. That game was the top selling new IP for both 360 and PC for the year. Valve more than doubling the ad money is probably due in part to the success of the original, but also to fight skepticism that the game was being released too close to the original which would mean a loss of support for the older title.

You can get the full press release over at Steam.

PC, Xbox 360

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Xbox 360 wireless N adapter is a ridiculous $99.99

October 5, 2009 / Jeff Morgan

Looks like Microsoft is ready to win back some of the profit it lost when it cut the price of the 360 this year. Gamestop has just added the new 802.11n wireless adapter to its online store for a whopping $99.99. That’s an insane price for a wireless USB adapter, made worse because it’s such a big performance leap for gamers looking to go wireless.

Here’s the copy from Gamestop:

Designed for versatility and ease, the Xbox 360 Wireless Networking Adapter ‘N’ enhances your Xbox 360 experience in the digital home, seamlessly synchronizing with the Xbox 360 system with the newest Wireless N standard. Wireless N offers increased speed, coverage and reliability and can easily stream media-intensive applications such as ‘Games on Demand’, HD movies, videos and music to your Xbox 360 system from Xbox LIVE® or your Media Center PC.

Oh how I long for the day wireless gaming will be reasonable. The adapter will be available November 3rd.

Accessories, Xbox 360

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Peter Molyneux essentially confirms Natal for Fable 3

October 5, 2009 / Jeff Morgan

Peter Molyneux is one of the most eccentric personalities in the development community, a fact he hammers home in every interview he gives. His most recent, done with gamekings.tv, had a lot of the typical Molyneux linguistic hyperbole and included what could be considered a confirmation of Natal for use in Fable 3.

When asked about Natal in Lionhead’s RPG franchise, Molyneux said this: “And obviously what would probably happen if I started talking about this is you would see a little red dot appear moving on my forehead. And then as I would start to speak the words then there would be a shotgun fire, and I would be assassinated. Quite clearly, it is that sensitive.” That’s almost as absurd as everything he promised for both Fable games to date. Obviously it’s a bit of a joke, but he goes on to essentially confirm use of the peripheral.

“Do you really think, knowing me, as maybe you do over the years, I wouldn’t want to use something like Natal? I mean, that’s just mad, man.” I would love to say that the rest of the interview is interesting, but I didn’t really think it was. It’s nice to know that Molyneux is investing heavily in Natal – Milo and almost certainly Fable 3 – but he’s still comes off as a deluded individual with an overinflated sense of his contribution to the world at large.