Xbox LIVE Activity (for week of Sept 13)

With the release of Halo Reach it was certain to be one of the top games on Xbox LIVE during the week of it release, but where would it show up on the list? Can Modern Warfare 2 retain it's throne? And the short answer is yes. Hype on top of hype didn't help Halo Reach eclipse a title that's been on the market for nearly a year now. "Reaching" #1 on just one weeks sales would have been a major accomplishment for sure. To put things into perspective though, think about how many titles release and are no where to be seen even in the expanded top 20. 

On a zombie note, Dead Rising 2: Case Zero is quite the hit ( with more like it to follow from other publishers for sure now) and so is Ska Studios' I MAED A GAM3 W1TH Z0MB1ES!!!1 on the Indie Games Channel, still.

Xbox 360 Top LIVE Titles (based on UU’s)

1    Modern Warfare 2   
2    Halo 3

3    Halo: Reach 

4    Call of Duty: WaW 
5    Call of Duty 4 (Purchase the full game for direct download) 
6    Mafia II Playable Demo 
7    GTA IV (Purchase the full game for direct download) 
8    Red Dead Redemption 
9    Gears of War 2 
10    FIFA 10 
11    Halo 3: ODST 
12    Battlefield Bad Co. 2 
13    Madden NFL 11 
14    DEAD RISING 2: CASE ZERO 
15    Left 4 Dead 2 
16    Forza Motorsport 3 (Download the demo) 
17    Monday Night Combat 
18    Tom Clancy's H.A.W.X. 2 – DEMO (Purchase the full game) 
19    Trials HD 
20    FIFA Soccer 11 Demo

Top Arcade Titles (Full Versions purchased)

1    DEAD RISING 2: CASE ZERO 
2    Monday Night Combat 
3    SCOTT PILGRIM VS. THE WORLD: THE GAME 
4    Lara Croft and the Guardian of Light 
5    LIMBO 
6    Plants vs. Zombies 
7    Shank 
8    Trials HD 
9    Castle Crashers 
10    Castlevania Harmony of Despair 
11    Deadliest Warrior 
12    Hydro Thunder Hurricane 
13    RISK: FACTIONS 
14    UNO 
15    Sonic Adventure 
16    Toy Soldiers 
17    Geometry Wars: Retro Evolved 2 
18    Game Room ** 
19    Magic: The Gathering 
20    Battlefield 1943 

The above arcade list is based on full versions purchased. 
**Combined sales of all Game Room titles

Top Indie Games (Full Versions purchased)

1     MILITARY SNIPER-SIM 3.18 
2     I MAED A GAM3 W1TH Z0MB1ES!!!1 
3     The Impossible Game 
4     Baby Maker Extreme 
5     Avatar Paintball 
6     Avatar Racedrome 

7     So Many Girls So Little Time  
8     Try Not To Fart 
9     Avatar Ninja! 
10    ADVENTURES of CAPTAIN Becky 
11    Avatar Onslaught  
12    Miner Dig Deep 
13    Zombie Estate  
14    Avatar Drop 
15    Avatar Showdown  
16    Jet Pack War 
17    Globe Clicker 
18    Beat Hazard 
19    Breath of Death VII  
20    radiangames Inferno 

[Via Major Nelson]

Halo Reach's Original Soundtrack is available now

If there's anything fans and non-fans of Halo can agree on -- Halo has always had fantastic scores to accompany it.

Along with the release Halo: Reach, the game's Original Soundtrack composed by Martin O'Donnell and Michael Salvatori is now available by way of licensing by Microsoft Game Studios and Sumthing Else Music Works. The Soundtrack can be downloaded from Sumthing Digital www.sumthingdigital.com and iTunes. For the 2-disc CD set, you can get your hands on that on September 28th at retailers.

[Via Press Release]

Master Chief is more recognizable than Nelson Mandela? GTFO

Remember that Master Chief fellow from those first three Halo titles? Yeah, that Master Chief. He's a swell guy isn't he. He's so swell millions upon millions of people know who he is from this thing we've come to know and sometimes love called Xbox. But how well has Master Chief's exploits against the Covenant propelled him into the lexicon of today's society? There's no way John 117 would be more recognized over an important NON-FICTIONAL person like Nelson Mandela, would he? Well, get prepared to lose a little bit of faith in humanity as you watch several people fail to know who Nelson Mandela is, yet Master Chief rolls off the tongue like there's no tomorrow. 

Being one of the single greatest reason's for the eventual abolishment of Apartheid in South Africa is most definitely a good way to get yourself some fame. Unfortunately that pales in comparison to sticking it some aliens. Or is it the massive crushing feeling we all felt when Halo 2 didn't have an ending that we can't shake to this day? Can that really propel Master Chief to stardom beyond that of a living hero? I don't know what that says about our society today, but it most certainly confirms that this thing that we call videogames must be pretty damn awesome.

Vanquish demo now available on XBLM

Following up Bayonetta from Platinum Games comes Vanquish. An over the top third person shooter from a Japanese company. Can you believe it? Sure, it's not a first. That Final Fantasy shooter ( I can't bring myself to mention the actual title) was so well received, wasn't it? Anyway, lets hope Platinum Games has figured out how to crack that Western Market that seems so elusive for eastern developers that aren't Nintendo. A demo for Vanquish is now on the Xbox Live Marketplace. Enjoy?

*Click here to add the Vanquish demo to your download queue.

New Controller with Improved D-Pad Unveiled

Amidst the outrage over the Xbox Live price increase, Microsoft seems like perhaps they wanted to show their fans that they do, in fact, listen to their needs. They're doing this by not only revamping the Play-and-Charge kit, but also the most complaine-about issue regarding the controller itself.

There's no denying that the first-party controllers to this point have had absolutely terrible D-Pads. While it's particularly noticeable in fighting games, like Super Street Fighter IV, the inaccuracies are obvious on platforming titles as well.

As shown in the picture above (taken from Major Nelson's official blog), the D-Pad will be reinforced with matte silver and can actually transform from a flat design to an outwardly-extended design by simply twisting your wrist. The controller will also feature a sleek new monotone color scheme in the buttons that goes well with the rest of the look.

Now for the downside. You cannot buy this new and improved controller separately. Instead, you must purchase the new Play-and-Charge kit, which will retail for $64.99 and will hit store shelves on November 9th. Check out the new packaging below and be sure to tell us what you think about the new controller in the comments section!

Xbox Live to get Price Increase in November

In a world of a tough economic recession, people are cutting back in whatever way they can. From plundering movie and music sales to even the game industry, there's no denying that people are looking to save in any way they can. That is precisely why Microsoft's announcement today (via Major Nelson's blog) that they would be upping the price of Xbox Live in the US, UK, Canada and Mexico is a real headscratcher.

Sure the service is far and away the most reliable and fully-featured of the three online gaming consoles, but the price-increase doesn't quite seem justified in the eyes of the many commenters around the web. Of course, the rage will eventually die down and the people threatening to cancel their accounts will more than likely enter their credit card information with their tails between their legs as their Gold account expires.

Microsoft has suggested the numerous features of Xbox Live, such as Twitter, Facebook, Netflix and the newly implemented ESPN as the support for the price increase. The one question we're wondering though: does this mean 1 v. 100 will be coming back?

Check out the changes that take place on November 1st, 2010 and plan your renewal accordingly!

For US Customers:
1 Month:
Current: $7.99 New: $9.99
3 Months:
Current: $19.99 New: $24.99
12 Months:
Current: $49.99 New: $59.99

For UK Customers:
1 Month:
Current: 4.99 GBP New: 5.99 GBP

For Canada Customers:
1 Month:
Current: $8.99 CAD New: $9.99 CAD

For Mexico Customers:
1 Month:
Current: 499 Pesos New: 599 Pesos

Halo Reach also gets the leak treatment

It looks like the old adage "the more things change, the more things stay the same" has come true once again. Halo is no stranger to people turning into ravage dogs over wanting to play a game before anyone else, but when it comes to anything Halo things are ratcheted up to 11. So what's this leaky business that's going on have to do with Halo Reach? Well, it turns out the reverent wings of Reach have fallen to terrible plumbing in what can be called an avalanche of poor patch work.

Originally posted on a forum called GameTut's (you have to register on the forum to view the bragging post), you'll be greeted with yet another gamer waving his/her flag of coolness as they too have gotten their hands on a game before release in a not so legitimate way. The folks at HBO are no stranger to Halo spoilers floating around the net and neither should you as you try your darnedest to avoid material robbing you of your Halo innocence. Nevertheless, videogame grave robbers have done their dirty deed to get the game. Good luck avoiding the douche bags who want to ruin everything for the honest folk out there.

[Via Joystiq]

XBLA Today: Lara Croft and the Guardian of Light

Xbox Live Arcade's last entry into its Summer of Arcade this year, Lara Croft and the Guardian of Light, has landed on Xbox LIVE albeit without what has turned out to be a crucial function like 'Online' Co-op. The twin-stick action puzzler this game still is, you'll have to return to the old school couch Co-op as you take to the role of Lara Croft or Mayan 'Totec' in the second seat while exploring lush lands and combating enemies all in "Geomerty Wars/Robotron" style. 1200 Microsoft Points is what you'll need to unlock the full game.

*Click here to add Lara Croft and the Guardian of Light to your download queue.

Purchase Through RockBandRelief.org, Help Donate Money to Nashville Flooding

Helping victims of the Nashville flooding has never been easier - or beneficial to you as well.

RockBandRelief.org, a website created for the purpose of releasing songs for download through Rock Band's Rock Band Network, has partnered with Amazon.com to donate 100% of the money you spend if you shop for certain Xbox 360 accessories through the site. A lot of good stuff is available, such as Rock Band games, microsoft points, and even the sleek new 250GB Xbox 360, in case you were considering a brand new 360 model. Again, all money you spend by shopping through RockBandRelief.org will be donated to the Red Cross for Nashville flooding, so it's an extra opportunity to reach out and help somebody.

I don't know about you, but I know for sure where I'll be getting my points cards for the next few weeks! I encourage you to shop through the site if you're in the market for any of these items.

Hydro Thunder Hurricane Interview

My name is Matt Small. I'm the Creative Director, which meant I designed all the levels and art directed the game, as well as building some of the environments and boats.  GamerTag is Smaul.

It actually didn't affect us too much during development.  One good thing was that we were staffing up right when a bunch of talented people we knew were let go from their jobs, so we were able to offer them positions on our project.

Sorry I can't discuss sales specifically.  But we've been pretty happy with the reviews and the sales overall.



I wish!  I've played it in the arcades, but we're not so fortunate to have a cabinet here at the office.  We did most of our HT playing on the DreamCast.



We love the idea of Kinect and are excited to do something with it on our next game.  No plans to update Hurricane for Kinect though -- I think Kinect will work best with games that utilize broad gestures, like swinging your arms or moving your whole body.  Hurricane requires really precise controls, and I think it plays best off a controller or a wheel.

We had a lot of creative freedom.  We chose to stick to what made the original game truly awesome, like the boost mechanic and the crazy environments, but we also wanted to add some new elements to the game.  We spent a lot of time on the water physics, making it feel much more realistic and interactive than in the original game.  We also added the drafting mechanic, and of course spent a lot of time tuning the online multiplayer to make it super lag-free.

We needed to remake all the environments from scratch because the 360 is just so much more powerful than the hardware Midway had back in the day.  And since we were remaking them anyway, we decided to built all new tracks, with new layouts and shortcuts.  The boats we decided to keep from the original, because fans all have their favorites -- Rad Hazard, or Tidal Blade or Damn the Torpedoes -- but of course we redesigned them and added all new animations and effects.



I would love to take a crack at Rush 2049.  I loved that game.  But we're not planning on working on it right now.  We really enjoy that style of epic arcade racing game though, and my hope is that we'll be able to bring more of these types of games to consoles, whether they're sequels or original titles.

Recording voice for the game was really fun.  Most of the voice was done by our sound engineer, Robb Mills -- he did all the copilot voices in Hurricane, and did an amazing job.  We had a script for him, but he did a lot of ad-libbing too.  When he recorded the reaction lines (stuff like "Holy COW!" or "This is crazy!"), he ad-libbed this one that was just a crazy Tourette syndrome litany of curses, "Holy F*$*%) JES*#! CH#(*# SHI$(*# MOTH#R$*#)#)G!!" and stuck it in the game to surprise us.  The first time we heard it in the game we were rolling on the floor laughing.  Unfortunately we had to take it out to get our E-rating :-P



We are working on it now.  I can't give away any specifics yet, but expect more tracks and more boats!



It depends on a lot of things -- Microsoft, Midway/Warner, other plans of our own.... hopefully it all comes together though because we'd love to!  We already have plans for things we'd like to add for a sequel, and I believe we could expand on this game and make it even better.

review of Hydro Thunder Hurricane