Xbox Jedi

Surprising no one, Major Nelson's weekly list of most-played games on Xbox Live showcases Halo 3 and a double dose of Call of Duty on the top of the charts, with Modern Warfare and World at War grabbing second and third, respectively. XBLA top-seller Trials HD continues to lead the downloadable space, beating out newcomers Tower Bloxx Deluxe and Panzer General: Allied Assault.

The most notable item on the list is Gearbox Software's Borderlands, debuting at (a disappointing) ninth on the list. Perhaps evidence that inventory shortages may in fact muck up the wheels of a critically acclaimed game's launch. Color us surprised ... then trace us with sarcasm.

Xbox Live Top 10: Halo 3, Trials HD continue to dominate originally appeared on Joystiq Xbox on Sat, 31 Oct 2009 23:05:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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According to a Remedy managing director Matias Myllyrinne, the studio wants to discuss the possibility of leaving the ending of its upcoming thriller Alan Wake off discs sent to press with its publisher, Microsoft. "I think we're going to be insanely careful about how much of the story we reveal," Myllyrinne told G4TV. "I'd like to hold it back, [I] don't want anybody to spoil it for the audience. That's just my personal feeling."

Using the twist ending of The Sixth Sense as an analogy, Myllrinne says he'd prefer players be able to piece together the secrets of Bright Falls on their own before having them spoiled by others. Although admirable, his analogy can only mean one of two things: Alan Wake is dead or he's Haley Joel Osment. Either way, we're already terrified.

Alan Wake dev wants to avoid including game's ending in press copies originally appeared on Joystiq Xbox on Sat, 31 Oct 2009 22:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Beyond cries from fanboys for Recon, the rarest of all Halo 3 armor permutations -- or at least the rarest option -- is strutting around multiplayer matches with a flaming skull. Originally only available to employees of Bungie, the heated helmets are now the prize for G4's upcoming Sarkathlon.

In order to enter the contest, which runs until midnight on November 8, players must download a special variant of the map Longshore (only found on the second disk of Halo 3: ODST) and find eight hidden grenades scattered throughout the map. The player who completes the task and crosses the finish line in the shortest amount of time with saved replay proof walks away with the flaming skull. It's the Halo equivalent of painting a giant bulls eye on your back, so why wouldn't you want it?

G4 competition dishes out rare Halo 3 flaming armor originally appeared on Joystiq Xbox on Sat, 31 Oct 2009 20:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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The dust from the 24-hour Dragon Age: Origins Warden's Quest tournament has begun to settle, and the sleep-deprived, blood-soaked winner has been declared: The team representing the nation of Hungary. The Hungarians trailed in the rankings until the fourth round of the contest, when they rallied to pass the BioWare Community team (who finished in second place). We guess you could say they were just Hungarier for victory than everyone else.

America, however, must have only been slightly peckish, ending up with a disappointing ninth place (or next-to-last place) finish, and getting eliminated in the third round of the competition. This might be a small blow to our egos, but hey -- at least we're still better at dragon slaying than the Czech Republic and Slovakia. Booyah!

[Via Kotaku]

Hungary spanks America in Dragon Age: Origins contest originally appeared on Joystiq on Sat, 31 Oct 2009 20:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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We hope your recent forays into piracy merely involve you donning a hook and eyepatch for a debaucherous costume party, or else you likely received a message from Microsoft like the headline of this post. The company recently dispatched a wave of bans to owners of modded Xbox 360s who've been playing pirated copies of games. A Microsoft spokesperson confirmed to IGN that "we have taken action against a small percentage of consoles that have been modified to play pirated game discs."

The spokesperson went on to explain that this batch of console bans wasn't conducted on any particular time frame, and that the company was merely following up on its standing policy against piracy. In other words, Microsoft isn't trying to ruin your Halloween weekend -- it just, you know, worked out that way.

[Image]

Happy Halloween! You're banned from Xbox Live. originally appeared on Joystiq on Sat, 31 Oct 2009 18:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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In their biggest, farthest, and scariest challenge to date, the Othersiders get exclusive access into the infamous Alcatraz prison. During their investigation, they explore the Civil War-era dungeon and old prison cells, including the one that housed the legendary mobster Al Capone, who reportedly haunts the prison walls while playing his banjo.

This game was classified by the community with the following category scores - Violence=0/3, Sex=0/3, Mature Content=0/3. They came from the ground. They brought a bouncy ball...and they bounced it around. This game is a unique twist on volleyball; it's fast & loose, and you can cross over to push your opponent around.

Kevin is beginning to lose all hope that he might one day return to being normal when he is charmed by a beautiful girl that seems to understand. Kevin finds himself under her spell (literally) as Charmcaster has returned and is forcing Kevin to do her bidding. Kevin has no choice but to obey his master and destroy Ben and Gwen.

Kurt Angle and British newcomer Desmond Wolfe will go to war! What will fall out from what happened between Angle and Wolfe? Can the newcomer top his TNA debut and take the fight to the greatest wrestler in the world?

Wale: Nike Boots

Nirvana: The Man Who Sold The World

Wilhelmina makes Mark be Betty's temporary assistant; Betty decides to cover the worst jobs in New York; Hilda causes trouble for Archie's campaign; Daniel hires a beautiful but inept assistant.

This week, Joel McHale breaks down the latest Hollywood headlines including Brad Pitt's motorcycle mishap, Adam Lambert's album art, and Jon Gosselin and Octomom's rumored reality show. Join the "Ghost Adventures" crew as they go on their scariest mission yet--tracking down the ghost of Joel McHale! Plus, see Oprah go crazy for corn dogs, a tyke take on Wendy Williams, and how Levi Johnston is prepping for his Playgirl photo shoot. Then, the crew tunes into the strangest moments from "The Amazing Race," "Dancing With the Stars," "Bridezillas," "America's Next Top Model," and other hot shows.

Namco Bandai sent out a press release today boasting that it has shipped over 2.5 million copies of Tekken 6 worldwide. Now, we don't want to tell Namco how to do its job, but these shipment numbers tend to be more impressive when you give the game a week or so in stores, so we can more readily infer a connection between shipped copies and sold copies.

The portion of those 2.5 million earmarked for Europe, for example, just got there today, and it's only been in stores for around two days in North America. All we know based on this is that Namco expects to sell a ton of copies, not that it is selling a ton. Although we're sure it will.

Maybe that's the idea -- to build excitement about Tekken 6 by showing how confident the publisher is. To print up 2.5 million of the things (some of which come in totally huge boxes), Namco must really believe it's on to something!

Namco announces 2.5 million shipped copies of Tekken 6 originally appeared on Joystiq on Sat, 31 Oct 2009 00:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Continue reading JBO: Joystiq Box Office, October 26 - October 30, Horror Edition!

JBO: Joystiq Box Office, October 26 - October 30, Horror Edition! originally appeared on Joystiq on Fri, 30 Oct 2009 21:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Sonic & Sega All-Stars Racing is slowly absorbing the entire Sega catalog into one mascot racing universe. The latest franchise to be co-opted is The House of the Dead, whose Curien Mansion is revealed as a track in a new, spooky Halloween trailer (after the break). We can't be sure, but we think we also caught glimpses of a zombie appearing both as a driver and a vehicle.

This zombie is the second appearance of the walking dead in All-Stars Racing. The first, of course, is the Shenmue franchise.

Continue reading Sonic & Sega All-Stars Racing around the House of the Dead

Sonic & Sega All-Stars Racing around the House of the Dead originally appeared on Joystiq on Fri, 30 Oct 2009 20:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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It's Halloween and, for Linus, that can only mean one thing: the Great Pumpkin is flying over all the pumpkin patches searching for the most sincere one to reward with treats. Linus will wait in the cold, with Sally and his security blanket to keep him company, hoping the Great Pumpkin will pick his. But where's Charlie Brown? He's busy getting ready for a party with the kids and trying to make the perfect ghost costume -- unfortunately, our favorite blockhead not only gets rocks in his trick-or-treat bag, but he resembles a pumpkin more than a ghost. At least he hasn't gotten his costume dirty like Pig Pen, or been pestered by Lucy like Shroeder. Scary! Fear not, Snoopy is in on the fun too, his aviator goggles firmly in place. This timeless classic from Charles M. Schulz and Bill Melendez is remastered and features many heartwarming scenes. Also included are the bonus episodes It's Magic, Charlie Brown and Lucy Must Be Traded, Charlie Brown.

The price of honor. The power of friendship. THE KARATE KID, Part II. Ralph Macchio and Noriyuki "Pat" Morita re-create the roles that brought them international acclaim in The Karate Kid. Karate student, Daniel Larusso (Macchio), accompanies his wise and whimsical teacher, Mr. Miyagi (Morita), to his ancestral home in Okinawa. For the boy, it's a journey to an exotic new world offering new cluesto his mentor's secret past. For Miyagi, it's an opportunity to see his father one last time and torekindle a romance with his childhood sweetheart (Nobu McCarthy). But Miyagi's return also re-ignites a bitter feud with long-time enemy, Sato (Danny Kamekona) - a feud that involves young Daniel in a brilliant collision of cultures and combat. Now, far away from the tournaments, the cheering crowds and the safety of home, Daniel will face his greatest challenge ever when teacher becomes student and the price of honor is life itself.

When Sid Maxwell (Guest Star Rene Ifrah), owner of a fashion company, is found dead, Detectives Cyrus Lupo (Jeremy Sisto) and Kevin Bernard (Anthony Anderson) assume asphyxia. But when fashion photographer Terry Clark (Guest Star Jeremy Beiler) leads the detectives to an alarming discovery of Maxwell’s true identity, they uncover a suspicious website with threatening web posts. Also starring: S. Epatha Merkerson (Lieutenant Anita Van Buren), Sam Waterston (District Attorney Jack McCoy), Alana De La Garza (Connie Rubirosa), and Linus Roache (Michael Cutter).

High-voltage, fast-paced comedy for the entire family. Number Five, A.K.A. Johnny Five, that incredible lovable robot, is back and taking the big city by storm. More "human" than ever, upbeat Johnny's out for some "urban input", but some street hoods see his innocence as their high-tech ticket to easy street.

G4 has a fresh new video of Mass Effect 2 goodness straight outta the space oven showing our good pal Shephard doing what he does best: shooting everything in sight. Your Shepard may be different, but for the sake of this post, Shepard is a man with a very itchy trigger finger, a lot of Renegade points and ... a very dirty space suit. It's dirty from all of the space blood!

Head past the break to check out the gameplay clip.

Continue reading Shepard shoots stuff in this Mass Effect 2 gameplay footage

Shepard shoots stuff in this Mass Effect 2 gameplay footage originally appeared on Joystiq on Fri, 30 Oct 2009 19:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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LucasArts has released a new trailer for LEGO Indiana Jones 2: The Adventure Continues. Fans of Raiders of the Lost Ark -- everyone, basically -- are in for a treat, as the trailer reenacts the film's bar fight in Nepal, including some hot Nazi hand-burning action. Of course, as we've come to expect from the LEGO series, the action doesn't unfold quite like it does in the movie, opting instead for charming shtick.

Let's just hope the game doesn't nuke the fridge.

Whipping out a new Lego Indiana Jones 2 trailer originally appeared on Joystiq on Fri, 30 Oct 2009 17:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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It's not quite Wonka's chocolate factory, but the Xbox 360 Dashboard update preview participants are getting a taste of some delectable bonuses regardless. Earlier today, those lucky folks were granted their promised early access to the Halo Waypoint beta. Lo and behold, 11 Avatar Awards arrived alongside the addition (five for each gender's Avatar, one for both), unlocking based on various Achievements from Halo 3: ODST, ranging from Recon helmets to ODST t-shirts. Microsoft has provided little in the way of details on the addition, so feel free to let us know if you see anything particularly strange or interesting.

[Thanks to everyone who sent this in!]

Halo Waypoint live with Dashboard preview program, includes Avatar Awards originally appeared on Joystiq Xbox on Fri, 30 Oct 2009 17:15:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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We just can't quite figure out what to make of Wal-Mart's new Modern Warfare 2 ad. Sure, it's kind of funny, featuring two dudes ragging on one another. It gets across the idea that people can buy the game at Wal-Mart really fast, continuing the store's "fastest way to play" campaign. It does not, however, help us decide if Modern Warfare 2 is something we want to play. Granted, the readers and staff of Joystiq already know the answer to that particular quandary.

The company ran similar ads for Madden 09 and Madden 10, which certainly don't need in depth advertising to get people excited. Has Call of Duty reached Madden levels of recognition? Is the name the only marketing it needs at this point? Apparently, Wal-Mart thinks so. See the ad after the break.

[Via Destructoid]

Continue reading Joystiq is undecided about Wal-Mart's Modern Warfare 2 ad

Joystiq is undecided about Wal-Mart's Modern Warfare 2 ad originally appeared on Joystiq on Fri, 30 Oct 2009 17:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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While most Xbox owners are patently aware of the dangers of late night, impulse Microsoft Point purchases, we imagine no one ever worried about their dog doing the same thing. And yet Greg Strope of Richmond, Virginia tells Fox News that his dog, Oscar, purchased 5000 Microsoft Points, adding up to a total of $62.50. Strope says he received an email while he was sleeping and discovered it was a purchase confirmation from Microsoft. When he went to check his Xbox 360, he found that his controller had been chewed by his dog, and he presumed the animal had not only managed to turn on the console, but subsequently purchased the points.

Strope noted that Microsoft has a no refund policy and he wishes the company make it more difficult to purchase points. Our suggestion to Strope: Don't leave your controllers (or your Xbox, for that matter) within reach of the dog. Also, don't drink and play Rock Band. See Strope's interview after the break.

Continue reading Dog buys 5000 MS Points (no, really) [update]

Dog buys 5000 MS Points (no, really) [update] originally appeared on Joystiq Xbox on Fri, 30 Oct 2009 16:15:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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In this new trailer for Just Cause 2, you can see a helicopter tow a speed boat into a factory. How badass is that? You can also see protagonist Rico Rodriguez attach an unsuspecting individual to an airbound plane as it's taking off. It's this kind of inventive grappling that really gives the game a flavor all its own and makes this latest trailer necessary viewing for any self-respecting Joystiq reader.

Just Cause 2 trailer has fun with the grappling hook originally appeared on Joystiq on Fri, 30 Oct 2009 16:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Sure, November may lack the phonetic building blocks which allow the word "Rock" to be tucked in there somehow, but that doesn't mean it won't bring any hard-rockin' jams to Guitar Hero 5. We've got the full list of DLC that's coming to the game next month posted after the jump, including selections from Lenny Kravitz, Metallica, KISS and others. One bundle, the "Neversoft Thanks the Fans Track Pack," will be absolutely free. The other packs, will follow the 160 ($2, 200 Wii Points) per song, 440 ($5.50, 550 Wii Points) per three-song pack pricing structure of last month's releases.

In addition, on Nov. 5, players will be able to import 61 of Band Hero's tracks into Guitar Hero 5 for 400 ($5, 500 Wii Points), or 69 of Guitar Hero 5's tracks into Band Hero for 480 ($6, 600 Wii Points). Hooray for sharing!

Continue reading Guitar Hero 5: November DLC

Guitar Hero 5: November DLC originally appeared on Joystiq on Fri, 30 Oct 2009 15:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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In a story about the scarier games (it's almost Halloween, don'tchaknow?), Reuters mentioned two things we thought would be good for this website we got going here. First, there's Capcom's Resident Evil 5, which Reuters reports has managed to sell 1.94 million copies in the US, according to NPD Group figures.

The second part of the Reuters story talks about EA and its spookier titles for 2009: Left 4 Dead 2 and Dead Space: Extraction. While there isn't anything new on the former, in a discussion of the latter, Reuters revealed that Dead Space 2 is apparently planned for a 2010 release, which would seem to confirm what we've heard about the game so far.

Reuters: RE5 sold 1.94M in US; Dead Space 2 in development for 2010 originally appeared on Joystiq on Fri, 30 Oct 2009 13:45:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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We're not sure if it was intentional, or if someone at Microsoft pulled the wrong lever, but the Forza 3 LCE premium theme -- previously reserved exclusively for those that bought the collector's edition -- is now available to the masses for free. We're guessing this was probably a mistake, as the theme is only showing up on the Xbox.com Marketplace, and we were unable to find it in XBLM on an actual console. If you really like Forza, or you just like cars, you'd best get it now before someone in Redmond gets wise.

Add the Forza 3 LCE theme to your 360 download queue

[Thanks, Faiz R.]

Forza 3 limited edition premium theme not so limited anymore originally appeared on Joystiq Xbox on Fri, 30 Oct 2009 13:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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As disastrous as the first game was, there's no denying that the Matt Hazard concept has potential. The games industry has been around for decades now, and it's ripe with material to poke fun at. Blood Bath and Beyond, D3's upcoming download-only sequel to the first Matt Hazard, embraces the legacy of retro games by becoming one: this side-scrolling 2D shooter is unapologetically old-school.

Matt Hazard's "in your face" attitude is immediately evident from the moment you see the difficulty select screen. You can traverse the game through "Wussy" mode, but real gamers will want to play in "Damn This is Hard" mode -- with the most daring playing the Contra-inspired "F**k This S**t" mode, which kills players in just one hit.

Like its retail predecessor, Blood Bath and Beyond struggles to be innovative. However, at least this iteration of Matt Hazard succeeds far more at getting the basics right. This is a simple game: simply run around shooting enemies. Weapon selection is gone, as well. You can run over power-up boxes and use upgraded weapons (like flamethrowers and shotguns) with finite ammo.

Continue reading Hands-on: Matt Hazard: Blood Bath and Beyond

Hands-on: Matt Hazard: Blood Bath and Beyond originally appeared on Joystiq on Fri, 30 Oct 2009 12:45:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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