Xbox Jedi

Filed under: News, Too Human

Silicon Knights announced today that it has laid off 26 employees in the wake of the completion of Too Human and heading into "several new and exciting games." The press release notes that it is common for development teams to grow during a single project and "whittle down" once the project is complete. According to the release, Silicon Knights had undergone "four years of unprecedented growth" in which the company reached over 180 people before the cutback. The layoffs are purportedly temporary with company head Denis Dyack stating, "These 26 individuals are hard-working and valued team members that we hope to bring back as we ramp up on our future projects."

While the press release states that "All the company's directors and leads are still at Silicon Knights and working on its next projects," a Joystiq tipster said that the 26 cut employees included "a few long-tenured ones."

Find the full press release after the break.

Continue reading Silicon Knights 'temporarily' lays off 26 employees

 

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October 6th, 2008 | Category: Xbox 360 News | Comments Off

Filed under: News, Rock Band 2

[Thanks, Kyle]

 

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October 6th, 2008 | Category: Xbox 360 News | Comments Off

MLB Stickball...

October 6th, 2008 | Category: Xbox 360 News | Comments Off

And the demo is scheduled for October as well.

October 6th, 2008 | Category: Xbox 360 News | Comments Off

Filed under: Podcasts

Now, we've read some comments complaining that it's hard to tell the difference between the voices of Alexander and Dustin. Frankly, it's something we've never understood. They sound completely different. Like, totally. But there is a new comment, and that is that Richard (that's me!) sounds exactly like Chris Grant from the Joystiq Podcast. This is patently false, and we're going to prove it.

Oh, and we also cover the latest news* .... yadda, yadda, yadda. Download and learn.

*We were totally wrong about the Alan Wake trailer, too.

Thanks to Stuart Harper for the disturbing image!

[iTunes] Subscribe to the Podcast directly in iTunes (MP3).
[Zune] Subscribe to the Podcast directly in Zune Marketplace (MP3).
[RSS MP3] Add the Xbox 360 Fanboy Podcast feed (in MP3) to your RSS aggregator and have the show delivered automatically.
[AAC] Download the enhanced AAC directly.
[MP3] Download the MP3 directly.

Hosts: Richard Mitchell (SenseiRAM), Dustin Burg (SuperDunners), Alexander Sliwinski (Sli Xander), Xav de Matos (Snypz)

Produced by Richard Mitchell

Music: Intro/Outro: "Electromooq" by Uma Floresta. Break: "Never Had a Problem" by Andre Williams.
For fans: Xbox 360 Fancast Facebook group

Continue reading Xbox 360 Fancast 086 -- Proof, Meet Pudding

 

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October 6th, 2008 | Category: Xbox 360 News | Comments Off

Filed under: News

"Xbox is an unqualified success" said Ballmer, adding "the product is selling very well" and that "the Xbox is an absolute home run." And when Mercury News pushed the point a bit further, asking whether or not a 360 price cut was a last ditch effort to spur console sales, Ballmer responded with an emphatic "no" saying "that's the craziest thing I've ever heard anybody say. All consoles start at higher prices. They always come down through the long cycle." Word!

There you have it, an Xbox 360 sales status report from Mr. Microsoft himself. We say, preach on Ballmer and don't let anyone mock you for sporting pink boxing gloves. Ever.

 

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October 6th, 2008 | Category: Xbox 360 News | Comments Off

A deadly one-two of doom.

October 6th, 2008 | Category: Xbox 360 Trailers | Comments Off

A deadly one-two of doom.

October 6th, 2008 | Category: Xbox 360 Trailers | Comments Off

Three cities where it gets really cold.

October 6th, 2008 | Category: Xbox 360 Trailers | Comments Off

Three cities where it gets really cold.

October 6th, 2008 | Category: Xbox 360 Trailers | Comments Off

Do yourself a favor--don't provoke this guy.

October 6th, 2008 | Category: Xbox 360 Trailers | Comments Off

Do yourself a favor--don't provoke this guy.

October 6th, 2008 | Category: Xbox 360 Trailers | Comments Off

Who are you, and what has brought you here?

October 6th, 2008 | Tags: Bioshock | Category: Xbox 360 Trailers | Comments Off

Who are you, and what has brought you here?

October 6th, 2008 | Tags: Bioshock | Category: Xbox 360 Trailers | Comments Off

Welcome to Rapture.

October 6th, 2008 | Tags: Bioshock | Category: Xbox 360 Trailers | Comments Off

Welcome to Rapture.

October 6th, 2008 | Tags: Bioshock | Category: Xbox 360 Trailers | Comments Off

Filed under: News, Gears of War 2

Over the weekend, someone who attended the E for All Expo ninja-snuck off-screen video of gameplay footage from Gears 2's Horde mode. The video, embedded above for your convenience, shows off roughly one minute of multiplayer footage complete with meat shields, Torque Bowing, and the occasional cameo of a blurry head covering the screen. Watch and, if you enjoyed the footage, check the break for an additional few minutes of leaked Gears 2 multiplayer mayhem video complete with "commentary."

[Via Thoughts of a Random Gamer]

Continue reading Gears 2 multiplayer footage leaked online

 

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October 6th, 2008 | Category: Xbox 360 News | Comments Off

Your force is strong.

October 6th, 2008 | Category: Xbox 360 Reviews | Comments Off

Let the crickets soar!

October 6th, 2008 | Category: Xbox 360 Reviews | Comments Off

When you have to win, get to high ground.

October 6th, 2008 | Category: Xbox 360 Reviews | Comments Off

When you have to win, get to high ground.

October 6th, 2008 | Category: Xbox 360 Reviews | Comments Off

Good news, everyone: 3D Holographic TV could be here soon. (Also, sorry for the oft-used Leia hologram picture.) Earlier this year, a University of Arizona team lead by Dr. Nasser Peyghambarian (let’s call him Dr. P) made a major breakthrough in the quest for holographic displays: they have an erasable, re-writable hologram.

Dr. P’s “Hologram R/W” breakthrough has created a single-color, four-inch square hologram takes a few minutes to erase and re-write. Thanks doc, but we need high-def color holograms, “rewriting” at about 60fps (also, couple it with one of these, and Starcraft 2 please). Dr. P is very optimistic about the future of this technology, even saying “there are no more great barriers to overcome.”

Source

October 6th, 2008 | Category: Xbox 360 News | Comments Off

Scrapped and rebuilt from the ground up.

October 6th, 2008 | Category: Xbox 360 Reviews | Comments Off

Scrapped and rebuilt from the ground up.

October 6th, 2008 | Category: Xbox 360 Reviews | Comments Off

Filed under: News, Rock Band 2

Briefly, the bug seems to be affecting 360 copies of Rock Band 2 where the primary band member has a Live enabled account and another band member is rockin' out without any Live membership. Then, for no reason and usually further into the game, the bug glitches and deletes your entire band and all of its progress. Major, major bummer. Harmonix hasn't acknowledged or addressed the problem yet, so we have no clue when or if a patch will be released. For the time being, we recommend playing Band World Tour with all Live enabled or all non Live enabled accounts. Please, rock out carefully.

[Via Kotaku]

 

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October 6th, 2008 | Category: Xbox 360 News | Comments Off

Nearly two weeks after its launch, MySpace Music has already streamed over a billion songs to users according to a report by CNET. A rep from MySpace said to CNET after confirming the site's one billion milestone:

"We are still compiling our metrics on engagement and unique users which will tell a much richer story on how positively the community is responding to the new music experience"

Hey, whatever's your opinion on the site, a billion's still a billion. MySpace Music features a variety of artists, from mainstream to indie, and again, best of all, the service is free. Check it out and let us know what you think.

Sources: CNET, MySpaceMusic

October 6th, 2008 | Category: Xbox 360 News | Comments Off

Some are big, some are small, but they're all deadly.

October 6th, 2008 | Category: Xbox 360 Reviews | Comments Off

Some are big, some are small, but they're all deadly.

October 6th, 2008 | Category: Xbox 360 Reviews | Comments Off

One Bandicoot stands for justice.

October 6th, 2008 | Category: Xbox 360 Reviews | Comments Off

One Bandicoot stands for justice.

October 6th, 2008 | Category: Xbox 360 Reviews | Comments Off

Filed under: News, Dead Space

Rooster Teeth's site all about achievements and the joy (or pain) they cause, Achievement Hunter just posted a new Dead Space video showing how you can earn both the "Marksman" and "Tool Time" achievements. The video walk-through (embedded above) demos how you can easily decapitate evil, blow off limbs, squish heads and earn yourself 15 Gamerscore in the process. Watch the vid and be sure to stay clear of those auto closing doors. They're equally deadly as the ones they install at Walmart stores.

 

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October 6th, 2008 | Category: Xbox 360 News | Comments Off

From mercurynews.com:
[QUOTE]
During a visit to Silicon Valley late last month, Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer talked with the Mercury News about Microsoft's consumer electronics efforts and the challenges it has faced. Here is an edited transcript of his remarks.

* Q If you look at what they've [Microsoft's consumer electronics] done in the last year or two, do you view any of your consumer products as unqualified successes?
* A I certainly would say the work that we've done around Xbox is an unqualified success. No question about that.

* Q How so?
* A The product is selling very well. The Xbox is an absolute home run.

* Q But sales of the Xbox have slowed markedly. It's been overtaken by the Wii. The PS3 is starting to catch up. You cut the price on it, which some might say is an indication you have run out of ideas to boost sales.
* A No, that's the craziest thing I've ever heard anybody say. All consoles start at higher prices. They always come down through the long cycle.

* Q The story in July at E3 was that you had many bullets left in your holster that you could use to juice Xbox sales. You had all these great games that were coming out for the fall, and you didn't need to cut price to juice sales. But now two months later, you've cut the price.
* A Price is not something you discuss externally. Nobody ever does. So, whether we were planning on cutting price the next day or in six months or a year, we're not going to discuss price changes.
If you ask me, Xbox Live is going gangbusters. The console is selling well.
[/QUOTE]

Full Story: mercurynews.com

October 6th, 2008 | Category: Xbox 360 News | Comments Off

There are a lot of different ways one could predict the outcome of the election coming up in the U.S. in November. You could throw the I-Ching, read some tea leaves, call Dionne Warwick or even pay close attention to carefully researched and compiled electoral maps. Or you can see whose mask is selling best on Amazon.com.

Should you employ the latter tactic, you will find that the Halloween mask straw poll favors Obama. O is winning 56% to 44%. Erick Schonfeld at techcrunch points out that McCain's number matches his actual poll numbers exactly. Which is weird.

We think, though, that many people pick their masks and costumes based on whether it will make them attractive to women dressed as sexy witches, sexy zombies or sexy Betsy Ross, and so the choice of an Obama mask seems like a no-brainer. But hey, don't let Halloween mask sales decide the election. Go and vote, whydon'tcha?

October 6th, 2008 | Category: Xbox 360 News | Comments Off

Filed under: News, Gears of War 2

[Via GoW Fans]

 

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October 6th, 2008 | Category: Xbox 360 News | Comments Off

Live from the Leipzig Games Convention.

October 6th, 2008 | Category: Xbox 360 Reviews | Comments Off

Live from the Leipzig Games Convention.

October 6th, 2008 | Category: Xbox 360 Reviews | Comments Off

Shake it with a cheerleader in the end zone.

October 6th, 2008 | Category: Xbox 360 Reviews | Comments Off

Shake it with a cheerleader in the end zone.

October 6th, 2008 | Category: Xbox 360 Reviews | Comments Off

Filed under: News

The episodes - one titled "Beneath the Ashes", the other "Lara's Shadow" - will release as episodic DLC sometime after Underworld's November retail release and will provide up to six hours of gameplay per episode. Specifically speaking, "Beneath the Ashes" will release around Christmas time and "Lara's Shadow" will see release in early 2009. Yes sir, exclusivity FTW!

 

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October 6th, 2008 | Category: Xbox 360 News | Comments Off