Tag Archives: Xbox Live

Train2Game News: Far Cry 3 Blood Dragon release date

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Far Cry 3 Blood Dragon

What some thought to have been an April Fools joke has now been confirmed as reality. Far Cry 3: Blood Dragon is being released next month.

The game is set in a dystopian 2007 and Ubisoft describes the game as “an ’80s VHS vision of the future where you must get the girl, kill the baddies, and save the world”. The game will star Terminator and Aliens actor Michael Biehn who will likely voice the game’s eye-patched protagonist Sargent Rex Colt, whose mission it is to defeat a rogue cyborg army.

The title is set to be a stand alone title, you will not need Far Cry 3 to play the game. It is set to be released on Xbox Live Arcade, PC and PSN on May 1 according to previous leaks.

In addition Melbourne electronic music duo Power Glove has posted a series of new tracks that claim to be the Far Cry 3: Blood Dragon official soundtrack.

Far Cry 3’s lead writer Jeffrey Yohalem said earlier this year “I’m working on something now that will be surprising, I think, when it’s announced, but it definitely is a ‘strike while the iron’s hot’ thing, and we’ll see.”

You can enjoy a teaser trailer below, ready for the games imminent release:

You can find out more about the game by going to www.fc3blooddragon.com

Train2Game News: Virgin gaming coming to Xbox Live

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virgin gamingGamers already competing against players worldwide with Virgin Gaming, the premier online destination for competitive console gaming, now have a new way to challenge competitors as Virgin Gaming and Microsoft Corp. team up to launch Xbox Tournaments on Xbox LIVE.

This exclusive entertainment application, powered by Virgin Gaming, launches today and allows Xbox LIVE Gold members to seamlessly browse, enter, play in and track tournaments for their favorite games directly from the Xbox LIVE online entertainment network. Gamers can register an account at http://virgingaming.com/xbox and download the app from the Xbox LIVE Marketplace.

“Competitive online gaming is increasingly becoming an important component of the video games industry, and the Xbox Tournaments app allows us to bring engaging tournaments to a large and lively community,” said Billy Levy, president and co-founder of Virgin Gaming.

“The new app on Xbox LIVE delivers unparalleled accessibility for gamers to compete in their favorite games like never before.”

The Xbox Tournaments app makes its debut in the United States, Canada and United Kingdom with launch titles that include EA SPORTS Madden NFL 13, FIFA 13, NHL 13 and NBA2K13.

Virgin Gaming offers numerous proprietary features; including in-game reporting of match results, a skill ranking system, secure payment facilities, and strong customer support, making it the platform of choice for competitive gamers.

Additional territories, titles and features will be added in the coming months, but at launch, players will be able to compete in three-round, free-entry tournaments designed for gamers of all skill levels. They will also have the opportunity to participate in free head-to-head challenges to hone their skills for upcoming cash-play.

To celebrate the launch of the app, Virgin Gaming is hosting a $100,000 tournament and leaderboard challenge between April 9 and May 6, 2013. During that time, all players that participate in and win all three tournament rounds or that climb the ranks of the leaderboard will win a portion of the cash prize pool. Details can be found at www.virgingaming.com/xbox.

“Virgin Gaming is a proven leader when it comes to online video game competitions, and we believe Xbox Tournaments will deliver a wide variety of competitive and casual tournament options that will add an exciting new dimension to game play,” said Matthew Bencke, general manager Xbox LIVE, Microsoft.

“From the beginning, we’ve wanted to create amazing and accessible gaming experiences for our members and Xbox Tournaments give our customers a new way to play.”

With a community of more than two million gamers and top partners, Virgin Gaming offers a strong network for sponsors, such as NOS Energy Drink, Ford, Kia and Dr Pepper, looking to reach the coveted gamer audience.

Train2Game News: Next Xbox could eliminate pre-owned games

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XBOX720One of the latest reports to come out in regards to the next Xbox suggests that you will need a constant internet connection to play games.

The report announces that Microsoft will move to make Xbox Live an integral rather than optional feature of the next Xbox, with retail games being made available for download. Physical boxed titles will remain on sale in shops via 50GB Blu-ray discs, but “activation codes” will require verification online, the report adds. Once verified, discs will have no function beyond the initial users – effectively eliminating the second-hand games market as it’s currently known.

The information is said to come from sources with first-hand experience of Microsoft’s next generation console.

“Given its experience with 70 million-plus 360 console stats, Microsoft has accumulated enough user data to make the decision to go online-only with its successive hardware one that adds up,” the report states.

“Microsoft’s hand has been guided by the PC gaming landscape, and viewed through a particular lens it makes sense, even if unbelievers will take some convincing.

“Ultimately, Microsoft has asked itself a simple question: who wants to play games on a next-generation Xbox and yet doesn’t have access to the internet? The answer: not enough to make a considerable difference.”

The next Xbox, codename Durango, is said to utilise an AMD eight-core x64 1.6GHz CPU, a D3D11.x 800MHz graphics solution and 8GB of DDR3 RAM but to date the consoles hard drive capacity is said to be undecided.

Both next-gen consoles are said to be set for release before this Christmas, although PS4 is unlikely to launch in Europe until “early 2014”.

Train2Game News: Mid-week round up – 06.12.12

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The Train2Game team has searched around and found some of the exciting news from this week.

343 Industries, who recently released Halo 4, have said that they are in early stages of developing a new Halo. Frank O’Connor, the franchise development director for Halo, said that “a lot of people at 343 are already prototyping ideas and software and art for future Halo products”. Many within the 343 Industries studio are still working on post launch content for Halo 4.

Sega has revealed a new partnership with Games Workshop which will see Total War developer Creative Assembly making multiple titles set in the Warhammer fantasy universe. Creative Assembly studio director Tim Heaton said: “With this year being our 25th anniversary, it seems fitting for us to embark on such a dream project with such a well-established partner. The incredibly rich and detailed Warhammer world is something we grew up with, and has left an indelible imprint on us as both designers and gamers.”

Sony Pictures Consumer Products has teamed up with Capcom-owned developer Beeline Interactive to produce an Android and iOS Ghostbusters game, targeting an ‘early 2013’ release. The new Ghostbusters will be a ‘freemium’ title based on the popular eighties movies. The players will play the role of “a fledgling Ghostbuster. Who ya gunna call?

UK celebrity, chat show host and film critic Jonathan Ross has opened a new game development studio named Hotsauce Interactive, based in Candem, North London. The outfit is part of Ross’ TV production company Hotsauce, and has already released its debut game, Cacha Cacha Aliens for iOS. It is understood that Hotsauce Interactive is staffed by a number of experienced developers and the studio may look into releasing games on hand-held and console in the future.

Customers of Valve’s Steam digital distribution service can now play their PC games on a TV. The much anticipated Big Picture mode has been in beta for some time, but has only now seen public release. Big Picture is designed to be compatible with gamepads, but also supports the use of a Mouse and Keyboard. To celebrate, Valve has placed over thirty “controller-friendly” games on sale.

Call of Duty: Black Ops 2 made $1 billion a day quicker than Modern Warfare 3, Activision has announced. That’s $1 billion in worldwide retail sales in 15 days since launch, based on Chart-Track and internal figures. Modern Warfare 3 took 16 days to cross the $1 billion mark. For comparison, James Cameron’s Avatar made $1 billion in 17 days. Since launch, more than 150 million hours have been logged online playing the game on Xbox Live and PlayStation Network.

Kickstarter’s United Kingdom operation has reached £2,069,164 in pledges since its launch late in October. 45,799 backers contributed to the £2 million, with 30 projects having successfully ended their funding drive out of 407 launched. Of those backers, 39 percent came from the UK.

Train2Game News: Mid-week Round up – 28.11.12

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Good news for PlayStation Plus subscribers! For the festive season Sony are adding a number of new games including: Batman: Arkham City, LIMBO and Vanquish. All the games are added to the PlayStation Plus service on December 5.

Nintendo are offering a similar service where new and existing owners of the 3DS XL who register before January 15, 2013 will be able to download one of five games from the eShop. The titles on offer are Super Mario 3D Land, Professor Layton and the Miracle Mask, New Art Academy, New Style Boutique and Freakyforms Deluxe.

Take Two Interactive CEO Strauss Zelnick has announced that the Grand Theft Auto series has shipped over 125 million games since its debut on on the original PSOne. Zelnick put the series’ continued success down to the firm’s refusal to annualise as Activision has with Call of Duty.

Microsoft has announced that they have sold over 750,000 Xbox360’s over the Black Friday week. Xbox LIVE Gold Subscription sales also saw a surge of more than 50 per cent compared to last years Black Friday week, and US entertainment application hours logged on Xbox LIVE during the week of Black Friday was up 43 per cent over last year.

Microsoft has announced sales of 40 million Windows 8 licenses in the operating system’s launch month but 40 million licenses sold does not mean there are now 40 million Windows 8 users. Countless numbers of licences are bought up by hardware manufacturers for future use in new machines.

Dishonored is, clearly, a new franchise, publisher Bethesda has said. Sales of the Arkane-developed first-person action game are above expectations, Bethesda marketing chief Pete Hines told Destructoid, and so publisher Bethesda has added it to its stable of franchises, which includes Fallout, Elder Scrolls and Doom. In the UK Dishonored entered the chart at number two following its October release. It was kept off top spot by FIFA 13, but is the biggest launch for a new IP so far in 2012 (a title previously held by Sleeping Dogs). This record was achieved despite UK numbers company Chart-Track not counting digital copies sold.

Train2Game News: Minecraft Builds its way to the top

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More people are playing Minecraft on Xbox Live Arcade than Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 or FIFA 13.

The latest Microsoft Live activity chart shows Minecraft: Xbox 360 Edition at the top for the first time, rsing ahead of acclaimed retail games Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 and FIFA 13. The Call of Duty games have been at the top of the chart for much of the past four years.

It is another impressive milestone for Minecraft. Earlier this month, developer 4J Studios revealed it had sold over four million copies becoming the best-selling XBLA game ever, beating titles such as Trials, Trials Evolution and Castle Crashers.

Other games Minecraft is more popular than are Call of Duty: Black Ops, Borderlands 2, Halo: Reach, Battlefield 3 and Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2.

Interestingly GTA IV is still in the top twenty and it is nice to see the free-to-play title, Happy Wars, in at eleven.

Microsoft’s Live Activity chart is based on unique users – that is, game playing while connected to Xbox Live. You can see the top twenty below:

  • 1. Minecraft: Xbox 360 Edition
  • 2. Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3
  • 3. FIFA 13
  • 4. Call of Duty: Black Ops
  • 5. Borderlands 2
  • 6. Halo: Reach
  • 7. Battlefield 3
  • 8. Modern Warfare 2
  • 9. Madden NFL 13
  • 10. NBA 2K13
  • 11. Happy Wars
  • 12. Skyrim
  • 13. Gears of War 3
  • 14. RESIDENT EVIL 6
  • 15. GTA IV
  • 16. FIFA 12
  • 17. Forza Motorsport 4
  • 18. Dishonored
  • 19. EA SPORTS NHL13
  • 20. Halo 3

As you’d expect, Minecraft is also the top Arcade title, ahead of The Walking Dead, Sonic Adventure 2 and Trials Evolution.

Train2Game News: Xbox360’s first free-to-play MMO

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The first free-to-play MMO is coming to Xbox360 next week. The game looks action packed, fun and very cute.

The game, Happy Wars, has been developed by ToyLogic who have previously assisted in the development of Nintendo’s Super Smash Brothers Brawl. You can certainly see the Smash Bros. influences in this game.

The 30 player strategy/action title pits two teams of up to 15 players against each other as they attempt to lay siege to enemy castles and defend their terrain. Each player’s character will be completely customizable with thousands of items, including outfits, weapons, and shields. In addition to the large-scale multiplayer battles, the game will also feature an offline single-player campaign mode, co-op mode with computer-controlled adversaries and more.

You must be an Xbox Live Gold subscriber to get the game but it is free to download and play. You can purchase ‘Happy Tickets’ from within the game to spend in the in game shop.

Although the ToyLogic developed title is Xbox Live’s first foray into free-to-play, it isn’t planned to be the last. Signal Studios’ Ascend: New Gods will rely on micro-transactions for its money, and is set to launch next year.

The free-to-play business model has been long used in the mobile industry but this is the first time it has been used on an Xbox title. Time will show how it plays out.

You can watch the trailer for Happy Wars below:

Train2Game News: Deadlight team talk game design in developer diary

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Get behind the scenes of Deadlight, the upcoming zombie survival puzzler for XBLA in a new developer diary from Spanish studio Tequila Works.

Creative Director Raul Rubio, Narritive Director Antonio Rojano and others discuss creating a story and the game design process for Deadlight while ensuring it wouldn’t be hindered by it as the main character goes through an emotional and physical journey.

Watch ‘The Deadlight Diaries: Creating A Story’ video below, here on The Train2Game Blog.

Deadlight will be released via XBLA during August as part of Xbox Live’s Summer of Arcade at a cost of 1200 Microsoft Points.

There are more developer diaries, giving an insight into the work going into development of a variety of games, here on The Train2Game Blog.

What are your thoughts on the storytelling and game design of Deadlight?

Leave your comments here on The Train2Game Blog, or on The Train2Game forum.

How Train2Game students can help development of Ms. Splosion Man

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Ms. Splosion Man logoTrain2Game students – especially those on the Games QA Tester course – know that finding and reporting in-game bugs is a hugely important part of the development process.

Indie developer Twisted Pixel have announced they’ll be holding a multiplayer beta for Ms. Splosion Man, the follow up to their 2009 success Splosion Man, and Train2Game students have the opportunity to be involved.

There are 10,000 open beta spots available for Xbox Live users, which any Train2Game student can try and grab between now and 12th June on the Microsoft sign up page.

The Ms. Splosion Man beta will run from 6th June to 24th June, and participants will be expected to provide feedback. It’d make useful practice for anyone on the Train2Game QA Tester course.

“Participants will get two multiplayer levels each week, so play online often and send us your bug reports and comments to beta@twistedpixelgames.com.” says a statement by Twisted Pixel.

“The point of this early access program is to gain your feedback on how we can better your online gaming experience, so speak up.  Your voice will be heard and feedback taken into consideration.”

In order to take part in the Ms. Splosion Man beta, any Train2Game students interested must:

  • Own a retail Xbox 360 console with a hard drive.
  • Have an Xbox LIVE Gold Membership.
  • Have broadband Internet access at home.
  • Be willing to play the early access with others in the program if they know them or not.
  • Have time to play with numerous online gamers, and time to provide copious feedback.

For full details, see the Ms. Splosion Man website. The indie game is released this year for XBLA.

A number of game developers allow players to aid in production of a title, with recent examples reported by the Train2Game blog including Gears of War 3 and Infamous 2.

Train2Game forum user favourite Minecraft is also still in beta – a beta that’s been downloaded over 2 million times – but as reported by the Train2Game blog, gets a full release later this year.

So Train2Game, will you attempt to join the Ms. Splosion Man beta to gain experience beta testing?? Have you done it before? And how important is it to the game development process?

Leave your comments here on the Train2Game blog, or on the Train2Game forum.

[Souce: Ms. Splosion Man dev blog via VG247] 

Fable III gets first batch of DLC

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Fable III

Microsoft has released the first piece of DLC for Fable III and it’s called the Understone Quest Pack.

The additional content gives Fable III players three new quests to complete based around the town of Understone, which perhaps unsurprisingly is underground. It’s below the streets of Bowerstone to be precise. Microsoft give the new addition to Fable III the following description:

“Designed by the peculiar mind of inventor Montague Hummes following the uncertain events that unfolded in “Fable II,” Understone brings new houses and stalls to own, creatures to conquer and a mystery to solve.”

Heres what Fable III players can expect from the three new Understone based quests:

“The Voice”: In the main quest, explore the mysterious underground land built by Montague Hummes in fear of the Spire in “Fable II”

  • Discover the origin of the voice that controls the people of Understone
  • Features a moral decision that will lead to two drastically different outcomes in Understone

“Shooting Range”: After defeating Saker during your quest to become King or Queen, the remaining Mercenaries have turned their camp into a tourist attraction. The main attraction being the re-playable shooting range mode

  • Beat the high scores to win three prizes that can be used while playing the mini-game: the Marksman 500 (gifted to players for downloading the pack), Money Shot (prize) and Black Dragon (prize)

“The Wheel of Misfortune”: After Reaver vacated his home, he set up a venture for budding heroes to replay the thrilling arena-based challenges within his new dwellings

  • Beat the high scores to win three new weapons that can be used while playing in the mini-game: The Full Monty (gifted to players upon downloading pack), Dirty Harriet (prize) and Dead Ned’s Revolver (prize)

The Understone Quest Pack for Fable III costs 400 Microsoft Points.

Other new bits and pieces of DLC for Fable III include the Exclusive Hair Pack, which allows you to give your character “corn rows, afro and asymmetrical bob styles” and costs 160 Microsoft Point. The 5 Star Dog Potion which ““gives your canine companion the full 5-star ability for digging, diving and tracking down hidden chests right from the start” and will set you back 80 Microsoft Points.

Also out today are a Reaver Industries Hero Outfit and a colourful Dye Pack for 160 and 80 Microsoft Points respectively.

Fable III topped the UK Chart in it’s first week of release at the end of October. In this weeks UKIE GfK Chart Track All Formats Top 40, the game lies in 24th spot.

You can check out the Fable III trailer here.

So Train2Game, have you finished Fable III? If so are you at all interested in the Understone Quest Pack? Would you part with your money to give your character a special hair style or some brightly coloured clothes?  Or have you already finished with the game for good?

As usual, you can leave your thoughts here on the Train2Game blog, or on the Train2Game forum.