SEGA Rally demo on Xbox LIVE Marketplace

Single-player demo gives Xbox 360 owners a sample of the off-road action.

SEGA Rally is shaping up very nicely, and looks back on track to its glory days following a less than spectacular effort on the PlayStation 2.

Thanks to the power of the current crop of consoles the rally stages will now change over time, with tire tracks appearing as mud is churned up beneath each rally car. This not only looks great but also affects the way cars move around the circuits.

The single-player demo weighs in at 691MB and should be available right now on Xbox LIVE Marketplace. The final game is set for release on September 28 for Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, PSP and PC.

Wii Zapper Training Kids to be Killers?

In a recent post over at Wii Fanboy, a ruckus of sorts is being made by some over protective parents against Nintendo’s upcoming Wii Zapper. Apparently these wacky would-be parental figures think having a Wii controller resembling anything remotely like a gun is reckless and irresponsible on Nintendo’s part.

The New Jersey Star-Ledger’s Parental Guidance blog’s most recent Question of the Week centered around the attachment, and it seems to have some folks alarmed. One commenter said, “I think it’s irresponsible for Wii to come out with a controller that looks like a gun so kids can play games simulating shooting. What kind of message are we sending as parents when we buy these things for our kids?”

Oh, yes. The original NES Zapper included with my game cartridge of Duck Hunt certainly made me want to go out and shoot my dear old dog when I was 10 years old. I certainly turned out to be the homicidal maniac my parents always feared.

Give me a break. What’s next? A nation-wide ban on Super Soakers? Talk about missing out on your childhood.

Project Gotham Racing Goes Gold

Microsoft Game Studios and Bizarre Creations have announced that 'Project Gotham Racing 4' has gone gold.

To celebrate the game being released to manufacturing, Bizarre has also announced that the 'PGR4' website has also gone live.

It can be found at www.pgrnations.com.

The site contains a full vehicles list, information on the car and motorcycle manufacturers, and the official Achievements list.

Originally slated for a September release, 'Project Gotham 4' will hit European shelves on October 12 for the Xbox 360 for a recommended retail price of £44.99.

George Harrison, Nintendo US Marketing Chief, Steps Down

The Nintendo Marketing Chief, George Harrison, announced in an telephone interview with Reuters that he is leaving the company.

In June there were rumors that some Nintendo officials will leave the company, following Nintendo’s decision to relocate its sales and marketing staff from Redmond, Washington to San Francisco and New York, but Nintendo denied the reports.

Still it seems that the rumors were true and George Harisson is one of those who have chosen to not move to California. "I have confirmed to all employees that I will be leaving at the end of December and not making the move to California," Harrison told Reuters by telephone.

George Harisson joined Nintendo 15 years ago as Director of Advertising and Promotions and in 2001 he moved up to Senior Vice President, Marketing and Corporate Communications.

Harrison’s departure occurs while Nintendo has hit an all time high with its Wii console.

According to the latest data released by NPD Group in August Nintendo Wii has achieved again the first place in terms of sales with 403,600 units. This mean that until now Nintendo sold only in US 4.0 million consoles. During the same month the company managed also to sell 383,300 Nintendo DSs.

So far he Wii-makers said that in the April-June quarter the company sold 3.43 million Wii machines worldwide, which means that the total number of the units sold is 9.27 million units.

From these 3.81 million were sold in the Americas, 2.95 million in Japan and another 2.51 million in other territories.

According to VGChartz.com, Wii has already surpassed Xbox 360 as the next gen console with the largest install base, having sold 10.57 million units in less than a year, compared to 10.51 million units Microsoft’s gaming rig managed to sell in almost two years on the market.

Earlier this year George Harrison said that Nintendo expects to sell as many as 35 million Wii consoles in the United States and approach the record 38.2 million PlayStation 2s sold by Sony. Harrison indicated also the year in which Nintendo hopes to achieve its goal: 2012.

Nintendo dates Wii Zapper, Link's Crossbow for Nov. 19

As rumored earlier today, the Wii Zapper will included a Zelda mini-game, Link's Crossbow Training, to demonstrate potential uses for the add-on peripheral.

"The Wii Zapper combines our remarkable controllers into one housing with a classic style reminiscent of arcade-style games," said Nintendo vice president George Harrison in a statement. "Both veteran and first-time players will find it brings a whole new dimension to games where targeting is key."

Link's Crossbow Training is said to resemble Twilight Princess. Players progress through a series of tests while perfecting Link's crossbow chops.

Nintendo also announced additional titles to support the accessory housing including EA's Medal of Honor Heroes 2 which supports 32-person multiplayer, Capcom's Resident Evil: The Umbrella Chronicles, and Sega's Ghost Squad.

Call of Duty 4 Limited Collector's Editions Confirmed

TeamXbox.com has discovered that both the Xbox 360 and Windows PC versions of Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare will get a Limited Collector’s Edition. Activision plans to make the formal announcement tomorrow, but tonight we can confirm that both editions will include a hardcover art book featuring exclusive concepts, never-before-seen imagery and artwork.

Additionally, the Xbox 360 edition will also include a bonus DVD with more than four hours of material that explores the S.A.S. from WWII to the present, and a series of “making of” vignettes highlighting Infinity Ward’s research, technology and story development for the game.

Sonic 2 on Xbox Live Arcade

Bad news everyone; Microsoft wants its points back, and its raking them in on Wednesday with the release of Sonic the Hedgehog 2 on Xbox Live Arcade. We dare you not to buy it.

Arguably (as in we'll fight you in the pub over it) the best in the series, Sonic's second caper is coming in with the usual "enhanced" graphics (i.e. they've made the pixels blurry), online races and leaderboards.

Unfortunately the rankings are still based on points rather than speed, but maybe that's a problem Sega will fix with the inevitable release of Sonic 3 on XBLA.

It's out on Wednesday for 400 points (£3.40). Read all about it on Xbox.com.

Rock Band 360 bundle wired

Harmonix co-founder Alex Rigopulos has revealed that the Xbox 360 retail bundles of Rock Band will all come with wired guitars, while PS3 packs will be wireless.

It's all because it costs more to license wireless technology on Microsoft's console, apparently, which would mean the overall price-tag would end up being too high - although there's still no word on what that figure will be.

"The cost of wireless technology on the Microsoft side is higher, and to be able to offer those bundles at a price point that would be reasonable for consumers it was necessary," said Rigopulos in an OXM podcast.

So, if you want an axe to grind without strings attached, you'll have to stump-up a little more of your hard earned money for a separate guitar or two.

The microphone and drum kit will be wired on all versions, though, so the 360 bundle will come with a USB hub so they can all be plugged in at once.

Xbox Live down all morning

As predicted last week, Xbox Live is down this morning and will remain so until 1pm GMT (or 2pm GMT, if that makes more sense). The down-time is all about scheduled maintenance sadly, so there won't be anything thrilling and new available from this afternoon.

In fact, Microsoft are at pains to point out the routine and mundane nature of the maintenance, Major Nelson speaking on his blog to assure "There will not be a dashboard update waiting for you. This is scheduled maintenance only. After all, we need to get ready for [Halo 3], right?"

We'll keep you posted on all the latest Xbox news, with our all-seeing eye on the look out for word on the 360's Autumn update, which could usher in some changes for us to really sink our teeth into. More soon.

BBC content to hit UK Xbox Live video service?

A report on serious world event blog The Times this weekend said MS was talking to the BBC about getting its shows up on Xbox Live.

Whether this would be for download via the upcoming Video Marketplace or part of the longer-term IPTV plans they didn't really go into, although it'd make a lot of sense to have local stuff available for download when Video Marketplace launches here in a couple of months, rather than old episodes of US shows we've long since watched "on Bittorrent".

Whatever happens, getting top-drawer BBC content like Planet Earth and the rest of the corporation's HD content beamed to our Xbox 360s would be bloody good news. Although it would mean paying for them, instead of today's option of just lying about having a TV license and watching everything for free.

The Simpsons Game Updated Impressions (Xbox 360)

It’s been a fact of life in the game industry: Licensed games are more often than not…well, “teh suck.” It doesn’t matter if they’re titles made from movies, from TV shows or other media properties…they aren’t usually good games. (Let’s not even get into the similar history of movies made from games.)

However, Electronic Arts just showed us the latest version of The Simpsons Game, which is due out sometime this fall, and we’re happy to say that it looks really promising. The potential is there for lots of humorous moments, many of them self-deprecating—with even more if you’re a fan of the TV series and “get” the often-subtle in-jokes scattered around the game’s 16 episodes. But mostly it seems to be a video game that uses the Springfield family as a vehicle to honoring-by-way-of-poking-fun at the game industry.

As was noted in Will Tuttle’s E3 preview a couple of months back, the game is built around the premise that the Simpsons discover that they’ve been licensed to be in a video game and their subsequent discovery of their various game powers against numerous enemies. Through it, you can play as any of the four family members—Homer, Marge, Bart and Lisa—with some Maggie interaction also possible, as she rides on Marge’s back in the game.

Xbox Live to close on Monda

Console manufacturer Microsoft has sent a message to users of its Xbox Live service informing them it will close down on Monday for maintenance work.

The firm said the service will close at 9am on Monday but will be up and running again at around 1pm the same day.

Although Microsoft refused to comment on what the maintenance is for, there is industry speculation that it will involve the annual autumn update.

Rumours also suggest the update will include a parental timer, allowing an adult to pre-program a set amount of time for their youngster to play games before the console shuts down.

Iraq War vets protest America's Army game

America's Army is an interesting product. Used primarily as a public relations and recruiting tool and targeted specifically at the teenage male demographic, the game has been a relative success in the past. This is especially thanks to the fact that it's available for free, though it has made it to retail in the form of an Xbox version and soon an Xbox 360 version. But although America's Army may be just a game, there are some who take it very seriously
Veterans recently banded together in St. Louis at an expo to protest the game. Clad in black shirts and marching uniforms, the group of roughly 90 vets—known as the "Iraq Veterans Against the War"—chanted in unison while standing at attention: "War is not a game!" This isn't the first time that America's Army has been the subject of protest.

One of the protest's figureheads was a 29-year-old woman named Kelly Dougherty, who served as a medic and military police officer under the National Guard. Dougherty and the rest of the protesters were hoping to get the message out that joining the Army had its share of problems, including "increased chances of repeated deployment, extended tours of duty, a call back into war even after a contract expires, and difficulty accessing benefits upon return." The vets worry that unknowing youth will join the Army hoping that war is as "fun" as the game, and thus hope to educate those interested in service.

Videos of the demonstration have made their way onto the Internet. Reactions to the protest were mixed, reports the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, as some in the crowd declared the vets as being unsupportive of their country, while others countered in the vets' defense.

Xbox 360 title Halo 3 blasts past PS3, Wii at retailer

Pre-orders for Microsoft Corp.'s anticipated Halo 3 for the Xbox 360 have blasted past Nintendo Co.'s Wii and Sony Corp.'s Playstation 3 at retailer Amazon.com.The standard $59.99 Halo 3 SKU holds the No. 1 sales rank at Amazon.com, followed by the $69.99 Limited Edition version at No. 3.
The top rankings of the two retail SKUs moved down former top three products, Wii and the 60GB PS3 SKU.
The sold-out Wii on Tues. held a No. 9 sales rank. It held No. 1 sales rank one week prior. The 60GB PS3 SKU on Tues. held a No. 4 sales rank, down from a No. 2 rank one week ago.
Halo 3 is a final chapter in the Halo trilogy that chronicles the war between Master Chief and the Covenant. The previous installment, Halo 2, generated $125 million at U.S. retail in the first 24 hours of release. The franchise has sold more than 14.5 million units to date.
Microsoft in Aug. price cut the Xbox 360 to spur retail sales. The hardware moved 170,000 units in the month of July.

Dead Rising 2 to be shown off at Tokyo Game Show?

We always get a few fun surprises at the Tokyo Games Show, and this year looks to be no different. Latest rumours point towards the sequel to Capcom’s brutal zombie-masher to be given a brief viewing at this years TGS at the end of September.
No denying that Dead Rising was indeed a fun little game. Running around slaughtering thousands of zombies was always going to be a pretty decent premise for an action game, and a chance for another opportunity to chop off a few heads is never one I’m going to pass up on.
It’s also rumoured that Dead Rising 2 might not be an Xbox 360 exclusive this time around, and might be making an appearance on the PS3. Fingers crossed the sequel won’t share the same frustratingly vertical difficulty curve, nor the ridiculous save system.

The Charts: Has Tiger Woods Teed Off BioShock?

Tiger Woods PGA Tour 08 tees off its Charts run this week, but it hasn't driven hard enough to take down the might of BioShock.
Despite a 39% slip in sales following last week's chart debut, BioShock hangs in at Number 1. (To see what's got everyone so moist for BioShock, take a look at SPOnG's review). While it has not been able to snag the top spot away from 2K's wet shooter, Electronic Arts' Tiger Woods title debuts at Number 2, notching up 42% of its sales on the Xbox 360 and 32% on the Wii.
Behind PGA Tour 08 at Number 3 for a third week is Nintendo's Brain Training for the DS, closely followed by Activision's Transformers, which slips from Number 2 to Number 4.
The brain training trend continues at Number 5, with More Brain Training dropping a place from Number 4. Nintendo's brainy offering for the Wii, Big Brain Academy, benefits from increased supply to climb from Number 23 to Number 6.
Ubisoft's Ghost Recon: Advanced Warfighter 2 creeps stealthily up three places from Number 10 to Number 7, followed by EA's Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix at Number 8.
THQ's Stuntman: Ignition crashes recklessly into the Charts at Number 9 for the 360 and PS2. Nintendo's Pokémon: Diamond rounds out the Top 10 after dropping four places from Number 6.
The back end of the Top 20 sees the release of two PC expansion packs, with SEGA's Medieval II: Total War – Kingdoms battling in at Number 16 and NCSoft's Guild Wars: Eye of the North not far behind at Number 18.
Wii Play does the opposite to Big Brain Academy, slipping 21 places from Number 5 to Number 26 thanks to lack of stock.
EA's new intellectual property for the Wii, Boogie, makes a disappointing entry into the Charts at Number 28, just behind another EA release: Madden NFL '08. The American (or as SPOnG likes to refer to it, 'pretend') football game makes its first Chart appearance at Number 27 thanks to the launch of the 360 and Wii versions and some strange members of the public who don't realise that rugby league is the one true sport of England.
Another disappointing Chart debut is Team17's Worms: Open Warfare 2 for the DS and PSP, which only just wriggles into the Charts at Number 38.

Haze not coming to Xbox 360

First it was a multiplatform release, then it became a PS3 timed exclusive. Now it looks like Sony will be notching Haze up as another victory in the mighty cross-format handbag war. According to Gamespot, Ubisoft has recently revealed that the title is currently in development for PS3 only, meaning that the Xbox 360 version and, peculiarly, the PC versions have disappeared.
My first instincts are that Free Radical or Ubisoft (or both) must have received a very decent incentive to drop the other platform versions. Multiplatform games are not only worth more to publishers due to the large install base, but Free Radical already has a lot of experience in making good cross-platform titles, such as the brilliant Time Splitters 2 and slightly underrated Second Sight.
On the other hand, with Haze due out in November, at the same time as other big name shooters like Call of Duty 4 and not too far behind the mighty Halo 3 – which is also offering similar 4 player co-op action – perhaps PS3 exclusivity is the best way for this title to avoid being overlooked…
Could the scale of Halo 3 hype-machine actually be putting off developers from trying to compete? If so, Microsoft’s huge dependency on the Halo franchise could actually back fire as not every gamer is so totally enamoured with Master Chief’s antics as the Redmond Giant would like to believe. Still, even if players do start to turn to the PS3 for variety this is probably only going to be an issue for this Xmas period and there are probably enough Halo fans to see the 360 through.

Game of the Year Nominees

I know it’s a bit early for this since its just September, but the rush of AAA titles has already started hitting the shelves, so I decided to pick out the best bunch of titles which might be strong contenders for the overall Game of the year awards by various sites.

Guys do note most of these have not yet been released so this is only a rough assumption.
1) God of War II (PS2)2) Super Mario Galaxy (Wii)3) Call of duty 4:Modern Warfare (PC, Xbox 360,PS3)4) Uncharted: Drake’s Fortune (PS3)5) Bioshock (PC, Xbox 360)6) CRYSIS (PC)7) Mass Effect (Xbox 360)8) Half Life 2:Orange Box (PC, PS3, Xbox 360)9) Rock Band (PS3, Xbox 360, Wii)10) Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass (DS)11) Assassin’s Creed (PS3, Xbox 360, PC)
I think that about summarizes the list for now. The real contenders for the awards ceremony will only be decided sometime in December. I have tried to be as just as I could with the list, since I have tried to cover all possible genres and consoles within the sphere.

Gears Of War Map Pack Now Free

You might remember the controversy a few months back when Epic released the "Hidden Fronts" Multiplayer map pack for Gears of War. Supposedly Epic wanted the map pack to be a free download while Microsoft wanted to charge money for it. The two sides eventually came to an agreement where Microsoft would charge for the map pack, but only for a limited time.
Well today that map pack is a free download on the XBox Live marketplace. Both Microsoft and Epic kept their word that the map pack would be free as of Sept 3 and gamers you waited should have no trouble downloading. It should be noted that Microsoft has stated that there are no refunds so if you ended up buying the map pack earlier you will not be seeing a refund, unlike what happened with the Rainbow Six maps.
For gamers who haven't downloaded the map pack yet it weighs in at roughly 230.31mb and includes four

THQ Confirms Worms: A Space Oddity For Wii

THQ confirmed a new game for the successful Wii platform. Worms: A Space Oddity, the latest title of the Worms franchise is set to debut in spring 2008 and THQ said the game will have new environmental settings and intuitive controls. Of course the players will use the Wii Remote in order to launch their attacks.
Also, THQ said that Worms: A Space Oddity demonstrates significant visual, technical and design advancement over its predecessors with a new visual style that abandons the traditional drawn approach and replaces it with a distinctive style inspired by classic Sci-Fi looks. Though the company didn’t released any screenshots so it remains to be seen how the new game will look. Also THQ didn’t’ revealed anything about new weapons or other upgrades.
In A Space Oddity the Worms battles take place across six planets, each with its own, unique environments and global events. The players will enjoy the ultimate blend of classic Worms game modes and re-invented single-player missions. The online multiplayer experience pits up to four Worms fiends from all over the world against each other.
The game is developed Team17 Software Ltd out of West Yorkshire, UK , the team who is responsible for Worms franchise since 1995.
Worms: Open Warfare 2 for the Nintendo DS and PSP Worms 2007 for wireless handsets, are scheduled for release this fall.
Meanwhile in other Nintendo Wii-related news, the gaming platform has just become the fastest-selling console in UK. Nintendo Wii has reached 1 million units sold in only 38 weeks. PlayStation 2 needed 50 weeks to reach this target, while Xbox 360 sold 1 million units in UK in 60 weeks.