Most of you know by now that movies and TV shows are coming to Xbox Live Marketplace on November 22nd (just one day shy of the Lost Planetmultiplayer demo!). To promote this momentous occasion, a few trailers have been put up on Marketplace, featuring previews of what you'll be able to download. Yesterday, it was a Paramount Pictures preview, and today it's MTV. Naturally, these videos are there to promote all the high definition content you'll be able to buy starting on Thanksgiving eve. Why then are these videos so damned ugly? The Paramount download wasn't great but it was passable. Now, the MTV video ... well, we've seen higher resolutions on YouTube. Seriously, it's a pixelated mess, like watching something on SEGA CD. What's funny is that we actually grabbed the "HD" version of the video. Let's hope this is a mistake and not an indication of what we can expect from the video Marketplace.
Anyone grab the UFC trailers? Are they any better?
Okay, first thing's first: yesterday's winner is (drum roll) Beezer, for his comment, "Just turn a glass full of water around! Pretty impressive, isn't it ?" That's something pretty fun you can do with physics, I guess .... Anyway, on to day 2 of our fabulous contest. Today's contest is for the ladies (or anyone who wants a woman's shirt anyway). The shirt to be given away is a large women's T-shirt. This one is a lovely sky blue with dark blue collar and sleeve cuffs, and Blitz in the middle. It's oh so attractive and the boys will just love it. So, let's see, we need a contest. Ooh, ooh, I know! RoboBlitz has a catchy hip hop theme song, so let's do something in the spirit of song. To enter today's contest, all you have to do is leave a comment that rhymes. By the way, that means you will have to use at least two whole words. Get rhyming and good luck. Our (random) winner and our next contest will be announced on Monday.
Update: This contest is now closed, to see the winner, click here.
General contest stuff: Only one entry per person. Winners will be contacted via email in order to obtain shipping information. This contest is open to residents of the United States only.
GameTrailers has released a new video of Small Arms, one of the most anticipated games on Xbox Live Arcade. The video shows an entire round of play and gives a great overall impression of what it will be like to play the game. What we love most is how much noise each character makes. We especially like hearing the characters scream when they're on fire. Nice touch, Gastronaut. Now how about actually releasing the game? Let's say, oh, next week? See the video after the break.
The image above contains two screenshots from an online co-op game of Contra. The picture on the left was taken by one player, and the picture on the right was taken by the other ... at the same time. In the words of Wired Game|Life, "XBLA Contra Co-Op Play Is F**ked Up" They're not the only ones who noticed either: IGN seems to be having the same problem. We haven't replicated the problem here at Fanboy Towers, simply because we've been too busy playing Gears to pay for Contra. Has anyone else out there experienced this problem? If you wanted Contra for the online co-op, you may want to wait for Konami to fix this problem before you pay for the full version.
Some of you may recall that I was a little jealous of the RoboBlitz shirt that Naked Sky gave to Gamertag Radio's Godfree. It looks like Naked Sky's Tian Mu (who we interviewed yesterday) was listening, because he sent us not one, not two, but five T-shirts to give away. We have three men's shirts and two just for the ladies. Starting today, we'll give one away every day. What do you have to do to win? Well, we're not sure, but we'll think of something new every day.
Today's T-shirt is a men's large. Bearing a picture of Blitz the robot on the front, and the RoboBlitz title smartly emblazoned on the right sleeve. RoboBlitz is all about physics, so if you'd like to have this shirt as your very own (your preciousssss), all you have to do is tell us something fun you can do with physics. You know, things like kicking a ball, using a lever, or curb stomping a Locust. So, think something up, leave it in the comments, and we'll choose a winner completely at random. If you don't win today, just come back tomorrow. And if you don't win tomorrow ... well, then you'll have to come back Monday, but still, that's an awesome shirt, right? Get to it and good luck.
Update: This contest is now closed, and we are on to Day 2. Check out our new contest here.
General contest stuff: Only one entry per person. Winners will be contacted via email in order to obtain shipping information. This contest is open to residents of the United States only.
The other day a select few Xbox Live users were contacted by Microsoft for a little survey fun. And yes I agree with you, normally surveys are yawn inducing, but this survey was extra special as it revealed new products and ideas Microsoft has been planning. Xbox Live users were asked their opinion on various new products including an arcade joystick, a mini keyboard that connects to your controller, a premium black controller, a web browser, and a rundown of various pricing options for new content and media. I know I'd love to get my hands on that sexy black controller, but which of these new products would you like to see hit retail?
GameTrailers has posted a nice video rundown of the upcoming Video Marketplace (embedded after the break). While we're as excited as the next person about downloading TV shows and movies, we do have one concern. The rep in this video assures us that the prices are not set, and that the prices used on the demo are just placeholders. Still, the prices listed, if accurate, seem a little high. 320 points ($4) for a high definition TV episode is fairly steep considering iTunes episodes usually run for $1.99. Granted, those episodes run in the tiny, tiny window of a video iPod, but we still hope that the Video Marketplace is similarly priced. The video is fuzzy, but the high definition downloads shown looked to take up about 2 gigs of space, whereas standard definition episodes were 0.5 gigs. An hour long TV episode is trimmed down to about 42 minutes when commercials are removed, so that should give us an idea of the amount of space we'll be consuming with TV and movies.
The video Marketplace is visually much more interesting than the regular one we're used to. Each show has a themed storefront, highlighting some aspect of the show. Another neat feature is that users will be able to watch a short sample clip of potential downloads. There clips have no sound, but at least you'll have an idea of what you're purchasing (and maybe we're one step closer to video streaming?). Overall, the Video Marketplace should be an interesting addition to the Xbox 360, and possibly the console wars as a whole. Do you plan on using the Video Marketplace, or are you content just playing games?
We were recently given the opportunity to interview Tian Mu of Naked Sky, developers of the Live Arcade game, RoboBlitz. Chances are you're going to be hearing a lot about this game when it releases on Xbox Live Arcade. RoboBlitz is powered by Unreal Engine 3 (you know, the engine that Gears of War runs on), making it one of the most visually impressive games ever to hit the Arcade. Even more impressive is the fact that RoboBlitz looks fantastic and manages to stay under the 50 MB limit set by Microsoft for Arcade titles. Another standout feature of the game is its use of physics. Everything in the game is based on physics, from environmental objects to character animations. In gameplay terms, this means that almost anything is possible (check out a video demonstration here). Each puzzle can be attacked in different ways, giving users plenty of options and no scripted sequences. Read on to learn more about the world of RoboBlitz.
What did we ever do to deserve this? Halo 3 info is everywhere, Call of Duty 3 on the cheap, movies and TV on Marketplace, Gears of War, and now Contra all in the same week. There's so much stuff that it's actually hard to take it all in. Like staring into the sun, its radiant beauty is simply overwhelming.
Anyway, the point is that Contra is now available. I powered up my 360 this morning just to grab it from XBLA. Lo and behold, it said I'd already downloaded it. It was then that I realized the new Arcade auto-download feature was doing its job. Huzzah! If you thought you died a lot in Gears of War, just see how long you last in Contra. Home to one of the greatest game weapons of all time, the spread gun, Contra is a shooter for the ages. It also helped make co-op gaming one of the greatest experiences in life. If you're old enough to remember the good old days, download this puppy and blast through it with a buddy. It won't take very long, but it's not like you ever would have gotten through the original for under five bucks, so 400 points is a pretty good deal. And even if you don't remember the good old days, you might as well give it a try, right?
Contra -- like other retro titles -- has some control issues. It doesn't seem nearly as responsive as it should. The core gameplay is still there though, and that's what counts. The remixed graphics and music aren't that much of an improvement, but welcome nonetheless. Still, as we said above, the amount of gaming you get for five dollars seems adequate. Has anyone stopped playing Gears (or COD3 or Project 8 or Viva Piñata or ....) long enough to try Contra?
Hot on the heels of the confirmation of downloadable movies and TV shows on Marketplace comes this picture from a recent Microsoft press event. If you look closely, you'll notice that the hard drive has an entire 70 gigs free. In other words, that larger hard drive rumor has surfaced yet again. Given all the recent announcements, it's fairly safe to assume a larger hard drive is coming. It's just a matter of when. We're betting that you won't see these larger hard drives before Christmas. Microsoft might announce them -- especially in the wake of the Video Marketplace -- but we doubt they'll release them. Why not? Because Microsoft wants to sell as many 360 HD DVD players as possible, and a larger HDD plus Video Marketplace is in direct competition with that. Of course, this brings up an interesting quandary: knowing that you'll be able to download HD movies and (probably) get a bigger hard drive, are you still interested in the HD DVD player?
You've been dreaming about it, you've pondered the idea, and come November 22, 2006 it'll be here. Soon you'll have the ability to download HD/SD movies and television shows from the Xbox marketplace for a small fee. Microsoft has partnered with CBS, MTV, TBS, UFC, NASCAR and Warner Bros. to make content available via download off of the XBLM, over 1000 hours of content by the end of the year! Just check out the list below of some of the content you'll have access to this year ... start drooling fellow fanboys!
- "Robot Chicken" and "Aqua Teen Hunger Force" from Adult Swim
- "CSI," "Survivor" and "Star Trek" from CBS
- Emmy and Peabody award-winning "South Park" and "Chappelle's Show" from COMEDY CENTRAL
- "The Real World" and "Pimp My Ride" from MTV
- "Avatar: The Last Airbender" and "SpongeBob SquarePants" from Nickelodeon
- "Skyland" and "The Nicktoons Network Animation Festival" from Nicktoons Network
- "M:i:III," Nacho Libre" and "Jackass: The Movie" from Paramount Pictures
- "Carpocalypse" and "Raising the Roofs" from Spike TV
- "Race Rewind" provided by NASCAR.COM
-Select episodes of the original season of "The Ultimate Fighter" reality series and the "UFC: All Access" shows from the UFC
- "Breaking Bonaduce" and "Hogan Knows Best" from VH1
- "The Matrix," "Superman Returns" and "Batman Forever" from Warner Bros. Home Entertainment
Alongside the press release for Contra hitting XBLA, Microsoft sent another press release outlining a slew of Atari classics heading to Live Arcade next year. The six Atari games to be released are:
Centipede/Millipede
Battlezone
Asteroids/Asteroids Deluxe
Missile Command
Tempest
Warlords
All of the games will feature both original and "evolved" versions. The evolved versions, similar to Konami's offerings, will feature revamped graphics and sound. All games will have leaderboards and achievements, and multiplayer games will have Live support. Surprisingly, many of these games are receiving some pretty impressive new features, including Live Vision support for Battlezone and Warlords. It looks like many of the games will receive three dimensional upgrades instead of simply using high definition sprites, too. Finally, and this is not a joke, Centipede evolved has motion blur. Motion. Blur. In Centipede. If that's not worth $5, we don't know what is.
Also worth mentioning, the press release confirmed that the following titles should hit the Arcade before the end of 2006:
It should be noted that this isn't necessarily all the titles we'll be seeing by year's end (we're looking at you RoboBlitz). Full press release after the break.
A bunch of Family Guy content hit Marketplace just now. No, not content for the mediocre game, content about the good show. The content itself, though, is not so good; luckily, it's free. The theme inexplicably uses an orange background, washing out the beloved Family Guy characters in the background. Why Fox chose not to color the characters is a mystery, too. Now, Family Guy gamer pictures, that's something everybody can get behind, right? The pictures aren't bad, but it's obvious they were rushed. That, or nobody at Fox really gave a crap what they looked like. The pictures look like assets that were re-sized and not optimized in any way, making them pixelated and jagged. The one of Brian (the dog) is alright, and maybe one of the Stewie pics. Unfortunately, not even the trailer is very satisfying, as it's for the DVDs in general and not the upcoming volume 4. Maybe we're just picky, but Fox could have done better with this.
It looks like someone over at Microsoft realized that a new UNO deck doesn't exactly inspire excitement on Xbox Live Arcade Wednesdays, because this week they're getting the word out bright and early. Releasing this Wednesday for 400 points is everyone's favorite old school, alien-blasting shooter, Contra. A side scrolling shooter of the highest order, Contra is one of those games that people have been pining for ever since the Xbox Live Arcade service was announced. Like Frogger, another Konami XBLA release, Contra will feature both original and enhanced graphics and sound. We have to wonder if the enhancements will be an actual improvement or if they will feel as strange as they did in Frogger. The game will also feature Xbox Live and local co-op play, leaderboards, and 12 achievements. What we don't know is whether or not the game will incorporate the Konami code. We realize that the code wasn't actually in the arcade version of Contra but it's the principle of the thing.
So, what do you think fanboys? Is Contra so magnificent that it even overshadows that other game that comes out tomorrow, or is it just another retro title clogging the Arcade?
Nothing like a nice juicy rumor to keep you going through the weekend. This week's rumor is a doozy. Originating on an obscure blog called, ahem, Shsibae, the rumor goes a little something like-a this: Microsoft will soon be offering full-length high definition movies over the 360 Marketplace. Rentals would supposedly cost $4. Buying them outright is a possibility too, though the price is undetermined. The service would launch with over 1000+ hours of available video. For the uninitiated, 1000 hours is a lot of hours.
Now, the idea of downloadable movies on 360 is nothing new. In fact, we've been downloading high def clips ever since the console launched. Still, we've heard rumors of more substantial downloads for a long time. Die-hard 360 fanboys will recall the rumors of a DirecTV blade being added to the dash and another rumor of IPTV support. So, what makes this rumor different? One, Bill Gates thinks digital distribution is the future, even saying that HD DVDs and Blu-Ray will be the last generation of physical media. Two, that mysterious Video Marketplace button that was added in the Fall dash update might be more than we thought.
Of course, there are plenty of reasons why it won't work, with the most obvious being the 360's 20 gig hard drive. 20 gigs just isn't enough space for a collection of HD movies and all game related data. Unless Microsoft was lying when they denied the existence of a 100 gig hard drive, or they have some sort of streaming solution planned, the 360 really isn't the best place to keep your movies.
Still, from a business standpoint, it makes sense. Sony is offering similar services, and Microsoft has been quick to update the 360 in order to compete (1080p anyone?). And there is one more thing that adds credence to this obscure rumor: it's not there anymore. The rumor has been removed from Shsibae. Did MS ask them to take down the news, or did Shsibae know the internet would jump all over it? Only time will tell.
Most of you know by now that movies and TV shows are coming to Xbox Live Marketplace on November 22nd (just one day shy of the Lost Planet multiplayer demo!). To promote this momentous occasion, a few trailers have been put up on Marketplace, featuring previews of what you'll be able to download. Yesterday, it was a Paramount Pictures preview, and today it's MTV. Naturally, these videos are there to promote all the high definition content you'll be able to buy starting on Thanksgiving eve. Why then are these videos so damned ugly? The Paramount download wasn't great but it was passable. Now, the MTV video ... well, we've seen higher resolutions on YouTube. Seriously, it's a pixelated mess, like watching something on SEGA CD. What's funny is that we actually grabbed the "HD" version of the video. Let's hope this is a mistake and not an indication of what we can expect from the video Marketplace.
The other day a select few Xbox Live users were contacted by Microsoft for a little survey fun. And yes I agree with you, normally surveys are yawn inducing, but this survey was extra special as it revealed new products and ideas Microsoft has been planning. Xbox Live users were asked their opinion on various new products including an arcade joystick, a mini keyboard that connects to your controller, a premium black controller, a web browser, and a rundown of various pricing options for new content and media. I know I'd love to get my hands on that sexy black controller, but which of these new products would you like to see hit retail?
GameTrailers has posted a nice video rundown of the upcoming Video Marketplace (embedded after the break). While we're as excited as the next person about downloading TV shows and movies, we do have one concern. The rep in this video assures us that the prices are not set, and that the prices used on the demo are just placeholders. Still, the prices listed, if accurate, seem a little high. 320 points ($4) for a high definition TV episode is fairly steep considering iTunes episodes usually run for $1.99. Granted, those episodes run in the tiny, tiny window of a video iPod, but we still hope that the Video Marketplace is similarly priced. The video is fuzzy, but the high definition downloads shown looked to take up about 2 gigs of space, whereas standard definition episodes were 0.5 gigs. An hour long TV episode is trimmed down to about 42 minutes when commercials are removed, so that should give us an idea of the amount of space we'll be consuming with TV and movies.
What did we ever do to deserve this? Halo 3 info is 
Alongside the press release for 
A bunch of Family Guy content hit Marketplace just now. No, not content for the mediocre game, content about the good show. The content itself, though, is not so good; luckily, it's free. The theme inexplicably uses an orange background, washing out the beloved Family Guy characters in the background. Why Fox chose not to color the characters is a mystery, too. Now, Family Guy gamer pictures, that's something everybody can get behind, right? The pictures aren't bad, but it's obvious they were rushed. That, or nobody at Fox really gave a crap what they looked like. The pictures look like assets that were re-sized and not optimized in any way, making them pixelated and jagged. The one of Brian (the dog) is alright, and maybe one of the Stewie pics. Unfortunately, not even the trailer is very satisfying, as it's for the DVDs in general and not the upcoming volume 4. Maybe we're just picky, but Fox could have done better with this.
It looks like someone over at Microsoft realized that a new 
Nothing like a nice juicy rumor to keep you going through the weekend. This week's rumor is a doozy. Originating on an obscure blog called, ahem, Shsibae, the rumor goes a little something like-a this: Microsoft will soon be offering full-length high definition movies over the 360 Marketplace. Rentals would supposedly cost $4. Buying them outright is a possibility too, though the price is undetermined. The service would launch with over 1000+ hours of available video. For the uninitiated, 1000 hours is a lot of hours.
