Upcoming Xbox Live Marketplace Goodies

Microsoft marketing tool Major Nelson has posted a bunch of upcoming Xbox Live Marketplace goodies that are hitting the service between now and early February. Check ’em out:

Xbox Live Deal of the Week:
Feb. 1: Splosion Man, 400 Microsoft Points

Xbox Live Games on Demand:
Jan. 26: Dead Rising and Halo Wars
Feb. 2: Medal of Honor: Airborne

Xbox Live Arcade:
Jan. 27: KrissX, 800 Microsoft Points
Feb. 3: Chime, 400 Microsoft Points

Xbox Avatars Marketplace:
Jan. 28: Assassin’s Creed
Feb. 4 : Valentine’s Day and Carnival collections

Game Add-Ons:
Jan. 27: Pinball FX Excalibur Table, 240 Microsoft Points
Jan. 28: Assassin’s Creed II: Battle of Forli, 320 Microsoft Points
Feb. 2: Halo 3 Mythic 2 Map Pack, 800 Microsoft Points

Anything on the list interest you?

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Portal: Still Alive is the Xbox Live Deal of the Week

Microsoft’s Xbox Live Deal of the Week is Portal: Still Alive for 800 Microsoft Points. Originally part of The Orange Box, Portal received a ton of critical hype and all of it was deserved. Blending puzzles, action, and great storytelling, Portal wasn’t what I was expecting at all (and I mean that in the best way possible). If you haven’t played this game, I highly recommend it. It’s unique, fresh, and inventive — just an amazing experience.

The good news is that it’s on sale for $10. The bad news is that it might be a better deal to just buy The Orange Box for less than $20.

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Heavy Rain “Four Days” Online Game Details

Can’t wait for Heavy Rain for Sony PlayStation 3? I’m sure a lot of you are in that boat (me too!). To help market the game and add some hype, Sony has launched the Heavy Rain: Four Days online game to help tide you over until its release. Sony Computer Entertainment of America product marketing manager Jefferson Dong (aka “The Donger”) served up some details on Four Days Challenge:

You can experience “Four Days”: The Heavy Rain Online Experience, a live online mystery that plays out in real time across three weeks, drawing you into the mystery and lore of the Heavy Rain universe. Between Tuesday and Friday every week there will be daily tasks for you to complete (leaving you the weekend to catch up if you fall behind). Each task will lead you to the next part of the journey. At certain key stages you will be prompted, while on other occasions you will need to deduce the right thing to do.

I like that publishers are using online games to create excitement for console games. EA and BioWare did a fine job with Dragon Age: Journeys, though that title offered items that could be imported into the main game. With the wizardry of HTML 5, I’m sure these online games will get even cooler in the future.

Any of you going to give Four Days a spin?

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Coffee Talk #73: Are You Single Player or Multiplayer?

Welcome to Coffee Talk! Let’s start off the day by discussing whatever is on your (nerd chic) mind. Every morning I’ll kick off a discussion and I’m counting on you to participate in it. If you’re not feelin’ my topic, feel free to start a chat with your fellow readers and see where it takes you. Whether you’re talking about videogames, tomorrow’s potentially huge Apple press conference, this excellent “Pants on the Ground” cover, or if Shawn Michaels will end The Undertaker’s streak at WrestleMania, Coffee Talk is the place to do it.

As I mentioned yesterday, MAG is available for Sony’s PlayStation 3 console. A lot of people are into the game simply because it supports 256 players. It’s a notable achievement, for sure, but for the most part it doesn’t interest me. For me, playing is a game is similar to watching a movie — it’s something that I enjoy by myself.

Certainly there are exceptions and I’ve definitely played my share of competitive multiplayer games. I went through a pretty big Quake/Unreal phase and I did have an EverQuest addiction at one point. I definitely enjoy playing cooperative games with a friend too. However, at the end of the day I love story-driven single-player games. When I watch movies at home or in the theaters, I pretty much shut everyone out. When I read comic books, it’s all about me getting absorbed into another world. This is my preference for gaming too.

How about you ladies and gents? Do you prefer multiplayer titles or single-player ones? Are games a solitary experience for you? Or do you enjoy sharing the excitement with a group of friends and strangers? I want to know what you’re thinking (pure energy)!

MLB 10: The Show Pre-Order Bonus: Free Classic Stadiums

Sony Computer Entertainment of America product marketing manager Chris Munson announced that gamers that pre-order MLB 10: The Show will receive a free voucher for six classic baseball stadiums that can be used in the game. The ballparks include:

  • The Polo Grounds (New York Mets)
  • Shibe Park (Philadelphia Phillies)
  • Forbes Field (Pittsburgh Pirates)
  • Crosley Field (Cincinnati Reds)
  • Sportsman’s Park (St. Louis Browns, St. Louis Cardinals)
  • Griffith Stadium (Washington Senators)

As a longtime baseball fan, I love this perk. I probably would have paid for the parks as DLC. Getting them for free is a great incentive to pre-order.

On a side note, the inclusion of The Polo Grounds reminded me of RPadholic and excellent pal @jpkmets. I’m sure he’d love to play on the old field.

Okay baseball fans, does this pre-order bonus make you want to drop money on a game sooner rather than later?

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PadCast: The One with SwitchGames’ Jason Crawford

Today’s RPad.tv “PadCast” features SwitchGames founder Jason Crawford. In addition to getting an update on Crawford’s burgeoning peer-to-peer game-trading service and community, we…kind of go all over the place. Things start off with an update on SwitchGames and move on to your excellent questions, where Crawford reveals how digital distribution will affect his business. From there we chat about the Apple tablet, what James Cameron and Rivers Cuomo have in common, Batman: Arkham Asylum, and more!

It’s long, but I think it’s a fun and informative conversation. As always, huge props to N8R for putting the video together. Please check it out and let me know what you think (please)!

This Week’s Videogame Releases

It’s not big week in terms of the number of games coming out, but it’s frickin’ huge for enthusiast gamers! On Xbox 360 there’s BioWare’s Mass Effect 2, which a bunch of you were looking forward to. The PlayStation 3 has MAG, if you’re interested in getting your multiplayer groove on in mind-shattering numbers. Wii fans have Tatsunoko VS. Capcom: Ultimate All-Stars and No More Heroes 2 to look forward to. As for the handheld systems? I didn’t notice anything worth mentioning or making fun of.

Are you buying any of these games this week? (If so, feel free to use those handy Amazon links above! *wink* *wink* *nudge* *nudge*)

Google Giving Away Phones at GDC 2010 to Spur Development

Think Services has announced that “qualifying developers” that register for Game Developers Conference 2010 will receive a pair of Google Android phones: the Google Nexus One and the Motorola Droid. It’s a smart move by Google; its Android Marketplace lacks quality games and its competitors are making aggressive moves in the gaming space. Thousands of companies are trying to cash in on the installed base of Apple’s iPhone OS, while Palm recently released development tools that make porting games to its WebOS operating system (Palm Pre, Palm Pixi) much easier.

Now if I can just convince one of my development friends to register me as a designer so I don’t have to pay $529 for a Nexus One….

Coffee Talk #72: What Game Remakes Do You Dream Of?

Welcome to Coffee Talk! Let’s start off the day by discussing whatever is on your (nerd chic) mind. Every morning I’ll kick off a discussion and I’m counting on you to participate in it. If you’re not feelin’ my topic, feel free to start a chat with your fellow readers and see where it takes you. Whether you’re talking about videogames, your pick for the Superbowl, the huge infrastructure gap between AT&T and Verizon, or whether Allen Iverson deserves to be in the NBA All-Star game, Coffee Talk is the place to do it.

Tetsuya Nomura’s comments on the rumored Final Fantasy VII remake added fuel to the fire of a story that’s never going to die. Millions of gamers want it. Square Enix would be stupid not to do it. All three console manufacturers would love it on their system. People are going to keep speculating on a new FFVII until it’s finally made. The whole thing made me wonder about the games you want to see remade.

As for me, FFVII is on the top of my list, but not for the reasons most people want it. Although I enjoy the world now that it was fleshed out by Advent Children and Crisis Core, I still don’t think VII is one of the best Final Fantasy games. It’s arguably the most important, but I had more fun with IV, V, VI, and X. I want the game to be remade because the videogame world will go absolutely apesh|t for it. It’ll be huge! I’ll have loads of fun writing about it and discussing it with y’all. While I’d certainly be interested in playing a remade and improved version of FFVII, I’m far more interested in the game for the chaos and excitement it would cause.

Today I wanted to see what games you wanted remade. Any blasts from the past that you want modernized? Maybe it’s a game that fell short at the time but would excel with current technology. Leave a comment and let me know (please)!

Final Fantasy XIII Special Edition Details

UK retailer Play has revealed details on the Final Fantasy XIII special edition. (Be sure to hit the break for a photo of all the goodies!) The limited edition package will include:

  • Special fliptop packaging
  • Final Fantasy XIII Original Sound Selection — Soundtrack CD including a selection of music tracks from the game that are especially chosen for this Limited Collector’s Edition by composer Masashi Hamauzu. The CD is presented inside a slipcase featuring artwork from Final Fantasy XIII, and also liner notes that are written by the composer.
  • ‘The World of Final Fantasy XIII‘ — Hardback book featuring character artwork, CG rendered artwork and environments from across the game production.
  • Exclusive Art Prints — 3 highly collectable art prints showing artwork of the Eidolons, powerful summoned allies of the lead playable characters in Final Fantasy XIII.
  • Unique ‘Brand of the l’Cie’ decal — Collectable decal featuring this most iconic symbol from the game storyline.

Remember, this is for the PAL version of the game. The North American version could be different.

For those of you buying the game, are you going to buy the special edition or go plain vanilla?

Source via OXCGN