Tag: Xbox 360

Details on Final Fantasy XIII’s Chocobos

If you’re a Final Fantasy fan, chances are that you love chocobos. These incredibly large avian creatures (that are undoubtedly Big Bird’s ancestors) are an important part of the FF universe. They’ve been used differently in the various FF titles and Shonen Jump has revealed how they’ll be used in Final Fantasy XIII. Andriasang did some translating and learned:

FFXIII Sazh

The FFXIII Chocobos have some helpful abilities. In addition to providing high speed movement through the fields of Pulse, they can jump high, taking you to places you might otherwise be unable to reach. They also have the ability to seek out treasure. When they sense the presence of treasure, you’ll see an exclamation point above their head. The magazine says that this means “it’s your chance” — presumably to dig for treasure, although I don’t think Square Enix has shared details on any sort of treasure digging system.

Your Chocobo has a life gauge, indicated by what looks like a set of feathers on the lower left of the screen. Strike an enemy, and you lose a bit of this life. When the life gauge reaches zero, the Chocobo flees.

The treasure hunting could be a fun little side game. In Dragon Age: Origins, I use my mobari to search for treasure. I imagine FFXIII will use chocobos similarly, though hopefully in a more active fashion. I do hope there’s a way to use black chocobos in XIII. That would totally rule.

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This Week’s Videogame Releases

The sheer number of game releases is dying down, but there are a couple of major titles left before the end of the year. This week’s biggie is Activision’s Modern Warfare 2. Some are predicting that this will be the year’s biggest game. I’m curious to see how “big” it will be, but I’m content to wait until it’s marked down before picking it up. Here are this week’s PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, Nintendo Wii, PlayStation Portable, and Nintendo DS releases…along with some brief commentary. I’ve taken out most of the garbage and kids games (unless I found them funny). As always, let me know if you’re planning to buy any of this week’s new releases.

Modern Warfare 2

Xbox 360
 Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 — I’m still not sure why this game is as big as it is, but cheers to everyone that’s looking forward to it.
Chaotic: Shadow Warriros
Dragon Ball: Raging Blast — Dragon Ball games should have a screaming mode, where you scream for 20 minutes before unleashing an attack. It would be like 1/3 of the DBZ episodes.
Final Fantasy XI Ultimate Collection
Hasbro Family Game Night — Mr. Potato Head is a mofo.

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Bonus Rounds (Car Smashing) Return in Super Street Fighter IV

Super Street Fighter IV bonus round

Capcom community ace and fighting game guru Seth Killian has revealed that bonus rounds will return in the upcoming Super Street Fighter. The man known at S-kill said:

Yep, bonus stage action is back in Super Street Fighter IV. Innocently parked cars, we’re officially putting you on notice to watch your backs.

This is awesome. I’m totally down with dragon punching cars again. Hopefully there are some new stages to spruce things up too. Hmmm, maybe Capcom can do some crossover and have the world warriors beat up some Monster Hunter critters in a speed challenge….

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Mass Effect 2 Collector’s Edition Detailed

Mass Effect 2 Collectors Edition

Electronic Arts has announced details on the $69.99 Mass Effect 2 Collector’s Edition. Today’s press release stated:

Available on January 26 in North America (Jan 29 in EU) alongside the standard edition, the Collectors’ Edition of Mass Effect 2 comes in a premium, tin case and includes the full version of the game, a 48-page hardcover “Art of Mass Effect 2” book, Issue 1 of the Mass Effect Redemption comic book, and a bonus DVD with behind-the-scenes and making-of videos. In addition, the Mass Effect 2 Collectors’ Edition will include unique in-game weapons and armor that can only be obtained by purchasing this version.

I’m pretty sure I’ll still be playing Dragon Age: Origins when ME2 comes out, but I’ll be sure to get this game (and really, anything that BioWare puts out). How about you? Collector’s or plain vanilla?

Tekken 6 Runs Faster on Xbox 360 Than PlayStation 3

Tekken 6

Gamers that are still deciding which version of Tekken 6 to pick up might want to consider Gemaga’s recent test on comparative load times. Kotaku did some handy translating and discovered that the game loads faster on Xbox 360:

According to Gemaga, it takes over thirty seconds (33 seconds, to be exact) to change a character and change a stage running the actual game disc on the PS3, compared with the 11 seconds it takes to start a fight on the Xbox 360 using the game disc.

If you’re serious about fighting games, there’s a lot to consider. If you’re playing on a pad then PS3 is the way to go. If you have sticks for both systems, 1/3 the load time makes the 360 version awfully appealing. It’s interesting that the difference is so substantial. What do you guys and gals think?

Source via Kotaku

Modern Warfare 2 to be Biggest Launch in GameStop History

Modern Warfare 2

Everyone knows that Modern Warfare 2 is going to be huge — certainly one of the biggest games of 2009 — but according to GameStop, it will be the biggest title of the year and the biggest launch in company history. GameStop merchandising and marketing EVP Tony Bartel told Gamasutra:

By all indicators, we anticipate Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 will be the biggest entertainment launch of 2009, as well as the biggest video game launch in GameStop’s history.

I’m a little surprised by this. Maybe I underestimated the game due to a lack of interest, but I definitely wasn’t expecting it to be GameStop’s biggest launch ever. Will Modern Warfare 2 really be bigger for the company than Halo or Grand Theft Auto?

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Follow Dark Void on Twitter, Win Jay-Z Tickets

Jay-Z

If you like Jay-Z, Twitter, and Dark Void then you definitely want to get crackin’ on Capcom’s latest promotion. The company has a chance for you to catch Jay-Z in concert this weekend. All you have to do is follow Dark Void’s Twitter page. Here are the official deets:

We scored tickets to the highly coveted Jay-Z concert, featuring N.E.R.D., Wale and J. Cole, at Pauley Pavilion on the UCLA campus for this Sunday November 8, 2009, beginning at 6:30PM. So, what does this mean for the Dark Void Community? Well, we’re offering this pair to one lucky Community member!

We’re hosting the contest on our official Twitter page: http://twitter.com/DarkVoidGame. To enter, all you need to do is follow our profile and re-tweet the following message:

“I wanna take @[Twitter Friend] to Jay-Z in LA! Make me a winner @DarkVoidGame. Rules: http://tinyurl.com/JayZinLA”

If you enter, feel free to take me with you. Ha! My Twitter page is here. Jay-Z would be fun, but I’d love to see N.E.R.D.

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Major Nelson Speaks on Banning Pirates From Xbox Live

Pirates

Microsoft’s Major Nelson addressed the issue of banning software pirates from Xbox Live in a recent blog post. The man also known as Larry the Marketing Guy said:

The health of the video game business depends on customers paying for the genuine products and services they receive from manufacturers, retailers, and the third parties that support them. This would also be a good time to remind you that the warranty on an Xbox 360 console is not transferrable and if you purchase a used console that has been previously banned, you will not be able to connect to Xbox Live.

While I have no problem with what Microsoft is doing and I agree with most of that Larry said, it still bugs me that console games in third-world countries have Western prices. Having lived in a third-world country for most of 2006, I was surprised to see that most games cost the equivalent of $50 to $60 while people were making $150 a month. For a lot of people, piracy was the only reasonable way to go.

My little rant aside, what do you think of Microsoft banning pirates from Xbox Live?

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Gamers Defecting From Xbox 360 to PlayStation 3 for Sequels?

Assassins Creed 2

According to research firm OTX, a lot of gamers are planning to buy sequels (Assassin’s Creed 2 and Modern Warfare 2, in particular) on the PlayStation 3 for games that they original played on the Xbox 360. Gamasutra has reported:

New data provided to Gamasutra by OTX’s GamePlan Insights finds that many sequel-buyers might be switching platforms, defecting from Xbox 360 to PlayStation 3 for more than one major release.

“The PS3 seems poised to shift the ratio of Xbox 360 to PS3 sales for most major multi-platform releases in its favor among dual owners,” [analyst Nick] Williams tells us.

This is an interesting trend that I’ve been noticing with some friends. A lot of my gamer pals that are new to the PS3 — mostly players that purchased a PS3 Slim — are buying multiplatform games for their Sony system, simply to build up their libraries. Does this apply to any of you?

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