A new Non-Stealth version of the Benq iXtreme firmware has been released, curtosy of C4E:

Via [ XboxHacker ]

It looks like Xbox 360's rumored Wiimote "Motion Controller" might actually serve a unique purpose after all (if it ever surfaces).  According to Kotaku, the next Dashboard Update may be sporting a Minority Report esque optional 3D interface.  Allegedly, the "motion controls will allow users to sort of slide through the different levels of this floating menu system".  This definitely has some potential, but heres to hoping Microsoft wont require you to have the motion controller to use it.  Lord knows I've had enough of them and their "add-ons"...

Via [ Kotaku ]

Team XLink has just released a new version of XLink Kai, a program that allows you to play System Link and Ad Hoc games globally over the internet.  The best thing is, its absolutely free!

Via [ Team XLink ]

There's been yet another update to this story by way of The Hollywood Reporter.  Looks like the price has once again been confirmed by an anonymous, but "major" retailer.

Quote:

Microsoft will cut the price of its most popular Xbox 360 model, the 20GB Pro, by $50 to $299 in the coming weeks, game industry sources have confirmed.

Microsoft would not comment, but a major retailer, which requested anonymity, said the price move will come before the major video game trade show, E3, which runs July 15-17 in Los Angeles.

Microsoft last cut the price of the Xbox 360 Pro -- from $399 to $349 -- in August, in many ways setting the stage for the huge successful rollout of "Halo 3" the following month.

It's been a long time since the last update, but XBPartitioner, hard drive partitioner and formatter for the original xbox, has now been updated to v1.1.  Check out the changelog below:

Quote:

---

Version 1.1 - 30/05/2008

Update by Bomb Bloke (see end of document for my moment on the soapbox).
Cluster size update correction.

Automatically uses 64k clusters when formatting ] 512GB partitions,
128k clusters when formatting ] 1TB partitions, and so forth.

(New system does not allow for users to 'toggle' cluster size via Y button).
Switched display of megabytes to equal 1,048,576 bytes (1024^2).

Extended partitions are now displayed in gigabytes.

---

Download: N/A (Built with XDK)

Via [ xbins ]

The first details are emerging about Rock Band 2, and it looks like EA and Harmonix are doing a lot of things right with the sequel. This proves to be a welcomed change of pace from some of EA's other franchises (*cough*, *cough*, Madden).  It looks the game will be hitting the 360 this September, followed by the Wii, PS3, and PS2 versions "later in the year".

Quote:

---

1. Better Hardware
According to Harmonix: "Quieter, more realistic, and more reliable instruments..."

2. Third Party Hardware
"We're also actively welcoming new peripheral makers to make instruments for our game. Just like real instruments, we want players to be able to choose what instruments they use..."

3. Backwards Compatibility
Songs you purchased for Rock Band will work for Rock Band 2. Future Rock Band songs will work for both games.

4. More Meaning
"We have several new modes that not only provide new ways for you to experience your music library, but also new ways for you to transition from Expert to real instruments..."

---

 
Backwards compatibility is a huge plus, and to me a definite advantage over Guitar Hero IV. It's good to finally see the songs I buy not become a complete waste when I sell the old game to buy the sequel (I'm looking at you, Guitar Hero II). Plus, with the "quieter, more realistic, and reliable instruments" (read: We added a sunburst to the guitar.), I may actually spend more time playing my drums/guitar, and less time sending them in for repair. I'm sold.

Really though, more meaning? If Harmonix ever really wants to create a true parallel between the Rock Band guitar and the real guitar, they're gonna need a bit more than five buttons. But hey, I'll give them the benefit of the doubt with the "transition from Expert to real instruments..." thing. They did a pretty damn good job making the guitar look "real" this time around, so I suppose anything is possible.

VALVE Marketing executive, Doug Lombardi, has announced that there will be no new Half Life episode for this upcoming E3.  Instead, he mentioned that the corporation will be focusing on the new release of Left 4 Dead.

He has promised to make a playable demo available of E3 however.  A moajor dev for VALVE, Gabe Newell, has stated that Left 4 Dead will be a co-op FPS along the lines of Counter-Strike.

keep you eyes peeled for more info on this new game.

*** Update Features ***

New Ranks
An additional 99 Elite Ranks have been added for bragging rights. For those of you who are already Elite, you may have noticed that your XP continued to accumulate while playing. Once you have the update, your XP will automatically be applied towards the new Elite ranks, so it is possible that you have already ranked up multiple times past Elite.

New A.C.E.S.
A total of 100 A.C.E.S. are available for each category: Marksman, CQB and Assault. Each A.C.E.S. level past 20 will reward you with 5000 XP that applies to your rank. For players who have already reached A.C.E.S. 20 and continued to collect A.C.E.S. points, you will be happy to know that the update will automatically advance you to the level you have earned. For example, if you have enough A.C.E.S. points to reach Marksman 25, you will automatically be at Marksman 25 and earn 25000 (5000 x 5) towards your next Rank.

Grenade Indicator
When you are within the damage radius of a Frag or Incendiary grenade, an indicator will appear on-screen telling you which direction it is. The indicator can show multiple grenades at once.

Weapons & Gadgets Balancing
Here are a couple of notes about Weapons and Gadgets:
• Explosion delay of the incendiary grenade has been increased
• Detonation speed of the C4 has been slightly increased
• Increased the damage of Sniper Rifles at long range
• Increased the base accuracy of the Light Machine Guns
• Adjusted the rate of fire for some of the Assault Rifles, Shotguns and an SMG
• Sped up the time it takes to zoom in & out with weapons, making it more responsive

To better clarify: the zoom for all firearms have been significantly sped-up and you can now fire DURING the zoom transition.

Respawns in Team Deathmatch – Host Option
An added host option has been added for Random Respawns. Random Respawns OFF will play like the classic Versus style where each team spawns in their designated Alpha or Bravo base. Random Respawns ON will have your players spawn randomly throughout the map after they die the first time.

Voice Chat – Host Option
Added as a host option for Player Match & System Link, players now have the option to talk to their team mates while dead.

Score in Deathmatch
Displayed on the bottom left of the HUD in Deathmatch, players can now see their score along with the top opponent’s score.

Team Leader - Spawn Change
Players now respawn next to the leader by default, unless players specifically choose to spawn back at the base.

Show Dead Players in Lobby
Players who no longer have lives remaining will now have a skull icon displayed next to their name in the pause menu.

Terrorist Hunt Spawning
Terrorists will no longer spawn right in front of you or behind you, or in a room you just cleared.

* * * * *

High Stakes Setting
High Stakes is a host option for every Versus mode that really pushes tactical gameplay to the next level. Here’s a detailed description of High Stakes:

Limited HUD (High Stakes)
The Radar is disabled. Enemies will not be visible on the Tactical Map (back button on 360/select button on PS3). Grenade indicator is disabled.

Health System (High Stakes)
Health regen is disabled. If you are shot and close to death, you’ll enter a visual state of critical health (screen turns monochromatic).

Cover System (High Stakes)
The cover system as been changed in High-Stakes mode to encourage players to peek instead of pop-n-shoot. The camera has been moved so your character cannot look past their cover unless they expose themselves around a corner.

Weapons & Gadgets (High Stakes)
Aim Assistance has been completely disabled. Bullet spread has also been increased when not zoomed-in (you will notice your crosshair indicators are much wider when not in zoom). Realistically, a person holding a gun would have better aim when zoomed-in than when he’s walking around. This encourages players to really take aim instead of run-n-gun. Also remember that the zoom time has been sped-up and you can now fire WHILE you zoom in and out. Players now have less ammunition (1 for each gadget you choose and less clips for your guns) so you really need to play conservatively and rely on precision use of ammo.

Kill Camera & Friendly Fire (High Stakes)
Kill Camera is always disabled and Friendly fire is always enabled.

*** DLC ***

THREE FREE MAPS
There are three maps included in the free DLC: Murdertown – Dark, CQB Training – Dark and best of all the much-requested fan favourite Calypso Casino! The three map layouts have not been changed. The re-lit “Dark maps” have a very eerie atmosphere, and may require players to use night vision to spot enemies. Calypso Casino returns with updated lighting and textures. The three maps are playable in all Versus modes and Terrorist Hunt.

source: http://rainbowsixgame.us.ubi.com

This would probably qualify as "old news", but with the recent release of Guitar Hero: Aerosmith, I figured I'd refresh this leak of sorts regarding the next band to get Activition's exclusive treatment.  Plus, being a big Metallica fan myself, I kinda felt obligated...

 An Activision filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission contains confirmation that the company is planning to release a Metallica version of the massively popular Guitar Hero game in early 2009, ending months of speculation about which band would be featured next.

Gaming sites are already abuzz with the news, but it was actually uncovered by a somewhat unlikely character: Edward Woo, a securities analyst for Wedbush Morgan Securities. The sentence he unearthed reads, "In fiscal 2009, we plan to publish Guitar Hero: On Tour for the NDS; Guitar Hero: Aerosmith, Guitar Hero: Metallica, and Guitar Hero IV across multiple platforms."

The Aerosmith version of the game had already been announced, but this is marks the first time Activision has confirmed -- however unintentionally -- that Metallica will be the next band to receive the full-on Guitar Hero treatment.

Metallica's blazing riffs make them a natural fit for the game, and the group has shown a newfound willingness to leverage the internet. Hetfield, Ulrich and co. launched a Mission: Metallica site to reach out to fans and draw them in with free pre-release audio clips and in-studio video footage.

However, Mission: Metallica faced a major backlash from fans who called its effort "too little too late" and said they would buy the next Metallica album just in order to share it online.

Some fans of the band came to its defense; they may have to do so again if Guitar Hero: Metallica elicits a similar reaction when it's released (before the end of March 2009, according to the filing).

If I were Lars Ulrich, I'd tell Activision to add a tongue-in-cheek mission to Guitar Hero: Metallica in which the band slowly progresses from fighting the internet to realizing that it represents a way forward. Maybe at the end of the mission, the band could release a videogame similar to this one.

One way or the other, Metallica (and, by extension, Activision), need to address the continuing PR problem that began when Ulrich rode the elevator to Napster's headquarters with those printouts of Metallica-sharing Napster users.

A friend of mine was in that elevator at the time, and he said the mood was pretty tense; maybe it's time for Metallica to exorcise the Napster demon by acknowledging the problem, poking a bit of fun at itself and dissolving that tension once and for all.

Via [ WIRED ]

Looks like rumors have resurfaced about Microsoft liscensing out the actual Xbox 360 console to third party companies.  If this is the case, it could make for a lot of interesting possibilities...

What would be the point to this? Kotaku points out that previous game systems like a Panasonic Q, which was the GameCube + DVD player, served to help bring in software money, but lower development costs for Nintendo because they don't have to spend effort making new hardware. In Microsoft's case, imagine what would happen if a company built an Xbox 360 with a Blu-ray drive. Eh?

[ Gizmodo ] Via [ EGM ]

In the newest issue of the United Kingdom gaming mag “GamesTM”, a dude called videogamer247 shed some light on the upcoming Call of Duty game.  It is now officially known as Call of Duty: World at War.  For this installment, the game will take you back to World War II.

For the first time ever, the game will include a co-op campaign and vehicles and squad-based elements in multiplayer mode.

It is also confirmed that COD5 will be making it way to the Wii as well as the PS3, XBOX 360, and PC.

It is said that it will be run under the same COD 4 engine, but under different teams.  This is mainly due to the fact that the Wii copy will include compatibility to the Wii zapper and other exclusive peripherals. 

To give you guys a gist of the intensity of the game, here is a quote from videogamer247:

      “The opening scene of the first level we are shown is a Japanese commander stubbing a cigarette out in the eye of a         prisoner before slitting his throat - the blood splatters and dribbles down the side of the tent you are being held in.   He turns towards you to deal out the same treatment but help arrives just in time. Cue a daring level-long escape.”

As of now, however, there has been no release date announced.

Well we are back! Thanks to MonkeyMaximus (I bother that man constantly for you members) the news maker is back up. Over the past week or so when we tried to post some news it would give a file permission error. Now it is fixed

so expect some updates on all of your favorite consoles.

BKF/ Staff 06-13-2008

The National Purchase Diary released their monthly sales report, with only 1,969,800 next generation consoles sold. The Nintendo Wii was in first at 714,000 sales, 36% of all sales that month. Nintendo DS sold 414,800, and the PSP sold 192,700. The Xbox 360 was fourth place this time, at 188,000. The PS3 ranked fifth with only 187,100, very much less than expected. Though many estimates for sales were off by large numbers, it was a good month for Nintendo and the Wii.

[source: qj.net]

Well we all know one time or another we have had to call that dang customer service. It is a dreaded feeling calling and listing to the machine try to help you. 

Jason at Doombot has developed a process for reaching intelligent life at XBOX customer service. He discovered this easy 4-step procedure thanks to a XBOX 360 that enjoys not reading discs.

1. Call 1-800-4-MY-XBOX.
2. Get a reference number for your problem as quickly as possible. You may need to say "I already did that" when they try to make you do the troubleshooting script, just to expedite the process.
3. Hang up and call the escalated support number, 866-506-3826.
4. Talk to someone who knows what they're doing. 

I know companies make these machines so they don't have to spend as much money... but can you make them a little smarter?