The November ‘10 release date lines up with information that’s been making the rounds since the device was first announced, but this is the first time a price has been mentioned.

This information comes from a spy report published by gaming trade mag MCV. The report goes on to say that Microsoft is readying 5 million units to meet the demand when Natal goes on sale November 2010, and that at least 14 game titles are in the works for launch. Publishers committed to Natal-based games include Activision, Bethesda, Capcom, Disney, EA, Ubisoft, and more. And that doesn’t include Microsoft’s own first-party publishers, like Rare, Lionhead, and Epic.

The real news here is that jaw-dropping price tag. When I was at E3 earlier this year, where Natal was first unveiled, the most common speculation was that Natal would be priced at at least $200, if not more. Because Microsoft has made no secret of the fact that it sees Natal as a way of lengthening the life span of the 360, and avoiding a whole new console launch. Now normally I might be inclined to be cynical of MS for trying to “wring more money out of a current-gen console” while its competitors move forward… But in the current economy, a bargain-priced device that transforms your existing console experience into something revolutionary sounds like a pretty darn good idea.

MCV claims that Microsoft wants to make Natal an ultra-affordable “impulse buy” add-on for your 360, and right now, gamers everywhere are on their knees praying that this is true. One of MCV’s sources says the price might even go as low as $50.

Such a move would not be without precedent on Microsoft’s part. Both the first Xbox and the 360 have famously been sold for higher-than-manufacturing-cost prices, out of the gate, because of an intentional strategy from MS to recoup its hardware investment through game sales. And it’s a strategy that’s worked for them.

Whether or not any of this is true remains to be seen, so don’t count it as “fact” yet. In the meantime, Sony’s motion-tracking “want” controller for the PS3 will be launched in Spring 2010 — at least 6 months before Natal. And rumors persist that Nintendo is already at work on a next-gen Wii with heftier processing power.

The console war is far from over.

Image: Microsoft Corporation.

Post from: EveryJoe

Leak details Project Natal launch plans

The article I read about his statement says that the Obama household living in the White House is a Wii family. Was he taking sides? Why didn’t he mention the Wii specifically instead of the Xbox?

Now I’m not saying we should read too much into this. Who really knows why he mentioned Xbox initially instead of the game console he’s familiar with on a personal level. The more I think about it though the more I’m wondering what happens. You think he throws down some Wii bowling to relax from a long day in the Oval Office? Why wouldn’t he?

How do you manage your kid’s time spent on gaming consoles, computers, tv, cellphones, etc.? How are your kids doing with their grades and school activities? Do you find a balance? How do you manage that balance?

Post from: EveryJoe

Obama Supports the Wii-House

It’s not every day you get to say you were present for history in the making. But Microsoft made history on January 1st, 2009, and I was there to see it.

Xbox set the bar insanely high with its 2009 E3 Media Briefing. This multi-million dollar affair was a star-studded venture filled with juicy exclusives, jaw-dropping demos, and revolutionary surprises that just might turn the entire gaming industry on its head. Microsoft stunned the audience with surprise appearances by Steven Spielberg, Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr, and others.

But let’s get right to the big: Microsoft is about to change the way you play games forever with a new piece of hardware it’s codenamed “Project Natal.” Natal is Microsoft’s answer to Nintendo’s motion-sensing technology, but it’s much more than that.

Natal is a set-top box, about the size of a thin DVR player. It has a whole host of state-of-the-art technology inside, including a motion-detecting camera, sensors, audio equipment, and more. When put together with your Xbox 360, Natal transforms you into the ultimate game controller. Not only does it sense full body movement, it recognizes your voice, your face, gesture commands, and more.

I got full video of the entire Project Nadal presentation and it explains the technology far better than I ever could. It features the likes of Steven Spielberg, Fable creator Peter Molyneaux, lots of demos and video, and much more. Prepare to be blown away:

But Natal wasn’t the only major news. The Xbox Live Video Store is being rebranded this fall to “Zune Video,” with tons of new features, including: “instant on” movies and TV shows — no more waiting to download, just click and play; full 1080p HD videos; a partnership with SkyTV is bringing live TV shows to Xbox; and “Live Party” allows you to enjoy a movie or game as a shared experience through a virtual living room where your Avatars can watch and interact with each other. In addition, Microsoft has forged a new partnership with Last.fm to bring Music to Xbox Live.

Social Networking fans have reason to rejoice: both Facebook and Twitter are coming to Xbox Live! Here’s a video that shows you some of the features you can expect, all of which will be launching this fall:

Metal Gear Solid is finally coming to Xbox 360! Hideo Kojima was on hand to help announce that the next game in the MGS franchise is titled Metal Gear Solid: Rising, and it stars MGS secondary character Raiden instead of Solid Snake. There’s no release date yet, but Kojima touted it as “a completely new Metal Gear experience.”

Before all of the big announcements, the conference was first kicked off with a world premiere presentation of The Beatles: Rock Band. Check out the entire demo, trailer, and surprise celebrity appearances in this video:

To recap, 45 of the Beatles’ most popular songs will be playable in-game, and the first 10 of them were announced today: “I Saw Her Standing There,” “I Want To Hold Your Hand,” “I Feel Fine,” “Day Tripper,” “Taxman,” “I Am the Walrus,” “Back in the U.S.S.R.,” “Octopus’s Garden,” “Here Comes the Sun,” and “Get Back.” The entire Abby Road album will be downloadable shortly after the game’s launch, and “All You Need is Love” is an Xbox Live exclusive track whose proceeds go to Doctors Without Borders.

By the way, I’d love to know how much Microsoft paid Yoko Ono and Olivia Harrison to walk out on stage for all of twenty seconds and not say a single word.

Other highlights…

Modern Warfare 2 was demoed for us, showing off an incredible snow mountain level. After ascending precariously amid a blizzard, using ice hooks, the player nearly dies after under-jumping a chasm. The devs then fast-forwarded to a moment later in the level where you’re infiltrating an enemy camp. They engaged in some sneak-and-shoot action using the snow storm as cover. Once a full-out battle broke out, the player tumbled down a hill and was attacked by enemies on snowmobiles. The player took out the driver of one of the vehicles and commandeered it, racing down the mountain, controlling the snowmobile with one hand and shooting enemies with a gun in the other. Two map packs for MW2 are releasing first on Xbox Live after the game’s launch.

Halo 3: ODST, the new spinoff of the popular FPS series, is set in the fictional city of New Mbasa, where you play as an Orbital Drop Shock Trooper who’s separated form his team after a crash landing. Something terrible has happened to New Mbasa, and the story unfolds as you discover clues scattered throughout the city, which trigger flashbacks to other ODSTs that you’ll play as well. Halo 3: ODST arrives September 22nd of this year.

But there was another Halo game unveiled as well, and it’s shrouded in mystery. Halo: Reach, a “top secret project” in development at Bungie was shown only in the form of a teaser trailer (with no game footage). It’s unknown what genre of game Reach is, exactly, but Halo fans know that “Reach” is the name of a planet that played a crucial role in humanity’s war against the Covenant. A purchase of Halo ODST includes an invitation to the multiplayer beta of Halo: Reach. The final game is expected sometime in 2010.

Alan Wake was finally shown again after years of radio silence from its developer, Remedy Games. This is one of my most-anticipated titles of the show, and wouldn’t you know it: my video tape ran out very early in the demo and I was so enthralled by what I was watching on the stage and big screen that I didn’t notice my video not recording until it was over! Doggone it! The incredible demo showed the power of light in the game, from a never-before-seen level. The dark creatures that attack Alan are hurt by his flashlight, and he can use flares and generators to activate larger lights. The demo ended with a profoundly cinematic cliffhanger where a trailer Alan was hiding in was pushed over the side of a cliff by an enormous tractor. The whole thing oozed atmosphere and dread, and I can’t wait to get my hands on it!

Final Fantasy XIII is targeting a Spring 2010 launch. Here’s a video showing off some sweet demo footage:

Gears of War maker Epic Games is working on its first-ever Xbox Live Arcade game, a side-scroller built with Unreal Engine 3 called Shadow Complex. It’ll be out this summer. Here’s a short demo:

Joy Ride is a new social game that uses Avatars in a car-driving experience. Customize your car and then take your Avatar for a spin, a race, an obstacle course, or other destinations. The design is reminiscent of Pixar’s Cars, with lots of red desert rocks and the wide open west. Joy Ride will be free to download and play this winter, but if you want additional cars, upgrades, or race tracks, you’ll have to buy them. Check out the demo:

Tony Hawk put in his annual appearance to talk about Tony Hawk Ride and unveil its unique skateboard-shaped controller:

Splinter Cell Conviction was finally unveiled after years of having fallen off the radar, and it’s clear that it’s undergone a major transformation during that time. It now features a fast-paced narrative with intense, brutal action that’s centered around protagonist Sam Fisher’s vendetta against the people who had his daughter killed. It showed of lots of innovations in gameplay, including a unique in-world projection system for relaying story information, and tons of new moves and abilities for Sam. It’s coming exclusively to Xbox 360 this fall:

Forza Motorsport 3 is sure to please fans of the series and the racing genre in general. Shipping in October, the game features tons of customization options and the ability to record and edit your own video with some wild and crazy results, such as in the demo shown here:

By the way, I counted 5 separate times they referred to Forza 3 as “the definitive racing game of this generation.” Good grief, we get it already.

We were also shown trailers for the next Lips game, Crackdown 2, and Left 4 Dead 2.

The crowd seemed truly stunned by the grand finale with Project Natal. I don’t think anyone was expecting such a revolutionary announcement from Microsoft this year. The Natal hardware is something that could easily have been saved for the next iteration of the Xbox, but Microsoft is releasing it for this generation instead, and if it can deliver on all of the promises made today… the mind reels at the possibilities!

All photos and video by Robin Parrish, except Paul McCartney/Ringo Starr photo by ©2009 Casey Rodgers/AP Images for Xbox. Used by permission.

Post from: EveryJoe

E3 ‘09: Xbox changes gaming forever

Well, I’ll be a monkey’s uncle. On Thursday of last week, TellTale Games announced that not only would we be seeing their new episodic adventure series, Wallace and Gromit’s Grand Adventures, on Xbox Live, but we’ll also be seeing the sensational dog and lagomorph series, Sam and Max on Xbox Live as well. Why only limit the greatness of Sam and Max to the PC? Why not let the ENTIRE Xbox playing world in on their fun little secret?!

So, when these Sam and Max episodes do hit Xbox Live, instead of looking for Sam and Max Season 1 and Season 2, they’ve had a bit of a name change. Season 1 will be called Sam and Max Save the World and season 2 shall be known as Sam and Max Beyond Time and Space. I think naming them this way will get those people who aren’t in the adventure gaming circle to actually check them out and see what they’re all about, which can only be a good thing for the adventure genre.

All I have to say is: Well done TellTale!

[Image courtesy of TellTale Games.]

Post from: EveryJoe

Sam and Max – Available on Xbox Live!

This seems to be the week for Telltale. And why shouldn’t it be? They are pretty freaking awesome. And the news that they’ve brought this week have made this adventure gamer quite happy. According to 1UP, the next adventure in Telltale’s line up Wallace and Gromit’s Grand Adventure will be coming to Xbox Live Arcade!

So, why does this make me happy? They’ve already had games come to the Wii for download. Why not just play it on the Wii?

Because… I love the Xbox so much more than the Wii. It hate filling out the stupid Wii-Credit page to get more Wii Points. The Wii Remote and me are not friends. Using the Xbox controller is so much more Adventuress friendly. Now, I wonder if there’s a way they can get the rest of the their adventure games on the Xbox Live Arcade. I’m sure it’ll take some changes, but I would be so much happier.

Post from: EveryJoe

Wallace and Gromit episodes coming to Xbox Live Arcade!

Okay, that’s a lie, I’m sure. But still – an A+ from 1Up is like a blessing from the heavens above!

The game, which was developed by independent game developer, Jonathan Blow, plays kind of like a Super Mario Brother platformer, except that you can rewind time and do some pretty crazy stuff!

Take a look:

You can check out a demo of the game in the XBox Live Arcade.

Post from: EveryJoe

New Adventure Puzzler: Braid

Back in December, around that time I like to call “Christmas”, I got an XBox 360. Just this week, I was finally able to get the dang thing on my wireless network (those XBox 360 wireless adapters are freakin’ expensive!) and I got to check out XBox Live and look at all the games I could download without having to get off of my butt to rent them!

What I found out is that there are quite a few adventure and other kick ass cool games that you can purchase via XBox Live and I thought I’d share the titles and the prices with you! So, here we go:

• Dreamfall: The Longest Journey – 1200 Microsoft Points: This game is one of the best adventure games I’ve played in a very long time. While I didn’t play it on the XBox 360, I did play the PC version of it and there are a lot of things to this game that are just awesome. In this game, you get to play three different characters who have very different roles in their worlds. If you haven’t played it, this is a definite must. Now, if they can only get The Longest Journey (the first game in this series) out on XBox live, I would be in heaven.
• Indigo Prophecy – 1200 Microsoft Points: This game was… different. A lot of fun, but very different. This isn’t your ordinary adventure game, either, as there are plenty of action sequences that you must complete before you can continue in the game. You get to play as four different characters to figure out why the main character, Lucas Kane, killed someone.
• Psychonauts – 1200 Microsoft Points: This game is by our friends over at Doublefine and it’s a wacky game featuring lots of different worlds that take place in the minds of Raz’s (the main character) friends. If you’re a schizophrenic, then this is totally the game for you. And only is it fun to play, there’s a lot of great humor involved. So, if you like to laugh, buy it!
• Fable – 1200 Microsoft Points: Now, this game isn’t really an adventure at all, unless you call wandering around the wilderness and random towns, choosing the path of good or evil an adventure. It might not be your typical adventure game, but there’s a lot of cool stuff you can do in this game. There are plenty of side quests to keep you busy, plenty of stuff to buy to make your dude look like a freak, or be a super pimp. I mean, what more would you want in a game?
• Sid Meier’s Pirates – 1200 Microsoft Points: This is another non-adventure game, but there are pirates. And I enjoy pirates. I tried to play this game on my laptop, but for some reason my laptop and Sid Meier’s Pirates didn’t want to work peacefully together for very long, causing the game to crash. But, what I did play of it – it seemed like it could be a ton of fun. I mean, there’s pirates!
• Gauntlet – 400 Microsoft Points: Okay, Gauntlet isn’t an adventure AT ALL. But it’s freaking fun to play. And it brings back a lot of memories of kicking ass with my brother from childhood. Ahhh, memories.
• Prince of Persia Classic – 800 Microsoft Points – Who doesn’t like to play a game where you kill people with swords?

So, there you have it. Games you can download off XBox Live that are awesome.

[XBox Live logo courtesy of Microsoft.]

Post from: EveryJoe

XBox Live Adventure Game Downloads!