Fall Xbox 360 dashboard update revealed: download Halo December 2

by Scott Jon Siegel on Nov 13th 2007 5:55AM

Official Xbox Magazine has the scoop on the Fall Xbox 360 dashboard update, and you better believe it's a doozy. UK-based CVG reports that the December 2 update will allow 360 owners to download and play Microsoft-published Xbox 1 games on their 360s.

Let's say that one more time: come December 2, you will be able to download full, original Xbox games to the Xbox 360. The initial list of available games includes Fable, Indigo Prophecy, Crimson Skies: High Road To Revenge, Crash Bandicoot: The Wrath Of Cortex, Burnout 3, and, of course, Halo: Combat Evolved.

Games will cost approximately 1200 Microsoft Points, or $15 USD. Microsoft plans on re-releasing as many Xbox 1 titles as possible through Marketplace. Look out, Virtual Console.

Update: The CVG source has been removed, but Eurogamer has posted a similar report, dating the update for December 4th.

Source

Reader Comments (147)

Okay people.

1. YOu don't have to use it if you don't want to. You can still drive out to a gaming store and pick up the game if you want to.

2. You are paying for convenience. It's the same reason why Nintendo's vc is a bit inflated, you are paying for the ability to buy something without leaving your home and have it downloaded straight to your console.

Now for people who missed the xbox boat or just want to dl some games that they may have missed out, this is a damn fine good thing that Microsoft is doing.

I sense an increase in Crimson Skies multiplayer on Live coming.

Which makes me wonder - will Live play be included in Halo? People jumped through hoops to play it online (GameSpy Tunnel, anyone?)

i want kotor 1 on that list, pretty sure M$ published that didn't they?

No. LucasArts published KOTOR and KOTOR2.

damn, well here's hoping they get permission to do it anyway :(

You can buy a lot of these games used at gamestop for 5-10$ and you have the disk/manual/case, so I won't need that.

yeah probably for the shitty games. But the popular games, such as Halo 1 and Kotor are still $15, so the price is reasonable.

It's a good idea. I have all the good Xbox games anyway on disc. While yes this may make it more convienient. I have a feeling it's for those customers who never adopted a Xbox. So it's a pretty smart move. I have to say without a question of doubt, the Marketplace is one of the coolest things about the 360.

Interesting, but as far as games, i'd still prefer a physical medium, so they need to do something to the game to make it worth paying for. One thing, is adding live support to Halo. A lot of you bring up a point about space. Well, not ever game maxes out the entire DVD, some could fit on a CD for "backup" purposes.

Well let's just hope that Marvel vs. Capcom 2 is on the list and it has online vs.

Please.

This is all we get? A way to give Microsoft money for games we already own? Lame...the only word is lame.

If you are paying to download a game which you already have the disc for, then actually, it is you who are lame. And stupid. And really really fucking lazy.

GameStop and EBGames...*ha ha ha* Pwned!

Not really. It's the same reason why music stores and places like Blockbuster aren't out of business: People like to collect dvds/music.

Why would you pay 15 bucks for crimson skies when you can go to gamestop and get it used for $1.99 ?!

I could understand if its not backwards compat via the disk but cmon.

Also, you wouldn't have to worry about playing in your car. With the game running on the HD, you won't have to worry about scratching your game disk.

Wow, was that an issue?

Talk about your First World problems!..

Yeah, I backed up a bunch of my games to the hard drive on my original Xbox for car trips. No need to worry about ruining the disc, no swapping games, and less things to bring with me.

Well if this means that I could get to play Psychonauts then it's ok with me :D

Too bad there are almost no exclusive xbox games worth playing...

I loved Crimson Skies and MechAssault on the Xbox. Would be great to revisit if offered.

I agree with RickyBobby, all of the suggestions we listed for Microsoft to use on the fall update and this is all they come up with? This IS lame! Just another way for MS to nickel and dime us to death.

Why not just make the xbox games we already bought live compatible and achievements?

I love my xbox but man it seems MS doesnt even try anymore. They just don't listen to their customers like they used to.

This is totally lame! An update whose main(possibly only feature) is the capability for people to re-buy old games they already own.

What a crock I am one more foul up away from going wii or ps3.

What happened to all the suggestions we had for them?

This update is just a way to get people to buy their 120gb hard drives or upgrade their systems to the elite. So Lame Microsoft, so lame!

It reminds me of that one thing, you know, if it is new it must be better even if it isn't.

Guys, this is one (1) feature of the new fall update.

Please wait until the feature list comes out, and than start whining if it isn't everything you were hoping for.

Personally I am banking on the Divx support.

Well I am doing neither Sonny 10:24! My friend did that and now all his live arcade and marketplace crap is useless unless he is online. How stupid is that?? Something you pay for but you can't even use it the way that was intended!! That same friend bought a ps3 and says there is no problems like that on there. When mine gets rrod I may do the same as i have a lot of marketplace content too.

Wow alot of moaners. I really don't understand some of your arguements. How is MS making you rebuy old games? By making it an option? If you didn't want the games in the first place then you still don't. If you already own them then you still don't need to buy them! So what's the moaning about?

They are not making us buy them. That is not the point. The point is instead of trying to make great innovations Microsoft has just tried to figure out ways to nickel and dime us to death. Masking an update as a way to milk us for more money....although is an option... is not as good of an option as say divx support or being able to use marketplace purchased items offline after a rrod issue. Man i miss the good ol days when ms would listen to us and made quality product!

$15 for xbox games? I don't know about all of them but I've seen Fable in the used bin for $3.

Yes, it clearly says "Microsoft published games" and then it goes on to list several games that aren't Microsoft published (Burnout 3 = EA, Indigo Prophecy = Atari, Crash Bandicoot = Universal). I think it's clear from that list that in fact that statement is false.

In any case, what makes me happy is not that these games will be downloadable, but that this is a means to continue funding the BC ninjas. This means that BC is not a dead feature, and that development of the Xbox emulator on 360 will continue in the future, funded by the release of the back catalogue of Xbox games online.

I hate to disgree, but this is a way to kill bc. They can now stop working on bc and just force you to buy new arcade versions of the game. Read between the lines people!!

this would be handy if i didnt already own the two xbox games i wanted to play last gen.

shame one of em (panzer dragoon orta) has a massive glitch in the BC which means you cannot pass the third level.

sort it out ms!

Why ppl mad that the 360 gives us the option to buy games. They are not forcing anyone. Its better to have something to download than to just sit there staring at your shiny new PS3 with all the HD space getting no play at all.

You are missing the point! People are mad because instead of working on more innovative user asked for features, MS is just figuring out a way to milk us more.

This seems fishy. Microsoft-published?

Crash is from Vivendi, Indigo Prophecy is from Atari, Burnout 3 is from EA.

Spoken like someone who never owned an Xbox. Not only were there multiple exclusives worth playing, pretty much every last-gen multiplatform game was better on Xbox than PS2 (better graphics/lighting fx, quicker load times, custom soundtracks, Live, etc.)

Not really worth arguing over though, since you probably don't own a 360 and probably aren't going to avail yourself of this service anyway.

stupid reply system. That was meant for darklink (NDF - PlayStation ring)

sigh, so I guess when you log onto the internet you lose all sense of logic huh?

IF YOU HAVE THE GAME THEN DON'T PAY FOR IT!!!!! No one's forcing you to use this service, it's for people who missed out on some games from the xbox. Seriously think a little before you type. I hear it helps alot.

ugh reply system isn't working in my school library. My last comment was directed at RickyBobby.

Your missing the point. This is just a nickel and dime milking scheme masked as something new and useful. We now have the option to buy games for 10 times ebgames! YAY! What an awesome fall update!

No thank you when my rrod hits I may jump ship. microsoft is slipping these days. I mean how absurd is vista?

Your missing the point. This is just a nickel and dime milking scheme masked as something new and useful. We now have the option to buy games for 10 times ebgames! YAY! What an awesome fall update! Way to go MS!!!

No thank you! When my rrod hits I may jump ship. microsoft is slipping these days. I mean how absurd is vista?

Please please release Psychonauts.

Who in the world would pay fifteen bucks for any Xbox game? I can rent all these BC title for a buck at my video store.

Reminds me of the apparent genius idea to put sporting events on Marketplace.

Stop the madness.

Any word on a fix for Dashboard lag? I hope we don't have to pay fifteen bucks for it.

Why buy the harddrive? Just upgrade to an Elite... with a Falcon chip. Price wars are starting since the Wii is kicking both big boy's asses.. and there's a buttload of inventory of non-falcon elites left over from the summer I'm sure will drop to around 300. Waste of money to buy the drive solo.

Really, I'm not an XBox fan anymore. I still have my old X-Box since my 360 couldn't play Steel Battalion. And never really felt interested in a 360 after my brother's red ring issues; that being said, I have to say this is a nice move on Microsoft's part.
The games can probably be compressed to a reasonably small enough space for download, I'm willing to bet most won't top 2 gigs since X-Box 1 games weren't usually built with HD in mind, which makes those textures much smaller.
Now, that being said, I've heard speculation about how the games won't ship with all content (Just stuff like demo videos and the like trimmed out) but there are issues with games crashing when you attempt to load said cut out features, but I don't know the veracity of these tales.
If the crashing thing is true, I'd give this a 3.5/5, if it's simply conjecture or something that will be fixed before release, a 4/5.

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Fall Xbox 360 dashboard update revealed: download Halo December 2

Reader Comments (147)

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