Unsurprisingly, the source of the hold-up is the rigorous Xbox Live certification process, which took longer than Criterion had expected. Their new release date for "Cagney" is the following Monday, July 14 -- though this delay won't affect PS3 owners. Nor will it affect DS owners, restaurant entrepreneurs, professional poker players, the current Dalai Lama, or the actual James Cagney, who is, in fact, deceased.
Like the rumbling of thunder in the distance, an unstoppable force is audibly and rapidly approaching us. Soon, a cacophony of clicks will ring through our ears, the reverberating result of posting an article which not only concerns Halo 3, but prominently features the word "free." What have we done?
Bungie's Luke Smith has announced via Bungie.net that "Cold Storage," a chilly new multiplayer map for everybody's favorite cyborg shoot-em-up, will be downloadable -- for free -- from the Xbox Live Marketplace beginning Monday Bungie Day, July 7. The map will be implemented in regular rotation in playlists that require the Legendary Map Pack, which will also drop from 800 MS Points ($10) to 600 MS Points ($7.50) on the same day. If you haven't tried those environments out yet, now's the time to join in on the gradual extermination of Earth's population.
[Update: Check out a tour of Cold Storage, along with a tease of what Bungie's got in store for Bungie Day, here.]
In celebration of this week's Fourth of July holiday, Activision plans to serenade Guitar Hero III players with in-your-face patriotism and ambiguous homo-eroticism -- that's right, the "Top Gun Anthem" will be available as a free download on July 3rd. The film's instrumental theme, obtainable from both Xbox Live and PlayStation Network, is sure send your fingers up and down your instrument as you dream of being Val Kilmer's wingman. No, Tom Cruise's wingman!
Well, that's easy. While it's currently investigating a permanent solution, EA has advised "some" players of the Xbox 360 version of ragtag romp, Battlefield: Bad Company, to turn off their consoles should they experience online connection issues.
Oh, but you need to turn it back on approximately 20 minutes later. Therein lies the trick, an essential step if you're keen on blasting through walls and otherwise enjoying all those hard-earned weapons. We'll let you know once EA has sorted out the problem, like a good company.
According to Ars Technica, Capcom's two-dimensional return to tradition in Mega Man 9 may not be confined to WiiWare, as was originally revealed in the latest issue of Nintendo Power. The report notes that the game is currently listed as an Xbox Live Arcade and PlayStation Network title on Capcom's E3 roster -- if true, Mega Man 9 would be the first downloadable game to jump through the doors of all three services.
Capcom remains quiet on the matter, however, telling us that we'll have to wait until E3 for further news. Given the publisher's continued support of both XBLA and PSN for its downloadable games, the blue bomber will likely stick with a multi-platform approach. We can't imagine how many gamers would be left seeking retrobution otherwise.
Update: Capcom has reaffirmed to Ars that Mega Man 9 is "WiiWare only."
Despite vowing to "never go back to Vegas," Ubisoft is still more than willing to expand the gambler's paradise from afar via downloadable content. Terrorists vs. bandits (some one-armed, others well-armed) showdown, Rainbow Six Vegas 2, will be getting a free "Fan Pack" on Xbox Live, PSN and Ubisoft's website in July, sure to bring a smile to the two million or so people who purchased the game.
The download not only adds three new maps -- the re-lit "Murdertown" and "CQB Training," as well as "Calypso Casino" -- but new multiplayer ranks and several tweaks to weapons, gadgets and other aspects of the game. Read up on all the changes over at the official site.
Maybe it was our constant pestering, week after week, month after month, asking everyone at Microsoft what was going on with the DRM situation on Xbox Live – read: some consoles which had been repaired or replaced had lost the ability to play certain XBLA games or view some Xbox Live video content without being signed into Xbox Live – but sometime after announcing the pending release of the DRM tool, we were given the opportunity to speak with Microsoft's Marc Whitten, general manager of Xbox Live, about some of the outstanding questions we had. Anything we missed? Leave your own questions in the comments and we'll try and get the best ones answered.
Joystiq: What took so long? And how long has Microsoft been cognizant of the problem and did the RRoD situation exacerbate this situation? Marc Whitten: This update is in response to the requests for this from our community. Xbox LIVE members have been asking for an easier way to transfer licenses, and we've been working hard behind the scenes to make this happen. We know the license transfer process has been difficult... I experienced it first hand when I upgraded to an Xbox 360 Elite, but we think this new DRM tool will be great and worth the wait.
How does the tool work? Can we reauthorize content from console to console, or enable on multiple consoles (ala PS3)? If so, how many consoles? The process is really easy. The Xbox.com DRM tool lets you consolidate all of your downloaded content licenses to one console. So let's say you downloaded UNO from Xbox LIVE Marketplace and an episode of South Park from the Video Store on your Xbox 360, and then upgraded to an Elite down the line and downloaded more games and videos on the new console. In this scenario your content would be licensed to two consoles, and by using the DRM tool you could then download your older content licenses to your new console. With this tool you can transfer licenses from multiple consoles to a single console.
In lieu of your regularly scheduled "Spring" Dashboard update, Microsoft promised to release a DRM tool that would "allow you to better consolidate your licenses for downloaded content to a single Xbox and allow you the freedom to be able to play your content both online and offline." In other words, this is for the sad saps whose Xbox 360 red-ringed, only to have it returned with Xbox Live Arcade titles that required you to be signed into Live to play. Now instead of jumping through a series of customer-service related hoops, this new tool – available immediately at Xbox.com – will allow you to quickly manage that content.
If you're looking for some more info on how the DRM tool works, check out our exclusive Q&A with Microsoft's Marc Whitten, general manager of Xbox Live.
Each week Mark Methenitis contributes Law of the Game on Joystiq, a column on legal issues as they relate to video games:
In a recent Sessler's Soapbox, Adam took the opportunity to comment on some of the trash talking on Xbox Live. During the course of that diatribe, he mentioned that he thought the First Amendment argument was a "crock of s***" with respect to trash talking. Well, as the resident lawyer here on Joystiq, I'd like to take this opportunity to explain the First Amendment argument is just flat out wrong. In fact, it's one of my greatest pet peeves that the First Amendment gets thrown about as an excuse for most everything that is said in the realms of gamer culture, from trash talking in online matches, to posts on forums, to comments on gaming blogs.
In case you're one of the thirty-four people worldwide who has never experienced the phenomenon in question, this is essentially what's being talked about: Typically, someone will do something offensive online, be that posting something in a forum or saying something on Xbox Live. Then, someone in power will either reprimand that user, often through censoring, or banning for the behavior. This is typically either followed by that user or some other user decrying this exercise of authority as a violation of their 'rights.' The responses do vary, but as a moderator of one of the biggest forums on the internet, I've seen everything from 'OMG U R VIOL8ING MY FURST AMNDMT RYTES!!!11!' to some very lengthy and polished answers. The only commonality between these varying levels of responses is that they are all wrong.
Not to be trumped in the online flesh-and-blood female host arms race by Sony and Qore's Veronica Belmont, Microsoft has announced a partnership with IGN to bring its popular "IGN Strategize" segments to Xbox Live, hosted by IGN host/celebrity Jessica Chobot (who may or may not lick a 360 controller).
Larry Hryb, Xbox Live's "Major Nelson," made the announcement this morning via his Twitter feed. A brief preview clip of himself and Chobot chatting has subsequently hit the "Inside Xbox" section of Live. IGN Strategize will soon join the other regular Inside Xbox segments and focus on tips, tricks, and strategies, hence the name.
We were quick to chuckle into our sleeves at Don King Presents Prizefighter, especially when the overwhelmingly mediocre reviews started rolling in. But that was before we read his Wikipedia entry, which says that he shot a man who was robbing a gambling house he owned and beat an employee, who owed him $600, to death. So you'll understand when we're coming from when we tell you that there's a demo for Don King's game on Xbox Live and it's freaking amazing.
As we sat there with our mouths agape enjoying the splendor of the demo, we kept wondering "Is it even possible a game this magnificent was designed and programmed by just one man?" ... Not that we'd ever doubt you, Mr. King. Ever. Hey, what are you doing with that bat?
It's been a while (read: forever) since we've seen someone playing Frontlines: Fuel of War on our 360 friends list. But if a company wanted to re-energize (create?) a game's fans base, we can think of few ways to do it better than this: Five maps are being doled out for the game, all for free with the first being free. [Update: The other four maps will be sold in a pack at a later stage.] According to Microsoft mouthpiece Major Nelson, it just hit Xbox Live today.
This first entry adds an automatic shotgun, rocket jeep and Red Star Transport Helicopter and is called "The Boneyard," which, considering the fate of Frontlines (and Frontlines PS3) is a choice almost too hilarious to contemplate.
We're not sure what a "Vesperia" is, exactly. We suspect it's either a topical cream which has sinus cleansing vapors, or some manner of ornate doily. If that's the sort of thing you'd like to hear some tales about, you're in luck, as the demo for Namco Bandai's cel-shaded RPG, Tales of Vesperia, has just arrived on Xbox Live.
Yes, Namco told us that a demo was coming this month, so it's not exactly earth-shattering news, but we find great comfort in things panning out the way we've been told they would. As per our usual agreement, let us know what you think of the demo in the comments.
We love sports games. No, we don't really play them that much, but we like the insight that they give us into the mind of the non-gamer. The way we feel when we comb through various combinations of acronyms and numbers is how we imagine non-video game fans feel when they look at any shelf of game titles. ("Tracy, he asked Santa for God of War, do you think Gears of War is close enough?") So understand that when we tell you that there's a demo for NCAA Football 2009 on Xbox Live we don't really know what we're saying.
Is that one of the good ones? Does it have new stuff? We can't tell you. All we gleaned from Major Nelson is that the game has "unique college-style animations" and you know what that means: Post-touchdown beer bongs. So at least you've got that going for you. Hopefully the more knowledgeable among you will let us know how the demo fares in the comments.
The house Bill Gates built received its share of quizzical looks when it launched Xbox 360 a year earlier than Sony was tipped to ship PS3. Fast forward to today. If you ask MS, it's a move it'll never regret ... and intends to repeat.
Speaking with Venture Beat (which, despite its name, is not a Venture Bros. fan site), Xboss Robbie Bach cited the console's year-long lead as helping it "get a leg up with game developers" – which certainly can't be argued. The head-start also "gave a leg up" to Xbox Live, Bach says, allowing MS to grow the service considerably prior to the launch of its competitors' offerings. But the biggie: "If you asked if we'd want to be first again, I'd say yes." He's the boss, folks. Just don't ask if MS will be going with a "Mauve Ring of Death" next time 'round. We're pretty sure he'd get a leg up on you, if you catch our drift.
