Here's the no-brainer rumor of the day: Rare will release a sequel to its million-selling shooter Perfect Dark Zero. The Rumor Mole section of the May 2007 issue of Official Xbox Magazine reports that the sequel was revealed "by way of a press release announcing the next novel in the paperback series that also mentions a follow-up to the game."

We haven't been able to locate the press release ourselves, but the paperback series is an official tie-in to the series. If a sequel does come to fruition, we wouldn't be surprised. In fact, we've heard it from an official, anonymous, trustworthy source that Rare has been deep in the early development phases (pre-pre-alpha, if you will) just trying to figure out the best numerical nomenclature. Perfect Dark One is off limits, PD Zero Two is pretty meh, PD Negative One (shortened to PDNO or PD-1) could work for yet another prequel, or perhaps they'll go the Lion King route and make it Perfect Dark Zero (point) Five, or PD.5 for short.

Still, we side with our Fanboy brethren: the Xbox 360 has enough shooters, Rare should focus on meeting their sequel quota with a return to platformer Kameo.

[Via Xbox 360 Fanboy]

Just 60 of 'em. Yep, $60 for parts and a long day's worth of labor birthed the "xBot," a monstrous lil' bugger that latches onto the Xbox 360 controller and presses 'Start' and 'B' like, well, like a machine. Car mechanic David Harr assembled the xBot to unlock a pair of Perfect Dark Zero Achievements, which require playing 1,000 (offline) multiplayer matches in both Deathmatch and DarkOps modes -- each worth 30 points. Since matches don't need to be completed to register as "played," Harr calculated that it would take him roughly 40 hours to start, exit, and restart enough matches to unlock the Achievements; he would use just ten to assemble his xBot. Muahahahah!

While some whine that Harr's 'workaround' is unethical, the Seattle mechanic argues, "This is not playing online on Xbox Live -- it is not playing against other people ... This is a one trick pony, getting you just 60 points. It's not stepping on anyone's toes." We say, let him have his 60 points.

Speaking with GamesIndustry.biz, Rare's lead designer Gregg Mayles sounded reluctant about developing downloadable content for Viva Piñata. "We've got plenty of ideas for what we can do ... But the jury is still out," said Mayles. For now, Rare seems content to sit back and watch other studios' successes and failures.

It's clear that if Rare is to continue to provide downloadable content, it doesn't want to go the EA route; that's not to say the developer is in the business of hand-outs. Ill-reception of Kameo's premium content has forced Rare to rethink its strategy, leading the studio to consider that resources are perhaps better spent on the 'next' project. Despite forming a branch of the Microsoft camp, Rare is having a difficult time adopting its parent company's content-for-now, content-for-later model.

Microsoft and Rare have released updated versions of Goldeneye's Facility and Temple (now "Ruin") multiplayer maps for use with Perfect Dark Zero. The pair is free to download, but only available to Xbox Live Gold members (hey, it pays to pay). Throw in a polished-up Complex, and we just might consider re-investing in this game.

As we were just saying in the previous post, Microsoft's got a lot of irons in the fire. The "free Xbox Live week" promotion seems to be particularly well-liked by the folks at Microsoft and Verizon, as the two companies have made plans to make the week of May 8th through May 14th free to broadband-connected Xbox 360 owners.

The newest promotion is timed to coincide with E3, and will also include a giveaway of one million Microsoft Points and a "backstage" E3 pass (did you boys pick those up on Craigslist, by any chance?).

Just because we're borderline obsessive-compulsive, here's everything that Joanna Dark says upon loading the promotion page (with our comments in brackets):

• Don't keep me waiting [I'm hurrying, but these damned foil packages are so hard to open in the dark!]
• I'm free all week [As opposed to for-pay the rest of the time... undertones of prostitution here. Sure, why not?]
• You got a week. Come get some. ["Some what," we wonder, as we stare at Ms. Dark's fetching hindquarters.]
• Don't arrive early. [A joke about premature arrival? Totally unexpected.]
• Are you ready to play?
• I'm game. Are you?
• You want a piece of me? [Can't get much more explicit than this.]
• Hope your couch is comfortable [It's fine for playing games. Here, put down that riding crop and have a controller.]
• Hey, you got me all week [Why does she punctuate only some sentences? This annoys us.]
• I'll be there. Will you? ["She told me to come but I was already there." -- AC/DC]

[Via too many tips to count.]

[Update 1: Neither Microsoft nor Verizon have announced this deal yet, so we eliminted language in the first paragraph that suggests that the companies have made an official proclamation. A Microsoft spokeswoman notes, "we plan on releasing more information early next week."]

Microsoft has announced that a premium content bundle, containing four new Perfect Dark Zero multiplayer maps, will soon be available for purchase on the Xbox Live Marketplace — the price has not yet been revealed. A free playable demo will also be posted for download, featuring the Outpost campaign level (solo, split screen, and Live co-op modes supported) and a new multiplayer map, Plaza.

In addition, PDZ will receive several free auto-updates. One update will install 8 new bot (AI) personalities, including judge bot, who attacks the player with the most kills; bully bot, who attacks the player with the least kills; venge bot, who attacks the last person to kill the bot; and DarkOps Bot, who is the 'baddest' bot of them all.

[Via Microsoft press release]

We knew former second-party Nintendo developer Rare was looking for DS programmers and soliciting requests for games to develop for Nintendo's DS handheld but now we have another clue. On Rare's letters page a response to a fan's question regarding Perfect Dark Zero releases on other platforms concludes, "I've just noticed I didn't specifically deny a DS edition of Perfect Dark while I was banging on about the PS3 and GameCube - I could easily rectify that, but it'll be fun to watch the conspiracy theories unravel."

While Rare sits back and laughs at how predictable we are let's talk probability. Will they deliver their fancy next-gen console shooter to the confines of Nintendo's quirky little handheld-that-could? Is Microsoft, who's acknowledged keeping out of portable gaming, going out of their way to shun Sony while not wanting to be completely shut out of the portable gaming space? Or is it as simple as a Perfect Dark DS port being easier considering the franchise's N64 roots? I hope you're watching Rare: let the conspiracy theories begin!

[Thanks, Sage]