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Portal: Still Alive, Lips, Uno Rush, Galaga Legions to be announced at Microsoft Press Conference


Gamerscore Blog has leaked Microsoft's announcements in their video RSS feed -- below is a list of games we'll see at the press conference today:
So looks like a sequel/sidequel to Portal is in the works for Xbox 360, as is another Uno game, and a Galaga sequel. More news to come, including what we can get out of the video that accompanies the leaked post.

Thanks, William D.!

Spend Mother's Day playing games with mom


Don't panic: It's Mother's Day today in North America. We know it crept up on you, overshadowed by more significant holidays like Gears of War 2 Gameplay Footage Day and GTAIV Day Month. Luckily, Susan Arendt over at Game|Life has your back, with a list of excellent gaming gifts for moms of all types (or at least, all gaming types).

Does your mom miss those classic card game nights around the kitchen table? Fire up UNO on Xbox Live Arcade. Is she a tad overprotective of her offspring? She might relate to BioShock's Big Daddies (yes, we get the irony). Does she dig cooking and adorably mispronounced English? Then it's Cooking Mama all the way.

Of course, for moms who are less than avid gamers, there are also a plethora of excellent casual games out there. Titles like Peggle, Diner Dash, and Puzzle Pirates could prove to be perfect distractions for the mom with a lot on her plate. Happy Mother's Day to all the Joystiq-reading maternal units.

Games for Windows Live and Halo 2 hit Vista May 8th


While the editors of Games for Windows' official magazine may not be ready to drink the Vista-flavored Kool-Aid just yet, Microsoft is ready to give Vista early adopters a handful of reasons to pick up the latest OS upgrade ... err, at least they're ready to announce a date when you may want to plan on doing the picking up: May 8th. Yup, in eight weeks, Microsoft's Games for Windows Live service (doesn't roll of the tongue as easily as Xbox Live, eh?) and its inaugural title, Halo 2, will be available for Vista users.

Don't care much for Halo 2? In "June" Shadowrun -- the first Live Anywhere title enabling cross-platform multiplayer -- hits the Xbox 360 and Vista with full Live integration. The final title they're eager to talk about is UNO, which will be released on Vista "later in 2007." We're not sure why a seemingly simple title like UNO isn't making the launch of the service (or even getting a date) but Microsoft assures us there will be more news around this decision later and that it will be apparent why we're not getting a release date now. They also said cross-platform licensing decisions for titles like UNO have not been worked out yet; we're betting this is gonna get tricky.

Gallery: Games for Windows Live

Continue reading Games for Windows Live and Halo 2 hit Vista May 8th

CES: UNO is Live Anywhere!

There's no need to skim through Microsoft's CES press release any longer, we have the only piece of information you need to know right here:

"And for casual gamers, the company demonstrated a cross-platform game of "UNO!," with some players joining from their Windows Vista-based PCs and others joining from their Xbox 360 consoles."

That's right, folks, UNO! (note the exclamation point for added awesomeness) is Live Anywhere. Why bother with a gun-toting space marine when you can inflict massive damage with the ego-shattering Wild Draw 4 ... anywhere. Sure, IPTV is cool if you're into that thing. We'll take UNO Anywhere.

25-year-old XBLA game delayed by a week

In a moment that's sure to elicit a grin or an unstoppable urge to fling your retinas into the back of your head, a game that was released in 1981 has somehow managed to be delayed for a week in the year 2006. Konami's side-scrolling shooter, Scramble, was all set for release this Wednesday when Microsoft's elite and possibly overworked team of testers concluded that the game simply wasn't ready to hit Xbox Live Arcade. The official word reveals that "during the final testing and certification of the title, we discovered some minor issues that should be addressed. Therefore, we are going to take an extra week and fix these items to ensure a high quality game experience for all when the title does launch on its new date of Wednesday, September 13."

This isn't the first time the weekly XBLA release schedule has had to make due without a new game -- this week's replacement is a Project Gotham Racing 3 UNO deck priced at 100 points ($1.25 in non-funny money). As exciting as theme decks and picture packs may be, the consistency of game releases has been somewhat shaky so far. Let's hope future XBLA Wednesdays don't have more games taking XBLA sick days. Har.

[Thanks Matt!]

UNO gets patch love for matchmaking

Thanks to the thunderous celebration and endless trumpeting that accompanied Microsoft's announcement of XBLA Wednesdays, not many became aware of an UNO patch sheepishly arriving on the scene. The update fixes a rather glaring fault in the game's ranked matchmaking system -- the glaring fault being that it didn't actually work.

The update (downloaded automatically next time you play) also addresses "other bugs" and improves theme deck support. Though the game remains a Joystiq favorite and is amusingly inexpensive, developer Carbonated Games still deserves a specially designed + 32 card for letting these errors slip through. We might have been more forgiving had the game supported voice recognition. Seriously, it just has to recognize one word. Just UNO.

[Via GameSetWatch]

First impressions: Xbox 360 dashboard update

Xbox 360We installed the new Xbox 360 dashboard update the moment we awoke this morning, literally, before stepping out of bed. We fired up our 360 using the remote, only to have the system lockup while attempting to sign into Xbox Live. Maybe releasing the first major dashboard update on such an ominous date (6-6-6) was not such a great move after all ... But, a simple reboot successfully set the gears in motion, and the update was installed in no time (roughly 10 seconds).

Continue reading First impressions: Xbox 360 dashboard update

$40 XBL Vision camera & UNO bundle detailed by MS source along with prices & dates for other 360 accessories

UNO and the Live Vision Camera: a match made in online heavenOur friendly anonymous source at Microsoft has provided us with a few more details concerning the 360 accessories announced back at E3.

Perhaps the most important involves the bundling of the Xbox Live Vision camera with a wired headset, the popular Live Arcade title UNO, and a month of Live Gold service for $39.99 when it releases in the States on September 19, 2006.

Granted, this is still an unofficial report (based on a leak of "official" info), so understand that you're probably not gonna get much confirmation from MS until they're good and ready to give it. If you'd like information on what other peripherals are coming out "Holiday 2006" (so sometime in the 4th quarter) and at what price, read on for more.

Continue reading $40 XBL Vision camera & UNO bundle detailed by MS source along with prices & dates for other 360 accessories

XBL Vision camera delayed to October 2nd in Europe and Asia outside of Japan; U.S. Sept. 19th release still on track

A numbered Xbox Live Vision camera on top of a 360 Major Nelson has corrected an earlier report made during a recent Blogcast concerning the release date for the Xbox Live Vision camera: it will be out in Europe and Asia (outside of Japan) on October 2nd rather than the earlier September 19th date, which still applies for 360 owners in the U.S.

We suppose the short wait is better than the lack of any confirmed release dates for Japan, New Zealand, Australia, or any of the other countries in which the system has already been officially launched. At least Japanese gamers can still converse on their original Xboxes with the Xbox Video Chat camera that was released only in that fair land. They might not get to play UNO on the current generation of hardware, but it's better than nothing.

[Via Xbox 360 Fanboy]

See also:

Xbox Live cam tester caught on camera


Even though the Xbox 360 camera ain't dropping until September, recent Xbox Live Arcade title Uno features Vision camera support. Cheap Ass Gamer daphatty ran into a camera beta tester while playing a game recently, only to fumble when trying to record it for posterity proof. So what did he do? He laid in wait, finally capturing (on camera) his prey.

Camera tester Maestro1 had the camera turned on but -- in what was surely an attempt to psych-out his opponent -- had the camera directed not at himself but at his dog. Is Maestro1 invisible? Is the dog playing? Did he travel into the future to get the camera? Draw four? Aww shucks!

(Blurry cam) video embedded after the break.

[Thanks, SickNic]

Continue reading Xbox Live cam tester caught on camera

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