360

Halo hecklers beware

Gamespot reports that a new "A-Hole Button," so coined by Bungie Studios, will allow Halo 3 gamers to mute unwanted...ahem feedback...from other players.

The new feature will allow the back button on the Xbox 360 controller to bring you to a menu where you can choose to instantly mute other players.

The feature came in response to complaints from Halo 2 community players about poorly behaved players ranting and raving against other gamers on Xbox Live, a community liaison told Gamespot.

Xbox 360s might be getting a bit more quiet. According to the Xbox-scene.com forum, Microsoft has started putting new DVD drives in its Xbox 360s. The forum says that Microsoft is now using BenQ-LiteOn-Phillips VAD6038 optical drives in new 360s, rather than the Toshiba-Samsung and Hitachi-LG drives the consoles previously used.

This new drive might mean quieter gameplay on the 360. Many gamers had complaints that first-run Xbox 360s were uncomfortably loud, and this new optical drive could fix that.

Peugeot on Xbox 360 finalists

Coolest-Gadgets was kind enough to point out that the top ten winners of the 2007 Peugeot Design Contest have been announced.

The theme was "PLEASE" an acronym for the slogan "Pleasurable to drive, Lively, Efficient, Accessible and Simple and Ecological."

The winning car will be made in full-scale and featured at the 2007 Frankfurt Motor Show.

But more interesting to our readers may be the fact that Microsoft is planning to feature the winning concept as a drivable car in an Xbox 360 video game.

Here are my personal picks from among the 10 finalists, but … Read more

Patriots beat Colts in Xbox 360, lead 6-0 in Tecmo Bowl

When the New England Patriots visit the Indianapolis Colts this Sunday in the NFL's AFC Championship game, Boston.com hopes the result will be a foregone conclusion: the Patriots will win 38-31.

That will be the final score, according to a Madden NFL 2007 simulation of the game performed by Boston.com on an Xbox 360. This is thanks in part to Colts kicker--and former Patriots hero--Adam Vinatieri missing two field goals. A video of the game's virtual highlights is posted on the site.

Boston.com's game is not the official EA Sports Madden NFL 07 simulation … Read more

Microsoft gaming at CES: Little news, very cool game demos

Microsoft didn't have much in the way of actual announcements, but it did offer a nice selection of game demos at its CES booth. E3 may be scaled back, and the big consoles may be already out, but Microsoft Game Studios showed off several reasons for gamers to be excited in the coming months.

Hellgate: London looks great and has the potential to fill the Diablo-shaped hole in all our hearts. Blizzard has been focusing almost entirely on World of Warcraft, so the hack-and-slash, click-fest genre has been neglected for quite a while. Fortunately, the developers of the Diablo … Read more

HDMI-equipped Xbox 360 on the way

It looks as if the Xbox 360 will be getting an HDMI-powered overhaul before it even hits its second birthday. AOL's Engadget sports what looks to be an authentic, leaked, back-panel shot of the next generation of the Xbox 360, which includes an HDMI jack directly below the proprietary A/V port found on existing 360s. According to the story, the new unit--codename "Zephyr"--will also offer a 65nm CPU (said to be less prone to overheating) and a much more spacious 120GB hard drive (perfect for downloading the growing list of HD movies and TV shows … Read more

More of your old games now playable on the Xbox 360

Microsoft has again updated the Xbox 360 to be able to play a few dozen more titles released for the original Xbox game console. The complete list of new and updated titles is as follows:

Buffy the Vampire Slayer Burnout 3: Takedown (support updated) Conker: Live and Reloaded Dead or Alive Ultimate Destroy All Humans! Dynasty Warriors 4 Evil Dead: A Fistful of Boomstick Ex Chaser (Japan only) Family Guy Far Cry: Instincts Fahrenheit/Indigo Prophecy I-Ninja The Incredibles Leisure Suit Larry: Magna Cum Laude Mortal Kombat: Armageddon MotoGP Muzzle Flash (Japan only) MX Unleashed Open Season Pariah Plus Plumb … Read more

Video game creation: See if you can do better

In the movie industry, there is a prevalence of rehashed sure-fire "hits" churned out by studios. The same goes for video games these days. Almost no one wants to take big risks when you need up to three years to develop a video game, which is why there are so many II and IIIs.

But in the movie industry, cheaper high-end camcorders and better video-sharing sites have also boosted the capability and exposure of indie filmmakers everywhere. Now the same may become possible for indie video game developers.

Microsoft has released XNA Game Studio Express 1.0, free, … Read more

Finally, Xbox 360 shooters the way they were meant to be played

I have a confession to make. I haven't seriously played a first-person shooter on a game console since GoldenEye on the Nintendo 64. I just couldn't get into the controls. It was awkward enough on the N64, but circle-strafing with dual analog pads just feels wrong to me.

The modding group XCM has unveiled the prototype for the XFPS 360, a PS/2 (the keyboard/mouse blug, not the gaming system) adapter that works with the Xbox 360. It plugs into one of the Xbox 360's USB ports, and offers the PS/2 keyboard and mouse support, … Read more

XBox 360, Game on!

Before you get your grub on this Thanksgiving, log on to Amazon and try for one of the XBox 360 Core units priced at $100. Yes, you read that correctly: $100. Amazon will be selling 1,000 units at this price starting Thursday 11am PST. Click here for Amazon deal!. If you can't score one there, you can always get one at regular price from our trusted merchants.