Splinter Cell Double Agent - Xbox 360/Playstation 3 Comparison Shots

Over at the "Back Buffer" blog they have some nice comparison shots of the Xbox 360 and Playstation 3 versions of Splinter Cell Double Agent. Check it out!

Rainbow Six: Vegas' Player's Pack Red Edition Gets Its Date On

According to Xbox 360 Fanboy, and others, the new content will be available for download Thursday, April 18th. The download will include 3 new maps, 2 tweaked maps and 2 new game modes. If you want to read more about the new content click here. There is no official word on a price point, but expect it to be less than 1000 MS points. Now eat my blood glistening trots... Bitches!

Halo 3 Multiplayer Beta Hits on May 16

Redmond, Washington—Microsoft Game Studios and Bungie Studios today confirmed the multiplayer beta of Halo® 3 will debut to audiences worldwide via Xbox LIVE® on May 16 at 5 A.M. Pacific Time and run through June 6 at 11:59 P.M. Pacific Time. Coming exclusively to Xbox 360™ this fall, Halo 3 is the highly anticipated third chapter in the groundbreaking Halo trilogy from legendary developers Bungie.

Halo 3 lets you experience Master Chief's greatest battle as he launches an epic mission to stop the Covenant, destroy the impending Flood threat, and ultimately save mankind.

New Levels, Weapons, Game Types
Made possible through the Xbox LIVE gaming and entertainment network, which provides a robust online service for more than six million gamers worldwide, the multiplayer beta for Halo 3 will provide the first opportunity to get your hands on the new levels, weapons, vehicles, and game types, as well as a chance to provide valuable data that Bungie will use in continued development.

"Bringing an early look at the multiplayer
elements of Halo 3 to our passionate fan base
is tremendously exciting for us."
—Shane Kim, Microsoft

Starting May 16, if you secured your admission to the multiplayer beta either through the "Rule of Three" promotion or by purchasing a specially marked copy of Crackdown™ for Xbox 360, you'll be able to don your Spartan armor, download the beta on Xbox LIVE, and jump online using your Xbox LIVE Gold account* to battle other gamers from around the world.

Three Maps to Play
When you gather online to play the multiplayer beta via Xbox LIVE in May, you will be treated to three richly detailed, action-oriented maps: Snowbound, High Ground, and Valhalla, which represent a mixture of large- and medium-scale combat environments and are brand new to Halo 3.

Each map will test your mettle as you are placed behind the controls of new Halo 3 vehicles such as the agile Mongoose all-terrain vehicle, and armed with deadly weapons such as the new and improved Assault Rifle, the ferocious Brute Spiker, the devastating Spartan Laser, and the treacherous new Spike Grenades. This is just a taste of what awaits you later this fall when Halo 3 goes on sale.

"Halo: Combat Evolved and Halo 2 changed the face of console gaming forever," said Shane Kim, corporate vice president of Microsoft Game Studios. "Gamers from around the world have logged more than 800 million hours on Xbox LIVE playing Halo 2, and years after its launch it remains the number one title on our Xbox LIVE network. Bringing an early look at the multiplayer elements of Halo 3 to our passionate fan base is tremendously exciting for us."

Joining the Multiplayer Beta
If you didn't participate in the "Rule of Three" promotion but are interested in joining the multiplayer beta of Halo 3, you can still participate through the purchase of the critically acclaimed Xbox 360 title Crackdown, which was launched in February.

Crackdownturns you loose in a free-form, persistent city for action-packed crime fighting that requires a bigger, faster, and stronger hero that evolves as a more efficient weapon through continued gameplay. Each copy of Crackdown has been specially marked with a Halo 3 beta sticker prior to the beta period, and starting May 16 the game will act as a key to download and participate in the Halo 3 multiplayer beta.

In addition, if you can't wait for the multiplayer beta this May, get an even earlier look at Halo 3 with a new, behind-the-scenes video feature available at http://www.bungie.net and in high definition over Xbox LIVE Marketplace. Starting today, go behind the scenes at Bungie Studios to learn about the people, technology and process that are making Halo 3 an unforgettable multiplayer experience, and to get a taste of what to expect from the upcoming Halo 3 multiplayer beta.

The latest multiplayer video documentary, titled "Is Quisnam Protero Damno!," will offer a glimpse at how Halo 3 multiplayer maps are being designed, built, and architected, and how these amazing spaces are converted into fun places in which to play. You can also catch the first-ever glimpse of brand-new Halo 3 multiplayer levels in their early stages of evolution and construction.

Instant Messaging Comes to Xbox 360, Expanding the Largest Social Network on Television

Xbox 360 owners can connect with more than 260 million Windows Live Messenger users on Xbox 360, Windows-based PCs and Windows Mobile-powered devices beginning the week of May 7.

REDMOND, Wash. — April 8, 2007 — Your Xbox LIVE^® friends list is about to get a whole lot bigger. Microsoft Corp. today announced the launch of Windows Live™ Messenger on Xbox 360™, connecting friends across Xbox 360 consoles, Microsoft^® Windows^®-based PCs and Windows Mobile^®-powered devices. With this update to Xbox 360, friends and families can easily connect and chat directly from their television using Windows Live Messenger, a network of more than 20 billion relationships and more than 260 million active accounts.

Beginning the week of May 7, 2007, the Xbox 360 Spring Update will provide Xbox 360 owners worldwide with access to Windows Live Messenger features, broadening the communication options on the Xbox LIVE social network. Members of the 6 million-strong Xbox LIVE community currently send more than 2 million text and voice messages a day and can now use Windows Live Messenger to text chat with up to six people on their contact list at one time, while playing games, listening to music or watching movies. Text chat adds to the variety of options friends and families already have to communicate with on Xbox LIVE, including voice and video chat.

Current relationships on Windows Live Messenger and Xbox LIVE will be unified on Xbox 360 and users will see at a glance if their existing friends on Windows Live Messenger have gamertags, instantly expanding the breadth of connected experiences they can share online.

“Bringing the largest IM community in the world, Windows Live Messenger, to Xbox 360 makes sense, as Xbox LIVE has really become the largest social network on television,” said Jerry Johnson, product unit manager of Xbox LIVE at Microsoft. “For our growing community of 6 million on Xbox LIVE, using Xbox 360 is a very social, connected experience. They are using Xbox 360 to play games, music and movies while simultaneously communicating with one another through video, voice and text chat. With this announcement we are simultaneously expanding the access of Xbox LIVE users to existing friends and family while introducing Windows Live Messenger users to the benefits of Xbox 360.”

Beginning the week of May 7, users of Windows Live Messenger on Xbox 360 will text chat using the virtual keyboard accessible on Xbox 360, or by connecting a USB keyboard to the console. This summer Microsoft will launch a QWERTY text-input device, a new accessory that will connect directly into the Xbox 360 controller to support text and instant messaging.

Beyond Windows Live Messenger, the Spring Update for Xbox 360 includes hundreds of new features and enhancements including the following:

· A richer Achievement notification pop-up will showcase the name of the unlocked Achievement and the gamerscore value without needing to leave the game to check the Achievements list.

· Enhanced family settings features for Xbox LIVE communications enable different defaults for video chat and voice chat.

· A new Xbox LIVE Marketplace blade lets Xbox LIVE members access the content they seek — whether it is game content or TV shows and movies (available in the United States) — from one place on Xbox LIVE.

· Updates to Xbox LIVE Arcade allow owners to quickly see which Xbox LIVE Arcade games their friends are playing and join in the fun. Xbox LIVE members can also compare progress of leaderboard scores and Achievements directly with all friends on their friends list. Expanded Tell a Friend capabilities make it easier than ever to boast about Achievements and high scores.

· A new option in Auto Downloads provides faster access to the entire collection of free, trial-version Xbox LIVE Arcade games.

· New progressive download controls provide easy access to optimal viewing options by letting people fast-forward, rewind, pause and resume as their video is downloaded from Xbox LIVE Marketplace.

· Extension of the background download functionality will allow owners to set their Xbox 360 console to turn off automatically after downloads are complete.

The Spring Update is free beginning the week of May 7 and is easily accessible to every Xbox 360 owner through Xbox LIVE or on Xbox.com.

Xbox 360 spring dashboard update leaked?

Above, you’ll find a video, of what is supposed to be, the Xbox 360 Spring 2007 Dashboard Update, as leaked and quickly pulled by GameSpot. The video features many of the highlights of the update, some of which are the following:

• Releases May 7th.
  
• Add up to 600 Windows Live Messenger contacts to your Friends List.
  
• Text chat with up to 6 Live Messenger contacts at once during games or movies.
  
• The Marketplace will be getting its own Dashboard Blade.
  
• The Marketplace will be skinned independently of the Dashboard, for special events.
  
• The Marketplace will be getting a new, easier-to-navigate remake.
  
• Achievement Pop-ups will now display how many points and which Achievement you have gained.
  
• Low-power downloading (fans off) and auto-off after finishing queued downloads.
  
• View partially downloaded video files.

I guess we'll soon find out if these are the real features or not. The video looks pretty legit though.

New Tom Clancy Franchise in the works?

Earlier today a got a tip from R080T about a viral marketing web page that is hosted at Ubisoft. Then just now I found a story over at Gamespot addressing this same page. It's an interesting concept which is described pretty well in the Gamespot story, so I'm just going to link to the story and let you read all about it there.

New Tom Clancy Franchise in the Works?

Thanks 'bot

Crackdown tank

I'll let the video speak for itself.



Standing on top, launching fireflies.... Priceless.