March 2007

Microsoft Announces Games For Windows Live

March 14, 2007

News / by Jason Dobson Make a comment! / Tweet it!

Microsoft has announced the next leg in its previously announced Live Anywhere solution first revealed at E3 2006, by launching Games for Windows Live on May 8 alongside the Windows Vista version of Halo 2. The service will allow users to have one Gamertag, profile, reputation, and more across both the PC and Xbox Live platforms.

And while Halo 2 will only support gameplay between other PC users, the June release of Shadowrun for both the PC and Xbox 360 will allow of cross platform online matches. Later in 2007 Microsoft will also release a PC version of the Xbox Live Arcade title UNO, allowing for existing XBLA players to take on their friends in the PC world in the cutthroat world of of calling “UNO!”

But nothing in life is free. Just like with Xbox Live, membership for Games for Windows Live will come in two tiers, free Silver memberships and paid Gold memberships costing $49.95 annually. The free membership permits users to only play against other PC players, but also affords the ability to have a single online presences across both the PC and Xbox 360, as well as a single friends list and the ability to earn single player achievements. By upgrading to Gold, players get the cross platform gameplay, as well as multiplayer matchmaking and mutliplayer achievements.

Also worth noting is this in one price across both platforms, so if you are already an Xbox Live Gold member user, you already are a Games for Windows Live subscriber and will be good to go on May 8. Similarly, if a Windows users hops on board with this service and then later picks up an Xbox 360, he or she will automatically have the benefit of a Xbox Live Gold membership as well.

I spoke with Microsoft’s Xbox Live general manager JJ Richards on this announcement yesterday afternoon, and have a [url=http://www.gamasutra.com/php-bin/news_index.php?story=13131]Q&A up on Gamasutra[/url] that may help to address any lingering questions. One of the issues I brought up to him was the concept of chatting, since PC users have several options at their disposal, as opposed to the single unified option found in Xbox Live, tho which he responded: “We will continue to offer consumers choice. We’ll leave it up to the developers as far as how and what types of voice chat will be available in certain games.”

He continued: “For the service itself, we have private chat among players in voice and text for free with Silver memberships, with in-game voice chat for Gold.”

Swag Attack: Custom Robo Arena

March 13, 2007

News / by Jason Dobson Make a comment! / Tweet it!

Getting free swag and gifts with games is always fun. I like t-shirts as much as the next guy. But when swag shows up at the office that is actually useful…well, that is certainly a cause for celebration. Take today’s arrival of Custom Robo Arena for the Nintendo DS. Nintendo saw fit to include this nifty oversized key chain, which transforms into a handy screwdriver set. Just think of all of the things I could fix around the house if, well, I knew what I was doing.

[img]http://www.snackbar-games.com/images/news/2007/03/custom_robo_swag_1.jpg[/img]

[img]http://www.snackbar-games.com/images/news/2007/03/custom_robo_swag_2.jpg[/img]

[img]http://www.snackbar-games.com/images/news/2007/03/custom_robo_swag_3.jpg[/img]

Dave Mirra Title Announced for Wii

March 13, 2007

News / by Chris Massey Make a comment! / Tweet it!

Today, Crave Entertainment [url=http://www.cravegames.com/News/DMBMXC_Wii_announcement.asp]announced[/url] that it would be bringing the bike-tricking Dave Mirra series to Nintendo’s own Wii console. Titled [i]Dave Mirra BMX Challenge[/i], the game will provide an “arcade-like feel,” and feature 12 environments and 13 bikes to choose from. And, of course, the game is said to utilize the unique Wii Remote and Nunchuk controller.

Unfortunately, any Dave Mirra fans out there will be disappointed to hear that [i]BMX Challenge[/i] will not be an original title to the Wii. In fact, the game is already available on the PSP, which ranked in at a meager 40 percent average at [url=http://www.gamerankings.com/htmlpages2/932559.asp?q=Dave%20Mirra]GameRankings[/url]. Set your expectations to low.

Dave Mirra BMX Challenge is set to release sometime in June 2007 for $29.99.

Galactic Civilizations 2: Dark Avatar

March 13, 2007

PC / Reviews / by Tony DuLac Make a comment! / Tweet it!

Just… one… more… turn. No other four words could better sum up the experience of playing the original Galactic Civilizations 2 and now its expansion pack, Dark Avatar. You can almost picture tiny little Oompah-Loompahs slaving away in some arcane game development laboratory, infusing each boxed copy of GalCiv 2: Dark Avatar with pure gaming crack and gleefully singing those creepy little songs that they like to sing so much. Yes, it’s just that good and just that fun.

Stardock, makers of the original Galactic Civilizations and its recent superb sequel, were clearly not content to rest on their well-earned laurels as this eagerly awaited (for good reason) expansion pack shows. Many fan-requested options and additions made the cut in this new addition to the franchise, and the game is even deeper and more robust for it.

The easiest thing to praise is the graphical A

More Than One Third of U.S. Adults Online Own a Game Console

March 13, 2007

News / by Chris Rasco Make a comment! / Tweet it!

According to recent Nielsen//NetRatings [url=http://www.marketwire.com/mw/release_html_b1?release_id=225814]figures[/url] about 36.5% of US adults online own a game console while 15.9% of the adults own a portable game console. These figures are perfectly in line with the fact that our industry is not just for kids anymore. As the yearly earnings reports for game companies continue to skyrocket, games are marketed more and more towards people with larger disposable incomes, your parents.

If these figures continue at this rate of growth you will soon be competing with your parents for time on the hottest new game console. The article also has some interesting facts about the traffic generated by the main websites of the 3 big console makers. Sony’s traffic dipped 8% over the last year while Nintendo saw explosive growth with a surge that is up 91%. Microsoft saw similar gains of about 47%.

All in all, this just further cements the fact that our industry is booming and shows no signs of letting up.

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