Alan Wake’s American Nightmare Given Late Feb. Release
Microsoft has revealed the release date for the upcoming title Alan Wake’s American Nightmare. The game, set in the Alan Wake’s literary creation Night Springs, will come as part of the Xbox Live Arcade House Party from February 15 to March 13. Pick up the downloadable title on February 22 for 1200 Microsoft Points.
And don’t forget, if you buy all four titles during the House Party event (Warp, Nexuiz, and I Am Alive are also on the list), you’ll get 800 free Xbox Live points!
So I’m testing out the free HuluPlus trial on Xbox Live right now, and I am LOVING IT. Not loving the helpful suggestions to watch Lifetime movies (“suggested because you are: female, 25-29”) but in general, I’m impressed. You can kinda tell that the gamers have invaded just by looking at the popular movies section. Anything porn, weed, or gaming related is now on top. I do recommend a few documentaries: Gamer, and Jedi Junkies. You can also catch old episodes of The Legend Of Zelda Show and Super Mario Bros. Super Hour somewhere in there, though I’m not sure that’s even Hulu+. Also, girl nerd paradise: you can get all caught up on 30 Rock, Parks and Recreation, and Modern Family (“You’re never alone if you have books!”).
I feel bad, ‘cause I initially thought HuluPlus was pretty stupid, and now I’m contemplating canceling my cable and just getting HP+.
(Edit: to the person that asked, HuluPlus is the subscription based version of Hulu, the television streaming service).
Anyone else?
Hulu Plus Coming To Xbox Live, Free Trial On Til May 6
Hulu Plus, the subscription based version of the popular TV streaming service, is coming to Xbox Live! To promote this event, they’re offering a free trial starting tomorrow April 29, and lasting until May 6. After the trial period is over, only those who pay the $7.99/mo fee will have access, so get on that while you can. Me, I’m going to take this opportunity to catch up on the Modern Family and Parks and Recreation eps I missed this season.
Get Your (Bio)shock Therapy With These New Infinite Screenshots And Gameplay Demo
I was surprised to see a gameplay video so soon, since they just announced Bioshock: Infinite, but it definitely looks gooooood. The creators had mentioned previously that the city was floating, and that you would feel that in the game. I have to admit, it definitely looks and feels like they are all separate entities. Also, I was glad to see some tactics on how to fight large groups of enemies — it felt pretty impossible in the others, but the skills seem to be well matched for such occasions.
Overall it looks pretty damn impressive. I just wonder if they’ll have an achievement for falling to your death so many times. Can we call it the Wile E. Coyote, Super Genius achievement?
While we’ve got you here, be sure to check out the new screen shots from TGS 2010, below.
2K Games has just released a new single-player DLC for Bioshock 2 for less than the price of a #1 combo at Burger King. For a mere 400 Live points (or $4.99 for you PS3 players) you can get this exciting new add-on, The Protector Trials! New maps, new unlockable content, and seven YES SEVEN achievements for you completionists out there. Marvel at the newness of it all as you help Dr. Tennenbaum gather ADAM to defeat Sofia Lamb in some crazy cat fight of the minds. Go beat the crap out of Splicers while protecting your sweet Little Sister.
As an old school Sonic fan (my debut game as a gamer was Sonic the Hedgehog 2), I was very excited to get my hands Sonic 4. I played the first level of Sonic 4: Episode 1 on day one. Things to love: it looks and feels exactly like an old school Sonic game. You know, minus the whole high res thing. It was nice to see a return to the 2D side scrolling, and the execution was familiar enough for an old fan such as myself. Things to hate: the targeting system. It was unnecessary and clunked up the screen. I don’t need a target to guide me to a bumper, I really don’t (Tanooki editor-in-chief Christian somewhat disagreed with me, saying he liked being able to string together enemy combos, as featured in an earlier Sonic title). I didn’t stick around long enough to find out if you could turn the target system off, but if that is an option, then Sonic 4 gets my seal of approval. And that seal of approval is also contingent upon the real reaction time on the controls; the response was slow when I played it on the XBOX 360, but that might have been from the beatings the controller was taking from repeated demos. I will also point out that the level design might turn some people off as being “too much” like the original. Even the name, “Splash Hill Zone”, could have been from the cutting room floor of Sonic 2. There will be few surprises, if any.
Read some more thoughts on Sonic 4: Episode 1 from my fellow writer Jason Leavey by clicking here.
All Fallout 3 DLC Half Off On XBOX Live
The headline largely speaks for itself. This week on XBOX Live you can purchase all Fallout 3 expansions, (Operation Anchorage, The Pitt, Mothership Zeta, Point Lookout, and Broken Steel) for half price, 400 Microsoft points. The deal ends March 29.
Also, here is this VATS dog. I didn’t have anywhere else to put him.
Microsoft Reverses “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” Policy On XBLA
Victory! After several months of pressure from the LGBT community and decent human beings in general, Microsoft has finally put their proverbial “don’t ask don’t tell” policy at XBOX Live to rest. As you may know, users were finding themselves banned after identifying as L,G,B, or T (or just having a “gay” name, like true-story ban victim Richard Gaywood) while anti homosexual slurs were hurled around with wanton abandon.Well, now the slurs are officially hands-off and users are free to identify themselves as straight, gay, bi, transgender, or straight on their XBOX Live profiles:
“You may use the following terms to express your relationship orientation in your profile or Gamertag: Lesbian, Gay, Bi, Transgender, Straight. Other terms regarding relationship orientation are not allowed (Bad Fish note: so if you’re a metrosexual polygamist with bicurious tendencies, you are SOL). In addition you may not use these terms or any other terms regarding relationship orientation to insult, harass, or any other pejorative use against other users.”
You Gamer Grrlz are pretty top-notch in the tolerance and general doesn’t-have-head-up-ass department, so I know you don’t need an explanation as to why this is important and positive. Can you believe there are those that do? I was very disappointed at the response from some of the gamer community.
Blizzard states there won’t be a Diablo III release for 2010 (via GossipGamers), and a new class joins the previously announced Witchdoctor, Wizard, and Barbarian—“The Monk”. Hit this link for pics and video. New WoW expansion, Cataclysm, announced by Blizzard. Some details here, via HotHardWare.
54.2% failure rate on XBoX 360 reported, Microsoft does not dispute. via Engadget
America’s first Internet and gaming addiction center opens near Seattle. No, you may not crash on my couch while seeking treatment. via BusinessInsider
Deets on GTA The Ballad Of Gay Tony. Sadly, no ‘drag queen’ mode. via IGN
Amazon Selling XBOX Games Digitally…Can The Wii And PS3 Be Too Far Behind…?
Yay, just what we need! Another way to buy XBOX shit! Actually, considering I’ve been a victim of identity theft via my XBOX 360, this might not be such a bad idea. But then, I’ve already learned my lesson about storing a credit card number on my Live account and started buying those handy little cards, so, the problem’s already solved…
Ah well, people like options, right? Can never have enough options.
The Amazon XBOX Live Store allows customers to buy games for “cash” (but I’m pretty sure they mean credit cards) instead of Microsoft points and use a download code to active their purchase. The code can be used by the purchaser or sent to a friend as a gift.
While Amazon never comments on future plans, there have been rumors that a similar service for Nintendo’s Wii and DSi and Sony’s Playstation 3 and Playstation Portable might be on the horizon. via Kotaku
Gay Gamer Banned Off XBOX Live
Sigh. Who knew that petty discrimination could have its ridiculous, undeserved consequences even in the video game world. Recently an XBOX Live user, a woman who identified herself as a lesbian, was banned from her XBOX Live account after making mention of her sexuality on her profile. The player said she was “harassed by several players” and “chased to different maps/games”, and those who took issue with her sexual orientation flagged her account to Microsoft, who promptly banned her. This caused an outrage in the gamer community, prompting an apology from Stephen TouLouse:
“It is true that as a matter of policy, the expression of relationship preference in Gamertag profiles and tags is not allowed across the board, whether that’s heterosexual or other,” he told MTV. He went on to add that they were “looking into that policy,” which he further deemed “inelegant.”
Gee, he sure sounds sincere. Inelegant. He makes the whole thing sound like they dropped a dinner napkin at high tea.
The story brings awareness to the fact that XBOX Live does not allow any mention of sexuality, homosexual or otherwise. It reminds me a lot of the “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy of the US Army. While the intentions may seem good and in the interest of keeping peace, they completely miss the point. A person shouldn’t have to hide their sexual identity to avoid harassment or disrupting an environment. There should be enough tolerance and acceptance in our society that a person’s sexuality does not make them a target.
And further more, shouldn’t XBOX Live have a better system in place for blocking unwanted attention? Isn’t that a better way to tackle the problem? The “don’t tell” policy currently in system was to avoid the using of the word “gay” in a negative manner, but its prevented the registration of perfectly valid accounts by people with the name, for instance, Richard Gaywood (true story). In other words, the whole system is a mess.
I’m a little peeved that someone was “offended” with a woman expressing her same sexual orientation. (Yes, I’m offended that they were offended.) Its not their place to be offended. That’s like saying you’re offended by someone identifying themselves as female. Or black.
Microsoft had an opportunity to make a real positive cultural statement here, and they FAILED.
New XBOX Themes, Friend Channel
XBOX has a major dashboard overhaul approaching this fall.
“Themes will be incorporated into the new look and even become dynamic. For some menus, the themes will set the backdrop directly, while other times they will be set further in the background to give the area a sense of depth. According the Gamerscorblog, “Every graphic on each channel will tie into your theme and change if you choose a different one… These graphics will match the theme you choose and will change dynamically as you navigate from channel to channel. But that’s not all; the themes will be subtly animated.”
All former themes will still be usable, though certainly not as impressive as the new ones. Live parties can be hosted on the friends channel, where your friends’ avatars will be snoozing or awake and active depending on their online status.
Soulja Boy Gives Thoughts On Braid For XBOX Live Arcade
I wish I were a celebrity. It must be nice to have an audience any time you think you know something about anything and want a little attention. I’m not sure if I’m supposed to really give a shit what Soulja Boy’s opinion on Braid is, but in case you do, here it is! I guess he’s as qualified to give a review as any of us—we’re all just gamers, right? Just don’t count on necessarily being impressed by it. Anyone who confuses the word “soulja” with “soldier” and being soldier with being a privileged little mouthy punk, might not be qualified to be giving any opinions (except where he wants it, in the eye, or in the jaw.)
