[quote]
On November 21, 2007, video game developer Eidos Interactive filed to protect the trademark Tomb Raider Underworld in relation to, what else…a video game. Mork suspects that this might be the name of Tomb Raider 8, which is currently in development at Crystal Dynamics.

The storyline is rumored to be based around the Mayan Calendar. During five nameless and dangerous days at the end of the calendar called Wayeb’, portals between the mortal realm and the Underworld dissolve, allowing ill-intending deities to causing disaster and mayhem.

Sounds like an exciting premise and setup for the next Tomb Raider installment.
[/quote]

source: Trademork

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[QUOTE]
As promised, Microsoft is bringing some early gifts to your Xbox 360 just prior to the holiday season. Beginning at 0200 a.m. PST on Dec. 4, the Xbox 360 Fall Dashboard Update will be available for all connected Xbox 360 consoles free of charge, bringing an array of new features and enhancements to the leading gaming and entertainment system.

Among the key new enhancements are the previously announced Xbox Originals game download service, Family Timer parental control feature, and expanded social networking experiences. Xbox 360 owners can also look forward to enhanced navigation, profile and video features and Xbox LIVE Arcade Hits.

This free update will be digitally distributed over Xbox LIVE to the more than 8 million Xbox LIVE members worldwide (Xbox LIVE Silver and Gold) with no disc or hard drive required. Gamers without an Xbox LIVE account can easily sign up for the free network by connecting their console to a broadband internet connection. New features and enhancements include:

MORE DOWNLOAD OPTIONS:
* Xbox Originals - With this new service, announced on Nov. 13, consumers can download-to-own full original Xbox games that were previously only available at retail. The digital shelves will always be stocked with classic titles, such as “Crash Bandicoot: Wrath of Cortex” “Crimson Skies: High Road to Revenge,” “Halo,” “Fable,” “Fuzion Frenzy,” “Psychonauts,” and more as the catalogue grows over time, at 1200 Microsoft Points per game.
* Xbox LIVE Arcade Hits - On Xbox LIVE Arcade, the Arcade Hits program kicks off where some of the best selling Xbox LIVE Arcade games will become available at permanently reduced prices, making it easier than ever for everyone to build a library of downloadable games! The first games to become Arcade Hits will be “Bankshot Billiards 2″ and “Lumines LIVE,” which will be available for 800 Microsoft Points each, and “Marble Blast Ultra,” “Small Arms” and “Zuma Deluxe,” which will be available for 400 Microsoft Points each. With free trial downloads for every game and over 100 games to choose from, Xbox LIVE Arcade offers something for every member of the family.

NEW WAYS TO KEEP UP TO DATE AND CONNECTED:
* Inside Xbox - A new direct feed brings current news straight from Xbox.com into the Xbox LIVE Dashboard providing members an easy, predictable entry point where they can discover what’s new in: game releases, events, and Xbox LIVE Marketplace offers.
* Enhanced online profile - Members interested in sharing a few more details about themselves will have the option to go beyond their motto and further personalize their profile with an expanded bio. The extended bios will be visible to “Friends Only” or the entire Xbox LIVE community.
* Expanded Friends List access - A quick and easy way for gamers to expand their personal community on Xbox LIVE, members will be able to see the Friends Lists of other Xbox LIVE members, boosting their social networking experience on the service.

ENHANCED OVERALL EXPERIENCE AND CONTROL:
* Enhanced Parental Controls - Family Timer, a strong and flexible new addition to the Xbox 360 Family Settings, enables parents to set the amount of time their Xbox 360 can be used on a per-day or per-week basis by their children or other members of the household.
* New video features - The convenience of full-screen movie previews and enhanced video codec support further expand the options when it comes to the Xbox 360 entertainment experience.
* Easy-to-use navigation features - With several noteworthy changes in the Xbox LIVE Dashboard, from the new Game Store button to the Video Store button to enhanced visuals and descriptions in the video library, Xbox LIVE members can find what they want, when they want it.

These features are just some of the new enhancements Xbox 360 owners can expect as part of the Fall Dashboard Update. On December 4th a list of all the new features and improvements will be posted at: http://www.xbox.com/live.
[/QUOTE]

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[quote]
We’ve been wondering what’s in store for us in Silent Hill V ever since we first caught sight of it a long time back. Would the American company, The Collective, simply mash together existing elements in the franchise to give us a ho-hum formulaic view of the mist-ridden town as a different character, or offer something new to bring some life back into arguably the most horrifying series of games known to man? Well, we still don’t know, but some of the latest scans from PLAY magazine give us some idea of what to expect, including a little bit about the characters you’ll encounter.

Better combat seems like a promise, since the protagonist Alex was taught to be a hunter at an early age, with proficiencies in grappling, using weapons, and evading attacks. The radio, which emits static when enemies are nearby, and the flashlight were dropped in Silent Hill 4: The Room because … well … for some reason, but they’re returning in this title. The camera will feature full 360-degree motion, which is a nice touch, and the PlayStation 3 version is noted to have some possible Sixaxis functionality.

An interesting tidbit paying homage to Metal Gear Solid 3 is the active wound system. No more health drinks to heal up those scratches! You’ve got to take care of those wounds the old fashioned way, though there’s no detail to go off of yet. It probably won’t be as in-depth as MGS3, but it should give you an added sense of fear as you try to get to a safe zone while your arm dribbles a path of blood for critters to follow. We’ll keep you updated as we find out more on the game!
[/quote]

Source: PS3 Fanboy

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[QUOTE]
The Holiday comes a little early this year, as the BC team has just issued out another update. The latest backwards compatibility update is now available over Xbox Live (or will be very soon.) This free update brings the complete list of original Xbox games that you can play on your Xbox 360 to over 300. Remember, your original Xbox games will look better than ever on Xbox 360 running in 720p and 1080i with anti-aliasing. You can also play cross-platform between Xbox 360 and the original Xbox over Xbox Live.

November 2007 Back Compat titles added:
2006 Fifa World Cup Germany
25 to Life
AMF Bowling 2004
Apex
Arena Football
Armed and Dangerous
Baldurs Gate: Dark Alliance
Batman Rise of Sin Tzu
Bionicle
Blade II
Blinx: The Timesweeper
Blitz The League
Blood Omen 2
Blowout
Breakdown
Burnout 2: Point of Impact
Cabelas Dangerous Hunts 2
Championship Manager 2006
Colin Mcrae Rally 2005
Crime Life: Gang Wars
Dave Mirra Freestyle BMX 2
Dungeons& Dragons Heroes
ESPN College Hoops 2k5
ESPN NFL 2k5
Fantastic 4
FIFA 06 Soccer
Fight Night: Round 3
Final Fight: Streetwise
Forgotten Realms: Demon Stone
Freedom Fighters
Freestyle Street Soccer
Future Tactics: The Uprising
Godzilla Destroy All Monsters Melee
Godzilla Save the Earth
Goldeneye Rogue Agent
Greg Hastings Tournament Paintball Max’d
High Heat MLB 2004
Hunter: The Reckoning
Indiana Jones And The Emperors Tomb
MLB Slugfest Loaded
MVP Baseball 2003
MVP Baseball 2004
MVP Baseball 2005
Nascar Thunder 2002
Nascar Thunder 2003
NBA 2k3
NBA Ballers
NBA Inside Drive 2002
NBA Street V3
NCAA College Basketball 2k3
NCAA March Madness 2005
NCAA March Madness 2006
NFL 2k2
NFL 2k3
NHL 2005
NHL 2K3
NHL Hitz Pro
Nightcaster: Defeat The Darkness
NTRA Breeders Cup: World Thoroughbred Championships
Playboy The Mansion
RLH Hunt or be Hunted
Robin Hood: Defender of the Crown
Rocky
Rugby 2006
Shattered Union
Shrek Super Party
Star Wars: Jedi Starfighter
Starsky & Hutch
Syberia II
Techmo Classic Arcade
Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines
Test Drive
The Bard’s Tale
The Chronicles of Narnia The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe
The Guy Game
The Lord Of The Rings: The Third Age
Thousand Land
Thrillville
Tom and Jerry in War of the Whiskers
Turok: Evolution
Van Helsing
WarPath
Worms 3D
Zathura
[/QUOTE]

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[QUOTE]
Microsoft Japan recently held a press briefing covering some of the new features that will be bundled in the update. One of the newly discovered changes will be the ability to reorganize the Game Blade, which will feature the Game Library, instead of Xbox Live Arcade, Achievements, and Played Games sections. The new update will allow for easier sorting by having everything break down with filters. Items will be added into sections like, All Games, Arcade, Demos, and Recent Downloads.

Some other changes include:
* Marketplace will be reorganized and reduced to four categories. The new categories will be “Recommended Content,” “What’s New,” “Game Store,” “and Video Store.”
* Personal Profile added into Gamer Profile. This will allow you to add a brief introduction about yourself, your name, nationality, and country of origin.
* XBLA demos will also be deleted from Played Games and Gamercard listings.
[/QUOTE]

News Source: 360.advancedmn.com

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[QUOTE]
Some great news for Rock Band fans from Harmonix today. They wrote to tell us that gamers who are experiencing problems with their guitars (or any of the Rock Band instruments) should contact EA’s customer support website and they will send out a replacement immediately.

“As sometimes happens when new products first go into manufacturing, we discovered an imperfection with the strum bar in an early production run of guitars that were shipped at launch. We’ve since identified and fixed the issue in all subsequent production runs of the guitars. If users are experiencing a problem with their guitars or any of the Rock Band instruments, they can visit the customer support website ( http://support.ea.com/rockband) and we will send a replacement immediately. Harmonix is dedicated to creating 100% customer satisfaction and to the users who have encountered any hardware issues, we are sorry for the hassle.”
[/QUOTE]

Full Story: kotaku.com

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Half-Life dev Valve will be adding more achievements to The Orange Box and other games on Steam, it revealed in reply to a fan email (as odd as that sounds).

Team Fortress 2 will be the first to receive the in-game accolades - which work in pretty much the same ways as Xbox 360 Achievements - and other Valve games such as Day of Defeat: Source and Half-Life 2 will apparently follow.

“We’re planning on adding achievements to all of our games you touched on in your mail,” said Valve’s Erik Johnson in the e-mail reply. “We’re just now coming out of the post-shipping haze, so these should start showing up on Steam pretty quick here.”

Advertisement:
“We’re also planning on adding a bunch more to TF2, starting with an achievement pack for the Medic in the next week or so.”

It’d be pretty interesting to see the statistics behind Orange Box’s achievements, as it might be one of the first examples outside of 360 of how the in-game unlockables cause fanatical game addiction. We won’t play anything without them.

source: CVG

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Hideous name, and less-than-hideous hardware. CYBER Gadget’s “Familator Lite” plugs into a DS Lite’s GBA slot, allowing users to insert their Famicom cartridges and re-live their favorite Nintendo classics in portable form.

Would rather re-live the classics on television? The device allows for TV out. Would rather play with the original Famicom controllers? Well… the device doesn’t do that, actually. But it does that other stuff!

The Familator Lite is due out in Japan in December, but no price has been set. Sadly, the device’s form factor means it’s only compatible with the DS Lite, and not its phatter older brother.

source: DS Fanboy

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Eternal Sonata developer Tri-Crescendo working on post-apocalyptic adventure outing on Nintendo console

With RPGs still a little thin on the ground on Nintendo’s much-in-demand Wii console, adventure-gamers will be delighted to hear that Namco has revealed it is working on a new role-playing outing for the machine named Fragile.

Though little is known about the game, it has been confirmed that Eternal Sonata studio Tri-Crescendo is working on the game, which sees a boy called Set exploring cities in a post-apocalyptic future.

The Wii remote is thought to act like a torch as gamers confront the hidden nasties.

Those of you comfortable reading Japanese, or brave enough to venture into to murky depths of online translation services, can find out more at the game’s official site.

source: MCV

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With Rock Band out in stores (well, kinda), publisher MTV Games is already looking for their next hit. Early bets were on similar music-themed titles (they are MTV, after all). A recent Reuters article, however, seems to indicate otherwise, as MTV Networks Music Group EVP Jeff Yapp hints at even greater things to come.

At the end of the article, Yapp teases that MTV Games is planning a “big announcement, which is coming up fairly quickly.” He refers to the announcement as “a move into a whole other realm,” which could either mean that MTV Games is planning to move away from the rhythm gaming genre, or perhaps even that MTV Games is moving away from games altogether.

So how soon is “fairly quickly”? And will MTV Games’ newest venture include developer Harmonix? Let the speculations run rampant. We’re just curious to see how MTV plans to further utilize their unique resources in the game industry.

source: Joystiq

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