All Articles: Xbox 360

BioWare “considering” a new ending for Mass Effect 3

Posted on March 19, 2012 by John Scalzo

It just goes to show you, some companies actually take the phrase “the customer is always right” to heart. Even though it was never considered the foundation of good business and is even less applicable in this case.

In a post on their Facebook page, the team at BioWare has revealed that they are still “collecting and considering” all fan feedback regarding the ending. The developer has also made made no decisions on whether or not they’re going to change the ending or offer a “good” ending to fans dissatisfied with the ending as is:

We would like to clarify that we are actively and seriously taking all player feedback into consideration and have ruled nothing out. At this time we are still collecting and considering your feedback and have not made a decision regarding requests to change the ending.

Many Mass Effect 3 will no doubt greet this news with cheers of joy. And they’re likely the very same people who complain about all the unnecessary changes George Lucas has made to the Star Wars trilogy over the years.

Search your feelings, you know it to be true.

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Final Street Fighter X Tekken fighters announced; PC version dated

Posted on February 15, 2012 by Nicole Kline

The final four characters in Street Fighter X Tekken have been announced: Street Fighter’s M. Bison and Akuma and Tekken’s Jin and Ogre. This brings the total character count up to 38.

Capcom also announced today that the PC version will be released on May 11, though no details were given on the PlayStation Vita version. The game will be available for the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 on March 6.

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Blizzard confirms Diablo III is coming to consoles

Posted on January 10, 2012 by John Scalzo

Blizzard hasn’t been shy about telling the world they were working on a “controller test” for Diablo III. However, they have also been quick to point out that a console version of the game wasn’t being officially announced as its release wasn’t a certainty.

But as of today, it is.

Blizzard Community Manager Micah Whiple was asked to confirm or deny the existence of the console version of Diablo III by another Twitter user and, with a simple “Yup,” confirmed that the game is no longer PC exclusive:

TaNGoIX:
@Bashiok can you confirm or deny Diablo 3 coming to consoles? Thanks.

Bashiok:
@TaNGoIX Yup. Josh Mosqueira is lead designer for the Diablo console project.

Obviously, it is much too early to speculate about a date for Diablo III’s debut on consoles (or even which consoles it’ll appear on, for that matter). But confirmation that it’s a real game and not just a test is a good first step.

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Justin Verlander’s Major League Baseball 2K12 box art revealed

Posted on December 28, 2011 by John Scalzo

This wintry Wednesday can definitely be classified as a slow news day. Thankfully, 2K Sports has added some Spring to our steps with the reveal of Justin Verlander’s Major League Baseball 2K12 cover. The Detroit Tigers pitcher went 24-8 with 250 strikeouts in 2011 en route to winning the AL Cy Young and AL MVP award. He also threw his second career no-hitter and took two other potential no-hitters into the 8th inning before surrendering a hit.

That’s quite a resume for a guy who’s only 28.

Major League Baseball 2K12 will be released on the DS, PC, PS2, PS3, PSP, Wii, and Xbox 360 on March 6, 2012.

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The Madden Curse Strikes Back: A Midseason Report on All 32 Cover Finalists

Posted on November 11, 2011 by John Scalzo

The 2011 NFL season is only at the halfway point and the Madden Cover Curse has already claimed another victim. Fans selected Cleveland Browns running back Peyton Hillis as the Madden NFL 12 cover athlete, and while some joked about the curse at the time, few gave it much thought as the lockout consumed all NFL news. But here we are: the lockout is over and it’s safe to say that few players have been victimized by the curse like Hillis has.

The running back has missed the last three games with a hamstring injury and he has already been ruled out for this weekend’s upcoming game against the St. Louis Rams. Hillis also missed the Browns’ week three game against the Dolphins with a serious strep throat infection. Some reports say he lost as much as ten pounds in a single week.

As if these injuries weren’t bad enough, Hillis has only had one breakout game the entire season. In week two, against the Colts, Hillis ran for 94 yards and scored two touchdowns in a 27-19 Browns win. He even managed to catch four passes as well. It’s a disturbing return to form for the Madden Cover Curse, which spared Vince Young, Brett Favre, Larry Fitzgerald, and Drew Brees in recent years. Troy Polamalu (who shared the cover of Madden NFL 10 with Fitzgerald) was the last victim of the curse, missing 11 games in 2009.

But what about the other 32 players that Hillis defeated in EA’s single-elimination tournament to select the Madden NFL 12 cover athlete? Have they been cursed by association? All told, seven players besides Hillis have succumbed to the Madden Cover Curse, even though they were never on the cover! Two more are currently nursing injuries and may join their ranks.

I’m not sure if I believe in curses and superstitions. But the Madden Cover Curse has affected nine of the 13 cover athletes chosen since John Madden gave up his spot on the box, and while a regression to the mean is to be expected for the top players of the previous season, the curse seems to go beyond that. I’m sure some statistics grad student could create an interesting paper out of the percentage of NFL players that suffer a statline reduction from season to season. But until then, this study is the best we have. (more…)

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Console version of Diablo III in production, but no official announcment yet

Posted on October 23, 2011 by John Scalzo

Here’s your big news for the day: Blizzard has begun development on Diablo III for the PS3 and Xbox 360! Except they’re not ready to announce it. In fact, the developer may not even release it if they don’t believe it’s as good a game as the PC version. What? Allow me to explain.

During one of the many panels at this weekend’s BlizzCon, Diablo III Game Director Jay Wilson revealed that a small team has begun work on developing console controls for the game. In fact, Wilson told panel attendees that “The movement actually feels better on the controller.”

So done deal, right? Not so fast. Destructoid spoke to Josh Mosquiera, Lead Console Designer, who revealed that development is still pretty preliminary: “We’re not announcing anything because, literally, there’s three of us on the team right now,” he said. “But that’s what we’re trying to do. We’re trying to build the best console team at Blizzard. Blizzard is really serious about going back to the console.”

The non-announcement announcement of Diablo III on consoles was further put into perspective by Wilson, who added, “[W]e don’t want to announce something until we’re sure.” So there’s a possibility the game may never escape the testing stages. But something tells me parent company Activision will be pushing hard to put Diablo III on the PS3 and Xbox 360 sometime in the future.

The PC version of Diablo III still has a vague “Early 2012” release date, so making a guess on when the console version might be released would be a fool’s errand at this point.

[Source: Joystiq, Destructoid]

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Rumor: Doom 4 indefinitely postponed; Bethesda denies it was ever announced

Posted on October 21, 2011 by John Scalzo

A source inside id Software has told Kotaku that Doom 4 has been “indefinitely postponed” after the poor critical and retail reception for Rage. According to the source, the decision was made by executives from parent company Zenimax/Bethesda. This is in spite of the fact that id founder John Carmack told reporters that the developer would remain independent even after its acquisition by the Elder Scrolls publisher.

Pete Hines, Vice President of Bethesda Softworks, responded to Kotaku’s article with a statement declaring that Doom 4 can’t be “postponed” as it was never officially announced:

“We don’t comment on unannounced games and Doom 4 hasn’t been announced (though I appreciate that id has previously referenced Doom 4). Games are done when they are done and no title under development at id has been postponed – indefinitely or otherwise.”

Now wait just a minute! Mr. Hines, I say this with all due respect, but your statement is bullshit. Doom 4 was officially announced in 2008 and numerous interviews with id executives have since confirmed that development is well underway. The Internet never forgets, so it’s unwise to play these kinds of gotcha games with your fans.

That said, this news is still firmly in the rumor territory and as a Doom fan from way back, I hope it’s untrue.

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Mark Hamill retires as The Joker… for real this time

Posted on October 21, 2011 by Brianne Galli

After almost two decades of voicing the madman on “Batman: The Animated Series” and in numerous games – including the recently released Batman: Arkham City, Mark Hamill is retiring from his post as The Joker. This marks the second departure of a long-time voice actor from the series, with Arleen Sorkin, voice of Harley Quinn, announcing her leave in May 2011.

Hamill made his announcement via Twitter, where he posted, “Hello/Goodbye Joker! I’ve enjoyed every minute behind the wheel of the Crown Prince’s crazy car- I’m going to miss him more than I can say!!”

The sequel to 2009’s Batman: Arkham Asylum, Batman: Arkham City was released on October 18 to critical acclaim and currently holds a 95 average rating on Metacritic. Given the new release’s success, we can only hope that Hamill is staying in character with his recent announcement and playing a big joke on all of us.

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