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October 27 Left 4 Dead = Dead GoodI love zombies. I don't know any personally, but if I did I'd probably be best mates with them. We'd go out for brains together. I love zombie movies like Dawn of the Dead (original PLUS remake, natch), 28 Days and Land of the Dead. Okay, not Land of the Dead. It was jobbie. But it still had zombies in, so that's good. I love zombie books too, although not many of them are much good apart from World War Z by Max Brooks (Mel Brooks's son, dontcha know). I would be loving Charlie Brooker's new TV program, Dead Set, but I've Sky Plussed it because I couldn't watch it tonight. When I moved into my new house recently one of the first things I did was think about how I could make it impregnable from brain-munchers if the zombie holocaust happened next Tuesday.
So I'm quite fond of zombies. And therefore I thought I would be quite fond of Left 4 Dead. And then this afternoon I watched two guys in the office play it coop. And now I know that it may be the game that makes me give up the others, settle down, get a puppy and wear a ring. A ring of gore-stained intestines, obviously.
Dear me it looks amazing. Basically it's a 4-player coop experience that pits you against a horde of 'Infected' - zombies that are swarming all over the city and desperate to beat your brains out. And these guys aren't shufflers - think 28 Days's sprinting nutjobs interspersed with hulking 'Tank' juggernauts, bloated bile-spewing 'Boomer' fatties, and acrobatic jumpy-jumpy Hunters. It's you and your mates against the zombified world, with only limited ammo and some dodgy flashlights to help ease your squeaky bum. It's exactly as you would expect a zombie apocalypse to look like. It's TERRIFYING.
And the scariest bit? The Witch. Picture a shivering, quivering little lady cowering in the corner. She's not interested in you. But get too close and she gets agitated. Get a little closer and she starts wailing. And invade her personal dead space too much and she flips and rips your body to bits. Goodnight! Pretty creepy as it is, but imagine she's the only thing between you and the door to safety...
Left 4 Dead is out on November 21. I'll see you when Hell fills up... Marketplace Update - 27/10Woah, late post! Sorry I didn't post earlier, today was a weird one when nothing works right and everything takes about ten times as long as it should - it probably didn't help that I 'm still knackered from Zurich. But it was good - great in fact - and Saturday night went really well too (although we definitely got some trickier questions!). Other highlights for me were meeting Keiichi Yano, the designer of LIPS, Gitaroo Man and Elite Beat Agents and generally sound bloke (never got to sing with him, gutted, but I did see him DESTROY Take on Me by A-Ha), and sharing a few drinks with Georg Backer from Lionhead, who genuinely seemed like one of the nicest people in the games industry. I passed on all your compliments about Fable - he's delighted! I've posted a few photos in the Gallery below, check 'em out.
Not many updates today - the Brothers In Arms Hell's Highway demo is now available in Germany, and I hear that Penny Arcade Adventures: On the Rain-Soaked Precipice of Death: Episode II and Are You Smarter Than a Fifth-Grader are this week's XBLA games, both 1200 MS Points.
In other spandex-wearing news, the second part of my Ibiza Weekender videos featuring the legend that is Jimmy Spandexx will be up tomorrow. I think it's pretty funny - I hope you do too!
Oh, and I should be at the EuroGamer Expo for a couple of hours tomorrow morning - give me a shout if you spot me. The Inside Xbox boys will be there on Wednesday, so say hi if you see them too.
October 25 Marketplace Update - 25/10Sometimes I really, really love my job. I'm still in Zurich for the second day of Gamecity. Last night was brilliant - myself and Tobias Egartner from the Swiss Xbox team (GamerTag TobiMoby24 - you can also catch up with his Space at http://tobimoby24.spaces.live.com/) did a demonstration of NXE to press and partners which was a really good laugh, and then I got the chance to catch up with some of the community guys from Switzerland afterwards. Lots of passion and enthusiasm for Xbox 360 here, so nice to see and everyone has been really friendly and welcoming!
We're doing some more presentations and interviews today, and I'm hoping to catch up with Georg Backer from Lionhead and Keiichi Yano from LIPS developer Inis. I'd really love to sing a duet with Keiichi, hope I can make that happen. Pics tomorrow hopefully!
Hope you're loving Fable II as much as I'm missing it...
By the way, I've just seen a late edit of the second part of the Jimmy Spandexx Ibiza video and it's looking good... Hope you like it when it goes live next week! Major Nelson's New Xbox Experience ProgramIf you can't wait until November 19 to get your hands on NXE then you should drop what you're doing and head over to Major Nelson right now. He's running the New Xbox Experience Program, which is the chance for Xbox LIVE users to trial NXE ahead of its launch date.
You'll need to provide your console serial number and console ID number then fill out a survey. There's no guarantee you'll get access but there are over a thousand spots up for grabs, and when I spoke to Major Nelson the other night he told me that the LIVE team is looking for LIVE users from every country in Europe, so definitely get involved. You'll be doing us a favour!
Of course, if you don't live in a LIVE country please do not apply.
October 24 Marketplace Update - 24/10Guten morgen! I'm in Zurich in Switzerland now, ready to check out the Gamehotel event. It's mainly an industry thing where big cheeses from around the world come together to talk about the future of the gaming business, but there's also a lot of really cool press events too. Will get some photos and stuff and post em.
Speaking of, I'm about to post photos from the French party in the Gallery. Had a great night - was brilliant catching up with Major Nelson and the French commuity and Xbox team. Inside Xbox video should be ready late next week.
Bioshock 2, eh? Should be interesting! Here's today's games on sale too - it's Fable day, and even aside from that it's a bumper crop!
Have a great Fable Friday! October 22 Marketplace Update - 22/10Salut! Je suis a Paris pour le grande Xbox 360 Francais soiree, and that's about as far as my bad French goes. We're shooting video at the party tonight with the French Xbox team so I'll try and post some photos tomorrow. Major Nelson will be there as well as the cream of French bloggers and media, so it should be brilliant.
In the meantime, here's your lot for today, and don't forget that Portal: Still Alive is on XBLA now for 1200 MS Points.
October 21 Marketplace Update - 21/10Keeping it short today cos I'm in a meeting and I shouldn't be doing this...
October 20 Marketplace Update - 20/10GOOD MORNING! What a weekend - Aberdeen finally ended their losing streak and are off the bottom of the table, and the mighty Greenford Gaints won their first game of the season! What's even better is that it was the first round of our league cup and we were drawn against the team who are top of the table - away from home! We went 2-1 up with only five minutes to go (after I was crunched on the right wing to win a free kick, which I'm claiming as an assist...) and closed the game with a fine backs-to-the-wall defensive delay.
Aside from that I was playing Fable 2 like a secret squirrel (that's why my profile is blocked at the moment). It's ace! So many good games coming out in the next few weeks...
By the way, hope you enjoyed the Ibiza video on Inside Xbox - part two should be up this week! October 17 Portal: Still Alive On XBLA Next WeekPortal: Still Alive comes to XBLA next Wednesday at 10am. Sheer gaming genius for 1200 MS Points. If you haven't ever played it sort yourself out.
That is all. Marketplace Update - 17/10I'm looking forward to a nice quiet weekend of gaming - and the pressure's on because I noticed yesterday that Major Nelson is now only about 200 Gamerscore behind me! Holy crap that shows just how much I've been slacking!
Not that I'm insinuating anything, mind, but he does tend to play pretty much every game that comes out to skim off the easy Achievements. Not that I'm accusing him of anything, likes... Anyway, good line-up of games out today:
Tera Patrick is coming round later to hand-deliver my copy of Saint's Row 2 (I wish). And don't forget to save some pennies for Fable 2 next week... October 16 Need a Call of Duty: World at War Beta Code?Still haven't had the pleasure of playing the Call of Duty: World at War beta? Unlucky, it's ace - although it's putting me right off dogs... Cats FTW!
Anyway, I've got six spare beta codes that I want to give away to good, loving homes. No gimmicks here and I want to make sure the winners get their codes before the weekend - just head to the Xbox.com forums and do it up.
And if you already have a beta code you can still enter, but take a long hard look at yourself in the mirror before you try to steal a code from someone less fortunate then yourself... GTA: San Andreas Coming to Xbox OriginalsGTAIV was brilliant, wasn't it? But if you miss a bit of old-school GTA, like doing countryside drive-bys while driving a pick-up and listening to Soundgarden, stuffing yourself full of burgers and waddling around in your pants, or scorching pedestrian's heads with your jetpack, then YOU ARE IN LUCK. GTA: San Andreas is coming to Xbox Originals on Monday, priced at the perfectly reasonable 1200 MS Points.
Look for it on Monday morning, yo. Marketplace Update - 16/10Had a bit of an amazing reaction to the green controller competition - my inbox is straining under the weight! Looks like more competitions will be on the ay if they go down this well every time...
October 15 Win a Green Xbox 360 Controller - With Redesigned D-Pad!Don't forget the fancy new electric green Xbox 360 controller - with redesigned D-pad - is out this Friday in strictly limited quantities. if you're in the UK or Ireland and you fancy one head over to the Xbox.com forums for the chance to win! NXE: Memory Upgrade Program DetailsHey everyone - you've probably seen the buzz online about the NXE Memory Upgrade Program, and I've certainly seen a bit of confusion around it. You can find full details on your local Xbox.com now at www.Xbox.com/storage (this page also links to the Memory Upgrade Program page), but to try and make it as clear and simple as possible here's the deal:
Just to reiterate, you can find all the details and a link to the Memory Upgrade program at your local Xbox.com: www.Xbox.com/storage.
Hope that's all clear - if not let me know! Marketplace Update - 15/10Sorry I didn't get around to posting yesterday, crazy day! Head over to Major Nelson for yesterday's updates, which included the full Motley Crue Dr Feelgood album for Rock Band!
Today's XBLA games are Crazy Mouse (squeaky cheese-munching puzzling, 400 MS Points) and Age of Booty (Beyonce's bum simulator, 800 MS Points). Free trails available for both too.
Oh, and Age of Booty is actually a pirate strategy/action game, nothing to do with Beyonce.
And today you also get:
So I FINALLY got time on Monday night to sit down and play FIFA 09 for a bit - it's really good, eh? I was playing as Aberdeen in manager mode but it did kind of annoy me because after a solid start to the season (scoreless draw against Celtic, beat Rangers 1-0 at Ibrox) I then proceeded to get pumped by everyone from Falkirk to Motherwell. Just like real-life, really. Need to try some PES so I can fully decide, it's out Friday. And I spent a few hours playing the CoD: WaW beta - now that's GOOD. I was always a bit sceptical about CoD4 multiplayer not having Achievements but I did find myself playing 'one more game' to get the next level-up and the next rifle or whatever, so that's cool. Hopefully I'll have some spare codes over the next few days and I can run a wee competition, stay tuned. October 13 XboxGameZone is Recruiting Game Reviewers - Apply Now!People often ask me how to get a job in the games industry. The answer isn't as good as you would hope - like most things it takes a bit of work, preferably a few qualifications, but definitely lots of experience. If you want to write about games it helps to have, erm, written about games.
So here's a cool opportunity that you might be interested in - Lisa Bidder, the boss of UK Xbox Community Network site www.XboxGameZone.co.uk, is currently looking for a reliable and informed games reviewer to help out on the site. Here are the deets:
XboxGameZone is recruiting content providers and reviewers for their gaming and tournament website. Think you’ve got what it takes to make the team? Then read on...
We’re in need of committed and talented writers to contribute to XboxGameZone’s news and review library. XboxGameZone is a non-profit website so there is no payment involved however you will receive benefits such as Xbox360 review code, XBL Arcade titles and after a review period the opportunity to attend press events.
In addition the role will provide you with published work and a reference when applying for future positions.
You’ll need:
If you fancy trying out for the position head over to XboxGameZone to apply. Who knows where it could take you? Marketplace Update - 13/10Cracking new Gears trailer up today - the Enter the Horde vid has been available online for a while but Never Fight Alone is new.
How was your weekend? I had a frustrating afternoon watching Scotland draw with Norway (oh dear, Chris Iwelumo...) and then an even more frustrating Sunday morning as the Gaints got pumped 6-1. Still struggling to getting around to playing some games, although I did manage to get in some Braid (which is truly twisting my melon) and some Castle Crashers, which was fun. Some FIFA 09 tonight, hopefully... October 11 Vote - And Win - In the Golden Joystick Awards 2008!The 2008 Golden Joystick Awards voting is in full swing and Xbox 360 has a stack of titles up for gongs - and we need your help! All the voting is done by the public so we need you to get onto the Golden Joystick website and cast votes to support Xbox 360!
And with these titles up for nomination why wouldn't you?
And there's something in it for you too - every 100,000 vote cast wins an amazing prize, including HDTVs, mobile phones, consoles, magazine subscriptions and more! You can even track how many votes have been cast to increase your chances! Love it.
Check out www.GoldenJoystick.com! |
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