After Bioware was acquired by EA, many gamers were worried that EA would force the developer to make multiplatform games and continue churning out titles.  Xbox 360 gamers were especially worried, as they didn’t want to see the Mass Effect trilogy end up on any other system, except for maybe the PS3.  Why, you ask?  Because every second spent making the DS version of a game could be used to polish up the Xbox 360 version even more.

Well, those of you who want to see the Mass Effect trilogy appear exclusively on the 360 just got your prayers answered.  In the just released September issue of gaming magazine Australian 360, Bioware CEO Ray Muzyka has made the commitment “to bring the Mass Effect trilogy exclusively to the Xbox 360″.

This news comes in direct contrast to the recent news of third-party titles going multiplatform, like Final Fantasy XIII.  But why would Bioware not release this game on the PS3, where it could potentially sell millions of copies.  Well there are two answers.  The Bioware CEO answer: “we’re always very ambitious in our goals and the most important thing is quality, so we’re never going to compromise that”.  Or the realistic answer: Bioware has some sort of exclusivity contract with Microsoft.  You decide which one you believe.

But after this trilogy is completed, maybe a DS Mass Effect will become a possibility.  The article stated: “it was suggested that once the trilogy has closed the IP could begin to move in new directions”.

Also noted was the fact that this trilogy not only will be exclusive to Microsoft, but it will also be exclusive to the Xbox 360 platform.  And with the next Mass Effect expected to be released in 2009, that gives a two year gap between each release.  So, we can speculate that Mass Effect 3 is due in 2011, which, by most estimates, is at the very end of the 360’s console cycle.  In fact, some analysts are even saying that the Xbox 720 will be released in 2010.  So how’s that going to work out?

[via XboxOZ360]

Plenty of buzz has been going around the past few days about Microsoft’s not so surprising announcement of a complete dashboard revamp this Fall.  And surprisingly, a lot of it has been negative.  Well I’m here to give you the facts about the New Xbox Experience, as Microsoft has been calling it.

Let’s start out with a great developer walkthrough of the New Xbox Experience:

The Dashboard

So the new dashboard is now filled with various channels, including My Xbox 360, Community, and Videos, which you switch by going up or down and navigate through by going left or right.  It seems as though it’s perfectly designed for those people who navigate the Xbox 360 using a remote control.  So that makes about four people happy.

As for the channels themselves, they look very…interesting.  Don’t get me wrong, the Game and Primetime channels are very clean, but the Community channel just looks like a mess to me.  Having all of your friends’ characters on one screen at the same time just doesn’t sound fun to me.

The Guide Button

To those of you who preferred the old blade system by far, it may seem like you’re in trouble because the new dashboard update is mandatory.  However, hitting the Guide button now brings up an interface very, very similar to the original Xbox 360 dashboard.

And it’s important to note that this blade system is accessible at anytime.  That means when you’re playing Call of Duty 4, you can just hit the guide button and jump into one of your XBLA games at any time.

Avatars

So there is a new Avatar system for the Xbox 360 and, yes, they look very much like Miis.  Like I said above, they seem to all appear on the Community channel representing each one of your friends and they are designed to become your Gamerpic.

So does that make all of the gamerpics, which you spent wasted money on, useless?  Not exactly, because these avatars are completely optional, unlike the update.  So your gamerpics will still be usable.  On the same note, so will your themes, which Marc Whitten said will look “beautiful” on the new interface.

Installing Games on HDD

With this new update, Microsoft has also allowed users to install full games onto their hard drives.  This feature should quicken load times, but also anger 20 GB SKU owners, who already get mad at having to delete demos and videos every other week.  The game also has to be inserted in the disc drive for the game to play, which gets rid of the possibility of trading a game around so you don’t have to buy it.  Unfortunate, but completely understandable on Microsoft’s part.

Netflix

In the Video channel of the New Xbox Experience, Microsoft has just added support of Netflix movies.  This means that if you have a Netflix account, you can stream movies to your Xbox 360 at any time.  This effectively doubles the starving Xbox Live Video Marketplace and makes it a contender in the digital video arena.  The quality for these movies is largely dependent on internet speed, but although they are below DVD quality, they still look good.

No Browser Support

Although the Xbox Live Marketplace is becoming accessible through any computer, the internet is not becoming accessible through the Xbox 360, at least on this update.  It is strange, especially considering that both the PS3 and the Wii have built in web browsers.

Well there you have it, folks.  That’s all the information you should need about the upcoming New Xbox Experience.  Hopefully knowing more about the New Xbox Experience will make you more excited for the update.  Or, it could just as easily make you dread the day it’s released.

It’s time, once again, to announce the previous month’s sales figures.  And while the past two months have been pretty bland when it comes to hardware and software sales, this past month sure did spice things up a tad.

Hardware:

1. Nintendo DS: 783,000
2. Nintendo Wii: 666,700
3. PlayStation 3: 405,500
4. PlayStation Portable: 337,400
5. Xbox 360: 219,800
6. PlayStation 2: 188,798

Sony fans rejoice, because not only did the PS3 sell almost double what the 360 sold, thanks mostly to Metal Gear Solid 4, the PSP also outsold the 360 by over 100,000 units.  Hell, the PS2 was even on the Xbox 360’s heels last month.  And on top of all of that shame, Nintendo announced that the Wii has surpassed the 360 as the most sold console in the US.  Pick it up, MIcrosoft.

(Note that I didn’t even mention the DS because everyone knows it will remain atop the hardware sales for eternity, if not longer)

Software:

1. Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots (PS3) 774,600
2. Guitar Hero: On Tour (DS) 422,300
3. Ninja Gaiden II (360) 372,700
3. Wii Fit (Wii) 372,700
5. Wii Play (Wii) 359,100
6. Battlefield Bad Company (360) 346,800
7. Mario Kart Wii (Wii) 322,400
8. LEGO Indiana Jones: The Original Adventures (Wii) 294,500
9. LEGO Indiana Jones: The Original Adventures (DS) 267,800
10. LEGO Indiana Jones: The Original Adventure (PS2) 260,300

The biggest surprise on this Metal Gear Solid reigned list is Guitar Hero: On Tour, which sold very, very well for being a DS game.  Of course, I’m sure a game about watching grass would sell well if it had the Guitar Hero license slapped on it, so maybe it isn’t that big of a surprise.  Also, there were only two Xbox 360 games on the top ten, which is very strange as it’s usually a 360 dominated list.  Another strike against you, Microsoft.

So another good month for video game sales unless you’re MIcrosoft.  However, I expect the price cut, effective this month,

to reignite Microsoft’s flame.

Yep, I’m back, guys.  The training is now over, but what a week it was to miss.  Not only did I fail to report on E3 happenings, I also missed the June NPD numbers.  But now that that fiasco is over, the posts will be coming out as daily as possible.

On to the news.  Obviously, E3 was last week, and Microsoft, Sony, and Nintendo had some big announcements to make.  I’ll just highlight the major points of each keynote.

Microsoft

• Gears of War 2 was given the official release of November 7, 2008.  In addition, an announcement was made of a new mode called “horde”, where you and four friends cooperatively battle out hordes and hordes of locust.  I like their name decision.

• The constantly rumored Mii-like Xbox 360 avatar system was finally confirmed.

• Also heavily rumored, the Xbox 360 Dashboard will be getting a total revamp.  This redesign will be adding a community channel where you can share photos with friends, invite people to a “live party”, or other things.

• The Xbox 360 will be getting exclusive rights with Netflix to their large library of on-demand programming.  Subscribers who already have Netflix will be able to use this service for free.

• And perhaps Microsoft’s biggest news: Final Fantasy XIII will be releasing on the Xbox 360 the same exact day as the PS3 version.  When that day is, nobody knows.

[via Joystiq]

Sony

• Third-person shooter Resistance: Retribution is coming to the PSP.  It is being made by Bend Studio.

• Andy Beaudoin from Zipper Interactive (known for SOCOM) announced MAG, short for Massive Action Game (insanely creative, eh?).  The game breaks up 256-player human battles into groups of 8, who fight each other to the death.

• The 80 GB PS3 will be dropping to $399 come September.  Sony CEO Jack Tretton stated that the console will have “the current functionality of the 40 GB PS3″.  So does that mean no backwards compatibility?

• Not shockingly, but still excitingly, Sony announced God of War 3 for the PS3.  Unfortunately, the game is due “after this holiday season” so don’t expect it till 2009.

[via Joystiq]

Nintendo

• Nintendo announced Wii MotionPlus, an accessory for the Wiimote that works with the sensor bar and accelerometer to “allow for more comprehensive tracking of a player’s arm position and orientation”.  Whatever that means.

• Wii Sports Resort was announced for the Wii.  It will be bundled with the previously mention Wii MotionPlus and will include Frisbee, jetskiing, and sword-dueling.

• Animal Crossing: City Folk announced for the Wii.  No release date has been announced, but the graphics have been confirmed to look Gamecube-esque.

• GTA: Chinatown is coming to the DS.  Don’t crick your neck doing that double take.  Not much is known about this game except for the fact that it is getting a new engine, characters, and gameplay.

• Nintendo also announced the long rumored Wii Music.  This game uses the Wiimote and nunchuck, as well as the Balance Board for foot tapping, simulating a drum set.  Apparently, there will be 50 different instruments, but personally, I just don’t get this game yet.

[via Joystiq]

Allright, well those are the main points that were revealed earlier this week.  So who do you think had the best E3 presentation?

Well it turns out that at least one of the games talked about in the massive Microsoft leakage that we had a few weeks ago is real.  In the online survey, Lips was mentioned as a game that seemed like Microsoft’s answer to Sony’s Singstar franchise.

Now, thanks to Gamekyo, several photos of the Lips microphones and some information about the game has been “released” to the public.  I say “released” because I’m Microsoft wanted this information to be held till their pre-E3 press conference.  Tough luck.

The game is being developed by iNiS, who developed music games Osu! Tatakae! Quendan, Quendan (that really rolls of the tongue), Gitaroo Man, and Elite Beat Agents.   The game ships with two wireless microphones, which have lights on the shaft that react with player movement and voice.

While this is still not fully confirmed, it is almost 100% true.  So if anyone is taking bets for what is announced at E3, mark this game down fast.

[Regulars:  I have some grim news.  For the next week, I will be busy at a training course, so do not expect a post from me till next weekend.  If I have some time, I'll try to post, but don't get your hopes up.  I know it is insanely bad timing, as games will be announced like crazy at E3, but hey, what can you do?  So sorry in advance.]

Remember last year’s “Bringing it Home” campaign that Microsoft was doing with Xbox Live?  Well, once again, Microsoft is trying to bring the games that they show at E3 to the gamers with another “Bringing it Home” campaign, featuring controversial hack and shoot adventure title Too Human.

This year, you will be able to play the demo of Too Human, which has been teased since August 2007.  We will finally get to give our own opinion on the game that has garnered so many varying positive and negative previews.  And I have a feeling users will also have widely varying views.

So far, no solid release date for the demo has been given, but it is set sometime next week.  Who wants to bet that it will be released during Nintendo or Sony’s press conference?

[via IGN]

Perfect time to announce a new IP, Nintendo.  Wii gamers were just getting restless about the seemingly vast desert ahead of them, with nearly no Nintendo published games releasing for the Wii this holiday.

However, this game just leaves me chuckling.  First of all, the game is called Captain Rainbow (yes, snickers all around).  And secondly, just watch the first look trailer (available thanks to WiiFolder, and shown below)

But, underneath all the silliness, is an adventure game that could have a potentially…different story in it.  1up reports that it’s about a nerd named Nick who really likes to watch his favorite superhero, Captain Rainbow, on television.  The trouble is, Captain Rainbow isn’t high on the cool scale with many other kids and his ratings are suffering.  So Nick decides to go to the fabled island called Mimin where, yes, all your wishes come true.  But, due to some strange event, it is Captain Rainbow that has to help out all the islanders with their wishes. Yeah, I don’t really get it either, but from that last sentence I think that this game will involve a lot of fetch quests.

Like Super Smash Bros., this game will be perfect for ultra-hardcore Nintendo fans.  That is because all of the residents of Mimin Island are past obscure Nintendo characters, such as Birdo, the golfer from Golf on the NES, and Hikari from the Japan-only adventure game Shin Onigashima.  I told you it was going to be ultra-hardcore.

No release date has been announced yet, but I would expect more information next week at E3.

First Look Trailer:

Microsoft Creative Director Ken Lobb has just appeared in a new walkthrough of Banjo Kazooie, in which he shows the game’s pretty graphics, tests the new vehicles, and, oh yeah, potentially drops the bomb on the Xbox 360 motion controller.

In the video, he says, “The primary function that Kazooie has in the game is she carries this wrench and the wrench is used for many different things.  One of the things that the wrench is used for is to turn these devices.  So you basically grab with the wrench and then you twist the controller around and it’ll move different things in the game.”

Did you hear that: “Twist the controller around”?  I’m pretty sure you can’t do that using the current Xbox 360 controller without looking like an idiot, and I’m sure Microsoft doesn’t want to make you look like an idiot while playing your 360 (minus Totemball).  Did Ken Lobb just reveal the oft rumored, expected to be announced at E3 “Xmote“?  Me thinks he did.

Check out the video yourself (I would embed it, but I’m having technical difficulties at the moment).  He says it right around the four minute mark.

[And to the regulars: I told you I would inform you if I ever had a situation in which I wouldn't be able to post for a while.  Well, the time has come.  I'm on vacation at the moment and I'll try to keep posting every day, but if I can't keep up to that schedule, expect a post every other day for the next couple of weeks.]

It’s crazy rumor time.  This rumor is so far out there that I probably wouldn’t even be posting it if it wasn’t such a slow news day.  Well let’s get straight into it.

A poster on NeoGAF named Xabora has dropped some information about future Xbox related releases.  He says he has this information because he “lives in an area with a good deal of employees/contractors from a rather large corporation and has worked with some of them in [his] past”.  I told you this rumor was out there.

In his thread he states that a smaller, almost Wii-sized version of the Xbox 360 will be released this Winter.  To get the console to be that small, Microsoft will make the Xbox 360 Slim with a GPU and CPU combo dye with the E-DRAM off to the side.  Personally, I advise Microsoft to not cram everything into a smaller body.  That may not work out so well for them.

Secondly, the poster said that the next iteration of the Xbox will have some crazy features.  These include a Blu-ray drive (obviously), a Quad-Core CPU (not shocking, but impressive), and a 1 TB hard drive (WTF?).  The speculative release date for this console is around 2010, which is another reason to doubt this rumor, as most analysts expect the next Xbox to release around 2011 or 2012.

Xabora also mentioned the Xbox handheld but would just say that the concept is “pie-in-the-sky” at the moment.  So don’t throw out your DS or PSP just yet.

On top of the plethora of obvious reasons to doubt this rumor (a Slim version of the Xbox 360 this winter, really?), there is also Xabora’s plea to take caution.  He says, “I would like to mention, please take this with a grain of salt.”

The latest Bungie podcast was released today, filled with 91 minutes of independent developer goodness.  But co-hosts Brian Jarrard and Luke Smith decided to end the show with a nasty tease.  According to them, something big, most likely Bungie related, will be announced on July 14.

The teasing conversation goes as follows:

Brian: Isn’t there something going on on July 14th or something like that?
Luke: Yeah, around then.
Brian: Somehow that’s sticking in my head for some reason. Guess we’ll have to see.
Luke: Yeah, we’ll just have to be patient. Who could say?

Now that may not seem like very much in text, but from Jarrard and Smith’s conversation, you could tell that Bungie has something ready to show off on July 14.  Is it the rumored new Halo game expected to be announced at E3?

EA and Microsoft both have press conferences on July 14, but I think we can all expect a Bungie announcement to take place at Microsoft’s press release.  After all, Bungie did say that although they are officially independent from Microsoft, all of their games being released in the near future will be published by Microsoft.

[Bungie Podcast]

If you asked any serious rock fan what band they want to see in the next Rock Band or Guitar Hero, “Led Zeppelin” would come spilling from their lips.  And I fully agree with them.  Who wouldn’t want to play those booming riffs present in Led Zeppelin songs?  Unfortunately, it looks like we will not be playing “Stairway to Heaven” on our fake guitars any time soon.

In a lengthy article on The Wall Street Journal that was mostly focused on the release of Guitar Hero: Aerosmith (snore), there was an interesting tidbit about Led Zeppelin and their absence from rhythm games so far.  According to them, although Activision and EA have vigorously pursued a deal with the band, Led Zeppelin has continually refused.  Are they holding out so one of the two companies offers them more cash?

Not at all.  “It ain’t about the money,” says Peter Mensch, partner of Q Prime Management, who manages Led Zeppelin, along with other bands, such as Metallica.  According to Mensch, the band is very reluctant to allow outsider access to the band’s master tapes.

However, the band doesn’t seem to have a problem licensing their music out.  So we could get a cover of “Stairway to Heaven”, right?  Wrong.  EA and Activision have both stated that Rock Band 2 and Guitar Hero IV will have only master tracks in the game.

So, at the moment, it looks like there is no Led Zeppelin in sight for gamers.  Unless, that is, either Activision or EA break their word (not impossible) or Led Zeppelin will loosen their grip on those original tapes (highly unlikely).

After Rock Band 2 was announced, it was almost inevitable that some clever trickster out there would find some, or all, of the songs in the game and quickly post them onto the internet.  And thanks to a G4 screen grab and a poster on ScoreHero who decided to violate an NDA agreement, we now have 21 rumored songs of the 80-plus songs coming to Rock Band 2.

These ten songs were leaked through the G4 screen grab:

• “Panic Attack” - Dream Theater (or Finger Eleven)
• “Chop Suey” - System of a Down
• “Give It Away” - Red Hot Chili Peppers
• “Everlong” - Foo Fighters
• “Kids in America” - Kim Wilde
• “Ace of Spades” - Motorhead
• “Hello There” - Cheap Trick
• “Any Way You Want It” - Journey
• “Pinball Wizard” - The Who
• “All the Small Things” - Blink 182

And these eleven songs were revealed by the rebellious (or just plain dumb) forum poster:

• “Man in the Box” - Alice in Chains
• “We Got The Beat” - The Go Go
• “American Woman” - The Guess Who? (or Lenny Kravitz)
• “White Wedding” - Billy Idol
• “Aqua Lung” - Jethro Tull
• “Bad Reputation” - Joan Jett
• “One Step Closer” - Linkin Park
• “Peace Sells” - Megadeth
• “You Oughta Know” - Alanis Morissette
• “Testify” - Rage Against The Machine
• “Spoonman” - Soundgarden

So far, it looks like a very good setlist.  And expect a Guitar Hero IV setlist “leak” very soon as Activision may want to take some attention away from Rock Band 2 and back to GH4.

[via Kombo]

Happy Fourth of July to you American readers.  Before you get to the fireworks, check out this doozie of a rumor.

According to CVG and Sarcastic Gamer sources, Microsoft will be making an announcement of the next Halo game come E3.   Halo 4 is supposedly already full steam into development by Bungie, but the sources say that the game announced could be either Peter Jackson’s Halo project or another unknown game.

But, Halo fans, there’s a catch. World-famous, Master Chief will be gone fishing for this title. I know, it’s going to be hard to imagine a Halo without a Master Chief.

I really don’t know what to expect of this rumor right now.  It comes from two sources, so it could have some truth in it. But why would Microsoft release another Halo game just a year after Halo 3.  I thought the earliest we would see a Halo 4 is 2009. But, then again, it could be Peter Jackson’s project or some other new Halo game releasing this year.   Or, Microsoft could just be teasing a 2009 title this E3.  But Aaron Greenburg did say that the 2008 release list for the 360 isn’t filled just yet.

We shall see in a couple of weeks.