This is so exciting well for me anyways, now we can start bringing our creations to life, busy downloading it will let post my findings as soon as I do anything with it ... now just to find the time...

Microsoft today released the public beta of XNA Game Studio Express, the pioneering technology designed to open up game development to new audiences, including hobbyists, students and independent developers, in the hopes of injecting a shot of creativity into the electronic entertainment industry.

Novice game creators can download the tool today from http://msdn.microsoft.com/xna to develop games for Windows XP and Windows Vista, at no charge. The games built on Windows can be migrated to the Xbox 360 console system starting this holiday season as part of the XNA Creators Club subscription for $99 a year, or a four-month trial cost of $49, opening up retail console game development to anyone for the first time.

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Well I finally got the game that I've been waiting for.

I have to be honest it's not what I had expected it to be... there are a lot of things that bug me about the game, for starters it doesn't feel smooth(Regardless of the fact that your in a 10 ton Mech) but after playing games like Lost Planet, it just doesn't feel like a next gen title to me.

The Customizing of your very own Hound is fairly complex and can take some getting used to but it'd probably be helpful if there was a tutorial on this. I'm also not to fond of the idea that you have to wait for parts to come in or to be unlocked... I would have thought that considering your a merc. wouldn't it make more sense to purchase parts for your mech?

The Multiplayer aspect of this game is also fairly confusing and trying to host your own game can get complicated not to mention the fact that you have to go through a whole story just to get onto live, oh and it seems for the first time you have to listen to all the talking so that you can select a mech and such... yeah I know tedious.

What is cool is the actual multiplayer aspect of the game, you can bring over all your single player ratings across onto your Live account which will then give you a certain class and show other players how good you are. However the multiplayer is really for team games 1 on 1 is just no fun. so if your going to get it make sure your friends get it too!

Other than that I guess it has great prospects just got to get more people to play and build my own HOUND! YAY until then koldFUSiON out

Speaking at the Games Convention in Leipzig, Bernd Diemer, senior game designer of Crytek, explained that next-generation consoles don’t offer enough computational power to run Crysis, German publication Heise reported.

Although Crysis will support both current and the next version of DirectX, Crytek claims that only DirectX 10 allows the game to run as it was intended by the developers because the next-generation DirectX API, which will ship along with Windows Vista, allows more effects and more objects to be drawn on the screen with a smaller computational cost for the hardware.

Diemer explained that “next generation consoles like the Xbox 360 and the PlayStation 3 do not offer the sufficient power” to assure the quality of gameplay Crytek demand for Crysis.

Woo Hoo, another awesome and fun looking game!

And it's starring one of my favorite action stars Vin Diesel! and it looks like he's right at home with this one too, since it invloves fast cars, guns, and woman. he he I can't wait for this title to hit the streets unfortunatly we might only see it mid 2007. but for now here's a teaser from TXB

The Wheelman is being created for PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 and PC as an intensely riveting video game from Midway, in association with Diesel's Tigon Studios and MTV Games. The game is intended to serve as the introduction to a series of related entertainment offerings.

MTV Films and Paramount Pictures have purchased the rights to develop a major motion picture based on the video game. The Wheelman is being developed as an adrenaline–charged action movie starring Vin Diesel as an expert wheelman who comes out of retirement to protect a woman from his past.

The Wheelman

Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six makes its next-generation hardware debut in the most dramatic installment of the renowned first-person shooter franchise to date. Rainbow operatives take to the chaotic streets of Las Vegas as an escalating terrorist siege in “Sin City” threatens to take world terrorism to new, uncontrollable heights.

The future of global security hangs in the balance as you battle to defend classic Vegas locations and environments like Fremont Street, the Strip and casinos.

Experience Las Vegas like never before – through revolutionary next generation technology as you work against the clock to protect one of the world’s most recognizable cities from utter devastation.

Another outstanding franchise of gaming, Unreal has lead the FPS genre, coming out with it's very own Unreal Engine that many Developers would love to have. There amazing creativity for the game shines incredibly I couldn't fall in love with a better game!!

The new game now feature vehicles from which you can do devestating damage! TXB has a demo trailer of the game in action check it out

Another amazing game, at first a little birdy told me that it would only be available for the PS3, but it's not true it's going to be ready for XBOX360, and I can't wait to add it to my collection!

Here's the page on TXB

Well this is the News I've been waiting for for ages!!! and now it's official announced by Microsoft on the 21st of August, us South African's can expect our console's at the rAge (Real Awesome Gaming Event) 29th September - 1st October, when the console will be launched. More on that later (watch this space)

“We’re very excited to be bringing Xbox 360 to gamers in South Africa in time for the upcoming year-end holidays, when we expect to have sold 10 million consoles around the world,” said Chris Lewis, Regional Vice President for EMEA Home and Entertainment Division, Microsoft.

“South Africa is a country where the appetite for console gaming is growing in leaps and bounds – expanding to Africa allows us to build a successful business ecosystem for our partners, and to bring more gamers amazing next-generation gaming and entertainment experiences,” said Cindy White, South Africa Group Marketing Manager, Microsoft. “We’re committed to ensuring gamers in South Africa have a great Xbox 360 experience. To that end we’re taking steps so that a full portfolio of great games, tailored to appeal to local tastes, is available as well as accessories that complement the gaming experience.”

With console's costing around R3700 depending on the retailer of course but we can finally stop worrying about importing our games, although I have heard that Xbox Live will not be launching in SA yet until telkom get there act together so for now my xbox buddies we'll have to continue to leech of our UK Servers...

for the full article click here

This looks interesting, giving you the power of evil to fight evil
what ever it's story is it looks intense, and I'm very keen to delve into the other side of worldly powers.
I think eveyone's tired of playing good guy, with no special powers, well now's your chance

Based on the best-selling Top Cow comic book, The Darkness casts players as Jackie Estacado, a fearless Mafia hitman for the Franchetti crime family who is suddenly possessed by the terrifying and spectacular powers of The Darkness. Throughout the game, players must learn to control and harness The Darkness power in order to overthrow the vicious mob boss and fulfill their destiny.

The Darkness features a seamless and unique blend of modern crime drama and supernatural horror through first and third-person, non-linear gameplay. Utilizing the Starbreeze engine for next generation consoles, The Darkness features single and online multi-player action across highly realistic environments.

Check out the trailer here

Okay so I've added a new section to my blog, hopefully I'll be able to help some peeps out there who are struggling XBOX360 stuff... I'll be posting interesting things that you can do with your Xbox, just got to get some refrence points, and some pics. so watch this space

This is fairly cool I bumbed into this while wondering around Major Nelson's Blog
basically it monitors your online gamerpoints and then shows you how often you unlock achievements, I'll try and see if I can unlock a couple to give it some more perspective.

My First thought was... doesn't it have to come before 2011 first 

But seriously, nobody know's anything about this console it's been a mystery from the start, with changes in archeticture to going back to the orginial remote, and then claims of them stealing ideas from Nintendo, so that PS3 will have the "ultimate" system... and then there are rumours of PS3's huge bottle neck problem ...

As a result of video game consoles' emergence as platforms for digital distribution, Microsoft and Sony are engaged in a bruising battle for market dominance. Microsoft is off to a fast start, launching the Xbox 360 nearly 12 months before the PlayStation 3. However, by the time third-generation consoles reach market maturity in 2011, the PlayStation 3 will once again be the market leader.

I think that there's a lot, that has to happen with games as well, I think XBOX360 has finally started to introduce more asian titles into their selection which gives them a stronger footing everywhere! and it's so exciting to see what's coming into the system! I'm not saying that PS3 will be crap infact I'm sure it'll be as good if not better than the XBOX360, but with the many issues that we've seen so far, and with publishers not having enough experience publishing games for the consoles there's really no telling where the console war will head.

You can see this with the orginal consoles, closer to the end of their life games like Far Cry: Instinicts blew people away because the quality of the game was phenomenal!! and those kind of engines only come after years of hacking away at the systems.... here's the article posted by TeamXbox

I started out my "career" wanting to become something more than just the regular person with the job I wanted to have an interesting title like 3D Animator or Character Designer I wanted to be the guy resbonsible for the creation of Shrek and all the other creatures that people come to love and adore, I had so many movie ideas!

But unfortuantly I didn't cut the grade apparantly there are a lot of people who have the same dreams as me :( makes me feel unique :P

Anyways, after hearing this news that Microsoft is their game enviroment engine (if I can call it that) XNA, allowing gamers like myself and perhaps you to bring your own creations to life! and then share them with the world on Xbox Live Market place. the possiblities are endless!

Although I do fear that this could flood the Market with a lot of crap :( that may be difficult to sift through I think with this system they'll have to introduce a rating system so that people can know if a game is any good or not...

Heres'a little bit more on the XNA Engine

GO SA!!

This is really cool! Neill Blomkamp one of our own! I'm already proud! I've had a look at this guy and read the article posted by TeamXbox, mostly positive stuff including the fact that the guy is a gamer himself! I think this should iron out the problem that fanboi's have when they give nOOb directors films that they really know nothing about!

If you want to read the article posted by TeamXbox click here
For a better view at the short film done by Neill Blomkamp click here

I couldn't believe it myself when I read the headline but it seems to be the truth, I think to myself how could one of the world's best known expo be shutting down after making such a huge impression on the world!!

I read and article from teamxbox stating their reasoning as to why they feel that the expo has been laid to rest, and they do come up with some very valid points, and I know what it is to be an exihibtor and have the same stress about getting your companies name out of there. but the article is very good and I recommend people read it before sending hate mail to the E3 organisers :P

read the article here

Okay I must admit I'm not one for sports games, but DAM! this game is just fun! not to mension it's Different!

Just forget about the whole sport, from just playing the demo and getting a rally with your opponent and listening to the crowd cheers you on, it's just incredible. I'm completely sold on this game and sad I didn't get it sooner!

also have to give a mention to the smooth bullet time, as it swops around to show you how close you were to hitting it or how awesome you were in recovering the run away ball! absolutely amazing! NEO has nothing on me :P

Well this is a very exciting title for me and for many RTS gamers, it's going to be the first ever RTS to hit a console, making it a bold step from EA Games, I was finally able to download the demo! after 4 days of being capped and suffering power failures, and I have to say one thing the game play looks awesome the controls are a little strange but don't look that hard to master. I do have one problem... the camera is too god damn close to the ground! now I don't know about you but I like to have a good view of what's going on, and I need to see just further than the shroud to makes sure I'm not going to be surprised by an enemy!

I hope that the game it'self allows for a further birds eye view than the current one! I haven't yet had the chance to play online yet, still waiting for some friends to log on and check it out! otherwise it looks cool I like the fact that you can build anywhere on the map still playing around with it though so looking for some input...

Well I finally got prey! after downloading the 1.7Gig demo

I instantly loved the new idea of portals, and the instant level shifting just blew my mind! along with the amazing textures that came out from the game! wow!

The Doom engine seems to have out done it's self, and if I think back on the games I've played thus far using the doom engine, I'd have to say that Prey certainly takes the cake! although I think at some point the game wasn't coded properly as I suffered a couple of freezes, AH! apparantly this occurs on both PC and XBOX, I did find however that the only point it freezed was when loading a new level, at the point at which you unlock a new achievement... maybe there's a little bit of crossed wires that need to be addressed to many instructions being throughputed and causing mass confusion!!

Speaking of Achievements I love the setup that prey has gone, with unlocking 25 kills with each weapon type, and then more for the amount of kills you do! that's awesome! it makes you want to experiment with each weapon type increasing the enjoyment of the game when playing with friends!