The Full Circle: 360 News Report 11.20.09

Posted by Dan Owen on 11.20.2009

We finally have the release date for Final Fantasy XIII! Also, Ubisoft rolls out a new feature with Assassin's Creed II that could revolutionize the way achievements are handled. Plus, there's new info on the rumored Project Natal release next year and more in this weeks edition of The Full Circle!




Welcome back faithful readers. After I promised renovations to this column several weeks ago, they're finally going to start showing up. The first change? A shorter intro, so let's get right to it!


Headlines

Microsoft Quashes Rumors On Natal, BioWare CEO Comments On Its Potential

Microsoft regional director Neil Thompson told reporters that the rumors about the release of Natal coming next November are false. He said that Microsoft is still very involved with the project but that they are not at a position to be making promises of a release. Also, BioWare CEO Dr. Ray Muzyka chimed in with his thoughts on Natal. He said that Bioware "certainly could" use Natal in some of their future games. He also mentioned that if they were going to use it, it would be as "a core part of the game as opposed to an add-on or an afterthought."

I got excited a little bit with the news from last week, but it looks like I'll need to temper my expectations a little bit. It surprised me that the console would be ready that quickly, and I guess that gut feeling was correct. This is a project that I expect will take a long time to complete if they want to get it right. As for BioWare's comments on Natal, I say bravo. Natal is not going to be successful unless the games that come out with it incorporated actually utilize the thing in a major way rather than as a side show to the main game.




Ubisoft Announces New Uplay Rewards

Ubisoft has announced a new feature that will be available in some of their new games called Uplay. Uplay is essentially the achievements system taken to the next level. You get rewarded for playing games by Ubisoft (currently this is only available on Assassin's Creed II) with points. These points can then be used to "buy" things such as downloadable content, such as an alternate costume for Ezio in AC2. While it is still in the beta stages right now, Uplay also promises to offer things such as in game hints for when you get stuck and some sort of system to share user-created content with other gamers.

This is what I have always wanted Achievements to be. It encourages you to play the games and work for different goals other than just beating the story. I always thought that it would be cool if gamers could roll their gamerpoints into things like theme downloads or something of that sort for your Xbox. Nothing too major since I know game companies wouldn't want to lose out on a lot of DLC revenue, but small things like that costume change I mentioned are nice little rewards to go along with your "achievements". I think that for certain games you may unlock special t-shirts for your avatar, but that's a bit too small time for me. I hope very much that Uplay is successful and that it gets copied by other game companies.




New Dashboard Update Released, Might Have Some Kinks To Work Out

The new Xbox 360 Dashboard update came out to the general public this week, stuffed with new features like Facebook and Last.FM. The update and some of its new features may be putting some extra strain on Xbox LIVE's network, however. Some users have reported receiving an error message telling them that "Some Xbox LIVE content is temporarily unavailable." Although the messages also says gamers will still be able to play games online, some have reported issues with games such as Modern Warfare 2. Microsoft has not said anything yet about the issue, but it wouldn't be out of the question to perhaps see a few of the recently introduced features taken away or at least suspended until they can hammer out the kinks in the system.

To me this sounds like the "perfect storm" of issues for LIVE. The new update brings a lot of new features that, just based on some general assumptions, probably consumes a good deal of "server resources". Add to this the release of Modern Warfare 2 and the record breaking number of people on LIVE because of it and it seems to me like a lot of strain was placed on the LIVE network at once. My guess is that if just one or the other had happened then this wouldn't be too much of an issue but combine them both and you've problems. I'm sure will hear something on the issue before too much longer.




Final Fantasy XIII Gets Dated

Final Fantasy XIII, one of the most anticipated games of 2010, has finally been given a release date. Last Friday Square Enix revealed a new trailer (which you can see below in The Trailer Park) that included the U.S. and European launch date of March 9th, 2010. The game will mark the first time in several editions of the main Final Fantasy series that the game is not exclusive to Sony. Also, if you're at all interested in Final Fantasy XIII or just like free stuff then you should think about getting on Twitter and retweeting this message. According to the message itself, doing so will unlock a special item for you on Xbox Live. The message comes from a legitimate source and there's a meter on Microsoft's website that is monitoring the number of people who have retweeted so far, apparently waiting for the count to break a certain threshold. All in all this sounds legitimate and it's very easy to do if you have Twitter.

I'm very excited to see this game come out. I'll admit to not being well versed in the current Final Fantasy games since I didn't own a PS3 or PS2 or PS1, so my only memories of the franchise go back to the Super Nintendo. But the announcement that this would come out on both the Xbox 360 and the PS3 was one of the biggest news stories of its time and it will be interesting to see where this whole situation plays out in the end. As for the twitter offer, I'd encourage all of you to do it. The worst thing that happens is you wasted less than a minute of your day for a worthless gift, but it's possible that it will be something cool.




Microsoft's Pricing For The New Wireless Adapter Has Gamers Fuming

There are apparently a lot of gamers upset about Microsoft's decision to price their new Wireless N Adapter at $99.99. The comments section on Major Nelson's blog lit up this past week with people expressing their anger. Complaints touched on the fact that the accessory costs half of what an entire Xbox 360 Arcade costs. Others said that they were interested in the accessory but were turned off by the price tag. Finally, there were the obligatory complaints about Microsoft not including a wireless adapter in the console to begin with.

I think people are right to complain about the price of this adapter. It is, in my opinion, way too expensive for what I think it probably costs the company to make. The fact that you can either have two Wireless N Adapters or a full blow 360 should say that something isn't quite right in the pricing world. I would like to point out, though, that had Microsoft included an adapter in the console then we would not be talking about being able to upgrade to an N adapter, so that's at least some small consolation.

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Rapid Fire

• Craig Fairbass, the voice actor that voiced the character Ghost in Mocern Warfare 2, said that Activision and Infinity Ward are discussing some kind of spinoff game that would focus on Ghost. It seems like anything Infinity Ward touches turns to gold, so I'm all for it.
  
  
• The highly anticipated game Alan Wake has been given a targeted release date of Late May 2010. The game, which has been in production for quite some time, will be marketed similar to a Hollywood movie.
  
  
• The war continues, apparently. Microsoft's mass-banning of modders has been covered here extensively, but it now sounds like modders are fighting back. There is apparently some way to unban your Xbox 360. So much of this went over my head that I decided not to try to summarize here, but if you're interested, check out this link for all of the details.
  
  
• There was a rumor that Gamespot changed the score of their Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 review after it had been posted. Gamespot has denied these rumors with some pretty well stated responses and no one has been able to come up with proof to these claims. My take: this started just as some kid trying stir the pot and isn't based at all in fact.
  
  
• The nominees for Game of the Year on Spike TV's Video Game Awards show have been released. The games are Uncharted 2, Batman: Arkham Asylum, Modern Warfare 2, Assassin's Creed 2, and Left 4 Dead 2. I can't help but feel like some of these games have made the cut because of how well they sold as opposed to what they bring to the table that's unique and innovative. Not that any of the games nominated are bad, I just feel like there might be some more deserving ones.
  
  
• Speaking of the Video Game Awards, the first footage for Halo: Reach will debut during the ceremony. Make sure to tune in to catch the sneak peak!
  
  
• Some official numbers are in on Modern Warfare 2. The game grossed $550 million worldwide in its first five days. The game cost somewhere between $40-50 million to produce, but marketing, cost of goods, and distribution brought the launch budget to $200 million. A $350 million profit in the first week, not bad at all.
  
  
• One unintended (or perhaps it was intended!) consequence of all the pirate bannings on Live is that it should drive sales for new 360s. The pirates will need to get new consoles in order to continue on with their swashbuckling lifestyles, so Microsoft might see a nice little holiday boost.
  
  
• Here's a fun marketing fact: 35% of Xbox 360 users are women, and 60% of the full user base (male and female) are over the age of 25. With that many female gamers, there's bound to be some hot gamer chick for me to marry, right?
  
  
• Facing lackluster sales, Activision has already cut the price of DJ Hero by about 20%. It's a shame, since this game actually sounds unique and fun, but the market has just been over saturated by all of the band games that have come out recently.

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The Trailer Park


Our first trailer touches on the new Uplay feature from Ubisoft that was discussed above.

Video Games | UPlay | Assassin's Creed 2 Walkthrough

XBox 360 | Playstation 3 | Nintendo Wii

Next up is the trailer for the Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band DLC Album for The Beatles: Rock Band. Sgt. Pepper is my favorite Beatles album, so you're going to have to sit back and enjoy.

Video Games | The Beatles: Rock Band | Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band Trailer

XBox 360 | Playstation 3 | Nintendo Wii

And finally, as promised, the release date trailer for Final Fantasy XIII!

Video Games | Final Fantasy XIII | Dynasty Doc

XBox 360 | Playstation 3 | Nintendo Wii

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The Final Word

I have to apologize for the slightly shorter column this week and the lack of new features I talked about at the top (though this is one of them). I was working off of one hour of sleep last night and a nap I took in the middle of the day went from the planned 1 hour to 3 and a half hours so I had to rush through the end of the column. Check back next week for the latest from the world of the Xbox 360.