Living LIVE News Report 10.03.11
Posted by Trace Aber on 10.03.2011
News and thoughts on the success of Gears of War 3, Portal 2's DLC finally arriving and costing nothing, a potential deal between Microsoft and cable providers, RAGE having multiple disks and more!
Welcome everyone to another issue of the Living LIVE News Report, and as always, I'm your host for the evening, Trace Aber.
360 Cable Could Be Announced Next Week? Last week rumors started to come out that the Xbox 360 might support full-cable television sometime in the near future. I predicted that it would happen, but more likely on the next console Microsoft churns out. Turns out I might be way off on the timeframe, and that it could be announced as early as next week!
A recent article from Bloomberg (link in article title) says that Microsoft plans to offer online pay television service from Comcast and Verizon through Xbox LIVE, according to "people with knowledge of the situation." And apparently Microsoft has been in talks with over two dozen providers of music, sports, movies, and television shows about expanding their streaming service. And that could be announced "as early as next week," according to somebody not authorized to speak publically.
Some of those companies may include Time Warner Cable, HBO, Sony Picture Entertainment's Crackle service, Bravo, Syfy and much more. Bloomberg tried to contact these companies and as a result got a very depressing paragraph out of it;
Wayne Hickey, a spokesman for Microsoft, declined to comment, as did Bobbi Henson, a spokeswoman for Verizon, and Jennifer Khoury of Comcast, which controls NBC. Greg Belloni, a Sony spokesman, had no immediate comment. Dorothy Jean, a spokeswoman for Lovefilm, declined to comment. An HBO spokesperson declined to comment.
So, who knows? Maybe next week the opening story will be about how you can order cable through your 360, or maybe it'll be about how none of these rumors came to fruition. Either way, I'll be sure to keep you all up to date on the story as it develops.
Gears of War 3 Does Big Numbers, Still Can't Topple Multiplayer King
Despite selling more than three million copies in its first week, making it the top grossing game of 2011, Gears of War 3 still has some catching up to do with the current online juggernaut that is Call of Duty: Black Ops. Of course, Black Ops has been out for 10 months and seen a host of new map packs to play with, and Gears had only been out for a week as of these projections.
All that being said, Gears did manage to unset Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 and earn second place for most unique users playing online in the week starting on September 19. I wouldn't expect Gears to surpass Blops anytime soon either, as over ten million people own Blops compared to Gear 3's three million. Of course, over time, it's possible that word spreads and Gears can topple the giant, which is clearly Epic Game's intention.
The company has really done everything they can to make online play a complete and balanced experience, expanding both competitive and co-op modes. The next couple of months should be interesting as word spreads about Gears 3, and since it seems like Blops is done with DLC it should leave the door wide open for Gears 3 to take over. Well, at least until the Modern Warfare 3 released on November 8, 2011.
For those readers who purchased Gears 3, how are you liking it so far? Do you think it has what it takes to be number one among the Call of Duty games?
Portal 2 DLC Finally Coming; Free
While it was supposed to come out a couple of months ago, Valve's first DLC for the co-op puzzle game Portal 2 is finally releasing this week. I've read a lot of release dates for tomorrow, October 4, but I'm assuming we'll see the Xbox release on Wednesday, October 5. Either way, that's not even the best part. The best part is that it's absolutely free.
"Peer Review" will further you along the co-op storyline. "You and a friend will continue the story of loyal bots P-Body and Atlas as you puzzle your way through a mysterious new co-op test track and once again match wits with GLaDOS." You can also expect single and multiplayer challenges and online leaderboards. No word on if cake will be present or not.
To top it off, and perhaps as a way to say "sorry for the delay," Valve has also released the third volume of the Portal 2 soundtrack. That is also free, because Valve really loves free things.
Rage 3 Likely to Cause Rage
I remember when L.A. Noire came out earlier this year and a lot of people were upset about having to switch disks. While I got that game on the PS3, I felt somewhat annoyed when I had to switch disks in Mass Effect 2, though thankfully that only happened once and wasn't that big of a deal. Upcoming shooter Rage, however, is going to have three disks. I'm pretty sure this is going to upset some people.
While the PS3 version will come on a single blu-ray (reaching full compacity), id Software creative director Tim Willits recently recommended that players install the game on their harddrives. Thankfully, once you finish disk one you'll have no need to go back to it, so you can actually install each disk one at a time. Still, nothing ruins the immersion of a game than the dreaded "Please insert disk 2" dialog. The third disk is going to be the multiplayer disk, so at the very least they're making it easy to pick and choose what you want to do.
I think as we near the end of the current generations we're going to see more games use multiple disks, especially on the 360. Developers are starting to push the console to its absolute limit, and one workaround is multiple disks. I don't think it's as bad as some people makes it out to be, but you can be rest assured there will always be a fuss about it, no matter how impressive the game (or technology) might be.
The Digital Downloads Arcade Games
Mercury Hg (400MP)
MLB Bobblehead Battle (800MP)
Worms: Ultimate Mayhem (1200MP) Games on Demand
Frontlines: Fuel of War ($19.99) Demos
Battlefield 3: Multiplayer BETA
The Release Schedule October 4, 2011
Dark Souls
Motion Explosion!
NBA 2k12
Portal 2: Peer Review
Rage
Spider-Man: Edge of Time
October 5, 2011
Orcs Must Die!
October 07, 2011
Just Dance 3
October 10, 2011
Red Dead Redemption: Game of the Year Edition
October 11, 2011
Ace Combat: Assault Horizon
Dead Rising 2: Off the Record
Dragon Age II: Mark of the Assassin
Forza Motorsport 4
Hulk Hogan's Main Event
Kinectimals: Now With Bears (REALLY!?)
Michael Phelps: Push the Limit (REALLY!?!?)
Sesame Street: Once Upon a Monster (OK, I'm ok with this)
Signing Out
That does it for me this week. Be sure to check back next week as we discuss all of the latest Xbox 360 news, including releases, rumors and reviews! Also, don't forget to bookmark 411Mania! And a note to all of the Indie Game developers out there – if you have an upcoming title that's going to be released soon drop me a line at traceaber@gmail.com and let me know. I'll write a full review of your game to be posted on 411Mania.com, which is a great way to get your game promoted!
