Gears of War "Annex" Update This Week

With all the matches being played on Live each day it sounds pretty strange to call multiplayer a "weakness" for Gears of War. But even the most avid of those players recognize that the basic team deathmatch variants available only graze the surface of the team-play potential of the game. This week Epic plans to release Annex, a new game mode that steps up in a big way to fulfill more of that promise. And we're not just saying that; we've played it, and afterward it left no doubt that once released this is the new mode of choice everyone will be playing.

Aside from the new game mode, it seems the Lancer has gotten a little boost to it's stopping power; a welcome change to everyone sick of being run down by enemies with shotties.

1UP has all the details from their exclusive hands-on time with the new game mode. It sounds very exciting.

I'll see everyone online once it hits!

China imposes 3 hour time limit on Internet players

China is taking a major step to address the growing problem of cyber addiction among its youth. China's growing band of young internet gamers will face virtual penalties if they stay online for more than three hours, under a new set of rules designed to "only target minors who lack the self-discipline to control their playing time," according to Kou Xiaowei, an official with the Chinese State Press and Publication Administration.

Chinese authorities have voiced increasing concern in recent months about the number of teenagers who spend hours and sometimes days in internet cafes playing games.

In the latest measure to combat the problem, eight government departments have issued new rules that will force internet gaming companies and operators to install and run "anti-addiction" software, the China Daily reported.

The software is supposed to discourage marathon play sessions by cutting the amount of points earned in games the longer they are played. Gamers under the age of 18 will receive full points in their online world only for the first three hours of play, which the Chinese government has deemed as the limit for a "healthy" amount of time to be glued to the internet. If young gamers choose to stay on-line, they will get half the normal points for the next two hours. Any gaming after five hours of play will not recoup any points.

The official Xinhua news agency said that most online games encouraged players to play longer by rewarding them with more credits and virtual goods.

The new rules will come into force on April 15, with games to be closed down from July 16 if they are not installed with the anti-addiction software, according to the China Daily.

Under the new rules, all gamers will have to register with their identity cards to prove their age. If they are aged over 18, they can play for as long as they like.

China has about 137 million online users, according to the latest official statistics. Of those, 31 million are internet gamers.

Can someone educate me? Do the Chinese play shooters of any kind or are they not permitted in the country? It seems this kind of measure would only affect MMORPG players.

WOW and Guitar Hero 2 added to World Series of Video Games

The world of competitive gaming has traditionally been the realm of the first-person or squad-based shooter, but the World Series of of Video Games is changing that by adding World of Warcraft and Guitar Hero II to this year’s competition.

The addition of Guitar Hero really opens the competition up to a much wider audience, and should also make the event much more watchable for casual gamers–it can be hard to track the action of a fierce round of Counter Strike, but anyone can tell if you’re screwing up "Crazy On You." The PvP action of WoW will get a slight tweak for the sake of the competition: teams will be 3-on-3, as opposed to the usual 5-on-5.

Also on the roster are Quake 4, Fight Night Round 3 (o…kay….), and the obligatory Halo 2, Counter Strike, and Call of Duty. Here’s hoping they skip the ungodly stupid Miss WSVG contest this time, although it certainly did provide some amusing controversy and comedy last year.

Windows Live Messenger coming to Xbox 360 in May

Your Xbox Live friends list is about to expand exponentially. Beginning May 7th, Microsoft is going to offer Windows Live Messenger to Xbox Live users.

“Bringing the largest IM community in the world, Windows Live Messenger, to Xbox 360 makes sense, as Xbox Live has really become the largest social network on television,” said Jerry Johnson, product unit manager of Xbox Live at Microsoft. “For our growing community of 6 million on Xbox Live, using Xbox 360 is a very social, connected experience. They are using Xbox 360 to play games, music and movies while simultaneously communicating with one another through video, voice and text chat. With this announcement we are simultaneously expanding the access of Xbox Live users to existing friends and family while introducing Windows Live Messenger users to the benefits of Xbox 360.”

Users of Windows Live Messenger on Xbox 360 will text chat using the virtual keyboard accessible on Xbox 360, or by connecting a USB keyboard to the console. This summer Microsoft will launch a QWERTY text-input device, a new accessory that will connect directly into the Xbox 360 controller to support text and instant messaging.

I'm definitely looking forward to the qwerty add-on. Microsoft continues to expand Xbox Live's functionality. Sony needs to pay attention to this, but of course they won't. I'll gladly pay $50 a year to get the kind of stability and features I get with Xbox Live. Sony's HOME may be free (for now), end up being an improvement over their current online offering (it HAS to be an improvement) but until they iron out the basics such as universal online standards and friends lists in EVERY game, Microsoft will own the online gaming space.

Update 4/10/07 - 1:00am cst

Plenty of other new features are included, ranging from enhanced family settings, better Achievement notifications, an improved Xbox Live Marketplace blade, updates to the Xbox Live Arcade, an auto download of trial versions of Xbox Live Arcade games, better progressive download controls for video downloads, an option to automatically switch off the Xbox 360 after downloads are complete, if desired.

The Xbox 360 Dashboard also gets a range of mini updates, ranging from the name of the game in the tray being displayed on the dashboard, a progress bar showing download completion, better fast forward and rewind functionality when watching video, switchable aspect ratios and more. See Microsoft’s announcement for all the additional details.

PS3 gets (emergency?) price cut from UK retailer

It's only been two weeks since the PlayStation 3's launch, and UK retailer Play.com has already given the system a price cut of around $50. Sweetening the deal is the inclusion of a free HDMI cable and a Blu-ray copy of Adam Sandler comedy, Click, all for £399.99, which is £25 less than the current MSRP for the console.

Normally, I would just think this was a promotion by Play.com to increase traffic or move some excess stock, if not for a recent 82% UK PS3 sales drop reported by Chart-Track. The tracking group later made efforts to downplay the importance of the statistic, but this price cut seems to confirm its validity.

While not necessarily a harbinger of doom for the console's future in the UK, it's at least a good deal for our oft-snubbed friends in the UK; though, at nearly $800, it's a veritable gouging compared to what US consumers pay for the thing.

"Game On" - HP Shows Amazing New PC Gaming Technology

HP isn't exactly known as a hip and cool company. In fact their image is probably more conservative IBM wannabe than cutting edge visionary. Well, they are about to pack that image up, pour some gas on it and burn that mother to the ground!

With the recent surge in popularity of console gaming brought about by this latest generation of hardware from Microsoft, Nintendo and Sony, HP is planning to seize what it sees as a golden opportunity to take PC gaming to unprecedented heights while fundamentally changing the way we play games on computers. During HP's Gaming Summit at Dogpatch Studios the company announced "Game On", the company's HP Labs research center that is developing technology that could be incorporated into next-generation personal computers that play interactive video games designed for the broadband era.

We're not talking your standard Next Gen shooters or racing games either. Oh no, what HP has planned are some pretty amazing gameplay technologies. The prototypes they showed included computers with curved screens so someone playing a racing game can see the track they're driving on ahead and to the sides for an incredibly immersive experience and a touch-screen computer built into a coffee table so players can sit on all sides and participate. HP also played a video in which a teenage boy is walking through a big city with his handheld game player. He points the device at a portion of the city's skyline and the device scans the outline of the buildings in view, creating a game scene from that image. Very cool indeed!

During a panel discussion, Rahul Sood, chief technology officer at HP Gaming, and founder of Voodoo PC which HP acquired in the fourth quarter of 2006, said that next generation PC games based on Microsoft's new DirectX 10 technology will do more to drive sales of Vista than anything else. He said, "DirectX 10 is going to provide a dramatically improved gaming experience that will drive adoption of Vista."

Sood also said he sees HP offering a premium line of gaming PCs priced higher than its current line of HP and Compaq branded PCs, but lower than VoodooPC's custom-made models, which can sell for $8,000. When asked specifically if HP plans to soon introduce a line of PCs such as that, Shane Robison, executive vice president and HP's chief strategy technology officer said, "I am not allowed to go there."

While impressive, HP has a steep hill to climb. Sales of gaming consoles grew 33 percent in 2006 while sales of gaming PCs grew by only 1 percent, according to the retail sales tracking firm NPD Group Inc. There are reasons to be optimistic though. Sales of gaming software that runs on PCs reached US$6 billion globally in 2006 and are forecast to hit $12 billion by 2010, said Rick Wickham, director of games for Windows for Microsoft, citing figures from IDC.

HP's move into gaming could be a "game-changing" one, said Rob Enderle, lead analyst with technology research firm The Enderle Group. HP could try selling high-margin gaming PCs to escape from the low-margin PC market it competes in with every other PC maker. But he explained it could also be a risky move. "The buyer may say they don't want one and that is the risk when you make a game changer. You make a guess at where the market is going and you get there first," Enderle said. "If you guess wrong you're there all by yourself"

RedOctane denies Guitar Hero 2 X360 Controller Recall and addresses 'issues'

Reports of a Recall on Guitar Hero 2 Xbox 360 Controllers at Target stores were erroneous. Turns out it was just a big misunderstanding. However, that doesn't mean there aren't necessarily real issues with the controller.

Red Octane responded to reported issues with said guitar controller to Joystiq. Red Octane states, "In regards to the controller, we're currently in the process of having our internal QA and production teams look into this possible issue, and are working to quickly isolate this if there is one. In the meantime, we suggest our fans try to replug in their guitars without holding down any buttons or the whammy bar, and that may help immediately resolve the issue."

In regards to the Target "recall," Red Octane confirmed that there never was and still is no recall. The Target street date lock out caused the system to ring up as "Recall for Sale." As things stand currently, there is no recall and Red Octane is looking into the issue of possible faulty Xbox 360 guitar controllers.

We'll update you when RedOctane gets some answers.

Read the full story here.

UK PS3 sales plunge 82% this week.

After reports of record first day sales in Europe, PS3 reality has set in in Europe and it seems consumers over there feel the same way they do in North America; it's too expensive, nobody cares about Blu-Ray and there aren't enough original games to make it compelling.

From Joystiq:

"After obliterating records upon its launch in the UK last week, PlayStation 3 sales have come down to Earth with all the grace of a skydiving walrus using an anvil for a parachute. Citing the latest Chart Track data, a GamesIndustry.biz report discloses that sales for Sony's system have dropped by 82% in the last week. Having sold an estimated 165,000 units before, the percentage represents a drop of 135,300 units, resulting in total sales of 29,700 systems for the week."

Read the full story from GamesIndustry.biz.

Guitar Hero 2 Xbox 360 Metareview

Guitar Hero 2 hits stores tomorrow for the Xbox 360 promising better graphics, a bigger collection of songs and a better guitar controller than it's PS2 cousin. Does Guitar Hero 2 deliver the rock of ages on the 360? According to reviewers around the net the answer is a resounding YES!! The 360 version goes to eleven!

Check out the reviews below for the nitty gritty.

GamePro 95/100 - Consider this setlist of new additions: 10 new rocking songs, the X-Plorer controller, which puts the PS2's stubby Gibson to shame, the Xbox Live Leaderboards, which separates the rock gods from the garage band wanna-bes, and downloadable content that ranges from gamer-profile picture packs to new songs. Anyway you add it up, the Xbox 360 version is the only one to own.

IGN 94/100 - If you haven't already played Guitar Hero II on PS2, this is a must own game. Even if you already have done all of this before, you may yet find a reason to grab the Xbox 360 re-release. With reworked graphics, sound, new songs, downloadable content and more, this is easily the best Guitar Hero game yet.

Games Radar 100/100 - Buy this game. The content is plentiful (and crucially, more is en route) and the fantasy experience is pure rock and roll excess. Your personal stairway to heaven awaits.

Yahoo Games 100/100 - Guitar Hero II finally reaches the next generation. And while we're sad to be saddled with a wired controller, the other changes are pure gold: better graphics, ten new songs, online leaderboards and the promise of a steady stream of downloadable content. Even as we wait for that online content to materialize, this edition of Guitar Hero II is a chart-topper.

Team Xbox 93/100 - The Xbox 360 gets what’s probably the best party game ever, because GHII is compelling for anyone who’s into music, not just to hard-core gamers. It’s that rare title that doesn’t become boring with repeat plays. In fact, I played it so much the first day I had the game that the tips of two fret-flicking fingers went numb on me.

"Win a Wii for a buck" or "Luckiest Kid in the World"

The following video is of the luckiest kid in the world. He actually won a major prize from a Stacker machine, you know those games you see in the mall, restaurants, arcades and movie theaters. And this kid didn't just win the biggest stuffed animal in the machine, he won a Nintendo Wii! Unbelievable.

Warning, the video is most definitely NSFW or school...the kids with him drop 20 megaton f-bombs in celebration of their friend's victory...and rightly f'n so!



I want that kid to come rub me for good luck! Wait, what I mean is...oh, never mind.