Gamers, fanboys and industry reps have all been arguing over which console is better for every reason imaginable including price tag, power, game selection, and online community etc… since each has been released. One selling point that is not often discussed though is one that Microsoft and Nintendo have been trying to erase. That is the hackability of the Xbox 360 and the Wii. For some of the more technically inclined gamers, these are huge selling points that expand the capabilities of each system even further.

With the price of both PS3 and 360 games going for $59.99 a shot for most new releases, the avid gamers’ costs start to add up pretty quickly. There are some other options to buying all these new titles like borrowing from friends, selling used games back or by just simply renting. On the other hand, with some basic computer knowledge and the use of some handy online guides, a lot of people are resorting to hacking their Xbox and just burning games, bringing down the cost of games to the price of a drive, some blank discs and a rental fee. So far, this is not possible on the PS3 due to having its 1 locked core, even though there have been some rumors that major advancements are being made. There are some risks involved when hacking the console though, including wrecking your Xbox if it’s not done properly, being banned from Live for being caught, as well as copyright infringement. To a lot of computer savvy people though, it is well worth the risk. For the $60 that could be used to spend on a game at retail cost, a hacker can afford a hundred blank discs and a 3 month subscription to Gamefly. This has caused many gamers to opt for the console in order to keep costs down. With the ability to burn games and accumulate massive libraries for only a fraction of the retail price, this is pushing a lot of gamers towards the “Green Monster”.

One of the selling points on the Wii for gamers is a slightly different type of hackabilty. This is in the form of customization with homebrew applications. These are popping up all over the internet. Not only will hacking the Wii allow the user to play backup copies of games and DVDS, it will also allow you to play games from past consoles, as well as custom homebrew games and even add in an MP3 player all for free. With the expanded library that includes sensational games from systems like NES, Sega Saturn, Gameboy Color and even some old arcade hits, this is causing many gamers to take a second look at this console and take it more seriously.

While the risk of getting caught is high and the penalties sever, for some, choosing the right console doesn’t just include what’s in the box, but what it will be capable of once they are done with it.

Written By:

Wall Street

SOURCE: gametrailers

Press releases…they’re neither here nor there until one of them totally rocks or totally SUCKS. Spiders, an independent development studio founded by the creators of Silverfall and Earth Awakening, have achieved the latter as they announced the first video of Mars, a new action RPG for next generation consoles.

In Mars you play take on the role of Seth, who is, get this, “an elite soldier with a dark past”, but if that completely unoriginal description doesn’t excite you, you can also be Pandora, who’s description as an “an ambitious technomancer” is equally as enticing (not really). Anyway, the point is, Mars will allow you to experience different backgrounds, skills and features as either character.

According to the game’s description, Mars blends the “sensation of power and rhythmic aerial battle of beat’em alls with the progression, immersion and storyline of RPG’s in a dark and dreamlike post apocalyptic universe.” Dude…Really? Who the hell wrote this?

It gets better:

“In the destroyed world of Mars, two destinies mingle together. Two beings searching for their identity travel across a broken planet, constantly facing bloody political conflicts which tear the old colonies apart. Often divided, sometimes fighting the same enemies, both are the source of the advent of a new era…”

UH-MAZING.

Mars will be released end of 2010 on PC, Xbox360 and PS3 and more than likely take the straightest route from outer space to the GameStop bargain bin. You can see the debut video right here.

As you may or may not know, arguably the greatest commentator in sports history, John Madden, announced his retirement today. Madden was known for his great insight and in-depth of analysis of the game that millions around the world love to watch. He also has a videogame named after him that happens to be one of if not the most successful videogames in console history. Unfortunately, over the years, EA has managed to spread a considerable amount of tarnish on that name. Not only has the Madden franchise turned into the poster child for incompetent development, it has also become the laughing stock of the entire industry.

I have to say that I’ve been a Madden fan since ‘92 on the Sega Genesis. You know the one that featured the ambulance that would drive on the field to pick up an injured player while at the same time running over any innocent bystanders in its wake. Yea that one. But I must say, ever since the franchise made its appearance on the next gen console, circa 2005, the series has really went downhill. EA Tiburon is infamous for milking its fan to no end with nothing more than a yearly roster update. Fans of the gridiron have been nothing less than forced to buy this title if they want to have an interactive experience with the sport that they love the most. Some fans have gone so far as to continue to play NFL 2k5 and update the rosters, which is in itself a testament of the atrocity that the Madden series has become.

While I do not choose to embark on the never-ending rundown of everything that is wrong with Madden, I do give EA a few tips:

1. Change the name. Completely scrap the name “Madden” and start over. I know that this isn’t beneficial to your bottom line, but at least you will potentially lose the stigma of mediocrity that is attached to the name. Start off with a new title with a fresh new format. Your fans will still recognize you as the guys that made the Madden series, so it won’t set you back too far.

2. Skip a freaking year. Hey, EA, you have made enough money from the last 5 years of doing absolutely nothing to actually take a year off and produce an actual, true to life football game. Also, with the invention of dlc there’s no need for a annual addition of your game. I wish people would really just wise up to EA’s practices and just not support these guys

3. License the Euphoria Engine. I read somewhere that one of the main producers behind the Madden franchise, Ian Cummings, stated that he wasn’t impressed by the use of the engine in the Backbreaker title. Is he serious? And your 10 tackle and 5 catching animations are the pinnacle of sports game physics? He must be sipping the same kool-aid that the suits over at Sony are gulping down by the gallons. But that’s another issue altogether.(Sorry Sony Fanboys… not really)

There you have it EA, three simple ways to fix the atrocity known as Madden. I am fully aware of EA’s efforts with Madden 10. At the same time, I no longer trust anything they say, so from now on I’ll be taking a wait and see approach.

Written By: bakerboy

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It appears that Shard who seems to be an ESBR rater for both 360/PS3 has told the Neogaf users that Marvel Vs. Capcom 2 is unofficially officially coming to the HD era in some fashion, most likely as a XBLA/PSN release.

Well there you have it guys Capcom is finally bringing one of the best fighting games to the XBLA/PSN. Hopefully we will see much more from Capcom I was hopefully thinking of X-men vs. Street Fighter in HD.

There’s also a possibility that Capcom may be working on a new Street Fighter title, which is Marvel vs. Capcom 3 for the 360 and the PS3, let’s just hope that these rumours break off.

Neogaf

Unfortunately it’s a demo, sorry Xbox owners I didn’t mean to get you all excited.

Earlier this morning Capcom announced that their upcoming action title Bionic Commando will be coming to the Xbox Live marketplace in the next coming weeks. According to G4TV,  it will feature one the 16 multiplayer maps called “Vertigo, where 8 players will go head-to-head in all Deathmatch”. Just like every other multi-player game,  BC’s multiplayer modes will include, “solo & team deathmatchs and capture the flag”.

Rejoice Xbox fans, Sony might be hogging all the AAA exclusives, but you have the exclusive demos! HA

Sources:

G4TV.com

Last generation, Halo revolutionized the gaming industry by bringing a fun/fluid FPS expierence to the home consoles. Not only did Halo: Combat Evolved begin the trend of FPS’s to consoles, but Halo 2 made online gaming a must for FPS’s. Nowadays every major FPS has some form of online play because of the success of Halo last gen.

This generation there has not been a game to revolutionize the FPS genre. For the most part the FPS genre has been stagnant and has only been tweaking small things. M.A.G looks to change all this with some very big promises, and very interesting possibilities.

The most obvious obvious innovation promised in MAG is the 256 player online  matches. This could change how we play shooters online forever. A no-lag 256 person shooter  is exactly what shooters need to get a breath of fresh air in them. The game will be run on dedicated servers to prevent lag and run at 30 frames per second. Instead of feeling like apart of a small group, instead the player will actually feel like they are in a real war with real strategy and a large number of players. Also instead of hearing a basic audio track of bullets, bombs, airplanes, and helicopters instead when you hear these sounds it will actually reflect something happening in the game. This is good because it allows players to not only use their visual senses, but also their hearing.

The game is being developed by Zipper games, the makers of the original SOCOM, and their pedigree when it comes to online shooters is right up there. They did not work on the last SOCOM, so do not let that game reflect their pedigree. Unlike the latest SOCOM their will be no glitches or cheating. “We’ve spent alot of time coming up with systems to detect, prevent, and essentially eliminate as much cheating as possible,” says Zipper vice president Michael Gutmann.

The game is set twenty years in the future wars and are fought by three major PMC’s. When you start the game, you pick your allegiance to one of the three PMC’s. Each PMC has their own strength and weaknesses, so the choice of the player not only affects the team they play on but also the gameplay. There will be a few transport vehicles in each level for players to take advantage of. There are also other match types besides the 256 player match. Some of those match types are Acquisition (128 player match where one team steals two prototype armored transports from a rival point and escape to the extraction point before the time runs out), Sabotage (64 player match where attackers infiltrate a rival communications facility and hold two at a time. After that a demolition objective is revealed, which the attackers must destroy), and Suppression (64 player match team deathmatch mode).

The player can customize their player’s face, voice, and armor. Dropping solider class systems, the guys at Zipper have put their own touch on customization. They have made a free-form customization kit, so instead of only using classes provided by developers instead you can make your own.

The game may not be better than Halo, but the ideas they are going for can be just as revolutionary as the Halo series was at first. 256 player matches, free-form customization classes, having all the sounds you hear have something to do with gameplay and not a soundtrack, etc. If they pull this off at a high level then in the future we will start to see more and more games implement these features, most importantly 256 player matches. The game which comes out this Fall looks to be a must have for fans of shooters, especially those who were fans of the original SOCOM games.

Even though most assumed that we would see Assassin’s Creed 2 later this year, there has been no official release date revealed to the public. Well today Ubisoft revealed that gamers should expect the game later this year near Winter time. They also released this quote:

“Our creative team is working hard to top the experience of Assassin’s Creed,” said Patrice Desilets, creative director at Ubisoft. “We’ve made improvements to every aspect of the game. We’ve plunged ourselves into the stunning history of the Italian Renaissance so that we can offer fans a unique, varied and innovative Assassin’s Creed experience.”

Assassin’s Creed 2 will be available for both “all current gen consoles and the PSP”.

Written By MattG

gamefocus.ca

A newly released video on the Canadian Xbox Live Marketplace has revealed that a beta phase for Xbox Live’s interactive show “1 vs 100″ will start on May 9th.

Beta, Xbox Live, Xbox 360, 1 vs 100

We suspect that the US beta will also be available around the same date.

We have contacted Microsoft for more details. We will bring more infos as soon as we know something.

pcgames.de

dailyfidelity

Many of you are familiar with OnLive the company that’s banking on cloud computing to power next generation games. I eagerly watched the GDC 2009 Onlive Press Confrence where OnLive was officially announced for the first time. But one question lingered in my mind as they rattled of a list of neat features throughout the presentation such as, great graphics, solid latency, amazing interface, but nowhere did they mention voice communications over the OnLive network. I started wondering maybe they forgot about voice communications? Maybe they didn’t have enough bandwidth left over after the processed graphical data and in game audio was passed to the user. I was a bit shocked, so I had to inquire and find out if VOIP would be supported via the OnLive network. And so I sent my email on April 15, 2009 and then until today I haven’t thought about it at all since I got caught up in the hustle of some current projects.

Today exactly one month later, I received an email at 6:18PM Eastern Time from Tiffany Spencer the Launch Strategy Consultant / Communications at OnLive confirming that Onlive will support Voice Over IP in just 4 small words, “We will support VOIP.” There you have it folks Onlive will support VOIP! Now the real question is to see how well the service can balance in game graphics, audio, and Voice Communications.