Gadzooki

Sony BMG Runs Contest with Xbox 360 as Prize

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With the PlayStation 3 not out yet, Sony BMG had to use the current hot ticket item, an Xbox 360, as their prize. The contest is about Jessica Simpson’s upcoming album, which no one really cares about, but it is interesting that instead of picking a Sony product, they went for their competitor’s product as their grand prize.

Check it out.

Playstation 3 Price Reduction And HDMI on All Units

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Sony has announced at TGS 2006 that the Sony Playstation 3 with the 20GB hard drive will have the HDMI port, and that is not all, it will now also have a lower price, atleast in Asia, of $429 USD, which is over $100 off the original price we were expecting it to be. This is no doubt a tactic to try to draw attention away from what the other two console makers are doing, and a good way to do it. Getting their prices closer to the other machines and including HDMI on all of their machines puts them back into the highly competitive arena.

Source: Sony Press Release

Viva Piñata Special Edition Contents

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Looks like the special edition of Viva Piñata will contain a bunch of demos you can download freely off of Xbox Live, as well as a LEGO Star Wars II demo, and an episode of the cartoon television series. Interesting, but not really worth it in my opinion.

  • A playable demo of LucasArts’ “LEGO Star Wars II: The Original Trilogy,” which combines the fun and endless customisation of LEGO play and with a hilarious tongue-in-cheek take on the epic story, characters and action from the classic Star Wars: Episodes IV, V and VI films
  • A playable demo of the arcade classic “Frogger” that is enhanced and reinvigorated for the Xbox 360. The game features new artwork that matches and compliments the original style
  • A “Time Pilot” playable demo for gamers to fly a futuristic fighter jet with the ability to travel through time to destroy wave after wave of enemies
  • A return to AstroLab for a playable demo of “Marble Blast,” where players guide their marbles through a rich cartoon landscape of moving platforms and perilous obstacles
  • Also included in the Special Edition “Viva Piñata” game will be a sneak peek at the wacky, zany, anything-can-happen animated TV series, produced by 4Kids Entertainment & Bardel Entertainment. With this full-length episode of the colorful animated series, Kids can experience Piñata Island for themselves, where multitudes of happy, colorful piñatas live the sweet life.

Expect to see the game out on store shelves November 9th.

Xbox Live Outages

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Looks like many people were having problems with the Xbox Live service yesterday as TGS gets into full swing and Microsoft delivers another “Bring It Home” media frenzy.

Looks like the stress of being popular is getting to Microsoft. Hopefully, we won’t see the same problems with X06 next week. Good luck to all those trying to do anything on Xbox Live for the next two weeks.

Vision Camera for more than just Uno

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Microsoft has updated the following Arcade games to be able to use the Xbox Live Vision Camera:

  • Bankshot Billiards 2
  • Hardwood Hearts
  • Hardwood Spades
  • Hardwood Backgammon

Just what we need, more people showing their ugly faces online.

Missing the Xbox 360

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I am in the middle of the moving process, and so everything is packed up. Unfortunately, this means my Xbox 360 is currently packed away, and will be until sometime early in October. Of course the different gaming conferences are starting now across the oceans, and Microsoft is telling us they are going to have great new content available during those conferences, which of course my Xbox won’t be taking part in.

It is times like this that I wish I could have a buddy download them and put the demos I want on a memory card and transfer them over. I know there are various hacks that might allow such a demo transfer, but there should be some simple way for people to share demos between each other. Get on that, would you Microsoft? I don’t want to miss any of the great demo’s that game publishers are putting out. This would also be advantageous for those that don’t have a high speed Internet connection, but know someone that does, as they could still get all the demos, without having to subscribe to the Official Xbox Magazine, and wait forever to get the demo that everyone has playing for months.

UK to get Project Gotham Racing 3 Bundle?

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Microsoft is creating bundles to draw the attention away from the other consoles being launched this holiday season. The UK is not left out either, as they get what appears to be a really reasonable bundel for £300, starting this friday.

It includes:

  • A 360 console, complete with headset communicator and 20GB hard drive.
  • A copy of Project Gotham Racing 3.
  • Two wireless controllers.
  • A Component HD AV cable with SCART adaptor

At first I am a little jealous as I bought my Xbox 360 almost right away during launch time, but then I remember the little remote I got with my Xbox 360, so take that all you bundle people!

Call of Duty 2 Sales Hit One Million

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Call of Duty 2 was one of the first games I tried out on the Xbox 360, and so it is not surprise to me that they have now sold ovr a million copies for the Xbox 360 in the USA alone.

No doubt Activision is happy to have it called the best FPS that the Xbox 360 has.

There is a free demo of the game in the marketplace, and it is pretty enjoyable, though relatively simple. Check it out, and you will probably want to be part of the second million to buy the game.

Source: 360Monster

NHL 07 Gamerscore

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Passing Wizard (25 points): Have one player get 3 assists in Rookie mode in a game.
Hat Trick in Rookie mode (25 points): Have a player get 3 goals in Rookie mode in a game.
Powerplay Mastery (25 points): Score 2 goals on the Powerplay with the same player in Pro mode.
Dangerous on the PK (25 points): Score a short handed goal in Pro mode.
Score a goal in All Star mode (25 points): Score a goal in All Star mode.
Powerplay Quarterback (25 points): Score a goal on the powerplay with a defenseman in All Star mode.
Score a goal in Superstar mode (25 points): Score a goal in Superstar mode.
Hat Trick in Superstar mode (50 points): Have a player get 3 goals in Superstar mode.
[Read more…]

Free Content for Prey, Soon?

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3-D Realms let everyone know today that Prey has an update in development that will be free of charge.

The new content will allow six new characters and a number of new maps. Free content is good and I am glad to see more and more games going that route to keep people interested in their games.

Currently there is no word on when this free content will be out, but we recommend not holding your breath, as it could be any time between now and the holidays.