According to the electronics retailer behemoth, Best Buy, Halo 3 will be released on May 15th, 2006. Of course this seems to be more of a best guess and not an official statement. At this point Microsoft has not confirmed a release date. Statements from Microsoft have put the launch somewhere around the time the PS3 will be released. Rumors have indicated that Halo 3 will debut with the Halo movie that is speculated to be released in 2007.

My best guess is that Microsoft will put Halo 3 up against the release of the Playstation 3. However, this may prove futile in the Japanese
marketplace. Japanese gamers have no love for first person shooters and have had mixed opinions about the Xbox 360. Reports indicate that the Tokyo Game Show did help garner Xbox 360 more support. It might be a bit fool-hearty for MS to put their flagship product in a position that it may fail.

You can pre-order Halo 3 from BestBuy now for $59.99.

Here's something to do if you really wanna hack your X - convert it to Linux, strap on some wheels, and build your own solar powered GPRS controlled system!

Current Events - Toc2rta Wiki

So I was browsing the news today when I came across an interesting headline.

At least, I thought the headline was interesting, but what I soon found out was that the source was even more interesting:

Yahoo! now has a video gaming portal. Check it out here.

A post at arstechnica claims to have revealed the specs of the revolution, as given by a factor 5 employee.

Dunno if I believe this, but it may be worth a look here.

A Look at Nintendo's Newest Controller

By: Richard Allen

With the demise of Sega as a console manufacturer, Nintendo stands alone as the industry's leading innovator of hardware design. From the curious gyro-bot (R.O.B.) and the awkward PowerGlove to the funky, dual-screen goodness of the DS; Nintendo's reputation for springing inventive gadgets on unsuspecting (at times unenthusiastic) gamers is indisputable. Hence, it comes as no surprise that Mario's latest turn – the controversial "Revolution" controller – should at first glance appear, well, revolutionary.

Continue reading »

It hasn't even been released across the pond yet and already the brit company is looking at a new version - this one with a wide screen:

Widescreen Gizmondo coming Q2 2006 | The Register

PSP Emulators and ISOs: Playing Games from Other Consoles and Backing up Your UMDs

PSP Emulators and ISOs: Playing Games from Other Consoles and Backing up Your UMDs

Gizmodo has a bunch of pics here on the new Revolution console:

The Revolution Controller...finally - Gizmodo

It's official, M$ will launch the Xbox 360 console on Nov. 22 in the U.S., the company announced at a news conference in Tokyo on Thursday.

Following the US lauch will be launches in Europe on Dec. 2 and Japan on Dec. 10. Ltd. The news conference was held to announce launch details and preview the company’s activities at the Tokyo Game Show, which begins on Friday.

From home to car units you can now take your PSPS with you where ever you go. I know it's portable and you can do that anyways, but these cool new bases make it so much easier:

New PSP Peripherals - Gizmodo

Sony has issued a recall on some AC adaptors. Be sure to follow this link to see if you qualify:

Sony Recalls Slim-line Adadpters - Gizmodo

During the many presentations and lectures at GDC Europe 2005, Andre Vrignaud (Xbox Platform Strategy Group) had some interesting comments about the ability to mod the Xbox 360. According to the article on Gamasutra.com He seems to think it will be some time before the console is unlocked.

"When ending the talk, Vrignaud also took a couple of questions from the audience on esoteric topics, revealing that, though the Xbox 360 has a virtual keyboard, it does also support USB keyboards. More interestingly, a question from an audience member on the security for Xbox 360 in terms of 'mod chips' and other devices that modify for imported/illegal content prompted a reply that Microsoft took 2 and a half years on security this time round, whereas the Xbox only had around a year. Vrignaud prompted: "Never say never", but he thinks it's going to be a long time before the Xbox 360 gets modded."

So is this a warning or a challange? Microsoft has spent countless man-hours and millions of dollars on security for years. I doubt if this will phase anyone trying to hack the 360. Hackers will probably see this as an invitation.

LINK: http://theconsolewars.blogspot.com/2005/09/xbox-360-tough-to-hack.html

Nagravision, an encryption software co and M$ team up to offer TV over IP

Microsoft and Nagravision Team Up for Digital Pay-TV - Xbox

By: Richard Allen

Game retail giant Electronics Boutique has updated their EBGames website with what appears to be a lineup of the games expected for Xbox 360 at launch. According to sources they are expecting the console as early as Wednesday November 2nd, 2005. The MSRP is supposed to ring in at $299.99. Not all these titles have been confirmed by Microsoft and a few of them have erroneous release date information (ie: The Godfather and Too Human). From the information I have gathered, there should be 22 launch titles as well as 7 titles coming before the end of November. Links are provided to EBGames below.

http://theconsolewars.blogspot.com/2005/08/xbox-360-launch-ebgames-leaks-game.html

Here's a great interview of someone who knows games:

The Console Wars: Exclusive Interview with Pete Hines of Bethesda Softworks (Oblivion) | Xbox 360, Playstation 3 PS3, Revolution

SmartXX, manufacturer of Xbox mod-chips have completely dissected a Xbox 360 Development Kit. They really tore the machine apart even removing the heatsink from the CPU. I am sure some of you are screaming blasphemy but this was in the quest of science and making the perfect mod chip. They released over 40 images in a directory off their website.

You can find more information about this here.

This one in regards to a new marketing campaign that's difficult to understand...

Xbox 360 Viral Campaign - Gizmodo

Just in time for the holidays...

Microsoft Announces Xbox Live Pricing for Xbox 360 - Xbox

Microsoft Announces Xbox Live Pricing for Xbox 360

One of Xbox-Scene's users known as Deamonz sent them digital photographs of a new product brochure for the Xbox 360. This brochure alledgedly came from a conference for the console and is not available for public release. He managed to get one home and snap some photos. Xbox-Scene speculates this could be a retail brochure that will help promote the 360 to end-users before it's release.

Coming soon to a PSP near you: A new web browser...

Access NetFront Browser Brings Internet Browsing to PlayStation Portable

This is big news. News Corp, the parent to the likes of Fox TV has Bought IGN home of such sites as Gamespy and TeamXbox. Wonder what they are up to?? Read more about it here:

Stock Market News and Investment Information | Reuters.com

PSP sets New Record in UK SONY PSP Handheld News

Mountain Dew (Pepsi) and Microsoft have teamed up to give away an Xbox 360 console every 10 minutes over the next nine weeks! Winners will receive their Xbox 360 months before it hits the store shelves. The contest started on Sunday August 28th and runs through the next nine weeks.

Link to more information.

How frustrating is it to be in the middle of your favorite game only to have it quit on you because your batteries are low? Now those days can be over with the new solar powered charger:

Portable Gadgets: Solar Charger For Portable Game Consoles

No this Xbox 360 is not gold-plated. It just comes with all the fixins that a fanboy needs! GameStop.com has posted 4 Xbox 360 bundles priced from $699.91 up to $1,199.83.

Article Link

Here's a good article (if somewhat biased by the author) on the state of gaming today. The author says that he believees the SNES may have been the peak of gaming. What do you think?

Read the article here.

If so you will be able to download demos of popular PSP games. See this link for a list of titles:

GSc | SCE reveals PlayStation Spot game-sharing service for TGS

It's quite simple really - run down to your local electronics store to get your 360:

IGN: US Retailers: Xbox 360 Primed for Thanksgiving

This is quite a long post...

The Escapist - Death to the Games Industry, Part I

Observations about the PSP and it's social impact.

Guardian Unlimited | Online | Sony PSP - not quite love at first sight