The demo for Ninja Gaiden 2 has arrived…in Japan. Those of you with Japanese Xbox Live accounts (and I assume there’s probably more fake accounts than real ones) will probably need no encouragement to get on the download. Those of you who don’t have Japanese Xbox Live accounts will probably want to see this Destructoid post running you through the process.
Ubisoft will be running a Private Beta of Tom Clancy’s EndWar for three weeks in June and July. If you’ve got an Xbox 360, a Live Gold account, broadband, and 3GB of space left on your hard drive, head over to the signup page, verify your e-mail address, answer a whole bunch of questions, and cross your fingers. Oh, and it’s open to people outside the US - bravo, Ubisoft!
Microsoft will begin to remove games from the Xbox Live Arcade if they meet all three of the following criteria:
Gamerscore Blog recently answered a number of common concerns - even if a game is removed from the service, those who purchased it will still be able to play it (including online functionality) and re-download it if required.
As to what games will be removed, here are the games that have less than 65 on Metacritic - obviously I can’t comment on which of these have a conversion rate of below 6% - but I can certainly say I wouldn’t miss any of them:
| Hardwood Hearts | 64 |
| Crystal Quest | 64 |
| Speedball 2: Brutal Deluxe | 64 |
| Contra | 63 |
| Time Pilot | 63 |
| Marathon: Durandal | 63 |
All aboard the rumor train! A list of achievements supposedly from the Xbox 360 version of Grand Theft Auto IV has been doing the rounds, and are now available here for your perusal. They certainly look legit to me - check the full list of achievements after the jump and let us know if you agree.
Saved replays are possibly the most awesome feature ever to hit console FPS games. First there was those Halo 3 plasma grenade throws, now we have this rather elaborate death by falling Warthog.
Midway and Epic today announced that the king of twitch shooters, Unreal Tournament 3 will be shipping this Summer. The Xbox 360 version features two new characters, five new maps and split-screen multiplayer.
Namco Bandai today announced their plans to bring the original Soul Calibur to Xbox Live Arcade. While the only upgrade of note is reworked, high-definition graphics, I’m picturing a shitload of ex-Dreamcast owners chomping at the bit for this game by the planned release in Summer 2008. The Dreamcast version earned a Metacritic rating of 98, making it one of the best console fighters ever.
To answer the inevitable question: there will be no online multiplayer mode added to the game which, to be honest, is perfectly fine by me. While I played Soul Calibur on the Dreamcast until sunrise countless times with my housemate at the time, I have no interest in playing it online (I’m firmly in the “latency makes it a complete waste of [developers|my] time” group).
OXM is the first to get their print review of Grand Theft Auto IV out - and unsurprisingly, it’s a 10. Apparently, when reduced to dot points, GTA IV offers:
• Amazingly realistic world
• Stunning action set pieces
• Genuinely engrossing storyline
• Hugely entertaining multiplayer
• Vast in every aspect
Before you mouth off about perfect scores and what not, I suggest you read over OXM’s review score guide:
10: Classic
One of those rare and very best of games. Every Xbox gamer simply must buy it and play it, whether or not they’re a fan of the genre.
…which leads me to a question. Would anyone care if GTA IV got a dud review?
Treasure’s cult hit Ikaruga is ready for release on Xbox Live this Wednesday. The Xbox Live incarnation features cooperative play over Xbox Live and will cost 800 Microsoft points.
For the uninitiated, Ikaruga adds a simple, yet effective twist to the scrolling shooter - enemies, their projectiles, and your ship are all one of two colors. Your ship absorbs projectiles of the same color, and you can switch colors with a button press.
Check after the jump for a video of a ridiculously coordinated chap controlling both ships in a 2 player game.
Has your quest for a massive Gamerscore lead you to save game tampering and other clearly dodgy means? You had better watch out - Major Nelson has announced a crack down on Gamerwhores, starting today with the most serious offenders.
