GameFly, the awesome game rentals via mail service has been taking pre-orders for Xbox 360 titles. They have released a list of the top 10 most requested Xbox 360 games, even before release:

1. Perfect Dark Zero, Microsoft
2. Call of Duty 2, Activision
3. Quake 4, Activision
4. The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion, Take 2
5. Need for Speed: Most Wanted, Electronic Arts
6. Dead or Alive 4, Tecmo
7. Gun, Activision
8. Madden NFL 06, Electronic Arts
9. Project Gotham Racing 3, Microsoft
10. Kameo: Elements of Power, Microsoft

If you haven’t used GameFly before, give them a try. You get a 10-day free trial and always free shipping. Click here to try them out.

I love their service, I get soooo excited when I see the orange mailers in my mailbox. (Yeah, it don’t take much.)

Source

I can feel the anxiety mount with gamers worldwide, as the 360 launch looms nearer. Get some game goodness beforehand:

IGN takes an in-depth look at the upcoming release for the new bling box for HD gaming.

To be honest, I’m someone who has grown tired of the Tiger series the last couple of years…the game is just too easy. But the advancements made to the six courses (undulations, realistic terrains), combined with all of the advanced Tiger 06 swing mechanics that now really make a difference in terms of ball placement and positioning really have me anticipating a return to the greens with the Xbox 360.

Besides, where else can I aim a wood right at a crowd of onlookers and swing away for a good laugh? It’s like the Colt 45 of videogames…works every time.

IGN: Tiger 360: A Closer Look

Joystick has a list of games that is supposedly from a GameStop system printout. They list 41 games, but I shortened it here to the ones listed to come out by the end of this December.

(In my shallow reality, I can’t look farther forward – actually I want this stuff NOW!)

# Perfect Dark Zero Regular Edition: 11/07/05
# Kameo Elements of Power: 11/09/05
# Quake 4: 11/15/05
# GUN: 11/15/05
# Call of Duty 2: 11/15/05
# FIFA Soccer 2006: Road to World Cup: 11/15/05
# Tony Hawk’s American Wasteland: 11/15/05
# NBA 2K6: 11/15/05
# Need for Speed: Most Wanted OLC: 11/15/05
# Madden NFL 2006 OLC: 11/15/05
# NBA Live 2006 OLC: 11/15/05
# Tiger Woods PGA Tour OLC: 11/15/05
# Condemned: 11/15/05
# Ampled 3: 11/15/05
# Perfect Dark Zero: Collector Tin: 11/17/05
# Project Gotham Racing 3: 11/17/05
# Dead or Alive 4: 11/18/05
# King Kong: Peter J (STREET 11/22): 11/18/05
# NHL 2K6: 11/21/05
# Ridge Racer 6: 11/22/05
# Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion: 12/05/05
# Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion Coll Ed: 12/05/05

I am bummed to say I see that Ghost Recon: Advanced War Fighter has been bumped to Feb. Maybe Call of Duty 2 will make up for it.

41 Xbox 360 games & their release dates – Joystiq

James over at Joystiq has an interesting take.

if by November 2006 the Premium Bundle has dropped to $300, you’ll have spent less than $10/month covering the difference between this (projected) discounted price and the $400 launch price. That’s pretty insignificant for the majority of us with a gaming budget.

Right on, what’s a 100 bucks for next gen gaming today. I think my budget can handle it, if I need to I can cut something else out.

The Xbox 360 is not going to blow your mind. But I’ll be damned if after an hour or two of playtime you’re not wearing a big grin across your face.

Sounds like a worthy purchase to me.

He comments on not buying into the hype, and that’s cool. But come on, who buys into the hype these days besides fanboys – they don’t even need the hype. I know our HD angle is a bit more specialist than the mainstream, but I am definitely looking forward to HD res and WIDESCREEN as default for EVERY title! That is enough reason for me to want to jump on this baby.

Lucky guy over at Joystiq gets to play with xbox 360 games before the rest of the world. Yes, I’m jealous – no love for old HT Dudes. Anyway, he got to play the following:

Finally, we get the word on the release date – November 22, 2005. Let the gamers’ rejoicing begin. Microsoft seem to really be aiming for the Japanese market, and this announcement comes on the eve of Tokyo Game Show 2005.

Xbox 360 will arrive on store shelves Tuesday, November 22 in North America, Friday, December 2 in Europe, and Saturday, December 10 in Japan.

This marks the first time a game console will be launched in 3 regions at roughly the same time.
Some lucky Tokyo Game Show goers get to see some great titles firsthand, like:

Bomberman — Act Zero (Hudson Soft Co. Ltd.)
Call of Duty 2 (Activision Inc.)
CHROMEHOUNDS (Sega)
Dead Rising (Capcom)
Dynasty Warriors 5 Special (Koei Co. Ltd.)
FINAL FANTASY XI (Square Enix Co. Ltd.)
Gears of War (Microsoft Game Studios)
Kameo: Elements of Power (Microsoft Game Studios)
Need for Speed Most Wanted (Electronic Arts)
Project Gotham Racing 3 (Microsoft Game Studios)
Resident Evil 5 (Capcom)
Ridge Racer 6 (Namco)
Sonic the Hedgehog (Sega)
Saint’s Row (THQ)
Test Drive Unlimited (Atari Inc.)
Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter (Ubisoft Entertainment)

Xbox.com

I came across some new screenshots today of the XBOX 360 release title, Ghost Recon 3 Advanced Warfighter. These shots are the best I’ve seen yet, the older ones always seemed fuzzy or blurry for whatever reason.

The GR series has been one of may favs ever since the first one was released. There is just something about sneaking around with high powered weapons and killing those little brown… errr I mean liberating those poor terrorists!

New ScreenShots

I tried to sit in on a chat with J Allard today, through microsoft communities. The lag was unbearable, my chat window rarely updated. (Maybe they should have tried a linux solution.) However, a
transcript of the chat was posted later.

J basically took questions from the hardcore gaming crowd about the upcoming console. Lots of straightforward (surprise!) and sensible answers about various things such as the 2 packages to be offered, memory units, DVD drives, prices, xbox live, etc.

The only answer that smelled funny was this one:

Q: Why do they have the core package? Why doesn’t microsoft just release the package with the Harddrive so developers will be able to fully utilize it?

A: independent of the configurations we have at launch it was imparative that we work with developers now to abstract the storage system because (1) the drive is removable and we want people to play even if the drive is not present (2) another possibility is that 5 years from now that you want more storage on the box or on the network and be able to take advantage of that. by abstracting storage in the system we are making sure that all xbox 360 games will work on all configurations moving forward and early customers will be able to take advantage of future scenarios like bigger drives and network storage.

1) Yeah, I’ll be playing my console a lot after I pull the drive. Huh?

2) Five years from now? The box will be weak, I doubt I’ll be worrying about uprading it or using it as a media server. I think they know that too.

Bill, I mean J, should have just come out and said because they needed a cheaper version for the mainstream public sweet-spot price of under $300, and yanking the HD was the easiet thing to do that made (some) sense.

A couple of other interesting notes:
– No backward compatability with xbox 1 unless your 360 has a hard drive.
– You will be able to stream standard and high definition video from media center PCs.

Still no release date comments other than (I figured) “soon,” but an interesting read.
Chat Transcript

A source close to HTDude headquarters, ok so they’re on another continent, has news of the upcoming XBox 360 pricing.

The basic “Core System” will be $299 in the States, 299 Euros in Europe, and £209 in the UK.

They will also offer the full bling setup with 20GB hard drive, wireless controller, headset and remote control. It will run £279, 399 Euros and $399 in real money.

The additional components would run more than 200 bucks separately. The hard drive alone is 100 of that. Get the full kit guys.

Still no set ship date, just the same ambiguous “before Christmas.” Yeah, it better come out in time for all those grown men, I mean parents to buy for their loving children.

Source

Ok, I had to do a double take when I was reading this. A triple-take actually. Whoever wrote this needs to switch to a lighter brand of crack:

The Compact Sound System, which is specifically designed for the PS2 Compact, features two 3-watt and two 1-watt stereo speakers, providing gamers with a high-quality simulated home theater experience while gaming, listening to CDs, or watching DVDs. The speakers swivel down to a flat position, allowing for easy storage, and are custom-designed to blend with your PS2 Compact.

Ahem. 2 three-watt speakers, and 2 one-watt speakers. Yeah mon, we be jammin now. But hang on – let’s get to the video!

Next, the Compact Color Game Screen allows gamers to play their PS2 Compact anywhere. It features a compact 5.4″ monitor that provides better game graphics than a TV, built-in stereo speakers (or you can plug in external speakers), dual earphone jacks for multi-player gaming, and easy reach front-panel volume and brightness/color controls. The screen attaches securely to the PS2 Compact and folds flat on top of the unit for easy storage.

Did you read that! A 5.4″ monitor that’s better than a TV! Awright!! I think I’ll go chunk my front projector now, there’s no way I can touch this “high-quality simulated home theater experience” with my rig.

Press Release