View full post on GamesRadar – Xbox 360 News

Crack open a fresh copy of Mass Effect 2, The Saboteur or Dragon Age: Origins and you’ll see it: A code to download some piece of game content that those suckers buying used will have to pay for. It’s not just coincidence that EA is shipping so many games with these bonuses/punitive measures (depending on your perspective). It’s what CEO John Riccitiello calls “Project Ten Dollar,” a bid to take back a portion of revenue from the estimated $2 billion in annual used game sales. That and the rest of Riccitiello’s strategy to to make EA more reliant on digital content is detailed in a new BusinessWeek report.

All we know is, with a 25 percent decline in revenue for Q3, the company needs to find some way to fill the gaps sooner rather than later. Though Riccitiello seems convinced the digital strategy will patch the hole, some remain unconvinced. Former EA consultant Eric Goldberg told BusinessWeek, “While it’s possible EA can make the extremely difficult transition from providing a shiny disc in boxes to [leading] in digital, history suggests it’s rather unlikely.”

Riccitiello talks ‘Project Ten Dollar’ and digital distribution originally appeared on Joystiq on Wed, 10 Feb 2010 10:45:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

View full post on Joystiq [Xbox]

Turn 10′s Forza 3 has managed to attain double platinum status — dubs plat in “cool kid” speak. Microsoft announced that the game sold over two million copies since its October release. The racer took just over a month to surpass one million sales, and has clearly been doing laps around the money pit ever since.

And hey, if you’re wondering what you’re missing in all of this hot pedal-on-metal action, there’s a demo on Xbox Live right now.

High-speed banking: Forza 3 sells two million copies originally appeared on Joystiq on Wed, 10 Feb 2010 11:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

View full post on Joystiq [Xbox]

Incoming search terms:

• Speed Banking

Though Disney’s gaming division saw improved operating results during the company’s first fiscal quarter of 2010 (which ended January 2) — a loss of $10 million compared to a $45 million loss in Q1 the previous fiscal year — CEO Robert Iger has maintained a prudent stance on upcoming projects.

“Disney-branded games seem to perform better on the Wii and DS platforms,” he noted during a recent investor call (via Computerworld). It seems Disney will continue to target non-Nintendo platforms, but with fewer shots and steadier aim. “While we’ll continue to make high-end games, we’ll be very judicious in how many we make and which ones we choose,” Iger said.

Iger is also likely to keep an eye on the performance of upcoming “high-end” titles like Tron Evolution and Black Rock Studios’ Pure follow-up, Split/Second. And if neither of those work, you send in the spandex. “We have some interesting opportunities with Marvel,” he said. “That’s a brand we think would do extremely well on higher-end consoles.”

Source: ComputerWorld [via GamesIndustry.biz]
Source: The Walt Disney Company Q1 results

Disney Interactive to be more ‘judicious’ with HD games as losses abate originally appeared on Joystiq on Wed, 10 Feb 2010 12:15:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments

View full post on Joystiq [Xbox]

Incoming search terms:

• disney in hd games

Red Dead Redemption’s many, many pre-order bonuses are now detailed on the game’s official website, and we can’t imagine anyone will be prepared for the barrage of options listed when you click that link. No less than eight different pre-order bonuses, split between ten different US and UK retailers have been dreamed up by marketing. In typical Rockstar fashion, the practice of “exclusive” bonus content has become excessive bonus content.

Among the options listed are the “Golden Guns Weapon Pack” (more “Fame” per kill), from Amazon, which also comes with a $10 Amazon gift card; the “War Horse,” a steed that Rockstar claims can’t be bested by any other horse in the game, only available from Best Buy and HMV; and the “Deadly Assassin Outfit” from UK retailer Game (and maybe GameStop, if the getup wins the vote — uh-huh, there’s a pre-order vote). So yeah, we’re going with the Amazon option, too.

Red Dead Redemption pre-order bonuses announced originally appeared on Joystiq on Wed, 10 Feb 2010 12:54:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

View full post on Joystiq [Xbox]

Plans to disconnect Xbox Live services for original Xbox games have apparently already begun, as DLC servers for Xbox titles have been quietly taken offline. According to numerous forum threads and our own tests of an assortment of Xbox titles, attempts to download original Xbox game content are now fruitless. Each title tested yielded the message: “Could not download content list. Please try again later.” (The image above was taken from our test of Halo 2.)

Last Friday, Microsoft announced online support for original Xbox titles would be discontinued on April 15, but made no mention of disconnecting DLC servers earlier than that. Some forum users claim that the DLC servers for Xbox titles were taken offline as soon as the announcement was made last week. So, if you’ve continued to put off your infiltration of the Kola Cell in the original Splinter Cell, you’d better have already downloaded the mission.

[Thanks, Bren]

PSA: Original Xbox games’ DLC already offline originally appeared on Joystiq on Wed, 10 Feb 2010 14:56:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments

View full post on Joystiq [Xbox]

Incoming search terms:

• original xbox games with dlc

Shortcut: Download the trial version of Darwinia+ [via Xbox.com]

[iTunes] Subscribe to X3F TV directly in iTunes.
[Zune] Subscribe to the X3F TV directly.
[RSS] Add the X3F TV feed to your RSS aggregator and have the show delivered automatically.
[M4V] Download the M4V directly.

X3F TV — XBLA in Brief: Darwinia+ originally appeared on Joystiq Xbox on Wed, 10 Feb 2010 15:45:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments

View full post on Joystiq [Xbox]

It’s the perfect Saturday. You’re rocking your team’s jersey as you settle onto the couch, a Shasta in one hand, bag of Fritos in the other, preparing to hit the pitch in FIFA 10. You head online, get yourself into a match and suddenly you’re up one-nil. And then, just as suddenly, your opponent quits. You go bananas, hurling your controller into the TV. Then your wife comes in and says she’s had enough and takes the kids to her mother’s. A month later, you’re divorced.

It’s a story we hear way too often here at Joystiq. Thankfully, EA is working on a way to punish these quitters — outside of rectifying the fact that they’ve wrecked your life forever — in the next series iteration, FIFA 11. EA Canada’s Simon Humber told Eurogamer these “rage quitters” are a “complex problem.” See, there’s a loophole in the game that allows players to quit within five minutes of starting a FIFA 10 match online, in case there’s a connection issue — but EA is looking for ways to keep players from exploiting that feature.

Humber says that EA is thinking about adding functionality to FIFA 11 that would reward players for finishing matches, rather than try to punish those that quit. As for the upcoming FIFA World Cup 2010 South Africa, don’t expect any changes: “We haven’t done anything different for this game as far as I know,” Humber said.

FIFA 11 to tackle online quitters by rewarding players that finish games originally appeared on Joystiq on Wed, 10 Feb 2010 17:20:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

View full post on Joystiq [Xbox]

Incoming search terms:

• fifa 11 tackle
• fifa how to tackle
• fifa 11 review rage quitters
• how to tackle in fifa 11
• tackle fifa 11
• what is the reward finishing fifa 11 game

Earlier today we reported that Original Xbox downloadable content had been taken offline, presumably in an early effort to turn off online support for the classic Xbox; however, according to Microsoft the unavailable DLC is only an error.

In an email to Joystiq, a Microsoft representative said: “We are aware that Xbox v1 users are currently unable to access downloadable content via Xbox LIVE, both for the original console and Xbox Originals on Xbox 360. The team is actively working on resolving this issue so that the Xbox v1 community can continue downloading content until April 15.”

No time frame was given for a fix to the disconnected servers, but it looks like Microsoft wants gamers to enjoy every element of the original Xbox’s connected experience until April 15. Now we can all go back to ignoring these server shutdowns and stop acting like it’s such a big deal. You know, because it’s 2010.

Microsoft ‘actively working’ to restore Original Xbox DLC originally appeared on Joystiq on Wed, 10 Feb 2010 18:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments

View full post on Joystiq [Xbox]

After narrowly escaping Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2‘s impact crater in late 2009, Raven Software’s tardy, time-bending first-person shooter, Singularity, finally appears to have settled on a new ETA. Speaking in an investor conference call following the release of the company’s latest financial results, Activision Publishing CEO Mike Griffith mentioned that both Singularity and star vehicle / vehicle star Transformers: War for Cybertron were due some time in May 2010.

If neither of those appeal to you, Shrek Forever After: The Game is also set to release during the same month. But … really? You don’t like transforming robots or time-distorting techno-gloves? What if the robots were wearing the gloves?

Activision: Singularity, Transformers: War for Cybertron due in May 2010 originally appeared on Joystiq on Wed, 10 Feb 2010 18:50:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments

View full post on Joystiq [Xbox]