Halo Waypoint now live on Xbox Live

Starting Saturday, Nov. 7, Halo Waypoint will begin previewing new Halo content on Xbox Live. The new virtual home for all things Halo launches today on Xbox LIVE, and will be the “exclusive destination for full-episode previews of Halo Legends beginning Saturday, Nov. 7. Halo Waypoint promises daily updates featuring developer interviews, trailers and screenshots, exclusive video footage, community activities and the latest Halo news.

In addition, Halo Waypoint includes a career system that tracks players’ accomplishments across multiple Halo games and gives them new ways to show off their in game exploits. Players who participate in Halo Waypoint will be rewarded with a variety of Bungie-created Halo 3: ODST Avatar Awardables for attaining specific Achievements in the game. Rewards vary from T-shirts to full sets of ODST armor. These awardables are retroactive, so if players have already unlocked the requisite Achievements, the awards will be ready for them once they enlist in Halo Waypoint.

Turn on your Xbox 360 and log on to Xbox Live to learn more.

Halo 3, Trials HD tops on Xbox Live

What’s hot happening and downright exciting on Xbox Live lately, According to data from Major Nelson’s official Blog, Halo 3 is all the rage for the week of Oct. 26, 2009. The top Arcade title for the week (based on sales, not usage) was Trials HD, followed by the new South Park tower defense game, Konami’s Zombie Apocalypse and Battlefield 1943. I can’t believe that Castle Crashers is still in the top ten after all this time.

The top Indie game for the week was Avatar Drop, followed by I MAED A GAM3 W1TH Z0MB1ES!!!1, Pumpkin Chop, Miner Dig Deep and Headshot. It’s nice to see that Miner Dig Deep is getting some sales because it is one of the best Indie games released so far in my ever so humble opinion. The full list of games after the break.

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Call of Juarez: Bound in Bloodtitle update deployed

Having trouble with the PS3 and Xbox 360 versions of Call of Juarez: Bound in Blood? Then may the freshly released title update for the game will solve your problems. The title update supposedly improves the quality of multiplayer connections and matches and refines the overall balance of multiplayer classes and modes. Specifically for PS3, the patch will significantly reduce checkpoint loading times. The Spy, Gunslinger, Hombre, Veteran and Sniper classes have been balanced to offer the best experiences possible. as well, says Ubisoft.

The Spy class gets an increase in health and damage output, the Gunslinger’s recoil has been reduced and his accuracy has been improved, the Hombre’s recoil and reload time has been increased and his damage at long range significantly reduced, the Veteran’s health and accuracy have been decreased and additional pistols have been removed, and the Sniper’s no-scope accuracy and damage were significantly reduced, health has been decreased and the sidearm Ranger has been swapped for the Classic Gun.

Turn on your Xbox 360 or PS3 and play the game to get these new updates.

Brütal Legend map pack in Nov.

Electronic Arts and Double Fine Productions announced plans to release new downloadable content for Brütal Legend in Nov. Tears of the Hextadon , a new double map pack, will be available on Xbox LIVE on November 3rd for 400 MS Points and on PlayStation Network on November 5th, where the two-map pack will be downloadable for free until November 19th, then costing $4.99 after November 19th.

The Brütal Legend Tears of the Hextadon map pack expands the Brütal Legend Stage Battle multiplayer experience with two new multiplayer maps. In the first map, Circle of Tears, vile waters have carved a rough-hewn circular battlefield into a forsaken land that players must circumvent to destroy their opponent. In the second map, Death’s Fjord, players find themselves on an icy mountain pass with a dense cluster of fans that lie below, waiting to be harvested by those brave enough to capture them without cover from enemy attack. All players who download the new map pack will receive a free axe, the Blade of Ormagöden.

Look for the maps in early Nov.

Splosion Man gets Avatar Rewards

Twisted Pixel Games announced this week plans to extend, expand and improve its Xbox Live Arcade game, Splosion Man. In the next few weeks free avatar awards, free meats, and improved online multiplayer will be rolled out and into the game. Twisted Pixel CEO Michael Wilford says that this is the biggest update the company has deployed to an existing game.

Avatar Awards for the game were launched earlier this week on Xbox Live Arcade. Splosion Man is the first game to provide this feature to players free of charge. Players who have already performed the achievement will be awarded their accessories at the main menu, while new players will get to see a preview of what their avatar looks like wearing the accessory. Players can win two male and two female accessories for free by playing through Splosion Man.

Twisted Pixel and Omaha Steaks have teamed up to deliver hundreds of top-quality steak filets to players. Register by downloading the special Splosion Man gamerpic on the Dashboard or on Xbox.com, and then receive one entry each time (up to 5 times) Splosion Man is played in an online multiplayer session before November 22nd.

Finally, some online multiplayer fixes are in place. Since the game’s launch, some players have encountered laggy online game sessions in certain network scenarios, including connections that frequently drop data packets. In the latest title update to the game, those issues have been fixed.

Find out more at www.twistedpixelgames.com.

Microsoft CEO’s vague comment fuels Blu-ray on Xbox 360 rumor

Was it a slip of the tongue or baiting when Steve Ballmer, CEO of Microsoft - in an interview with tech site Gizmodo - said something a bit odd about Blu-ray support on the Xbox 360? What is even more bizarre is Microsoft’s PR department doing its worst to deflect or deny what Ballmer said, adding a little bit of fuel to a rumor we’re going to have to read about for the next 3 - 6 months.

Allright, i’ll bite.

In the interview Gizmodo asked Ballmer about the possibility of adding Blu-ray support of some kind to the Xbox 360, to which he replied:

“Well I don’t know if we need to put Blu-ray in there—you’ll be able to get Blu-ray drives as accessories.”

A follow-up by Gizmodo with Xbox division PR flaks yielded this response:

“Our immediate solution for Blu-ray-quality video on an Xbox 360 is coming this fall with Zune Video and 1080p instant-on HD streaming. As far as our future plans are concerned, we’re not ready to comment.”

Maybe Microsoft could say “no we are not doing that” instead of pretending that they might. And is it me or is Steve Ballmer the Joe Biden of the tech world? How many times can he misspeak before sites stop immediately slapping up headlines like “Ballmer Confirms Blu-ray Add-On for Xbox 360” and causing a general ruckus? That’s what I want for Christmas, at least.

Konami remaking Rocket Knight

Konami Digital Entertainment announced that Rocket Knight is currently in development for the Xbox LIVE Arcade, PlayStation Network and for PC download via Steam. The popular 2D side-scrolling title first released on the 16-bit SEGA Genesis and later on the Super Nintendo Entertainment System, Rocket Knight debuts on next generation consoles fifteen years later with updated graphics and all new environments, while maintaining much of the core gameplay of the original.

In Rocket Knight, players take on the role of a fiery opossum named Sparkster who returns home to the Kingdom of Zephyrus after 15 years to find it in ruin. Using a rocket pack, players must steer clear and overcome a hostile wolf army looming to take the lives of the Zephyrus people. A 2.5D action adventure title, Rocket Knight brings new worlds, each with massive platform levels and a rocket flying level.

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