Undertow gratis on Xbox Live

After many Xbox Live users spent their unhappy holidays battling a multitude of problems with logging into and using the online gaming service, Microsoft apologized for the gaff and said it would be offering a free Live Arcade game to all members as a make-good.

Today Microsoft detailed what the game will be and when gamers can actually get it. Beginning next Wednesday, January 23, at 2 a.m. and continuing through the following Sunday, January 27, Xbox Live users will be able to download Chair Entertainment Group's Undertow free of charge.

Ordinarily available for 800 Microsoft points ($10), Undertow is an action combat game with 15 single-player levels as well as multiplayer action where up to 16 gamers take on different classes and races in an attempt to assert dominance over the waves. Undertow is rated E10+ for Everyone 10 and Older.

Online gamer murders rival clan member

*A 33-year-old Russian gamer from the city of Ufa was killed by a member of a rival online clan after virtual violence provoked a fatal real-life scrap, Russia Today reports.

The victim, named only as Albert, was a member of the "Platanium" clan in the unreported game (possibly Lineage II). His group was mostly made up of experienced gamers over 30, and at the end of December had a bit of an online rumble with the tastefully-entitled Coo-clocks clan - mainly students in their twenties - in which one of the latter was apparently killed.

This led to an arranged meet in the real world, during which "Albert was badly beaten and died from his injuries on the way to hospital".

The 22-year-old alleged assailant has apparently shown no remorse, and refused to justify his actions. His fellow Coo-clocks, meanwhile, "continue to harass the family of the murdered man, threatening to kill his sister, who hasn't turned on the computer for days".

She said: "I think they have confused the game and reality. And after we buried him [Albert] on 31 December, they continued to threaten us."

*Source

Rumor Killer: Achievements Did Not Disappear, says Major Nelson

*According to recent rumors, gamers have been booting up their Xbox 360 only to find that the Achievements they worked so hard to get were gone. The rumor went on to claim that the Xbox Live outages over the holiday break were the cause of the missing achievements.

TGR had an opportunity to speak with Major Nelson at CES 2008 this past week. Major Nelson has stated that no Xbox 360 achievements were lost. He confirmed this with the Xbox Live Database staff who stated that there was no missing data from the database.

Also, TGR was able to get a little insight into the Xbox Live outages. According to Major Nelson, the outages were caused due to going beyond capacity, not a DDOS attack as other sources have rumored. This basically translates to: too many people on Xbox Live at one time. This makes sense considering there were undoubtedly thousands of new Xbox 360 owners who wanted to jump into Live and get started.

Major Nelson went on to say that they are working on fixing the issues which caused the Xbox Live outages and that they are making additions to ensure that it never happens again.

“We are creating solutions so it does not happen again. It was a small blip and they are learning from it. We always plan for capacity; however, over the holidays it was well above capacity on live.”

More information to come as it is released.

*Source

Call of Duty 4 MODERN WARFARE

What if you had the chance to "Play on the Big Screen" with Call of Duty 4, Xbox and Carlton Screens here in the UK?!!

Cool.......!!!!!

You'll have the chance on the 26th and 27th January at CALL OF DUTY 4: MODERN WARFARE

CALL OF DUTY 4: MODERN WARFARE is one of the hottest gaming properties of the year.
Microsoft has limited spaces available for this competition – only 5 winners per cinema screen. However, each winner can bring a friend to play with. Check the location of the screens to ensure that there’s one near you (you’ll need to make your own way there):

• MANCHESTER ODEON


• BIRMINGHAM ODEON


• SOUTHAMPTON ODEON


• LONDON GREENWICH ODEON


• LONDON WIMBLEDON ODEON

To enter, simply click through on this link to register your details. The winners will be selected at random and notified the week commencing the 21st January.

Visit http://www.charlieoscardelta.com/ for full details of the game controls, weapons, soldier classes, and downloads.
For reviewing the terms and conditions Visit http://www.activision-win.co.uk/cod4/

Note: You should be 16 years or more to be eligible to enter this competition.

Xbox 2007 Choice Awards winners

As 2007 came to an end, Xbox thought about what an amazing year it had been to be an Xbox 360 gamer. We saw the launch of the Xbox LIVE Video Marketplace, two Dashboard updates ( Instant Messenger!), the fifth anniversary of Xbox LIVE and the games … by golly, we had games: BioShock, Mass Effect, Halo freakin' 3!
Xbox whittled down all the gaming goodness of the past twelve months into a short list of what they thought were the highlights.
Now the community has chosen the very best in movies, weapons, achievements, and of course … games! It's the Xbox 2007 Community Choice Awards!

Best Game

• Call of Duty 4


• Halo 3


• Mass Effect


• BioShock

Best Game Add-on

• Elder Scrolls IV: Shivering Isles


• Heroic Map Pack (Halo 3)


• Hidden Fronts Map Pack (Gears of war)

Best New Intellectual Property

• BioShock
  
• Mass Effect


• Assassin's Creed

Best Role-playing game

• Mass Effect


• Elder Scrolls IV: Shivering Isles


• Eternal Sonata

Best Racing Game

• Forza Motorsport 2


• Project Gotham Racing 4


• DiRT

Best Family Game

• Lego Star Wars: The Complete Saga


• Scene it? Light camera Action


• Beautiful Katamari

Best Xbox LIVE Arcade Game

• Worms


• Puzzle Quest: Challenge the Warlords
  
• Pac-Man Championship Edition

Best Sports Game

• Skate


• Madden NFL 08
  
• FIFA 08

Best Co-op Game

• Halo 3


• Rock Band
  
• Crackdown

Best Weapon

• Gravity Hammer (Halo 3)
  
• Aperture Science Handheld Portal Device (Portal)
  
• Plasmids (BioShock)

Best Vehicle

• AC-130 (Call of Duty 4)


• Brute Chopper (Halo 3)


• Agency Armored Vehicle (Crackdown)

Best Xbox LIVE Event

• Unite to Fight: Halo 3 Launch Week
  
• Xbox All-Nighter Featuring Gears of war
  
• Game with Developer: Valve

Toughest Achievement

• Guitar Hero (Guitar Hero 3)
  
• Brass Balls (BioShock)
  
• Godlike (Shadowrun)

Coolest Xbox 360 Accessory

• Messenger Kit (Chat pad)


• Wireless Racing Wheel
  
• Halo 3 Headset

Best Sequel

• Call of Duty 4
  
• Halo 3


• Forza 2

Best Movie Download

• 300
  
• Transformers


• The Matrix HD

Best TV Download

• South Park
  
• Family Guy
  
• Robot Chicken

Best Game You May Have Missed

• Skate
  
• Shadowrun


• Overlord

Xbox 360 teamed up with British Telecom

Microsoft teamed up with British Telecom to deliver TV, music and movies-on-demand via the HD-ready ‘BT Vision’ service, which is coming to Xbox 360 very soon.
How cool is that? Cooler than you think - seriously!

For those of you not yet clued in, BT Vision is a groundbreaking service which allows BT customers to watch, pause, rewind and record any of the 60+ Freeview television and digital radio channels.
Better still it also grants users instant access to a library comprising thousands of hours of premium on-demand content and numerous subscription channels. We’re talking hit TV shows, top music videos, blockbuster movies, sporting events (such as near-live Premiership football) and the like. Regular BT Vision customers need to install a special set-top box to get all this, but you can have it all at your fingertips using your brilliant 360.
Of course, with BT Vision running on the Xbox 360 there are other advantages too, such as voice chat, sending and receiving instant text messages, Xbox Live Market place and other community features and now that the technologies have converged they can all be enjoyed without having to interrupt your TV viewing.
See, we told you it was cool! So how much, how soon and how do you sign up?
We don’t have all the details just yet, but the Freeview content is free, obviously, the service is scheduled to launch around the middle of the year and it’s open to all existing (and future) BT customers.
Beyond that you’ll have to keep a lid on your brimming enthusiasm until we have more concrete information.
Rest assured we’ll let you know the very instant we find out. If not sooner!

Football Manager 2008 coming to xbox 360

Football Manager 2008 is coming to Xbox 360 on March 28th 2008, Miles Jacobson, Studio Director of Sports Interactive Ltd. said:

“Football Manager 2008 on Xbox 360 gives console gamers the chance to dive into the wonderful world of football management, With the same feature set to the PC version and various online modes, we hope that there is something for every Xbox 360 owner to get stuck into.”

Xbox 360 Football Manager 2008 trailer:

New features for Football Manager 2008:

• The largest change to match-day in a Sports Interactive game since the introduction of the second match engine. Match flow brings more atmosphere to match-days with match previews, team talks, opposition player instructions, the match itself, half time and post match. These now seamlessly follow on from one another, with no more pausing to make tactical changes, and a mini-radar pitch whilst making those tactical changes to keep you in touch with what’s going on in the match
• The international management gameplay has been completely revamped for Football Manager 2008, including, but not limited to, media improvements, international retirements, player interaction, international scouting, improved pool selection, captain selection and a separation of international and club morale for players.
• A much cleaner skin, a brand new advisor system to help players through various areas of the game. A new notes and notebook system, better button positioning for simpler navigation and an updated tutorial and manual. Also, coach reports make taking over a new team easier, and the new calendar system lists all important dates throughout the season. These all help to make Football Manager 2008 the easiest Sports Interactive game to use yet.
• Players can now easily tell what the board and supporters think about their performance in the game through the new confidence section. This gives players feedback not just on their current progress in competitions, but also their financial management and signings.
• A new way of managing all current transfer and loan bids for a players club, both incoming and outgoing, making it easier to compare bids and reject or accept them.
• Match Engine Improvements – A greatly improved match engine, once again utilising the footballing brain of former Republic of Ireland international player Ray Houghton as well as other tools used by real-life managers to make the most accurate simulation of football in a computer game. The ability to change the pitch dimensions at the start of the season to suit players styles of play better has also been added.
• An overhaul of the awards system inside the game which is not only more accurate now, but also includes new awards such as the European golden boot, and a “best eleven”, which shows the all-time (in game) best eleven for all teams and nations.
• To reflect the changes in modern day football, Sports Interactive have updated the finance area of Football Manager 2008 to better reflect the ever changing football world, with more information available to the manager too, including, but not limited to, corporate match day income, season ticket news, investment funds, improved sponsorships, collective win bonuses, and the ability to move around funds from the wage budget and transfer budget (and vice versa) at any point to help you in your quest for the ideal squad.
• The board can now arrange fan days to boost ailing attendances, or for matches that are likely to attract a low crowd, with a long term affect to attendances if all goes well.
• More media and feedback than ever before, plus more detail in existing media, and a new competition news section to find out what major things are going on in all league competitions
• All in game generated players now have pictures using FaceGen technology to give each player more personality, and the ability for the players to be seen to grow up in front of your eyes as the game is going on.
• Saving and loading is now significantly faster, with network gaming faster and smoother to play, as well as tactical changes and match reports being quicker than ever before.

Xbox 360 2008 Game releases

*We take a look at what games are expected to come out this year for Microsoft's Xbox 360 console.

Games in bold are "games to watch out for"

February

NFL Tour (1st)
Devil May Cry 4 (8th)
Turok (8th)
Frontlines: Fuel Of War (15th)
Lost Planet Colonies (22nd)
A-Train HX (22nd)
Army of Two (29th)
Bully: Scholarship Edition (29th)
Brothers in Arms: Hells Highway (TBC)
Lost Odyssey (TBC)
Battlefield: Bad Company (TBC)
Mercenaries 2: World in Flames (TBC)
Hei$t (TBC)
Kingdom Under Fire: Circle of Doom (TBC)
Turning Point: Fall of Liberty (TBC)
The Spiderwick Chronicles (TBC)

March

Dynasty Warriors 6 (7th)
Alan Wake (21st)
FIFA Street 3 (28th)
Midnight Club: Los Angeles (28th)
Viking: Battle for Asgard (28th)
Race Driver One (28th)
Conflict: Denied Ops (TBC)
Universe at War: Earth Assault (TBC)
Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell: Conviction (TBC)
Unreal Tournament 3 (TBC)
Enemy Territory: Quake Wars (TBC)
The Club (TBC)
Alone in the Dark 5 (TBC)
World In Conflict (TBC)
Age of Conan: Hyborian Adventures (TBC)
Mirror's Edge (TBC)
Samurai Warriors 2: Xtreme Legends (TBC)
Warhammer: Battle March (TBC)
Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six: Vegas 2 (TBC)

Q1 2008 (Jan, Feb, Mar)

The Siege of Khe Sanh (TBC)
Lost: The Video Game (TBC)
Rock Band (TBC)
Too Human (TBC)
Dark Sector (TBC)
Left 4 Dead (TBC)
Hellboy: The Science of Evil (TBC)
Condemned 2: Bloodshot (TBC)
Tom Clancy's EndWar (TBC)
SEGA Superstar Tennis (TBC)

Q2 2008 (Apr, May, Jun)

Star Wars: The Force Unleashed (TBC)
Grand Theft Auto IV (TBC)
Huxley (TBC)
Fable 2 (TBC)
Destroy All Humans: Path Of The Furon (TBC)

2008

Mobile Ops: The One Year War (TBC)
Mafia II (TBC)
Cipher Complex (TBC)
Indiana Jones (TBC)
Theseis (TBC)
Elveon (TBC)
The Lord Of The Rings: The White Council (TBC)
Just Cause 2 (TBC)
Fracture (TBC)
Saints Row 2 (TBC)
Warhound (TBC)
Resident Evil 5 (TBC)
Shootout: Normandy (TBC)
Sacred 2 Fallen Angel (TBC)
Halo Wars (TBC)
Ghostbusters (TBC)
MX vs ATV: Untamed (TBC)
Prototype (TBC)
The Wheelman (TBC)
WET (TBC)
Robert Ludlum's The Bourne Conspiracy (TBC)
Dead Space (TBC)

Note: these dates are subject to change and may not be final release dates!

So that looks like the line up. And looks like it could be an expensive year for me with lots of great games expected to be released. What are you looking forward to playing from the list? Let us know by leaving a comment below!

*Source

Madden NFL 08 Unlockables

Unlockable	How to Unlock
60 Yard Pass (15)	Complete a 60 yard pass.
60 Yard Run (15)	Complete a 60 yard run.
90 Yard Pass (30)	Complete a 90 yard pass.
80 Yard Run (35)	Complete an 80 yard run.
Intercept 2 Passes (20)	Get 2 interceptions with one player.
Intercept 5 Passes (35)	Intercept 5 total passes in one game.
Deflect 4 Passes (20)	Deflect 4 or more passes with one player.
7 Sacks with One Player (35)	Sack the Quarterback 7 times with one player in one game.
8 Tackles with One Player (10)	Get 8 tackles with one player in one game.
Recover 2 Fumbles (25)	Recover 2 fumbles in one game with one player.
Force 3 Fumbles (10)	Force 3 fumbles with one player.
200 Kick Return Yards (20)	Achieve 200 Kick Return Yards with One Player. Max 5min Qtr.
200 Punt Return Yards (20)	Get 200 punt return yards in one game with one player.
4 TD Passes (10)	Throw 4 touchdown passes in one game.
Score 84 Points (35)	Score 84 or more points in one game. Max 5min Qtr.
10 Catches in a Row (15)	Catch ten passes in a row with one player. Max 5min Qtr.
20 Completions in a Row (25)	Get 20 completions in a row with one player.
300 Pass Yards (10)	Achieve 300 passing yards in one game.
500 Pass Yards (30)	Pass for 500 yards in one game.
80 Percent Pass Completion (15)	Complete 80 percent of the attempted passes in one game.
100 Percent Pass Completion (25)	100 Percent Pass Completion.
Complete 25 Passes (30)	Complete 25 passes in one game.
1 Catch by Seven Players (20)	Catch one pass with seven players.
200 Pass Yards (10)	Get 200 passing yards in a game.
2 TD Catches with One Player (10)	Get 2 touchdown catches with one player.
150 Receiving Yards (15)	Achieve 150 receiving yards with one player.
200 Receiving Yards (25)	Get 200 receiving yards with one player.
100 Rec Yards with 2 Players (15)	Get 100 reception yards by two players.
10 Catches with One Player (15)	Get 10 receptions with One Player.
200 Rush Yards (15)	Rush for 200 yards or more with one player in one game.
40 Rush Attempts with One Player (15)	Attempt 40 rushes with one player in one game. Max 5min Qtr.
Average 20 Yards Rushing (25)	Average 20 yards rushing per attempt with one player in one game.
150 Rush Yards in One Qtr (25)	Get 150 yards or more rushing in one quarter with one player.
250 Rush Yards (25)	Rush for 250 yards with one player in one game.
100 Rush Yards with One Player (15)	Get 100 rush yards with One Player.
100 Rush Yards with Two Players (30)	Get 100 rushing yards with two players.
400 Yards on Offense (10)	Achieve 400 yards of offense in one game. Max 5min Qtr.
650 Yards on Offense (30)	Get 650 yards on offense. Max 5min Qtr.
No Dropped Passes (20)	Don't drop a pass for an entire game. Min 5min Qtr.
No Sacks Allowed (20)	Don't allow a sack for an entire game. Min 5min Qtr.
3 2pt Conversions Passing (35)	for three 2 point conversions in one game.
3 2pt Conversions Rushing (35)	Rush for three 2 point conversions in one game.
50 Yard Field Goal (20)	Kick a 50 yard or more field goal.
40 Yard Field Goal (15)	Kick a 40 or more yard field goal.
4 Sacks (10)	Get 4 sacks with one player in one game. Max 5min Qtr.
3 Rushing TDs (15)	Get 3 rushing touchdowns with one player.
Intercept 3 Passes (20)	Get 3 interceptions in one game.
Average 20 Yards Receiving (25)	Average 20 yards receiving with one player in one game.

Microsoft sued over Xbox Live outage

*Microsoft now faces a lawsuit over recent problems with its Xbox Live online gaming service. Three Texas residents filed a lawsuit Friday on behalf of themselves and others who have had trouble connecting to Xbox Live in recent weeks.

The suit, filed in U.S. District Court in Houston, claims Microsoft's outages represent a breach of contract and negligent misrepresentation for which the software maker is liable. The suit doesn't claim specific damages, but notes the amount is in excess of $5 million.

In the suit, the plaintiffs allege that Microsoft should have known strong holiday sales would tax its servers. "Microsoft knew the increase in subscriptions would increase game-play on its servers, yet failed to provide adequate access and service to Xbox Live and its subscribers," read the filing.

Microsoft has apologized for the outage and said it would allow Xbox live subscribers to download a free game.

*source

Microsoft offers freebies to address Xbox live issues

If you unwrapped a shiny new Xbox 360 this holiday season, you weren’t alone. And according to Microsoft, that influx of new users helped Xbox Live break a few records—the largest number of new users in the service’s five-year history and the single biggest day of simultaneous members online. Records weren’t the only thing that got broken, though. That flood of new users brought a host of problems for some users, including troubles signing into the service and a variety of performance issues.

Microsoft’s general manager of Xbox Live, Marc Whitten, has a few things to say to users about those problems, and is also extending a peace offering: “As a result of this massive increase in usage we know that some of you experienced intermittent Xbox LIVE issues over the holiday break. While the service was not completely offline at any given time, we are disappointed in our performance. I would like to take this moment to thank you each and every one of you for your patience and understanding as our team has worked around the clock to return the service to a stable state.

“At the same time we would like to offer a token of our appreciation to all of you in celebration of record success for the service. And as a thank you for your loyalty during this holiday period, we will be offering all of our Xbox LIVE members around the world access to a full Xbox LIVE Arcade game that will be available to download free of charge. In the coming weeks we will be sharing the specific details of this offer with you.”

Free is good, right? Let’s just hope it’s free and good.

Is StarCraft 2 coming to Xbox 360?

Altgn*, received an interesting piece of information from a regular poster on their boards. He was taking quizzes through the Microsoft Retail Zone, which is a website interface used to further educate employees of electronic retail stores. While taking the quiz for “Universe at War”, he stumbled upon a cool little gem that might come to pass.

6. Which of the following are defining features of Universe at War?

1. The first ever Xbox 360/PC cross-platform RTS
2. Tactical dynamics create the best RTS until Starcraft 2.
3. Truly unique factions and customization
4. Free one-month Games for Windows LIVE Gold subscription
5. All of the above
6. None of the above

Could this be an unintentional sign given by Microsoft that the long awaited Starcraft 2 will be coming to Xbox 360? As some might remember, Blizzard allowed ports of Starcraft to both the Nintendo 64 and the Playstation. Ports of recent PC RTCs have come to 360 such as Lord of the Rings: Battle for Middle Earth 2, and Command and Conquer 3. Both have been received well by console gamers because of their impressive control schemes, previously a massive hurdle to jump for previous RTS console ports. Whether this is simply a misunderstanding or not, this is an exciting rumor nonetheless.

Source*