Games Industry Wire

This is just a cool video of a guy playing Halo 2 with the guitar from Guitar Hero. Go ahead and give it a try, the controls are shown in the video:

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Bungie has released 2 “new” multiplayer maps for Halo 2. The maps are actually remakes of two of the most popular maps from the orignal Halo game, Derelict and Hang em’ High. Now dubbed Desolation and Tombstone respectively, the maps have been made available through the Halo in game content system for the price of $4 for both maps. “Read More” to check out screenshots from the new levels:

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Next month Microsoft will debut a black Xbox 360 with HDMI outputs eerily retro to the original Xbox console. I love the black scheme and am torn between whether I like the white or black one better.
The new console is not all looks and will come equipped with the previously mentioned HDMI outputs as well as a 120 GB hard drive and a more hefty $479 price tag. Although it hasn’t been announced many feel the new console may coincide with a drop in price on the current basic and premium white Xbox 360 models Microsoft offers.

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Japan has very different sales trends often times than North America or Europe which makes them all the more interesting to look at. japan has a marked slant towards both Nintendo products as well as handhelds. Here’s the numbers for Japan from March 12th-18th courtesy of Joystiq:
- DS Lite: 121,471 12,959 (11.94%)
- Wii: 67,070 22,575 (50.74%)
- PSP: 43,769 12,406 (22.08%)
- PS3: 21,635 10,480 (32.63%)
- PS2: 13,321 1,264 (8.67%)
- Xbox 360: 2,910 423 (12.69%)
- Game Boy Micro: 727 85 (10.47%)
- GBA SP: 557 122 (17.97%)
- Gamecube: 367 127 (52.92%)
- DS (Original): 159 …read more

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Jay over at the Zero Boss is partnering with Lucas Arts to giveaway Thrillville, an amusement park sim for the PS2, PSP and XBox. If you have a Nintendo or PC, sorry… But he says to submit anyway and he’ll think of something to give you.
More on the game and the contest:
Thrillville is rated E for Everybody, making it suitable for kids of all ages. To win a copy for yourself or your family *, simply leave a comment describing either your favorite theme park, or a notable experience – comic or tragic – that you’ve had at …read more

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A new study by Nielson seems to suggest that gamers spend between 5-7 hours per week online playing games (Live! is included).
Even more interesting is the percentage clearly indicated that online gaming is the way of the future (duh):
Nielson found that, as of August, about 117 million people in the U.S. qualified as active gamers, and 56% reported playing games online as opposed to playing on consoles such as Sony PlayStation or with handheld devices.
And then this one that we already knew.
In the entire group, men outnumbered women by more than 2-to-1.
I spend roughly 5-10, depending on my week.  How …read more

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Don’t forget that Texas Hold ‘Em is Free until 8GMT (4pm E, I think) today on XBox LIVE.  After that time the games is like all other LIVE games, free to download the demo, 800 MS points to unlock the full game.  More on Texas Hold ‘Em here in my earlier article on the game.

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Next week when the game launches you’ll get the full game for free when you download it within the first 48 hours of launch.  The game launches at 4am EST Wednesday August 23 and will be free until 4am EST on August 25.  After that time the game will cost you 800 Microsoft points.
In this game, your ability to play is tied to your history of playing the game via your gamertag.  It keeps a running tally of your chip count.  If you lose alot you’ll not be able to play with the high rollers until you recover your chips.  …read more

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It’s a do-over ladies and gents.
Microsoft has officially announced that they’re going to relaunch the Xbox 360 in Japan. The relaunch will take place in late June and may come with different a pricing plan and a different marketing campaign.
Japan was the only country that the Xbox 360 did not sell out at launch. Hmmm… maybe that explains where all the Xbox 360s were at launch in the states.
Is this a surprise? I think not. Microsoft has never had a foothold in the Japanese market, and I think they’ll just be loosing money by doing a relaunch. But, since Bill …read more

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With the release of the Xbox 360, Xbox Live has become a significant part of the Xbox experience.
Microsoft released new numbers for their Xbox Live service. They claim that gamers have spent more than 1.5 BILLION hours gaming on Xbox Live since the launch in 2002. Halo 2 alone accounted for accounted for 500 million hours of the 1.5 billion. Now, however, the Xbox 360 is really showing us what online gaming is all about.
Around 60 per cent of Xbox Live account holders have used the Xbox Live Arcade, and more than 3 million games have been downloaded. On average, …read more

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