Brink: Agents of Change DLC Achievements Unlocked

Back in May, Splash Damage promised to release a free DLC as a 'Thank You' to all of the people supporting Brink, and would be released in June. Whilst it obviously is past this original date - don't despair! x360a.org got the achievements for the DLC, so it should release some time soon. Achievement-wise, there is 7 new achievements for a total of 250 Gamerscore, but they are just like the original achievements .i.e. Kill someone with this thing .etc. The DLC includes 2 new maps, 2 new weapon attachments, 2 new character outfits and 5 new player abilities (most of which are for the operative class). I would give you a release date right now, but there isn't one.

Uplay Passports to cost 800 Microsoft Points

Ubisoft have said that there new online initiative; Uplay Passports, will cost 800 microsoft points, if your code has been redeemed in the box and you need to redeem one from the Marketplace. Ubisoft announced Uplay Passports last saturday, which will be first incorporated into Driver: San Fransisco. We first posted about the passports here.

Driver: San Fransisco will powerslide onto shelves August 30th 2011.

I'm Back! with a vengeance . . .

Yes, Its true, Danny has returned. I'm embarrassed to say the reason of my absence was visiting : http://360joypad.blogpsot.com/ as opposed to the actual blog . . .

Yeah...

:/

Anyway, a bit has changed in my un-timely absence, namely my taste games. To make a long story short.

Every Game In The World < Black Ops.

I no longer wish to be associated with the vile vileness named Call

Of Duty: Black ops. You see, I recently had an epiphany. Ever since CoD4 , the same chassis of CoD has been copied and pasted onto the next copy, with the new Perks,weapons,killstreaks and map

s. And that's all there is to it really. So I propose a question, would you rather:

A) Spend £40 every year for pretty much the same game + Gamerscore and Zombies

B) Do what I am now doing, and actually game.. for fun! :O, instead of getting 360 quick scoped across the map, noob-tubed, Commando-ed , and killed ONE kill of the all-important nuke!.. buy games that aren't so repetitive and murder/suicide inducing such as Th

e Elder Scrolls Series.

I mean, don't get me wrong , I've not gone totally off the idea of FPS nor CoD, as I will be purchasing CoD 8, however the difference this year is I'll also be looking to Skyrim as well as playing Halo: Reach from time to time.

So if you ever feel like throwing the controller through your screen and screaming into a pillow, stop and think. Why am I getting mad over this when I could be having FUN with games, such is their original purpose?

Ubisoft To Incorporate Uplay Passports In Future Games, Basically Project Ten Dollar.

As with todays changing pop culture - Justin Bieber and the like - game companies are now following in the footsteps of EA, via Project Ten Dollar. Today Ubisoft announced that Driver: San Fransisco and subsequent core Ubisoft games after that, will incorporate Uplay Passports; allowing you to access online and Uplay features. A registration code will be included in every new copy of the game, which can be only redeemed once. If you buy the game preowned, and the registration code has been redeemed, you can buy a Uplay Passport on xbox live for 800 microsoft points.

Deja vu, no?

E3 IS BEING STREAMED LIVE RIGHT NOW!

Right now, at this moment E3 is being streamed live on this link here. That's all that needs to be said. Go wacth it NOW.

Xbox 360 Has Sold 55 Million Since Launch

Whilst this generation was awoken by the domination of the Wii, it seems the Xbox 360 is making a comeback, with Microsoft announcing 55 million Xbox 360's have been sold. Whats more, they also announced that there are 35 million active members on xbox live, logging in 2.1 billion hours a month - an average of 60 hours a month per user. Microsoft didn't specify whether that was Xbox Live Free or Xbox Live Gold membership, but you can bet the latter is the most popular. Other stats released included 10 million Kinects and 10 million Kinect games have been sold. So go xbox - whodathought?!

Xbox Live Activity - May 9

This being the first post, I shall explain what these mean. Basically, it's a table of the most played games on xbox live (i.e playing Alan Wake whilst signed in to xbox live). I hope to do stuff like this on a regular basis.
So here's a surprise - Black Ops is top again. *gobsmacked*. That over and done with, the Gears of War 3 Beta came 5th all in all. Not bad considering you had to either pre-order or buy Bulletstorm epic edition.
In XBLA, Gatling Gears had a solid debut at 6th, with portal at 4th place, despite being released 4 years ago. In indie games, The Impossible Game and I made a game with zombies maintain popularity at 2nd and 8th respectively. If you want the whole table, click here - courtesy of Major Nelson.

L.A Noire Achievements Unlocked

Attention detective! We've detected an achievement list of some sorts, says it's for L.A Noire, maybe you should take a look. So far we discovered some story related achievements, a 100% achievement and some collectible achievements. There are 10 or so secret achievements but because there, y'know secret. Most of them are 15G, with one being 70G, and our team is guessing they are storyline achievements.

You can find the achievement list here.

Achievement list courtesy of x360a.org.

L.A Noire will be ready for inspection May 17th in America & May 20th in Europe.

Limbo Review - Simplicity At It's Best



See the fog up in the air there?
Somewhat creepy.



When I put Limbo in my download queue, I noticed that it was only 105 mb, which is very small when put up against the big games of XBLA, but if you played just a small portion of Limbo, you'll know that it's all goodness compared to most XBLA games which just squeeze in under 2 GB limit. But in Limbo, everything is so simple. Limbo's black and white backgrounds are as powerful as Unreal Engine 3's. Limbo's silence is as tension filled as an orchestra by Martin O'Donnell. It's this simplistic nature that gives Limbo a certain, quality to the protagonist and the world around him.

Trials HD, Splosion Man & Limbo Getting Packaged For Retail

It seems that slowly, the downloadable and retail market walls are merging constantly, and this is no exception. This triple pack of arcade goodies will be at retail for $30 (which also includes a 48 hour xbox live trial & 160 microsoft points), which is $5 cheaper if you was to buy them individually. Unfortunately, this collection will only reach stores in Japan and the US. Sorry Europe, better luck next time. But let's not end on a low note, instead on a high one; the compilation will be sold at retail on April 19!

Portal 2 Achievements Unlocked

Valve have released the achievements for the sequel of the first person puzzler, Portal 2. Said achievements were produced by x360a.org, and the achievements are, as you'd expect from a Valve game, fun and rewarding, with references to past Valve games; the 'Bridge Over Troubling Water' achievement being a prime example, references to other games; the 'SaBOTour' achievement & other references; 'Stranger Than Friction' for example. You can get the achievement list here. 

The first Portal got many game of the year awards, and is packaged with The Orange Box; which is really cheap now. Portal 2 is coming out April 19 & April 22 for US and Europe respectively.

Goodbye Call Of Duty. Theres a new kid in town!

Long story short: Bulletstorm>Call of duty:Black ops (:

To be honest,I dont think I am alone in saying that, up to now, the call of duty franchise is getting old,tedious and downright boring.

MW2 was the last"oor-rah" in the franchise with the innovative pro perks,customisable killstreaks,more attachments, need I go on? However with black ops?

Diving and remote control cars? Seriously?.

Different maps and guns as is compulsory with any CoD.

Now, I've been an avid CoD fan and gamer since the CoD 4 days with my accumlative Call of duty prestiges about 30 but after double xp I just cannot be bothered with turtle beaches, RC-XD spammers etc.

Now Bulletstorm on the other hand, is a breath of fresh air in the whole concept of gaming.If you could dream of an explosive concept, chances are,you could do it. What between the explosive barrels, man-eating plants and charge shots on EVERY weapon including the leash's thumper.

*To the tune of the mcdonalds advert*

You want to shoot someone in the balls, and kick his head off? Theres a skillshot for that

You want to feed an enemy to a man-eating plant along with an explosive barrel? Theres a skillshot for that

You want to shoot a drill into a boss' stomach and kick it, shoot his helmet and leash his head clean off?! Theres a skillshot for that!

Basically, if you want to do what 90% of everyone has been doing for the last so many years and shoot, get points,killstreaks,dead and rinse and repeat for a year until the next game. Be my guest. However, if you want to actually enjoy every single individual kill, not get mad when you get owned, and kick people off cliffs then pick up a copy of Bulletstorm. I promise you wont regret it.

Besides, its good for Gamerscore/Trophies :L

Gears Of War 3 Box Art Revealed

Whilst we edge closer to the Gears Of War 3 multiplayer beta, Epic Games; the developer of the Gears Of War series, have released the final box art for Gears 3. The multiplayer beta will start sometime in April, with the full game set to rev up chainsaws on September 20th. Epic have (along with People Can Fly & EA) made the kill-tastic Bulletstorm which released yesterday (or 4 days ago if in the US), and if you buy the epic edition of Bullestorm you get early access to the Gears 3 beta.

Gears Of War 3 box art courtesy of CVG.

Coming Soon To Xbox Live Marketplace - February 21st - March 2nd

Another bi-weekly update from Major Nelson, with lots of savings on Tom Clancy games and 2 new XBLA games, a long awaited HD-ified update of Beyond Good & Evil and neat little arcade game Bejewled Blitz LIVE. Here's the list below:

Deal Of The Week:

Week of February 21 – Tom Clancy:

Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter 2 Co-op Collection, 200 points (50 percent off)

Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter 2 Co-op Collection 200 points (50 percent off)

Tom Clancy’s Splinter Cell Conviction Deniable Ops: Insurgency 400 points (50 percent off)

Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter Chapter 2, 300 points (50 percent off)

Tom Clancy’s H.A.W.X. Air Supremacy, 400 points (50 percent off)
Tom Clancy’s H.A.W.X. 2 All-in-one Pack, 400 points (50 percent off)
Tom Clancy’s EndWar Escalation, 200 points (50 percent off)
Tom Clancy’s Splinter Cell Chaos Theory, 600 points (50 percent off)
Tom Clancy’s Splinter Cell Conviction Outfit, 200 points (50 percent off)
Week of February 28:
PAC-MAN Championship Edition DX, 400 Points (Save 50%)

Avatar Marketplace:
February 22:
Homefront Collection

Xbox Live Arcade:

February 23:

Bejewled Blitz LIVE - 800 Microsoft Points
March 2:

Beyond Good & Evil HD - 800 Microsoft Points

Dirt 3 Dated For May 24

Dirt 3, the off-road racer by Dirt 2 & F1 2010 developers, has been dated for a May 24 release date via EuroGamer. The May 24th date is also apparently worldwide. Back in November CEO for Codemasters Rod Cousens told Eurogamer "I don't think it does any good to publish in a congested period when everyone's putting out their shooters,". Rod also stated that Operation Flashpoint: Red River will also release in the 2nd fiscal quarter of 2011. Not much is known about Dirt 3, apart from the new Gymkhana mode & better graphics.

Black Ops First Strike Preview By Inside Xbox

With less then 3 days until the First Strike DLC is released for Black Ops, Inside Xbox talked with some Treyarch dudes (using fancy kinect video chat) about the new maps with gameplay garnished inbetween. Me personally, my favourite maps will have to be Discovery or Kowloon, due to the interactive enviroments.The First Strike DLC for Black Ops will launch on Xbox Live on February 1st for 1200 Microsoft points.

Bulletstorm Achievements Unlocked

More achievements, this time from 360joypad's baby (it's an adopted child which we didn't make but love it soooo much...) Bulletstorm. x360a got the list, which doesn't have any secret achievements, a few collectibles but does have some cool skillshot completion achievements for Gamerscore whore in all of us...

Now go and play with a small portion of our adopted child, in a non-sexual way. *cough* awkward.*cough*

Here's the link.

Bulletstorm kills with skill on February 22nd for the US & February 25th for Europe.

Black ops Patch 1.06. 11mb update

Just a quickie, i thought i'd address my loyal fans ( if any ) about the recent 11mb update on Black ops.
This update did quite a bit including something that angers me but makes so many others ecstatic!
The update did:
Supports the First Strike Maps.
New Contracts.
Better Connection, host selection and more efficient host migration.
Fixed a number of glitches including the counter-spy-plane is negated by a jammer. ( That i didnt know about until it was patched -_- )
Second chance - You will now, if you did not before, get the full points for the kill when the second chance victim dies.
Adjustment to the PSG1.
Silenced sniper rifle adjustments,
RC-XD adjustments.
Removed hit markers when shooting friendly equipment.
And lastly and THE MOST IN-FURIATING. LESS DAMAGE AND OTHER DEGRADING ADJUSTMENTS TO THE AK-74U :@.
( 45 minutes of screaming later )
*ahem*, now you already know about the zombies achievements so i shan't post them.
Its nice to know that treyarch care about and listen to the community.
Off topic slightly, if you are bothered about Activision being in legal topic follow this link: www.youtube.com/watch?v=3pam1-IDWAE. I think, as blogger wont let me paste, if not just search youtube for NGT (Next Gen Tactics ) Black ops under legal fire.
I highly recommend Next Gen Tactics if your a " serious gamer ".
But, I digress. So stay posted, watch this space etc. for any more updates.
( P.S, after see-ing my co-blogger post the zombie achievements I now rate the DLC at 7/7!!. Insta-BUY! : ) :D )

Black Ops First Strike DLC Achievements Released

Despite breaking records, Treyarch/Activision want more money in the pot, which this DLC will definitely bring. Treyarch have shown the achievements on CallOfDuty.com, all of which are exclusively to the new zombies map, Ascension. With 150 Gamerscore, the achievements are certainly...big. In terms of Gamerscore points and difficulty, but they do offer variety, whilst awarding you for using the maps features. And here they are...
The Eagle has Landers (35G)
In Ascension, escape on all three lunar landers.
They are going THROUGH! (35G)
In Ascension, kill 5 zombies with 1 Gersch device.
Space Race (45G)
In Ascension, pack-a-punch a weapon before round 8.
Chimp on the Barbie (35G)
In Ascension, kill a space monkey with a fire trap.

The First Strike map pack will launch on February 1st.

Avalanche To Announce New XBLA Game 'in a month or so'

Avalanche studios, developer of Just Cause 2, told EuroGamer that they will announce a new title next month with 2 other projects in production but not ready to announce. Christofer Sandberg, Boss of Avalanche said "Our XBLA/PSN [Grrr...] project will be announced in a month or so, but the other 2 projects will not be announced in the near future."On Wikipedia, on Avalanche's page it has a cancelled game called AionGuard, originally set in world war 1, but soon changed to a sci-fi theme. But it also got scrapped for a fantasy setting, due to another game set in a sci-fi era. Avalanche Studios is most famous for the Just Cause series, with Just Cause 2 released last March.

First Strike Preview - Black Ops

Despite the actual DLC ( Downloadable Content ) being released in a mere week, I thought i was due for a post.

Anyway my knowledge is rather limited so excuse my , you know , limited knowledge. And yes, I will be using my verdict including the 7 day-a-week system.

Yesterday during Microsoft's Head of xbox live programming major nelson's weekly podcast Treyarch's Dan Bunting announced Call of Duty Black ops' first map pack " first strike " for $15, near enough £10 or 1200 microsoft points for the xbox first ( :D ) also as a part of microsoft's deal to land all Call Of Duty Map Packs First!

Including:

Kowloon: Tied in with the Campaign level, Treyarch said that we the community said we like interactive features thus including a zip-wire.

Berlin Wall: Set at " Checkpoint Charlie ",this map has M-G's, two sides and no-mans-land. Behind-enemy-lines type players such as myself will prosper.

Discovery: I dont know much else than it is set in an artic german research station * abandoned*

Stadium: In a , erm, stadium. A football stadium.

Ascension(Zombies) :Right, my time to shine, Asencion is set in a soviet launch facility showing off the old classics : Nikolai,Richtofen,Dempsey and Takeo. New weapons include the Gersch Device ( Black hole Gun ) and *Unprnounceable Russian* Dolls. PPSH-41, *Thundergun AND winters howl.

New perks, Stamin-up ( Marathon ) PhD Flopper (Tatical Mask)

Easter Eggs: Nikolai's vodka is hidden, Find it for power-ups :O

Replacing Hell-Hounds and the pentagon thief is the Cosmic Silverback who works in a familar way to the Pentagon Thief except he steals Perks.

I would give the Game it-self a 4/7 but the DLC a 6/7.