Image :via: Nintendo Everything

EA Sports has given PS3 FIFA 09 fans a treat by offering online downloadable content on the same day as the release date of the game. The Live Season Gamepacks includes 7 new game packs, each of which cost £4.99 each. You can also purchase them all for a overall discounted price of £12.99. It comprises of 6 leagues; Barclays Premier League, LIGA BBVA, Ligue 1, Bundesliga, Italia Seria A and the Primera Division de Mexico. Also there is the Adidas Live Season, which shows players in top form in Germany, England, France, Spain, Italy and Mexico. These add-ons are now available in the Playstation store (as listed in the October 2nd Store Update).

Image :via: PS3-Sense (Translated from Dutch)

Andrew Jenkins, Microsoft’ Games and Live senior product manager, has confirmed the details about the new Xbox Live Dash update. He first stated that the system update will be made available simultaneously for all Xbox Live users to download, and there is also the option to get the update via any Xbox 360 games produced after the new Dashboard is implemented. Check out the features list below:

New 3D Interface - This is the most significant part of the upgrade. Jenkins said that the new layout is very three dimensional, with lots of visual elements which are supposed to be very appealing to the user. Also, he said the system is very easy to use, which should make navigation much simpler.

Hard Drive Game Installation - It is now possible to install an entire game to your Xbox 360, but you would still need to have the disc inserted into the drive for piracy protection purposes. However this is a good feature because the game can now access data directly from the hard drive rather than having to constantly read from the disc drive, making loading times much faster.

Very Customizable Avatars - Avatars can now be easily customized to suit your personality. With the choice of a wide range of human facial features and other apparels (hats, lipstick, bags, clothing, etc.) This gives you the option to fine tune your avatar to match your personal lifestyle, or maybe to create a totally different alter-ego.

Status Icons over Avatars - Users can now tell what each member in the online community is doing. Depending on the activity a person is participating in (e.g. watching a movie, playing games, chatting), little icons show up above their avatars, each representing a particular activity. A user would be able to look at these icons, tell what the other is doing, and possibly join the experience.

There are rumors going along with this announcement that the system is set for release some time in November 2008. Users of Rock Band 2 were told to “Check out the New XBox Experience coming in November!”, so maybe this gives us a decent clue as to when it will be launched.

Image :via: Current

Considering the ease of use, decent and responsive controllers and improved graphical quality, mobile gaming could actually be quite a competitive market in the future. I’ve seen a couple of screen shots and gameplay from the more popular titles such as Need for Speed: Undercover, Real Racing and Puzzle Quest, and I was quite impressed with what was being outputted.

Here is actual gameplay from a racing title called Real Racing for the iPhone and other high tech mobile devices. It certainly shows the advancements made in the mobile arena.

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If it’s one thing Playstation 3 fans look forward to, it’s their trophy lists. With the recent added support for trophies, one list they have been certainly looking forward to is the GTA IV medal sheet. Take a look at the entire list below.

Bronze
Off The Boat - You have completed the first mission.
One Hundred And Eighty - You scored 180 with 3 darts.
Pool Shark - You beat a friend at pool.
King of QUB3D - You beat the high score in QUB3D.
Finish Him - You completed 10 melee counters in 4 minutes.
Genetically Superior - You came first in 20 singleplayer street races.
Wheelie Rider - You completed a 500 foot wheelie on a motorbike.
Gobble Gobble - You got a turkey in 10-pin bowling.
Driving Mr. Bellic - You unlocked the special ability of Roman’s taxi.
Rolled Over - You managed 5 car rolls in a row from one crash.
Walk Free - You successfully lost a 4 star wanted rating.
Courier Service - You completed all 10 package delivery jobs.
Retail Therapy - You unlocked the special ability of buying guns from Little Jacob.
Chain Reaction - You exploded 10 vehicles in 10 seconds.
Lowest Point - You completed the mission “Roman’s Sorrow”.
Order Fulfilled - You completed all 10 Exotic Export orders.
Manhunt - You completed the most wanted side mission.
Cleaned The Mean Streets - You caught 20 criminals through the police computer.
Fed The Fish - You completed the mission “Uncle Vlad”.
It’ll Cost Ya - You made a taxi trip from one island to another without skipping.
Sightseer - You have taken all variations of the helicopter tours of Liberty City.
Warm Coffee - You were invited into your girlfriend’s house.
That’s How We Roll! - You unlocked the special ability of Brucie’s helicopter ride.
Half Million - You have amassed a fortune of $500,000.
Impossible Trinity - You completed the mission “Museum Piece”.
Full Exploration - You unlocked all the islands.
You Got The Message - You delivered all 30 cars ordered through text message.
Assassin’s Greed - You completed all 9 assassin missions.
Under The Radar - You flew under all the main bridges in the game.
Dial B For Bomb - You unlocked the special ability of Packie’s car bomb placement.
Gracefully Taken - You completed the mission “I’ll Take Her”.
No More Strangers - You’ve met all the random characters.
That Special Someone - You completed the mission “That Special Someone”.
Teamplayer - You killed 5 opposing team members.
Cut Your Teeth - You were successfully promoted up a rank in multiplayer.
Join The Midnight Club - You won a multiplayer race without damaging your vehicle too much.
Fly The Co-op - You completed “Deal Breaker”, “Hangman’s NOOSE” and “Bomb da Base II” in time.
Taking It For The Team - You were on the winning team in all multiplayer team games.
Top Of The Food Chain - You successfully killed 20 players with a pistol in a deathmatch.
Top The Midnight Club - You won 20 different multiplayer standard races.
Auf Wiedersehen Petrovic - You won in all variations of multiplayer games.
Let Sleeping Rockstars Lie - You killed a Rockstar in multiplayer.

Silver
One Man Army - You survived a 6 star wanted level for a full 5 minutes.
Dare Devil - You completed all the unique stunt jumps.
Endangered Species - You collected every hidden package in the game.
Liberty City (5) - Your friends all like you above 90%.
You Won! - You have completed the story.

Gold
Liberty City Minute - You finished the story in less than 30 hours.
Key To The City - You completed GTA IV to 100%.
Wanted - You achieved the highest personal rank possible in multiplayer.

Platinum
Taking A Liberty - Sorry for taking liberties with your time!

Image :via: PS3 Trophies

A lot has been going on at GameStop with the news that 8 of their employees (current and former) from the Memphis, Tennessee area were busted for illegal activity, involving the purchase and sale of stolen video games.

The company has since then suspended the cash-for-trade program in Shelby County and DeSoto County until February 2009. This program enabled employees to buy and sell used games for low prices, with benefits for both the company and game owner. The Area Law Enforcement and Retailers Team (ALERT) were able to bust these employees through undercover sting operations, resulting in all 8 of them being charged, tried and found guilty. The guilty were given 1 year diversion sentences, rather than being sent directly to jail, because it was the first time they were caught by the law engaging in criminal activities. They will be serving community service within this one year period. They are quite lucky because the charges may be wiped of their records after some time.

GameStop’s Regional Vice President of Stores, Rory Rhoads had a lot to say about the situation. He said that GameStop takes situations like this very seriously and praised the ALERT group for their undercover work.

“GameStop takes this situation quite seriously. We are pleased to partner with the ALERT Unit and have taken very deliberate steps to improve our operations. Specifically, we have suspended our cash-for-trade transactions in Shelby County and DeSoto County, Mississippi until February 2009.”

Undercover operations were conducted between April and June, with stolen material totaling just under $500.00. These employees should be grateful for their lenient sentence, and I am sure they would never think of pulling such an illegal stunt again. Was it worth the trouble just for $500 worth of games, I highly doubt it.

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via: commercialappeal

Sony’s new Playstation 3 ad has caused quite a stir among many people. The new print ad, created by the TBWA Madrid ad agency, features a beautiful lady within the shells of 3 fat men in the form of the very popular Russian Matroska doll. The point of this ad was to express the fact that someone can easily change their identity in a game, on the PS3. Some people have expressed disgust, while others see it as an innovative type of advertising. From what I can see, what Sony has tried to portray, has clearly been demonstrated in this advertisement. However, they might want to be careful as to which countries they use this particular ad in, so as not to offend anyone’s cultural beliefs.

via: The Arab Aquarius

If anyone out there has been burned with fire, you would know the extreme pain you have to endure every time you need to change your dressings and bandages. Imagine how painful it would be for children as well. Sam Bucolo, Associate Professor of Queensland University of Technology has invented a new gaming device called the Ditto, which is used to distract children while their dressings are being changed. The game allows for multi-model interaction within a virtual environment, where the child can choose a character to accompany them on various missions. Some of these missions include find and touch stories and sing-along movies. The good thing about this unit is that it has successfully proven to be effective at deeply submerging children into the game play, which in effect, distracts them from the pain.

The device, like the iPhone, allows for navigation in the game just by moving it from side to side rather than using a keypad or controller. It also has vibrating handles and a touchscreen which assist in improving physical interactivity.

I think the idea behind it is very sound, because when I get submerged into a game or work, I basically lose a lot of awareness as to what is going on in my environment. The same concept could be applied here. Children could be easily distracted from the pain because of the fun they have with the device. The professor’s invention is so successful that it is able to keep a child’s attention for about 20 minutes, which is more than enough time to change a few dressings.

Via: PSFK

In-Game play from Warhammer 40,000 has been reportedly recorded and uploaded to the Internet by a developer of the game. The video, which is entitled ‘Space Marine’ shows recorded game play footage, as well as play-by-play commentary from the developer. The developer boasts a new concept called ‘intimate brutality’ which combines the use of ranged-attacks, which allows the player to buy some time before he can get closer to use hand weapons for ultimate carnage. There is also a cool in-game cinematic function, called ‘cinemaction moments’ where game play is slowed down at the end of a combo-attack and the camera views are panned and adjusted to give you the cinema-style kill scene. The game storyline puts the player into the shoes of a marine dropped into a futuristic world of chaos, where he has to fight off enemy troops as big as himself, and eventually face off with an enemy leader in a boxing-style mini-game. Where does THQ fit into this? Well this video had come out mere days after THQ’s Australian website posted job opening for the development of the new Warhammer 40,000.

Via: Eurogamer

Via: CrunchGear