Entertainment Electronics Blog

We know Microsoft’s upcoming Windows Phone 7 will have access to Xbox Live, but it looks like their connectivity ambitions between the Xbox 360 and Phone 7 are even loftier than that, including not just turn-based gameplay but eventually real-time multiplayer between Phone 7 games and Xbox 360 games as well.

“So initially we’re turn by turn-based,” said a Microsoft representative to rgbFilter during the recent X10 event in Toronto (via Joystiq). “We are working on real-time phone-to-console, likely initially through Wi-Fi — again, operator networks are sensitive to that. That’s not on day one; day one will be turn-by-turn as well as companion-type gaming where you play a level on the phone and it may unlock a level or a weapon or some special achievement on the console game.

“But, uh yeah — absolutely working on phone-to-console real-time. That is something we’re working on and expect to have in the near future,” the rep concluded. He also confirmed they’re working on multiplayer connectivity between the PC and Phone 7 as well, referencing — believe it or not — 2007’s Shadowrun as an example (which itself was noteworthy in its time for offering cross-multiplayer between the PC and 360).

The rep didn’t get into much detail about how exactly real-time 360-to-Phone 7 multiplayer would work, what kind of games to expect it in, or when it’ll even be ready, so there’s still much to be revealed. Windows Phone 7 is planned for release in October.

Not only is the Xbox 360 S obviously physically smaller than the original Xbox 360 model, it also boasts a new combined graphics and processor chip that allows the redesigned system to run more silently, consume less power, and should also make it less prone to hardware malfunctions.

VentureBeat has a full break down of this new “Vejle” chip (named after a city in Denmark, for whatever reason), with its combination of CPU and GPU on the same chip being the key to its boost in performance. Rather than have a separate chip for each function (as all past Xbox 360 models had), the combined chip makes the systems cheaper to produce, as well as significantly less power hungry — the Xbox 360 S uses a whopping 60 percent less power compared to a launch 360 from 2005.

And the benefit isn’t just a small save in your power bill, as the smaller, quieter chip should also — in theory — have eliminated the dreaded “Red Ring of Death” malfunction once and for all. The cause of the RROD was that the graphics chip in earlier Xbox 360 models would eventually run so hot that they would warp the system board. But with the new combined chip, Microsoft says that even in hot conditions the new 360’s fan doesn’t have to top 55 percent of its capability.

The smaller chip (it uses 50 percent less space than the two chips needed in original 360 models) is also what allowed Microsoft to add in extra features like built-in 802.11N Wi-Fi.

VentureBeat’s full story has many more details on just what it took for Microsoft and IBM to actually manufacture the chip, along with a lot of diagrams of the new chip itself. So if you’re a tech-head interested in that kind of stuff, be sure to check it out.

Way back in March, Runic Games CEO Max Schaefer revealed that they were putting “serious effort” into trying to get their sleeper hit dungeon crawler Torchlight released on the PlayStation Network and Xbox Live Arcade. There hadn’t been any more news on these efforts since then, but it looks like they are indeed ongoing, and may result in Torchlight release for the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 this holiday season.

“We’re trying, we’re talking [to Sony and Microsoft] and we hope to get that done quickly,” Schaefer said to Joystiq at GamesCom this week. Schaefer said there’s still no release window set, but “hopefully” they’ll have a deal done to release the game “by the holidays.”

So what if you’re not so interested in the original Torchlight anymore, now that Runic announced Torchlight 2 (complete with online co-op)? Don’t fret, as Schaefer said they’ll “try” to get the sequel released on PSN and XBLA as well, some time after it’s released for the PC and Mac next spring.

Despite persistent rumors the contrary, Final Fantasy XIV won’t be appearing on the Xbox 360.

In a recent interview with Eurogamer, creator Hiromichi Tanaka said that the problem lies with the “closed” nature of Xbox Live.

“[Live is] different to the normal internet environment, so when we wanted to introduce this game in the same environment as Windows PC it had to be PS3, so that was our choice,” he said.

“Microsoft has a different point of view: they want to have a closed environment for Xbox Live. We’re still talking to… We couldn’t come to an agreement on Xbox Live.”

Interestingly, Final Fantasy XI is one of the few MMOs currently available on the Xbox 360. Tanaka didn’t elaborate on the differences between the two.

Final Fantasy XIV will be available on the PS3 and PC later this year.

At E3 today Konami showed the first trailer of its next Silent Hill game, with the working title of Silent Hill 8.

The game is scheduled to launch in 2011 on the PS3 and Xbox 360, and promises to be “a next generation horror game that fans truly deserve,” according to a statement released today by Konami.

The game stars prison inmate Murphy Pendleton, who escapes from a prison transport vehicle and finds himself stranded in Silent Hill. From the glimpses we’ve seen in the trailer, Pendleton will have to deal both with the supernatural horrors of Silent Hill and with the cops, who are on his trail.

We should have more substantial details soon, but for now check out these first screenshots from the trailer, which we should have available on the 1UP later today.

Microsoft is a massive company that ships quite a lot of products each year. And yet, when CEO Steve Ballmer decided to highlight just one as Microsoft’s most exciting product of 2010 in front of a group of executives, he talked about the upcoming Natal. Ballmer was in South America to speak with customers primarily about Microsoft’s line of Online products, such as Exchange Online and Live Meeting, but it was Natal that was bestowed with that honor — though it wasn’t necessarily the videogame functions he seemed excited about. While we’ll primarily see Natal as a method for playing games when it’s released later this year, Ballmer is also excited about the non-gaming applications of Natal.

“Perhaps for me the most exciting product we’ll bring to market this year, and it really fits in this context, actually comes out of our videogaming group,” he said earlier this week in Bogota, Colombia (via ZDNet). “You might say, why would I talk to a group of CEOs about videogames? Because the technology actually is very general purpose, and we’ll see come into the rest of our lives pretty soon.”

“It’s a technology that we call Natal. It’s a little camera and microphone that sits on top of your TV set,” Ballmer explained for the uninitiated. “And if you want to control the TV, you don’t go get some remote control or big fat gaming thing. If you want to look through TV channels, you just gesture, and the computer recognizes your voice, it recognizes your gestures. You want to see the next sports program, you go like this, it will cycle you through. You want to play a game and you need to jump, you jump. I’m not going to jump too hard; a little bit too high altitude here in Bogota for that, at least for me. But it recognizes you, it knows your voice, who you are, your gestures, what you’re doing.”

He continued, “And if you think about that in a lot of settings, why am I carrying this thing? I’ve already forgotten three times where I set it down. I should just be able to go like this, and the camera should recognize that gesture and control the slides for me, and let these kinds of things freely happen.”

Whether or not that’s something that the average consumer is actually interested in remains to be seen. Either way, we’ll be seeing a lot more of Natal at E3 in June, ahead of its release later this year.

THQ has revealed the full roster for UFC Undisputed 2010, slated to be released next month. GameStop has the list, which includes some 100 fighters across multiple weight divisions.
Additions include Marcus Jones, Pat Barry and Luiz Cane. Notably absent are Wanderlei Silva and Randy Couture, the latter signing on with EA’s MMA game. This year’s featured fighter is University of Minnesota and WWE alum Brock Lesnar, who is the current UFC Heavyweight Champion.

The demo set to be released this week will feature light heavyweights Lyoto Machida, Mauricio “Shogun” Rua, Rashad Evans and Quinton “Rampage” Jackson.

The full game is due on Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 and PSP on May 25. Check out the full roster below. “N” denotes new fighters, “P” refers to fighters available in promotional deals and “L” refers to PS3 exclusive legendary fighters.

HEAVYWEIGHT DIVISION
Mustapha Al-Turk (N)
Andrei Arlovski
Pat Barry (N)
Shane Carwin (N)
Mirko Cro Cop
Junior Dos Santos (N)
Todd Duffee (N)
Gabriel Gonzaga
Antoni Hardonk
Heath Herring
Marcus Jones (P)
Cheick Kongo
Brock Lesnar
Justin McCully
James McSweeney (P)
Frank Mir
Roy Nelson (P)
Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira
Eddie Sanchez
Brendan Schaub (P)
Dan Severn (L)
Kimbo Slice (N)
Stefan Struve (N)
Cain Velasquez
Fabricio Werdum
HEAVYWEIGHT & LIGHT HEAVYWEIGHT DIVISIONS
Mark Coleman
Brandon Vera
LIGHT HEAVYWEIGHT DIVISION
Ryan Bader
Stephan Bonnar
Jason Brilz (N)
Luiz Cane (N)
Steve Cantwell (N)
Rashad Evans
Forrest Griffin
Matt Hamill (N)
Quinton “Rampage” Jackson
Keith Jardine
Jon Jones (N)
Chuck Liddell
Lyoto Machida
Tito Ortiz
Mauricio Rua
Thiago Silva
Krzysztof Soszynski (N)
LIGHT HEAVYWEIGHT & MIDDLEWEIGHT DIVISIONS
Vitor Belfort (N)
Michael Bisping
Rich Franklin
Wilson Gouveia
Dan Henderson
Anderson Silva
MIDDLEWEIGHT DIVISION
Yoshihiro Akiyama (N)
Ricardo Almeida
Alan Belcher (N)
Patrick Cote (N)
Kendall Grove
Dennis Kang (N)
Chris Leben
Demian Maia
Nate Marquardt
Drew McFedries
Dan Miller (N)
Yushin Okami
Nate Quarry (N)
Chael Sonnen (N)
MIDDLEWEIGHT & WELTERWEIGHT DIVISIONS Martin Kampmann
Mike Swick
WELTERWEIGHT DIVISION
Thiago Alves
Carlos Condit (N)
Marcus Davis
Jon Fitch
Royce Gracie (L)
Dan Hardy (N)
Dustin Hazelett (N)
Matt Hughes
Anthony Johnson
Dong Hyun Kim (N)
Josh Koscheck
Chris Lytle
Karo Parisyan
Amir Sadollah
Georges St-Pierre
Paulo Thiago (N)
Frank Trigg (N)
James Wilks (N)
WELTERWEIGHT & LIGHTWEIGHT DIVISIONS BJ Penn
Diego Sanchez
Matt Serra
Sean Sherk
LIGHTWEIGHT DIVISION
Nate Diaz
Frankie Edgar
Efrain Escudero
Terry Etim (N)
Spencer Fisher
Kenny Florian
Hermes Franca
Tyson Griffin
Clay Guida (N)
Joe Lauzon
Gray Maynard
Cole Miller (N)
Ross Pearson (N)
Kurt Pellegrino (N)
Jens Pulver (L)
Dennis Siver (N)
Joe Stevenson
Caol Uno (N)

It’s not nearly as big in North America as it is in Europe, but gamers on both sides of the pond will soon be able to enjoy MotoGP. Capcom has announced that the motorcycle racers will be available in North America next month.

Users will be able to download all 2010 season content for free, which includes new tracks, team updates and new motorcycles. The content will be available free.

If you’re into motorcycle racing, then it sounds like a treat. If you’re not sure, a demo should be out sometime soon.

MotoGP 09/10 will be out March 16 on Xbox 360 and PS3 in North America, and March 19 in Europe.

Namco Bandai has announced that Dead to Rights: Retribution, the reboot of sorts for their canine-friendly action game series last seen in 2005, will release on April 13 (via Eurogamer).

Retribution was first announced back in February of 2009, and really, hasn’t been seen very much since. We know the game will once again star the unfortunately Flintstones-esque named Jack Slate, a canine officer who fights crime with his loyal dog Shadow. Retribution will also feature deeper hand-to-hand combat, and entire levels where the player controls Shadow directly.

We last got a look at Retribution way back in May of last year, so it’ll be interesting to see how this reboot shaped up. It’ll be released on both the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360, and evidently there will be pre-order bonuses including a “MadWorld-style” graphic filter called “noir mode,” and exclusive dog camouflage for Shadow.

Steam currently has a number of spiffy deals on Bioshock 2. Those who preorder the upcoming sequel from Valve’s digital distribution service will not only get 10 percent off the standard retail price (down to $44.99), they’ll also receive a copy of the original Bioshock for free.

Should you already own the first Bioshock, these digital copies can be gifted to anyone on your Steam friends list — though you may run into a little trouble finding somebody who doesn’t already have the game after all the recent holiday sales.

Also on offer is a four-pack of Bioshock 2, which, like the Borderlands and Left 4 Dead 2 bundles, can be split between four friends. These bundles include the same 10 percent price reduction for preordering ($134.97 instead of $149.97), as well as four free copies of Bioshock to divvy up.

Bioshock 2 is scheduled to release on February 9, 2010 for the PC, Xbox 360, and PlayStation 3.