258w ago - Square Enix Ltd., the publisher of Square Enix® interactive entertainment products in Europe and other PAL territories, today announces three new RPGs for the Microsoft Xbox 360™ system that will be released across all PAL territories beginning with INFINITE UNDISCOVERY™ on 5th September 2008 and followed by THE LAST REMNANT™ and STAR OCEAN®: THE LAST HOPE™. All three RPGs will be globally released in 2008-2009.

STAR OCEAN: THE LAST HOPE is the latest entry in the futuristic space opera RPG series STAR OCEAN. The game is scheduled for a global release in 2009.

THE LAST REMNANT is the first RPG in a new series brought to you by Square Enix's next generation creators and scheduled for a global release this winter on the Xbox 360.

INFINITE UNDISCOVERY is a collaborative project with fan favourite development studio tri-Ace Inc. (STAR OCEAN and VALKYRIE PROFILE®). The game will be released worldwide in September with the North American version shipping from 2nd September, available across Europe and other PAL territories on 5th September and released in Japan on 11th September.

John Yamamoto, president and chief executive officer of Square Enix Ltd. and Square Enix, Inc. comments, "Square Enix is expanding on its commitment to deliver exciting gaming experiences to our...

263w ago - Bioware's highly acclaimed and formerly XBox 360 exclusive RPG Mass Effect is fast approaching its release on the PC. Most PC gamers were undoubtedly pleased to hear about enhanced graphics, faster load times, and a re-designed menu system; but it's likely that fewer were happy to hear about the evil digital rights management that will be unscrupulously bundled with the game.

Like an increasing number of PC games nowadays, Mass Effect will require an online activation when it is installed. This has been common practice ever since Half-Life 2. But Mass Effect will also "phone home" every 10 days to make sure the key is valid, and it will carry a three-install limit. This has set many message boards afire with rants about "draconian" DRM and people threatening to pirate the game precisely because of the DRM.

It's times like this that I wonder why people are so adamantly opposed to DRM. It's worth noting that piracy came first; if people didn't steal their games, there would be no need for DRM. But the argument is something like this: the game will be pirated anyway, and DRM just inconveniences those who legitimately purchased their game.

But let's shift gears for a moment. The music industry has been similarly ravaged by piracy. It's easy enough to avoid any DRM simply by purchasing a CD. But...

263w ago - Can this one man army stand against the console war?

In this video, a very nice PS3 and XBOX 360 graphics comparison of the new Iron Man game can be seen.

Courtesy of GameTrailers, check out the video below:

264w ago - A report from Taiwanese news source Economic Daily News says that Pegatron Technology (a recently formed subsidiary of Asus that shouldn't be confused with the Decepticon leader) has received an order from Microsoft to manufacture a Blu-ray equipped model of the Xbox 360.

According to the report, Pegatron says that it plans to begin production on the HD version of the Xbox 360 soon, with plans to ship within the next six months, aiming for a pre-holiday release.

It won't be the first time we've heard talk about Microsoft gloming on to the format, as the DigiTimes recently pegged manufacturer Lite-On as a Xbox 360 Blu-ray drive maker and Sony executives hinted that its competitor was feeling Blu to the Financial Times.

MS CEO Steve Ballmer recently went on record about the move away from HD-DVD, saying the company will "support Blu-ray in ways that make sense."

Microsoft PR, of course, continues to beat the digital distribution drum and deny the existence of a BRD playing 360. We would of course be shocked to learn that something slipped from the airtight walls of Microsoft early, so we're sticking with unconfirmed rumor at this point.

The EDN report also mentions that a price cut for the Core (Arcade) version of the 360 is planned, but doesn't provide further...

264w ago - Multiple reports surfaced on Tuesday suggesting that both Xbox 360 and PS3 systems are freezing up during playback of Grand Theft Auto IV.

The issue is said to affect an unknown number of Xbox 360 and PS3 systems, either during the opening cut scene of the game or while trying to exit multiplayer mode, resulting in an inability to advance in the game, or worse, an inability to play any game on the affected console.

Multiple GamePro, Kotaku, NeoGAF, and Shacknews users have complained, with no consensus of a proven user fix.

Rockstar was not immediately available for comment when contacted by GamePro, however, a Rockstar support representative told Kotaku on Tuesday: "I feel terrible about this," adding that the company is aware of the issue and working on a solution.

Unfortunately, the developer has yet to diagnose the problem or offer a timeline as to when a fix (or replacement disc) might be provided.