DreamBuildPlay.com has announced the "Warm-up Challenge" in their XNA Game Development Competition. The top five entries win $500.

Judging criteria
Entries will be evaluated using these three criteria:

* Innovation (40%) – Push your creative and technical limits
* Fun Factor (40%) – Hook our judges with exciting, entertaining action
* Production Quality (20%) – Make your game world as polished as possible

Registration and preparations to enter the Warm-Up Challenge commence
on 2/13/07. Official entry period is from 2/21/07 at 12:00 AM Central Time (“CT”) (CT = GMT – 06:00) through
2/28/07 at 11:59:59 PM CT in eligible geographies. Must at least 18 years old.



Building games for Xbox 360 requires an active subscription to the XNA Creators Club

get more info here ...

It looks like Treasure's rather marvellous Dreamcast and GameCube shooter Ikaruga might be on its way to Xbox Live Arcade.

That's because the game is currently showing up on Partnernet, the Xbox 360's closed debug network, access to which is limited to journalists and developers.

There are two downloads listed in the Xbox Live Arcade section of Partnernet, which mirrors Xbox Live's functionality in a different setting. The titles are nondescript, but if you download the two 5.7MB files Ikaruga appears under a Japanese name in the console's Live Arcade menu.

We couldn't get it to run, but it does reach a Treasure title screen, and lists 12 achievements including one marked "Secret" and one for each of Chapters 1-4 and the Final Chapter.

Treasure has previously said it was "really interested" in working on Xbox Live Arcade, but when company president Masato Maegawa spoke about that desire recently he wasn't specific about any projects in development.

Treasure is known to be working on an original shooter for Xbox 360, but last we heard it won't be out for a while.

Eurogamer.net ...

A brand new channel launches today for the Wii Menu providing a quick, easy and fun way to cast your answers to a multitude of different questions. The Everybody Votes Channel allows you to compare and contrast your opinions with those of friends, family and people from across the globe. With a regularly updated supply of new questions to ponder, this is a great way to discover not only differences between you and your family, but also between your country and others!

″If you have ever wondered whether many other people share the same opinions, preferences, likes or dislikes as you, then the Everybody Votes Channel is a quick and easy way to quell those curiosities″ says Laurent Fischer, Marketing Director, Nintendo of Europe. ″From whether people believe in aliens to what they would do if they had 1 million Euros, this quirky but addictive channel lets you find out what others think as well as being a great discussion starter with family and friends!″

This latest addition to the Wii Menu features different general poll questions for users to answer. Three questions will always be offered. These will then closed after a week and updated with new ones. When accessing the main page of the Everybody Votes Channel, users will be greeted with the current polls open and can then register their votes by clicking on their chosen one.

Within hours of the poll closing, the latest regional results of the poll will be made available and will be displayed for each region of the relevant country. Vote ratios for each question will be displayed on the Channel using hundreds of Miis to represent the different votes.

The previous twelve polls that a player has voted on are archived so they can check back on them after they have closed. Each time a new poll closes, if the user has voted on it, it is added to the archive and the oldest one on there is deleted.

In addition to casting a vote, users can also predict the outcome of the poll. Every correct prediction will be added to the player’s profile and used to calculate how tuned in they are with general public opinion, which is shown in the ″How Tuned In Are You? ″ section.

Users are able to register a total of six different players on each Wii console using Mii data and names from the Mii Channel, meaning that each member of the household can have their own say on a poll. The Everybody Votes Channel records all of the votes cast by a player and allows them to check their opinions against those of their family using vote results as well as their ″How Tuned In Are You?″ results. This allows users to compare numbers of consecutive wins and overall wins versus losses recorded.

As well as providing three different sets of general poll questions each week, the ‘Everybody Votes Channel’ also features worldwide poll questions. These are set twice a month and run for approximately two weeks, with live result updates appearing just hours after the vote closes.

Miis illustrate the global vote ratio and a bar graph shows the results for each different country globally. Players can sort these results by vote percentage, country or in order of prediction accuracy.

An additional feature of this channel is the ″Suggest a Question″ section, which allows players to suggest a poll topic they would like to see on the service. Each player is allowed to make up to one suggestion a day, the best of which may be converted into a poll question by Nintendo. ...

Make sure you set your settings on the Xbox 360 to accept other remotes. Give it a try! ...

via Xbox-scene.com


Download HDDHacker v0.82B via comments ...

Watchdog reports on the 3 red lights of death problem with Microsoft's Xbox 360.


Microsoft responds to Watchdog's report

In an official statement issued to GamesIndustry.biz, Microsoft said that the "vast majority" of Xbox 360 owners have had an "outstanding experience" with the console.

But the platform holder went on to concede: "That being said, we have received a few isolated reports of consoles not working as expected.

"It's important to note that there is no systemic issue with Xbox 360 - each incident is unique and these customer inquiries are being handled on a case-by-case basis."

Microsoft has not revealed details of how many Xbox 360 units have been found faulty, but did state that the return rate is "significantly lower" than the CE industry average of between 3 and 5 per cent.



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The war between the GDF and Strogg will soon be igniting on the Xbox 360 as id Software and Activision, today confirmed that Enemy Territory: QUAKE Wars, the team-based first person action title, is coming to next-gen platforms. Players can choose to defend humanity as a part of the Global Defense Force (GDF) or destroy it as a merciless Strogg alien invader. Under the executive production of id Software, Nerve Software is developing Enemy Territory: QUAKE Wars for the Xbox 360, while Z-Axis is the developer for the PS3 version.

At this stage the P.C. version is to b released "Spring/Summer", so let hope the Xbox 360 version is not too far behind.

Battlestations: Midway, Region Free, $ 49.90 (£25.59) ...

Chrome developer Techland, has confirmed that "Warhound" will be released on the Xbox 360 and PC for Q4 07.


Warhound is a non-linear first person perspective action shooter set in modern times. You take the role of an elite mercenary who will not hesitate to undertake even impossible tasks... for the right price. Governments, businessmen and various organizations hire you for hazardous missions around the globe.

Compete with other mercenaries and prove that you’re the best in the trade. Collect wealth, equipment and weapons, work on your reputation and strive for the title of the best mercenary in the world. Become the Warhound – a real dog of war.

Main features:

* Face the most fierce and dangerous criminal groups in the world. Help stricken governments, free kidnapped VIPs, eliminate dictators and drug kingpins. Stand up to a global threat and prevent the largest terrorist attack in history.
* Take up missions in exotic locations around the world: Korea, Africa, Balkans, South America, East Asia, isles of the Pacific... Marvel at the realistic, dynamic world and true-to-life sceneries.
* Choose how you want to develop your character in one of the available fields. Your choices are a direct factor for the selection of missions you’ll be offered and make more paths available during the action.
* Use interactive environment elements to your advantage – move or destroy any object you deem necessary. Use the landscape to your advantage.
* Climb the career ladder of an elite mercenary. Gain access to the most requiring employers and the most rewarding contracts.
* Take care of your finances. Buy weapons, ammunition, vehicles and equipment. Pay for transportation into and out of the mission area once the task is completed. Plan your missions and buy intelligence data. Sell weapons and precious items taken from the battlefield.
* Come back to missions you’ve completed before. Thanks to the random factor, every operation will be different every time you play.
* Use the multiplayer mode to go head to head against up to 32 players. Use modern equipment, vehicles and skills in standard and custom game modes.
* Based on the 4th edition of the ChromeEngine, supporting the latest DirectX10 and Pixel Shader 4.0 graphics, allowing for impressive, wide-open areas, photorealistic graphics and life-like physics simulation (fire, water, smoke, wind, etc.)

Platforms: PC DVD, Xbox 360
Date: Q4 07




Gears of War, Region Free, $44.90 (£23.03) ...

xbox360fanboy.com ...