via Computer and Video Games

The next Xbox 360 firmware update will bring more "integration and innovation", says Microsoft's Larry 'Major Nelson' Hryb.

The update details comes in the Major's latest podcast, in which the MS blogger says unlike PlayStation Home the Xbox 360 interface will always have games integrated into the experience.

"Our philosophy is that games are at the center of everything we do," he says. "Think about how Live works; the guide is always integrated, I can always view my messages, see who's online, cross-game invites across all games, leaderboards, achievement - all that kind of stuff.

"The new stuff we're bringing in Spring adds more functionality and integration," he promises. "We know you want to hear about it. Stay tuned".

Expectedly, no concrete details on the update are offered beyond Hryb's vague hint, leaving us to contemplate wildly over Microsoft's plans. Will MS follow in Sony's lead adding more "virtual world"-style interface features? Share your ideas in the comments below. ...

via IGN


Tetris, perhaps the most popular videogame in history, is evolving on Xbox 360. The classic series makes its debut on 360 this week with Tetris Evolution. Now shipping to stores, Evolution adds custom skins and new modes including "Go Low," "Eraser" and coop "Hotseat." Tetris Evo also enables up to four players to battle on a single 360 or online via Xbox Live.

Tetris Evolution retails for $29.99. ...

via Computer and Video Games

The latest issue of the Official Nintendo Magazine UK promises a world exclusive on its Next Month pages, with a starry-night image that appears to hint at that exclusive being a new NiGHTS game.

The image contains stars that appear to form an outline of artwork from the original NiGHTS game on Sega Saturn, which fits perfectly.

The clever mock-up of the pages in question, with the artwork superimposed over it, was put together by a NEOGAF forum user.

In a recent statement, ONM Editor Chandra Nair said: "Please take a deep breath and count to ten when you're thinking about this. There are quite a few images that perfectly fit into that star cluster." He also promised that it was not an April Fools joke.

We've have been prodding the ONM staff - who are based in the same office as CVG - with a giant stick for confirmation but they're remaining tight-lipped.

Sega UK were also not available for comment at the time of writing, but with NiGHTS having been rumoured for Wii for a while a return for the franchise is looking hopeful. ...

via Games Radar


GamesRadar's female voice steps up to bring the stereotype down

With the launch of Nintendo’s seemingly more ‘girl friendly’ DS and Wii, and gaming award ceremony’s adding categories like Girls’ Choice Award, women picking up a joypad is apparently becoming more mainstream. But what is this obsession with women being a different gaming species?

Despite the acceptance that more women are playing games there’s still a great divide – one where male gamers fit into many categories and women get just one: girl gamer. The girl gamer is often seen as a casual gamer, dipping in and out of sunny, happy titles where any skill needed is thin on the ground; gameplay kept to a minimum.

As a ‘girl’, a gamer and member of the GamesRadar team I’m here to dispel these myths. I may not be one of the PES regulars in our office every lunchtime but I know what I like when it comes to games. Read on to see just why girl gamers don’t exist.


Leave feedback via comments. ...

via Games Radar

The latest in the once glorious but now frankly mediocre Championship Manager series sets out with a host of new features that threaten to push it up the table. The inclusion of Prozone analysis, for one, is inspirational: it’s more comprehensive than ever before and the set-piece editor gives you more control over what you can do with free kicks and corners than you could have imagined possible. But, like the beautiful game itself, it’s no good having the skills and tricks if you can’t pay the bills by getting the basics right. And Champ Manager 2007 remains, at this stage, hampered by some, sadly, fundamental problems.

First up, despite its much-talked-about “revolutionary” control system we found it very easy to end up completely lost in its deep navigation tree. Finding things was often a process of trial and error and with a fat wedge burning a hole in our pocket, getting to the transfer page was like getting out of a maze blindfolded. Crappy and inefficient, the inclusion of a quick “home”-style button, which lets you bring up a comprehensive menu at any time, often bailed us out. The home button is a good thing. The fact that it becomes more of a panic button most definitely isn’t.

And then onto the game engine. There’s a lot here we like, especially the range of camera views and in particular the isometric angles - a great improvement that we suspect, and hope, will soon be aped by market leaders Football Manager. Unfortunately, play still seemed wobbly, with weird throw-ins and absurd goal-keeping positions. If they smooth these problems out (and the attacking play needs to be addressed, especially) it could still succeed, particularly as - again - there’s some neat stuff dovetailing this: on-the-fly tactic changes and individual instructions or pep talks to your overpaid prima donnas from the sidelines being one of them. A mixed bag then with navigation and engine issues, plus an ugly interface at this stage undo a lot of the good. There is a strong chance this won’t come out here, but we’ll keep you posted.


Screenshots in link above. Leave feedback via comments. ...

via Games Radar


Thanks to Game Developers Conference taking place in San Francisco last week, we were able to score a rare chance to sit down with Koji "IGA" Igarashi, the current producer of the Castlevania series. Though he was more than prepared to discuss the upcoming Castlevania: The Dracula X Chronicles for the PSP, we managed to tease details on the future of the series, namely its next generation installment, out of him. Keep reading to find out the most comprehensive, up-to-date Castlevania information on the web.

GamesRadar: Earlier at TGS we asked if you'd played God of War and you said that you'd like to challenge it and make an even better game than God of War. Another recent action game that's been really good, which isn't much like Castlevania, is Gears of War. Have you played them, and seen anything in either of those games that could benefit Castlevania?

Koji "IGA" Igarashi: Actually I purchased both of those games and I've been playing [them]. And I've learned a lot from those two games. I will not imitate, because I'm going to be following up these two games, but we'll try to be that good on future Castlevania.

GR: Let's talk a bit about Castlevania: The Dracula X Chronicles for PSP. What made this the right time to go back to [1993 classic] Dracula X: Rondo of Blood, finally, and remake it and bring it to a new audience?

KI: I have two major reasons to bring this back as a remake.

Number one is that many American fans love [1997 PlayStation classic] Symphony of the Night, but they never experienced the prequel to the game which is Rondo of Blood. So back with Symphony of the Night, the way it starts, is that you see the very end of Rondo of Blood, in the beginning of Symphony of the Night. But for US gamers, it's like, "What? What's that all about?" This Rondo of Blood story was never brought to the US, so we wanted to take this chance to introduce that there was another masterpiece aside from Symphony of the Night.

Among these press interviews that I get, pretty often I was asked about the possible game creation with 3D [character and background graphics] but 2D play. In the past we'd experienced a lot of struggles to overcome, to create 2D gameplay with 3D [character] models. But then again, we have solved major issues, that cleared recently, and we brought 3D models and 2D gameplay, with Rondo of Blood.

Let me add one more reason... one thought is that when we actually started this project, PSP Rondo of Blood, the PSP market was expanding. So we thought it was a good chance to deliver a Castlevania game over PSP.

GR: Are you happy with the performance of 2D gameplay and 3D graphics together? The way it looks, and the way it plays? Does it deliver the quality you expect?

KI: It's better than what I expected, actually. I'm very happy about the quality. Especially with the graphic quality. The PSP hardware system allows a very high resolution, but then again [using] 3D models gives more depth to the visuals so I'm very happy about this.


Screenshots in link above. Leave feedback via comments. ...

via Games Radar

Whatever you might think, PSP has been a success. Nearly 25 million of the sleek gaming portables have been sold since it was first launched in Japan at the end of 2004 .

However, PlayStation Portable could use some work. And, if the recently refuelled rumours of a redesigned PSP 2 are to be believed, Sony knows it.

Certainly here at GamesRadar we reckon PSP hasn't yet reached its full potential. Sony just needs to unlock the handheld's strengths and cut down on the weaknesses. So here are five things that we'd like to see included in a reworked PSP, aimed at improving its gaming credentials.

A better LCD screen
Don't get us wrong - PSP's gorgeous, bright screen still makes us grin like it's Christmas. But PSP's refresh rate (that's the speed it can update the image on screen) leaves something to be desired. With a better refresh rate PSP would lose those ghostly trails, and movies and games would look so pretty we'd doubtless be moved to joyful tears.

Integrated GPS and camera
GPS is cool, it's as simple as that. MGS Portable Ops hinted at the gaming possibilities - though only with the GPS attachment available in America and Japan - and combining GPS positioning with in-game action is exciting. Then, with an inbuilt camera, PSP could feature video-phone and camcorder abilities. Make it so, Sony.

Longer battery life
That whirring UMD guzzles battery power, but we'd expect to see Sony bring its laptop experience to bear in extending PSP's juice use. With DS offering a whopping amount of gaming time from a single charge, making PSP more efficient should be job one if Sony really are planning a new version.

Onboard flash memory
At least 5gb, please. This would stop us needing to buy new, easily-losable memory cards, and we could even see a PS3-insprired feature help with PSP's notorious loading times - if Sony let us upload a chunk of the game onto a PSP's harddrive, we could enjoy commuter gaming without the waiting.

No software restrictions
A real pipedream this, but if it was easier to transfer any kind of movies or footage onto PSP or play 'homebrew' games or software, Sony could turn PSP into a techno-geek's wet dream. Plus, it would mean the less experienced of us would still be able to watch next week's episode of Lost on the way to work.

Concept image of redesigned PSP here. Leave feedback via comments. ...

via Computer and Video Games

Talk about getting ahead of yourself. In an interview from EGM, Peter Moore has said that the production team behind the creation of Xbox 360 is already working on the next Xbox.

Moore even went as far as saying that Xbox 360's successor could launch around 2012, as the team of tech-heads are looking into what kind of computing power would be available around that time frame. The Olympic Games don't strand a chance against a new Xbox.

In other 360 news, we're getting word that Microsoft could soon ditch the Xbox 360 Core version. That's the one without the hard drive and wireless pads that currently goes for around two hundred quid.

We think it makes perfect sense to drop the cheaper model, as the Premium System is a bargain in its own right. By now everyone that has a 360 should be online (or close to it) and for that you need a hard drive. We've put the call into Microsoft who kindly told us that they don't comment on rumours.

It wouldn't surprise us too if Sony's lite PS3 model never made it to the shops over here either. You'd only end up spending more in the long run anyway.

We'll keep you posted. In the meantime let us know what you think in the comments section below. ...

via Computer and Video Games

New screenshots from PSP action game 300: March to Glory have put on their marching boots and marched all over this page. Well, it is March after all.

Influenced by movie 300 in terms of style and feel, the game drops you into the shoes of King Leonidas, who leads 300 Spartans against Xerxes and his gigantic Persian army. As Leonidas, you get to wave shield, sword and spear in threatening manner at the enemy, and we're promised that the action will be an experience of visceral proportions.


Screens in link above. Leave feedback via comments. ...