Zeboyd Games is proud to announce their upcoming game, Breath of Death VII: The Beginning for the XBox 360. Join Dem the Skeleton Knight, Sara the Ghost Historian, Lita the Vampire Techie, and Erik the Zombie Prince as they explore a world filled with the undead, searching for the secrets of the past. Game features include:
Fast turn-based combat!
Retro visuals reminiscent of the best of 8-bit & 16-bit RPGs displayed in glorious 720p!
World map filled with several dungeons & locations to explore!
Deep yet easy to understand branching LV-Up system
Special multi-character techniques & a combo count system add strategic depth to combat!
All this for the low, low price of 80 MS points ($1 USD)!
Breath of Death VII will be coming to XBox Live Indie Games in April of 2010.

Check out the trailer at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yDAj48iq4w8 or find out more information at http://zeboyd.com ...

EA Montreal today released an all-new co-op campaign map pack titled ‘Chapters of Deceit’ on Xbox Live for the award-winning, ARMY OF TWO™: THE 40th DAY. The map pack will be available on April 1 on the PlayStation Network. ARMY OF TWO: THE 40th DAY – Chapters of Deceit puts players back amidst the disaster in Shanghai where they will stumble upon new information that could help end the invasion by Jonah and his 40th Day Initiative army. However, they quickly learn that everyone is out for themselves and no one can be trusted. The lives of this iconic two-man private military team are at risk, forcing players to rely on each other to get out alive.

Originally released in January 2010, ARMY OF TWO: THE 40th DAY boasts a robust playbook of co-op moves. The game features one of the most extensive and varied weapon customization systems ever found in an action/shooter game. Players can mix and match weapon parts and execute strategic two-man tactics that create a one-of-a-kind co-op action experience.

ARMY OF TWO: THE 40th DAY – Chapters of Deceit is available for $9.99 or 800 Microsoft points. ARMY OF TWO: THE 40th DAY is rated “M” by the ESRB and is available for the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, and the PSP.

For more information on ARMY OF TWO: THE 40th DAY please visit: www.armyoftwo.com. ...

[Steve] wanted to do some ARM development and set his sights on the Game Boy Advance as a development package. In order to get his code onto the device he build an Arduino-based communications cable. It is necessary to have a microcontroller involved because the GBA uses a peculiar 16-bit serial communications protocol. This cable is an adaptation from the 8051-based cable developed by [Matt Evans] several years ago. [Steve's] got it working by porting the 8051 assembler over for the Arduino, but we’d recommend adding a level converter to his hardware setup to step down from the Arduino’s 5v logic to the 3.3v logic the GBA expects.

He didn’t make up a wiring diagram, but in the code comments [Steve's] laid out the connections as follows:

Arduino 8 to GBA SO
Arduino 9 to GBA SI
Arduino 10 to GBA SD
Arduino 11 to GBA SCThat’s it, follow the README in his source code package and you’re on your way to some ARM development.

http://hackaday.com/2010/03/18/ardui...e-boy-advance/ ...

New from Divineo China



The CK3 Probe Add-on for the Xecuter Connectivity Kit 3 (Lite or Pro) is a tool that makes the process of extracting a key from a Lite-On drive totally solderless, without this tool the user would have to bridge the TX and RX points on the drive board with a soldering iron before they could use the CK3 to read from the drive. This tool is for those people that have never soldered before, but know how to flash and don’t want to risk using a cheap iron on their drive and make a mistake, or also for tech guys in a hurry this tool makes the process just that little bit faster.

The CK3 Probe is extremely simple to use and there are excellent step by step tutorials on the Team-Xecuter website. There are two LED's which indicate power to the CK3 Probe and also a successfull connection to the TX point on the Lite-On drive. The package includes the CK3 Probe and the cable that will connect it to the CK3 Lite or Pro ...

New from Divineo China



THE FIRST PROFESSIONAL TOOL FOR ALL YOUR XBOX 360 HOMEBREW NEEDS !!
The nandflasher is basically a JTag device that lets you read and write to the X360 NAND. This requires an Exploitable console. Is your console exploitable? Well if you have a dash kernel before 8xxxx and the console was manufactured before Jun 18, 2009, then you most likely can use this device. ...

via Computer and Video Games


Sega has told CVG that it is very keen on creating sequels for Bayonetta, Aliens Vs Predator and Alpha Protocol.

Speaking in the second part of our exclusive interview, Sega West president Mike Hayes said that the firm was also ready to take the Total War series 'in a new direction'.
We reported yesterday Sega is aiming to bulk up its share of sales on Xbox 360 and PS3 in 2010. ...

via MCV


We’ll likely never know whether Arc was never its name, was a temporary codename or was indeed dropped due a rumoured trademark dispute – but Sony has at least looked to explain its reasoning behind the name PlayStation ‘Move’.
That logo definitely looks like an ‘A’, though… ...

via Joystiq


Documentation obtained by Joystiq – and subsequently confirmed with two separate sources – reveals that "USB Mass Storage Device Support on Xbox 360" will soon be a reality. The document, authored by a senior software development engineer at Microsoft, states that due to "increased market penetration of high-capacity, high throughput USB mass storage devices, a 2010 Xbox 360 system update" will allow consumers to save and load game data from USB devices. The update is purportedly coming in Spring 2010.

Once the update occurs, Xbox 360 owners will be able to download Xbox Live Arcade games, Xbox Live Indie games, Games on Demand, DLC and Title Updates to the storage device. "USB storage devices may, however, have far greater memory capacity than MUs (at the date of writing, the largest MU is 512 MB), and may therefore support previously infeasible operations-such as installation of a full disc-based title." That's right, you can also store disc-based games to the USB device; however, it will require the disc to be in the tray for authentication, identical to the current functionality.

According to the document, the USB mass storage device must be at least 1GB and the system will do a compatibility check. "The system partition occupies 512 MB of space, and by default the consumer partition occupies the remainder of the device capacity, or 16 GB, whichever is smaller." Upon inserting a blank USB storage device, "consumers are offered two choices: 'Configure now' or 'Customize'." The "Configure now" option will use "the entire device capacity, up to the maximum of 512 MB plus 16 GB" meaning, regardless of the overall size of the device you're using, the Xbox will only enable 16 GB of usable, non-system storage. The "Customize" option will allow you to "preserve some pre-existing, non-console data on the device" such as music.

It should be clear by now that Microsoft is simply pulling out of the Memory Unit business and not the highly lucrative Xbox hard drive business. With an artificial cap of 16 GB – still shy of the 20 GB hard drive that shipped with the original 2005 Xbox Pro and a fraction the size of the currently shipping 120 GB hard drive – USB storage support simply removes the onerous requirement for a Memory Unit on Xbox 360 Arcade units, and brings the Xbox 360 platform a feature that's been present on the PlayStation 3 since that console's 2006 launch.

If you're intent on circumventing Microsoft's cutthroat hard drive pricing the Xbox 360, you can use two USB storage devices for a maximum of 32 GB of usable storage; however, the console "has a fixed limit of two external USB mass storage devices" regardless of whether they're "formatted for the Xbox 360 or not." If you fill all three USB ports on the console, only the first two to be connected will be recognized.

With talk of a new (slim?) form factor for the Xbox 360 picking up, and plans to abandon (or at least obviate) Memory Units underway, we're guessing those Memory Unit slots could be cut entirely from future iterations of the console.


Screenshots from Joystiq ...

via Computer and Video Games


Square Enix has released an iPhone app that lets you view Final Fantasy XIII art. Oh, and it costs £5.49.

No, we're not joking. It's a digital gallery that lets you view "beautiful mastered CG images" - artwork of the game widely available on the internet - on your small iPhone screen.

It's special feature? The ability to zoom in. And as if that's not already enough awesome for you, it even features a clock and calendar, just in case you're bored of the clock and calendars already included on your iPhone.

All this for FIVE actual pounds. And 59 pence. Buy it (if you like being mugged off).


Screenshots ...