Call of Duty 4 to Re-release on The 360

Activision's all set to re-release their last year’s hit – Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare – on the Xbox 360 in April. The 'Game of the Year' edition will include tokens to download the new upcoming Map Pack for free.

If you haven't bought the game already, I suggest you pounce on this offer as soon as its released, as CoD 4 offers great value for money with its amazing single player campaign, and ever better multiplayer modes that will keep you hooked for a long, long time.

Half Life 2: Episode 2 Demo on Xbox Live

Valve’s allowing Xbox 360 owners a sneak peek at their most excellent compilation, The Orange Box, in the form of a single player demo of Half Life 2: Episode 2. While we haven’t tried the demo ourselves, we do know that it weighs in at around 730 MB, and that demos of Portal and Team Fortress 2 are expected in the near future.

The PC version of the Orange Box has been available for a while now for just Rs 999, while the Xbox 360 version has just hit retail this week for Rs 1999. PS3 owners, on the other hand, will have to wait till the second week of December to get their hands on this compilation.

Head right here for our Orange Box review.

Supreme Commander Headed for Xbox 360

Gas Powered Games’ real-time strategy Supreme Commander is all set to be ported to the Xbox 360, courtesy of publisher Aspyr Media. Here’s what the game’s lead designer Chris Taylor had to say:

"Aspyr's developer-friendly publishing environment delivers 100% on our vision for bringing Supreme Commander to the Xbox 360. We believe that we've raised the bar for RTS gaming on the PC, and now, co-developing with Hellbent Games, we know that we can do the same on consoles."

For more on the game, head over to Nikhil's seething review here.

Halo 3 Doesn't Play in HD

Ever wondered why Halo 3 has so many jaggies? The anti-aliasing may be off, but the game’s been upscaled from a rather unusual resolution – 1152x640 (640p!) to the HD 720p resolution of 1280x720. Here’s Bungie’s statement on the same:

The reason we chose this slightly unorthodox resolution and this very complex use of two buffers is simple enough to see – lighting. We wanted to preserve as much dynamic range as possible – so we use one for the high dynamic range and one for the low dynamic range values. Both are combined to create the finished on screen image.

In fact, if you do a comparison shot between the native 1152x640 image and the scaled 1280x720, it’s practically impossible to discern the difference. We would ignore it entirely were it not for the internet’s propensity for drama where none exists. In fact the reason we haven’t mentioned this before in weekly updates, is the simple fact that it would have distracted conversation away from more important aspects of the game, and given tinfoil hats some new gristle to chew on as they catalogued their toenail clippings.

The game’s lighting is in fact remarkable, but the jaggies are also really apparent which makes you cringe during a few scenes in the single player campaign. The multiplayer on the whole seems a lot better, and the gameplay in both modes more than make up for the visual flaws in the game. Nash and I have been hooked on to the Halo 3 MP since while now, and we love every bit of it. Stay tuned to Tech2.com for a review of the same.

TimeShift Single Player Demo Out

After months of revamp and redesign, developer Saber Interactive (Will Rock) is ready to unleash its new and improved TimeShift demo to eager audiences.

The single player demo – which can be grabbed from our downloads section – will allow players to rewind, freeze and speed up time as they deem fit in a bid to save the world.

More Info on Xbox 360 Arcade Unit

Engadget has uncovered some more information about the Xbox 360 Arcade unit, and what they’ve got is slightly different from what we heard last week. They’ve got the information from one of their readers, Emanuel E., and here’s what it says:

"…you can expect to pick up the hard drive free console for around $299.99 [Amazon said $279.99], which includes a 256MB Memory Card, a Wireless controller, an HDMI port minus the cable, and a disc that includes demos of Xbox LIVE Arcade games Boom Boom Rocket, Feeding Frenzy, Luxor 2, Pac-Man Championship, and Uno."

What? You only get demos free?! This seems like a good deal regardless, but I doubt it'll hit the stands this side of the globe anytime soon. So don’t include this unit in your Diwali wishlist yet.

Beat Valve at Their Own Game

Valve’s giving all Team Fortress 2 owners a chance to kick their ass in a friendly event that celebrates the launch of Team Fortress 2 for the Xbox 360 (no love for PC owners?)

The match will be on Friday, October 19 from 3-7 pm PDT (approx. 3:30-7:30 am IST on Saturday). Here are the gamer tags you’ll need to add to your friends' list:
gamewithdev1 (Matt W.- Level Designer)
ValveArtist1 (Matthew S. - Artist)
ValveAnim (Matthew R. - Animator)
ValveProg1 (Vitaliy - Programmer)
ValveProg2 (Adrian - Programmer)
ValveProg3 (Kerry - Programmer)
ValveProg4 (Robin - Programmer)
ValveProg5 (Jim - Programmer)
ValveLevelDes2 (Dave - Level Designer)
ValveArtist2 (Nick - Artist)
ValveLevelDes3 (Scott - Level Designer)
ValveProg6 (David - Programmer
For more information regarding this event, head right here.

Guitar Hero 3 Xbox 360 Demo Available

ShackNews is offering a downloadable copy of the Guitar Hero 3 demo that isn’t available on the Xbox Live Marketplace yet. The demo will be available on XBLM soon, but if you're desperate to play the game you can download the demo from their site and burn it on a DVD to play the following tracks:

"Lay Down" – Priestess
"Even Flow" – Pearl Jam
"The Metal" – Tenacious D
"Hit Me With Your Best Shot" – as made famous by Pat Benatar
"Rock You Like A Hurricane" – as made famous by the Scorpions
The demo file size is 421 MB and you can download it here. If you own a guitar controller, download the demo to get a feel of the game

Microsoft Unveils Xbox360 Diwali Offers

In a bid to push Xbox 360 sales this Diwali, Microsoft are rolling out three exclusive offers to gamers all over India.

Xbox 360 offers a treat for Indian consumers with its "Super Stylish Super Saver offer" – bring home with you a Xbox 360 Core console, and two popular games - Viva Piñata & Forza Motorsport 2 with Panasonic LE7 & LX 70 32" LCD TVs. The offer is available at Ezone and Big Bazaar Stores and rolls out from 20th October 2007.

This offer will set you back by around 50,000 and you’ll save over Rs 24,000 on the entire deal!

Next up are your run of the mill bundles that go something like this:

Buy an Xbox 360 Core console and get 2 blockbuster games worth Rs 4,405 absolutely free [Viva Piñata & Forza Motorsport 2]

Buy an Xbox 360 Pro console and get 4 blockbuster games worth Rs 8,614 absolutely free [Viva Piñata, Forza Motorsport 2, PGR 3 & Yuvraj Singh International cricket 2007].

These two mega offers roll out on 25th October 2007.

While I appreciate the effort (especially the LCD offer), I’m sure MS could bundle some better games instead of the above mentioned ones.

Jack Thompson Not Happy With GTA IV

Just when you thought the gaming industry’s most hated person (after Uwe Boll) would let life go peacefully for Take Two, Rockstar, and the entire gaming fraternity, he comes out of nowhere, guns et al blazing, to deliver a message once again to the makers of Grand Theft Auto IV. Only this time he’s not irked by gratuitous violence or wanton sex; it’s his depiction in GTA IV that has his panties in a wad.

As usual he wants Take Two to make amends to certain parts of the game or he’ll try to block the game’s release and so on. Here’s part of the letter he sent to Take Two’s Chairman Strauss Zelnick:

The showcasing play of the game to Game Informer revealed that the first killing mission of the 'hero' of the game, Niko, is to kill a certain lawyer. When Niko comes into this lawyer’s office, having used subterfuge to do so, Niko pulls a gun on the lawyer, who says that "the firm supports the second amendment and that 'Guns don’t kill people. Video games do'.

"The fact that the lawyer, killed in Niko’s first mission, would bring up video games, makes it clearly a reference to me. This is not the first time Rockstar Games and Take Two have targeted me in this fashion. Take Two references to me as a bisexual pedophile on its corporate website.

"You have until five p.m. this Friday… to inform me that you're going to delete the above references and any other references that could reasonably be construed to be references to me in Grand Theft Auto IV and any other video games that are pending release.

"Now you have descended this low – using one of your games to threaten my physical safety – failure to comply with the deadline will result in my having to take necessary and proper means to stop release of the game which targets me personally… given the copycatting of violent games…

Seriously, this dude needs to just chill the f**k out!

Famitsu Loves Halo 3

Japanese gaming magazine Famitsu had the pleasure of reviewing Halo 3 and surprisingly the dudes really liked it, giving it 37/40. Here’s a small quote from the review, courtesy of 1up.com:

"There are many checkpoints and it is easy to retry the game ... more accessible to FPS beginners... Halo 3 is undoubtedly the best FPS game in the Japanese console market."

So many checkpoints = good in Japan, huh?

he’s turned his sights on Microsoft since he feels their latest offering, Halo 3, is a public nuisance. Here’s a small excerpt from a complaint he

After working with mobsters, hobbits, elves, and the Sims, EA’s Redwood Shores studio have turned their sights on to something a lot more sinister and dark.

No, it’s not another Sims game. It’s a brand new IP (Intellectual Property) called Dead Space.

Set in the cold blackness of deep space, the atmosphere is soaked with a feeling of tension, dread and sheer terror. In Dead Space, players step into the role of engineer Isaac Clarke – an ordinary man on a seemingly routine mission to fix the communications systems aboard a deep space mining ship. It is not long before Isaac awakes to a living nightmare when he learns that the ship’s crew has been ravaged by a vicious alien infestation. He must fight through the dead silence and darkness to stay alive...

As of now EA is really tight-lipped about the game, but you could hop on over to the game's official site for some hot forum action.

Jack Thompson Takes Aim at Halo 3

The hoary saying "if you don’t succeed try, try, try again" seems to have been drilled into the head of Florida attorney Jack Thompson, who has been on a most noble crusade since the very beginning of time. His tirade is against video games and their developers alike.

he’s turned his sights on Microsoft since he feels their latest offering, Halo 3, is a public nuisance.

Here’s a small excerpt from a complaint he recently filed in court:

Halo 3 is a video game that allows the virtual reality player to rehearse violent acts resulting in the death of one’s virtual victims. Lee Boyd Malvo, the younger of the two 'DC Beltway Snipers', was trained on Halo to kill residents within Virginia, Maryland, and Washington, D.C. His 'mentor' John Muhammad knew the efficacy of the first Halo video game in this regard, because the army in which he served used this same murder simulator to train snipers to kill.

So yeah, in conclusion, make sure your kids do NOT play Halo 3 under any circumstances, or they could end up becoming... psychopathic killers. You have been warned!

Via gamepolitics.

A Sneak Peek at Halo 3!

Microsoft unveiled its first party system seller Halo 3 to journalists and gamers alike at the Taj Land’s End Hotel in Mumbai yesterday. Our Delhi counterparts had already had a taste of the action last week.

People all over Mumbai had the chance to come in and try out the game’s single player campaign (the very first level) as well as the multiplayer component for themselves.

The cool part about this event was that it wasn’t for invitees only, so you had tons of ecstatic gamers rubbing shoulders with journalists, all vying to try the game out for themselves. Throw in some drinks to the whole equation and you have one hellova (geeky) partee!

While we can’t talk about the game because of a most aggravating NDA (Non Disclosure Agreement) that we signed, I can confidently say that the game’s MP aspect was tons of fun and the game’s looking much better than it did in previous builds. Nikhil would also love to share his thoughts on the game’s single player campaign but like I said, we’re going to have to keep our mouths shut till September 24th.

As of now all we can say is that the game will be launching in India on the 25th of September itself and both the Standard (Rs. 1895) and the Limited (Rs. 2510) editions will be available in stores. Till then you can head over to 360indians.com for more on the game as well the party (pics included) and come back tomorrow which is when we kick off our Halo week here at Tech2.

Orange Box's 99 Achievements Revealed

Achieve360Points.com has a list of the 99 achievements you’ll get to unlock on the Xbox 360 version of the Orange Box. The achievements stretch from something as bizarre as killing someone with a toilet seat, to killing five Barnacles with a single barrel.

If you plan on playing the game on your PC, you can Pre-Order it now to receive a 10% discount.

New 40GB PS3 on the Way?

Opposable Thumbs has word (from a reliable source) that there’s a new 40GB PS3 in the works, that’ll supposedly be priced at USD $399. If this is true, with pricing like this SKU will hit the sweet spot, boosting sales a good bit the coming holiday season. That said, if they actually go ahead with this move, it’ll be quite hypocritical of them; if I remember correctly, they’d ridiculed Microsoft for having multiple SKUs that could 'confuse' the customers.

All said, I hope that the PS3 goes on steam soon and that they sell enough consoles this holiday season to get back into the game.

Ninja Gaiden 2 Screens Leaked

Even though the game has not officially been announced till now, Ninja Gaiden 2 screens have been found floating around the Internet thanks to a certain NeoGAF forum member who grabbed them from the official Ninja Gaiden 2 page before they were taken off

As most of you already know, Ninja Gaiden is by far one of the toughest (ball-busting would be a better term) games to hit any console on the planet, and with Ninja Gaiden 2 I cannot begin to imagine the difficultly level. However, the game looks a lot more violent this time round and the gratuitous dismemberment definitely caught my attention.

Step right here for a bunch of shiny new Ninja Gaiden 2 screenies.

Gears Chainsawed BioShock Last Week

BioShock is definitely one of the biggest things that happened to the gaming industry this year. You’d expect it to top the charts as the most played games on the Xbox 360 this week right? Wrong! Gears of War topped the charts with BioShock following second. If you go to think of it, although BioShock is a better game (in my opinion), Gears of War seems like better value for money since it offers a co-op mode as well as team deathmatches. I’m sure that it would be a whole different ball game if BioShock had an online mode. Either way, here’s the list of the most played games last week:

Xbox 360 Top Live Titles (UU’s)

1. Gears of War
2. BioShock
3. Medal of Honor Airborne Demo
4. Madden NFL 08
5. Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six Vegas
6. skate. Demo
7. Guitar Hero II
8. Forza Motorsport 2
9. BioShock (Demo)
10. Call Of Duty 3

Games of September 2007

This year is being hailed as one of the greatest years for gaming and supporting that theory is the month of September that has tons of good stuff coming your way.

Heavenly Sword (PS3)
Release Date: Mid September
Genre: Action/Adventure


The PS3’s very first potential system seller will finally hit Indian stands this September (as confirmed by Milestone Interactive). In case you haven’t been following this game, it’s all about an ancient weapon of great power called the Heavenly Sword that’s wielded by a crazy little bitch called Nariko. Her aim is to liberate the land of the evil king Bohan during which tons of gratuitous violence, killer context sensitive actions, gorgeous visuals and impressive boss fights ensues. There is a demo of this game floating about on the PlayStation Network so you may want to try that out before shelling out nearly 2,800 bucks on this game.

skate (Xbox 360 PS3)
Release Date: 11th September 2007
Genre: Sports

After exploiting the World War II scene (Medal of Honor series), underground tuner scene (NFS Series) and not to mention countless sports game (FIFA, NFL, Nascar etc etc) mega corporation EA have finally turned their sights to the world of skating. This particular genre was ruled by Tony Hawk and his 555,5555,5555 Tony Hawk games released on nearly every platform on the planet but EA now plan on giving developer Neversoft a run for their money with Skate. Those who want to experience the game for themselves can hop across to Xbox Live Marketplace for a hefty single player demo that allows players to try out some of the game’s unique features.
Halo 3 (Xbox 360)
Release Date: 25th September 2007
Genre: First Person Shooter


Umm yeah!

DiRT (PS3)
Release Date: 11th September 2007
Genre: Racing



One of the finest off road racers on the block right now, DiRT finally makes its way to the PS3 this month. The PS3 version of this game will boast of the same content as the Xbox 360 version; only it’ll probably run at a better frame rate. For more on the game, head over to our Xbox360 review here.

Stranglehold (Xbox360 PS3 PC)
Release Date: 14th of September
Genre: Third Person Action



Funny seeing this game here again huh? Well it’s a long story that goes something like this. The Xbox 360 as well as the PC versions of this game were to release on the 27th of August but they both have been pushed to the 5th of September. And the PS3 version that was to ship on the 14th of September is still on track so yeah, that’s the reason you’re seeing this game in this list all over again.

World in Conflict (Xbox360 PC)
Release Date: 18th September 2007
Genre: Real Time Strategy

What if the Cold War never ended? World in Conflict (WiC) will allow you to explore all those possibilities by immersing players in a World War II scenario where the Soviet Union wages war on American soil and against NATO forces all at once, in a bid to retain power. Unlike most of the RTSs on the block, WiC does not bother players with stuff like base building or resource gathering; instead it gives them a fixed amount of cash to purchase units and upgrades with, adding a new flavor to the strategy genre. To get a better understanding of the game, head over to our Downloads section for a shiny single player demo.

Juiced 2: Hot Import Nights
Release Date: 17th September
Genre: Racing



A sequel to the not-so-popular 2005 game, Juiced 2: Hot Import Nights will allow players to indulge in some street racing action all over again. The focus once again lies on the “Tuner Culture” so expect tons of car tuning, scantily dressed babes, guys called Razr (or something to that effect) and a brand new drift mode as well. Now I understand if you’re pretty skeptical about this game since the first game was a tad crappy (although it had tons of interesting concepts later adopted by NFS) so you can play it safe by heading over to Xbox Live to check out the single player demo of this game.

Warhawk (PS3)
Release Date: Mid September
Genre: Action

Even though this game was present on last month’s list, the retail version hits stores this September for around 1799. For those who have no clue as to what the game’s all about, here’s a slight heads up: Warhawk will play out like a next gen version of Battlefield with tons of players taking each other apart using a barrage of futuristic weapons and vehicles like planes, tanks and jeeps. The game was to have a single player mode as well, but that got scrapped as developer Incognito Games turned all their resources towards the game’s multiplayer component.

Project Sylpheed

Over the years, the space simulation genre has branched out into enough sub-genres to satiate all sorts of gamers; for instance - if you like old school RPGs, a game like Escape Velocity: Nova would appeal to you; if you like action-RPGs, something like Freelancer would be right up your alley; for the RTS fan, there’s Homeworld; for the MMORPG addict, there’s EVE Online; and finally, for those who like space-dogfights, there’ve been games like Star Wars: Rogue Squadron and Wing Commander, and now there’s Project Sylpheed.

The game’s set in the 27th Century, 500 years from the time humanity started colonizing other worlds. The new worlds are governed by the Earth’s Terra Central Government (TCG) who’re deemed tyrannical by many other factions. The differences between the groups and the TCG leads to an uprising, after which the groups band together to form the ADAN Freedom Alliance (ADAN comes from Alberti, Delacroix, Angelico and Nold, the four systems that it comprises of) to start a rebellion. You play the role of a naturally gifted ace pilot in training (what a cliché!) under the TCG’s forces, who gets caught off guard in the middle of the war.

I know the story sounds a little lame, but it makes up for this with some pretty engaging action - you control a prototype ship in the game, which allows you to do everything from standard maneuvers, to special moves such as unloading all your weapons at the push of a button, charging through a barrage of enemies at lightening fast speed or slowing down in time to give you an extra edge! There’s a catch though – you can perform all these special maneuvers only at the expense of your ship’s shield energy, so you’re going to have to use them sparingly. I know that the action sounds very arcade-like (and it is), but that doesn’t mean that the gameplay lacks depth. In fact, it’s quite the opposite – everything from the game’s narrative flow to its intuitive lock-on system is well thought of and executed quite well.

The main draw of the game is the crazy amount of customization you gain access to - your ship has 3 weapon slots that can be retrofitted with a wide amount of weapons based on technology that you can research on as you progress. You have everything from cluster missiles to high intensity lasers at your disposal, and each weapon slot allows you to equip only a certain kind of weapon on it. The ship’s nose for instance, can be fitted with only low caliber rapidfire guns or lasers, that have to be targeted manually and are usually used as backup weapons. The other two slots allow you to mount missile delivery systems that’ll become your bread and butter before you know it. Since we’re talking about missiles, I might as well tell you that there’s no better feeling in the game than locking on a group of ships and unloading a huge payload of missiles to blow them to smithereens. However, if you’re not satisfied with your weapon and crave for something more powerful, you can do that too. The way this goes is that after completing a mission you get a bundle of cash depending on how well you fared in a mission; you use this cash to research new and powerful technology ranging from different types of ammunitions to some really powerful guns. This allows for a plethora of choices and the ability to customize your ship according to your play style; for instance, if you like targeting manually you research on the best nose mounted weapons out there; on the other hand, if you like a huge amount of missile and don’t mind losing out on some of the tracking, short ranged cluster missiles are for you. All these little things may add up to make the game sound a little complex, but don’t worry about that, the training gets you acquainted with all of it pretty well.

The one area the game doesn’t do too well however is its performance. The game’s got some really gorgeous visuals, vibrant colors and really nice particle effects, and everything from the nebulas you see in the backdrop to the ship’s design is top-notch. Unfortunately, you pay a rather high price for this through your framerate. Towards the beginning, the game runs pretty smooth and flawlessly, but as the game progresses and the dog fights get more intense with more bad-guys popping in and out of combat, the game starts to stutter a little. In a game with such fast paced combat, the stutters and slowdowns end up getting you killed or failing objectives quite often, which can become really frustrating.

If you can learn to live with the performance issues, Project Sylpheed is a really nice game, especially for those of you that love dog-fights. Personally, although it’s a pretty good game, I wouldn’t really bother buying it since I’m not too big on arcade-ish flight combat simulators. If you on the other hand are, then Project Sylpheed is a good buy since it’s one of the only next-gen combat flight games out there.