Kane & Lynch Release Date Changed

Release dates for games change all the time. It's part of the industry. But surprisingly, this time it's not a delay, it's a move up!

Eidos has moved the game's release up a week from November 20th to November 14th. Apparently, they think they'll fare better on the 14th instead of competing directly with the releases of Mass Effect and Rock Band.

They still have stiff competition on November 14th, though, with Assassin's Creed, Crysis, Resident Evil: Umbrella Chronicles and Super Mario Galaxy(amongst others).

A move up in release is pretty surprising. I can't remember the last time I saw that. Now I need to make a tough decision. Kane & Lynch or Assassin's Creed on the 14th to suck up my time until Mass Effect on the 20th? I might actually go with Kane & Lynch(I do plan on both eventually).

Orange Box Update Broke My Orange Box

This morning when I woke up I scanned the gaming news and saw that Valve had put out an Orange Box update. The update primarily had to do with Team Fortress 2. They were trying to fix some of the lag and balance issues. I booted up my system and got the update. Then I tried to continue my Half-Life 2 campaign. That's when disaster struck.

At first, everything seemed fine. The update downloaded, the game restarted. The opening menu was same as it ever was. I loaded up Half-Life 2 from the first menu.


The graphics were all messed up. At first, I thought my 360 might have locked or broke. But the menu looks fine and you can choose any of the options. I decided to try and load my game to see if it was just a minor glitch.


Nope. The game is messed up, graphically. It still sounds fine and I can run around, shoot people, etc. It just looks like crap.

I also checked Portal, the Episodes and Team Fortress 2. All had the same problems. I've searched the forums and haven't found other people experiencing the same problems, but the patch was just released last night so we'll see if it negatively affects other gamers as well.

Xbox 360 Arcade Released

Just when you thought Microsoft had released all the Xbox 360 SKUs they possibly could, they go and release another. Welcome the Xbox 360 Arcade.

The Xbox 360 Arcade has been getting a lot of slack by gaming sites. And to be honest, I probably won't be much kinder.

The Xbox 360 Arcade costs just $279.99 and comes with a 256 MB memory card, a wireless controller, HDMI outputs, and 5 Xbox Live Arcade games (Boom Boom Rocket, Feeding Frenzy, Luxor 2, Pac-Man Championship Edition and Uno).

Obviously, it's better than the original Xbox Core system. So what's with all the complaining?

Look at this picture.



If you didn't know any better, you would think it came with 5 real games instead of 5 Arcade games.

A 256 MB memory card? That will fill up in no time. Can that even fit all the Arcade games on it?

The Xbox 360 Arcade is simply Microsoft trying to lure casual gamers into the Xbox world. The price is compatible with the Nintendo Wii. Once players get hooked, they'll have to upgrade to a harddrive to do any real gaming. Not to mention Xbox Live.

I know casual gamers are all the rage right now, but I say screw the casual gamer. Either you're a gamer or you're not, and in my book, casual gamers are not.

Army of Two Delayed

Just the other day I was talking about how much money I was going to have to spend in November and wondering how I would find the time for all the great looking games coming out. Well, EA apparently heard my lament and decided to help out by delaying Army of Two to 2008.

Army of Two has been in development since 2005. The new release date is sometime in the 1st Quarter of 2008 so we should see the finished product by March 2008 at the latest.

This delay is being viewed as strange by many in the industry simply because the delay was announced so close to the release date. In fact, many sites and magazines already had a copy of the game to review. But the game designers say they want to "polish" the game more and make it the best it could possibly be.

While I was really looking forward to some good co-op action, I guess I can wait a little longer. And that leaves me with only four games I NEED to get in November.

In other November game news, I saw an article about how it's being hinted that Assassin's Creed will be in stores November 14th. I had already assumed that to be true since many sites have it listed as a November 13th release, but those release dates can often be off.

Guitar Hero III Demo

A Guitar Hero III demo came out recently for the Xbox 360 in the December issue of OXM. And if you only get yours news from us(you must hate gaming news), you may not yet be aware that you can get this demo for free.

Someone ripped the demo and put it out there on the internet. You can download it and burn the ISO to a CD or DVD then put it in your 360 and find the demo under Demos in the dashboard. It's fully playable, and nobody has raised a fuss about it(meaning it shouldn't get you banned).

There are five songs available on the demo:

* "Hit Me With Your Best Shot" - Pat Benatar
* "Lay Down" - Priestess
* "Even Flow" - Pearl Jam
* "Rock You Like A Hurricane" - Scorpions
* "The Metal" - Tenacious D

I burned it tonight and played it. If you liked Guitar Hero II, you'll like Guitar Hero III. The demo seemed to load very slowly, but I'm hoping that won't be true in the real game.


The graphics are improved and a little bit more realistic in Guitar Hero III. The guitar part of the screen seems even bigger.

A few improvements are that once you start getting a good note streak going, it starts showing the count in the lower left hand corner. It also flashes across the screen every 50 note in your note streak. In the lower right hand corner, you can see how well you are rocking, just like in GH2.

XYBA Podcast Ep 15

The XYBA Video Game Podcast is back with Episode 15. Andy and Josh host with guests Sean and Nick from the 217 area code.

Download XYBA Podcast Ep 15

Watch Your XBL Motto!

Attention, Xbox Live members, Microsoft is starting to crack down on your gamer mottos. Right now it is theorized that the gamer mottos are being run through a filter which simply looks for curse words or their variations.

This story has come to light after CheapyD over at Cheap Ass Gamer had his account suspended for 24 hours for the gamer motto "Konichiwa, bitches!" Other users have also reported similar bans.

So, read your Code of Conduct, people! Don't lose out on any precious Xbox Live time.

(As far as I can tell, "jerkstore" is not on the ban list so I'm good.)

Gilbert Arenas is a Booster!

Washington Wizards basteball star Gilbert Arenas has gone on record as boosting in Halo 3. He created fake matches and had himself win to score himself more experience points. He is currently ranked as a Captain, Grade 1 with 108 XP and a high skill level of 42.

While Arenas says it is simply a glitch in the game he is exploiting, I say no! Boosting is a choice, Gilbert Arenas, and you have chosen to do wrong!

According to your service record, you haven't even played the campaign once. You haven't even taken any screenshots. Shame on you, Arenas. The children look up to you, and you have led them astray.

I challenge Gilbert Arenas to a Halo 3 off. One on one. Bring it!

Wii Bit O' News

Nintendo announced at their Fall Conference that the Wii will soon allow DS users to download demos. No more going to Gamestop and standing around looking like some creepy older guy trolling for High School girls.

This is a nice little feature that I'm sure will get a lot of use from the community. Also, the Wii has been updated to allow the use of a USB keyboard. Now typing in those friend codes is a lot easier.

Xbox 360 Deal

Haven't bought an Xbox 360 yet? What are you waiting for? (Sam?) Well, Microsoft is sweetening the pot for you slackers.

For the holiday season, Microsoft is adding two games to their Xbox 360 Premium and Elite bundles. Those games? Forza Motorsport 2 and Marvel Ultimate Alliance!

So, by the end of October, both the Premium bundle($349) and the Elite bundle($449) will come with two games. That's a lot better than the zero that my 360 came with. You Johnny-Come-Latelies get all the deals - discount, the choice of the Elite and two free games. Bah.