XBox 360 Rally

A sting operation in El Paso, Texas where fugitives were informed that they had won free electronics including Xbox 360s, has resulted in over 100 arrests.

“Our goal is to try to keep El Paso safe and arrest as many fugitives as we can,” said U.S. Marshal supervisor Gerry Payan.

The operation was aimed specifically at targeting those with past illigal entry, violence and drug charges (because apparently all gamers are drugged up illegals with hot heads ). 129 warrants were cleared in all, and over $25,000 worth of traffic fines were collected.

Just more proof that the Xbox 360 draws you in. But remember south Texans… if you are told you won a free 360, in the words of Admiral Ackbar “It’s a trap!”.

[Shack News]

, , ,

Odds are if you’re playing Call of Duty 4, you’re not reading this. If you are, I commend you for your multitasking. Regardless, it has been announced that the fellas over at Infinity Ward are currently working on an update for CoD4 that is sure to make many a player happy.

A full list that I was more than happy to copy/paste from fourzerotwo himself can be found after the break, but some of the highlights of the upcoming update include host migration, kill cam for airstrikes and claymores, and the inclusion of the much talked about “N0M4D” control scheme.

Read the rest of this entry »

If you haven’t played Portal yet, then I don’t know what to tell you. You’re missing out on one of the best puzzle games to ever be released, and by not playing you’re only contributing to the growing problem of developers making “safe” games, like FPS titles. Yeah, I said it — if you don’t play Portal, you’re hurting the games industry and the creative process of mankind. I hope you’re happy.

Either way, here is the songwriter, Jonathan Coulton, performing “Still Alive” in front of a live audience in Atlanta. If you haven’t played Portal yet, then you have been given your formal Spoiler Alert. Now listen.

, , ,

Tecmo has released the first image of the Ninja Gaiden II box art, which will surely have fanboys squealing like gleeful children from now until they get to slice their first head off of “Poor Bastard #1″ in the sequel.

God, I can’t wait to get this damn game.

[HIGH RES]

Following on a rumor first reported by… well, us (you’re welcome), XueCast is now reporting that they have been able to confirm that Microsoft is currently working with DivX to bring their popular MPEG-4 format to the Xbox 360.

According to the article, DivX CEO Kevin Hell stated that, due to Microsoft’s restrictions and requirements, the Xbox 360 DivX project is running much slower than the PlayStation 3 counterpart. PlayStation 3 DivX support has already been partially implimented.

[XueCast]

, ,

If you live in Europe, I’m really starting to hate you. First you get the exclusive Xtival 07 from Microsoft which gives you free Xbox LIVE Gold (limited time) and exclusive downloads. Then you get the Simpsons Game PSP bundle. Now, seemingly not pleased yet, Europe has snacked another nugget of shiny awesomeness as, during the Xtival 07 event, one lucky Guitar Hero III fanatic will get the chance of a lifetime by playing a few rounds with Steve Jones.

If you don’t know who Steve Jones is, I’ll give you a helping hand:

Now, the rules for this Game with Fame contest are slightly different. This time around, you have to play through the demo of Guitar Hero III (not available on Xbox LIVE), and when you’ve completed the demo you have to send a picture of your high score to , along with why you want to play with a punk rock God. The winners will be sent a copy of Guitar Hero III, and the top three will join Steve online.

The winner will be crowned European Champion, and win a guitar signed by Jones himself.

Once again… I hate Europe.

, , , , , ,

Microsoft is fighting fire with fire it seems, as the Official Xbox Magazine is reporting that Xbox 360 owners will be able to download original Xbox titles come December 2nd. The service will be part of the Fall Dashboard Update, and will feature six titles available from the start, each on sale for 1200 MS Points ($15 USD). What games are for grabs, you ask?

• Halo
• Fable
• Burnout 3
• Fahrenieit
• Crimson Skies: High Road to Revenge
• Crash Bandicoot: The Wrath of Cortex

• To say this is awesome is a slight understatement. With a service like this, Microsoft could very well rival Nintendo’s Virtual Console service.

  [Eurogamer]

  , , , , , ,

Hey boys and girls! I’ve gotten bored and missed working for the ol’ green and grey, so I’m back (at least temporarilly) until we get some new writers for Xbox 360 Rally. And, I come bearing news about potential X-Mas gifts!

According to Punch Jump, Best Buy will be having a couple kick ass deals on some Xbox 360 stuff for the annual “Black Friday” shopping bonanza! First, Best Buy will be selling Xbox 360 Premium consoles bundled with Guitar Hero II and controller for the standard Premium price of $349.99. Naturally, if you’re visiting this site, you probably don’t need a 360. But it’s still something nice to get your friends.

But wait, there’s more! In addition to the bundle, Best BUy is offering both Tony Hawk’s Project 8 (the last GOOD Tony hawk game) and Def Jam Icon for the low, low price of $14.99.

But that offer is on November 23rd, and November 23rd ONLY. So don’t slouch.

[Punch Jump]

, , , ,

Hi, boys and girls. It’s just me, your friendly neighborhood JW, here to remind you all that we’re currently looking for people to replace us here at Xbox 360 Rally. All you have to do is go HERE, fill out the form, and wait to hear back. It’s really not that hard.

So, get to it already — so Paco and I can get to the NEW site!

Hi, folks. I know that things ’round here haven’t exactly been on the ball. In fact, this is the first update in a good bit. If you haven’t been around, though, here’s what is up: Paco and I are at 1PStart now. It’s another site on the 451 Network, and it allows both Paco and I to cover all aspects of gaming. In a way, it’s our dream gig minus the absurd amount of money. We still do Xbox 360 news, we just do it over there now.

We’re currently in the process of finding new guys to replace us. Considering our unnaturally high levels of awesome, you can see how it’s been hard to find worthy replacements. But, we’re workin’ on it. Give it a wee bit o’ time.

I want to give you all a heads up on a pretty f’n nice contest being put on next Sunday by our good friends at -->PlatformNation.com --> (Home to XBL Radio, The Gamers Pub, The Fanboys, and PSH Radio). The full list of prizes are:

• Halo 3 Legendary Edition
• 20 dollar MS Point Card
• 10 dollar MS Point Card
• 5 dollar MS Point Card
• Speedfreek from KontrolFreek.com
• A Xbox 360 skin from GamerGraffix.com

• You are all in luck, as the tournament will be taking place on a Sunday, a day I normally work, so I probably won’t be present, which means you have a chance of winning, as well as I have played with JW, he is a Halo 3 noob who poses no challenge to you if he gets in. Here is the official rules and all that fine print stuff that you need to know:

• To sign up add your gamertag to this thread (click the link), nothing else but your gamertag.
• The times will be Sunday nights, 6pm Pacific time, so if your unable to make it, please don’t add your name to the tournament.
• Teams of 4 people each will be chosen at random, chosen by my tournament software, not any people
• This is a single elimination tournament
• Sign up will end on the 19th
• The tournament will start on the 21st
• All the round details (who is playing who, maps and game types)will be out on the 20, you must check the forums to keep yourself updated, I don’t have the time to prep everyone every round.
  Each round will be a best out of 3
• The final two rounds will be a free for all with the top 4 advancing to the finals and then the top 4 battling it out for the grand prize.

• —
  

  , , , , , , , ,

Folks, I don’t think you know how hard it was to find a winner for this contest. Every entry received was like a gift from God herself, yes, corny, I know, but seriously, too many entries kicked mucho ass and it took much fighting between JW and myself to pick the final winner (we do it American Gladiator giant q-tip style if you want to know…… for the younger audience, it looks like this).

As you know from JW’s recent posting, we are both out of here, but, man, we are leaving whoever comes in to fill our giant shoes (hitting G4’s The Feed giant shoes! Hitting the front pages of DESTRUCTOID, Kotaku, Joystiq, and so many other great video game blogs giant shoes!), err.. what was I saying.. oh yeah, we are leaving whoever comes in some of the coolest readers to any site I have been a part of. You know who you are you regulars that may not have always commented, but I check the stats and IPs of who visits like a weirdo (I seriously have OCD about that stuff). This contest really proved it. I can’t put up all entries for this contest (out of pure laziness I assure you), but I really wanted to show some off that made it into the final rounds of the giant q-tip competition.

Note: The following are in no actual order, just wanted to show off some of the work you guys yourself put in, don’t worry if yours isn’t shown below, it was received and treated with as *almost* as much love as the winning entry, which of course you can now see at the top of every page on the site.

(Reading this and want to get in contact with any of the artists/designers above, feel free to hit me up at ocap1 at hotmail dot com and I will get with the designer to let them know you want to give them some freelance work and/or want to know their age/sex/location for hot steamy text sex!)

An anonymous e-mail to 8BitJoystick has spurred a bit of controvery, as the e-mailer claims that Microsoft has, essentially, fired Bungie.

Citing Microsoft’s distaste for how Bungie interacts with its fans and Bungie’s handling of its profits, as well as Bungie’s distaste for how Microsoft’s marketing and overall handling, the anonymous e-mailer cialms that Microsoft has allowed Bungie to become its own third-party developer, essentially leaving Microsoft.

The e-mailer goes on to say that Microsoft was to issue a press release on the matter today, but opted to wait until October 6th so that the announcement wouldn’t impact their quarterly results.

You can read the e-mail after the break.

Read the rest of this entry »

We have a good varied week of gaming for the 360 this week, some titles stick out more than others, I just wish them all well since Halo 3 has claimed so many souls (seriously, I have spoke with some other video game related writers/owners, and stats are down all around, Halo 3 has killed the internets).

Crash of the Titans
FlatOut: Ultimate Carnage
NBA 2K8
NBA Live 08
Project Gotham Racing 4
Spider-Man: Friend or Foe

Notes on the games:

I think the obvious “Winner” this week that *might* take people away from Halo 3 for a little while is going to be PGR4.

I have noticed on my friends list almost on a daily basis that people have been playing that Ultimate Carnage demo, so that might have some kind of chance of getting sales.

My ban of all things 2KSports has been lifted starting with this NBA 2K8 title, as someone on the Xbox forums has informed me that the Reel Maker “download” is no longer something they are going to be charging you extra for, so now back to hating just EA.

If you have a kid, make sure to pick up the Spider-Man game for them and steer clear of that “Crash of the Titans” game, it has N64 graphics and PS1 game play, download the demo and see for yourself, it is terrible.

Remember everybody, Tetris Splash XBLA in two days! (Phone games in HD ftw!)
—

, , , , , , , , , , ,

I don’t know if it is unfair for me to bundle all Halo related news into one post, or is it unfair for all the Halo related news to attack me on a daily basis where I can see www.Halo3rally.com happening.

First up is some interesting news for those who need a Halo toy that goes beyond what Todd McFarlane can do (which is already amazing), comes a one of a kind statue that is being auctioned off on eBay of a female Spartan. The user is kindly donating 10% of the winnings to the “American Breast Cancer Foundation.” I found the link which was described on Digg as being “Super Hot” which already made me not want to like it, but as you can see, it is amazingly detailed with sniper rifle in hand, not all cartoony Jessica Rabbit over boobified/assified and such, this can easily be labeled as just plain bad ass. Not $1500 bad ass, but if you have the cash and you are that much of a fan boy, definitely place your bid cause you only have a couple of days left. (Click here for auction page which also has a lot larger pictures in different poses)

Our next Halo blip comes from a recent Penny Arcade comic that hit close to home with me. Click the thumbnail below to read the comic.

Read the rest of this entry »