EA Purchase Bioware And Pandemic Studios

EA have further broadened their scope for the take over of the gaming industry, with their purchase two major developing studios; Bioware Corp. and Pandemic Studios.

EA will pay up to USD 620 million in cash to the stockholders of VG Holding Corp. and will issue up to an additional USD 155 million in equity to certain employees of VG Holding Corp., subject to time-based or performance-based vesting criteria.

EA will also assume outstanding VG Holding Corp. stock options and has agreed to lend VG Holding Corp. up to USD 35 million through the closing of the acquisition.

Bioware are due to release Mass Effect for the 360 this November, and will be published by Microsoft. Pandemic are currently developing Mercenaries 2 and Saboteur.

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Project Gotham Racing 4 Demo On Marketplace

If you can't wait until this Friday to get your PGR4 goodness, then head over to Live Marketplace and grab the download for the demo of the game

The demo is sized at 1.27GB and allows you to try out three cars and two bikes in a small selection of Arcade Mode as well as an exclusive Nurburgring Snow Challange.

Also, if you are in the US or Canada, you can download a demo for F.E.A.R. Files: Extraction Point, which comes in at just under 500MB.

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Toyota To Release Free Yaris Game On Live Arcade

Toyota is the first company to use the 360's Live Arcade as a sole advertising platform. Their game is titled Yaris, and features three versions of the small car; Yaris Sedan, Sports Sedan, and the Liftback.

The game has eight different tracks, and the more coins you collect from races, the more items you can buy to suit up your car. Items include various weapons, shields and tires.

If that wasn't enough, you can even gain 12 achievements from this free game. The game will be available on Live Arcade this Wednesday, and yes it will be free.

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Simpsons and Conan Demo On Marketplace

360 owners will be happy to hear that they can now get the demo for The Simpsons Game from Marketplace.

The demo is identical to last weeks Playstation 3 demo and sees you take control of both Homer and Bart. The pair need to stop the giant Lard Lad statue, which has come to life and is destroying the town, along with his army of miniature Krusty's.

This section is a sort of parody towards the great Shadow of the Colossus, and from what we sampled, is looking to be a pretty good game filled with all the usual humour and slapstick you tend to expect from the comical show.

If that doesn't interest you, you may want to download the demo for Conan, where you can execute a portion of the game’s many fighting moves and combinations as Conan decimates his foes using a variety of deadly weapons, hand-to-hand combat and even his surrounding environment.

Both demos come in at just under 500MB each.

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Looney Tunes Invade Live Marketplace

To possibly get one in on Sony for their Simpsons Demo, the American Marketplace now features a demo for another cartoon, in the form of Looney Tunes: Acme Arsenal. The game sees you play as a variety of different Looney toons as they fight for their lives.

Also up for grabs are demos for Bee Movie, Thrillville and Bladestorm.

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Call of Duty 4 Beta Ends Tonight

The Call of Duty 4 Beta is to be closed tonight at midnight, bringing to closure the testing phase of the multiplayer game, which has truly impressed everyone who have had the chance to play it, and makes the month or so wait until November 5th all the more agonising.

Read what we thought of the Beta here.

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New Car Pack for Forza 2

A new car pack is now available to all you budding Forza players. It features ten new motors for only 400 Microsoft Points. The pack includes the following cars:

1967 Lamborghini Miura P400
1970 Dodge Challenger R/T Hemi
2006 Audi R10 (#8 Audi Sport Team Joest) Prototype
2006 Dodge Challenger Concept
2006 Honda Civic Si Coupe
2007 Honda Civic Type-R
2006 Lamborghini Miura Concept
2007 Porsche 911 GT3 RS (997)
2007 Saturn Sky Red Line
2007 SEAT Leon Supercup

And if you don't feel like spending anything, then you can pick up a free '07 SEAT Cupra.

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Activison Buys Out Bizarre Creations

Activision have struck again, and have now acquired the developers behind the Project Gotham and Geometry Wars series.

In its on going strategy of buying up developers to enter new genres, first with developers of the critically acclaimed Guitar Heroes, Red Octane, and now with Bizarre Creations, in the hope of entering the racing genre.

Project Gotham Racing 4, due out in October, will be the last 360 exclusive racer to come from the studio, and is set to end the Bizarre/Microsoft partnership on a pretty high note.

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PES 2008 Demo Hits Live

Another demo for all you 360 owners, this time of “the greatest football game of all time” according to Konami, and is none other than Pro Evolution Soccer 2008.

The demo weighs in at 1.18GB and lets you kick around the ball with a handful of teams to see how the game handles.

The full game is out on the 26th of October on 360, PC, PS2 and PS3 and should be interesting to see how well it does seeing as it is released a whole month after arch-rival Fifa 08.

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Viva Piñata Party Animals Demo on Live

Microsoft released a Demo on Live Marketplace today for the upcoming spin-off of Viva Piñata, titled Party Animals.

The Demo is sized at just under 1GB and allows you and up to three other people to play a handful of mini-games featuring the cuddly creatures.

The game is out this Christmas and will feature over 40 mini-games.

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Sega Rally Demo on Marketplace

If you can't wait till Friday the 28th to get your Sega Rally goodness, then head over to Live Marketplace and download a demo of the game.

The demo weighs in at just under 700MB features two tracks, Canyon 2 and Tropical 2, as well as two cars, the Mitsubishi Evo IX FQ3 and the Subaru Impreza STi Spec C type RA.

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Project Gotham Racing 4 Arcade Details

Bizarre Creations have revealed details about the the Arcade mode for Project Gotham Racing 4 which is due out in October.

Arcade mode is made up of ten chapters, each with its own theme, and of which there are six events per chapter. Such chapters are also aptly named and include 'Rough Riders' and 'Drifto 101'.

The standard medals seen in the series, from bronze to platinum, make a return. And you can also view how good a driver you are on the Leaderboard.

Hit the jump to view all the events of Arcade mode.

Catch me if you can
1. Street Race, Palace Square (St Petersburg), Overcast
2. Street Race, Nevskiy Run (St Petersburg), Clear
3. Street Race, Pushkin's Places (St Petersburg), Fog
4. One-on-one, Embankments and Parks (St Petersburg), Overcast
5. Street Race, Parliament Hill (Quebec), Clear
6. Eliminator, Twisted Old Port (Quebec), Overcast

Drifto 101
1. Superstar, Rampart Run (Quebec), Rain
2. Time Vs Kudos, Spring Mountain Turns (Las Vegas), Overcast
3. Cone Sprint, MGM Grand-Bellagio Loop (Las Vegas), Rain
4. Superstar, Buccaneer Loop (Las Vegas), Overcast
5. Time Vs Kudos, The Grand Theatre (Shanghai), Clear
6. Cone Attack, South Strip Loop (Las Vegas), Storm

Final Countdown
1. Speed Challenge, Shanghai Grand Slam (Shanghai), Clear
2. Breakthrough, Landmark Tour (Shanghai), Rain
3. Eliminator, Kazanskiy Cathedral (St Petersburg), Overcast
4. Eliminator, The Hermitage Race (St Petersburg), Fog
5. Speed Challenge, Half F1 Circuit (Nurburgring), Clear
6. Breakthrough, Shinjuku Speedway (Tokyo), Storm

Two Wheels Only (bike events only)
1. Street Race, Jiu Fu Loop (Shanghai), Clear
2. Eliminator, Long Strip Straights (Las Vegas), Fog
3. Overtake, Neon Tour (Shanghai), Clear
4. Street Race, Half F1 Circuit (Nurburgring), Overcast
5. One-on-one, B-Circuit (Shanghai), Clear
6. Street Race, Estrada de S Francisco (Macau), Clear

Horses for Courses (car events only)
1. Cone Sprint, Instituto Politecnico (Macau), Overcast
2. Super Cone Sprint, Sprint 1 (St Petersburg), Overcast
3. Cone Attack, Shanghai Old Town (Shanghai), Clear
4. Cone Sprint, Whitehall Straits (London), Clear
5. Cone Attack, Jiu Fu Loop (Shanghai), Clear
6. Super Cone Sprint, Sprint 2 (St Petersburg), Ice

Rough Riders
1. Overtake, Museum Loop (Shanghai), Rain
2. Eliminator, The Bulldog (London), Storm
3. Overtake, Tochomae Loop (Tokyo), Rain
4. Eliminator, Las Vegas Blvd Tour (Las Vegas), Rain
5. Street Race, Instituto Politecnico (Macau), Fog
6. Street Race, La Grande Allee (Quebec), Rain

Flatout
1. Speed Challenge, Shanghai Grand Slam (Shanghai), Clear
2. Breakthrough, The Outskirts (New York), Overcast
3. Street Race, The Admiralty (St Petersburg), Clear
4. Hot Lap, Ekimae Loop (Tokyo), Fog
5. Hot Lap, Avenida de Dr Rodrigues (Macau), Clear
6. Eliminator, Avenida da Amizade (Macau), Overcast

Steamroller World Tour
1. Street Race, Old Port Short (Quebec), Clear
2. One-on-one, Her Majesty's Pleasure (London), Rain
3. Street Race, The Hermitage Race (St Petersburg), Overcast
4. One-on-one, Twisted Straits (New York City), Rain
5. Eliminator, Moika Turns (St Petersburg), Rain
6. One-on-one, Parliament Hill (Quebec), Clear

Trackday Specials
1. Eliminator, Full F1 Circuit (Nurburgring), Clear
2. Eliminator, The Short Test (Michelin Test Track), Clear
3. Time Vs Kudos, The Medium Test (Michelin Test Track), Clear
4. Street Race, Nordschliefe (Nurburgring), Rain
5. Breakthrough, The Ultimate Test (Michelin Test Track), Clear
6. Street Race, The Behemoth (Nurburgring), Clear

Ultimate Challenge
1. Breakthrough, Chateau Frontenac (Quebec), Fog
2. Speed Challenge, La Haute-Ville (Quebec), Overcast
3. Overtake, The Bulldog (London), Overcast
4. Time Vs Kudos, Crazy Turns (Tokyo), Rain
5. Cone Sprint, The Triangle Building (Tokyo), Rain
6. Eliminator, Hotel Lisboa (Macau), Overcast

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Tony Hawk's Proving Ground Demo Inbound

Expect to see a demo for upcoming skateboarding game Tony Hawk's Proving Ground on Live Marketplace tomorrow, 10th September.

So far we know that Proving Ground will include a Video Editor (at last!), seamless skating from single to multiplayer, and a fully customisable 'Skate Lounge' where you can skate with your friends. It will be interesting to see what other new features it will bring and if it can stand up to EA's Skate.

So once the Live maintenance gets done and access to Marketplace is available, go and download it.

Hit the jump to watch a trailer of Activisions upcoming game.

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Xbox Live Downtime on 10th September

Don't worry if you can't access Xbox Live on 10th September as there is a scheduled timeout for 4 hours between 10am to 2pm GMT (2am to 6am PDT for all the State side players).

This may be a bit annoying to all the UK players, as it is the same day that the Call of Duty 4 tokens are being sent out, so they will have to wait a few hours until they get their hands on the Beta.

And for all the late night American players, get some rest!

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Halo 3 Thief Gets Banned Until Year 10,000

The guy, going by the Gamertag of "| Scar |", who managed to acquire a copy of Halo 3 Epsilon gets taken care of by Microsoft in a rather extreme, but somewhat justified way. His account, as you can see by the image above, gets banned until December 21st of the year 9999AD.

If getting his account banned for that long isn't enough, take a look at his Gamerscore, a whooping 61707 worth of gameplay down the drain.

He must've been either very stupid to have gone online with it (if it was him that stole the copy) or really naive in thinking that Microsoft would've just turned the other cheek.

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Call of Duty 4 Beta Updates

Infinity Ward have announced that the Rank Level cap, which was previously set to Level 11, is to be increased to Level 16 today.

This will allow you to unlock even more perks, weapons, and features, including Clan Tags at Level 12.

This coincides with another development, the Beta will now be available in the UK and Ireland (not using exploits!). Check out CharlieOscarDelta for more information on how to get it.

Click here to read our impressions on the Beta, or hit the jump to watch some gameplay of the Beta.

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Want To Play The Call of Duty 4 Beta? Here's How

Infinity Ward handed out codes for the Call of Duty 4 Beta earlier this week, but this was limited to just US players who signed up for it on CharlieOscarDelta. The registration has now closed and a few thousand gamers got their hands on the elusive codes.

However, if you aren't patient enough to wait for another round of prize draws, then there are a few ways to get onto the Beta.

Firstly, the simplest way is to preorder Call of Duty 4 from GAME. Placing a preorder will secure you with a Beta code, which you will receive within a week of preordering.

Secondly, you can purchase access to the code from eBay. This method doesn't give you the actual Beta code, but the seller will use a glitch in the 360's download system to allow you to download it yourself.

Thirdly, if a friend has the Beta, then they can do what the eBay sellers are doing, but for free. This and the previous method will require you to hand over your Gamertag details and password.

The game is definitely worth the £4.99 or so that the eBay sellers are charging, and is region free, so will work anywhere in the world. Read our impressions of the Beta, and hit the jump to read how to do the glitch.


Please Note, that we do not recommend you hand over your Xbox Live or Email details to anybody for obvious reasons, and we cannot be held responsible should anything go wrong. This guide is just informative.

1. Plug in 2 Controllers.
2. Sign Controller 1 into the shared account (the one with the Beta)
3. Leave Controller 2 signed out
4. With Controller 1, go to 'Account Management' under the Marketplace Blade then 'Download History'
5. With Controller 2, press the Guide Button then A to access profiles
6. With Controller 1, select YOUR account and sign in
7. Press B on Controller 2 (to exit the guide) then unplug Controller 2
8. Select the COD4 Beta onscreen, then press 'Confirm Download'
9. The Beta will now download with YOUR account and once done, will work with your account

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Preview: Skate

The skateboarding genre has only had one major player over the years, the Tony Hawk’s series, and it has become pretty repetitive and in need of an injection of new and fresh ideas. In comes EA’s brand new game, aptly titled skate, the demo of which is now available on Live Marketplace.

The demo is timed for 30 minutes and starts off by giving you a tutorial on how to play You will need to do this in order to get to grips with the, as it is by no means easy game to handle for first time players. The controls are shown on the loading screen and give you a basic idea of what to expect when you jump on your board. The left stick controls your body, right stick controls the board. Speeding up is not automatic, and you will need to press either the A or X button when you slow down.

As you will learn in the tutorial, tricking will require a lot more effort than the usual one button presses. An ollie, for example, requires you to push the right stick down and then straight up - a lot like how you would ollie using a real skateboard. Grab tricks are controlled using the left and right shoulder buttons and can be tweaked using the right stick.

Hit the jump to continue reading.


All this seems very confusing in writing, but once you actually get your hands on the pad and start playing around, you will see that, as with real skateboarding, practice makes perfect.

After the tutorial is complete, you will be given a few challenges, one notable challenge requires you to perform three objectives in the time given, and is being recorded by a fellow skater. This shows off the fantastic video mode, dubbed skate.reel.

Skate.reel allows you to record or photograph segments of your skating, and either upload them to the Skate website, or save them to your hard-drive (this mode was not available in the demo). The video editor has a few cool options. It allows you to watch the last 30 seconds worth of skating you did, and you can cut various parts of the video, and clip them together to show your best runs. You can also change camera angles, video speed and add various effects.

The uploading feature is a bit temperamental in the demo, as it is very hard to even log on to the Skate website and access your videos, but this should all be sorted for the full release.

The game is very nice to look at, and has taken a sort of drab look with regards to the colours and tone, suiting the game a great deal. The character models look very detailed, as does the surroundings. No more of the eccentric rails and bowls you find in Tony Hawk’s, everything in Skate is very basic, as you would find in the real world.


The camera may not be what you’re used to, as it follows you behind your skateboard, but makes it feel more realistic and as if you are riding the skateboard, instead of just controlling the character.

Audio wise, the world seems quiet, but you will hear the usual skateboarding sounds, such as boards flipping, dropping and rolling, not just from your character, but other skaters around you, which makes the game feel more involving. The music is also suited to the skateboarding scene, with your usual hip-hop, rap and rock. If these don’t tickle your fancy, then you can play your own music through the 360 dashboard instead.

A problem we did have was when the player bailed. The bail would take at least 3 seconds to end, and during which, the character falls rather rigidly, as opposed to how a real person would fall. This by no means makes this game something to avoid, but it might be a little off putting to watch, especially coming from how well done the actual skateboarding plays.

In summary, this is definitely worth a look. It provides gamers with an alternative to the leader, Tony Hawk’s, and turns the genre on its head with the controls, which will definitely seem daunting on first approach, but after a few tries, you will see the results that can be produced by persevering

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Timeshift Demo on Marketplace

Head over to Marketplace now to download a demo for Timeshift, a game that lets you slow, stop or reverse the flow time, so in effect you will be able to shift time.

The demo is just over 500MB and allows you to have a play around in the totally revamped world of Timeshift.

The full game hits the shops on September 28th. Hit the jump to watch a trailer for the game.

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Halo 3 Goes Gold

One of the most anticipated releases of the year, Halo 3 has gone gold. The game has now finished development and has been released to manufacturing.

This may not be newsworthy, but it means that the release date is set in stone, and won't be pushed back due to development problems like some recent titles.

Get ready to finish the fight on September 26th, and while your waiting you may want to watch a gameplay trailer from PAX after the jump.

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