'New interface' coming to XBL

Not so much a total overhaul (a la 'NXE') but basically it seems just a new Arcade browser.

There are over 250 games available on the Xbox Live Arcade, and more come out every week. It's easy to find new titles, but browsing the XBLA library to find something to play isn't fun, and older content is hardly featured. Microsoft is going to try to fix that with the Destination Arcade visual browser, launching next week.

Major Nelson has the scoop. "Destination Arcade will allow you to discover new games and content you enjoy through an easy-to-use visual browser. You’ll have the ability to sort by price, community rating, and more! Also, stay up to date on the latest arcade releases through a news feed and also find out what games your friends like and recommend."

There's a brief little look at it in this video, I hope you can stomach the boredom of the voiceover. Video should start at the relevant point (1:01).

arstechnica

Vanquish looks fun

It's as if SEGA made Gears of War. Wait. It basically is SEGA making Gears of War, but complete with all the stupid effects and jetpackiness you would expect from those lovely folk.

In Vanquish, the story is set in the near future. Russia and the United States are vying for ownership of the world’s fast-depleting energy resources and the US has constructed a space station in order to harness energy from the sun. Russian forces capture this space station and divert its harvested solar energy into a blast wave that destroys San Francisco, aiming to force the US into a total and unconditional surrender. In response, the US tasks its armed forces with recapturing the space station before the Russians can annihilate their next target – New York. The player will take control of Sam, a government agent kitted out with a futuristic battlesuit.

Blimey. Bullet time looks fun. It's still basically Gears though, innit?

gameranx

14 Saturn games UGO want to see again

Seems UGO are excited about the Saturn back catalogue too. They made some good suggestions as to what they think should be re-released onto XBL and PSN, including the amazing Fighters Megamix! You could play as the damn Daytona car. How good?



And Radiant Silvergun for those of you who like having their EYES BURNED OUT.



UGO

Am I doing it right?

I'm trying...

xkcd

"Hottest girls playing video games"

Spreading this does make me feel a little bit dirty. I'm certain I'll get over it though.

PUNCHAFISH.COM (really?) introduces the Top 10: Hottest girls playing video games!
Rather amusing in it's ridiculousness, although I can't say that I didn't enjoy it just a little.

The girl playing counter-strike with no mouse is pretty amazing (wow!). And it should come as no surprise that all of these girls (and all girls everywhere, right?) play their games in some varying state of undress.



That's number 10 that is. Sets the bar.



She's number 7. Quite a lot of missed gates, disappointing.

I think perhaps the count-down is backwards, or number 1 is the author's girlfriend/wife. You'll understand if you bother to look at them all.

Anyway, pretty daft but gotta be a good crowd puller. Well done punchafish!

punchafish

Console wars 2010 style

It used to be so simple. You chose one, then had a fight with anyone at school who chose otherwise. Unless you were a dick you chose Megadrive (or Genesis if you were geographically challenged). DKC was pretty good though... oooh and mario kart...

Anyway Gamesradar has pit the modern day big hitters (MS, Sony, Ninty and 'PC') up against one another. Guess what, the PC wins! Oh wait, I mean SPOILER ALERT: the PC wins!



That's the new fallout that is, which will be sexier on the PC. It'll still be fucking annoying when you're lost in the desert with only a shitty gun with 3 bullets and some fat bastard animal that keeps killing you because you replaced your really comfy quicksave with the one you made 10 seconds ago when it spots you walking by. Definitely. But the graphics will be nicer.

Since when is 'PC' a console, though?

gamesradar

Star Wars: The Force Unleashed II

Force Unleashed passed me by, I'll be honest (the last Star Wars game I really got into was X-Wing vs Tie Fighter... maybe Dark Forces...) but apparently a lot of you fans were a little disappointed by it.

Well, this sequel certainly looks pretty "kick-ass" and according to IGN it looks like it will play that way too.

Combat is designed to be flexible, so Starkiller can combine powers in a variety of ways. The Lightning Grenade, for instance, allows him to Force Grip an enemy, charge him with lightning and then throw him at other enemies for explosive results. Lightsaber attacks and Force powers can also be combined, so players can do things like charge up their lightsaber with lightning for extra attack power.

Shiny!

We mentioned earlier that the team sees this game as its Empire Strikes Back, and this is a theme that Blackman returns to a number of times. "Not only is it the second in what we hope to be a saga," he says, "but it also is a much darker story, just like Empire Strikes Back is a darker story than A New Hope, and it's a much more personal story – Starkiller's on this quest to be re-united with Juno and figure out who he is, much the same as Empire Strikes back is a more personal, character-driven movie than the first Star Wars." Here's hoping LucasArts delivers on The Force Unleashed's full potential second time around.

Lovely closing paragraph. Nice work.

uk.xbox360.ign

Nintendo 3DS: Your Questions Answered

Thanks, IGN!

The way the 3D screens work, it's sending independent views of the action to each of your eyes. It definitely has to be held straight in front of you for it to work, so no looking on at an angle. The screen must also be held at a specific distance from the eyes and pretty straight on otherwise the two screens won't merge and you'll just see double images. 

Coming soon, the new 3DS Head Stabiliser.

Anyway, hasn't this all been done before?



ds.IGN

Guy puts a camera in his eye

Eyeborg Phase II from eyeborg on Vimeo

At face value this is a pretty cool idea. So far it doesn't look as if it works very well though.
Plus, as much as I wish I was in awe of this guy, he seems to be a bit of a tit. I guess 'Canadian film-maker' (especially the second part) should have been a clue.

Still, kinda funky.

boingboing

Not just Dreamcast, Saturn coming to XBL/PSN too?!

After finding out that Dreamcast back titles could be on the way, it seems maybe some Saturn classics could come too!

"When you look globally the Genesis and Dreamcast are well known," explained SEGA's Yosuke Okunari to Japanese site Impress Watch (translated, as ever, by Andriasang).


"But Saturn is unknown. During that period, PlayStation and Nintendo 64 were a success overseas, but to be honest Saturn was not a success. Because of this, we decided on Dreamcast.


"What we announced this time is a project where we will have consecutive releases of titles that were debuted on Dreamcast. Separate from this, we're of course thinking about ports of Saturn games. It's the same as how SEGA Ages and Virtual Console were separate existences. It's not that we have no intention of porting Saturn titles, so please share your requests."

NiGHTS!!!

And I guess stuff like Panzer Dragoon, and the million beat 'em ups that were out on Saturn.

eurogamer