IGN has released the first trailer for the upcoming Transformers movie tie-in game. The footage comes from the Xbox 360 version of the game and shows off Bumblebee, Optimus Prime and Barricade in motion. We see them driving, fighting, scaling buildings and we get a good glimpse of Prime transforming! The character models are very impressive and need to be seen in motion to be appreciated. Best of all the trailer is narrated by Optimus Prime himself, Peter Cullen!

Source:Transformers the Game Trailer

Out of no where comes the announcement of four new maps for Gears coming this Thursday.  The maps are priced at 800 MS points ($10), but will become free downloads starting September 3rd.  The new maps include:

• Bullet Marsh – In this Kryll-infested swamp, an old generator still powers the area lights. A few stray bullets could easily knock out the generator, leaving combatants to fend for themselves against the Kryll.
• Garden – This overgrown and crumbling conservatory still has a working fertilization and pesticide system. This system can pose a serious hazard to anyone who ventures into the greenhouse without first venting the air.
• Process – Teams must fight for control of this subterranean Imulsion processing plant, still active despite the cessation of the Pendulum wars.
• Subway – Timgad’s Central Subway station used to serve as a central hub for commuters. Now the tunnels are crawling with Locust.

Compared to the last map pack, which was rather dull, these new maps sound really exciting.   Especially if they offer more environmental threats, which many of the default maps were lacking, this could wind up being a really worthwhile download. 

As the 360’s Spring Update and the Halo 3 Beta come closer and closer, Microsoft dropped a rather big surprise on us today! A rather large and unexpected list of newly added backwards compatible Xbox titles for the 360! Namely Sega’s Jet Set Radio Future, Panzer Dragoon Orta, Star Wars Rupublic Commando and some very high profile 2D fighters have been added to the list. This is probably one of the strongest updates released and should please anyone still interested in the service.

Read on for the full list.
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…Not in the literal sense, but for those who want in on the ‘Halo 3’ Beta, you may be required to buy ‘Crackdown’.  A bad move on Microsoft’s behalf?  No.  A cheap one?  Yes. 

The generic-looking GTA-clone from Microsoft and the developer “Real Time Worlds” (Formerly ”DMA Designs”) and lead designer David Jones is set to hit stores on February 20th.  In the newest issue of Gamepro Magazine an ad is featured for the game which reads “Includes Invitation to Halo 3 Beta” and cites it as a “Limited Time Offer”.  [Read the rest of this entry…]

The Xbox 360 wireless headset came out yesterday, despite being delayed several days, much like the Live Vision Camera before it. It comes in a rather large box (roughly the same size as the camera) and similar to all the other packaging Microsoft as made for their accessories. This is the first official headset that Plantronics has NOT made for Microsoft (someone correct me if I’m wrong) as the official wired headset still is.

The headset is built relatively solid and feels a lot like many of Motorola’s bluetooth offerings. In fact, if you wear a bluetooth headset, you’ll feel right at home here. The design is fairly simplistic and like a bluetooth headset, it features a minimal amount of buttons. You’ll find a ‘power’, ‘find’, ‘volume up’ and ‘volume down’ button on the piece, nothing more, nothing less. It has a padded earpiece and a rubber loop that goes behind the ear. It’s very light, about the same weight as your standard bluetooth headset and it features an adjustable boom mic. I know I keep saying “bluetooth”, but this headset apparently runs on an RF signal, just like the controllers. [Read the rest of this entry…]

As a compliment to Crazy’s last entry, I stumbled across an images of the Wii DVD cases.  They’re basically the normal DVD cases we’re all used to by now, except they’re molded out of white plastic, which seems to be Nintendo’s current favorite plastic.

Source:DarkZero.uk

For the past few weeks, people have been talking about Link’s sudden change in dexterity in the upcoming ‘Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess’.  Traditionally, Link has always been left-handed, until now…sort of.  According to Shigeru Miyamoto the game was simply mirrored, flipped completely, to enhance the sword combat.  Since the player will be using their right hand to swipe, the game was originally designed to have enemies attack the player from the left, so it was easier to just flip the game’s display horizontally.  Interestingly enough, Link will be left-handed in the Gamecube version of the game, and all of the maps will be left in their original form. 

Thanks to Maxcon for the find!

Here comes another shot at Sony for their criticism that the 360 wasn’t truly “high-def”.  Just as they’re announcing that many of their games have been bumped down to 720p, Microsoft announces that they’re going to start supporting 1080p.  The best news is that is that there is no new hardware to buy, it’s all supported within the console itself via the Fall update.

Update:  According to this afternoon’s article at Gamespot, Microsoft is claiming that ALL existing Xbox 360 games will support 1080p after the update.  Needless to say, that’s pretty impressive.