Oblivion Expansion for 360 Confirmed

UPDATE: 1UP contacted Bethesda to clear up confusion over the PS3 version, and they confirmed they have Shivering Isles in mind for PS3, but aren't talking about it right now because Oblivion itself has yet to ship. No worries, Sony gamer; the expansion is headed your way, too -- eventually.



ORIGINAL STORY: Exclusivity contracts kept Bethesda Softworks from making news of The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion: Shivering Isles official (sometimes PR tactics are incredibly frustrating), but this morning the studio pulled away the red tape and said the expansion pack is coming to Xbox 360 and PC gamers sometime in the spring -- there was no mention of a PlayStation 3 version, but we're looking into it.



This ain't no fancied up downloadable content, either, as Bethesda promises more than 30 hours of new gameplay in the realm of Sheogorath, where the Daedric Prince of Madness rules a land torn between dementia and mania. Battling through the new dungeons will have you facing more than 12 new monsters, encounter the obligatory new items, ingredients and spells and new forgeable armor and weapons.



"The enthusiastic response we've received to our downloadable content has been overwhelming, and we're excited to bring Oblivion fans a full expansion," said Vlatko Andonov, president of Bethesda Softworks, in the announcement. "The world we've created for Shivering Isles is unlike anything you've seen or played in Oblivion and we can't wait for folks to play it."



The press release also notes that Oblivion has sold more than three million copies to date, and the game's yet to be released on PS3, so there's plenty of time for the userbase to expand.

Xbox Live for a Year + Vision Camera $66

Are you in need of a Xbox Live gold subscription renewal pretty soon? You know, that will set you back roughly $50 for 12 months. But for only $16 more you can get the Xbox 360 Live Camera Bundle instead. We stumbled upon this great Amazon.com deal over the weekend and we must say, it's a good option for those who need to renew their subscription. The bundle includes 12 months of Xbox Live gold access, Vision camera, headset, 200 Microsoft Points, UNO, Robotron and free shipping for $65.95. You just can't beat a $15 savings!

Battle Stations Midway Demo is Here

The Battlestations: Midway demo that we were promised yesterday is now available (as is a new F.E.A.R. trailer). The demo comes in at just under half a gig and promises to provide players with some WWII multiplayer action in the air and sea around the Island of Solomon. With multiple vehicles like planes, submarines, and boats, Battlestations: Midway looks to give WWII buffs a nice change of pace after the recent spate of WWII FPS games. We're going to give the demo a try and we'll post our impressions later today.



In the meantime, if you've had time to play the demo, tell us what you think. Does it live up to your expectations? Does it fill the void of the missing Crackdown demo?

Heavy Weapon Co-op Is Awesome

Okay, we just finished a Live co-op survival session on Heavy Weapon. In short, Heavy Weapon co-op is fluid, fast, and a hell of a lot of fun. This is great news considering the recent co-op woes of Assault Heroes. Like any survival game, it starts off slow enough, but soon it escalates to the point of sheer insanity. There are so many things happening on screen that it's impossible to keep track of them all. The air is filled with a solid cloud of bullets, missiles, lasers, aircraft, and general mayhem. And it's 'effing awesome. Some will no doubt deride Heavy Weapon for its simplicity, but we praise it for the same reason (and we dig its retro sensibilities). Oh, and if you like earning achievements, survival co-op offers plenty of them. You could easily earn six in one session. Surviving for twelve minutes is tough, but it's made much easier with three buddies (though to be fair we only made it just past thirteen on our first try). For those of you who have Heavy Weapon, give online co-op a try. It's sure to bring back plenty of arcade memories (hopefully memories without the creepy guy who played way too much Galaga).

Valor Map Pack for COD3

Good news and bad news...I'll give you the good first...

Hot on the heels of the free bonus map, Champs, comes the Valor map pack for Call of Duty 3. The pack cost 800 points and contains 5 brand new maps. Stalag 13 is an abandoned prison camp, La Bourgade has you fight in a French village, Ironclad sets you in a naval shipyard, the Crossing puts players at a strategic choke point, and Wildwood gives you a chance to fight it out inside a forest setting. Call of Duty fans, be sure to come back here and tell us what you think.



Now for the letdown...THE MAPS DON'T WORK!!!. Devd are aware of this issue and should have the bug fixed by tonight but as of right now the maps are not playable...



Is it worth 800 points?

Best buy will have Wii's this sunday

One of our favorite anonymous Best Buy tipsters lets us know that the
big blue retailer will have a minimum of fifteen Wiis in stock at each
brick and mortar location this Sunday, January 21st.

Another Flash Game

I know how much you guys love the flash games i've been posting for you...sooo...here is another one it is a MMO flash game it is not the fanciest game but it is strangely adictive...check it out Fantasy

Make Money Playing CS?!?!

I'm sure there are quite a few readers out there who actively play Half life 2...well this post is for you. I was browsing around today and found a site that lets you pwn people and make some money doing it. It is called tournament.com, it is not online gambling but a skill based platform giving you the chance to win some $$$. I'm not sure on the specifics but i do know it is in it's beta stage they will be hosting CS:S and HL:2 right out of the gate and expanding onto more tittles as time goes. Neat site and it is definitely worth a look for all you competitive gamers out there.

THQ locks up UFC license

HQ has long been a purveyor of sweaty, half-naked men grappling with one another, having published numerous wrestling games based on the WWE in the past decade, as well as several WCW titles before that. Today the company announced that it would add to that heritage with an exclusive worldwide licensing deal to publish games based on the Ultimate Fighting Championship brand through 2011.

Unlike THQ's other aforementioned licenses, the UFC is an unscripted competition in which combatants from around the world enter an eight-sided cage known as The Octagon and fight each other with few ground rules. Part of the UFC's attraction is the mixing and matching of different martial arts used by its fighters, including kickboxing, karate, judo, wrestling, boxing, and more.

Under the agreement, THQ is able to create games for all current and next-gen platforms, handhelds, and PCs. The publisher also gets "certain wireless rights" under the deal.

The UFC has been running Pay-Per-View events since 1993, but in recent years has found growing prominence on cable, with the reality TV series "The Ultimate Fighter" entering its fifth season on Spike TV. The UFC is also one of Microsoft's content partners for downloadable shows over Xbox Live Video Marketplace.

Several game companies have taken a swing at the license before, starting with Crave's Ultimate Fighting Championship on the Dreamcast, which was developed by Anchor. While it was critically well received, subsequent UFC games did not fare as well, and the license has been dormant since 2004's UFC: Sudden Impact.

THQ has not yet announced a developer or a release window for the first game.

Crackdown demo pushed back

Cash-conscious next-gen gamers had January 18 marked off on their
calendars as the day that the Crackdown demo was set for release.
Unfortunately, news out of Microsoft Game Studios today will disappoint
those who were looking for a free go at the game.

Crackdown's demo has been pushed back "by several days" because it is
going through the final steps of Microsoft's certification process. The
trial is still expected to be released this month, but no new date has
been announced.

Halo 3 Legendary Edition Pictures

Still trying to decide on whitch edition of Halo 3 you'll be purchasing this fall? There's the boring old regular edition, the spiffy collector's edition, or the fanboy's dream $99 legendary edition. To help make your decision easier Walmart.com posted additional pictures of the legendary edition packaging as well as the approximate dimensions. We must say that helmet is down right sexy and the quality looks amazing. It even states that the helmet is "Made from High Impact Polystyrene - similar to a motorcycle helmet". Sweetness! We're thinking the $99 legendary edition is totally worth it, because everyone knows the females love Master Chief's helmet. They can't resist the helmet...

I love Armor Games

Last week we gave you Warcraft TD now this week we give you Starcraft TD...what more could you ask for.

New Starcraft? by 2008?

"As a Starcraft player I can tell you that I hope it wouldn't go a decade - we launched Starcraft in '98 - I hope it wouldn't go a decade before we stand here and celebrate the next Starcraft together," Itzik Ben Bassat told crowds gathered at World of Warcraft expansion The Burning Crusade's official launch event in London last night.

"Don't forget that we have two more franchises that we love - Diablo and Starcraft," Bassat had declared.

"We haven't forgotten that we have these two franchises, and what I can tell you is that I look forward to stand here in a few years, or whenever it's going to be, and celebrate with you the launch of the next Starcraft or the next Diablo."

According to our people on the ground, the Blizzard PRs "looked a bit uncomfortable" around this point. So that's welcome to the Internet the hard way, really.

Whether all that means Bassat knows something that we don't though, or whether he's just teasing or speculating, is impossible to say - but Blizzard is notoriously secret and perfectionist about its work, and it wouldn't be a massive surprise to discover a sequel lurking in development somewhere.

Lose weight playing the Wii

Six weeks ago, the big cheese over at WiiNintendo.net decided to embark on an experiment in becoming a smaller cheese via the playing of Wii Sports. No other changes -- no altering his (holiday) diet, no sneaky extra exercise, just his trusty Wiimote and nunchuk, a dream, and a lot of heart. Oh, and sometimes his lady.

Dramatics aside (the Rocky-inspired picture brings it out), the results of the experiment are in and things are looking good for gamers who like to get in the game with the pack-in. Tennis and boxing are big calorie burners, and playing 30 minutes of Wii Sports per day resulted in a loss of nine pounds, 2% body fat, and a visible reduction in body size.

We would have liked to see a food log along with the experiment; after all, one might subconsciously eat less during such a test, or better yet, begin to eat less as normal day-to-day activity increases. But this is unlikely to be the last such experiment we'll see, so maybe next time. In the meantime, shouldn't you be rocking out with some tennis?

Crysis coming to 360; 2 other new games too

You’ve all read the heading, so now you have to calm down and read. Crysis has been announced to be coming to the 360 on the 1UP show. A developer talking to the 1UP guys when they were at CES revealed several details about the 360 version. Two other games also announced are Warhound and CrimeCraft.

The big news first is the PC game Crysis is coming to the 360. However, that PC game won’t be the same game as what we will see on the home console. Because Crysis will be running at DirectX10, the game would look inferior since the 360 can only do DirectX9 (as mentioned before). So, the developers are using the same universe that the PC game is set in, with some similar story elements, but the gameplay will be entirely different. The developers told the 1UP guys that they weren’t even going to try and replicate Crysis. This would be because the PC version will be running so much more stuff that the 360 couldn’t handle, and would be disappointing. They stated that the game needs to run deeper, with the physics and world needing to be constructed differently. They admitted that the 360 version may not be as “wow” as the PC version in terms of graphics. It’s not a port in any way, so if you bought both versions, you would still get two different experiences with the game. The developers Crytek are the same developers responsible for FarCry, so we could see a game similar (but hopefully better) to that.
There will be a big debate no doubt between the PC fanboys and the 360 fanboys about this one. Everyone knows that the Crysis on the PC will look stunning on a top end PC. But can the console version be just as good, even if it doesn’t look anywhere near as pretty? Only time will tell, but graphics don’t make everything. This confirms earlier rumblings last year of a possible port, although as already mentioned, it’ll be a different game.

Introducing XBList 3.0 -- XBL on your desktop

Good news for all the desk bound 360 fanboys out there, the newest version of XBList has just been released. For those unfamiliar with the program, XBList 3.0 puts your Xbox Live friends list right on your desktop in the style of an IM buddy list. It lets you check out what your friends are playing (with their gamer pictures intact), access your incoming messages, see incoming friend requests and game invites, and it will even take you directly to your messages or Live profile page. So, you may be stuck behind a desk all day, but at least you'll know what your buddies are up to. And with game invites
intact, you'll never miss a match because you were checking your porn
email. As if all that wasn't enough, the program also supports quick
links to Achievement comparisons, Friends' Live profiles, and Halo 2 stats.



It really is a spiffy little application. We recommend you check it out. Also, the app is supposedly Vista compliant. Anyone with Vista let us know if it works.

Paul Thurrott "confirms" new Xbox 360

We were a little apprehensive to post this "confirmation" of a new Xbox 360 coming out in late 2007. But we're here to serve up the goods no matter if it is rumor, spec, or official news. On This Week in Tech's (TWiT) weekly Windows podcast they had Windows SuperSite god Paul Thurrott come visit for a little post CES/Macworld chat. And around minute 28 of the podcast he starts to talk about the Xbox 360. Supposedly, he heard through the Microsoft grapevine that there indeed will be a newer Xbox 360 coming out later this fall with enhanced features. IPTV support built in, a bigger hard drive, and all being run by the new 65nm CPU. But Mr. Thurrott is not an official Microsoft spokesman.

Our biggest gripe with all the info released in the podcast is that the knowledgeable Paul Thurrott gets his hardware basics messed up. He says that the crazy loud Xbox 360 will be a lot quieter when the new 65nm chips roll out ... twah? The main reason the Xbox 360 is crazy loud is because the DVD drive is running at full RPM to pull a massive amount of data off the disc quickly. The fans are loud, but not crazy loud. All a 65nm chip is going to do is possibly reduce the number of fans or fan speed, because the CPU die isn't getting as hot. So, smaller CPU isn't going to fix the loud DVD drive.

Now you can take this as "official confirmation" if you wish, as it may be true, but don't bet your life savings on it. Mr. Thurrott does have contacts, but things can (and often do) change in a year. Heck, we may even see the inclusion of the rumored HDMI input this fall ... something Paul didn't even talk about.

Halo not so fiction

Jumping from svelte science fiction to much clunkier science reality, Halo's famous Mjolnir armor has come to fruition. Troy James Hurtubise, the man behind Project Grizzly (the guy made a bear proof suit, someone call Stephen Colbert), has created a full body protective exoskeleton in the hopes of selling them to the Canadian and American military. Despite the obvious visual similarities, the technical similarities are downright uncanny. The suit is made of a ceramic lined plastic over ballistic foam. Included in the suit: emergency morphine and salt, flashlight, pepper spray gun, recording device, transponder, and clock. In the helmet: solar powered air system, water hose attached to back mounted canteen, laser pointer, and LEDs around the face. The damned thing even has magnetic holsters. Not only that, but Hurtubise even calls it "The Trojan." Come on, man!

The entire suit weights 18 kilograms, and reportedly costs $2000. Okay, we've seen some nice Halo costumes before, but this one wins. Sorry everyone, the contest is over. See a full body pic after the jump.

Woman Dies for a Wii

A California woman's death is being linked to her participation in a radio contest, the grand prize for which was a Nintendo Wii. Preliminary autopsy results indicate that 28 year old Jennifer Strange died of water intoxication. The contest? "Hold your Wee for a Wii." Contestants were given water at regular intervals in a no-pee-allowed endurance contest, and all to get their hands on a hard-to-find console.

It seems fairly obvious what happened -- though we're not sticking out any pointy fingers of blame -- and the preliminary autopsy report is consistent with what seems as clear as the proverbial bell. Ms. Strange drank too much water too quickly, and she died. Not from "holding it," either. Water poisoning is a very real thing. Ingesting too much water can cause an imbalance in the body's electrolytes; in fact, this is one of the motivating factors behind the existence of the sports drink market.

The death of Ms. Strange is horribly tragic, and it's unfortunate that she will be linked with the Wii by doomsayers to whom no topic is sacred. But there is a real question regarding what measures the radio station took in this case to prevent any problems, and it's been reported that Jennifer Strange spoke of not feeling well before leaving the contest. We have yet to see any comment from Sacremento's KDND 107.9 on the matter.

Konami PS3 games aren't canceled

You might remember a few days ago our report about Konami cutting more of their PS3 titles. Well this rumor has now been crushed as the Japanese magazine Famitsu admitted it had a printing error.

Gradius, a new title planned for the PS3, and Powerful Pro Baseball, a title set to be released exclusively in Japan are the two titles which where allegedly reported to have been canceled by Konami.

The news should come as a relief for Sony and for PS3 gamers, who have had to suffer an ever decreasing number of PS3-exclusive titles.

Rumour Mill: Microsoft purchase CapCom?

Several reports across the internet suggest that Microsoft has now completed its purchase of Capcom. This topic has been in discussion for sometime now and many rumors have been started because of it. We’ve yet to hear any official confirmation.

There are many titles which CapCom have announced for the PS3 which leads me to believe that they wouldn’t be looking to be purchased, although we have to look at this from both points of view.

Resident Evil 5 and many other titles would likely become exclusives to the Xbox 360 which would be a disaster for those of you that are dedicated fans of CapCom as they’ve been one of the top publishers/developers for Sony’s PlayStation for many years. Microsoft knows this and in an effort to gain more support for their Xbox 360 it is likely to be a dream for them to take over the company. But will this become a reality?

We can’t give you anything official yet, but we’ll be trying to contact both companies to see if we can get some sort of confirmation on this rumor and put it to an end once and for all. If it becomes reality then look out for a press release on PSU soon but let’s keep our fingers crossed for it being just a rumor.

-James