Call of Duty: Black Ops Wager Matches (New Feature)

Just this week, Treyarch revealed a new game mode for it's upcoming Call of Duty: Black Ops title. A new game type, dubbed 'Wager match' will allow players to bet in game currency with fellow gamers. The top three players will take home the dough, while the rest will be left with nothing.

Surely this new game mode will add a new twist to not only the Call of Duty franchise but video games in general. These in game credits can be used to unlock and customize player outfits, weapon unlocks and skins, and more. There will be four game types available for the wager match mode, which include:

'One in the Chamber' - Player's start with a pistol that contains only one bullet. If they kill someone, they pick up their bullet. If they miss, they will be left with only the melee option as a way to kill their opponents.

'Sticks and Stones' - Players will be equipped with the crossbow weapon, ballistic knives, and tomahawk. If they are killed by a knife, they will be bankrupted.

'Gun Game' - Players start with a basic weapon and are given a more powerful gun every time they get a kill. If the player is killed, they will be bumped back one weapon in the cycle. The first player to reach the final weapon in the cycle wins.

'Sharp Shooter' - Players will all start with the same randomly assigned weapon. Weapons will automatically cycle through randomly for all the players after a certain set amount of time.

These new game modes should add a new element to Black Ops which has not been present in any Call of Duty series game in the past. The Wager Match mode will surely keep people on the edge of their seats as there will always be something on the line.

What I've been doing lately... Forza Motorsport 2 and Battlefield 1943

Well good morning everyone. I hope you all have not been missing the blog too much, because my Xbox 360 sure didn't seem like it was missing me. Well until this week... I've been working my '360' non-stop, it's only allowed to take a nine or ten hour break every night :P

I have rekindled my love for Forza Motorsport 2 last weekend. I had put it down in late 2007 after the release of Call of Duty Modern Warfare and Halo 3. My FM2 disc sat in the corner of my room for nearly two years before I decided it was time to get back to the old days. Dusted her off the other day and decided to give it a go.

I restarted back at career level '0', excited at the fresh 'new game' esque approach I decided to take. I went from having a sluggish Audi TT to compiling a garage full of tuned beasts putting down U999 ratings left and right within a few days. In fact, I was so enthusiastic about Forza 2 that I decided to go right in to pre-order the Limited Edition version of Forza Motorsport 3 at GameStop. Cha ching... there goes eighty six dollas. Wait did I really spend that much for a video game? What? But our economy is really thriving right now isn't it? Dude I'm fine.

With that, I had to break into the three digit mark with my spending for the day. I picked up a 1600 Microsoft Point card to go with my pre-order. Why you ask? Well I had to pay homage to my old love, Battlefield 2: Modern Combat, which was commonly abbreviated as 'BF2MC' (aka intarnetz crack for most who played it). An amazing game really, I may have logged over 650 hours on it total, considering the Playstation 2 and Xbox 360 versions combined. Anyways back to what I was saying, I decided I would try out DICE's new Battlefield 1943 after playing the demo. It cost me 1200 Microsoft Points, or roughly $15 USD. Heck, I said why not. Although I was disappointed by the Battlefield: Bad Company Beta and decided not to pick up the full game, I decided I'd give DICE's new slightly updated 'arcade' version of Bad Company a try.

Battlefield 1943 is a tiny bit different from its predecessor Battlefield: Bad Company. First off, it was set in the WWII timeframe, which provided different guns, scenery, and vehicles. Okay, you could have inferred that from the title, but I thought I might as well point it out. The game engine seemed to be slightly tweaked, slightly closer to BF2MC than Bad Company was, although not very noticeably. The addition of airplanes also intrigued me, as they had not been present in past console Battlefield games. All in all, it was enough to get hooked to log a good fifteen hours on a temporary gold account (technical issues while I was waiting for MS to change my original gamertag to Gold after I had bought and activated a subscription :/ ), and another five on my main gamercard.

With a good twenty hours of gaming time under my belt for Battlefield 1943 over the past week, I think it's time for a review. Look out for a complete review soon and stay posted. You can always follow me on my gaming adventures through Twitter!

EA Fifa Soccer 08 Review

Its been a few days since Fifa 08 has been on store shelves, well at least in the States, and I am happy to report I have obtained a copy and have been playing non stop since. But I decided to drop the controller for a little bit to give our favorite readers a little review.

First off you will notice the same 'Arena Mode' from the previous installment, which is really fun I must admit. The same menu interface as the last series which was pretty sleek is still present. You will quickly notice though, that there have been many new game modes added such as Create a Tournament, 'Be a Pro Mode', and the Interactive Online Leagues. Speaking of leagues, EA has finally added a respectable amount of over 30 teams and a whole haystack of teams. The team squads are updated pretty accurately, and you can automatically update them with a download from the main menu through XBL if you somehow fall behind in the Transfer market. Although I admit I was disappointed with the absence of Denilson from FC Dallas' roster.

The game play has been completely revamped, and made much more realistic. Your shots become less accurate if you are sprinting, passes are tougher to complete if you are facing away from your target, player and ball physics have been fixed for the better. In addition to this, you can now pull off a plethora of 'freestyle' tricks by holding down the 'L Trigger' and moving the right analogue stick. This allows for some crazy combinations while dribbling in game.

Most of the things present in '07 are back this year, including Challenge Mode, Fifa Lounge, Online Play, Manager Mode, and the Fifa Shop. This years installment finally allows Fifa 08 to be the first true 'Next Gen' soccer game. Despite PES' efforts, I honestly Fifa has gotten the better of the franchise this year. I highly recommended game to all soccer fans, if you are still skeptical, you can try a rent first, you will definitely wont regret it.

The Long Road Home

Thanks to all of our readers for supporting us for our first opening week! I have been really busy the last few days with packing and making final plans for my trip back home (which mind you takes more than a whole day until I get to the final destination). Anyways I will be leaving in about exactly a day from when I will post this article. I'll see everyone then, and my xbox 360 misses me... hope it doesn't have 3 red lights :/.

Half Life 2: The Orange/Black Box [Game Details] Xbox 360 / PS3 / PC

The beginning to the popular series, Half-Life, was released October 31, 1998 for the PC and was considered one of the best games in it's time. 6 years later, the sequel was released and was also praised for it's awesome graphics and realistic physics followed by the next installment, Half-life 2: Episode One. And, on October 9th, 2007, Half-Life 2: The Orange/Black Box will be released for the PC, Xbox 360, and PS3.

The box will include Half-Life 2, Half-Life 2: Episode One, and Half-Life Episode Two, Portal, and Team Fortress 2. Half-Life 2, Half-life 2 Episode One, and Half-life 2 Episode Two features former Black Mesa scientist, Gordan Freeman going through the ruined city of City 17, the wastelands outside the cities, and the infected city of Ravenholm. In the game, you will fight the mawmen (zombies), barnacles and headcrabs (headhoppers) from the original Half-Life along with new creatures such as ant lions, Combine soilders, poison headcrabs, poison mawmen, super headcrabs, and super mawmen. You fight with other members from Black Mesa and Alyx Vance. And yes, it has the Gravity Gun.

In Portal, an innovative puzzle game by Valve, you are a test subject in the Aperture Science Enrichment Center. As a test subject, it is your job to, with the use of the Aperture Science Handheld Portal Device, complete numerous tasks to get through obsticles. The portal gun can pick up items and has the ability to shoot out small portals in which you can walk or jump
through. The obsticles you face in Portal are machine guns, large gaps, and unclimbable walls.
The Portal gun is also used to manipulate other objects, such as cubes or flying spheres, to knock over or activate other objects.

• Here are some screenshots of the Portal

Team Fortress 2 is another game many are looking forward, too. With it's massive online play and many character classes, Team Fortress 2 might be one of the best online games for the Xbox 360. There are many enhancements to the other Team Fortress, such as ammo closets placed in

spawning rooms to restock on ammo and other items, critical hits, the ability to spectate game rooms, different survivability for different classes, and enhanced rules of play in capture the flag and control point match. There are 9 confirmed classes in Team Fortress 2, including demomen, engineers, heavy weapons, medics, pyros, scouts, snipers, soldiers, and spies. For more information about Team Fortress 2, be sure to check out the interview with Valve Engineer Robin Walker, Project Lead Charlie Brown, and Marketing Director Doug Lombardi.

The game has yet to be rated.

Also be sure to check out the Team Fortress 2 Interview on IGN Here.

- Article Written By HermieKrab

Microsoft Locked Region Based Xbox Live Marketplace Content

This is more of an older topic, that was caused by the Xbox 360 Spring Update, but I decided to bring it back up for a quick look over. Until last April, you could make a free XBL Silver account based in another country to access special region based content. Such as making a Japanese based account to download Naruto episodes, which cannot be normally accessed using an American account.

Microsoft decided to stop allowing people to do this, after they locked region based content via the users IP. This way, even if you were to set your 'country' to another place then where you actually live, Microsoft will IP verify the location as incorrect and would not grant access to the region specific content. Although its a bit of a set back to the marketplace, we believe we can still find quality content in our home region.

New Halo 3 Campaign Screenshot

Looks like we have an interesting update for all the Halo fans out there. A new campaign screenshot has been surfacing over the web, and we have uploaded it for your viewing. The game which will make its debut in September is anticipated to be Microsoft's biggest seller.

(Click preview image to open the actual full resolution screenshot)

Microsoft Extends Xbox 360 Warranty to 3 Years

It seems like Microsoft finally decided to step up and fix some of the major problems that 360 owners have been complaining about. After recent reports showed the average console failure rate at 33% rather than Microsoft's originally stated 5%, the console maker stepped up by adding 2 years to its current 1 year repair policy for consoles which showed the dreaded '3 Red Lights' Error.

The company hopes this will strike a boost sales and increase customer satisfaction, as well as to stay on even grounds with the comfirmed $100 price drop on the Playstation 3. I am personally very pleased as a 360 owner, since I am assured a working console for the next 3 years. Despite, this, it was not all good news on Microsoft's part, as they will be ending up paying about 1.5 billion dollars to deal with the console repairs.

Original Article Below:

http://news.teamxbox.com/xbox/13876/Microsoft-Extends-Xbox-360-Warranty-to-Three-Years/

"An open letter from Peter Moore, corporate vice president of the interactive entertainment and devices division at Microsoft, has just announced that the compnay is extending the warranty of the Xbox 360 to cover any console issues resulting in three flashing red lights, for three years from purchase. The company still denies there is a design flaw that causes the 3 RLOD. Regardless, it's good to hear the company will fix any console experiencing the 3 RLOD free of charge—including shipping—for three years from the console’s purchase date.

Open Letter From Peter Moore To our Xbox Community: You've spoken, and we’ve heard you. Good service and a good customer experience are areas of the business that we care deeply about. And frankly, we've not been doing a good enough job. Some of you have expressed frustration with the customer experiences you have had with Xbox 360; frustration with having to return your console for service after receiving the general hardware error message on the console. The majority of customers who own Xbox 360 consoles have had a terrific experience from their first day, and continue to, day in and day out. But when anyone questions the reliability of our product, or our commitment to our customers, it's something I take very seriously. We have been following this issue closely, and with on-going testing have identified several factors that can cause a general hardware failure indicated by three flashing red lights on the console. To address this issue, and as part of our ongoing work, we have already made certain improvements to the console. We are also implementing some important policy changes intended to keep you in the game, worry-free. As of today, all Xbox 360 consoles are covered by an enhanced warranty program to address specifically the general hardware failures indicated by the three flashing red lights on the console. This applies to new and previously-sold consoles. While we will still have a general one year console warranty (two years in some countries), we are announcing today a three-year warranty that covers any console that displays a three flashing red lights error message. If a customer has an issue indicated by the three flashing red lights, Microsoft will repair the console free of charge—including shipping—for three years from the console’s purchase date. We will also retroactively reimburse any of you who paid for repairs related to problems indicated by this error message in the past. In doing so, Microsoft stands behind its products and takes responsibility to ensure that every Xbox 360 console owner continues to have a fantastic gaming experience. If we have let any of you down in the experience you have had with your Xbox 360, we sincerely apologize. We are taking responsibility and are making these changes to ensure that every Xbox 360 owner continues to have a great experience. This will take a few days to roll out globally, and I appreciate your continued patience as we launch this program. I've posted an FAQ that should address some additional questions, and we'll update it over the next few days. I want to thank you, on behalf of all us at Microsoft, for your loyalty. "

- TeamXbox.com

Welcome to the New Xbox 360 Network Blog

Hello Everyone,

This is X360N.com's first blog entry! We will be covering the latest developments involving the Xbox 360 as the time passes, including coverage on E3, aswell as updates on the latest big name titles coming out this late summer and fall. We are also running a forum for all you discussion savvy members, so go check out and post what your thoughts.

We would also like you to meet our blog team:

• BakEd (XBL Tag: II b4k3d II)

• PawnagE (XBL Tag: Pawnag3)

• HermieKrab (XBL Tag: HermieKrab)

Thanks for reading,
BakEd
X360N Staff