Xbox 360 tag

An Xbox 360 user had the inevitable happen to him causing him to send it in for repair. Sounds like something heard every day, but this was different. This guy, named Nathanial, had taken it with him to many events and getting it signed by members from Bungie, Xbox 360 team and Rooster Teeth Productions, among other things. He made sure it was all going to be fine, and was assured that all his precious signatures, quotes and drawings would stay.

Alas, when he got his console back, it had been scrubbed clean!

After taking his story to the net (even have it on the front page of Digg), he’s had Bungie come in and right the wrongs that their once-parent company had made. They sent him a whole swag of gear, signed by many members of the Bungie team. One of them was the sound track, signed by Marty O’Donnel with the words “DO NOT ERASE!” written just beneath.

It’s great to see a company (that had nothing to do with the mishap) chimed in to help one of it’s fans. Not much can be said for the mega-giant Microsoft – they still haven’t said anything about the matter.

The rumour-mill was running fast until 2kGames squashed it.

Oh wells.

BioShock has been confirmed to be released on another platform… the PlayStation 3. With a tentative release date of Spring (Autumn in NZ) 2008, it was apparently always going to be on the PS3, it was just a matter of waiting for the timed exclusivity to expire.

No word on whether the PS3 version will get anything bonus added onto it with the extra disc space, but gives a chance for those without an Xbox 360 or a powerful enough computer to have a run through this game. But, the “hard core” who have every platform available would’ve already had a good romp through the game.

Sony needs to start getting in first on the timed exclusives, or even just have games exclusive full stop (but then that isn’t in the interest of the developers who wouldn’t want to limit themselves to getting money from a single platform).

Yes, it has been rumored for a very, very long time. However, the cat is finally out of the bag. The Xbox 360 Elite is a black console with HDMI output and a 120GB hard drive. This ups on the premium console which had no HDMI output and a 20GB hard drive.

1UP did a value comparison with the PS3.

This is quite interesting. Does this have something to do with the PS3 being global? As we know, Microsoft had been acting quite weirdly at the European launch. But then, the PS3 isn’t doing so well in America as it is everywhere else.

Meanwhile, Mexico is going to try a guns-for-fun campaign to swap your small gun for an Xbox 360, or a more powerful one for a computer in an effort to take guns off streets. What an idea! And then the people with the guns can hold up the people who just got their Xbox 360’s, and have both! At least it’s a start though.

I don’t know where I picked this up from but seemed appropriate for the time.

I’ve also heard a lot of “the PS3 controller is very expensive.” Yeah, a PS3 SIXAXIS is $99.99 (note, I’m using NZ$ here). The Xbox 360’s is $89.95 plus if you want to charge the thing while being able to play it you have to get a Play & Charge kit for $39.95 (the SIXAXIS uses a standard USB→USB-mini cable you can pick up for about $10 or you have with many peripherals). A Wii Remote on the other hand costs $99.99 itself and if you want the nun-chuck or a classic gamepad an extra $49.95 each.

A comparative video of Oblivion on both the Xbox 360 and the PS3 has surfaced. It can be hard to compare high-definition with a web video, but there were some pretty clear differences including loading times, pop-ups and textures. In some cases the textures looked better on the Xbox 360, but in others they looked better on the PS3. And there was also a disturbing amount of stuttering. However, in all fairness, the two versions have had a years difference, so it’s whether or not Bethesda changed things or not.

Also, Microsoft has been showing some bizarre behavior since the release of the PS3 in Europe/Australasia. In some places they converted the price difference into beer. (Winning comment: So it takes that many beers to match the enjoyment of a PS3?). Also at the launch they had a boat saying “Xbox 360 *hearts* you” sailing past, and even gave out chairs which had an address to a message saying Sony is late.

I remember the original Xbox being released up to two years after the rest of the other consoles… hmmm.