Xbox 360 drops into stores November 22nd... life sold separately.
The 360 is all about high-definition and multimedia, transforming the console into more of an entertainment hub than a mere gaming device. The console comes with three USB ports, two memory slots and a removable 20 GB harddrive. The console can also connect to your computer or portable multimedia device and extract the videos, pictures and music to play them on your high-def television. And then there are those games, too...
Man meets mountain in the snowboarding juggernaut Amped 3. And, as it turns out, there's no business like snow business.
Amped 3, reworked to make it more accessible and forgiving, offers seven new mountain resorts to plummet down, explore, and perform fanciful stunts on. Each trick-inspiring course is approximately three times bigger than in the game's previous iterations, and the open-ended plays means boarders are free to choose where they go and what challenges they tackle. When all the freedom gets tiring, the game offers more of it: Also included is a park-building feature for players to create their own snowboarding arenas with appropriate dips, rails, jumps and perilous obstacles. Plentiful customization options allow a racer to get tricked out in unique gear and clothing or create a vapor trail to follow in his wake. In-game challenges earn sweet, sweet money-which can be redeemed for all manner of equipment and goodies.
In addition to snowboarding, Amped 3 also lets the brave jump onto sleds and snowmobiles to find out just how much destruction they can wreak.
War is hell, kid, but at least Activision and Infinity Ward capture it beautifully. The original Call of Duty won 80 or so Game of the Year awards-and none of them because of liberal bribes, either.
A first-person shooter using squad-based tactics, Call of Duty 2 finds you and your allies fighting famous World War II battles as the Americans, British and Russians. Early missions send you to the North African desert to fight against Ratzi general Irwin Rommel and his near-endless supply of Panzer tanks. Later, you'll storm the beach at Normandy, attempt to repair radio wire during the siege of Stalingrad and go on tank-destroying missions in the Soviet Union as the war comes to a close. Computer-controlled allies here are good for more than just collecting bullets. They use smart tactics, provide support fire, divert enemies away from your position and supply you with much-needed intelligence about the enemy's strength and location.
A full complement of multiplayer options is included, with Xbox Live 360 search-and-destroy competitions, death matches and capture-the-flag challenges. To hell with historical realism. This one is too excellent not to be shared.
Condemned: Criminal Origins has approximately 120% of your recommended lifetime dosage of creepiness. As an FBI agent with first-person perspective, you are dropped into a dark and foreboding world inhabited by lunatics and serial-killing nut jobs. Go ahead and search crime sites for clues. Dust for prints, take photos and examine items under black light-sometimes the weirdest things point directly to a suspect. Or trust in your own strange premonitions. In Condemned, it's all good--which is to say, it's not good at all. In fact, it's pretty much all screwed up.
The game's many psychopaths lurk in the shadows, waiting in horror-movie fashion to leap out at the most unexpected time. They're smart enough to strike when you're not looking, and they might duck into the background or run away when they're wounded. They'll work in tandem, too, one killer keeping you busy while the other sneaks behind you. Juicing an enemy with a Tazer stuns him long enough to disarm him and, once a foe has kissed the canvas, so to speak, you can render a guilty verdict and issue a death sentence with a one-hit kill.
For die-hard footie fanatics, FIFA 06 is as sick as a 90th-minute, World-Cup-winning bicycle kick against Brazil. Simply put, FIFA 06's gameplay is off the hook. With a slew of new 1-vs.-1 freestyle moves, you can digitally embarrass your pals in new Maradona-esque ways. Newly added formations allow you to infiltrate your opponent's defenses, and a laser-precise meter lets you smash shots at the perfect speeds and angles. You can still compete in the Friendly, Season, Tournament, Scenario and Shoot-Out modes, but FIFA 06's all-new Manager Lounge will allow you to both completely manage a club (buy stud players on the transfer market, cook up your own soccer superstars and manage your team's budgets) for a simulated 15-year span and save up to eight profiles on your console for head-to-head play, stat recording and individual console ranking. And, as if things couldn't get any better, the 360 version brings the FIFA experience to HD, with roaring 3D fans, sweat-covered players and an intuitive gameplay interface that allows you to access the game's edit menu on the fly. That can only mean one thing: G-G-G-G-GOOOAAAL!!!
Political correctness blasts back to the Wild West with the sharp-shooting Gun. Protagonist Colton White drinks firewater to restore his health, guns down Indians like he's shooting hoops and receives regular "direction" from a saloon prostitute. Never before has the Microsoft Xbox 360 made 19th-century American history seem so (dead or) alive.
Say this for the decidedly mature-audiences-only Gun: There's no lack of people or animals to shoot deader than disco. The game plays out in third-person perspective, with White attempting to, ahem, address those who've wronged him. A neat quick-draw feature lets the vengeance-minded White blast away in slow motion, and various upgradeable scoped rifles offer opportunities to snipe from safe distances. Open-ended play allows for a variety of missions and challenges, from shooting lawmen, Indians and criminals to gold-mining, commandeering trains, playing poker, hunting buffalo, riding horseback and collecting bounty and scalps.
Activision tapped Hollywood screenwriter Randall Jahnson (The Doors, The Mask of Zorro) to pen the game's sprawling storyline, and singer/actor Kris Kristofferson lends his voice to play White's old man. Stabs at historical accuracy ensure access to shotguns, six-shooters, Gatling guns, bows and arrows--plus the occasional stick of dynamite.
Your story: As the charming elf Kameo, you've inherited some radical powers from mom, Queen Theena. Your sis, Kalus isn't so lucky and gets crazy with jealousy and releases Dark King Thorn from prison. He promptly throws the peaceful kingdom into total chaos and captures your whole clan.
Your mission: to stop Kalus and Thorn from reigning and release your peeps. Your method: transform into ten different elemental warriors in this stunning adventure for the Xbox 360. Of course you'll have to capture these monsters before you actually put them to work. Yep, it's like Pokemon, but for adults.
Each warrior has it's own special fighting skills, strengths and secrets springing from a different element: plant, water, rock, ice and fire. Once you've pulled your arsenal of elements together, you'll use close combat, long-range launching of projectiles (such as ice spears, good ol' rocks) and tons of other clever combos of skills to take down massive armies and some of the coolest bosses you've ever seen. Your monsters will also be key to exploring the ginormous, breath takingly-rendered 3D worlds and solving puzzles. In short, this is a game about so much more than just kicking mythical ass.
Team Madden drops fire once again with Madden 06. And why is O6 so damn en fuego? It allows you to harness the assassin-like QB abilities of your inner Peyton Manning. Ommmm.With Madden 06's QB Vision Control, steered by your controller's right analog stick, you can shift your QB's head to scan for open receivers on the run. With QB Precision Placement, controlled by the left analog stick, you can re-route a receiver to an opening, keeping passes away from sticky fingered pass coverage. Can I get an amen? Other improvements to the offensive playbook include formation-specific audibles, smart routes, head-tracking by receivers (no more throwing passes into a receiver's back) and Truck Stick Control (which turns your running back into a destroy-all Berserker). NFL Superstar Mode allows you to raise your very own football superstar, guiding him from rags to riches. The ultimate goal? Movie Star, of course. Even better, you can import a player you've already created from NCAA Football 06 or NFL Street and integrate him into NFL Superstar Mode. CRAZY! When computerized football gets this good, it's time to skip two-a-days, stay on the couch, and huddle up! Who got game?! Madden 06, y'all, and it's really ALL in the game this time.
With Dr. Shaqenstein himself on the box cover, you know this disc, you'll probably want to take control of the dominatin' Miami Heat and terrorize the entire league. Or, go for a real challenge and helm a crappy-ass team like the pathetic Knicks and see if you've got the handles to survive a season.
Sure, NBA 2K is the basketball series that rules them all each and every year, and the all-new Shot Stick makes certain that it retains its title. Use the stick to finesse your shots, no matter if you're pulling off a monster dunk or a fade-away. Show 'em who's sweet.
But wait, there's more. Check out the disc's all new Strip N Rip defensive controls. Deflect or steal passes, or strip the rock away from Kobe as he drives the lane. And 2K6's franchise mode is now even deeper than ever before. Hire and fire coaches, scout draft-picks, and keep your happy fans buying up those tickets. Bottom line: it's a game sure to keep your sneakers squeakin' long after the season ends.
NBA Live 06 is a high-flying, break-ya-ankles-and-keep-the-change-sucka, five-on-five basketball jump-off. With all of the NBA's fiercest superstars on board, Live 06 breaks players down into six categories: Highflyer (LeBron James), Playmaker (Steve Nash), Scorer (Allen Iverson), Sharpshooter (Ray Allen), Stopper (Kevin Garnett) and Power Player (Ben Wallace). Using each player's uber-moves (determined by their category and executed by hitting the right analog stick and trigger button), you can create rim-shaking jams, killer crossovers, crushing blocks, swift-handed dishes and fox-like steals, all of which are accompanied by animated sequences. The gameplay keeps you on your toes: Will you try and dunk on a "Stopper," or will you cross a "Playmaker?" Live 06's Dynasty Mode also allows you to build a round ball empire: control your own franchise, choose your coaching staff and nurture that young buck on the rise to being the next MJ. NBA All-Star Weekend mode lets you impress old guard onlookers in the Rookie Challenge, step up to the seasoned vets in the All-Star Game, throw down some heat in the Slam Dunk contest or make it rain in the 3 Point Shootout. With Marv Albert and Steve Kerr providing game commentary, Live 06 really is live, y'all! So get amped for this one and give your roommate, or an online opponent, a much-needed poster-izing!
In Need for Speed: Most Wanted, your girlfriend looks like model Josie Maran. Your car's been stolen by a no-goodnik named Razor. And your rap sheet is longer than Suge Knight's.
Most Wanted is the 10th title in the popular street racing series. For this momentous occasion, Electronic Arts and Black Box deliver an automotive feast, with more than 30 cars, around 65 specific challenges for drivers, and a story mode that takes about 30 hours to complete. Flagrant traffic offenses bring the fuzz, and a meter tracks how interested they are at any given point. Get busted, and you'll receive your own walk of shame to the back of the police car, complete with COPS-style pixilation over your face.
Electronic Arts brought BMW, Porsche, Ford, Audi, Toyota and Mazda on board for Most Wanted. The resulting automobiles are suitably impressive, too, including Corvettes, Supras, McLarens, Carreras and Gallardos. Each car is customizable, and this time, augmentation kits are vehicle-specific.
NHL 2K6 not only represents a remarkable visual upgrade-the game's ice is so reflective, Marv Albert could use it to adjust his toupee-it's also the only sports title that also features a bona fide gameplay upgrade, too.
The all new in-the-crease controls mean that in addition to your normal puck-babysitting duties, you'll also have to keep an eye on your goalie whenever you play defense. When your opponent crosses into your territory, give the old right control stick a quick click. This makes a V-shaped fan icon pop up on the screen in front of the net. Get your goalie into position by keeping the puck in front of you. When someone takes a shot on goal, a cool behind-the-goalie screen pops up and you'll have a chance to put the ka-bash on the shot.
Sound complex? It's not. In fact, it works pretty much seamlessly into the game. It also serves to dramatize those shots on goal more than ever. The 360's horsepower means that player models and arenas have never looked sweeter.
It's an even-money bet that evil will rear its stupid monkey face sometime in the future-say, in November for the Xbox 360 launch. And when it does, the superhot bounty hunter Joanna Dark, star of the first-person shooter Perfect Dark Zero, will be there to give evil the hot lead and cold response it deserves.
Perhaps the most anticipated of the Xbox 360 launch titles, Zero is a prequel to the classic Nintendo 64 shooter Perfect Dark. It takes place in 2020 and features a younger Joanna learning the ropes while storming through a series of indoor and outdoor worlds. Using both stealth and brute force, Dark and her father must investigate a conspiracy involving aliens, corporate warfare and a presidential assassination. You know, the kind of far-flung treachery that seems to haunt video games.
Expect the standard complement of 20-plus pistols, rifles and guns, each with a secondary fire option. Dark will also have access to a series of high-tech gadgets, a jetpack allowing her to soar for short distances and vehicles such as Hovercraft. Her spy's life can be fleshed out with two-player cooperative play, four-player split-screen action and 32-player combat via Xbox Live 360.
Hail to the King, baby. With Peter Jackson's big-budget remake of King Kong on the way, Ubisoft and its master designer Michel Ancel bring the giant ape to Xbox 360 for a New York City-crushing adventure.
The game features two playable characters: behemoth Kong and puny human Jack Driscoll. As Driscoll in the first-person perspective, you are a potential midday snack for hundreds of dinosaurs on Skull Island. Sure, you have access to spears and various guns, but your best weapon is that lump on your shoulders (aka your brain). You can't outfight or outrun your foes, but you can outthink them.
When the misunderstood Kong takes over as the game's star, things shift into the third-person perspective, and there's not a banana big enough to keep this angry ape from jamming his fist down the throat of, well, just about anything. Kong can chomp the heads off smaller dinosaurs before tossing them aside or waste Tyrannosaurus Rexes by ripping their jaws or crushing their backs over his shoulders. Oh, and when Kong gets to New York City for the game's finale, he'll be bringing his two best friends: massive property damage and destruction.
Project Gotham Racing 3, an Xbox 360exclusive, is Pimp My Ride on Balco-grade vitamins. As with the franchise's previous releases, PGR3 incorporates the hottest whips on the planet into its playable roster, matching them with some of the most aggressively charged race courses to date. With 80 authentically generated super cruisers (including fully authentic, functional dash gauges), PGR3 allows franchise fanatics to play both online or off- and incorporates challenges that rate both style and speed. In the Kudos Challenge, you must attempt technical moves such as wheelies, power slides and high-torque donuts. If successful, you'll win some hard-earned points. The game plays out in two different game modes, Gotham Career or Playtime, and has various race types such as Eliminator, Team Eliminator, Street Race, Team Street Race and Capture the Track. In the online-only "GothamTV" feed, your friends and foes can monitor your race progress and find out if you beat a previous track record or totally botched it. And to make the game even more ill, you can design your own course in Route Creator and let people race on it online. Time to rev up that Lotus Elise, Shelby Cobra or Ferrari Enzo --and get those tires smokin'.
Mom said violence never solves anything. Boy was she wrong. In the first-person shooter Quake 4, violence solves everything-and it looks really cool, too. Quake 4 takes its cue from the epic shooter Doom 3 and uses its technology to power gorgeous graphics and adrenaline-pumping gameplay. Like Doom, Quake features a deep, 10-15 hour, single-player adventure. As space mariner Matthew Kane, players must invade another planet to shoot wave after wave of hostile aliens.
Of course, great shooting demands a great arsenal, and Kane can pick from weapons both mundane and exotic, including shotguns, rail-, nail- and lightning-guns, grenade and rocket launchers, an energy-tossing hyperblaster and a super-powered, dark-matter cannon. Allied marines can update the tools of destruction, making them more lethal, and they can also provide armor repairs and quick healing when necessary. The game even has-gasp!-a really neat plot twist (that dramatically shifts gameplay) to complement its unfettered violence.
Multiplayer fragfests and capture-the-flag competition via Xbox 360 Live are a certainty, although Activision has yet to confirm how many players can compete at once.
Can you actually OD on video game racing? That might be possible with the gorgeous Ridge Racer 6, featuring a lineup of 130 cars in eight categories, 30 tracks, 230 race challenges, eight-person online play via Xbox 360 Live and the promise of downloadable content sometime in the not-too-distant future.
Ridge Racer 6 marks the first time the venerable racing series has appeared on either of Microsoft's Xboxes and, for the laymen out there, it's a doozy of a whopper of a beauty. High-resolution car models and smooth 60-frames-per-second animation (even with 14 vehicles racing at once) show off the Xbox 360's graphic and processing capabilities. And that doesn't even hint at the game's tremendous sense of speed, especially when a nitrous oxide boost kicks in and a car ramps from 100 mph to near-warp-speed in nothing flat.
Online options include leaderboards, head-to-head racing and special "ghost car" challenges in which players can upload their best treks on a given course for others to attempt to beat. Namco hasn't said what downloadable goodies it will offer, but new cars and race courses are a sure bet.
Tiger Woods PGA Tour 06 is the most competitive golf game to date. Yeah, we said it. Tiger 06's all-new Rival Mode pits you against golf's most acclaimed marksmen: Old Tom Morris, Ben Hogan, Arnold Palmer, Jack Nicklaus and an arsenal of contemporary stars, helmed by Captain Woods. Can you step up to the tee against these cocky pros? Most important, Tiger 06 has two major revamps: dual analog stick shot control and gridded-out putting greens. So now you can control the trajectory (right stick) and power (left stick) of your drives as well as size up and nail those 50-foot, dream-to-drain putts. Tiger 06 also lets you call shots and wager on them, if you dare, and the Gamebreaker Meter allows you to maximize your attributes when you hit a perfect shot under pressure. With 15 courses to choose from, a closet full of Polos and Chaps to rock and a newly crafted Tiger swing to test out (transferred to the game via motion-capture technology), Tiger 06 is a hole-in-one.
Tony Hawk's American Wasteland is a thrasher's ultimate playground. The seventh installment in the Birdman's game series sends you tearing through L.A., East L.A., Santa Monica and Hollywood as a transplanted Midwestern teen looking to make it in the skate world. Your adopted crew kicks it at an ever-evolving skate haven called Skate Ranch that, during the course of the game, you must try to save from real-estate tycoons. Sporting a new bag of board tricks, including Bert slides, manuals and one-footed grinds, THAW also allows you to visit an array of skate shops, tattoo parlors and barbershops, all ready to outfit or style your electronic persona to the fullest. As for playability, you can rip in either Story Mode or Classic Mode, and when modes are beaten, you unlock secret skate shredsmiths. Sick! As if things couldn't get any more rad, THAW employs occasional BMX riding to accomplish certain goals. Skate or die, y'all!
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