Gaming News For The Week of Tuesday, December 13, 2011
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Beautiful graphics and interesting mechanics does not a good game make.
Xotic is a peculiar beast. Developer WXP Games has created something that’s somewhat hard to describe yet familiar when you actually play it. As the reviewer though, I need to do my best in doing so. Okay. Xotic (pronounced like exotic) is a first person shooter with an emphasis on scoring and clearing a level like that of a puzzle game. You are sent to stop the Orb, which is a being that evolved beyond its physical body and has gone mad and is now destroying planets. The way you accomplish this is by completing each level by destroying enemies, collecting power-ups and shooting orb plants in order to get a combo going and raise your high score. Despite impressive art design and surprisingly deep game mechanics, none of this actually melds into a cohesive whole and you’ll be left disappointed at a game that at first held promise but quickly grows frustrating.
The new dashboard obscures the community made titles and hinders their associated abilities.
Now that the new Xbox 360 Dashboard is live, reports are coming in that the new features of the dashboard do not extend to Xbox Live Indie Games. Both beacons and cloud storage saves aren't supported for these titles and unlike both Arcade and retail releases, these do not show up under the New Release section, making them somewhat hidden from view.
The Pixar game for the Kinect can be had this spring.
Disney-Pixar today set a release date for Kinect Rush: A Disney-Pixar Adventure. The game will be available on March 20, 2012 and will retail for $50. The new title for the Xbox 360's Kinect add-on will feature characters from Pixar's animated films such as Ratatouille, Cars and Toy Story.
Microsoft's problems with the new dashboard continue.
As the new dashboard for the Xbox 360 is introduced to millions of gamers, some changes are upsetting users. IGN is reporting that the Party feature in the Netflix app is no longer there. This feature used to allow Xbox Live subscribers to hang out with their friends' Avatars while watching a movie or show on Netflix. Microsoft offered this statement about the feature's removal:
The new update was a shaky one.
The rollout of the new Xbox 360 Dashboard has been rough. After being delayed until late last night, various problems have been reported by Xbox 360 users. Microsoft's Major Nelson stated on his twitter account that Microsoft is working on fixing the problems users are having. As of now, it appears that most, if not all of the issues have been resolved.
Set to release today, the new Dashboard is now TBD.
Major Nelson sent a tweet earlier this morning at 7 AM in regards to the new Xbox Dashboard update that was scheduled to be released. The tweet goes as follows: "FYI: The timing for Xbox 360 dashboard update has been slightly delayed. I’ll have a status update later today."
YouTube and TV providers missing the update's launch.
The big Xbox 360 fall dashboard update is finally coming out tomorrow and I personally blame my OCD tendencies for being so excited for it. Announced this year at E3 2011, the update includes Bing searching, YouTube, Live TV and EPIX, among other features. A UFC app was also announced but we know that it's been delayed to December 20 instead of its original date of December 1. Now it seems that the dashboard update will be missing a lot of the announced apps, at least at launch.
Wasn't it supposed to be better?
Some new specs have been released about the Wii U console Nintendo announced this past E3. Since the convention, details have been sparse and little has been revealed. However, an unnamed Japanese developer who is allegedly porting a PlayStation 3 game to the console has leaked out these details about the console's internal power. Nintendo has not officially announced anything yet so this is only speculative at the moment.
Watching dudes beating the crap out of each other on the 360 will have to wait a bit longer.
The UFC on Xbox Live app will be released on December 20, a delay of three weeks from the previously announced date. The app will allow Xbox Live members to watch UFC pay-per-view events, use Kinect to control playback and communicate with other viewers on your friends list if you have a Gold membership.
