Xbox event this Wednesday ! Voice Control finally coming to Australia
Posted Friday, October 21, 2011 at 4:03 pm by Jason Cartwright
This week invites went out to press for an upcoming Xbox event in Sydney on Wednesday. The event is NOT open to the general public, so don’t even try, but the good news is, Xbox Voice support in Australia will finally arrive soon. At Tech.Ed, Microsoft said voice support for the Australian accent would land before the end of the year, it looks like they will meet that deadline.
The event invitation arrived in the form of a image using the new Metro-style Xbox Dashboard UI. There’s a good chance this means Aussie voice control for Kinect will arrive when the Dashboard update does. Current indicators lead to a Novemeber release for that.
Microsoft Australia invites you to experience entertainment.
Join us as we share Microsoft’s vision for entertainment featuring natural user interfaces and the first eve Australian media preview of voice control on Kinect for xbox 360.
Guests can get hands on with Microsoft’s entertainment products, including soon to be released Xbox 360 games and applications across television, pc and phones.
At the event guests will receive a gift enabling them to experience the promise of voice control.
Forza 4 demo now on Xbox Live for Gold Members. Get it.
Posted Monday, October 3, 2011 at 7:56 pm by Jason Cartwright
Forza is back with another edition. The demo of Forza 4 has just hit the Xbox 360, weighing in at 1.27GB the wait for it to download will be agonizing for Forza fans. The download is being rolled out around the world, so some users may not see it yet. I have heard a couple of people have had success by logging out and back in repeatedly.
The demo will provide a taste of the new changes in Forza 4. More cars than ever before, improved physics and lighting, enhanced damage engine, but sadly no Kinect integration.
Update
You can now initiate the download of the Forza 4 demo via the Xbox Marketplace. Keep in mind that you will need a Gold Xbox Live Membership to get the demo today, those cheapskates have to wait a few more days.
First Impressions
Here’s what we know so far.. first off, the car models look fantastic! Ridiculously high polygons count, lines are perfectly curved, no 8 sided circles anywhere to be seen. There’s also a brand new physics engine that allows weight to be transferred not only front to back (under braking and acceleration), but suspension now compresses per-wheel. There’s subtle shakiness that just wasn’t there in Forza 3 giving the car a more realistic feeling of speed, particularly over bumps at high speed.
There’s also a new lighting engine which is shows off great shadows and car reflections, while the environment is complimented by an amazing sky texture. The only track available in the demo is a new one, called Bernese Alps, it’s a made up track, set in a realistic environment.
The demo consists of two game modes, Quick Race and Rivals. Play Career, Community and AutoVista is greyed out and unavailable. There’s 3 cars on offer in the Quick Race, the The 1970 Mercury Cougar Eliminator, 2011 Subaru WRX STI and 2010 Ferrari 458 Italia. The Pagati Zhonda C, BMW F10 M5 and Ferrari 458 are available to drive in the Rival challenges.
The damage system is significantly different. Scratches and impacts only effect that specific area where the contact takes place. In previous editions, a contact with the side of a car would simply switch in a crashed texture for the side of the vehicle. This is much more detailed and realistic. I’d expect nothing less from Turn 10.
Availability
The demo’s purpose of course is to entice you enough to buy the full game. While the demo lists the release date as October 11th, Aussie retailers have the 13th listed.
More information @ Xbox and ForzaMotorsport.
Battlefield 3 beta now available on Xbox Live
Posted Thursday, September 29, 2011 at 8:40 pm by Jason Cartwright
Those PC gamers got a few days head start, but Battlefield 3 beta has reached the Xbox 360. It’ll cost you 1.3GB of downloads, but judging from the videos I’ve seen so far, it’ll be totally worth it.
Download it now @ Xbox.com or directly from your Xbox 360.
Gears of War 3 experiencing matchmaking issues
Posted Monday, September 26, 2011 at 8:03 am by Jason Cartwright
After completing the single player campaign, over the weekend I tried multiple times to connect to a multi-player game online. Despite there being tens of thousands of players online, Gears was unable to find a suitable game to join. Regardless of the game mode selected, Verses, Horde or Beast the result was the often the same.
“No suitable matches could be found”.
After around 20 attempts, I finally managed to join one match. A 1 in 20 success rate really isn’t good enough, that said matchmaking never has been an exact art, closer to a black art. In this instance, it’s making reviewing this part of the game very difficult.
How has your GOW3 multiplayer experience been ?
Cliffy B tries on a bad Aussie accent for GOW3 fans
Posted Thursday, September 22, 2011 at 5:57 pm by Jason Cartwright
In a clearly (badly) scripted video, Cliffy B appeals to Australian Gears of War fans by throwing out some classic Aussie phrases. While its always charming to see Australia recognised, the accent is pretty bad, luckily it only lasts 30 seconds. The video is really a preview of third chapter of the smash hit first person shooter.
After picking up the game on launch day (September 20th), the subsequent evening have been taken up by Gears. Now at Act 5 of single player, expect a full review soon. Initial thoughts on the game, is that it is, without a doubt the best of the Gears franchise. Environments are beautiful, Bosses are insanely oversized and the biceps are bigger than ever before. There is one annoyingly Australian accented female character, nothing against Claudia Black personally, the voice just simply doesn’t match the character.
During the video, Gears spokesman Cliffy B points out and shows off the multiplayer gameplay. Developers implemented feedback from the 1.3 Million beta users. Check out the bad video below (we still love you Cliff).
Gears of War 3 is available now exclusively on Xbox 360.
Gears of War 3 midnight launch detailed. Prizes on offer.
Posted Friday, September 16, 2011 at 2:52 pm by Jason Cartwright
Launching September 20th worldwide, the fastest pre-selling Xbox exclusive in history, Gears of War 3 goes on sale in more than 20,000 stores. For a game with this much anticipation, there’s a only one way to launch, that’s with a midnight release. GOW3 fans should expect to be seriously tired next Wednesday.
Rock star design director Cliff Bleszinski from Epic says “This is by far the biggest, most polished, and most ambitious game we’ve ever made.” We’d expect nothing less CliffyB. Attendees at Australian “Gears” launch events will have the opportunity to take part in exclusive competitions and to win prizes.
Promotional activities scheduled for the EB Games MacArthur Square, Sydney event include:
- Gift bags will be given to the first 300 people to collect their pre-ordered copy of Gears of War 3
- Dress up competitions for fans who attend the event
- Access to play the latest Kinect on Xbox 360 games at the venue
- Refreshments will be provided to Official Launch event attendees
Other Midnight Launch events will take place around Australia at retail outlets in ACT, New South Wales, Queensland, Victoria and Tasmania.
“Golden Wings Week”
To celebrate the release, Microsoft is partnering with the US Air Force for “Gears of War 3 Golden Wings Week.” You can unlock the Golden Lancer and Golden Hammerburst multiplayer weapon skins by playing any match on Xbox LIVE from Sept. 20-26th.
Gears of War 3 is available for preorder in three varieties – Standard (A$99.95), Limited ($129.95) and Epic (A$195.93).
For more information, check out gearsofwar.xbox.com.
