Xbox 360

Modern Warfare 2 blasts all-time entertainment industry records

By Darren Quick

04:05 November 20, 2009 PST

The controversy caused by leaked scenes of a level of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 where the player mows down innocent civilians at a Russian airport has done nothing to slow sales of the much-anticipated game. Released worldwide on November 10, the game has set an all-time entertainment industry record, grossing an estimated US$550 million in its first five days. Read More

OpenOfficeMouse promises to be quite a handful

By Jeff Salton

17:49 November 9, 2009 PST

WarMouse is to release an 18-button mouse with an analog joystick which the company says supports up to 52 key commands. The OpenOfficeMouse, billed as the first multi-button application mouse designed for a wide variety of software applications, including Adobe Photoshop, Autodesk AutoCAD, Microsoft Office, and OpenOffice.org 3.1 (plus a few games), is intended to provide a faster and more efficient user interface for many common complex software applications than the conventional icons, pull-down menus and hotkeys. Read More

Microsoft launches long awaited Windows 7

By Mick Webb

20:13 October 22, 2009 PDT

After much anticipation and speculation, Microsoft has finally released its long awaited Windows 7 operating system. Aiming to make it easier for users to “do the things they want to do on a PC”, Microsoft’s successor to the largely ill-conceived Vista brings a host of new features to the table. Read More

Logitech rock Wii and Xbox 360 with Wireless Drum and Guitar Controllers

By Mick Webb

11:02 September 10, 2009 PDT

In exciting news for Guitar Hero fans, Logitech has made good on its promise to release premium Wireless Drum and Guitar Controllers for the Wii and Xbox360. Following on from the initial release for the PS3, Logitech’s new peripherals will have lounge room rock stars rejoicing – and all in time for Guitar Hero 5. Read More

High definition universal gaming cable for Xbox 360, PS3 and Wii

By Jeff Salton

19:42 August 23, 2009 PDT

Gamers with more than one high definition console should be able to take full advantage of the new Blaze 3-in-1 component cable, with three connectors that enable you to use a single, high quality cable for Xbox 360, PS3 and Nintendo Wii. Read More

Microsoft shows off Project Natal motion-sensing control

By Darren Quick

00:58 June 3, 2009 PDT

“You are the controller.” No, it’s not some new Zen proverb for gamers, it’s how Microsoft describes its new motion-sensing, controller-free technology code-named Project Natal. Following details leaked a few weeks ago when the US patent office released documents, Microsoft has given a demonstration of the technology that looks and behaves a little like a Sony PlayStation Eye on some serious steroids. Read More

Autonomous Rotorcraft Sniper System packs .338-caliber rifle controlled by Xbox 360 pad

By Paul Evans

00:43 April 29, 2009 PDT

Late last year reports surfaced of a modified radio controlled helicopter equipped with a .45 caliber hand gun, including a video of the RC copter doing target practice with live ammunition (see below). It seems the US Army have been thinking along the same lines, except this version carries a .338 caliber sniper rifle. Read More

Xbox 360 set for Wii-style motion control with Gametrak Freedom

By Jamilah Le

04:51 March 30, 2009 PDT

No one could fail to notice it bears an uncanny resemblance to the Wii remote (Wiimote) and the folks at Performance Designed Products (PDP) claim that the Gametrak Freedom - a new control device set for release on the Xbox 360 - is the most accurate and versatile 3D motion controller on the market. Read More

Resident Evil 5 review (Xbox 360)

By Tim Hanlon

17:55 March 23, 2009 PDT

Capcom released the first Resident Evil game on the PSone back in 1996, and coined the term "survival horror" to describe it. The game was a critical and commercial hit, and spawned countless sequels (which sold over 34 million units) and a trilogy of live action movies starring Milla Jovovich. Resident Evil 5 is the first game of the series released for this generation of consoles, and the first game to be designed for co-operative play. Read on for our full review. Read More

Do the Guitar Hero World Tour instruments work with Rock Band 2, and vice versa?

By Tim Hanlon

03:29 February 9, 2009 PST

We're still getting a heap of traffic to our Guitar Hero World Tour vs Rock Band 2 article, and a lot of it is from people looking to find out whether the Guitar Hero World Tour instruments work with Rock Band, and vice versa. We've done some experimenting - here's the results. Read More

Halo Wars demo released on Xbox Live

By Tim Hanlon

01:04 February 6, 2009 PST

A demo of Halo Wars, the eagerly awaited real-time strategy game set in the Halo universe, has been released on Xbox Live. The 1.4GB demo is available to Xbox Live members in all regions. Read on for our impressions. Read More

Resident Evil 5 demo hits Xbox Live

By Tim Hanlon

02:16 January 27, 2009 PST

After having been available in Japan since 2008, the demo for Capcom's upcoming survival horror game Resident Evil 5 has finally been made available to Xbox Live Gold subscribers in all regions. Silver account holders have to wait until January 29, with PS3 owners getting theirs last on February 2. Everyone else will just have to check out the screenshots. Read More

How Sony's R&D budget subsidized the Xbox 360 processor for Microsoft

By Tim Hanlon

23:58 January 1, 2009 PST

When Sony entered into a partnership with Toshiba and IBM to design the Cell processor for their PlayStation 3, they agreed that IBM would eventually sell the Cell to other companies. What they didn't know was that parts of the Cell would be sold to their major competitor Microsoft for use in the Xbox 360 processor - before the Cell was completed. Read More

Ghostbusters: The Video Game in development

By Mick Webb

15:45 November 27, 2008 PST

Who ya gonna call? Atari have teamed up with developers Terminal Reality and Sony Pictures to bring gamers the eagerly awaited Ghostbusters: The Video Game. The release is set to coincide with the 25th anniversary of the original slime-fest, and will be available across all current-generation systems - excluding the PSP. Read More

New Mégane Coupé to get video game introduction

By Darren Quick

00:05 October 21, 2008 PDT

Move over motor shows, it seems that video games are becoming the platform of choice for manufacturers wanting to throw a spotlight on their shiny new wares. Citroen is using this tactic to showcase its latest concept car and now Renault has announced that video game fans will be the very first to get behind the wheel of its new Mégane Coupé in the latest installment of Electronic Arts’ popular Need for Speed series: Need for Speed Undercover. Read More

Race Driver: GRID Review (Xbox 360)

By Tim Hanlon

21:08 July 21, 2008 PDT

July 22, 2008 Codemasters returned to their prior reputable standing as racing game developers with the release of Colin McRae DIRT last June. This year, Race Driver: GRID resurrects another last-gen favorite for the current generation of consoles - here's our full review. Read More

Xbox 360 gets DivX/XviD playback, we put it to the test

By Tim Hanlon

17:08 December 4, 2007 PST

The Xbox 360 Fall Dashboard Update arrived overnight, and added a long list of new functionality - although the one thing most people are interested in is the relatively unexpected arrival of DivX/XviD playback. We've spent the morning messing about with it to bring you the lowdown... because we figured your boss wouldn't call watching videos "work." Read More

Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare Review (Xbox 360)

By Tim Hanlon

21:59 November 27, 2007 PST

It's official - World War II games are dead. Infinity Ward has brought the iconic Call of Duty series into the 21st Century with a flash-bang, giving Tom Clancy a run for his money with an epic depiction of modern war. Read on for a full review of what the guys at our video game blog, The Gamer Gene are calling a hot contender for Game of the Year. Read More

Xbox 360 Arcade console announced

By Tim Hanlon

23:57 October 23, 2007 PDT

Microsoft has officially announced another of their worst kept secrets - the Xbox 360 Arcade unit - some time after the units first appeared in stores across North America. The new entry-level bundle will replace the aging Xbox 360 Core bundle, and while it remains hard drive-less, it includes a much smaller Memory Unit - which isn't big enough for downloading high-definition TV episodes from the Xbox Live Video Marketplace, but will suffice to save your progress in games, and download new titles from the Xbox Live Arcade. Read More

BioShock Review (Xbox 360)

By Tim Hanlon

09:33 September 3, 2007 PDT

While gamers and the gaming press continue to rave over what is almost undisputedly the most immersive first-person shooter experience yet, there's a reasonable chance that part of Gizmag's readership remain unconvinced, or even unaware of BioShock. Do you read science-fiction? Think first-person shooters all went downhill after Doom? Looking for a game that offers moral choices? Do yourself a favor and check out an in-depth review of BioShock for the Xbox 360 over at our game blog, The Gamer Gene. Read More

Spiderman 3 Review (Xbox 360)

By Tim Hanlon

May 22, 2007 Movie licensed games are typically horrible, and should be avoided at all costs. The precedent was set way back in 1982, when lengthy licensing negotiations left a single Atari programmer with just 5 weeks to conceive and develop the entire "E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial" game. Despite being widely regarded as the worst game ever made, it sold 1.5 million copies - making it the eighth best selling game for the Atari 2600. For obvious reasons, countless movies have been turned into games since 1982, and a mere few gems like Goldeneye 007 and Star Wars Episode 1: Pod Racer have emerged from the noise. Did the developers of Spiderman 3 get enough development time to deliver a polished game in time for the movie? Our Games Editor has the full story. Read More

Guitar Hero 2 Review (Xbox 360)

By Tim Hanlon

April 30, 2007 As you might imagine, we're surrounded with technology at the Gizmag office...and we thought we'd learned to do a pretty good job of soldiering on despite all the distractions the wired lifestyle brings. Alas, those times are over now, and we refer to the period as BG (Before Guitar Hero). For the uninitiated, Guitar Hero is rock and roll condensed into a video game, complete with plastic guitar controller and a drummer who always turns up to practice on time (and doesn't hit on your girlfriend). The original Playstation 2 game sold over one million units in its first year, and the sequel sold over 1.3 million units in 2006 - 800,000 in December alone - and it's hooked everyone from the neighbors seven-year-old to members of the prog-rock super-group Tool. Now it's here on the Xbox 360 in crisp 720p resolution with 10 additional tracks - if you've listened to guitar music at all in the last thirty years, read on for the full review, video and track list. Read More

The Xbox 360 is back in black

By Tim Hanlon

March 29, 2007 After more rumours (and denials) than you can shake a stick at, Microsoft have officially announced the new Xbox 360 Elite, and somehow managed to leave us with more questions than answers. What we can safely tell you is that it's got an HDMI port, comes with a 120GB HDD...and it's black. Read More

Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter 2 Review (Xbox 360)

By Tim Hanlon

March 28, 2007 If you have ever doubted just how much advantage the Dominator system equates to on the battlefield, here's your opportunity to sample it first hand. Was the development of the real Dominator and the interface to Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter 2 linked? We don't know but when our games editor saw the real system demonstrated, he visibly paled. Ubisoft has already given gamers in Australia 10,000 good reasons (AUD$10,000) to play this game in an upcoming Xbox Live tournament. This no doubt left the majority of our readers, who can't play online games competitively and don't live in Australia, entirely unconvinced. Here's our games editor with a full review. Read More

Australian Xbox Live tournament offers $10,000 first prize

By Tim Hanlon

March 5, 2007 - Ubisoft-published game Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon: Advanced Warfighter (GRAW) was released last March, and went on to sell 1.4 million copies in its first seven weeks. Sales figures of this caliber generally guarantee sequels, and sure enough, this Thursday (March 8th, 2007) sees the release of GRAW 2. You've probably already played the multiplayer demo released on the Xbox Live Marketplace in February, but there's no question those who haven't will have a newfound interest in the game now there's a chance to win AU$10,000 playing it online. Read More