Oh yes. As promised, the ban hammer is a’coming.
Starting on Tuesday, August 24th – we will be swiftly and indefinitely banishing from the world of Red Dead Redemption multiplayer all Gamertags and PSN IDs we’ve detected with hacked game saves. Such cheating is a clear violation of our code of conduct, and punishable at our sole discretion.
If you are one of these people, we are giving you this last chance for REDEMPTION to restore your HONOR: you have one week from today to delete your hacked game save to be spared the hammer’s swift justice on the 24th.
Some notes to be aware of:
This will not apply to those people who simply took advantage of temporarily exploits to rapidly grind up XP a few weeks ago. We are able to tell who actually hacked their save to have impossible scores.
Banned hackers will also be removed from the leaderboards.
To be spared, any hacked saves that you have will need to be deleted – single player as well as multiplayer. You should be aware that everything is wiped when deleting saves. These are the only exceptions:
1. Players would keep any Achievements/Trophies they had already earned.
2. All preorder items tied to their accounts would be unlocked for them upon signing in and creating a new save while connected to Xbox LIVE or PlayStation Network
3. Any cheats earned through Social Club would be unlocked for them upon signing in and creating a new save while connected to Xbox LIVE or PlayStation Network
After deleting your hacked game save(s), you will then need to go online with Red Dead Redemption (prior to August 24th) for it to register that you’re now playing clean. For single-player saves, you will need to re-play the game while connected until you gain access to the safehouse at MacFarlane’s ranch. For multiplayer saves, you will need to play one full game online or do one Gang Hideout.
Microsoft recently uploaded the entirety of Halo: Reach onto Xbox Live Marketplace strictly for game reviewers to download but a group of modders found out and have been able to attain the game for themselves. The group claims they broke through Microsoft’s security and were able to download the game and play it, though they say they will not give away exactly how they were able to obtain the game and that they will not release the game for others to download, those selfish modders.
“So after alot of .xex cracking etc.. Me and my team finally did it, we got Halo: Reach!,” the modders claimed. “This is not released for public, and we are not really planning on releasing either.”
Bungie is apparently aware of the leak and is pleading with it’s forum users to try to avoid posting spoilers to those that have been able to get the game early and to stay clear of internet message boards for those that don’t want the experience ruined before Reach’s official release on September 14th.
“Posting to Discuss, Request, or Link To information or campaign spoilers from illegitimately obtained sources — including illegitimately obtained copies of Halo: Reach — before the game is officially released will be considered a leak and will be treated as such,” Bungie warned.
“The moderation team is doing their best, but if you want to stay 100% spoiler free, our best advice is to ‘go dark’ by staying off all internet gaming forums until you have played through the game!”
Nick Burton, senior programmer at avatar creators Rare, has today brought news of what is essentially “Avatar 2.0″ for the Microsoft Xbox 360, The newer avatars will sport more realistic appearances and dimensions to better match the input from Kinect.
The proportions will be made more realistic because hand-eye co-ordination broke when using the old cartoony proportions – not in terms of hardware but rather, player perception.
No exact date has been given, but seeing as though Kinect is set for launch this November you can rest assured this update will occur by then along with the next major dashboard update.
With the recent controversy over the Gran Turismo 5 video that was originally showing a horrible load time (which we debunked), we decided it would useful to follow-up by examining loading times for the Nürburgring track on various games and across various platforms.
The results were fairly interesting! Originally we had planned to test Forza Motorsport 2, Forza Motorsport 3, Project Gotham Racing 4, Gran Turismo 4, a video of Gran Turismo 5 from online, and GRID. However, we couldn’t confirm if GRID actually had the full Nordschleife track available, so we cut GRID out.
We began each game afresh, and played until the track was accessible. We then recorded the track loading, starting from the point at which we pressed the appropriate button to begin the race. All 5 videos have been combined so that you can see them side by side. The load times have been documented, but first, check out the video.
Well, no huge shocks here, the long rumored pricing of Kinect at $150 has finally been confirmed, Microsoft has officially announced prices for Kinect, and a new Xbox 360 4GB console.
The new console 4GB Xbox 360 console, Kinect sensor and a copy of launch title Kinect Adventures, will be available in a bundle for £249.99.
“Kinect for Xbox 360 offers fantastic new ways to be entertained for the whole family,” said Chris Lewis,vice president, Interactive Entertainment Business at Microsoft Europe. “With full body, voice and multiplayer play straight out of the box, Kinect is a unique way for everyone to enjoy controller-free fun and entertainment.”
Kinect will be available for existing Xbox 360 owners with a copy of Kinect Adventures for £129.99 ($150).
Microsoft is promising “more than 15 games available at launch,” while the new console is also availabe standalone for £149.99 when it launches on August 20.
