Dude's Gamer Zone | Source for HALO and the Video Game Industry! » TECH

Halo Reach Xbox 360 Unveiled

dude — Fri, 23 Jul 2010 15:19:24 +0000

A new Xbox 360 S was unveiled at this years Comic-Con in San Diego 2010. The Xbox 360 Slim Halo Reach limited edition designed by Halo studio Bungie in honor of their last triumphant Halo game, Halo Reach. The system pulls no punches and includes two controllers, a 250 GB hard drive, a special edition silver-grey-metallic UNSC themed Xbox 360 S, and of course a copy of the game Halo Reach. The console will be available on launch day September 14th for a whopping $399 US and £249 Europe. Major Nelson “Herb” over on twitter says the console makes Halo sound effects when powered on or when the disc tray is ejected. Awesome!

Check out all flavors of Reach including the unboxing of the console above!

Check out the Next Generation of PC Graphics

dude — Tue, 25 May 2010 16:38:29 +0000

PSP 2 may be announced this Summer

dude — Mon, 17 May 2010 18:58:43 +0000

After the embarrassing PSP Go fail is Sony going to redeem itself with the announcement of the PSP 2 at this years E3 Los Angeles in June or at Gamescon in August? That’s what industry insiders are saying. This year may be the year. A new PSP device with graphics on par with the PS3. Yeah, a 2011 release! I really love my PSP 1000 and Sony is such a great hardware designer the PSP 2 will surely be a winner. I think that the PSP should have been a bigger hit, but Sony had so many problems with PS3 pricing and software the PSP just didn’t get the attention it deserved for marketing or software development. The PSP wasn’t a failure, it just could have been a bigger success than it was. Ok, the PSP Go? What the hell was Sony thinking? I think that was a device they wish they could have released in the PSP 1000′s place seven years ago to keep pirates away. A little late don’t you think?

If Sony is smart about its next PSP darling the design better live up to gamer expectations. First of all a touch screen better be included. One on par with the quality screen of the iPhone and multi touch sensing. Next, the device better damn well have two thumb sticks! The first PSP thumb stick worked half-ass along with the D-pad. This was one of the biggest complaints among gamers. Another complaint was the PSP operating system. The PSP 2 must have better operating software, not the “half baked” system the first PSP had. Let software designers hack the thing so they can install legal third party software on it. There is no way around this, but if Sony ever becomes friendly towards third party developers the next PSP should become more popular among the general public. Embracing outside developers should only increase hardware and eventually software sales for the long term. Lastly, make it affordable. The Nintendo DS is affordable and I believe the larger screen 3D version the Nintendo 3Ds will be too. If Sony wants to beat Nintendo they better make it more affordable for the average consumer. At least a reasonable price for the hardware components associated with it.

If the “leaked” tech specs for the next PSP are to be believed then this piece of hardware will be truly impressive. First, a 4-core CPU based on the PS3′s multicore cell processor would be powerful and on par with lower end gaming laptops. The Power VR multicore graphics chip would only compliment the cell processor. Power VR also makes the GPU for Apple corporations fantastic iPad. Power VR specializes in mobile devices so they would definitely be a top choice for that component inside the PSP 2. The rumors about the addition of a camera and microphone interfaced with 3G mobile networks would make the device a good communications tool with other users of the next PSP, the PS3, or even PC’s. 3G connectivity would compliment the standard Wi-fi the PSP already possesses. I wouldn’t worry about battery life for the next PSP if all of this high end tech were to be included. Battery performance has only improved over the last seven years and the lithium ion battery in the iPad is nothing short of phenomenal.

So, is Sony hungry enough to stay in the handheld mobile device market? I think so. They are a smart group and proud of their past hardware. I think they would like nothing more than to become the leader again in the mobile technology sector. Nintendo has already claimed victory over Sony in the console and handheld realms and has turned its sights on Apple as its newest threat. Sony probably feels they would like to enter the fray once again. After all, the PS3 has lots of growth ahead of it. At least for the next 5 years in the Dude’s opinion.

250GB Splinter Cell XBOX 360 Bundle

dude — Tue, 02 Mar 2010 23:03:29 +0000

Finally, Ubisofts new Splinter Cell: Conviction will be arriving next month in a bundle after being delayed. The box will contain a standard black Xbox 360 with a 250GB hard drive, 2 controllers and a copy of the game. The price will be $399. I guess Splinter Cell isn’t a big enough game franchise to warrant its own limited edition console like Infinity Wards Modern Warfare 2. I suppose we’ll have to wait for Halo Reach before getting the largest hard drive with a limited console.

Getting a nice Splinter Cell bundle with a plain console is great and everything, but when is Microsoft going to let the rest of us buy a separate 250GB hard drive for our perfectly working Xbox 360′s? I need to replace my 20Gig because the darn thing is full and I want more storage than a 120Gig. Well? Last I heard Microsoft has no plans on releasing a 250GB hard drive as a stand alone unit as of yet. Halo fans must freakin’ wait.

$399 Final Fantasy13 Xbox360 Bundle

dude — Fri, 12 Feb 2010 16:50:09 +0000

The official Final Fantasy 13 Xbox 360 bundle has been announced by Microsoft at the X10 event. The console will NOT be released in Japan as a PS3 FFX13 special graphics edition version of the PS3 console is on sale in that country. This console bundle will not be a limited edition version like the Modern Warfare 2 system. It will include a standard white Xbox console with 2 controllers, a 250GB hard drive, downloadable avatar items, and a standard copy of the game. A custom Final Fantasy 13 faceplate will be available and sold separately.

The console bundle will be released with this fantastic game March 9th in North America. The price will be $399.