You know, I hadn't even heard of Kane & Lynch: Dead Men before the trailer showed up as part of Microsoft's Bringing it Home promotion, but what I saw in that trailer was certainly enough to make me want to find out more.

Kane & Lynch: Dead Men is a third person action game in which you take the role of Kane, a mercenary who was on death row for some as of yet unmentioned crime involving his family. Your partner, Lynch, who can played by another person in co-op mode, is a schizophrenic killer you met while on death row who also was sentenced for a crime involving his family. Despite a serious mutual dislike of each other, these 2 are forced to team up to handle missions for secretive group in return for having their lives spared. Besides the seemingly very gritty nature of the game, what intrigues me most is that based on what I've read, the two characters will not always have the same objective in a mission, and may even find themselves at odds. That alone should create a pretty interesting dynamic, especially in co-op modes.

If what I've mentioned so far intrigues you, watch the video below and then check out Gamespot's first impressions of Kane & Lynch at this link. I don't know if it's going to be a great game just yet, but it's definitely earned a spot on my radar.

Still no video love here in the archives, so click here for the Kane & Lynch: Dead Men trailer. 

Posted by nylatenite at 1:28 AM EDT

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After much internet rumor-mongering and high hopes, It appears that the Xbox 360 version of Guitar Hero II will not feature a wireless guitar as part of the package. Gamespot is reporting that they've received confirmation from RedOctane that the X-Plorer guitar will be wired and that the game will not ship simultaneously with the Playstation 2 version, but rather at a later date in 2007.

This one is a bit disappointing, but hardly surprising seeing how Microsoft has so far refused to let anyone make third party wireless controllers. Check out the Gamespot article at this link for more details.

Posted by nylatenite at 1:26 AM EDT

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Just a quick note here, the behind the scenes look at Assassin's Creed I mentioned is actually available for viewing at Xbox.com, it's not in the marketplace. In addition, Major Nelson advised that there have been a few more bits of content added for the final day of the Bringing it Home promotion.;

"Edit: This just in...some late additions to today's crop:

LEGO Star Wars II 360 Downloadable Character Pack (200 points) Not available in Hong Kong, Japan, Korea, Singapore, or Taiwan

Bringing it Home: Army of Two - Trailer

Bringing it Home: Interview Day 3 Briefing Backstage Pass (Japan only)" - Larry "Major Nelson" Hyrb

Posted by nylatenite at 10:06 PM EDT

Updated: Friday, 29 September 2006 10:09 PM EDT

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It's the final day of the Bringing it Home promotion and it's not quite the barn-burner I hoped it would be, but there's still some interesting stuff left. Here's the final bit of content making it's way to market as per Xbox Live director of programming Larry "Major Nelson" Hyrb;

"For this final day, we have the following content now available on the Xbox Live Marketplace:

Trailers:
X06 Arcade Montage
Stranglehold
Blitz the League
F.E.A.R.

Pictures
X06 Picture Pack

While not officially part of the bringing it home promotion, the below content has just gone live as well:

Video:
Saint's Row-Mayhem Video Strategy (720p)*
Saint's Row-Insurance Fraud Video Strategy (720p)*
Saint's Row-Hitman Video Strategy (720p)*

*Not available in France" - Larry "Major Nelson" Hyrb

Apparently some content for Day 9 was also added at the last minute yesterday - an Interview with some of the folks behind Assassin's Creed, and a Gamespot behind the scenes video.

Posted by nylatenite at 7:59 AM EDT

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Ubisoft took the opportunity that X'06 provided to present the first ever in-game demonstration of Assassin's Creed, and I've got to say the game looks to be shaping up to be everything the first trailer of the game implied it would be and more. If you only watch one video that has comes out of X'06, this is the one - the game is looking that impressive. Rather than talk it up any further, take a look and decide for yourself - I think you'll be as impressed as I was;

As usual, no video is available in the archives, so check out the video at this link.

Posted by nylatenite at 2:07 AM EDT

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Gamespot has gotten some more details on the Xbox 360 wireless headset that is due to be released this November. According to the Gamespot article, here are the particulars regarding the headset;

• The headset will broadcast in the 2.4ghz range (the same range as used by the wireless controllers)
• It will have a range of approximately 30 feet.
• The 360 will be able to handle up to 4 wireless controllers and 4 wireless headsets simultaneously.
• The battery life on the headsets is expected to be around 8 hours, and the headsets will include an AC adapter for charging. (I'm assuming this means the headsets will also include a rechargeable battery)
• The headset will support "voice command" enabled games.
• According to Microsoft, the headset will be a dramatic improvement over the current wired headset.
• The headset will retail for $59.99

While I'm not sure if I'm willing to spend $60 on another headset, if Microsoft can deliver on the "dramatic improvement" to the current wired headsets performance, I may just be tempted to give it a shot. For more details on this story, check out the Gamespot article here.

Posted by nylatenite at 2:05 AM EDT

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While reading Kotaku earlier today, I came across this story from RewiredMind.com where their X'06 correspondent got word that Gears of War will not only have a co-op mode, but that mode will be playable over Xbox Live. I've got to agree with the general sentiment around the internet that this is one of the best pieces of news I've heard in ages. Games like Gears of War absolutely scream for more than just versus multiplayer - the games all but demand the ability to play with a friend - something that seems to have been lost on most developers. I know Halo wouldn't have been as earth-shattering in my book if the ability to sit down with a friend and take on the single player campaign together wasn't included.

Check out Kotaku's post on the news here and the original story at RewiredMind at this link. We're a little under a month and a half from Emergence Day now - can you feel the excitement building?!

Posted by nylatenite at 2:04 AM EDT

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Day 9 is now over, and there's only one day of the Bringing it Home promotion left now. We haven't seen anything from some of Microsoft's big titles during the promotion, and I'm hoping that they're saving the best for last. In an ideal world, we'd get new footage of Gears of War, Lost Planet, Halo 3, Assassin's Creed, Fable 2, a rundown of what's next for the Xbox Live Arcade and one demo of a major holiday title. Of course, it's not an ideal world, so it'll be interesting to see what we actually get to close out the promotion.

Here's the run down of what Day 9 of Bringing it Home added to the marketplace;

Trailers:
Tony Hawk's Project 8
Wheelman
Frontlines Fuel of War
X06 Game Montage
Crossfire

Demos:
WWE Smackdown vs. RAW 2007

Gamer Pics and Themes:
Fable 2 Theme
X06 Theme

In Game Content
Four Oblivion packs $ (150 points each. Only Available in In France, Italy, Germany and Spain.)
This is the in game content that was previously available in other regions.

I checked a few times, and never saw the Crossfire trailer in the marketplace, so I'm guessing we'll be seeing that sometime tomorrow. Remember folks, a lot of the content will be coming down almost immediately once the promotion is over, so be sure to grab everything you want as soon as you can. In the event I don't get to update the final days updates before midnight, be sure to check out Xbox Live director of programming Larry "Major Nelson" Hyrb's blog at this link for day 10's information.

Posted by nylatenite at 2:03 AM EDT

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Yup, I lose a few posts to a close without save error, and you get videos fresh off YouTube. This time it's the CGI trailer for Halo Wars as shown at X'06 yesterday - while it's not in-game footage, it should give you an idea on where they plan on going with this one - enjoy.

Normally I'd worry about how well something like this would turn out, but since Halo was originally supposed to be an RTS and Ensemble Studios has a good track record, I'm staying optimistic that we're going to get something special.

You know the drill with video in the archives by now, so just click here for the link to the video. 

Posted by nylatenite at 2:39 AM EDT

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Ok, this video actually strikes me as a little less polished than the demo that was shown at E3'06, but any new Gears of War footage is ok in my book - I'm just hoping that the demo was a little less than overwhelming because Epic is spending more time on the game itself than prepping demos for trade shows;

My biggest concerns about what was seen in the above video? The bola grenades seem to have take a bit of a step back, and more importantly, the close-range enemy AI still seems a bit buggy. Once again though, this demo was designed to be shown to the public, not really played, so it probably wouldn't be helpful if the Locust lit Marcus Pheonix up like a Christmas Tree through the whole thing rather than showing off how the game is meant to be played.

Still no love for video in the archives, so here's the link. 

Posted by nylatenite at 2:38 AM EDT

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