HITMAN: BLOOD MONEY XBOX 360 DEMO NOW AVAILABLE

Yesterday we mentioned that a PC demo for Eidos Interactive's Hitman: Blood Money was made available. In his blog today, Xbox Live's Major Nelson reported that the Xbox 360 version of the demo is now available in the Xbox Live Marketplace. The demo weighs in at 783mb, so plan your download accordingly. Hopefully the "Active Download" update for Live will be coming soon so you won't have to plan your day around downloading large chunks of content.

XBOX 360 GAME PRICE DROPS
News from around the web shows several Xbox 360 games getting price drops coming into the Memorial Day weekend. Here's a quick list;

Burnout Revenge - Electronic Arts - $39.99
Madden NFL 06 - Electronic Arts - $39.99
NBA Live '06 - Electronic Arts - $39.99
FIFA Soccer '06 - Electronic Arts - $39.99
Tiger Woods PGA Tour '06 - Electronic Arts - $39.99
King Kong - Ubisoft - $39.99
The Outfit - THQ - $39.99

So there you have it, if any of those titles have been on your want list for awhile, now may be the time to pick them up.

ANOTHER WII FEATURE REVEALED?
CNN Money has posted an interview with Shigeru Miyamoto of Nintendo in which they discuss the Wii, Miyamoto's reaction to the name, and what could very well be another surprise feature of the console. While discussing Sony following Nintendo's lead with the motion sensor, they hint at another feature of the console, personalized gamer images.

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"The game was Wii Tennis - but instead of using generic character models, the onscreen faces in this match were caricatures of Miyamoto, Iwata and Fils-Aime (the contest winner did not have a personalized character). At the time, it seemed like a visual in-joke for conference attendees, but Miyamoto said the Wii might be able to create those personalized visages for players and their family members." - CNN Money
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When I first saw the caricatures of Miyamoto, Fils-Aime and Iwata in the press conference, I figured it was done specifically for the demonstration and wasn't indicative of a new feature. From what I saw, I would assume it will be more akin to creating a virtual avatar who resembles you as opposed to digitizing your actual likeness. Either way, it could be a very cool personalization feature for many of the Wii games.

POSSIBLE GOOD NEWS FOR SONY ON THE HDMI FRONT
Ars Technica is reporting that according to a german website, Spiegel Online, Hollywood and the major electronics manufacturers have come to an unofficial agreement to not implement the Image Constraint Technology (ICT) that has caused much of the stir surrounding the lower end, non HDMI equipped Playstation 3 until 2010 or 2012.

For those unfamiliar with it, in short, the ICT would downgrade any HD video signal in either a Blu-Ray or HD-DVD player from 1080p or 720p to 540p on non-HDMI equipped televisions and monitors. While this move is certainly welcome, the report mentions that the hollywood studios are not happy with the arrangement, and since the deal is unofficial, could renege at any time. To quote the Ars Technica article;

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"If indeed there is an "agreement" of sorts between companies like Microsoft and Sony and the studios (including Sony's own entertainment interests), this could certainly help to explain why these consoles are shipping today without HDMI support. But such unofficial agreements are gentlemanly in nature: at any time, all bets could be off." -Ars Technica
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If it turns out to be true, and manufacturers can convince people that the deal won't fall apart at any moment, Sony could be hearing a lot less grief on the Playstation 3

MICROSOFT: NO 360 PRICE DROP THIS HOLIDAY
Next Generation is reporting that Microsoft responded to the rampant rumors of a holiday price cut on the Xbox 360 with the following statement;

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"We have no plans to make any price adjustment. Xbox 360 is a great value proposition." -Microsoft Spokesperson
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While I'm certain everyone would welcome a price drop on the 360, the response from Microsoft while short, is a step above the usual "we don't comment on rumors and speculation" they usually give out. I'd be willing to believe Microsoft may have been contemplating a price cut prior to E3, but after the Sony price announcement Microsoft really doesn't need to make any moves. They've got a nice head start, they're still losing money on the hardware, they're competitively priced and most importantly, they've got Gears of War riding into the holidays. What more could you ask for?

Can you tell I'm psyched about letting Marcus Fenix loose on my 360?

RONDO OF BLOOD PC PORT PROJECT
The folks over at PCEngineFX.com have unveiled a working build of the classic PCEngine SuperCD game Demon Castle Dracula X: Rondo of Blood. Not to be confused with the lackluster SNES Castlevania: Dracula X, this version aims to recreate all the things that made the original, unreleased in the U.S. game, special. This is the first full public build of the homebrew, so keep in mind there are still a lot of bugs to be worked out.

HITMAN: BLOOD MONEY PC DEMO NOW AVAILABLE
Agent 47 will be back in Hitman: Blood Money, the fourth installment of the Hitman series, and Eidos has set up a PC demo of the game for your enjoyment. This time around it seems someone is bumping off his fellow assassins and unless he can find out what's going on, he may very well be next. Hilarity ensues. Okay, maybe not but it just seemed like the thing to type at the time.

I'll admit to not having played the previous Hitman games all that much as I'm not really big on stealth games, but a new demo is always worth a look. Head on over to your favorite download site such as Fileplanet, Fileshack or Gamespot to get it.

HALO 3 MULTIPLAYER IN TESTING & THE BUNGIE WAAHMBULANCE
I've been seeing reports all over the place that in a news clip over at Bungie.net, Bungie let loose the information that the multiplayer part of Halo 3 is already undergoing in-house testing. Well, that certainly is exciting news and I'd love to bring you the particulars, but I wasn't able to find the article everyone was referring to over there. So for more information on that, check out the articles over at Gamespot and Kotaku.

What I did find however, was The Bungie Waaahmbulance, a great post by Bungie's resident "Content Monkey" Frankie regarding the letters they've gotten from people who were banned for cheating. Nothing says funny in my book better than some kid trying to explain how he's innocent of cheating while not only implicating himself, but sounding like a complete idiot in the process. See wonderful quotes such as;

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" If none of these accusation are settle, you may be hearing from a lot of complaints. Some may be said by lawyers."

"the only way they think I could have been banned permanently on my first ban is because I commited a Major Offense. I dont understand, I admit that I have had cheaters on my team, but Ive never cheated more then 8 times that I can remember, Not even close."

"Can you guys at least just make the suspension for (name deleted) for like a month or two. I only want it to be a couple months because this is the third twelve month account that i have bought. It is killing me to keep using money for something that i can't trust."

"Please! I'll destroy my mods. i'll snich on some people that r getting away with mods on matchmaking! Just PLEASE appeal my ban. i want to play matchmaking again. i want to be clean for the arrival of Halo 3! c'mon! i didn't know what i was getting into when i got mods from my friend"
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I swear, some of the responses rank right up there with The Acts of Gord, which if you liked this little bit, you'll absolutely LOVE. Besides, if you don't check it out, you could be hearing from a lot of complaints. Some may even be said by lawyers!

FREE GAME MAGAZINES
Saw these listed over at Kotaku this morning, so I figured I'd share. For the cost of your e-mail address and a bunch of spam, you can get a free years subscription to EGM, Computer Gaming World and the Official Playstation Magazine.

I know the EGM one works, as I signed up for it a few months back via an e-mail offer and got my first issue last week. I also received the Computer Gaming World link via e-mail this weekend, and it's from the same place as the EGM offer, so it should work as well. I'm not familiar with the Offical Playstation Magazine offer though, so no guarantees.

One last thing, I'm sure they'll spam the crap put of you in return for the mags, so be sure to use your "bulk e-mail" address if you have one set up.

Enjoy the bathroom reading all!

GIVE VOICE TO YOUR XBOX 360
It seems nowadays everyone has a blog or two. While you may not be interested in hearing what the kid down the block thinks about his favorite band, you may be interested to know what your Xbox 360 thinks about you. 360voice.com has a nifty little web-based service that gives your console a chance to let the world know what kind of a console owner you truly are.

Once you sign up, the site will generate a blog entry daily for your Xbox 360 where it details it's interactions with you and adds it's own little take on things. It's amusing, and more importantly free, so why not try it out? Click here to head on over to 360voice.com and sign up!