Microsoft has announced that the next dashboard update for the Xbox 360 will add the ability to download original Xbox games to your hard drive. Sounds like owners of the 20GB may want to consider upgrading.
Starting December 4, Xbox 360 owners will have the option of shelling out 1,200 MS points (that's $15) for each game they'd like to download to their hard drive. As of right now, there's no word on the average size of these games so we're left wondering exactly how much space we're going to need to free up and whether or not buying these older games used is a better option (you can still find most of these games for under $15 used).
While there's no word yet of other enhancements the fall update will feature, you can see a list of the first round of games appearing on Microsoft's new service after the jump.... Read more
(Credit:
Sarah Tew/CNET Networks)
For the longest time I've yearned for a desire to want to purchase a PlayStation 3. Like many other gamers, the hefty price tag and lack of blockbuster exclusive games has kept me far away from the big black box and enjoying my Wii and Xbox 360. And yes, even the lack of rumble had me second guessing a purchase.
The latest rumor-turned-reality comes from Europe and has a 40GB PS3 priced at $400 (when this deal inevitably comes stateside). Sure, there's an argument to be made that $400 is a great deal for Blu-ray player, but apparently this thing is intended to play games, as well, and that's what my decision-making process is based on. But after learning that the newly discounted PS3 has absolutely no backwards compatibility with the PS2, I've officially given up hope in waiting for the perfect PS3 to arrive. What's my solution now? Either grab one of the last remaining 20GB models with the original PS2-compatible Emotion Engine hardware inside and easily swap out the drive for a bigger one, or continue to wait for a perfectly tailored model that will most likely never exist.
Sorry Sony, you've left me with no choice. I want to play Uncharted, I'm dying to try out LittleBigPlanet, and I'll figure out how to experience Metal Gear Solid 4 one way or another. But why take out PS2 compatibility? It's no secret that the console is still selling incredibly well and will continue to do so throughout the holiday season. Plenty of PS2 games are still rolling out, not to mention my huge existing library of games--many of which I still have yet to play all the way through.
I'm just sick of all of these cost-cutting measures that take away from the originally envisioned console. If you told us from the get go that the PS3 would have no support for PS2 games, we would have laughed right in your face. And now, less than a year after the system's launch, this will actually become a reality.
Let's not forget this isn't the first time we've had our minds played with as we all remember the E3 price-drop debacle. To me, this doesn't look like a company trying to give the consumers what they want. What it does look like is a bunch of scrambling, mixing and matching hardware till the end result is a Frankenstein PS3 with no soul. And I think it's safe to say that a model with no backwards compatibility is not the answer.
Panzer Dragoon Orta: now playable on the 360
(Credit: GameSpot)The Xbox 360 Elite is still a couple of weeks away, but Microsoft seems to be freshening up the 360's software in anticipation of the release. In advance of an early May dashboard update, the company has added around three dozen games for the "classic" Xbox that can now be played on the 360. Full title list after the jump. ... Read more
(Credit:
GameSpot)
Microsoft has again updated the Xbox 360 to be able to play a few dozen more titles released for the original Xbox game console. The complete list of new and updated titles is as follows:
Buffy the Vampire Slayer
Burnout 3: Takedown (support updated)
Conker: Live and Reloaded
Dead or Alive Ultimate
Destroy All Humans!
Dynasty Warriors 4
Evil Dead: A Fistful of Boomstick
Ex Chaser (Japan only)
Family Guy
Far Cry: Instincts
Fahrenheit/Indigo Prophecy
I-Ninja
The Incredibles
Leisure Suit Larry: Magna Cum Laude
Mortal Kombat: Armageddon
MotoGP
Muzzle Flash (Japan only)
MX Unleashed
Open Season
Pariah
Plus Plumb 2 (Japan only)
Psychonauts
Psyvariar 2 Extend Edition (Japan only)
Rainbow Six: Lockdown
Rapala Pro Fishing
Rent-A-Hero no. 1 (Japan only)
Scarface
Shark Tale
Shenmue II
Soul Calibur II (North America only)
Splinter Cell: Double Agent
The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie
Tenerezza (Japan only)
Ultimate Spider-Man
Wakeboarding Unleashed: Featuring Sean Murray
Whacked!
Winback2: Project Poseidon
Xiaolin Showdown
The most newsworthy of the included titles is Psychonauts. Widely considered to be among the best games of recent years, many felt the game never achieved the popularity it deserved. With millions of Xbox 360 owners now able to play, it could get a second wind.
More information on the backwards compatibility update can be found at Major Nelson's blog. For the uninitiated, a complete list of backwards compatible Xbox 360 titles is available on CNET, as is an explanation regarding which of your old games are playable on the new trio of game consoles.
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One of the advantages of the PlayStation 3 that Sony's been touting is that it's fully backward compatible with games for the PlayStation 2 and even the original late 1990s-era PlayStation 1. In other words, there's no need to scrap your collection of old games: you can still play PS2 favorites such as Grand Theft Auto, SOCOM, and the upcoming God of War II while you wait for those franchises to make their inevitable jump to native PS3 versions, replete with all the attendant high-def eye candy.
(Credit:
Sarah Tew/CNET Networks)
Or, at least, you can play most of those PS2 games. Reports out of Japan, where the PS3 went on sale on Saturday, indicate that a variety of audio and graphical glitches have cropped up on some high-profile PS2 games, including--according to gaming blog Kotaku--Devil May Cry, Tekken 5, GT4, and Silent Hill 2. Reuters cites Japanese newspaper Sankei Shimbun putting the total number of incompatible titles at "about 200." For its part, Sony has pledged to address the incompatibility issues with downloadable software updates (one of the advantages of the PS3's built-in broadband support).
To put the problem into perspective, 200 titles (if accurate) represents only 2.5 percent of the more than 8,000 older PlayStation games in the back catalog. And the PS2 had some of incompatible titles as well: at least eight games made for the original PlayStation never quite worked properly on the PS2. It's also worth noting that, on our PS3, we were able to run two PS2 titles we had on hand--Shadow of the Colossus and Star Wars Starfighter--with no noticeable issues at all.
Compared to its main rival, the Xbox 360, the PS3's less-than-total backward compatibility still comes out ahead: the 360 currently supports more than 200 older Xbox1 games (full list) out of a total of around 700, with Microsoft periodically expanding the list via downloadable emulation profiles. Meanwhile, the Nintendo Wii plays all of the company's GameCube titles, but we wouldn't be shocked to see a handful of incompatibilities crop up on that console, either.
Source: Reuters UK via Kotaku
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