February 16, 2010 wasn’t exactly a Tuesday for the ages…it was more like a release date that will go down in gaming infamy. Topping the list was SEGA’s Aliens vs. Predator, a game that despite its level of potential seems to have delivered with all of the beauty and grace of a facehugger on Valentine’s Day. Then, there was a much lesser hyped game that, depending on your experience with the franchise, had the potential to become somewhat of it’s own classic..that game is Dynasty Warriors: Strikeforce. Since it’s original release on the PlayStation console in 1997, the Dynasty Warriors franchise has slowly evolved over time (for better or worse depending on who you ask), and it is easily one of KOEI’s most successful ongoing series.

With that being said, I want to tell you a story. Although I’ve been somewhat disenchanted by the game over the past couple of releases, the PSP release of Dynasty Warriors: Strikeforce wasn’t that bad, so when the demo was released on Xbox Live, I checked it out and thought the online co-op gameplay (for up to 4 players) and the weapons/ leveling system was pretty sweet, so my brother-in-law and I decided to pick up the game. We figured the inclusion of the 4 player co-op would be an awesome opportunity to share the gaming experience with some of our friends back home. Instead of reserving the game, we figured we would just go out the day of it’s release and pick it up. And so, the story of a Dying Dynasty begins…
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Welcome back Axeheads for another week of The Rumor KILL.  First off, I would like to thank everyone for the kind words and ratings in response to the debut of the feature this past week.  I’m glad you guys had fun with the column and more importantly I’m glad that some great discussion came out  of it as well.  We have an interesting lineup of some of the juiciest gossip to come out of the gaming world so without another wasted word…lets ravage some rumors!
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An open letter addressed to Xbox Live Members from Xbox Live General Manager Mark Whitten brings word that come April 15, 2010, Microsoft will be discontinuing the Xbox Live service for original Xbox consoles and games, including original Xbox titles playable on the Xbox 360.

Expressing that “this isn’t a decision we made lightly”, Whitten explains that the strategic move is for the long-term benefit of the XBL community as a whole and that the XBL team will “continue to evolve the service” with features and experiences that harness the full power of Xbox 360. In order to do that, the letter states that Microsoft needs to make changes to the service that are “incompatible with our original Xbox v1 games.”

So, there ya go…XBL support for original Xbox titles is going bye-bye come April. We’ll keep you posted if there are any more details to share.

Source

One thing I love about our Member BattleCries is that gamers out there often bring up topics we don’t think of every day…Take today’s MBC for example…El Duderino brings up a pretty good point that I believe a lot of gamers would agree with. Check it out below and then comment here to voice your opinion. Got something else you’d like to sound off on? Head over to this week’s Member BattleCry topic starter and let your voice be heard!

El Duderino says:
December 22, 2009 at 1:40 am

My EBC goes out to to Microsoft, a long overdue tip of the hat for including a headset right out of the box. Sony is still scratching their head and wondering why XBL is so much more successful while every time I go on a game like uncharted 2 or even smaller titles like fat princess with my mic ready to go, I always end up talking to myself… Hence the fact that I purchase any big multiplayer title (like mw 2) for the xbox. SONY, GIVE ME A REASON TO STOP PAYING FOR XBOX LIVE!!!!!!!

Croteam and Devolver Digital announced today that they will be releasing the second encounter of Serious Sam in an HD rendition at some point in early 2010 for those still hungry to unleash lead upon hundreds of monsters.

Serious Sam HD: The Second Encounter, will feature a cooperative tournament mode for teams to compete against one another. Croteam and Devolver Digital apparently plan to showoff this mode during the 2010 world expo in Shanghai, China.

Serious Sam HD: The First Encounter, was released last week on steam and should be available soon on Xbox Live Arcade.

No pictures, trailers, or “Seriously Hardcore“ advertisement have been released as of yet and there has also been no information released as to which platforms the second encounter will be available on, but we’ll keep you posted on that information as soon as we get word.

via Kotaku

It’s not made by Microsoft, but a new iPhone app designed to grant access to your Xbox Live Account while on the go has hit the Apple Store. Priced at $1.99 (for now), the “360 Live” app lets you send and receive messages, manage your Gamertags, keep up with folks on your friends list, compare achievements and more.

Sounds pretty cool, but you might wanna hold off on purchasing the app because, as pointed out by Joystiq, Msoft previously went on record stating that any XBL-related apps must be released free of charge, so, ya know, you might score this for free pretty soon.

Here’s the app’s official website if you wanna check it out.

Secure the gate and make ready to take the city, its time for another edition of EpicBattleCry! In this week’s skirmish our spies bring word on Final Fantasy XIII’s release date, the demo for Dante’s Inferno, the first round of DLC for Borderlands, and Capcom’s announcement that Resident Evil 5: Alternative Edition is headed our way soon.

Microsoft has been in the news cycle heavily as of late and we take a moment to discuss tomorrow’s dashboard update that brings the much-hyped Twitter and Facebook integration along with some recent rumors on Natal’s release date and price point. Next up, with last week’s release of Modern Warfare 2 becoming the biggest in entertainment history, we mull over gaming’s status in mainstream media and ask if our favorite pastime is getting the respect it deserves.

The Battle Cry of the Week goes to New Super Mario Bros Wii, Mass Effect 2 making an appearance on the PS3, the BBC iPlayer channel on the Wii, and early adopters taking some pride in their support for the game industry.

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Those looking forward to gaining Twitter, Facebook, Last.fm, and Zune on-demand HD video support through their Xbox 360 will be glad to know that Microsoft has announced a mandatory update for the console that integrates the various services will be taking place on November 17. We’ve got a breakdown of al the enhancements the update will provide after the jump.
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MCV is laying claim to delivering the first details regarding the launch of Microsoft’s Project Natal. Citing a behind-closed-doors Microsoft tour of UK publishers, the report states that the controller-free Natal will release worldwide in November 2010, be accompanied by 14 games, and retail for below £50 when sold alone, making it FAR CHEAPER than most would have suspected (and by “most”, I mean “us”.)

The most interesting quote in the piece is that Microsoft is “trying to get as close as possible to ‘impulse buy’” territory and of course the low price tag would accommodate that.

Of course, none of these details are confirmed, but you can expect Msoft to respond in some way as we draw near to the eventual launch of Natal on the Xbox 360. We’ll keep you posted as we learn more. Until then, start dancing around your living room and flailing your arms to practice up…

Source

Microsoft is readying another Dashboard update to the Xbox 360 and giving you the chance to preview some of the features early. XBL members who are accepted into the beta will be able to try out both Facebook and Twitter integration as well as instant HD streaming through the Zune Marketplace.

The closed-beta is by invite only and you can sign up for the preview here.

via Shacknews