Microsoft has announced three Xbox 360 holiday hardware bundles for the US.

In addition, Major Nelson says US retailers will be offering a holiday 2013 price promotion in which consumers get $50 off each bundle between October 13 and January 4, 2014.

250GB Kinect Holiday Bundle

• The Xbox 360 250GB Kinect Holiday Value Bundle features three great games, Kinect Sports 2, Kinect Adventures, and Forza Horizon. It also includes 1 Month of Xbox Live Gold. Price: $399.99

4GB Kinect Holiday Bundle

• The Xbox 360 4GB Kinect Holiday Value Bundle features two great games, Kinect Sports 2 and Kinect Adventures. It also includes 1 Month of Xbox Live Gold. Price: $299.99

250GB Holiday Bundle

• The Xbox 360 250GB Holiday Value Bundle features two great games, Halo 4 and Tomb Raider, and 1 Month of Xbox Live Gold for a limited time this Holiday. Price: $299.99

Feature: Celebrating the 18th Anniversary of the PSone

Hip-hip-hooray, because today is the 18th anniversary of the original PlayStation console, as it was released on the 29th September 1995 in Europe, just twenty days after it was made available in North America. Therefore in the UK, at the age of eighteen, the PAL PSone can legally participate in a champagne tipple, so we raise our glass in celebration of PlayStation’s landmark birthday.

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Have Certain Retro Games, Stood the Test of Time?

As we look forward to a generation of consoles that will not be backwards compatible with older game discs, it’s gotten me thinking about the different ways in which old games have proven to have a variety of extra lives. We replay them on enduring or refurbished original platforms; we constantly buy and sell games all the time, we download them digitally through current-gen marketplaces.

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Ace Combat Infinity preview: free-to-play done right

Perhaps the most impressive of Namco Bandai's upcoming free-to-play efforts is Ace Combat Infinity. It certainly doesn't hurt that Project Aces' PS3 game is absolutely gorgeous. Utilizing the latest version of their engine, it looks absolutely phenomenal. However, it also looks to offer a fully-featured campaign, with a free-to-play model that doesn't appear to be intrusive at all.

Ace Combat Infinity

At first glance, it would be impossible to know that Infinity is a free-to-play game. Like every Ace Combat game before it, you select between Standard or Expert controls, and then go after a number of objectives. In the TGS demo, we had to take down some anti-aircraft turrets, while engaging in a dogfight. You'll be able to team up with three other players in online co-op--and there will be a competitive element as well, with Alpha and Bravo teams competing to take down more NPCs, for example.

As you progress through the game, you'll begin unlocking vehicles and special parts via an unlock tree. For example, you'll be able to work towards unlocking American crafts, or Russian fighters. As you customize the parts and emblems on your aircraft, you'll be able to save them as presets to use easily before missions.

Of course, a free-to-play game with deep customization options should make it pretty obvious exactly how Namco Bandai plans on monetizing the game. You'll be able to buy boosters to unlock things faster, and "pay for fancy" special items. There will be 15 planes available at launch, with more than 30 planned over future updates.

Tom Clancy passes away, Ubisoft promises to 'carry on legacy'

Best-selling author Tom Clancy has passed away at the age of 66. His first novel, The Hunt for Red October, launched a career that would eventually encompass movie and video game franchises.

Ubisoft, who licenses the Tom Clancy name for a number of their most popular franchises, issued a statement. "We are saddened to learn of Tom Clancy's passing and our condolences go out to his family," they said on Facebook. "Tom Clancy was an extraordinary author with a gift for creating detailed, engrossing fictional stories that captivated audiences around the world."

The company still plans on using the Tom Clancy name for future projects. The next major release to bear Clancy's name is The Division.

"The teams at Ubisoft, especially at the Red Storm studio, are incredibly grateful to have collaborated with and learned from him, and we are humbled by the opportunity to carry on part of his legacy through our properties that bear his name," the company added.


Thanks for All the Games!!!

Mighty No. 9 adds Vita and 3DS to stretch goals

Mighty No. 9 will head to 3DS and PlayStation Vita if its Kickstarter project reaches $3.5 million, a project update revealed today. Comcept has raised over $2.6 million in its crowdfunding campaign so far, which is scheduled to end on Tuesday, October 1. Meanwhile, the campaign's previously announced $3.3 million goal would bring the game to PS4 and Xbox One, and the game will already come to PS3, Xbox 360 and Wii U thanks to reaching its $2.2 million goal.

Mighty No. 9 is a 2D side-scrolling platformer from Mega Man creator Keiji Inafune. The retro-inspired Mega Man spiritual successor includes a Boss Rush mode and will seek a balance between old-school difficulty and fair, modern gameplay. Comcept noted that, providing the $3.5 million stretch goal is met, Abstraction Games will be in charge of the Mighty No. 9 port to handheld systems, the same developer that brought Hotline Miami to PS3 and Vita. 

One Word: Foreign Video Games Should Offer Subtitles Just Like Foreign Movies 

Games like Final Fantasy XIII should have options for subtitles and original-language voice tracks. Q: How hard would this be to offer? A: Not that hard! The original-language voice acting has already been recorded and paid for, so the costs would be negligible. And nearly all story-related games offer English subtitles anyway, so there wouldn’t be extra work there, either.

http://www.wcityauctions.com/blogs/634-do-we-need-subtitles-in-foreign-video-games