Xbox 360 News

Modern Warfare 3 Achievements and Prestige Mode Revealed

Call of Duty fans know every single bit of information that has been released for Modern Warfare 3, but it’s time to learn even more details about the game, as Prestige mode and the full list of achievements have been revealed. Prestige mode is unlocked once you reach level 80, and contains a number perks to choose from. Every time you “prestige,” you receive a token to unlock one prize from the list. The full list of prizes is available here:

Early MW3 Players May Get an XBL Ban

Got an early, legitimate copy of the hotly anticipated Modern Warfare 3? Best not play it online. According to Microsoft, those playing Modern Warfare 3 online before its official release date of November 8th may get banned from Xbox Live. The reasons for this are unclear.

Originally, Xbox Live’s Policy and Enforcement director Stephen Toulouse tweeted the following: “For those asking about MW3 pre-release play: If your copy is legit and obtained legitly [sic], have fun. It’s a great game.” He backtracked a few hours later, tweeting: “clarification: dblchk’d with Activision. Mw3 pre-release play not  authorised. So pls be patient. Playing early may impact your account!”

Alan Wake’s Night Springs headed to XBLA

Currently it is unknown what type of game it is, but the screenshot
shows a Story mode as well as something called Arcade Action. In the
original Alan Wake, Night Springs is a Twilight Zone-esque TV show
written by Wake himself that can be watched on televisions throughout
the game. Possibly the game will take place within the TV show.

Silent Hill HD and Downpour Dated

It appears that the Silent Hill HD Collection and Silent Hill: Downpour have finally been giving at least semi-official release dates. This comes after the controversy with the original voice actors for Silent Hill 2 and 3 (The games included in the HD Collection) being replaced but in the end being brought back to re-record the dialogue for the remakes.

More Gears of War 3 DLC: Versus Booster Map Pack Announced

Hot on the heels of the ‘Horde Command Pack’ for Gears of War 3, which was delayed yesterday and released onto the Xbox Live Marketplace today, Epic has announced another piece of downloadable goodness for the game in the form of the ‘Versus Booster Map Pack’.  The add-on, available for free download on the 24th of November, contains five new maps available in public matchmaking playlists – two favorite maps from Gears of War (Swamp and Clocktower), as well as Azura,Rustlung and Blood Drive from the ‘Horde Command Pack’.

Gears of War 3 Horde Command Pack Delayed

The first chunk of DLC for Epic’s Gears of War 3 has been delayed at the last minute, according to a post on Epic’s forums.  The Horde Command Pack was set to bring 3 new maps, 4 new fortifications, 3 new characters, and 2 new weapon skins to Gears of War 3’s multiplayer.  It was set to go live today for 800 Microsoft points.  Epic’s excuse for the delay is a technical issue, as you’ll see in the statement below.

“The scheduled Horde Command Pack release for Gears of War 3 is temporarily delayed due to a technical issue. We apologize to those of you who are anxiously awaiting to play. We know this is disappointing news as we’ve seen a lot of posts today showing excitement for this content. We have folks working around the clock to resolve this issue ASAP so you can all play and enjoy the Command Pack.”

Silicon Knights Lays Off 75% of Staff

The Canadian studio Silicon Knights, responsible most recently for X-men: Destiny, has reportedly laid off nearly 75% of its staff, leaving the reeling studio with just 25 core employees.  Back in July of this year, the studio received a grant from the Canadian government to hire as many as 80 new employees, yet instead they are doing the opposite. 

According to reports, sources “close to the company” have confirmed the layoffs, including that the entirety of the human resources departed has been axed.  Silicon Knights has only released 4 games since 2000, including Eternal Darkness: Sanity’s Requiem, Metal Gear Solid: The Twin Snakes, and Too Human.  The first two games I just mentioned were both strong titles, but most critics agree that the studio dropped the ball with Too Human and X-men: Destiny.

New Xbox 360 Dashboard Releasing Next Week

The latest iteration of the Xbox 360 dashboard was demoed by Microsoft at the Nokia World event, and according to rumor siteWin Rumors, the dashboard will be released sometime within the next week, despite it previously rumored to launch on November 15.

Server Problems Plague Xbox 360 Version of Battlefield 3

Owners of the Xbox 360 version of Battlefield 3 hoping to frag each other
out over Xbox Live have been severely disappointed, as frustrated gamers have
reported on EA’s forums and elsewhere of frequent server crashes. EA has
responded via Twitter that the issues have been resolved, yet ongoing
maintenance is still occurring. Gamers, however, are still reporting issues
with servers and the Battlelog service. A user posted on the rllmuk gaming forum that only 10 servers
were running worldwide. EA has announced that they shipped 10 million Battlefield 3 units worldwide.

Digital High Episode 15

I’m back this week for more talk onBatman: Arkham City and why waiting for the PC version turned out to be a bad idea. We can finally discuss what playing Battlefield 3 is like, and if you’re interested in the multiplayer, turns out it’s pretty darn good.

In other news, Grand Theft Auto 5 has been confirmed, but not announced, because who actually needed confirmation that another GTA game was in the works? Those of you hoping to get Battlefield 1943 with your copy of BF3 are probably pretty annoyed, the Co-op DLC for Warhammer has been released, Arkham City sales are very not bad, RAAM orientated campaign DLC is on the way for Gears of War 3 (yay!) and Soul Calibur 5’s exclusive character has been revealed. Don’t forget to send us your questions in for next week.