The Game Developers Conference is going to wrap up tomorrow in San Francisco and while I would have loved to have gone, I declined my invite because I'm saving up some money for my trip to Santa Monica for E3 in July (yes, I'm going to the new invite only E3, please feel sorry for me).
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If you've never heard of the GDC I wouldn't be surprised. It doesn't carry the hype of E3 but its just as important. The GDC is an international event with over 10,000 attendees from around the world who discuss the future of gaming. There are all sorts of seminars and lectures, some gaming booths and a ton of alcohol fueled social gatherings. Its a great event to socialize and network with some very cool people in the gaming industry. Because the focus is on future gaming developments (don't expect to hear any groundbreaking news) and trends, and not necessarily soon to be released games, its much more low key and doesn't quite get as much love as E3. Needless to say, I was bummed about not going but my schedule wouldn't allow it.
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Of course this doesn't mean I haven't heard anything good come out of San Francisco. Here are a few tidbits the worlds richest man blurted out.
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Now is my chance to create "Cyberball 2007" - Microsoft announced its Dream-Build-Play game development contest, offering a $10,000 grand prize and the opportunity for a winner’s game to be published on Xbox Live Arcade.
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Twenty amateur Cliffy B's will be selected to win prizes with a total value of more than $40,000. The gamer who wins the Bill Gates Jackpot Wad grand prize gets an opportunity to receive an Xbox Live Arcade publishing contract, providing a chance to showcase the winner’s game on XLA. Dream-Build-Play is open to any user of XNA Game Studio Express, including the GarageGames Torque X platform. No purchase is necessary to compete. The contest ends July 2, 2007, and winners will be announced Aug. 13 at Microsoft Gamefest 2007 in Seattle. Additional contest details, including detailed eligibility and entry requirements, are available at http://www.dreambuildplay.com. Good luck!
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Short term memory - Microsoft also announced plans for a 512MB memory unit for the Xbox 360. The memory card will go on sale April 3, making the useless 64MB (which will drop in price to $29.99) even more obsolete. The card comes at a fairly steep price ($49.99) but does come pre-loaded with "Geometry Wars: Retro Evolved" and allows for gamers to download exclusive content from Xbox 360 kiosks at retail outlets. I'm not sure exactly what the exclusive content can be at a Best Buy that 100 other guys have been playing but I'm intrigued.
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Coming at you live - At GDC some upcoming XLA games that are soon to be released were announced with no frickin' "Cyberball" in sight. Here are the games and a brief description.
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"Boom Boom Rocket" (EA and Bizarre Creations) Bizarre Creations is a hypnotic rhythm music game that will launch this spring, priced at 800 Microsoft Points.
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“3D Ultra Minigolf Adventures” (Sierra Online and Wanako Games). The first outdoor sports game on Arcade, “3D Ultra Minigolf Adventures” lets players putt their way through 36 holes on wild courses that include settings such as the Classic Carnival and the fantastical Outer Space.
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“Eets: Chowdown” (Klei Entertainment Inc.). A revamped version of the popular PC title, “Eets: Chowdown” is a puzzle game with 120 new levels.
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“Jetpac Refuelled” (Rare Ltd.). This is a new take on Rare/Ultimate’s 1983 space blaster with enhanced graphics and XLA features; players must clear a path through aliens to refuel their ship and amass a fortune over the course of more than 100 levels.
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“Pinball FX” (ZEN Studios Ltd.). A pinball game with realistic ball physics and 3-D tables. Also features real-time, head-to-head competition over Xbox Live and Xbox Live Vision camera support.
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Is there any news besides 360 news? - No, so quit whining.
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And finally - On Tuesday Microsoft proudly announced that 6 million gamers are now connected to Xbox Live. You may remember that our man Bill projected that number at the last E3 and figured to reach 6mill this June. Just goes to show how great a job the 360 does with its online service. In case you're curious, below are some interesting Xbox Live stats as of March 6.
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Top worldwide Xbox Live Arcade titles on Xbox 360 (full game downloads)
1. Street Fighter II' Hyper Fighting
2. Bankshot Billiards 2
3. Marble Blast Ultra
4. UNO
5. DOOM
1. Street Fighter II' Hyper Fighting
2. Bankshot Billiards 2
3. Marble Blast Ultra
4. UNO
5. DOOM
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Top Xbox Live Titles on Xbox 360
1. Halo 2 (Duh!)
2. Gears of War
3. Hexic HD
4. Call of Duty 2
5. Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter
6. Call Of Duty 3
7. Oblivion
8. PGR3 (Still?)
9. Rainbow Six Vegas
10. Perfect Dark Zero (Why?)
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Random Stats:
1. Halo 2 (Duh!)
2. Gears of War
3. Hexic HD
4. Call of Duty 2
5. Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter
6. Call Of Duty 3
7. Oblivion
8. PGR3 (Still?)
9. Rainbow Six Vegas
10. Perfect Dark Zero (Why?)
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Random Stats:
Following the launch of the Xbox Live online gaming network in November 2002, gamers have spent over 2.3 billion hours on the network playing games online with their friends around the world. This is equal to 95 million days of gaming or over 260,000 years. On Halo 2, which is being played on both the Xbox and Xbox 360, gamers have spent over 710 million hours playing online with over a half a billion games played.
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An average of over 2,000,000 text and voice messages sent every day between members.
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The average Xbox Live Gold subscriber has 22 friends on their Xbox LIVE friends list.
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Xbox 360 owners have unlocked nearly 300 million Achievements. All of those unlocked Achievements have created a total combined Gamerscore of nearly 7.5 billion. (And yes, I completed my Old Spice Challenge and reached 1,500 Achievement Points and its not even close to the April 12th deadline. Not that I didn't sell part of my soul to do it. Look for an article on that next week.)
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An average of over 2,000,000 text and voice messages sent every day between members.
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The average Xbox Live Gold subscriber has 22 friends on their Xbox LIVE friends list.
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Xbox 360 owners have unlocked nearly 300 million Achievements. All of those unlocked Achievements have created a total combined Gamerscore of nearly 7.5 billion. (And yes, I completed my Old Spice Challenge and reached 1,500 Achievement Points and its not even close to the April 12th deadline. Not that I didn't sell part of my soul to do it. Look for an article on that next week.)
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