Xbox 250GB Elite with Forza 3 on Amazon Germany

Bundle discovered with bigger hard drive, pack-in game, and two wireless controllers

by Jim Reilly

August 27, 2009 - Amazon Germany has been quite the spoiler for game companies as of late. The online retailer originally listed the rumored PlayStation 3 Slim model weeks before it was officially announced. Now, it appears another possible hardware "leak" has occurred.

A listing for a new Xbox 360 bundle, featuring a 250GB hard-drive, Forza 3, and two wireless controllers, has appeared on the website for pre-order. It's retail price is €279 Euros ($400 U.S. dollars). No release date is listed, however, Forza 3 is scheduled for a late October release, so don't expect it until then.

If this new bundle is legit, it may be exclusive to PAL territories. This isn't the first region specific bundle we've seen, either. A Halo 3 bundle packed with the game and the wireless adapter is only made available in Canada for now.

We sent Microsoft a note about this. We'll let you know if they give us an answer.

Daily Fix Video August 28, 2009

This news and more in the Daily Fix. - R&C Set Dated For Oct. 27th - A Super Elite 360? - Modern Warfare 2 Video - Giveaway Challenge!

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Xbox 2.5 Before Xbox 3?

EA expect stopgap before next generation.

by Martin Robinson, IGN UK

UK, August 28, 2009 - An intermediate generation of consoles will come before we see the PS4 and Xbox 720, as the console makers have expired their resources in their efforts in the current generation of consoles.

That's according to Rich Hilleman, Electronic Arts chief creative officer in a recent interview. "I expected we'll see a PlayStation 3.5 before we see a PlayStation 4 and an Xbox 560 before we see an Xbox 720," he told VentureBeat,

Such an opinion would chime with the current climate, with Sony recently launching a new PS3 in the shape of the Slim and Microsoft citing the release of Natal late next year as a re-launch for the Xbox 360.

When do you expect the next generation to arrive? Use the sounding board below to air your theories.

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Can I run my current Windows XP software programs on Windows 7?

Dear CNET members, Happy Saturday! Time sure flies; my son is back in school and in San Francisco we are finally getting some real nice warm weather. For those of you who are new to this newsletter, I welcome you! I know that as a new subscriber, this whole newsletter may be a bit abrupt and confusing. To get caught up, check out the community newsletter archives. You'll see that each week's Q&A comes from the previous Friday's newsletter. So check them out and join the rest of CNET's community members in helping each other out and voicing your opinions--it's all good fun, and I hope you stick around. Now let's see if we can put Bryan's concern about running Windows XP programs on Windows 7 to rest. Before we jump into this topic, I just wanted to put out there that our forum moderator John Wilkinson has put together for you a comprehensive and up-to-date list information on Window 7 for you folks who may be curious or interested in moving to Windows 7, so have a read and get informed. Thanks John! Well, Bryan, a lot of great suggestions trickled in for you, and it looks like most members who have posted in the forums said that most XP programs should run on Windows 7 without any assistance at all, and where you may run into some problems is if you are running 64-bit version of Windows vs. 32-bit Windows. And for those folks who are running Vista already, those software programs should run on Windows 7 with no issues. Many members also advised to run the Microsoft compatibility wizard for software, which is currently only available for Vista (7 version should be out soon), but it should work just fine. Now for the programs that just will not run on Windows 7. First the good news. In Windows 7 there is a Windows XP compatibility mode (called Windows Virtual PC and will require a download from Microsoft), that will allow you to run XP programs. However, as a few members pointed out, the bad news is this feature is only available on Windows 7 Professional, Enterprise, and Ultimate editions. And there are also PC hardware requirements that must support virtualization software. So that is a bit of bummer, as I'm sure many of us at home will most likely be running the Home edition of 7. But if you have those incompatible programs Windows 7 Pro may be the answer for you. But run the Windows adviser just to be sure you'll need it. Well, I've gone over just a few quick points to Bryan's questions, but for more in-depth details, please read through our members' suggestions and advice. I have a few picked out to start you off in the Q&A section, so please read on, as Windows 7 release is right around the corner--and what better time to get informed than now. Thank you all for your great contributions! Have a spectacular weekend, folks! Cheers! - Lee

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Batman: Arkham Asylum Awarded Guinness World Record

Source:Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment

August 28, 2009

Batman: Arkham Asylum has been awarded a Guinness World Record for "Most Critically Acclaimed Superhero Game Ever." The press release:

Today the highly anticipated Batman: Arkham Asylum game has been awarded a Guinness World Record for the ‘Most Critically Acclaimed Superhero Game Ever’.

Batman: Arkham Asylum has been given top scores across the board from National newspapers and specialist game reviewers. The game has broken the Guinness World Record in this category by achieving the highest average score of 91.67 from reviews around the world.*

Developed by Rocksteady Studios and based on DC Comics’ Batman license, Batman: Arkham Asylum offers players diverse gameplay that pushes the envelope for action, adventure and superhero games and exposes players to a unique, dark and atmospheric adventure taking them to the depths of Arkham Asylum.

Gaz Deaves from Guinness World Records states, “We are so pleased to be awarding Batman: Arkham Asylum a Guinness World Record. It is a fantastic new game and due to the reaction of gaming experts we believe it has a well deserved place in the Guinness World Records book.”

In Batman: Arkham Asylum, BATMAN finds himself trapped inside the confines of Gotham’s psychiatric hospital for the criminally insane, ARKHAM ASYLUM. THE JOKER has set a trap for the DARK KNIGHT and has conspired with the deranged inmates to eliminate BATMAN once and for all. Adding to the authenticity of the game are veteran animated Batman voice talents Mark Hamill and Kevin Conroy, who reprise their roles as The Joker and Batman respectively.

Batman: Arkham Asylum features an original story by Paul Dini, Batman writer and five-time Emmy Award winner whose credits include Lost and Batman: The Animated Series. Gamers will move in the shadows, instill fear amongst their enemies and confront The Joker and Gotham City's most notorious villains, including HARLEY QUINN, BANE, KILLER CROC, POISON IVY and SCARECROW, who have taken over the asylum.

Batman: Arkham Asylum, co-published in North America by Eidos Inc. and Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment, is rated “T” for Teen and is available for PLAYSTATION 3 and Xbox 360 for the suggested retail price of $59.99. It will also be available for Games for Windows LIVE at retail outlets for the suggested retail price of $49.99 on September 15, 2009. For more information, please visit www.batmanarkhamasylum.com.

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Creative Zii EGG Develper Edition Preview

By: Grahm Skee on August 28, 2009 2:18 PM

Creative started shipping the dev edition of the Zii EGG. From a few hours of browsing though the OS is feels like it is a long way from the consumer market. In fact recently the SDK roadmap outlining the various functionality of the Zii EGG appeared on Engadget showing a few months ahead.

Below is a few photos of the video preview of the hardware and a quick and dirty look at the Plaszma OS. I stress this several times in the video that this is a developer edition so you cannot judge the OS yet- it is very rough.

The hardware is what you would expect from Creative and the Zii EGG has a build quality similar to the Zen X-Fi or Zen (Newer version)- it feels plastiy and toy like but is still well made and rugged. The only thing that really bothers me and i hope that this gets changed is the screen material. I haven't dug too far into it but it appears to be a similar screen to the Zen X-Fi, plastic with a plastic film on top with a really bad glare- definitely low end materials.

As I dig into it more I will share more thoughts and videos. In the mean time check out the video and pics below and stop in our Creative Zii EGG forum for discussion.

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Next Gears of War To Have Playable Female Character?

Cliff Bleszinski drops a few hints.

by Jim Reilly
August 3, 2009 - Will gamers finally be able to play as a female in the Gears of War series?

That's the question Epic Games' Cliff Bleszinski was asked by 1 vs. 100 Live host Chris Cashman during a game this past Saturday, according to Binge Gamer.

Bleszinski danced around the question and said he couldn't comment on "'possible aspects' of a game that 'may or may not' be in development."

He then followed up on his comment by saying the female character sitting on top of a dead Brumak from the comic series "'may or may not' be involved in any 'as-yet-unannounced' video game projects."

To further add to the speculation, the director on the upcoming Gears of War movie, Len Wiseman, said at Comic Con he wants female characters in the movie. "I'd love to see it happen. I'm a big supporter of that."

Do you want playable females in Gears of War 3?

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Gears of War 3 to Feature RPG Elements?

That's role-playing games, not rocket propelled grenades.

by Martin Robinson, IGN UK
UK, July 7, 2009 - Cliff Bleszinski has suggested that the future of shooters lies in the direction laid out by the likes of BioShock and Deus Ex, hinting that his next project will be taking a similar path.

In an interview with Develop, Blesinzki expressed his admiration of Ken Levine's BioShock and Harvey Smith's Deus Ex, and went on to say how the ideas put forth in both games might influence the next Gears of War title.

'When I first saw Bioshock I thought, "how is this going to sell?"' said Bleszinski. 'As a nerd I thought it was amazing but I was worried that a fifteen year old kid would pick it up and think "what the f**k am I looking at"?'

'But it pleased me to no end that the game did so well. I had a conversation with Harvey Smith – one of the lead designers on Deus Ex – and said to him the future of shooters is RPGs. He said he completely agreed.'

When pressed on how such elements might be manifest in the future of the Gears of War franchise, Blesinzki remained enigmatic. 'I mean, one could wean that from the comments I made earlier about the future of shooters is RPGs and see where things are going with us,' he said.

Gears of War 2 was one of the Xbox 360's standout games last year, and while there's been little news on the third instalment we've already got our wish list to hand.

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Microsoft Hoping to Price Windows Mobile Apps Above $0.99

Posted by Chuong Nguyen
August 20th, 2009 at 03:30 AM

With the number of flatulence generator applications for the iPhone flooding the iTunes App Store, Microsoft is taking a lesson from Cupertino and hoping to weed out said low quality apps. In a developers session, Microsoft reps are encouraging developers to charge more for their apps: "I know, 99 cents is interesting -- yes, consumers like to pay 99 cents for applications, but 99 cents, come on, I think your app is worth more than that."

The higher price point may be Microsoft's way of pricing out the useless, mundane apps. Research in Motion did something similar, setting $2.99 as a minimum in their BlackBerry App World market. Still, while you may not be able to find an app for $0.99 officially via Marketplace for Mobile, developers can distribute applications for Windows Mobile themselves either through third party applications storefronts like Handango or via their own websites.

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Microsoft's Dual Strategy Plan for Windows Mobile 6.5 and 7, New 6.5 Upgrade in 2010!

Posted by Chuong Nguyen
August 20th, 2009 at 03:42 AM

According to the latest rumors on the blogosphere, Microsoft is looking to implement a dual-strategy plan for Windows Mobile 7. The rumors state that the softwrae maker will place 7 as the premium, flagship OS on newer hardware models while still selling and maintaining 6.5 as an OS on less desirable hardware, perhaps to keep the costs down. This strategy is in some ways similar to Palm OS, which is still being maintained by Palm, but has few major development efforts now that the hardware firm has made webOS as its flagship operating system for the Palm Pre.

The rumors also point to Windows Mobile 6.5 in October 2009, with an upgrade to add a touchscreen interface in February 2010. We'll have to wait and see what that means, but it seems that 6.5 may be rushed out the door early for Windows Mobile to be competitive, with the final cosmetic touches added in February.

The story goes on to saying that Microsoft will use Windows Mobile 6.5 as an Android competitor while 7.0 will be the OS to battle the iPhone

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27 Playboy Playmates Who Twitter

August 18, 2009 - 5:26 pm By COED Staff

These days, pretty much everyone is on Twitter. But most of the time, all you get is the occasional funny link and a whole lot of “I’m eating lunch!” So instead of the same ol’ nonsense, spice up your Twitter feed with some of the hottest women around: Playboy Playmates. Sure, they’re probably just as boring as the rest of us, but at least you stand a good chance at seeing a TwitPic of their boobs! (You know, besides all the other pictures of them naked…)

Valerie Mason
Miss September 2008
Twitter ID: @PlaymateValerie

Notable Tweet: “I’m getting a hairless cat soon! It’s due to be born August 14th!! Yipee!!” 5:55 PM Jul 28th from TwitterFon

(Click photo to view full gallery)

Kayla Collins
Miss August 2008
Twitter ID: @kaylacollins

Notable Tweet: “Why is it always the weirdest.. Yuckiest guys that have the courage 2 come up &harrass me about exchanging numbers when I’m out in public?” 9:10 PM Aug 16th from UberTwitter

(Click photo to view full gallery)

Tiffany Taylor
Miss November 1998
Twitter ID: @missnov98

Notable Tweet: “Omg I found fudge! Yippee” about 23 hours ago from TwitterBerry

(Click photo to view full gallery)

Sara Jean Underwood
Miss July 2006/Playmate of the Year 2007
Twitter ID: @sarajeanpmoy07

Notable Tweet: “Why are lawyers such a-holes? Are they making up for something they’re lacking??? ” 1:32 PM Jul 28th from TwitterBerry

(Click photo to view full gallery)

Deanna Brooks
Miss May 1998
Twitter ID: @deannabrooks

Notable Tweet: “Dear single men in LA…please stop staring & either come talk to me or go away…you make me feel like I have a big booger on my face!” 6:37 PM Aug 15th from TwitterBerry

(Click photo to view full gallery)

Brande Roderick
Miss April 2000/Playmate of the Year 2001
Twitter ID: @brandenroderick

Notable Tweet: “Going to bed to read a little bit. Yes dumb blondes like to read too! Don’t worry it’s a picture book. LOL” 12:32 AM Apr 30th from web

(Click photo to view full gallery)

Laura Croft
Miss July 2008
Twitter ID: @lauracroft83

Notable Tweet: “i’m the artist formerly known as cornpussy.” 6:36 PM Aug 9th from mobile web

(Click photo to view full gallery)

Irina Voronina
Miss January 2001
Twitter ID: @IrinaVoronina

Notable Tweet: “I don’t know about Twitter…” 4:39 PM May 18th from web

(Click photo to view full gallery)

Shanna Moakler
Miss December 2001
Twitter ID: @ShannaMoakler

Notable Tweet: “The dmv is fckn with me, they r making me smog check my jag & that wouldn’t have 2 be done till 2013. I swear some1 at the dmv has a crush.” 6:39 PM Aug 11th from Sidekick

(Click photo to view full gallery)

Jennifer Pershing
Miss March 2009
Twitter ID: @JennPershing

Notable Tweet: “Wasted!” 3:51 AM Aug 16th from TwitterBerry

(Click photo to view full gallery)

Ida Ljungqvist
Miss March 2008/Playmate of the Year 2009
Twitter ID: @Ida_pmoy2009

Notable Tweet: “Bubble bath and reading the Course in Miracles. Goodnight xo” 12:55 AM Aug 6th from web

(Click photo to view full gallery)

Jayde Nicole
Miss January 2007/Playmate of the Year 2008
Twitter ID: @JAYDE_NICOLE

Notable Tweet: “Off to the gym with @setorii to do some crazy cardio and an awesome butt workout!! You can never do enough of those lol” 6:17 PM Jul 22nd from TwitterBerry

(Click photo to view full gallery)

Kara Monaco
Miss June 2005/Playmate of the Year 2006
Twitter ID: @KaraMonaco

Notable Tweet: “@CrystalHarris Guess who is coming to Kandyland to see all yousss??? MEEE ” 4:50 PM Jun 22nd from web in reply to CrystalHarris

(Click photo to view full gallery)

Nicole Narain
Miss January 2002
Twitter ID: @nicole_narain

Notable Tweet: “B4 people try 2 judge some1 they should look in THEIR own damn mirror…so what? It was a picture..who really cares? Get over it!” 5:03 AM Apr 1st from TwitterFon

(Click photo to view full gallery)

(NOTE: Playboy has informed us that this account may be a fake.)

Victoria Silvstedt
Miss December 1996/Playmate of the Year 1997
Twitter ID: @vicsilvstedt

Notable Tweet: “Having some amazing time in stockholm.. With my beautiful girlfriends…one of them is izabella scoropco, ex bond girl..hejsan!” 9:46 AM May 31st from web

(Click photo to view full gallery)

Kelley Brooke Thompson
Miss November 2009
Twitter ID: @PBkelleybrooke

Notable Tweet: “Sugar free red bull and nachos is the best ” 6:27 PM Aug 15th from TwitterFon

(Click photo to view full gallery)

Stephanie Glasson
Miss July 2004
Twitter ID: @Steph_Glasson

Notable Tweet: “Everybody swing by my website (www.stephanie-glasson.com) and check out the new updates when you get a chance.” 9:39 PM Jan 8th from web

(Click photo to view full gallery)

Kimberly Phillips
Miss September 2009
Twitter ID: @KimFreak

Notable Tweet: “Playing with my new camera… Ready for adventure. ” 5:15 PM Jul 20th from web

(Click photo to view full gallery)

Candice Cassidy
Miss June 2009
Twitter ID: @candicecassidy

Notable Tweet: “hoping i didnt flunk my neurobiology midterm yesterday!” 3:54 PM Mar 14th from web

(Click photo to view full gallery)

Lindsey Gayle Evans
Miss October 2009
Twitter ID: @TheLindseyGayle

Notable Tweet: “@nicolegraziano is the best listener ever!! were not talkin bout our bunnies! were talkin bout our booties!. girl u smell like a birthday!!” 11:05 PM Jul 14th from web

(Click photo to view full gallery)

Amber Campisi
Miss February 2005
Twitter ID: @ambercampisi

Notable Tweet: “Balls!!!!!!!!” about 14 hours ago from TwitterBerry

(Click photo to view full gallery)

Jessica Burciaga
Miss February 2009
Twitter ID: @JessicaBurciaga

Notable Tweet: “ok seriously tho, women arent suppose 2 wear panties 2 bed, you have 2 let it breathe, ahaha, just put baby lotion on, lol, thats my fave ” 18 minutes ago from web

(Click photo to view full gallery)

Juliette Fretté
Miss June 2008
Twitter ID: @JulietteFrette

Notable Tweet: “Kelly Clarkson: A woman who actually loves her body!” – http://shar.es/fZyS1:01 PM Jun 10th from ShareThis.com

(Click photo to view full gallery)

Hope Dworaczyk
Miss April 2009
Twitter ID: @hopedworaczyk

Notable Tweet: “Can you get splinters from licking a kiwi?” 3:53 PM Jun 28th from web

(Click photo to view full gallery)

Jennifer Walcott
Miss August 2001
Twitter ID: @jenniferwalcott

Notable Tweet: “I need another Vacation!” 3:40 PM Jun 30th from web

(Click photo to view full gallery)

Summer Altice
Miss August 2000
Twitter ID: @SummerAltice

Notable Tweet: “i am trying to figure this twitter thing out…. ” 1:30 AM Apr 2nd from web

(Click photo to view full gallery)

Kelly Carrington
Miss October 2008
Twitter ID: @KellyCarrington

Notable Tweet: “Finaly up and running =)” 4:14 PM May 3rd from web

(Click photo to view full gallery)

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