Starting in 1996, Alexa Internet has been donating their crawl data to the Internet Archive. Flowing in every day, these data are added to the Wayback Machine after an embargo period.
As Criterion Games wraps up development on the soon-to-be-released Cagney update for Burnout Paradise, the team is already experimenting with what future updates could bring to the title. Previously announced bikes, night-time driving and a new island have been revealed as key additions coming to the game but now Criterion has revealed the team is experimenting with airplanes. Continuing the developer's admiration for high speed, planes could be an interesting addition to the series but it doesn't appear that anything is set in stone just yet.
Until then we'll make do with the 3 new online modes, 70 online timed challenges, ranked racing improvements and live updates page all releasing for free with the Cagney update, which has been pushed to July 14.
Criterion recently announced some "bummer" news regarding Burnout Paradise's upcoming Cagney update, saying that it will not release on July 10th as originally planned. Tear. Due to the Microsoft certification process taking longer than expected, Criterion confirmed that the Paradise's Cagney title update will roll out a few days later, on Monday, July 14th. The PS3 Cagney release will not be affected. So, you can look forward to some hot Cagney update action on the 14th, bringing with it three new freeburn modes, 70 freeburn challenges, new vehicles and a laundry list of gameplay tweaks.
When the game was first announced, fanboys on both sides were worried that Mortal Kombat VS DC Universe wouldn't be able to do justice to either property. While the main of that question is still up in the air, one small part of it has now been answered (for those few who really care). See, the very first episode of the MKast went up recently and promised again to its followers that the game would in fact feature the series' signature Fatalities.
Bu- bu- bu- but Batman doesn't kill! Indeed. To rectify this, the DC characters will have what are known as Brutalities instead. Just like a Fatality, except, y'know, not fatal. As you can tell, we're absolutely ecstatic about this news. Wee.
Heading into an unfamiliar gaming genre (sports game, oh my!), today we bring you the debut trailer for the Madden 09 "competitor", Blitz: The League II. There's a lot of attitude, a lot of rain, a lot of mud and face-masking (see, we do know some sports lingo), all giving it that signature Blitz feel. Good or bad. But our biggest gripe with this debut trailer is the fact that there's absolutely zero in-game footage. Nada none. Enjoy watching it though.
When most games get patched or auto-updated, we at least have a few words from the developers about what changes the patch entails. Especially if the game in question has a myriad of technical problems that we know have not all been solved. So, to turn on a 360 and see Ninja Gaiden 2 auto-update without any news from Team Ninja, Tecmo or Microsoft feels a bit strange. Though we do know Team Ninja and Tecmo have a lot on their plates at the moment, if they had time to work on a patch, surely they had time to send out a few press releases? But we digress, any patch is better than no patch for a game that seems to run in bullet time for some bits (Chp 10's stairs) and the tubes have not let us down in their observations of some of the patches effects (though we'd've preferred official word).
The game-breaking glitch seems to be solved and any old "broken" saves can now be continued. The speed run leaderboards are now actually updated each subsequent time you beat your best time, instead of just sticking with your first score forever. And while the major technical problems such as slowdown haven't really been addressed, we're glad that the game is actually beginning to approach what it should have been upon release. Here's hoping we'll see more patches as time goes on ...
While we're not exactly sure just how many people out there are still interested in such a thing, Codemasters, the GRiD developers, are holding a contest for its players to design a livery (skin) for the above pictured car. The rules are real simple and you don't need to be an art whiz or anything. Basically, download the picture package from here, and do your best to create an official "Codemasters Racing Team" livery incorporating the Codemasters logo into the design.
Going a step further, Codemasters artists will then turn that into game art for the car. And not only does the winner get his (or her) car in the game, but they also get " a load of GRID swag" and "a framed high-resolution render of your car as it will appear in the game." The contest ends July 25th, get designing!
Okay, so maybe we're not getting a 360 version of Diablo 3 (or maybe we are), but that doesn't mean we can't get our dungeon crawling fix. Of course, there is Too Human coming in August. Too Human is sci-fi though. What about strict fantasy fans? For them, we have Sacred 2. In development for quite some time now -- we first saw it at GDC 07 -- Sacred 2 looks to give fans of dungeon crawling something to smile about. We were impressed with the game when we saw it at this year's GDC, and thesevideos are looking even better. While the amount of gameplay seen in these two videos is pretty small, what's there looks very pretty. Oh, and did we mention that Sacred 2 will have 4-player online co-op? Yeah, well it will.
It's a holiday weekend where we're sure most of you will be out and about, enjoying the sunshine and warm Summer weather. But not all of you will. We know there's a select few (okay, about 76% of you) who will want to stay indoors and maybe rent a new movie release off the Video Marketplace. And really, that's not that bad of an idea. It's such a reasonable idea, that we've compiled a list of all the past week's new U.S. XBVM movie releases even though it isn't much of a list. There's actually only three releases this week which is sort of a bummer. But they're new new releases, so that kind of makes up for it. We'll keep you in suspense until you make it to the break, but we'll leave you with one final warning message. Do not, under any circumstances, rent this week's "Alternate Ending" movie. Stick with the original. Alternate endings only leave room for disappointment, sadness and anger.
We swear that that is from the actual, official, box art from this incredibly, improbably, weird game. Apparently Oxygen games thought that this title did well enough on PS2 and Wii, and are looking to port this piece of weirdness to a real next-gen console. Leaving aside most of the obvious ripping we could give this thing (its lack of potential for profitability notwithstanding), we really do think that a title like this does have a place somewhere in the 360's library. It's just not on the shelves next to Halo and GTA. Considering Microsoft's penchant for throwing casual things on XBLA, this really feels much more appropriate to that space.
Going back to their traditional roots of only awarding one Artist of the Month (darn you May and your four award honors!), Xbox.com has given July's prestigious monthly artist honors to the latin rockers Circo. Solely based on the band picture above and not hearing a lyric or note from their album, we think they're pretty okay fine. Anyone who has a cranium tattoo is semi-cool in our book. So, as with all AotM announcements, you can grab a few Circo music video downloads off the Xbox Live Marketplace at your convenience. Circo, kinda like circle, but not really.
Okay, okay, maybe we jumped the gun a bit with our prediction that last week would see the release of both Soulcalibur and Schizoid. But we think Microsoft just figured out the pattern and decided to mess with us for the sake of it. We kid. Though we do think the idea still has merit, so in the spirit of infotainment, we bring you news of the latest Xbox.com page: Golf: Tee It Up!
Still, given that last week only saw one game released to XBLA and we already know that bothdodgeball games are set for release before the month is out, if Microsoft continues the trend of one game per week we should already have a good idea of the month's releases.
As you may have heard, it's the fourth of July. At this time we're thankful that this isn't some sort of futuristic audio blog, because chances are that a good number of our readers are now deaf from all the (possibly illegal) fireworks they've been setting off. Yes, Independence Day is a good thing, but Independence Day on a Friday? Now that'sa recipe for legends. So go, fanboys and fangirls! Gather up the life stories that you will one day tell your children and grandchildren, the stories of how you spent the 4th of July weekend in 2008. Allow us to borrow from Apu Nahasapeemapetilon and suggest that you "Celebrate the independence of your nation by blowing up a small part of it."
Speaking of how to spend the weekend, we are reminded that video games will likely be a part of everyone's glorious adventures over the next three days. We also realize that not all of our readers will be celebrating this particularly American holiday, but we'll be sure to set some fireworks off for you too, okay?
Please, share with us your gaming (or non-gaming plans) for this weekend.
Posted Jul 4th 2008 11:45AM by Dustin Burg Filed under: News
We recently stumbled across some very interesting Bungie related news over on the NeoGAF forums that we've A) never heard about and B) feel ashamed for not not having heard about it previously. It's news that (allegedly) pertains to Bungie's next super secret project and the possibility that they've been dropping subtle hints these past few months. Odd and confusing hints that all point to the little janitor-looking "Superintendent" character you see above.
As the story goes, way back in May of this year, this mysterious (and adorable) Superintendent artwork has been making appearances on Bungie posts, has been seen on employees' tshirts, has been spotted on the Bungie.net forums, has appeared on the Bungie webcam and has even been seen in the latest Cold Storage ViDoc with text reading "KEEP CLEAN". What does this all mean? Does this really have to do with Bungie's next secret project? If so, will it be a janitor sim? Will the Superintendent character grace Monday's free Bungie Day gamer picture pack? Why is the Superintendent giving us a thumbs up while holding a plunger? We have no idea, but hopefully next week's celebration of Bungie Day will make things more clear. In the meantime, take the jump to look over the timeline of Bungie's Superintendent shenanigans and see if you can put the puzzle pieces together. You know, Da Vinci Code style.
The resemblance to TV's underage doctor in the above screen is uncanny don't you think? While the Bond character model in that shot may look closer to Neil Patrick Harris than Daniel Craig, the rest of the screens from the newest Bond game, Quantum of Solace, look pretty good. Considering the re-purposed tech (remember this is the COD4 engine) the devs have done a good job with the third person perspective bits, and apart from that one screen, the character models (Craig's included) look really good.
You already know about Cold Storage, the remake of a classic Halo: Combat Evolved map for Halo 3. You already know about Bungie Day, which is this Monday, July 7. Hell, you even already even know that Cold Storage will be free on Bungie Day (and forever after). But, we know you still crave knowledge regarding the latest Halo 3 content. Lucky for you, a few Bungie employees banded together to create a new VIDoc, aptly named "On the Seven7th Day," to showcase Cold Storage and compare it with its Halo: Combat Evolved father, Chill Out. There's even a tease early on that Bungie may have something new to announce in the future. If only there were large scale industry events for such an announcement!
When most games get patched or auto-updated, we at least have a few words from the developers about what changes the patch entails. Especially if the game in question has a myriad of technical problems that we know have not all been solved. So, to turn on a 360 and see Ninja Gaiden 2 auto-update without any news from Team Ninja, Tecmo or Microsoft feels a bit strange. Though we do know Team Ninja and Tecmo have a lot on their plates at the moment, if they had time to work on a patch, surely they had time to send out a few press releases? But we digress, any patch is better than no patch for a game that seems to run in bullet time for some bits (Chp 10's stairs) and the tubes have not let us down in their observations of some of the patches effects (though we'd've preferred official word). 
