Even as the gaming community waits for Microsoft to release Kinect, its controller-free gaming system, the company has announced a significant cut in the price of the arcade version of its XBox 360 game console in India. Previously priced at Rs 16,990, the console will now be available at Rs 14,676. That makes it a very good deal indeed for those looking for a next-gen gaming console, making it an infinitely better deal than Sony’s PS3 which is selling for close to Rs 20,000 and Nintendo’s Wii, which is retailing at around Rs 19,000.
However, it would be sensible to point out that the arcade version of the Xbox 360 does not come with a hard drive and gamers will therefore have to shell out a few thousand rupees more if they want to save their games. But even with that, the Xbox 360 now is an excellent option for those looking for a dose of console gaming, or preparing for the Kinect, which, of course, will be compatible with all existing Xbox 360 consoles.
The announcement about the Kinect might have grabbed all the headlines, but Microsoft has also released a new Xbox 360 gaming system. The new console is much slimmer than its predecessor, comes in black (from what we can see) and packs in a 250 GB hard drive as well as inbuilt Wi-Fi. It is compact and is very silent in operation. And its price tag is USD 299, pretty much the same as the current console, making it an excellent option for those looking for a new gaming device. The new Xbox 360 is expected to hit stores in the US in the coming week.
Sony brought high-definition brilliance to gaming, Nintendo added brilliant motion-sensing, and now Microsoft has added a whole new dimension, by taking away the controller altogether. The company has revealed Kinect, the official name for Project Natal, for the Xbox 360 - a system which allows you to play games by just having your hands or making movements in front of the screen. You have to hit no buttons, hold no gadget - all you have to do is stand in front of the screen and make the movements necessary to control the character. Gaming does not get more immersive than this, we think. The fact that it will work perfectly with existing Xbox 360 consoles makes it sound almost too good to be true.
Arguably one of the most popular games of all time, Pac-Man, turns 30 on May 21 and Google has decided to celebrate by literally putting the game on its own home page. So, if you are looking to play Pac-Man, all you need to do is head to www.google.com and you will see the Google doodle (the fancy manner in which “Google” is written) in the form of Pac-Man. Just hit the “Insert Coin” option or wait for ten seconds and the game will start - you just need the direction key to keep moving and avoid the ghosts.
We have just finished playing God of War 3 on the PlayStation 3 and must admit that we already consider it a frontrunner for the game of the year 2010 honours. The reason for this is simple: the game is spectacular on an utterly epic scale and features gaming action unlike any we have seen for a while.In case you are the non-gaming types and are wondering what all the fuss is about, here is the backdrop: Kratos is an officer in the Spartan army who has a grudge to settle with the Greek gods, who he believes were behind the slaughter of his family. He therefore declares war on the gods and actually is made God of War for a while before things go wrong and the battle resumes. Battles with legendary figures like Zeus, Hercules and the like as well as stunning graphics and special effects have been the hallmark of the series which has so far been seen on the PS2 and the PSP.
A game that begins by allowing to slay Death and grab his scythe and wade into the depths of Hell to save the soul of your beloved? Well, Visceral Games’ Dante’s Inferno does just that and spectacularly too. We have seen our share of eye-popping games (hey, we have played both the God and Gears of War) but in terms of magnificence and scale, we must admit that this one takes the cake. It is loosely - very loosely, in fact - based on Inferno, the first book of Dante Alighieri’s literary classic, The Divine Comedy.
They may have racked up millions in sales figures and added a whole new dimension to working on the move, but one area where netbooks are supposed to be deficient - and notoriously deficient at that - is playing games. Most pundits point out that as netbooks have got relatively weaker processors and generally no graphics cards, they are unable to handle most new games. Well, that may be true, but then who says only the latest games are any good? There are literally hundreds of titles out there that serve up an amazing gaming experience and joy of joys, many of them run just fine on netbooks. So what if they are a bit long on the digital tooth!
