GEARS OF WAR TO GET TITLE UPDATE TODAY

Epic Games has announced that they will be making a title update to Gears of War today via the Xbox Live Marketplace. The main focus of the update will be the addition of 250 achievement points for the previously released downloadable “Hidden Fronts” map pack and some fixes to the Roadie Run feature which should prevent some of the issues with taking cover when you don’t mean to.

Here’s the press release from Epic describing what changes players can expect to see following the update;

“Thursday, June 14, at 2 a.m. GMT, the stakes get even higher as Gears of War releases eight new Achievements for the “Annex” gametype and the “Hidden Fronts” Multiplayer Map Pack on Xbox LIVE®.

In addition to adding new Achievements, worth a total of 250 points, Gears of War developer Epic has improved the Roadie Run controls so players have greater control of their movement and can better annihilate their pestilent enemies. The title update will also help squash multiplayer exploits and provide general housekeeping.

For those who have yet to man up and join the battle, the “Annex” gametype is now available for free and the “Hidden Fronts” Multiplayer Map Pack is available on Xbox LIVE Marketplace for 800 Microsoft Points. All four multiplayer maps will be made available at no cost over Xbox LIVE on Sept. 3, 2007.

Release Notes

• New Achievements added! Eight new achievements worth a total of 250 points created for playing Annex and the Hidden Fronts Multiplayer Map Pack
• Improved Roadie Run to reduce getting snagged on cover
• Tweaked up the amount of damage done by the Lancer Assault Rifle in multiplayer
• Fixed split-screen players interrupting the other player’s actions when they die
• Stopped Annex scoring whenever a “Connection Error” dialog box is displayed
• Reduced the duration that corpses remain visible when hosting an Annex match
• Reduced the range of possible Annex bleed-out times selectable by host
• Addressed a number of multiplayer exploits
• Addressed other general housekeeping“ – Epic Games

• Gears of War – Official website
• Epic Games – Company website
• Gamers, Ready Your Weapons. Stop. New Gears of War®
  Multiplayer Achievements Added. Stop. – Press release

GAMESPOT LEAKS MAY 7TH XBOX 360 DASHBOARD UPDATE NEWS?

Now don’t take this at 100% face value, but according to MyGamerCard.net, Gamespot accidentally posted the below video about the new features coming to the Xbox 360 Dashboard on May 7th. The video was supposedly taken down almost immediately at Gamespot, but resurfaced on YouTube a short time later. Since Gamespot hasn’t mentioned the video one way or another as of yet, there’s really no way of knowing if they were just posting a video they saw somewhere, if this was actually one of their in-house produced videos or if they have nothing to do with the video at all.

I will say that the guy saying “yippee” in response to one of the features is what tripped my “I’m not sure if I believe this” radar. Check it out below;

As for what’s actually showcased in the video, I’ll say this…

1. They talk about the new Achievements message, but don’t actually show an example of it. I, for one, would love this feature as I freely admit I probably hit the guide button every time I get an achievement to see what it was for – unless it was something obvious and/or expected.
2. Am I the only one who got really nervous when they were talking about low-power background downloads and the fact that the 360’s cooling fans would shut off during this process?

• Xbox 360 Spring 2007 Dashboard Update – MyGamerCard.net
• Xbox 360 Spring 2007 Dashboard Update Video – YouTube

XBOXLC SEEMS TO BE DOWN AND OUT

Awhile back we reported on a site that was featured at Xbox.com called XboxLC where you could generate your own customized online gamercard.

Well, if you signed up, you’re probably aware that not only have they not updated any of the gamercards registered with them in quite some time, but trying to accomplish anything via their website is pretty much an exercise in SQL errors On top of that. their forums are pretty much impossible to register for – I’m still waiting for an e-mail validation some 2 weeks after signing up for them.

In all fairness, they probably weren’t ready to have tens of thousands of people sign up. It’s a great idea, and I love the designs, but odds are I’ll be heading back to the classic version of my online gamercard soon as I’d rather have an updated card than a pretty, yet out of date one.

SO MANY WAYS TO BRAG

Reader J.M. sent us word that there is another Xbox Gamercard site out there that we missed. GamerScoreChart.com takes all your hard work and sums it up nicely into a little graph so you can not only tell your friends that you’re ahead of them in achievement points, but that if you look at the charts, you’re gaining at faster rate than they are, meaning you’ll be pulling ever further away as time goes on. That’ll show ’em!

While you can click here to check out the site, don’t thank me for the find, thank J.M., Unless of course you’re the person people compare their graphs with when they want to look better than someone else. Then you can curse him out all day long. It’s your choice really.

GIVE VOICE TO YOUR XBOX 360

It seems nowadays everyone has a blog or two. While you may not be interested in hearing what the kid down the block thinks about his favorite band, you may be interested to know what your Xbox 360 thinks about you. 360voice.com has a nifty little web-based service that gives your console a chance to let the world know what kind of a console owner you truly are.

Once you sign up, the site will generate a blog entry daily for your Xbox 360 where it details it’s interactions with you and adds it’s own little take on things. It’s amusing, and more importantly free, so why not try it out? Click here to head on over to 360voice.com and sign up!

EVERYTHING YOU EVER WANTED TO KNOW ABOUT THE LIVE MARKETPLACE…

But were too disinterested to ask. Xbox Live’s Major Nelson filled us all in on a project over at Achieve360points.com where they’ve mapped the entire Xbox Live Marketplace so you can easily see what’s currently available. They don’t make any mention of if they plan on keeping it updated, so keep in mind it may not be accurate as more content is released into the Live Marketplace. Check out the Live Marketplace map here – hopefully, they’ll keep it up to date as the organization of the real Marketplace could use some serious work.