XBOX 360 BULLY: SCHOLARSHIP EDITION PATCH NOW AVAILABLE

Those of you who have been having issues with the Xbox 360 version of Rockstar's Bully: Scholarship Edition rejoice – a patch that should fix the sound, video and lockup issues many have been experiencing is now available as an automatic update via Xbox Live.

To get the patch, simply connect your console to Xbox Live and pop the Bully disc into your drive – you'll be prompted to download the patch before you can begin playing. Enjoy!

• Bully: Scholarship Edition – Official website

XBOX 360 CALL OF DUTY 4 PATCH ARRIVES

The wait is over… at least for Xbox 360 Call of Duty 4 owners. Infinity Ward has finally released the long awaited patch for some of the problems plaguing the console version of CoD4. Players will be automatically prompted to receive the download if connected to Xbox Live the next time they play the game. (PC Owners please note; I believe all of these fixes have been available for the PC for quite some time now, so if you haven't patched CoD4 yet, you may want to look into it)

Number one on my wish list was a fix for the accuracy problems that have so far made using a sniper's rifle or ACOG scope more of a detriment than a benefit. According to the patch message, those problems should now be gone. I haven't tested the ACOG scopes yet, but from my experiences, the standard sniper rifles have definitely seen an increase in accuracy, making them once again an enjoyable option.

If that had been the only fix, I would have been a happy man – but Infinity Ward decided that happy wasn't good enough. According to Infinity Ward Community Director Robert "FourZeroTwo" Bowling, the company fixed quite a few issues in yesterday's patch. Let's take a look;

"New Kill Cams – Everything that can kill you has a Kill Cam now. Grenades, Airstrikes, Claymores, C4, M203 Rounds, RPGs, anything. So jump online, get owned alittle and check them out. They’re awesome, especially Grenades and M203 shots that go across the map and through a window.

Host Migration – Host migration was added, so now when the host leaves you won’t get dropped back to your own lobby by yourself. Everyone will stay together. Host Leaves, everyone returns to lobby, selects next best host, and the game starts up again. No more re-inviting, re-partying up because a host ended the game.

Improved Sniper Accuracy – The Sniper rifle accuracy has been improved. No more, WTF? shots now. Your cross hair will be a better representation of where your shot will ultimately land. Try out a sniper class today, let us know how the new accuracy feels.

Improved ACOG Scope Accuracy – ACOG scopes accuracy on any weapon has been improved. Test it out, throw it on one of your classes and give it a go.

Upgraded Spectator Cam – Now when you’re a spectator you have the option to follow in 3rd person or 1st person. As well as rotate 360 degrees around the player you’re watching. Next time you’re dead in Search and Destroy and just watching your team mates do stuff you know you can do better, now do it in 1st person or rotate around them.

Quick Mute Option – Now you can easily and quickly mute players in-game or in-lobby without ever going through the Xbox Live blades. Just go to their gamertag on screen and hit ‘A’ to quick mute in lobby, or via the in-game scoreboard if playing. Quick. Easy. Salvation!

In addition to these feature additions there will also be:

Improved Network Performance For Larger Games – 18 player games now require more bandwidth to host, resulting in smoother performance for players.

Optimized Server Selection for First Match – Server selection is now optimized to select best bandwidth servers associated by LSP.

Fixed “Playlist Older Than Host” Error – Player will no longer get this error when entering games.

Additional Start Spawn Locations in All Maps – Added a minimum of 9 extra start spawns on each side of all maps." – Robert "FourZeroTwo" Bowling

Overall, this is a great patch for the game, taking into account many of player's complaints and suggestions. Sadly, while the patch notes list some network performance fixes, I still found the same old lag in several of the games I played. Looks like there's still some improvement needed on that end.

Finally, lest PlayStation 3 owners feel slighted, FourZeroTwo confirmed that there is a PlayStation 3 version of this patch going through certification at Sony, and will be available as soon as that testing is done.

• Call of Duty 4 – Official website
• Call of Duty 4 Xbox 360 Patch is OUT – Here's What's Changed – IAMfourzerotwo 

BIOSHOCK UPDATE AND PLASMID PACK NOW AVAILABLE

Just a quick note here for those of you with BioShock for either Windows or the Xbox 360 – an update for the game is now available via the Xbox Live Marketplace (Xbox 360 version) or your favorite file download site (Windows version).

This update not only fixes several issues with the game, including the game's "widescreen" issues (it will now play in true widescreen), but also adds new plasmids and tonics to further enhance the experience that is the City of Rapture. It's a free download, so be sure to check it out!

• BioShock – Official website
• The Cult of Rapture – 2KGames

GALACTIC CIVILIZATIONS II UPDATED

Stardock has released v1.2 of Galactic Civilizations II, and the update is a big one feature wise. As per the official Gal Civ 2 website;

“Owners of Galactic Civilizations II can now get the latest update to the award-winning strategy game.

Galactic Civilizations II v1.2 has a TON of new features, enhancements, tweaks and fixes based on player feedback.

There are hundreds of changes to the new version, some of the highlights include:

• A myriad of user interface enhancements. Basically we listened to what users wanted improved in the game’s UI and made dozens of updates to the various screens to make managing your intersellar empire and fleet much easier.
• A new combat system. Previously the combat system overwhelmingly favored the attacker to the point that there was little reason to focus on defenses on a ship.  The new system has ships attacking at the same time.
• Updated Computer AI.  The AI has been further enhanced to provide not just a challenge at higher levels but to play more intelligently at all levels.  As a reminder, at difficulty levels lower than “tough” (AI set to “intelligent”) the computer players are actually penalized in resources.
• A Modding User interface.  Players can now create their own mods more easily and users can easily select between them.
• Stardock also has provided a very detailed example mod that includes an alternative game interface, an alternative set of aliens to play against, an alternative tech tree, and more.  Total conversion mods should be very easy to do with the new system.

On top of those changes include hundreds of minor tweaks. To get an idea of the scope, THIS LIST is only a partial list of changes we made to the game from v1.11 to v1.2.

Galactic Civilizations II should be at most retail outlets in the United States, Canada, Europe, and Australia.  You can also purchase it directly on-line from here and download the game immediately while waiting for your box (or you can select download only). 

The update is available through Stardock Central or as a stand-alone download.  Players will need their serial #s to register the game before playing.“– Galactic Civilizations 2 website

OBLIVION PATCHED

Bethesda has released a patch for both the PC and Xbox 360 versions of The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion. The patch covers a wide range of bug and exploit fixes as well as addressing several performance issues. Of more importance to some PC owners will be the options to tune the graphic settings even lower in some categories to improve performance on low end machines – I guess they took notes on the Oldblivion mod or something.

PC users can download the patch here, while Xbox 360 users will be prompted to download the patch the next time they play Oblivion while connected to Xbox Live. Those interested in the specifics can also check out the full list of changes for both versions here.

GALACTIC CIVILIZATIONS II UPDATED

Stardock has released v1.2 (beta) of Galactic Civilizations II, and the update is a big one feature wise. As per the official Gal Civ 2 website;

“There is a pretty significant list of changes (see the link below) of what’s in there.  Everything from a modified battle system, updated AI, user interface enhancements, as well as support for modding with the starts of our example mod.” – Galactic Civilizations 2 website

While it is a beta update, and may have some “rough edges”, the full list of updates will probably be more than enough to make you load up Stardock Central and get your fix before the full version of the patch. Check out the full v1.2b1 change log here.