XBOX 360 GETS ANOTHER BACKWARDS COMPATIBILITY UPDATE!

Football fans everywhere let out a massive cheer as Microsoft rolled out the latest Backwards Compatibility list for the Xbox 360 and at long last, ESPN NFL 2K5 made the list. That's right, the game that is, in my opinion, still the best football game out there is now playable on the Xbox 360.

Today's update list included quite a few other titles people have been pining for, I'm just overjoyed (as you can obviously tell) that at long last 2K5 has arrived on the 360. Now to wait for people to figure out how to transfer roster updates over…

While I'm waiting, why don't you check out the list of newly added Xbox BC titles below – enjoy!

2006 Fifa World Cup Germany
25 to Life
AMF Bowling 2004
Apex
Arena Football
Armed and Dangerous
Baldurs Gate: Dark Alliance
Batman: Rise of Sin Tzu
Bionicle
Blade II
Blinx: The Timesweeper
Blitz: The League
Blood Omen 2
Blowout
Breakdown
Burnout 2: Point of Impact
Cabelas Dangerous Hunts 2
Championship Manager 2006
Colin McRae Rally 2005
Crime Life: Gang Wars
Dave Mirra Freestyle BMX 2
Dungeons & Dragons Heroes
ESPN College Hoops 2k5
ESPN NFL 2k5
Fantastic 4
FIFA 06 Soccer
Fight Night: Round 3
Final Fight: Streetwise
Forgotten Realms: Demon Stone
Freedom Fighters
Freestyle Street Soccer
Future Tactics: The Uprising
Godzilla: Destroy All Monsters Melee
Godzilla: Save the Earth
Goldeneye: Rogue Agent
Greg Hastings Tournament Paintball Max'd
High Heat MLB 2004
Hunter: The Reckoning
Indiana Jones And The Emperors Tomb
MLB Slugfest Loaded
MVP Baseball 2003
MVP Baseball 2004
Nascar Thunder 2002
Nascar Thunder 2003
NBA 2k3
NBA Ballers
NBA Inside Drive 2002
NBA Street V3
NCAA College Basketball 2k3
NCAA March Madness 2005
NCAA March Madness 2006
NFL 2k2
NFL 2k3
NHL 2005
NHL 2K3
NHL Hitz Pro
Nightcaster: Defeat The Darkness
NTRA Breeders Cup: World Thoroughbred Championships
Playboy: The Mansion
RLH: Hunt or be Hunted
Robin Hood: Defender of the Crown
Rocky
Rugby 2006
Shattered Union
Shrek Super Party
Star Wars: Jedi Starfighter
Starsky & Hutch
Syberia II
Techmo Classic Arcade
Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines
Test Drive
The Bard's Tale
The Chronicles of Narnia The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe
The Guy Game
The Lord Of The Rings: The Third Age
Thousand Land
Thrillville
Tom and Jerry in War of the Whiskers
Turok: Evolution
Van Helsing
WarPath
Worms 3D
Zathura

XBOX 360 BACKWARDS COMPATIBILITY UPDATE

Microsoft has added another batch of original Xbox titles to the Xbox 360 Backwards Compatibility list. Here’s the list of what titles have either been added or updated this time around;

• America’s Army (New)
• Auto Modellista (New)
• Bass Pro Shops Trophy Hunter 2007 (New)
• Blinx 2 (New)
• Bloodrayne 2 (New)
• Burnout (New)
• Crash Bandicoot 4 (New)
• Crash Bandicoot 5: Wrath of Cortex (Updated)
• Doom 3: Resurrection of Evil (New)
• Drive to Survive (New)
• Drive to Survive (EM) (New)
• ESPN College Hoops (New)
• ESPN NHL 2K5 (New)
• Evil Dead Regeneration (New)
• Exaskeleton (New – Japan only)
• FIFA Street 2 (New)
• Full Spectrum Warrior: 10 Hammers (New)
• Guilty Gear XX #Reload (New)
• Harry Potter: And the Chamber of Secrets (New)
• Harry Potter: And the Prisoner of Azkaban (New)
• Hot Wheels: Stunt Track Challenge (New)
• Jet Set Radio Future (Updated)
• Justice League: Heroes (New)
• King Arthur (New)
• Kingdom Under Fire: The Crusaders (New – No Xbox Live Access)
• Magic: The Gathering: Battlegrounds (New)
• Marvel Nemesis: Rise of the Imperfects (New)
• Marvel vs. Capcom 2 (New)
• Mech Assault 2 (New)
• MLB Slug Fest 2003 (New)
• Morrowind (New)
• MotoGP2 (New)
• Myst III: Exile (New)
• NBA Live 2002 (New)
• NCAA Football 06 (New)
• Nobunaga no Yabou Ranseiki (New – Japan only)
• Outlaw Golf 9 More Holes of X-mas (New)
• Outlaw Volleyball: Red Hot (New)
• Outrun 2 (New)
• Outrun 2006: Coast to Coast (New)
• Pac Man World 3 (New)
• Panzer Elite Action: Fields of Glory (New – EMEA only)
• Pro Cast Sports Fishing (New)
• Project Gotham Racing (New)
• Project Gotham Racing 2 (New)
• RoadKill (New – No Xbox Live Access)
• Rogue Ops (Updated)
• Sega GT 2002 (Updated)
• Sega GT Online (New)
• Shadow Ops (New)
• Showdown: Legends of Wrestling (New)
• Silent Hill 2: Dreams (New – US/EMEA only)
• Sponge Bob Square Pants: Lights, Camera, Pants! (New)
• Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Melee (New)
• The DaVinci Code (New)
• The Sims 2 (New)
• The Urbz: Sims in the City (New)
• Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 2X (New)
• Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 3 (New)
• Transworld Surf (New)
• Trivial Pursuit Unhinged (New)
• Winning Eleven 8 (New)
• Without Warning (New)
• WWE Raw (New)
• Yu-Gi-Oh! The Dawn of Destiny (New)

Unfortunately, ESPN NFL 2K5 is still waiting to join the ranks of the backwards compatible – I had been hoping with APF2K8 on the horizon that the ESPN Football franchise would see some BC love. Click here to see the full list of Xbox games playable on the Xbox 360.

Sorry if today’s posts seem a little short, but my internet connection was down until roughly 3:30am. As you can imagine, I’m now not only trying to get everything online at once, but I’m also tired as all hell. At least it gave me time to finish The Darkness. While I don’t have time to post a full review of the game at the moment, I will say this – The Darkness is a highly enjoyable game that’s bolstered by solid writing and excellent voice acting. If you take your time with the game, playing it the way you can see the developers meant for it to be played, you’ll find it’s going to take you on one hell of a ride.

(Editor’s note 4:37am – I’ve once again lost my internet connection – not sure what time any of today’s updates will get posted, so ignore any confusing references to time)

TWO “NEW” HALO 2 MAPS COMING APRIL 17TH

In the latest Bungie Weekly Update, Bungie’s official Content Monkey, Frank O’Connor announced that two "new" maps will be released for Halo 2 on April 17th. I use the term "new" because as it turns out, the maps are based on some old friends from the original Halo.

The first map, Tombstone, is based on "Hang ‘Em High"…;

"Now, did I say that Tombstone was 90% Hang ‘Em High? I did! There are some subtle and some not so subtle differences. Obviously the graphical look is very, very different. Gone are the senseless pieces of geometry with no context. Now it is perfectly obvious, even to an idiot, that the giant crane put them there. We won’t go into why. It just did.

The massive main ramp has been changed too. It was something of a death trap in its Halo CE form, so now there’s a grav lift that boosts you past the really dangerous part (although the grav lift noise will give enemies some indication that you used it) and the internal corridor structure has changed on that side. There’s even some new areas up there, but they’re pretty small. And we’ve added another way into those corridors, you’ll just have to see when you play." – Frank O’Connor, Bungie

…and the second, Desolation, is based on "Derelict";

"The next most popular question was, “Why Derelict?” Easy. Right now, some of the most active players are competitive players. They get a lot of use out of these smaller symmetrical maps, since the tightly tuned variants they play require a certain amount of predictability. Derelict made the perfect foundation for that. Now, while Tombstone is a cool 90% remake of Hang ‘Em High, Desolation has been significantly altered for competitive play.

Gone are the meaningless upper floor tunnels, replaced instead by ramps that allow easy access to the ground floor, and create tight close quarters battles, and occasional grenade traps. The teleports have been replaced by rapid grav lifts, more direct and quicker to use than the ramps. Graphically it’s changed quite a bit as you can see, but it will feel familiar to Halo CE fans, although we dare say, much better." – Frank O’Connor, Bungie

Now for the important part – when these maps were originally announced, they were designated as being for the Xbox 360 only, however things have changed. Bungie has announced that the maps will be available for both the Xbox and Xbox 360 at a cost of $4.00 for both…

…and there’s the rub. I didn’t give the price in Microsoft Points, because the maps will not be available via the Xbox Live Marketplace. Because of the fact that the original Xbox is not supported by the Marketplace, the maps will only be available by direct purchase through Halo 2’s in-game interface – just like the pre-360 Halo 2 downloadable content. In other words, you’ll need to buy the maps via a credit card.

In addition to that little hitch, the maps are not transferable – they’ll only work on the system you download them for, meaning that if you have both an Xbox and Xbox 360, you’ll need to decide which one you want to play the maps on. There’s also no official word on whether or not the maps will be re-downloadable should you need to have your Xbox or Xbox 360 replaced. (O’Connor says the maps will be tied to your Live account as well as being tied to the machine you downloaded them to, which is why you can’t have the maps on both an Xbox and Xbox 360 you own.)

"Because of that, we can’t use Xbox Live Marketplace – it obviously doesn’t exist on the old Xbox. So this will be one of the last times you use a credit card proper to buy a map. In the Halo 2 game interface, you simply select the download option from the main interface, and it will show the new content there. This likely won’t ever be available on a disc, like the last maps, so this is your only method for the moment. These maps could in theory be made free eventually, like last time, but the truth is that we’ll have moved on to Halo 3 by then and it won’t be a priority. So don’t hold your breath. If you don’t have a credit card, simply buy a $4 Visa gift card at a supermarket. Bam!…

…You WILL have to pick which box to install it on. It’s tied to the box you download it to, as well as your Live account, so you effectively can’t have it on more than one system. Sorry." – Frank O’Connor, Bungie

So there you have it gang – come April 17th, Halo 2 will take a shot at re-taking it’s place as the number one game on Xbox Live. Will Gears of War fall before the Master Chief’s onslaught? I guess we’ll know in about 3 weeks.

• Bungie Weekly Update 3/30/07 – Bungie.net
• Bungie – Official website

CHANGES TO XBOX.COM

Microsoft revealed a revamped Xbox.com “My Xbox” section yesterday which enables Xbox Live members to utilize more of the features of Xbox Live while away from their consoles. The biggest change was the ability to read messages sent over live from the website (Silver & Gold Members) and send messages to other Xbox Live members. (Gold membership only). Here’s a brief rundown of the changes as per Xbox.com;
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All My Xbox users (Xbox Live Silver and Gold users as well as those who just signed up here on Xbox.com) can now read text messages in the My Xbox Message Center. So someone can send you a message from their Xbox 360™ console and you can read it on your PC.

Xbox Live Gold members can compose and send messages in the My Xbox Message Center. The character limit is the same as on the Xbox 360 console: 250 characters.

Xbox Live Gold members can send messages (up to 200 per day) to gamers who are on their friends list.

Xbox Live Gold members can send messages (up to 25 per day) to other gamers not on their friends list.

All My Xbox users can block communications with other gamers. Designate a gamertag as blocked and you won’t get any more messages from them. Change your mind? Unblock a gamer simply by sending them a message.

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Click here to check out the update page at Xbox.com for more details.

How to make your own Xbox 360 Arcade Controller

I’ve been looking for wiring diagrams for the Xbox 360 controller for awhile now as I’m intrigued with the idea of building a full sized Geometry Wars: Retro Evolved arcade cabinet. Anyway, while searching for said information, I came across this tutorial on how to build a working arcade controller out of a 360 wired pad over at GamersReports. While the example uses a Street Fighter II Anniversary Edition Arcade Stick for the controls, it shouldn’t be too hard to just apply the same idea to regular arcade parts and make a custom one. Too bad, there wasn’t a tutorial for the analog sticks, or I could have started planning to play Geometry Wars: RE in style someday! Click here for the tutorial.

If you’ve played Project Gotham Racing 3, you’ve probably noticed the Geometry Wars & Geometry Wars: RE arcade machines in the back of your garage. Well, everytime I look at them, I can’t help but think how cool it would be to build a full sized machine using that design. It probably helps that I’m a Geometry Wars: RE addict.

Anyway, like the news bit says, I came across this tutorial for building an arcade controller for the Xbox and think it may be time to use a lot of those arcade parts lying around here that are earmarked for stalled projects.

So anyway, let’s discuss both the tutorial article as well as building custom controllers here for a bit. Post some pics of your creations if you have them, and if you happen to know of a site that explains just how the analog sticks on the 360 controller work, please, please, please let me know. That GW:RE cabinet really would be nice.

Xbox Diamond Cards definitely shipping

I just received an e-mail from Microsoft letting me know my Xbox Diamond Card is being printed and should be arriving in 2-3 weeks. I’m not sure if the sudden printing of said card is due to an e-mail I sent to Microsoft Support regarding the Diamond Card and facets of the upcoming E3 free weekend, but it’s nice to know my bling is in the mail.

If you’ve gotten your Diamond Card already, have you been able to use it anywhere? SIs it indeed make you the coolest guy at the party? Let us know!