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“Xbox Originals” added to 360 dashboard update

Microsoft has confirmed that classic Xbox games such as Halo, Psychonauts, Fable and Burnout 3 would be available for about 1200 points on Xbox Live Marketplace starting with the Dec. 4 dashboard update, next-gen.biz reported Tuesday. It is unclear from the post whether some of the games Microsoft has confirmed to be released via these “Xbox Originals,” including Psychonauts and Crimson Skies: High Road to Revenge, would be available with the update. Microsoft also said they’re trying to release as much of the original Xbox catalog as possible to the Marketplace.

“This new service will launch with an array of blockbuster titles spanning the most popular genres from action-adventure to classic role-playing games,” reads Microsoft’s statement.

Also in the update will be a movies-on-demand service for Europe similar to the one already available for U.S. gamers. Microsoft hasn’t confirmed when the service will begin, but next-gen.biz said users will download the movie to their hard drive and then have 14 days to watch the movie before it is automatically deleted. One they’ve begun watching, they have 24 hours to finish.

Mass Effect best game ever?

That’s a basically what The Official Xbox Magazine is saying, according to a scan of the holiday issue at N4G.com. Before giving the game a perfect 10, the reviwer, Paul Curthoys, said:

Still, that’s what’s remarkable about Mass Effect. If you separated the gameplay from the story, you could crap on the gameplay for a handful of different things. But in this game, story and gameplay are relentlessly intertwined, and the impact of that is so powerful that any irritation you feel is washed clean away.

More after the jump.

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Xbox Live’s Fifth Anniversary Party

Microsoft launched the Xbox Live for the original Xbox console On Nov. 15, 2002. Now Microsoft is celebrating XBL’s fifth anniversary with a number of special events for 360 owners. Xbox Live will be hosting the events which include playing against the dev teams from your favorite games on Nov. 15 like Halo 3, Gears of War, Guitar Hero III and even Halo Wars in a Halo 3 match. Also as part of the big fifth birthday celebration, XBL is also kicking off a huge Play & Win Sweepstakes where you could score some great prizes just by playing online. Register your gamertag before midnight (ET) on November 15, 2007, to be eligible to win.

Get your chance to play with the developers on November 15 at 9 A.M. Pacific and ends at 8:30 P.M. Pacific time. We’ve got the lineup of developers ready to kick your Ass:

• Halo Wars Dev Team: Look for the creators of this upcoming strategy game playing Halo 3 from 9:00 A.M. – 1:00 P.M.
• skate Dev Team: Get ready for some serious boarding with the developers of skate. from 11:00 A.M. – 1:00 P.M.
• Ghost Recon Dev Team: Get ready for intense squad-based multiplayer with the developers of Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighterâ„¢ 2 from 11:00 A.M. – 1:00 P.M.
• Rainbow Six Dev Team: Take to the streets of Vegas with the makers of Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six Vegas® from 12:00 P.M. – 2:00 P.M.
• ProStreet Dev Team: The Need for Speedâ„¢ ProStreet developers will be ready to race from 1:00 P.M. – 3:00 P.M.
• Medal of Honor Airborne Dev Team: Jump into battle with the creators of Medal of Honor Airborneâ„¢ from 3:00 PM – 5:00 PM
• Guitar Hero Dev Team: Get ready to rock with the creators of Guitar Heroâ„¢ III: Legends of Rock from 3:00 P.M. – 6:00 P.M.
• Valve Dev Team: Pick your class and get ready for battle in Team Fortress 2 from 3:00 P.M. – 5:00 P.M.
• Ace Combat US Team: Take to the skies against the developers of ACE COMBAT® 6: Fires of Liberationâ„¢ from 4:00 P.M. – 6:00 P.M.
• NBA Live Dev Team: Hit the hardwood with the makers of NBA Live 08 from 5:00 P.M. – 6:00 P.M.
• Forza Dev Team: Race to the finish against the creators of Forza Motorsportâ„¢ 2 from 5:00 P.M. – 7:00 P.M.
• Madden Dev Team: The masterminds behind Madden NFL 08 are ready to take the field from 5:00 P.M. – 6:00 P.M.
• NBA 2K Dev Team: Tip off the basketball season with the devs from NBA 2K8 from 5:00 P.M. – 7:00 P.M.
• NCAA Football – Tiburon Studio: Join the developers of NCAA Football 08 for some college action from 6:00 P.M. – 8:00 P.M.
• Tony Hawk Dev Team: Shred with the makers of Tony Hawk’s Project 8 from 6:30 P.M. – 8:30 P.M.
• Bungie Dev Team: Get ready to play against the creators of the mega-hit Halo® 3 (time TBD).
• Gears of War Dev Team: The developers from Epic will be on hand to play Gears of War® (time TBD).
• PGR Dev Team: Race the streets of Gotham against the creators of Project Gotham Racing® 4 (time TBD).

Halo 3 Is Top selling Game in Japan … Or Was It?

Halo 3 is the top-selling game for the week ending September 30… in Japan. Unless you live under a rock, you will know that this is a Big deal since most US games don’t normally do very well in Japan.

1. [360] Halo 3 – 59,000 / NEW

2. [DS] Pokemon Fushigi no Dungeon: Toki – 55,000 / 440,000

3. [PSP] Crisis Core Final Fantasy VII – 54,000 / 649,000

4. [DS] Tamagotchi Petit Petit Omisecchi Minasankyu! – 54,000 / NEW

5. [DS] Pokemon Fushigi no Dungeon: Yami – 46,000 / 389,000

6. [PS2] Bleach Blade Battlers 2nd – 31,000 / NEW

7. [DS] English Test 2 – 28,000 / NEW

8. [PSP] Yugioh Duel Monsters GX – 28,000 / NEW

9. [PS3] Oblivion – 27,000 / NEW

10. [PSP] Metal Gear Solid Portable Ops+ – 25,000 / 119,000

Really it’s a trick by Microsoft. They have some guy going around buying all the copies of Halo3 he can get his hands on. So we can say he has …. oh … about 50,000 and Japan really only sold about 9,000

2 New Xbox 360 Bundles For Christmas?

Two new Xbox 360 bundles look like they will be showing up for Christmas this year. The new bundles are already showing up on BestBuy.com and should be the same for all retailers across the board.

The “Microsoft Xbox 360 Elite Bundle” will contain the Xbox 360 Elite console along with two games, Forza Motorsport 2 and Marvel: Ultimate Alliance. Best Buy is listing the price for this bundle as $449.99, the same price that the Xbox 360 Elite currently retails for alone.

The second bundle is similar to the first bundle, but contains an Xbox 360 Premium instead of an Elite along with two games, Forza Motorsport 2 and Marvel: Ultimate Alliance. This bundle will retail for $349.99, that’s what the Xbox 360 Premium retails for currently without a bundle.

**Update** Well It looks like BestBuy has taken this down. What this says about the bundles we will see

**Update 2** Doing more searching and the bundles are still showing up around the net. The Model number for the Elite is 52V-00004 and the Pro is 52T-00057 Check this link out for Google confirmation on the bundle.

Metroid Prime 3 Out Sells BioShock

The first week BioShock was released it sold an TruckLoad copies. Take a Look at this past week’s sales numbers for all 3 consoles and take notice Metroid Prime 3 has sold more than BioShock.

Metroid Prime 3: Corruption bests former overall sales leader BioShock in its first week of release, becoming the week’s single best-selling software title across all platforms in the United States. With few major Wii releases on the horizon, Corruption’s place atop the chart is likely to remain uncontested over the next several weeks as well. Positive buzz from upcoming titles like My Sims and Dance Dance Revolution: Hottest Party could bring a reshuffling of chart positions in the near future, however.

Understand that BioShock was released for the xbox 360 and PC. Metroid Prime 3 was a wii exclusive title.