cdv Software Entertainment USA has announced that the Divinity II – Ego Draconis demo is now available for Xbox 360 and PC! The sequel to the critically acclaimed action-RPG Divine Divinity, Divinity II – Ego Draconis takes players back to the open, war-torn world of Rivellon. The demo allows allows players to check out what’s new before the game’s release on January 5, 2010.
After you’ve had a chance to play through the demo, visit http://www.honorofrivellon.com and use the clues and tips to enter to win prizes, including a Divinity II – Ego Draconis-themed Xbox 360 video game and entertainment system from Microsoft console, themed controllers, controller skins, game cards, in-game items and more!
Divinity II – Ego Draconis, is rated “M” for “Mature” by the ESRB, and you can find out more by visiting the website: http://www.divinity2.com.
Also, Gamestop is doing a nice pre-order bonus for the game:
Players who pre-order Divinity II – Ego Draconis for Xbox 360 from GameStop will receive the exclusive in-game Blood Echelon Armor and Weapon Set while supplies last. The Blood Echelon is a select lodge of elite Dragon Slayers who have earned the highest of distinctions on the battlefield. The pre-order program is available now through January 5, 2010.
**Please note that this program applies only to pre-orders of Divinity II – Ego Draconis for the Xbox 360® videogame and entertainment system from Microsoft**
Worms 2: Armageddon fans you are in luck because your favorite game is getting a title update on Xbox Live Arcade. Even better than that…it’s free.
The free update has improvements, fixes and features requests as well as play balancing. Which is important if you want…a fair game.
The update details are on the Team17 Facebook page, which they didn’t give the address to. There is larger DLC coming for Worm’s Armageddon so keep watching for that!
It was a summer day when it happened again. The sun hung high in the sky, the temperature found itself comfortable around 75, so naturally I was inside playing Left 4 Dead. Ever since the Survivor DLC, my Xbox 360 had been acting, well… weird. Freezing on the loading screens became a daily occurrence. Frustrating, but bearable; at least it wasn’t a Red Ring of Death. That is, until it was. Call me an idealist, but I thought that Microsoft would never let the same customer get Red Ringed twice — No way, they’d fixed it. Sure there were horror stories buzzing around message boards of gamers who had Red Ringed six, seven times, but of course that could never happen to me, right?
Twice? Really?
If the term “fangirl” is appropriate here, I’ll take it, but I truly had faith in Microsoft fixing my Xbox when it broke the first time. I didn’t know the word “fixed” meant, “yeah we got it working, but it’s hugely likely that it will break again next year”. Just like I’ve accidentally bought almost every Nintendo system without even realizing it, I make sure that if there’s a choice that I go with the Microsoft version of whatever is being offered. I traded in my iPod nano for a 30g Zune, I bought a new PC instead of a Mac, and I staked my claim in the 360 being superior to the PS3. These decisions have been based on how I perceive Microsoft as a company. I liken this to people talking about how Star Wars is so widely popular because of the potential appeal that universe has. No matter how badly George Lucas abuses and embarrasses his fans, they come back because it could be good again.
Perhaps it’s an unfair and far-fetched comparison (because George really needs to just knock it off), but when you’ve spent your whole life continually buying a product that breaks, maybe there is something wrong with loving an ideal. And it’s not even that the products break, but having a support system in the absolutely likely event that something goes down seems like common sense. December 31, 2008 (better known as Dead Zune Wednesday), all 30g versions of Microsoft’s Zune went into a day-long loading mode. I guess when you’re designing something that has dates in it, you’d better make sure it can process the idea of a leap year. When the Zune couldn’t, it simply stayed in its loading mode until the batteries died. The response from Microsoft? “Oops. Wait until tomorrow, it should be fine by then”.
Really, Microsoft? One day the Netflix service on Xbox Live was acting a bit glitchy, so guess what? The very next day Netflix offered a 2% discount off of the current monthly bill due to its customers not being able to use their service. They didn’t have to do this, but they did because they value their customers and are apparently not beyond admitting when a mistake is made, followed by doing their best to make up for it. It’s like some kind of commercial alchemy, where if a customer doesn’t receive what is promised, you offer something equal to make up for it.
Pictured : Things that break.
Now, Dead Zune Wednesday was a disaster for those of us who rely on their mp3 player to make it through the day, and Microsoft’s apathetic response to the glitch (I didn’t know “wait it out” was a customer-friendly option?) was different than their response to a broken Xbox; at least when you Red Ring, you receive a month of free Live service every time. But has this ever been a problem for Apple? Or Sony? Or even Nintendo, for crying out loud?
All of this brings me to my main point : Why keep buying broken products? I’d like to blame the console wars, which create an environment where a speedy delivery is favored regardless of how faulty the product turns out to be later. But then what about the Zune? And why can’t Windows Vista go into screen-saver mode when someone uses it with a wireless mouse (which I might add was purchased directly from the Microsoft store)? Do people and departments at Microsoft even talk to each other?
In the end, I suppose all of this complaining amounts to nothing; I’m still going to invest in the lesser of two evils, which in my opinion is Microsoft’s family of technologies. As consumers, do we have an obligation to hold corporations feet to the fire and demand a better product? I WANT to buy Microsoft… I think Xbox Live is pretty much the greatest thing ever. My Zune is superior to an iPod in every way that I’m interested in. I enjoy getting more computer for my money than I would with a Mac. I don’t think it’s too much to ask that my experience in even one of these venues be fail-free.
PS – Disagree? Let me know. I’d love to have a discussion about this.
Oh the hours I spent playing season 1 of 1 vs 100. Never was I chosen as part of the mob or as the One. At the end of three hours of playing, I had nothing to show for it and a guilty feeling that perhaps I should have been playing other games instead.
Now in season 2, you’ll be rewarded for spending your whole night online with Chris Cashman. Joystiq found a list of Achievements that can be earned while playing the game. We all know that Achievements makes the time worth it! The full list adds up to 200GS which is not bad.
* Group Hug — Your team of four simultaneously achieves a Streak of three consecutive correct answers. 10G
* Trivia Fanatic — Answer a total of 500 questions. 30G
* Golden Century — Answer a total of 100 questions correctly. 25G
* Hair Trigger — Get three consecutive questions right while receiving an Instant Answer Bonus for each. 15G
* Quick Draw — In a single round, receive six consecutive Instant Answer Bonuses. 25G
* Go Streaking! — In a single round, achieve a Streak of five consecutive correct answers. 15G
* Game Show Guru — In any single round, achieve a Streak of 12 consecutive correct answers. 25G
* Quarter Century — Answer a total of 25 questions correctly. 10G
* Speedy Delivery — In a single round, score a total of 1300 points through time bonuses. 20G
* Safe Keeping — Extended Play: In a single round, save up the maximum of three Skips. 10G
* Showboating Specialist — In a single 1 vs 100 Live round, max out your Avatar Action 10 times. 10G
* Low Rider — Answer instantly and incorrectly three times in a row. 5G
Now to see if I can get all of these in the first day.
Today is Xbox Live’s birthday! That’s right, the service on the Xbox 360 is now 7 years old. The service has gone through many changes, every time re-inventing itself. Next week Xbox Live gets another update where Gold users get access to Facebook, Twitter, and Last.FM. Inside Xbox is getting a makeover and 1 vs 100 is back again!
It’s great to see the Xbox Live team always pushing itself to improve. Being the most used online service they definitely could turn their focus on other things. But they constantly challenge themselves to make the service even better.
Thank you to everyone that has worked on Xbox Live for creating a service that really brings community on the 360 together. In honor of the birthday, comment below with what you love about Xbox Live!
Here are some pics of the various versions of Xbox Live:
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