Xbox Living

It’s been a little while since I’ve been able to update you on all of the latest Xbox 360 happenings.  It’s been a busy few weeks, and while I’ve been able to post a bit, I wanted to offer a summary of some of the latest things that have been going on.  In no particular order, here they are:

• The New Xbox Experience (NXE) was, of course, released on November 19.  If you haven’t connected to Live from your Xbox 360 yet, you should.
• The new model of the Xbox 360, codenamed “Jasper” has quietly reached store shelves.  The new model has an improved motherboard to prevent some of the issues the Xbox 360 is famous for.  You can tell if you have one of the newer consoles by looking at your power supply.  The 150W brick belongs to the new console.
• Halo 3: Recon has been renamed to Halo 3: ODST. ODST stands for Orbital Drop Shock Trooper, the type of unit that will be the protaganist for the game.  Bungee says the name change was done to make the name more closely match the gameplay.  It will also help to remove the idea that Recon would have been a more strategic game like GRAW.
• Gears of War 2 was patched today, supposedly to improve the speed of matchmaking.  I’m waiting for a match right now, so I’m not sure they’ve accomplished much.
• Australia has banned F.E.A.R. 2: Project Origin from being sold down under.  Consumers in Australia looking to play the game will have to order it from asian markets.
• Ubisoft have confirmed that they’re working on Assassin’s Creed 2.  The sequel will be set sometime in the 1700s.  (Assassin’s Creed took place in 1191 — at least, the Animus parts did.)
• The Last Remnant will be getting downloadable content beginning in December.  There will be two packs released on December 1, entitled Purgatory’s Sins and The Key of Ancient Ruins. Another download, March to War Set, will come out on December 15, and a fourth, Price of Lies, will appear on December 22.  The first two and last packs will be free, while March will cost 150 Microsoft points.
• Fallout 3 will also be getting downloadable content, beginning next year.  Three downloads, entitled Operation: Anchorage, The Pitt and Broken Steel will become available in January, February and March, respectively.
• New games keep coming out.  Left 4 Dead, The Last Remnant and Tomb Raider: Underworld are just a few.  See the Xbox 360 Release Schedule for more release dates.

That sums up the latest news!