Grand Theft Auto 4: Lost and Damned DLC

On February 17th the new downloadable content (DLC) for Grand Theft Auto 4 comes out. In Lost and Damned, you play as Johnny Klebliz and you are in a biker gang.

More information and pictures can be found here:
http://www.xbox.com/en-US/games/g/grandtheftautoiv/lostanddamned/

New Call of Duty: World at War Downloadable Content announced

On February 10th, new downloadable content was announced for the ever popular Call of Duty: World at War. This new content includes 4 new maps, which are called Nightfire, Station, Knee Deep, and a new map for the Nazi Zombies bonus mode called Verrückt (or Zombie Asylum). These new maps will be releasing sometime in March.


More info about the new maps can be found here: http://www.callofduty.com/intel/189

Fallout 3 Downloadable Content pushed back

Recently, the Broken Steel downloadable content for Fallout 3 (which is supposed to get released in mid-March) is going to be released in mid-April instead. The reason for this is unknown, but some people say that it's because they want to release their other downloadable content first. Broken Steel is an important expansion as it allows the player to continue the main quest, and most importantly, it extends the players maximum level to 30 instead of 20.

Mythic Map Pack: Sandbox revealed

Bungie recently showed off their last map of the Mythic Map Pack to the public. This map is called Sandbox. Sandbox is "a map unlike any we have ever made before" says one of the designers of it. The reason why its so unique is that not only will players be able to play on the ground, they will be able to play in the sky as well. Sandbox lets players build maps in Forge in the Skybox, something that the halo community has been doing through tricking since the game was released 2 years ago. With this new ability, players will no longer need to trick in order to make their floating objects.

The Mythic Map Pack will cost 800 Microsoft points (around $10.00) and will be released March 3rd. You can also get the Mythic Map Pack for free and one week early when you buy the Halo Wars Collector's Edition, or you can wait until Halo 3 ODST gets released in the fall and get ALL the map packs for free plus 3 exclusive maps.

If you want to see some screen shots of the maps, follow this link: http://www.bungie.net/projects/halo3/asset_thumb_viewer.aspx?at=59&cc=21

C++

We have started work with the program called C++ this week. Hopefully it will be easier then the other programs we are currently working with.

Resident Evil 5

March is a important month for Resident Evil fans. The 13th of March is the launch day of Resident Evil 5, continuing the story that has lasted for years! The game will be available exclusively for the Xbox 360 and the PlayStation 3 (Sorry Wii owners!). This game keeps the play style of Resident Evil 4, except your partner isn't helpless...or a blonde. The main character of the game is Chris Redfield and it takes place in Africa. Chris has moved on from STARS and has joined a new organization, the BSAA (Bioterrorism Security Assessment Alliance) and is assigned to an African village because of a mutagenic virus that got distributed in it. As I said above, you get a new team mate...who actually helps! Chris teams up with Sheva Alomar, the BSAA's West African Branch operative. Together, they must find out what happend to the village...and meet some familier faces along the way.

P.S. I have played the demo of this game, and I can tell you that its extreamly fun! You only get two levels, but for a demo, it feels like the game is already finished! It is very well put together. If you have the Wii version of Resident Evil 4, the controls for this game might seem difficult the first few times you play.

Halo Wars Collector's Edition

Click image to Enlarge

For any Halo fan, the Collector's Edition of Halo Wars is clearly a must buy. The Standard Edition is comes with the usual (case, disc, instruction booklet), but the Collector's Edition explodes with content like a Spike Grenade! The Collector's Edition includes all of the following:

-The Halo 3 Mythic Map Pack
-Halo Wars: Genesis (a graphic novel)
-A Unique In-game Vehicle (The “Honor Guard” Wraith)
-Six Leader Cards
-Spirit of Fire Patch

With all of these extra items, its pretty obvious as to why a fan would want this edition instead of the Standard Edition.

Microsoft Announces New Operating System

Yesterday (October 27, 2008) Microsoft unveiled details of two new operating systems. Currently the most commonly used Microsoft operating systems are Windows XP and Windows Vista. Although frequently criticized, often by those who have never used it, Vista is actually a very stable, rich environment in which to work, particularly when used with updated machines.

Nevertheless, Microsoft has decided to press ahead with successors for Vista. In late 2009, Windows 7 will be released. It will be much like Vista. Around the same time Microsoft will release Windows Asure, an operating system that lives on Microsoft servers and not on your computer. This is called Cloud Computing, the "Cloud" being the Internet. Basically this means you won't need an operating system or programs: they will all live in the "Cloud."

Whether this works out or not remains to be seen. However, many companies are already trying this, both with Microsoft and with Google products.

"Cloud Computing is one of the most used technology buzz words at present."