Universal Music Group Artists on Xbox 360

Published October 6, 2008

A unit of global media and communications company Vivendi, Universal Music Group is the world's leading music company with wholly owned record operations or licensees in 77 countries. Its businesses also include Universal Music Publishing Group, the industry's leading global music publishing operation. 

Universal Music Group.

Universal Music Group's record labels include Decca, Deutsche Grammophon, Disa, Emarcy, Fonovisa, Interscope Geffen A&M Records, Island Def Jam Music Group, Lost Highway Records, Machete Music, MCA Nashville, Mercury Nashville, Mercury Records, Philips, Polydor Records, Universal Motown Republic Group, Universal Music Latino, Universal Records South, and Verve Music Group as well as a multitude of record labels owned or distributed by its record company subsidiaries around the world. The Universal Music Group owns the most extensive catalog of music in the industry, which includes the last 100 years of the world's most popular artists and their recordings. 

Check the list of all music videos available on Xbox LIVE Marketplace for more information.

Universal Music Group artists appearing on Xbox 360 include: AFI ("Miss Murder") Anthrax ("Madhouse") Audioslave ("Be Yourself") Black Tide ("Shockwave") blink-182 ("Adam's Song") Bon Jovi ("Wanted Dead or Alive" and "Livin' On A Prayer") Def Leppard ("Animal") Duffy ("Mercy") Eminem ("When I'm Gone") Enter Shikari ("Mothership") Fall Out Boy ("Beat It: Live From Phoenix" and "Thnks fr th Mmrs") Feist ("1234") Fergie ("Fergalicious") Flyleaf ("Fully Alive") From First To Last ("Worlds Away") Godsmack ("I Stand Alone") H.I.M. ("Buried Alive By Love") Hinder ("Lips Of An Angel") Insane Clown Posse ("Hokus Pokus") Jay-Z ("Roc Boys (And The Winner Is)…) Kanye West ("Stronger") Lil' Wayne ("Lollipop") Ludacris ("Money Maker" and "Fatty Girl") Mariah Carey ("Touch My Body") Marilyn Manson ("Coma White" and "Personal Jesus") Maroon 5 ("She Will Be Loved") Nine Inch Nails ("Closer") Nirvana ("Come As You Are" and "Smells Like Teen Spirit") Queens Of The Stone Age ("Go With The Flow") Rev Theory ("Hell Yeah") Rise Against ("Prayer Of The Refugee") Rob Zombie ("Dragula") Senses Fail ("Calling All Cars") Snow Patrol ("Chasing Cars") Soulja Boy Tell'em ("Crank That (Soulja Boy)") Steelheart ("I'll Never Let You Go") Sugarland ("All I Want To Do") Taylor Swift ("Our Song") The Beastie Boys ("(You Gotta) Fight For Your Right (To Party)") The Killers ("Mr. Brightside") The Police ("Every Breath You Take") U2 ("Vertigo," "With Or Without You," and "Pride (In The Name Of Love)") Whitesnake ("Here I Go Again")

New Conquer Mode for Frontlines

(Free!)

Published September 12, 2008

Kaos Studios and THQ are pleased to announce the release of a bonus game mode for the exciting multiplayer shooter Frontlines™: Fuel of War™. The added mode, named Conquer, allows you to capture objectives in any order, anywhere on the map.

Get ready for explosive multiplayer combat.

Kaos Design Director David Votypka said, "We're excited to bring another avenue of gameplay to Frontlines fans. By adding an additional free mode for fans to play, our goal is to extend the enjoyment and gameplay time players can get from the product."

The Xbox 360 leaderboards have been reset as part of the move to a new database for Conquer Mode. This mode is a free download through Xbox LIVE® Marketplace, and will be active in all of the original multiplayer maps that shipped with the game. In addition, all new downloadable content maps for the game will also feature the bonus Conquer mode gameplay.

Guitar Hero III September Song Track ...

Published September 10, 2008

Red Octane and Activision have announced the release schedule of individual song tracks and song packs for the game Guitar Hero® III: Legends of Rock for the month of September 2008.

Take the stage and jam.

Death Magnetic Album by Metallica (available September 12)
Price: 1440 MS Points
Songs: Metallica's ninth, and latest, album in its entirety plus two Guitar Hero exclusives will be available September 12. Songs include "That Was Just Your Life," "The End of the Line," "Broken, Beat & Scarred," "The Day That Never Comes," "All Nightmare Long," "Cyanide," "The Unforgiven III," "The Judas Kiss," "My Apocalypse," and two game-specific renditions of "Suicide & Redemption" with extended solos by James Hetfield and Kirk Hammett.

Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock downloadable content is instantly playable and available in the Downloaded Songs set list in all game modes (Career, Co-op Career, Quickplay, Multiplayer, Practice, and all Online modes). Be sure to check Xbox LIVE® Marketplace regularly for the latest tracks.

Warner Music Group Artists on Xbox 360

Published August 27, 2008 As one of the leaders in the music industry today, Warner Music Group has helped launch the careers of everyone from Madonna to Metallica and crossed genre boundaries in between. With its broad roster of new stars and legendary artists, Warner Music Group is home to a collection of the best-known record labels in the music industry including Asylum, Atlantic, Bad Boy, Cordless, East West, Elektra, Lava, Nonesuch, Reprise, Rhino, Roadrunner, Rykodisc, Sire, Warner Bros., and Word. Now teaming up with Xbox to bring their hottest acts to your console, you will have the chance to experience WMG's world-renowned roster of artists. Check the list of all music videos available on Xbox LIVE Marketplace for more information. Warner Music Group artists and their videos appearing on Xbox 360 include: Airbourne ("Runnin' Wild") Ashley Tisdale ("He Said She Said") Avenged Sevenfold ("Bat Country," "Afterlife," "Afterlife (Live)") Blake Shelton ("Home") Blue Man Group ("Rock and Go") Bun B featuring Sean Kingston ("That's Gangsta") Casa De Leones ("Shorty") Cute Is What We Aim For ("The Curse of Curves") Danity Kane ("Damaged") Death Cab for Cutie ("I Will Possess Your Heart") Disturbed ("Land of Confusion") Dragonforce ("Through the Fire and Flames") Fall Out Boy ("Grand Theft Autumn/Where Is Your Boy") Flight of the Conchords ("Ladies of the World") Flo Rida ("Low," and featuring Timbaland "Elevator") Gym Class Heroes ("Cupid's Chokehold/Breakfast in America," "Clothes Off!!") Ill Nino ("What Comes Around") James Otto ("Just Got Started Lovin' You") Lil Wil ("My Dougie") Linkin Park ("What I've Done," "Bleed It Out") Madonna ("4 Minutes") matchbox twenty ("How Far We've Come," "These Hard Times") Michael Bublé ("Everything") My Chemical Romance ("Helena," "Famous Last Words," "Teenagers") Nickelback ("How You Remind Me," "Rockstar") Opeth ("Porcelain Heart") Panic! At The Disco ("I Write Sins Not Tragedies," "But It's Better If You Do") Paramore ("Pressure," "Misery Business," "crushcrushcrush") Plies featuring T Pain ("Shawty") R.E.M. ("Supernatural Superserious") Red Hot Chili Peppers ("Dani California") Serj Tankian ("Sky Is Over") T.I. ("Big Things Poppin'," featuring Wyclef "You Know What It Is") Taking Back Sunday ("MakeDamnSure") The Used ("The Bird And The Worm") Trivium ("Like Light To The Flies") Ximena Sarinana ("Vidas paralelas")

Gambling with Your Character

Published August 22, 2008

At A Glance

• We put our gold on the line to bring you details of the games of chance in Fable II Pub Games, and how they integrate into the upcoming epic RPG Fable II.

 

With Fable® II looming in the not-so-distant future, October 21 to be precise, Fable II Pub Games allows you to dabble in Albion's "gamble and be glad" pub life with three unique mini-games, complete with characters, tournaments, progressively higher stakes, and a few welcome surprises.

Feeling lucky?

Fable II Pub Games is not an isolated Xbox LIVE® Arcade experience. When you get your hands on the full version of Fable II, you can merge your created hero with your Fable II Pub Games character and so inherit their wealth, or, if you fare poorly, their debt.

Fable II Pub Games offers a much-needed taste of Albion.

Incidentally, if you do find yourself a few thousand gold in the hole, you might still want to merge with your Fable II hero. The in-game repercussions may very well provide just as much, if not more, entertainment for your hero than if you brought in a hefty purse.

Pre-Order Bonus
Any fan already planning on pre-ordering Fable II will receive Fable II Pub Games free of charge, so it's a good incentive to pre-order. Of course, if you forego the pre-order, you can still purchase the game with Microsoft Points just like any other Xbox LIVE Arcade game.

Tournament Items
If lining your pockets with mountains of gold for your Fable II hero isn't enough, you can also score fifteen items for use in-game in Fable II by participating and placing in the various tournaments in the Pub Games.

 

Check your odds on Keystone.

You can, for example, unlock free access to a new hairstyle, get your greedy little hands on strength potions, powerful tattoos, a sword, a gun, a "mysterious ring," and even learn the ability to teach your dog a back flip.

Ready Your Bets
You'll find three distinct games of chance here: Fortune's Tower, Keystone, and Spinnerbox. Whatever game you play, you'll be betting with a line of credit, not your own money. If you lose money and leave the table, it's up to you whether you pay off the debt then and there, or let it sit. If you come out a winner and leave the table, you'll depart with just your winnings.

Play and succeed at the various games and you'll increase your star rating to unlock not only new variants of each game with higher betting limits, but also heftier lines of credit.

Fortune's Tower
Imagine solitaire meeting Deal or No Deal, and you'll have a good idea of this game's underpinnings. Place your bet and watch as progressively larger rows of cards are dealt on the table. After each row is dealt, you're offered gold equivalent to the sum total of the cards in the current row.

For example, if you're dealt 7, 7, 6, you'll be offered 20 gold. The trick here is that if any card in the current row touches the same-numbered card in the previous row, the jig is usually up and you win nothing. That said, you do have a couple of insurance policies. First, the face down "Gate" card at the top of board will replace the first card that touches its counterpart in the previous row. Secondly, if any of the four Hero cards are dealt in a row, that row is immune to any unfortunate matches.

Nicely done!

Keystone
If craps and roulette had a baby, Keystone would be their happy progeny. Place bets on your hopeful outcome of three rolling dice, such as whether the outcome of the dice will affect a red or black number, come up with two or even three matching numbers, or whether the outcome will be an odd or even number.

The key here is that the board is covered by an arch made of blocks. Each block corresponds to a different number, and with every roll a new block is removed. The game ends when the pivotal "Keystone" blocks are removed, forcing the rest of the arch to fall.

Spinnerbox
Welcome to slot machines, Fable II-style. Place your bet, hit the button, and watch as the discs spin round and round, while hoping that enough discs match to net you a pile of gold. Just like Keystone and Fortune's Tower, you can earn new versions of Spinnerbox the more you play, and not every one behaves the same. Sometimes, the board will have more or less slots or increased betting limits, or even sport the feature of free spins whenever you match the right icons.

Whether you're loading up Spinnerbox for a chance at a quick jackpot while you're waiting for a friend to log on, or you're settling in for a lengthy night of pub-style gambling, Fable II Pub Games offers a much-needed taste of Albion.

Article by Ryan Treit

Newsflash: Banjo-Kazooie Coming to Ar...

Published September 25, 2008

If you can't get enough of Banjo when Banjo-Kazooie: Nuts & Bolts makes its exclusive Xbox 360® debut on November 11, you can rediscover what made this franchise one of the most popular games of all time when the classic Banjo-Kazooie takes flight exclusively on Xbox LIVE® Arcade on November 26.

Revisit classic levels like Clanker's Cavern.

The legendary platforming adventure has been preened and upgraded for its Arcade release with graphical improvements, as well as full support of gamerscore and achievements. 

Pre-Order Bonuses
Banjo-Kazooie for Xbox LIVE Arcade will be available for 1200 Microsoft Points, but there's still time to take advantage of the Banjo-Kazooie: Nuts & Bolts pre-order offer. Pre-order Banjo's latest adventure at participating retailers and you'll get Banjo-Kazooie: Nuts & Bolts as well as a complimentary code to download Banjo-Kazooie from Xbox LIVE Arcade nearly two weeks before its global release.

Grunty's Furnace awaits for the hardy explorer.

Participate in this pre-order program for the added benefit of getting your hands on the goodies that wait to be unlocked in "Stop N' Swop" before anyone else.

Initially conceived for the original version of Banjo-Kazooie from ten years ago, "Stop N' Swop" finally comes to fruition on Xbox 360. "Stop N' Swop" is a feature that rewards your accomplishments in the Xbox LIVE Arcade game by unlocking extra content and features in Banjo-Kazooie: Nuts & Bolts.

As if Banjo-Kazooie: Nuts & Bolts and Banjo-Kazooie weren’t enough, Banjo-Tooie is also heading to Xbox LIVE Arcade in early 2009, making Xbox 360 the new home of the beloved Banjo-Kazooie franchise.

Summer Games 2008

 

To celebrate the Summer Games, we're highlighting some of the great sports-themed games, content, demos, TV shows, and movies on Xbox LIVE® Marketplace! Check out these gems of athletic prowess:

TV and Movies (U.S. only) NBC coverage of the Olympic games in Beijing Chariots of Fire Goal! The Dream Begins Hoosiers Prefontaine Glory Road   Compete in official Olympic events.   Xbox 360 Beijing 2008™ - The Official Video Game of the Olympic Games   Xbox LIVE Arcade Track and Field

Newsflash: Warner Music Group Artists...

Published August 13, 2008

As one of the leaders in the music industry today, Warner Music Group has helped launch the careers of everyone from Madonna to Metallica and crossed genre boundaries in between.

Warner Music Group is home to the best-known labels and hottest acts.

With its broad roster of new stars and legendary artists, Warner Music Group is home to a collection of the best-known record labels in the music industry including Asylum, Atlantic, Bad Boy, Cordless, East West, Elektra, Lava, Nonesuch, Reprise, Rhino, Roadrunner, Rykodisc, Sire, Warner Bros., and Word.

The artist Flo Rida.

Now teaming up with Xbox to bring their hottest acts to your console, you will have the chance to experience WMG's world-renowned roster of artists. Check the list of all music videos available on Xbox LIVE Marketplace for more information.

The group Paramore.

Artists and their videos that will appear on Xbox 360 include:

• Airbourne ("Runnin' Wild")
  
• Ashley Tisdale ("He Said She Said")
  
• Avenged Sevenfold ("Bat Country," "Afterlife," "Afterlife (Live)")
  
• Blake Shelton ("Home")
  
• Blue Man Group ("Rock and Go")
  
• Bun B featuring Sean Kingston ("That's Gangsta")
  
• Casa De Leones ("Shorty")
  
• Cute Is What We Aim For ("The Curse of Curves")
  
• Danity Kane ("Damaged")
  
• Death Cab for Cutie ("I Will Possess Your Heart")
  
• Disturbed ("Land of Confusion")
  
• Dragonforce ("Through the Fire and Flames")
  
• Fall Out Boy ("Grand Theft Autumn/Where Is Your Boy")
  
• Flight of the Conchords ("Ladies of the World")
  
• Flo Rida ("Low," and featuring Timbaland "Elevator")
  
• Gym Class Heroes ("Cupid's Chokehold/Breakfast in America," "Clothes Off!!")
  
• Ill Nino ("What Comes Around")
  
• James Otto ("Just Got Started Lovin' You")
  
• Lil Wil ("My Dougie")
  
• Linkin Park ("What I've Done," "Bleed It Out")
  
• Madonna ("4 Minutes")
  
• matchbox twenty ("How Far We've Come," "These Hard Times")
  
• Michael Bublé ("Everything")
  
• My Chemical Romance ("Helena," "Famous Last Words," "Teenagers")
  
• Nickelback ("How You Remind Me," "Rockstar")
  
• Opeth ("Porcelain Heart")
  
• Panic! At The Disco ("I Write Sins Not Tragedies," "But It's Better If You Do")
  
• Paramore ("Pressure," "Misery Business," "crushcrushcrush")
  
• Plies featuring T Pain ("Shawty")
  
• R.E.M. ("Supernatural Superserious")
  
• Red Hot Chili Peppers ("Dani California")
  
• Serj Tankian ("Sky Is Over")
  
• T.I. ("Big Things Poppin'," featuring Wyclef "You Know What It Is")
  
• Taking Back Sunday ("MakeDamnSure")
  
• The Used ("The Bird And The Worm")
  
• Trivium ("Like Light To The Flies")
  
• Ximena Sarinana ("Vidas paralelas")

We Are Scientists

Published August 13, 2008

At A Glance

• Brain Thrust Mastery is the latest release from We Are Scientists.

 

We Are Scientists began in the fall of 1997 at Pomona College in Claremont, California, when Keith Murray and Chris Cain first met. Two years later, after a move to Berkeley, it became apparent to them they were destined to spend their time riding buses from town to town. Perhaps they would play pro sports.

We Are Scientists' latest release, Brain Thrust Mastery.

But instead, they released their 2005 debut album With Love and Squalor. With big hits including "Nobody Move, Nobody Get Hurt" and "The Great Escape," their initial offering sold over 150,000 copies in the UK, and served as the foundation for a significant fan following.

Keith Murray and Chris Cain of We Are Scientists.

Now, their sophomore offering, Brain Thrust Mastery, is set to capitalize on that success. As the band notes, "If [the] first album had been far, far better than it was, and of a far more mature style, and if [we] had then released a limp, unenjoyable second record, and if Brain Thrust Mastery were actually [the] third album, it would be hailed as 'a return to form,' as 'equal to—in many ways an improvement upon—the monumental debut.'   

Well, ok. After a relocation to Brooklyn, and the departure of their long-time drummer Michael Tapper, We Are Scientists is set for a lengthy tour schedule throughout the United States and Europe through the rest of 2008. Look for them at a venue near you, and be sure to check for their videos on Xbox LIVE® Marketplace!

Rejuvenating the Platform Game

Published August 12, 2008

At A Glance

• We preview Number None Inc.'s brilliant, time-warping puzzle-platformer Braid, and offer up a few tips.

 

Some monstrous and anonymous villain has absconded with your lady love, a princess, and he/she/it is holding your precious captive in a remote castle. Much of your quest to free her will involve leaping to and from ledges, bopping enemies on the head, and even straddling flagpoles at the end of each level. Sound familiar? Not so fast.

Get your mind right. Braid will test you.

While developer Number None Inc. pays obvious homage to the genre's genesis with Braid—even going so far as to name a level Jumpman—its similarities remain on the surface, while its time-warping innovation is nothing short of radical.

Painted Beauty

The throwback sprite-like main character and enemies aside, the whole of the game shines forth with hand-painted backgrounds that come to life through swirling colors and gentle, pulsing light. There is as much art here as level design.

If you're starved for a title that wields originality
from start to finish, Braid is your game.

Puzzles Indeed

Your goal in each world is to obtain every puzzle piece, and then piece them together once you're back in the "real" world. Finding the correct path and sequence of actions to obtain these puzzle pieces is where Braid really shines.

Here's just one relatively simple example. Between you and a puzzle piece on a nearby platform is nothing but a few floating clouds. While they're thick enough to stand on, they're placed too unevenly to make the trip to the platform across the way. Trigger your Rewind ability though, and you'll notice that certain clouds travel faster while Rewind is activated, allowing you to space the clouds evenly apart, and hop your way safely to the puzzle piece.

Be Kind, Rewind

From the very beginning you're offered a limitless ability to Rewind, and while it's useful for swiftly correcting mistimed jumps, its true purpose is in manipulating the world around you to solve puzzles.

It's like playing a painting.

Whether you're using Rewind to manipulate an enemy's progress so you can leap on their head and reach a lofty platform, or you're twisting time so that two fireball-breathing cannons neutralize one another, you must constantly tweak your surroundings to solve the game's mind-bending puzzles.

Each level shakes things up with a twist of its own. For example, in World 4, each enemy moves in relation to your own actions. Remain still and so will your enemies. Move, and they'll move toward or away from you at a speed equal to your own, forcing you to think well outside the box just to navigate the world, let alone find that one path to the puzzle pieces.

Perhaps most importantly, every challenge that awaits you is powered by undeniable logic. There are no cheap tricks or randomness to the puzzles. When you finally grasp hold of a puzzle piece, you'll be more likely to think, "Oh, I should have seen that before," than toss your controller in frustration.

What!? She's not here, either?

A Helping Hand

To developer Number None Inc.'s mind, there should be no strategy guide for Braid, no walkthrough to lend a helping hand, and for good reason. The joy of the game is unearthed only through self-discovery as you bring your own wits to bear on the game's various challenges. Let that be your first tip then. Triumph on your own terms.

All that being said, understanding the game's mechanics and at least a little of its unique logic is worthwhile. In the interest of keeping in the spirit of the game, I'll cite no specific examples, but keep the following in mind:

• x8: Your Rewind ability is limitless, but you can also boost the speed of Rewind by up to eight times. When holding X, tap LB to multiply the speed of your Rewind. You'll need this ability often when setting up access to a puzzle piece.
  
• Double bounce: If you bounce once on an enemy's head you'll be flung high in the air, but if you can execute an immediate second bounce on another nearby enemy, you'll gain even greater air time.
  
• Green immunity: Objects that glow green are immune to the Rewind ability, so while everything else scurries backwards in time, these objects and enemies march on unhindered.
  
• Scout ahead: If you're having trouble unraveling a puzzle's mystery, there may very well be an answer further on in the level. If you're stumped, scout ahead.

Rewind and try again.

• Level logic: From the "you move, they move" mechanic of World 4, to the multidimensional shadow-self copycat in World 5, each world has its own unique twist. Every puzzle piece will require manipulating the level-specific mechanic, so make mastering that your first priority.
  
• Start again: Some levels require instant recognition to succeed, so if you find yourself swiftly flummoxed, try exiting, then re-entering the door at the beginning of the section, and pay attention to any enemy or object that moves.

From the very beginning, Braid shines with clever design, brilliant puzzles, and some of the most breathtaking visuals to be found anywhere on Xbox LIVE® Arcade. If you're starved for a title that wields originality from start to finish, Braid is your game.

Article by Ryan Treit