Fable III for Xbox 360 and PC appears to be quite generous on the prostitutes that will be roaming the towns, male and female, as depicted here in 2 pages of the new Fable III artbook.

The Art of Fable III book will contain images of uniforms, posters, characters and enviroments featured in the game. And maybe a few coin purses here and there. Yep we said it. I was wondering how much ‘play-style’ from Fable II would be incorperated in the third installment of the series, and judging by the pics I’d say that you will still be prompted to use ‘protection’ upon every endeavor.

And we always need that in our fantasy life too right? Of course. And need a bigger pic for your desktop – click away pervo.

Last week, Epic Games and Microsoft Game Studios announced that the end of the Gears trilogy was to be delayed from the spring of next year to the holiday season. While this decision has been called a ‘business’ move, the question obviously appears; Why? Why would Gears of War 3 first be coming out during the spring instead of the fall as the previous titles in the franchise have arrived during the holiday season for the Xbox 360? Was there a major unannounced title that has been canceled? Unfortunately, there is no ‘real’ answer for the public at this time other than this short quote from a Microsoft spokesman: “Gears of War 3 promises to be the biggest entertainment launch of 2011. The teams at Microsoft Game Studios and Epic Games have done great work thus far readying the title for release in the Spring of 2011. However, we’ve elected to move the launch of Gears of War 3 until Fall 2011 to make it the marquee title for the holiday season.”

The real question now is when will Gears 3 be released. Both Gears of War 1 and Gears of War 2 were released on November 7th of their respective release years. The likely answer is that it will release November 7th, 2010. After Gears 3, it seemed like the series will be ending but this isn’t true. In February 2009, Greg Miller of IGN caught a quote from Gears writer Joshua Ortega talking about a prequel to Emergence Day. ”You will not be disappointed in the next ten years. It’s a ten-year plan. Gears is long-term. The lancer is the new lightsaber.” Let’s just hope that Gears doesn’t turn into the next ‘Star Wars video game franchise’. Star Wars: Masters of Teräs Käsi, Gears style? No thank you!

Xbox Live subscription rises!

According to a post on Major Nelson’s blog, after eight years’ of Xbox Live at the $50 a year price point, the service is finally seeing a price hike. Starting on November 1, a year Gold subscription to Xbox Live will run $59.99, versus the current price of $49.99. One month subscriptions will jump from $7.99 to $9.99, while three month subs will rise from $19.99 to $24.99.

Other regions will be seeing increases as well. In the UK the price of one month will jump from 4.99 GPB to 5.99 GPB. The price of a month in Canada rises a dollar to $9.99. Finally, a year subscription in Mexico rises from 499 to 599 pesos.

Microsoft is running a special deal right now for North American U.S. customers, allowing them to lock in a year at $39.99, $20 less than the new rate. For details, visit the deal website.

Jesse Divnich with industry analyst EEDAR sent out a statement accompanying the news, insuring consumers that $60 is still “an incredible value.”

“When originally launched in 2002, a Gold subscription cost the same as an AAA video game, $49.99. When taking into account for inflation ($50 in 2002 is roughly $60 in 2010) and the additional services available to Gold subscribers in 2010, such as ESPN, Facebook, Twitter, Netflix, Last.fm and Video Kinect, a $10 price increase still represents an incredible value to consumers”

(Gamespot) – Microsoft’s Kinect has another launch title, and one with a surlier disposition than the family-friendly lineup of fitness and action games already announced. Ubisoft today announced that it will launch Fighters Uncaged exclusively for the Xbox 360′s motion-sensing camera peripheral worldwide this November.

Developed by upstart AMA Studios, Fighters Uncaged pits players against a roster of a dozen underground fighters, allowing them to punch, kick, and yell to trigger 70 different attacks, combos, and super strikes. The game will feature three different leagues to conquer, upgradeable character skills, and 21 different environments in which to brawl. The game also includes a multiplayer mode allowing friends to virtually pummel one another, a tutorial mode to bring players up to speed, and novice and pro control schemes.

Based in Belgium, AMA Studios is a subsidiary of Ubisoft sister company Advanced Mobile Applications. It was founded last year with a focus on “creating AAA console games that redefine the way players control their in-game.

(Reuters) – Microsoft will sell its new Kinect motion-sensing gaming system for about $150 and also offer it in a package with the Xbox 360 videogame console when sales of the hands-free device start in November, the company said on Tuesday.

The price, omitted by Microsoft when it introduced Kinect at the E3 videogame conference in June, matches the preorder price that retailers such as Best Buy, GameStop and Amazon.com posted online weeks ago.

Kinect sales start on November 4, and Microsoft is sure to aim its marketing message at the owners of the more than 40 million Xbox 360 models that have already been sold. The sensor hardware will include a game, called “Kinect Adventures.”

Kinect’s camera-based system lets players control games with body and hand gestures and is seen as a means to spark sales momentum into the Xbox platform before the holiday season. The hopes are that it will lure new and casual players to the Xbox and steal customers from the rival Nintendo Wii and Sony PlayStation 3.

It remains to be seen if cost-conscious consumers and game fans, many of whom have already bought one or more of the consoles, will warm to the idea of spending hundreds more on new hardware, and Kinect-specific software that will cost about $50.

(Gamespot) – Reports have been circulating since the beginning of June that on-demand TV show streaming service Hulu would be the latest multimedia addition to the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3. Today, Hulu made it official. Along with formally unveiling its $10 premium service, the company confirmed that Hulu would be available through Sony’s and Microsoft’s console.

Hulu Plus is expected to debut on gaming consoles with the PlayStation 3. Though officially bearing a “coming soon” release window, a promotional video for Hulu Plus indicates that the service will be available on Sony’s console in July. For Sony’s part, the publisher would only verify the “coming soon” window. Xbox 360 gamers are expected to gain access to Hulu in early 2011. iPhone and iPad users who subscribe to Hulu Plus gain access to the service today.

Hulu did not indicate whether the free version of its on-demand content would be offered to console owners, and the company had not responded to requests for comment as of press time.

As previously indicated, Hulu Plus is not a replacement for the TV show streaming content already available through Web browsers. Subscribers will gain access to full seasons of TV shows currently available through the service, instead of just the five most current episodes. Hulu Plus will also let subscribers access a range of TV shows, including The X-Files, Arrested Development, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, and Saturday Night Live.

Hulu is currently offering subscription plans to its premium service in limited quantities, and interested parties can apply for an invitation through the company’s Web site.

Uhhh, yeah were not sure either...

Disney has unleashed their first product shots of their massive Tron Legacy toy and electronics line, including mice, keyboards, Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 controllers, and action figures with cutting-edge impulse light projection technology.

The 12 inch tall Ultimate Sam Flynn figure (right) arrives in stores in December ($40) which will be the first action figure incorporating impulse light projection technology. Like the characters in the movie, Sam’s face is projected onto the helmet of the action figure, where it appears somewhat large, and oddly misplaced. The face is animated, so when the figure spouts electronic phrases, it moves its mouth. Small children beware of this one under your bed!

Razer is doing up keyboards and mice for $79-$139, and PDP will have Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 controllers for $49.99 apiece. A bit pricey for a wired controller. The Wii version, also due out later this year, will be wireless, because thats how they roll.

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(Gamespot) – Since Project Natal was revealed at last year’s Electronic Entertainment Expo, Microsoft has been largely silent about it. Other than announcing the camera-based motion-sensing system would have a “world premiere” on Sunday, June 13–the day before Microsoft’s press briefing at this year’s E3, the Xbox 360 maker has only divulged it will ship this “holiday” season.

Apparently Microsoft considers Halloween a holiday, as an executive from the company has revealed Project Natal will launch worldwide in October. In an interview on Saudi Arabian state television’s Channel 2 captured last night by GamerTag Radio, the marketing manager of Microsoft Saudi’s Entertainment and Devices division, Syed Bilal Tariq, narrowed the launch date of the system.

“Project Natal will be launched in Saudi Arabia on the same date it will be launched in the world,” said Tariq. “That is going to be somewhere [sic] in October. We will be in a position to confirm the date after E3, which is in June. But definitely the date is going to be in October 2010.”

US Microsoft reps were less forthcoming than their Saudi counterparts, saying only, “As we confirmed earlier this year, Project Natal will launch this holiday. We have no further details to share at this time.”

Since Natal’s unveiling, Microsoft has been keen to play up the potential of the controller-free system while not talking about the games that use it. So far, the company has only revealed the virtual boy Milo, the role-playing game Fable III, the dodgeball game Ricochet, and an art game called Paint Party. Following a Los Angeles press event, screenwriter James Gunn (Slither, Dawn of the Dead) also let slip that boxing, football, and whitewater-rafting simulation games were in development for the system. Workout and yoga games are also rumored.

(Gamespot) – When news of Conan O’Brien’s shock deal with TBS surfaced last week, it was accompanied by reports that the flame-haired comedian might have hosted a show on Xbox Live. Today, Bloomberg is reporting that Microsoft has been considering a dedicated television channel for the online game service.

According to the business newswire’s sources, Microsoft has been in discussions with former News Corp. president Peter Chernin to create a channel exclusive to Xbox Live Gold members, who pay an $8 monthly, $20 tri-monthly, or $50 annual fee. To pay for programming and transmission costs, Chernin proposed hiking XBL Gold subscriptions $1-2 a month, or $12-24 more a year.

The Xbox Live TV channel would reportedly be co-owned by Chernin and Microsoft and would feature both reruns and original shows. Both would cater to the tastes of the “online service’s young, male target audience,” according to Bloomberg’s sources. To that end, Chernin apparently approached O’Brien about hosting a show on Xbox Live, although the discussions (obviously) fell through.

"Star Wars for Xbox? Let's shoot that one down before it gets too out of hand..."

Well, now that we’ve played our April Fool’s day prank and gotten it out of the way, we have some bad news for our Xbox fans… Real news, we promise. On Monday of this week, video game news site VG247 reportedly got their hands on a release list for a British gaming retailer. On that list was an Xbox 360 version of Star Wars: The Old Republic listed as “To Be Confirmed” in 2011. And there was much rejoicing.

Unfortunately, the rumor was quashed rather quickly (like same day quick) by Bioware’s message board community manager Sean Dahlberg via the Bioware forums who stated that while they “recognize that there are other operating systems and platforms available for games today” the company was focused solely on producing and releasing a version for the Microsoft Windows Operating system and that the release list was an outright mistake in regards to SW:TOR. Sounds pretty final? Perhaps.

Dahlberg’s exact wording in regards to the software development being exclusive to the Windows operating system was “at this time”. And as Matt Peckham of PC World’s website points out, they’re not exactly ruling out the possibility of an Xbox version, they’re just saying it ain’t happening any time soon.

Sadly, MMOs just don’t seem to market well on consoles. My theory is that once a game gets beyond the need for only a controller, most console users lose interest. It’s a theory and an opinion so don’t go getting your console panties in a knot. It’s just as likely that the companies producing said MMOs simply don’t care to try and apply updates to console hard drives. Considering the sometimes limited space, the fact that many console fans don’t like the idea of patching games on a regular basis, and the simple fact that past MMOs have been poorly received for the most part, it’s a gamble I imagine many companies just don’t want to take.

So, for now, apparently, the Force remains strong only with the PC.

Gritskrieg – End of Line

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