Dean Takahashi has an blog entry up about Microsoft’s E3 after party which is well worth reading for its notes about the Xbox 360’s technical problems, but it also reveals a few choice tidbits about Ensemble’s RTS, Halo Wars:

This game won’t ship this year. But it looks great. It takes place in the year 2531. You see all of the characters in the Halo universe, from the Elites to the marines. You can use the analog and four buttons to control the squads and vehicles, up t o about 20 at a time. The analog stick is used to navigate a circle with menu options, kind of like the iPod scroll circle interface. The characters are small but you can make out their individual movements. The Elites yell and behave like they do in Halo. It’s like a set of miniatures.

Takahashi is still skeptical about RTS games on a console but it does sound like the game is coming together. That the game is not due out this year may explain why it didn’t get headliner treatment during the press event, since Microsoft at this year’s E3 Lite vowed to focus on games to be released in 2007, with very few exceptions.

Ok, this time it is for real, because it’s from the horse’s mouth, which is certainly the most trustworthy orifice on a horse. Bungie.net says that Marathon: Durandal is being brought to XBLA by none other than Mac game developer Freeverse. They have a page on Marathon: Durandal at their site.

It will include single player, eight player cooperative play, and multiplayer.

Eight player coop? Zang!

Gamasutra has prodded Wideload Games’ Alex “The Man” Seropian into admitting that the company he founded has a second team working on an Xbox Live Arcade title. The author suggests this may be the object of the cryptic reference, “Coming Soon: Project: Hot Sauce and the Rainbow Space Car” that appears on the company’s recently-revamped website. The alt text for that graphic, however, says “coming soon to a website near you” so perhaps that is referring to a web-based game? Or perhaps there is a single project that has both web-based and XBLA versions.

So last week we had JACK STUFF to talk about. This week… wow. Just wow. We could fill like 5 shows worth of stuff just from this week’s info. In fact if it turns out too long, we may just split it up in to multiple shows so you can take potty breaks between all the Halo 3 excitement. But we need your help at the last minute! We’re recording tonight at 7pm Eastern and we need your input about:

• The new Halo 3 campaign trailer and the secret stuff found in there
• The Video analysis of the trailer from joystiq.com

• The new Halo short live action film – Halo: Arms Race
• Future films in that series coming regularly between now and Halo 3

• The 30 second Halo Wars footage
• The new Halo wars details

• The new campaign stills from Bungie.net

• The Halo 3 themed Xbox360 coming out this year
• Marathon: Durandal coming to Xbox Live Arcade

That’s a lot, and you only have a few hours to write us about what you think! If you find anything we missed, please write us about that too. Except for the first level run-through that TeamXbox did. We don’t want to know about it. LALALALA I’M NOT LISTENING! That’s like going to gamefaqs and reading without even playing. So send in your opinions, insights, newfound epiphanies and eurekas, and general excitement by clicking Submit News & Tips on the right side of the page. Be sure to send us your gamertag so we can give you credit. If it’s good, we’ll read it on the podcast! Hurry, deadline is 7pm eastern tonight!

One reason why Uno had a lot of replay value was because it had XBOX Live Vision support.  Getting into a game of Uno on XBOX Live Arcade was first like being in a video chat room and second like playing a simple card game.Texas Hold ‘Em FINALLY has added Vision Camera support to the popular game.  By the nature of the game, Texas Hold ‘Em is a social experience.  The game is mostly played off of the table.  Adding Vision support is feature that has been missed for many many months.  To note, bankrolls will not be reset with this update as they have in the past.  Other features included in the update are:

• Improved usability such as the addition of Custom Match Lists,
  which allows gamers to view and select which available Custom Match
  game they would like to join.
• Improved rich presence in the game, allowing players to not only
  see what their friends are up to, but also if they just won that big
  pot!
• Improved matchmaking and user results.
• Scoring and screens are more readable than before.
• Multi-language support including English, French, German, Italian and Spanish.
• New premium downloadable content allows players to customize the in-game environment, and access new gamerpics and themes.

Is it too little too late?I can say that I do want to play Texas Hold ‘Em with Vision Camera support with my friends.  However, Microsoft just announced the biggest gaming roll out in history.  I’m going to be spending my time playing the new shooters that are coming out or already out (Shadowrun, GoW PC, HALO 3).I won’t be playing Texas Hold ‘Em unless a handful of my friends are playing the game.  I’m afraid they will be busy playing the junk out of the new hit titles launching soon.And if only I could wager my Microsoft points…
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currently playing: Shadowrun
on the back burner: Catan, Guitar Hero II, HALO 2 (PC)
Shadowrun rocks!

Our friends at Joystiq got a better look at the Halo 3 Edition Xbox 360 announced at E3 and are reporting that it features an HDMI port and a 20GB hard drive. Whaaaa??? It appears to be a mutation of both the premium and elite systems: made from parts of both but stronger than either.

The main question on my mind is “How much can we expect to pay for a 360 with this unique set of features?” From a cost of production standpoint, I think Microsoft can definitely afford to produce this version for less than the elite, and possibly only marginally more than the premium. Click “read more” to find out why.

The primary item you’re paying for with the elite is the 120GB HD. Microsoft has repeatedly defended the 120GB’s stand alone price ($179.99) by comparing its cost of production to an external 2.5″ USB 2.0 harddrive of the same physical size and storage capacity, which can now be found online for around $100, but not in retail stores. Without diving too deep into that issue, the point is that the 120GB hard drive “drives” the cost of the elite (along with demand for a “custom” product).

The HDMI connectivity of the elite probably costs Microsoft less than $3. Now that motherboards with HDMI connectivity are designed and in production the marginal cost of using that motherboard in another console is negligible. The HDMI connector can be had for ~$7 online at retail buying in a quantity of one, so I’m guessing that buying wholesale quantities drops the price to less than a dollar, but I could be wrong, so I’ll call $3.

So if it costs you $3 to add HDMI connectivity and $50 to add a 120GB hard drive, what’s the better option to create a little hype for the new Halo 3 edition? I like this offering from Microsoft, and I’d like to see it bundled with a regular version of Halo 3 for only marginally more than a premium, say $449.

Some say that another SKU becomes confusing to consumers, but I ask you, how many SKUs is the average consumer concerned with? I say one. They go to the store, comparison shop, decide on a SKU, take it home, and then never think or read about Xbox 360 SKUs again. I remind you, enthusiasts are not the average consumer. Some things that we’re all up in arms about mean beans to middle-aged mom who just wants “one of the new video game machines” for her son’s Christmas gift.
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