How do you define yourself as an ultimate Xbox geek pro? Well, Xbox MVP Microsoft MVP Award 2007 in the Xbox category">DeaconBlade 360 gets goodies sent to him from Microsoft regularly, and this is just one of the things he has received - his very own personalised Xbox Live Gamertag jacket. Before you all start saying "I want one, I want one!!!", stop and consider whether you actually want everyone in the street to know your gamertag.

Privacy issues aside, the Xbox Gamertag jackets do look quite cool and if you want one, you have to either become an Xbox MVP or get down to your tailor to get one made for you. Some people say it's geeky, but true Xbox gamers will be willing to wear the jacket as a matter of pride.

Some of you may be wondering if this is yet another of the many April Fool's jokes that go around at this time of the year, and all we can say about that is that the photo of the gamertag jacket was posted on Deacons blog on March 30th. Now... anyone know where we could get some good silkscreens and some fabric paint?

 

Yesterday's release of the Grand Theft Auto IV trailer was very much anticipated. Avid GTA fans will have noticed that the release brought down Rockstar's website, as well as other large gaming sites such as GameTrailers and GameVideos. Granted, our servers were a little loaded and some people couldn't get through, but luckily we found a YouTube video of the trailer just in time to save you guys from the awful wait.

So what came of this trailer? Well, it was amazing graphically, representing the city of New York in amazing detail. However, the developers at Rockstar Games have decided to keep hush about the trailer and have not enlightened us on anything we had the pleasure of viewing.

Luckily the internet has come to the rescue, with the trailer picked to pieces by eagle-eyed fans. In order to prevent confusion we'll only post the fact and let you speculate amongst yourselves! Here's what the trailer tells us:

• GTA IV is based loosely on New York, but is in fact the Liberty City (maybe the state, not just the city) you remember from GTA III. You can find the words "Liberty City" plastered on a docked tanker in the trailer, a ferry and the infamous "LCPD" squad cars in the trailer.
• The vehicles look post-2000, including BMW and sports car lookalikes
• GTA IV ditches the old Renderware engine for Rockstar Games' superior Table Tennis RAGE engine. A Rockstar representative told Gamespot: "We can confirm that all footage in the trailer was captured directly from 720p gameplay running real time in our Rage engine on a next-gen gaming console."
• An in-game ad on the trailer shows a sign which says "Visit Vice City - $300". Is this evidence that we will be able to visit the city or just a gimmick? For the next-generation GTA, we'd bet on it being the former. Will it resemble the PS2/PSP Vice City?
  
• Birds, pedestrians and drivers have advanced physics in the trailer, for example, a driver can be seen adjusting a rear view mirror. It's the small things that count.
  
• Finally, will the Russian chap be the main protagonist?

All of these points can be confirmed by watching the trailer, however we suggest that you view the HD trailer on Rockstar's website rather than the YouTube version if you want to be able to see all of these. Rockstar estimates that GTA IV will be shipped on October 19 for both Xbox 360 and PS3.

GAME UK, one of the largest videogame retailers in Britain, has sent an e-mail out to their newsletter subscribers today announcing that they have started to accept pre-orders for the three different versions of Halo 3 due to go on sale in November 2007 - around 8 months from now. The early pre-order status just proves how many copies of Halo 3 they plan to sell, and the UK videogaming giant has also revealed the price list for each version of the game.

Here are the details:

• Halo 3 Standard edition: includes the game - £39.99
• Halo 3 Limited edition: includes the game, a metal collector's case, a bonus disc and a special Halo fiction and art book - £49.99
• Halo 3 Legendary edition: this is the big one. This package includes the game, two bonus discs, the Spartan Mjolnir helmet case and Halo storyboard art from Lee Wilson.

GAME expects all 3 to be released in November 2007, adding evidence to support our estimate of a September release in North America. Remember guys, if you want to get a Legendary or Limited edition model, you best get your orders in now.

 

The last bit of news we had on the eagerly-awaited RPG title for the X360 Mass Effect was CEO Ray Muzyka comparing BioWare's latest video game to the TV series "24"-  which we must admit doesn't really give us any updates on the game's progress.

Thanks to the GDC we will have more information about this game; BioWare has confirmed that it will be showing off a demo of the RPG title at the Game Developer Conference (GDC) in San Francisco next week.

As developers like to be pretty secretive, neither Microsoft nor BioWare have released any details about what the game may contain, but word around the gaming industry suggests that the game is heading for a release sooner rather than later, and therefore a fully-playable demo should be on show.

Stay tuned next week as QJ.NET will have all the latest news from the GDC, including an interview with game creators Ray Muzyka and Greg Zeschuk.

 

Today THQ Inc informed us that the next installment in the motorcycle racing phenomenon Moto GP will be coming to the Xbox 360 and PCs in the fall of 2007. Moto GP '07 is supposed to deliver the "next generation racing experience" with an improved race day experience and the complete 2007 MotoGP season that will make the video game just as exciting as the real thing.

Of course, no new MotoGP title would be complete without a set of all-new bikes, tracks, and game modes, along with some of the favorites from previous titles. Moto GP '07 will have enhanced customization options, building on the popular "Extreme mode" that allows players to race on city streets around the world.

The MotoGP series has topped over 1.5 million in sales this year, and as Bob Aniello, senior vice president of worldwide marketing at THQ states, the MotoGP series is "critically acclaimed for pushing the limits of realism and console technology. With MotoGP ‘07, THQ raises the bar yet again for both core gamers and racing enthusiasts." Hopefully THQ will raise the bar with some screenshots and more details on the game soon.

New information from analysts at Screen Digest today says that only a small amount of next generation console titles will be profitable due to an "increasingly difficult environment" for developers.

This increasingly difficult environment comes from the increasing complexity in games development, and although from the gamers point of view, great next-gen titles such as Gears of War and Call of Duty 3 only come with million dollar investments, it is estimated that investments in next-gen game projects is not likely to make a return on profit before 2008.

To cost cut, developers have been forced to release games on many different platforms and producing games based on popular movies amongst others. This could mean poor quality games in the future, because as true gamers will know, there's nothing worse than a game which has been badly ported to another system.

The big guns, Microsoft, Nintendo, and Sony have tried to circumvent a developer shortage by expanding their own personal game studios, with Sony 2,200 development staff across 14 studios; with all but one of these studios working on PS3 titles. On the subject of the next gen console war, Screen Digest report author Ed Barton said:

While the previous generation was quickly dominated by Sony's PlayStation 2 across all major territories, this time we anticipate a more competitive situation where market share is likely to be split on a territorial basis.

Hopefully the investment of the big three console manufacturers in development teams should enhance next-gen gaming, but as for the independent publishers and studios, it's going to be a bit of a struggle to stay afloat during the following years which will be critical to their survival.

Here's something you probably weren't expecting. Developers of Mass Effect, BioWare, have compared their upcoming RPG title for the Xbox 360 to the hit US drama/action series "24". This hasn't come from just anybody either as the comparison between the highly-anticipated RPG and the popular TV show comes directly from BioWare CEO Ray Muzyka who described Mass Effect as "Jack Bauer in space."

Our best guess is that in line with the TV show there'll be hard decisions to make, lots of shooting, and it'd be impossible to die even when fighting hundreds of aliens. But that's just us. Whilst our predictions aren't exactly right, Muzyka has stated that "You have complex moral choices to make. You're out to save the galaxy, and you're going to have to do things that don't seem like they're good to do that."

Some of our predictions may seem a little over the top, but we were right about the decision-making part, and if the plots are anywhere near as good as "24" and the main character as adventurous as Jack Bauer, then this is one game you cannot miss.

Sorry to have gotten your hopes up about the Guitar Hero II being in March this year, but we're about to smash them in one line. Although multiplayer is on the way for Guitar Hero II for the 360 at some point, it appears that when the actual game will be on the way is uncertain. According to both Gamestop and Spong, the release date for the game in North America has slipped into April, that's the 3rd to be exact so nobody can blame this on a simple April fool.

Nobody from either RedOctane, the guys developing the game or Activision, the publishing giant were able to comment on the issue of the Guitar Hero II release date but when EBGames (the same company as Gamestop) started to accept pre-orders just over a week ago the release date was still March.

Although no confirmation of the delay has been made we trust the judgement of both EBGames and Gamestop so unless some mistake has been made on their part we advise that you should prepare for the worst and start accepting April 3rd 2006 as the release date. At least then you won't be disappointed if it does come out in March!

Analyst Michael Pachter has today said that a sequel to the highly successful Bully (also known as Canis Canem Edit in the UK) is very likely. The games analyst, whose job is to predict market trends, told Game Politics, "I thought it would be stupid, and it was fun; I thought it would get poor reviews, and it got solid 90s; and I thought it would bomb, while it now appears to be a million unit seller."

The game's really fun, with many features that make it distinctively Rockstar - minigames, races, and a fighting technique all similar to that of the Grand Theft Auto titles.

Of course, you may be thinking why we're posting this news here when Bully was a PS2 game. Yes it was, but if a second Bully title is in the pipeline then you can bet your life savings that it would be a next generation title. It may be coming to the Wii, PS3, Xbox 360, or possibly the PSP.

A portable Bully game would certainly cause friction in the playground and give another reason for the re-emergence of the videogame violence debate. We don't like to speculate too much. After all, this is an analysts view and is in no way confirmed; but after such a successful PS2/Xbox debut it makes sense for a sequel to be made. What do you think?

With Call of Duty 3 still taking second place in the top 10 Xbox Live games, and people going to extreme lengths to show their devotion to the game, it's no surprise that Activision is planning a wealth of new downloadable multiplayer maps. Luckily for CoD 3 fans, this starts today.

The first bonus map is freely downloadable from the Xbox Live Marketplace and goes by the name of "Champs". Champs transports players to Port Royal de Champs, France, where they will experience even more intense Call of Duty warfare that's great for the authentic close-quarters combat which we all love the COD series for.

There is a bit of bad news though if you are an Xbox Live Silver subscriber. The map will be available starting today for Xbox Live Gold subscribers but won't be available until January 18 for Xbox Live Silver subscribers. If you think you can hold out until that date, it might be well worth the trouble, as on January 18, all Xbox Live subscribers will get the opportunity to go head-to-head directly with the developers at Treyarch in-game between the times of 11am and 2pm PST.

This won't be your last either, with the Valor Map Pack due out shortly as well, complete with five new maps for more relentless WWII action which will supposedly be available for 800 Microsoft points, so start saving up!