With the new NBA season prepping for the tip-off tonight, EA Sports also readies a patch to activate the Dynamic Season feature that'll sync NBA Live 10 with the real NBA action. Also adding to the action will be quite a number of bug fixes and gameplay adjustments to make sure you keep playing all-season long. Wouldn't make much sense getting a season-long feature if you're gonna give up on the buggy gameplay on the first week, yes?

It ain't over till it's over. Yes, fanboys and fangirls. The whole brouhaha over the Xbox 360 version of FFXIII is still abuzz, and yet there really seems to be no rest for the wicked (no pun intended). Producers Shinji Hashimoto and Yoshinori Kitase have finally opened up about the Xbox 360 version, as well as a confirmation on the FFVII announcement that's sure to "shock the fans." *Gasp!*

If you own an Xbox 360 HD DVD player, you may want to get ready. we just got word that there's an update scheduled for the device sometime today.

According to a post on the AVS forums by Amir Majidimehr, corporate vice president for Microsoft's Consumer Media Technology Group,

It is my pleasure to let you all know that the HD DVD update for Xbox 360 is slated for release on 5/15 (i.e. tomorrow!). So when you wake up in the morning, you should be able to upgrade your software. And me free from telling you when are going to get it . Hope you all download it and provide feedback on what you think!

We have no word yet on what's going to be in the update, but as soon as we get wind of what's in store for HD DVD player users, we'll be sure to let you know. Until then, check to see if there's an update on your respective boxes, alright?

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Over at the AV Science Forums, we found word from Dr_Know on what will be the updates included for the HD DVD audio come May 15th. Mind you, this list is entirely separate form the Spring Dashboard update that was released last May 7th.

Anyway, why don't you check out the full list so you'd at least have an idea of what we're waiting for:

• Fix DD being stuck in "Night Mode" which is essentially Dynamic Range Compression leading to the sound sounding very flat
• Option to output ALL HD DVD audio as DTS 1.5Mbps (list includes DD+, TrueHD, DTS, and any other audio option offered on HD DVD discs I may have missed)
• Option to output ALL HD DVD audio as DD 640Kbps, (which it currently does, but will be fixed from the Night Mode bug), list includes DD+, TrueHD, DTS, and any other audio option offered on HD DVD discs that I may have missed.
• Option to output ALL HD DVD audio as WMAPro 1.5Mbps, (list includes DD+, TrueHD, DTS, and any other audio option offered on HD DVD discs I may have missed) for those receivers that support WMA.
• Option to enable/disable Night Mode (with the default set to off)
• Fix a number of disc incompatibilities (including DVD Essentials) as well as a number of Lip Sync issues.

Looks like the man versus machine template was a bit too much of a cliche for the creators of Too Human for the Microsoft Xbox 360. To innovate the old model, they decided to throw in cybernetic gods into the mix. That's where you, Baldur comes in.

We've seen all the jaw-dropping screenshots and the awe-inspiring videos that the game flaunted. The game is due soon and the anticipation is already building up. The developers decided to fill us in on some of the latest activities in the studio and tweaks that they made to make sure everything's nice and tight. In the words of the developers as reported by IGN, they are as follows:

1. Animation in general is being polished, and more transition animations are being added
2. We have not started optimizing specifically for frame rate yet, but we will have a game at a solid 30fps when we are finished
3. Effects are being added and polished
4. Lip sync was off by several frames because of a code problem; This has been fixed
5. We are polishing the 18 different weapon classes. That's right. We only showed 4 in the demo: 1-handed sword, pistols, 2-handed staff (glaive) and a heavy laser. There is so much more we have not shown
6. We are also doing some camera tweaking

Looks like this hot prospect is shaping up to give established franchises like Devil May Cry and God of War a run for their dough. We'll keep you updated for more info on the game. Follow the read URL for more details.

 

UPDATE: Major Nelson informs that Xbox Live is now back online. He mentioned that some "may see a little weirdness as all the different parts of the service sync up". But he assures that that will go away shortly and your gaming will be back to normal.

And about that rumored Halo 3 multiplayer beta, no folks, the Major did not give out any Halo 3-related announcement. Keep checking us up for updates though!

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Could the reason why Xbox Live decided to take a break about now is because the Halo 3 multiplayer beta is knocking at the door? We tried checking the Xbox.com link mentioned in the Bungie forums. Right now, even Xbox.com is under maintenance. But the forum post mentions that the downtime is for maintenance only, not an update.

The theory being brought up by said Bungie forum member is that Microsoft wouldn't want something as big (estimated at over 1GB) and as hot as the Halo 3 beta to clog up the XBL pipes, so they're probably tricking out the service to ensure smooth delivery and running of the beta (and of course, all without stepping on the toes of anyone trying to download "Good Times With Weapons" or something...).

Or maybe they're just cleaning out the pipes, who knows? Diggsters are skeptical of the theory. The only confirmation we'll get of this theory is when XBL goes back up, and all those lucky (deleted) who got Beta keys let out a collective whoop of joy (or die from it, in which case, can we have your key?).

Guess what: just recently, at Twitter, Major Nelson says he's got a surprise waiting for us today. Curiouser and curiouser.

On the other hand, Bungie themselves aren't saying anything, other than (a) XBL is down, and (b) "when service is restored, Xbox Live will be better and more stable than ever before." Useful for the Halo 3 beta, no doubt, but again Bungie makes no specific commitments.

The team behind Saints Row has recently posted a note in the Saints Row developer website which states that they are currently working on a Live product update for this action-adventure video game that is overrun with color-coded gangs. The Live product update will hopefully fix various problems in the single player and multiplayer modes which were discovered after the game was released. We took a peek at their site and we come across the newest details about the update which includes:

• Enabled 4xAA (anti-aliasing) for 480i standard-def and 480p HD resolutions (was 2xAA)
• Fixed bug preventing 4xAA from being enabled on initial player creation screen (all resolutions)
• Added player options to enable v-sync during cutscenes and/or gameplay, with warning that it will affect frame rate

Other details have already been posted in the forum and Team Saints Row has promised to update the post with the latest information on this game, so we would definitely keep our eyes peeled for that.