Yes, yes, I know. We don't have a Dreamcast blog. Nonetheless, this bit of news is too exciting to pass up. Apparently, not all publishers have let go of the Dreamcast dream, choosing to still make games for it despite the console having been declared clinically dead years ago. Ladies and gentlemen, introducing Redspotgames' 10th year Dreamcast anniversary offering: Rush Rush Rally Racing. And no, this is not a hoax.

Just because The Godfather II (PS3, Xbox 360) is out doesn't mean that it's gonna be the only gang war game this year, no way. While this one isn't near its expected October release, Mafia 2 (PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, PC) is handing out new screens for the upcoming title, thanks to 2K Czech. Check 'em out.

You watched the premiere of Mafia II during the VGA awards, yeah? Good stuff. So good, that people started to ask whether it was rendered in real-time. The game's lead animator sent out an e-mail saying that yes, it was real-time, capice? If you want more real-time Mafia action, watch the extended version of the VGA trailer in the full article.

For those of you wondering what ever happened to The Club and Boom Boom Rocket, two games from Bizarre Creations, then you'll be glad to know that the developers have some good news. In a recent update from the developer's website, both games are looking to pass their respective certification tests and will be soon be released with solid features when they finally come out.

In the case of The Club, the two console builds (Xbox 360 and PS3) for the game will prove whether or not the game will push through with its "early 2008" release date as was previously announced by the developers. The PC version of the game, however, won't have to go through such formalities and is expected to follow the console version after hopefully passing the certification.

In a recent demonstration for The Club during the Game City event in Nottingham, the game showed off some of the game modes that were going to be featured in this third person shooter. Both the Sprint and Time Attack modes still rely on the player being able to rack up as many points to add to your timer across a certain stage or during an allotted time span.

As for Boom Boom Rocket, the new update for the game has recently passed its certification. While it wasn't announced when the new build will go live, Bizarre Creations has announced the list of new features this highly addictive XBLA game will be sporting:

• Guitar and dance mat peripheral support
  
• Japanese and Korean language support
• Tweaked scoring system to make grade awarded more fair (now purely based on accuracy)
• The huge loud "noise" which popped up occasionally on endurance mode is now gone
• Occurrences of scores getting overwritten with a lower score when playing with 2 profiles signed in is now fixed.
• Display updates when viewing the game through a VGA cable.
• Friends leaderboard now shows extra information such as grade, accuracy, etc.
• Multiplayer endurance mode fix for player colours swapping sporadically.
• Slightly bigger and better explosions (updates to firework rendering)

For the guys familiar with Ben Heckendorn (aka Ben Hecks), you'll probably remember that one particularly lucrative project he's been up to is the episodic guide to making your very own Xbox 360 laptop Mark 2.

As a follow up to last month's session, Ben has just announced part three of his tutorials. This session will guide follow modders through wiring the unit's LCD screen, installing the parts into the case, modding the keyboard, and attaching all latches and USB ports. Before you get started, here's a summary of what you'll need.    

• USB port, male (full size type A)
  
• VGA port
• Slide switch 3 position
• Slide switch 2 position
• RCA jacks
• USB keyboard with hub
• Green 3mm LED
• (8-10) 6mm tact switches
• Male headers
• Female headers
• Shielded VGA monitor cable
• Dark plastic screen door material
  

Needless to say, this mod will void the warranty on your Xbox 360. The full nitty-gritty details of this last chapter of this Xbox 360 mod should be at the read link below. With that said, we're hoping the guys who've been trying this out will do well once their modding is finished. That's all for the moment, although we're hoping Ben Hecks tries something similar with the Elite...

It has come to our attention that Daily Tech discovered that not only does the Spring Update that crept in recently to your Xbox 360 sport the fixes officially listed in the update list, but also comes with a few overlooked improvements as well. According to Daily Tech, one improvement that may have been missed by some users was that image quality has improved on the Xbox 360 - over VGA.

Often the object of criticism for "washed out" finishes to images, the Xbox 360 rendered images in a slightly less vibrant manner that even average digital cameras were capable of on small LCD screens. The culprit was the technical divide on how the LDC TV and LCD monitor interprets black levels.

 

LCD TVs define the color black on a level of 7.5 IRE when properly calibrated. In contrast the LCD monitor, commonly used for computers, labels black as completely black, with a zero level. LCD TVs also inherited that property when accepting signals through the VGA port, since manufacturers believed that the VGA port would usually be connected to PCs.

So while connected through VGA, the Xbox 360 still sends signals appropriated for the 7.5 IRE level of black, instead of zero. This tells the LCD that the color isn't actually black, but a lighter shade of grey. Thanks to the Spring Update, however, Xbox 360 owners have access to an IRE tweak feature that allows them to set the black level either to 7.5 IRE, zero IRE or and IRE level in-between.

 

The modes are Standard (zero), Intermediate and Expanded (7.5) modes are the only three modes that encompass a viewers range of options, although we believe once you go expanded, you won't be going back to standard. Comparison images brought you by Daily Tech.

Desolation, the map that Bungie has been working on for some time now, is now out on Xbox Live together with Tombstone for US$ 4 a pop. Both maps are remakes of Halo classic maps Hang 'Em High (Tombstone) and Derelict (Desolation). Unfortunately for all you Xbox 360 folks, the usual way of grabbing your download content doesn't apply to this map pack.

You must provide credit card information in order to make payment. Xbox Halo 2 gamers will be quite at home with this purchasing mechanic, since their accounts are tied down to credit card accounts.

You can still try to put a credit card account to your Live account, via Halo 2's "ye olde" school tech:

1. In the Xbox Dashboard, select the profile that you want to modify, and then select Account Management.
2. Select Memberships.
3. Select the membership that you want to update.
4. Select Change Payment Options.
5. Select Add Credit Card.
6. Enter the credit card information for the card that you want to add. This can also be a debit or Visa (or similar) gift card, however, some restrictions may apply.

Take note that the content is still tied down to a per console basis, and not a per account basis. So choose carefully on what console you download the map pack to, because you'll need to purchase the pack again if you choose to download to another Xbox (or 360) console.

Some other reminders before you go about downloading:

• For PAL-60 TV users, you'll have to swap to composite cabling and download the update and maps through your TV and not through your VGA monitor.
• Content may not be available in some regions, since content could roll out more slowly in those regions than others.
• Disable "Child Account" protection to download the maps.
• Make sure your credit card is not expired.
• Maps will be first available only on Custom Game. They'll move on to Matchmaking in a week if things roll out smoothly.

 

You've probably gotten the Gears of War Annex mode right now, yes? After the whole "::respawning::" stunt that Epic Games' CliffyB pulled off on everyone, we're not surprised if some of you've been eagerly anticipating the download. Well, as of writing, it's already been some minutes since it rolled out by 4 p.m. PDT of today (April 9).

While we've already given you details before, let's have a very quick refresher list:

• Assassination Multiplayer Gametype: leader won't require to unlock weapons, requires death by execution
• Splash damage for Boomshot
• Hammer of Dawn aiming tweak, Roadie Run "accidental cover-grabbing" tweak
• Kill Message Ticker viewable during spectating
• VGA cable support: 720p at 1280x720 resolution

So, while you're downloading the new mode (if you haven't yet), here are more screenshots of the Annex mode to tide over the short wait. Red floating rings, here we come!

 

Forums have been buzzing regarding the prospect of what HDMI profile the Xbox 360 Elite will support, the standard 1.2 or the higher-end 1.3 version. AVS special member Amirm answered the query quite authoritatively and this is what he had to say:

Xbox 360 Elite supports HDMI 1.2 profile. For audio, you can select DD, DTS (at 1.5 Mbps), and WMA-Pro (Microsoft high fidelity multi-channel codec supported in some AVRs such as Pioneer). Since it is not based on 1.3, it will not support output of DD+ or TrueHD (even if it did, mixing would have been turned off).

Also reported was that come Spring, there will be two very important updates which will directly affect Xbox 360 users. First, HD DVDs will be updated so that they can support a higher level of audio fidelity and second, all Xbox 360 units, elite or not, will get a software update that gives additional support for different video levels and VGA.

The tech-savvy among you will find delight in the many exciting details and specifics talked about in the forum. To get the motherload of all the juicy info and discussions, follow the read URL.

Sequel or no sequel (or movie), people are still busy getting their Gears of War into gear. Well, make room for just a bit more cog in the COG. TeamXbox reports that Epic Games has a coming game update in the Microsoft certification pipeline that offers the following "Approved-by-Dom" goodies:

• 720p for VGA users running at 1280x1024
• Brand new multiplayer gametype called "Annex."

No details about Annex were offered other than the opinion from play testers that "it is our best multiplayer gametype yet," so when the Epic poster says that more details are in the offing next week, our ears are already up and waiting. Oh, and the update will be free, they said. You gotta love those guys.