News and Updates, February 27, 2006

News and announcements are ever-flowing in the games industry, and this week is no different. New games have been released, another Xbox 360™ title has gone gold, an entirely new game has been announced, and I'm just getting started.

In my quest to keep you updated to news pertinent to Xbox® and Xbox 360, here's my report on last week's most important developments.

At Retail

Three games released this week between Xbox and Xbox 360, with TOCA Race Driver™ 3 and Sonic Riders™ releasing on original Xbox and EA SPORTS™ Fight Night Round 3 releasing on both Xbox and Xbox 360. You can find full details for each title on their game pages here at Xbox.com, but here's a quick summation.

• EA SPORTS Fight Night Round 3: Whether on Xbox or Xbox 360, this full-fledged sequel further refines the Total Punch Control scheme the series is famous for, while adding a new Impact Punch mechanic, along with a deeper offline career mode, new and improved online multiplayer options over Xbox Live®, and a vast stable of licensed fighters from each weight category. Check out our game page for further details.
• Sonic Riders: This multiplayer-centric high-speed racing game stars everyone's favorite SEGA® mascot and his band of friends. With fourteen courses, upgradeable equipment, unlockables, and much more, arcade racing fans will find a lot to love here. See our game page for more information.
• TOCA Race Driver 3: This ambitious racer covers every conceivable style of racing. It offers it all: rally, open-wheel, oval, GT, touring cars, off-road, and 30 more. It's got a whole lot of everything (over 100 championships), plus realistic handling and physics for each car across every imaginable discipline. Again, check out the game page for more details.

Gone Gold

It's official, College Hoops 2K6 has gone gold and will ship in time for March Madness. A game goes "gold" when the developer finally releases the code to the manufacturer to press discs and ship them out to retail, so once a game goes gold you know that there will no longer be any development delay. College Hoops 2K6 is developed by Visual Concepts, the makers of the much-heralded NBA 2K6. College Hoops 2K6 will be available on March 13, 2006.

Wheelman Announced

Vin Diesel is at it again. He's already startled the gaming community the excellent Chronicles of Riddick™: Escape from Butcher Bay, and now, in conjunction with his own development studio Tigon as well as Midway and MTV Games, the star of XXX and The Fast and the Furious has announced a game based on his upcoming film The Wheelman. Nothing is yet known of the gameplay, but edge-of-your-seat cinematic driving and plenty of action are a safe bet. The game has not been announced for any specific console, but with "next-gen consoles" being targeted, Xbox 360 is a likely candidate.

Stranglehold Details

Action movie fans—more specifically, Chow Yun Fat and John Woo fans—can rejoice at the newly released details from a report on IGN regarding Midway's upcoming action game Stranglehold. The game stars a spot-on digital reproduction of the acclaimed action star and utilizes third-person shooter gameplay with movie-like choreography in highly destructible set-piece environments.

EA Cuts Current-Gen Prices

According to a report from gaming site Gamasutra, Eletronic Arts has confirmed that the suggested retail price of forthcoming games released on the original Xbox will drop from the usual $49.95 to $39.95. The first game to embrace the price cut is the just-released Fight Night Round 3. According to the report, this price cut is also confirmed for the new action shooter BLACK™ and the upcoming gangster adventure The Godfather The Game.

Article by Ryan Treit