At yesterday’s Gamefest event in Seattle, Microsoft’s product unit manager, Robert S. Walker suggested that they might be creating an advanced version of the Xbox360 controller. The plan is to make the controller a second choice for gamers, instead of replacing the original one.

N4G.com

Many of the following ten games are great. A few came close to being on my top ten list (to be posted tomorrow). I would call a couple of them works of genius. But I think they’re the most overrated games of the year for the simple fact that I’m surprised at how well received they were. I wouldn’t recommend any of these without a few important caveats.

Read the 10 most overrated game of 2008 after the jump.

10) Civilization IV: Colonization
I’ve never won a single game of Colonization. But I’ve loved every game I’ve played. I don’t imagine many people would feel the same.

9) Left 4 Dead
It’s a great showcase for zombies that can run and co-op gameplay, but it’s as fast, slick, fun in groups, and gratifying as chasing a greased pig (take that however you will). Serious Sam and Robotron were pretty cool, too, while the thrill lasted.

Burnout: Paradise
A racing game largely devoid of meaningful physics or convenience, also known as Burnout: Drive All the Way Back to the Starting Line Because There’s No “Re-Try Race” Option, Suckers!.

7) Spore
The developers have explained that Spore was essentially three products: a content creator, a game-ish sort of thing, and a way to share stuff. Unless you’re interested in at least two of those three things, and if you’re willing for at least one of them to be rather anemic, Spore will be a head-scratcher.

6) Wii Fit
Wii fad.

5) Mass Effect
The long-in-the-tooth Bioware RPG formula applied to a generic sci-fi universe, with bouncing buggy driving/shooting sequences standing in for the exploration of alien worlds

4) Metal Gear Solid 4
For fans only. For everyone else, this is Kojima’s long slow wank and you have to get to watch.

3) Braid
This is not a game that moves and it’s not very accessible. You need to have a stomach for old-school platformers and mental brick walls. Which is a shame, because the place Braid eventually goes is sublime.

2) Little Big Planet
Awesome graphics! And those little sack people are so cute I could just eat them up! Now where’s the game?

1) Grand Theft Auto IV
One of the most amazing realizations of a real-world-ish place and one of my favorite games this year. Also the setting for a poorly told story and uninspired gameplay, and the subject of a system-shattering PC port.

fidgit.com

With a price-cut and the release of Gears of War 2, the end of 2008 was very strong for Microsoft’s Xbox 360. But what’s in-store for 2009 and beyond? Phil Spencer of Microsoft Game Studios hints at future announcements.

Traditionally Microsoft has only spoken of the Xbox’s next six months at the yearly Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3), but Phil Spencer teases at announcements going further into the future;

“I came out of an E3 planning meeting just about an hour ago, and we were looking at some of the plans for the future and things that we might want to tease, and it’s very exciting.

“There’s a lot of stuff on the docket, and maybe we’ll break the bank a little bit and talk about things that are further out, which will hopefully get the community excited.”

Which could be an intelligent plan, as an Xbox 360 2009 release list is hard to create, let alone after that. Especially in comparison to Sony’s presentations for 2009.

So what about a sequel to the much loved Crackdown? Major Nelson wants one, so is it on the way? Phil Spencer once again hints;

“Yes, Crackdown’s one of my favourites,” said Spencer. “I’ll leave it at that.”

It sounds like Microsoft’s are already in talks with developer Realtime Worlds. Colin McDonald of Realtime Worlds expressed earlier in the year that a sequel hadn’t been released because “the numbers just didn’t add up,” but that the doors were always open;

“Obviously, right now we’re tied up with APB and everything else, but hopefully in the future we’ll have the resource and something can be worked out with Microsoft.”

Lets hope for big things for Microsoft’s Xbox 360 in 2009.

gamezine.co.uk

1. Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas (9.43 million)
2. Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock (8.2 million)
3. Madden NFL 2007 (7.7 million)
4. Grand Theft Auto: Vice City (7.3 million)
5. Madden NFL 2006 (6.65 million)
6. Halo 2 (6.6 million)
7. Madden NFL 2008 (6.56 million)
8. Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare (6.25 million)
9. Grand Theft Auto III (6.2 million)
10. Madden NFL 2005 (6.1 million)

videogaming247.com

The top list of 10 million sellers:

10. World of Warcraft (10 million since 2004)
9. The Sims 2 (13 million since 2004)
8. New Super Mario Bros. (13.14 million since 2006)
7. Pokemon Gold and Silver (14.1 million since 2000)
6. Pokemon Diamond and Pearl (14.17 million since 2007)
5. Grand Theft Auto III (14.5 million since 2001)
4. Gran Turismo 3: A-Spec (14.89 million since 2001)
3. Grand Theft Auto: Vice City (17.5 million since 2002)
2. Nintendogs (17.79 million since 2005)
1. Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas (21.5 million since 2005).

We expect more next-gen games to join this list in the near future. Four other new games that are well on their way to 10 million are:

* Wii Play (9.23 million since December 2006)
* Guitar Hero III (9.5 million since October 2007)
* Halo 3 (8.1 million since September 2007)
* Grand Theft Auto IV (6 million since April 2008)

One of “less than ten” games to reach milestone since 2000.
Call of Duty 4 has just reached an astounding 10 million copies sold, Infinity Ward studio head Vince Zampella has revealed.

From THQ, a “Weapons” trailer for Destroy All Humans: Path of the Furon, making its first appearance on “next-gen” (or now, current-gen) consoles.

Players will move out of danger quickly using the grapply, though enemies will be able to spot you swinging about in the air.

Just before landing, players will be at their most vulnerable, unable to shift position or their landing area - allowing intelligent opponents to take them out.

The single player mode’s grapple-based combat will also be incorporated into the multiplayer. Spin attacks will sweep nearby enemies off their feet, while zip-kicks can be used to push foes into chasms and the odd abyss.

Sounds fun enough, although whether it works in practice will be seen later this year.

gamezine.co.uk