Electronic Arts chief creative officer Rich Hilleman is one of many people who anticipate this current generation to drag on and on. He believes that incremental updates will extend the lives of the PS3 and Xbox 360, and that a new line of systems won’t happen until we see notable upgrades to the current machines.

“I anticipate we’ll see a PlayStation 3.5 before we see a PlayStation 4 and an Xbox 560 before we see an Xbox 720,” he states.

With the popularity of MMOs on PCs and the comparative lack of alternatives on home consoles, Microsoft should be jumping at the opportunity to get more massively-multiplayer fun on the Xbox 360. However, the company is more concerned with hemming and hawing over how such games would conflict with Xbox Live rather than getting a slice of the action, and Cryptic CCO Jack Emmert is baffled by it.

“Microsoft’s a huge company, and they’ve to work out all the various issues related to MMOs,” explains Emmert. “It just takes time for the huge beast known as Microsoft to get moving. I really have no explanation other than that, because it’s as baffling to developers as it is to everyone else.”

An Xbox 360 version of Champions On the internet is all ready to go, but Microsoft’s insistence on dragging its heels means that Cryptic has no clue when it will hit the system.

First off, Amazon Germany had a 250GB Xbox 360 listed. It’s not there anymore, but the folks at Edge and Kotaku saw it while it was still up. The bundle contained two wireless controllers and Forza Motorsport 3, all for about $400. Not bad. This could have been an error, but Edge reminds that Amazon Germany listed the PS3 Slim as early as July, and that turned out to be a real thing. We’ll ask around to see if this bundle is a real thing.

As for things you can actually get now, Amazon has the three SKUs of the Xbox 360 available with their new price drop. For those that missed the memo, that’s $299 for the Elite and $249 for the Pro. As a promotion, they are offering a $50 credit toward a 12+1 Xbox Live subscription card if you buy an Elite before September 1st. For those buying the Pro or the $199 Arcade unit, you’ll get one of a selection of free games for your new console. Titles like Halo 3, Fable 2, Lost Odyssey and Halo Wars are offered with this deal.

Way to go, Amazon. If you were looking to get a new (or another) Xbox 360, it looks like Amazon is the way to go right now.

[Update: Joystiq points to the 250GB also being spotted in South Africa. Same package and contents. Something's up.]

Via Destructoid

Castle Crashers turns one-years-old this day and The Behemoth is giving back to their fans!

They’ve given a bunch of things away today but it’s pretty much too late to talk about all that as this post is going up pretty late. However, you should definitely follow The Behemoth on Twitter and on their Facebook page as they’ll be giving away a couple thousand codes of the Necromantic DLC in the next week or so. They’ll be giving away codes at random so keep a close eye on those social networking groups!

It’s also going to be Dan Paladin’s birthday on September 14 and the best gift you can give Dan is fan art! Check out the DevBlog post to find out how you can give Dan and The Behemoth your fan art pictures.

Via Destructoid

Aaron Greenberg, director of product management for Xbox 360 and Xbox Live, says that the timing of the Xbox 360 price drops was coincidental. It had nothing to do with the PlayStation 3 price drop. Or so he says.

“Typically these types of price changes are targeted to drive sales for the holiday season,” said Greenberg to G4. “However it is difficult for our retail partners to make these types of changes in November or December so we try to work with them to make these types of adjustments before things get too hectic at retail.”

Perhaps that’s exactly what Sony was thinking. And talking of Sony, Aaron tries to begin a tiny sh*t. He was asked by G4 to comment on the PS3 Trim, and this is what he said:

“I guess as a gamer, I’m glad I got an earlier PS3 console before they pulled a lot of the functionality like backwards compatibility out.”

Heh.

Via Destructoid

If you loved Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare but weren’t so hot on World at War, then you’ll be pleased to know that Infinity Ward won’t be doing what Treyarch did and basically copy the last Call of Duty game’s formula. Modern Warfare 2 will strive to separate itself from the previous game, with community manager Robert Bowling saying that the studio plans to create something special and unique.

“We’re not taking any pages out of World at War’s book,” offers Bowling. “We’re crafting a special and one-of-a-kind experience for Modern Warfare 2 players that I don’t want to spoil too much.

“Definitive numbers like max level cap, complete weapon lists, and number of new perks is something I don’t want to ruin and save for when the player ranks up and sees they’re constantly receiving new rewards for it, whether that’s a new weapon, perk, killstreak unlock, or item for their callsign.”

Good. I never liked World at War very much.

Via Destructoid

Remember F.E.A.R. 2: Reborn? It’s the first single-player expansion for the super spooky shooter with too much punctuation, F.E.A.R. 2: Project Origin. We got a small taste of what the content will offer — mech action, stealth segments, etc., — through the smooth words of game producer Lucas Meyers earlier this month. But now you don’t need to lean on text to make your purchase decision: a demo for the expansion is available on both Xbox LIVE and PlayStation Network.

The demo — a hearty 670 MBs on Xbox LIVE — is a short romp. The full content will feature four levels as well as a new perspective of the events after Alma goes nuts.

Indie designer Nathan Fouts is unsure if Grapple Buggy is launching as an Xbox LIVE Arcade title or as an Indie Game. It’s probably driving him nuts not knowing, but it hasn’t stalled development. Grapple Buggy is still coming and regardless of distribution method, it’s a title to keep on your radar (especially if you’ve a soft spot for retro).

Grapple Buggy has the swinging mechanics of Bionic Commando and a mapping system reminiscent of Super Metroid. Call it Biontroid or whatever; it doesn’t matter: from what we played of it in June, it seems to be a solid platformer.

One thing we didn’t catch during the hands-on session was the game’s story. That has been revealed via the new teaser trailer below the fold. In addition to story stuff, it also features some swinging action and some of the odd setting’s demonic creatures. Cool beans, right?

The plot is heavy: do you choose to obey and strip the planet of its precious resource or save it? That question will be answered, we suppose, when Grapple Buggy hits in some downloadable form on Xbox LIVE in 2010.

[Update: Now with 100 percent more video. Sorry about that.]

Via Destructoid

A current survey conducted by Game Informer gave a fail rate of 54% to the Xbox 360. None of you seemed surprised by that number. We’ve all seen enough of the Red Ring of Death to know. I don’t think Microsoft was surprised by it, either. But from what Microsoft man Aaron Greenberg states, you can rest assured that your newer Xbox 360 is going to last you. And those bad days? He says that he feels that “most of this is well behind us.”

“I can tell you the consoles we’re making this day have lower-heat chips and superior cooling, and we’re seeing fantastic quality in those consoles this day,” Greenberg told GameSpot. “That stated, I know people have had issues with systems which were bought earlier in the life cycle and that’s part of the reason why we implemented our unprecedented three-year warranty for anyone who gets the three red-ring flashing light error or the E74 error.”

Mars continues to grow. The next piece of Red Faction: Guerilla DLC is on the horizon, and unlike the previous release, this pack aims to sate those with a taste for smacking real players with sledgehammers and camping with sniper rifles. Dubbed “The Multiplayer Pack,” the content is stated to add eight maps and two game modes to the core multiplayer component.

The two new modes are called Bagman and Team Bagman. The objective in both is to capture a bag and hold on to it for as long as possible. Think Oddball for Halo 3 if you need a comparison.

A ton of images and a single walkthrough video showing off the content’s locations were released this afternoon. Check out the screens in the gallery and hit the fold for the vid.

The planned launch date for the content is September 17th on both Xbox LIVE Marketplace and the PSN Store. The 360 version will cost 560 Microsoft Points, while the PSN version will be $6.99. Those prices are probably equivalent. Or something.

Via Destructoid