Late Night Consoling

Some gamers have been hoping for, or in other cases assuming the existence of, an upcoming Xbox 360 price drop later this year, presumably to combat PS3's launch this holiday season. According to the Microsoft marketing employee-run Gamerscore Blog, however, those gamers will have to keep on hoping, because no such price drop is planned this fall. The news should come as little surprise, given the existing $200 average gap between the various models of Xbox 360 and PS3, as well as remarks by Microsoft's Peter Moore last month that Xbox 360 got its price cut when Sony announced its system's price point at E3.

Fans of Nippon Ichi's well received RPG Disgaea: Hour of Darkness (PS2) looking forward to the upcoming Disgaea 2: Cursed Memories (PS2) may have another title to anticipate soon. Speaking to RPGLAND, Nippon Ichi producer Souhei Niikawa addressed questions as to whether positive sales of Disgaea 2 would prompt the company to keep the series going. "Sales number always helps for sequels," he said, "but we have no intent on ending this series just yet, so you can count on part 3."

No potential platforms were cited, though a recent interview with Nippon Ichi marketing coordinator Jack Niida suggests that the company has at least one new game in the works for PS2 and PS3, and is considering various other platforms for development.

A retail box shot has surfaced, depicting what seems to be a physical collection of Xbox 360 Live Arcade games. Entitled Xbox Live Arcade Unplugged Volume 1, it provides "all the fun of Arcade without using Xbox Live or an online connection"--though it still includes a month of Xbox Live Gold, just in case.

As far as what games are included, Bizarre Creations' Geometry Wars gets top billing, but screenshots of several other games are shown as well: Reflexive Entertainment's Wik: The Fable of Souls, PopCap's Bejeweled 2 Deluxe, NinjaBee's Outpost Kaloki X, Silver Creek's Hardwood Backgammon, and TikGames' upcoming Texas Hold'em Poker.

According to a GameStop product page, the package will sell for $39.99 and will be released October 2 of this year, though that information is unconfirmed.

According to a blog entry from Microsoft's Larry "Major Nelson" Hryb, Xbox Live will be taken down for maintenance tomorrow between the hours of 2:00 am and 6:00 am Pacific time (-8 GMT). "My Xbox" services on Xbox.com will also be unavailable. Apparently, the service interruption is for routine server upkeep; no new functionality or content will be added.

Following Square Enix's acquisition of fellow developer/publisher Taito last year, the parent company has announced upcoming management changes to its new subsidiary. According to a GameSpot translation of a report from Impress Watch, Square Enix CEO Yoichi Wada will be assuming the role of Taito CEO while also retaining his existing title. Current Taito CEO Yasuo Nishigaki will become Taito's chairman of the board of the directors.

According to THQ's official site for Volition's Saint's Row (X360), a playable demo for the GTA-esque action title will be released later this year. It will be included in the August issue of Official Xbox Magazine and will also be downloadable via Xbox Live on August 1, four weeks before the full game's release on August 29.