The return to Rapture is near and we are getting you ready to take the BioShock 2 plunge with a special episode.  Listen to some of the team from 2K Marin and Digital Extremes talk about the development of the game and what fans can expect.  U360 had the opportunity to sit in on a conference call with the team and we captured the audio to bring you close to the action.

Get ready because the BioShock 2 release is upon us!

Format:
1hr 21mins 10secs, 37.8MB, mp3

Show files:
mp3 – Download the mp3 of the show

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Show guests:

Jordan Thomas – Creative Director, 2K Marin
Zak McClendon – Lead Designer, 2K Marin
Hogarth De La Plante – Lead Environment Artist, 2K Marin
Mat Tremblay – MP Art Director, Digital Extremes
Jesse Attard – MP Lead Programmer, Digital Extremes

Click to listen immediately below

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Homie say what?  Yes, it’s true.  If you’re still playing the original Xbox and you’re still enjoying Halo 2 on Xbox LIVE or some other title, then you should start preparing your final frag soon.  What little breath the original Xbox had in its existence will be over on April 15th this year.  I was going to add my own little spin on the news but I figured this news was best served by simply copying the press release verbatim.   So here she is folks…the finale…the end…the last battle..the finishing move…the curtain call…the…you get the point.

Dear Xbox LIVE Members,

On April 15 we will discontinue the Xbox LIVE service for original Xbox consoles and games, including Xbox v1 games playable on Xbox 360 and Xbox Originals. I want to start by saying this isn’t a decision we made lightly, but after careful consideration, it is clear this will provide the greatest benefit to the Xbox LIVE community.

Seven years ago we laid out our vision for the connected console when we launched Xbox LIVE. We believed then that the power of the Internet to connect people would revolutionize living room entertainment.  It started with amazing multiplayer games, and we’ve since seen that bet pay off again and again with the launches of Xbox 360, Marketplace, Netflix and powerful social features like Facebook, Twitter and Last.fm.  None of this would have been possible without the success of LIVE as a multiplayer gaming network.

There’s no greater example of the power of the Xbox LIVE community than the “Halo” franchise.  “Halo 2″ has had an amazing run on LIVE, with a dedicated community more than five years after launch and well into the next generation of consoles.  It has fundamentally changed the way we play video games.  And while it’s difficult to see that run come to an end, the “Halo” franchise continues to act as the benchmark for multiplayer gaming in this generation, with “Halo 3,” “Halo 3: ODST” and soon “Halo: Reach” on Xbox 360.

Your Xbox LIVE community has grown to 23 million strong.  And as we look down the road, we’ll continue to evolve the service with features and experiences that harness the full power of Xbox 360.  To reach our aspiration, we need to make changes to the service that are incompatible with our original Xbox v1 games. We will contact the Xbox LIVE members directly impacted by this change and if this includes you, I encourage you to check your LIVE messages and associated e-mail account over the coming weeks for more details and opportunities.  We view you as a partner in this process.

We’ll share more details soon, but in the meantime I want to assure you that the best is yet to come for Xbox LIVE.  I believe we’ll look back on 2010 as a landmark year in gaming and home entertainment, and I couldn’t be more excited about what we have in store with “Project Natal” and LIVE.  The LIVE community is the driving force behind everything we do, and it’s because of the community that ground-breaking experiences on Xbox continue to be possible.

———————-

What say you about this news?  I haven’t played the original Xbox in a long time and I don’t even bother trying old games on my Xbox 360 so this doesn’t affect me.  Perhaps this will pave the way for an increase to the friend’s list?  Perhaps mobile features finally?  If they’re getting rid of a lot of resources for Xbox 1 players and such, then that should clear up room to do extra.

Someone kick in some old school Boys II Men right now!

DragoonXGears – your our winner – contact me by Tuesday with your choice between Doom, Assault Heroes,  Feeding Frenzy, Dig Dug, Galaga, Zuma, Geometry Wars, Golden Axe, Gauntlet, Jet Pac Refuelled, Joust, Small Arms, Marble Blast Ultra, Paperboy, Robotron 2084, Ms. Pacman, Sonic the Hedgehog 1 or 2, Space Giraffe, Ultimate Mortal Combat 3, Teenage Mutant Ninja Tutrles ‘89,  Streets of Rage, Undertow, Uno, or Worms

Well happy Thursday!  Today we are going to run a freebie…a giveaway.  FREE STUFF!  Swag!  Put that in your search engine and smoke it.

This will be a free-for-all caption contest with a maximum of 3 entries per person; no more, hopefully less.  Maybe you think you’re funny.  We’ll be the judge of that.  That’s right, Irish and I will be judging the entries and announcing the winner live on the Saturday show.  Is there a show on Saturday?  Why yes there is so if you enter and think you have a chance to win it may be a good idea to tune into the live show (say min. 13) to find out if your the winna.  Check back tomorrow for details on how to listen in live.

Oh the prize?  Well that’s not really a secret I guess.  We were bored and decided to try to buy Amazon out of XBOX LIVE ARCADE titles and for those of you wondering it doesn’t work.  Now we have game codes and need to liquidate our holdings for fear of audit.  (that however is a secret so don’t tell anyone)

HOW IT WORKS:

I post a picture that makes me go hmm.  You fill us in on what is going on in the picture then you listen in on Saturday and if you had the best caption you win your choice of an XBOX LIVE ARCADE game.  For example, if faced with the picture above my entry would be  – Sorry to interrupt but Mr. Cheney told me his dentures were in here.  This however is not this week’s pic so stop drooling.  It can’t be that easy.

The real pic is inside… Read more »