Tag Archives: oxm

OXM UK editor Jon Hicks has confirmed that a previously-planned reveal for the magazine that was pushed back in February is now back on for the mag’s next issue at the end of September. Hicks said on Twitter: “That secret reboot that we pulled at the last minute in February is back on. It’s in the OXM issue on-sale 30th Sept.” Considering the teaser page at the time was heavily speculated to be something related to EA Partners and Starbreeze’s rumoured Syndicate reboot, and add in this week’s earlier report, this has only added to the fire you’re about to see Redlime for the first time next week in Germany.

Future’s put out a press release today claiming CVG, OXM and ONM has a combined monthly readership of 2.3 million unique users, but has refused to split out any stats. Or make much sense in general, if we’re being honest.

More »

Gears of War 3 may probably be the biggest reveal Epic’s doing this month – accidental or not – but it looks like it may not be the only one.

More »

OXM’s published the first Mass Effect 2 review, giving the BioWare RPG a not unexpected super-score.

More »

OXM may not have a fancy-pants past-rewriting animus at its disposal, but the magazine’s still making some history of its own with the world’s first ever Assassin’s Creed II review. So, how’d Ezio and co. stand up under OXM’s unfaltering scrutiny? Pretty well, as it turns out. The numbers nine and ten were apparently mentioned once or twice, or so we’re hearing.

“OXM’s Mike Channell was the first non-Ubisoft person in the world to complete the game, the company tells us, and he was impressed,” said a post on OXM’s official site. “It addresses nearly all the gripes we had with the original game, including all that artificial flag-collecting nonsense, and delivers a brilliant single-player experience that’s built around a cracking story.”

The new issue – in all its review-packed glory – is on shelves now. Go buy it! Buy it so that the fine folks at OXM can keep telling you what to buy!

And the price-cut rumours just keep on rolling.

It seems all but confirmed that the Xbox 360 will get a price-cut, but by how much? A guess would be £199/$299 for the Elite.

In fact, the newest ad from Walmart has the Elite down for $299. The new price will take effect from Wednesday September 1st.

Remember what else happens that day?

More at Engadget and VGChartz.

Meanwhile, OXM have tweeted a hint on such a move.

“PS3 Slim’s are topping the sales charts everywhere. Hope Microsoft is paying attention to the power of a price cut. Yes, that was a hint…”

Lets get ready to ruuuuuumbleeeee!

Some enterprising soul’s put OXM’s entire Mass Effect 2 cover feature on the internet.

You can download a zip full of the scans here. All nice quality. Watch E3 for plenty more from the BioWare massive.

BioWare just confirmed via Twitter that an OXM Mass Effect 2 issue will hit subs in late May and go on general sale in early June.

There’s no clue there as to what’s actually included in the mag, but you’d hope it was on the cover. Being as it’s Mass Effect 2, and all.

E3? Definitely.

OXM tweeted last night that, “Microsoft has some very cool stuff to show you tomorrow.”

If it does, we don’t know what it is. We’re nothing if not honest.

As soon as the very cool stuff appears, we’ll be sure to let you know.

OXM will include the New Xbox Experience dashboard update in it’s next issue.

Now, those without internet access with be able to obtain the new UI with the included disc. You will need this eventually: soon it’ll be a non-negotiable update to play new games.

The bright side to being forced into the 21st Century is that you along with the rest of us will have a goofy avatar.

Progress is a wonderful thing.

The latest OXM UK has the first details on the second DLC expansion for Fallout 3, titled The Pitt, which is scheduled to arrive in March.

Set in Pittsburgh’s steel-making district, OXM describes the industrial area as a “stunning dystopia that’s unlike any other area in Fallout 3′s world,” complete with a large dungeon, abandoned steel yards, and two areas occupied by slaves and their masters.

Expect more side quests, a new unique item called the Auto Axe, the ability to interact with Raiders instead of fighting them, and much more.

More through here.

In an interview with OXM, Xbox boss Don Mattrick has claimed that he personally invented the concept of Avatars. In 1991.

The section from the chat in full:

DM: I’m claiming to have invented avatars! I did 4D Sports Boxing! Do you know what 4D Boxing was? Hey, you should be writing this! That was me.

We know what 4D Sports Boxing was. It was published by Infogrames, wasn’t it?

DM: Accolade was the first to publish it, and Infogrames published it in Europe. But write this down! “Don Mattrick invented avatars for the industry.”

Does creating 4D Sports Boxing really count as “inventing avatars”, Don?

DM: C’mon! It’s human, it’s in 3D, it has a face… it was genuinely the first time there was something human-shaped in 3D! Look it up!

Draw your own conclusions. There’s more through the link.

An N4G poster’s hoicked up OXM UK’s entire Gears of War 2 review. Get it here: you need to click on the “story images” tab at the top as the originals have been removed.

The game was given 9/10 by the magazine, which sums up thus: “Our only suggestion is that Epic Games takes some Ritalin before starting Gears of War 3, otherwise there’s a very real possibility that the excitement is going to kill us.”

Fill your boots. Game’s out on November 7.

Blimey. You should never assume, clearly. The UK OXM’s given Gears of War 2 9/10, a score likely to raise some eyebrows.

The review’s out in today’s edition, so off you go and have a look.

Or you could just wait until someone inevitably scans it, obviously.

More through the link.

OXM’s next issue will contain the mag’s Far Cry 2 review, and it’s a nine.

“Far Cry 2 is this year’s equivalent of Assassin’s Creed… when it comes to enveloping the player in exotic sights and sounds, Ubisoft has absolutely nailed it,” says the piece.

“What separates Far Cry 2 from other shooters of this ilk is that there really aren’t any rules to follow.”

As for the much talked about map editor, “the custom map feature makes Halo 3′s editor look like a joke.”

On the game’s difficulty, the reviewer says that “it provides a truly refreshing level of difficulty for the hardcore.”

According to this CVG piece, the Official PlayStation Mag’s also give it a nine.

The review sounds glowing: “We’re in a massively exciting period for FPS games and, along with contemporaries like Mirror’s Edge, Bioshock and Fallout 3, this is an essential chapter in the new wave of shooters.”

PC Gamer has already given the game 94 percent.

Far Cry 2′s out on October 24.

Someone’s posted the full, 8/10 Saints Row 2 review from this month’s OXM, as you can see on the game’s official forum. You may have to enter your age then hit the link again to see the pages, but they are there.

The game’s out for PC, Xbox 360 and PS3 on October 17. Thanks, Axle!

Not quite sure what’s going on here, but OXM’s claimed that it’s got the “exclusive” on the Tales of Vesperia demo for its October issue out September 4. We’re assuming this is the same demo released in Asia in June and the rest of the 360-playing world in July, but we may be wrong. We’ll get the mag this week and let you know.

OXM has compiled a list outing the least played games on Live.

The list below is a measurement of activity by game in the space of about 30 minutes or so.

• Smackdown vs. Raw
  14 players in 30 minutes.

• FIFA 06: Road to World Cup
  One player in 30 minutes

• F.E.A.R.
  Eight players in 20 minutes.

• Tenchu Z
  Eight players in 30 minutes

• World Championship Poker
  14 players in 10 minutes

A few more that apparently don’t see much online action, sadly without stats:

• Blitz The League
• Dead or Alive Extreme 2
• Marvel Ultimate Alliance
• World Championship Snooker

So there we are.

By Mike Bowden

What do editors think when they see this stuff? The entire Call of Duty: World at War cover article from this month’s UK OXM is available here.

For the record, the game’s on the cover of gamesTM, OXM and Play in the UK this month. PCZone’s carrying it as well, but the mag’s not doing a cover, apparently.

A community member over at GTAForums.com has got hold of a copy of the last OXM and has scanned the full GTA IV review for your spoiler pleasure.

You can get the images in one handy place here.

This is the very first “official” review. No prizes for guessing the score, by the way.

By Mike Bowden