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As was expected to happen, the staff of Infinity Ward have begun to leave the troubled developer, following co-founders Vince Zampella and Jason West out the door.

The LinkedIn profiles of lead designer Todd Alderman and lead software engineer Francesco Gigliotti have been updated to show that they are no longer working at the Modern Warfare developer (via Kotaku). They were employed at the Activision-owned studio for over eight years and seven years respectively.

This stems from the nasty lawsuit and accusations leveled by Zampella and West on Activision regarding the ownership of the Modern Warfare and Call of Duty IPs; readers can listen to the special Videogame Roundtable podcast laying out all the entire history of the controversy.

Whatever the case, Infinity Ward will most likely be an empty shell by year’s end, if not by July. Let us know what you think.

Yesterday, Microsoft had rolled out a planned update that allows the use of USB Flash Drives to be configured as memory storage on the Xbox 360 console; this allows for profiles, gamesaves, downloadable content and even games to be installed on any compatible USB memory device. All Xbox Live users will have to apply the update whether they want this feature or not as it is a mandatory installation.

The update brings the following memory enhancements:

* You can have 2 devices connected to the console at a time, enabling up to 32GB of simultaneous storage.
* The system won’t just configure the device once it is connected to the console. You’ll need to head to the memory area in system settings, select your USB Device, and choose from Configure Now (Format and Configure the Full Device), or Customize (you can choose how much memory you want configured for Xbox360 from the free space on the device.)
* You can now select multiple items to move or copy without needing to transfer each item individually from one device to another.

It has come to the attention of modding groups that once the Xbox 360 associated files are saved on a USB memory device they appear unreadable on any computer, with the folder list displaying itself as empty. Futher investigation by the group has revealed that a folder named XBOX360 is kept hidden, and all Xbox 360 transferred items contained within it are stored together grouped in files that are unable to be individually extracted. With the current USB update, Microsoft has made saved content more difficult to access than previous memory card methods which was to simply insert the card into a device that plugs straight into your computer and copy it across using drag & drop. Folders are now encrypted files, and content transferred to USB memory from the Xbox 360 are stored within the files together rather than listed individually as numbered content.

Within just a few hours of the update, a member of the modding group is already claiming to have hacked the security methods on the files to try and create a program that extracts content to a PC desktop.

Hey all, as soon as the update came out, I was sad to see there was no way to mod, so I have been busy writing C# and have finally made a tool for the job, it is not finished yet but I want to show my progress.

Edit: Having a problem with the Themes and Avatar Items..
Edit2: I just rang my friend up, he is coming over in a min to help me.
Edit3: My friend is here, we are investigating.
Edit4: Ok so.. the Themes are kept in Data0003 and Avatar Items in Data0002.. Wtf?
Oh well we are working on a patch to merge the files together.

Once such a program is made public, anyone with basic computer knowledge can start sharing gamesaves for modification including gamerpics and themes just for starters! In the coming months we could see an increase in scams for MS points or possibly even the resale of gamerpics and themes from the more entrepreneurial of hackers!

Remember to keep your account details safe at all times, and that modifying content could result in account suspension.

Get the app from http://xblog360.w3bz.net/?p=1072

Thanks to jumojn for additional info and corrections to this post

UPDATE!: New version released already.  Some crash fixes and bugs sorted out.  The new version is called  Release_Xtaf_Usb_0.013.zip.

Grab it from http://www.megaupload.com/?d=IG2U0135

Epic Games’ design director Cliff Bleszinski is scheduled to unveil the developer’s highly anticipated new title this Thursday on the popular US talk show, Late Night with Jimmy Fallon, says the show’s host, you guessed it, Jimmy Fallon.

“Game designer Cliff Bleszinski (@therealcliffyb) debuts his new game on Late Night next Thur. Set your TiVos! And your Xboxes.”

Now, there could be two possible candidates for this, the way we see it. On one end we have the heavily rumored third installment in the Gears of War series which Edge has reported to be revealed via trailer on April 8 which happens to be the exact day Bleszinski is to appear on the show. To add more fuel to the speculation, Jimmy Fallon says “Xboxes” and not simply “consoles” which suggests the game will be an Xbox 360 exclusive. Also worth mentioning is Cliffy B’s comment on the UFC game he attended following Jimmy’s tweet: “Did I just get… Blood on me?” OK, we might be looking a bit too much into this whole thing but it’s an interesting possibility.

On the other end we have another shooter known to be worked on by Epic Games studio People Can Fly which is set to be published by Electronic Arts in early 2011.

Making the second game a less likely candidate is that it’s probably going to be a multi-platform title and since Jimmy makes no mention of other consoles, we are putting our money on Gears of War 3.

What game do you think will be shown on Thursday?

GameKings, a Dutch website earlier today claimed to have first hand shots of the Xbox 360 Slim straight out of the box and had even referred to it as codename Napoleon. Other gaming news websites picked up on the claims and posted the leaked images – however on first glance, We can confirm that the images are of the Xbox 360 HD-DVD Player.

The image shown below was posted by GameKings with the accompanying news:

“…our network of knowledgeable insiders had the first shots! So here for you fresh out of the box the pictures of the Xbox 360 (codename Napoleon)”

Now maybe they have never seen an Xbox 360 HD-DVD Player before and consider it a miracle how Microsoft could fit such technology of the Xbox 360 console into that small case, but since the lack of HDD, HDMI & Component Cables – it just could be possible!

The Xbox 360 HD-DVD Player has become obsolete over the years since it was first released, so their claims could easily fool those unfamiliar and eager to hope that a slimmer, sleaker console is on the horizon.

The above image is of the Xbox 360 HD-DVD Player posted for comparison purposes. Please note that until Microsoft release an official statement confirming the existence of any newer model of the Xbox 360 console, please regard images and rumours anywhere as fake.

SOURCE

It’s March 30th, folks, and that means you’ll soon be able to download the first expansion pack for Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2.

The Stimulus Package, scheduled to hit Xbox Live later this afternoon, includes five new maps and will be launched in unison with a Double XP event.

Infinity Ward’s added incentive was originally scheduled to take place over the weekend, but the developer has today revealed that it “decided to throw the Double XP switch early when the new maps hit”.

We’re told the Double XP promotion will run for the best part of a week, so UK gamers can aim for that ellusive 10th Prestige over Easter bank holiday weekend.

In addition to the Double XP, Infinity Ward has confirmed that the Stimulus Package will introduce two playlists dedicated to the new maps – Stimulus and Hardcore Stimulus – and adds that the number of maps rotated in the Hardcore Headquarters playlist will finally be expanded to include Highrise, Invasion, Skidrow and Terminal.

Last but not least, a Modern Warfare 2 patch will also arrive prior to the Stimulus Package. The patch will introduce support for the imminent DLC, and includes a number of tweaks and bug fixes – including a more balanced One Man Army perk, a matchmaking update that claims to help international users find local games, and “various other code updates that will help improve the overall quality of multiplayer on Modern Warfare 2″.

The Stimulus Pack will be available to Xbox 360 users via Xbox Live Marketplace later today at a cost of 1,200 Microsoft Points, and is expected to make its way to other platforms at a later date.

Infinity Ward has told CVG that the £10.20 Stimulus map pack for Modern Warfare 2 is “definitely a worthwhile investment”.

When we asked the firm’s community boss Robert Bowling what his reaction was to fans’ concerns over the hefty price (1200 Microsoft Points), he said:

“There’s no doubt in my mind that these maps packs and the five maps are definitely worth the investment. Anybody who buys them and then

plays Modern Warfare 2 online is going to get their money’s worth out of these maps.

“I mean, [we're offering] five new locations to Modern Warfare 2, three of those brand new to the series and each of them offers their own unique

kind of gameplay so no matter what kind of play style you are you’re going to get something out of these maps.”

The Stimulus multiplayer map pack will launch worldwide on Xbox Live on Tuesday, March 30. The pack includes five maps; Mp_Crash, MP_Overgrown, MP_Complex, MP_Compact and MP_Storm, the first pair of which are from the original Modern Warfare.

Source CVG