By Alex Villafania, hackenslash Reporter
INQUIRER.net

YOUR Xbox 360 and Nintendo Wiis are environmentally poisonous. So says the latest review of electronic waste by environmental advocacy group Greenpeace.

The latest Guide to Greener Electronics by Greenpeace has rated console makers for the first time since the quarterly report started about a year ago. It also included LCD TVs, which are fast replacing old CRT monitors as the display panels of choice.

The game console business is also one of the reasons more consumers are buying LCD TVs.

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By Alex Villafania, hackenslash Reporter
INQUIRER.net

FILIPINO game development firm Anino Games said it has put on hold the development of what could have been its first console game called Project Phoenix.

Anino announced in January this year the development of Project Phoenix and showed an alpha version of the game to hackenslash. The game was originally intended for the Microsoft Xbox 360 but could eventually be ported to the Sony PlayStation 3.

In an e-mail response to hackenslash, Anino senior producer Paraluman Cruz stressed that Project Phoenix was put on hold as they “pursue other platforms.”

“Our end goal is to make next-generation games, but to get there we realized we need to build up our portfolio on current-generation platforms (PC and recently the Nintendo DS); these platforms will give us the experience and credibility we need to make our dream [of a] next-gen game,” Cruz said.

Project Phoenix is a third-person action-adventure shooter with a female character. The setting is a sort of cyber-punk megacity under threat from underground hackers.

UPDATE: Added video from Reuters

By Agence France-Presse, Reuters

SAN FRANCISCO, California–Microsoft on Tuesday began US sales of a scaled-down Xbox 360 model billed by some analysts as a doomed bid to unseat Nintendo’s Wii console as ruler of the casual video game market.

“It is squarely targeted at the Wii,” Directions on Microsoft analyst Matt Rosoff told AFP.

Xbox 360 Arcade comes with five family-oriented video games including Pac-Man and Uno, and is capable of downloading more games from the Internet.

Here’s a video report from Reuters.

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CHECK out this trailer from Electronic Arts Limited (UK), which explains the Aggro system in the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 third-person shooter Army of Two.

Army of Two will be launched on November 15 in North America and Europe.

For more videos from INQUIRER.net and our partners, visit iVDO.

By Ed Geronia, hackenslash Contributor
INQUIRER.net

THREE years ago, a lone soldier made a promise to finish the fight once and for all. Spartan 117, also known as the Master Chief, is back to kick Covenant ass. The trilogy is now complete with Halo 3, the final saga of the Xbox 360’s banner game. For the game’s global launch last September 25th, major gaming markets such as North America and Europe played host to several Halo 3 events.

The central HQ for the Asian Halo 3 launch was located at Suntec Plaza in the heart of Singapore. A theater-size screen outside the mall gave onlookers their first taste of seeing Halo 3 in action. Staged last September 25, the mall atrium was transformed into a venue for the ultimate Halo 3 gaming party. Because of differences in time zones, the Singapore Halo 3 launch could be considered as the first in the world.

The launch kicked off at 12 noon, with people already lined up since early morning to get the first copies of the game. On sale on that day was the two-disc Limited Edition set. Encased in a heavy black tin box emblazoned with the Halo 3 logo, the 80 Singapore dollar (around P2, 600) set was only made available to stores the following day. People who purchased the game at the venue were also given an exclusive loot bag which contained a Halo-themed notebook, shirt, poster, cell phone accessory, and a S$30 gift voucher for a Halo Tagger messenger bag. A raffle stub was also included with every purchase. The main prizes were several Legendary Edition box sets.

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