This Week in Xbox — 6/27

 Upcoming Xbox 360 Price Cut?

1Up.com reports on a rumor concerning a $50 Xbox 360 price cut coming within the next few weeks. A poster on the High Def Digest Forum uploaded a picture of a K-Mart sales sheet advertising the 20GB version of the 360 for only $299.99.

It was about this time last year that the 360 dropped in price to $349.99. That price cut was also unveiled unofficially by a similar sales sheet.

VERDICT: While nothing is official yet, a price drop has been rumored for some time and everybody loves saving money!

Rainbow Six Vegas 2 DLC on the Way

Ubisoft announced a map pack of 3 new levels slated to be released next month for the very exciting price of ZERO Microsoft Points. One of the maps will be a release of the Calypso Casino from the first Rainbow Six Vegas game. The other two are reported to be redesigned versions of the RSV2 maps Mudertown and CQB Training.

Shacknews.com, in addition to this news bit, also links to a full press release of updates coming as part of the pack.

VERCIT: This is for anybody who loves Rainbow Six or simply just FREE content (which should be everybody). Unless your harddrive is packed full with Clay Aiken songs (and whose isn't?), there's no reason not to at least try this out.

The Secret of BioShock’s Success

ShackNews.com reports that 2K Boston lead programmer, Chris Kline, announced during a presentation at GDC in Paris that BioShock should never have been the success it became. Reportedly the game experienced several setbacks due to the original intention of basing the game off System Shock 2. The game also received a boost by an advertising decision to promote more of the game’s action and shooting aspects.

"What's interesting is that even though it was the same game, when we presented it as a shooter people started getting more excited about it,” Kline said. “Even the team.”

VERDICT: I think I speak for just about everybody when I say "thank you!" for getting everything right. It would have been a shame if this game had gone largely unnoticed by the general public.

Heroic Action Figures

The GameSpot News Blog reports that McFarlane Toys, best known for a series of Spawn action figures, announced plans to release a line of Guitar Hero figures. Figure models include such Guitar Hero characters as Johnny Napalm, Lars Umlaut, and Axel Steel. “Each figure will stand about six inches tall, with between 15 and 18 moving parts, a Guitar Hero logo base, and a custom guitar.”

VERDICT: I'm sure they'll be beautifully designed, but if the comments in the GameSpot News Blog are any indication, sales could be low. Then again, everybody loved all those Halo action figures!

Fable 2 Release Rumors Heat Up

After a series of tantalizing comments from Fable creator Peter Molyneux, a new developer diary video from the Lionhead Studios’ website seems to point to an October release date for the much-anticipated Fable 2.

GameSpot.com reports on this and other enticing observations including a pretty convincing argument concerning Microsoft’s holiday release pattern.

VERDICT: It's hard not to think about the first Fable in this situation. It was originally announced as Project Ego (everybody remember those days?) and then constantly hampered by delays. When Fable finally released, however, it was one of the best Xbox games of all time. So, I'm willing to wait for the best quality game they can produce, but hopefully October is true!