Gaming news roundup: possible Xbox360 250GB HDD, StarCraft II GPU issues, and more

Looks like the 4GB Xbox360 S can be upgraded with 250GB HDD

While Microsoft has yet to confirm this tasty tidbit, the packaging of the 4GB Xbox360 S has revealed various accessories that can be bought with the device, such as Kinect, wireless Xbox360 controllers, and, a 250GB hard drive. Apparently, such a HDD already exists, but comes bundled with the 250GB Xbox360 S, and the Halo Reach Special Edition. Speculation however, based on recent comments by Aaron Greenberg, seems to point towards a standalone release as well.

Guillermo Del Toro to develop video games

Acclaimed director of such movies as Spawn, Pan’s Labyrinth, HellBoy, and many more cult classics, Guillermo Del Toro hasconfirmed he has signed a deal with a "big company" to develop multiple titles. Some of these will be announced in the coming weeks. "We're going to do games that are going to be technically and narratively very interesting…We're announcing it in the next few weeks," he said in an interview with MTV News.

Del Toro also implied that the deal will not just see rights and ideas being exchanged, but his actual direct involvement with the games. We’re big fans of the big man, and are understandably excited about this news, hoping to see some out-of-the-world storytelling and art direction from the master.

Star Wars lead writer leaves LucasArts

Haden Blackman – lead writer for 35 of LucasArts’ Star Wars franchises, including Star Wars: The Force Unleashed (and its October releasing sequel – The Force Unleashed 2), and Star Wars: Galaxies – has reportedly left LucasArts. Apparently no friction caused this move, rather, as Blackman puts it, "the decision to leave LucasArts did not happen overnight or come easily...I really feel that now is the best time for me to move on and explore new creative challenges and I look forward to the next phase of my career." Having loved The Force Unleashed and eagerly looking forward to its sequel, we’ll wait with baited breath till Blackman decides to unleash another masterpiece on us.
You can check out a complete list of Star Wars projects that Haden Blackman has worked on, here.

StarCraft II overheating issues

Mid-mission menu scene

StarCraft II, while not THE most graphically intensive game out there, has certainly rung a few alarm bells. Hundreds of players have claimed great results with rather outdated cards, definitely a feather in Blizzard’s graphics-optimization cap. However, Blizzard missed something out, an oversight that can lead to some overheated GPUs, or even burnt out GPUs. How? While the problem has not been experienced by most gamers, some faced overheating issues during the mid-mission menus (like the image above). The reason for this is Blizzard has forgotten to put a ‘frames per second cap’ in these sections, leading to the GPU doing its best to provide unlimited frame rates, and ultimately burning out in its attempt. A rather simple fix is available right now, and even if you haven’t faced any issues yet, it’s safer to implement the fix now, than to be sorry later.

Step One:
Find this file: "DocumentsStarCraft IIvariables.txt"

Step Two:
Add the following two lines of text to the bottom of that file:
frameratecapglue=30
frameratecap=60

Step Three:
Save the file and go blow up some Zerg.

Assassin’s Creed Brotherhood

Ubisoft has revealed two brand new multiplayer characters for their upcoming title, Assassin’s Creed: Brotherhood. These are the Soldier and the Blacksmith. While they will not be available in the soon to release (September) beta version, they will make their appearance in the full release version, which is pegged to launch November 19th. Check out a trailer below: