The Orange Box debuts at 3, Phantom Hourglass at 4

Sega's Football Manager 2008 has entered the UK's all-formats chart at number one this week, knocking EA's FIFA 08 off the top spot.

Accounting for 38 per cent of all PC titles sold in the past week, Sports Interactive's management sim is Sega's first multiformat number one title since last year's version of the popular football franchise.

1. Football Manager 2008 (PC)
2. FIFA 08 (Xbox 360, PS3, Wii, PS2, PSP, DS, PC)
3. The Orange Box (Xbox 360, PC)
4. The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass (DS)
5. Halo 3 (Xbox 360)
6. Project Gotham Racing 4 (Xbox 360)
7. Ratatouille (Xbox 360, PS3, Wii, PS2, PSP, DS, PC)
8. Tiger Woods PGA Tour 08 (Xbox 360, PS3, Wii, PS2, PSP, DS, PC)
9. Resistance: Fall of Man (PS3)
10. Crash of the Titans (Wii, Xbox 360, PS2, PSP, DS, GBA)
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Will the release of The Orange Box be enough to knock Project Gotham Racing 4 off top spot...
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The review scores from EGM #222 (December 2007) are revealed:

* Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock: 9, 8.5, 8
* Sega Rally Revo: 7.5, 7, 7
* Conan: 5.5, 5.5, 5.5
* WWE SmackDown vs. Raw 2008: 8, 7, 5.5
* Clive Barker's Jericho: 3, 4.5, 4.5 (Shame of the Month)
* The Simpsons Game: 7, 6.5, 7
* Bladestorm: The Hundred Years War: 4, 6, 4
* Folklore: 5.5, 7.5, 8
* The Eye of Judgment: 8, 8, 8
* Ratchet and Clank Future: Tools of Destruction: 8.5, 9.5, 9
* Halo 3: 10, 10, 9
* Ace Combat 6: Fires of Liberation: 6.5, 6.5, 8
* Half-Life 2 Orange Box: 10, 9.5, 10
* Beautiful Katamari: 7, 4.5, 4
* Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney Trials and Tribulations: 9, 7, 7.5
* Disgaea: Afternoon of Darkness: 7.5, 7, 7
* Silent Hill: Origins: 7.5, 7, 7
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These lists are based on global unique users connected to Xbox Live. Major Nelson had no access to the Arcade title data this week, so no Arcade list for now. Here are the top 5 for both charts, see the source for the complete top 10 list.

Xbox 360 Top Live Titles
1. Halo 3
2. Gears of War
3. Madden NFL 08
4. Virtua Fighter 5 Demo
5. Guitar Hero II

Original Xbox Top Live Games
1. Halo 2
2. Battlefield 2: MC
3. Counter-Strike
4. Star Wars: Battlefront 2
5. Madden NFL 08
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Oct 19, 2007 Huzzah! The Orange Box is released today (It's already out in the US), bringing what's perhaps the best videogame series ever conceived to Xbox 360 (and PlayStation 3, eventually) bundled along with one of the greatest multiplayer mashups and the world's first perfect game. Given that Gordon Freeman's only made one visit to consoleland, with Half-Life on Xbox and PS2, we thought living-room gamers might need to catch up. Much of the info contained in this article is only gleaned ... » Read More

UPDATE [Oct 18, 2007]: In light of reader feedback, we're happy to supply the details of how we tested and sourced the images for our comparison. We hope this will clear up any queries you have. All shots were captured direct-feed, PC shots by using Fraps and 360 shots by using an image-editing suite to pull the image directly from the input, using component. We ran the PC at its highest quality settings, but in a 1024x720 window to replicate the 720p resolution setting on Xbox 360. No ... » Read More

Oct 15, 2007 Weve all become rather enamored by Portal, which has been untangling the folds of our frontal lobes since its release last week with Valves Orange Box. While it may appear simple at first glance, Portal is jammed full of subtleties, Easter eggs, and easily repeatable tag lines that have been rapidly absorbed by the Internets collective cultural consciousness. If youve been on the wrong side of the space-time continuum for the last week and have no clue what were talking about, ... » Read More

The newest Game Informer has just landed in stores in America and this months' issue contains some very interesting reviews of all the coming and available games. Games like Halo 3, Half Life 2: Orange Box, PGR4, Mass Effect, Syphon Filter, Ace Attorney, DiRT, Ace Combat 6, NBA Live 08, NBA 2K8, NBA 08 have all been reviewed in this months' edition.

Most noticeable scores are for Halo 3, Mass Effect and Orange Box, which have all received reviews of 9.75 given by two different editors. Ace Combat 6 and PGR 4 also did very well with a 9- for Ace Combat and a 9+ for PGR4. Syphon Filter for PSP did very well with a 9-. Two Worlds was slammed again with two disappointing reviews of a 4 and a 2. Check out all this months' reviews below.

Mass Effect (Xbox 360, BioWare): 9.75/9.75
Ace Combat 6 (Xbox 360, Bandai Namco): 8.75/8.75
The Orange Box (Xbox 360, Valve): 9.75/9.75
Halo 3 (Xbox 360, Microsoft): 9.75/9.75 **Game of the month**
Zack and Wiki (Wii, Capcom): 8.25/7.75
NBA Live (PS3/Xbox 360/Wii, EA): 7.5/7.75
NBA 2K8 (PS3/Xbox 360, 2K Games): 8.25/8.5
Conan (PS3/Xbox 360, THQ): 7/7.25
Blazing Angels 2 (Xbox 360, Ubisoft): 7.5/7.75
Crash Of The Titans (Xbox 360/Wii/PS2/PSP/NDS, Sierra): 7.25
Spyro: The Eternal Night (Wii, Sierra): 6.25
Two Worlds (Xbox 360, SouthPeak Interactive): 4/2
Spider-Man: Friend or Foe (Xbox 360/PS2/Wii/PSP/NDS, Activision): 4.5/5.5
Juiced 2: Hot Import Nights (Xbox 360/PS2/PS3): 8.25/8.5
Dirt (Xbox 360/PS3, Codemasters): 8/8.5
NBA 08 (PS3/PSP, Sony): 7/6.25
Carnival Games (Wii, Take-Two): 5.5
The Sims 2: Castaway (Wii/PS2/PSP/NDS, EA): 7.25
Victorious Boxers: Revolution (Wii, Xseed): 6.75
Project Gotham Racing 4 (Xbox 360, Bizarre): 8.75/9.25
FlatOut Ultimate Carnage (Xbox 360, Warner): 7.5/8.5
Syphon Filter: Logan's Shadow (PSP, Sony): 8.75/9 **Handheld game of the month*...
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Oct 11, 2007 Want to kill some time without breaking the bank? This excellent free flash game provides a 2D take on Valve's first-person puzzler, Portal. Portal: The Flash Version contains 40 levels of mind-bending puzzles and according to its authors, it has just about everything the real game does (minus the third dimension). Energy balls, cubes, turrets, and the giant crusher from the trailer all make an appearance. Click here to try out Portal: The Flash Version, and find out what we ... » Read More

Oct 11, 2007 Valve's Orange Box compilation burst its way onto Steam yesterday, the reviews have begun to go live, and early indications show its average review score of 98 (so far) is going to beat both BioShock and Halo 3. You can read our review of Half-Life: Episode 2 here, Team Fortress 2 here and Portal ... » Read More

Valve Software boss Gabe Newell has slagged off PS3 calling it "a waste of everybody's time" in a latest attack on the console.

"Investing in the Cell, investing in the SPE gives you no long-term benefits. There's nothing there that you're going to apply to anything else. You're not going to gain anything except a hatred of the architecture they've created", Newell told Edge magazine.

"I don't think they're going to make money off their box. I don't think it's a good solution."
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CVG reports: " Valve's Orange Box compilation burst its way onto Steam yesterday, the reviews have begun to go live, and early indications show its average review score of 98 (so far) is going to beat both Bioshock and Halo 3. Could this be the highest scoring game of the year? "
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MSNBC Reports: A video game company would need a truckload of chutzpah to release a first-person shooter in the wake of "Halo 3."

Such a company would have to be absolutely sure its game had enough fun and value to compete with arguably the biggest title of the holiday season, which launched to first-day sales of $170 million, according to its publisher Microsoft.

Valve, makers of the best-selling "Half-Life" series of PC shooters, is convinced its "Orange Box," launching on the PC, and for the first time, on the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, and is such a game.
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Oct 9, 2007 The Orange Box goes live at 12:00 am Pacific Time on Oct 10, and 8:00 am in the UK. If you're on the beta now, prepare to own some noobs when the great unwashed come flooding in. And if you haven't preordered, you're going to need a headstart. Either way, it's time to brush up on a few of the lesser-known factors in the TF2 ... » Read More

Valve has revealed that it has tapped the songwriting talents of Jonathon Coulton, computer programmer turned modern day rock star, for a surprise single to be included in its massive multi-platform game offering, The Orange Box.
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Oct 2, 2007 Is it October already? Where did the year go? It means we're only days away from the release of Valve bumper bundle Orange Box; but there's still time for new screenshots to be pumped out onto the interweb. So, take a look at class-based, team-based multiplayer shooter Team Fortress 2 in these eight shots. And keep those eyes peeled for reviews of TF2, Portal and Half-Life 2: Episode Two real soon-like. Courtesy of ... » Read More

Translated text; "Magazine PC Gamer of November confirms the development of Half-Life 2: Three episode and brings some information to us on the scenario of this new opus (Attention small spoiler on the end of Half-Life 2: Two Episode). ' A end of Half-Life 2: Episode Two, Gordon and Alyx look at a video recorded by Judith Mossman, a scientist who works at the sides of Eli Vance and resistance. Mossman brings back the discovery of a lost cargo liner, Borealis, which is supposed to transport a new technology developed by a better known mysterious laboratory under the name of Aperture Science and large rival of Black Messa," writes Jeux-France.
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Reports from GameDaily.biz suggest that Valve's Orange Box has gone gold. The pack will include Half-life 2, Episode 1, Episode 2, Team Fortress 2 and Portal.
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The Orange Box-featuring Half-Life 2: Episode Two, Team Fortress 2, and Portal, as well as the complete Half-Life 2 experience to date-is now available for pre-purchase via Steam, a leading online platform for the distribution of PC games. Those who pre-purchase the PC edition via Steam before October 10th will save 10% off the $49.95 regular price and get exclusive access to the Team Fortress 2 beta.

Available at retail on October 10th in North America and October 12th in the rest of the world, retail copies of The Orange Box will be offered for an estimated price of $49.95 on the PC and $59.95 on the Xbox 360 console systems. The 10% pre-purchase discount also applies to these versions at participating retail outlets.
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You read that right, the upcoming Orange Box for the 360 will break the mold and rules with 99 achievements. The previous cap was 55 for a total of 1250. The 99 achievements are still only worth a total of 1000 points so expect many small rewards as you work through this game.
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