Oblivion Gets Bigger!

British gaming mags PC Gamer and PC Zone have spilled the beans on a new Oblivion expansion titled The Shivering Isles. The new content will let players explore The Isles, which are divided into northern/southern areas titled (not too invitingly) Mania and Dementia, respectively. Players will be able to reach the Shivering Isles through a door on an island that appears in Niben Bay near Bravil.

The expansion will extend Oblivion's gameplay for another 30+ hours, and includes new quests, creatures, and dungeons. One new quest involves solving a mystery in a town on the Mania/Dementia border, where every citizen has a look-a-like. Among the new monsters are the Gatekeeper, a collection of bodyparts that have been stitched together, and the Knights of the Order, made up of tree roots.

Oblivion's first expansion, Knights of the Nine, was released November 22, 2006 for PC and Xbox 360. So far, The Shivering Isles has only been announced for PC, but with a little fairy magic the 360 and upcoming PlayStation 3 versions will get to vacation in the Isles, as well. The expansion is currently set for a Q2 2007 release.

Oblivion expansion will be cheap

Xbox 360 and PC owning Oblivion fans wondering how much that new Knights of the Nine expansion is going to end up setting them back can rest easy - it's only going to cost US$ 9.99, or 800 Microsoft points on Xbox.

That's because Oblivion developer Bethesda "still considers" the Knights of the Nine add-on "downloadable content" rather than a full expansion. That's despite it adding "another 10-20 hours of gameplay" in the words of Bethesda's Pete Hines.

Indeed, you can already read a few details and check out some screenshots on OblivionDownloads.com, where the PC version will be sold from 21st November, while Xbox 360 owners should keep an eye on Marketplace around then.

Thanks to Eurogamer

Windows Vista out on January 30th, 2007

For those with PCs....



It's been five long, interesting, industry-changing years since the world's most pervasive PC operating system underwent its last revision, but the time is at long last upon us. Windows Vista and Office 2007, as we understand it, will be launched officially to consumers on January 30th, 2007. Stay tuned as the bugs keep a gettin' squished over Redmond way, and we count down to what will probably be the biggest software launch since XP.

Thanks to Engadget