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Week of October 12, 2008
New Xbox Experience: Community Games
>> From majornelson.com:
[QUOTE]
When the New Xbox Experience is available on November 19th, a whole new way to experience games will be available. The Xbox LIVE Community Games Channel, powered by the XNA Creators Club, is going to allow aspiring developers to share their creations with the 14-million Xbox LIVE members. This week, I caught up with Kathleen Sanders from the XNA Communty team who shares some details:
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Discuss this news item on our forums: forums.xbox-scene.com
Microsoft Responds To September NPD Results
>> From the press release:
[QUOTE]
347,000 Xbox 360 consoles sold in September following our U.S. price cut on Sept. 5 contributing to a U.S. install base of 11.3 million (September NPD data). Xbox 360 is now the most affordable next generation console on the market--$50 less than the Wii and half the price of the PlayStation 3.
Backed by September sales data, which showed $326 million in total consumer spend in the U.S. and a record software attach rate of 8.1 (September NPD data), we know Xbox 360 owners will continue to flex their buying power in the coming weeks when blockbusters like "Gears of War 2," "Lips," "Fable II," "You're in the Movies" and "Scene It? Box Office Smash" hit shelves.
Xbox 360 is the preferred stage for this holiday's hottest music games
New music tracks for popular games like Rock Band and Guitar Hero extend every music experience so every party feels like a new party. Xbox LIVE has delivered more than 80% of the downloadable songs for music games, currently averaging 3.8 million music downloads per month. In total, Xbox 360 users have enjoyed more than 45 million music downloads. (Microsoft internal data)
In addition to leading the online music game market, Xbox 360 sells more copies of the world's favorite music franchises. To date this generation, in the U.S., nearly 2 million copies of the Rock Band franchise have sold on the Xbox 360, almost 1 million more than the competition combined. Life-to-date sales of the Guitar Hero franchise on Xbox 360 top 4 million, securing more than 50% of franchise sales this generation (September NPD data).
"Rock Band 2" debuts exclusively on Xbox 360
ˇ Since its U.S. launch on Sept. 14, "Rock Band 2" on the Xbox 360 sold 363,000 copies in September, making it September's #3 selling game.
ˇ This holiday, Xbox 360 will continue to sell more third-party games like "Rock Band 2" than the competition. In September alone, Xbox 360 generated $167 million in third party game sales.
Calling all shower singers, wanna-be rappers and pop princesses - "Lips" hits the stage in November
ˇ "Lips" will have music fans singing their favorite tunes this holiday season as this totally new singing IP lands around the globe. "Lips" lets people sing the music they want with breakthrough wireless motion-sensitive microphones, backed by master tracks and original music videos. "Lips" hits in mid-November, exclusively for Xbox 360 from Microsoft and iNiS.
"Guitar HeroŽ World Tour" drops on Oct. 26 with a cooperative band experience, newly redesigned controllers and in-game Music Studio music creator
ˇ "Guitar Hero World Tour" launches on Oct. 26. Xbox 360 gamers worldwide have early access to an R.E.M. track pack featuring three songs from the band's new album, and Metallica's highly anticipated full-length album, "Death Magnetic," was offered to music fans around the world as downloadable content on Xbox LIVE in its entirety on the same day the record was released.
At the Tokyo Game Show last week we announced that the New Xbox Experience will launch worldwide on Nov. 19. For the first time in the history of the internet, 14 million consumers across 24 countries will all tune in at the same time to watch their Xbox 360 completely reinvent itself, for free, with the New Xbox Experience.
From the best music games and blockbuster titles, to LIVE Parties, photo sharing and access to a movie and TV show library 30,000 deep through the New Xbox Experience, Xbox 360 has something for everyone this holiday.
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(Thursday 16 October 2008 20:09 EST) - (Category: Xbox360) - (Posted by::
)
XNA GS Goes Live October 30th
>> From /creators.xna.com:
[QUOTE]
By now you may have heard that The New Xbox Experience (NXE) will go live globally on November 19, 2008! Xbox LIVE Community Games is a new channel within NXE and will launch in the US, Canada, UK, France, Italy, and Spain at the same time. We're currently working to include even more countries at launch or shortly after so stay tuned for even more parts of the world to go live.
In addition, independent game developers will be happy to know that XNA Game Studio 3.0 will be available for download on October 30, 2008 so they can to convert their creations and prepare them to be a part of the launch of Xbox LIVE Community Games on November 19.
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(Thursday 16 October 2008 19:17 EST) - (Category: Xbox360) - (Posted by::
)
(EU) All Xbox 360 acks of Christmas Announced
>> From :
[QUOTE]
From 17/10/2008
* VALUE PACK-X360 ELITE 120GB (Lego Indiana Jones / Kungfu Panda) - 299.00 Euros
* VALUE PACK-X360 PRO 60 GB (Lego Indiana Jones / Kungfu Panda) - 239.00 Euros
* VALUE PACK-X360 ARCADE (Sega Superstar Tennis + XBLA games) - 179.00 Euros
From 07/11/2008
* PACK-X360 60 GB + Gears of War 2 - 269.00 Euros
* PACK-X360 60 GB + James Bond - 269.00 Euros
From 21/11/2008
* PACK-X360 60 GB Tomb Raider + + 1200 MS Points - 269.00 Euros
From 12/12/2008
* PACK-X360 60 GB + Prince of Persia - 269.00 Euros
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(Thursday 16 October 2008 19:16 EST) - (Category: Xbox360) - (Posted by::
)
Xbox 360 G4 Mod
>> From macmod.com:
[QUOTE]
This Powerbook modification is actually a spin-off of another project. Let me explain, my other project (Twenty First Century Mac) was originally based upon a 867Mhz PowerBook G4 Logic board. Unfortunately, the 867 is too slow for active TV Tuners (specifically, the one I already purchased.) so I had to scratch the 867Mhz from the project. Since I didn't have any true use for it, it sat idle. (with 1.12GB of RAM, Combo Drive, etc. To go with it.)
I'm an avid broken Xbox 360 collector, trying to develop strategies for hacking and repairing once-thought dead consoles. I've got plenty of empty 360 cases around with nothing to do but gather dust. When it hit me, The PowerBook logic boards are tiny. Perfect for one of those cases. Even better with PSU integration.
I had plenty of left-over PowerBook parts to make a decent machine. With a nice small footprint.
Specs
* 867Mhz PowerBook G4
* 60GB Fujitsu HD (Former test drive. ☺)
* Functional Ring Of Light, including sleep indication
* Combo Drive
* Built In Battery
* Stealth Power Button
* 65W Power Supply
* OS X Tiger 10.4.11
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Full Story: macmod.com
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(Thursday 16 October 2008 13:06 EST) - (Category: Xbox360) - (Posted by::
)
360 Arcade games HAVE to run on a 14" TV
>> From computerandvideogames.com:
[QUOTE]
Introversion Software MD Mark Morris (currently working on Darwinia+ for XBLA) told OXM, "Microsoft has extremely strict technical certification requirements that you have to get right. One of the biggest challenges is that your game has got to be playable on a 14-inch CRT television.
"So you have to do all this visibility work in case someone is playing it on a composite cable through a TV, to make sure they can still read all of the text and tell exactly what's going on."
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Full Story: computerandvideogames.com
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(Thursday 16 October 2008 12:57 EST) - (Category: Xbox360) - (Posted by::
)
360 can handle MGS4, says Microsoft
>> From mcvuk.com:
[QUOTE]
Xbox Live boss Schappert told MCV:
"I'm certainly in the fan club that would love to see Kojima-san's masterpiece come our way. It would be wonderful to play Metal Gear Solid on the Xbox. It could become another of the many franchises that started their life on another console that are now coming our way.
"I can't speak on behalf of Konami, but I can shed more light on the fact that we definitely have the power to run MGS4.
"There are a lot of recent examples that are in true high-def on our platform and aren't on PS3. We've got an amazing amount of horsepower and graphics power."
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Full Story: mcvuk.com
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(Thursday 16 October 2008 12:55 EST) - (Category: Xbox360) - (Posted by::
)
Microsoft Hit With California Class Action Lawsuit For Xbox 360 Failures
>> From dailygamesnews.com:
[QUOTE]
Microsoft are facing a lawsuit, brought under California's consumer protection statutes, was filed in the Sacramento County Superior Court. The lawsuit alleges that an excessive number of Xbox 360 consoles have failed, resulting in what is commonly known in the gaming community as the "red ring of death". The lawsuit further alleges that Microsoft concealed the excessive failure rate of its Xbox 360 consoles in order to compete with the pending launch of Sony's Playstation 3 and Nintendo's Wii gaming systems.
The class action lawsuit seeks an order that Microsoft disgorge all profits attributable to its sale of the Xbox 360, as well as that Microsoft publicly announce and implement a refund program in California.
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Full Story: dailygamesnews.com
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(Wednesday 15 October 2008 17:45 EST) - (Category: Xbox360) - (Posted by::
)
MGS4 on 360 Rumors Gain Ground Again
>> From xbox360.ign.com:
[QUOTE]
According to a Tokyo Game Show report from Japanese investment research firm Morningstar, Metal Gear Solid 4 may find its way to the Xbox 360 after all. Morningstar published a general article covering multiplatform trends that features a quote from a Konami public relations representative that should fuel rumors for months to come. The rep is quoted as saying, regarding MGS4, "We're actively looking into a release for the Xbox 360." While this isn't a confirmation of it coming, it does lend hope to those Xbox 360 owners who haven't plunked down money on a PS3.
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Full Story: xbox360.ign.com
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(Tuesday 14 October 2008 23:52 EST) - (Category: Xbox360) - (Posted by::
)
Rumor: Next Xbox to be 'Forward-Compatible'
>> From xboxevolved.e-mpire.com:
[QUOTE]
One of the most interesting features of the third Xbox besides being able to play all of your Xbox 360 titles, and transfer over your gamertag and gamerscore is forward-compatibly. Backwards-compatibility of course means that a game from the previous generation of systems works on the new systems. An example of this is PlayStation games working on PlayStation 2, or original Xbox games being playable on the Xbox 360 through emulation and software updates.
This is something completely different however. Forward-compatibility means that games made for the Xbox 360 are made even better thanks to the features and hardware of the next Xbox system. This isn't a side effect of textures being cleaner and upscaled resolution, this is a new animal completely. Imagine playing Gears of War 3 on your Xbox 360 it looks and plays good right? Well imagine that the year after it comes out you go out to buy the next Xbox and it looks even better, it plays even better. Features in the new controller are utilized with the game, the graphics do not only look sharper, but the draw distance is better, the speed is better, framerate, and there are even new features, perhaps even levels via DLC for the game on the third-generation Xbox. GoW3 is of course an example of what this could mean, past the forward-compatibly information, Xbox Evolved has not been given any other information about the next generation of Xbox.
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Full Story: xboxevolved.e-mpire.com
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(Tuesday 14 October 2008 23:50 EST) - (Category: Xbox360) - (Posted by::
)
Microsoft's NXE storage 'solution': Free memory cards, discounted HDD
>> From engadget.com:
[QUOTE]
Microsoft's New Xbox Experience has been pored over and dated, but now that Major Nelson has revealed it requires "at least" 128MB storage available to work, where does that leave suckers Core and Arcade SKU Xbox 360 owners? Enter the Xbox 360 Memory Upgrade Program, doling out free 512MB MU's or $20 20GB HDDs to Core owners, and a $30 20GB HDD + 3 months of Xbox Live package to Arcade owners looking to upgrade. November 19, Xbox Live becomes a storage-only affair (that goes for Netflix streams too, requiring 8MB of free space), so grab your serial number and console ID from the current Xbox 360 Dashboard and hit the registration website.
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Official Site: xbox.com
Full Story: engadget.com
Discuss this news item on our forums: forums.xbox-scene.com
Microsoft Confirms Feature Cut from New Xbox 360 Dashboard
>> From shacknews.com:
[QUOTE]
Following up on reports that the new Xbox 360 dashboard will no longer feature photo and movie sharing, Microsoft has confirmed with Shacknews that the software update will launch without the ability to share movies with other Xbox Live members.
However, the update will still feature online Photo Sharing functionality when it arrives as a free software download on November 19. The company explained that comments from Xbox senior strategist Rob Gruhl regarding the addition of Photo Sharing were hypothetical, meant to stress that the software is dynamic and can be easily updated.
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Full Story: shacknews.com
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Confirmed: Obama Is Campaigning on Xbox 360!
>> From nytimes.com:
[QUOTE]
Last week we noted unconfirmed sightings of an "Obama for President" billboard in the Xbox 360 racing game Burnout Paradise. Today we're able to report that it is, in fact, an official advertisement placed by the senator's campaign team.
"I can confirm that the Obama campaign has paid for in-game advertising in Burnout," Holly Rockwood, director of corporate communications at Electronic Arts, the game's publisher, told me via email, noting that EA regularly allows ad placements in their online games. "Like most television, radio and print outlets, we accept advertising from credible political candidates," she continued. "Like political spots on the television networks, these ads do not reflect the political policies of EA or the opinions of its development teams."
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Full Story: nytimes.com
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Analyst Calls Console-Exclusive DLC 'Unproven'
>> From thegamereviews.com:
[QUOTE]
There's been a rush by Microsoft and Sony to snatch up exclusive post-launch DLC for high profile games. The Xbox 360 will be sporting exclusive content for Grand Theft Auto IV and Fallout 3, and Microsoft recently announced plans to offer two expansion levels for Tomb Raider: Underworld to be released later this year. For its part, the PS3 will be getting a heaping helping of Mirror's Edge DLC at an unspecified date. So the manufacturers are lining up to make deals, but the question at hand is does this have any effect on consumers' purchases?
Lazard Capital analyst Colin Sebastian thinks that this new frontier is as yet "unproven," and that the new content being made available for Grand Theft Auto IV will go a long way toward answering our questions. As for the practice as a whole, Sebastian concedes that it likely does have some effect, but at yet it's impossible to determine exactly what that effect may be.
"I think it's reasonable to assume there is some correlation between game sales and the availability of exclusive content for a particular platform," he said, "but the content needs to be high quality and add something to the overall game experience."
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Full Story: thegamereviews.com
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TGS 08: Microsoft May Not Stick to Spring/Fall 360 Updates
>> From 1up.com:
[QUOTE]
"I don't know if we are going to tie ourselves to a spring/fall release schedule as much," said Schappert to a gathering of reporters. "I think one of the things that I worked with the team with when I joined -- let's do a big release. Spring and fall sounds like there is a lot of distance between the two but there is an awful lot of... it's pretty hard to make a new dashboard because you have to certify it against every revision of the hardware, and there's a bunch of different specs. It's a pretty time-consuming and challenging thing to do. Which is why we only did it twice a year."
But apparently, as Schappert went on to explain, even twice a year may still be too often. "I like staying focused on bigger and more impactful releases, so maybe it will be twice a year, maybe less frequently," he said. "You know, to be determined. I think it's going to be more about: What's the next big launch? What are we bringing? When can we bring it? How can we do it in a big way?"
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Full Story: 1up.com
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