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Week of June 15, 2008
Forbes: Europe is least mature videogame market
>> From gamesindustry.biz:
[QUOTE]
Europe is the world's largest potential market for the videogame industry, but it's also the least mature according to Forbes.com.
The business site referred to market research from IDG showing that the European market generated USD 17.9 billion in revenues in 2007 - less than the USD 18.8 billion in revenues generated by the US - despite having more than twice the population.
The Forbes article claims that videogames aren't as widely accepted in Europe as they are in the States, and that the worldwide development community has focused on capturing the hardcore US gamers - paying less attention to European players who prefer short, so-called casual games.
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Full Story: gamesindustry.biz
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(Saturday 21 June 2008 00:21 EST) - (Category: GamingGeneral) - (Posted by::
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Bruce Everiss about MrModchip Case
>> Bruce Everiss, a veteran games marketer, blogged about the recent 'modchip' appeal MrModchip won in the UK:
[QUOTE]
Very bad news for any gaming enthusiast. The British appeals court say that modchips don't circumvent copyright protection. It is only by protecting copyright that game developers can be paid for their work. And if they aren't paid for their work then they won't make games as we have seen so many times before.
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Discuss this news item on our forums: forums.xbox-scene.com
OXM New Xbox 360 Report Card
>> From oxmonline.com:
[QUOTE]
We're halfway through the year, and probably halfway through the Xbox 360's lifespan. Does our console make the grade? It's time for the midterm examination.
* Software (First-Party): A
* Software (Third-Party): A+
* Hardware: C+
* Xbox Live: B+
* Xbox Live Marketplace: B+
* Marketing & Advertising: C+
* Overall: B+
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Full Story: oxmonline.com (4 pages)
Discuss this news item on our forums: forums.xbox-scene.com
The Media Center Extender Shootout: 360 vs Linksys vs D-Link Extender
>> From engadgethd.com:
[QUOTE]
Vista Media Center really sets itself apart from any other DVR solution out there, and the single greatest advantage Vista Media Center (VMC) has over the other options -- like the TiVo HD -- is the ability to have multiple Media Center Extenders. There really isn't any better way out there that will allow you to watch premium HD cable in every room of your house while at the same time centralizing all your media in one place. When VMC first hit the streets, there was only one HD extender: the Xbox 360. But the problem, of course, is that the Xbox is noisy and will always be a gaming console first and a Media Center Extender second. Well, things have really heated up in the extender market recently when both Linksys and D-Link released Media Center Extenders and HP upgraded its MediaSmart HDTVs.
Wrap-up
We are glad to see so many new ways to access all of our HD content (including recorded HD cable) on any HDTV in the house, and we're happy to say that every one of these devices is a great solution. But while gamers will be drawn to the value of the Xbox 360, the noise and sheer size of the box prevent it from being the ultimate solution for others. So as much as we miss the cool animated transitions, the old adage "Jack of all trades, master of none" was never more true, and in the case of Media Center Extenders we really prefer the Linksys DMA2100. It is less expensive, boots up faster, and is so small and quiet it will work in just about any application where the main goal is to access VMC. At the same time, it is a close race, and since an Extender is the kind of device you're likely to own more than one of, we'd probably choose one of each if we were outfitting our entire house.
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Full Review: engadgethd.com
Discuss this news item on our forums: forums.xbox-scene.com
Microsoft promises more new games for E3
>> From gamepro.com:
[QUOTE]
"We have not announced all of our line-up yet for 2008 but will provide more details at E3 next month," said Aaron Greenberg, director of Xbox 360 product management, in an email sent to GamePro on Thursday.
"Xbox 360 will continue to be the home to blockbuster games and the most exclusives," Greenberg added. "By the end of the year we will have over 1,000 games available for Xbox 360, which will be 2-3 times more than any other platform."
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Full Story: gamepro.com
Discuss this news item on our forums: forums.xbox-scene.com
IGN's Top 10 Microsoft E3 Reveals (In Their Dreams)
>> From xbox360.ign.com:
[QUOTE]
Microsoft is scheduled to kick off this year's Electronic Entertainment Expo with a press conference on Monday, July 14. Needless to say, expectations are high. The company needs to come out with guns blazing to set the tone for the rest of the week. After last year's showing, we thought MS might like a little help planning this one out. If you recall, the last time MS took gaming's biggest stage it started out strong with a live performance of the Halo theme song and some Rock Band. Then it took a turn for the worse with "big" announcements of Scene It! and Viva Piñata: Party Animals and an appearance by our dawg, Jeff Bell. Family fun is all well and good, but this is E3. We want excitement and instant gratification. We want these 10 games to be featured prominently. So if you're reading MS, this one's for you.
10. Gymnast
09. Star Ocean: The Last Hope
08. Fable 2 XBLA Minigames
07. Metal Gear Solid 4
06. Resident Evil 5
05. Mass Effect 2
04. Alan Wake
03. Gears of War 2
02. BioShock 2
01. Peter Jackson's Halo Project
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Full Story: xbox360.ign.com (2 pages)
Discuss this news item on our forums: forums.xbox-scene.com
AMD Graphics Chip More Powerful Than Every Game Console Combined
>> From kotaku.com:
[QUOTE]
Chip maker AMD has invested heavily into hyperbole research, proudly proclaiming that its new graphics chip, the RV770, is "more powerful than every generation of video game console ever brought to market combined." The RV770, demoed Monday, is capable of processing one trillion floating operations per second on a single chip, a feat that AMD says "punches a sizeable hole in the sensory barrier."
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Full Story: kotaku.com | amd.com
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(Wednesday 18 June 2008 23:46 EST) - (Category: GamingGeneral) - (Posted by::
)
Why Xbox Live isn't free
>> From gamesradar.com:
[QUOTE]
Until recently, Microsoft could brag about how Live was by far the most feature-complete online service on any platform, with a unified Friends list, the best online shop, voice and video chat as standard and a consistent and stable online experience. But in recent months there's been a shift in the market, and even bigger changes are coming. Microsoft is the only player to charge for online play, and their policy has landed some of the best online games on the 360... but as PC and PlayStation developers offer comparable features at no extra cost, the Gold subscription starts to lose its shine. The launch of the PC's Steam Community late last year and promises made by Sony at January's Consumer Electronics Show have placed Microsoft on the back foot, and has all of us asking: what does your annual subscription pay for?
Live's best asset is that it allows even small developers to support online play - the value of which can't possibly be denied. Without it, we'd never see online play in small-budget XBLA titles or even marginalised full-price games. The question to ask is whether or not that's worth the precious money from your pocket, on rotation, every 12 months.
From the player's end experience, Live is the leader, but it's hardly a full fifty bucks/forty-quid ahead of its competition. The market has changed since 2002 and so long as the PlayStation Network and Steam Community threaten to match Live feature-for-feature, Live needs to be obviously better in some other way, especially in the UK where it costs a full fifteen quid more for a yearly subscription than the $50 (£25) cost over in the U.S.
At some point in the coming months, PSN will rob Live's Friends List, completing its mimicry of Microsoft's system. It's at that point where questions must start to be asked of Live. It's certainly easier for developers, but as gamers, perhaps we should rightly expect just a little more from our Gold subscription.
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Full Story: gamesradar.com (3 pages)
Discuss this news item on our forums: forums.xbox-scene.com
Microsoft to Show Its Newest Games at the Second Annual E for All Expo
>> From the press release:
[QUOTE]
Entertainment for All Expo (E for All) is kicking off its 2008 show with a bang, announcing today that Microsoft Corporation has signed on to exhibit at the 2nd annual E for All™ video game event, scheduled to take place October 3-5, 2008, at the Los Angeles Convention Center.
"We are thrilled that Microsoft Corporation has decided to exhibit at this year's E for All. The addition of Microsoft's leading line of products at the event will be a huge benefit for attendees, from hardcore gamers to families, and everyone in between," said Mary Dolaher, Chief Executive Officer at IDG World Expo, the leading producer of world-class tradeshows and events around the globe and owner of E for All. "Microsoft's presence at the 2008 event will help us build on the great success of last year's inaugural E for All event, and will further our goal of building an exciting and cutting-edge event that brings the best and newest games to gamers of all types. We look forward to a terrific 2008 event, and to having the opportunity to bring even more great game products to the great gamers who attend E for All."
Dolaher said additional E for All participants and features will be announced in the coming weeks. For more about E for All, please visit www.EforAllExpo.com.
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XBMC for Xbox 2008-06-16 SVN rev13573 build - T3CH
>> T3CH released a new SVN compile (rev13573) of XBMC for Xbox (XboxMediaCenter(info)).
This T3CH-compile is a complete snapshot of what is in SVN at the time the build was compiled, with just a few small additions.
Special Notes and Added/Noteworthy/XML/Script changes:
* AMT updated to pre-0.99.5a, Lyrics to 1.5.9, Nuka1195's Plugin Installer to 1.2
* added : Key map for DialogFullScreenInfo.xml to make it saner to navigate and more like the old way
* added: video fullscreen info can now be a dialog
* added: Filmstarts.de scraper
* added: SendClick(window,controlID) message. Allows sending button presses from other windows/dialogs.
* added: Container.SortDirection builtin, and conditional (eg container.sortdirection(ascending))
* added: activatewindow(videolibrary,node,return) support to videolibrary window - allows you to return to a subnode of the specified node. eg if you have a tvshows button normally go to tvshowtitles, and you were last in season 2 of a particular show, then activatewindow(videolibrary,tvshowtitles,return) will return you to that location.
* added: .m2t / .m2ts to the list of video extensions (thanks to cptspiff)
* added : PM3 - Unwatched episode count to TV Shows "Media Info 2" view
* added : PM3 - Watched overlay icon to seasons "List 2" view
For the full changelog (all added/fixed/changed/updated stuff) since the 2008-06-01 SVN Rev13360 build click here.
Keep in mind this is a SVN snapshot of the current development tree. It's not an official (stable) point release. Use only if you know what you are doing.
Official XBMC Site: http://xbmc.org (manual and FAQ)
Official T3CH Site: http://t3ch.yi.se (release RSS feed)
Download Binaries: n/a (built with XDK) | Download SourceCode: here
Discuss this news item on our forums: forums.xbox-scene.com
Microsoft: Leaked Concepts 'May Or May Not' Be Real Products
>> From kotaku.com:
[QUOTE]
The recent weekend leak-fest, courtesy of marketing research company Intellisponse, yielded lots of possible upcoming Microsoft projects gleaned from surveys. There was the evidence suggesting that Mii-like avatars could be coming to Xbox Live, the rumored "Lips," a possible SingStar-type game, and word that a "social interactive" game show channel might be popping up on Live as well.
"We regularly test all kinds of concepts in market research with our Xbox community," said a Microsoft representative. "These may or may not be real products in development or ever be released to consumers."
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Full Story: kotaku.com
Discuss this news item on our forums: forums.xbox-scene.com
Rumor: Microsoft to Announce 60GB Xbox 360 at E3?
>> From trustedreviews.com:
[QUOTE]
A number of months have passed since I dropped that Xbox 360 60GB bombshell on you guys, so you're probably wondering what's going on? Here's the latest...
After much dillying and dallying Microsoft has decided internally that it will announce the long overdue upgrade at E3 next month (the event runs from 15 - 17 July) with a release then scheduled for August (pre-10th says my source).
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Full Story: trustedreviews.com
Discuss this news item on our forums: forums.xbox-scene.com
Takahashi Interview with Microsoft's Bach Part2: RRoD, Xbox720, ...
>> From venturebeat.com:
[QUOTE]
* Q: If you go back in hindsight to November of 2005, and your yield was not so good, you could have predicted a big return rate because the yield was so lousy. Did you ask yourself whether you should delay the launch? Wait for the yield to get up? Or just keep going?
* A: This is the hard part. The technical nature of the challenge wasn't related to yield. It wasn't related to things we were seeing in testing or some judgment call we had to make about whether the product was ready. We were confident the product was ready. We did a lot of testing. The problem that shows up with the three red lights on the console is a complex interaction with some very complex parts. It's easy for me to go back and say, if I knew what would transpire over the next two years, would I go back and do something different, I think that's an obvious answer. But the fact is, based on the data we had at the time and all the hard work we put into it, there was no way to see what actually happened. As you know, it didn't start to show up in the data from our customers for almost a year. This wasn't like we had a yield problem and three weeks later people were having problems with their consoles. It's one of those things that nobody is proud of. On the other hand, we are in a complex technology space. You learn from it. You do the right things to make sure it doesn't happen again. The best thing you can do is tell your customers you want them to keep enjoying the product and here is what we will do on replacing it for free.
* Q: What is your expectation for the timing of the next console introduction?
* A: The last cycle for the original Xbox was a little shorter than typical (at four years). We started way late. Sony launched in Japan in 1999. We launched in the U.S. in 2001. They are still selling PlayStation 2s. You see cycles are lengthening and the ability to have overlapping consoles in the market is growing. For a long time, after Sony shipped PS 3, PS 2 was outselling it. It helps when you have a portfolio business.
* Q: Do you want to be first with the next one, too?
* A: Too early to tell. Our view is we will be selling Xbox 360 for a long time. We are always working on new technologies. We have people working on those. People ask me how many people I have working on the next generation. On the one hand, it's everybody. On the other, it's nobody. People are continuously working on new technology.
* Q: Hitting profits was important here. Do you have a target for profitability over the life of the cycle? What is looking better and what is looking worse about the business model for the Xbox 360?
* A: There isn't a specific dollar number. Partly because we don't know where the cycle will end this time. Being profitable in the first few years is certainly a milestone target for us. Another is being profitable for the rest of the cycle. Xbox Live has been financially more successful for us. Having written off a billion dollars in hardware costs, that part of the model is worse than we expected.
* Q: How do you size the number of internal game developers inside Microsoft? Sony has been shedding a lot of people. You lost a lot of studios.
* A: They went on an acquisition spree for a while. Then they decided they over-turned the dial. We bought Lionhead more than a year ago. Those things go in waves. With Bizarre, it wasn't ours to keep. Someone decided to buy them. Prices got too high for the developer acquisitions. Economics plays a role. If you look at the transactions of the last 12 months, those multiples didn't make sense to us. We sat on the sidelines a little bit. Then you have a transaction like Activision-Blizzard-Vivendi. I'm not even sure I can calculate the multiple on that. That's a very big transaction and an exception.
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Full Story: venturebeat.com
Discuss this news item on our forums: forums.xbox-scene.com
Avatars Discovered: Is This Microsoft's Response to Miis?
>> From teamxbox.com:
[QUOTE]
Since Nintendo announced the Miis, the digital avatars gamers can create for the Wii's Mii Channel, there have been rumors that Microsoft will offer a similar feature for the Xbox 360 and Xbox Live. Today, we may be looking at the very first piece of evidence that back up those claims.
Apparently, strategic marketing and research company Intellisponse is conducting a study for Microsoft in regards to digital personas for Xbox Live. According to this study: "Avatars will be used in place of the gamer picture you have today and give you a much more lifelike, animated, and fully customizable persona for you to reflect who you are online."
In addition to that description, there was an image attached, which you can see here. The presentation also claims that avatars will be available this holiday for all Xbox Live members and this spring for all new console members.
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From kotaku.com:
[QUOTE]
Some of the marketing material mentions that, like Miis are in stuff like Wii Sports, the Avatars will be implemented into "various arcade and retail games" as playable characters. Also mentioned are "hundreds of clothing options".
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Full Story: teamxbox.com | kotaku.com
Discuss this news item on our forums: forums.xbox-scene.com
Rumor: Lips is MS's response to Singstar?
>> From xbox360fanboy.com:
[QUOTE]
While the "Lips" rumor has been circulating the tubes for some time now it was never really known exactly what the thing was. A game? A peripheral? A female fashion accessory? We just weren't sure. Now with Microsoft leaking like a sieve there are finally some details on the project.
Apparently Lips is the codename for a karaoke game that uses a specialized microphone with built-in lights and a limited motion detector. To go with the pair of mics that are included in the default package, the game itself will have 30 songs right out of the box and features the ability to import music from a CD or Ipod to sing along with. To help with that, the game somehow reduces the vocals of the imported songs, and includes a way to place the lyrics of the songs on-screen a la "normal" karaoke.
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Full Story: xbox360fanboy.com
Discuss this news item on our forums: forums.xbox-scene.com
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