Still No Full LIVE Access in Romania - Open Letter from Gaming Community
>> From monky.ro: [QUOTE] We, the ROMANIAN owners of gaming consoles, related products and services offered by MICROSOFT CORPORATION, SONY CORPORATION and NINTENDO, as full rights members of EUROPEAN UNION and users of the products and services you sold us, we kindly plead you to consider our petition for enabling full online services and support for ROMANIA. Through this document, we would like to request to be treated according to the EUROPEAN UNION laws, as equals in rights with all the other member countries where these services are available.
The products named here as MICROSOFT XBOX 360, SONY PLAYSTATION 3 and NINTENDO WII you sold us and are still selling in ROMANIA, like in any other European country, come with no warnings that the products bought have no support at all in our country. Therefore we would like to benefit from the full online services we paid for.
Dear EUROPEAN UNION REPRESENTATIVES, as members of the EUROPEAN UNION, we would like to petition for full rights as everyone else and be able to use the online services and support for the products we paid for. None of the three products named above allow us to use it online in ROMANIA, as there is no such support, although most of us have paid for a product or service that gives us one month, three months, six months or unlimited access to online services. Most of us have bought products (software and hardware) that require a connection to XBOX LIVE or PLAYSTATION STORE, which is impossible as there is no such service for ROMANIA. [/QUOTE]
GTA Hot Coffee Lawsuit Settlement: You Get Up To 35usd
>> From gamingsteve.com: [QUOTE] Just in case you forgot in 2007 Rockstar Games proposed a settlement for a class action lawsuit concerning the infamous Hot Coffee modification. As a result any US citizen who was officially "offended and upset" by the ability to unlock this hidden content can now claim up to $35 in compensation.
The exact amount you may be entitled depends upon directly upon how much documentation you have of your "outrage": Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas First Edition Disc: Replacement Disc Detailed Store Receipt: Cash payment up to $35.00 General Credit Card Statement or Check: Cash payment up to $17.50 Disc/Purchase Details: Cash payment up to $10.00 No Disc/Purchase Details: Cash payment up to $5.00
Full details on the program can be found at GTASettlement.com and you must submit your claim by May 16, 2008 to be eligible for compensation. [/QUOTE]
>> From xbox360fanboy.com: [QUOTE] Last November, Microsoft ran an offer where all new Xbox 360 owners could grab a free copy of Halo 3 for upgrading to Xbox Live gold and registering the new console's serial number. Well, Microsoft was supposed to get the free copies of Halo 3 to their new 360 owners by January 18th, but have hit a bit of a snag.
According to a few fanboy tipsters, all the Halo 3 shipments have been delayed, but Microsoft promises to get those who completed the offer a copy of the game within' three weeks. [/QUOTE]
>> From gamasutra.com: [QUOTE] According to new media reports independently confirmed by Gamasutra, the flamboyant Kudo Tsunoda, former head of EA's now-closed Chicago Studio (Def Jam: Icon, Fight Night series) has accepted a new position with Microsoft Game Studios.
A report in a new GameTap Read article indicates an anonymous Microsoft staffer is reported as confirming that Tsunoda has joined Microsoft; further, the report suggests that he is working, presumably in an oversight/production role, at a new Gears of War title for the company.
Independent sources have confirmed to Gamasutra that this move is part of an in-progress re-organization from Microsoft senior vice president Don Mattrick, who took over for Peter Moore in 2007 after a stint at EA. [/QUOTE]
NPD: Sky Isn't Falling for HD-DVD, Blu-ray Isn't Champ Yet
>> From dailygame.net: [QUOTE] Sales data for HD-DVD and Blu-ray players and movies has been misconstrued lately by various outlets, with reports implying that HD-DVD sales have fallen at an amazing pace while Blu-ray sales have blasted through the roof.
The NPD Group attempted to quiet the storm of online scuttlebutt with the following statement: "The facts are that during the week that is being singled out, both Blu-ray disc players and software were being given away for free with the purchase of 1080p TVs. It is also important to note that the instant rebate promotions that had previously netted Toshiba's players' MSRPs to $199 and $249 had actually ended on Jan. 5th -- causing an increase in HD DVD's MSRP back to $299 and $399 during that same week. Since Toshiba's retail price move on Jan. 13th to $149 / $199 -- Toshiba is seeing very positive sales trends at retail. This reinforces the fact that price is a significant driver of sales." "Toshiba's HD DVD players represent a significant value to the consumer and the marketing campaign that just began is proving effective." [/QUOTE]
Microsoft Xbox 360 Sales Fall 2.3pct As 'Halo Effect' Fizzles
>> From informationweek.com: [QUOTE] Microsoft sold fewer Xbox 360 video game consoles during the lucrative holiday shopping season than it did the previous year -- despite September's launch of the blockbuster Xbox 360 title Halo 3.
Microsoft shipped 4.3 million Xbox 360 systems in the three months ended Dec. 31, compared with 4.4 million systems during the same period in 2006-- a decline of 2.3%.
Halo 3 -- a first-person shooter that runs exclusively on the Xbox 360 -- debuted in late September, just before the start of Microsoft's crucial second fiscal quarter. The quarter covers sales made during the key Thanksgiving and Christmas shopping periods. [/QUOTE]
Shoot Halo's Master Chief Your Way And Win A Trip To Tinseltown
>> From the press release: [QUOTE] Microsoft® today announced the launch of a unique European competition looking for fans across the region to help create and show the unseen adventures of Master Chief. Whether its Master Chief's"Meet the Parents", a Spartan high school reunion, or even break dancing to MC Hammer, the"HALO: RECUT" contest is encouraging gamers and filmmakers alike to be as creative as possible, with the lucky winner scooping a once-in-a-lifetime master-class trip to Los Angeles.
Microsoft is looking for innovative movie makers to construct their own original video of Master Chief, which sees him taken away from the Halo universe and remixed into different scenarios. Whether created using a traditional video camera, gaming footage, old school animation or the latest video editing software, the point is just to be creative.
To enter the competition participants simply have to visit the following site www.xbox.com/en-GB/halorecut and upload their video from 31st January until 21st March 2008. The entries will then be judged by a panel of experts from the gaming industry to find the most creative concepts. One winner from each country will win themselves an Xbox 360 video game and entertainment system and a copy of Halo 3. Terms and conditions apply, please visit www.xbox.com/en-GB/halorecut for details.
Each country's winning video will then be put through to the European final which will be judged by the creators of the game, Bungie Studios. The overall European winner will win a trip to Los Angeles to study for one month at the New York Film Academy, where they will learn all they need to know about making movies. The prize includes return transatlantic flights, accommodation, car rental and $2,000 spending money.
Brian Jarrard, Bungie Studios added:"This competition is a great way to showcase the creativity and passion that drives the Halo fan community. We can't wait to see how people infuse their own style and personality into Master Chief and deliver a whole new take on the Halo phenomenon. May the best Spartan win!"
For more information about the project please visit www.xbox.com/en-GB/halorecut [/QUOTE]
>> From next-gen.biz: [QUOTE] The Xbox 360 will continue to outpace the Wii in terms of software attach rate, GameStop management told Janco Partners analyst Mike Hickey.
"Management expects the Wii software attach rate (roughly 5 according to NPD) should continue to be at a discount to the 360 (8.8 attach according to NPD)," Hickey wrote in a Thursday investor note. Update: A Microsoft earnings conference call Thursday said the attach rate was seven for Xbox 360. He added that the PS3's 2007 attach rate is about equal to Wii's. [/QUOTE]
Xbox 360, PC Game Sales Rise 115 Million USD In Q2
>> From gamasutra.com: [QUOTE] Microsoft has announced the results of its second quarter, showing Xbox 360 and PC hardware and game sales up $115 million over the year prior, as the company sees overall sales of $16.37 billion and operating profits of $6.48 billion.
The overall results are a 30 percent rise in sales and 87 percent rise in operating profits. The company's entire Entertainment and Devices Division, which houses Xbox 360 and PC gaming as well as Zune and set-top devices, saw a 3 percent rise in revenue to $3.06 billion, and $357 million in operating profit, up from losses of $302 million the year prior.
Microsoft notes that it shipped 4.3 million and 6.1 million Xbox 360 consoles in its second quarter and first half, respective, compared to 4.4 million and 5.4 million the year prior. It adds that life to date sales of Xbox 360 has reached 17.7 million units, up 70 percent from the prior year. [/QUOTE]
>> Dean Takahashi already talked about Xbox360 Project Helium (see here) before, now 8bitjoystick (who also had a source that announced the Bungie split and one who revealed details about the RRoD problem last week) wrote an article about it: [QUOTE] I have a quick little note about something that very few outside of Redmond knew about and that is Xbox 360 Project "Helium". It was a concept to combine a high-end gaming Windows PC with a Xbox 360 motherboard as a daughterboard. It never was even remotely implemented and moved off the drawing boards but the idea was for a third party manufacturer to license and include a daughter board made by Microsoft that would be housed in a desktop PC to add an Xbox 360 functionality to the PC. Instead they went with Games For Windows LIVE.
The concept was not unlike a videogame PC hybrid like the Amstrad Mega PC and IBM Sega Teradrive PC that combined a 16-bit Sega Genesis/Megadrive with a PC or the Creative 3DO Blaster card that added 3DO functionality to a PC. Crazier ideas for game system hybrids have been made such as the MegaDrive Aiwa CSD-G1M combination Sega MegaDrive CD and portable boombox. [/QUOTE]
>> Online petitions are usually pretty useless, certainly for these type of things that are mostly decided by big multi-nationals and not by the consumer. But it's still interesting to see if the HD DVD format is really 'people's choice': [QUOTE] So please, sign this petition, and lets get as many votes as we can so we can hopefully change Warner's mind to return to being format neutral, or go HD-DVD exclusive. This would also show the remaining HD-DVD exclusive studios, Universal & Paramount, that HD-DVD still has supporters, thus they shouldn't switch to Blu-Ray. We have a chance to save a superior format from collapsing under the weight of the greedy Sony corporation and its inferior Blu-Ray format, let's do it! [/QUOTE]
>> From kotaku.com: [QUOTE] Electronic Arts, likely sick of having their recently-acquired role-playing franchise Mass Effect dragged through the mud on national television, has requested that Fox News Channel correct their error-plagued segment on the game. In the letter, which cites Kotaku, Jeff Brown, EA's vice president of communications, asks Teri VanHorn, producer of the Live Desk with Martha MacCallum, to clarify "serious errors" the channel made in their Mass Effect story.
* Your headline above the televised story read: "New videogame shows full digital nudity and sex." * Fact: Mass Effect does not include explicit or frontal nudity. Love scenes in non-interactive sequences include side and profile shots - a vantage frequently used in many prime-time television shows. It's also worth noting that the game requires players to develop complex relationships before characters can become intimate and players can chose to avoid the love scenes altogether.
* FNC voice-over reporter says: "You'll see full digital nudity and the ability for players to engage in graphic sex." * Fact: Sex scenes in Mass Effect are not graphic. These scenes are very similar to sex sequences frequently seen on network television in prime time.
* FNC reporter says: "Critics say Mass Effect is being marketed to kids and teenagers." * Fact: That is flat out false. Mass Effect and all related marketing has been reviewed by the Entertainment Software Rating Board (ESRB) and rated Mature - appropriate for players 17-years and older. ESRB routinely counsels retailers on requesting proof of age in selling M-rated titles and the system has been lauded by members of Congress and the Federal Trade Commission. In practical terms, the ratings work as well or better than those used for warning viewers about television content. [/QUOTE]
Free game for Xbox Live downtime? Xbox Live crashes
>> From arstechnica.com: [QUOTE] Today was supposed to be the day that Microsoft released the free download of the Xbox Live Arcade original Undertow to make up for those days of system downtime and instability Xbox Live users suffered through over the holidays. Which makes today the perfect time for the system to come crashing to its knees again.
When many gamers tried to retrieve Undertow this morning, they got a message telling them the system "can't retrieve information from Xbox LIVE. Please try again later." The message also helpfully points out that this is a status code: 8015000a. [/QUOTE]
>> From joystiq.com: [QUOTE] Cause when you're on the go and you just need to know what your total ranked kills are in Halo 3, you don't want to futz around Bungie.net on your gimped mobile browser. Nope, you can bust out your iPhone, load up www.ihalostats.com and lust over the number porn that Bungie's collecting from each and every match in a specially formatted web-app. [/QUOTE]
Watch 1500 Xbox Hard Drives Fall Down Like Dominoes
>> Here's a video from an Xbox1 modder who collected 1500 original Xbox1 HDD over the years. As those 8/10GB drives aren't too useful he decided to play a domino game with 'em...
>> From next-gen.biz: [QUOTE] Microsoft Ireland Entertainment and Devices Division manager Orla Sheridan reportedly told Silicon Republic that the platform holder had "imminent" plans to 'boost the number of movies available for download on its Xbox Live Marketplace for Ireland from the present 30 or 40 films to up to 400 movies, in line with the US.'
However, in an email to Next-Gen, Microsoft UK said that talk of a major increase in the number of movies available over the European 360 Video Store any time soon was premature, although the spokesperson did add that a less dramatic wave of new content would be made available across Europe in the very near future. [/QUOTE]
>> From Bunnie's Blog (yep, THE bunnie from the early days of Xbox1 hacking): [QUOTE] A while back I posted that I was looking for an RROD Xbox360; I actually sent it off to MEFAS to get digested for solder joint inspection on the GPU through a process called "dye and pry". In this process, the motherboard is flooded with red ink, and then the GPU is mechanically pried off the board. The red ink flows into any of the tiny cracks in the solder balls, and at least in theory, when you pry the GPU off the cracked regions will shear first so you will be left with visible red spots at the points of failure.
left: Below is what a normal ball looks like after the test right: One of several balls on the GPU that exhibited signs of partial failure
I was a bit puzzled by these results because you didn't see any "catastrophic" failure -- pools of red ink over a connection interface -- just partial cracking. Partial cracking isn't terribly uncommon, and many products work quite well despite such artifacts. However, after reading the [SeattlePI RRoD] article, if Microsoft shorted safety margins around many of the design parameters to get the product out on time, it makes sense that the summation of many partial failures could lead to a total system failure -- failures that have symptoms that vaguely cluster together but are difficult to point to any single root cause. Heisenbugs. Yuck. [/QUOTE]
>> From next-gen.biz: [QUOTE] With a full year's worth of data, we can now see how the three big consoles fared during all of 2007. The weekly console sales rates for the PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, and Nintendo Wii are shown below.
December 2007 was the best month of hardware sales ever for the Xbox 360, up 11.5% from the record it set in December 2006. For the entire year of 2007, sales of the Xbox 360 were up 17.7% from 2006. At the beginning of 2007, the installed base for the Xbox 360 stood at 4.5 million systems on 14 months of sales. By the end of 2007, just 12 months later, the installed base had more than doubled to 9.15 million systems.
The keys to Microsoft's success were the August price drops and the launch of Halo 3 in late September. Together they effectively started Microsoft's holiday sales surge a month early, pushing monthly Xbox 360 sales up over Wii sales briefly.
The biggest win for the Xbox 360 in 2007 is quite possibly what did not happen: consumers did not shun the system after Microsoft acknowledged higher than acceptable hardware failure rates. The billion dollars that Microsoft set aside to cover the extended warranty program is costly, for sure, but as PR it has worked brilliantly. While many consumers know about the "red ring of death" failures, they bought more of the systems than ever before after Microsoft's mea culpa. [/QUOTE]
>> From gamespot.com: [QUOTE] Microsoft has unveiled the latest update on how its next-generation console is faring in Australia. According to Microsoft, 306,000 Xbox 360s have now been sold in Australia, with more than two million games also sold since the console's launch in March, 2006.
It seems that as many as 160,000 Xbox 360s were sold in Australia in 2007 (and up to 80,000 in the final quarter of the year alone). By comparison, Sony's PlayStation 3 has sold 155,000 units down under since its release in March, 2007. [/QUOTE]
"First, why the secrecy? MS knows who I am. That's why I'm not concerned about self identifying to them in these postings with details only they would know, as some here have pointed out. The people who founded Xbox hw number 10. 1 left to go be the VP of manufacturing at Qualcomm, 1 left to go be the GM of engineering at Zune, 1 left after only 2 months in '99 due to conflicts with toddhol [Todd Holmdahl]. He works on Surface now. The rest still work on Xbox. I am the only one who left the company entirely. I am not concerned about MS knowing who I am. They are worried about me revealing their problems. Not the other way around. Plus, I have contacted every single attorney who has filed a lawsuit against MS and offered to help. Some have accepted, and that work is in progress. We'll talk about that in another post. It's very interesting, I just don't want a bunch of fan boys trying to hack my home PC (that I use for work). Harass my kids, call my house, etc.
Second, why now? Well, it's not just now. I've been reaching out since before the product went into manufacturing. I left before launch. But many employees continued to contact me about the problems with the product and its launch. I did my best to help them figure out how to mitigate the problems caused my bad management decisions, and test the boxes right. Sometimes my ideas worked, sometimes they didn't. I then started to contact reporters. Sometimes it went no where. Sometimes, it resulted in a spectacular thing, like the ambush interview with toddhol just before MS admitted guilt. But still, it happened too slowly for me. That's one reason I'm doing this now.
Last: My motivation. I have always been in a position to stand up for the customer. MS stopped me from doing that. They need to pay the price now. If you guys won't get together and make that happen, you have no hope for the future with them. It's not my fight, but I am here fighting. You decide what you want to do. And then do it! [/QUOTE]
Microsoft Announces First-Ever Xbox LIVE Arcade Awards
>> From the press release: [QUOTE] As a way to recognize the teams of talented developers who have together created over 112 games for Xbox LIVE Arcade, Microsoft will announce awards for the top XBLA games of 2007 later this year, with several award categories decided by the community. Fans of Xbox LIVE Arcade are invited to cast their votes for the first-ever Xbox LIVE Arcade Awards - 2007 by voting at http://www.xbox.com/xblaawards. Voting begins Tuesday, January 22 at 2:00 a.m. PST (10:00 GMT) and runs through Wednesday, January 30 at 11:59 p.m. PST (07:59 GMT).
The finalists in each award category were selected by a panel of consumer and video game industry journalists, and the winners will be determined by popular vote. Microsoft will announce the winners of the inaugural Xbox LIVE Arcade Awards - 2007 at the Game Developer Conference in February.
Below is the list of award categories that will be open for public voting: * Best Overall Arcade Game * Best Classic Game * Best Original Game * Best Family Friendly Game * Best Competitive Multiplayer Game * Best Cooperative Multiplayer Game
Other award categories include the following: * Best selling game * Most played game * Highest rated game * Staff choice
"Undertow" Free of Charge Download on XBLA this Week This Xbox LIVE Arcade Wednesday, Xbox LIVE members around the world will be able to download the award-winning "Undertow" free of charge for a limited time. Beginning at 2:00 a.m. PST (10:00 GMT) Wednesday, January 23 and continuing through 11:59 p.m. PST on Sunday, January 27 (07:59 GMT on Monday, January 28), "Undertow" will be available free of charge on Xbox LIVE Arcade.
Developed by Chair Entertainment Group, Undertow redefines aquatic based shooters through a mix of high-definition graphics, intuitive controls and multiple modes of game play action. The game features a full story driven-single player campaign, on and offline co-op, and multiplayer for 2-16 players over Xbox LIVE for Gold subscribers. Players battle for control of the oceans as one of three selectable races, each with four unique, upgradeable units. "Undertow" is available worldwide (normally 800 Microsoft Points) and is rated E10+.
In support of the giveaway, Chair Entertainment Group is offering gamers the opportunity to play alongside the Undertow development team on Thursday, January 24 at 7:00 p.m. PST (03:00 GMT on Friday, January 25). The team will host player matches, provide game play tips and the opportunity for gamers to pick-up Undertow achievements. [/QUOTE]
Rumor: MS Dropping 360 Premium To 299usd For GTAIV?
>> From thebitbag.com: [QUOTE] You know, sometimes you get stuff in your tip jar and it's just too far fetched. However, I can't ignore the possibility of this rumor being true. So for now I'll stick it under the rumors column and you can take whatever you want from it.
Basically, some unnamed person has tipped that Microsoft will be dropping the price of the Premium 360 another $49 on the same day that GTAIV gets released. This mwould be a smart move for Microsoft as we know millions upon millions of people love the GTA series. [/QUOTE]
>> Klutsh released a small update of iPrep 101(info), a .NET application and collection of MSDOS scripts/applications for use in flashing a Samsung TS-H943A or BenQ DVD drives. What's new/fixed: * Fixes a typo in the DOS Samsung batch files. * To use just replace the iPrep101.exe in the programs directory.
>> From blogs.zdnet.com: [QUOTE] As I've tried to educate my readers last year with my blog "Why HD movie downloads are a big lie", these so-called HD movies [from on-demand download services] use very low bit-rates compared to even standard definition DVDs let alone something like HD DVD or Blu-ray. Raw uncompressed 1080p video at 60 frames per second is about 3000 mbps so even HD DVD's 28 mbps needs to be compressed about 107 to 1 with the H.264 or VC-1 codec. By all reasonable standards this needs to be the minimum bit-rate for acceptable loss in quality on 1080p video.
Standard definition 480i DVD movies are typically 5 to 8 mbps (megabits per second) MPEG-2 whereas these so-called HD wannabes weigh in at a pathetic 1.5 to 4 mbps of 720p H.264. Apple's new HD service is capable of 4 mbps which simply isn't enough to be considered HD. XBOX360 downloads are 6.8 mbps 720p VC-1 so they're semi-decent borderline HD. Marketing will push the nicer sounding "720p" aspect of the video but they don't tell you it's way too compressed to offer good video fidelity. Blu-ray has a maximum bit-rate of 40 mbps while HD DVD offers a maximum of 28 mbps. Over the air broadcasts can be up to 19.38 mbps. [/QUOTE]
