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Week of March 29, 2009
2,500,000,000 Achievements have been unlocked
>> From oxm.co.uk:
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Xbox 360 gamers have unlocked a grand total of two and a half billion Achievements, according to Xbox boss Aaron Greenberg, earning 52 billion Gamerscore in the process.
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Full Story: oxm.co.uk
Discuss this news item on our forums: forums.xbox-scene.com
Microsoft: Packaged goods business 'won't decline'
>> From mcvuk.com:
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Microsoft has told MCV that it sees downloadable content and Xbox Live as a 'complementary' addition to boxed product - and that it doesn't see the packaged goods business declining.
However other standout companies have pointed to 2009's explosion of download-only new releases - which cut out retail altogether.
Speaking in MCV's investigation into the digital download sector, UK head of Xbox, Neil Thompson said:
"People often ask me, 'Will Halo X be download only?' But I don't see the packaged goods business declining. What I do see is the growth of the download and digital content market - but it is complementary to boxed content and services. Wherever we can, we make sure retail is part of the Xbox Live ecosystem."
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Full Story: mcvuk.com
Discuss this news item on our forums: forums.xbox-scene.com
Arsenic SlimDX Halo Modding Tool v1.0.1.0 (beta)
>> From halomaps.com:
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First off I would like to thank everyone who has been using Arsenic. We have put a lot of hard work and effort into the development of this project. Without the help from our community we wouldn't have made it this far. We have gotten a lot of feedback and constructive criticism from our community members since the release back in February. Our test team has been tearing through the SlimDX beta versions like it's their job, Now it's your turn...
We're proud to announce the new SlimDX version of Arsenic. The reason for the switch over from Managed DirectX to SlimDX is pretty simple. "Managed DirectX is still usable, even with .NET 2.0 applications. However, there are a number of problems affecting MDX that make developing applications on it undesirable". There are numerous reason why MDX was becoming a dead end road for Arsenic, if you would like to know more click here.
We felt SlimDX was a much more stable environment for Arsenic especially in the long run. "SlimDX is an open source library originally prototyped by Promit Roy which allows .NET 2.0+ applications (including C#, VB.NET, IronPython, F#, and more) to use Microsoft's DirectX APIs, as well as several related Microsoft multimedia APIs. This role was previously filled for .NET 1.1 applications by Microsoft's own Managed DirectX (MDX) library. However, the age of .NET 1.1, and Microsoft's lack of interest in continuing MDX, have made it necessary to build a new library. Thanks to enthusiastic community support and the invaluable contributions of several other developers who have worked on and with SlimDX, the library has become a fully viable platform on which to build DirectX based applications. Our latest release is March 2009, and can be found for users and developers on the Download page". If your interested in learning more about SlimDX click here.
For those of you who already have Arsenic all you have to do is launch the program and it will prompt you to upgrade. Remember you must have March 2009 SP1 installed in order for Arsenic to run properly. Once that is done you can begin using Arsenic as you did before.
I would like to thank our test team for all their hard work and everyone else for the interest they have shown in our project. You can expect more within the next few weeks from us. We have a list of add-ons that we are currently working on such as Scripting, adding AI Spawns, finished Tag Editor, etc. So keep your eyes pealed.
You can also visit the main Arsenic thread here for more information!
Bug Fixes...
1. Handles compressed maps better
2. Weapons and Equipment can now be duplicated
New Updates...
1. Now using SlimDX instead of MDX for better compatibility with 64bit windows
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More Info/Downloads: halomaps.com
Discuss this news item on our forums: forums.xbox-scene.com
Xbox 360 Falls Behind PS2 in Japan
>> From edge-online.com:
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Sales of Microsoft's Xbox 360 continue to decline, as the system manages to sell a mere 4,849 units for the week ending March 29.
Just over a month ago the console had managed to sell over 25,000 units across the region, in line with the release of Square Enix's Star Ocean 4: The Last Hope. By mid march it was discovered, however, that the system's weekly unit turnover was at 15,000. One week later the console was selling 8,378 units, before falling to 5,441 last week.
The Playstation 3 has now outsold Nintendo's Wii for a fifth successive week. Though Sony's system had at one stage managed to double the Wii's unit turnover, today the gap between the two is a little more slender. The Wii continues to sit around the 17,000-18,000 mark, but the PS3 has consistently dropped ground and is now only 5,000 units ahead.
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Full Story: edge-online.com
Discuss this news item on our forums: forums.xbox-scene.com
Xbox 360 System update now available (no new features)
>> From majornelson.com:
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The team released a system update for the Xbox 360 over Xbox LIVE. Sometime over the next few hours when you sign in to Xbox LIVE you'll receive a prompt to accept this mandatory update. This update addresses interruption issues that some Xbox LIVE users may have experienced when playing a limited number of Xbox 360 games.
There are no other changes or enhancements in this update...in other words no new features.
This update will be rolled out to all Xbox LIVE members around the world over the space of a few hours, so you may not get prompted for the update immediately.
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Discuss this news item on our forums: forums.xbox-scene.com
Xbox 360 Passes 1 Million Milestone In Japan, PS3 At 3 Million
>> From gamasutra.com:
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The Xbox 360 sold over 1 million units of hardware in Japan, according to new data released by Famitsu magazine publisher and research firm Enterbrain.
The figure is already far in advance of the less than 500,000 unit lifetime figure for the original Xbox in Japan.
In the same report, the PlayStation 3 lifetime total in Japan is reported to have just passed the 3 million mark.
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Full Story: gamasutra.com
Discuss this news item on our forums: forums.xbox-scene.com
Xbox Live Community Games Dev Decries Poor Sales
>> From wired.com:
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Despite its pre-launch hype, developers who have opted to release games under Microsoft's Xbox Live Community Games banner are finding that their titles aren't attracting the vast audience they'd hoped for.
In a blog post detailing the newly released sales figures for caffeine monster software's DUOtrix, creator Mobeen Fikree points out that while the demo for his game was downloaded 7,438 times, only 157 copies of the full version were paid for by consumers.
Continuing, Fikree believes that the poor exposure of XBLCG games is to blame for the poor sales of DUOtrix:
"I think DUOtrix quickly got lost in the flood of games on XBCG," Fikree writes. "We were on the 'featured 5' list on the Community Games page at launch, which is where most of the traffic came from. When we were pulled off the list in December the downloads slowed down dramatically."
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Full Story: wired.com
Discuss this news item on our forums: forums.xbox-scene.com
Blizzard denies 'Xbox 720' rumors
>> From gamespot.com:
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The official story: When contacted by GameSpot, Blizzard reps shot down the GI.biz story outright, saying the outlet had not even followed up with any inquiries attempting to clarify Pardo's remarks.
"In the Lunch with Luminaries discussion, Rob said that Microsoft occasionally bounces ideas off of us, with no specific reference to any possible future consoles," said the rep. "This should come as no surprise, as our games run on Microsoft's PC operating system. We aren't in discussions with Microsoft regarding any future consoles." (Emphasis added.)
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Full Story: gamespot.com
Discuss this news item on our forums: forums.xbox-scene.com
Microsoft closing in on motion detection firm?
>> From mcvuk.com:
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Motion detection technology firm 3DV has confirmed that it has agreed buyout terms with a third party company - and rumours are pointing to Microsoft as the mystery buyer.
Talk of Microsoft moving for the Israeli company has been doing the rounds for quite some time, and Edge reports that 3DV has stated that it has "entered into a definitive agreement for the sale of substantially all of its assets to a third party".
The deal is said to be worth around $34m, and if it follows through to completion is expected to be finalised some time in Q2 2009.
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Full Story: mcvuk.com
Discuss this news item on our forums: forums.xbox-scene.com
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