Microsoft has announced it’s new Xbox 360 Splinter Cell Conviction Special Edition Bundle.
The package includes the standard edition of Splinter Cell Conviction, a 250 GB hard drive, as well as two wireless controllers. So It’s pretty much the same as the Modern Warfare 2 Bundle but not.
For $399 all of this gaming nirvana can be yours in April. Check out a couple more pics of the bundle below, if you so chose. And you shall.
Microsoft released the dates and prices for next month’s Xbox Live Block Party. It’s a month of new Xbox Live Arcade titles being released every week with the grand finale being the release of Game Room, where your avatar will be able to play retro arcade titles and other new titles to be released later.
Hit the break to see the release schedule along with prices and other deals Microsoft will be giving to Gold members.
Microsoft’s Xbox Live Deal of the Week is cutting the price on this classic Duke Nukem shooter, Duke Nukem 3D. Taking a whopping 50% off the price bringing it down from 800 Microsoft Point to 400 Microsoft Points which translates into only $5.00. Cheap.
The deal only runs until Sunday so get your mitts on it now, it may be the last Duck Nukem game you’ll ever get to play.
Click here to add it to your download queue.
Microsoft announced today that Remedy Entertainment will not be releasing a PC version of AlanWake, their upcoming eerie thriller. The announcement comes just months before the game’s release, and with no PC version in the works this would make Alan Wake a Xbox 360 exclusive.
A Microsoft spokesperson elaborated on the decision yesterday:
“Some games are more suited for the intimacy of the PC, and others are best played from the couch in front of a larger TV screen. We ultimately realised that the most compelling way to experience “Alan Wake” was on the Xbox 360 platform, so we focused on making it an Xbox 360 exclusive. Both Microsoft and Remedy have long histories in PC game development. This decision was about matching this specific game to the right platform.”
Alan Wake will be released on May 18th on Xbox 360. Assuming they don’t cancel that version too.
Less than three months. That’s all we’ll have to wait to get out next fix of new Halo online action. Bungie and Microsoft announced today that the multiplayer beta for Halo: Reach will be starting May 3. I’ll give you a second or two to run and mark your calender.
Remember you’ll need your copy of Halo 3: ODST to get in on the fragging. Expectations are very high with Microsoft and Bungie touting this Halo as the best yet saying that this preview is “on track to be the largest beta program of its kind on any console, is expected to see millions of participants when it begins.”
Today will mark the day that Microsoft fully turned the page from their generation one consoles and passed the torch to the Xbox 360 and beyond. On April 15 they will discontinue the Xbox Live service for the original Xbox console and it’s games. A move that will effect hundreds of thousands if not millions of people who still play on the first gen console. And yes this will also include original Xbox titles that are playable on your 360, sorry Halo 2 fans…you’re screwed.
Ending the service on the original Xbox will enable Microsoft to enhance it’s Xbox Live’s online experience. Paving the way for Project Natal, hopefully adding more features and finally getting rid of the annoying 100 friend cap on your friends list (crossing my fingers).
Hit the break to read the full statement released today by Microsoft’s Marc Whitten. Feel free to fire off some comments and let me know what you think, because I care.
According to Rentrak, a company who tracks video game rentals, Microsoft and the Xbox 360 “dominated” it’s top 20 list of most rented games in 2009 taking 17 out of the top 20 spots. Fallout 3 received top honors for the year.
Rentrak compiles their data by measuring “title-level performance via rental transactions from more than 65,000 DVD, Blu-ray Disc and Video Game properties in the brick-and-mortar, online, and kiosk channels across North America.” So all three major distribution methods are covered.
Interestingly enough the PlayStation 3 is nowhere to be seen on the list. The other three spots on the list not occupied by xbox 360 titles were occupied by Wii games Mario Kart Wii, Super Smash Bros. Brawl and Mario Party 8.
Hit the break to see the entire list.
According to an email being circulated by Microsoft it looks like Xbox Live’s Zune Marketplace will be down tonight January 25th, and possibly into tomorrow for some scheduled maintenance. The service will go down at 10:00 P.M. Pacific Time (1:00 A.M. Eastern Standard Time for you east-coasters) and may be down for as long as 24 hours. Unfortunately during that time you won’t be able to purchase or rent any videos from their library. Already purchased and downloaded movies or shows will not be effected.
Here’s the official statment included in the email from Microsoft:
As part of our continued efforts to improve the Zune Marketplace service on Xbox LIVE, Zune Marketplace will be undergoing scheduled maintenance for up to 24 hours, starting 10:00 P.M. (PT) on January 25, 2010. During that time, you will be unable to rent or purchase video content.
Your existing video library will continue to be available.
We apologize for this temporary inconvenience and thank you for your patience.
For real life gear heads the ultimate auto experience is happening this week at the Detroit Auto Show. For virtual gear heads you too are in for a treat this week. Microsoft has released a new DLC pack for Forza 3 featuring ten cars in all.
For the full list of whips and pricing keep reading.
Rumors have been swirling for the past few months that Microsoft was going to be bringing their Xbox Live service to mobile phones. And thanks to some great investigative work by Kotaku, it looks like those rumors are all but confirmed.
Last week Major Nelson posted a link to participate in a survey with Microsoft. Those who filled out the survey had a chance to be picked by Microsoft to take part in the Xbox Live Update Preview. And if you were chosen (luckily I was) you can expect to receive an email either today or in the following days letting you know you’ve been chosen. I received mine this evening.
As we speak I’m downloading the updates now and will report back in the coming days what my impressions were. There is a lot of tinkering to be had!
If you haven’t heard about the updates coming to the rest of you in August check out the details I posted earlier this month. There are lots of new goodies in store.
Have any of you been chosen? If so post comments on what you’ve seen so far.
Microsoft and Turn 10 have announced that Forza Motorsport 3 will be making it’s way to North American store shelves on October 27. And to sweeten the deal for hardcore fans they’ve teamed up with GameStop (who else) and revealed the details of the Limited Collector’s Edition of the game.
The Limited Collector’s Edition will give purchasers custom limited edition packaging, VIP status in the Forza community, a custom key chain, a Forza Motorsport 2GB flash drive and ten exclusive cars you won’t be able to get anywhere else. Very nice.
Also exclusive to those who pre-order will be the custom painted Audi R8 V10 (shown above), which was designed by Justin Van Dusen II. The winner of the Forza 3 community design challenge.
Today we take for granted the joy and ease of drop-in and drop-out cooperative gameplay. Games like Left 4 Dead use it flawlessly to help players join games with their friends without having to stop everything and restart the game. That wasn’t always the case.
And that’s why in 2002 Microsoft filed for a patent that would solve the co-op problem, creating a way for players to dynamically drop-in and drop-out of games that are already in progress. It would also give them sole rights of the technology to do so. But unfortunately for them Uncle Same sat on it…for seven years. Their application for the patent wasn’t approved until last week.
The overview on the patent application submitted by Microsoft outlined the problem players faced at the time. Using a squad based shooter as an example:
“A squad-based shooter video game allows players to dynamically join and leave the game, while that game is in progress, without the players having to save and restart the game. When a new player joins an in-progress game, a new squad member is allocated to the new player and the screen is split to present a viewing panel for the new player that depicts scenes from the perspective of the new squad member. When an existing player leaves the game, the screen is unsplit to remove the viewing panel for the exiting player and that player’s squad member becomes part of the squad being controlled by the remaining player(s).”
Based on the above description it seems like they are talking about co-op play on a single console, which isn’t so popular anymore. A point made more clearly in the following paragraph as well:
“After the original player starts play, the shooter video game monitors for a join condition indicating that a new player would like to join the game. The join condition may be triggered, for example, when the new player plugs his/her controller into the game console. In response to the join condition, the video game associates another squad character with the new player. Both players now have control of the same squad. The video game also presents a split screen display with two viewing panels. A first panel allows the first player to view the game scenes from one character’s perspective and a second panel allows the new player to view the game scenes from another character’s perspective.”
So it seems that the patent itself isn’t really relevant anymore. Sure there are games that still have single console cooperative play, but the majority of co-op play is now done online. Could this patent also be applied to online or networked gaming as well? And if so, what legal rights does Microsoft have over said technology?
Blah! All of this legal mumbo jumbo is going to make my head explode. What do you guys think? Does Microsoft have something up their sleeve or is this just a legal formality? Read the patent filing for yourself and tell me what you think.
In an interview with Kikizio (lucky bastards) Microsoft Corporate VP Shane Kim elaborated on Microsoft’s future business endeavours, and a hand-held port for the Xbox was mentioned. For Microsoft it’s not a matter of “if” they’ll dive into the portable gaming market, but “when”.
“For us, it’s a matter of focusing on ‘when’, because if we chased after a mobile or handheld opportunity, we would not have the resources and ability to do things like instant-on 1080p HD, Facebook, Twitter, Project Natal. And so we’ve chosen to focus on the living room experience from a hardware standpoint, if you will, but we’re building a service in Live that will… will extend to other platforms. No question about it. So the question will be, how do we enter into that market – do we do our own device, do we create our own phone – that’s a question for the company itself – do we continue to go down the Windows Mobile path, which is that path that we’re on today, etc.”
Kim also spoke of possible integrations a portable device would have with the Xbox Live service. An idea that the Microsoft team has kicked around in the past.
“We talked about Live Anywhere a few years ago. Live is the connective tissue. You’re starting to see that now – we integrate Netflix, we integrate Facebook, we integrate Twitter – because we understand that customers don’t want an island experience, they want to be connected to the rest of their lives.”
For Xbox fans this is huge. It’s a market that Microsoft has never really talked about. And it’s a segment that Sony, Nintendo and now Apple are seeing great success in.
You bet your balls I’ll be keeping you updated if any more info becomes available, so check back.
Head over to Kikizio if you want to read the complete interview. It’s worth a look.
Just a reminder to you Xbox 360 owners who fell victim to this error: you should have gotten your check from Microsoft by now.
If you paid to have your console repaired because of this code you should have been reimbursed by July 1. Microsoft extended the same warranty they made available for the Red Ring of Death to cover the E74 error as well because of the large number of consoles that were found to be defective. I was lucky enough to experience both.
If you haven’t received your check yet and you did pay for service make sure to contact Microsoft here. The final deadline for the refunds is November 1, 2009. After that you’re screwed.
