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.
In a time when BioShock 2, FIFA 10, New Super Mario Bros and even Modern Warfare 2 are all vying for your hard earned cash the number one game in all of the United kingdom is…Aliens vs. Predator?! Really UK, really?!
The sci-fi shooter definitely had some stiff competition but it still managed to take the top spot. It’s worth noting that it came in number one ahead of Just Dance, so this may give you some insight into what kind of games are popular across the pond.
I found the game to be disappointing and never really got into it, you can try it out for yourself if you haven’t already. The multiplayer demo is available for download on Xbox Live.
Hit the break to see the top 20 games.
Avid gamer or not, chances are you’ve probably stumbled across this video already. It spread like herpes at a Lindsay Lohan sex party over the weekend. In the clip it appears that an Xbox Live moderator with the Gamertag “The Pro” (real whitty) passes out bans like flu vaccines at a nursing home. Get on his bad side and you can kiss your XBL privileges goodbye for a little while.
Hit the break to check out the video.
Xbox Live’s Major Nelson released his weekly activity report for Xbox Live yesterday. I was a little surprised by some of the new entries making their way towards the top of the list. Two of the five games played on Xbox Live last week were actually just demos. Both the Battlefield: Bad Company 2 and Aliens vs Predator demos did quite well, helping to knock FIFA 10 and Call of Duty 4 out of the top five.
Hit the break to see the top ten played games last week.
Microsoft’s Deal of the Week this week let’s you get your hands on Battlefield 1943 for 50% off. From now until February 22nd you’ll only have to fork over 800 Microsoft Points (around $10). It’s money well spent if you want to take a breather from Modern Warfare 2, Left 4 Dead 2, Bioshock 2 or any other great game that has a two in the title.
Besides, going kamikaze with a zero on unsuspecting enemy troops on the ground is a great way to find inner peace.
Click the link to get your hands on it: Add Battlefield 1943 to your Xbox 360 download queue
2009 was the most profitable year for the Xbox Live Arcade service so far according to estimates by the research group Forecasting and Analyzing Digital Entertainment (FADE). The online gaming hub made $103.4 million dollars in the 2009 fiscal year, a whopping 34% jump in profits from 2008. Recession…what recession!?
One of the major factors in the increased profits was the average cost for an XBLA game, which rose from $8.33 in 2008 to $9.12 in 2009. The extra $0.79 increase on average still isn’t that bad considering some of the great games we saw last year. It’s clear that a lot of developers and publishers are directing a lot of effort into developing quality games for the service, and it’s paying off.
EA’s Battlefield 1943 took the top honors last year as the highest selling title. To find out who else made the list hit the break.
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.
Major Nelson has posted the upcoming release schedule for Microsoft’s Xbox Live Marketplace. Most notable in the 50% price slash that ‘Splosion Man will be getting. The acclaimed platformer is well worth the 800 Microsoft Points, but it’s a steal at 400 Microsoft Points (or $5.00).
Other notable additions are DLCs for Assassin’s Creed II and Halo 3. Fans of Assassin’s Creed can also look for themed clothing in the Avatar Marketplace just for you. Hit the jump to see the full release schedule. Keep in mind that the dates are subject to change, like a dirty diaper.
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.
It looks like even Major Nelson himself had a New Year’s resolution. Starting this week he will be releasing a bi-monthly (hopefully) schedule of upcoming DLC and other Xbox Live Marketplace release dates, making it easier for us to budget and circle the upcoming dates on our calendars. I’ve already got my eye on that January 26th release date for Dead Rising on Xbox Live Games on Demand.
The breakdown will include Deals of the Week, Xbox Live Games on Demand and even new Avatar Marketplace additions. Keep reading to see what we have to look forward to for the rest of this month.
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.
Major Nelson has released Xbox Live’s top played and downloaded games of 2009. And not surprisingly it looks like Halo 3 was king of the hill.
There are other tid bits of interesting info to gather from the list though. Modern Warfare 2, which had only been out for less than two months before the year ended made the top three. Impressive. As a matter of fact, Activision walked away with having three out of the top five titles for the year. Although they were all Call of Duty titles.
Of course the king of Arcade titles last year was Battlefield 1943. Even if it’s launch was way less than picture perfect, it still ran away with the top honors by far. Castle Crashers and Trials HD rounded out the top three.
Keep reading to see the top 10’s in each Xbox 360 category.
Fans of Left 4 Dead 2 who are too cheap to buy a Gold subscription to Xbox Live are in luck.
Starting at noon on Friday, January 15 you will be able to play online multiplayer on Xbox Live for free. That’s right you cheap bastards, for the low, low retail price of $0.00 you will be able to enjoy the fun of playing your favorite zombie game with actual other humans online!
The free weekend will end on Monday, January 18 at noon so enjoy it while you can.
And do yourself a favor, pay the lousy $60.00 for a subscription you loser. Who plays L4D2 just to kill the A.I. anyway!?
News first broke out a couple of days ago that Halo Wars leaderboard data and rankings had mysteriously disappeared from Xbox Live. I didn’t want to report it then just in case it was only temporary to prevent unnecessary freaking out. Well, now it’s time to start freaking.
In a post on his personal blog yesterday Major Nelson confirmed the mishap and blamed it on “human error”. Due to this “human error’ all singleplayer, multiplayer, Trueskill leaderboards and matchmaking data is gone forever.
