News for "Xbox Live"

The title pretty much says it all, next week Microsoft will start selling a Starter Pack for all Xbox 360 Arcade console fan that have never gone past the casual offline gaming. The pack includes everything you need to jump into Xbox LIVE with the Xbox 360: a spacious 60GB Hard Drive, Headset, 3-month LIVE Gold subscription, and Ethernet cable. The Xbox Live 60GB starter pack can be pre-ordered now from GameStop for $99.99, with an expected U.S. ship date of November 4th. (Ed. note: The same kit should be available on or before Nov. 21st in Europe for 79€)


Source: Xbox360 Fanboy

Based on the feedback received from the beginning of the Xbox LIVE entertainment dashboard, Microsoft said today it will be enhancing the service soon with a new update. Among the new features that will be included, one deserves special attention. Called "play from hard drive" it will allow Xbox 360 owners to copy their games from the game disc to their hard drive and also start the game from there for faster load times. The game disc is still required for piracy reasons though, but it won't be spinning after the game is started. A quick look at some of the other features you might find interesting follows below.

This story comes to prove what can happen if your name does not fit the standards. Last night, a British gamer was banned from the Xbox Live network, for registering with the RichardGaywood gamertag. From Microsoft's point of view nick names that violate the XBL policies are being removed immediately. You can't have a sexual term in you name. Yes, but what if the guy's last name is indeed Gaywood. His real full name is Richard Michael Gaywood. Do we have to change our real names so we can register and get permitted to access what we have paid for.


Source: Kotaku

Gamerscore Blog lets all Xbox owners know that the Xbox 360 Live service along with the Xbox.com web site will be down for routine maintenance on Tuesday, April 1, from 2-5 AM PDT (0900-1200 GMT). I don't know if this is true since April 1st is April Fools' Day, but at least be informed just in case.

Source: Gamerscore Blog

Xbox Live director of programming Larry "Major Nelson" Hyrb wrote on his blog today, that the Xbox Live Gamertags of confirmed cheaters have been corrected. He explained what his team is doing to the accounts of the most serious offenders:

• Resetting the entire Gamerscore for an account to zero
• The account will be unable to regain all previously obtained achievements and Gamerscore, however, the players will have the ability to gain future Achievements by earning them fairly, like the majority of the Xbox LIVE community does.
• The account will be clearly labeled as a cheater for the community to view on xbox.com. In dash, the personal view of the gamercard will be labeled as well.

"Xbox Live remains committed to keeping the service free of cheating in order to maintain a fair and level playing field for everyone," Hyrb wrote. To find out more about Gamerscore corrections read the FAQ on Xbox.com.

Source: Xbox Live's Major Nelson

In a landmark announcement during the keynote address at the annual Game Developers Conference (GDC), Microsoft Corp. promised to soon allow Xbox LIVE members to play, rate and share community-created games. As the first in the industry to pioneer high-speed online gaming and high-definition games, Xbox 360 once again broke new ground by introducing a new, open distribution service for games created by the community and soon playable by its 10 million Xbox LIVE members. Community-created games on Xbox LIVE will quickly double the size of the Xbox 360 game library. By the end of 2008, Xbox 360 owners will have access to more than 1,000 games, making it the largest, most creatively diverse library across all next-generation platforms.

Microsoft has announced the details of the free Xbox Live Arcade game that was promised by Xbox Live general manager Marc Whitten in response to the service's recent online troubles. Coming as a compensation to all the frustration caused, Microsoft will offer Chair Entertainment's arcade shooter Undertow for free to all Xbox Live members from 2AM PST on Wedenesday, January 23 until 11:59PM PST on Sunday, January 27. Otherwise, Undertow is normally available worldwide for 800 Microsoft Points. "If you have already purchased the game, you can contact support and they will take care of you," wrote Xbox Live programming director Larry "Major Nelson" Hryb.


Source: Shacknews, GamerScore Blog

N64 fans will remember GoldEye as being an instant classic, and many gamers have been calling for Nintendo or Microsoft to release it on the Virtual Console and Xbox Live Arcade respectively, which had always seemed unlikely. However, Rare has recently revealed that the game was within two months of being released on Xbox Live. According to the game's original developer, the port had been in development for several months, and would be identical to the original other than that it would feature an online multiplayer mode and several characters would have to be removed due to licensing issues. Unfortunately, just as it was nearing completion, Microsoft and Nintendo couldn't agree on the financial side of things - apparently whether Nintendo would receive a one-off payment or a cut of the revenues.

Source: 1UP.com

Microsoft Corp. and telecommunications leader BT announced they are bringing together the next-generation TV service BT Vision with Microsoft's Xbox 360 games and entertainment system. All BT broadband customers will have the unique opportunity to receive the best in high-definition gaming, television and movies through an Xbox 360 console, in a powerful, all-in-one entertainment experience. BT Vision, which is powered by the Microsoft Mediaroom Internet Protocol TV (IPTV) platform, plans to make this first-of-its-kind device and service offering available to customers in the middle of 2008. The announcement was made during the keynote address by Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates and Microsoft President Robbie Bach of the Entertainment & Devices Division at 2008 International CES on Jan. 6.

As part of Bill Gates' CES keynote speech, Robbie Bach, Microsoft's president, Entertainment & Devices Division, announced that TV programs from ABC Television and Disney Channel will be added to Xbox LIVE programming available to Xbox 360s in the States. In addition to the American television additions, MGM will bring its library of movies to the mix. Later this month, all US Xbox LIVE members will begin to have access to certain TV shows and movies from the ABC Television Network, ABC Family, ABC News, Disney Channel and Toon Disney as part of an agreement with Disney-ABC Television Group. More than 500 hours of content, in both standard definition and high definition when available, will be offered including "Lost" and "Grey's Anatomy." On the MGM side of things, such titles available as part of the deal will include "Rocky," "Terminator," and "Silence of the Lambs". United Artists, an MGM sister company, will also make select films available on demand.

Source: Pocket-lint

It was a matter of time since someone decide to take his chance in court over the last Xbox LIVE service issues. Microsoft now faces a lawsuit over recent problems with its Xbox Live online gaming service. Three Texas residents filed a lawsuit Friday on behalf of themselves and others who have had trouble connecting to Xbox Live in recent weeks. The suit, filed in U.S. District Court in Houston, claims Microsoft's outages represent a breach of contract and negligent misrepresentation for which the software maker is liable. The suit doesn't claim specific damages, but notes the amount is in excess of $5 million. In the suit, the plaintiffs allege that Microsoft should have known strong holiday sales would tax its servers. "Microsoft knew the increase in subscriptions would increase game-play on its servers, yet failed to provide adequate access and service to Xbox Live and its subscribers."

Source: CNET News

Following a number of connectivity issues with the Xbox Live service over the Christmas period, Microsoft is to offer all its subscribers globally a free Xbox Live Arcade game as a "token of appreciation." The announcement was made by Xbox Live's general manager Marc Whitten on the Major Nelson blog, who explained that while the service was never completely offline, the team was "disappointed in our performance." The statement went on to explain that the issues were caused by the "largest sign-up of new members to Xbox Live" in the service's five year history, and while the game is not offered as compensation for the problems, it's instead being billed as a "thank you for your loyalty during this holiday period." Details on the offer will be made available in the coming weeks, and at this point it's not clear if users will be offered a free choice of game, or whether a specific title or selection of titles will be pinpointed by Microsoft.

Source: GamesIndustry.biz

Members who paid for Gold accounts may receive compensations for the holidays Xbox LIVE downtime. While nothing has been officially announced, a Microsoft rep said "...we will definitely be doing something for our Gold members that weren't able to get online over the last week." Microsoft still hasn't completely resolved the issue, but company's Larry Hryb reassured that "As people have noticed, we have made good progress. We have a bit more work to do, but we're doing much better now. I know some of you still may be having issues, and we're working on those."

Source: The Bitbag, Shacknews

Just in time for Christmas, Microsoft has unveiled the option for Xbox Live users to gift Microsoft Points, the currency used to purchase downloadable games and in-game content from the Xbox Live Marketplace as well as music from the Zune Marketplace. Currently in a beta state, the program, which also allows users to buy points for themselves, is accessible from this website. At present, the initiative is limited to people in the United States and gift-givers must know the Windows Live ID of the intended recipient, though Xbox Live director of programming Larry Hryb noted that the team is looking to add the option to gift by Gamertag in the future.

Source: Shacknews

Available for 800 Microsoft Points exclusively on Xbox LIVE 360 Marketplace, the Halo 3 Heroic Map Pack launches today. It consists of three new multiplayer maps, all customizable in Bungie's in-game editor Forge. This will be the first in a series of downloadable multiplayer maps from Bungie. Initial costs are $10 per pack, with Bungie and Microsoft announcing that they will become free when the next Halo 3 map pack is released this spring.

Source: Legit Reviews

As promised, Microsoft is bringing some early gifts to your Xbox 360 just prior to the holiday season. Beginning at 0200 A.M. PST on December 4, 2007, the Xbox 360 Fall Dashboard Update will be available for all connected Xbox 360 consoles free of charge, bringing an array of new features and enhancements to the leading gaming and entertainment system.

Microsoft Corp. today launched the Xbox 360 Family Timer worldwide, available for download via Xbox LIVE in 26 countries. This is great news for parents because Microsoft research reveals that children's media consumption and time spent playing video games are universal concerns for families.

As promised, Microsoft is bringing some early gifts to your Xbox 360 just prior to the holiday season. Beginning at 02:00 a.m. PST on December 4th, the Xbox 360 Fall Dashboard Update will be available for all connected Xbox 360 consoles free of charge, bringing an array of new features and enhancements to the leading gaming and entertainment system. Among the key new enhancements are the previously announced Xbox Originals game download service, Family Timer parental control feature, DivX support and expanded social networking experiences. Xbox 360 owners can also look forward to enhanced navigation, profile and video features and Xbox LIVE Arcade Hits.

As most of you know, Microsoft is planning on upgrading the Xbox 360 dashboard to include things like parental controls. One of the more popular things that will be arriving to the new Xbox 360 dashboard will be an Xbox Live exclusive social networking site. Dubbed "Friends of Friends (FoF)", the social networking tool will allow gamers to find old friends or meet new ones. If, when the new tool comes out, you do not want to be part of FoF, please visit this link for instructions on avoiding FoF. The entire Xbox 360 Dashboard update is scheduled to arrive on December 4th.

Source: Reg Hardware

All original Xbox owners who upgrade to Xbox 360 between November 21 and December 21, 2007, move their existing paid Xbox LIVE account to an Xbox LIVE Gold subscription and then register on this site (currently offline for some reason), will receive a copy of Halo 3. Sounds like a piece of cake, but in real life a special clause says your game will be fulfilled through mail by January 18, 2008.

Source: Microsoft

A man who claims Microsoft improperly allowed his underage son to use his debit card to subscribe to the company's Xbox Live gaming service and automatically renewed the subscription without authorization is suing the software maker for consumer fraud. In a class action suit, Georgia resident Francisco Garcia claims that in October 2005 his son, Silvario, used his debit card to buy a $49.99, one-year subscription to Xbox Live. The service lets Xbox owners play games like Halo 3 against each other over the Internet. A year later, Garcia claims, Microsoft automatically billed him for an additional year of Xbox Live without his knowledge or consent. He contends that the charge sent his checking account into overdraft, and that his bank slapped him with a $35.00 penalty. By accepting a subscription from a minor and automatically renewing it without consent, Microsoft "fraudulently induced a contractual relationship for Xbox Live services," Garcia claims in his suit. Microsoft has asked the federal court to dismiss the case, claiming it has paperwork that proves Silvario Garcia misrepresented his age when he subscribed to Xbox Live by falsely stating that he was at least 18 years old.

Source: Yahoo! News, InformationWeek

Microsoft already lets users to download retro games via Xbox LIVE Arcade, but the company is now planning to expand on its game downloads by offering users the ability to download full games from the original Xbox. With the release if the Xbox 360's next software update, which is planned for 2nd December, Microsoft will allow gamers to download from an initial selection of half a dozen Xbox games, with the first wave of titles being Burnout 3, Crash Bandicoot: The Wrath of Cortex, Crimson Skies: High Road to Revenge, Fable, Indigo Prophecy and, of course, Halo: Combat Evolved. The pricing is expected to be 1200 Microsoft Points per game, which works out at about $15, and although no details about content protection were released, Microsoft is likely to prevent users sharing games between more than one account. Microsoft intends to gradually make more games available for download, although any Xbox 360 owners who are interested in this and only have a 20GB hard drive may want to invest in bigger storage.

Source: DailyTech

ESPN has signed a deal to bring full-length games and TV shows to Xbox Live, the online entertainment network for Microsoft's Xbox 360. Among the offerings available for purchase starting Monday on the Xbox Live Marketplace are days-old, full-length NCAA college football and basketball games, Summer X Games 13 and episodes of such ESPN shows as "World Series of Poker," "The Contender" and "Madden Nation." Pricing for the ESPN content will range from the equivalent of $2 for standard-definition episodes of "Contender" and "Poker" to $2.40 for HD versions. Two-hour football and basketball games will be available within days of their original airing and be priced at $3 for standard definition and $4.50 for HD.

Source: CdrInfo

Microsoft has decided to be a little generous this month and is offering all Xbox LIVE Silver members the chance to trial four free days of Xbox LIVE Gold, from 23rd to 26th November, as part of an event being called Xtival. Silver members will have full access to complete Gold functionality, with Microsoft promising a number of bonuses including competitions and exclusive downloads. Current Xbox LIVE Gold members are also being promised a treat, although Microsoft is yet to announce any specific details. This should give all Xbox 360 owners in Europe the chance to trial Xbox LIVE Gold if they're undecided about whether it's worth paying for or not.

Source: Pro-G

Larry Hryb is a well meaning man, and wants to make sure the Xbox Live community is full of people who do not cheat to get any of their achievements. Hryb is announcing a ban on any Xbox Live user who is caught sharing their account with someone who advances ranks, achievements and Gamerscores while the actual account owner sleeps. In a Halo 3 Blog Post, Hryb urged gamers not to fall to the temptation of cheating, and proposed that cheating is probably not worth the risk anyways (what if the guy supposedly helping you stabs you in the back and steals your account?)

Hryb also announced that cheating through modifying save files will result in your actual console being banned from Xbox Live.

Source: 1Up

With an estimated 4.4 million players, Bungie has an obligation to provide a quality multi-player environment for Halo 3 gamers. Fortunately, that's exactly what they are doing. Bungie recently announced a lot of changes to the way Halo 3 servers match up gamers. The most important change: There will be a lot less "shottie snipers" lying around, to the disappointment of whiny 10 year old brats around the world. The rest of the changes, which are already incorporated into Xbox Live...

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• Big Team Battle matches are now 16-player affairs.
• In the Team Slayer playlist, the appearance of Shotty Snipers has been greatly reduced.
• Now, when players veto Shotty Snipers, the game that results from the veto will not be Shotty Snipers.
• In one-sided VIP matches, the attacking team will now see a waypoint for the VIP they are hunting.
• In Lone Wolves, Slayer gametypes will appear more frequently.

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Source: 1Up

Consumers report that Xbox Live is being pushed to the limits, presumably due to the high number of gamers playing Halo 3 online. Various Xbox Live users have experienced inaccurate game stats, performance slowdown, inability to access friend lists, and an inability to perform system updates. After experiencing trouble on Tuesday night, one gamer reputedly called Microsoft's help line in which a representative responded by saying that Xbox Live was experiencing network difficulties. The issue appears to be intermittent, however, as several gamers reported no problems outside of inaccurate stat data such as number of players online. Hundreds of thousands of Halo 3 owners have flocked to Xbox Live in an effort to play online since the game launched on Tuesday.


Source: PC World

The lucky few who got to play the Call of Duty 4 beta, which promises to be the greatest thing to hit Xbox Live since Halo 2, will have to stop playing the game by September 30th. Fortunately for the true Call of Duty 4 aficionados, Infinity Ward is raising the level cap and unlocking additional content on September 28th. Thanks to the results of the Beta, Infinity Ward now has a full list of things they wish to add/remove from Call of Duty 4. The most serious changes include "adding a sensitivity slider, cracking down on map exploits, and improving matchmaking optimization to reduce lag". Infinity Ward gives a tantalizing hint as to when they will release the final version of the game: "Are We Gold Yet?"

Source: 1Up

Ahead of the highly-anticipated launch of Halo 3, Microsoft has released updated statistics related to its Xbox 360 console. More than 11.6 million Xbox 360 consoles have been sold across the 37 countries where it is currently available. According to NPD data, US gamers have purchased more software for the Xbox 360 (24.3 million units) than for the PS3 and Wii combined (19.8 million units). There are more than 250 games available on the Xbox 360, and the console has the largest games attach rate of the current generation at 6.3 games sold per Xbox 360 owner. Xbox LIVE is currently available in 25 countries across the globe. The most popular games played over Xbox LIVE worldwide include Halo 2, Gears of War, Hexic HD, Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six Vegas, Call of Duty 3, Call of Duty 2, Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon 3 - Advanced Warfighter, Elder Scrolls: Oblivion, Crackdown, and PGR3. The Xbox 360 console was launched worldwide in November 2005.

Source: GamesIndustry.biz

It seems as though Activision struck gold when they thought about selling additional Guitar Hero 2 songs on Xbox Live. In a recent press release, Activision proudly announced that they sold over 2 million songs on Xbox Live, in addition to over 650,000 content packs. Such popular response does more than just get Activision and Red Octane rich. It also gives Red Octane ideas as to what songs users want to play, which is affecting the development of Guitar Hero 3.

Source: 1Up

It seems as though you are not allowed to put the word 'Linux' in your Xbox Live Motto. There is no obvious reason behind this, but this almost certainly will put the Linux community up in arms. Most Linux users/enthusiasts probably do not like the idea of Linux being associated with a countless assortment of other profanities and obscenities.

Source: The Inquirer

It seems as though Xbox Live is becoming a very popular media distribution point, as more television shows and movies find themselves on the user-friendly service. Family Guy, the show full of non sequitors, dysfunctional characters, life lessons learned the hilarious way, and "all the awkward flashbacks you can handle" is going to start showing up on Xbox Live tomorrow. On September 2nd, only the first two seasons will be available, but the entire show should eventually find itself on there. There is no word as to how much each episode/season will cost.

Source: 1Up

Microsoft did more than just show off their Xbox Live user base: they listed the ten most popular games in Xbox Live Arcade. Microsoft sorted the list by three categories: Most players, longest time played in one session, and longest time played total. The game with the most players is the classic Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, while the longest-session game was Jewel Quest, and the longest-played game was Uno. Check out the rest of the list below.


Source: 1Up

At Gamefest 2007, Microsoft made a speech regarding just how successful Xbox Live is. Microsoft's Game Developer Group general manager Chris Satchell says that there are currently 7.1 million paying Xbox Live users, who have downloaded 45 million things off of Xbox Live. Furthermore, the attach rate for Xbox Live Arcade titles is over 7 titles per user, on average. Satchell points out that the Xbox Live Arcade attachment number has doubled in the past four months.

Source: 1Up

Microsoft has announced that Konami's Super Contra will be available for purchase through the XBOX Live service on Wednesday for the price of 400 Microsoft Points, or $5. While the game will maintain it's classic look, players can choose a less nostalgic enhanced graphics version as they play alone or cooperatively. Super Contra is not the only new title available Wednesday. As reported yesterday Wing Commander Arena, a 3D remake, will be available for purchase for 800 Microsoft Points.

Source: Portal IT

A new firmware replacement for the TS-H943 xbox360 drive features:

• Defeats all current and some future Xbox Live detection attempts
  
• Boots ONLY Stealth Xtreme Xbox 360 backups
  
• Boots ONLY Stealth Xtreme Xbox 1 backups
  
• Boots all Xbox 360 originals
  
• Boots all Xbox 1 originals on Xbox 360
  

Use on Xbox Live at own risk!!

Source: Xbox Scene

As everyone knows Microsoft is planning to attempt to merge PC gaming and Console gaming. This plan will without a doubt fail miserably and ONLY to create tensions between console gamers and PC gamers. Why will it fail you ask? Really it's quite simple. As every PC gamer knows PC gamers have several distinct advantages over Console Gamers ...

It appears that Microsoft has managed to find a way to recognize Xbox360 consoles with modified firmwares (both Hitachi-LG and Toshiba-Samsung drives) and start banning them from the LIVE network. Even people using the new firmwares with disc-jitter added get banned. As a result, consumers who try to login to LIVE with a modified console will get an error code (Status Code: Z: 8015 - 190D) when trying to connect to the service. These users will not have their account automatically banned from LIVE, but they will no longer be able to access the service from the modified Xbox 360(console unique ID serial gets banned, not the LIVE account).


Source: Xbox-Scene

Ubisoft has released a bunch of downloadable content for Rainbow Six: Vegas. For 800 Xbox Live points (roughly $10 USD), you can nab yourself two new gameplay modes and five new (three new and two re-done) multiplayer maps.

The new maps are:

• Marshalling Yard
• Roof
• Doscala Restaurant
• Border Town (redone)
• Killhouse (redone)

The two new gameplay types are:

• Assassination ("One team attempts to take out the other team's VIP during an escort mission")
• Total Conquest ("King of the Multiple Hills").

Source: 1Up

Wow, who was expecting this? Microsoft has decided to make the classic Halo 2 cartoons available for purchase on Xbox Live Marketplace. Currently, you can get the first 5 episodes for 80 Xbox Live points (about $1 USD) each. There are no combo deals as of yet. As more episodes come to Xbox Live Marketplace, we may start to see combo deals, allowing you to get a bulk quantity of Red vs. Blue for a discount price.

However, Microsoft may have a bit of competition from the actual author of Red vs. Blue. $20 will get you an entire season on DVD.

Source: 1Up

REDMOND, Wash. — April 10, 2007 — Microsoft Game Studios and Bungie Studios today confirmed the multiplayer beta of "Halo® 3" will debut to audiences worldwide via Xbox LIVE® on May 16 at 5 a.m. PDT and run through June 6 at 11:59 p.m. PDT. Coming exclusively to the Xbox 360™ console this fall, "Halo 3" is the highly anticipated third chapter in the groundbreaking "Halo" trilogy from legendary developers Bungie. "Halo 3" lets gamers experience Master Chief's greatest battle as he launches an epic mission to stop the Covenant, destroy the impending Flood threat and ultimately save mankind.

The former console entertainment system only service 'XBox Live' gets spread to the PC crowd as well Peter Moore from Microsoft announced lately. 'Windows Live' users will be able to play certain games together with people sitting infront of an XBox. One of the first games will be the Vista version of Halo 2. The release date for Halo 2 will be May 8th.
The cost for this service is 49.95$ a year for the Gold membership. The Silver membership is for free but you won't be able to utilize all the features of course.

Source: TheInquirer

Microsoft has announced that there are now 6 million people subscribed to its Xbox Live service. This milestone has arrived four months ahead of schedule, with Microsoft originally aiming to hit 6 million by June this year. Since its launch in 2002, Xbox Live has now notched up a respectable 2.3 billion hours worth of network play between gamers - the equivalent of 260,000 years - with Halo 2 accounting for 710 million of those. More than 70% of Xbox Live users are actively using the market place to download new content, as Microsoft strives to encourage more people online. Xbox Live remains the most successful online service for a console, and represents the changing attitude of gamers as they become more and more accustomed to online gameplay. One interesting thing to note is that Microsoft does not give figures for the number of Gold and Silver members separately - the Silver membership is free but noticeably scaled down, without online gameplay.

Source: GameZone

Microsoft said a while ago that they would start making more games, all of which were designed for multi-player action. According to 1Up, Worms marks the first of those games. For those of you that don't know, Worms is a multiplayer game with "funny little worms fighting it out with rocket launchers". It should become available on Xbox Live Arcade on March 7th for 800 points ($10).

Source: 1Up

Many of us know the Wing Commander series, which included real actors and spawned a, not very successful, movie. Electronic Arts is bringing the classic space game, which pitted humans versus the cat-like Kilrathi, to the Xbox Live Arcade. The game will feature up to 16-player deathmatches and the best players can compete and climb up a ladder board ranking system. It will be quite different than the original games, "Wing Commander Arena" is purely focused on shoot-em-up combat rather than extensive exploring and missions. The game should be available this summer. There has been no word if Mark Hamil will return to the series.

Source: TG Daily

We've all seen advertisements for in-car game systems, and we've also probably heard of power inverters that allow us to plug our electronics in on the road. However, this clever man has taken this a step further- Xbox Live on the road. Since his town, Mountain View, California, has free wireless internet thanks to Google, he could use it to do all manner of things. By setting up his Xbox 360 to use the towns wireless internet, all he had to do was put in an Xbox 360, an HDTV, and power them using two inverters. He secured the HDTV using zip ties and a mounting bracket. If someone wanted to try this mod from scratch, it would cost $4,000. Someone who already had an HDTV and an Xbox360 would probably spend around $200 ($100 for wifi adapter, $80 for powerful inverter, $20 for zip-ties).


Source: XYHD

When Guitar Hero 2 is released for the Xbox360 (in March, perhaps?), it will have a ton of Xbox Live content. This means that Red Octane can upload new songs, saving them the trouble of developing an entirely new game. They may also use Xbox Live to let people play online with each other.

Source: 1Up

Xbox Live Arcade is a very complex piece of software. And what's more complicated are the games that go in the arcade. Of course, Microsoft knows that when they sell over 10 million consoles a year, they need more than just a bunch of simple shoot-em-ups you can find at any bowling alley/bar. And so, they have set requirements for the games that get on their arcade.

• Games must be non-combatant and multi-player.
• There need to be more board games
• There needs to be a lot more original or "experimental" games.

Microsoft has often been criticizing for hosting a lot of old classics that have either been left alone or redone, essentially lacking new content. Microsoft is fixing this as fast as they can, which unfortunately is six to nine months per game.
Source: 1Up

Microsoft and Old Spice teamed up, and are going to give Xbox Live gamers rewards for, well, playing their Xbox360. If you register for the program by February 12th, you are eligible for a wide variety of awards. To register for the program you need to "Have a valid Windows Live ID linked to your Xbox Live Gamertag; Be a legal resident of the United States (future contests will be available on a global scale) and be at least 13 years old." The awards are divided into three tiers, depending on how seriously you take gaming (Microsoft calls it your "gamerscore").

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• Level 1 (Gamers who have an annual gamerscore between 0-4,999 at time of entry): Game Picture, Dashboard theme, Contra for Xbox LIVE Arcade
• Level 2 (5,000-9,999 annual gamerscore): Level 1 Package, 100 Microsoft Points and a contest T-shirt
• Level 3 (10,000+ annual gamerscore): Level 1 Package, 200 Microsoft Points, contest T-shirt and Fusion Frenzy 2 In addition, Old Spice will give Level 1 and 2 the gift of experience by upgrading their Rewards Level for 2007.

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Source: 1Up

One of the major features of Xbox(360) is internet gameplay. Xbox Live is one of the most important things separating the Xbox(360) from competition coming from Sony and Nintendo. However, most Xbox(360) owners do not use this feature. Only 10% of people owning an Xbox had an Xbox Live account, and 50% of Xbox360 owners have an Xbox Live Gold account.

While there are over 4 million owners of the $50-a-year Xbox Live Gold accounts, there are several reasons that this number is not much higher. The first and most important reason is an intimidation factor. Immature players who are pitted against very experienced players may be scared away from Xbox Live. There is also no shortage of "aggressive and sometime verbally abusive players" who can make even the best players stay off of Xbox Live. "A lot of casual gamers are intimidated by online in general, both in terms of the technology and the human competition," said Cole. "That's changing, but it still has a ways to go." In an attempt to make Xbox Live a friendlier service, Microsoft recently started an Xbox Live Video service, as we reported here.

Source: CNET