The flotsam and jetsam of the Microsoft press conference in Leipzig:

• In an effort to expand the 360's market share in Europe, Microsoft will be launching the 360 in Poland, the Czech Republic and Slovakia on November 3rd. Oh, Microsoft... what gray, war-torn ex-Soviet satellite will you take on next?

• XNA Curriculum courses are coming to Europe, just like the ten American universities that will be freakishly teaching it in courses on campus. Three of the schools are in the UK, and include Hull and Nottingham. The other two are in Germany, including the University of Munich and the University of Kulsruhe.

• Speaking of XNA, the XNA Game Studio looks very neat. Chris Satchell, General Manager of Microsoft's Game Developer Group, made a simple vertical SHMUP in about thirty seconds during the presser: he simply dropped in a background, a plane and some tanks, then started playing. Of course, that level of ease has to be the lowest level of the studio software, based off a standard SHMUP template. Otherwise, why would anyone pay $99 bucks to play games this simple? Florian Eckhardt