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Microsoft: No More Original Xbox Games Over Xbox Live
Microsoft announced tonight that online play for original Xbox consoles and titles – including those played on an Xbox 360 – over its Xbox Live service will soon be discontinued. The axe will fall on April 15, and will bring an end to years of online play for games like Halo 2 and…whatever other original…
By Luke Plunkett Published February 5, 2010 -
The Unsexy Prototype Side Of Project Natal’s Camera
The PR-approved product shot of Microsoft’s Project Natal camera for the Xbox 360 looks sleek, sharp and maybe a little bit cute. The prototype version of the peripheral is anything but. Okay, maybe it’s the tiniest bit cute, in a sad, bound for the back of a Jawa sandcrawler scrapheap kind of way, its one…
By Michael McWhertor Published February 4, 2010 -
This Buggy Xbox 360 Shooter Just Can’t Get Patched
DoDonPachi Dai Ou Jou Black Label EXTRA, the Xbox 360 port by developer 5pb of Cave’s arcade bullet hell shooter, was originally announced for Christmas Day 2008. Then it was delayed. Then it was released the following February, buggy. 5pb’s port was so buggy that shipments of the game were halted. The company also struggled…
By Brian Ashcraft Published February 3, 2010 -
No Mature Games Allowed In Xbox Game Room
One of the biggest potential stumbling points for the 360’s (and PC’s!) Game Room – having to secure an endless stream of ESRB ratings – has been solved in a fairly unique way by Microsoft. Whereas similar platforms – like Nintendo’s Virtual Console for the Wii – submit each game to the ratings board individually,…
By Luke Plunkett Published January 30, 2010 -
Xbox 360’s Game Room Wants You to Rebuy Your “Arcade”
When the Xbox 360 gets its Game Room later this year, players will have to repopulate the arcade with titles no matter what they have already purchased through Xbox Live, Game Informer reports. That’s because Microsoft considers the Game Room titles, which are “originals, different from the Xbox Live Arcade titles, which are revamps, GI…
By Brian Crecente Published January 29, 2010 -
Microsoft Made $19 Billion Last Quarter, Sold 5.2 Million Xboxs
It was a good quarter for Xbox 360 maker Microsoft. No, it was the company’s best ever, pulling in record revenue of $19.02 billion. It highlighted “exceptional demand for Windows 7,” wisely downplaying the decrease in the Xbox 360 division. Microsoft’s Entertainment & Devices Division, corporate home to the Xbox business, was responsible for $2.9…
By Michael McWhertor Published January 28, 2010 -
Battlefield Bad Company 2 Demo Launches Surprise Attack On Xbox 360
Not to be outdone by the impending release of a beta on the PC, the Xbox 360 has secured some Battlefield Bad Company 2 action of its own, with the surprise release of a demo. Originally appearing in Australia overnight, the demo has now been downloaded – and played – by people all over the…
By Luke Plunkett Published January 28, 2010 -
Master Mario Mashup
Mario/Master Chief tattoo, now on an unknown fan for life. As seen at Hawty McBloggy.
By Owen Good Published January 27, 2010 -
Is Lost Planet 2 Doing Marcus Fenix Right?
Gears of War’s Marcus Fenix and hetero life companion Dominic Santiago are getting the Lost Planet 2 treatment, but is Capcom’s MT-Framework 2.0 treating them right? Let’s compare! First off, we’re taking an image from a brief trailer shown during the announcement of the Gears guys’ cameo in Lost Planet 2, so until we get…
By Mike Fahey Published January 26, 2010 -
Report: Nintendo Said “No, Thank You” To Project Natal Tech
Nintendo executives were reportedly given the option to snatch up the technology that powers Microsoft’s controller-free Project Natal but passed, worried that the camera tech was too expensive and not responsive enough for the Wii maker. CVG cites an anonymous source at Nintendo—specifically “a top insider (and we mean top insider)”—as saying that Nintendo bossman…
By Michael McWhertor Published January 26, 2010 -
New Xbox Japan Ads Are Reminiscent of Old Dreamcast Ads
For those living outside Japan, the country’s Xbox 360 commercials have been interesting. There have been a boy band and a song about kicking the shit out of the recession. The latest series of ads features a trio of salarymen from the “Xbox Mission Department”. The guy with the Xbox 360 logo for a noggin…
By Brian Ashcraft Published January 26, 2010 -
Microsoft Facing Lawsuit Over Xbox Live Pricing
Samuel Lassoff, an attorney in Philadelphia, is taking Microsoft to court over claims that the Xbox 360’s currency system – Microsoft Points – exists to “unjustly enrich” the console manufacturer. The basis of Lassoff’s complaint will no doubt also the basis of many of your complaints over the system. Namely, that prices are engineered so…
By Luke Plunkett Published January 26, 2010 -
X10 Sees Microsoft Return To Hosting Its Own Game Show
Having abandoned the show to the Canadian wilderness in recent years, Microsoft is bringing its “X” event back into the limelight in 2010, with a showcase night planned to take place in San Francisco next month. The last proper “X” event was all the way back in 2006, when Peter Jackson was in attendance promising…
By Luke Plunkett Published January 26, 2010 -
Gaming: The Fifth Network
The very public, very messy late-night fight between Jay Leno, Conan O’Brien and NBC didn’t just offer interesting insight into the inner workings of network television, it reminded everyone that the TV isn’t used only for watching shows anymore. Video games, right behind bad programming and bad decisions, are television networks’ biggest threat these days.…
By Brian Crecente Published January 25, 2010 -
But What Does Modern Warfare 2’s Timed Exclusive DLC Mean?
At last year’s E3 gaming expo in Los Angeles, Microsoft announced that the first two downloadable maps for Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 are timed Xbox 360 exclusives. Timed? How long is that? “We have a 30-day timed exclusive on the Modern Warfare content packs,” a spokesperson told website Eurogamer. “So it will be…
By Brian Ashcraft Published January 21, 2010 -
Microsoft Points Were Never Meant To “Mislead People”
Like Nintendo’s currency of the same name, Microsoft’s “Points” have been confusing people since they were first released, humans being accustomed to think of money spent in terms of, well, money spent. Not some abstract points scheme. If it makes you feel any better, Microsoft never meant for MS Points to confuse you. To mislead…
By Luke Plunkett Published January 21, 2010 -
Some Halo: Reach Screen Shots
Game retailer EB Games has uploaded the first direct feed Halo: Reach screens onto the game’s product page. Anyone with the most recent issue of Game Informer magazine has seen these screens — not everyone has the latest GI, though! That, and these are some of the first proper screens for the game. Halo: Reach…
By Brian Ashcraft Published January 20, 2010 -
The Big Three All See Revenues Drop in 2009
Revenues were down for most video game companies in 2009, and the big three platform holders were no exception. Pretty clear, but if you need it spelled out a little clearer, nice graphs tend to do the trick. Put together by NPD fetishist Matt Matthews over at Gamasutra, it shows the decline in revenue all…
By Luke Plunkett Published January 19, 2010 -
Mass Effect 2 “Super Elite” Console Bundle Announced
This is the Mass Effect 2 Limited Edition console bundle, announced today for the Australian market and selling for AUD$599 (USD$550). It includes a black Xbox 360 with a 250GB HDD, two wireless controllers, a headset and a copy of Mass Effect 2. No custom paintjob on the console, sadly, but the inclusion of a…
By Luke Plunkett Published January 18, 2010 -
How Xbox Could Have Helped The Dreamcast Survive
There have been rumors for years that Microsoft planned to buy Japanese game maker SEGA. But did you know SEGA hoped to make the original Xbox compatible with Dreamcast games? The SEGA Dreamcast was launched in late 1998 to great fanfare. The console — featuring dial-up online — was years ahead of its time. Then…
By Brian Ashcraft Published January 14, 2010