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Microsoft’s Aaron Greenberg Talks CES, Xbox 360 In ’09 And Beyond
We caught up with Microsoft’s Aaron Greenberg, Director of Product Management for Xbox 360 and Xbox LIVE, to chat about the console’s presence at CES, the year ahead and the number 17 million. While Greenberg was appropriately coy about the Xbox 360’s upcoming line-up beyond what has been announced — yes, there are more games…
By Michael McWhertor Published January 14, 2009 -
Microsoft Gets Smart (Could Get Smarter)
Microsoft is teaming up with Best Buy to encourage parents and caregivers to talk about video game playing and ratings with their kids, Microsoft announced today. The Get Game Smart website is filled with glowing endorsements about family gaming, a break down of what exactly the Entertainment Software Rating Board’s ratings mean, and some neat…
By Brian Crecente Published January 14, 2009 -
Take A Tour Of Microsoft’s Fake Retail Store
There are Apple Stores. So why not Microsoft Stores? It’s a good question. Turns out there is a Microsoft store. Only…it’s at Microsoft HQ, isn’t open to the public and isn’t even a real store. Confused? Let’s take a tour. It’s called the Microsoft Retail Experience Center, and is apparently designed to show how “Microsoft…
By Luke Plunkett Published January 14, 2009 -
Fable 2 Gets A Halo Assault Rifle
So Fable II’s DLC is out. You got it yet? If so, head on over to the Box of Secrets and trade in some pure experience. Do that and you’ll get…a gun from Halo. Don’t believe us? Here she is. It’s called “Hal’s Rifle”. Basically a firearm that looks identical to Halo’s classic Assault Rifle,…
By Luke Plunkett Published January 14, 2009 -
The Maw Opens On XBLA Next Week, Castle Crashers DLC Tides Us Over
After a couple weeks of casual releases, Xbox Live Arcade heats up this month with this week’s release of the Castle Crashers: King Pack followed immediately by Twisted Pixel’s The Maw next week. The Castle Crashers: King Pack hits XBLA tomorrow, with it gobs of new content for all the good little boys and girls.…
By Mike Fahey Published January 13, 2009 -
New Fable 2 Screens Celebrate Knothole Island’s Release
The eagerly anticipated Knothole Island DLC for Fable 2 is now available via Xbox Live Marketplace, and to celebrate, Lionhead has released a set of six new screenshots showing off the new content. The new content will cost you 800 Microsoft Points and 500+ megs of hard disk space, but considering yesterday’s news there’s no…
By Mike Fahey Published January 13, 2009 -
So Who Won That Sony v Microsoft v Capcom Street Fighter Battle?
Most exciting thing about CES wasn’t the games on show. Wasn’t the TVs, wasn’t the phones, wasn’t even the virtual sex…thing. No, it was the epic Microsoft v Sony v Capcom Street Fighter IV battle! Well, the dust has settled on the fanboy apocalypse, and a clear winner has emerged. And that winner is… Capcom!…
By Luke Plunkett Published January 13, 2009 -
Robbie Bach: Next Xbox Still Quite A Ways Away
After the first-generation came and went in a relative blink of an eye, Microsoft’s Robbie Bach says that the company isn’t in quite as much of a hurry to upgrade the Xbox 360. Speaking to The Mercury News, Bach explains that in today’s economy especially, persuading consumers to upgrade is becoming more and more difficult,…
By Mike Fahey Published January 12, 2009 -
IPTV On The 360? It’s Still Up In The Air!
2007. CES. Microsoft get a few people excited with mention of an IPTV service for the 360. British Telecom will be the first to offer it. Years pass, however, and we hear nothing. Until now! The subject has again popped up, again at CES, and…things haven’t gotten very far. Microsoft are still saying squat (SQUAT!!)…
By Luke Plunkett Published January 12, 2009 -
Braid Theme Costs Money, Braid Developer Sorry
The Xbox 360 has “premium themes”, which will tart up your 360’s menu in exchange for money. A premium theme based on Braid has just been released, and costs money. And Braid’s creator is sorry. Sorry that it costs you money, anyway (it’s a nice enough looking theme). Writing on the game’s blog, creator Jonathan…
By Luke Plunkett Published January 12, 2009 -
Here’s a Baseball Bat. Oh, by the Way, You Won
We’ve gotten more than one note that Grand Theft Auto IV bats are arriving as prizes for a contest no one was ever told they’d won. At least, that’s what we think this is. Maybe it’s a message? Way back in the 1980s I saw this episode of Philip Marlowe: Private Eye on HBO and…
By Owen Good Published January 10, 2009 -
Fable II Bug Fix Patch Finally Live
Lionhead’s announced that a patch finally fixing a slew of bugs – including the infamous unresponsive abbott in Monk’s Quest – has gone live today. And good news! No one will assassinate your child anymore! Here’s the full list of what’s fixed: • The Ritual/Monk’s Quest – Fixed the issue with the Abbott becoming unresponsive…
By Owen Good Published January 10, 2009 -
Nintendo, Microsoft Sued Over Parental Control System
All three current generation consoles have a form of parental lock-out controls. They’re a good idea. A good idea that has, however, landed Nintendo and Microsoft in court. Around Christmas time, 36 companies – including Best Buy, Dell, DirecTV, Motorola, Tivo and Wal-Mart – were sued by Guardian Media Technologies, who hold a patent for…
By Luke Plunkett Published January 9, 2009 -
CES 09: Microsoft Responds To Sony’s Console Add-On “Peddling” Claims
Earlier this week, Sony sent us an oddly timed media bulletin, trumpeting the PlayStation 3’s value versus the Wii and Xbox 360. It also accused Nintendo and Microsoft of “peddling add-ons.” What say you, Microsoft? “First, I would say we absolutely would not want to trade places with Sony,” said Aaron Greenberg, group product manager…
By Michael McWhertor Published January 9, 2009 -
CES 09: What Did Microsoft And Sony Bring To Vegas?
Games! Or, I should say, games. Mostly older games, but games nonetheless. CES isn’t the place for four year-old tech like the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360. But that doesn’t mean they’re totally absent. Killzone 2, for example, is playable in Sony’s big booth, as is Resistance: Retribution. Microsoft brought pre-release builds of Warhammer 40,000:…
By Michael McWhertor Published January 9, 2009 -
Once Again, Microsoft Explains Why It Won’t Go Blu-ray
Blu-ray won the format war. One HD game console (the PS3) already uses the format. The other one (the Xbox 360) doesn’t. Microsoft says it plans to keep it that way. We’ve heard this before. Microsoft isn’t going Blu-ray. Still, Robbie Bach, president of Microsoft’s Entertainment & Devices Division, lays out three years why the…
By Brian Ashcraft Published January 9, 2009 -
Federal Trade Commission Weighs In On DRM – Gamers, Speak Up
Now’s your chance to tell the FTC how you feel about Digital Rights Management technologies – the Commission has opened up a comment form to the public. “All timely and responsive public comments, whether filed in paper or electronic form, will be considered by the Commission, and will be placed on the public record of…
By AJ Glasser Published January 8, 2009 -
Here’s Your 2009 Consumer Electronics Show Coverage
The 2009 Consumer Electronics Show officially kicked off today and our very own Mike McWhertor is feet down, hands-on at the show with an eye towards gaming do-dads, announcements and goodies. Even though we’re only one day into the show there has already been some interesting news shaking loose from the show. Here’s a break…
By Brian Crecente Published January 8, 2009 -
There Are 25 Million Copies Of Halo In The Wild
Yup, more from Robbie Bach’s supporting role during yesterday’s Microsoft CES keynote. While rappin’, he announced that since the release of the first Halo, over 25 million games in the series have been sold. That’s across all three games across both platforms, so we’re looking at an average of five million sales for each. Impressive!…
By Luke Plunkett Published January 8, 2009