Visitors Online: 4863
Members: 102
Guests: 4761
Most users online: 8960
on Feb 12th, 2007 15:51:30.
Newest member, evadavid787
Threads: 108703
Posts: 602011
Members: 333533
Xbox News is a News and downloads site for the
Xbox 360, Xbox and Zune, We have all the latest emulators, homebrew and all the downloads on this site,
we also cover commercial gaming and console news. Part of the
DCEmu Homebrew & Gaming Network.
Microsoft's recently refurbished Zune store features a lot of NBC content like Heroes and The Office, but it looks like it may have come at what could be a steep price: NBC recently told the New York Times that it's working with Microsoft to develop "copyright filters" for the Zune that would "remove pirated movies and videos." (We'll pause for a moment so you can gape appropriately.) Granted, it's not clear whether NBC wants to actually delete non-DRM'd media or simply block playback, but apparently the network thinks it's an issue on par with variable pricing, and it's not in the iTunes Store because Apple refuses to cooperate. Microsoft, on the other hand, is apparently cheerfully working on such a solution, dubbed the "copyright cop," and says that it's sympathetic to NBC's concerns because it also suffers from piracy issues. Sigh. Of course, none of this is new territory for NBC or Microsoft: the two companies are working in similar content filtering systems to be implemented at the ISP level with AT&T, and NBC and SanDisk are working on a filter for Sansa players as well. Still, if Microsoft is serious about competing with the iPod, signing up for consumer-hostile DRM systems that actually block playback and potentially delete files just isn't the way to do it -- let's hope this one dies on the vine.
Update: Although a spokesperson told the NYT that Microsoft was working with NBC on anti-piracy efforts, the company is now saying that it has no plans to implement a "copyright cop" in the Zune, and the Zune Insider blog confirms. Great, now just cancel the ISP-level filtering system and we'll be all set.
Well, that was fast, the XNA community technology preview with Zune games we were just talking about is already out. Unless you're a developer ready to get your hands a little dirty it won't be of much use though, especially since games can only be distributed and installed from source code right now.
While at the Zune Media Event in Redmond on Monday, the media had some downtime between presentations, and naturally the conversation moved to Microsoft vs. Apple. The mix of bloggers, reporters and Microsoft advertorial/internal bloggers provided some predictable replies. iPhone's keyboard sucks...WinMo's browser is blah...The iPhone isn't mainstream because my grandma doesn't care about it...on and on. Then the convo turned to iPod vs. Zune, and the question of Zune's lack of Mac support came up. The closest anyone came to giving a good reason was suggesting Mac users bought Apple products more for the logo than the actual product, meaning they'd never abandon the iPod for a Zune. A fair point, perhaps, but a silly reason for a company to justify their lack of support for another platform.
One lonely Zune owner in West Hollywood is searching Craigslist high and low for one of his own—a simple lady to "rocket sweet tracks up each other's Zune slots." Isn't looking for a Zune-using soulmate the technological equivalent of being the last unicorn, fervently searching Earth for a companion, but ultimately settling on a one night stand with a horse* on its way to the glue factory? We mean, what was meant to be a one night stand. Before her kids moved in. Of course, if this is a viral ad, it's far less funny. And it probably is.
*Admittedly, we have to place in our Zune-unicorn metaphor for the role of the horse. So you can just assume the Zune owner resorts to herpes-covered prostitute who uses a Rio or something
Yesterday, NBC jumped aboard Starship Zune after its protracted breakup with iTunes. It's clear why—and going with NBC's pricing was only part of it. Saul at the NYTimes says that Microsoft has agreed to develop a copyright filter that would block pirated content from being played on Zunes. Which is exactly what NBC was demanding from iTunes. Sucks, right? Well NBC's president of digital distribution just thinks you don't know what's good for you:
Microsoft has quite a bit in store for the Zune faithful with its new Zune version 2.5 software update. The high points are the new Zune Card integration and the addition of TV show downloads on Zune Marketplace, but much-requested features like gapless playback, improved syncing controls, meta data editing, auto playlists and other tweaks have also been included. On the marketing front, Microsoft is really pushing the Zune Pass going forward, and will be launching a new TV commercial to help plug it. Subscribers will particularly benefit from the new Zune Card sharing, which lets you automatically score copies of your pals' favorite songs, artists and recent plays -- non-subscribers can view that Zune Card info, but will have to buy the tracks if they want to have a listen. Unfortunately, news on the video store front isn't so compelling: Microsoft is only adding TV shows at this point, no movies, and there's no way to pull video you've bought on your 360 over to your Zune. There's no reason Microsoft can't close this loop and turn some scattered media offerings into a compelling ecosystem, but until then we suppose we'll have to thank our lucky stars that we can shell out 160 MS Points ($2.00) for TV shows we can watch for free online. The 2.5 Spring Update is a free download and should be available nowish.
While we're still waiting for the early year flirtations of NBC and Apple to sprout into a renewed relationship, it looks like Microsoft is picking up the ball and running with it. The new Zune Marketplace TV lineup includes NBC favorites "The Office, "Heroes" and "30 Rock," in addition to popular shows from Comedy Central, MTV, VH1, Nickelodeon, and Sci Fi Channel. Over 800 episodes in total are available at the moment, and all of them are going for 160 Microsoft Points -- about $2.00.
Hear that? That's the sound of dozens of Canadians rejoicing as they finally get a launch date for the Zune in Canada, a year and a half after Zune's debut in the US. As rumored, Canadians will have a slightly limited lineup on offer, with no 30GB or green versions to puzzle over, but the red Zune 80 will indeed be making an appearance, along with the rest of the players. Prices range from $140 to $250 Canadian Dollars, which sources tell us is a real currency akin to salt traded by the ancients or a Starbucks Card.
If you haven't yet gotten the chance to update to Zune 2.5, here's a screenshot tour that takes you through the new and notable changes. A lot of the stuff is the same—it's only a point update and not one to change the fundamental features—but there are great updates in the social portion of the software. Hit the jump for the full tour.
Microsoft's still isn't solid on a final consumer release date for XNA games for the Zune, but they are aiming for the first CTP (community technology preview) to be released in May. We also learned that Zune games can support ad-hoc wireless play with up to eight players, the devices won't support any hardware 3D acceleration, the "16MB for storing games" we heard before actually refers to how much Zune RAM games can take over, and Microsoft's got at least four games running on the platform (which may or may not ever be released to the public): Zauri (which we've already seen -- video after the break), as well as Hexic, Potato Chase, and Alien Takeover.
Locked inside every xbox is a surprising secret: you don't have to play your original xbox games in poor TV quality, you could be playing in Full 16:9 HDTV with Dolby Digital 5.1 stereo sound.
The new Frozen VGA HDTV cable helps you to realize the full potential of the original xbox by allowing you to plug your xbox signal in a vga input.
You can then enjoy all the xbox games in 480i, 480p, 720p or 1080i
Hopefully from today Onwards we will be seperating news feeds on sites where we had them joined together
So from now on the GBA, Gamecube, Nintendo 64 sites will only have that console news on those sites, before now i had it so that GBA news would show up on the DS Site and Gamecube and N64 would Show up on the Wii Site (Also the xbox/xbox360 sites), this confused some but with certain scenes growing so massively it is time for seperation..
All Homebrew/Emulation Coders once we verify them (and i spot them) have the ability to post in all our Console News Forums and the news automatically shows up on not only the site to which that news forum belongs but also on the main DCEmu Portal Site. We always like to have an onsite mirror but gladly welcome the linking to your own site.
DCEmu can be used by coders to become their release centre and with the Homebrew Scene across so many scenes being so massive now you can quickly get noticed by a lot of sites including mainstream networks.
Now with the News forums, normal members cant start topics in them but you can reply to any topic, Normal Members can post as Normal in any Non News forum. I get so many emails asking why he/she cant post in whatever forum.
And heres one for people using private messages to ask Questions, Please Use the forum to which the question would be easiest to get an answer as quick as possible. I get so many and i just ignore all of them (not to mention i have a massive amount of work anyhow). Also the users on DCEmu who use homebrew every day are tons better than me for remembering how to do homebrew on that particular console.
How Can You Help DCEmu
This site like any site is a massive undertaking and we need help on every console scene. No site in any scene is 100% perfect on what they cover and totally up to date. In homebrew methods change all the time and only you the users can help others join in the fun.
We are always in the need of Tutorials and Guides not only for Homebrew but for hacking and Development and even just for gaming on consoles.
Our DCEmu Reviews Website is also in the need of reviews of both Hardware and Games Reviews so please review as much as possible.
Newsposters are always in need especially for WIP and Release News of Emulators, Homebrew etc and across many languages, i am English and to be honest the the translation apps on the net are crap, but the more help we get the better we can become, ive also no doubts that there are releases in places like Japan, China and Korea etc that never reach the likes of DCEmu and others because of language barriers.
Retro Homebrew/Translations News
Another change thats going to happen is that our Console News site will now post as much retro homebrew and Game Translations as possible, bringing much needed coverage to those communities.
The DCEmu Homebrew and Gaming Network
To those of you who are new to the DCEmu Homebrew and Gaming Network our Network Covers all these consoles.
As you can see theres quite a few consoles we cover
But thats not all we cover we also have a range of websites that arent totally Homebrew Related.
DCEmu Interviews - http://interviews.dcemu.co.uk/ - Interviews with Coders from many Homebrew and Emulation Scenes and Home of the DCemu Interview, join in the biggest public interview
DCEmu Guides & Tutorials - http://tutorials.dcemu.co.uk/ - This is the place to submit any and all tutorials and Guides for any scene and they can be homebrew and gaming related. Once we verify them they will show up across our network.
DCEmu Reviews - http://reviews.dcemu.co.uk/ - This is the scenes biggest independant collection of reviews and is the place for both hardware and Software reviews. Get your reviews noticed by submitting them to DCEmu reviews
DCEmu Console History - http://console-history.dcemu.co.uk/ - This is where you can find Dark Watchers Collection of Console History, a great place to catch up on old consoles
PC Gaming & Homebrew - http://pc-gaming.dcemu.co.uk/ - Our PC Gaming site covers PC, EEEPC and PC Homebrew and Emulators.
DCEmu Blog - http://blog.dcemu.co.uk/ - This site covers anything that doesnt fit above and is our rant/current affairs/funny stuff site, all the off topic stuff goes in here.
Harry Potter News - http://harry-potter.dcemu.co.uk/ - Hey im an Harry Potter book/film fan, not homebrew related but we all have our vices :P
Cross & Taylors Chefs - http://personal-chef.dcemu.co.uk/ - This site for all those who wonder is my brothers site who is a top chef, again not homebrew related but he cooks a mean meal :P
DCEmu Developer Sites
These are sites where we have some of the Homebrew scenes best coders release their emulators, games etc to the world:
I think thats all, one last thing is to say thank you from everyone here to all the visitors, guests, coders and staff who make DCEmu what it is today.
A feature i did a few years ago and one im going to repeat now is the DCEmu Interview, a unique idea in which questions are asked by me to the Whole DCEmu Community its a way to learn more about each others and find out what our interests are and much more
Todays Question is What Emulators are the Best In the Console Scene ? What im asking is which system has the best emulalator for eash console.
Say for example the PSP has the best PS1 Emulator on any console, congrats Sony :P, now we just repeat the process for snes, n64, gba etc etc etc Give your Answer via Comments.
Remember to check out our DCEmu Interview Site to catch up on previous DCEmu Interview Questions
A library you use for zune games for a nice way to display menus, controls, or simple game information. Great for multi-platform games that would require menu redesigns for the zune.
Features
- Customizable displayed control sets
- Customizable Game Info bar
- Sleek skin thats easy on the eyes
- Created so that it can be switched from portrait/landscape easily
- Menu system that allows for implementing so you can create your own controls (progress bar, volume meter, anything!)
- Nice transistions
Coming Features
- Custom skins
- Icons for displayed control sets
- More default menu control types (progress bar, etc.)
- On-screen keypad
NOTE: Since the XNA 3.0 is still not out, the current version only runs on pc. It will run the same as on the zune.
Just hold on a little while longer, Canadian Zune-lovers -- it seems that your wait is almost over. A job listing just popped up on the Vancouver Craigslist, looking for a "Microsoft Zune Program Coordinator" who will "represent our client Microsoft on their launch of Zune in the Canadian marketplace." The job calls for applicants to be available between May 12 and June 20, so if it's legit -- and we hope it is, just because we prefer to believe no one is sad enough to fake this -- it looks like the Zune will finally roll into Canada in just a few weeks.
It might be in a slightly smaller posse, though: the crew over at ClicZune recently took a gander at Microsoft's Candian Zune promo page and noticed that the Zune 30 and the green flash Zunes are conspicuously absent. (Also missing is the recently released red Zune 80, but that was announced after the pages in question were made.) It's hard to tell what this means -- do Canadians hate green things? Are the 30 and green on their way out in the US as well? -- but hopefully we'll get some answers in just a couple weeks.
As reported by PSO-World member Cranberry, the US XBox Phantasy Star Online Episode 1&2 servers appear to have been shutdown a week early. XBox players have been unable to login since the last maintenance period on April 22nd. It is currently unknown whether users will receive a pro-rated refund for this early shutoff, on top of the one that was planned to be payed back.
Not unlike the early colorized versions of the original Zune before it, the red Zune 80 looks like it should finally be ready to make its un-tattooed retail sales debut . If you've been considering getting loud and/or proud with your next Zune, call ahead to your local gadget stock keeper and see if they're in.
No, not audible as in the ability to be heard from beneath the strain of a million screeching iPod fanboys. Rather, the Microsoft Zune is about to be Audible book capable. At least if you believe Paul Thurrott (which we do) and others who have received confirmation from Audible Amazon that the Zune will be AudibleReady "before years end." Of course, it's not official until Ballmer shouts it out in a sweat splashing rampage across stage... but it's close.
Listen to the silence, let it ring on. Microsoft is said to be releasing a limited edition, Joy Division Zune featuring an adaptation of Peter Saville's pulsating cover art from the band's Unknown Pleasures debut. The launch is meant to parallel the June 10th release of the Joy Division DVD and could, in one fell swoop, lift the Zune above its L-7 image. Then we could go on as though nothing was wrong and hide from these days we remained all alone.
P.S. That's our mockup of what we hope the Joy Division Zune will look like.
Zune Marketplace is no iTunes killer. But maybe Zune VideoX will (at least attempt to) be.
After recently hearing about Microsoft's grand entertainment-marketplace/service (codenamed eLive), now I'm getting word of yet another Microsoft entertainment marketplace, known currently as "Zune Video X" (for Video Experience).
Zune VideoX is not Zune Marketplace revisited, sources say. Instead, it is Microsoft's attempt to apply the lessons learned with the success of the Xbox Live Marketplace to the Zune market, said one source who asked not to be named. It would be a single hub where Zune users could buy and download music, videos, TV shows and more entertainment content.
Microsoft has been talking about building a unified entertainment marketplace for years. One such attempt was codenamed "Alexandria." Another is eLive, is supposedly a single, unified "entertainment marketplace" where consumers will be able to go to buy music, videogames, and other kinds of content that will work on Windows PCs, Xboxes, Zunes and Windows Mobile phones.
One of my sources believes eLive is dead and has been superseded by Zune VideoX.
"eLive was renamed and recrafted to Zune VideoX, and the eLive vision scaled down to focus on Zune," the source, who requested anonymity, said.
Microsoft has yet to announce European plans for the company's iPod competitor, Zune, but XNA boss Chris Satchell has told Eurogamer that proof-of-concept game development for the handheld media device is progressing very nicely.
"That touchpad is great," said Satchell, who demonstrated a basic Zune shoot-'em-up called Zauri at GDC in February. "I'm used to mobile games and it's always terrible. Not the games, but the input. And so this sort of blew me away."
"Imagine bowling, where you swing across it, or anything that requires a physical dexterity gesture," he added. Apparently someone even ported a "Wolfenstein-style renderer" to Zune, which ran at 30 frames-per-second and could be played with the Zune's portrait perspective screen turned on its side.
Another thing that excites Satchell at the moment is co-operative games played over Wi-Fi. "One of the things we talked about was the network play, and we've had people doing prototypes internally of multiplayer shoot-'em-ups both in versus and co-op," he said.
"I'm really looking forward to people using their networking ability to use peer-to-peer games," he added. "I'm sure we're going to see some peer-to-peer race games, kart-style games - those are going to be fun."
Mind you, all of this will depend on the next big XNA release for developers later this year, which is likely to happen in December. Hopefully by then we'll also be able to buy the handheld in Europe although, when we inquired, a Microsoft spokesperson told us: "We've made no announcements on that outside of the US."
A new version of MednafenX-NES, a NES Emulator for Xbox1, has been released:
This is a recompiled version of the latest mednafenx with a correction to a typo in the last release that disabled the ability to load custom palettes.
This version of mednafenx also includes the correct nes color palette. (this is enabled by default) You can always autogenerate your own palette or load your own palette. Included in this release is the old palette and the RGB palette. The RGB palette is colors that can be output by a svideo modded nes.
Compiled by madmab brought to you by XtecuterX73 and Madmab
Version 1.2 of Stealth Quake has been released, this is more than likely the final release and is a major upgrade from previous versions which are no longer available; the changelog is below.
-------------------
VERSION 1.2 CHANGES
-------------------
- Image flashes no longer occur on non-lovecraftian creatures
- Updated findradius(); to searchradius(); in several instances
allowing the WinQuake and Darkplaces version to behave more alike
- Jump button no longer respawns player, only fire as told in death description
- Self-talk only occurs during idle time
- Proper death animation is now played when rock is selected
- Additional sound ques properly cleared on death
- More frags now indicate who died the most, or betrayed the team most (team kills)
- Sneaking speed is less framerate dependant
- Fixed restarting of a level even if a player is still alive
- Players entering a game with 0 lives left are now made observers instead of players
- Rare instance of player allowed to throw rocks / shoot the pistol while in camera mode fixed
- Camera is improved
- Players who are targetted by an enemy can no longer stealth kill that monster,
yet another player still can (thus allowing another player to save a friend)
this also mean you're not able to perform a running stealth kill (considered a
minor exploit)
- Stealth kill 'vision' widened, you must hit their back a bit more accurately now
- Brand new roaming AI, based on some of The Ascension of Vigil code as well as general AI improvements
- More sounds added to help the atmosphere
- Balance tweaks that help prevent speed running, as well as making more logical gameplay sense
- Fixed FOV not being reset when falling out of a Shamblers vision in certain circumstances
- The death music track now plays for observers
- Observers can now restart the round by pressing fire when everyone is dead and out of lives
- Wall tucking properly narrows a monsters vision cone making it even more effective than sneaking
- Fixed a bug where if a monster killed a player, they'd always move towards the player unless
distracted
- Kill command works, doesn't take away from the lives pool
- Crosshair turns off when walltucking and renables when not
- Upgraded models for the pistol and bullets
- If the player is killed by certain attacks they're now gibbed
- DP Only: Client side prediction is turned on when not sneaking, helps running away / lag
On April 30th at 24:00 PST, the Phantasy Star Online Episode 1&2 Xbox servers will be permanently shutdown. For anyone who may have time remaining on their Hunters License, they will receive a pro-rated refund. Credit goes to Jonathan_F for bringing us this news.
We now have the Portable Megadrive in stock and ready to ship. This handheld system includes 20 classic Sega Genesis games such as Sonic & Knuckles and Golden Axe.
Overview
This Handheld Video Game Player is preloaded with 20 classic Games from Sega Genesis. There is no need to buy game cartridges. This game player has an A/V connector and with the included cable the player can be connected to any TV. The built-in SEGA games provide action adventure while testing your intelligence and skill. Enjoy playing classic SEGA games anywhere, anytime!
Features
- Plug & play handheld video game system
- 20 built-in 16-bit SEGA licensed games
- Built-in speakers
- TV out connection
- NTSC TV format
- Uses 3xAAA size batteries. (battery not included)
Games Included
- Alex Kidd in the Enchanted Castle
- Version is now displayed at start up
- Chthon is harder
- Balance tweaks
- Pistols do not remove in E2M6 and E4M7, fixes incompletion bug
- Minor bug fixes
- Updated Readme file
- Intermission fixes
- Fixed collision for Winquake and find() for AI point markers
- Fix LightAffect flag not disabling at times allowing monsters to see you
even though you're hidden
- Fix cycleweapon commands, mainly concerns console Quake players
Anyone try this on PSP, Ganecube or DS Quakes let me know via comments.
I've tested the Winquake version on XBox which uses nearly the same engine as nxQuake, so it should work on Dreamcast; it'd be nice if someone can test it for me to be sure though.
Good news for all of you who missed the red Zune 80 during its short-lived (and somewhat delayed) Valentine's Day cameo -- Microsoft has decided to take your money after all. Yep, the red 80 is back, and it looks like it's a permanent engagement this time. The only catch is that you've got to do it up Zune Original style, which'll set you back another $10 - $15 on top of the usual $249, but that's the price you pay to have your player match your kicks, Dr. Hipster McHip.
Update: Apparently the Zune Originals site will sell you a custom Zune without any customizations (who knew?), so it looks like you can get crimson on the cheap if that's what you're after. Dollar dollar bill, y'all. [Thanks Micheal and Mark.]
As of February 27, 2008. Eidos will no longer be supporting on-line multiplay for for Project: Snowblind (PS2, Xbox and PC).
Existing support documents and content, however, will continue to be available through our website support.eidosinteractive.com. This Web site will continue to host a wealth of previous How-to, Troubleshooting, and Configuration content.”
Seeing how long it took the Zune to make it over the northern border and into Canada, it shouldn't be any surprise that it's going to take even longer to get to Europe -- not until late next year, according to the director of Microsoft France. The wait should be worth it, though: that's when the third generation of Zunes will be released, as well as a Europe-friendly version of the Zune Marketplace. There are also some sketchy rumors that Windows Mobile 7 devices will be able to take advantage of Zune content and services, but it doesn't look like Microsoft has anything to say about that yet -- but if that goes down you know a Zune phone is right around the corner.
It couldn't last forever. Now those free, laser-etched designs of the Zune Originals series will cost ya. Microsoft quietly made the switch sometime over the last few weeks (if not the weekend) according to forum jockeys riding the Zuneboards. The Tattoo Series is now $10 or $15 for the Artist Series. Custom engravings are still free. Of course, there's no better way to keep those Zunes original than to charge cold, cash money for off-the-shelf designs.
At Microsoft's Techfest, a researcher was showing off a smart shuffle system that uses tags and meta data like tempo and genre to direct playlist creation in a portable music device. The demo was being done on a first generation Zune.
The system is being developed in direct response to the huge number of songs people carry around on their media players, and specifically the millions of songs a Zune library can stock using a Zune pass. The system automatically recommends new songs based on songs played, and the logic is continuously "steered" by voting tracks up and down.
2. Press the "Sign In" button and enter your Hotmal account (make a account at hotmail.com if you don't have one)
3. It should give you a message saying not available in your region or something like that.
4. DO NOT click "Ok", instead click the Zune logo in the top left corner of the screen.
5. This should take you back to the Zune's homepage, notice how you are logged in at the top right.
6. Click the black square box to the left of your name. (It should be your gamertag if you have one)
7. Now you should be in a sort of profile area, here you can edit your Zune Tag by adding custom backgrounds, logo, msgs, etc. While your here, you can also see who on your friends list owns a Zune and what they are currently listening too, and it tells you the last time they had listened to music via their Zune and synced their "gamercard" to the servers.
Currently I can preview a Song on my friends playlists, for those intrested he is listening to a song called "The Best of Me" by The Starting Line.
Im not sure if this will work on the Zune Marketplace itself, but Ill try later on.
I would only bother doing this if you are in Canada and plan on getting a Zune.
Apparently, video is all the rage these days. Just ask the folks who received a survey from Microsoft about services which may or may not be coming to the Zune. It's possible your heart might skip a beat when you read questions like, "I would rather download a movies from an online service than buy a DVD," or, "My friends and I regularly send each other links to online videos." Though the question, "I'm willing to carry a larger MP3 player if it improves the quality of the display," could just be suggesting a new Zune-XXXL is on the way. Regardless of what it you take away from these cryptic messages, remember one thing: just like that Netflix survey, this may not mean anything at all.
