Microsoft Reportedly Working On Xbox TV Device

November 21st, 2012, 23:53 Posted By: wraggster

SternisheFan writes with news of rumors over Microsoft's plans for its next-gen Xbox console. According to The Verge, the company is working on a cheap, Xbox-based set-top box for some time in 2013."The device will run on the core components of Windows 8 and support casual gaming titles rather than full Xbox games typically found on a dedicated console. Although hardware specifications aren't fully locked down, we understand Microsoft will use a chipset to enable an "always on" device that boots quickly and resumes to provide near-instant access to TV and entertainment services. Microsoft's Xbox set-top box work is said to be part of a broader effort to ensure its core architecture for the next-generation Xbox is scalable enough to be put together to run on a number of devices. We understand that the company could opt to combine its core system for the next Xbox with a phone stack to deliver a phone capable of running a full version of Microsoft's Xbox Live services."

http://entertainment.slashdot.org/st...xbox-tv-device

Join In and Discuss Here

Submit News and Releases Here and Contact Us for Reviews and Advertising Here

Harrison: I used to envy Xbox Live

November 21st, 2012, 23:42 Posted By: wraggster

LGC12: Former SCE Worldwide Studios boss and current Xbox man also details the future of 'New London Studio'

Speaking at today's London Games Conference, Phil Harrison, corporate Vice President at Microsoft EMEA, has admitted that over the past decade, which includes his tenure at Sony, he often envied those involved with Xbox Live.
He revealed his feelings during the keynote at the event, in a presentation titled 'Building the Future of Entertainment'.

"For a large period of the last ten years I've been very envious of Xbox Live," confessed the former president of Sony Computer Entertainment Worldwide Studios, who has to date been with Microsoft for some six months. "It's a great way of creating engagement with players."
While Sony's PlayStation Network is increasingly successful, it has never managed to trump Microsoft's online gaming service Xbox Live, which currently sees up to 442 million hours of entertainment consumed in a single week.
Harrison also devoted much of his time on stage to Microsoft's relationship with its fist-party games development studios, revealing that in overseeing both Rare and Lionhead, he: "feels like I'm guarding two of the crown jewels of UK games development."

http://www.develop-online.net/news/4...envy-Xbox-Live

Join In and Discuss Here

Submit News and Releases Here and Contact Us for Reviews and Advertising Here

Gangnam Style released for Just Dance 4 today

November 21st, 2012, 01:27 Posted By: wraggster

Just Dance 4 players can now download the insanely popular 'Gangnam Style' song and dance for Xbox 360.
The song will arrive on the PS3 and Wii versions tomorrow, November 21, and Ubisoft says the Wii U version will release "at a later date".Costing 300 MS Points, 300 Wii Points or £2.39 on PSN, Ubisoft says the DLC song contains "the authentic dance moves" from the video.
Gangnam Style, by South Korean artist PSY, has been watched over 770 million times on YouTube, according to Ubi's PR, earning its creator instant international stardom, and placing it in list of YouTube's top 10 most watched videos of all time.

http://www.computerandvideogames.com...dance-4-today/

Join In and Discuss Here

Submit News and Releases Here and Contact Us for Reviews and Advertising Here

WatchESPN lands on Xbox Live with split screen viewing and more

November 21st, 2012, 01:22 Posted By: wraggster

Join In and Discuss Here

Submit News and Releases Here and Contact Us for Reviews and Advertising Here

Karaoke streaming coming to Xbox Live

November 21st, 2012, 00:57 Posted By: wraggster

Microsoft is set to bring Xbox Live subscribers a pay-per-hour Karaoke application.
This pay-as-you-play business model is a console first and the Karaoke service will allow Xbox Live subscribers to stream, and then butcher, songs through the 360.
Rather than pay for individual tracks, the service gives users the opportunity to exchange Microsoft Points for temporary access to The Karaoke Channel’s 8,000 plus catalogue of tunes.
Access comes in sessions of two, six and, for the hard-core crooner, 24 hours and features SmartGlass integration and achievements.
The service is set to arrive in time for Christmas and the move continues Microsoft’s recent exploration of new payment models, seen recently with its first free-to-play game on Xbox Live, Happy Wars.
Karaoke also continues the console's proud history with the party pastime, with titles including Lips on the 360 and 2003’s Xbox Music Mixer.

http://www.mcvuk.com/news/read/karao...x-live/0106689

Join In and Discuss Here

Submit News and Releases Here and Contact Us for Reviews and Advertising Here

Adverts and the new Xbox 360 dashboard

November 20th, 2012, 00:09 Posted By: wraggster

The new Xbox dashboard that rolled out last month added support for Internet Explorer, Xbox Music and Xbox Video - and more adverts.In some tabs the number of adverts has doubled.We've taken before and after shots to demonstrate how the Xbox 360 dashboard has changed following October's sweeping update.

Join In and Discuss Here

Submit News and Releases Here and Contact Us for Reviews and Advertising Here

Karaoke for Xbox 360 announced - streams 8,000 songs

November 19th, 2012, 23:54 Posted By: wraggster

Microsoft has teamed up with The Karaoke Channel to create a new Xbox Liveapp titled Karaoke.
Set for release "in time for the holidays", the service will let you stream songs from an 8,000 strong library for an hourly fee.
It will offer a selection of free rotating sample songs, with full access to the music library available for blocks of two, six or 24 hours purchasable using Microsoft Points.
The app will allow users to queue songs, support Achievements, and feature SmartGlass integration. To access all of the features users will need an Xbox 360 headset and microphone,Play XBLA reports.
http://www.computerandvideogames.com...s-by-the-hour/

Join In and Discuss Here

Submit News and Releases Here and Contact Us for Reviews and Advertising Here

Black Ops 2: Nuketown 2025 map pulled from online playlists

November 19th, 2012, 23:52 Posted By: wraggster

Call of Duty: Black Ops 2 map 'Nuketown 2025' - a fan favourite - has been pulled from online multiplayer playlists.
Posting via Twitter, game design director David Vonderhaar confirmed, "Double XP weekend is official over. That means Nuketown 2025 / 24-7 is as well. I know. RIGHT? Don't kill the messenger."Essentially, this means that the Nuketown playlist has been removed, and the map has not been put into circulation with other maps in regular playlists.
In a subsequent post, Vonderhaar goes on to explain that Nuketown 2025 will only be back for "special events".
"Nuketown 2025 / 24-7 will be back for special events. You can always play it with your friends in Custom Games," he said.
The Nuketown 2025 map - a remake of Black Ops favourite Nuketown - was offered as a redeemable DLC map to those who pre-ordered the game and, was assumed to be permanently available for online play, not as an 'events-only' temporary map.

http://www.computerandvideogames.com...ine-playlists/

Join In and Discuss Here

Submit News and Releases Here and Contact Us for Reviews and Advertising Here

Sega's 'Model 2' fighting trio hitting XBLM, PSN in Japan Nov. 28

November 18th, 2012, 21:46 Posted By: wraggster

Join In and Discuss Here

Submit News and Releases Here and Contact Us for Reviews and Advertising Here

Xbox 720: XBW uses penultimate issue to 'tell you everything we know'

November 18th, 2012, 00:32 Posted By: wraggster

Xbox World has used its penultimate issue to publish an 8-page feature containing "everything we know" about Microsoft's next-gen console plans.
The mag has good form when it comes to next-gen Xbox leaks, having revealed in January Microsoft's plans for augmented reality, directional sound, and a four-player, finger-tracking Kinect, all of which were later confirmed in the now infamous leaked planning document in June.
Editor in chief Dan Dawkins told CVG: "Xbox World has been at the cutting edge of Durango coverage for over 12 months. Unless something really dramatic changes, everything we reveal in our penultimate issue will be revealed long before E3 in June."
According to the mag's final 'exposé', the next-gen Xbox - which it speculates is likely to be called simply "Xbox" - will introduce Kinect 2.0, use Blu-ray discs and feature directional audio, a TV output AND input, 'innovative controller' and - at a later stage of the console's life - AR glasses.
Current codename 'Durango' dev kits boast a CPU with "four hardware cores, each divided into four logical cores" and an impressive 8GB of RAM, XBW reports.
Xbox World has used the Microsoft leaks and industry sources to come up with a 3D mock-up of what it expects the next-gen Xbox to look like."We built ours with the same glossy face and patented VapourMG magnesium alloy Microsoft uses for its Surface tablet, and modelled the silver band after its new 'Wedge' touch keyboard and flexible Arc Touch mouse," it writes. "The future will be black, sharp and curved."
To read the full 8-page feature, buy the latest issue of Xbox World online or on Apple Newsstand here (UK) or here (US).
PSM3 features an equally large feature on PlayStation 4 and you can buy that on iOS here (UK) or here (US).

http://www.computerandvideogames.com...thing-we-know/

Join In and Discuss Here

Submit News and Releases Here and Contact Us for Reviews and Advertising Here

Skyrim update 1.8 goes live on Xbox

November 18th, 2012, 00:30 Posted By: wraggster

Bethesda has quietly released an update for Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim on Xbox.
Update 1.8 - which hit PCs earlier this month - is now available to download when you fire up the game with a connection to Xbox Live, and comes in at 25MB.It tackles various bugs, including those related to Vampiric Grip, duplicating NPCs and more. There's no word on the patch's release for PS3.
Here's the list of changes:
BUG FIXES
General memory and stability improvements
Fixed rare crash when using vampiric grip
Fixed issue where Arnleif and Sons Trading Company could become permanently locked
Fixed issue related to duplicate NPCs
Fixed rare issue where exterior door would not open properly

http://www.computerandvideogames.com...-live-on-xbox/

Join In and Discuss Here

Submit News and Releases Here and Contact Us for Reviews and Advertising Here

GTA 5 screenshots hijack another helicopter

November 18th, 2012, 00:24 Posted By: wraggster

Helicopters seem to be a running theme in many of the shots, and today's no different. Rockstar also seems keen on showing off the enormous city it's created, and one shot sees the player scaling what looks to be the Vinewood (Hollywood) sign in Los Santos.The second GTA V trailer was unleashed last week with fresh gameplay footage to drool over, and we've put it under a magnifying glass to extract every last bit of info from it in this GTA V trailer two analysis video.
http://www.computerandvideogames.com...er-helicopter/

Join In and Discuss Here

Submit News and Releases Here and Contact Us for Reviews and Advertising Here

A decade on, Xbox Live must face its biggest challenge

November 18th, 2012, 00:01 Posted By: wraggster

A decade ago this week, Microsoft flicked the switch and turned on Xbox Live. It was not the first console online service, let alone the first major online gaming service, but it has a strong claim to being the first truly successful marriage of console gaming and online gaming - and it has certainly been the most long-lived. Ten years later, Microsoft's online vision has become a default part of the gaming experience on just about every platform that matters, and it has unquestionably changed gaming forever - with the idea of the videogame as a networked, connected experience which it popularised being now deeply ingrained in almost everything our industry creates.
"There is a dark underbelly to the service and to online gaming as a whole - and a strong suggestion that existing services may be an evolutionary dead end."

The positive aspects of the revolution in online gaming which was ushered in by Xbox Live can't be overstated. Online gaming and services bring us together, connecting us with friends around the world and giving us shared experiences which long distances or other barriers would otherwise deny us. Human opponents and collaborators are more interesting and more unpredictable than the finest AI yet devised; our victories over other humans are sweeter, our shared triumphs more memorable, than those which simply involve cold silicon logic. Even in single-player games, social features can make us into a part of a playing community; can spark conversations with old friends ("how far in are you? Enjoying it?") or let us extend our rivalries with Achievements, GamerPoints, Trophies and Leaderboards. For developers, too, Xbox Live and its ilk have become a treasure trove - not just of digital distribution opportunities, but of data, and a chance at last to see what players actually do with your games once they bring them home from the shop.
Moreover, it's easy to forget that Xbox Live was not necessarily a natural evolution of console gaming. It's not the case that Microsoft simply did first what someone else would have done eventually. In fact, several major publishers intensely disliked Xbox Live at the outset. Considering themselves market leaders and masters of their own customer relationships, they wanted to run their own online services. Without Microsoft's insistence (self-interested as it may have been), we could still be signing up to separate online services for every publisher, juggling multiple friend-lists and payment accounts, and completely robbed of cross-game chat, messaging or achievement systems. Microsoft's effort at knocking publisher heads together until they agreed to conform to Live's rules of engagement is not dissimilar to Apple's triumph when it forced mobile networks to play by its rules for the launch of iPhone; both were industry-defining moments which no other market player seemed to have the will or the ability to push through.
Yet I think it's important, as we celebrate Xbox Live's milestone, to note that the success of Microsoft's service does not mean that online gaming is a solved problem - or indeed that our online services are in anything other than their infancy. Many commentators are quick to attack other platform holders, especially Nintendo, for not following the trail Microsoft has blazed with online gaming. However, this fails to recognise that alongside the positive stories about Xbox Live, there is also a dark underbelly to the service and to online gaming as a whole - and a strong suggestion that existing services may be an evolutionary dead end.
Alongside the immense success of Xbox Live, it would be hard to miss the fact that the service also has a widespread reputation as a pretty unpleasant place. Supercharged by anonymity and, perhaps, by the innately aggressive nature of many multiplayer games, the voice chat on Xbox Live is regularly racist, sexist, homophobic and otherwise vile. Even those who turn off voice chat to avoid such abuse are not necessarily spared - a trawl through the archives of a site like Fat, Ugly or Slutty, which chronicles messages received by female gamers, is at once grimly amusing and absolutely appalling.
"There are hard-working staffers who track abuse and ban players accordingly, but as online gaming grows this becomes a problem too big to be dealt with by humans"

The other thing you'd be hard-pressed to miss after a couple of hours on Live is that, in spite of the fact that the average age of a console gamer is well into the 20s now, most of those playing - at least, most of those playing and speaking - appear to be waiting impatiently for the onset of puberty. Aggressive male teens and tweens make up a very large proportion of the "visible" playerbase of Xbox Live, even though all logic and research suggests that they're a relatively small proportion of the actual playerbase. Why is that? I'd hazard a guess that the simple reason is that the anonymous and largely unpoliced nature of Xbox Live is a toxic environment which ends up only being tolerable or accessible to those poorly socialised adolescents.
There are solutions to this, of a sort. From a player's perspective, you can effectively withdraw from Xbox Live (and other online gaming - I should be clear that I'm not singling out Xbox Live here) as a public service, treating it instead as a closed network in which you only interact with your real-life friends. That works, to an extent (it's largely how I play these days) but most games are still going to insist on pairing you up with public players at some point; some won't even let you advance in multiplayer without playing on public servers. From the service operator's perspective, there are hard-working staffers who track abuse and ban players accordingly, but as online gaming grows this becomes a problem too big to be dealt with by humans. Besides, humans make mistakes; witness Microsoft's utterly daft policy, after years of conference talks prattling on about how Xbox was all about self-expression, of banning anyone who mentioned being gay on the service, rather than the knuckle-dragging mouth-breathers who abused them as a result.
The result is that online gaming can often feel like a cesspit - a bullies' playground in which the only choice for most players is to keep your head below the parapet and hope it's not you that gets the inbox full of hate. However, don't misunderstand - this isn't an attack on gamers or on gaming culture, because this isn't a unique problem. Visit the comments section of any major website (YouTube is a good place to start) and you'll witness a similar culture at work - abusive, nasty, intolerant and aggressive. The majority of gamers are good people who want to play games and have fun together; the problem is that the naive ideas of the early internet, where we decided foolishly that everyone would want to speak to everyone else (and be spoken to by them) have turned out to be utterly wrong. Anonymity and (largely) freedom from repercussions turns a small, loud minority into abusive monsters, and there are enough of them to ruin it for everyone else.
I don't doubt that when Nintendo extends cautious, careful toes into the online waters, this is one of the things foremost in its mind (the other, of course, being the ever-present risk of media crucifixion at the slightest hint of children being "groomed" on a Nintendo online service). Other companies, too, are starting to think about how you fix this. Unmoderated comments are gradually becoming a thing of the past on many websites, who recognise that what they have created is not a "community", but an echo-chamber full of horrible madmen (or perhaps "the shit room", to use the unmistakeable parlance of British political comedy The Thick Of It). They're recognising that these problems can't be fixed by policing and moderation, or by threatening to wield a banhammer; the services are just too large and the problems too subtle for that to work. Solutions must be systematic, baked into the very nature of how the services work - and for established services like Xbox Live, that's going to require a major overhaul.
"Where a community can deal with its reprobates individually, society must build systems and facilities to deal with a much larger volume of them"

There are promising ideas out there, though. League of Legends, an online game absolutely infamous for the outright nastiness of its community, recently introduced a system whereby, rather than downvoting those who behave badly, people can award karma points to those who behave well - with rewards for players who get upvoted frequently. By all accounts, it's working extremely well. Positive reinforcement for good behaviour appears to encourage people to play ball, where the threat of punishment merely incites the foul-mouthed Che Guevara in every pasty-faced teenage rebel. Linking social networking accounts to game accounts and forcing people to take ownership of their own actions and statements isn't the universal panacea we hoped for (it turns out that some people are happy to be abusive bigots even under their own names) but remains helpful and promising. Above all, the simple idea of using the social graph as a core part of the matchmaking process seems to be incredibly powerful - playing with people they know, friends of friends or even slightly more distant acquaintances, players are more likely to have an enjoyable experience with like-minded people.
These solutions, and others yet to be dreamed up, are going to be absolutely vital as online gaming proceeds into its next decade. The first decade of Xbox Live has been a remarkable success story, but its social structures were defined on a naive dream - the dream of people like myself, no doubt, who remember online gaming from the days of QuakeWorld and its ilk, and believed that similarly tight-knit, fun communities would continue to be at the heart of online gaming. We forgot that as a service scales, it stops being "community" and starts being "society" - and where a community can deal with its reprobates individually, society must build systems and facilities to deal with a much larger volume of them. The next decade will be even harder on that front, I fear; online gaming will grow and grow, and an embittered band of testosterone-fuelled egos will be determined to make the newcomers as miserable as possible. It's up to everyone involved - service operators, game developers, publishers, players, even the media - to counteract that; to take this amazing thing that we've created, the world's first truly connected media format, and make sure it's a good place for everyone, not just the adolescent bullies.

http://www.gamesindustry.biz/article...gest-challenge

Join In and Discuss Here

Submit News and Releases Here and Contact Us for Reviews and Advertising Here

BUNGIE: Xbox Live wouldn't have made it without Halo

November 17th, 2012, 18:23 Posted By: wraggster

As Xbox Live celebrates its tenth birthday, Bungie studio manager Harold Ryan has shared his thoughts on how the service may not have survived if it wasn’t for the former Halo developer.
Speaking to GI.biz, Ryan explained the studio’s guidance and leadership in the fledgling years helped push the limits of the service.
“I think Xbox Live wouldn’t have made it. I don’t think the Xbox would be where it is today without Bungie and without Halo,” Ryan said.
“As a group, we provided both technical and creative guidance and thought leadership that really pushed the limits. We weren’t just a game developer using the service. We were integrated in the design of the service and how it worked. Systems for groups and matchmaking and skill ranking were all things that were pushed the furthest and the hardest by us.”
Halo is now out of the hands of Bungie, but the franchise continues to represent one of the console’s biggest draws.

http://www.mcvuk.com/news/read/bungi...t-halo/0106547

Join In and Discuss Here

Submit News and Releases Here and Contact Us for Reviews and Advertising Here

Supermarkets are now the UK's biggest games retailers

November 17th, 2012, 18:22 Posted By: wraggster

Supermarkets have eclipsed specialists to become Britain’s No.1 games retailers.
The likes of Asda, Tesco, Morrisons and Sainsbury’s have edged past GAME?and Amazon and made more money from games sales than any other retail sector, according to the latest data from Kantar Worldpanel seen by MCV.
The supermarket chains continue to push their games offerings, despite a big drop in sales this year. The majority even held midnight openings for Black Ops II.
The drop in market share for specialists follows a tough 2012 for GAME and HMV, which both shed stores early this year.
“We are in an economic climate where money is tighter than ever. Customers demand the lowest price and this channel has always been focused on delivering this,” Asda’s games boss Craig Thirkell told MCV.
“The switch towards family and younger gamers as well as hardcore crowds naturally plays well to supermarkets.”
But it’s not all down to price, adds Thirkell. “It’s not just the specialists that can create excitement and fun for new launches anymore and with gamers coming out at midnight for the big titles, where better to be than in a warm supermarket topping up on the energy drinks and sweets to get them through that all-night games marathon.”
Despite becoming the No.1 games retail sector, grocers have lost a bit of market share this year. Sainsbury’s was the only retailer to increase its share.
The drop for specialists has also not been as severe as initially feared. The biggest retail sector to lose market share this year has been ‘other multiples,’ which includes the likes of Argos and Dixons.
The fastest growing retail sector for games continues to be the internet. According to Kantar, Amazon is the UK’s No.1 entertainment retailer (factoring in sales of physical music, game and videos, plus digital music sales), well ahead of HMV at No.2 and Tesco at No.3.

http://www.mcvuk.com/news/read/super...ailers/0106556

Join In and Discuss Here

Submit News and Releases Here and Contact Us for Reviews and Advertising Here

Black Ops II beats Modern Warfare 3 with $500m sales in first 24 hours

November 17th, 2012, 18:17 Posted By: wraggster

Call of Duty: Black Ops II has sold an estimated $500m worth of units in tis first 24 hours.
That beats the $400m made by last year’s Modern Warfare 3 in the same period.
What hasn’t been revealed, though, is how many units the game sold. Modern Warfare 3 managed 6.5m units in its first day. Black Ops II’s unit sales remain a mystery.
“With first day sales of over half a billion dollars worldwide, we believe Call of Duty is the biggest entertainment launch of the year for the fourth year in a row,” Activision Blizzard CEO Bobby Kotick stated.
“Life-to-date sales for the Call of Duty franchise have exceeded worldwide theatrical box office receipts for Harry Potter and Star Wars, the two most successful movie franchises of all time. Given the challenged macro-economic environment, we remain cautious about the balance of 2012 and 2013.”

http://www.mcvuk.com/news/read/black...-hours/0106563

Join In and Discuss Here

Submit News and Releases Here and Contact Us for Reviews and Advertising Here

Next Call of Duty marks return of Modern Warfare - rumour

November 16th, 2012, 00:31 Posted By: wraggster

Modern Warfare 4 will be Call of Duty’s next offering, according to alleged voiceover leaks from the game.
Siliconera has word from anonymous sources that voice acting work is already underway in Los Angeles for a Call of Duty title that’s said to carry on the Modern Warfare arc.
Given Activision has two separate developers for the series and knowing the franchise’s history, it’s likely the game will see release sometime before the end of next year.
Call of Duty’s latest release Black Ops II came out earlier this week, and is already setting launch records.
http://www.mcvuk.com/news/read/next-...rumour/0106444

Join In and Discuss Here

Submit News and Releases Here and Contact Us for Reviews and Advertising Here

Happy Birthday Xbox Live!

November 16th, 2012, 00:20 Posted By: wraggster

Ten years ago Microsoft embarked on an ambitious venture to marry the worlds of the internet and console gaming.
And it’s no exaggeration to say that the seeds it planted have gone on to transform the world of gaming.
What began as a 56K modem on Sega’s (and let’s not forget, also to some extent Microsoft’s) Dreamcast was truly realised with Xbox. And how Xbox Live has evolved. Starting out as a way to standardise online play, the network has gone on to become one of the world’s most active and lucrative commercial hubs and is the de facto standard when it comes to online console functionality.
Here’s a look at its road to glory:
November 2002: Xbox Live, a service allowing gamers to access a range of digital media and play against each other online, is made available on the Xbox.
December 2004: The Xbox Live Arcade service is launched on the Xbox game console in a disc form available in bundles, on its own and in several issues of Official Xbox Magazine.
November 2005: XBLA relaunched on the Xbox 360 as a service integrated into the system’s main dashboard.
March 2006: Three million downloads made on XBLA.
January 2007: 20 million downloads made on XBLA.
March 2007: Uno becomes the first XBLA title to pass one million downloads.
November 2007: The Xbox Live Arcade Hits range is introduced. These are certain Xbox Live Arcade titles that become permanently discounted in price.
November 2007: Xbox Live Arcade celebrates a North American milestone with the release of Screwjumper, the service’s 100^th title.
December 2007: Microsoft launches the Video Store in the UK, over a year after it debuted in the US, allowing consumers to rent and stream movies direct from the Live Arcade
May 2008: The XBLA file size limit increases to 350MB, marking the service’s transition from providing bite size casual games to catering for more expansive, mainstream titles.
July 2008: The first of the now annual XBLA Summer of Arcade. This saw anyone who downloaded one of the titles released during August entered into a prize draw to win 100,000 Microsoft points, a 12 Month Xbox Live Gold subscription and a 360 Elite console.
August 2009: A system update introduces the Games on Demand area of the Marketplace, allowing players to purchase full, (formerly) boxed games digitally for the first time.
February 2010: Marc Whitten announces Xbox Live has the 23 million-member mark.
April 2010: Microsoft ends Xbox Live support on the original console.
November 2010: Alongside the launch of the Kinect, Xbox Live touches down in Russia, Poland, South Africa, Greece, Hungry, Brazil, Columbia, Chile and the Czech Republic.
December 2011: Microsoft launches the official Xbox Live app.
March 2012: BBC iPlayer launches on Xbox Live
May 2012: Minecraft: Xbox 360 Edition breaks all XBLA sales records by notching more than 400,000 sales in 24 hours.
September 2012: The 2GB Livae Arcade limit raises to an unannounced number with the release of Red Johnson’s Chronicles (2.68GB) and Double Dragon (2.24GB).
November 2012: Happy Birthday Xbox Live!

http://www.mcvuk.com/news/read/happy...x-live/0106454

Join In and Discuss Here

Submit News and Releases Here and Contact Us for Reviews and Advertising Here

Medal of Honor Warfighter DLC: Zero Dark Thirty dev diary

November 15th, 2012, 00:36 Posted By: wraggster

EA has released a new Medal of Honor: Warfighter developer diary focusing on the upcoming Zero Dark Thirty DLC.
Set for release in December and free for those who purchased the Limited or Deluxe editions of the shooter, the Medal of Honor Warfighter Zero Dark Thirty DLC is a tie-in with Sony Pictures Entertainment's Hollywood movie of the same name.It's inspired by a decade-long manhunt for Osama bin Laden in Pakistan's Darra Gun Market and Chitral Compound.

http://www.computerandvideogames.com...rty-dev-diary/

Join In and Discuss Here

Submit News and Releases Here and Contact Us for Reviews and Advertising Here

Report: 'Call of Duty 2013' continues Modern Warfare plot

November 15th, 2012, 00:28 Posted By: wraggster

Snippets of what's claimed to be next year's Call of Duty game have been leaked, along with first details for the in-development title.
Voice over recording for the game has begun in LA, according to Siliconera citing an anonymous source (whom the site says leaked Sleeping Dogs details before its Square Enix acquisition) .CVG has contacted Activision for comment.
'Call of Duty 2013', as the source allegedly called it, will continue the Modern Warfare story arc, with the main protagonist apparently "a battle hardened veteran in his mid-thirties with a nihilistic point of view", codenamed 'Ben Burk'.
One scene in the game - apparently a flashback - is said to feature John 'Soap' MacTavish and take place in Somalia.
Below are what's claimed to be snippets of the script for the main character.
"Reminds you of Phuket, doesn't it? Only this time the dust gives you cancer... OK, park yourself and get ready. When this thing kicks off, put a hole in anything that moves."
"This is Sentinel Zero One, successful crypto change on C2 net break, requesting immediate update of blue force picture and status of artillery, over. I have you broken and unreadable, I say again, requesting updates to friendly positions and status of arty support. Do you read, over?"
"We've got KVA on the move! They're going to strongpoint the main gate, ETA two mikes! We're providing support for our heavy rollers! Ready up and let's move!"
"Goliath, this is Sentinel Zero One! We have enemy armor at the gate, hundred meters north of our position! Requesting close-air grid mark three-one-six!"
Previous reports for what is expected to be 'Modern Warfare 4' hint at a possible next-generation release for 2013's Call of Duty entry.

http://www.computerandvideogames.com...-warfare-plot/

Join In and Discuss Here

Submit News and Releases Here and Contact Us for Reviews and Advertising Here