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Xbox News is a site that brings you the very latest Original Xbox, Xbox 360 and Xbox One news, the latest games and releases, Part of the
DCEmu Homebrew & Gaming Network.
THE LATEST NEWS BELOW
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October 20th, 2011, 23:36 Posted By: wraggster
Microsoft's Entertainment and Devices division, which includes its Xbox console business, recorded sales of $1.96 billion for the first quarter ended September 30, up from $1.75 billion for the same period last year.
Profits were $352 million, down from $386 million in 2010. The company noted that the Xbox 360 has been the best-selling console in the US for nine consecutive months, and that in the first quarter it launched the three million unit selling Gears of War 3.
Microsoft sold 2.3 million Xbox 360 units during the quarter, down from 2.8 million. Revenues in the games division were up due to Xbox Live sales.
For the entire Microsoft Corporation, revenues came in at a record $17.37 billion, up 7 per cent on last year, with net profits of $5.74 billion, up 6 per cent.
"We saw customer demand across the breadth of our products, resulting in record first-quarter revenue and another quarter of solid EPS growth," commented Peter Klein, chief financial officer at Microsoft.
"Our product portfolio is performing well, and we've got an impressive pipeline of products and services that positions us well for future growth."
http://www.gamesindustry.biz/article...games-business
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October 20th, 2011, 23:28 Posted By: wraggster
Microsoft's next Xbox 360 Dashboard update may be packing enough deep Kinect integration to make your inner Anderton tingle with glee, but it won't do you much good if you live in a shoebox apartment, cramped dorm, or happen to own a couch. For all of its fun tricks, the Xbox's depth sensor is woefully farsighted, and doesn't play nice if you stand too close. What's a motion loving, spatiality challenged gamer to do? Well, we've heard of one option.
Nyko announced the Zoom for Kinect quite some time ago, making lofty promises of reducing the sensor's minimum required play distance by up to 40 percent. It performed notably well when we gave it a whirl at E3, but with Redmond's Kinect heavy Dashboard redesign just around the corner, we thought we'd give it a second look.
http://www.engadget.com/2011/10/20/n...nect-hands-on/
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October 20th, 2011, 23:26 Posted By: wraggster
Kinect -- it's the Xbox 360 peripheral that just keeps on giving, now with more edutainment. Yes, that collision of worlds typically yields cringe- and boredom-inducing interactive experiences. Not so with this marriage of MS' motion-controlling sensor and the fine folks behind TV mainstays like Sesame Street, National Geographic and Disney. The newly inked content partnerships will see the creation of specifically tailored episodes of Kinect Nat Geo TV, in addition to a season's worth of Kinect Sesame Street TV for Xbox Live, letting your youngins play virtual connect the dots with Elmo. Plans are also underway for a virtual storybook effort, codenamed Project Columbia, aimed at indoctrinating children into the fundamentals of reading, and Rush, a videogame that'll lead adults and their tots alike through Pixar's virtual worlds. These various family-friendly titles and TV shows are set to rollout sometime next spring, so if you need to get your little ones' blood pumping (and slim down those love handles while you're at it), it looks like X's prepping to mark that spot. Official presser after the break.
http://www.engadget.com/2011/10/20/k...-to-xbox-live/
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October 20th, 2011, 00:20 Posted By: wraggster
Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer claims that the "second generation" of applications for Kinect has already begun.
Speaking at the in San Francisco yesterday, Ballmer said that software released in the near future will better demonstrate the potential of the device.
"Like any other thing that is new, we came out with a set of applications to show off the platform, to bring others in," Ballmer said. "Our second generation is now happening."
He also cited the Kinect toolkit for Windows, which was released by Microsoft earlier this year after videos of innovative hacks were released on streaming sites like YouTube.
"That kind of opens up a whole new sphere of innovation with Kinect and the PC. This holiday I think you'll see an explosion of things around the Xbox and Kinect."
A significant part of that will be a "playful learning" initiative, in which Microsoft will partner with Seasame Street, National Geographic, Pixar and Double Fine to produce interactive television experiences for children.
"We know that the most effective learning environments for children are those that are engaging and exciting, and that foster collaboration and a positive attitude toward learning," said Alex Games, an educational design director for Microsoft.
"With the controller-free magic of Kinect, we can encourage kids to use their motor skills and to learn using their body in immersive experiences.
The Sesame Workshop is developing two projects: Kinect Sesame Street TV, which will bring episodes from the forthcoming television season to the device, but with additional, Kinect-exclusive interactive features and access to clips from the show's archive; and Project Columbia, a series of interactive storybooks being co-developed with Microsoft and New York University's Games for Learning Institute.
Double Fine is developing a collection of interactive experiences called Double Fine Happy Action Theatre, which Microsoft as a "virtual playground" with "no rules, no menus, no instructions."
Pixar's project, codenamed "Rush", will allow players to scan themselves into the virtual world and interact with characters from Toy Story, Cars, Ratatouille and The Incredibles.
http://www.gamesindustry.biz/article...ontent-is-here
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October 20th, 2011, 00:17 Posted By: wraggster
Sledgehammer Games' general manager Glen Schofield believes its third-person Call Of Duty project will be cancelled.
The studio is currently working on Modern Warfare 3, but, speaking to C&VG, Schofield said that the game's time period could be too "niche" to make continuing a viable option.
"We'll probably cancel it. They gave us the choice of: do you want to work on Modern Warfare 3, or do you want to continue working on this? And we really liked that," Schofield said.
"We liked what we were doing. It's third person, probably set at a time that might have niched it too much. I bet that if we had kept going, within a month or two I probably would have switched the time period, but kept the gameplay. It had some really cool stuff."
The development of Modern Warfare 3 allowed both Infinity Ward and Sledgehammer to hire, with both studios now over 100 employees. For Sledgehammer's next project, Schofield believes the studio will be able to work alone.
"Initially we weren't fully functional because we had to learn a new engine. Now we have, I think the best thing that could happen for Activision would be for us to both go off and make our own game," he continued.
"Whether that's a Call of Duty game or not is up in the air. I plan to continue working on Call of Duty. "
http://www.gamesindustry.biz/article...game-cancelled
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October 19th, 2011, 02:44 Posted By: wraggster
Microsoft has revealed the content set to hit the Xbox Live Marketplace during the rest of October.
The update comes from Major Nelson, who lists the likes of Daytona USA and War of the Worlds for Xbox Live Arcade as well as Batman: Arkham City and Deus Ex add-ons. Here's the full list
Xbox Live Arcade:
Dungeon Defenders - 19th October, 1200 Points
Bejeweled 3 - 19th October, 1200 Points
War of the Worlds - 26th October, 800 Points
Daytona USA - 26th October, 800 Points
Zombie Apocalypse: Never Die Alone - 26th October, 800 Points
Games on Demand:
Little League World Series 2010 - 18th October
Top Spin 4 - 18th October
Rio - 25th October
SAW II - 25th October
Game add-ons:
Batman: Arkham City Catwoman Bundle Pack - 18th October, 800 Points
Deus Ex Missing Link Campaign - 18th October, 1200 Points
Mercury Hg Add-On - 19th October, 160 Points
Toy Soldiers: Cold War Napalm Pack - 26th October, 240 Points
A World of Keflings: It Came From Outerspace Add-On - 26th October, 320 Points
Pinball FX 2 Paranormal Table - 26th October, Free from 26th Oct 26 - 1st Nov, after that 240 Points
Sales & specials:
Shocktober Savings - 18th October - 31th October, up to 50%
Kinect Anniversary Celebration 23th October - 5th November, up to 50%
Deal of the Week:
Halo: Reach Defiant Map Pack - 18th October, 400 (50% off)
Halo: Reach Noble Map Pack - 18th October, 400 (50% off)
Dead Rising - 25th October, 25% off
Dead Rising 2: Case West - 25th October, 400 (50% off)
Dead Rising 2: Case Zero - 25th October, 200 (50% off)
Avatar Marketplace:
Pirates 4 - 18th October
PowerUp Heroes - 18th October
Bejeweled 3 - 19th October
Dance Central 2 - 20th October
KISS - 20th October
MTV Beavis & Butt-head - 24th October
Battlefield 3 update - 25th October
Disney Universe - 25th October
Kinect Sports: Season Two - 25th October
War of the Worlds - 26th October
Lord of the Rings: War in the North - 27th October
Umbro - 27th October
http://www.computerandvideogames.com...e-daytona-usa/
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October 19th, 2011, 02:42 Posted By: wraggster
As part of a week-long look at what developers want from the next generation of Xbox, our friends at OXM have been quizzing key members from the likes of DICE and Epic to find out what's on their wishlists.
Epic's never shy in coming forward design director Cliff Blezsinzki had this to say: "I'm sorry, do you think graphics are good enough? No they're not! The Xbox 360 is great, we've pushed it further than we ever have with Gears of War 3, but I want Avatar in real-time and beyond, I want fully realistic CG, and are we there? Absolutely not. I think there's absolutely room for improvement.
"Do graphics make gameplay? No. But when I fire up my projector back at my house, put Avatar on - it still makes your jaw drop, it's like a giant portal to another planet. I think we still have a long way to go before we get there, and I want us to get there."
Blezsinski also said the hardware makers who understand online the best will succeed.
"My money for the future of everything is on those who understand the online space the best. Because this is the world we live in, we're always connected.
"Between my personal and my professional life, I'm just addicted to what other people are saying all the time. It's not fading for me, it's not like MySpace. I find out about celebrity deaths immediately from other people now. And then you get the CNN news alert a day later: 'Oh apparently that actress died, which we found out about yesterday.' We're in this world of churn, and those who understand online the best will know how to succeed, and those who don't are just done."
http://www.computerandvideogames.com...me-and-beyond/
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October 19th, 2011, 02:39 Posted By: wraggster
To play the paintball multiplayer mode in GoldenEye 007: Reloaded you'll have to buy the game from Game.
Specifically, you'll have to buy the MI6 Edition of GoldenEye 007: Reloaded - a UK exclusive for Game. It's the only version Game lists, and is available for £39.99.
The MI6 Edition also includes the Classic Conflict multiplayer mode and the Moonraker Black Laser rifle.
The PS3 version packs an extra Hugo Drake character and Moonraker Laser pistol weapon as well.
"Reloaded, rebuilt, resupplied: that's GoldenEye in 2011," wrote Christian Donlan for Eurogamer in his GoldenEye 007: Reloaded preview. "Next year brings that new movie and possibly another Bond game to go with it.
"Until then, this should be a decent, if familiar, stop-gap."
http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/20...game-exclusive
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October 19th, 2011, 02:34 Posted By: wraggster
Microsoft has shown off an impressive tech prototype that turns any surface into a touch screen.
The device, a collaboration between Microsoft Research and Carnegie Mellon University, is called OmniTouch. It's a shoulder-mounted camera that projects interactive content onto any surface it's pointed at - whether that be a wall, a desk surface or the user's hand.
You can then touch, tap, swipe or pinch the projected image, just as you would on a standard touch screen device.
A clip on Microsoft's research site, spotted by Gamasutra, shows off exactly how it works. Check it out below.
The camera is apparently a modified Kinect-esque lens manufactured by PrimeSense - the Israeli outfit responsible for the Xbox 360 motion-sensing peripheral.
There's no indication offered as to whether Microsoft has long-term plans for the gizmo, or if it's just their boffins showing off. Still, impressive stuff.
http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/20...tal-touch-tech
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October 19th, 2011, 02:33 Posted By: wraggster
A new title from Tim Schafer's Double Fine studio called Happy Action Theatre is among a raft of new kid-friendly Kinect titles announced by Microsoft today.
Due out this Winter on Xbox Live, it's a collection of 18 mini-games "designed to activate gross motor skills, inspire imagination and entertain players of all ages," according to the announcement.
The various mini-games have you mucking about with molten lava, smashing buildings up as a giant monster and generally laying your living room to waste. See the trailer below for more.
It's Double Fine's second Kinect title aimed at a younger crowd, following the recent Sesame Street: Once Upon a Monster.
Other forthcoming titles part of Microsoft's Kinect kids push include a project codenamed Rush, due out in Spring 2012, which sees the platform holder collaborating with Pixar.
Kids will be able to scan themselves into five of the Disney animation studio's biggest properties - The Incredibles, Ratatouille, Up, Toy Story 3 and Cars 2 - and get involved in various challenges.
Then there's Kinect Sesame Street TV and Kinect Nat Geo TV, which are interactive TV experiences, and something called Project Columbia which is an interactive storybook.
"We know that the most effective learning environments for children are those that are engaging and exciting, and that foster collaboration and a positive attitude toward learning," commented Microsoft's educational design director Alex Games.
"With the controller-free magic of Kinect, we can encourage kids to use their motor skills and to learn using their body in immersive experiences. This new way to play allows children to learn by interacting with their favorite characters and engage with content in novel ways."
http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/20...action-theatre
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October 19th, 2011, 02:31 Posted By: wraggster
Sega is sending out a second demo for Sonic Generations, its multi-year mascot mishmash coming to PC, PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 on November 1. The new demo, which should be available on Xbox Live Marketplace starting tomorrow (followed by a North American PSN version on October 25), revisits the checkerboard loops of Green Hill Zone, this time with a "modern Sonic" component.
The classic version of the level (see: slightly rotund Sonic) will also be available in this demo, just in case you missed it in the first round back in June.
http://www.joystiq.com/2011/10/17/ne...starting-this/
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October 19th, 2011, 02:25 Posted By: wraggster
 If all the talk of Halo Anniversary has put you in the mood for more modern fare, the Reach map packs are down to five bucks each this week. Alternately, if the release of Dead Rising 2: Off the Record gave you a hankerin' for Dead Rising 2 spinoffs, you'll find those half off next week, starting October 25. Dead Rising the first will also be On Demand for 25% off.
There's currently a "Shocktober" sale happening, including Castlevania Harmony of Despair for 600 Points ($7.50), and Alan Wake On Demand for just$10 more than retail. What a deal.
Racing fans can get a rolling staaaaaaaaaaaaaaart on Daytona USA on October 26, and check out the Toy Soldiers: Cold War "Napalm Pack" and A World of Keflings DLC on the same day. And in Avatar accessory news, it's finally happening on October 20.
KISS Avatar clothing.
http://www.joystiq.com/2011/10/18/ha...-and-more-nex/
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October 19th, 2011, 02:25 Posted By: wraggster
Microsoft's latest batch of kid-friendly Kinect games includes projects developed in collaboration with Disney Pixar, Sesame Workshop, National Geographic and the Games for Learning Institute. Wow. Back in our day, we had to make do with The Castle of Dr. Brain.
Disney Pixar's game, codenamed "Rush," will scan and deposit you and your diminutive kin into the wonderful worlds seen in five Pixar movies: The Incredibles, Ratatouille, Up, Toy Story 3 and Cars 2. It sounds like you can expect some minigames while you're in there, though Microsoft prefers to call them "exciting challenges." (One of them is pictured above.)
Kinect Sesame Street TV purveys basic education in the best way possible: via adorable muppets, with Sesame Street footage filmed specifically for Xbox 360. Kinect will also host Kinect Nat Geo TV, which lets you interact with the natural world as an animal (in case you've grown tired of being a hedgehog all the time), and a game tentatively called "Project Columbia." It's proposed as a way to immerse young gamers in books, pairing storytelling with interactive music and illustrations.
We'll see more of these projects before they start arriving in Spring 2012. Another game, Double Fine's Happy Action Theater, is due this holiday. You'll just have to see the trailer to understand its insane exuberance.
Update: We've added screens of Kinect Nat Geo TV. That's ... that's not quite how we envisioned it, but alright. Bears!
http://www.joystiq.com/2011/10/18/pi...inect-for-kid/
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October 19th, 2011, 02:23 Posted By: wraggster
Microsoft's annual Holiday bundle streak continues this year, with two different SKUs: one targeting the family crowd that enjoys flailing around together, the other targeting the hardcore gaming crowd that's all about no-scoping domes. Both bundles are shipping to retailers today, Major Nelson says.
The first bundle includes a 250 GB Xbox 360 S console with a Kinect, a copy ofKinect Adventures and Carnival Games: Monkey See Monkey Do, and three months of Xbox Live Gold, all for $399.99. The other bundle has a suggested price of $299.99, and sports a 250 GB Xbox 360 S console, three months of Xbox Live Gold and copies of Halo: Reach (downloadable) and Fable 3.
http://www.joystiq.com/2011/10/18/mi...-the-holidays/
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October 19th, 2011, 02:06 Posted By: wraggster
As a recent Mech E grad, [Alessandro Timmi] knows a lot about moving bodies. His thesis, Virtual Sensei, aims to quantify those movements for better coaching and training in martial arts.
Virtual Sensei uses a Kinect for motion capture during training. From there, the skeleton recorded by the Kinect has a little bit of processing applied and the speed of the fists is calculated. Check out the for a much better explanation of what Virtual Sensei can do.
Considering the number of sports that require precise alignment of the skeleton and timing of certain movements, we’re thinking this could be the breakout (non-video game) app to get the Kinect into the wild. Golf pros would love to record the swings of their students to make sure their shoulders are aligned.
Most of the Kinect hacks we’ve seen are either robot builds with a few 3D scannersand virtual wardrobes thrown into the mix. Virtual Sensei is a pretty impressive piece of software and with a few additional sports could make a killing.
Check out the freakin awesome animated FAQ and a demo video below.
http://hackaday.com/2011/10/14/impro...with-a-kinect/
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October 19th, 2011, 02:01 Posted By: wraggster
Microsoft’s Halo-centric development studios 343 Industries has outlined exactly how Kinect integration will work in upcoming November release Halo: Anniversary.
IGN reports that three specific features have been detailed – Voice Commands, Analyse Mode and The Library.
The first allows gamers to use voice commands to perform basic in-game tasks such as reloading, tossing grenades and switching between Classic and Remastered graphics.
Analyse Mode, meanwhile, allows users to scan items into a databank called The Library by simply saying ‘scan’. And as for The Library, that itself will be usable via a number of hand gestures
Halo: Anniversary will be released on Xbox 360 on November 15th in the UK.
http://www.mcvuk.com/news/read/halo-...etailed/086578
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October 19th, 2011, 01:47 Posted By: wraggster
Capcom has officially confirmed long-rumoured plans to launch remastered versions of the first three Devil May Cry games for PS3 and Xbox 360.
Set for an “early 2012” release in North America for $39.99, theDevil May Cry HD Collection will bundle PS2 releases Devil May Cry, Devil May Cry 2 and Devil May Cry 3: Dante’s Awakening Special Edition in one high definition package, with unspecified bonus content. Reports have suggested the game will launch in Europe on February 10.
A Devil May Cry HD Collection was first rumoured in June, when a Spanish retailer briefly listed it for PS3. America's ESRB later rated the first three games in the series for Xbox 360 and PS3.
Capcom announced in March 2009 that the Devil May Cry series had shipped over ten million copies worldwide since debuting in 2001.
We recently spoke to Bluepoint Games, the Texas-based developer behind the God Of War, Team Ico and Metal Gear Solid HDcollections on the perils of remastering the classics.
http://www.next-gen.biz/news/devil-m...tion-confirmed
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October 19th, 2011, 01:40 Posted By: wraggster
EA has revealed that Battlefield 3 pre-orders have reached two million units ahead of the game’s launch next Tuesday.
"We're doing very, very well," product manager Kevin O'Leary told Fox Business, citing pre-orders of "a couple of million" copies.
EA chief financial officer Eric Brown said in early September that pre-orders for the shooter had reached 1.25 million units, placing it "well ahead of its predecessor title, Battlefield: Bad Company 2… in the same number of weeks until launch".
With Battlefield 3 set to hit US stores on October 25, exactly two weeks ahead of Activision’s Modern Warfare 3, O'Leary described the launch period as “a great window".
Responding to the suggestion that EA's bringing a knife to a gun fight with its rival publisher, O' Leary said: "We're looking at it as a long-term strategy… so we're just really excited to bring Battlefield 3 out and convert a lot of people over to this warfare experience."
EA said earlier today that over eight million users played the recent Battlefield 3 open beta.
http://www.next-gen.biz/news/battlef...it-two-million
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October 17th, 2011, 22:06 Posted By: wraggster
You know all those convoluted gestures and hate-infused fist pumps you make every time you look at your bank account? Well, you can now put them to good use, thanks to a new Kinect hack from Lithuania-based Etronika. The company's software, which made its debut at last week's CTIA E&Aevent, effectively brings motion-controlled banking directly to your living room. All you have to do is stand in front of your display, clap your hands to choose an icon, or wave your hand back and forth to navigate across the app's carousel menu. This means you can pay your bills, check your balance and return to fetal position without even touching a sharp object. "A lot of banking software apps are filled with boring crap," Etronika CEO Kestutis Gardziulis explained with refreshing candor. "With our software, you could be on the couch at home, having a beer, all while dealing with your bank account and kicking back." Beer, banking and body language -- sounds scandalous! Head past the break to watch a demo video, starring Pam Beesly's doppelgänger.
http://www.engadget.com/2011/10/17/k...-gestures-wil/
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