|
Week of March 16, 2008
Alex St. John: 'Consoles as We Know Them are Gone'
>> From extremetech.com:
[QUOTE]
Alex St. John is co-founder and CEO of WildTangent. Before he founded the company in 1998, he was one of the writers and essential in the creation of Microsoft's DirectX libraries. St. John was also Microsoft's "games evangelist" and pushed the PC and Windows as a key gaming platform.
WildTangent plans to release the Orb, a new PC-based "console," in April, and offer its lineup of indie games plus games from major publishers like Sierra, THQ, and more.
We interviewed Alex St. John to get his take on the future of gaming. St. John believes, among other things, that the console is doomed, and that PC gaming is due for a renaissance.
* ExtremeTech: I understand that at WildTangent, you're working hard on the Orb, which is technically a console for the PC. Now, Epic Games' Tim Sweeney, I'm sure you heard, put forth a very widely posted quote, "PCs are good for anything, just not games." That was taken out of context; he'd been asked about mainstream computers that lack graphics and audio power. How do you react to that quote?
* Alex St. John: I've known Tim Sweeney a long time, and he makes a very important point. To be clear, PCs are fantastic gaming platforms, in spite of Intel and Microsoft. And they should absolutely be pinioned for the stupid stuff they've done to make the PC not as good a gaming platform as it would inherently be without their help screwing it up.
And so the shame of it is, the PC's a fantastic gaming platform, superior to anything anybody's every imagined, superior to every console, and Microsoft and Intel put crap in the PC that make it not so good. And so if you see a PC that is not denuded by things interfering with it by Microsoft and Intel, in many cases like an Intel crappy graphics chip, or a bloated Vista operating system, it's a fantastic gaming platform. And the shame is, if the low end of the PC market, the mass market PCs that everybody buys did not come with these crappy graphics chips on them and was not burdened with a fat OS, that the PC would be a larger contiguous gaming platform than all the next-generation consoles combined, probably would be clearly superior; the PC is the home of the most profitable game in history generating more revenue than the top 10 console games combined--that's World of Warcraft generating a 1.2 billion dollars a year in revenue, that's a pure PC game.
So it is clear that PC gaming absolutely killed [the market] in terms of revenue, killed it in terms of consumer usage--the average console gamer, according to Powers Associates, spends more time playing PC games than console games.
[/QUOTE]
Full Story: extremetech.com (3 pages)
Discuss this news item on our forums: forums.xbox-scene.com
The real reason Microsoft won't bring Blu-ray to the Xbox: HDi
>> From thestandard.com:
[QUOTE]
Microsoft stepped up to deliver iHD (later renamed HDi), which was a trademarked implementation of HD DVD's XML markup language. Toshiba liked it. They made HDi functionality a standard for HD DVD players, and eventually partnered with Microsoft to expand HDi's reach by founding the Advanced Interactivity Consortium. The primary goal of this group was forging industry relationships to further promote HDi in emerging outlets like downloadable and streaming media.
The deal gave HD DVD its competitive next-gen features, but here's the rub: Microsoft didn't need physical media to implement HDi. All of HDi's interactive bells and whistles could theoretically be applied to downloadable video content, as long as a runtime environment was available. Even as the disc format war raged on, elements of HDi's runtime environment showed up in Microsoft products like the Xbox 360 and Vista.
So, let's put everything together. Microsoft has a popular gaming console and an operating system that are HDi compatible. It also has a group of developers working on HDi applications, and a 360-accessible HD video library that could feasibly be outfitted with next-gen interactivity features. All that's left is the dog and pony show needed to convince content providers that HDi-enhanced content and Microsoft's video outlets are key to making HD video downloads a viable revenue stream.
[/QUOTE]
Full Story: thestandard.com
Discuss this news item on our forums: forums.xbox-scene.com
Microsoft Finally Makes Things Right for Cleaned Xbox360
>> From hawtymcbloggy.com:
[QUOTE]
Three weeks ago I told the tragic tale of Nathaniel, a passionate gamer whose custom Xbox 360 got "cleaned" during an extended stay at the Microsoft repair center. One week after that I told the heartwarming story of Bungie, a very generous gaming studio who went above and beyond for Nathaniel by sending him the best Halo 3-themed goody bag ever. Today brings the final chapter to his story, the part that many people doubted would ever happen.
What exactly was in this mysterious box that Microsoft wanted him to enjoy? Not a letter or an answer as to why his artwork and autographs were erased, but instead plenty of other stuff to make up for their mistake. Included in Microsoft's big box of goodies were :
* 1 Xbox 360 console (signed by original RT signers, new artwork by Luke McKay, signatures from Xbox 360 team, additional signatures from Bungie Staff)
* 1 Xbox 360 faceplate (signed by Bill Gates, among others)
* Devil May Cry 4
* Lost Odyssey
* Rainbow Six Vegas 2
* Gears of War
* Kingdom Under Fire: Circle of Doom
* 2 'What's Your Gamerscore?' Bumperstickers
* Xbox 360 CD Wallet
* Signed picture of Bill Gates
[/QUOTE]
Full Story: hawtymcbloggy.com
Discuss this news item on our forums: forums.xbox-scene.com
Microsoft in GTA IV Panic?
>> From gameplayer.com.au:
[QUOTE]
It's not that simple: it's not even a question of which is the better console as it certainly looks like the Xbox 360 version will be the superior buy. It's because a large proportion of GTA's fans aren't traditional gamers. They're casual gamers who couldn't resist the style, flair and gameplay offered by Rockstar and added a GTA to their library of Need for Speed, SingStar and FIFA. And as such, millions of GTA fans are not up to speed on the console war thing. They don't care which format has the best games, offers the superior online service, or has the more proficient hardware. They see GTA, and they think PlayStation.
We heard something the other day, a line of dialogue that must scare Microsoft to death. It came from the mouth of a twenty something electrician as he installed a car stereo for a mate. He said "I bought my PS3 to play GTA IV".
That wasn't the comment of a fanboy, or an educated decision by a gaming enthusiast who had weighed up all the pros and cons of the two systems: it was simply all he knew. There was a GTA coming out, so he went and bought a PlayStation. Microsoft is desperate to change that mentality, but what started as a broad plan has seemingly deteriorated into panic.
[/QUOTE]
Full Story: gameplayer.com.au (3 pages)
Discuss this news item on our forums: forums.xbox-scene.com
Xbox Drops 500 Limited Edition GTA IV 360s
>> From complex.com:
[QUOTE]
Microsoft added to the buzz leading up to the anticipated release of Grand Theft Auto IV by dropping a limited run of 500 GTA-branded Xbox 360 Elite systems and a briefcase full of peripherals today. We got our hands on number 170 out of 500.
[/QUOTE]
Full Story: complex.com
Discuss this news item on our forums: forums.xbox-scene.com
Xbox Europe Appoints ex-Nintendo Marketer
>> From gamasutra.com:
[QUOTE]
Microsoft officials have announced that ex-Nintendo Europe and I-play boss David Gosen is to join the company's European operations as vice president of strategic marketing for the Interactive Entertainment Business EMEA (Europe, Middle East and Africa) unit.
In his new role Gosen will be tasked with driving the communications strategy and all marketing for the division as well as having responsibility for the Xbox Live business in Europe.
He will also be expected to expand the Xbox 360 market in Europe, particularly in terms of demographics and mass-market appeal. He will report directly to the unit's vice president Chris Lewis.
[/QUOTE]
Full Story: gamasutra.com
Discuss this news item on our forums: forums.xbox-scene.com
LucasArts: Most games don't take advantage of next-gen hardware
>> From mcvuk.com:
[QUOTE]
US developer LucasArts has said that whilst many studios are pushing the visual envelope, few are genuinely taking advantage of the power offered by the Xbox 360 and PS3.
Speaking to CVG, a spokesperson for LucasArts stated: "To put it simply, Fracture is one of the few games that really takes advantage of all of the processing power of the new consoles.
"While a lot of games are pushing the limits of what can be done visually in games, we also wanted to push gameplay to levels that literally could not be done on the previous generation of hardware."
[/QUOTE]
Full Story: mcvuk.com
Discuss this news item on our forums: forums.xbox-scene.com
Best Buy to hand out 10M USD in gift cards to HD DVD purchasers
>> From tgdaily.com:
[QUOTE]
Best Buy today said that it will be sending out $50 gift cards to apparently more than 200,000 of its U.S. customers who purchased HD DVD players and Xbox 360 HD DVD units before February 23 of this year.
Best Buy is the latest company in line that wants to ease your pain (and quickly transition to Blu-ray), in case your high-def bets were placed on HD DVD. In prepared statement, the company's president and chief operating officer, Brian Dunn, said that "the DVD format war has divided our customers in a way we haven't seen since Betamax took on VHS more than 20 years ago."
In case you are wondering why Saturday, February 23 is the cut-off date: It is the end of the week, in which Toshiba announced to cancel HD DVD (February 19).
[/QUOTE]
Full Story: tgdaily.com
Discuss this news item on our forums: forums.xbox-scene.com
Xbox or PC Stolen? Don't Forget to Cancel Your Credit Cards
>> From consumeraffairs.com:
[QUOTE]
You walk into your home and make an anguishing discovery - you've been the victim of a burglary. Besides your TV, some jewelry and your PC, the thief got away with your Xbox 360 video game console.
Granted, it's not a good situation, but if you stop after calling the police and your insurance agent, the burglary could get even worse. If you've used your credit card to open an account on Xbox Live, the thief could be downloading games and buying points. Because your credit card is tucked safely in your wallet, you may be none the wiser.
The Belgian gamers' blog Fragland.net has reported just such an occurrence in Canada. It is advising its readers to keep credit card information off their game consoles.
The post raises an important point in this era of e-commerce. Our fictional burglary victim might also be vulnerable to credit card theft when a computer is lost or stolen.
[/QUOTE]
Full Story: consumeraffairs.com
Discuss this news item on our forums: forums.xbox-scene.com
UK Xbox 360 Sales Up 36pct Since Price Cut
>> From next-gen.biz:
[QUOTE]
Microsoft's decision to drop the price of its entire range of Xbox 360 consoles in Europe has resulted in an immediate and significant sales increase in the UK.
Sales monitor ChartTrack told MCV that Xbox 360 sales have leapt 36 percent since March 14 when the price cut was introduced.
"During week 11, Xbox 360 enjoyed a 36 percent jump on week 10, which is a nice refreshing uplift for the console" said ChartTrack director Dorian Bloch.
[/QUOTE]
Full Story: next-gen.biz
Discuss this news item on our forums: forums.xbox-scene.com
Asustek subsidiaries reportedly land OEM orders for Xbox 360 consoles
>> From digitimes.com:
[QUOTE]
Pegatron Technology and Unihan Technology, two OEM makers spun off from Asustek Computer, have reportedly secured OEM orders for Xbox 360 consoles and will undertake the production at their factories in Suzhou, China, with an initial monthly shipment volume of about 500,000 units, according to industry sources in Taiwan.
In addition to the Xbox 360, Pegatron and Unihan are undertaking OEM production of PlayStation 3 consoles for Sony, the sources noted.
[/QUOTE]
Full Story: digitimes.com
Discuss this news item on our forums: forums.xbox-scene.com
XBMC, a Google Summer of Code 2008 Project
>> From xbmc.org:
[QUOTE]
XBMC is participating in this year's Google Summer of Code (GSoC), which means that we are looking for creative college students who are skilled in the C++ programming language and would be interesting in getting paid by Google to work on new features for XBMC this summer.
Google is this year sponsoring its fourth annual Google Summer of Code (GSoC), a program in which Google rewards students with a stipend of up to US$4500 in order for them to get involved and develop open source code for an existing and established open source project, such as XBMC. So if you are interested here is your chance, XBMC is a cross-platform multimedia-player for Linux, Mac OS X, Microsoft Windows, and the original Xbox game console.
The student application period starts on Monday March 24th and closes Monday March 31st, so be sure to hurry to sign-up and submit a project proposal by then, however there's no reason to wait for the application period to start before you get involved, so you can begin now deciding on an idea and discussing it with the team. To take part you are required to perform a small qualification task to make sure that you are prepared for your larger project. There is more information and some ideas for qualification tasks and projects on our wiki article for this years GSoC - see the link below. So get thinking about what you'd like to see in XBMC this summer that you may be able to help out on, and post on our forums about your idea for feedback from the team and the community!
[/QUOTE]
Full Story: xbmc.org | xbmc wiki | xbmc forums
Discuss this news item on our forums: forums.xbox-scene.com
Todd Bishop on Microsoft's Xbox 360 Shortage Claim
>> From Todd Bishop at seattlepi.nwsource.com:
[QUOTE]
As the numbers show, Xbox 360 unit sales were nearly 24 percent higher during the recent holidays, compared with the same period a year before. That would appear to support the company's assertions.
Some in the industry are still skeptical about the way this has played out. There have been reports of some Xbox 360 models being out of stock in some stores. But have the shortages alone been enough to change the sales standings? It's worth noting that the situation wasn't severe enough to garner widespread attention until Microsoft itself went public with word of shortages the day before the NPD Group released its data for January, the first month in which the PS3 was ahead of the Xbox 360.
The timing "was a little suspicious," said Michael Pachter, an analyst with Wedbush Morgan Securities, via phone today. Normally, he said, he would have expected the company to talk about the shortages sooner.
"Right now, you can go into retail and find an Xbox (360) pretty much everywhere, today," Greenberg (Xbox 360 group product manager) said. "But we don't consider ourselves fully in stock today because there are retailers who want to buy more consoles from us, and we're unable to supply that."
[/QUOTE]
Full Story: seattlepi.nwsource.com
Discuss this news item on our forums: forums.xbox-scene.com
Nokia Sponsors User-Generated Theme Contest For Xbox Live
>> From gamasutra.com:
[QUOTE]
Disruptive Media, a publisher of gamer pictures and themes for Xbox Live, has announced a contest soliciting user art to be purchased with points as downloadable themes on Xbox Live.
The Nokia-sponsored contest, which runs March 17th-April 28th 2008, encourages digital artists to submit their designs via a contest template at the official site. Users can also elect to be affiliated with an Xbox 360 community partner such as Evil Avatar, Platform Nation or Xbox Addict.
After passing an internal review process, individual winners will be determined by community vote, with the top theme officially published to Xbox Live Marketplace. The winner will also receive various home entertainment prizes and a library of Xbox 360 games.
[/QUOTE]
Full Story: gamasutra.com
Discuss this news item on our forums: forums.xbox-scene.com
Famitsu best of 2007 list shows a lot of 360 love
>> From joystiq.com:
[QUOTE]
The Xbox 360 has a reputation for being the underdog in Japanese sales, partly due to its status as the only American-produced console of the big three. So color us surprised by Famitsu's list of the top 25 titles of 2007, as ranked by the magazine's review scores, which features a lot of love for Microsoft's white wonder.
Of the 25 titles ranked, a whopping ten are Xbox 360 titles. The games -- which include titles like Lost Odyssey, Halo 3 and Forza 2 -- make up the majority of the list, with the DS and PS3 tying at a distant second with five games apiece.
[/QUOTE]
Full Story: joystiq.com | videogaming247.com
Discuss this news item on our forums: forums.xbox-scene.com
Microsoft Confirms Exceptions for Xbox Live Arcade Limitations
>> From dailytech.com:
[QUOTE]
Microsoft confirmed the news to DailyTech in a statement: "Given the sizeable content in Bionic Commando Rearmed and Street Fighter II Turbo HD Remix, Microsoft allowed Capcom to work with a larger file size limit for both of those titles in order to provide gamers with the game experience that Capcom desired, such as full hi-res textures or 1080p support. The Xbox LIVE Arcade versions of both titles will have complete feature and graphical parity with the iterations that will be available on other platforms."
Although both upcoming Capcom downloadable games will live outside of the 150 MB limit, Microsoft won't be changing its rule anytime soon.
[/QUOTE]
Full Story: dailytech.com
Discuss this news item on our forums: forums.xbox-scene.com
Xecuter 360 RROD Repair Kit Ready and Shipping
>> From team-xecuter.com:
[QUOTE]
After a LOT more testing to ensure the optimum materials used in the 360 RROD Repair Kit we are now ready to start making the kits up and to start shipping.
There will be 2 kits available:
* 1 Xbox 360 Bulk Kit: Includes Repair Materials for 1 Xbox 360, 1 x T10 Screwdriver & 1 x T8 Screwdriver)
* 10 Xbox 360's Kit: Includes Repair Materials for 10 Xbox 360's (This kit is assumed for repair "professionals" who would already have tools in hand)
All machines tested so far are still working however it is impossible to say how long the fix can work for due to the fact we'd never get it to market if we had to test for a year But the fix is pretty solid and our testers are very happy (and surprised) by the results of such a simple fix.
The cost is very cheap and we will be notifying all resellers of the confirmed RRP when they receive stocks in the next week or so. As you can see we have made this kit affordable to everyone so regardless of how long the fix works for it makes sense for everyone to give it a try !
Our current estimates are:
1 Single Xbox 360 Kit $9.95 each
10 Single Xbox 360 Kits $8.95 each
50 Single Xbox 360 Kits $7.95 each
100 Single Xbox 360 Kits $6.95 each
1000 Single Xbox 360 Kits $4.95 each
(Bulk Kits are for 10 Xbox 360's - Includes repair materials only - no screwdrivers, printed instructions or retail packaging)
*Edit*: Made a dumb mistake on these price estimates yesterday - sorry
1 Bulk Xbox 360 Kit $18.95 each (10 Xbox 360's)
10 Bulk Xbox 360 Kit $16.95 each (100 Xbox 360's)
50 Bulk Xbox 360 Kit $15.95 each (500 Xbox 360's)
100 Single Xbox 360 Kits $14.95 each (1,000 Xbox 360's)
1000 Single Xbox 360 Kits $13.95 each (10,000 Xbox 360's)
[/QUOTE]
Official Site: http://team-xecuter.com
Discuss this news item on our forums: forums.xbox-scene.com
8bitjoystick's Xbox Insider: Supply Problems and 60GB HDD
>> From 8bitjoystick.com:
[QUOTE]
The internal distribution of reports in the xbox unit has been severely restricted since I started posting in Feb. That was predictable. There have also been emails from top management about "serious" concerns regarding leaks. So information has become a little harder to come by.
But not impossible. I've been told that the supply constraints are due to supply chain issues regarding the quality of ODDs (optical disc drive) and GPUs (graphics chips). It didn't help that no one in China works for 2 weeks during CNY (Chinese New Year).
And it's confirmed 100% that the HD (hard drive) is moving to 60g standard. Those configurations are in design verification testing right now. I'd bet that this changeover also contributed to the lack of units. When MS changes major sub-assemblies like this, they try not to over produce the old configurations.
So this is a case of poor planning, supply chain and quality issues restricting production. Not demand out stripping capacity (supply).
[/QUOTE]
Full Story: 8bitjoystick.com
Discuss this news item on our forums: forums.xbox-scene.com
BenHeck's New Single-handed Controller
>> From benheck.com:
[QUOTE]
Recently I was asked to build another one of the right-handed controllers, and I thought I'd talk about it on the site a bit.
This isn't the production model that I've been working on with eDimensional, you can read more about that here. But this is a refinement of a right-hand only design, similar to one I did last year.
[/QUOTE]
Full Story: benheck.com
Discuss this news item on our forums: forums.xbox-scene.com
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
