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Week of March 25, 2007
Andre Vrignaud Confirms no HDMI-cable for 'old 360s', HDMI Advantages
>> Andre Vrignaud (Ozymandias) working for Microsoft confirmed in a reply on his blog what we kinda already knew ... but it's the first time Microsoft says/admits it ... the 'old 360' will not get a HDMI cable:
[QUOTE]
Re: "Will there be an HDMI cable released for us early adopters? If not that kinda sucks."
Unfortunately there will not be an HDMI adapter released for the original 360. The HDMI spec is basically a 2-way street and requires the specific port on both sides to be enabled. This is why we had to change the box.
[/QUOTE]
Thanks to Jake for the link.
Yesterday, Engadget ran a story that Microsoft support claimed a component-to-HDMI adapter might be released. Even if true, they are probably talking about an analog-to-digital converter (which are already available out there btw) which obviously misses the point of using HDMI. Talking about the advantages to use HDMI, kotaku.com has an interesting story about that:
[QUOTE]
I'll explain why someone would want HDMI:
1: DVDCCA, AACS consortium & ICT (& 360 VGA wonkiness)
2: Very few HDTVs will not accept 1080p over component, and most will not take it over VGA.
3: HDMI 1.3 provides audio options that optical or coaxial audio do not.
4: HDMI can carry higher quality video.
5: HDMI is a wonderful cabling solution. If you have 4 component video devices on a switch box (4:1), like I do, you have at least 20 cables on the back of that box.
[/QUOTE]
Full Story: kotaku.com
Discuss this news item on our forums: forums.xbox-scene.com
Reaction to the Elite has been Negative, says research group
>> From gamepro.com:
[QUOTE]
A message sent to us by BrandIntel, a research company focused on "online market intelligence solutions", has reported that "the Elite is landing with more questions and frustration than excitement."
* Overall sentiment for the Elite is negative, and is currently below the positive sentiment garnered by the Wii and the Playstation 3. Although perception of the system is negative, the intent to purchase an Elite is still positive, with 48 percent of gamers who made statements regarding purchasing, suggesting that they would purchase a system.
* Many gamers do not perceive value in purchasing an Elite, and do not feel the addition of HD capabilities and a 120 GB hard drive is worth the new price tag. This lack of value generated 18 percent of Elite-based discussion.
* There is a good deal of frustration from current 360 owners regarding the timing of the product.
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Full Story: gamepro.com
Discuss this news item on our forums: forums.xbox-scene.com
Eight 360 Dev Kits Donated to Aussie Industry
>> From gamespot.com:
[QUOTE]
Game development companies in the Australian State of Victoria received a boost today, with the Victorian Government announcing that it will donate eight Xbox 360 development kits worth A$65,000 ($52,000) to the industry.
The dev kits will be given to the Game Developers Association of Australia (GDAA), which will then loan out the kits to various development studios across Victoria.
Companies interested in putting their hands up for one of the kits will need to put in an application to the GDAA. Throughout the duration of the loan, the GDAA will monitor the progress of game development, and will help developers in the process of getting new games to market.
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Full Story: gamespot.com
Discuss this news item on our forums: forums.xbox-scene.com
'Children of Men' HD DVD Hits Xbox 360 Playback Snag?
>> From highdefdigest.com:
[QUOTE]
We've received numerous reader reports that Universal's new 'Children of Men' HD DVD is a bit of lemon for some Xbox 360 owners, due to incompatibility problems with the console's HD DVD add-on drive.
'Children of Men' hit stores earlier this week on March 27, as one of the most highly-anticipated HD DVD releases on the format thus far, and as our Kenneth Brown wrote in his recent review of the disc, it apparently boasts stellar video and audio. Unfortunately, more than a few Xbox 360 owners have had issues playing it on the device's popular HD DVD add-on drive, with many of our readers writing in to say that the disc simply won't play, and that even multiple returns of the disc have produced the same issue.
When testing the disc out on our own Xbox 360 add-on HD DVD drive, we had the same results -- the disc spins in the tray, but is seemingly unrecognized by the system. A black screen and a reboot threw us back to the Microsoft Dashboard menu regardless of how many times we continued to try and load the film. We tried this dic on another Xbox 360 and found the same problem. Strangely, that tryout was even more unsuccessful -- we didn't even make it to a black screen, it simply spun the disc longer than usual and remained at the Dashboard menu.
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Full Story: highdefdigest.com
Discuss this news item on our forums: forums.xbox-scene.com
New KingKong Shader exploit for XeLL and Linux LiveCD
>> The shader exploit is executed through the booting of a modified KingKong disc via a firmware modded drive.
[QUOTE]
This patch works like the crwl360-loader did, but without a serial cable and still requires a 4532 or 4548 kernel.
If you have a newer kernel, you are out of luck.
The patch includes the fixed sector reader code created by tmbinc and found in the free60 cvs.
Details here: http://free60.cvs.sourceforge.net/free60/xell/readcd
How the patch works:
Patch your King Kong ISO with either the windows exe or compile the source for Linux.
If your using the windows patch, you will need to download cygwin1.dll and put it into your windows/system32 folder.
Then make sure shader.bin, the exe, and your King Kong ISO are in the same folder and run:
win_patch.exe (name of iso)
or
./linux_patch (name of iso)
After your ISO is patched, burn it like a normal game.
How the exploit works:
You must add the XELL loader to lba location 0x20 on a separate CD (any cd/dvd media will work). With a compiled 360 Linux kernel named vmlinux in the root directory.
Once you have burned your patched King Kong disc, just insert the game into the 360 and press start at the King Kong main menu.
After a few seconds your DVD drive should eject the King Kong game and all you have to do is insert your CD with XELL and vmlinux.
It will take approximately 10-15 seconds to boot into Linux if everything is working correctly.
Thanks to:
Everybody working to bring homebrew to the 360!
This shader was generated by xorloser.
[QUOTE]
Cpasjuste released gentoo-xenon-minimal-2006.1 with xenon kernel patches and latest Xell at lba 0x20 of ISO:
[QUOTE]
This is a liveCD for Linux on the Xbox 360. It is based on the official gentoo minimal installer named install-ppc64-minimal-2006.1.iso with a few changes to boot on the Xbox 360 (codename xenon).
Currently, Samsung drives aren't supported.
[/QUOTE]
Note (Xant): Bit more details about what you'll need. As this uses the Hypervisor Vulnerability you'll need Xbox360 kernel 4532 or 4548 (downgrade is not possible atm as Microsoft blew-up an eFuse in CPU to prevent kernel downgrades, if you got a lower kernel version you'll need to find the CD/DVD burnable HD-DVD addon software update called HD_DVD_10-2006.zip (md5 cd4db8e2c94266ab73513c361dd5b8f6) that will upgrade your console to 4532).
You will also need the King Kong Xbox360 game, make an iso of it, apply the above new shader hack that include cdreader and burn it ... and to run this modified gamedisc on your 360 will will need to flash your Xbox360 DVD-ROM drive with a modified firmware of course. And you'll also need to burn the 'xenon modified' gentoo minimal 2006.1 LiveCD that includes the XeLL BootLoader. The LiveCD doesn't support the Toshiba-Samsung DVD drive for now (unless you can get it in 0800-mode, but afaik there's no way to do that if you're using the new method with the new shaders above), so you'll need an Xbox360 Hitachi-LG drive. Then just boot your modified King Kong, press start on the main menu and when the drive opens, insert the gentoo xenon LiveCD.
Official Site: www.free60.org (shader by: xorloser, LiveCD by: Cpasjuste, XeLL by tmbinc)
Download new shader: here
Download new LiveCD: here
Gentoo-Xenon Mini LiveCD Readme: here
Discuss this news item on our forums: New King Kong Exploit and Gentoo Livecd
Rosetta At Home Distributed Folding Coming to Xbox 360?
>> From gizmodo.com:
[QUOTE]
Last week I asked Microsoft to bring Folding@Home to the Xbox 360 to add a boatload of computing power to the Alzheimer's fight. Well, Folding@Home isn't the only distributed protein-folding program around, don't-cha know. There's also Rosetta@Home, a program that happened to receive over $10 million from the Gates Foundation for HIV research last year.
Meanwhile, Xbox Live has been opened to developers via the XNA Game Developers Framework for about a year, allowing people to develop programs on their own for the system. Like... folding programs?
When asked about it on the project's message board, head scientist and developer David Baker said that "we have been discussing this idea with Microsoft quite a bit over the past several weeks; I will keep everybody posted."
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Full Story: gizmodo.com
Discuss this news item on our forums: forums.xbox-scene.com
Grand Theft Auto IV Trailer Online
Xeno Top Gear Product Improvements
Microsoft prepping component to HDMI adapter?
>> From engadget.com:
[QUOTE]
Friendly tipster Evan M wasn't too stoked to see an Xbox 360 Elite headed for store shelves after he'd just purchased a Premium 360, especially considering the fact that his TV has a whole HDMI port twiddling its thumbs, just waiting to get its game on. After informing Microsoft of his displeasure through what we're sure was a politely worded email, Evan claims to have received a slightly encouraging response from a Microsoft support person, promising an upcoming HDMI to component adapter for the 'box to make his situation perhaps a bit more bearable. Unfortunately, the support person also mentioned that "we do not have information as of the moment if the cable will be sold separately,".
[/QUOTE]
Full Story: engadget.com
Thx to leftyfb for news/link.
Discuss this news item on our forums: forums.xbox-scene.com
Xbox going through 'evolutionary' changes, says Xbox UK Boss
>> From gamesindustry.biz:
[QUOTE]
UK Xbox boss Neil Thompson has revealed more of the company's plans for 360, explaining the thinking behind the decision to offer consumers a range of hardware options.
Speaking in a recent interview with Eurogamer TV Thompson said, "The whole strategy with Xbox 360 was that the way we built it from the Core machine up to the pro machine is, we could do two things. One, we could offer consumer choice, so they could come in whenever they wanted to, and decide to add onto it.
"But also, that gives us some flexibility, in that we can make offerings that we can change and move within the context of the Core system. So over the next two or three years I think, yes, we're in an evolutionary stage."
"The definition of the 360 is about the fact that we can make the machine you bought today different in a year's time through the software and the services that we can deliver, and change what that machine can do and enhance it and make it better."
Following the unveiling of Xbox 360 Elite, Microsoft has been keen to emphasise that the Core and Premium packages will still be available and that consumers will have a range of options to choose from.
[/QUOTE]
Full Story: gamesindustry.biz
Discuss this news item on our forums: forums.xbox-scene.com
Kim: Microsoft 'Realistic' About Xbox 360's Japanese Prospects
>> From gamasutra.com:
[QUOTE]
Talking to Gamasutra, Microsoft Game Studios corporate vice president Shane Kim has been discussing the Xbox 360's Japanese outreach:
"I think we're very realistic about our prospects in Japan. When we launched Xbox 360 there, we didn't say we're going to win Japan. We said we need to do better in Japan, and for a couple of reasons. One, it's a big market. Two, we know that in order to do more there, we've got to develop more great Japanese content from Japanese developers, and that's why the partnership with [Hironobu] Sakaguchi is so important."
However, Microsoft's Kim went on the point out that it's not just sales success in the Japanese territory that Microsoft is aiming for, commenting: "It's also important to do well there because there are great Japanese creators and developers. I think developers and publishers in Japan are looking at the success the Xbox 360 is having in the West with titles that came from Japan like Dead Rising and Lost Planet, and realizing that it's an important business opportunity for them."
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Full Story: gamasutra.com
Discuss this news item on our forums: forums.xbox-scene.com
Xbox 360 120GB HDD Content Revealed
>> From teamxbox.com:
[QUOTE]
Microsoft let us know that every standalone 120 GB hard drive and Xbox 360 Elite hard drive will have the full version of the Xbox Live Arcade game Hexic HD as well as a variety of dashboard themes and gamer pics. The stand alone 120 GB hard drive will be preloaded with between 3-5 game demos depending on the region as well as an assortment of Xbox Live Arcade games demos and HD game trailers.
* Trailers: Forza 2 customization and damage videos, Halo Wars, Fable 2, Halo 3 TV Ad, Halo 3 Trailer, Halo 3 et tu brute video, Accessories TV Spot, Wireless World Video, Holiday '06 Accessories Video
* Full Games: Hexic HD
* Playable demos: Assault Heroes, Cloning Clyde, Geometry Wars, Marble Blast Ultra, Small Arms, Feeding Frenzy, Uno, Pac-Man, Street Fighter II, Lumines Live!, Zuma, Heavy Weapon, Lego Star Wars II, Lost Planet (multiplayer Live), Madden '07, Fusion Frenzy 2, Call of Duty 3
The 120 GB hard drive that is included on the Elite console will be preloaded with the same content as the 20GB hard drive on the Xbox 360 Premium Edition:
* Videos: Step into Liquid, Justice League, The Goal 2/3, Adidas Clip #1, Adidas Clip #2, UFC All Access, Viva Piñata, Warren Miller - Extreme Sports
* Full games: Hexic HD
* Playable demos: Lara Croft Tomb Raider LEGEND, Kameo: Elements of Power (2nd Demo), Burnout Revenge
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Full Story: teamxbox.com
Discuss this news item on our forums: forums.xbox-scene.com
On10.net Xbox 360 Elite Video Interview
>> From on10.net (FYI: Microsoft owned blog):
[QUOTE]
I sat down with Albert Penello to get some of your questions answered. Yes, it has HDMI & 120GB hard drive. No, it doesn't have an HD-DVD player. Yes you can still pull audio separate from the HDMI. No, it isn't going to be a limited edition.
[/QUOTE]
Full Story/Donwload Video: on10.net
Discuss this news item on our forums: forums.xbox-scene.com
More Details about Migration of Data from 20GB to 120GB HDD
>> From wired.com:
[QUOTE]
In announcing the Japanese launch of the 120 GB Xbox 360 hard drive, a Microsoft Japan press release revealed some additional information about migration of content: most notably, that the data from two 20 GB drives cannot be combined onto one 120 GB drive.
I've translated the pertinent part of the press release:
* You can only move data from the 20GB Hard Disk to the 120 GB Hard Disk. Transferring data in the other direction, or any other combination, is not possible.
* Any data stored on the 120 GB hard disk will be automatically deleted.
* Any data stored on the 20 GB hard disk will be automatically deleted after it is moved over.
* You cannot put the data from two or more 20 GB hard disks onto one 120 GB hard disk. If you attempt to move multiple drives, only the last one you move will be stored.
* Once you move the data over, it cannot be placed back on the original hard disk.
[/QUOTE]
Full Story: wired.com
Discuss this news item on our forums: forums.xbox-scene.com
Mexico tries swapping Xboxs for guns in drug fight
>> From news.com:
[QUOTE]
Police who have raided vice-ridden Mexico City neighborhoods in a push against drug violence hope to take guns off the streets by offering to swap them for computers and Xbox video game consoles.
Launching the program on Tuesday in the notorious inner-city barrio of Tepito, which police stormed last month, city police chief Joel Ortega said anyone who turns in a high-caliber weapon like a machine gun will get a computer.
Owners can swap smaller guns for cash or Microsoft's Xbox video game consoles under the plan.
[/QUOTE]
Full Story: news.com
Discuss this news item on our forums: forums.xbox-scene.com
Elite won’t kill Core, says Microsoft
>> From 360-gamer.com:
[QUOTE]
Following recent speculation from the German retail sector, it seemed that Microsoft would be using the arrival of the Elite pack to quietly drop the Core model of the 360. However, when we spoke to Microsoft today the company denied that it harboured any such intentions, stating that it would continue to offer its entry level model alongside the hard drive equipped Premium and Elite versions.
[/QUOTE]
Full Story: 360-gamer.com
Discuss this news item on our forums: forums.xbox-scene.com
No EU Date for Xbox 360 Elite *Update: Late Summer?*
>> From xbox360.ign.com:
[QUOTE]
While our US cousins are set to receive the upgraded Xbox 360 Elite next month [April 29th] Microsoft has yet to confirm when the new-fangled console will be available in Europe.
Speaking to IGN this morning, Microsoft spokesperson Kate Szlendak said: "At the moment we have only announced details for North America and this does not apply to Europe". So, we guess we'll just have to sit around and wait for some EU price and release date details.
[/QUOTE]
Small mistake of IGN here, while we don't know the launch date for Europe yet, we do have the prices ... announced in the official press release yesterday: 479.99eur/349.99gbp.
Full Story: xbox360.ign.com
*Update* From gamesindustry.biz:
[QUOTE]
While Microsoft is yet to announce an official release of the Xbox 360 Elite in Europe, High Street retailer HMV has indicated the new-spec console will be available by late summer.
"All we understand is that it's at some point perhaps around the late summer," a spokesperson told our sister site Eurogamer.net.
[/QUOTE]
Full Story: gamesindustry.biz
Discuss this news item on our forums: forums.xbox-scene.com
More about Xbox 360 Elite: no 65nm, DVD drive, IPTV
>> Gizmondo posted an interview with Albert Penello (Director of Global Marketing for Microsoft's Xbox 360) with more details about the Xbox 360 Elite:
[QUOTE]
* Gizmodo: Will there be a new processor inside the Xbox 360 Elite, perhaps one using a cooler-running, 65nm process?
* Penello: It's interesting. There's been a lot of questions about that, and the answer is, the insides of the boxes change all the time. There's nothing specific going on with Elite regarding anything like that. We make changes to the boxes all the time, just as part of cost reductions and continuous improvement, so no, there's nothing really interesting to talk about there.
* Gizmodo: There was talk about how the processor was going to be cooler-running and perhaps quieter.
* Penello: No. we haven't announced anything like that.
* Gizmodo: You can't give us any sort of information about the future of the processor and how that might be upgraded?
* Penello: Again, the thing about that is, it's not going to really be particularly newsworthy. Components have changed since we launched it and will continue to change. There's no upgrade of the processor. We might be doing cost reductions and things like that, but it's nothing that the consumers will ever notice.
* Gizmodo: You did change the DVD drive, didn't you, so that it's quieter?
* Penello: What's interesting is, that was a rumor that was going around that's also interesting in its propagation, but the reality is, we have several different manufacturers of DVD drives, and people claim that they believe that they've heard ones that are quieter, which is interesting, because I don't really know anything about that.
* Gizmodo: So one week you might have one in there, and then another week you might have another, depending on availability?
* Penello: We have a lot of different components in the box. There are 1500 different components in the box. I'm really not trying to be flippant, because a lot of the sites are sort of claiming that there is these specific components that are going to do specific things, and the truth is, there are infinite numbers of combinations of the console in terms of components and who they're manufactured by.
[/QUOTE]
Read the whole interview on gizmodo.com
Discuss this news item on our forums: forums.xbox-scene.com
Xbox 360 Elite: More Pictures and Interview
>> Major Nelson (alias Larry Hryb - Microsoft's Xbox Live Director of Programming) posted more pictures (incl. the back) of the new Xbox 360 Elite console officially announced a few minuted ago.
He also posted a special mid-week interview with Albert Penell (Director of Global Marketing for Microsoft's Xbox 360) about the Xbox360 Elite ... you can download the mp3 here and wma here.
Discuss this news item on our forums: forums.xbox-scene.com
It's Official: Microsoft Unveils Xbox 360 Elite: 120GB, HDMI, Black - April 29th
>> From the press release:
[QUOTE]
Microsoft Corp. today announced the upcoming availability of Xbox 360 Elite, a new model of the video game and entertainment system that will include a 120GB hard drive, a high-definition multimedia interface (HDMI) port, a high-definition cable, and a premium black finish for the console, wireless controller and Xbox LIVE headset. Xbox 360 Elite has enough space for a library of Xbox LIVE Arcade games and thousands of songs, as well as downloadable high-definition TV shows and movies available on Xbox LIVE Marketplace. The new 120GB hard drive also will be sold as a stand-alone accessory to give current Xbox 360 owners greater choice and flexibility in their games and entertainment experience. Additional Xbox 360 Elite accessories, such as the black Xbox 360 Wireless Controller, Xbox 360 Play & Charge kit and the Xbox 360 rechargeable battery, will be available separately. The Xbox 360 Elite and its accessories are expected to begin arriving in U.S. stores on April 29.
"Today's games and entertainment enthusiast has an insatiable appetite for digital high-definition content," said Peter Moore, corporate vice president for the Interactive Entertainment Business at Microsoft. "Xbox 360 Elite's larger hard drive and premium accessories will allow our community to enjoy all that the next generation of entertainment has to offer."
Distinguished by its black finish and signature metallic detailing, Xbox 360 Elite will have an estimated retail price of $479.99 (U.S.)/479.99 euros/349.99 pounds, and will come packed with components and accessories for the ultimate high-definition entertainment experience:
* Xbox 360 Elite console. The console is equipped with a premium black finish and three powerful core processors capable of producing the best in HD entertainment (up to 1080p), 16:9 cinematic aspect ratio, anti-aliasing for smooth textures, full surround sound, HDMI output and DVD playback with upscaling capabilities right out of the box.
* Xbox 360 120GB hard drive. The 120GB detachable hard drive allows gamers to save their games and store television shows, movies, music, pictures, trailers, levels, demos and other content available from Xbox LIVE Marketplace.3 The hard drive is sold separately for an estimated retail price of $179.99 (U.S.)/179.99 euros/119.99 pounds.
* Xbox 360 Wireless Controller (black). This award-winning, high-performance wireless controller, now in black, features the Xbox Guide Button for quick, in-game access to friends and music. It has a range of up to 30 feet and a battery life of 30 hours on two AA batteries. It is sold separately for an estimated retail price of $49.99 (U.S.)/44.99 euros/32.99 pounds.
* Xbox 360 headset (black). Now available in black, the headset lets gamers strategize or trade taunts while playing games and send voice messages to friends on Xbox LIVE.
* Xbox 360 HDMI cable. New to Xbox 360, HDMI allows consumers to get HD video (up to 1080p) and multichannel surround sound, all from one cable.
* Xbox LIVE Silver Membership. With this, gamers can chat with friends online, collect achievements and gamerscores, send and receive voice and text messages, and access Xbox LIVE Marketplace content such as game demos, HD movies and TV, as well as the best in downloadable games from Xbox LIVE Arcade.
* One-month subscription to Xbox LIVE Gold. An Xbox LIVE Gold Membership provides a complete online entertainment experience. Those who subscribe to this premium service can engage in competitive online multiplayer matches, tailor their matchmaking via feedback and accomplishments, chat with more than one person at a time, and take advantage of unique privileges in the Xbox LIVE Marketplace and Xbox LIVE Arcade.
The following accessories for the Xbox 360 Elite console will only be sold separately:
* Xbox 360 Play & Charge kit. Complete with a charging cable and a black rechargeable battery pack, the Xbox 360 Play & Charge kit allows gamers to recharge their Xbox 360 Wireless Controller without interrupting their gameplay. it is sold separately for an estimated retail price of $19.99 (U.S.)/19.99 euros/14.99 pounds.
* Xbox 360 rechargeable battery (black). The rechargeable battery pack provides more than 25 hours of gameplay per charge. It is sold separately for an estimated retail price of $11.99 (U.S.)/11.99 euros/9.99 pounds.
[/QUOTE]
Official 'Xbox360 Elite' Website: xbox.com
Discuss this news item on our forums: forums.xbox-scene.com
Xbox LIVE Movie and TV Roster Grows with Multiple New Partners
>> From the press release:
[QUOTE]
Xbox 360 just keeps getting more entertaining. Microsoft Corp. today announced that TV series and movies from A&E Network, ADV Films, National Geographic and TotalVid.com will add to the more than 1,500 hours of downloadable entertainment content already available on Xbox LIVE in the U.S.
Further capitalizing on the success it has seen with Xbox LIVE, one of the leading distributors of high-definition gaming and entertainment content in the living room, Paramount Pictures, for the first time on Xbox LIVE, will offer its feature films for download in high definition. Available titles will include "Braveheart," "Team America: World Police," "World Trade Center" and "South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut." Also, for the first time, Warner Bros. Home Entertainment will be releasing its direct-to-video movies exclusively in high definition on Xbox LIVE simultaneous with their availability on DVD, starting with "Sublime" and later "Babylon 5: The Lost Tales."
"With more than 300 games expected by year's end, an Xbox LIVE community of more than 6 million people and a growing catalogue of premium content from some of the biggest names in entertainment today, Xbox 360 is an incredible value," said Peter Moore, corporate vice president of the Interactive Entertainment Business in the Entertainment and Devices Division at Microsoft. "Adding partners and content like this helps reinforce the console's position as the center of connected entertainment in the living room."
Downloads on Xbox LIVE have grown in double-digits, month-over-month, with a 400 percent increase since the service began offering TV shows and movies late last year.
Xbox LIVE members have also enjoyed free entertainment content, which has been wildly successful. Comedy Central recently offered the first-ever high definition episode of the No. 1 show on its network, "South Park." "Good Times With Weapons," available for a limited time on Xbox LIVE, has been downloaded more than 380,000 times to date. Warner Bros. Home Entertainment offered promotional clips from the blockbuster hit movie "300" that have been downloaded more than 477,000 times.
While existing partners continue to increase the amount of content they offer, the list of total partners also continues to grow. The new partners announced today will bring an array of content to Xbox LIVE Marketplace. From a reality show about a bounty hunter named Dog or an action-heavy, retro-styled mecha series to a TV show about extreme biking in the mountains or a program detailing a war in the desert, there is something for everyone. Examples of television shows and feature films that will be coming to Xbox LIVE include these:
* A&E Network. "Dog the Bounty Hunter," "King of Cars," "Gene Simmons Family Jewels," "Driving Force" and "Criss Angel Mindfreak"
* ADV Films. Top offerings from the No. 1 producer-distributor of Japanese animation ("anime") outside Japan
* National Geographic. The television series "Is It Real?" and "Taboo" as well as programs such as "21 Days to Baghdad" and "Air Force One"
* TotalVid.com. A broad action-sports offering including extreme skiing and snowboarding, skateboarding, motocross, surfing and mountain biking
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Discuss this news item on our forums: forums.xbox-scene.com
Confirmed: Wistron will Stop Producing Xbox 360s
>> Yesterday's story is now confirmed, Wistron will stop manufacturing the Xbox360.
From next-gen.biz:
[QUOTE]
In a prepared statement, Microsoft said that its contract with Taiwan-based Wistron would "voluntarily expire" on July 1 this year. Production volumes will be transferred to Microsoft's remaining two manufacturers, Celestica and Flextronics.
"These types of adjustments are considered a common business practice within the consumer electronics industry and should not reflect on the relationship between Microsoft and Wistron," the statement continued. "Also, this does not affect our guidance which still implies we expect to sell about 12 million Xbox 360 consoles by end of June 2007."
[/QUOTE]
Full Story: next-gen.biz
Discuss this news item on our forums: forums.xbox-scene.com
Microsoft to Announce Xbox 360 Elite Tomorrow?
>> From biz.gamedaily.com:
[QUOTE]
An industry source who wished to remain anonymous has informed GameDaily BIZ that Microsoft will finally announce the so called Xbox 360 Elite tomorrow, Wednesday March 28, 2007.
The new black colored 360 is rumored to come with a 120GB hard drive, an HDMI port and cable, but no HD DVD drive. It's also not clear whether it will feature the same 90-nanometer chipset or the cheaper to produce, more effective 65-nanometer chip, which Microsoft will likely switch over to soon.
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Full Story: biz.gamedaily.com
Discuss this news item on our forums: forums.xbox-scene.com
Xeno Top Gear LED Pro
>> From xenotopgear.com:
[QUOTE]
We are proud to present XENO TOP GEAR LED PRO.
The LED PRO has a added feature over the original XENO TOP GEAR with illuminating LEDs that compliment your XBox 360 in style.
[/QUOTE]
Official Site: www.xenotopgear.com
Discuss this news item on our forums: forums.xbox-scene.com
Taiwan game firms: PS3 unable to surpass Xbox 360 until mid-2008
>> From digitimes.com:
[QUOTE]
Viewing that the sales performance of the PlayStation 3 (PS3) has been far short of Sony's original expectations since its launch in November 2006, the PS3 will be unable to surpass the Xbox 360 in terms of global market status until mid-2008 when its games library reaches a sufficient size, and then may reach its peak in 2009, according to Taiwan games developers/operators.
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Full Story: digitimes.com
Discuss this news item on our forums: forums.xbox-scene.com
More Context on Memory Reservation on Xbox360 and PS3
>> From Microsoft's Andre Vrignaud's Blog:
[QUOTE]
Xbox 360 reserves 32 MB for the system. The remaining 480 MB (94%) is completely available for games to use how they wish. The 32MB of system memory is used for the kernel, device drivers and the Xbox 360 Guide, which includes friends lists, voice/text messages, achievement lists, gamercards, Live Marketplace, 1-1 chat, virtual keyboard, and the music player. For CPU reservation, core 0 is completely available to the game, and the system reserves a small percentage (think single digits) of core 1 and 2.
For comparison, PS3 developers have to deal with a system that has memory split into two 256MB banks, one of which is reserved for graphics only. A large portion of both the memory banks are reserved for the system. On top of that, games that want to support other features, like friends lists or in-game commerce, take an additional memory hit. Arstechnica.com indicates that a total of 96MB is reserved for the system on PS3. Innerbits.com indicates that 9MB is required for friends lists (and 60MB for in-game commerce!). If those numbers are correct, a PS3 title using friends lists functionality has 512-96-9 = 407MB available, 73MB less than an Xbox 360 title using the same features.
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Full Story: ozymandias.com
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Xecuter: Tutorial to Flash Hitachi 078fk with Blaster360
Xbox 360 Black Elite Production Shots
>> From xbox360fanboy.com:
[QUOTE]
We've got a couple spy shots hot off the production line in China of the Xbox 360 Elite. They were taken with a cellphone so the shots aren't of the highest quality, but they get the job done. The site hosting the thread is TGFCer, which stands for "TV Game Fans Club", and according to our tipster, is one of the biggest Chinese bbs for video game enthusiasts.
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Full Story: xbox360fanboy.com and tgfcer.com
Discuss this news item on our forums: forums.xbox-scene.com
Why a 100usd Xbox can be better than the Apple TV
>> From arstechnica.com:
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In these days of PS3s and Xbox 360s, it's easy to forget the consoles that came before them. But they're still there, and with the prices falling by the day and huge libraries of games that you know will work without emulation issues, there's still life in them. Just buying the XBox for a disposable weekend of Forza might be seen as wasteful, but Microsoft's first foray into the games console market has more uses than just gaming. In fact, in the following ways it may even be a better media investment than competing products. What does it do better than the much hyped-AppleTV, for instance?
1. Lower price: $99 sure is cheap compared to $300
2. Open standards for types of files: Being able to play DivX or WMV content is good
3. It also plays games: It's still a games console, after all
The arrival of our XBox 360 meant that our first XBox could be repurposed as the living-room media server. Now I don't need to keep plugging my PowerBook into the bedroom TV set, and Elle can pipe her music collection from her PC to her heart's content. It's not the sort of thing I'd suggest for my parents or anyone else of a technophobic nature, but if the AppleTV won't do what you want or if you prefer rolling your own, pop down to your local used video game emporium and see what's lurking in their stockroom. Apple TV certainly has its uses, but the original Xbox is easier to hack, cheaper, and has much more support from the hacking community right now than Apple TV. If you've not looked into XBMC, it's absolutely worth it. Depending on your needs, it may be a far superior option to Apple TV, or any of the other PC-to-TV devices out there today.
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Full Story: arstechnica.com
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'Market doesn’t need Blu-ray', says UK Xbox boss
>> From gamesindustry.biz:
[QUOTE]
Speaking exclusively to GamesIndustry.biz, UK boss Neil Thompson dismissed suggestions that the PlayStation 3's in-built Blu-ray drive gives the machine a tactical advantage over Xbox 360.
"Do I want to make people pay £200 extra for a machine with discs that have storage space I don't need? My answer's no, I don't need to do that today," Thompson said. "And I don't think I'm going to need to do that for quite a while."
"I'm not sure the market has moved to high definition [movies] yet," he said.
"And if and when it does, then the way that we've constructed the offering we've made means we'll be able to go whichever way we want."
"This is about the architecture of the hardware. With the PS3 you've got a big, heavy truck that requires a big, heavy engine. With Xbox you've got a much more nimble box that uses software in the architecture of the box in a much more nimble way."
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Full Story: gamesindustry.biz
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Wistron likely to discontinue production of Xbox 360
>> From next-gen.biz:
[QUOTE]
Xbox 360 manufacturer Wistron is likely to reduce and eventually discontinue production of Microsoft's Xbox 360 in 2008, according to a report on DigiTimes based on a story that originally appeared in Chinese-language newspaper EDN.
The decision is believed to be based on the declining profitability of manufacturing the 360, and the dissatisfaction held by the Taiwanese company over Microsoft's strategic links to rival ODM (original design manufacturer) giant Celestica, which also manufactures the console.
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Full Story: next-gen.biz and digitimes.com
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