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Week of March 4, 2007
Viral Marketing Leads to Mock Gunfight
>> From canada.com:
[QUOTE]
Several Ottawa high school students have been suspended for re-enacting an Xbox commercial that involves a mock gun fight[video] -- the latest in a series of attempts around the world to mimic the segment that, according to media analysts, amounts to free "viral advertising" for Microsoft Corp.
The latest incident took place on Tuesday in the cafeteria at South Carleton High School when a crowd of students shot finger guns at one another and feigned death by either falling or slumping to the ground.
"If you really want to get something rolling, what better way is there than telling young (people) they can't do it or see it," said David Spencer, an analyst at the University of Western Ontario. "If the establishment likes it, it has to be bad. If the establishment thinks it's bad, it has to be good.
"What's interesting about the whole story is who released it? Did the advertising agency do it ... did Microsoft do it?"
Following the Ottawa incident, six students were given one-day suspensions, according to some participants.
But some students who were suspended say they did nothing wrong.
Alex Dorward, 17, said he participated in Tuesday's flash mob because he just "wanted to have some fun."
"Our school spirit is terrible. No one does anything as a group, no one supports any teams," he said. "As far as we know, a flash mob is not breaking any school rules. People can point fingers and people can fall backwards."
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Full Story: canada.com
Video of the South Carleton High School 'Flash Mob': video.canada.com
Discuss this news item on our forums: forums.xbox-scene.com
id Software CEO: piracy pushed us multiplatform
>> From joystiq.com:
[QUOTE]
At an early session Friday, id Software CEO Todd Hollenshead gave a lecture on the problems of piracy on the internet. During his speech, Hollenshead revealed that, although they are still primarily a PC developer, id Software had begun to look at console game releases as a way to financially combat piracy.
"Piracy has pushed id as being multiplatform," Hollenshead said, noting that the current project Enemy Territory: Quake Wars is being scheduled for release on PC, Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3. Hollenshead's rationale is that console piracy is, by a large factor, minimal relative to the rampant PC piracy.
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Full Story: joystiq.com
Discuss this news item on our forums: forums.xbox-scene.com
GDC 07: 4 games created by 4 teams in in 4 days using XNA GSE
>> From the press release:
[QUOTE]
On Monday March 5 at the start of the Game Developers Conference in San Francisco, four community game developer teams from four different countries each set out to create an original game using XNA Game Studio Express in just four days.
Today, the XNA Game Studio Express Challenge teams, together with Microsoft, unveiled their completed games to the public at the Game Developers Conference in celebration of the launch of the "Dream-Build-Play" global game design contest. The "Dream-Build-Play" contest offers aspiring game developers the opportunity to showcase their game design ideas and talent to the world, as well as the chance to have the top game published on Xbox LIVE Arcade.
Each XNA Game Studio Express Challenge team worked from Monday March 5 to Thursday March 8 at Windows Vista stations in the XNA Lobby Bar at the Game Developers Conference to bring their game to life.
The four games include:
* "DungeonQuest," a 3D action RPG from independent game developers Benjamin Nitschke and Christoph Rienaecker from exDream in Germany. Benjamin and Christoph managed to include two player co-op multiplayer in this expansive dungeon crawler.
* "Simian Escape," from independent game developers Jonathon Stevens and Patrick Glanville from the United States, is a 2D run-and-jump game in a prehistoric setting built with the help of Torque X.
* "Damage Control" is a game created by hobbyist game developer Josh Butterworth from the United Kingdom with the remote assistance of Maher "m0dus" Al-Samkari and the NeoGAF community. Perimeter is a four player multiplayer siege game where you must defend your base from wave after wave of invading aliens.
* "AbduX," from graduate student game developer Andre Furtado from Brazil, is a zany action game that turns the tables on the classic humanity vs. aliens formula. This time, the player assumes the role of an alien and pilots a flying saucer through the countryside to abduct unsuspecting earthlings while trying to avoid detection. What's impressive about AbduX is how it incorporates voice recognition commands to control functions of the spacecraft.
Anyone with XNA Game Studio Express can play the games on a Windows PC. You can design your own game by downloading XNA Game Studio Express for free at msdn.xna.com.
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Download games: http://creators.xna.com/
Download Screenshots: here
Discuss this news item on our forums: forums.xbox-scene.com
Xbox360 Linux-PPC Kernel 2.6.20 Diff-Patches - Linux Loader Coming Soon
>> Felix Domke (tmbinc), known from the GameCube homebrew scene and the 'Console Hacking 2006' & 'Xbox and Xbox 360 Hacking' presentations at 23/22C3 posted diff-style kernel patches on ozlabs' linuxppc-dev mailinglist to add Xbox360 hardware support to the linux v2.6.20 kernel.
He also talks about a 'linux loader' that will be released soon that will allow to (easily) exploit the Hypervisor Vulnerability (so I guess that means it'll only work on Xbox360 kernel 4532 or 4548, not with the new 4552) ... so we might soon be able to boot linux on a retail 360 :-)
[QUOTE]
This series of patches add support for the Xbox 360 gaming console.
Note that these patches were written by different people, who want to remain anonymous. These drivers were written without hardware documentation being available.
There are probably more than some rough edges. Please comment and/or provide patches.
To actually run this, you need a special loader which exploits the recently announced vulnerability. This loader was developed separately and should be available soon.
[/QUOTE]
News-Source: ozlabs.org (via qj.net)
Donwload diff-patches: 01 | 02 | 03 | 04 | 05 | 06 | 07
Discuss this news item on our forums: forums.xbox-scene.com
GDC07: 360 BC Work Slowing
>> From kotaku.com:
[QUOTE]
It may have been lost in the news yesterday, but right after the Microsoft Blogger Breakfast I cornered Chris Satchell to ask him about the future of the Xbox 360's backwards compatibility.
"At some point we're going to focus less on it," he said. "When you get to the end of this year there will be a reduced focus on backwards compatibility. There are so many 360 games out there. I don't know if it's important anymore."
[/QUOTE]
Full Story: kotaku.com
Discuss this news item on our forums: forums.xbox-scene.com
Epic Threatens over Custom Gears of War Figure
>> It shouldn't always be Sony making stupid PR mistakes ... today the award goes to Epic Games for sending a 'cease and desist' letter to Emilio Lopez for creating a nice little Gears of War Munny as Christmas present for his cousin. Note that only one was made, and it has never been offered for sale or made any profit of it. All the logos etc that were used on the box were taken from the fan site pack Epic gave out. Even if they maybe have a valid legal standpoint it's just 'not done' to bug your fans like this if you ask me, certainly not after hyping the game like they did with fan packs and what not.
Read More: http://mywebpages.comcast.net/eightcell/emilio.html
News-Source: forums.somethingawful.com (thanks to Shadowman for the link)
Discuss this news item on our forums: forums.xbox-scene.com
Microsoft announces first XNA developed XBLA release
>> From pro-g.co.uk:
[QUOTE]
The XNA Studio Express developed title Schizoid will be the first game created using the XNA tools to be released on Xbox Live Arcade.
It was announced today that it will be the first game released on Xbox Live Arcade developed using XNA Studio Express. The game is described as a co-op action game in which two players must protect each other from barrages of glowing enemies.
The game is expected to be released before the end of 2007.
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Full Story: pro-g.co.uk
Discuss this news item on our forums: forums.xbox-scene.com
GDC 07: Gears of War Sweeps Developers Choice Awards
>> From gamasutra.com:
[QUOTE]
Epic Games and Microsoft Game Studios' Xbox 360 shooter Gears of War won Best Game at the Game Developers Choice Awards, hosted by the Game Developers Conference (GDC) at the Moscone Convention Center in San Francisco. The title also picked up awards for Visual Arts and Technology.
Clover Studios and Capcom Entertainment's Okami and Nintendo's Wii Sports fared well too, picking up two awards each, for Character Design and Game Design respectively, as well as one each for Innovation. The Innovation award was also shared by Bostjan Cadez, developer of Flash title Line Rider.
Other major award winners included Harmonix Music Systems and RedOctane's Guitar Hero II for Audio, Nintendo's The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess, which walked away with the Writing award and Titan Quest developer Iron Lore Entertainment, which picked up the award for New Studio.
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Full Story: gamasutra.com
Discuss this news item on our forums: forums.xbox-scene.com
XNA Project Manager - Michael Klucher Interview
>> From adultgamingenthusiasts.com:
[QUOTE]
Michael Klucher, Program Manager - XNA Community Game Platform Team (Microsoft), was nice enough to take some time out to answer some questions with Adult Gaming Enthusiasts. If you ever wandered what the XNA project was about, or why Microsoft is putting so much effort into it, read on. The old days of small developers making their mark in the gaming industry may be back again. It's not just about "go big or go home" anymore.
* [AGE] With all these new, free tools, it seems like a very exciting time in video game development history. Do you see the XNA project changing the video game development landscape? Are we going to start seeing small "Mom and Pop" development groups sprouting up and getting recognized?
* [Michael] I think if you ask anyone on our team we say that we certainly hope so. As a person who grew up in a time when a small group of individuals could put together a stellar game and make it in the industry, that was a great time. As technology has increased in our industry we've gotten into a mode where it's perceived that you have to "go big or go home" and while there is always a place for the big budget games that we see now, there is certainly a market aimed at people who want niche games. I think these developers can gather followings that rival big publishers.
* [AGE] XNA allows developers to trade games with each other, but not with the general public. Right now, the XNA project does not seem to have the ability for independent developers to take their games all the way to distribution through Xbox Live (to the end user), for free or a price. Does Microsoft have any plans to eventually allow this?
* [Michael] I think our team identifies that as two separate issues, making your games available to the general public and looking to monetize your game through a system such as Xbox Live Arcade. Sharing of titles based on XNA Game Studio Express is something we want to support and is on our "radar" so to speak. Letting users get their games out to a broader audience is certainly something we're in favor of in the future.
* [AGE] Where do you see XNA a year from now? Do you have any immediate goals?
* [Michael] XNA Game Studio Express version 1.0 was a great milestone release and is packed with features. From here, we are focused on further enabling our creators to do more with our product and with the games they create. High on our priority list is to try and tackle the features our customers want most such as easier and broader sharing of games, more resources to assist in learning game development and of course networking support. I don't know if we'll have any or all of this done a year from now but we're certainly doing our best to deliver a lot more value on top of the great product currently available.
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Full Interview: adultgamingenthusiasts.com
Discuss this news item on our forums: forums.xbox-scene.com
Xeno Top Gear
>> We received an email about a new device for the Xbox360 called "Xeno Top Gear". It has similar functionality to Xecuter's Blaster360 that allows you to flash your Xbox360 ODD-Drive without re-opening your console again. However the way it installs, the tech-design and how it operates is different as you can see from the manual we got below. Also included in the device is a Xbox360HDD-to-SATA converter. We'll let you know how well it works when we get the sample:
[QUOTE]
Xeno Top Gear Feature:
- Can transfer all data from the Xbox360 HD to your PC
- After the easy one time only installation, flash your Xbox360 without the need to open it ever again.
- Works with all Xbox360 drives that can be firmware-upgraded.
- High Quality digital Sata exchange switching
- No soldering required at all = no chance to brick your drive from bad soldering.
- Installation is done in just a few minutes
- Built in eject button, 360/PC switch, HDD/PC switch.
- High quality Sata Ports
- Superior quality design.of casemodding accessories.
- LED version will be available for crystal, smoke colors of Xeno Top Gear
- comes with 360 opening tool for opening the console
- no need for external power supply, Xeno Top Gear is fully powered by the console.
[/QUOTE]
Official Website: not online yet (email: sales -AT- xenotopgear.com)
Pre-Order ($45): Divineo
Discuss this news item on our forums: forums.xbox-scene.com
Xbox 360 Casts Spell Over GDC 07
>> From next-gen.biz:
[QUOTE]
Microsoft showcased its best titles and its most talented developers yesterday. The lineup for the pre-Game Developer's Conference event was nothing if not impressive.
Microsoft brought out its top developers to showcase the titles. Lionhead's Peter Molyneux was flown in from England to show off Fable 2, Mistwalker's Hironobu Sakaguchi gave presentations on Blue Dragon and Lost Odyssey, and BioWare co-founders Greg Zeschuk and Ray Muzyka previewed the action role-playing game Mass Effect. Microsoft also showed off Forza Motorsport 2, Shadowrun, Age of Conan: Hyborian Adventures, and a host of new titles for Xbox Live.
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Full Story: next-gen.biz
Discuss this news item on our forums: forums.xbox-scene.com
GDC 07: Microsoft Reveals Live For Windows Pricing
>> From gameinformer.com:
[QUOTE]
Live for Windows Vista will actually be the same exact price for Vista as it is for the Xbox 360. Just like with the Xbox 360 there will be a free Silver package as well as a Gold package which retails for $49.99 for a year subscription, $7.99 for one month, and $19.99 for three months.
Good news for gamers who already have an Xbox Live Gold Membership - you've already subscribed. Your Live membership works on the Xbox, Xbox 360, and Live for Windows.
[/QUOTE]
[FS] gameinformer.com
Discuss this news item on our forums: forums.xbox-scene.com
GDC 07: Microsoft's four-day XNA Challenge
>> From joystiq.com:
[QUOTE]
Game developers are used to tight deadlines and pressure-packed schedules. Even so, Microsoft's XNA Challenge at this year's Game Developers Conference pushes the idea of quick turnaround to a ridiculous extreme. Four "teams" (two of them are single people) have been thrown into GDC's crowded, noisy Moscone Center North lobby and given four days to put together a game from scratch using Microsoft's XNA Game Studio Express.
Despite the common development environment, the four games being developed for the contest couldn't be more dissimilar. There's an overhead shooter, a collection-based platformer, a speech-controlled alien abduction simulator and a two-player, first-person, 3D dungeon crawl.
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Full Story: joystiq.com
Discuss this news item on our forums: forums.xbox-scene.com
GDC 07: The Forza 2 Super Set Up with 4 Screens
>> From kotaku.com:
[QUOTE]
We'd heard talk that Turn 10's Forza Motorsport 2 would support up to eight monitors, but Forza community manager and former game journo Che Chou told me that the Xbox 360 sequel would only work with five monitors and five tandem Xboxes.
This clip shows the much-more reasonable four monitor scenario, with a tiny Lilliput LCD screen taking on rearview mirror duties.
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Full Story: kotaku.com
Discuss this news item on our forums: forums.xbox-scene.com
Rumor Overheard at GDC: Next-Gen Zune Available in August
>> From gizmodo.com:
[QUOTE]
This is horribly irresponsible rumor-mongering, but we over heard this tidbit about the Zune over at GDC. Apparently, if the person was correct and our ears didn't fail us, the next-gen Zune will be available in August. Unfortunately for the first-gen Zune team, the next version will feature gaming, which is supposedly making them feel dejected over working on a product (1st gen) that will be "abandoned".
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Full Story: gizmodo.com
Discuss this news item on our forums: forums.xbox-scene.com
Microsoft about Xbox 360 Hypervisor Vulnerability Patch
>> CNet news.com released a bit more details about the patch Microsoft released on Jan 09, 2007 (kernel 4552) to fix the Hypervisor Vulnerability:
[QUOTE]
Microsoft has quietly released a fix for a security vulnerability that could let Xbox 360 owners run their own applications or operating systems on the console.
The update corrects a problem with a tamper protection mechanism on the Xbox 360. Hackers had discovered a way to break through the shield and run their own software, including operating systems such as Linux, on the Microsoft game console.
Microsoft confirmed the issue on Friday. "Microsoft has worked with the party that reported this issue and has already distributed a fix across our distribution methods, both online and offline," a company representative said in an e-mailed statement.
The update was pushed out via Xbox Live, Microsoft's online gaming service. Any game coming out after February 20 will ship with the fix, which is also available for download on the Xbox Web site, the representative said.
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Full Story: news.com.com
Discuss this news item on our forums: forums.xbox-scene.com
Xbox LIVE Reaches 6 Million Members 4 Months Ahead of Schedule
>> From gamerscoreblog.com (FYI: Microsoft owned blog):
[QUOTE]
At E3 this past year, Microsoft announced the goal that the Xbox LIVE community would be 6 million members strong by June 2007. We underestimated ourselves.
Microsoft is proud to announce today that more than 6 million gamers worldwide are connected to Xbox LIVE, a milestone that was reached 4 months ahead of schedule. Xbox LIVE, the premier online entertainment network, offers the best in online gaming, ubiquitous voice, video and text chatting, Achievements, demos, trailers and more.
Some Xbox 360 Momentum Facts:
* More than 10 million Xbox 360s have hit store shelves since launch in November 2005, and more than 160 high definition games are now available.
* The overall software attach rate for Xbox 360 is 4.6 titles per console in the United States with a record-breaking accessory attach rate of 2.9 units per console.
* More than 6 million people are members of Xbox LIVE.
* Following the launch of the Xbox LIVE online gaming network in November 2002, gamers have spent over 2.3 billion hours on the network playing games online with their friends around the world. This is equal to 95 million days of gaming or over 260,000 years. With our top title, Halo 2, which is being played on both the Xbox and Xbox 360, gamers have spent over 710 million hours playing online with over a half a billion games played.
* Xbox LIVE on Xbox 360 continues to grow as a social community; we are seeing an average of over 2,000,000 text and voice messages sent every day between members on the service.
* The average Xbox LIVE Gold subscriber has 22 friends on their Xbox LIVE friends list.
* To date, Xbox 360 owners have unlocked nearly 300 million Achievements. All of those unlocked Achievements have created a total combined Gamerscore of nearly 7.5 billion.
* Consumers have quickly jumped to the Xbox LIVE Marketplace as their one-stop download center. More than 70 percent Xbox LIVE members are downloading content from Marketplace, driving more than 135 million downloads since the launch of Xbox 360.
* Xbox LIVE Arcade has been an instant hit on the Xbox 360, with nearly 70% of all connected consoles already downloading and playing Xbox LIVE Arcade titles.
* Xbox LIVE Arcade has now surpassed 25 million downloads from its diverse library of original development and classic titles from the world's best independent and established developers and publishers.
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Full Story: gamerscoreblog.com
Discuss this news item on our forums: forums.xbox-scene.com
Next-Gen.biz: The Hot 100 Game Developers of 2007
>> From next-gen.biz:
[QUOTE]
Next Generation is proud to present this year's Hot 100 Game Developers, ordered by the impact these extraordinary people are having on the 2007 game industry.
We selected the Hot 100 based primarily on their studio's market success in 2006 and potential market success in 2007. We also gave weight to what we felt were influential or innovative creative contributions to the medium during the last year. These may seem like strong scientific criteria on which to base such a list, but in reality compiling it was a gut-wrenching process. We know that, with the exception of the person in the number one spot, it feels like everyone should be higher on this list.
TOP10:
10 Ted Price - President and CEO, Insomniac Games
09 Greg LoPiccolo - VP of Product Development, Harmonix (MTV)
08 Dan Houser - Vice President of Creative, Rockstar (Take Two)
07 Tetsuya Nomura - Producer, Square Enix
06 Eiji Aonuma - Designer, Nintendo EAD
05 Michael Morhaime and Chris Metzen - President and Vice President of Creative Development Respectively, Blizzard (Vivendi)
04 Jason Jones - Director/Co-Founder, Bungie (Microsoft)
03 Shigeru Miyamoto - Senior Managing Director and General Manager, Nintendo
02 Will Wright - Chief Designer, Maxis (EA)
01 Cliff Bleszinski - Lead Designer, Epic Games
[/QUOTE]
Full Story: next-gen.biz (11 pages)
Discuss this news item on our forums: forums.xbox-scene.com
How to Get Your Girlfriend to Play Video Games
>> From wikihow.com:
[QUOTE]
Many men, at some point, will be forced to part with their beloved game console by supreme order of their female counterparts. This can be avoided using proven game system/girlfriend social activities to gradually introduce gaming culture to our loved ones. You may not get her into Resident Evil, but she might end up playing some games you both can enjoy.
[/QUOTE]
Full Story: wikihow.com
Discuss this news item on our forums: forums.xbox-scene.com
Xbox360 Homebrew in Progress: MAME360, ScummVM
>> We got this interesting email from a trusted developer that wishes to remain anonymous for now. He has been working on a port of MAME and ScummVM for the Xbox360 for some time now. The development and pictures below are from a devkit, but with the recent Hypervisor Exploit (kernel 4532/4548 only for now) there's hope you'll be able to run this on a retail Xbox360 some day:
[QUOTE]
In light of the recent 360 hack and possibility of widespread homebrew in the future, I wanted to share some news with you and X-S.
I've been working on a port of MAME to the 360. I call it 'MAME360'.
Now for a bit about the project:
* It's based on MAME 0.112 and is fairly easy to keep up-to-date (doesn't need any messing around with like Mameox on the xbox).
* Originally it was based on SDLMAME but I've since ported a 360 specific osd layer (so SDL for the 360 exists - as an aside I also have a port of ScummVM in the works too).
* Mame doesn't include any dynarec cpu emulation on anything other than an x86 platform. So any game that is PSX or N64 based for example doesn't run at all well.
* Most other stuff (that I've tried) runs pretty well.
* At the moment it will only run on 360 dev/debug/test kits. Whether it will ever run on a hacked retail box remains to be seen.
[/QUOTE]
Discuss this news item on our forums: forums.xbox-scene.com
Microsoft Unlocks Game Development and Encourages 'Dream-Build-Play'
>> From the press release:
[QUOTE]
SAN FRANCISCO, Providing the opportunity for game developers to create visions in a world where they make the rules, shape the characters and create the evolution of the story, Microsoft Corp. today kicked off the Dream-Build-Play game development contest, offering a $10,000 (U.S.) grand prize and the opportunity for a winner's game to be published on Xbox LIVE Arcade, the premier destination for digitally distributed, high-definition original and classic games. Enabled by its XNA developer tools, the Dream-Build-Playcontest was announced at the Game Developers Conference (GDC) 2007 in San Francisco.
Delivering on its commitment to offer the best and most accessible hardware, software and services for game developers on the Microsoft gaming platforms, Microsoft and its partners also showcased a suite of new products that will help developers of every level turn their dreams into reality. From the hobbyist to professional developers in the largest studios, Microsoft's investments in game development technologies are helping to spark a new creative era while ensuring the best games are being built for Microsoft platforms.
Dream-Build-Play XNA Contest Offers $10,000 Grand Prize
Dream-Build-Play is a global contest that offers aspiring game developers the opportunity to showcase their innovation and talent to the world. More than 20 winners will be selected to win fantastic prizes with a total value of more than $40,000 from Microsoft, Alienware, Advanced Micro Devices Inc., Autodesk Inc. and Softimage Co.
The contest will culminate in the extraordinary grand prize that includes an opportunity for the winner to receive an Xbox LIVE Arcade publishing contract, providing a chance to showcase the winner's game on Xbox LIVE Arcade. Dream-Build-Play is open to any user of XNA Game Studio Express, including the GarageGames Torque X platform. No purchase is necessary to compete. The contest ends July 2, 2007, and winners will be announced Aug. 13 at Microsoft Gamefest 2007 in Seattle. Additional contest details, including detailed eligibility and entry requirements, are available at http://www.dreambuildplay.com.
[/QUOTE]
Read the whole press release on microsoft.com
Discuss this news item on our forums: forums.xbox-scene.com
Microsoft Confirms 512MB MU $49.99, Increased XBLA Size Limit to 150MB
>> From the press release:
[QUOTE]
At the Game Developers Conference (GDC) 2007, Microsoft Corp. (Nasdaq: MSFT) today announced plans to launch a 512MB Memory Unit for the Xbox 360(TM) video game and entertainment system and an increase in the official size limit of Xbox LIVE Arcade games from 50 MB to 150 MB.
The 512MB Memory Unit, available worldwide beginning April 3, 2007, will retail for an estimated retail price of $49.99 (U.S.) in North America. The 512MB Memory Unit will be pre-loaded with the hit Xbox LIVE Arcade game "Geometry Wars: Retro Evolved" from developer Bizarre Creations Ltd. for a limited time. The original 64MB Memory Unit will simultaneously drop in price from $39.99 to $29.99 (ERP).
Eight times larger than the 64MB Memory Unit, the 512MB Memory Unit will provide Xbox 360 owners with vastly expanded storage capabilities for gaming on the go, allowing gamers to easily store and transport their gamer profile and save game data, Xbox LIVE Arcade games and Xbox LIVE Marketplace content. The 512MB Memory Unit also gives Xbox 360 owners the ability to download exclusive content from any of the 45,000 Xbox 360 kiosks accessible at retail outlets worldwide.
Beginning today, the Xbox LIVE Arcade game size limit has increased from 50 MB to 150 MB, giving developers greater flexibility in game design and expanding the opportunity to add advanced game features while still keeping games compact.
"The new size limit offers developers increased flexibility and continued opportunities for innovative game development, while also ensuring that the millions of gamers on Xbox LIVE can continue to easily access, download and play all Xbox LIVE Arcade games on Xbox 360," said Chris Early, product unit manager for Xbox LIVE Arcade and Microsoft Casual Games at Microsoft. "If you take a look at current games like 'Roboblitz' and 'Small Arms,' it's clear that our developers deliver amazing game experiences within a compact size limit. Our focus is on continuing to provide developers with an environment that allows for the creation of cost-efficient games and that nurtures an artistic and creative approach to game development."
"As we prepare to launch our first Xbox LIVE Arcade game, 'Boom Boom Rocket,' we're able to see how dynamic and creative this platform is," said Chip Lange, vice president of Online Commerce for Electronic Arts Inc. (EA). "Having 'Wing Commander Arena' on Xbox LIVE Arcade allows us to take full advantage of the online play and bring to life a 16-player online arcade experience that delivers unparalleled arcade action."
This week at GDC, Microsoft will showcase forthcoming Xbox LIVE Arcade games from a cross-section of genres to the game development community:
-- "Boom Boom Rocket" (EA and Bizarre Creations).
-- "3D Ultra(TM) Minigolf Adventures" (Sierra Online and Wanako Games).
-- "Eets: Chowdown" (Klei Entertainment Inc.).
-- "Jetpac Refuelled" (Rare Ltd.).
-- "Pinball FX" (ZEN Studios Ltd.).
[/QUOTE]
Read the full press release on microsoft.com
Discuss this news item on our forums: forums.xbox-scene.com
PowerDVD AACS key found and AnyDVD HD adds Blu-ray Support
XboxMediaCenter (XBMC) 2007-03-04 SVN rev8014 build - T3CH
>> T3CH released a new SVN compile (rev8014) of XboxMediaCenter(info) for Xbox1.
This T3CH-compile is a complete snapshot of what is in SVN at the time the build was compiled, with just a few small additions.
Special Notes and Noteworthy/XML/Script changes:
* added: CPU idle thread with HLT instruction to cool and lower energy usage. (thanks michaelbrumm!)
* Let's hope this build has less issues than rev7937, but remember, these are SVN builds, use at your own risk.
* Nuka1195 has started working on a script to download my builds, it's quite early but I'm including it so you can test it.
* I'm including a package of "Picture Icons" for use with new TuxBox Client, see _tools/PictureIcon.rar.
* There's no new mplayer TEST version since my last build, but you can still report issues with old TEST here It's located in the TEST subfolder, simply replace the 2 files in XBMC/system/players/mplayer/ if you want to help Team XBMC test it.
* I've also tweaked the win32 run_me_first.bat so it runs and then unmounts the virtual drives when you exit.
* I'm also including the XBMC Win32 PC environment.exe that is meant for skinners & python developers, read more about the concept here. It was built using Microsoft DirectX Summer 2004 SDK.
Here's the added stuff since the 2007-02-26 SVN Rev7937 Build:
* added: CPU idle thread with HLT instruction to cool and lower energy usage. (thanks michaelbrumm!)
* added: .nfo parsing can now read xml files of the form outputted by scrapers or export from db.
* added: "fixedlist" type of list container - same as list except it has a fixed <focusposition>
* added: tuxbox client, new advancedsettings -> <sendallaudiopids>false</sendallaudiopids>: default:false! true: will send all available Audio Channels (aPIDs) to mplayer. To the the new mplayer.dll !-->
* added : GUI option to disable 'Add Source' button in root of media windows, will show regardless of status if there are no bookmarks. Settings>Appearance>View Options
* added: httpapi command GetPlayListLength
For the full changelog (fixed/changed/updated stuff) click here.
Keep in mind this is a SVN snapshot of the current development tree. It's not an official (stable) point release. Use only if you know what you are doing.
Official XBMC Site: www.xboxmediacenter.com (manual and FAQ)
Official T3CH Site: t3ch.xil.us (release RSS feed)
Download Binaries: n/a (built with XDK) | Download SourceCode: here
Discuss this news item on our forums: forums.xbox-scene.com
1Ghz Xbox Game Patcher
>> From readme/nfo:
[QUOTE]
What is this: A patch to make games compatible with an xbox with a 1ghz mobile p3 fitted.
Why do you need it: To patch games for the faster processor so they run at normal speed and playback smoothly.
After recently getting a modified motherboard from trusty xbmc worked great but most games where to fast and had garbled audio
I looked for a patch for the xbe's but one didnt exist
So decided to make my own
CodeFusion was used to patch the required code
I have tested this on 114 xbe's 6 or 7 didnt patch because the required 733mhz hex wasnt in the xbe on testing these xbe's they didnt need patching anyway as they ran at the correct speed
Something interesting I noticed
XBMC it seems needs patching even though any build after the 16th feb 2007 adds support for the 1ghz cpu
if you delete splash.png and don't patch the xbe the startup animation of the xbox media center logo jitters and pauses
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Official Site: n/a (written by Shonk - official discussion thread)
Download: here
News-Source: xbins.org
Discuss this news item on our forums: forums.xbox-scene.com
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