Make no mistake, we've seen curious job postings lead to changes in our favorite gizmos before, and hopefully, a recent ad on Microsoft's website is no different. A listing seeking a Program Manager explicitly states that it's looking for someone to "be involved in the next release of Xbox," and wants that very individual to be "part of the Xbox Live team that's responsible for creating a completely new way for mainstream audiences to enjoy the Xbox and Live." Better still, the description suggests that the team would be "building the games, the console interface and logic, and the server support for a totally new Live experience." Granted, there's nothing more to go on than this at the moment, but we can't help but be a teensy bit excited about the notion of an overhauled Xbox Live.

[Via GamesIndustry]

C'mon, we all knew PS3 clusters were good for more than academia, right? Thankfully for those who are itching to jump right into a worldwide dogfight when Warhawk lands, it looks like Sony has you covered. Granted, the game will allow for PS3 owners to host and play on their own matches, but the Ranked-Dedicated servers that you may also opt for shouldn't be lacking in terms of sheer power. Constructed by the SCEA IT team, this ginormous PS3 cluster will soon be used to connect Warhawk gamers everywhere, and while we're never told precisely how many PlayStation 3s were scrounged up in order to make this happen, feel free to click on through for another shot and start countin'.

It looks like China's not content to simply wait for over-eager gamers to find their way to a halfway house, with the government now taking some steps to curb the amount of online gaming kids partake in. It's not imposing a strict limit, however, instead forcing game makers to install so-called "anti-addiction software" in their games, which would ramp up in-game penalties if gamers play more than the government deems to be healthy. Apparently, gamers will only get half the normal amount points if they play more than three hours, with no points awarded at all after the five hour mark. At that point, they'll be presented with the ominous message: "You have entered unhealthy game time, please go offline immediately to rest." Exactly how that system will be applied to various games isn't clear, although it seems that any games that don't comply by July 16th will be shut down. What's more, in order to verify their age, all gamers will also be required to register for games using their real name and identity card number, which at least one analyst speculates could "scare away" adults and young users alike.

[Via Slashdot]

[Via Fark]

We've all seen those cheesy kiosks at the mall with some guy trying to sell you a controller with "8,000 games" built right in, which you can plug directly into your television for about three minutes of actual enjoyment, but now Hasbro is hoping to add a shade of respectability to the plug-and-play controller game market with its $24.99 NET JET device. The USB controller plugs directly into your PC (sorry, Mac users), and once you insert your "game card" of choice into the controller, it navigates to an online web portal where the corresponding game is launched and played on your screen. Hasbro offers up a variety of somewhat kid-centric titles at $14.99 apiece, including Marble Blast XP, Kool Kart Racers, Super Soaker Water Fight, and the obligatory SpongeBob SquarePants' Pizza Toss. Ideally, this wouldn't be a bad solution to laptop gaming for your offspring on lengthy road trips, but you should be sure to get a 3G-equipped lappie before taking this out where the WiFi doesn't roam.

[Via EverythingUSB]

We all knew it was coming, and now Nintendo's Reggie Fils-Aime has given us a timetable in which to expect the first online, multiplayer Wii action: Q2 2007. Assuming that Reggie wasn't referring to the second quarter of fiscal year 2007 -- which ended, like, a few days ago -- when he made the commitment on SpikeTV's Game Head show, it sounds like the first, unnamed online titles will begin trickling out in the March/April time frame. As you're probably aware, Japan's already had a taste of networked Wii gaming in the form of launch title Pokémon Battle Revolution, but Reggie kept the details about future multiplayer games close to his chest -- those titles will be revealed early next year, he said. Reggie also let slip the fact that new Wii channels are in the works, though once again, he omitted any real concrete information concerning either their content or scheduled rollout. So there you have it: if all goes according to plan, we should be able to hold a Gears of Peace-style event for the Wii in early spring; still, we can't promise that pwning us in Mario Kart will be quite as rewarding as draining our Crimson Omen with a hail of machine gun fire.