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Major Nelson demos Vision camera
Rather than just a standard pod blogcast this week, Major Nelson has instead posted a video podcast. Big deal, you say. But wait, there's more! This video podcast is all about the new Vision camera, which comes out tomorrow (assuming you couldn't snag one early from Toys R Us). The video -- weighing in at over twenty minutes long -- outlines all the super nifty great features of the peripheral. And, did we hear that Rainbow Six: Vegas will feature face mapping? We're pretty sure we did.Those of you interested in the camera (vibration functions and all) should definitely check it out.
A very special "hands-on" with Major Nelson
In episode # 191 of his famous podcast, Major Nelson talks to XNA's Chris Satchell and briefly discusses the masturbatory possibilities of the Vision Camera. Yes, you read that right.
Madden 07 tops 360 XBL list
EA's monopolistic NFL juggernaut grabs the number one spot on Major Nelson's weekly list of Top10 Xbox 360 Live titles:1. Madden NFL 072. Call of Duty 23. Texas Hold 'em4. Ghost Recon 35. Saints Row6. DEAD RISING7. Oblivion8. Chromehounds9. Test Drive Unlimited Demo10. BFMCMadden haters will be happy to know that Halo 2 still rules overall. Texas Hold'em is the top XBLA game.
See PAX in the (sun starved) flesh
Ever wanted to see a huge gathering of gamers all packed into one convention hall? Have a yearning to witness a massive orgy of videogaming, tabletop gaming, and cosplay? No? Well, too bad, because that's exactly what you'll see in this video (WMV) of the Penny Arcade Expo, or PAX. If you look very carefully -- and quickly -- you might even catch a glimpse of our very own Chris Grant. Isn't that precious?[Via Major Nelson. Image from Penny Arcade.]
Blogphotopodcasting: Fanboy style
Major Nelson's latest podcast consists of a panel at the Penny Arcade Expo with an unwieldy title and one familiar participant. "Blogphotopodcasting: New Media in the Game Industry" features none other than Xbox360Fanboy's (and Joystiq's) Christopher Grant as a dulcet voice of reason.
HD-DVD drive will be the cheapest
Speaking to Larry Hryb (AKA Major Nelson) in his recent pod blogcast, Microsoft's Albert Penello assured listeners that the upcoming HD-DVD add-on for the 360 would be the "cheapest HD-DVD player you can buy without a doubt, when it comes out." Now, with current players going for $400 or more, this means the anticipated add-on could cost over $300. Still, most speculate a price of around $200. The reason Microsoft can afford to make it so cheap less expensive than the $500-1000 competition is that the 360 itself will be handling the brunt of the work. Just to squeeze in a little offhanded Sony bashing, Penello reiterated that the 360 is about "choice." Quoth he, "We're not betting our whole console on an unproven media format ... Look, the thing about it is they are betting the company on Blu-ray, and they are making the consumers pay for their bet." So, now the million dollar question, would you buy the HD-DVD add-on for 200 bucks? [Via Evil Avatar]
How the HD-DVD drive works with the 360 UI
The folks over at Gamerscore Blog have posted a few pics explaining how the upcoming 360 HD-DVD drive will interact with UI we've all come to know and love. Pretty simple really. The "Open Tray" button at the bottom of the screen will do double duty for both drives. See, simple. Also, if you missed it, Major Nelson talks about the HD-DVD drive in his latest pod blogcast. For those of you wondering if the HD-DVD drive supports HDMI, it's looking like the answer is no. However, if the pod blogcast is to be believed, it doesn't matter.All you videophiles out there, give it a listen and tell us what you think.
Major Nelson's podcast on the Xbox 360 HD DVD add-on
Once again, Xbox Live's Major Nelson has hosted some high definition experts from Microsoft on his weekly podcast, this time three members of the team behind the upcoming HD DVD add-on for the console. Unfortunately, there wasn't much new or interesting information about the upgrade beyond what is already available. The Toshiba-manufactured drive connects via USB 2.0 and outputs video through the Xbox 360's AV connectors, it will support the various interactive menus and iHD features, including the ability to download additional content from the internet. No price still, although they did state it would be the cheapest HD DVD player available. Whether they were referring to its price by itself, combined with an Xbox 360 Core System (>$200), or a Premium System (>$100) remains to be seen. Much like the previous podcast with Amir M., they were noticeably bolstered by the positive reviews HD DVD has received in comparison to Blu-ray and are very confident about its viability.Given an opportunity to comment on any potential issues due to not having HDMI or DVI outputs they totally ignored potential problems with ICT and only chose to comment on the issue as pertaining to video quality. While we can certainly appreciate analog HDTV connectors as much as anyone and the budget Playstation 3 shares the same restrictions, we'd like to hear more on how this player won't be rendered useless by copyright protection before we buy.
Major talks Madden
Major Nelson is on the road at the present time, so his regular show is an on-the-run collection of interviews with the folks behind Madden 07. Is there a football-obsessed soul out there planning on paying for this pay-per-view special they're talking about?
Major Nelson rips Blu-Ray a new one
...in the politest way possible. OK, the source might be a tiny bit biased, but Larry's podcast interview with the guys from Microsoft Digital Media provides several argument-ready reasons why HD-DVD is better than Blu-Ray. If this doesn't get you excited about watching movies with the external drive, you're probably either a PS3 fanboy or the owner of a crappy TV. Don't listen if you suffer from home theater envy.
Small Arms, where's the big press?
Someone recently pointed out that Microsoft has done a piss poor job of promoting Small Arms, and a few other Live Arcade games as well. As such, I decided to put up this video. Looks pretty fun, right? So, why haven't we heard more about it from the boys in Redmond? It's an interesting question. Live Arcade is an innovative service, and it has the potential to outshine even the biggest 360 games. The Arcade Wednesdays promotion is a start, but I'd say Live Arcade definitely needs its own PR branch and its own spin doctor specialist like Major Nelson (perhaps Ross Erickson). What do you think?
Our Preyers have been answered
Hey, remember that last post? That post that said the Prey demo was coming this Sunday? Well, screw that post. That post is dead to me. The long and short of it is that the Prey demo is available right damn now. Major Nelson himself hath emailed us and decreed it so....What? Are you still reading this? Go get it! At 1.17 gigs you'd best get started now. I have.
Preemptive warning: Xbox Live down today for 4 hours
Grab the purified water (for your 360, natch), charge up the batteries (using the Quick Charge kit), and don't forget all the canned goods (for eating, stupid)! Now quickly, to the shelter! It won't be long before it's upon us ... an Xbox Live outage!The military Major Nelson Xbox Live's Larry Hyrb has issued the following WARNING to all XBL users: "On Tuesday June 27th from 0200-0600 PT Xbox Live will be offline for maintenance. As a result, the 'My Xbox' section of Xbox.com will be unavailable, and the Xbox forums will be in read only mode (you won't be able to post.) The remainder of Xbox.com will be available" maggots.Oooooooh, shiny new features? The good Major stubs his cigar out in your bright eyes barking, "This is for maintenance, there are no new features that will appear when the service comes back online. This is all for server maintenance...nothing more, nothing less."Phew, looks like this is only a drill. Guess we'll have to pass the time with a good, old-fashioned game of UNO ... with real cards. It's only a couple hours.[Update: Ugh, this was supposed to go up last night. As of right now, the outage is over and XBL is back online with -- as promised -- no new features. Consider this a response to the handful of tips we got on the outage then.]
360 dashboard update to be ready by morning
The long awaited 360 dashboard update is finally coming, arriving by invite for most Stateside gamers sometime early tomorrow morning.The update will actually begin to go out by 2:00 AM PT, but, according to Major Nelson, it "can take up to four hours for a user to be prompted to receive this update," so the invitation to download the small-in-size (but large-in-scope) update could arrive as late as 6:00 AM PT.Patient gamers can look forward to 125 new features for their cream-colored Xboxes, including the ability to queue multiple Marketplace downloads, keep your place in DVDs, and even fast-forward to just the choicest parts of videos (like the one featuring the titular Tomb Raider above). Plan your evening and/or morning accordingly, folks.See also: A video tour of the Xbox Live Spring update 360 BC update "in the next few weeks" [Thanks to everyone who sent this in; also via Xbox 360 Fanboy]
XBL Top 10: Halo 2 rules, Table Tennis rocks
Major Nelson returns from the mountain top with this week's list. Halo 2 dominates the combined countdown, while Rockstar Presents Table Tennis paddles to # 8 overall and Uno is gone-o. Here's the breakdown:(Halo 2 # 1 overall followed by the 360 games) Xbox 360 Top Live Games1 Call of Duty 2 2 Ghost Recon 3 3 Oblivion 4 BFMC 5 PGR3 6 Final Fantasy XI 7 Rockstar Table Tennis 8 EA SPORTS™ Fight Night Round 3 9 Perfect Dark Zero 10 Hitman: Blood Money DemoOriginal Xbox Top Live Games1 Halo 2 2 Battlefield 2: MC 3 Counter-Strike4 Splinter Cell Chaos 5 Pro Evolution Soccer 5 6 Rainbow Six 3 BA 7 Madden NFL 2006 8 Star Wars: Battlfrnt 2 9 Forza Motorsport 10 Ghost Recon 2: SS
Xbox Live Vision camera coming mid September
Major Nelson has revealed that the Xbox Live Vision camera is all set for a simultaneous European and North American launch on the 19th of September. The forthcoming Xbox Live update will be adding support for the camera, so once this little gadget is released you should be able to plug it straight in and talk face-to-face with your gamer buddies or bet your life away in a virtual game of Texas Hold 'Em. There's still no official pricing but earlier rumors suggest that the cam will be priced from around $20-40 depending on whether or not you opt for a bundle that includes a headset, a month of Xbox Live and an XBLA game.[Via Engadget]
Xbox Live Vision cam coming on 9/19
Xbox 360 owners eagerly waiting to see if "HotGamerBabe" really lives up to her handle now have a solid date for that first exciting face-to-face meeting over Xbox Live: September 19th. That's the day that Europe and the US will see a simultaneous release of the Xbox Live Vision camera, according to well-known gamer-cum-Microsoft employee Major Nelson. The Major did not reveal, however, what pricing will look like for the cam, which is meant for video-conferencing, video emails, and profile customization.
Australian water balloon fight post mortem
Bill Gates has a lot of things. Being the richest man in the world buys you that privilege. World's only tiger-sized domestic cat? Yup, he's got it. Hovercar? Two of those. The world's largest water balloon fight as determined by some agency who makes it their business to record trivial accomplishments? As of this weekend, according to John, yup! The Australian Water Balloon Challenge is over, but that doesn't mean we can't vicariously enjoy the view from here. You can see the two teams above (Xbox versus 360), but that's about all we can tell you with any authority so --without further adieu--here's the straight poop from our peeps on the ground:Cesar's coverage @ Gamerscore (Try these: 1, 2, 3)Major Nelson's Flickr photosXboxic Down UnderXbox.com.au (with pix here)Major points to moreAnd continue reading for some awesome in-fight video footage, courtesy fanboy-on-the-scene Diet Zeek. Thanks!
GDC: (Bloggers) breakfast of champions
Microsoft sponsored a "Blogger's Breakfast" Wednesday morning, arranging for several select bloggers from the interweb to meet with some of the Xbox bloggers Larry Hyrb (aka Major Nelson), and John Porcaro and Cesar Menendez (Gamerscore Blog) and some Xbox executives, Peter Moore and Chris Satchell. I know, I promised to report on their eating habits, but alas most of the eating occurred while standing and mingling pre-chat. That being said, I didn't see food on anyone's shirt and everyone was exceedingly polite and pleasant, so I can only extrapolate their eating habits were of the highest order. Before I get into what we talked about, I'd like to thank everyone at Microsoft for arranging this informal get together and giving us a chance to hear from them first hand. Now, onto the meat and potatoes of this blogger's breakfast.
RR6 demo hits XBLM, makes little sound
If a demo debuts then disappears, did it ever really exist? Depends on who gives a damn. Despite a slight hiccup (see Major Nelson), the Ridge Racer 6 demo is once again available on Xbox Live Marketplace. No doubt gamers are throwing their still-in-the-plastic copies of Ghost Recon: Advanced Warfighter under the coffee table in order to spend a few hours downloading this one. If you'r one of the few sweating RR6's existence, you might be wondering whatever happened to that missing King Kong demo?[Thanks, Drew]
