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$40 XBL Vision camera & UNO bundle detailed by MS source along with prices & dates for other 360 accessories
Our friendly anonymous source at Microsoft has provided us with a few more details concerning the 360 accessories announced back at E3.Perhaps the most important involves the bundling of the Xbox Live Vision camera with a wired headset, the popular Live Arcade title UNO, and a month of Live Gold service for $39.99 when it releases in the States on September 19, 2006.Granted, this is still an unofficial report (based on a leak of "official" info), so understand that you're probably not gonna get much confirmation from MS until they're good and ready to give it. If you'd like information on what other peripherals are coming out "Holiday 2006" (so sometime in the 4th quarter) and at what price, read on for more.
Many think Marathon on XBLA is a "good idea"
If you're done watching the Bungie guys cursing on video, you may find yourself with a renewed interest in getting your mitts on Marathon, their ground breaking FPS that out-doomed Doom. You could always download the entire trilogy for free, straight from Bungie, and give it a spin on your Mac and/or PC, but if you're more of a console gamer, there is a tiny flicker of hope ... wrapped tightly in a whisper ... carried on a pillow of desire: In Bungie's Weekly Update Spenser asks, "Marathon and XBLA: is it at all possible?" Frankie responds, "Of course it's possible, it's just not on any current agenda. If it's any consolation, many, many people think it's a good idea." Alright, so there's barely enough hope there to keep our blackened gamer-souls from consuming us whole, but it's comforting to know we're not alone. There are "many" of us who think this is a "good idea." You know what you have to do Bungie ... wrap up this Halo business and give us some Marathon! [Via TUAW]
A video tour of the Xbox Live Spring update
According to Microsoft, the long anticipated Dashboard upgrade should be coming "in about a week," and that was five days ago! So even though it's almost here, we can't leave good enough alone.They gave us an audio-guided tour of some screenshots but if you want to get the full spring update experience, check out GameVideos' luxe video-tour. Join tour-guides Luke Smith and Mark MacDonald for a leisurely stroll through such memorable sights as: background downloading, new media controls, persistent custom audio playback, and more!Video is embedded after the break, but be warned ... it autoplays
MSFT announces first major Xbox 360 update
I just spoke with Aaron Greenberg, Group Marketing Manager for Xbox Live, about the first major update to the Xbox 360 since last November's launch. The spring update is expected to be released to all Xbox Live users "in about a week" and will be followed up with a fall update, as part of their plan to release two major updates each year. Read on for details about all the improvements and additions, including background downloading, boot to Dashboard, and improved Marketplace layout.
XBL background downloads coming yesterday?
We already suspected it was supposed to drop this month, but Microsoft's Knowledge Base (KB article #919421) has revealed the feature set and the release date for the Xbox 360's long anticipated background downloading functionality. The date: yesterday. Alright, so they're running a little late (at least it's not Vista-late), but the feature set is promising. Instead of the compromised functionality many of us expected (Arcade games or videos only while downloading), the newly re-dubbed "Active Download feature" is fairly robust. It appears the only thing one can't do while background downloading is play online games, for obvious reasons. Actually, you can play online games -- the system just pauses your download to be resumed later. We've included the contents of the KB article after the break, lest someone at Redmond gets wind and decides to remove it. Microsoft: roll it out and we'll gladly cross this one off our list of Xbox 360 annoyances (both of em ... this was really annoying). [Thanks, Gary]
Lumines Live to hit Xbox Live Arcade
Peter Moore just announced that Tetsuya Mizuguchi's formerly PS(P and 2)-exclusive title, Lumines, is heading to Xbox Live Arcade in the form of Lumines Live. What's new? The music-heavy title will feature Warner Music Group's content integrated into the game. Their example showed a Madonna video playing behind the game. Sony got to borrow some XBL action, all Microsoft's doing is playing catch-up.
Free Xbox Live Gold week, or free virtual girlfriend? It's all so confusing! [update 1]
As we were just saying in the previous post, Microsoft's got a lot of irons in the fire. The "free Xbox Live week" promotion seems to be particularly well-liked by the folks at Microsoft and Verizon, as the two companies have made plans to make the week of May 8th through May 14th free to broadband-connected Xbox 360 owners. The newest promotion is timed to coincide with E3, and will also include a giveaway of one million Microsoft Points and a "backstage" E3 pass (did you boys pick those up on Craigslist, by any chance?). Just because we're borderline obsessive-compulsive, here's everything that Joanna Dark says upon loading the promotion page (with our comments in brackets): Don't keep me waiting [I'm hurrying, but these damned foil packages are so hard to open in the dark!] I'm free all week [As opposed to for-pay the rest of the time... undertones of prostitution here. Sure, why not?] You got a week. Come get some. ["Some what," we wonder, as we stare at Ms. Dark's fetching hindquarters.] Don't arrive early. [A joke about premature arrival? Totally unexpected.] Are you ready to play? I'm game. Are you? You want a piece of me? [Can't get much more explicit than this.] Hope your couch is comfortable [It's fine for playing games. Here, put down that riding crop and have a controller.] Hey, you got me all week [Why does she punctuate only some sentences? This annoys us.] I'll be there. Will you? ["She told me to come but I was already there." -- AC/DC] [Via too many tips to count.][Update 1: Neither Microsoft nor Verizon have announced this deal yet, so we eliminted language in the first paragraph that suggests that the companies have made an official proclamation. A Microsoft spokeswoman notes, "we plan on releasing more information early next week."]
Original Xbox Live headset hack
Until accessory manufacturers realize that audio-adapters for the Xbox 360 controller are a booming market, we'll keep posting about all the hacked/cludged/jury-rigged options available to you. If you're a fan of the original Xbox's headset, but miss the volume and muting capabilities of the 360 headset, why not make an unholy union of the two? Follow the step-by-step guide, complete with annotated images, to get old trusty wrapped around your head again.See also:Wireless 360 headset using BluetoothHow to use any headset with the 360[Via digg]
Impossibly high Gamerscore: 4,916,919
In my review for King Kong on the Xbox 360, I mentioned that it had earned a reputation for being "especially loose with its gamerscore points." I would like to amend that statement in light of recent developments. The bar has been so significantly shifted, that unless the game dishes out gamerscore points in multiples of 5000, it's chaste relative to one gamer's licentious copy of Condemned: Criminal Origins! Here's how you too can earn gamerscore points well into the millions: instead of playing several thousand games through, earning all 1000 gamerscore points contained therein, just bend the laws of mathematics to your singular, corrupted will, by earning a total 2550 of 50 achievements, and a total of 4915477 of 970 gamerscore points!Dondums' Penny Arcade avatar mocks us, his sterling 5 star reputation shames us, and his motto, "I like hugs," makes us feel empty inside. We don't need a hug, we need a strong drink.[Thanks, Tuan & everyone else that sent this in]Read on for some other pictures from Dondums' page on Xbox.com, captured here for posterity before the powers that be at Microsoft mend the error, or the world collapses onto itself.
Ridge Racer 6 Marketplace content
Major Nelson has announced there is new Marketplace content for Ridge Racer 6 available, in the form of some music tracks, which ain't free, and some bonus cars, which are free. So if you're playing the latest in Namco's drift-racing series, check out those cars and let us know how they are. He includes the following caveat: This content is available in the following regions: Canada, United States, Austria, Belgium, Switzerland, Germany, Denmark, Spain, Finland, France, Great Britain, Ireland, Italy, Netherlands, Norway, Sweden and JapanHopefully Microsoft has plans for some PGR3 content...
