Filed under: Gaming, HDTV

The two biggest questions since Microsoft announced its Xbox Live Video Marketplace have been: 1. does anyone still has enough space on their Xbox 360’s 20GB hard drive for movie downloads in high definition? and 2. does anyone — even the guys at Redmond — have enough bandwidth to feed the HDTVs of millions of Xbox Live subscribers? Since launching two days ago those questions have been answered with a yes and resounding no, respectively. Users have complained of slow downloads that time out, receiving different files than the ones they requested and being charged twice when trying to complete timed-out rental downloads. Major Nelson has chimed in on the issue, letting us know that the company is aware of the problem and will refund Microsoft Points to all those who call 1-800-4MYXBOX for assistance. Good luck with that, though, as at least one person was told there aren’t any managers available to refund customers until after the holiday weekend. So while network engineers and management sleep off yesterday’s turkey and camp out for cheap plasmas, you may want to hold off trying to download Clash of the Titans in 720p ’till things get straightened out.

[Thanks, WiFiSpy]

Read - My Xbox 360 video rental nightmare
Read - Video Marketplace Status

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BOLD MOVES: THE FUTURE OF FORD A new documentary series. Be part of the transformation as it happens in real-time

Office Depot Featured Gadget: Xbox 360 Platinum System Packs the power to bring games to life!

Filed under: Gaming, HDTV, Home Entertainment

Surprise, surprise, it’s November 22nd (happy birthday Xbox 360!), and Microsoft has taken its new Xbox Live Video Marketplace live. The biggest mystery at this point was price, which turns out to be $2 for SD TV shows, $3 for HD, while movie rentals will run you $3 for SD and $6 for HD. This is all converted from the various, confusing MS Points involved in each purchase (80 Points = $1), which we’re sure we’ll all be well sick of after a couple months of using the Marketplace — if not already. The current word on selection is 48 movies and 50 TV shows available for download, and we’re sure that’ll be growing — though V for Vendetta is already available as a HD rental… what more could you want?

[Thanks, TexRob]

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BOLD MOVES: THE FUTURE OF FORD A new documentary series. Be part of the transformation as it happens in real-time

Office Depot Featured Gadget: Xbox 360 Platinum System Packs the power to bring games to life!

Filed under: Features, Gaming, HDTV, Home Entertainment

There are wild rumors, and there are interesting rumors, but here’s a doozy for ya: Xbox Live could soon start vending HD movie content, according to one freshly minted Wordpress blog (take that for what it’s worth). According to Shsibae (huh?), over 1000+ hours of video will make its way onto Live for rental at about $4 a go, or for purchase (at an unstated price). Hard to imagine Xbox 360 doing for PC-free online movie downloads what all the other companies couldn’t or haven’t (we’re looking at you TiVo, Netflix, iTV, etc.), but then again Microsoft did start up with that Xbox Live music video download thing last year. Seriously though, what a coup would that be if Microsoft swooped in to make the Xbox 360 the premier digital content hub — with or without HD DVD — right underneath Sony’s nose at the eve of their PlayStation 3 launch? We just hope Microsoft would have a larger drive waiting in the wings if this one turns up roses though, our 20GB is already packed to the gills with game demos.

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BOLD MOVES: THE FUTURE OF FORD A new documentary series. Be part of the transformation as it happens in real-time

Office Depot Featured Gadget: Xbox 360 Platinum System Packs the power to bring games to life!

Filed under: Gaming

It’s not really fair to judge the PS3’s online component before, like, the console is actually released and gamers start putting it through its paces, but it’s still interesting hear Eurogamer’s take on a pre-launch version of the PlayStation Network, courtesy of some exclusive face time with Sony exec Phil Harrison. From the site’s extensive coverage of many aspects of the service, the most noticeable theme is that Sony seems to have been closely watching the successes and failures of Xbox Live, and is serious about its promise to meet or exceed all of Live’s capabilities. Therefore, many of features that 360 fans have become accustomed to — consistent UI, multiple methods of communicating with friends, and downloadable content – are prominently featured in the Network experience, with other aspects — namely a full web browser, multitude of game-specific mini-stores, and pricing in real currency as opposed to “points” — clearly designed to one-up Microsoft’s offering. Other nice touches here include the ability to create a master account and regulated “associated” accounts (helpful for parents looking to police their kids’ usage), a global “Wallet” with which you make all micro-payments (including those required by third-party publishers), and of course, an upgradable OS that leverages the hard drive on both versions of the PS3. Downsides? Unlike Xbox Live, the first iteration of PlayStation Network doesn’t let friends communicate while playing a game; even though you’ll get a notification of new messages during gameplay, you have to exit the game in order to read them and respond. Also, it’s still not clear if / how Sony will implement player rankings a la Live’s leaderboards, which is a feature that naturally-competitive gamers have come to expect. All-in-all, though, it sounds like Sony has put a lot of thought into the usability of this increasingly important aspect of the console experience, and assuming that the company is able to overcome potential shortages, lack of rumble, and other well-known nitpicks, the PlayStation Network looks poised to attract the same fervent following as XBL.

[Via PS3 Fanboy and Joystiq]

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BOLD MOVES: THE FUTURE OF FORD A new documentary series. Be part of the transformation as it happens in real-time

Filed under: Gaming, Peripherals

If you’re one of the few hardcore folks that have been getting by with a hacked Street Fighter joystick on your Xbox 360, Mad Catz is (hopefully) coming to the rescue. All signs are currently pointing towards the impending release of a retro-styled Xbox Live Arcade Stick that not only adds an entirely new dimension to those immensely addicting HD Xbox Live arcade titles, but is rumored to actually include a few with the purchase of the ’stick. While things aren’t set in stone quite yet, a few internet sleuths nabbed a screen cap (hit the read link for a peek) of the pre-order page — which was quickly yanked, of course — that shows an awkwardly high $69.99 price and an October ship date. Our friends over at Joystiq have claimed that the yankage occurred because Mad Catz still hasn’t finalized which games it’ll toss in, and for reasons beyond our understanding, have suggested that we’ll see a $49.99 pricetag when the pre-order (really) officially starts. Whatever the holdup, we’re glad to see someone stepping up and offering us retro gamers a controller that feels a bit more natural, and we’ll consider this kit a much more worthwhile purchase should it actually drop for under 50 bucks.

[Via Joystiq]

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Filed under: Gaming

User-created games are nothing new, but now that they’ve got a nice Web 2.0 buzzword to glom onto, maybe they can amount to something. Microsoft is developing a new app to allow hobbyists to build their very own playable titles for Xbox Live. The program, called XNA Game Studio Express, will cost $99 a year, and will be available for Windows XP and Vista. Apparently the toolset is a heavily trimmed down version of the one available to actual developers, and will still require at least basic programming skills, but users will own their work. Peter Moore calls it “our first step of creating a YouTube for videogames.” He also added “I’d love to send a royalty cheque to a kid,” but we’ll believe that when we see it. It doesn’t sound like anything incredibly complicated will be possible with the system, but if YouTube video bloggers are any indication, you don’t need snazzy effects — or necessarily talent — to make it big on the Internet.

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Filed under: Gaming

We know the “evil empire” is being cheeky by launching their big Xbox 360 dashboard update tomorrow on 6/6/6, but they’re boasting it’s got 125 new features for gamers to make it worth their while in updating (not like we have any choice). We don’t know how many of those “features” account for bug fixes, optimizations, and UI improvements, but we are now definitely sure the Live Marketplace has the performance optimized background download manager, downloaded video fast-forward and rewind, DVD movie bookmarking, and apparently some 122 other improvements we can look out for (ahem). Should be downloadable tomorrow morning at 2:00AM PST (we already tried, no dice as of right now — for us, anyway), so keep that Xbox runnin’.

[Thanks, Ben]

Update: sweet, got hit with a list of new features! Notable ones include: boot to dashboard (hey, sometimes you don’t want to play the game in the drive on turn-on, you know?), persistent music levels, disabling sound while in dashboard, and what seems like a bunch of other bug fixes, optimizations, and UI improvements. You know, features. Thanks PJ.

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Filed under: Digital Cameras, Gaming

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.

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Filed under: Gaming

Our pals at Joystiq just got word straight from the horse’s mouth about the forthcoming Xbox 360 Dashboard update, and have posted the deets along with lots of screenshots. The biggest — and most expected — news is background downloading, which includes a queue with six slots for all your Halo 3 trailer and pricey Oblivion horse needs. Downloads will pause while you play online to minimize lag, but otherwise will run in the background while you go about your Dashboard business. Other improvements include a boot to Dashboard function, improved media playback and controls, full USB keyboard support, and an improved Marketplace layout to handle the influx of available content. The update will be available to Xbox Live users “in about a week,” and will be eventually be available bundled with retail game discs for those without an Internet enabled 360 (all four of you).

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Filed under: Gaming, Peripherals

We’ve been hearing about the camera for the Xbox 360 for so long, that we almost forgot it still hasn’t been released. Well, Microsoft finally came clean about the cam, and gave it an official name at the company’s E3 event today. The Xbox Live Vision camera will be available this fall, and will allow users to use their 360 for video-conferencing, video-emails and gamer picture customization. Microsoft also announced the Racing Wheel controller for driving games, and a wireless headset, which presumably will bring joy to parents everywhere. All accessories are expected to be available this fall.

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