Onlive? Could that be the downfall of Unlimited Internet?

As most of read from Engadget, Cnet, and IGN, this is the the beginning to the end for unlimited internet access.  As you know [ad#cricket-right-ez]according to Wikipedia, there is 8.9 Million at least having XBOX 360 and according to Engadget there are 71% have DSL speeds, so that would be a possible 5.6 million I am guessing. Just on one Console, I could go through each console and see but I know it is a big number. It could out sell all these other consoles really quickly.

Now we have had console wars for some time and this might or might not work depending on the streaming of Onlive and also the FPS(Frames Per Second).  If they don't do it right, this will never catch on and if they do it right which they might I see there will become a scenario where the ISP will want to regulate bandwidth.  Time Warner has been looking into for some time.  IF enough people buy this and use the service then all the ISP will have more reasons to regulate bandwidth.  So is this the downfall of Unlimited Internet Access?  All these kids wanting to play the most recent games, who knows how this will work out but this will be a bandwidth issue in the coming months as we see who wants to use this.  If Onlive sells these for $99 then I see it becoming the winner, I'd also like to see unlimited subscriptions like Netflix but We will have to wait and see!!

Xbox Zune? or A Zune Phone?

Could Microsoft be planning to talk about the Zune.   Some blogs are talking about how this will be talked about in next month at CES.  According to some posts and I'll quote:

The Tech Trader Daily column earlier this week on Barron's reports that Global Equities Research analyst Trip Chowdhry predicts Microsoft will reveal a Zune phone next month at CES. Chowdry expects that much like Apple's iPhone the device will combine music player capabilities with, he says, "some motion enhancement features."

[Via 1UP]

Although this is a theory, and I can see this happening due to the fact that Microsoft has always like to tie together there products.    So what makes this even more tangible is the fact that Microsoft hinted about this in the past:

[ad#ad2-left]

Dated Dec 20, 2006

Xbox European boss Chris Lewis has admitted for the first time that Microsoft is considering games content for the recently released portable multimedia player Zune.

[via Gamasutra]

As you can see Microsoft did hint this and probably will be fact sooner or later.   Some sources are claiming they have this already in the works but it's still a rumor.   I'll let you decide for yourself.

Did the Xbox Experience break netflix on Demand activation?

[ad#ad2-left]According to Google Trends people are trying to activate there Xbox Experience with Netflix.  This could be a problem for Netflix, I just tried and they are extremely slow in response.   I am willing to guess that later on tonight the Netflix will go down when everyone comes home from work and tries the new Xbox Experience with Netflix.   I've heard of problems with activating the Netflix on the Xbox 360, this will become 10 times as bad tonight when people want to hook up and try out this new service from Netflix.   Microsoft should of released this one day at a time for each time zone.   Some blogs talking about the problems that might come along with the update are:

• Columbia Tribune


• The Standard


• Joystiq


• Venture Beat

Although this is just a few that talks about the experience and Netflix problems there are going to be more tonight when people start to come home from work wanting this service.   I would bet over 100$ it will probably go down because to many request to sign up!! I hope they have the IT guys ready for this tonight or it will be a long night!!

Peek Email tops Time Gadget of the Year!

[ad#ad2-right]I've not seen this yet, I will do my research on this Peek Email Device. This is fascinating that I didn't know that there was something I've never heard of.   Anyways, I can't beleive they don't have a netbook or the new Gaming Laptop.  Please, a WII fit, Now how did they get there too?   How did The T-Mobile G1 get number 5th in the list.  I'm surprised that the GameBoy Advanced wasn't one to be on there, After all they sold so many this year.   Why not the Xbox 360?  It seems people can still vote but don't expect anything to change.

Go Vote and lets make our voice heard!!

Xbox 360 Slim Might Come in 2009?

TGDaily has a very interesting rumor about the Xbox 360 getting not just upgrade parts, but an entire redesign based on upcoming hardware. After the next 65nm chip upgrade, the next 45nm one won't just be a die shrink, but it'll be a complete redesign, integrating multiple components onto one chip (system-on-a-chip design).

By doing this, Microsoft can shrink the number of parts in their 360, leading to a possible slim version much like how the PS2 slim replaced the standard PS2 a few years ago. Or, they could use the chance to do a redesign of their hardware, making it less likely to red ring or fail. We'd prefer the latter. [TGDaily via 360 fanboy via Uber Gizmo]

[Via Gizmodo]

I thought this was the coolest idea yet, but I wanted to let people see the idea that Gizmodo is throwing out. I would love to see this in action? Is this going to have Blue Ray or HD DVD?

The Xbox 360 Elite laptop: Ben Heck strikes again

We think it's possible that the time has come to admit that Ben Heck (aka Benjamin Heckendorn) has officially taken it to the limit, put the pedal to the metal, and a large number of other cliches that suggest something has been pushed just about as far as you can take it. That's right folks -- it's the Xbox 360 Elite laptop. We're not even going to try and pretend to understand how an individual could go about creating this kind of extreme mod to the Microsoft console -- needless to say that if there was one man who could do it, Ben is that guy. Luckily for us lay-people, he's included a graphic breakdown of just about every step on the road to a portable Xbox 360, replete will all the case cracking, innards opening, wire splaying photos you could possibly want or need. Sorry NEStari and Atari 800 laptop -- there's a new boss in town.
[Via Engadget]

Wouldn't you love one of those! It looks so cool!!! Thought people would like to see this for themselves!!

What will XBOX Live do now?

After a long and hard last few weeks with XBOX Live being up and down. There has been a class action lawsuit file against them.

Lawsuit Accuses Microsoft of breach of contract, breach of warranty, and negligent misrepresentation for not better warning subscribers that the service could suffer the kind of outages. These outages have been going on for quite some time. A few weeks in fact.

Earlier this week Major Nelson who is working in Xbox and has a podcast stated that "the pending outcome of the lawsuit means no more updates can be given to the users and paying customers. The progress of the repair is forcing Microsoft to be quite about it." The podcast that Major Nelson talks about this is:

Show #263 The one after CES

Does that mean Mommy is keep the child quite over this? I think so. I think Microsoft should be made to talk about this. This is customer rights and information and we have the right no know what is going on. We after all are paying for the service if your a Gold Member? Silver well you aren't paying for the service so you really don't have any rights. I think the government should step in and make them tell the truth. They have an obligation to the public whether they like it or not. Please leave comments on what you think!

Debunk: Xbox Live was down, but not due to DDoS attack

The obvious answer as to why Xbox Live has been up and down (but mostly down) over the last couple of weeks is, of course, that the service has undergone a massive distributed denial of service attack. (Feel free to blame the illusory Sony / Nintendo fanboys, if you must.) Naturally, we're already starting to see some of those rumors catch hold, in no small part due to the fact that while GM of Xbox Live Marc Whitten did offer a free game for peoples' trouble in his public memo a few hours ago, he didn't speak to the cause of the outages. We did, however, get some conclusive inside information from a trusted source, and confidently relay to curious Live users that the issues were not at all related to a malicious attack. Yeah, we know, it tones down the drama quite a bit (and actually makes the Xbox team look a little worse than if they were attacked), but the speculation that the service was out due to a two week long internet assault? The stuff of myth.

[via Engadget]

I am a gamer, and I would love to know why it went down for the first place. I don't care why I'd just want it to be explained a little more. I don't think that is to much to hear. I am sure we will find out why sooner or later!!

Support the site by comments and telling people about the site!!

Halo 3: 5 Million Served

So Mass Effect sold a million. For a broken RPG, those are good numbers! Actually, for any game, those are good numbers. They're nothing on Halo 3's though. That thing just will not stop selling. Microsoft have announced that the game has sold more than five million copies since launch, which for a console that can't have more than 15 million units in the wild is as good an attach rate as anyone at MS HQ could be hoping/praying madly for.
[Gamedaily]

[Via Kotaku]

Wow So many people like Halo 3, I'll have to try it out sooner or later!! I do love Halo 2 and Halo!! So Halo 3 has to be good!!

First look: the Xbox 360 Fall Dashboard update

The details of the Xbox Fall Dashboard update have been available for a few days, but now that the update itself has been released, we can take a look and see if this is worth talking about or if it's just another incremental improvement to the Xbox 360 experience. After waking up a tad on the early side to download the update and give it a good going over, we're happy to report that there are several welcome changes that are indeed exciting.

The first thing you'll notice is that the entire dashboard is snappier. It used to be a laggy experience to zoom around your content, but now it feels crisp and fast. The first thing you should do after downloading the update is to check out the new home blade. Your friends list and messages are now on the same line to make things easier, and above that you have the "Inside Xbox" section that allows you to get system and gaming news. Right now, you'll see Major Nelson introducing the update and walking you through some of the features in two short videos. I was worried that the Inside Xbox content was going to overpower whatever section it was in, but this layout makes it easy to ignore if you don't want to see the news—and easy to find if you want to see what Microsoft would love to sell you this week.

[Via Ars Technica]

I am quite curious about this dashboard update. If you like the Xbox 360 go check out the full article and see screen shots there!!

Xbox 360 Fall Update Full Details (DivX! XviD!)

Update: Apparently there's actually something good in this update! Too bad they didn't actually include it in the press release, but the Xbox 360 will support DivX and XviD! Hurray! Here's what we got from the Xbox team:

**15. What types of AVI files are supported?

The Xbox 360 supports files encoded using MPEG-4 Part 2, Simple and Advanced Simple Profile. These files are often referred to as Xvid or DivX® video files. Many common PC DVD authoring tools, cameras, and camcorders are capable of encoding files using MPEG-4. Note that some files authored for DivX devices may also contain additional functionality(menus, subtitles, multiple audio tracks, etc). The Xbox 360 will attempt to play these files, but does not support any of the additional functionality and in some cases will be unable to play the file.

16. Why don't some of my older versions of DivX® files play?

Since we only support Mpeg-4 compatible codec implementations, we will not be able to play video files older than DivX® 5.0.

Go check out what all will be in the updates!! I think it is some good stuff!!

Fall Xbox 360 update touches on social networking

With under a fortnight to go until Microsoft looses the Xbox 360 Fall Dashboard update on us, we're still learning even more about what it will entail. The latest tidbit touches on the oh-so-zany social networking craze, as gamers will soon be able to browse the friends lists of their pals in order to connect with old buddies or get all up in the digital grill of complete strangers. Starting on December 4th, the default setting will enable your Xbox Live friends to browse your list at will, and if that just doesn't set well with your conscience, you can hit the read link for instructions on how to spoil some fun prevent it.

[Image courtesy of Xbox]

Wow, this looks like they are going into the social network, I hope it can make it do some really cool things. I hope to find out later on!!

Autumn Xbox 360 update to enable downloadable Xbox games, including Halo 1

It's getting to be about time for an Xbox 360 Dashboard update, and Official Xbox Magazine is reporting that the Fall update, due December 4th, will come packing a huge new feature: downloadable Xbox games. The list includes some biggies: Fable, Burnout 3, Crash Bandicoot: The Wrath of Cortex, and, or course, the original Halo. Games are reported to cost 1200 points, (around $15), and the games list is expected to grow over time. Of course, Microsoft hasn't confirmed any of this yet, but December is right around the corner -- looks like we'll find out soon enough.

Update: Well, that didn't take long -- according to Microsoft, downloadable "Xbox Originals" will be available starting on December 4th.

[Via Joystiq]

More reason to buy an XBOX 360, I hope they put all the xbox games on there soon.

Bungie awards exclusive Recon armor to famous Halo 3 suiciders

Bungie Weekly Update: 10/26/07

Posted by Frankie at 10/26/2007 4:40 PM PDT

Banhammery

We've mentioned before that we have implemented lots of security and anti-cheating systems in Halo 3. We'll never have it perfect because we cannot stop people being idiots, but it's already significantly better than ever before. We're about to activate a part of it that required a few weeks of folks playing in the wild before we'd gathered enough data to activate it. Well, we're just about ready to swing the mighty mallet of justice and it should make a couple of types of cheating extinct very shortly.

Halo 3 has been available for precisely one month and we're going to be working harder than ever to make sure it stays a safe and fair place to play for the next few years. So please bear with us and remember we're always watching and more importantly, acting on the information we receive, whether it's immediately visible or not.

Rank Amateurs

I've had a lot of mails from skilled Halo players saying things like, "Hey, I am stuck at level 41 skill level and I am not going up, so your skill system must be broken." Actually, what you're seeing is that it works. What the system is telling you, is that relative to the other players currently playing Halo 3, you are a level 41. You should not be going up in skill level until you become appreciably and significantly better.

If you suddenly developed a whole new level of headshot ability, for example you'd find that your skill level would rise commensurately. It is not, like your rank, supposed to climb inexorably based on experience, but rather to judge and determine your relative skill and match you with players of like skill. My experience is that games are closer, tighter and more fairly balanced than ever before. The spikes happen at the low end, as you mix it up with folks who haven't played enough to determine a steady skill level. As you get better, progress will slow and eventually halt as the system determines your overall ability and uses that to find matches.

It's important to note that it is an increasingly accurate estimate, designed to become more accurate over the long term. So don't worry about dips in your performance, or unexpected sprees, those dips and spikes are not given much precedence by the system.

In theory, it is trying to put you in the most competitive matches. It is not some goal or trophy - it's a tool.

Hmm to bad I don't have a Xbox 360!!! Go check out the videos!!

Xbox 360 Arcade is Official

Microsoft's long rumored Xbox 360 Arcade is now official. It's everything we knew before: $279, wireless controller, HDMI, and five arcade games (Pac-Man Championship Edition, Uno, Luxor 2, Boom Boom Rocket and Feeding Frenzy). No hard drive, but there's an included a flash memory storage unit to save your arcade games on. It's a logical system that we predicted was true since almost a third of Xbox 360 owners don't know about the Arcade portion of Live. With this new SKU, even if people don't buy it, they'll at least know what the Xbox Live Arcade is.

REDMOND, Wash. -- Oct. 22, 2007 -- Just in time for holiday, Microsoft Corp. today released a new Xbox 360® console that delivers games and content to everyone in the family for an incredible value of $279.99 (U.S. estimated retail price)*. Available in stores beginning today, Xbox 360 Arcade console is the first Xbox 360 console to include five family-friendly games, a wireless controller, a high-definition multimedia interface (HDMI) connection to enable high-definition output if desired and 256 MB of memory useful for storing games and entertainment content. At $279.99, the Xbox 360 Arcade console will include five best-selling games: "PAC-MAN Championship Edition" (NAMCO BANDAI Games America Inc.), "Uno" (Carbonated Games), "Luxor 2" (MumboJumbo), "Boom Boom Rocket" (Electronic Arts Inc.) and "Feeding Frenzy" (Sprout Games).
"As families gather together this holiday, it's the perfect time to launch a new low-priced, high-value Xbox 360 that plays games, TV shows and music for everyone to enjoy," said Jeff Bell, corporate vice president of global marketing, Interactive Entertainment Business at Microsoft. "In addition to offering an incredible all-in-one package for families to get right into the fun, the Xbox 360 Arcade system features the industry-leading Family Settings, which allow parents to control what their kids are watching and playing -- and we know how important that control is to families around the world."
Karen Dodge, senior vice president and chief merchandising officer at Toys "R" Us, added, "We are excited to offer this new gaming experience to our customers -- children and families -- who can now enjoy the fun of Xbox 360 together. Many of this holiday season's hottest items provide Internet connectivity, and with the online entertainment options available through Xbox LIVE®, Xbox 360 Arcade offers families a great mix of online content and traditional gaming in one console."
The news of Xbox 360 Arcade comes as part of a broader initiative by Microsoft to bring the Xbox 360 experience to families everywhere. Microsoft also announced today that it is significantly expanding its catalog of high- and standard-definition family fun content that is available on demand direct to the consumer's living room. This includes the addition of everyone's favorite characters such as "Bugs Bunny" and "Daffy Duck" from Warner Bros., which will be delivering the first ever "Looney Tunes" cartoons for download on Xbox 360, starting today. In addition, Nickelodeon is adding three new shows to its already large library of more than 300 episodes of TV shows on Xbox LIVE, Microsoft's premier online gaming and entertainment service, with the inclusion of "Blue's Clues," "The Backyardigans" and "iCarly." "SpongeBob SquarePants Underpants Slam™" (THQ Inc.) and "SHREK-N-ROLL™" (Activision) games will also be available exclusively on Xbox LIVE Arcade, the place to download games for Xbox 360 over Xbox LIVE, adding more fun for everyone in the family.

279$ isn't bad for a system like that. I would get one now!! :) I will wait to see if anyone offers any price cuts first for the Holidays, I'm sure it will be on sale somewhere!!

Xbox 360 to get built-in HD DVD drive in late 2008?

This certainly isn't the first time we've heard this rumor, but SmartHouse is reporting that Microsoft and Toshiba are working on an updated Xbox 360 with a built-in HD DVD drive. If that were all, we wouldn't bat an eye -- it's gotta happen sometime -- but there are some other, crazier aspects to this version of the rumor that set off some red flags: SmartHouse also claims that the new box will be Toshiba-branded and have dual HDTV tuners, electronic program guide capabilities, built-in wireless networking, and sport an "MP3 player" dock, which we'd imagine would be for a Zune. That's a hell of a box, right there, and while we've seen similar devices like Sony's PSX, they didn't exactly take the world by storm. Our money is still on a simple bump of the existing 360 to HD DVD, but get ready to hear a lot of about this rumor in the weeks to come.

[Via Joystiq]

Hmm, I was wondering about that. After all PS3 has Blue-ray!! It was going to happen sooner or later.

Contest: Win a Xbox 360 + HD DVD Player From Gizmodo

The Xbox 360 is finishing up its second year on the market, which means this is the perfect time to get in on all the great titles coming out this holiday season courtesy of Gizmodo. From Mass Effect to Lost Odyssey to PGR4 to Halo, it's hard to beat the amount of games on 360. Plus, when you throw in an HD DVD player addon, you can watch a crapload of high-def movies as well. Here's how you can win the two.

Send an email to contests@gizmodo.com with the subject "Xbox 360 and HD DVD contest". We'll pick a winner at random on October 22. Standard Gawker contest rules apply.

Sponsored by Xbox 360 HD DVD: Your center for home entertainment.

Thought People should know you too could win a free Xbox 360!! Enter to win!!

Halo Blamed For Bad Movie Ticket Sales

Hollywood studio execs are BLAMING HALO 3, the Microsoft Xbox 360 game, for dismal box office receipts since the game was released September 26. For example, movie ticket sales for the October 5 weekend were down 27% below the same weekend last year. Meanwhile, Halo 3 gamers logged some 40 million hours of play during the first week alone.

I say this is totally ridiculous, I can't see this stopping people from seeing movies.

Gamers spend about $170M on 'Halo 3'

SEATTLE - Video game enthusiasts in the United States plunked down about $170 million on copies of "Halo 3" in the 24 hours after the Xbox 360 game went on sale, Microsoft Corp. said Wednesday.

"'Halo 3' has become a pop-culture phenomenon," Shane Kim, corporate vice president of Microsoft Game Studios, said in a statement.

The game, which was developed by Microsoft-owned Bungie Studios, completes the saga of helmet-clad Master Chief and his quest to save humankind from aliens.

Fans pre-ordered more than 1.7 million copies of the game, and more than 10,000 stores opened at midnight Monday to start selling, according to Microsoft. The much-anticipated launch was marred only slightly by reports that limited-edition packaging left scratches on game disks.

"The initial demand we've seen for 'Halo 3' has been astounding," Jill Hamburger, vice president of movies and games at Best Buy, said in a statement.

Wow, I didn't expect this did anyone else. I'd figure Halo 3 wouldn't of top this high of a record!

is there a problem with xbl at the moment??

anyone know for sure, up until a few hours ago everything was fine, now.. i bring up the friend list with guide and it freezes, also, the whole xbl feels very slow, is it my console or is everyone experiencing some funny stuff on xbl???

http://forums.xbox.com/15761481/ShowPost.aspx

I wonder how quickly they will fix this!! I guess it is a record for XBOX live!! ;)