Xbox Live update going live on Tuesday

Xbox Live’s General Manager, Marc Whitten, confirmed that the new update would be released on Tuesday, November 17.  Among the new features, which has already been made available to Beta testers, include Facebook, Twitter, Last.FM and Zune support.

The Dashboard update includes:

• Facebook – Update your status to share what movie, game or entertainment you’re enjoying, connect with friends and view their Facebook stream, status updates and photos on the big screen – all seamlessly integrated and custom-built for Xbox 360. You can even compare your Xbox LIVE and Facebook friends lists to see which of your friends are on LIVE.

• Zune – Zune video on Xbox LIVE offers a full fidelity experience with instant on HD in 1080p and 5.1 channel surround sound. No waiting for downloads or buffering, it’s there at the press of a button. You can also share the experience with up to seven friends through voice chat and Avatar integration on the TV screen – it puts a whole new spin on “movie night.”

• Twitter – Stay in the know by discovering, posting and replying to Tweets right on your Xbox 360. You can even view friend profiles, trends and conversations, or search to see who’s tweeting about your favorite game.

• Last.fm – Discover more music and explore endless personalized radio stations with Last.fm on Xbox 360. Skip, “ban” or “love” tracks to create your perfect mix—we’ve even built in “Gamer Stations” with game-related types of music selected specifically for the gaming community.

• Xbox LIVE will also be debuting “News and More,” a new section of the “Inside Xbox” channel, transforming Xbox LIVE into a full-fledged media portal. With a regularly-updated stream of content from MSNBC, The New Yorker and Dilbert, “News and More” brings the latest in current events, arts and entertainment right to your fingertips.

Xbox Live now has over 20 million active members, with 114% growth in the number of new members joining in 2009. Equally impressive, Live users have made more than one billion downloads.

[via 360Sync.com]

Microsoft Lays Down Ban Hammer On 1 Million Xbox Live Users

Microsoft laid down the banned hammer this week to over 1 million Xbox Live users who have modified their Xbox 360's to play pirated games. This has been an on going thing for most Xbox 360 pirates, but it all came to a head when leaked copies of 'Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2' made its way to bit torrents.

Users who modified Xbox 360's in order to play pirated games were met with a rude awakening when their gamer tag was banned from using the online service. Xbox Live allows Xbox 360 users to play with friends and other gamers across the world in a variety of different games. It has a yearly subscription fee of $50 and Microsoft has the discretion of banning users for a week, month, or permanently for violating their terms. So the banned offenders my just be out of $50 unless Microsoft grows a heart somewhere down the line and reverses their decision........... Good luck!

Its said that Activision may have exhorted Microsoft to enact the bans due to all the leaked copies that were being used on Xbox Live.

I do have friends who have modded their Xbox 360, and I've always felt that they were playing a dangerous game (not to mention illegal). I've never thought it was worth it to risk getting banned from Xbox Live, because that is a HUGH part of the fun of having an Xbox 360. Playing friends online is a very big deal to me, and a deciding factor if I buy a game for the PS3 or the Xbox 360. If the game doesn't have a good online content, then I get it for the PS3. If it has major online gaming content, then Xbox 360 wins.

So you Xbox 360 pirates who haven't been banned yet. I'm not here to judge, but you might want to reconsider that mod!!!

[CNN]

Section 8 demo hits XBLA

Section 8 is an intense first-person shooter that gives players unprecedented strategic control over the battlefield, employing tactical assets and on-demand vehicle deliveries to dynamically alter the flow of combat. Set in the distant future when humanity is facing a growing insurrection among its colonies, Earth dispatches the elite 8th Armored Infantry to turn the tide.

I’m gonna give this a try.  Someone else who likes shooters give it a try and let me know what you think.  Add it to your download queue here.

Xbox Live Preview

Well, it looks like I will be one of the lucky ones to preview the new update for Xbox Live.  There is no exact time frame except that when it comes out they will let us know.  And then, I will let you all know.

Here is a list of some features.

I think I am most stoked about the Netflix experience.  I use it quite often and would love for it to improve even more.  I prefer it to the TiVo, because it streams a lot better.

Details For Last.fm On Xbox Live

If you were wondering when we were going to get more details about Last.fm on Xbox Live announced at E3 this year, the guys at Joystiq has taken care of us. It looks like the Gold members of Xbox live will get the 24-hour access free (with ad support that is). And if there is any of you still rock’n the Silver membership, you’ll only get 3 hours a month for a trial period. But if you want to pony up $36 bucks a year, you can have the same access.

Check the quote:

“Silver users will be able access what we’re considering a trial period of three hours a month, which comes with video advertising. Gold users will have unlimited ad-supported access, so they can use it 24 hours a day. There will also be a premium offering on a subscription basis from Last.fm that will be commercial free and will also have more sophisticated personalization features, like Loved Tracks.” - Christina DeRosa, XBL GM.

Not sure why you would spend $36 for this service, when you could put another $14 with it and get the full Gold membership.

[Crunchgear]

Xbox Live to add Facebook & Twitter integration, among others

The Xbox 360 will be added Twitter and Facebook to its list of web services, Microsoft announced today, with some of those social networking services interact with the console's game library.

Microsoft's Facebook implementation on the Xbox 360 looks to offer much of what's available via a regular web browser: status updates, photo sharing, email and more. The interface follows the established New Xbox Experience format, with Avatars integrated into profile and news feed menus. Looks like more of the things one can do with the core Facebook service, installable apps notwithstanding, will be present in the Xbox 360 version.

What's new is the option to save screen shots from Xbox 360 games, then let players upload those game moments via Facebook Connect to show off online. The first game to support that option will be EA Sport's Tiger Woods PGA Tour 10. Xbox general manager Marc Whitten said this feature will be added to the Xbox 360 SDK, but wasn't clear on whether this option could be added to older titles via software update.

Xbox 360's version of Twitter looks very much like the Web interface, letting Xbox 360 owners update their personal status from the dashboard and favorite tweets.

Microsoft also announced the addition of Last.FM to the Xbox 360 at its press conference today.

[via Kotaku]

UPDATE:  In addition to the above, Xbox Live will be offering 1080p streaming movies and full downloadable games. 

Xbox Live swings a mighty Ban Hammer

I saw this over at Xbox Live’s Major Nelson.

As you know, we are committed to keeping Xbox LIVE a safe and fair place to play for the more than 17 million active members. As part of our regular safety monitoring we have pinpointed a group of players who have unlocked specific Gears of War 2 Achievements through an unauthorized hack. Deliberate cheats like these are in direct violation of the Xbox LIVE Terms of Use and will not be tolerated. As I post this, we’ve begun taking steps to reset the Gamerscores of the offending players.  As I have mentioned in the past, this is something we do occasionally to keep the service free of cheating in order to maintain a fair and level playing field for everyone. If you play fair and earn your achievements without glitching or cheating, you have nothing to worry about. Read my original post that shows what a cheater looks like and head over to Xbox.com to read the Gamerscore correction FAQ that may answer some of your questions.

Theses are some pretty harsh consequences of cheating.

• Gamerscore reset to zero, and
• Unable to regain all previously earned achievements, and
• Labeled as a “cheater” for the community to view.

Max Payne 1 & 2 now on Xbox Live

Heads up, 360 gamers. You can now find Rockstar’s Max Payne and Max Payne 2: The Fall of Max Payne on Xbox Live. Each game costs 1,200 Microsoft points, or $15 in non-spacebucks.

There seems to be a bit of a discussion at Major Nelson’s Tree House, or whatever he calls his Internet Web site, about whether it’s wiser to buy the Xbox 360-ified Max Payne games at $15 a pop, or buy the actual, boxed copies from eBay for less. That way, you have the game, manual, and the sense of physical ownership that some people cling to.

Of course, not everyone still has a working Xbox1 (I do, but I’m silly), and playing the game on Xbox1 won’t net you any Achievements. Decisions!

I enjoyed Max Payne when it first came out. I never played Max Payne 2, so maybe I’ll give it a go this time around? We’ll see. I’m busy doing stupid quests in Fallout 3, and Banjo-Tooie comes out on Wednesday. I also just bought Fallout and Fallout 2 from Good Old Games. So clearly I’m very busy, and making the most of my college degree.

[via CrunchGear]

Lode Runner on Xbox Live – Yay!!

There are two ways to arrive at the fact that Lode Runner will release on Xbox Live Arcade this week. The first way -- and definitely the most fun way -- is by a process of elimination. You see, of the seven titles announced for the Days of Arcade event, Lode Runner is the only one that hasn't been released yet. See, logic is fun!
If you'd rather be boring and have someone just tell you, the game was also confirmed on the latest Major Nelson podcast during an interview with the game's producer and designer, Brett Ballow. The game will include online and offline multiplayer and also a level editor(!). Now that we've gotten everyone nice and excited, the price: 1200 ($15).

This brings back gaming from the old days.  I still remember playing this for hours on end on my Atari 800 back in the day. 

Gaming with Jimmy Fallon

Yesterday we told you that G4's Morgan Webb was going to be on The Jimmy Fallon Show. True to our word, that thing actually happened. Webb and Fallon talked about games, before eventually fighting King Hippo in Punch Out!! on the Wii. You can see that after the jump.

But the real news: Ice T was also in the house, and chiming in on the conversation, he revealed his gaming habits. It seems that Ice T is a pretty big gamer, with the Xbox 360 being his system of choice. His gamertag? Lord 187X, he says. Looks like he's played a lot of games, too. Right now, he's playing Need for Speed Undercover, but has also partook in the joys of BioShock, Saints Row 2, and Gears of War 2.

But don't go trying to add him to your friends list just yet. Like many gamers, he laments the Xbox LIVE friend limit, a problem for a popular pimp like himself.

"You can only hold a hundred people," he told Fallon and Webb, "so it blows out the machine. But it's all good. It's all good."

It's not all good Ice T -- Microsoft needs to remove that friend list cap, and I think you're the guy to make it happen. But who needs to play online when you're married to a wife who will play games with you? Although it doesn't appear in his game history, Ice T said he's currently playing cooperative Resident Evil 5 with his wife, Coco.

[via Destructoid]

Zombie Apocalypse

The Konami version of dual-stick, arcade-style undead shooting looks to be taken a bit more seriously—minus the teddy bear packed with C4 explosives used to fend of hordes in Zombie Apocalypse. It also looks to have the raw numbers that few press releases can match: 11 weapons, 55 "days" of plays, 7 environments, 4 players, 7 unlockable game modes.

Just look at all these officially approved bullet points...

• Killer Environments – Use the environmental hazards to crush, burn, slice, or cause many other types of destruction on the zombie masses
• Trigger-mortis - 11 devastating weapons are at your disposal to blow the heads of the living dead or when your trigger finger is tired use the chainsaw to eviscerate them in a more up close and personal manner
• 55 Days Later – Survive 55 days of battles across 7 environments and you will be rewarded with not becoming a brainless zombie
• Slaughter Zombies as a Team – Play with 4 players locally or via the internet and work as a team to rescue survivors and put down as many brain eaters as you can while competing for high scores
• More Zombie Modes – Re-live the apocalypse with 7 challenging unlockable game modest

At first blush, Konami's Zombie Apocalypse looks like a top down Left 4 Dead, somewhere between the Valve version and the more simplified Left 4K Dead version.  This looks like another great DLC game just like Invincible Tiger: The Legend of Han Tao.  Looking forward to this one.

New Xbox Experience is live Nov. 19

Well, we finally have an actual date for the New Xbox Experience.  Starting on November 19th, the update will go live.  For those that are wondering, new features include a new menu system replacing the current blade system, more dynamic menu themes, avatars (like Miis on the Wii), using your Xbox 360 as an on demand device for Netflix (no more need for iffy Media Center extensions), the ability to load your game to the hard drive and a few other tweaks.  Check out some of the details here.

Xbox Live Announcement

I received this update email from Xbox Live.  Xbox Live and the Live components of xbox.com will be down starting at 12:01AM Pacific Time on Monday, September 29th for around 24 hours.  It looks like this will be the full update and not just a preparatory update.  Take a look at the details here.

UPDATE:  Well it looks like it was just a prep update to the backbone of Xbox Live.  Oh well.  Looks like we will have to wait until November for the new goodies.  I myself can't wait until Netflix is accessible.

Big Day GTA

Activision's Call of Duty 4 and Microsoft's Halo 3 have been trading the first and second slots on Microsoft's Xbox Live activity chart for the past few months.

But Aaron Greenberg, director of product management for Xbox 360 and Xbox Live, said that GTA IV, which just released on Tuesday, is the new king of the hill on Xbox Live.

"We had roughly 1 million users in the first 24 hours [of GTA IV's release] go online with the game on Xbox Live," said Greenberg.

The online attraction of GTA IV is staggering, considering that until now, GTA has always been focused on the single player, offline experience.

"It's been the number one game on Xbox Live since its launch, so it's knocked off Halo 3 and Call of Duty 4," said Greenberg. "At launch, our data shows that out of all of our members on Live, the majority of them were playing GTA IV.

"With a community of over 10 million members, that's pretty rare."

Microsoft measures the number of unique users per game on Xbox Live. Aside from multiplayer online sessions, single-player sessions are also taken into account in the Live activity rankings if the console is connected to the service.

Greenberg also said that 2 million GTA IV achievements were unlocked in the first 24 hours of the game's release. In addition, over 15 million Gamerscore points were added to users' accounts in the first day.

1.5 million cross-game invites also occurred during that period.

Microsoft has been keen to leverage GTA IV's strong online multiplayer component by including a one-month Xbox Live gold subscription with all GTA IV launch copies. The firm hopes the game will drive Xbox Live adoption. Gold subscriptions cost $50 for a full year.

"Our teams have been doing a lot of work in advance of this game, in fact, months. The operations team has been working on scaling our infrastructure around building and increasing our server capacities," he added.

 

See more about Xbox 360 and initial GTA IV sales for the console here. 

Nelson, I saw you playing COD4 the other night.  Hurry up and get GTA dammit.

Cheat on achievements, you didn't achieve nothin

I saw this on the blog of Xbox Live's Major Nelson

I wanted to follow up and let you know where we are on the post I made a few months ago on Gamesave Tampering. Today we took action on some of the accounts we have identified as the most serious offenders who have violated the Xbox LIVE Terms of Use by tampering with their Gamerscore and Achievements.
The steps today takes the form of the following:

• Resetting the entire Gamerscore for an account to zero

• The account will be unable to regain all previously obtained achievements and Gamerscore, however, the players will have the ability to gain future Achievements by earning them fairly, like the majority of the Xbox LIVE community does.

• The account will be clearly labeled as a cheater for the community to view on xbox.com. You can see an example here. In dash, the personal view of the gamercard will be labeled as well. Xbox LIVE remains committed to keeping the service free of cheating in order to maintain a fair and level playing field for everyone. To read more about Gamerscore corrections read the FAQ on Xbox.com.

According to ExtremeTech, one of the higher profile gamers to be hit with this is StripClubDj, who was on top of a lot of leaderboards.

OUCH!!!!!

Sony Ads Remind You: Our Network Is Free, Yippee!

Sony, in a interesting ad, has taken up the art of 'saying without saying' with this new promotion. The statement "the fun is always free" is a plug for the Playstation 3 network, and a clear shot at the Xbox Live Network costing $50 per year. Now for me $50 for an entire year doesn't seem like a lot of money, and considering all the things you can get with Xbox Live, I think it's a bargain.

Comparing the 2 networks together, you can come to the conclusion that you get what you pay for. Now that might not always be the case, if Sony gets off the mat and has the year they believe they're going to have.

But for now, I think Sony should have held off on this bullet point.

“The fun’s always free” says new PS3 online ad [ComputerAndVideoGames.com via Crunchgear]

Dr. Phil tackles Xbox Live racism

I ran across this article about a recent Dr. Phil show. I love my Xbox 360. And I love Xbox live, but this is the exact reason that I don't use the headset or play many games online. The very first time I tried online play with voice chat was playing Uno. Now as a card game goes, you'd think this would be the logical first step. I WAS WRONG!! I had played a few games without the voice on, and it was enjoyable. A nice change from playing a predictable computer opponent. But as soon as I tried the same game with the headset, I was almost instantly turned off. As soon as the game started, with the same people I had just played with, 2 of the 3 other players showed exactly how juvenile they were by swearing and insulting other players almost instantly. I finally had to say something when one of them decided to throw a few racial comments out towards the other player. The exact thing has happened when I tried Halo and a couple other demos online. I have yet to even think about trying it in World of Warcraft or Lord of the Rings: Online, but I will give it a chance. Now, I really don't like Dr. Phil. I think he's a moron, just my opinion, but I will try and catch any re-airing of this show. In the article, I think its a sad statement when a 5-year old child of the gamer in the article asks if the reason they can't play online with daddy is because of the "name calling".

Goldeneye Coming To Xbox Live?

In what is sure to come as welcome news to Goldeneye fans, Xbox Evolved is reporting that the popular game is coming to Xbox Live Arcade. The game will be given a make over, and the graphics will be updated for the Xbox. It also will feature a multi-player mode for the Xbox Live.

Rareware is Revisiting 007 [Xbox Evolved via G4TV]

Microsoft: We're Sorry. Here's A Free Game

Here it is folks, Microsoft's statement about the Xbox Live outages that plagued gamers all over the world during the holiday season. Not quite what I was hoping for as far as compensation, but it will do. Check the quote:

"Dear Xbox LIVE Members:

During this past holiday season you helped us break a number of Xbox LIVE records. This included our largest sign-up of new members to Xbox LIVE in our 5 year history and just yesterday you broke the record for the single biggest day of concurrent members ever on the service.

As a result of this massive increase in usage we know that some of you experienced intermittent Xbox LIVE issues over the holiday break. While the service was not completely offline at any given time, we are disappointed in our performance. I would like to take this moment to thank you each and every one of you for your patience and understanding as our team has worked around the clock to return the service to a stable state.

At the same time we would like to offer a token of our appreciation to all of you in celebration of record success for the service. And as a thank you for your loyalty during this holiday period, we will be offering all of our Xbox LIVE members around the world access to a full Xbox LIVE Arcade game that will be available to download free of charge. In the coming weeks we will be sharing the specific details of this offer with you.

Thank you again for helping make Xbox LIVE everything that it is today!

Sincerely,

Marc Whitten
General Manager, Xbox LIVE"

That'll do pig..... That'll do!

Microsoft To Compensate For Xbox Live Outages

Gold Members of Xbox Live have had it good for sometime now, with great on-line multi-player service. That is until the holidays came around when a rash of outages popped up, crippling new Xbox owners who just got their systems for Christmas. Well Microsoft has said that they will make it up to Gold Members Xbox Live members. Check the quote from the MS PR:

" we will definitely be doing something for our Gold members that weren’t able to get online over the last week"

I'm sure that Microsoft will give Gold members something like a free movie download or Microsoft points, but I'm hoping for a free additional month.

Ya hear me Microsoft!?

Microsoft Taking Care Of Its Gold Members After Last Weeks Live Outage [The Bitbag via Crunchgear]