Microsoft Ends Xbox Originals, Adds Xbox 360 Full Game Downloads
By Popzara 18th Jun 2009

Microsoft officially ends their Xbox Originals program, replacing it with full-game downloads for the Xbox 360 Marketplace. Sort of.



Original post at Popzara Blogs:

We knew it was coming, but it looks as though it came a little sooner than we anticipated. When Microsoft decided to end their 'Xbox Originals' program, the plan was to make way for newer, more profitable Xbox 360 titles in the company's Marketplace environment. To help ease this transition, the company has updated their Xbox Marketplace website and added - you guessed it - links to full Xbox 360 Games downloads. Sort of.

As you can see by the included image (save and view for bigger resolutions), there is an option on the left menu for 'Full Game Downloads'...yet, clicking on it produces a blank menu. But its still there, which we can only assume means that a fuller, more fleshed-out service isn't far behind.

If you've got a Silverlight-packing web browser, head over to the official Xbox Marketplace site for yourselves and see if there's been any change. If this is just the beginning, then its safe to say the Xbox is dead, long live the Xbox!

MS CEO Confirms New Xbox Console Hitting Retailers In 2010
By Popzara 18th Jun 2009

Microsoft's CEO Steve Ballmer has confirmed a new Xbox console will hit retail shelves sometime in 2010.



Original post at Popzara Blogs:

Rumors (mostly fueled from several reports out of gaming site 1UP.com) have grown since Microsoft showed the stunning Natal demonstration during their 2009 E3 show about how the company intends to launch the thing, and when. With the most interesting rumor swirling about that Microsoft was bent on unleashing not just a peripheral add-on, but a new Xbox console highly probable, it didn't take long for the company's most interesting personality to confirm the news.

TG Daily is reporting the news of the new Xbox console, slated to hit retail shelves in 2010, has been confirmed by the highest-of-highs, CEO Steve Ballmer during a speech on innovation at the Executives Club in Chicago. Although not much is known, look for the next console sometime before the 2010 holiday shopping season, with the juiciest quote from the presser being the console "really, really, close" to an actuality.

Descriptions of the new machine sound as if the Natal technology will be integrated within the current Xbox architecture, leaving the company open to selling a separate (i.e. sensor-bar related) pack to let the 30 million current Xbox 360 owners in on the motion-sensing, interactive fun. Others have pegged the new system might ship with 'slight' technical bump, which would improve graphics for new users, but not limit the experience of original Xbox 360 users.

The possibilities are endless, and no doubt there will be many more before the final thing is released next year. Let's just hope the industry isn't headed back to the dark day of multi-format add-ons, upgrades, and fragmented userbases. Another Sega CD/32X situation, we don't need! Look for months of speculation to come.

More on this (un)startling development as it becomes available! Thanks to TG Daily for the heavy lifting.

We knew it was coming, but it looks as though it came a little sooner than we anticipated. When Microsoft decided to end their 'Xbox Originals' program, the plan was to make way for newer, more profitable Xbox 360 titles in the company's Marketplace environment. To help ease this transition, the company has updated their Xbox Marketplace website and added - you guessed it - links to full Xbox 360 Games downloads. Sort of.

Descriptions of the new machine sound as if the Natal technology will be integrated within the current Xbox architecture, leaving the company open to selling a separate (i.e. sensor-bar related) pack to let the 30 million current Xbox 360 owners in on the motion-sensing, interactive fun. Others have pegged the new system might ship with 'slight' technical bump, which would improve graphics for new users, but not limit the experience of original Xbox 360 users.

The possibilities are endless, and no doubt there will be many more before the final thing is released next year. Let's just hope the industry isn't headed back to the dark day of multi-format add-ons, upgrades, and fragmented userbases. Another Sega CD/32X situation, we don't need! Look for months of speculation to come.

Mhm el tema es que el gerente ese dejó la duda si se refería un nuevo SKU de la misma 360 con Natal builtin o una nueva consola... El sentido común hace suponer que es la primera, es decir un nuevo SKU (algún día tal vez lo hagan standard para todos) que trae Natal built in...

acordate que se viene diciendo que la nueva consola trae forward compatibility, que sería otra cosa pero ya la están preparando... Es decir que los juegos de x720 correrían en la x360 con menos performance desde ya...

“I'm getting concerned about Sony; the PlayStation 3 is losing a bit of momentum and they don't make it easy for me to support the platform. It's expensive to develop for the console, and the Wii and the Xbox are just selling better." - Activision CEO, Bobby Kotick

“I would say feasible is a good word. To me I always think of the big three as, and maybe it’s just because of when I was playing and when I was first starting at LucasArts, I always think of Sam & Max, Day of the Tentacle and Monkey Island as the big three franchises. Having access to Steve and access to Dave Grossman and everything else… I really love Day of the Tentacle. Although I wanted to do, and my ideas always get shot down, but I wanted to see, like a 32-year-old Hoagie, or Bernard, Hoagie and Laverne all grown up with jobs and what not. But we’ll see if that gets any traction. We’re certainly not there yet on it, and we’re just having a “wait and see” approach with Monkey. Hopefully everyone that plays the Special Edition and plays Tales really enjoy what the games bring, which is the great stories and characters of Guybrush and Elaine and LeChuck.” - Telltale Games CEO Dan Connors

Sony on Kotick PS3 drop threat - We respect third-party opinion, but no comment

June 19th, 2009 @ 15:59
By Patrick Garratt



Sony just issued a statement on Bobby Kotick’s threat earlier today to drop PS3 and PSP support.

“We respect our third-parties’ opinions and their right to express those opinions but we will not be commenting on this story,” said a SCEE rep.

The Activision boss said this morning that his company may drop support for Sony hardware in 2010 or 2011 unless PS3’s price is cut.

Wedbush Morgan analyst Michael Pachter has already branded Kotick’s comments as “bluffing”.