Microsoft has unofficially lowered the price of the Xbox 360 HD DVD Player again; this time to $129. Back in July, the software giant dropped the price of the Xbox 360 HD DVD Player from $199 to $179 and today, Amazon and Toy "R" Us are offering the add-on at this new low price.
This price drop strengthens Michael Bay's conspiracy theory that claims Microsoft wants everyone to embrace the HD DVD format and not Blu-ray. This way, Bay claims, Microsoft will create confusion in the market until they perfect the digital downloads.
In the wake of Sunday’s shocking Activision-Blizzard merger news, the top dogs of Activision and Vivendi Games recently held a transcontinental conference call to shed more light on the out of the blue business deal and what’s to come.
Not to bore the hell out of you with all the financial mumbo jumbo, we’ll cut right to the chase here by saying that the newly formed company has unveiled its plans concerning the future iterations of some of its key franchises. Tucked away at the bottom of a fact sheet was the following:
Pipeline includes: Guitar Hero IV, Call of Duty 5, James Bond, new Tony Hawk, new DreamWorks titles, new Marvel titles and entry into racing with Bizarre
We've just been informed via Gamertag Radio and Xbox.com's TriXie that the Fall Update is releasing with a minor bug related to the new Live ID switching feature. Specifically, when you download the Fall Update and change the Live ID you have associated with your gamertag, a bunch of Xbox.com issues arise. Problems including all your Xbox.com forum posts being deleted, your community user level will go bye-bye, your icons will be erased and your gamertag will be replaced with with an "anonymous" name. The Xbox 360 dashboard team is trying their darnedest to get a fix in place and should have a solution available in the next few days. Until then, DO NOT change your Live ID that is associated with your gamertag until a fix is announced. You've been warned
Xbox.com has posted an article that outlines features that you can expect in the Dashboard update which will hit next week. This free update will be available on December 4th.
Here are some of the highlight from the article:
Xbox Originals – With this new service, announced on Nov. 13, consumers can download-to-own full original Xbox games that were previously only available at retail. The digital shelves will always be stocked with classic titles, such as “Crash Bandicoot: Wrath of Cortex” “Crimson Skies: High Road to Revenge,” “Halo,” “Fable,” “Fuzion Frenzy,” “Psychonauts,” and more as the catalogue grows over time, at 1200 Microsoft Points per game.
Xbox LIVE Arcade Hits – On Xbox LIVE Arcade, the Arcade Hits program kicks off where some of the best selling Xbox LIVE Arcade games will become available at permanently reduced prices, making it easier than ever for everyone to build a library of downloadable games! The first games to become Arcade Hits will be “Bankshot Billiards 2” and “Lumines LIVE,” which will be available for 800 Microsoft Points each, and “Marble Blast Ultra,” “Small Arms” and “Zuma Deluxe,” which will be available for 400 Microsoft Points each. With free trial downloads for every game and over 100 games to choose from, Xbox LIVE Arcade offers something for every member of the family.
Inside Xbox – A new direct feed brings current news straight from Xbox.com into the Xbox LIVE Dashboard providing members an easy, predictable entry point where they can discover what's new in game releases, events, and Xbox LIVE Marketplace offers. (It will also feature brief weekly segments from Major Nelson, TriXie, Games Editor Denny Atkin, and SoozyQ.)
Enhanced online profile – Members interested in sharing a few more details about themselves will have the option to go beyond their motto and further personalize their profile with an expanded bio. The extended bios will be visible to “Friends Only” or the entire Xbox LIVE community.
Expanded Friends List access – A quick and easy way for gamers to expand their personal community on Xbox LIVE, members will be able to see the Friends Lists of other Xbox LIVE members, boosting their social networking experience on the service.
Enhanced Parental Controls – Family Timer, a strong and flexible new addition to the Xbox 360 Family Settings, enables parents to set the amount of time their Xbox 360 can be used on a per-day or per-week basis by their children or other members of the household.
New video features – The convenience of full-screen movie previews and enhanced video codec support further expand the options when it comes to the Xbox 360 entertainment experience. Easy-to-use navigation features – With several noteworthy changes in the Xbox LIVE Dashboard, from the new Game Store button to the Video Store button to enhanced visuals and descriptions in the video library, Xbox LIVE members can find what they want, when they want it.
Video of the New Features
For the full list of features coming Dec. 4th click here.
The most significant addition is the reorganization of the "games" blade (pictured above), which now features the "Game Library" (in place of "Xbox Live Arcade"), in addition to the old "Achievements" and "Played Games" sections.
When opened, the Game Library is nearly identical to the current XBLA menu, with a vertically-scrolling games list and an info box appearing for the highlighted game [Famitsu image]. New, however, is a horizontal sorting menu, broken down by filters like "All Games," "Arcade," "Demos," and "Recent Downloads." (This new horizontal and vertical organization is not unlike Sony's XMB design -- Microsoft calls it "twist" navigation, the same UI used for Zune.)
Additional Fall Update features:
Top level of "marketplace" has been reorganized and reduced to four categories: "Featured Content," "What's New," "Game Store," and "Video Store" (below top level, categories will be navigated by twist, just like the Game Library)
"Personal Profile" added to Gamer Profile; text field allowing approx. 500-1000 characters, providing space to publish name, nationality, region, and self introduction. (Further social networking tools to accompany 'Friends of Friends' functionality)
XBLA demos deleted from "Played Games" and Gamercard lists
Note: This feature set is by no means complete, and we should expect to see variations in and additions to the North American update, which will be made available on Dec. 4th.
Updates to the 360's compatibility are always kind of a mixed bag, but this new update is, perhaps, more mixed than usual. Sure, there are plenty of games, but there aren't too many standouts. Freedom Fighters and Breakdown are nice, but the decent game to stinkeroo average is not so hot.
That said, there are now 465 backwards compatible games, and we can't think of a lot of marquee titles left to be brought up from the minor leagues.
The original Rainbow Six: Vegas was released on the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, PlayStation Portable, and the PC. From all indications, it looks like Ubisoft decided not to take a multi-platform approach to the sequel of the game. The company's official website only listed Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six: Vegas 2 on the Xbox 360 and PC.
Hey, remember BlackSite? What's that? You don't? Allow us to refresh your memory: Unreal Engine 3, aliens, rain, Clancy-esque squad controls. Ringing any bells? There we go. It seems BlackSite is hoping to make more of an impression, as a new demo has been released on Xbox Live Marketplace. We haven't gotten a chance to take it for a spin yet (it's nearly a gig, so the download is taking its sweet time), but the description lets us know two things. One, it is a new demo, and two, you'll be fighting your way through "the streets and backyards of a small American town." As you well know, there aren't nearly enough backyards in FPS games, so you should probably give BlackSite a try.
We've just been informed via 
