"3 million gamers can't be wrong" says the super, soaraway Sun newspaper

Microsoft has aimed its publicity hammer at the 18-34-year-old male demographic by announcing a partnership with The Sun Online.

The breast-based newspaper will carry an entire Xbox 360 mini portal on it for the remainder of the year, as Microsoft attempts to win over the common man and persuade him that there's no point waiting for PS3 to get cheaper.

Called "I Love Xbox," the advertorial feature is also giving away Xbox 360s - and includes a bizarre and shamefully fabricated real life story about a man who really loves his Xbox 360. And there's also this. It is a very strange place where reality and fiction have been combined.

We have no idea what goes on inside the heads of people who work in advertising.

(Via NMA)

Related posts: Gears 2 viral rubbish | "Live Your Moment"

Tokyo Game Show "brought home" - Microsoft dumps loads of new trailers and themes on Xbox Live

There's a whole heap of new "content" on the Xbox Live Marketplace today, as Microsoft tries to get the world pumped about what it's been showing off and bragging about at the Tokyo Game Show.

There's a trailer of BOMBSHELL turncoat Tekken 6 up right now, a trailer of upcoming Square Enix RPG The Last Remnant, plus new videos of Ninja Blade, Street Fighter 4, the latest Prince of Persia and MUCH, MUCH MORE.

The next six months of gaming has just opened up before your eyes, basically...

Tits and legs monsters return in Silent Hill 5

Why does a monster need tits? Surely no one's going to risk giving those nipples a bit of loving tweaking in the middle of a frantic boss battle? And what on earth is happening with the thing on the right? We wouldn't know where or even how to initiate foreplay with that mess of fleshy leftovers.

Someone at Konami really needs to confront those festering childhood issues before they spiral out of control and people get hurt.

This SICK FILTH is taken from a new batch of Silent Hill 5: Homecoming screens Konami has just released to celebrate the Leipzig Games Convention. Expect boring people to demand it's banned.

(Via TeamX)

Related posts: A few proper SH5 facts | Out in September, they said in April

EndWar inspired by Herzog Zwei, Advance Wars, Mario Kart?

Forthcoming Tom Clancy strategy title EndWar may be positioning itself as the game that will revolutionise the console RTS genre, but that doesn't mean that it's a game that hasn't taken significant cues from what's gone before. Speaking at the Edinburgh International Festival, Ubisoft's Shanghai Studio content director Julien Gerighty spoke candidly about the voice-controlled strategy game's inspirations, citing some rather unexpected influences in the process.

Of these, the most striking revelation was the link drawn between the see-sawing battles of EndWar and the wacky races of Nintendo's Mario Kart, with Gerighty specifically comparing MK's famous homing red shells to EndWar's rather less cuddly nuclear bombs. To Gerighty's mind, the Mario Kart dynamic was "a huge inspiration...the WMD happens when you're starting to lose. You've got something called DefCon One, and DefCon One is the last five minutes of the game, which is the last lap of Mario Kart, when the guy who's in second place gets the red shell. The Red Shell concept here is giving the guy who's losing a WMD because of the ability to spike him up. Those two things can turn the tide of war. So you've got this tug of war at the end of the game, which is really, really fun."

Farewell to writer Stuart, from all of us at Xboxer

Sad news mars this dreary Monday lunchtime - fellow Xboxer Stuart Houghton has discovered that there is something more important in life than writing witty video games banter and stirring up Sony fanboys. He has hung up his keyboard and set forth in search of pastures new.

Even though Stuart was only part of the Xboxer fold for a relatively short speel, we've very much enjoyed having him with us and his posts have always been consistently entertaining, insightful and even entertainingly inciteful. We hope you'll join us in wishing him all the very best in his future endeavours (note: you'll have to just do it mentally, on account of our comments system still being kaput).

Take care, Stuart; we'll miss you very much.

Fable II has an official release date

But for a change, we're not going to blow the news in the headline or the first paragraph. We're always doing that, and it's just wasteful.

We won't even reveal it in the second paragraph, where we will instead talk about Xbox Live accompaniment Fable II Pub Games - which is out on August 13, for 800 MS Points, or free if you've jumped through the necessary pre-ordering hoops.

Here's the actual fact - Fable II is out on October 24. In the UK. Americans get it on October 21, due to the time difference caused by the Atlantic or something. There's also a limited edition going on sale in a special box, for people with more money than sense that are impressed by special boxes and bonus DVDs full of developer interviews.

Related posts: Fable II's ropey-but-cheap hookers | Molyneux MMO?

Uh-oh! Microsoft says E3 will be "game changing"

Microsoft's David Gosen, one of the European top cheeses, has said the company is planning to show off some "fantastic surprises" and reveal some "new things" at games show E3 a few weeks from now.

He also said "you'll continue to hear lots from us that we believe will be game-changing."

This is bad news. Very bad news. This means we're about to get bombarded by shit motion control systems and rubbish party games. I bet you. I bet you any money you like and have in withdrawable cash. That Avatars thing is for real and Microsoft's going to start aiming for families. And children. And maybe even animals.

E3 kicks off on July 15. Be prepared for Xbox 360 to become something of a global laughing stock if Microsoft reveals a pile of Wii-copying rubbish.

(Via MCV)

Related posts: Still not come round to the idea | Leaked games might be lies

Microsoft whoring out (AKA "advertising") Rock Band during the Champion's League tonight

There's a big football game on tonight, apparently. Manchester is playing London in the Champion's Cup League final. Something like that, anyway. All the builders and manual labourers round my way are well excited about it, anyway.

And Microsoft is excited too - it's thrown down the BIG BUCKS and will be helping to promote Xbox 360 Rock Band during one of the ad breaks on tonight's game. MS is clearly trying to claim "ownership" of Rock Band for Xbox 360 in Europe, seeing as EA's music game's not out on PS3 for ages. Here's a brief look at it:

Full video here. The ad was created with input from "members of the Xbox Community," meaning that's a bunch of bloggers and MySpace-using Xbox fans you see in the audience. Although they don't really look shy enough to be bloggers, they, apparently, are.

It's one hell of an advert - and a minute-and-a-half long, with a shorter 30-second version airing over the coming days and weeks. It'll be available for viewing on Xbox.com from midnight of tonight.

(Via Microsoft)

Related posts: Halo 3 - Advertised | GTA - Also advertised

Biggest hint yet that MS is planning voice recognition tech

There have been lots of rumours flying around the internet recently that Microsoft is working on voice-recognition technology to be utilised in forthcoming games on the 360. Well, this morning I spotted what could well be a bit of a giveaway that it IS going to happen.

I'm at the Nordic Game conference in Malmo, and developers of strategy game World In Conflict: Soviet Assault, Massive Entertainment, have a stand with several 360 pods allowing attendees to play the game. Without any in-game instructions it's a bit hard to figure out, but it looks like a decent attempt at repurposing an RTS for the console market.

But the most interesting thing can be found in the pause menu. This may be an incomplete build, but it's noticeable that there's an option which says "Voice Activated", which you can turn on or off. It's possible that this could just be a placeholder, but it seems unlikely. This is surely strong evidence that this voice-tech stuff isn't just a pie in the sky bit of rumour-mongering.

In vaguely-related news World In Conflict won Best Nordic Game at the conference's awards last night, and Massive made everyone stand up and do a silly dance when they collected the award. Which was fun.

Banjo Kazooie named, and more info besides

Anyway, today's MS Gamer's Day has been mainly showing off two games we spoke about yesterday - Viva Pinata: Trouble In Paradise, and Rare's quite fantastic-looking Banjo Kazooie game, now subtitled Nuts And Bolts.

The reason for the title? Well, it all becomes clear once you play the game. It seems that the titular bear has access to a number of building-block parts, which can be used to construct any kind of vehicle to get around in. It's apparently very simple to use, and while some will be happy just making a box with wheels, Rare has reportedly been able to create all the Star Wars vehicles with the flexible construction tool, as well as the USS Enterprise, so's not to leave Trekkies out.

Kudos to Rare for taking a fresh approach to the genre, when most would have been happy with a Mario Galaxy clone in HD. Nuts And Bolts will be out before Christmas, and now we know more about it, we're really rather excited.

CVG

Gears 2 footage to hit LIVE tomorrow morning

Set your alarm clocks early folks - there's going to be some shiny new video footage of the 'bigger, better, more badass' Gears 2 arriving on LIVE's Marketplace at 7am tomorrow morning. Of course, if Microsoft had any clue what real gamers were like, they'd know most of us go to bed two hours before that and don't get up until 3pm. Still, a bit more time trying to 100% GTA should see us getting up just in time for, er, Outtake TV.

CliffyB himself will be introducing the vid, which is set to capture the full badassedness of the much-anticipated sequel, and will show a proper look at the game's chainsaw duels, instead of a moody, monochromatic teaser version. Oh, and there'll be 'stunning new visuals'. The first was a good-looking game, so presumably these graphics will make our eyeballs explode with their brilliance. If they haven't already from having to stay up until/get up at 7 on a bloody Saturday morning as it is.

Northern men in court over Grand Theft Auto mugging shame

We are proud to NAME AND SHAME the evil pair accused of (we should probably say 'allegedly' here, like on Have I Got News For You?) mugging an 18-year-old of his copy of GTA IV on launch day.

Oliver Aindow, 18 and Marc Hughes, 21, are going up before magistrates in Chorley today, charged with mugging a poor youth for his copy of GTA IV. It is alleged they CALLOUSLY waited outside a branch of Blockbuster that was having a midnight opening to sell the game, then stole it off the poor unnamed 18-year-old as he walked home.

The attackers left him with a broken jaw. So not only did the poor victim spend the next day NOT playing GTA IV, he spent the next day in hospital, £40 worse off, in agony and having his jaw wired together while not playing GTA.

This country. THIS COUNTRY. What is going wrong? Let's all emigrate to Canada. Can the last person out cancel the papers and turn everything off at the plug, please?

(Via Pendle Today!)

Related posts: GTA IV boosts 360 sales | Launch Day almost-sell-out for GTA IV

UK Xbox 360 sales up 125% thanks to, ooh, let's think... GTA IV

Microsoft's just sent out a FEEL GOOD! summery press release about the European performance of Grand Theft Auto IV.

MS happily repeats the news that the game sold 20% more copies on Xbox 360 than on PlayStation3, coming up with the awesome line that Xbox 360 is "the best way to experience this historic milestone in gaming" thanks to Xbox Live. Which, to be fair, is true.

Of special interest is actual HARD DATA on console sales. Microsoft reckons UK Xbox 360 sales rose by 125% last week and that other European countries have seen a similar sales spike thanks to The Special Game. Here's a happy quote from a man at Woolworths called Gerry Berkley. He's the trading manager at Woolies, so is no doubt happily adding up all the £39.99s he's had come in over the last week.

"Grand Theft Auto IV has done phenomenally well this week with Xbox 360 version outselling PS3 in our stores. Xbox 360 console sales have seen a big uplift off the back of Grand Theft Auto IV launching. It's clear our customers see Xbox 360 as a great console for this incredible game."

Also revealed by MS are the exciting facts that over 9.7 million hours of GTA IV sessions have been played on Xbox Live, with 31 million hours clocked up overall by May 4. This really must be the end of GTA IV news for this week? Surely? What else is there to say?

Related posts: $500 LARGE | #1 so why try harder?

GTA Day One Sales: Xbox 360 > PS3

Wow. We weren't sure what to expect - especially considering the recent success of the PS3 in Europe of late - but it seems the 360 version of GTA had the clear edge in first-day sales.

Naturally, the game smashed all kinds of records, ending up with a total of 609,000 copies sold, easily beating the previous record holder - and last home console GTA, San Andreas, which sold just over half a million in its first 24 hours in 2004.

335,000 of those sales were on Microsoft's console, which makes it *gets calculator* 274,000 for the PS3 version. A 61,000 difference on day one. Those TV ads must have made the difference. As a fairly gaming-oblivious man said to me in the midnight queue for the game at Tesco's the other day "I thought it were Xbox exclusive". Mind you, he also insisted Saint's Row was a Rockstar game.

The times, they are a-changin', as Bob Dylan once sang. Formerly the domain of GTA, PlayStation - as these figures prove - is no longer uniquely synonymous with the brand.

Go go fanboy arguments!

GI.biz

Microsoft and Rockstar promise 'hours' of GTA DLC

There's literally nothing to report today that isn't GTA-related. It's as if the entire industry has taken a day off to play the game or something. In fact, thinking about it, that's probably true. I tried and failed to get hold of three PR people today, and GTA seems as good a reason as any why they were incontactable.

But I digress: Microsoft today released a statement bigging up the 360 version, which really should have been done the day before considering nearly the entire world bought it at midnight launches. Though it's reassuring for those who did plump for the sharper-but-more-pop-uppy one of the two.

"Play Grand Theft Auto IV multiplayer online with your friends starting today over Xbox LIVE," it says. Well, we'd rather focus on the awesome solo mode first, but thanks for the advice.

"Starting this autumn, Xbox 360 owners will also have access to exclusive Grand Theft Auto IV episodes that will provide hours of additional game play."

Hours, eh? Interesting. That's not just one hour, but hours plural. Take note, Bioware.

Rockstar head honcho Sam Houser (whose brother Dan co-wrote the script for the game) suggested big things were planned for the DLC. "

"I think the...episodes are going to be pretty deep" claimed Houser, adding "you'll get a lot of content for your money".

How very thoughtful. Given how brilliant the rest of the game is, the thought of more juicy GTA goodness come August is too exciting for words.

CVG

GTA IV's graphics: a non-technical eyewitness comparison

I've played both versions of GTA today - for purely scientific purposes, you understand - and, having created a bit of a kerfuffle with my post yesterday about the visuals of both versions, thought I'd attempt to ensure the story I reported was accurate by using my own two peepers to play a game of spot the difference.

As you might expect, there's not much in it. I'm no tech expert, but that 630p claim on the PS3 version must be true - it's just about noticeable enough to spot. The 360 version is certainly sharper, but that definitely suffers from more pop-up. Swings and roundabouts then. If I'm brutally honest, I think the slight fuzziness of the PS3 game helps it look a little less 'gamey', though undoubtedly plenty of others will prefer the sharpness on the 360, particularly when cruising round the incredibly well-realised streets of Liberty City.

But the really important thing to note about this is that IT REALLY DOESN'T MATTER. GTA IV is a mind-blowing experience whichever console you buy it for, and you should really spend longer playing it and less time arguing about resolutions on the internet.

Even if Niko does sound like the Russian space station guy from Armageddon.

GTA PS3 runs at lower resolution than 360 version

More tech talk about GTA's graphics, this time comparing the resolutions of the two games. While it appears as if the PS3 game has marginally less pop-up than the 360 version, the latter will almost certainly look better on those with giant 1080P tellies, given that it runs at 720p compared to the PS3's 630p.

Confused? Us too. Apparently, the lower number of lines on the PS3 version means the picture has to be stretched more to fit a larger screen. So it'll look sharper on 360, but have a bit more pop-in, and - oh, does it REALLY MATTER?

GTA's never been about the graphics, and that's not about to start now. Frame-rate problems and objects appearing out of nowhere are pretty much expected from a new GTA - and let's face it, it never caused any problems for anyone else before.

As for which is the best version to get overall, that's still pretty clear, and can be summed up thusly:

DLC, baby.

With LIVE likely to make for a smoother, superior online experience, and the promise of maybe even a whole new city to cruise around in August, if you've got a choice, the 360's still the one to go for.

Beyond3D forum (via Videogaming247)

Microsoft provide games for sick children

Ahhh. It's like one of those heartwarming stories at the end of the news, like a three-year old climbing a tree to rescue a kitten or something. Microsoft, kind hearted company that it is, has decided to provide entertainment for unwell children by installing Xbox 360 kiosks in hospitals across the US.

Teaming up with the Companions in Courage Foundation, MS is supplying literally hundreds of the kiosks - they're intended to give the kids something to smile about and to help aid recovery by providing respite from their problems.

Selected games, films and TV programmes will be available on the service, and kids will be able to play and chat to each other over Xbox LIVE. Owing to some of the abuse I've received online, I can only assume that Halo 3 isn't among the games included.

Microsoft's Robbie Bach had this to say:

"Microsoft is committed to keeping kids entertained in a variety of ways within a safer gaming environment, so partnering with Companions in Courage to offer children in hospitals a way to connect through something as universal as games is a natural fit for the work we do," Bach said. "The goal for this program is to give these kids a chance to have some fun and just be kids."

Bless. A touching tale for a Wednesday evening, I'm sure you'll agree. As long as the consoles don't get poorly, that is...

GTA to beat Halo 3's record for biggest videogame launch?

Apparently so. And not only that, it's going to beat it by a long, long way. Granted, it has the advantage of availability on another console too, but still - the figures being bandied around are jaw-dropping.

$400m is the total suggested by Variety, the entertainment mag's website claiming it could even topple the $404m take that Pirates Of The Caribbean: At World's End nabbed at the box office, which made it - until now - the most successful entertainment launch of all time.

With early signs showing Rockstar's opus to be more than worth the agonisingly long wait, this could be a rare case of a game selling as well as it deserves to. Biggest ever launch though? That's some feat. If my sums are correct, we'll find out in nineteen days.

Variety (via Next-Gen)

Gears 2 preview at Comic Con

This years Comic Con will kick off on the 18th of April with a presentation from the scriptwriter of Gears of War - Joshua Ortega - and Epic Games' President Michael Capps.

The pair will be basking in the crowd's affection and waffling on for a bit about the Gears backstory before showing a 'glimpse' of the upcoming Gears of War 2.

Hopefully this will be of the actual gameplay footage variety, rather than a load of pre-rendered eye candy. Fingers crossed for a bit of chainsaw-v-chainsaw footage too.

If that doesn't tickle your fancy, Comic Con will also play host to previews of Warhammer Online, Age of Conan and Iron Man.

Related Posts

Gears 2 GDC vids up on Marketplace NOW | Gears 2 'more badass' - Rein

Bungie's clever little April Fool joke

The Americans love a bit of that April Fool action, don't they? The internet today is full of utterly appalling "jokes" about Metal Gear Solid 4 appearing on Xbox 360, Metal Gear Solid 4 appearing on Wii and Metal Gear Solid 4 appearing on a PlayStation phone. Or the iPod. Or on your mum's face.

This, though, is the best of today's global humour overload. Bungie's clever edit of Halo 3's matchmaking screen:

A pleasingly subtle attempt. Shame you might not be able to see it thanks to this morning's Xbox Live outage, but hopefully Bungie will respect time zone differences and leave this ghostly MC staring out at the world for the rest of the day.

Via (NeoGAF)

Related posts: Halo 3 | More Halo 3 | Halo 3

Xbox 360 and Dreamcast spare parts hacked together to make games more accessible

Here's an oddity you don't see everyday - an Xbox 360 with a Dreamcast Arcade Stick hanging out of it, designed to make playing video games easier for those with disabilities that make regular controllers too tough to handle.

The idea's the brain wave of OneSwitch and has been adopted by SpecialEffect - a charity that's trying to make games more accessible for disabled kids. And anyone that subliminally introduces people to Dreamcast-branded equipment is OK by us. Here's how Burnout Paradise plays on the re-jigged system...

The set up will be going out "on tour" next month as part of an accessible gaming roadshow. Doing this update means we don't have to give any money to charity this year.

Related posts: IKARUGA! | 360 is new Dreamcast

Gears 2 GDC vids up on Marketplace NOW

I can't speak for everyone on the Xboxer team, but personally I'm a little bit shocked and saddened by the news that everyone's favourite gamerdude, the incomparable CliffyB, suffers from stage-fright like the rest of us.

This stunning fact is revealed in some info we've received from MS regarding two new videos which can be downloaded from the Xbox Live Marketplace right now. The first piece of footage shows Cliffy and Epic president Mike Capps apparently bricking it before the official announcement of the game at the Game Developers Conference back in February. They also offer some messages to fans - I've not seen the vid yet, but it'll probably be something along the lines of "WOOOOOO! YEEAAAAAAHHH!" if Gears' dialogue is anything to go by.

Video number two reveals the new Unreal Engine tech which will be powering the sequel - I've seen this one, and it involves Marcus Fenix shooting at some water, bumping into a soft, fleshy cube, and destroying some scenery. There's also one sequence which sees a horde (plague?) of Locust yomping down a street - hopefully we won't get quite that many in the game in one place, otherwise players will be in for a bullet hell of Ikaruga proportions.

Gears 2 will be out in November, and Ikaruga probably still won't be here by then.

Philadelphia father gets 22+ years over 360-related daughter murder

Pretty sobering stuff, this - perhaps a little more serious than your usual blog post, but this awful story moved me to write. It's the tragic, shocking and quite frankly unbelievable tale of a man who killed his 17-month-old daughter, apparently for pulling his Xbox 360 over and breaking it.

Poor Alayiah Turman was subjected to a vicious assault from her father, with several blows so powerful that they cracked her skull. She died as a result of her terrible injuries.

27-year-old Tyrone Spellman was jailed for between 22 and 45 years, after being convicted by a jury of third-degree murder.

"There's never a good reason for this (murder), but this is just the pettiest of reasons," said a clearly shocked ADA James Berardinelli.

A completely and utterly senseless killing, I'm sure you'll all agree. Apologies if you find this a little depressing, but it's a tale that needs telling.

Source: Videogaming247 - and read more at ABC.com

Bigger, better, faster, MORE - Prototype looks the business

"It's Tom Clancy meets Stephen King" said Prototype producer Tim Bennison, unveiling his creation at the Game Developers Conference. Nah, not really. "It's Rampage meets Assassin's Creed" said Xboxer.tv, a little more accurately.

While our description doesn't sound quite as impressive, we do mean it as a compliment. Created by the folks behind hugely underrated smash-em-up Hulk: Ultimate Destruction, Prototype is starting to come together nicely thankyouverymuch, blending environment-blitzing carnage with free-running and jumping in a way that looks pretty gobsmackingly entertaining.

Bennison chatted about developers creating "better experiences", and said that he wanted to go for "more" instead, and then see if more "led to new experiences". In other words, pile on the excess and you're bound to get something that feels fresh. The last time we remember a game taking a familiar genre several logical steps further was Crackdown. If Prototype can marry its undoubtedly impressive chaos to an effective game structure, then we could be looking at something very special indeed.

Source: Videogaming247

This was a triumph: Portal wins big at GDC

It's hard to overstate our satisfaction. Gorgeous, clever, funny first-person brain-frazzler Portal has deservedly won a couple of big awards at the Game Developers Conference. Actually, make that three.

Already in its eighth year, the awards celebrate the very best that videogaming has to offer, and most of the night's winners were worthy recipients. But we're particularly heartened to see Portal snaffle awards for Best Game Design and Innovation, while it managed to fight off strong competition from the likes of Super Mario Galaxy and Call of Duty 4 for the prestigious overall Game Of The Year trophy.

Bioshock was the night's other big winner, nabbing gongs for Writing (despite Ken Levine's admission about the game's lacklustre ending), Visual Arts and Audio. But the night belonged to Valve's uniquely brilliant vision. We're making a note here: huge success.

Source: GamesIndustry

Related post: Levine: Bioshock's ending a 'miscalculation'

Spousal murder, companion tax and emotional dogs - Molyneux talks Fable 2

We love Peter Molyneux, but he doesn't half talk bollocks sometimes. If even half the stuff he came out with was true, he'd be pretty much God Of All Things right now, having created some of the most gobsmackingly stupendous videogames ever. Almost without exception, each game he's made has been great, but has also failed to live up to the ludicrous excess of hype heaped upon it by its creator. He's ambitious - we'll give him that.

Thus we come to Fable 2, but this time things are a little different. Of course it wouldn't be Molyneux without some OTT proclamation - this time it's that the AI is the most realistic ever in the entire history of the world - but he's toned down the hyperbole a little to focus on what Fable 2 CAN do, and not what it might be able to achieve were it programmed by a group of mythical super-beings.

Aside from the ability to kill your wife or husband, or to take a loveable canine companion with you on your adventures, the most interesting factoids to spill from Molyneux's loose lips concern the co-operative mode. Its jump-in, jump-out approach may be nothing new, but it's fairly unusual in an RPG, as is the ability to charge your fellow man a fee for tagging along. Turns out you can set sliders to split any snaffled booty or any experience gained from your new compadre, and once they're bored of your world, they can hop back to theirs with their stats and bank balance accordingly increased. "It's looking pretty cool" says a nonchalant Molyneux. We're liking this new laid-back approach.

The game should be available later this year - probably around Christmas - and is exclusive to the 360.

Source: Eurogamer

CES 2008: No HD DVD Xbox 360, but MGM and Disney to bring "content" to Xbox Video Store

The hottest Xbox 360 news from CES 2008 was not the HD DVD Xbox 360 (which now officially does not exist) - it's the slightly lower-key news that MGM and Disney are bringing their stuff to the Xbox Live Video Store.

As ever, it's the Americans that are getting it all first and best. Although... the Disney part of the deal isn't the proper Disney Disney, it's the Disney company's TV wing. So don't expect HD downloads of Disney movies. Instead, American Xbox Live downloaders get to watch TV shows from the Disney-ABC TV arm of the company.

Which means they'll get the next series of Lost in HD, along with Grey’s Anatomy, Ugly Betty and Desperate Housewives. We won't, though, as Microsoft's already said that movies and music videos are enough for Europe.

So for us European lot? Well, if MGM has signed up to distribute its films via Xbox Live in the States, hopefully the relevant paperwork will soon be signed to have MGM's US launch movies - The Terminator, Rocky, Legally Blonde and The Silence of the Lambs - arrive on the still rather sparse and un-updated European Video Store.

And that Xbox 360 HD DVD edition? Didn't happen at all. That's a whole separate update...

(Via Microsoft)

For more news about CES 2008, check out the massive, never-ending, unstoppable barrage of coverage being generated by the brave team over at Shiny Media's Tech Digest. The iPod dock scene is really kicking off over there.

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One last chance – win a trip to Barcelona, free LG Viewty and a job with Shiny Media

By popular demand, we’ve now extended the deadline on the LG Video Media Talent Award competition until January 1st, just because we’re full of Christmas cheer and want to give you a few extra days to put the spit and polish on your entries.

And if you haven’t heard of the compo yet, no need to panic. There’s still plenty of time to get something together and we really want to see what you can come up with. This is your chance to soar to internet stardom, sporting a brand new LG Viewty mobile, jetsetting your way on an all expense paid trip to 3GSM in Barcelona, and kick starting your career with a six month internship here at Shiny Media in our swanky Covent Garden offices. We’re looking for one presenter and one editor to join our team of blogging wizards, and to enter all you need to do is show us your skills either in front of the camera or behind the scenes with some clips we’ve provided.

We’ve already had a ton of entries, which have been the source of much furious debate and analysis in Shiny Towers and the standard is already getting very high. But we won’t be relying on our giant egos alone to decide the final victors; we’d love to hear what you guys think as well – after all, you’ll be the ones watching the final products in action. Head on over to our Official You Tube page. to check out your rivals and to leave your opinions on the current entries.

If you want to enter, this video will give you all the instructions you need. Make sure you also check out the Terms and Conditions too.

In the meantime here’s just one of our many promising hopefuls in action. Can you do better?

E3 looming on the horizon already - first news

That's right folks. With the Christmas gaming hype still at full speed, the colossal industry event that is E3 2008 is already gearing up to dominate the gaming press for months on end. The first news is that the event is returning to it's original home in Los Angeles, after last year's move to Santa Monica. However, we're unlikely to see a return to the bright lights, booth babes and general excess of the infamous industry money waster.

Speaking to Kotaku, Rich Taylor, senior vice president of communications and research for the Electronic Software Assosiation revealed "We are very much not going back to the old E3". So, expect a smaller event inviting far less games journalists to lavish parties.

As for what to expect at the show, publishers are remaining tight-lipped. Typically the event dominates the games industry's summer, so keep an eye out here as we keep you up to speed with what's expected to be revealed at or before the show. We can only speculate, but on the 360 front it's not impossible we'll begin to hear about it's successor, and the continuation of series' like Mass Effect and the output of studios like Bungie, Epic and Gearbox is likely to dominate. Here it begins, so ready yourselves.

Source:
Kotaku

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Jacksons Halo project new information soon | X07 event cancelled - could Moore's departure be the cause?

Six days to go: fame, fortune, free gadgets – all could still be yours

Let’s recap: you, dear reader, could be jet-setting your way to stardom thanks to our friends at the LG Video Media Talent Award. You’ll win an LG Viewty – for keepsies! You’ll be flown on an expense-paid trip to Barcelona for 3GSM! You’ll get to spend six glorious months working for US, Shiny Media, in our superduper Covent Garden offices!

And it’s all so laughably easy to enter too. We just need a presenter to get in front of the camera AND we need someone behind the scenes to orchestrate the on-screen efforts like a digital puppet-master.

Check out this video for full instructions, check out the competition page here and scope out your rivals on our Official You Tube page. In the meantime, here’s one of our hopefuls in action, explaining what ‘style’ means, via the medium of The Neverending Story. You, sir, are a giant amongst men.

Compo: Fill in survey, win iPod Touch!

How would you fancy a FREE iPod Touch? 16GB of memory to store your tunes on, touch screen display; it even looks like an iPhone when you’ve had a few and without all that getting saddled into an 18 month phone contract.

Our friends at Play.com have given us one and we’re not going to be auctioning it off at the office Xmas party, oh no. It’s going to YOU GUYS. All you have to do is fill in our incredibly simple survey to tell us what you think about Xboxer and all the many other blogs Shiny Media produces for your reading pleasure.

It takes very little time to complete and all your feedback will go towards making the blogs bigger and better. Click here to take the survey. Check out the Terms and Conditions here.

More news from the launch of Xbox Live Marketplace Video Store

Tomorrow it's the official launch of the Xbox Live Marketplace Video Store, and alongside the pricing details a few posts below, there's a wealth of new information on the future of the service. The new online store lets you download brand new titles and recent classics onto your 360's hard drive for temporary storage. "Consumers are really going to enjoy it" enthused Stephen McGill (pictured), Microsoft UK Head of Gaming and Entertainment, speaking at today's launch event, before he talked the gathered press through a very simple download system and introduced Xbox colleagues and executives from Warner Bros., who are partnering with Microsoft for the launch.

Warner Bros.' Chris Meredith confirmed that there will be 27 movies available for launch, before revealing "we're certain there will be forty-plus titles by the end of the year". As if that weren't enough for the next three or four weeks, Microsoft's Robin Burrow's excitedly claimed "as it is we're planning to come back with new partners, new titles and all the rest". So, it looks like the new service is set to expand, and if it takes off commercially, it should quickly become a mainstay of the Xbox 360's online services. The dash makes downloading movies look very simple, though there was word that for now we're unlikely to see TV series' released on Video Store, and 'download to keep' movies are looking like they will never make it to the service, for the time being at least.

Come work for Shiny! Win free gadgets, jet-setter lifestyles!

Haven’t seen our earlier posts? Still deciding whether to enter? Seriously, do it. This is your chance to come and work for us, Shiny Media – Home of the BEAUTIFUL PEOPLE™. You don’t need a high definition video camera, a pirated copy of Final Cut Pro or even particularly steady hands to enter. If you’re a budding presenter, we just need to see your mug in front of a camera. If you’re a brilliant editor or production maestro, we only need to see the product of your majestic brain in action.

What’s at stake? Only a six month internship with Shiny Media - publisher of this and another forty-odd top notch blogs – AND a free LG Viewty Phone AND an all expense paid trip to 3GSM in Barcelona, all thanks to our friends at the LG Video Media Talent Award. So why exactly are you waiting? Get those entries in to us pronto. If you need more instructions, check out Susi’s handy guide. If you want to checkout your competition, see our official YouTube page. In the meantime, here’s a promising production entry. Can YOU do better? Hop to it.

Come work for us at Shiny Media – with the LG Media Talent Award

If you’ve missed our previous posts, here’s the deal: Shiny Media, publisher is this here website, is giving away the chance for you to come work with us, thanks to the LG Media Talent Awards. You’ll get a six month internship, a flashy new LG Viewty Mobile and an expense paid trip to the 3GSM conference in sunny Barcelona.

And what do you have to do to win this prestigious prize? Well, that’s the easy part. If you think you’re the business at presenting, we need to see you in front of the mic. If you’d prefer to be the brains behind the camera, we still want you. Whip up a brilliant cut of the provided clips and show us your mad editing skills.

Entries are already flowing in, so check out your rivals on the official YouTube site. Here’s an example for you in the meantime. For more instructions, visit the LG Media Talent Award website.