Entries tagged with xbox 360 - Channel 10

It’s Almost Here! New Xbox Experience Only Hours Away

sarahintampa — Tue, 18 Nov 2008 15:29:00 GMT

According to Major Nelson, if you were one of the people who successfully applied to the preview program (and submitted your console ID), you may have already gotten the New Xbox Experience (go check now!) That post of his went up yesterday, November 17th – two days before the official launch. If you don’t see the prompt to download the update, sorry…you’ll have to wait until Wednesday like everyone else. But meanwhile, you can prepare for the update by prepping yourself on the install process. This video will show you the way. Or if you just want a refresher on what to expect, Sara at the Gamerscore blog has a summary of all the NXE vidoes and posts.

Get A Free 48-Hour Netflix Trial With New Xbox Game

sarahintampa — Fri, 07 Nov 2008 14:13:00 GMT

Inside the new James Bond Xbox 360 game, Quantum of Solace, there’s a special insert card that gives you the option to try out the upcoming Netflix streaming service set to launch with the New Xbox Experience on November 19th. The card provided with the game is actually a 48-hour Gold Live Trial Card which has a separate code for Netflix included on the back.

The New Xbox Experience will offer Netflix/Xbox Gold members in the U.S. the ability to stream over 12,000 movies and TV shows right over their Xbox LIVE connection for no additional charge.

HD Netflix Movies Coming To Xbox

sarahintampa — Mon, 03 Nov 2008 15:04:00 GMT

Out of the 10,000 or so Netflix movies and TV episodes which will be coming to the Xbox on November 19th, there will also be 300 HD movies available for streaming, too. This feature is only going to be found on Xbox 360, not on the other Netflix media consoles like the Roku nor on Netflix’s own “Watch Instantly” portal. It’s an exclusive feature just for Xbox LIVE subscribers (in the U.S.)…well, at least for now. I’m not sure about you, but I’m not exactly rushing out to get a Blu-ray drive now that I know I can just stream HD movies instead.

Oh, and for those who were fretting about the HD Netflix HDCP restrictions – Engadget just debunked that. Stream away!

XNA Game Studio 3.0 Arrives

sarahintampa — Mon, 03 Nov 2008 15:04:00 GMT

The new XNA Game Studio 3.0 has arrived and you can download it now. This updated version of the toolset for hobbyist game developers is necessary for anyone wanting to submit their games to the upcoming Xbox LIVE Community Games section of the new Xbox Experience, launching November 19th. With the new Game Studio 3.0, indie developers can make games that can be shared with world on the Xbox 360, PC, or Zune. At launch time, there will be dozens of games available on the Xbox with prices starting at $2.50 and up.

The games created with XNA are created by independent developers and are then sent through a peer review process in the XNA Community. Other community members review the content of the game for appropriateness and rate it. The game is then approved (or not) to be deployed to Xboxes everywhere. Microsoft is not getting involved in the approval process, leaving everything up to the XNA community. The entire approval process from submission to Xbox deployment is only 48 hours.

Just because these games are made by professionals, don’t be fooled into thinking they’re going to be simplistic or kids games. Although, sure, there are some Pong clones, there are also feature-rich games that rival anything the pros build. Take for example, “Coliseum,” a game built by a team of 12 indie developers which features rich graphics and a great in-game play experience. You can hear some more about this game and the upcoming Community Games channel in this interview with XNA Community Manager, Kathleen Sanders, embedded below:

Xbox LIVE Community Games

Guitar Hero World Tour: The Launch Event!

Laura — Fri, 31 Oct 2008 20:37:00 GMT

After much anticipation the time has finally come. Guitar Hero World Tour has hit store shelves and here's a glimpse of their launch event.

Silverlight 2 powering Netflix on Mac

benwaggoner — Tue, 28 Oct 2008 00:38:00 GMT

It's been discussed for a while, but the time is now - Netflix has just announced Silverlight 2 will power their streaming video service, which had been Windows-only until now. Silverlight 2 adds support for PlayReady DRM, so we now have the same DRM support on Mac and Windows. The service will be available on Xbox 360 as well.

You have to be a Netflix subscriber of course, but the content is commercial-free and much higher quality than the various free video services. They encode up to a full 720x480, in proper 4:3 or 16:9, at a range of bitrates. The higher rates definitely outperform standard def cable and satellite in video quality.

Lots of good stuff in the press release, but I had a couple of things I wanted to call out (bolding mine).

Netflix, Inc. (NASDAQ: NFLX), the world's largest online movie rental service, today announced it has begun the deployment of Microsoft Silverlight to enhance the instant watching component of the Netflix service and to allow subscribers for the first time to watch movies and TV episodes instantly on their Intel-based Apple Macintosh computers. The deployment, which will initially touch a small percentage of new Netflix subscribers, is the first step in an anticipated roll-out of the new platform to all Netflix subscribers by the end of the year.

Note that this won’t be immediately available to all customers.

Silverlight is designed for delivery of cross-platform, cross-browser media experiences inside a Web browser. It is expected that Netflix members who watch movies and TV episodes instantly on their computers will enjoy a faster, easier connection and a more robust viewing experience with Silverlight, due to the quality built directly into the player. Among the viewing enhancements with the new player is a breakthrough in timeline navigation that vastly improves the use of fast-forwarding and rewinding. The new Netflix player takes advantage of PlayReady DRM, which is built into Silverlight, for the playback of protected content on both Windows-based PCs and on Macs. That had not been possible with previous generation technologies.

This is one of the first big rollouts of PlayReady with Silverlight in the USA. When you see the new navigation, it’s a real testament to the difference between a media player plugin like the WMP OCX, and a rich application runtime that plays media well like Silverlight.

The rich user experience support and DRM, what else does Silverlight bring to the equation? One big thing is that PlayReady DRM supports http delivery of pre-encrypted content, unlike other platforms that require a proprietary streaming server and protocol be used to deliver protected content, applying DRM on the fly. Pre-encrypted content is both more scalable (since the encryption processing is only done once, not per user), and more secure (since an in-the-clear media file doesn’t need to be transmitted and stored on the server).

There’s been two big technical challenges in web video for the last dozen years or so.

How do we deliver the best experience to each user, in a world of variable bandwidth and hardware power
How do we deliver that experience as cost effectively as possible, enabling new business models in video distribution.

We’re at the point now where a user with a fast connection and a decent computer should have a darn good video and audio experience. Netflix is a testament to what’s possible as the cost to deliver a MB of video gets low enough, from a business perspective. While finally delivering a user experience better than VideoCD.

Sneak Peek: Netflix On the Xbox

sarahintampa — Sat, 25 Oct 2008 02:50:00 GMT

On November 19th, Xboxes everywhere will be updated to the “New Xbox Experience” – that’s the blanket term for the revamped and refreshed Xbox UI. The New Xbox Experience includes features like avatars, updated gamercards, new themes, an updated video marketplace, a new game store, and so much more. Of course, one of the most highly anticipated features that’s going to be revealed on the 19th is the Xbox/Netflix integration. All Xbox Gold members with a Netflix subscription will soon be able to instantly watch movies from their Netflix library right on the Xbox – and there’s no extra charge for doing so! The Netflix library offers over 12,000 movies to choose from, but if you can’t find something you like there (or you’re not a Netflix subscriber), the new Xbox Video Marketplace will also offer tons of content to choose from. There, you’ll find over 20,000 pieces of HD and standard def content which includes both movies and TV shows.

If you’re dying for a sneak peek at theses upcoming features, the Gamerscore blog has a few more details and screenshots.

The Lips Track List Is Out

sarahintampa — Thu, 23 Oct 2008 05:50:00 GMT

Lips is the soon to be released Xbox 360 karaoke game which will become available on November 14th. For those who are anticipating this release, you’ll definitely want to know that the track list has now been revealed. According to news site Neoseeker, the first set of Lips tracks will include:

a-ha - “Take on Me”
Nirvana - “In Bloom”
Alicia Keys - “No One”
Peter Bjorn and John - “Young Folks”
Aly & AJ - “Potential Break Up Song”
Queen - “Another One Bites the Dust”
Avril Lavigne - “Complicated”
R.E.M. - “The One I Love”
Ben E. King - “Stand by Me”
Radiohead - “Fake Plastic Trees”
Beyoncé - “Irreplaceable”
The Ramones - “I Wanna Be Sedated”
Blondie - “Call Me”
Rascal Flatts - “Stand”
Chris Brown - “With You”
Rihanna - “Umbrella”
Coldplay - “Yellow”
Roxette - “Listen to Your Heart”
Depeche Mode - “Personal Jesus”
Sara Bareilles - “Love Song”
Destiny’s Child - “Survivor”
Sheryl Crow - “Soak Up the Sun”
Dido - “White Flag”
Taylor Swift - “I’m Only Me When I’m With You”
Duffy - “Mercy”
The Bangles - “Walk Like an Egyptian”
Duran Duran - “Hungry Like the Wolf”
The Fray - “Over My Head (Cable Car)”
John Denver - “Take Me Home, Country Roads”
The Jackson 5 - “ABC”
Johnny Cash - “Ring of Fire”
The Police - “Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic”
Leona Lewis - “Bleeding Love”
The Raveonettes - “Love in a Trashcan”
Lil’ Mama - “Lip Gloss”
Trace Adkins - “Ladies Love Country Boys”
Lupe Fiasco (featuring Matthew Santos) - “Superstar”
Weezer - “Island in the Sun”
Maroon 5 - “Makes Me Wonder”
Young MC - “Bust a Move”

It’s also worth noting that those who pre-order the game on Amazon and Gamestop will receive a code that will give you access to 8 more free tracks over the next 2 months. The songs will be available for download from the Zune marketplace. Codes and instructions will be emailed 5 business days after the release of the game.

Xberry Live! Brings Xbox To The Blackberry

sarahintampa — Wed, 15 Oct 2008 15:59:00 GMT

The combination of a gaming platform (Xbox) and the phone used by a large number of business professionals worldwide (Blackberry) seems somewhat of an unlikely combination, but I suppose that, in recent years, the Blackberry has branched out to be more of a consumer device. The consumer adoption of Blackberry must be the explanation for the Blackberry app Xberry Live, which was recently profiled on the Crackberry website. This app lets you see which of your friends are online, what they’re playing, and what games they’ve recently played. The app will display your friends list but also lets you add anyone with an Xbox Live Gamer tag. Xberry Live is still in beta at the moment and works on Blackberry phones running OS version 4.2.1 and up including the 81xx, 83xx, 87xx, 88xx, and 9000 models. You can download the app directly from here: http://jxl.me/xberry/xberrylive.jad

Halo 3 Recon Announced

sarahintampa — Thu, 09 Oct 2008 17:28:00 GMT

At the Tokyo Game Show, a new release of an Xbox 360 exclusive, Halo 3 Recon, was announced. The Recon game is a standalone expansion that extends “Halo 3” with several hours of a new campaign and multiplayer gameplay. Although Recon is being released after Halo 3, it’s really a prequel that predates the events in Halo 3 while giving you a look at the Halo universe through the eyes of a new hero, a special forces ODST (Obital Drop Shock Tropper).

ODSTs are known for their courage, valor and, at times, insanity, and are among the fiercest UNSC soldiers, priding themselves on being the first unit deployed into hostile situations. While not as large or supernaturally gifted as their Spartan comrades, these “Hell Jumpers” more than compensate with their ferocious attitudes and unwavering nerve.

The new chapter will have the feel of Halo 3, but players will need to employ more stealth and cunning than before. The game is slated for a 2009 release. Go here to watch trailers.

New Xbox Experience Arrives November 19th

sarahintampa — Thu, 09 Oct 2008 17:28:00 GMT

You’ve probably heard about the new Xbox Experience, the major user interface makeover that’s coming to the Xbox 360. But now we have a firm date as to when: November 19th. if you haven’t been paying close attention to the news, here’s what you can expect when the new UI goes live:

1) Gamercard Changes: When you click on your Gamercard in the New Xbox Experience, you’ll be able to read messages, edit your profile, update your avatar, manage your account, switch profiles, and change the theme. You’ll also be able to see every game you’ve ever played on your Xbox 360.

Oh, does any of that sound familiar? Well, check out what it looks like!

On the first card, you’ll have your overall Gamerscore and to the right you’ll have every game you’ve ever played on another card. Each game has its own card that fans out to the side to show you what achievements you’ve unlocked per game.

2) Avatars! Forget little icons, the New Xbox Experience offers real, full-bodied, customizble avatars.

3) New Games Store: In the new Games Store, you’ll be able to check out screenshots of the game, watch trailers and read the back-of-the-box description like you are shopping at a retail store. The Games Store will also show you every available download for the game you searched for including reviews, trailers, gamerpics, themes, game add ons, game images.

4) Themes: These are no ordinary backgrounds, the new themes are even more detailed and dynamic. They’ll be present in every channel where they’ll present in cool and unique ways. Check out Major Nelson’s flickr stream for more pics.

5) Friends: You can join a LIVE party with up to 8 people (you + 7 friends) and roam from game to game, voice chat, and share photos.

6) Video Markeplace: Get access to high-def movies, TV, and other video content from Warner Bros, Constantin, USA Network, MGM, SciFi Channel, NBC Universal, Universal Studios, and more. Over 10,000 films and shows! And, of course, Netflix. With the launch of the New Xbox Experience, Netflix subscribers will also be able to instantly stream movies and TV episodes from their 360.

8) Community Games: Games created by students and hobbyists form around the world will be available in the Community Games Channel.

9) My Xbox: Get easy access to your games, videos, music, and pictures from the “My Xbox” menu. You’ll also be able to access system settings and view your Media Center content from here, too.

6) And more…

The new guide loads faster and smoother.
Your old stuff (gamerpics, themes) still work.
“Inside Xbox” available from the Marketplace will offer tips from Major Nelson, reviews, and other tips which are refreshed weekly.

The Xbox and Politics

sarahintampa — Thu, 02 Oct 2008 17:59:00 GMT

According to a recent article in the Seattle Times, a poll of Xbox Live users showed that gamers prefer Obama. The presidential poll, a part of Rock the Vote’s new partnership with Microsoft, returned results showing that 43% of gamers would vote Obama, 31% would vote McCain, 13% were undecided, and another 13% were “Other.” Perhaps they support Master Chief?

No matter what your political preference, you have to applaud the effort of the joint Microsoft/Rock the Vote campaign and how they’re using the Xbox platform as way to reach out to young voters.

Through Xbox Live, gamers can download Obama or McCain Gamerpics and add them to their Xbox Live profile. There are also voter registration forms and info and Rock the Vote videos. Gamers don’t have to hunt through the various blades within Xbox to find the content, either. Thanks to banner ads right on the dashboard, the content is only a click…errr…a button press…away.

To date, more than 55,000 voter registration forms have been downloaded through the service. That’s a pretty impressive number given the typically apathetic nature of young voters. It’s a testament to not only the efforts of the Rock the Vote campaign, but also those of the newest generation of young voters.

Generation Y, the first generation of “digital natives” is finally old enough to vote so Rock the Vote is trying to reach them on the platforms where they’re known to congregate: on blogs, on YouTube, on Facebook, on MySpace, on flickr, and on the Xbox, too.

There has been much said about this generation; their use of technology, their unique work ethic, their lack of brand loyalty, and their commitment to social change are a few of the hottest Gen Y topics. When it comes to social change, the U.S. election will be the first real test of whether this generation is paying more than lip service to their ideals. Will they actually go out there and vote? We’ll just have to wait and see. But if Rock the Vote can get tens of thousands of new voters engaged enough with the political process when they were just planning on chilling out with an Xbox game, then they are doing something right.

A New Themed Zune: Gears of War 2

sarahintampa — Thu, 02 Oct 2008 01:48:00 GMT

If the Joy Division Zune wasn’t quite your speed, then you might be interested in the next themed Zune instead: the Gears of War 2 edition. This Special Edition 120 GB Zune will go on sale in the U.S. at Amazon.com and Walmart.com and in Canada at Amazon.ca, BestBuy.ca, FutureShop.ca and TheSource.ca for the estimated price of $279.99 starting November 7th. However, you can pre-order it now (just click those links).

The Zune will feature a laser-etched Crimson Omen on the back of its black casing, collectible “Gears of War” themed packaging, and, perhaps most importantly, 244 pieces of “Gears of War” media. That media will include the original soundtrack, behind-the-scenes videos, and concept art and galleries.

The Zune is set to go on sale November 7th because that’s also the launch date for the new Gears of War game, a highly anticipated sequel that continues the saga of Marcus Fenix and Delta Squad as they fight to save humanity from the overwhelming onslaught of the Locust Horde.

You can keep tabs on the latest Gears of War news from the game’s homepage available here: http://www.gearsofwar.com.

Just In Time For The Holidays: A Red Xbox Controller

sarahintampa — Thu, 02 Oct 2008 01:47:00 GMT

Now available for a limited time only, Xbox 360 controllers are going to come in red, too…and just in time for the holidays! The red controllers with black accents will be available in U.S., Canada, Latin America, Australia, New Zealand and Asia for $64.99. They will be sold together in a bundle with the Play & Charge Kit and red rechargeable battery which lets you wirelessly game from up to 30 feet away and for up to 25 hours of gameplay on one charge. Pretty cool, but I have to admit, I like Engadget’s suggestion: sell the green one, too!

Duke Nukem 3D Available now on Xbox Live Arcade

Nic — Wed, 24 Sep 2008 14:20:00 GMT

Woot! For 800 MS Points you can now get your hands on Duke Nukem 3D for Xbox Live Arcade.

Duke Nukem, the politically incorrect action hero and ultimate alien ass kicker, defends Earth and its babes from alien invasion in Duke Nukem 3D. This is the award winning game that helped define the FPS genre, introducing unparalleled interactivity, and a main character that spoke. Take the fight to the aliens across 39 levels featuring Hollywood, Los Angeles, a moon base, and alien spacecraft. Innovative items like the Jetpack, HoloDuke, Shrink Ray, or Pipe Bombs allow you to fight the aliens in any style you want. Defeat the aliens, so Duke can get back to some R&R with a stogie, a warm belly, and a bottle of Jack.

Featuring: Eight-player cooperative and DukeMatch multiplayer, user clips, concept art galleries and Xbox 360 enhancements like controller vibration, bilinear filtering, motion blur and Xbox LIVE® Vision camera support.

More info: 3D Realms & Xbox.com

"Come Get Some!"

How Avatars Work on Xbox 360

Larry — Fri, 19 Sep 2008 19:19:00 GMT

Larry "Major Nelson" Hryb posted a video showing how you'll be able to pick and customize your avatar in the new Xbox 360 Dashboard update. Keep in mind that this is an early build, so some things may change before you see it on your Xbox. There are plenty of customizations, facial hair, hats, jewelry, shoes. You can make your avatar taller/shorter, skinny/fatter. I like what I've seen so far. What do you think?

XNA Game Studio 3.0 Beta Now Available

Nic — Wed, 17 Sep 2008 13:38:00 GMT

XNA Game Studio 3.0 Beta is now available to download with tones of new features including support for the new Zune 3.0 firmware, Rich Presence and Invites.

Download here: http://creators.xna.com/en-us/3.0beta_mainpage

More info on the XNA team blog here: http://blogs.msdn.com/xna/archive/2008/09/16/xna-game-studio-3-0-beta-is-go.aspx

What's new?

Zune

Compatibility with the upcoming Zune 3.0 Firmware release.
Improved deployment stability.
Support for Zune deployment on Windows Vista x64 Systems!
You can now use the Remote Performance Monitor for Zune games.

Xbox 360

Xbox 360 project templates (You will not be able to develop on the Xbox 360 until our final release. We felt this was important to include so that you could get projects converted over and look at the system, even if you are not able to run the games, yet).
Support for the Big Button Pad.

Framework & Visual Studio Features

Enumerate and play back media on your Windows computer or Xbox 360.
Simple sound effect support on Windows computers and Xbox 360.
Support for Rich Presence (lets friends know what’s going on in your game).
Support for Invites (ask your friends to join you in a multiplayer game) and Join Session In Progress (after you see what your friends are doing, you can join their current session with just a couple of button presses, even if that’s a different game to the one you are currently playing)
Compress your content and save space with the new content compression features!
ClickOnce packaging support for distributing your XNA Framework games on Windows.
Upgrade your project from XNA Game Studio 2.0 using the Project Upgrade Wizard!
Take screen captures of your game running on Zune through the XNA Game Studio Device Center.
Support for .NET language features like Linq
Create multiple content projects and leverage cross project synchronization in Visual Studio.
FBX importer improvements: read materials containing multiple textures, and export custom shader materials directly out of Max or Maya.

Microsoft's Holiday Preview - Platinum Gifts and Hot Gifts Under $100

Tina — Wed, 17 Sep 2008 12:01:00 GMT

Happy Holidays! I take you into the future with a plethora of products that Microsoft will be releasing this Holiday Season. These are considered our Platinum gifts like the Xbox 360 Elite, The 120 G Zune Player, SONY VAIO TZ, HTC Touch Diamond, HTC Touch Dual, Samsung HDTV with MediaLive Digital Media Adapter. We also have Hot Gifts Under $100 which includes Lego Batman, Lips and Much more...

Microsoft's Holiday Preview - The Overview!

Tina — Tue, 16 Sep 2008 13:17:00 GMT

Happy Holidays and welcome to the Microsoft Holiday Preview. We have games, music, phones and computers. To get even deeper we show off products like the SONY VAIO TZ Notebook, Dell XPS One, Samsung HDTV with MediaLive Digital Media Adapter, Explorer Mouse with Blue Track Technology, Lego Batman, Samsung Blackjack II, HTC Touch Dual, HTC Touch Diamond, New Blue Zune, 120 GB Zune, New Zune Features, Xbox Experience, Lips, You're in the Movies and More...

Other Holiday Previews:
Xbox 360
Windows Mobile
Windows Vista Powered PC's and Accessories

Microsoft's Holiday Preview - Windows Vista Powered PC's and Accessories

Laura — Mon, 15 Sep 2008 14:36:00 GMT

This Holiday season is certain to be merry considering all the great new products being offered to you from Microsoft Hardware, Vista powered machines and Games for Windows. Check out some of the sexy new Dell laptops, BlueTrack mice and of course...some great games for Windows like Fallout 3 and Lego Batman.

Also-make sure to check out what you can expect from Windows Mobile and Xbox 360.

GC08 - Highlights & Giveaways

lorigros — Wed, 10 Sep 2008 12:43:00 GMT

Wooohoooo! Mein letztes Games Convention Video für 2008! Dieses Video sollte das erste veröffentlichte Video sein aber leider gab es ein paar technische Probleme. Aber besser spät als nie.

In diesem Video spreche ich mit Frank Halgasch, Xbox Produkt Manager. Er erzählt mir ein paar Leckerbissen über die Games Convention, das neue Musikspiel Lips, das Xbox Bühnenprogramm und die Xbox Community Highlights auf der GC. Danach sind verschiedene Videoclip-Highlights von GC08.

Und nicht zuletzt habe ich ein paar Giveaways von der Games Convention zurückgebracht und will sie jetzt verschenken. Ich habe ein Sidewinder Gaming-Maus, 2 Männer Xbox T-Shirts (Große L) , 2 Frauen Xbox T-Shirts (Große M und S), Xbox Halstuch, und Xbox Gürtel. Schicke mir eine Email vorname.nachname@microsoft.com (natürlich mit meinen Name „Lori Grosland“) und schreibe wie viele Games Convention Videos, ich dieses Jahr veröffentlicht habe und was Ihr gern hättet. Wer zu erst schreibt mit der richtigen Antwort, kriegt den gewünschten Preis. :-)

GC08 - Gespräch mit Boris Schneider-Johne

lorigros — Mon, 08 Sep 2008 09:06:00 GMT

Boris Schneider-Johne ist Produkt Manager für die Xbox Plattform bei Microsoft Deutschland. Er ist verantwortlich für die Xbox Konsole selbst und auch für die Zusammenarbeitet mit 3rd-Party Spiel-Publisher. Boris ist sehr bekannt in Deutschland als Pionier auf dem Gebiet der Spiele-Übersetzungen und auch für sein Blog dreisechzig.net, wo er viel über Videospiele und Software schreibt.

Ich habe mit Boris auf der http://www.dreisechzig.net/

Rock the Vote From Your Xbox

sarahintampa — Wed, 27 Aug 2008 15:39:00 GMT

Xbox and Rock the Vote have partnered up in order to reach out to young voters through the Xbox community. Starting August 25th – the same day as the first day of the Democratic National Convention - Xbox 360 owners will be able to register to vote, participate in presidential polls, and voice their opinions to the presidential candidates through Xbox LIVE, a community whose members reach 12 million. Said Heather Smith, executive director, Rock the Vote: “To realize our goal of registering 2 million young Americans by this fall, we need to go where young Americans are, and there’s no doubt in our minds that many are on Xbox 360 and Xbox LIVE.”

I remember in the past Rock the Vote was involved with MTV, but I don’t ever remember seeing them actually go seek out young voters through a gaming platform before – that is definitely a first. And how creative! I went and checked out the Rock the Vote homepage to see where else they were besides Xbox, and it turns out that they’re on YouTube, facebook, and flickr, too. (Hmm, someone should tell them about Twitter.)

Awesome Xbox 360 Case Mods

sarahintampa — Fri, 08 Aug 2008 19:53:00 GMT

Officially, we have to remind you that case mods void your warranty, but unofficially we have to say, Wow! These case mods are awesome! Over on the CyberNotes website, they’ve updated their old list of the best Xbox 360 case mods which originally ran back in 2006 to include the best ones from more recent months. We’re not surprised to see that several of them are inspired by Halo – those fanboys can do some pretty amazing things with metal and LEDs. However, that Simpsons one isn’t too shabby either. To see all the pictures of the mods plus links to the original sites, just click here.

60GB Xbox 360s Have Arrived

sarahintampa — Wed, 06 Aug 2008 05:08:00 GMT

According to Xbox 360 Fanboy, Major Nelson confirmed that there’s no official release date for the new 60 GB Xbox 360 units - “they’ll just appear in the retail channels,” he noted. And they are definitely appearing. Engadget spotted them at Amazon and others have seen them appearing at various retailers like Target. Of course, the big appeal of these new units is the extra hard drive space. Why is that important? Well, it’s certainly valuable if you’re thinking of signing up for the new Netflix powered movie download service. Revealed just last month at E3, the partnership with Netflix gives Xbox LIVE Gold members who are also Netflix subscribers the ability to instantly stream movies and TV episodes from Netflix. The extra hard disk space will definitely be an advantage for anyone who plans to make heavy use of that service.