GameFest: Inside Avatars For The Xbox 360
Xbox Scene :: Friday, July 25, 2008
From gamasutra.com : <BR><I> Talking at Microsoft’s GameFest event in Seattle, the company’s Cameron Egbert and Dan Kroymann have been discussing the creation of avatars for the Xbox 360, revealing lots of new details on the practicality of developers implementing avatars within their games. “It [Avatars] gives them an online presence they did not have before without Xbox Live. It is ubiquitous across the system. Also, you can use them in your games as a replacement for your characters, or in your UI, or whatnot.” Egbert further explained: “You build them from a predefined set of geometry and textures and customize them as you want… to suit your tastes.” How about edgy avatars? Egbert explained: “This is a product for everyone, so nothing in here will violate an E10 rating – no weapons, no compromising situations.” Finally, Egbert and colleague Kroymann took questions from the audience, with Egbert answering a query about whether there would be branded clothes or hats in the game with: “That’s not anything that’s being handled in the first iteration.” How about avatars rolling out across Games For Windows or MSN? Egbert said there’s “…nothing to announce right now – this is the first stage, doing it on Xbox”. Can you use avatars in Xbox Live Community-developed games? Dan Kroymann noted: “not yet”, but that the Community Team had been talking to them. </I><BR><BR> Full Story: gamasutra.com
User-developed games to be sold on Xbox Live for between 2.50 to 10 USD
Xbox Scene :: Friday, July 25, 2008
From betanews.com : <BR><I> Before they can be sold, however, all games must first pass a peer-review exam to ensure they are of suitable quality. Once approved, creators can set the price of their game between 200 and 800 Microsoft Points, or $2.50 and $10 USD, of which Microsoft takes 30 percent. [50 MB games for 200 Microsoft Points, larger 150 MB games for either 400 or 800 Microsoft Points] While a game developer will only earn $1.75 from a $2.50 download, the potential sales figures are quite large. Last year, the Ace Combat 6 demo, for example, was downloaded half a million times; comparable downloads at even the lowest price would net the developer $875,000. </I><BR><BR> Full Story: betanews.com
Analysts: 360 Price Cut Should Take It Ahead Of PS3 In July
Xbox Scene :: Friday, July 25, 2008
From gamasutra.com : <BR><I> For hardware, we do expect the Xbox 360 to outsell the Playstation 3 in July; obviously, this can be attributed to the recent Xbox 360 price cut. In the past, analysts have typically expected sales lifts in the 20-30% range after a hardware price cut; however, we should expect a different trend, as we will likely see more sales front-loaded into July and August as consumers rush to purchase the $299 version before supplies run dry. While Microsoft and Sony continue to compete in the “who has the biggest hard-drive” contest, we expect Nintendo to continue to win the real contest – selling the most systems. </I><BR><BR> Full Story: gamasutra.com
Xbox deal must look sweet, Netflix boss buying MS shares
Xbox Scene :: Friday, July 25, 2008
From seattletimes.nwsource.com : <BR><I> A week after a new partnership to stream Netflix content on Xbox consoles was announced, Netflix Chief Executive (and Microsoft board member) Reed Hastings has acquired a bunch of Microsoft shares. Hastings acquired 53,300 shares today in five separate blocks, at prices ranging from $25.54 to $25.60, or about $1.36 million combined. Hastings now has 177,000 shares of Microsoft, according to a Securities and Exchange Commission filing. </I><BR><BR> Full Story: seattletimes.nwsource.com
Satchell: ‘We’ve reinvented the Xbox’
Xbox Scene :: Friday, July 25, 2008
From developmag.com : <BR><I> Microsoft’s games division CTO Chris Sachell told the attendees of his Gamefest keynote that the firm’s new 360 dashboard, which launches later this year, effectively reboots the console for a wider audience – and presents more chances for developers to monetise their creations. “What this does is reinvent the Xbox,” said Satchell. “I don’t think any one has ever done this before – transformed a console during its lifecycle.” “This will bring more people in. The new UI is more approachable and as we broaden our market it is important for reaching new gamers. And there’s also lots of ways to merchandise your content.” </I><BR><BR> Full Story: developmag.com
Games for Windows – Live Goes Totally Free
Xbox Scene :: Friday, July 25, 2008
From edge-online.com : <BR><I> During Microsoft’s Gamefest 2008 in Seattle on Tuesday, the company seemed to finally answer year-old criticisms about its pricing strategy for Games for Windows – Live. Microsoft said that it would no longer be charging for “premium” online features in Games for Windows – Live titles, such as TrueSkill matchmaking, cross-platform gameplay and multiplayer achievements. The change takes effect immediately for all existing and future Games for Windows – Live titles. </I><BR><BR> Full Story: edge-online.com
Introducing Xbox LIVE Community Games
Xbox Scene :: Friday, July 25, 2008
From the official XNA Blog : <BR><I> You’ve played Xbox 360 games with the millions of gamers on Xbox LIVE. You’ve chatted, shared, and dominated in games of all kinds. But what if those millions could be playing your game? Better still – what if you were getting paid for it? Starting holiday 08, Xbox LIVE Community Games is your ticket to fame – and possibly fortune as millions of Xbox LIVE users now have the opportunity to view, buy, and play games that you create. How it Works The setup? Simple. The payments? Cash. As a Premium member in the XNA Creators Club, you’ll be able to submit any complete Xbox 360 game you’ve created in XNA Game Studio to the Creators Club community at , for peer review. Other Premium Creators will check to make sure your game is safe to play. If it is, you’ll set a price point – between 200 and 800 Points – that people will pay to download your game. Once the game is reviewed and the price point set, you’re done. The game is listed on Xbox LIVE Marketplace, and you’ll get a check every quarter, for up to 70% of the game’s total revenue in your own currency. Depending on your game’s success, you may even have your game advertised on Xbox 360 and other Microsoft online properties. Just imagine – your game in the hands of millions of Xbox 360 gamers around the world: that’s the power of Community Games. How to Get Started While the official launch of Xbox LIVE Community Games won’t be until later this year, you can start working on that great game right now with XNA Game Studio and the XNA Creators Club Online community! First, download XNA Game Studio, the free game development tool from Microsoft. It’s free and works with Visual Studio or Visual C# Express Edition. If you’ve never made a game before, the XNA Creators Club website has tons of samples, tutorials, even whole video guides to game creation. Jump right in and start coding your dream game! Next, join the XNA Creator’s Club at . It’s a community of game creators just like you. If you’re going to develop games for Xbox 360 and want to sell your game on Xbox LIVE Community Games, you’ll need a Premium membership. It’s just $99 per year or $49 for four months. Finally, submit your finished game to the XNA Creators Club and watch the money roll in! Questions? If you’ve got a question about Community Games, XNA Game Studio, and all of the details in between, please read the handy FAQ to get your answers. </I><BR><BR>
Sony’s Peter Dille: MS Paid to get FF XIII, Won’t Drive Console Sales
Xbox Scene :: Friday, July 25, 2008
From multiplayerblog.mtv.com : <BR><I> Peter Dille, Vice President, Sony Computer Entertainment of America :What you have with “Final Fantasy XIII” is a lot like what they’ve paid for with “GTA.” It’s not an exclusive on their platform. It’s now a cross-platform game. Sand I think if you look at how “GTA” behaved in the marketplace and how it drove — or didn’t drive — either console, that’s what I’m talking about. Consumers responded to “GTA” on the PS3 just as they did on the 360. And it becomes a bit of a jump ball. But it didn’t rise the tide for them. And I think if you fast forward to when “Final Fantasy XIII” comes out I think you’re going to have millions of people who grew up playing “Final Fantasy” on the PlayStation playing it on a PlayStation 3. They spent a lot of money, I’m sure, to get “Final Fantasy” onto the 360 but at the end of the day it’s on our platform as well. Which is why we focus on, “Let’s look at what happens when you have “Metal Gear Solid” on your platform … when the NPD numbers come out … I think you’ll see the value of what a real exclusive title does and how it raised the bar for PS3 versus 360. </I><BR><BR> Full Story: multiplayerblog.mtv.com
(UK) Play.com Cuts Price by 30GBP – MS Says no Official Price Cut
Xbox Scene :: Friday, July 25, 2008
From edge-online.com : <BR><I> Online retailer Play.com has cut the price of the Premium 20GB Xbox 360 to ?169.99, ?30 less than the console’s RRP and ?10 cheaper than rival online store Amazon. Microsoft has since been in touch to tell us that Play.com’s Xbox 360 price cut is “merely a deal they’re running of their own accord”. </I><BR><BR> Full Story: edge-online.com
Video: Netflix on the Xbox 360 demoed
Xbox Scene :: Friday, July 25, 2008
Quick tour through updated video streaming capabilities on the Xbox 360.
Xbox Live boss teases future features for Xbox dashboard
Xbox Scene :: Friday, July 25, 2008
From oxm.co.uk : <BR><I> General Manager of XBox Live has spoken of even more new features he expects to come to the Xbox Live dashboard – including the ability to control your console over the internet, and ultimately a hardware-free future. He also confirmed that hard drive installs will work with all current and future Xbox games. Speaking to OXM at E3, Marc Whitten said that the new update is “only the beginning” of the social networking features that Microsoft want to deploy. He also said that we can expect future updates to include the ability to switch on your Xbox from any PC and download content to it remotely – “at some point in the future you’ll hear more from us about that.” </I><BR><BR> Full Story: oxm.co.uk
New 360 Dashboard: ‘You don’t have to use it’
Xbox Scene :: Friday, July 25, 2008
From computerandvideogames.com : <BR><I> If you don’t like the look of the new Xbox 360 Dashboard unveiled at E3 last week, then “you don’t actually have to use it,” says Microsoft’s Xbox Live director of programming Larry ‘Major Nelson’ Hryb. According to The Major, every single function available in current 360 backend will be included in the new, clean-looking Dash’, which you can bypass completely if you choose. “I know that there are some people that aren’t going to like the happy, happy, shiny New Xbox Experience. For whatever reason it’s not flipping their bit,” Hryb said in his latest podcast. “Here’s my message to you: you don’t actually have to use it. You can never go there, just leave your game disc in and pretty much do everything that you could before but on the Guide level – one button press away in every single game.” Sounds excellent to us. Even more good news for New Xbox Experience haters comes in the form of Avatars, and how you don’t have to use them. “If you don’t like the avatars, they’re not required. You can use your Gamer Pictures,” said Hryb in the podcast. “Your existing and Gamer Pictures and Themes still work,” adds co-host ‘e’. </I><BR><BR> Full Story: computerandvideogames.com | majornelson.com
Writing About Family Gaming
XS Reviews :: Thursday, July 17, 2008
I’ve been playing games for a long time, so when I got married and had kids I wanted to share my hobby. However, grabbing a game from a store shelf that was reported to be suitable for my family often resulted in an ill fitting experience. Sometimes the games were too difficult to control for the kids, or addressed issues they weren’t interested in; and more often than not, failed to engage the other adults in our brood – namely my other half.”
