I exchanged mine yesterday no problem. My friend who works at Future shop is going to pick me up their protection service plan thing...I'll be protected for 3 years...
just another quick question though...is there a manufacture date either up to or before where the Xboxes were more likely to fuck up?? my new one was made in june..my old one in august...

CES 2007: Keynote Speech Highlights

Xbox hardware sells more than projected, Xbox Live Subscriptions reach 5 million and more.

January 7, 2007 - Microsoft Chairman and Founder Bill Gates opened up this year's Consumer Electronics Show by highlighting new advances in Windows Vista, introducing the Windows Home Server, and giving a brief progress report on Xbox 360. The show was broadcast live via streaming video at Microsoft's site.

After demoing new features on Vista and introducing Windows Home Servers, Gates brought on Microsoft executive Robbie Bach, who covered the gamut of Microsoft's entertainment arms which reach from cell phones to PC and Xbox 360.

Bach revealed that 10.4 million Xbox 360s were sold worldwide in 13 months, 400,000 more units than projected. A total of 5 million Xbox Live users are now subscribed to Xbox Live -- with a majority of users being new Xbox users. And Epic's Gears of War has reached worldwide success, selling 2.7 million units in the first eight weeks.

Bach referred to Gears of War as a Halo-like franchise. He said we'll see more of it in the future, referring to the second and third chapters to appear in years to come ("It's an evergreen property we'll see for a long time."). And he said that 160 total Xbox 360 games have shipped in 37 countries to date, with 140 more games are slated to ship, for a total of 300 games by year's end 2007.

Using a demo of Uno, Bach explained Windows Vista will enable Xbox 360 and PC gamers to connect using the Xbox 360 dashboard interface to talk to and play one another. While not demonstrated, Shadow Run is one of Microsoft's first cross-platform games to enable players on both systems to engage. Live Vista's cross-system feature will roll out in summer 2007.

Finally, Bach and his henchfolk demoed the IP TV, which enables gamers to watch TV via their Xbox 360. Microsoft's ambitious multimedia effort basically looks to circumvent traditional TV, enabling users to see TV via Microsoft's Xbox Live service.

IP TV features include instant channel changing and improved channel browsing by permitting users to preview another show in the lower left hand corner of their screen while watching something else. Users can also watch the same TV show online while chatting with each other. IP TV will roll out by holiday 2007.

Neither Gates nor Bach mentioned any word of Zune's potential gaming interactivity to the Xbox 360 or PC. Also, nothing was mentioned about the Xbox 360 v2.0

IGN.com

I have one, $35 at CC after GGC. I haven't really used it other than to back up the hard drive though. I plan to use it to transfer my old xbox saves, but haven't made the time. And I may download some saves in the future. (I normally don't like cheating, but if it means finishing a game that I will never finish otherwise, I'm willing.)

I've never heard this before. Link/confirmation?

Some new screens from Lost Odyssey. They aren't particularly detailed, but I'm intrigued by the game. Doesn't look like your standard RPG.

http://www.the-magicbox.com/0701/game070107c2.shtml

Gives off a bit of a Now and Then, Here and There vibe.

Also Lost Planet's score has gone up a bit:

http://www.gamerankings.com/htmlpages2/931114.asp

I was predicting high 70s low 80s for it when I played the demo, doesn't seem like that'll be too far off. (And that's fine by me, not a crucial title, but a fun one.) Kind of reminds me of GunValkyrie (It seems I'm one of the few that enjoyed that game.)

A Gears of War update should start pushing through the system at some point tomorrow, Tuesday January 9, 2007 prior to the two new multiplayer maps being available on Xbox Live Marketplace on Wednesday January 10, 2007.

The maps, plus an introductory video featuring Gears designer Cliff Bleszinski, are free thanks to the kind sponsorship by the Discovery Channel's Future Weapons series which launches next Monday January 15th, 2007. Be sure to check out the show to see some really cool firepower. I expect game designers all across the country will be watching the Future Weapons series very carefully looking for ideas for their future games

Here is a list of what was addressed in this update:

• Fixed aspect ratio distortion when using VGA cable with 4:3 displays at resolutions higher than 640x480
• Fixed voice issue with new players joining Player Match games in progress
• Players can now get the Achievement for "Dish Best Served Cold" when using Troika turret to kill RAAM
• Fixed rare situation where host could loop countdown and never start match
• Fixed rare situation where players could get stuck after chainsawing in multiplayer
• Reduced Grenade Tag melee distance
• Enabled “Strict” NAT check on host to prevent possible connection issues
• Optimized server browser queries to return results more quickly and prevent scroll bars from hiding quality of service icons
• Reduced number of possible revives in Execution to match Warzone
• Removed host name from Ranked match server browser
• Disabled security cameras in Ranked matches
• Ranked matches now require balanced teams (3v3 or 4v4)
• Increased penalty for quitting a Ranked match to -50 points
• Added additional cheat detection code
• Additional housekeeping updates

BTW, click here to check out Discovery Channel's Future Weapons series. Be sure to check out the Weapons Zones and see some of the amazing things they showed last season. There was a huge email thread going around Epic about the Metalstorm (which they say is the "potentially the world's most powerful automatic weapon"). It is lacking a chainsaw for close-up combat but it is still pretty cool








More Info

wow, thanks for the update

I haven't played Gears in some time now. Ill have to check those new maps out this week

I lent my copy of Viva Piñata to a friend of mine who recently bought an X360 in favor of a Wii or a PS3 (his first Xbox). One of the thing she loves about the console is that a lot of games automatically load for him in Japanese: text, voice, etc. He's a big fan of Japanese games and speaks Japanese pretty well, having studied and lived there for a number of years. Anyway, here's what he had to say about Piñata:

"Viva Piñata, interestingly, comes to me in full Japanese. Voice, text, everything. And it's called Atsumare! Pinyaata (The intransitive command form verb is most appropriately translated as Gather! You Piñata of lesser status than me!)"

i still have yet to try that game out...

I have it on the shelf, bought it for $25 Christmas weekend at Best Buy.

i was going to get it for my girl, but she was convinced she wouldn't like it, and that it would turn into a big chore, like Animal Crossing was

http://www.gamesindustry.biz/content_page.php?aid=22053


Chris

see, now THAT is a reason to have a 120 gig hard drive

Anyone know what the Arcade game of the week is? Is it Worms or Double Dragon (crosses fingers)?

Here's a big PR that just came off the wire. while I should be posting it on the main page, it's too long to paraphrase.

Connected Entertainment

These are truly exciting times for all of us in the Interactive Entertainment Business.

Fresh off a phenomenal holiday season, we now stand at the forefront of a company-wide vision of Connected Entertainment, articulated just moments ago by Bill Gates and Robbie Bach at this year’s annual Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas. It’s a vision to make entertainment more personal, more interactive, and more social, making it easier to connect with communities and share experiences. All delivered through one consistent, simple user experience.

I’d like to update you on several key announcements we made at CES in support of this vision of Connected Entertainment, but first let’s take a moment to reflect back at what we’ve accomplished this holiday and celebrate how far we’ve come.

Where We’ve Been

In little over a year on the market we sold over 10.4 million Xbox 360 consoles in more than 37 countries, exceeding our commitment to pass the 10 million mark by the end of 2006. And in a market environment that saw strong launches by our competitors, Xbox 360 was the top choice this holiday season.

Keeping our commitment to sell 10 million was no small feat, and while we caught more than one industry pundit off guard by exceeding this number, our success comes as no surprise to me. I’ve known all along that within the IEB we have the most innovative, talented people in the industry, who aren’t afraid to take risks, drive innovation, and make big bets.

When we launched Xbox 360 in the Fall of 2005, we bet big on what we saw as three major market forces that would define the next generation of consoles:

· Social Gaming: Last generation, Xbox outpaced all consoles with a 10% internet attach rate. Now, we announced tonight that the Xbox Live community has eclipsed 5 million members, with over half of all consoles connected.

· High Definition: In late 2005 HDTV’s were just entering the consumer mainstream. We met these early adopters with a primary reason to upgrade to HDTV with Xbox 360. Now, 2006 saw more growth in high definition entertainment than any year before, and our launch timing put us at the forefront of this growth.

· Digitally Distributed Content: We bet early on that consumers would demand a device capable of delivering high definition content straight to their living room. Now, over 100 million pieces of standard and high definition content have been downloaded from Xbox Live Marketplace.

By betting big and driving innovation on these market forces, we’ve delivered one of most powerful and complete gaming experiences of the next generation, giving consumers more access and more choice than ever before.

This holiday Xbox 360 owners had more than 160 games to choose from – the strongest first year lineup of games in console history, highlighted by our record-breaking attach rate of 5.3 games sold per console. Leading our lineup was the blockbuster hit Gears of War, which sold more than 2.7 million copies after only 8 weeks on the market and won numerous Game of the Year awards.

I’m especially proud of the continued success of Xbox Live Arcade, with more than 20 million games downloaded to date, including titles like Assault Heroes, Small Arms, DOOM, Street Fighter II, Uno and more. Opening up this new digital distribution channel plays a vital role in broadening the console market, and set an extremely high bar for our competition to match.

With Xbox Live we’ve created an online experience that’s simple, easy and fun, and, with more than 5 million members, it’s well on its way to our stated goal of 6 million Xbox Live members by June 2007. What’s truly special about this growth, however, is the “stickiness” of this service. Once you join Live, you’re hooked. The average Xbox Live Gold subscriber has more than 21 friends, and every day there are 2 million messages (text/voice/picture) sent across the Xbox Live network. These friend connections are key to our growth heading into the future.

Xbox Live also makes it simple to download entertainment content, with more choices available every day from a growing list of partners. Right now, over 70% of Xbox Live members are downloading content from Xbox Live Marketplace.

We’ve come quite a ways since launch, bringing together the right technology with the right content to create an unbeatable customer experience. But as we heard from the keynote earlier tonight, the best is yet to come.

Where We’re Going

There was plenty to get excited about from the stage at CES for both Xbox 360 and Games for Windows.

The launch of Windows Vista marks the most significant event yet in our commitment to revive the Games for Windows brand. With gaming and graphics at its very core, more robust family settings, and games explorer, Vista is undoubtedly the best gaming OS ever made and a clear win for PC gaming enthusiasts and casual players alike.

For Xbox 360, we sold in excess of 10.4 million Xbox 360 consoles in 2006 and remain on track for 13-15 million units shipped by the end of FY07. We demonstrated our ability to turn our thought leadership into market leadership. Now in 2007, our challenge is to use our position as market leader to continue pushing the innovation envelope and connecting consumers ever more tightly to their games, their friends and their lifestyle.

2007 will quite simply be the best year for great games in Xbox history. As Robbie announced earlier this evening, this year we’ll more than double the 160 games available today, with a truly remarkable amount of AAA quality titles to keep gamers engaged throughout the entire year including Lost Planet, Forza Motorsport 2, Crackdown, Mass Effect, Too Human, Shadowrun, Bioshock, Guitar Hero 2, Dance Dance Revolution Universe, Assassin’s Creed, Blue Dragon, Project Gotham Racing IV, Grand Theft Auto IV, and the most anticipated title in gaming history … Halo 3. This incredible slate of titles will keep gamers of all interests racking up achievements throughout the year.

Since the beginning, we’ve said gaming should be a social experience, where community matters and friends are just a blade away. Now, we’re bringing the Xbox Live community to Windows this summer, enabling tens of millions more to join the fun and delivering on the promise made by Bill Gates at last year’s E3. On stage we showed for the first time, through a game of Uno, what the Live experience will be on the PC, and how it enables casual and hardcore gamers alike to connect with their friends regardless of what platform they’re on.

Earlier tonight we also addressed a consumer demand that’s growing louder and more intense every day: people want more high definition content, and they want to choose how it’s delivered. We’re meeting this demand with three ways to get high definition content on Xbox 360.

First, we offer the most affordable HD DVD player on the market that’s selling out at retail. HD DVD is quickly becoming the format of choice for consumers, with an industry-leading projected annualized attach rate of 28 movies per player.

Second, we’re the only gaming console to offer high definition downloadable movie and TV content, rocketing to the #2 internet download service and #1 where it counts - in the living room, and in high definition. With over 1,000 hours of content, we’re posting content as fast as we can “ingest” it into the system, with high definition downloads leading the way. Just recently, COMEDY CENTRAL Senior Vice President Caleb Weinstein announced that “In nearly two months, Xbox Live has become our second highest performing digital distributor.” Now, even more content partners are lining up to get into this service, including new addition Lionsgate will bring an all high definition movie line-up to our rapidly growing digital library.

Third, we’re bringing the next generation of TV to Xbox 360 with IPTV. Shown for the first time running on a Xbox 360 at CES, IPTV unlocks the potential of TV with a much faster, easier and simpler experience. This combination delivers a complete connected entertainment experience as we saw on stage with voice chat and game invites sent and received while watching TV. And with DVR, you can accept an invite and get in a game without ever having to miss your favorite show. With over 16 partners testing or deploying this software in test markets, it won’t be long until this 1-2 combination hits the mainstream.

With so much on tap, I expect us to continue to push the envelope on all fronts in 2007 – games and game development, Xbox Live, entertainment content, and allowing all these choices to connect in meaningful ways.

We should be proud of all we’ve accomplished, and to have laid the groundwork for the even bigger innovations of the future.

Thanks to all of you for your efforts. Here’s to a spectacular 2007 and beyond.

Peter

Not with the current MS Video Marketplace pricing structure.

I don't follow, are the movie rentals really expensive? The TV shows aren't too bad.

Dam Sony must be hurting right now

he thought he was cool by having the eyes roll. I doubt he even knows much on the subject

I think they are too expensive. The time limit, non-transferablity, and slow download times make them not very attractive to me.


That all being said. I may still pick up the State in spite of myself because i miss that show so much.

I always see this number thrown around, does this include Arcade titles? Seems like a cheap way to inflate the numbers with $5 titles.

Mmmm.... I'm gonna have to call bullshit on this one too. There hasn't been a store I've been to that doesn't have them. Even during peak Christmas times.

Quite an impressive list, when they are all grouped together like that.

is halo 3 really that hyped??


I can't see me caring much at all. I mean, i waited for like an hour at the midnight launch of halo 2, and called off work the next day. I can't say its even an after-thought this year with halo 3

Yes i think there are enough people hyped up on the mere whiff of Halo 3 to call it hyped. Especially considering the marketing hype really hasn't even started to hit its stride yet.

I will absolutely taking the day after it launches off and trying to tear through the single player some. I'm dying to see how the story ends.

I also know i'm not alone in thinking that if i get Halo 3 i won't need any other 360 game for a while.

Yes.. Halo 3 is really that hyped.. Halo and Halo 2 were a big system movers. Halo 3 will probably see a big influx of new 360 owners.

hmm...

I guess ill take your word/s for it


I don't really understand it I suppose