[QUOTE]
* Are you any closer to resolving the problem of getting user-gen content into the Xbox 360 version?
* Not yet but we’re hopeful. Microsoft hasn’t said “no” yet, but then they haven’t said “yes” either. We need them to say “yes,” and we need them to do it soon.

* So it’s technically possible?
* Sure. I mean, you can go onto the console and copy your songs on to it and play movies off a memory card - the machine’s capable of allowing you to transfer your content around, and even letting you play your music while playing many games.

* So why wouldn’t Microsoft say yes? Is there a fear of losing control of Xbox Live?
* Well, yeah and we don’t fault them for that. They’ve got a closed system where everything’s checked, users know the quality of everything they download, and you know it won’t crash your machine. User generated content - well, it can be dangerous, you could theoretically download a mod that uses too much memory and crashes your machine.

I think Sony are real pioneers in this - I think they deserve a lot of credit for letting us do this. They’re really doing something different, and it hints at what they want to do with the PlayStation Network in the future. They’re definitely on the right track!

If it doesn’t work out with Xbox 360, depending on sales of the game on that platform, I imagine we’ll find a few of the best mods and get them on Xbox Live Marketplace. I don’t think 360 users are going to suffer drastically - they’re just going to miss out on a lot of crazy, cool fun stuff and the ability to exchange it among themselves. They may also end up paying for content that is free on other systems because Microsoft now has to host it and certify it. But I’m confident Microsoft will look at what’s happened with UT3 on the PS3 so far and think, ‘Well, we’ll take that baby step with you,’ because what we’ve done so far really is just a baby step if you think about it. You’ve got to go online, you gotta download the mod, and you’re responsible for putting it on your machine yourself. There are some exceptions - there are mutators, which modify how gameplay works, that are pretty small - and we let those auto download, but most of the other stuff you’ve got to go and say ‘I’m going to install this on my machine.’ We hope to change that in the future.

So it really is the user knowing what he’s doing. He’s not accidentally going to a server which has this really horrific mod on it… and if you do find a horrific mod we have a way to make sure that people can’t serve that mod for other users. I think we’re going to do much more with the PS3 version - maybe have an easier way to download mods, a way to auto download some that have been approved, ideas like that. We’re looking at ways of taking the mod scene and making it better and broader.

The game is up and running on Xbox 360 - it has been for a long time, and its running wonderfully - it just doesn’t have any Xbox Live written into it yet so that’s the work that remains.
[/QUOTE]

Source: guardian.co.uk

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According to research done by PSX Extreme, it appears there has been an FCC filing, Sony will be releasing the Ceramic White PlayStation 3 in North America.

The system has been available in Japan since last November. According to GamesIndustry.biz, a letter from Sony Japan proves that the machine was submitted to the FCC and the American Telecommunications Certification Body in October of last year, requesting “short-term confidentiality to avoid premature release of sensitive information prior to marketing or release of the product to the public.”

Source: psxextreme.com

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[QUOTE]
Speaking with Albert Penello, group marketing manager for the Xbox 360, at CES this week, we touched on the future of the Xbox past. The most recent update to the list of original Xbox games that are playable on the Xbox 360, bringing the total to 465 last gen titles, could very well be the last, according to Penello. “I don’t know if we have plans to do any more releases,” Penello said “It feels like we kind of hit the point of diminishing returns there. I know with the Xbox Originals, there are still things happening there, but in terms of a lot of engineering work around bringing out new titles, I think they’re winding that down.”

Penello noted that, outside of Halo 2, internal data points to low numbers of backward compatible games being played on Live, with BC updates “not being downloaded that much anymore.”
[/QUOTE]

Source: kotaku.com

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[QUOTE]
This past week I met and interviewed an individual who has worked on the Xbox 360 project for many years and they had some things that they wanted to get out into the public. I have the fullest confined in the integrity of my confidential source.

* Q: So what do you think the real failure rate of the Xbox 360 is? Some have estimated it as high as 30%. I got my Xbox in early 2007 and so far so good but what do you think the chance is that it’s going to die on me one day.
* A: It’s around 30%, and all will probably fail early. This quarter they are expecting 1 M failures, most of those Xenons. Some of those are repeat failures. Life expectancy is all over the map because the design has very little margin for most of the important parameters. That means it’s not a fault tolerant design. So a good unit may last a couple of years, while a bad unit can fail in hours. I have a launch unit and have not had a single problem with it. And it’s used a lot. But I don’t know anyone else with a 360 that hasn’t broken, except you now. There’s no way to tell when yours might die. But the cooler you can keep it, the longer it will probably last. So stand it up, keep it in free air, etc. :Note : Xenon was the code name for the first Xbox 360 mother board.

* Q: In your opinion what do you think the main cause of the Red Ring of Death failures have been?
* A: RROD is caused by anything that fails in the “digital backbone” on the mother board. Also known as a core digital error. CPU, GPU, memory, etc. Bad parts, incompatible parts (timing problems) bad manufacturing process (like solder joints), misapplied heat sinks or thermal interface material, missing parts, broken parts, parts of the wrong value, missed test coverage. Any one or more, on any chip, or many other discrete components, would cause this. And many of the failures were obviously infant mortality, where they work when they leave the factory and fail early in use. The main design flaw was the excessive heat on the GPU warping the mother board around it. This would stress the solder joints on the GPU and any bad joints would then fail in early life.
There are also other significantly high failure rates in other areas, like the DVD.

* Q: How much more reliable are the current generation of Xbox 360 than the previous designs? Original Xenon, Zypher and Falcon.
* A: I’ve heard that the failure rates for the current design is sub 10%. Much much better, but still too high imoh. And those designs haven’t seen much life yet, so no one knows if that failure rate will hold.

* Q: Do you think that the “Falcon” Xbox 360 design is the final Xbox 360 hardware iteration or will they come out with a redesigned Xbox 360?
* A: They will come out with new hardware at least once a year until they retire this design. That’s the console financial model. Keep the features and functionality the same, reduce cost and price, and improve quality if needed. The 360 roadmap always called for SI die shrink and integration, since that’s where most of the cost is. Right now they are working to get the GPU and CPU on the same BGA package for the next mobo. Could lower cost, heat, number of heat sinks, mother board size (maybe squeeze the PS inside too), etc. Too bad that they screwed up and forgot to retain the JTAG IEEE 488 test functionality, at least what little they had. Now it will be almost impossible for them to tell if that chip is bad if the unit won’t boot in the factory. So they will have to trouble shoot by replacing the most expensive part in the system blindly. They keep repeating bad decisions, and everyone is afraid to push issues considered to be bad news.
[/QUOTE]

Source: blog.seattlepi.nwsource.com

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From the press release:
[QUOTE]
As a way to recognize the teams of talented developers who have together created over 112 games for Xbox LIVE Arcade, Microsoft will announce awards for the top XBLA games of 2007 later this year, with several award categories decided by the community. Fans of Xbox LIVE Arcade are invited to cast their votes for the first-ever Xbox LIVE Arcade Awards - 2007 by voting at http://www.xbox.com/xblaawards. Voting begins Tuesday, January 22 at 2:00 a.m. PST (10:00 GMT) and runs through Wednesday, January 30 at 11:59 p.m. PST (07:59 GMT).

The finalists in each award category were selected by a panel of consumer and video game industry journalists, and the winners will be determined by popular vote. Microsoft will announce the winners of the inaugural Xbox LIVE Arcade Awards - 2007 at the Game Developer Conference in February.

Below is the list of award categories that will be open for public voting:
* Best Overall Arcade Game
* Best Classic Game
* Best Original Game
* Best Family Friendly Game
* Best Competitive Multiplayer Game
* Best Cooperative Multiplayer Game

Other award categories include the following:
* Best selling game
* Most played game
* Highest rated game
* Staff choice

“Undertow” Free of Charge Download on XBLA this Week
This Xbox LIVE Arcade Wednesday, Xbox LIVE members around the world will be able to download the award-winning “Undertow” free of charge for a limited time. Beginning at 2:00 a.m. PST (10:00 GMT) Wednesday, January 23 and continuing through 11:59 p.m. PST on Sunday, January 27 (07:59 GMT on Monday, January 28), “Undertow” will be available free of charge on Xbox LIVE Arcade.

Developed by Chair Entertainment Group, Undertow redefines aquatic based shooters through a mix of high-definition graphics, intuitive controls and multiple modes of game play action. The game features a full story driven-single player campaign, on and offline co-op, and multiplayer for 2-16 players over Xbox LIVE for Gold subscribers. Players battle for control of the oceans as one of three selectable races, each with four unique, upgradeable units. “Undertow” is available worldwide (normally 800 Microsoft Points) and is rated E10+.

In support of the giveaway, Chair Entertainment Group is offering gamers the opportunity to play alongside the Undertow development team on Thursday, January 24 at 7:00 p.m. PST (03:00 GMT on Friday, January 25). The team will host player matches, provide game play tips and the opportunity for gamers to pick-up Undertow achievements.
[/QUOTE]

Source: XanTium on Xbox360

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By XanTium on Xbox360

From the press release:

[QUOTE]
Toshiba America Consumer Products, L.L.C. (”Toshiba”) today announced that it is stepping up its successful marketing campaign for HD DVD as it experienced record-breaking unit sales in the fourth quarter of 2007. Major initiatives, including joint advertising campaigns with studios and extended pricing strategies will begin in mid- January and are designed to spotlight the superior benefits of HD DVD as well as the benefits HD DVD brings to a consumer’s current DVD library by upconverting standard DVDs via the HDMI(TM) output to near high definition picture quality.

As Toshiba achieved the #1 sales volume in the next generation DVD category with an approximately 50 percent market share in 2007, HD DVD is proven to be the format of choice for consumers. Coupled with an 80 percent plus market share of all next generation DVD equipped notebooks for the 4th quarter 2007, the HD DVD format has already paved the way to a high definition digital AV solution by eliminating the boundaries between the consumer’s living room and on the go.

HD DVD not only creates the ultimate high definition entertainment experience, leveraging all of the promise of the format such as superior audio/video performance, Web-enabled network capabilities and advanced interactive features - it also has a high-level of compatibility with DVD. With DVD upconversion via the HDMI output, HD DVD players instantly make a movie lover’s existing DVD library look better than ever.

New Marketing Strategy for Mass Market Adoption
Taking the holiday season sales based on promotional prices into full consideration, these new manufacturer’s suggested retail prices (MSRP) are designed to meet the potential demand for HD DVD players in the U.S. market. Effective on January 13, 2008 the MSRP of the entry-model HD-A3 will be $149.99, the HD-A30, with 1080p output, $199.99, and the high-end HD-A35, $299.99.

Extended Advertising Campaign
Toshiba plans to execute an extended advertising campaign that will further enhance consumer awareness of the benefits of HD DVD and drive sales to retail among potential consumers. Advertising strategies will include television, print and online media channels. Toshiba will also work with its dealers and studio partners on joint marketing and promotional initiatives to promote HD DVD. Current promotions include “The Perfect HD Offer” - a mail-in offer allowing consumers to select five HD DVD titles for free from a selection of 15 with the purchase of any Toshiba HD DVD player.
[/QUOTE]

Read the whole press release here.

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Over on Rock Band’s forums, Sean Baptiste (Harmonix’ director for community development) announced 3 new songs for Rock Band available this week. Drum role please…

• “Number of the Beast” made famous by Iron Maiden (cover)
• “Die, All Right!” by the Hives
• “Interstate Love Song” by Stone Temple Pilots

Each can be had for only 160 Microsoft points ($1.99).

Time to get rocking!

Source: Rock Band forums

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EB Games and Gamestop are ready to take preorders on MGS 4. The game is set to release on June 17. What are you waiting for? Head on out and put your $5 to good use.

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