Xbox.com and Xbox Live will be down for some fine tuning for 24hrs as of Midnight Pacific Time on Tuesday October 17.
We've got some scheduled maintenance coming up and want to let everyone know that both the Xbox Live® service and Xbox.com will be offline and unavailable starting at midnight Pacific Time on Tuesday October 17, 2006 for up to 24 hours. We know you've got some questions, so here are some answers:
Q: Why? Why? Why?
A: Because we're adding some cool stuff. And we have to take the service and website offline in order to do it. We're not doing it to make you mad … really.
Q: What kind of cool stuff?
A: Secret cool stuff that we'll tell you about when we're back online October 18. Other stuff we'll be talking about later in the fall.
Microsoft have just released a nice little touch. How would you like to surf the web to view the latest Marketplace downloads?
Well as from today you can do just that, with Microsoft's new website entitled Xbox Live Pipeline. Updated daily with the latest downloads this could be quite handy for people at work wanting to keep track of the latest downloads.
And although you cannot download from the site, it still offers some useful functions like the Editors Choice where you can view the hottest downloads. And its a hell of a lot faster than browsing using the Xbox's interface. :)
With the threat of Emergence Day on the horizon, Microsoft Game Studios released a new “Gears of War” site that allows gamers inside the mind of its lead character, Marcus Fenix. The site, which can be found at http://www.gearsofwar.com/, immerses gamers through a series of disturbing flashback videos that foretell various aspects of the game’s storyline and highlight the uniquely destroyed beauty of the games environment.
Visitors to the site can also pre-order “Gears of War,” visit the community forums, share the site with a friend, or register to join the Xbox community for exclusive updates.
“Gears of War” thrusts gamers into humankind’s epic battle for survival against the Locust Horde, a nightmarish race of creatures that surface from the bowels of the planet. Blending the best of tactical action games with the best of survival horror titles, “Gears of War” features cinematic, beautifully rendered interactive environments with high-definition visuals. “Gears of War” will ship on Nov. 7, 2006 in North America.
Microsoft is about to start a campaign called US: Safety is no game. Is your family set? to help teach parents how to prevent their children accessing violent games on their Xbox 360 console.
The company will provide vital information on how to use the systems integrated safety settings and will also help parents understand the Entertainment Software Ratings Board (ESRB) ratings.
The campaign; that is based in the U.S. will entail a nation-wide bus tour and advertising campaign to help get their message across to parents.
Robbie Bach, president of the entertainment and devices division at Microsoft is quoted as saying :
"With success comes responsibility. We are unwavering in our commitment to address the genuine concerns of families on how to keep interactive entertainment safe and fun for our children."
This just goes to prove that Microsoft really are a caring, sharing kind of company. :)
So keep an eye out for these campaign buses and pop along to see what they have to say. You never know they might be giving free stuff away too. ;)
Even the people running the richest tech companies are awestruck by Web 2.0 valuations. Microsoft (MSFT) boss Steven Ballmer, who sat down with BusinessWeek editors and writers hours before Google (GOOG) finalized its $1.65 billion purchase of YouTube, questioned how the online video service could fetch so much. He also talked about Microsoft's video-game and digital music business, as well as the new breed of competition the company faces. Here's an edited transcript of the conversation.
Metro Simulator 2 is coming soon for Xbox and PlayStation consoles Ultimate Games (@ULTGames) confirmed that Metro Simulator 2, the realistic and relaxing simulator with faithfully reproduced subway realities and train control mechanics from KishMish Games, will laun..
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