The Sky Player is Microsoft's long-promised Mediaroom service, sort of. They've shown off IPTV capabilities of the Xbox 360 for years and only now is all their talk becoming a reality. After so long in the making, many will probably be disappointed by the initial launch of the Sky Player. 24 channels, all of which range from Grade B (G.O.L.D, Sky Movies) to Grade F (Sky Arts) channels. Variety is something to be said about the channel line up, but when Sky aren't pushing their flagship Sky 1, nor their Freeview channel Sky 3 on the service, you get the feeling something's amiss. Live TV is overall very poor. Quality is superb, next to no buffering once the stream has started and the TV guide EPG (Electronic Program Guide) represents Sky's new Sky+ HD guide (which as a Sky+ HD subscriber... Still haven't received.)
TV Over IP
Microsoft have had plans for IPTV (TV over IP) for years, with unused Dashboard buttons surfacing from unusual glitches. Last year, Microsoft announced that BT would be bringing it's BT Vision service to the Xbox 360, making it the first-ever IPTV service on any of the big 3 home consoles in the world. This plan seemed to be short-lived, as the service never materialised after BT said the service was incompatible with their current system.
Existing Sky customers will have the service completely free starting October 27th. Non-subscribers will have the ability to watch recorded programmes and live TV over a range of subscription models and pay-per-view options. It's not quite clear at this moment if an Xbox Live Gold Account is required for the content, however one would presume it is a requirement.
[Source: via Edge Online]
In an effort to actually, I don't know... Do something on the site, I've written up a loving piece on a new game which I've invested an awful lot of time into; Shadow Complex. Those who don't want to hear a nerd ranting about how 3D graphics is killing old-school game genres are best to miss the first two paragraphs. Anyway, Shadow Complex is a great game, well worth the £10 you're paying for it. Go check out the trial if you don't take my word for it.
Shadow Complex (Xbox Live Arcade)
Developer: Chair / Publisher: Epic Games / Genre: Action / Release Date: Out Now / Age Certificate: 16+ PEGI
"Although it's a comparison used an awful lot for this game, including a comparison which the developers themselves used; Shadow Complex for the Xbox Live Arcade is a re-envisioning of the classic formula used by games such as Metroid and Castlevania. Admittedly, Castlevania still uses it's formula to great effect with it's Gameboy Advance and Nintendo DS games, however, you'll be mistaken for thinking Shadow Complex is a mere clone of these games."
Shadow Complex (Xbox Live Arcade)
Developer: Chair / Publisher: Epic Games / Genre: Action / Release Date: Out Now / Age Certificate: 16+ PEGI
"Although it's a comparison used an awful lot for this game, including a comparison which the developers themselves used; Shadow Complex for the Xbox Live Arcade is a re-envisioning of the classic formula used by games such as Metroid and Castlevania. Admittedly, Castlevania still uses it's formula to great effect with it's Gameboy Advance and Nintendo DS games, however, you'll be mistaken for thinking Shadow Complex is a mere clone of these games."
Over the last week (while I was on holiday, hence no updates) Microsoft has laid it's vision of the future for the Xbox 360 out. As many of you are most likely aware by now, the Xbox 360 Elite dropped in price to £199.99 just in time for the holiday period. Japan has just received similar price cuts to all it's units, with the Xbox 360 Elite now 29,800 Yen (About £200) and the Arcade model now 19,800 Yen (About £130). The Xbox 360 Premium, the model with the 60GB HDD is, as rumours said it would, being phased out. And also as rumours suggested, the Arcade's price rose although hasn't offered anything new. And if the Japanese Arcade is anything to go by, they've actually removed the arcade titles from the bundle... Thus making "Arcade" a pretty redundant title. (Try fitting Shadow Complex on your 512mb memory device.)
Anyway, it's also been revealed that Xbox 360 sales are up 43% after the £30 price drop on the Elite model. Did people just forget that the Xbox 360 Premium was £30 less than the CURRENT Xbox 360 price or what? Or is that black console just too good to pass up? Who knows.
[Sources: GAME Watch, Xbox Press, CVG]
There's been quite a bit of rumour and speculation regarding the future of video game consoles lately. With Sony apparently preparing the reveal of the now long-known Playstation 3 Slim at GamesCon and Microsoft apparently cutting the price of the Xbox 360. Many had expected the Elite model of Xbox 360 to take early retirement from store shelves being used instead as a 'special edition' console (like the Resident Evil 5 branded controller), but if a new Xbox 360 Arcade box is anything to go by, it appears the Xbox 360 Pro (Premium over here) model will be soon quietly smothered and dumped in a bin-liner somewhere out in the Atlantic Ocean.
It's a logical step; the Xbox 360's hard drive has been the major concern for most Xbox 360 owners, many of whom are still using their 20GB HDD which the Pro/Premium models came with for several years. Their reluctence to upgrade the 360 HDD stems from the HDD peripherals themselves being just too damn expensive for the capacity they provide. With Microsoft's latest money spinning idea; Games on Demand ready to provide a handful of Xbox 360 titles over the Xbox Live Marketplace at 9GB a pop, something has to give. Removing the 60GB HDD in favour of the 120GB does seem like a good idea, especially if the Elite will take the Premium model's £169.99 price tag. Now all Microsoft has to do is lower the price of the 120GB HDD and everyone's a little bit happier. Until we all realise we can get hard-copies of games on Games On Demand for much cheaper than Microsoft will sell them for digitally. Happiness, happiness...
[Source: Kotaku]
So I received my Xbox 360 dashboard update. People of the general scope will gain access to the update later this month. However, Microsoft was gracious enough to let me on the Preview Program, so allow me to share the bounty with you all. The update isn't anything huge, user should have expected the dashboard to be a stability, performance and feature update, not a full-blown UI overhaul like the update last year (Blades to NXE). The Update does not include the Twitter or Facebook applications shown at E3. These will be coming later this year. It does include the update to the Netflix application, however I do not have a Netflix account and cannot use said features.
So what's in the new dashboard update? Well, when you first boot up, it's like nothing's changed at all. The Welcome Menu returns with a vengeance if you had previously turned it off. Performance is just about the same as usual, scrolling through the menus feels like it always has done. There are a few new cool features in the changelist from what I can see for things such as parties, where drop-outs from the party will be automatically joined when they reconnect.
The big change to note out of this update is indeed the Avatar Marketplace. The idea is a pretty simple one; buy stuff for your avatar. Although very few games support the Avatar system since it's launch in the NXE, games are starting to adopt it. And yes, there are people out there prepared to pay 40 Microsoft Points for a ring which goes on your Avatar's finger which no one can see. There are some cool ideas to be had with the marketplace, for instance there is a sweet Halo 3 ODST R/C Warthog which moves around your Avatar... But at 320 Microsoft Points, I expect it to cook my breakfast as well.
Microsoft has been rather tight-lipped in the past as to their ambition for a handheld gaming platform, many felt that Microsoft wouldn't even bother against the might of Nintendo, whom has always completely dominated the market since the Gameboy. However, Microsoft has let the proverbial cat out of the bag today as Shane Kim of Microsoft Interactive Entertainment has said that a Xbox handheld isn't so much an 'if' but 'when'. Stating that their focus has always been living room entertainment with consoles such as the Xbox and Xbox 360 and says that if they were going to create a new Xbox handheld product, it would divert away from the R&D of developments such as Project Natal.
This is an interesting line coming from Microsoft. The current generation of handhelds is now nearing the end of their lifespan. The Nintendo DS and the Sony PSP are coming up to 5 years of age. Recent upgrades to the DS and the PSP found in the DSi and PSP Go may increase the generation's lifespan, but I don't see it increasing it by much. Microsoft has very limited time to wiggle it's way into the next generation of handheld gaming devices. Late comers to any generation of consoles usually struggle.
[Source: EDGE]
Images have apparently leaked out of the latest update for the Xbox 360 Dashboard (NXE: New Xbox Experience). The update showcases many known features such as Avatar Awards and the Avatar Marketplace. Avatar Awards is a special set of 'achievements' which are connected to social games played with your avatar, like 1 Vs 100 for instance, but are totally disjointed to achievements. The Avatar Marketplace is a shop where you can buy items of apparel for your Avatar to wear. Sounds pointless, but hey, can't blame Microsoft for trying... Now thinking about how ridiculously priced those 360 peripherals are... Yes we can blame Microsoft for trying, actually.
Other changes include the addition of "Indie Games" and "Games on Demand" to the Xbox Live Marketplace, Indie Games seems to replace "Community Games" and "Games on Demand" will see a flurry of downloadable Xbox 360 titles, one confirmed title is to be Mass Effect after a blunder lead to the game appearing on several Marketplace-monitoring services including the official Marketplace RSS feed and Major Nelson's Marketplace list-thing, although now removed. Other less exciting features is the addition of a section to your Games Library which shows overall Achievement Progress with a list of games which you have earned all the achievements that game has to offer (mine would be blank, just in-case you were wondering) and the addition of an "Awards" option on the Xbox Guide's "Games" Blade.
The screenshots come from one who is not shy to show his GamerTag, a one Hobbtao. An astute reader may lookup his username on Xbox Live, however, this gentleman does not exist. This isn't as unusual as you may think as developers have their own private Xbox Live in which they can test away without the prying eyes of the public spying on their every move. If you didn't connect the dots; developers have early access to updates as they may be dependant on the update being in place for new features to be incorporated. And for those who didn't carry the dots on past the obvious; he's most likely breaking a Microsoft Non-Disclosure Agreement (NDA) while he's at it. Job insecurity, here he comes!
[Source: GameCinemaHD]
D3 Publisher likes to go places where other's don't. They've made some... Interesting titles in the past, including Zombie vs. Ambulance; a game where you're essentially running over the undead with an ambulance, Oneechanbara; a game where you're essentially slashing the undead with a barely-clothed woman and DarkSector where... Well, you get the picture. But they've also made some more interesting titles such as Eat Lead, which, if the title wasn't the same set piece over-and-over-again, it would have been a AAA title last year and then you have Puzzle Quest, the strangely addictive game which I'm still not quite sure I'm investing hours of my life into...
Their approach to games isn't always spot on and I think it may shine through in their latest, most likely Japanese-only game; Dream Club. Dream Club is essentially a video game based around Hostess Bars, a very Japanese invention where the hard-working people of Japan go to spend some money hiring the services of nice young Japanese girls. Wow, wow, hold on. Not those kinds of services, no, basically they just sit around, chat and get royally drunk. But Dream Club isn't any old simulation of a Hostess Bar, nope, it's an anime Hostess Bar. Quite frankly, D3 is about to make more money than Nintendo with this idea. Those not brave enough to speak to a woman and have far too much insight into Japanese animation will be all over this game. Quite frankly, I believe this will be the only video game I can play when I go to straight to Hell.
Yeah, slow news day.
[Source: Dengeki Online]
