Games Galore » Microsoft Xbox 360

Datel to sue Microsoft for banning third party Xbox 360 hardware accessories

Satan — Wed, 25 Nov 2009 10:00:37 +0000

Datel to sue Microsoft for banning third party Xbox 360 hardware accessories

Microsoft recently released a new firmware for their Xbox 360 gaming console.

This new firmware added a couple of new features but had some bad news for the console owners.

Microsoft disabled support for third party hardware attachments like memory cards.

Datel is one of the many companies that sell such hardware accessories for the Xbox 360 gaming console.

The company has revealed that they are going to file a lawsuit against Microsoft for blocking their hardware accessories without a valid reason.

Datel said in a statement: “For many years, Datel has brought to the public products that offer more capacity, extra functionality or other game enhancing features with the aim of offering a reasonably priced alternative to first-party accessories. The Max Memory card plugs into the Xbox 360 and allows a user to store games, characters, and similar information. It permits a player to transport game information between Xbox systems. The Microsoft memory card does exactly the same thing—with the difference that it offers only one-quarter the memory while listing for the same retail price. Datel engineered the Max Memory card to be 100% compatible and over 50,000 Max Memory cards have been sold without a single report of harm to the Xbox console.”

Microsoft: We did not ban 1 million Xbox Live members

Satan — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 10:21:57 +0000

Microsoft: We did not ban 1 million Xbox Live members

Microsoft has stated that they did not ban as many as 1 million Xbox Live members for connecting to the service using a modded Xbox 360 gaming console.

A company representative said: “We didn’t release the number. I cannot explain to you why people would think it was a million people. It wasn’t a million people. These were people that were pirating software. We try to keep sanctity of life from a safety and anti-cheating perspective and we protect our partners…I think we do a really good job understanding what people are doing on the system. That applies to intellectual property and how we treat the community in terms of harassment. We are committed to making it better and better.”

Microsoft does not allow owners of modded gaming console to connect to the Xbox Live service.

Once a console is banned, it cannot be used to connect to the online services again. Gamer has to get himself a new unit to continue playing online.

Microsoft Xbox 360 social networking update releasing on November 17

Sukhdeep — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 02:47:36 +0000

Microsoft Xbox 360 social networking update releasing on November 17

Microsoft Xbox Live general manager, Marc Whitten has confirmed that the company would release the much talked about update to the Xbox 360 gaming console on November 17.

This update would add support for social networking services Facebook, Twitter, and Last.FM.

Gamers would get the ability to convert their Facebook friends to Xbox Live contacts for better integration.

Whitten said: “We look at things like Facebook and Twitter as amazing social experiences, but also entertainment. We didn’t want to copy and paste from the PC. It’s going to be great for current users, but it’s also great for new users who can see who is on Facebook and get their first 30 friends on Live.”

Project Natal coming in November 2010?

Satan — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 22:05:49 +0000

Project Natal coming in November 2010?

MCV has reported in a news item that Microsoft would be launching their Project Natal add-on for the Xbox 360 gaming console in November 2010.

Project Natal at launch would support around 14 videogames and it would retail for around USD 80.

The report said that customers would be able to purchase it as an attachment for their already purchased Xbox 360 console. They would also have the option to buy it along with the console.

Microsoft has of course not released any official details related to Project Natal.

They had displayed this prototype technology earlier this year. It is designed to take on Nintendo Wii with a much improved gaming concept.

Microsoft aims to provide a controller free gaming experience with Project Natal.

Trials HD on Microsoft Xbox Live Arcade looks very nice

Sukhdeep — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 11:26:39 +0000

Trials HD on Microsoft Xbox Live Arcade looks very nice

Microsoft: No Blu-Ray drive for Xbox 360

Satan — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 01:46:54 +0000

Microsoft: No Blu-Ray drive for Xbox 360

Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer recently stated in an interview that customers would soon be able to buy Blu-Ray drives as accessories.

The company has now clarified that he did not mean it with respect to the Xbox 360 gaming console.

Microsoft Xbox 360 comes with a DVD drive. Microsoft did launch a HD DVD add-on drive. The format is now dead with Blu-Ray emerging as the new generation standard.

Microsoft spokesman David Dennis had this to say on the comments made by Ballmer:

Steve was referring to Blu-ray accessories for the PC. As we have said in the past, we have no plans to introduce a Blu-ray drive for the Xbox 360. In fact, the future of home entertainment starts this fall when Xbox 360 becomes the first and only console to offer instant-on 1080p streaming HD movies. With a library of thousands of TV shows and movies to choose from, Xbox 360 owners can instantly watch the movies they want, when they want, in the highest form of high definition.

Microsoft and Sony are bitter rivals in the videogame console market. Sony has their Playstation 3 console that competes with Xbox 360. Sony is also the primary developer of the Blu-Ray format. PlayStation 3 comes with a Blu-Ray drive.

Microsoft Xbox 360 update would block third party storage units

Sukhdeep — Mon, 19 Oct 2009 20:14:49 +0000

Microsoft Xbox 360 update would block third party storage units

Bad news for the owners of Microsoft Xbox 360.

A company representative has stated that the next update to Xbox 360 would block access to unofficial storage units.

They are suggesting that users migrate their data from these storage units of official accessories provided for the console.

Xbox Live’s Major Nelson stated: “When Preview Program members start receiving the Xbox 360 system update next week, one of the changes is that unauthorized Memory Units will no longer work with the Xbox 360. If you’ve moved your profile or saved games onto one to “back it up,” you’d better move it back onto an authorized Xbox 360 storage device prior to taking the update. If you continue to use an unauthorized Memory Unit after the update, you will not be able to access your stored profile or saved games.”

This is a major disappointment considering Microsoft charges a massive premium on official storage units for the Xbox 360 console.

Microsoft Xbox 360 set to get Facebook and Twitter support

Sukhdeep — Thu, 08 Oct 2009 07:18:00 +0000

Microsoft Xbox 360 set to get Facebook and Twitter support

Microsoft has revealed that they are going to deliver an update to the gamers owning Xbox 360 gaming console.

This update would add support for Facebook and Twitter social networks on this gaming console.

Last.fm is another service that would be featured in this social networking related update.

The service would not provide all the capabilities of a desktop social networking experience but would still enable you to connect with your friends and relatives using your television screen.

Microsoft Xbox 360 Modern Warfare 2 limited edition announced

Sukhdeep — Wed, 16 Sep 2009 09:12:35 +0000

Microsoft Xbox 360 Modern Warfare 2 limited edition announced

Microsoft has announced another limited edition of their Xbox 360 gaming console.

The company has now introduced Xbox 360 Modern Warfare 2. It has been priced at USD 399.

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 is from the stables of Activision Blizzard.

Microsoft said that this special edition console would feature a 250GB HDD. The regular console comes with 120GB HDD.

This special edition gaming console would also include two wireless controllers, an Xbox 360 headset, and a copy of the game.

The console would go on sale on November 10. It is available for pre-ordering now.

Microsoft Xbox 360 and Sony Playstation 3 could soon feature 250GB hard disk

Satan — Sun, 30 Aug 2009 18:17:51 +0000

Microsoft Xbox 360 and Sony Playstation 3 could soon feature 250GB hard disk

Industry sources claim that both Microsoft and Sony are working on new variants which could appear in the market before the start of the holiday season.

Both the companies are likely to unveil new versions of their gaming consoles with larger hard disk drives.

Incidentally, both Microsoft and Sony have recently dropped the prices of their existing versions of the two gaming consoles.

This makes it easier for them to launch higher end editions featuring more storage space.