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New Xbox 360Hey now…we know that the new Xbox 360 S has been pretty hard to find since it launched at , so we just wanted to quickly let you know that Amazon just got a bunch in stock this morning. If you’ve been looking for one, this is likely your best bet, as they are shipping them immediately. Check out the Xbox 360 S on Amazon for details!

Read More | Amazon: Xbox 360 S

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Xbox Live Gold Family Pack

Sounds like Microsoft has finally succumbed to the cries of many an family, as they are set to launch a new Xbox Live Gold Family Pack subscription. Basically, rather than having a bunch of individual accounts on your console and having to manage them all separately, you get four Xbox Live Gold accounts for $99.99. That’s half price. There will also be a Family Center area where you can manage settings for each account from the primary account. The primary account can even purchase and give Microsoft Points to the other members of the family, and access monitoring reports. Here’s the rundown:

  • Up to four individual Xbox LIVE Gold memberships for the price of two – (US) $99.99.
  • Family Center – a single, easy to use, destination for Family Settings and account management, accessible on the Xbox dashboard and on Xbox.com.
  • The primary account member has the ability to purchase and dispense Microsoft Points to other Xbox LIVE Gold Family Pack members.
  • Activity monitoring reports viewable on Xbox.com to help encourage discussions about safer more balanced gaming and entertainment habits.
  • Simplified billing that applies all purchase charges to the primary account holder’s billing account and the ability to authorize purchases, helping to manage the family’s entertainment budget.
  • Exclusive family content and discounts.

We’ve gotta give Microsoft some credit for finally releasing the Xbox Live Gold Family Pack. We are guessing it will arrive as part of a dashboard update for the Xbox 360 in conjunction with the release of .

Read More | Gamerscore Blog

Kinect price

Looks like anyone who was hoping that would sell for a somewhat reasonable price may be a bit disappointed. After Gamestop priced Kinect at $149, and then took it down, we figured it may have been just a placeholder error. However, today, we also have evidence of Amazon, Wal-Mart, and Best Buy all pricing the upcoming wireless gaming peripheral for the at the same $149 price point. Seriously, you can buy a brand new Xbox 360 Arcade console for that price today, so that is one expensive add-on. See for yourself:

Now we just play the waiting game for official word from Microsoft.


Xbox Live

It’s hard to imagine that, with over 20 million members worldwide, that isn’t available in all Xbox 360 territories, but it’s true. However, we just got word that later this fall nine countries will be granted access to Microsoft’s online gaming community. Gamers in Brazil, Russia, Poland, Chile, Columbia, Greece, Hungary, South Africa, and Czech Republic will all be able to jump in. That potentially means there’ll be a lot of new people available to play against, and you just know that we’ll be seeing a marked increase in Zangief usage in Super Street Fighter IV. Better start prepping now.


Kinect $149

Looks like Gamestop wasn’t shy about putting up a price for , the Xbox 360 wireless control system (formerly known as Project Natal) that Microsoft failed to price at their Media Briefing. Shortly after the briefing ended, Kinect made an appearance on Gamestop with a pre-order price of $149.99. The page has since been taken down, but we’re thinking that Gamestop wouldn’t haphazardly choose that price at random. When Kinect launches on November 4, we are guessing that you’ll need to be prepared to drop $150 and some change.

Read More | Engadget

Call of Duty Xbox Exclusive

At their Media Briefing, Microsoft announced that they’d signed a deal with Activision that would give them a window of exclusivity over all Call of Duty downloadable add-on content through 2012. In other words, if you are a big Call of Duty fan, and you want access to the game add-ons as quickly as they become publicly available, you’ll want to be playing on the . If you are on PS3, you’ll likely need to wait a month or two before you can download the add-ons. Interestingly enough, they said this was an Xbox exclusive, and not an Xbox 360 exclusive. Of course, there is a high probability that Microsoft will have announced and launched a new Xbox before the end of 2012, and if that is the case, the agreement will carry over.


Kinect

Last night, Microsoft finally unveiled both the name and a bunch of launch titles coming for . First and foremost, Natal is no more—it is now known at for . The controller-free gaming add-on was shown off in an over-the-top performance featuring Cirque du Soliel in a 45-minute performance that took over four months to develop. Among the titles shown were Kinect Sports, which would be the Wii Sports of Xbox Kinect, which had mii games like soccer and beach volleyball. They also showed off river rafting, and a pretty incredible looking Star Wars game, which featured a very cool light saber battle. There was also a yoga title that looked way more precise than Wii Fit could ever be, mostly because Kinect can recognize joint position of your body. The cutest title, by far, was Kinectimals. This is kind of like Nintendogs, but rather than puppies, you have a pet tiger than you can reach out and interact with.

We will know more about Kinect later this morning, after the Microsoft E3 Media Briefing, which will hopefully give us a price and launch date for Kinect.


We were big fans of the original DJ Hero, so you can bet that we’re really excited about DJ Hero 2 and all the enhancements that come with the title. Launching this fall, DJ Hero 2 aims to be more social than the original by focusing on multiplayer aspects. Obviously, in the trailer, you’ve got three people playing together—two of them using turntable controllers, and the third singing into the mic. As far as artists features in the game, you can expect names like Dr. Dre, The Chemical Brothers, Kanye West, Metallica, Lady Gaga, Rihanna and over 85 others.

Another complaint about the original DJ Hero was that you kind of had to stick to the script. A big part of DJing is freestyling your way to creating your own sound. In DJ Hero 2, that’s fixed as well, with over 70 tracks available for you to do your will with. We will hear more about the title at E3 next week, and seriously, fall can’t come soon enough.


Project Natal $149 launch

It looks like is set to launch just five months from today, if a trusted Edge Online source is to be believed. That would put Natal launching on October 26th, and they’ve even got it priced at $149. Even more interesting, although not surprising, is that the motion sensing Natal camera will also be sold in a bundle with the Xbox 360 Arcade console for $299. Obviously, Microsoft is looking to reach a new market with Natal, so bundling it with the entry-level Xbox 360 console will only make sense as they aim to intrigue casual users and families. Now the launch date could change, and we won’t get it confirmed until E3. That said, one other sure-thing is that Project Natal will be officially named at E3 as well—seriously, you didn’t think they’d ship with a name like that, did you?

Read More | Edge Online

Halo Reach Legendary Edition

Hot on the heels of the beta coming to an end, Bungie has just announced that the full game will be launching on September 14, 2010, and will be available in three versions:

  • Halo Reach Standard Edition will cost $60
  • Halo Reach Limited Edition will include the game, exclusive in-game Elite armor, and an artifact bag containing Dr. Halsey’s personal journal will cost $79.99
  • Halo Reach Legendary Edition will include everything that the Limited Edition includes, plus UNSC-themed packaging, exclusive multiplayer Spartan armor, and Noble Team collectable statue. This will cost $149.99.

We are just under four months away.


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