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E3 2006: Peter Moore Interview
Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Accessories, Corporate News, E3, Features, Hardware, Xbox 360, Xbox Live, Xbox Live Arcade,
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In case you missed the Peter Moore interview that was posted over at Gear Live, check it out by clicking above. Peter goes into detail on subjects like Lumines Live, the HD DVD drive, Xbox Live Vision camera, and more. Especially interesting are his thoughts on the PlayStation 3, and how Sony is using it as a juggernaut to push the Blu-Ray format.
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Gallery: E3 2006: Peter Moore Interview
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Gears of War Special on MTV2
Posted by Christopher Sasaki Categories: Culture, E3, First Person Shooters, Xbox 360,
MTV2 will be airing their mini-documentary featuring Epic Games, and focusing on the preparation work that went led up to their presence at E3 2006. Major Nelson has some of the details on his blog, but the show itself will be airing Friday, May 19th, at 10:00 PM ET/PT. Of course, this will air multiple times over the next couple of weeks, so those who don’t set their TiVo in time will have additional chances, and the future airings are listed on the Major Nelson blog. The marketing guys at Gamerscoreblog have also posted a promo and some pre-release clips on YouTube as well. From the clips, it looks like there is going to be some actual meat to the show, with nary a hobbit to be seen from last year’s MTV Xbox 360 non-event. Hopefully in addition to seeing developers sweat, there will be actual information about the game, but with the focus on the E3 presentation, there may not be a lot there.
Read More 
| MajorNelson.com
Read More | Gamerscoreblog Preview Clips
Gallery: Gears of War Special on MTV2
Xbox 360 Hack: Microsoft’s Non-Responsive Response
Posted by Christopher Sasaki Categories: Corporate News, Mods/Hacks, Xbox 360,
Gamerscore Blog, from Microsoft Global Games Marketing, has the official response to the latest hack news. Basically they restate their previous statement: the core security of the system has not been hacked, they are going to find an appropriate response, and they state that there are benefits to buying original Microsoft intellectual property, so don’t pay for those pirate copies of Xbox 360 games, since you don’t know where they have been. The text of the response follows:
The core security system has not been broken. However, on some Xbox 360 consoles the authentication protocol between the optical disc drive and the console may be attacked via a complex software and hardware modification which could allow people to play illegally copied and modified games. We continue to invest in the security of the platform and will respond appropriately as unauthorized activity is identified.
When a person purchases a genuine Microsoft Xbox360 console and genuine Xbox 360 games, they receive the real product which is complete and suited for the use intended. They know its source and can expect the console and games to function properly and provide a satisfying gaming experience. Genuine and unmodified Microsoft Xbox products provide gamers with the reliability, security, support and dynamic gaming experience that they expect, and genuine and unmodified Microsoft Xbox 360 products are eligible for technical support. If there are any questions regarding the use and enjoyment of the Xbox 360 console, the Xbox Live service, or Xbox 360 games, gamers can be assured that Microsoft will stand by its product and provide the necessary support. Modified consoles will not be eligible for technical support and the user’s warranty will be voided.
Lastly, the protection of intellectual property rights is a high priority for Microsoft and our partners, one that significantly and positively impacts economic growth, technological innovation, and most importantly, the confidence of customers who count on the integrity and quality of their products.
So, gamers can probably expect that Microsoft will attempt some kind of software or hardware solution to work around this, and when they figure out how to detect the modified firmware of the DVD drive, people will get banned from Xbox Live.
Read More | Gamerscore Blog
Gallery: Xbox 360 Hack: Microsoft’s Non-Responsive Response
According to Gamesindustry.biz, retailers are hinting at pricing for the Xbox 360 HD DVD drive, and the pricing should make the console bundled with the HD DVD drive competitive with the rumored launch pricing of the Playstation 3. UK pricing is rumored to be around 130 GBP, making a US-based competitive price more likely than not. Since the UK pricing at current exchange rates prices the console at roughly a 30% premium over the US price, assuming the UK numbers are correct, this would make the cost of the HD DVD in the US around $200; certainly a competitive bundle with the low end PS3. This would place the premium US bundle plus the HD DVD drive at around the same price as the high end Playstation 3, however, without any current support for HDMI, and nothing official on the horizon, this would leave Xbox 360 consumers with a crippled HD DVD solution versus the full Blu-Ray plus HDMI PS3 offering. $200 for a HD DVD solution, that at this time at least, doesn’t offer a path to full HD resolution on content protected HD DVDs seems like a lot, and probably won’t convert many of the HD DVD early adopters to the format. A price significantly higher than $200 in the US would probably mean that there would be a lot of HD DVD expansion units sitting on shelves.
Read More | Gamesindustry.biz
Gallery: UK Hints on Xbox 360 HD DVD
Star Trek Legacy Impressions
Posted by John Goulden Categories: E3, PC, Screenshots, Simulation, Xbox 360,
We had a chance to speak with Eric Krasnauskas, a designer with Mad Doc Software, the developers of Bethesda Software’s newest Star Trek title – Star Trek Legacy.
The variety of ships at your disposal comes from the entire Star Trek series starting with the recently departed Enterprise, and includes The Original Series, The Next Generation, Deep Space Nine, and Voyager. Not only are the original ships available, but ships can also be customized to suit your every whim.
You’ll re-live epic battles from the Star Trek universe, and one example we were shown was a battle from ST: The Wrath of Khan. Instantly recognizable by any ST fan, your point of view shows the unsuspecting Enterprise approaching the Reliant, with Spacelab Regula One in the background. True to the movie, Khan quickly gets the upper hand by launching a surprise attack, and it is at this point you take control of the Enterprise. Severely damaged, the Enterprise needs a helping hand and the nearby Mutara Nebula can help even the odds. We were concerned about being “forced” to follow a pre-determined course of action, but Eric reassured us that sticking to a movie’s plot wasn’t a requirement for winning a battle. Although it will be more difficult, it is possible to defeat your opponent without adhering to “historical” precedence.
Click to continue reading Star Trek Legacy Impressions
Gallery: Star Trek Legacy Impressions
So, we all know about the announcement of Microsoft’s HD DVD player add-on for the Xbox 360, right? What you may not know is how exactly is works. We have been getting questions from readers as it pertains to USB connections and such, worried that their pristinely beautiful setup will be ruined by the addition of the HD DVD player causing them to have to move the wireless network adapter to the front. So, we asked Microsoft for a few more details.
As it turns out, when you buy the Xbox 360 HD DVD player, you are also getting two more USB ports. So, you plug the USB out on the HD DVD drive to your rear USB in. The player has two more USB ports that you can use to connect other accessories, such as the Xbox Live Vision Camera, or the wireless network adapter. Even better, though, is the fact that the HD DVD player actually has the snap-in slots for the wireless network adapter as well, so there are no worries as to if the adapter’s USB cord will reach from the console to the drive. Lastly, there will be no DVI or HDMI output. All output will be through the Xbox 360 video out. From the looks of things, HD DVD releases aren’t going to have the protection token that requires the digital output connection to be present. Makes sense. Still, we would prefer some sort of HDMI or DVI cable support for the 360.
Gallery: More Xbox 360 HD DVD Player Details
Xbox 360 Toshiba Firmware Reportedly Hacked
Posted by Christopher Sasaki Categories: Mods/Hacks, Xbox 360,
A post in the Xboxhacker.net forums reports that a hacked firmware for Xbox 360’s with the Toshiba drive TS-H943 has been released. According to the release notes, the following are supported:
- Boots all Xtreme Xbox 360 backups
- Boots all Xtreme Xbox 1 backups
- Boots all Xbox 360 originals
- Boots all Xbox 1 originals on Xbox 360
- Xtreme0800 extraction firmware enables drive to function natively under Windows without any hardware conversion/adaptors
- Use on Xbox Live at own risk
The release was credited to Commodore4Eva, and there have been a few reports of success from a few users booting backups of Ghost Recon: Advanced Warfare. While this hack was known to be possible before, this is the first public release of a hacked firmware for the Xbox 360, and it will be interesting to see how Microsoft responds to this hack. The firmware hack is definitely not a thing for a rookie user to attempt, but as more information hits the Internet and more users attempt the hack, the methods for rewriting the firmware will certainly become more streamlined. Reports also indicate that hacks for the other DVD drives used in the Xbox 360 will be coming soon.
Read More | Xboxhacker.net
Gallery: Xbox 360 Toshiba Firmware Reportedly Hacked
First Impressions of Mass Effect
Posted by Jake Ludington Categories: Adventure, E3, Role Playing Games, Xbox 360,
After being completely blown away by Gears of War early in the day, I was admittedly jaded by the time I got the chance to look at Mass Effect. Space games just aren’t my thing and the endless pitch of “we’ve got the new new thing” from each product demo starts to wear thin. So when the BioWare team launched into a demo of Mass Effect, I had my guard up. Turns out Mass Effect is exactly the kind of space game I might get into. I’m a huge fan of Bethesda’s Oblivion, with open-ended questing, divergent storylines and interaction with non-player characters throughout the world. Think of the Oblivion concept as the jumping off point for Mass Effect.
The game ratchets things up a notch in several key areas. Interaction and realism in interactions with NPC entities inside the Mass Effect galaxy are at the forefront of the non-combat experience. Where Oblivion occasionally gives you a couple of approaches for talking to a character, with different outcomes depending on whether you’re a jerk, polite or manipulative; Mass Effect takes this to the next level, offering multiple conversation options for each stage of the conversation, offering more ways to succeed or fail in getting the information you need out of a conversation. Combat scenarios offer a range of complex options as well. Instead of flying solo on every mission, you’ve got two NPC teammates who either focus on whatever target you aren’t currently aiming for or can be positioned for strategic strikes on target objectives.
We’ll see how the story plays out once the game finally hits retail. The foundation synthetic beings returning every 50,000 years to purge all humanoids from the galaxy. Part of your job is to figure out why. It seems like many RPGs borrow the Tolkien end-of-days approach where the monumental quest of a few will rescue the many from the brink of eternal darkness, but it often comes off feeling contrived. The 30 minutes I spent looking at Mass Effect leave me feeling like the story line works, but you never know until you actually play.
Gallery: First Impressions of Mass Effect
Halo 3: Behind The Trailer
Posted by Christopher Sasaki Categories: Corporate News, E3, First Person Shooters, Xbox 360,
The folks at Bungie have come home after E3, and have a little insider information about what went on behind the scenes when they debuted their Halo 3 teaser trailer at the Microsoft pre-E3 conference. There were six debug units from Bungie, three of which were used at Grauman’s Chinese. Apparently, there were actually two units running the trailer simultaneously, in case something catastrophic happened to one system. If some unforeseen event had happened to one debug box, the other would be running in parallel as a kind of hot-swap system. Luckily, they had no technical difficulties; most of the issues seemed to be with marketing timing. Since the Microsoft presentation was delayed, the E3 Halo trailer actually hit Xbox Live before the official announcement. These details and some talk about what went on at the closed-doors press briefing are posted on Bungie.net.
Read More | Bungie.net
Gallery: Halo 3: Behind The Trailer
Rumor: Dashboard Update By End of May
Posted by Christopher Sasaki Categories: Rumors, Xbox 360, Xbox Live,
A translation of Xbox Archiv in Germany has supposedly confirmed a large Xbox Live Dashboard update to be happening at the end of May. Key among the improvements are the creation of an Xbox Live download queue and the ability to handle background downloading. The confirmation of these changes is supposed to be from Boris Schneider-Johne of Microsoft Germany. In addition to the background downloading, more updates are supposed to be scheduled, including better bandwidth management. It does seem a little strange that this update didn’t seem to get any coverage out of E3, but gamers should cross their finger in the hope that by the end of May, they should be able to download files and play games at the same time.
Read More | Xboxic.com translation of Xbox Archiv
Gallery: Rumor: Dashboard Update By End of May
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