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NXE Preview: Third wave announced

Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Corporate News, Microsoft, Xbox 360, Xbox Live,

If your hopes at getting into the New Xbox Experience preview program were dashed on the two previous opportunites for you to get in, you may still be in luck. Major Nelson just announced on his blog that a third (and final) wave of acceptances will be sent out tonight - and they’ll be adding over 10,000 more Xbox Live members this time around. Of course, you had to have signed up for the NXE Preview Program a few weeks ago, as they aren’t accepting anyone who didn’t throw their name into the hat. The email notifying you of your acceptance will be coming from msftconn@microsoft.com, so be sure to let your spam filter know that it might be arriving. Good luck, and if you don’t make it, the official release is only six days away anyway.

THQ WWE SmackDown Vs. Raw 2009

Posted by Sheila Franklin Categories: Nintendo DS, PlayStation 2, Sports, THQ, Wii, Xbox Live,

Can’t get enough wrestling action from the tube? THQ is launching its latest title “WWE SmackDown vs. Raw 2009” this week. Included in the roster are Dusty Rhodes, Randy Orton, Johnny Swagger and Beth Phoenix. In all there are over 60 wrestlers. Gamers can create custom finishing moves as well as images and highlight reels to share with others. Look for the launch of “WWE Legends of Wrestlemania” next April with 40 superstars and managers. You can pre-order Smackdown now for Xbox Live, Playstation 2, Wii, or Nintendo DS at a price of $39.99.

Netflix Adds TiVo as Streaming Partner

Posted by Sheila Franklin Categories: Home Entertainment, Microsoft, Movies, PC / Laptop, Video Games,

Netflix has been busy, busy, busy. We already knew that Netflix will be available for Macs by the end of the year and on Xbox Live for Gold members next month, and now they have announced that they are adding TiVo as a partner that already includes LG, Microsoft and Samsung. You will be able to receive movies on your TiVo Series3, TiVo HD or TiVo HD XL. Testing has already begun and the service should be available to all by December.

New Xbox Live Hard Drive Pack Shipping on Nov. 4th

Posted by Ponzi Black Categories: Accessories, Microsoft, Storage, Video Games,

A new Xbox Live pack is coming to the US next week on November 4th. The pack is mainly for those who don’t yet have a hard drive on their Xbox 360, but is a decent upgrade if you have the original 20GB hard drive, and are in need of more space. The $99 bundle includes a 60GB hard drive, Xbox Live headset, and 3-months of Xbox Live Gold. The upgrade comes just weeks before the new Xbox Live Experience dashboard upgrade on November 19th. The hard drive should allow much more storage if you plan to use the Netflix subscription service on your 360 and want to store all of your media which also debut’s on the 19th. There is also a $30 upgrade option for the 20GB hard drive being offered due to the New Xbox Experience requirements which will not work if you lack a hard drive.

Xbox 360 system update released, preparation for new Xbox experience

Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Downloadable Content, Hardware, Microsoft, Xbox 360, Xbox Live,

When you log in to Xbox Live today, you are gonna get a notification that a system update is available for you to download. We are here to let you down easy, and prepare you for disappointment. You see, we know that, like us, you are patiently waiting for that new Xbox experience dashboard that we saw back at E3. That is still scheduled for the fall. The update that you get today does nothing. Well, at least, it does nothing noticeable. According to our pal Major Nelson, today’s update “prepares for future growth of the service.” “Prepares”? What?

Nevertheless, go ahead and hit the install, just don’t expect anything fancy to come of it.

Halo 3 Racks Up $170 Million in Day One Sales

Posted by Steve Van Neil Categories: Bungie, Corporate News, First Person Shooters, Microsoft, Xbox 360, Xbox Live,

The internet has been set ablaze with hyperbolic phrases like “biggest day in US entertainment history” and “redefining entertainment” and “worldwide celebration,” all used to describe Halo 3’s truly mammoth first 24 hours on the market. Microsoft estimates that the game garnered $170 million in US sales in its first day, eclipsing previous records set by movies like Spiderman 3 or even the latest Harry Potter novel. In addition, Microsoft claims that over a million players went on Xbox Live to play Halo 3, making September 25th “the most active Xbox Live gaming day in history.”

All that remains to be seen is just how big of a sales surge the Xbox 360 will experience for the month of September and beyond.

Xbox Live Arcade Drops Select Prices For One Week

Posted by Paul Hamilton Categories: Casual, Downloadable Content, Sports, Xbox Live Arcade,

Xbox Live Arcade Sale Microsoft announced that starting at midnight GMT on Wednesday, they’ll be reducing prices for a select number of Xbox Live Arcade titles for one week, ending at 11:59 Tuesday October 2nd. This is similar to the Labor Day sale they ran earlier this month where they dropped the prices on Gauntlet, Zuma and Dig Dug.

The titles featured this time around are Bankshot Billiards 2, Hardwood Spades and Frogger.

The price reductions are less dramatic here, the earlier labor day sale halved the prices of the games while these are marked down less severely: Bankshot Billiards 2 normally goes for 1200 ($15.00) Microsoft Points but has been reduced to 900 ($11.25); Hardwood Spades and Frogger are both usually priced at 400 Microsoft Points ($5.00) but have been dropped to 300 ($3.75). Still, if you were considering any of these games as possible purchases, now might be the time to jump on them. Perhaps combined with the Best Buy/Halo 3 Live promotion you can have yourself a few days of super-cheap online gaming.

Xbox Live Free For Three Days During Halo Launch

Posted by Paul Hamilton Categories: Xbox 360, Xbox Live,

Xbox Live In the midst of all the hype about the Halo 3 launch, one thing that is often overlooked is that not everyone who has a 360 is necessarily equipped to play the game in its entirety. Whether you’re staunchly against paying for an online service like Xbox Live or you just can’t afford it, for a few days at least it won’t matter.

Best Buy is sponsoring a three-day free-for-all granting all Xbox 360 users access to the Gold Service starting on September 25th and ending on the 27th. That means that Silver members get to experience Halo’s online multiplayer without charge for at least a handful of days after they pick up their copy of the game. Even if you’re not into the whole Halo thing, that doesn’t exclude you from taking advantage: Best Buy’s “the first hit is free” style promotion extends to all parts of the service so those without full access to Live could use the time to play some Gears of War online, check out the Call of Duty 4 beta (if it’s still up and running) or just use the time to play some free Uno.

Rez Coming to Xbox Live Arcade

Posted by Steve Van Neil Categories: Action, Music, Third Person Shooters, Xbox 360, Xbox Live Arcade,

There once was a game named Rez. Developed by Tetsuya Mizguchi’s division within Sega, Rez was a hybrid music-shooter for Dreamcast and PS2 that sputtered in sales but turned some heads in the process. Before long, the game was out of print and new copies were fetching a pretty penny on Ebay. Many gamers kicked themselves over that twenty-dollar copy that they didn’t pick up at the time, because now the chance to play the game was pretty much gone.

Well now we all get a second chance. Mizguchi, now of Q Entertainment (who brought us Lumines), has announced that Rez HD is coming to Xbox Live Arcade.

“We are excited to announce that Rez will be given a new life, this time in digital form. The game will be presented in hi-definition and will be accessible to those who did not have a chance to experience Rez the first time around,” said Mizuguchi. “Personally, Rez has been and will always be a lifelong concept. I hope to take what I learned from the experience of creating the original game and look forward to taking it to a whole new level in the future.”

Featuring 5.1 sound and the usual HD enhancements, Rez HD will hit XBLA early next year.

Amazing New Halo 3 Videos

Posted by Steve Van Neil Categories: Action, Bungie, First Person Shooters, Microsoft, Trailers, Xbox 360, Xbox Live,

Any gamer with even an inkling of interest in Halo 3 should head over to Gamersyde right away and check out some of that site’s stunning off-screen campaign footage, a sample of which we have posted above. This video shows off the game’s unique replay feature, which allows you to record and play back entire levels of the single player campaign, as well as multiplayer matches, at your leisure. Players can then use the footage to analyze their enemy’s defenses, exploit weaknesses, and polish their own skills to a Legendary sheen. Note how the Bungie representative in the video uses the feature to check up on the exploits of a group of Marines on the other side of the battlefield! This is awe-inspiring stuff.

Halo 3 hits the Xbox 360 on September 25th, but of course you already knew that.

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