Tag Archives: XboxLiveArcade

Microsoft pushing Xbox 360 update allowing Xbox Live purchases with real money (update: too soon)

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Xbox 360 real currency purchasing

Remember when Microsoft said that you could soon buy Xbox Live content using real money? Well, check your Xbox 360: following an update to one of our consoles, we're now seeing content available in local currency. It's unclear at this stage how many gamers are seeing the change, although Microsoft has already mentioned that the next update will flip the switch. We've reached out to the company for confirmation of the rollout. If you get the update as well, don't worry about your account balance -- as Microsoft mentioned before, any existing points will be converted to their cash equivalent.

Update: Microsoft says that real money purchases are still limited to beta program participants, and you'll have to wait until the fall to see the currency change -- false alarm, folks.

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Source: Xbox Wire

Microsoft’s Marc Whitten on all things Xbox One (video)

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Microsoft Xbox chief product officer Marc Whitten has been with the company for quite some time -- from before the launch of the first Xbox through the company's latest gaming effort, the Xbox One. As such, he's got a longer term perspective on the Xbox brand than most folks in Redmond, so we put those kind of questions to him when we spoke for 20 minutes yesterday following the company's big stage show at The Galen Center.

First and foremost, we asked about the fate of Xbox Live Arcade. Given that Xbox One will have all its games available digitally as well as physically at launch, what would become of the traditionally small game digital service? Will the marketplace change dramatically given the changing nature of game formats? Find out that and much more in the full interview, dropped just below the break.

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Microsoft execs’ Xbox Live accounts hacked, investigation still underway

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Microsoft execs' Xbox Live accounts hacked, investigation still underway

Microsoft has just confirmed that a group of hackers have indeed accessed the Xbox Live accounts of several of its past and present "high-profile" employees. News of the breach was first reported by Ars Technica, which itself had been the victim of a DoS attack this last weekend, potentially linked to the same group. Evidence pointing to hacking collective Team Hype's alleged involvement surfaced when videos depicting its efforts were found online; videos that demonstrated the group's reported use of illegally obtained Social Security data to gain access to and sell off Xbox Live user accounts. According to Microsoft's recently issued statement, the company's working with authorities to "disable this current method" and cut off the possibility of future attacks. For now, it appears this security compromise is unrelated to a UK incident which saw Microsoft's Xbox Entertainment Award voting app temporarily expose user data. We'll update you as soon as we hear more.

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Source: Ars Technica

Microsoft’s Play strategy brings Xbox games to Windows 8 and RT (video)

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Microsoft's Play strategy brings Xbox games to Windows 8 and RT

Microsoft signaled its intent to directly back Windows 8 gaming before the OS was shipping, and it's proving true to its word through a new Play program. The team-up with NVIDIA brings Xbox (or really, Xbox Live Arcade) games directly to Windows 8 and Windows RT, with friends, multiplayer and other extras intact. An initial catalog won't move all our playtime to a Surface just yet, though. While there's notable titles like Ilomilo+ and Toy Soldiers, most of the 15-game library involves decidedly casual releases like Minesweeper. It's still a start, and more is coming: Microsoft tells us that the spring launch of World Series of Poker: Full House Pro will let gamers resume play on either Windows or the Xbox. We're not expecting a completely cross-platform Halo 5 anytime soon, but having a steady stream of familiar, tightly integrated games may keep some of us in Microsoft's ecosystem for a good while.

Continue reading Microsoft's Play strategy brings Xbox games to Windows 8 and RT (video)

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Via: Official Xbox Magazine UK

Source: Play XBLA

PBS mini-documentary explores indie game creation, shows what they do that majors can’t (video)

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PBS minidocumentary explores indie game creation, shows what they do that majors can't video

The indie game world has undergone a metamorphosis over the past few years, transforming from an often overlooked niche into as much a staple of the game industry as once-every-year blockbusters like the Call of Duty series. It's that fast-rising side of gaming that PBS' Off Book has explored in a succinct documentary. As both developers and game journalists explain, the small and more flexible nature of indie teams lets them delve into game concepts, art and sound that major developers typically avoid -- you probably wouldn't get Bastion, Fez or Super Meat Boy out of a company focused mostly on hitting its quarterly revenue targets. Crowdfunding and internet distribution methods like Steam and Xbox Live Arcade have similarly removed many of the barriers that either kept these games from commercial success or forced uncomfortable deals with large publishers in the past. Accordingly, the indie sphere that PBS sees in 2012 is less about trying to become the next Activision or EA and more about experimentation and personal expression. If you've ever wanted an elegant summary of what makes Spelunky feel so special, the whole Off Book episode awaits after the break.

Continue reading PBS mini-documentary explores indie game creation, shows what they do that majors can't (video)

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PBS mini-documentary explores indie game creation, shows what they do that majors can't (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 05 Oct 2012 03:36:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Developer won’t patch XBLA game because Microsoft would charge ‘tens of thousands’ of dollars

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Developer won't patch XBLA game because Microsoft would charge 'tens of thousands' for the privilege

Seeing as how so much software is moving to online distribution, the significance of this controversy might extend far beyond gaming and XBLA. For now, however, the spotlight is firmly on Microsoft and the way it charges developers for testing their games and patches, after a well-known developer made an unusually public complaint. In a post on its official blog, Polytron said it would not patch a rare game-saving bug in its popular title Fez, because Microsoft would charge it "tens of thousands of dollars to re-certify the game." It added that "had Fez been released on Steam instead of XBLA," the problem would have been fixed "right away" and at no cost to the developer, which strongly hints that it'll jump to another platform as soon as its XBLA exclusivity expires. Responses to the story over at our sister site Joystiq are decidedly mixed, with some folks outraged that Microsoft's high maintenance attitude could hold back improvements in this way while others suspect Polytron of blame-shifting.

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Developer won't patch XBLA game because Microsoft would charge 'tens of thousands' of dollars originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 19 Jul 2012 08:41:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Zynga CEO Mark Pincus says ‘no thanks’ to console gaming, isn’t worried about a life detached from Facebook

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Zynga CEO Mark Pincus

Zynga CEO and founder Mark Pincus just took the stage here at D10, and in a wide-ranging interview with Kara Swisher, he sidestepped conversation about Words With Friends and Farmville long enough to touch on the murky world of console gaming. In a bid to quell any potential surprises at E3 next month, Mark said outrightly that his company is not interested in getting into the console world. "We're aiming for you," he said while pointing at Swisher. "We're going after the mainstream market. There's too much friction [in the console world]."

He also made clear that he tries to not look too far ahead of where the world really is. When talking about the undeniable shift to mobile, he made clear that there's still a huge amount of desktop traffic on Zynga's games -- "lots of people play while bored on conference calls at work," he quipped. It's an interesting viewpoint in a world where PSN and Xbox Live Arcade has given independent developers all new distribution platforms to reach users, but it also highlights the outfit's intrinsic attachment to Facebook in particular.

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Zynga CEO Mark Pincus says 'no thanks' to console gaming, isn't worried about a life detached from Facebook originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 30 May 2012 13:02:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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