Microsoft Changes Tune - Reverses Internet Requirement and Used Game Restrictions

Microsoft has officially confirmed the news that they are no longer restricting used games and have eliminated the 24 Hour internet check in requirement.

In a posting on the Xbox Wire Don Mattrick, President, Interactive Entertainment Business states:

Since unveiling our plans for Xbox One, my team and I have heard directly from many of you, read your comments and listened to your feedback. I would like to take the opportunity today to thank you for your assistance in helping us to reshape the future of Xbox One. 

You told us how much you loved the flexibility you have today with games delivered on disc. The ability to lend, share, and resell these games at your discretion is of incredible importance to you. Also important to you is the freedom to play offline, for any length of time, anywhere in the world.

Read the entire statement HERE.

Good move, Microsoft.  This might just heat up the next gen console wars and ease the pain of Sony's immediate domination.

That and Kingdom Hearts 3 is coming to XB1 also...

Decisions decisions.

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XBOX Goes Infinite with #XboxInfinity

Is this the new face of Microsoft's XBox game console?  We'll know for sure on May 21 when Microsoft (do I even need to say allegedly at this point?) is expected to unveil the next gen console to the masses.

I do dig that logo though and hope that infinity symbol graces the front of the console all glowy and green.

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Is Valve making a Steam based console?

Is this inconspicuous picture uploaded to Twitter by chatty Valve employee Greg Coomer a prototype for a console that runs Valve's Steam game service and all it's games? For those not in the know Valve (maker of such games as Half-Life, Portal and Team Fortress) runs a digital video game portal for PC and Mac called Steam, essentially iTunes for PC games. It's vastly popular and most modern games for the PC or with PC/Mac ports release through Steam.

What Valve is doing here is leveraging their customer base to essentially enter the video game console market up against Sony, Microsoft and Nintendo. This could potentially be big, here is the story.

Back on October 22nd of last year Mr. Coomer tweeted a link to an article with Valve CEO Gabe Newell talking about a possible Valve console in the future with the comment, "What I'm working on." Then fast forward to November 2nd when he tweets the picture you see above lamenting the build difficulty of the tiny PC and mentioning it runs Portal 2 (a Valve game) "FAST".

Fast forward to this week when The Verge reported that Valve was actively making a console dubbing it the "SteamBox" and even mentioning basic specs for the unit. "We're told that the basic specs of the Steam Box include a Core i7 CPU, 8GB of RAM and an NVIDIA GPU." If we go back and check out Greg Coomer's tweets about the PC he made... check, check and double check, he mentions all three are in his build.

Either way on this one, take it with a grain of salt. But we could be seeing a new entrant in the console race soon, seeing as Valve has been potentially working on this product for many years now.

[UPDATE:] Another wrinkle in the grand story here has appeared. Apparently, in November of 2009 Valve filed a patent which has recently been retrieved from the belly of the US Patent Office. The patent in question, which reads, "one or more main control input interfaces on the game controller consists of generalized sockets...a variety of modular input interfaces can be plugged into these sockets". This mumbo jumbo can be read by normal people as the ability to swap different types of controllers as they see fit possibly putting an end to the thumbstick controller vs. mouse and keyboard, basically play your SteamBox how you want to. (Maybe even with Xbox and PlayStation controllers?)

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Tech: Next Gen Consoles - Xbox 720 and Playstation 4

Could it be, are we just around the corner from a new console generation? We aren't quiet ready for the Playstation 9 (above) but are we ready for the Xbox 720 or Playstation 4? Lets break this down.

Playstation 4

Reports of these things crop up all the time. According to the rumor mill (grain of salt in tow) well known first party companies like Santa Monica Studios (God of War) and Guerrilla Games (Killzone) may just be getting their hands on some form of new hardware and tech (that isn't from the current generation) for producing games that could quite possibly be launch titles for a PS4. For Sony as a company this seems like a necessity since Nintendo has already shown their cards, and Microsoft is obviously working on things as well. The question is what more can Sony do?

Sony had already shipped a console that was technologically more advanced than the rest of the generation. Do they need to create a new generation so quickly and have we seen all the PS3 can do? Sony has just started to get the price at a reasonable place and are starting to move significant unit numbers to make the money back they've lost. But the question is, are they willing to risk being last to the party again even though their console might have more breath left than the rest of the industry, will their hand be forced?

Xbox 720

Well first thing that needs to be obviously stated is that there is a LOT more information around about a Xbox 360 successor than a PS4, but again lets dive in with our salt grain. What is in a name? Well, ask Microsoft, they will tell you that the next Xbox might be called the Xbox Loop. Yeah, that might be the new console's name, and it's mainstay? Well that would be the Kinect hardware, to the tune of the Kinect 2, which will apparently be able to track your fingers, read your lips and sense the tone of your voice. Creepy right? Well anyway, the main rumor is that this stuff does exist and that Microsoft's sequel might come in two shades, a pared down box for the casual folk (a la 4GB 360) and a badder hardcore gamer model. But the focus is Kinect 2.

The verdict on the future of consoles after the break. (Click the Rawr! below.)

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Tech: Xbox turns X!

Wow, it's really hard to believe that ten years ago today a little company called Microsoft decided to launch a console. Apparently Sony and Nintendo was not enough, the Windows and Office makers just wanted to be part of the fun.

Released on November 15th, 2001, the OG Xbox was handed over by Bill Gates to the first lucky owner just after midnight at a Toys 'R' Us in New York. Starting off one of the most interesting periods in gaming history, across the board not just for this console, but throughout the industry.

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Tech: Adobe done with Flash

There will be no funeral and no memorial but Adobe has finally confirmed the rumors. Flash Player for mobile is officially dead. Here is the official blurb from Adobe: 

"Our future work with Flash on mobile devices will be focused on enabling Flash developers to package native apps with Adobe AIR for all the major app stores. We will no longer adapt Flash Player for mobile devices to new browser, OS version or device configurations. Some of our source code licensees may opt to continue working on and releasing their own implementations. We will continue to support the current Android and PlayBook configurations with critical bug fixes and security updates."

It appears Steve Jobs has reached from the grave and handed the world one last dead, for better or worse. As many of you, I'm sure, remember that back a year or two Apple declared all out war on Flash by not allowing it on its iDevices. Well it appears even bolstered by Android and other platforms Adobe has thrown in the towel. Adobe plans to "aggressively contribute" to HTML5, the platform that replaces it with broader support and capabilities than Flash ever dreamed of delivering.

[Update]: It also appears today that we might have two birds for one stone as they say. Because more rumors are pouring in that the new version of Microsoft Silverlight might be the last. Most well known as "that thing Netflix streaming runs on" it appears this new version might also only work on Internet Explorer on Windows. What this means for the platform is totally up in the air and unconfirmed but this sure changes some things.

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Bungie Reaches for the Stars with Final Halo Release

Three Words; Best Halo Ever.

What?  That's not enough for you to go out and spend $60 in this recession? Okay, just know every second you spend reading this, is a second you could have spent playing this instant classic.

With  Halo Reach, the developers at Bungie took all their favorite parts of Halo, Halo 2, Halo 3 and Halo ODST and put them into one game and the result will make fanboys and girls sigh.

With more multiplayer modes than ever before, Halo Reach gives the gamer more replay value than any other Halo title.  In addition, daily and weekly challenges give players a reason to play often and get rewarded for their many hours of gaming.  When achieving these challenges, the player is awarded with bonus credits, which can be used towards purchasing new armor and extras in the game like Birthday Party Armor (Confetti explodes from your armor every time you die in multiplayer).

Fans of the series will be thrilled to see many classic multiplayer levels from Halo and Halo 2 re-worked and integrated into this title.

One of the most popular new features of multiplayer is voting on different gametypes and/or maps instead of Halo 3's veto function.

The new social interface of the game makes it much easier for a player to see which of his/her friends are on Halo Reach specifically and what part of the game they are playing.

The campaign seems to the be longest since the original Halo game and equally as hard as Halo 2's campaign mode.  I've been playing with a friend on Legendary and it's really difficult (Imagine Halo 3 Legendary with Mythic Skull on).  There is an achievement for soloing the campaign on Legendary that's worth 150 gamer-points (That's gonna be tons o' fun).

As I said at the beginning of this article, I suggest you pick this game up as soon as you can.  Being a huge fan of the series, I had hoped for the best with this game and was pleasantly surprised that Bungie was able to go beyond my wildest expectations.

If you pick it up, add me on XBOX Live. My Gamertag is Jojopet1138

Regular Edition $59.99 ($58.10 + Free Shipping + $20 off Future Game Purchase at Amazon.com)
Limited Edition $89.99
Legendary Edition $149.99

Twitter @leeroyholmes
Facebook http://www.facebook.com/leeroyholmes1138
Flickr  http://www.flickr.com/jojopet

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wow

From Xbox.com:

Open Letter From Peter Moore
To our Xbox Community:

You've spoken, and we’ve heard you. Good service and a good customer experience are areas of the business that we care deeply about. And frankly, we've not been doing a good enough job.

Some of you have expressed frustration with the customer experiences you have had with Xbox 360; frustration with having to return your console for service after receiving the general hardware error message on the console.

The majority of customers who own Xbox 360 consoles have had a terrific experience from their first day, and continue to, day in and day out. But when anyone questions the reliability of our product, or our commitment to our customers, it's something I take very seriously.

We have been following this issue closely, and with on-going testing have identified several factors that can cause a general hardware failure indicated by three flashing red lights on the console. To address this issue, and as part of our ongoing work, we have already made certain improvements to the console.

We are also implementing some important policy changes intended to keep you in the game, worry-free.

As of today, all Xbox 360 consoles are covered by an enhanced warranty program to address specifically the general hardware failures indicated by the three flashing red lights on the console. This applies to new and previously-sold consoles. While we will still have a general one year console warranty (two years in some countries), we are announcing today a three-year warranty that covers any console that displays a three flashing red lights error message. If a customer has an issue indicated by the three flashing red lights, Microsoft will repair the console free of charge—including shipping—for three years from the console’s purchase date. We will also retroactively reimburse any of you who paid for repairs related to problems indicated by this error message in the past. In doing so, Microsoft stands behind its products and takes responsibility to ensure that every Xbox 360 console owner continues to have a fantastic gaming experience.

If we have let any of you down in the experience you have had with your Xbox 360, we sincerely apologize. We are taking responsibility and are making these changes to ensure that every Xbox 360 owner continues to have a great experience.

This will take a few days to roll out globally, and I appreciate your continued patience as we launch this program. I've posted an FAQ that should address some additional questions, and we'll update it over the next few days.

I want to thank you, on behalf of all us at Microsoft, for your loyalty.

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