On TV Envy: The 60th Primetime Emmy Awards

New Xbox Experience

At the Tokyo Game Show, finally let everyone in on the date that their current Xbox experience would be ending, and the would be, er, beginning. We knew it would be coming in the fall, but the firm date is November 19th. We hope you’re ready to spend hours working on that perfect Avatar, because we are going to so own you in 1 vs. 100, despite having never seen it on television. The New Xbox Experience will go live for all gamers across the world at the same time - no staggered launch here, folks. We must admit, we’re looking forward to it.


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New Xbox Experience

Well, this is an odd piece of news. Apparently, one eagle-eyed gamer realized that release details of the dashboard update were staring him right in the face, by way of an advertisement in the current dashboard. As you can see in the image above, in the ad for Rock Band 2, you see the phrase “Check out the New Xbox Experience coming in November!” Okay, cool, but can we view this as accurate? Microsoft always has the last say on when their dashboard updates hit, but they also have final say on how advertising appears within the Xbox ecosystem. Thoughts?

Read More | Joystiq

Halo Wars box art

Microsoft just hit us with news that they have released the final box art for the upcoming Halo Wars title, and we figured that you would appreciate us filling you in. Here it is, in all its glory. This is done by the same team that did the Halo 2 and artworks. While we don’t yet have a release date for the game, we do know that you should be able to get your hands on Halo Wars in the first half of 2009.


Too Human CoverEarlier this morning, our copy of Too Human finally arrived. You know, the one we’ve been waiting over a decade for? Well, Silicon Knights baby will finally be available for all to purchase tomorrow. We figured we would give you a glimpse into our initial impressions of the game. I’ve been playing Too Human for about three hours now, and feel like I am about halfway through the story. I’ve destroyed creatures, upgraded weaponry, and chosen my path. Hop on down to get our full thoughts on Too Human, the next big title for the .

Click to continue reading Too Human quick review


Fable II Collector's Edition

The long-awaited , which we got a look at during the Microsoft E3 Media Briefing, has finally been dated. You can expect to pick up your copy on October 21, 2008. The image you see above features the Fable II Collector’s Edition, which will retail for $79.99, while the standard version prices out at $59.99. So, what do you get in the Collector’s Edition for your extra twenty bucks? We’ll tell ya:

  • Bonus in-game content: Includes “The Hall of the Dead” dungeon, “The Wreckager” Legendary Cutlass Weapon and Otherworldy bonus
  • Bonus DVD which features the Making of Fable II with Peter Molyneux
  • Five printed Fate Cards
  • Hobbe figurine with accessories
  • 48 hour Xbox Live Gold trial code

Fable II is definitely one we are looking forward to. It looks like this game will be what the original should have been.


Xbox 360 system update

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 . 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.


We’ve entered the auditorium here in the West Hall, and are currently waiting for the Media Briefing to begin. Very nice setup in here, by the way. Bunch of stage lighting, high definition displays, and...oh, even a mock living room setup. Snazzy. Anyhow, keep it locked here, as we will be bringing you live updates from the keynote as it happens. Any predictions on what we will be seeing announced today?

Oh, as for images, we will update the post with a bunch of those after the keynote ends. We wanna focus on bringing you the text updates for now, mkay?

We start with some Xbox 360 Street Talk, where apparently Microsoft went around town and interviewed people off the streets, and asked them about what they like about Xbox 360. Obviously, all good comments here. Now we get answers for questions like “What is a noob?”, “What does it mean to be ‘pwned’?”, “What does melee mean?”, “What does RPG mean?”, etc. Basically, what do average people know about video game terms. This is kind of like sitting through the advertisement trailers in the movie theater, the ones that come before the actual trailers.

Check out the rest of the keynote after the jump:

Click to continue reading E3 2008: Xbox Media Briefing: Gears of War 2, Lips, Guitar Hero Tunes, Final Fantasy XIII announced


Looks like has finally gotten around to attempting to fix the horribly, horribly broken DRM model, which we have written about in the past here and here, with the release of the Xbox 360 Content License Transfer Tool. The video above, hosted by Major Nelson, shows off exactly how users go about consolidating all their licenses to a single Xbox 360 console. There are a couple of issues here though, and they need to be addressed - after all, if you are going to work on a tool to help your users, the help shouldn’t result in new problems.

Click to continue reading Xbox 360 Content License Transfer Tool now available


Okay, so, you know how in accidents happen? You overzealously start chucking grenades, only to kill one enemy and two fellow teammates? Well, casualties are a part of battle, but this one takes the cake. Check out the video above to see what, in our opinion, has to be the most innocent Halo betrayal in known history.

Yeah. Got anything better than that?


Xbox 360 HD DVD player

Well, with the news that HD DVD had been killed by Toshiba, you knew that it was only a matter of time before the player was eliminated as well, right? Well, the time has come, as Microsoft sent us the following update:

As a result of recent decisions made by , Hollywood studios, and retailers, Microsoft plans to withdraw from HD DVD.  Xbox will no longer manufacture new HD DVD players for the Xbox 360, but we will continue to provide standard product and warranty support for all Xbox 360 HD DVD Players in the market.  As we stated earlier, we do not believe this decision will have any material impact on the Xbox 360 platform or our position in the marketplace.  HD DVD is one of the several ways we offer a high definition experience to consumers and we will continue to give consumers the choice to enjoy digital distribution of high definition movies and TV shows directly to their living room, along with playback of the DVD movies they already own.

Okay, well, shouldn’t that be “HD DVD was one of the several ways...”? So, now that we know that the Xbox 360 HD DVD player add-on will no longer be manufactured, if you really really want one, they can now be had for $49.99. That is 75% off of it’s original price, for those of you keeping track. So if you want a piece of recently outdated technology, now is your chance.

Read More | Bloomberg

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