GameStop Will Begin to Sell DLCs for the Consoles

The project will kick in next year

As the biggest game retailer in the US, GameStop has strongly opposed the idea of downloadable content, as it should have, since it's its natural enemy. Despite the support of the concept from both developers and publishers, GameStop has stood firm in its decision to stay clear of the DLCs. Well, not anymore. It seems like it's trying to signal some sort of cease-fire, as it plans to take part in the DLC distribution after all. During the BMO Capital Markets 17th Annual Digital Entertainment Conference, the company announced that it started exploring its possibilities of tackling the idea of downloadable content.

n the past, it backed down little by little, accepting the thought of downloadable PC games through its website, but it's not ready to do so for any of the consoles. Chief Operating Officer for GameStop, Paul Raines, said that, "A large market for full game downloads is not imminent in the short term." But the company seems to be ready to give up on the full-out war, and is willing to accept negotiations. The main problem it saw was that full-game downloads for the consoles were impractical, considering the available Internet connections. But add-ons are, now, a different matter.

"It's clear to us from our research that full game digital downloads will move slowly, but we are optimistic about the possibilities of downloadable add-on content and episodic content," Raines added. "We do believe...that the add-on downloadable market with smaller file sizes will grow." He then detailed the company's plan of introducing its new offer to console users. Gamers will receive information about DLCs for Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 games from GameStop sales associates, and then they'll be able to purchase them, in stores.

So, basically, gamers will come all the way down to the store, pay for the DLC with either common currency or trade-in credits, and the content will then be added to their PlayStation Network or Xbox Live account. The problem that GameStop will face, and a big one at that, will be of convincing gamers to purchase their items from it, and not directly from the PSN or XBL. This is going to be a rather large mountain to climb, considering that the big advantage of an online purchase is that it simplifies logistics for the buyer, bringing the desired object right to one's doorstep and removing the hassle of actually getting to the store.

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Modded Xbox 360s Jailbroken With 'Un-Ban' Hack?

Modded Xbox 360s recently banned from Xbox LIVE by Microsoft may 'get out of jail free' with the help of a new firmware hack.

Matt Peckham

Friday, November 13, 2009 09:58 AM PST

A hacker eager to reconnect modded Xbox 360s banned by Microsoft in recent days may be on the verge of releasing a workaround. According to 360Mods (by way of DailyTech), user 'c4eva' has shifted gears from developing Lite-on and Hitachi optical drive mods to creating a firmware rev that would allow modded Xbox 360s to bypass Microsoft's online security tests.

Called iXtreme LT (for 'light touch') the mod's being designed to resemble the Xbox 360's standard firmware while performing minimal security checks. If successful, it would allow gamers with modded Xbox 360s to play custom-burned DVDs as well as illegal versions of games online without drawing Microsoft's eye.

DailyTech initially reported the fix was available, then retracted the story and later published a revised version, noting "No ETA for fix, but modders are hard at work."

Modifying an Xbox 360 isn't technically illegal, but using it to play pirated games is. Some gamers argue the modified systems are only used to create backups of legitimately purchased games, install alternative operating systems, or play DVDs from different regions, though given general piracy rates, it seems likely a majority use the mod chip to access pirated versions of games, or keep illegal copies of otherwise legitimate versions they've sold.

It's still not exactly clear exactly how Microsoft's ban selection works or whether it only affects modded Xbox 360s whose owners actually engaged in illicit activities, but estimates of affected ranged from "a small percentage" of LIVE subscribers to a more significant 600,000 players on up to 1 million LIVE accounts, depending who you read.

DailyTech's sources claim the ban blocks game installations to the hard drive and the Windows Media Player extender, corrupts save games and Gamertags, and disallows the console from accessing Xbox LIVE.

Is it really just a matter of time before someone comes up with a workaround? Will we shortly be referring to Xbox 360s as either "stock" or "jailbroken"?

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xbox 360 gamers shatter Xbox Live record

Posted by Lisa on November 13, 2009 at 08:36 AM

Over two million people connected to Xbox Live at once just a short while ago, creating a new Xbox Live record in the process.

That’s according to Major Nelson who tweeted “We just hit a new XboxLIVE record: Over TWO MILLION people connected to the service at once.”

Maybe it has something to do with the launch of Modern Warfare 2 this week?

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Facebook, Twitter coming to Microsoft Xbox 360 next week

A software update for Microsoft's Xbox 360 games console will add support for Facebook, Twitter and Last.fm

Published: 11:34AM GMT 13 Nov 2009

Xbox Live Gold subscribers will be able to access Facebook, Twitter and Last.fm on their Xbox 360 consoles from Nov 17 Photo: EDDIE MULHOLLAND

The update, which will be delivered to Xbox 360 users on Nov 17, will enable subscribers to Microsoft's online gaming portal, Xbox Live, to update their Facebook status, send tweets or listen to their favourite songs directly through their console.

"We've already seen a tremendous response to these features in our public preview," said Marc Whitten, general manager of the Xbox Live platform.

"We're delivering some truly exciting social entertainment experiences to our members. Xbox Live's differentiator has always been our community. It's the community that drives us forward and allows us to pioneer new ways of connecting people through the entertainment they love."

Users of the new services will require an Xbox Live Gold account, which costs around £40 for a year's subscription. The integrated Facebook app will allow users to add and remove friends, view and update their status, and browse news feeds, photos and messages. The Twitter tool will enable people to post updates and watch a live "twitterstream" from the people they follow. Integration with online music-streaming service Last.fm will give users the opportunity to create their own custom 'radio stations' and playlists, and share these with friends.

Microsoft will hope the roll-out of its new social media services goes more smoothly than the recent launch of Sky Player on the Xbox 360 platform. The satellite service, which allows users to watch live channels and catch-up on missed shows through their console, went live days later than scheduled. Microsoft blamed the technical problems and delays on "overwhelming demand".

Partnerships with Sky and social media sites mark an increasingly consumer focused strategy from Microsoft as it seeks to make its Xbox 360 console the main “entertainment hub” in the family home. Users are already able to download movies through their console and play games against one another online. There are more than 10 million Xbox 360 owners across Europe.

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Microsoft cutting off up to 1m gamers with modified Xbox 360 consoles

People with "modded" machines are being banned from the Xbox Live service as part of an annual sweep

Microsoft says it is cutting off gamers who have modified their Xbox 360 consoles by adding extra chips or hard drives from its Xbox Live online services. The company says that "a small percentage" are affected – possibly as many as 600,000 of the 20 million Xbox Live players, but perhaps up to 1 million around the world.

The banning is part of a sweep that Microsoft carries out each November to remove modified Xboxes from its online gaming service. "Modding" or "chipping" is popular among people who want to play pirated games, but also games bought in other regions, or their own homemade ones which build on the original. It usually requires physically soldering new components into the device.

In some cases, modding allows players to cheat within online games - as happened with Microsoft's hugely popular Halo 2, where modded consoles had a better chance of winning. Beginning in 2002, Microsoft released an online update to its service to remove anyone with a modded Xbox console. Since then there seems to have been an annual check of machines to see whether they have been modded. Any machine that has been detected as being modded is added to a list, and cannot rejoin the network in the future.

However, being banned does not stop the console itself from working; it only stops the player using the Xbox Live online services.

There are scores of websites devoted to modding games consoles. In some cases the modifications allow players to create new "maps" for existing games or to install larger hard drives, for saving games, rather than buying them from Microsoft.

Microsoft has not said how it identifies modded machines. Some gamers claim to be able to "turn off" their modchips and evade detection – although having a non-Xbox hard drive is apparently detected and leads to a ban.

Microsoft said in a statement: "All consumers should know that piracy is illegal and that modifying their Xbox 360 console to play pirated discs violates the Xbox Live terms of use, will void their warranty and result in a ban from Xbox Live."

Almost all forms of modding of consoles are illegal in the US and Europe – although that has not prevented them becoming big business, with online companies promising "simple" and "solderless" installations. Earlier this week the Court of Appeal dismissed an appeal against the conviction of Christopher Gilham, who had been convicted in September 2008 of selling "modchips" – used to modify consoles. The court found that playing a counterfeit game on a modded console infringes the rights associated with the game. The Entertainment and Leisure Software Publishers' Association, ELSPA, which represents the video games industry, says that criminal games copying and other illegal activities cost the industry more than £750m annually.

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Musician Outs Possible Bully Sequel?

Written Wednesday, November 11, 2009 by Dan Webb

Music composer, Shawn Lee, who penned the score for Rockstar's Bully, in an interview with TGL mentioned that he was to be involved with the soundtrack for the sequel to the popular school yard game.

When asked whether he was interested in scoring musical compositions for any video games in the future, Lee stated, "Yes. It looks like I will be doing the soundtrack for Bully 2 in the not so distant future..."

Bully 2? That's news to us. I'm sure Rockstar will be happy to hear of Mr Lee's openness about their currently unannounced sequel.

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New Xbox 360 Wireless Adapter Now On Sale

10 November 2009 16:14 by Andre "DVDBack23" Yoskowitz | 4 comments

After accidentally being shown off a week ago by retail giant Costco, the Microsoft 802.11n Wi-Fi adapter is now available officially, via NewEgg, Costco and other online retailers.

The new adapter should provide much more bandwidth then the current line of 802.11g adapters and will use MIMO (multiple in, multiple out) and two antennas to provide a stronger signal and extended range. Microsoft says the new adapters will have double the range of the 802.11g adapters.

Electronista adds that the "adapter is also dual-band and can run on 5GHz to avoid interference as well as 2.4GHz for those with older 802.11n routers or who have to run a mixed-mode network to support legacy devices."

The device sells for between $88-100 USD.

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