The most innovative thing out of Microsoft - ever.

Watch that video, it blows my mind. This surface computer could be the next big thing (not sure about hunching over a table for more than 10 minutes, but they'll figure it out...) Anyways, it isn't really cost effective for the home just yet (kind of like the PS3 eh Ken?) Anyways, the reason I'm posting this here is because the gaming possibilities are pretty interesting here. People on the dtoid forums are already talking about how great an RTS would be on the surface, no to mention Pong. I think this is a truly huge leap technologically and that it will probably change the way we compute in the future. Props to Msoft, a rare thing for me to say but man, that is bad! (in the best way possible)

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Outta the Pan and In the Fire

UPDATE: Bungie.net has officially announced that the problem was found and is fixed! A Crackdown title update has been rolled out and should pop up when you put in your game.

Someone certainly messed up this time around. It's not even that it was a little thing, this is HUGE and it has the whole community in an uproar, God help you guys if that beta doesn't go live soon.

Well you probably already know what I'm talking about as soon as the word beta comes into play. That's right today at 5am PST, the Halo 3 multiplayer beta was supposed to come out. When people all around the world put in their copy of Crackdown, an update appeared assuring all was well. People soon came to realize that they were still unable to download the Halo 3 beta via Crackdown. It wasn't that the download wasn't working, oh no, far worse. The link was still greyed out.

After about 20 minutes of people reporting these problems Frankie posted an official statement on Bungie.net, that there were some problems, a short delay is expected and that the proper "Live Authorities" have been notified. This was at 5:22am PST, it is now 5:12pm EST (3:12pm PST) and no word, not a one has officially been posted. In light of the incident the community showed their gratitude by flooding forums all over the place. So much that, Major Nelson's blog was shut down due to the high volume of people posting their outrage. Forums and gaming websites alike, were either heavily bogged down or even shut down.

There is some speculation as to when the beta will be up and running, some say late tonight and some say same time tomorrow. No official word yet. So sit tight kiddies. This is gonna be one long wait.

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The '07 Downfall of Microsoft

You read right, Microsoft is screwing up, yet again! There's a lot to talk about today and well there's a lot of time to say it in. Here's a short list of what MS has done thus far.

1) Epic Games vs. Microsoft, Round 1
2) No transfer cables with Elite consoles
3) That damn DRM (Digital Rights Management)

On the plus side of things there has be a plethora of XBLA games for download and this week Microsoft is continuing it's "double hit" XBLA Wednesdays.

Read on, gamers read on...


Alright, lately Microsoft has been having some troubles....some BIG troubles. They just can't seem to get this right this quarter. Whatever is wrong with them they better fix it before people start to jump ship. Let's get things rolling...

Microsoft vs. Epic Games, Round 1 *ding ding*

Gamers wanting to get their hands on the new Gears' maps will be happy to know that they will be available to download this Thursday (May 3rd, 2007). The Hidden Fronts map pack will contain 4 new maps as announced earlier by Microsoft. These new maps will contain new features in them known as environmental hazards. There isn't much about the first two maps, but I'll tell ya what I know about them. Subway takes place in a commuting hub and Process is set in an Imulsion plant, that's about it. Bullet Marsh is swapped with Kryll and the only real safe spot is in the lights which are powered on by generators, well...until your opponent starts to shoot it out. Same goes for The Garden, the second map with an environmental hazard, but this time it's dangerous gases that will cause you harm due to the Conservatory's Pesticide ventilation system. This means gamers are going to have to vent out the areas for a safe passage through areas.

Now, you're probably wondering, "Well that's not bad at all". Well, here's the part that will get you a little peeved about the whole thing. When it was first announced that there's going to be four new maps coming out in the form of DLC, the president (Mark Capps) of Epic Games was quoted saying this: "We always take care of our customers, we always give them stuff for free, and we're going to keep doing that forever. That's how we do it. This is Epic.". Well this isn't the case anymore, for now anyway. Epic Games and MS had a falling out earlier last month about what to charge for the DLC. Epic said free, Microsoft said no. So with that, gamers and fanboys alike went wild! Attacking forums wherever a forum was found. In time MS and Epic Games have come to an agreement which is this: When the new maps are released they will cost 800 MS Points ($10) to purchase and by September will be free for all. There new "reasoning" behind this was this, "Epic thinks the way to maximize the return on Gears of War is to give the maps away for free and Microsoft thinks the way to maximize the return on Gears of War is to sell the maps," said Rein. "So what we've agreed to do is to put these maps on sale at a reasonable price then make them free a few months later. They did this with the original Halo2 map pack and it was a huge success. Lots of people bought the maps and lots of people downloaded them when they became free. That's what is going to happen and it seems like a fair compromise for both companies and a win-win for Gears players." said Mark Rein, Epic Games' VP.

The Elite Failure

Number 2, that will contribute to this quarters downfall for MS. The Elite offically launched on the 29th on April. The new Elite Xbox 360 isn't much different, but what it has, boasts for hardcore gamers and people in the market for a 360 with a snazzy black finish for the console, controller and headset. Along with a 120GB hard drive (100GB more the the original HDD)and an HDMI audio/video port bringing resolutions to a glorified 1080p, where only 1080i was possible. The 120GB HDD that's sold separatly comes with a transfer cable to transfer any content from your old HDD to the new 120GB HDD. Odd, because when gamers who already own a 360 will find no transfer cable with the new Elite console. Microsoft was said to say that the Elite system was meant for people who hadn't bought a 360 yet, so it wasn't needed in the package. Well now, after weeks of complaints, Microsoft is offering a FREE transfer cable for those who require it for a limited time only. Again, some may think that's not so bad, but here's the fun part. In order to get your free transfer cable you have to download, print and then fill out this autherization form using both systems' serial numbers. Then the form must be sent out through standard mail to a support center in Indiana, which then will ship out your transfer cable to you for free. Now that that's all done and outta the way, you have your damn cable. You hook it up the cable to your old 360 and then to the 120GB HDD. IMPORTANT: The transfer can only be done once!!!! This will erase any data on the 120GB and transfer over any non-movie content to the new drive and the 20GB will be wiped blank. Your done, the 360 Elite is now complete....or is it?

Digital Rights Management (DRM)

No...it's not over yet, Microsoft is still screwing up, now it's all about their new DRM protection. Even though getting your transfer cable was tiresome, it gets worse. For anyone who has had to replace their system or have brought your HDD to a friends house will know that unless you're signed in to Live you can only play the demos of whatever arcade game you own. This is because of the DRM and that each XBLA game is linked to a single console. Signing in verifies that you are the original purchaser of the game and then will let you play the full copy. The DRM on XBLA games also affect downloaded television content downloaded from the Marketplace. "While all of your Xbox Live Arcade games and Xbox Live Marketplace TV shows will transfer [to the Elite HDD], you will have to be connected to Xbox Live (to verify your identity) in order to access that content," Microsoft said in a statement. "This process is permanent and we advise [you to] not transfer your data if you wish to access it while offline." There you have it, the downfall of Microsoft for this quarter.

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Xbox 360 Spring Update

Recently there's been some new details released about the 360's next dashboard update, due out this spring. On May 7th, users connected to Live will get the update on their console and Microsoft has revealed some new info on what the new update can do!

First off, is Messenger. According to Microsoft many users are rather lonely when Live is first setup. Adding messenger contacts to your Xbox 360 friends list will help their gamers get familiar with Live and it will also be able to show who on your friends list has a gamertag. People can now add up 600, count'em...600, messenger friends to their Live account. As of May 7th, Microsoft will only allow text-based chat with messenger accounts. Microsoft has hinted at new enhanced features for this in the latter part of the year, such being: audio and video. You'll be able to chat with 6 of your friends at once while playing games or watching a movie, little dialog boxes will pop up over anything your doing to allow the user to switch whenever they please. With this new addition of Messenger to your Live account, comes the updates on your Windows Live Messenger, when you're playing a game it will update and read "Xbox 360: [the game you are playing]: [your gamertag]." You will also be able to set your gamertag and Windows Live Messenger account status independently of each other, allowing you to appear on or offline to certain groups of users.

With that all being said, Microsoft has announced a new text input device for the 360. It connects via the headset input it lets you chat with your friends using a keyboard roughly the size of a Sidekick. No offical name or price has been announced.

The Marketplace will now have it's own seperate blade on the dashboard. The new blade will be themed independently from your own set of themes and will change looks constantly to cooperate with the season, holidays or special content!

Of all the announced additions to the spring update comes the most major tweak, but also very very minor. It's in the achievements, and now instead of it popping up and saying "Achievement Unlocked". Once an achievement in unlocked it will display the same message but with the Gamerpoint value and the name of the achievement! No longer will gamers have to switch to their guide to see what they just unlocked.

Finally for downloads, the console will receive an auto-shutdown feature and a low-power downloading mode. If you have an existing queue of downloads that you want to run overnight, you'll be able to shift the console into a low-power mode that turns off all the fans. Once the 360 finishes the last of the file transfers, the console will automatically turn off. The new download tools will also let you view partially downloaded video files. You'll even have access to the usual fast-forward, rewind, and pause functions. The video player will also allow for switchable aspect ratios (letterbox, zoom, stretch, native, and auto).

That's it for this round!

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Microsoft Expands It's Warranty

Hey hey people. Nothing huge today other than Microsoft has announced that they're expanding on their warranty service. Along side with their newly renewed 1 year warranty when you buy a new Xbox 360 console. Microsoft has heard the voices of it's people yet again and cleared up some major issues about the repair process. Let's get started shall we?

1) Microsoft is no longer charging the shipping costs to the end user and instead will be sending postage-paid containers for the broken 360s.

2) Customers will no longer get "replacement" units, they'll be gettin back their original console that they sent in, repaired. Some incidents may have Microsoft sending out replacements if the original can not be repaired

3) Repairs made on a console under warranty, Microsoft will cover the repaired system for the remainder of the warranty period or 90 days, pending which one is longer.

4) Repairs made on an out-of-warranty console will be returned with a 1 year "repair warranty".

5) On top of the new warranty on 360s, Microsoft has announced that they are hiring more customer care reps and supervisors, imroving training and hiring "customer care champions", for better support and quicker repair times.

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