xbox

E3 2007: If Microsoft told you to 'jump in,' would you?

Microsoft's media event on Tuesday evening--the first slot on our E3 2007 agendas (aside from picking up our press badges)--came with the company slogan: "Jump In." It was displayed on signs outside Santa Monica High School's outdoor amphitheater, where the event took place, and on the giant projection screen behind the stage (when the screen wasn't displaying a tag cloud of the Xbox Live usernames of those present). The slogan was even on the access badges that were mailed to us a week in advance, with the admonition that if we didn't have … Read more

The rest of Sega's E3 2007 lineup: Xbox 360, PS3, and PC

Talk about expanding your horizons--Sega has an incredibly diverse lineup at this year's E3 convention. We've already covered what's in store for Nintendo, so now let's take a look at what we can expect for the other consoles.

When the Xbox 360 launched in November of 2005, the horror action game Condemned: Criminal Origins was regarded as one of the top launch titles to go along with the new console. At this year's E3, Sega will show off the sequel, entitled Condemned 2: Bloodshot, set to release for the Xbox 360 and PS3 in February … Read more

The new console war: pricing

Leading up to the Electronic Entertainment Expo, most companies try to release information that will either (1) become a springboard for the show or (2) become lost in the heavy news traffic -- by design. With Sony's announcement of a $100 price cut, it has effectively achieved the former. And while some brushed my opinion aside claiming I was biased or a Nintendo-hater when I told them Sony and Microsoft would take the day, it seems that opinion may not be so far off after all.

Although I still believe the Xbox 360 will take the lead in this … Read more

E3 2007 preview

In years past, E3--the Electronic Entertainment Expo--involved as many as 50,000 members of the video game industry descending on the Los Angeles Convention Center in early May. This year, the show--now dubbed the "E3 Media & Business Summit"--has been radically downsized, rescheduled to July, and moved out to Santa Monica.

With all of the gaming consoles now effectively old news, the show doesn't quite have the air of anticipation as it did the last few years, when gamers were scrambling to get a glimpse of the then-unreleased Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, and Nintendo Wii. Still, … Read more

Sony to announce PS3 movie and TV download service?

It's E3 week, folks, and the video game world is revved up for the latest news, and, it turns out, Sony may have something noteworthy to announce.

According to Newsweek, Sony, at its E3 press conference, may offer up some details on what would be a PlayStation 3 TV show and movie download service.

If it's true, Sony would be catching up to Microsoft, which has offered such downloads since last fall. And it seems to me it had better be true, because even though Sony has said it is dropping the price of the PS3, it needs … Read more

Microsoft E3 preview: Price drop anyone?

Rumors are flying around about what will be announced at E3, yet little of this speculation has anything to do with Microsoft exclusively--until now. Not to be outdone by Sony's recent actions, at this year's E3, Microsoft is planning to announce a price drop on all three versions of the Xbox 360. Next-gen is reporting that the new prices will go as follows:

"The $299 Core pack will drop to $249; the $399 Premium pack will drop to $349; and the recently released $479 Elite model will drop to $399."

Also potentially showing its face at … Read more

Taking the measure of the computer warranty scam

Credit Microsoft for moving fast to try and recover from its Xbox stumble. Truth be told, management didn't really have an alternative but to pledge to fix the faulty consoles immediately. But I'm not about to strain my throat singing hosannas.

U.S. customers used to be covered by a one-year warranty (!), while European Xbox owners had two-year coverage. Now every Xbox owner in the world will be protected for three years. What do I think? As former New Jersey Nets forward Derrick Coleman once put it during a particularly touching moment with the press, "Well, whoopty … Read more

Microsoft to 'Bring it Home' again at E3 '07

During last year's E3, Microsoft allowed Xbox 360 owners to download exclusive content from the show as a part of "Bringing it Home"--a campaign designed to get gamers as close as possible to E3 without actually being there. A great deal of buzz was generated from the huge Lost Planet demo that allowed gamers to play two near-finished levels of the game.

Sticking with what works, Microsoft has wisely decided to continue offering E3 content from this year's expo in the form of downloadable goodies. The Gamerscore Blog reports that beginning July 10 and running … Read more

Xbox 360 shipments fail to reach target

Microsoft acknowledged on Thursday that, in addition to experiencing an unacceptably high rate of hardware failures with the Xbox 360, the game console has also failed to reach its sales target.

The company had said it would sell 12 million of the consoles by June 30. Instead, it has shipped a total of 11.6 million units, Chief Financial Officer Chris Liddell said on a conference call

"That is slightly shy" of its projections, Liddell said, but added "we're happy with that number."

Earlier Thursday, Microsoft said it was extending the warranty on the console … Read more

Microsoft to expand Xbox 360 warranty

Microsoft said on Thursday that it will expand its warranty on the Xbox to three years for certain hardware failures after an investigation showed the game console can be vulnerable to problems.

"As a result of what Microsoft views as an unacceptable number of repairs to Xbox 360 consoles, the company conducted extensive investigations into potential sources of general hardware failures," Microsoft said in a statement. "Having identified a number of factors which can cause general hardware failures indicated by three red flashing lights on the console, Microsoft has made improvements to the console and is enhancing … Read more