X2theG: January 2009

Sunday, January 18, 2009

12 + 1 Xbox 360 Live Subscription Gold Card

List Price: $49.99

Price: $29.97 & this item ships for FREE with Super Saver Shipping.

Friday, January 16, 2009

December NPD results are in and Xbox 360 highlights include

December ’08 was the biggest month for Xbox 360 in history
Xbox 360 sold more consoles, games and online entertainment experiences in 2008 than any previous year
In the all-important holiday quarter, Xbox 360 outsold PS3 by more than 2:1

Despite a decline in overall consumer spending during the holidays, video games continued to shine as a bright spot, with Xbox 360 registering record-setting numbers in December, selling 1.4 million consoles in the U.S. (December NPD data).

Not only did the Xbox 360 see its weekly sales run rate increase 38 percent compared to November, it also continued to outperform the PS3 by two-to-one for the third month in a row (December NPD data).

With third-party game sales for Xbox 360 increasing from $298 million in November to $504 million in December, it’s no surprise that Xbox 360 has generated more life-to-date dollars at retail for third-party publishers than the PS3 and Wii combined. “Gears of War 2,” “Call of Duty: World at War,” “Grand Theft Auto IV,” “Madden NFL 09,” “Left 4 Dead” and the critically acclaimed “Fable II” were some of the hottest Xbox 360 games in 2008. Three Xbox 360 games appeared on the top 10 list in December, including “Call of Duty: World at War,” “Left 4 Dead” and “Gears of War 2.” (December NPD data)

“Our goal for 2008 was to reach new audiences by bringing ground-breaking games and entertainment to Xbox 360,” said Don Mattrick, senior vice president of the Interactive Entertainment Business at Microsoft. “Looking forward, new waves of innovation will extend our position as the global leader in interactive entertainment.”

As announced by Microsoft last week, Xbox LIVE continues to experience rapid growth; online transactions over Xbox LIVE grew 84 percent in 2008 over 2007. More than 40 million downloads took place through the LIVE Marketplace in December alone (Microsoft internal data). With consumer appetite for immediate online entertainment growing exponentially, Xbox LIVE is poised for another great year in 2009.

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2008 in Review

Global life-to-date console sales rise to 28 million (Microsoft internal data)
Lead over PS3 grows to eight million globally, approximately seven million in the U.S., one million in Europe (Microsoft internal data)
Total life-to-date consumer spending on Xbox 360 reaches an industry-leading $13.2 billion of the current-gen consoles ($10.8 billion for Wii, $6.1 billion for PS3) (December NPD data)
8.1 games are sold per console for Xbox 360, more than any other next generation console (December NPD data)
Xbox LIVE saw 70 percent membership growth in ’08. That’s a rate of one person every five seconds, making the community 17 million active members strong (Microsoft internal data)
Xbox LIVE set a new online record of 1.5 million concurrent players during a one-week period (Microsoft internal data)
Total hours spent on Xbox LIVE climbs to 10 billion hours since launch (Microsoft internal data)

[via Xbox Press]

Wednesday, January 14, 2009

Resident Evil 5 Demo premiering exclusively on Xbox 360

Xbox 360 gamers worldwide won’t have to wait until March 13, 2009 to get their hands on the highly-anticipated “Resident Evil 5.” The next installment of the landmark survival horror franchise from Capcom will take action to a new level with a two-level, playable demo available exclusively on Xbox 360 for one week beginning Monday, January 26. In the demo, players will have a first glimpse of the fear they will never forget, as “Resident Evil 5” makes daylight just as terrifying as darkness. Additionally, a new exclusive high-definition trailer of the game, shown only at the past Tokyo Game Show in October of 2008, will be made available for download on the Xbox LIVE service on Friday, Jan. 16.

Fans will have the opportunity to experience “Resident Evil 5’s” revolutionary new features early, including two-player co-op with voice chat along with new characters, weapons and environments. The demo is set within two stages from the beginning of the game – Assembly Place and Shanty Town -- featuring plenty of co-operative action, shooting, hordes of bloodthirsty infected Majini enemies and a few puzzles to round out the action. The demo has three levels of co-op play: single-player with AI support, two-player split-screen on a single Xbox 360 and two-player across Xbox LIVE.

Xbox 360 gamers will also be first to take on the new enemies in battle, including an army of weapon-wielding infected Majini, the gigantic hooded Majini Executioner and even the dreaded Chainsaw Majini. Players can also choose between the classic “Resident Evil”-style controls or switch to the newer “Action” controls inspired by games like “Gears of War 2” and “Halo 3.”

In this hotly anticipated new title coming on March 13, Chris Redfield returns as the “Resident Evil” hero and heads to Africa where the latest bioterrorism threat is literally transforming the people and animals of the city into mindless, maddened creatures. Joining forces with a new partner, Sheva Alomar, the two must work together to discover the truth behind this evil plot. Utilizing the new co-op mode, players will be able to assume control of either Chris or Sheva and experience “Resident Evil” in new ways.

For more details, please visit: http://www.xbox.com/residentevil5 or http://www.residentevil.com.

[via Xbox Press]

Go Preppy with the New Avatar Clothes

Go Preppy if that's your thing.

New avatar clothing is now available. The above picture from the NXE dashboard shows a red blazer but no mention of it at Major Nelson's and not showing up in the collection, maybe next time.

As usual: All clothing choices are free, and will remain available. It is easy to tell what is new when you are in the avatar editor, just look for the gold star. Any item of clothing with a gold star is new since the last time you signed in.

For the guys, we now have:

Tops
Striped Polo Shirt
Open Neck Cardigan
Check Jacket with Polo
Striped Jacket with Polo

Bottoms
Embroidered Pants

Dress Up
Suspenders with High Pants

The ladies have these new items available:

Tops
Lavender Polo Shirt
Hacking Jacket

Bottoms
Chinos with Belt

Shoes
Scarlet Pumps
Rainy Day Boots

Monday, January 12, 2009

Gamers sought a safer place to put their cash

Investors sought a safer place to put their cash in Gold as prices head upwards thanks to the rocky economy. Now Xbox 360 gamers can do the same investing in Xbox Live Gold subscriptions that take a nice hit at a few stores.

We reported earlier this week with a deal at Buy.com that Starts today the 12th and ends Sunday the 18th for the 12 + 1 Xbox Live Gold Subscription cards for only $29.99 with free shipping. That's 40% off the retail price, normal $50.

Now it looks like Wal-Mart has dropped the price to $29.99 as well (in store only).

The better deal is at Buy.com for those outside of California with no tax, but Buy.com still is a the better deal for all since they offer free shipping.

Time to stock up!

Friday, January 9, 2009

Sony's PS3 vs Xbox 360 Price Comparison Flawed?

Sony must be in trouble with their PS3 to send this chart out to the press. Maybe since they can't cut the price on the Ps3 they're trying, yes trying, to show that the PS3 is a better value. Is it? Through their looking glass it might be. But use gamers can see the writing on the wall is a little flawed. We might be dumb but we ain't stupid.

This chart was sent out by Sony in a email as reported earlier by joystiq as well as many, many others. Unsure what Sony was thinking but comparing the Xbox 360 Arcade to their 80GB PS3 doesn't make much sense nor does the chart add up even so. Let's see if we can help Sony out a little here since a few things are flawed on this chart along with what Sony said in their email.

The email sent out was titled "Keeping Entertainment Simple". Sony! Try telling that to the developers making the games for the PS3! The PS3 being the most difficult console to develop for while the Xbox 360 is the simplest, but that's not why I'm writing this article but their argument is still laughable.

The email also stated "requires ... multiple upgrades and additional external devices, putting a burden on the wallet and adds clutter to the entertainment center." Hmm, I see many things wrong with this.

To start, the only burden on my wallet I see is plopping down four to five large for the PS3 when the Xbox is half the price with many options to fit your needs. Lets go down the chart one by one.

1) The PS3 has Wi-Fi built in, NOW, but not their earlier 20GB console, so on the chart for Wi-Fi let's add "Not available in earlier models". The Xbox 360 does not have Wi-Fi built in, ever, but if you need it you have the option to add it anytime. It clips on the back with no clutter whatsoever.

In my case, I don't need it, so I was not forced to buy it saving myself $100. If you do need to use Wi-Fi, it can be a little pricey yes, but deals can be found all the time for the Wi-Fi adapter. Amazon has the Xbox 360 Wireless Network Adapter for $87 right now. If you do any online gaming, I suggest you not use Wi-Fi anyway. It is best to be hard wired in since using Wi-Fi could cause lag issues.

So, I see this a plus for the Xbox 360. You're not forced to buy something you don't need and if you do want it, you have the option to add it at anytime.

2) All PS3's have a built in hard drive. The Xbox 360 Arcade doesn't but the Pro and Elite do, just depends on the console you buy. I'm not sure why Sony compared the Arcade since it doesn't have the built in hard drive where the Pro and the Elite's do but I guess they wanted the PS3 to look like the better value. Stupid me.

I have always had a hard drive in my 360 so I don't know how frustrating it would be not to have one but a casual gamer could get away with not having one no problem. At anytime a hard drive can be added. Again, adding on a hard drive later can get pricey but deals can be found as well. (See amazon for hard drive deals.) The option is there.

I see this a plus, as well, for the Xbox 360 since you have the option. Another thing, if your Xbox is out of warranty and dies on you, all you have to do is buy a new Xbox Arcade console, throw your old hard drive on and you saved $100 or more. Nice!

3) Online gaming. Sure the PS3 is Free but you get what you pay for. Xbox Live is not perfect trust me, but nether is the PSN and Xbox Live is worlds better and has so much more to offer. Sure the PSN has seen many updates in the few years out making it a little better now than it was previously but so has Xbox Live, say hello to the NXE.

Sony's chart has the price at $50 for Xbox Live. That is the retail price. I hope you're not paying that much! Everyday you can find a deal for Xbox Live and starting Monday 1/12/09 to 1/18/09 you can stock up and get 12 + 1 Xbox Live Gold for $29.99. That's a little over $2 a month. What a deal!!!

Until Sony's PSN matches Xbox Live apples to apples, Xbox Live wins!

4) Blu-ray gaming. What is that? Is that a fishing game? LOL, this should have just said Blu-ray movies since Blu-ray gaming is basically saying HD gaming and the Xbox 360 does HD gaming just as good if not better than the PS3. Yes, I said better!

Better because most of the comparison videos show the Xbox 360 having better graphics or lighting. Also the PS3 has mandatory installs for some games because the Blu-ray is slower compared to a DVD drive and thanks to the NXE we now have, here it is again, the option, to install not just a portion of the game to the hard drive but the whole game making for quicker load times, quieter game play, and less wear on the DVD drive.

Xbox 360 wins for HD Gaming and also wins with more AAA games!

5) HDMI output. Last I checked, every Xbox Arcade console has an HDMI output. All Xbox 360 consoles in stores right now have an HDMI output. Sure, the first Xbox 360's didn't have HDMI, it wasn't a standard at the time, but for the last few years they have added it. So what's the point in putting "Not available in earlier models". To be relevant it should just say "YES".

Sony Fails again!

What's funny, all PS3's had HDMI outputs from the start but never came with an HDMI cable included, whereas the Xbox 360 Elite includes an HDMI cable.

Xbox 360 wins again!!!

Another funny thing is, the PS3 had full backwards compatibility but now has limited. Looks like we need to add another line to this chart.

6) Backwards compatibility. In order to play your PS2 games if you buy a PS3 Today, you will need to keep your PS2, funny, "cluttering up your entertainment center" since Sony stripped out the semiconductors that allowed over 90% backwards compatibility for PS2 titles. That just upped it $129 on the PS3 side.

Xbox 360 keeps on winning!!!

So we just added a new line to the chart for backwards compatibility, should we add another? Sure why not, we're on a roll here aren't we?

7) How about included Games? The Xbox 360 Arcade comes with 6 games. YES 6 Games! The PS3, NONE! The retail value: $80

Xbox 360, the Best Value with the most options!

Wow, that took sometime to get all that down and yet there is so much more I could have added but I better close with this. The PS3 is a good value, it is, just with little options, whereas, the Xbox 360 is the Best value with many, many options that, sure, might confuse some people that are new to gaming but I am sure they will research it and make the right choice that best fits their needs at the time.

Stock Up - 40% off Xbox Live Gold

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List Price: $49.99
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Buy.com Price: $29.99

Tuesday, January 6, 2009

Gears of War 2 Title Update in January?

Could this be? Did Epic finally acknowledge there are bugs, glitches, exploits and lag in Gears of War 2?

Mark Rein, vice president of Epic Games posted today on the GOW2 forums that we should see a Major Title Update within January. Nice, the sooner the better!!!

Mark Rein, "As I mentioned before the break we’ve been working on a major title update for Gears of War 2. This update will address bugs and exploits as well as add some new achievements related to downloadable content. We don’t have an exact date for it but all indicators are it will go live within January. If that changes we’ll let you know.

We’re fixing a whole bunch of online exploits. For example we’ve fixed the ability to wield an invisible shield, melee through some walls, gain infinite Lancer ammo and equip a shield and a two-handed weapon simultaneously plus many more.

We’re also making several small changes to improve the overall online gameplay experience. A few of the ones that might interest you are; increased penalties for quitting matches early, adding additional spawn protection against planted grenades and chainsaw attacks, and adding the ability to see the Submission flag carrier destination by using Tac/Com.

We know you folks love achievements so on the achievement side we’re adding achievement progress numbers to the War Journal, increasing the frequency of in-game Achievement progression notifications and adding some new Achievements for DLC.

This is just a very small list of some of the things that will be in the next title update but one more item which has been talked about a lot in our forums deserves a special call out...

About that shotgun...

We fixed the client side hit detection on the shotgun so that in a high-latency (i.e. “laggy”) match, the shotgun will be more reliable. We’ve also fixed another bug whereby shotgun and boomshot rounds could strike the ground when firing from the hip.

So there’s a brief status report on the next title update. At some point I expect we’ll post a more detailed list but I assure you we’re working hard to get this out the door and once it’s done we’ll start working on the next update. We’ll try to do a better job keeping you informed of our progress on future updates and we’ll try to be a little more active in the forums once this update is released."

Is it to late for a patch though? I hope NOT! I guess will just have to wait and see once Major Nelson posts the Weeks Top 10 List and see if Gears can make it back to the top spot where it should be for longer then a week.

One thing not mentioned in Marks post that he should have mentioned would be the DLC that was pushed out way to soon would now be FREE for the bad business practices Epic displayed.

They should have been working on getting this Major Title Update out sooner then new maps. Most everyone would have happily purchased the maps if they came out after a title update, so long as it fixed the majority of the problems, but instead they got greedy and tried to take our hard earned cash instead. Not the best way to our wallets.

What say you Epic, FREE DLC for the shotty business practices?