Fan favourites that no one will remember when something better comes alo…ooohh look! Something shiny.

We have all started to use the word memorable to mean fun or enjoyable. I’ve been slapped by a woman before and it was neither fun nor enjoyable but it was pretty memorable.

This is the distinction I’m making. Memorable does not mean good or fun, it doesn’t even mean intense or shocking. It’s far more personal than that. What is memorable to one person might be completely forgettable to another.

What we find memorable is what touches us. Something about the world, story or gameplay somehow becomes linked with powerful emotion. Certain songs remind me of ex-girlfriends, some books are so vivid in my memory I still can’t believe they aren’t real, and some games I will remember forever.

Bioshock, Call of Duty 4, Call of Juarez: Bound in Blood. The first is a masterpiece, the second is arguable the first game to ever seriously grab you by the scrotum and pull you on a wild globe-trotting adventure so spectacular you’re left almost feeling sexually satisfied, but what about the third? Releasing to positive but not spectacular reviews, why do I lump that piece of coal in with those other gems? It’s personal. The game lets you choose which of the two brothers to play as and their interactions and dynamic were so similar to my own relationship with my brother that I genuinely loved the characters. I will remember them forever and I cannot defend the game as anything more than good. Memorable is personal.

Last week I wrote an article on 5 Games We’ll Remember In 20 Years. Those were the select few games from the last year or so that gave experiences that lead to a profound feeling of inner growth. They all had those “OMG!!” moments but what made them special was what you got left with afterwards.

The games on this list are the one night stands. Fun, special, one hell of a good time, and they make you smile when you think about them but I won’t remember them when their sequels release or bigger things come along.

I’m not speaking about recollection. Any normal person who has their morning coffee without whisky and leaves cocaine on toast only for special occasions will hopefully be able to recollect most of the good games they’ve played. They should even have some fond memories and when the ice caps melt, our grandchildren are plentiful and Half Life 3 is a folk legend, we should still be able to do a healthy bit of reminiscing while sitting in a nuclear-powered rocking chair, but they won’t make us fall silent. In our private moments we won’t suddenly remember them and get a warm sensation in our bellies.

5 games from the last 24 months that took the world by storm but that I won’t remember come the sunshine. These games burn bright and fiercely but when I put the down the controller, once the initial awe and excitement has died down, I’m left satisfied but I’m not in love.
 
 

5. Call of Duty. Anything After 4.

This may seem obvious but it’s being said anyway. This is the epitome of what I’m talking about here. Fun, well made and maybe even awe-inspiring, until the sequel comes along. These games are fast food, cheap wine and the easy, drunk chick at the party.

There’s fun to be had and lots of it too, but these game won’t stick with me. I barely understand their stories and the action starts to meld together into one big ‘splosion of Scottish, bearded, magnificent mustached, action.

I’ll probably continue to play them every year. The same way I’ll watch the new Transformers movies.

Pretty things and things that go boom.

Not everything has to be profound and that’s completely fine.

I love Blue Mountain State – who doesn’t?
 
 

4. Batman: Arkham City

Yes, I know – this was an outstanding game. Certainly the best Batman experience you can have short of actually eating gravel and becoming Batman.

Fluid, well designed combat, fun gadgets and even a memorable story.

Nothing new enough.

After Arkham Asylum swept me off my feet Arkham City was going to have to work really hard to impress me. It did to an extent but the problems start right at the conceptual level.

Arkham Asylum but bigger and more open world. If the game wasn’t so big and fleshed out this could have passed for an expansion.

As it stands, I remember the feeling I got when I first ran around feeling like Batman – in Arkham Asylum. Now I have a lot of fun but this just feels like an expanded game without any serious innovation or hooks to make me remember Arkham City over Asylum.

Rocksteady are talented developers and I’m excited for whatever they do next.

I’ll remember the first time I silently took out a room of thugs using my bad-assery. It was in Arkham Asylum.
 
 

3. Assassin’s Creed: Revelations

I know I’m not alone here. In fact my distinguished colleague wrote an entire article on why the Assassin’s Creed franchise has become that weird slightly over 40 woman at the teenage party.

In fact I’m going to quote him directly and link to his article because there is nothing left to say that he hasn’t already said.

Firstly, and amongst the biggest issues with the game, is that it showed me how exhausted the gameplay was. With barely anything worth writing home about added to the game, and an identical formula to its predecessors, Revelations couldn’t bring back the excitement of past games. Variety was a lot less, and things like the renovating system and slow pace often made playing it a serious chore. The game relied heavily on its previous successes, and failed to really build from its predecessors in any significant way.

Azhar’s Full Article. Go read it and then send a letter to Ubisoft.
 
 
Find the next two entries on the following page.

So Microsoft has announced that the successor to the Xbox 360 is in development but that’s about all we’ve heard from the company itself. That doesn’t mean other people can’t go around spreading rumours though.

For example, the latest rumour reports say that the console has been codenamed “Project Ten” and will release around Christmas next year. That’s not entirely unbelievable, especially when you consider that the PS3 replacement is likely to drop around 2013 or early 2014.

There are also some curious rumours spouting out of technology reporter Paul Thurrott who believes that Microsoft will be going the way of Apple in terms of integrating its systems. This is one thing that Apple manages to do very well whether you have an iPod, iPad or iPhone. This means that the Xbox 720 (I’m not liking the name “Project Ten”) will practically be built for Windows 8. Also, who actually buys Windows phones anymore when you have a choice of iPhone, Android or BlackBerry?

“What I’m hearing is [the next Xbox is] going to come out for holidays next year, meaning that they would almost have to announce this at CES, wouldn’t they? That’s my rumour… that we’ll expect to hear something about that.”

He added: “They’re going the Apple route where they want this thing to integrate very tightly with Windows 8 and Windows Phone, which is a problem with the current Xbox.”

Thurrott also believes that the new Xbox will feature “embedded MS Silverlight” which is rumoured to run the previously announced XBL TV platform. This echoes the rumour from a  week ago suggesting that the new console will run a version of Windows 8 and feature a Zune HD-like hardware platform.

And what of the Xbox 360′s planned 10-year life cycle? That’s apparently still on track with a planned overlap between the two consoles according to European Xbox boss Chris Lewis.

“We think we’re a little over halfway with the life cycle of the console, but that’s not to say there won’t be an overlap. I’m not going to announce specifically or talk about timing. But you could imagine there could be overlap, it depends. We’re not being specific about the next generation at this stage.”

Like I said at the start of this article, we don’t have anything concrete from Microsoft besides the fact that the Xbox 360 replacement exists so take everything you’ve read with a major pinch of salt.

It’s recently been Kinect’s birthday, and because it usually goes that we benefit from other big companies’ parties, Microsoft is celebrating this with some announcements for PC gamers.

Starting with Kinect for Windows, the official and commercial development tool kit is scheduled to be released in early 2012.

Microsoft has also announced the release of the SDK 2, for all those who have already been playing around with Kinect on PC. According to MS, it’s been more than a few.

“Currently, we have more than 200 companies taking part in our pilot program,” said Craig Eisler, general manager of Kinect for Windows.

“They are telling us how Kinect for Windows will help them transform their products, their processes, their brands, and their businesses. Putting the power of Kinect + Windows into the hands of business leaders and technical visionaries will give them the tools they need to develop novel solutions for everything from training employees to visualizing data, from configuring a car to managing an assembly line.”

Eisler claims that the newest software upgrade will do its duty in improving Kinect’s motion-tracking abilities, “including faster skeletal tracking, better accuracy rate when it comes to skeletal tracking and joint recognition, and the ability to plug and unplug your Kinect without losing work/productivity”.

If you’re interested to know more, you can go all clicky on the link below, or you can download the new SDK here.

Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer, recently speaking at the Web 2.0 Summit in San Francisco, said that support for Kinect will improve as it now enters its second generation.

So, if you’ve been feeling like your Kinect is losing its sleek black colour to a nice dust coating in recent months, due to a lack of awesome games, then now is the time to once again have hope for the little device as Microsoft is promising cool things for it in the near future.

“Like any other thing that is new, we came out with a set of applications to show off the platform, to bring others in. Our second generation is now happening,” he said.

“We announced a partnership today with Sesame Street and National Geographic to bring kids’ learning and entertainment to the Kinect. You’ll see a raft of new games from us and third-party publishers this holiday,” added Ballmer, signaling a major Christmas push from MS.

He went on: “We’ve announced and demonstrated work that we’re doing with people who provide video content — live TV as well as other [video on demand], etc. content — to really let you access and find [content] and control it, completely via the Kinect, gesture and voice being a part of that. Bing-powered by the way, that will be out this holiday season. So you’re going to see a range of important innovations coming to Kinect on Xbox this holiday.”

id Software’s John Carmack has said that it is important for developers to learn the ins and outs of motion technology, such as Kinect, because this tech “can get 10 times better in the coming years”.

Personally, if you ask me, Kinect needs more focus on violent, cinematic, innovative and serious games. That gives gamers like me the impression that it’s being taken seriously.

Microsoft announced on Wednesday that the Xbox 360 would have  access to content from almost 40 new media partners in over 20 countries by Christmas 2011.

The partners in question comprise a list burgeoning with A-list material from HBO to BBC, Verizon and more who will provide a wide variety of live and on-demand programming, sports, movies and music.

Microsoft said the conglomerate deals signalled “a new era in television… where your entertainment becomes instantly searchable, easily discoverable and enjoyable in extraordinary new ways” using Kinect motion control and Bing voice search.

Indeed, Microsoft might be on to something here with the aim of making the Xbox 360 a more versatile console with more wide-spread features.

Please look past how thickly draped in cheese the entire ad is and watch too see just how Microsoft aims to give the Xbox a significant shot in the arm. It really looks to be a pretty cool innovation. Unfortunately, no word has been given as to which countries will be receiving these services so fingers crossed South Africa is one of them.

An afterthought: Why must every command be preceded by “Xbox”? Is it just for advertising or to help the Xbox assert itself as the alpha-console in the house? Do you have a voice-activated vacuum cleaner? Because I’d sure love one.

As you read this, two lucky bastards people are enjoying ogling and using their very own Elders Scroll V: Skyrim-themed Xbox 360′s given out at a walkthrough of the game shown at PAX 2011 this weekend. So far as gaming swag goes this is worthy of the subscript: “must have, now”.

Jealous? Yeah, me too and I’m not even an Xbox guy but fear not because Betsheda has assured fans that it’s in talks with Microsoft to produce a number of limited edition Skyrim consoles in addition to the two given out at the weekend.

While we’re talking Xbox’s, have you seen the custom Batman: Arkham City-themed consoles given out at PAX? They’re not too bad either.

No controller is perfect, right? The PS3′s one has clunky ergonomics and sticky trigger buttons whereas the Xbox 360 has a soft D-pad. Do you prefer to 360 or PS3 analogue layout, convex or concave analogue sticks? So many variables so many possibilities for the perfect controller in every indivdual’s eyes.

Usually perfecting the ergonomics and layout of your controller is more expensive than coating it in Muir but Mad Catz has an answer. They’ve developed a modular controller where every aspect of it can be swapped, tweaked and adjusted.

Christened by Major League Gaming ( that’s usually an indication that it’s pretty good), the Pro-Circuit controllers from Mad Catz utilise what they call the ProModule system. What it entails is a controller designed for elements such as the D-pad and analogue sticks to cheaply and easily be swapped out and adjusted.

Each controller also comes with four analogue sticks, two concave and two convex as well as a PS3 and Xbox style D-pad. The layout can also be tweaked sicne each analogue and the D-pad can be locked into any one of three open slots.

If you really want to get anal (no homo), Mad Catz has designed a special compartment in the base of the controller which allows suers to add or subtract as much as 70g from it so as to control its weight and feel.

For aesthetics and being arbitrarily different, the controllers are also fitted with a series of magnetic faceplates which can be removed and skinned for a custom look.

Pricing is yet to be announced but this definitely sounds like one to consider if you’re into crafting a precision controller for the ultimate in gaming control.

Microsoft believes that Kinect will eventually win hardcore gamers over. Many core gamers were disappointed with Microsoft’s Kinect-centric E3 2011 press conference.

Speaking with Eurogamer, Xbox senior product manager David Dennis said the backlash from many gamers was “as we expected” and was confident that more focused, less casual titles “like Rise of Nightmares and Ryse…are certainly going to appeal to the core.”

Dennis also drew some comparisons between the feedback from this year and last year’s E3 conferences:

“It’s similar to last year where some of the core gaming media walked out of E3 a little skeptical about Kinect and said ‘I’m never going to do that’. But a lot of them also went and bought Kinect and said ‘Oh my god, I love it, I break it out when I’m having a party, I play with my girlfriend, finally I can play with my kids.’ I think people have embraced Kinect and we think that a lot of what we showed at E3… whether people fully understand it now, as we open up more and more over time and explain and let people get hands-on, we think people are going to love it.”

What I’ve seen thus far of the more hardcore Kinect games is not particularly appealing and certainly wouldn’t make me drop my controller anytime soon.

Feast your eyes upon the latest official Xbox steering wheel peripheral to come from Microsoft. The biggest thing to notice is the lack of any wires. The wheel is wireless and looks not only pretty comfortable but also quite cool. Like the kind of thing you’d steer a futuristic go-kart with.

The wheel features left and right triggers as well as all the face buttons. It will retail for around $60 (R405.00) which really isn’t all that much for a peripheral like this that looks so cool. If course, this peripheral has been made with Forza 4 in mind but Microsoft claims that it will work with all current racers as well, although with the provision that there will be “limited functionality” in certain games.

The wheel will also have haptic feedback and rumble, but no mention was made though of how players will steer with the wheel. It looks as if you can attach it to something of your choosing, or perhaps it will come with its own detachable base.

Either way, the Microsoft Xbox steering wheel is due out in October.

From the depths of hell, better known as the Activision CEO’s office, have come murmurs from a figure we’d almost forgotten about. Yes, your favourite rabid capitalist and mine, Bobby Kotick, is back with fresh news that is bound to steal the money from right under our mattresses.

Speaking to Financial Times following Activision’s first quarter earnings call, Kotick said, “We’ve more confidence in consumer spending, we feel like some of that has stabilised and there are price cuts on the [console] hardware in the works.”

Wait, what? Nani? Did he just say something concerning us SAVING money? This is unbelievable. Some good news, some hopeful news has escaped his lips.

Kotick did however say that current platform holders, i.e. Sony and Microsoft, should focus more on developing their online networks rather than looking ahead to the next generation. Possibly a jab at Sony for the PSN disaster.

Strangely, he may be on to something, Nintendo has already announced price cuts for the Wii and Microsoft are rumoured to be planning to announce the Xbox 360′s successor at E3 so it’s price could well drop but the only unknown is Sony with the PS3. As usual though, we will have to wait until E3 to see what materialises and separate the speculation and rumours from fact.

Ahead of the  NPD Group’s release of official market data this week, game industry analysts have weighed in with their own sales predictions for the month of April, in the US.

Analyst firms Wedbush and EEDAR both predict that Microsoft’s Xbox 360 will be named the month’s top-selling console, with the “It only does everything, except go online” PlayStation 3 tipped to edge out the Wii.

Wedbush’s Micheal Pachter said in a research note that things aren’t looking great for the 3DS. “The long-awaited introduction of the 3DS has so far had a smaller impact than we originally expected,” he wrote.

“The handheld is off to a slow start, as a lack of compelling software has kept many consumers on the sidelines for the expensive hardware.”

Mostly because Nintendo have released an expensive piece of hardware with almost zero first-party application support. Well fucking played, guys…

On the software front, Pachter expects April sales to be dominated by everyone’s favourite puzzle-orgy, Portal 2, and everyone’s favourite guts-orgy, Mortal Kombat.

Here are the actual numbers for those who are interested:

Hardware sales estimates, Wedbush / EEDAR (year-over-year change):
360 – 315,000 (+70%) / 315,000 (+70%)
DS – 300,000 (-32%) / 325,000 (-26%)
PS3 – 210,000 (+16%) / 215,000 (+19%)
Wii – 215,000 (-22%) / 200,000 (-28%)
3DS – 200,000 (N/A) / 250,000 (N/A)
PSP – 90,000 (+37%) / 80,000 (+22%)
PS2 – 15,000 (-66%) / N/A
Total – 1,345,000 (+13%) / 1,385,000 (+16%)

Xbox LIVE members across the globe created history, that’s right, history bitch, by setting a new Guinness World Record for the largest simultaneous online 100m sprint, which featured 10, 539 participants and was achieved by users of Xbox LIVE during the Xbox Nations Free LIVE Weekend, April 23rd 2011.

“Congratulations to the crew from Xbox LIVE and most importantly, the thousands of Xbox LIVE members from across the globe who got up off their sofas to create this new Guinness World Record for the largest ever online sprint. The new record will be considered for inclusion in the next Gamer’s Edition,” said Editor of Guinness World Records Gamer’s Edition 2011, Gaz Deaves. This after thousands participated in the world record attempt at 7pm South Africa time on Saturday 23rd April as part of Xbox Nations, a challenge inviting Xbox LIVE members to ‘Play for their Nation’ to help create history with Xbox LIVE and Kinect Sports. Or just a reason to get more exposure for the Kinect. Either way.

“We’re thrilled to hold a Guinness World Record title for the largest online 100 metre sprint! Breaking a Guinness World Record is such a massive milestone and we’re pleased that we had the chance to do this in partnership with the Xbox LIVE community, following our record breaking launch of Kinect,” said Yvette Van Rooyen.

This endeavour through Xbox Nations helped to celebrate the Free Live Weekend alongside other offerings such as access to the latest music, movies and multiplayer gaming for all Xbox LIVE members, showing the millions of users how the online entertainment destination is changing the way people enjoy their favourite form of entertainment, play games and interact with friends.

According to Epic Games VP Mark Rein, the all new DX11 Unreal Engine, which was showcased at GDC last month with a tech demo, justifies the next generation of gaming consoles from Sony and Microsoft. The studio claims that the engine’s support for DirectX 11 (DX11), physics engine PhysX, APEX, and NVIDIA 3D vision brought “bring unprecedented new levels of realism”.

“The DX11 demo itself, that’s our love letter to hardware manufacturers. We’re able to give people another road map. If companies are building new consoles – and, who knows, I mean Apple just released an iPad that’s nine times the power of its predecessor.

“If Apple continues on this scale, they’ll have a device that can run this [points to Unreal Engine DX11 demo] in a couple of years. But, that demo we’ve shown is aimed at the game console makers. We’re telling them that this is the big leap that we think justifies that new piece of hardware you’re going to build, and we’re telling them that this is what we need next-gen consoles to be capable of, because we can’t build a more powerful PC than the one that’s running the DX11 demo! [Laughs]

“For us, now when we sit down with various companies and talk about the future, the discussion is no longer theoretical. We can show them this. We can say ‘here’s our demo, try it on your hardware’. And we want feedback – let us know what we can simplify, let us know what we can improve.”

The PS3 still has at least 5 years on its acclaimed life span while the Xbox 360 may trundle along for some years still so I doubt whether this really justifies the next generation of consoles. Also, both consoles should certainly be capable of handling the engine, if not a bit stretched.

Behold, the Tron Limited Edition Controllers from Performance Designed Products.

The same people who brought us the AfterGlow controllers, PDP has done it again with these awesome Tron controllers. The Xbox 360 Controller is pretty much the same wired controller that you normally get ecept for its sweet design scheme complete with orange light-up accents. It apparently represents Clu, the baddy in the new Tron: Legacy movie and the Black Guard, his elite fighting force. It also features performance enhancing counters and soft-touch rubber grips.

Then there’s the Special Edition Wii Controller which features the same soft-touch rubber grps as the Xbox controller and performance enhancing contours but more importantly blue light-up accents in a cool design.

Both controllers have produced in limited numbers, 20 000 of the Wii controllers and 250 of the 360 controllers. Each is so exclsuive that it comes with a numbered certificate of authenticity and every single one of the limited edition controllers has already been sold.

So while you may never lay hands on one, it is still better to have loved and lost than to never have loved at all.

Microsoft has announced that Kinect has sold 2.5 million times in only 25 days of worldwide release.

“We are thrilled about the consumer response to Kinect, and are working hard with our retail and manufacturing partners to expedite production and shipments of Kinect to restock shelves as fast as possible to keep up with demand,” says Don Mattrick, president of Microsoft’s Interactive Entertainment Business.

“With sales already exceeding two and a half million units in just 25 days, we are on pace to reach our forecast of 5 million units sold to consumers this holiday.”

Microsoft previously announced a sales figure of 1 million units in 10 days. So, essentially, the sales are increasing at 100,000 units per day.

And now, it’s the festive season. So five million, is it possible?

The Crytek boss is back praising the PC. Cevat Yerli said this time round that Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 developers are holding back on game quality for the PC. Yerli firmly believes that PC is a generation ahead of consoles.

Yerli admits that his own studio, Crytek, is being limited by Sony and Microsoft and that’s why they are developing games with mediocrity for the PC.

“As long as the current console generation exists and as long as we keep pushing the PC as well, the more difficult it will be to really get the benefit of both,” said Yerli.

“PC is easily a generation ahead right now. With 360 and PS3, we believe the quality of the games beyond Crysis 2 and other CryEngine developments will be pretty much limited to what their creative expressions is, what the content is. You won’t be able to squeeze more juice from these rocks.”

According to Yerli, games which do not reach full potential on PC can be blamed on consoles.

“I generally think it’s still developers’ mentality [that is to blame],” he said. “A lot nowadays don’t consider PC a big issue any more; their [sales] expectations are nowhere near what they are for the console versions. Until the PC market creates comparable revenues, companies are not going to spend enough on the PC SKU of a game.”

Earlier this year Yerli said that PC games will soon be king as they will be available for free with players having to buy in-game features and extras. Essentially, monetizing of PC games will change completely and the market will once again be popular.

Obviously PC vs Console is a hot topic, and there are loads of reads as to why PC is being neglected. For one, people wouldn’t like to upgrade all the time to play new games – a problem which many have whenever something impressive is released. This problem doesn’t concern consoles.

To be honest, PC technology surpasses that of console however it’s pointless to upgrade because nothing needs so much power.

Is it fair for PC to suffer?

Microsoft are taking strong action against symbol-abusers in Call of Duty: Black Ops. It was said that if you play on Xbox Live with the infamous swastika symbol in Black Ops, you’ll be banned. No questions asked. And there will be no debate whatsoever.

“It’s not political correctness, it’s fundamental respect,” says Xbox Live’s Stephen Tolouse. “If you think the swastika symbol should be re-evaluated by societies all over the earth, I think that’s great. Your Xbox LIVE profile or in game logo, which doesn’t have the context to explain your goal, is not the right place to do that. And by the way, that doesn’t just go for the swastika, it applies to many other symbols as well that my team does indeed take action on when we see it.”

Now, this is where the problem arises: Players are outraged about this and they suggest that Microsoft should also ban the Star of David, the Christian cross and the infinity symbol as they could be associated with evil. Tolouse, however said that he’s not open to debate about any of this.

Knowing from experience, players will always attempt to find other bad when they do bad. Fire with fire doesn’t work here. Seriously, it’s pretty evident that people will be offended by the swastika.

Obviously Microsoft would like to keep their Kinect as is without people tampering too much. And to do so, Microsoft threatened legal action to anyone interested in opening up the device and fiddling around. But now, legal threats have seem to come to rest.

Microsoft originally said that they’d “work closely with law enforcement and product safety groups to keep Kinect tamper-resistant”. But now Microsoft has said that “hackers” will not be punished for fiddling with the drivers for the device. In other words, if you can make it do cool things you won’t be punished.

However, that’s not all. Microsoft apparently wanted the device to be easy to plug into a PC so that people could tamper with it. For cool creations, and stuff.

Microsoft will still take legal action if someone was able to get to their “algorithms that sit on the side of the Xbox and was able to actually use them”, or “put a device between the sensor and the Xbox for means of cheating”.

According to Microsoft, Kinect has sold one million units in the peripherals first ten days since launch.

Early demand from consumers for Kinect “solidifies [the] biggest year in Xbox history”, Microsoft said.

“This is a great start to the holiday season, and we will continue to work with our retailer partners to keep pace with high demand and deliver against our plan to sell more than five million Kinect sensors worldwide by the end of this year,” said Don Mattrick, president of Microsoft’s Interactive Entertainment Business.

Microsoft has cleared up a few more questions on Xbox Live for South Africa. We’ve quoted the entire piece for ease, and to eliminate that whole he-said she-said debacle.

This Holiday, Xbox LIVE and Kinect for Xbox 360 will open up a new world of games, entertainment, and friends.

We want everyone to have fun. If you already have a LIVE account through a different region it will be possible to migrate your account to join the official LIVE network in South Africa.

When you migrate your LIVE account you get to keep your Profile, Gamer Score, Achievements, Points Balance and paid for Subscription time remaining. You also get to keep any downloaded content such as your Avatar items, LIVE Arcade games and songs.

1. If I don’t migrate, what will the implications be?

If you connect to LIVE today through a different region you are doing so via an unsupported method. In November you will be able to join the official LIVE network in South Africa which will offer tailored content and local support.

2. If I migrate, will I still be able to play with friends from the US or UK?

Yes and you will be a part of the local Xbox community.

3. How will Microsoft enforce the R599 price tag, if online shops sell worldwide subscriptions for half the price?

While the full Xbox LIVE feature set will vary by region, we’re confident that Xbox LIVE represents the best global value in home entertainment. In every region, an Xbox LIVE Gold membership provides access to a world of friends and fun, with the industry’s best online gaming network, and unique ways to share the fun with friends around the world.

4. What operational cost are involved with having Live in SA?

I can’t provide any official stats on this

5. Why won’t gamers be able to re-download their content once they migrate?

Our goal is to allow members to re-download all of their purchased content after migrating accounts, and we’re actively working to address this. However, at this point in time, once you migrate you will no longer be able to re-download content. Members should re-download purchased content to their hard drive or USB flash drive prior to migrating.

6. What are the initial estimates of people who will migrate?

I can’t provide any official forecasts; we have very high hopes for growth and sales in these countries. We think our community is going to love Xbox LIVE and that the launch of the service in South Africa will drive new purchasers.

7. Why won’t certain functions be available? (i.e Facebook, Twitter and Zune)

We realize that Xbox 360 customers around the world want enjoy to the full breadth of features Xbox LIVE has to offer. We don’t have any announcements right now, but we are actively working to scale the service internationally.

8. Besides for local servers, what other motivation will there be to migrate? What are the benefits of migrating?

Firstly, no servers will not necessarily be all be hosted locally.

Xbox LIVE is first and foremost a community. We think people will take pride in building their own country’s Xbox LIVE communities, and will also enjoy the tailored content they receive. Additionally, those who currently access Xbox LIVE through an unsupported method can have negative experiences as they don’t have access to local support. We think the community in  South Africa will opt for the best experience possible.

9. Will SA get their own MS Points (region locked), or do we need to buy UK points (not region locked) once we migrate?

Microsoft Points cards purchased outside of the country are not guaranteed to work.  We recommend that you purchase Microsoft Points cards in the country of your account from trusted local retailers or online at xbox.com.

10. Where will the subscriptions and MS Points be on sale?

In store at select retailers and online at xbox.com

11. The initial Live roll-outs seems like a fairly reduced service to what’s available currently. Do you think that will influence people to not migrate?

Xbox LIVE is first and foremost a community. We think people will take pride in building their own country’s Xbox LIVE communities, and will also enjoy the tailored content they receive. Additionally, those who currently access Xbox LIVE through an unsupported method can have negative experiences as they don’t have access to local support. We think the community in South Africa will opt for the best experience possible.

12. What type of bandwidth will be needed to play online games without significant lag?

You will need a broadband connection to join Xbox LIVE.

13. Will the SA servers be hosted in South Africa?

No servers will not necessarily be all be hosted locally

14. It might seem like an obvious question, but why should gamers migrate?

If you upgrade to an Xbox LIVE Gold membership, you will receive access to everything the best gaming network in the industry has to offer, including multiplayer gaming, cross-experience voice chat, video chatting with friends via Video Kinect and exclusive discounts to content.

Microsoft has renamed their free Live Silver package to “Xbox Live Free Membership.”

The update of the name comes alongside, both, the Gold price hike for November as well as the updated Xbox.com site.

Furthermore, the change of the name will no longer confuse newcomers to the market — Microsoft are expecting new guys with the Kinect — and it will enforce the fact that it’s free.

According to European community manager Graeme Boyd, “There are no changes to the features of Xbox LIVE Free Membership. And Xbox LIVE Gold’s name doesn’t change.”

Previous reports about Kinect stated that the motion-sensing technology could only work with users standing up. Well, new reports state that the technology will be able to focus on those sitting down as it has been reconfigured to work from the neck-up.

The technology was originally aimed at basing the bottom of your spine for movement, however this has been changed to work with the back of your neck instead.

“It means that should the bottom of your torso get confused with the sofa, because your bum and your legs are enveloped inside the sofa, it doesn’t matter because your hands and arms are still working,” said Andrew Oliver, of Blitz Games Studios.

The change is new and, apparently, most of the developers were like “‘Oh my God! Everything’s broken,’ because all the nodes were moved. But then it was like, ‘Oh, actually, this is more logical.’”

It’s finally here. After years of having to cheat the system, Microsoft is finally offering LIVE in South Africa. LIVE allows players to make new friends, download the latest Arcade Games and enjoy the gaming experience with new map-packs.

Every player will be able to connect to LIVE for free, and this means access to a Gamerscore, Gamertag, Avatar and the Xbox LIVE Games Marketplace. However, if you’d like to play online with your friends or chat via video you’ll need a Gold Membership which costs R599 for 12 months. Gold access to LIVE will also offer early access to demos and exclusive content.

Furthermore, Microsoft has said that those with Xbox LIVE accounts in other regions will be able to migrate to the local service where your Profile, Gamer Score, Achievements, Microsoft Points Balance and paid for Subscription will remain intact. All items on your hard-drive will remain as well.

With regards to the price of R599, at the end of August, Microsoft announced an increase for the Gold Membership in America. In November the company said that a 12 Month Gold Membership will cost $59.99, roughly: R414 @ R$6.9 (Today’s XE).

If you need help with the migration visit Xbox.com/ZA.

Microsoft Kinect will also launch on the 10th of November, where we’ll also pay more than America – only to receive less features.

Update: EvoPoints is offering a 12-Month package for R399, and it works worldwide. [@pantsula]

Could this be harder than completing a game on the highest difficulty level?

The achievement list for Your Shape: Fitness Evolved has been revealed on Xbox360Achievements.

Most of them are centered around the various mini-games but also for burning calories. It would seem the toughest achievement on the list is as mentioned in the title. Burning 10 000 calories nets you 50 Gamerpoints. This is also the first achievement ever for burning 10 000 calories, or calories in general.

To put things into perspective, that’s the same amount of gamerpoints you would get for finding all the masks in Enslaved, or completing Halo: Reach on Heroic, or completing Fable III without ever being knocked out.

Which achievement will be toughest?

Maybe it would encourage people to actually get some exercise in?

Microsoft has announced the list of changes for the Xbox 360 Dashboard update. Basically the new update will allow for better voice quality, an easier way to change your Gamertag, a better QWERTY keyboard, and more.

• Improved voice quality — the audio codec is being updated to improve Xbox LIVE Party chat audio quality. So grab your friends and jump into a multiplayer game, catch a big sports event, watch a movie or do all three.
• Improved experience for changing your Gamertag — choosing a new Gamertag? If the Gamertag you’re looking for is already taken, your Avatar will spin a wheel and we will provide five other Gamertag suggestions at a time for you to choose from.
• Streamlined in-dashboard virtual keyboard — we’ve taken the existing QWERTY keyboard in-dash and made it easier to use for scenarios that involve repeated text entry, for example when signing up for LIVE within the dashboard.
• Improved Xbox LIVE Marketplace UI and browse experience — the Games Marketplace has been re-organized to provide streamlined access to the games and content you want, reducing the number of steps it takes to get to a download.
• Avatar changes — we’ve made your Avatars slightly more proportional so you can better play Kinect games
• Easier to get on a wireless network — trying to connect to a wireless network? With the next update, you’ll see a list of all the wireless networks within range when you go into network settings. From there, you’ll be able to select a new network or further configure the network you’re connected to.
• Ability to sign-out other controllers in the sign-in UI — we’re adding the ability to sign-out profiles on other controllers in the sign-in UI within the Guide. This is especially useful when playing games like Rock Band.
• New browse experience for 100% completed games — you spent a lot of time and effort earning those Achievements, so instead of only being able to view your first dozen completed games, we’re giving you a new and better way to browse all of them.

Microsoft has expressed that Kinect’s launch can be bigger than any console in our gaming industry’s history – and that includes the Xbox360.

Microsoft studio boss, Phil Spencer, says that Kinect, which is launching in November of this year, will represent “the biggest console launch ever”.

“We are investing in this like we’ve never invested in a platform launch,” he told Edge in an interview. “This is, for us, the biggest platform launch in the history of the industry.

“We’ll have a huge launch portfolio, we want to sell more units than any console has ever sold in its first holiday, a new platform. Our retail partners are telling us, based on the consumer demand, “this is going to be the number one consumer electronics purchase this holiday. Not just in the games space, all of them.

“In North America 7,000 retailers are doing midnight events when we ship and our pre-order momentum looks huge. So this, for us, is bigger than Xbox launch, bigger than 360 launch – this is a big deal for us. How many units are we going to sell? We’re completely goaled in investing as if this were the biggest console launch ever, and that’s our expectation.”

When Spencer was asked by Edge about Microsoft’s prediction that Kinect can sell three million units in the fourth quarter of the year, he said:

“You forecast, you hope, you do your best, right? You ship something. I know my manager, Don Mattrick, was quoted saying a holiday target of over 3 million.

“I think about it in a bigger way than that. Not that Don’s wrong; that’s the number that he stated, but a lot has to happen in order for us to have success. Our content partners have to ship great games, our retail partners have to be there with us, our marketing has to be there in a very impactful way.”

It looks like it will be a really, really long time, years in fact, until we see an Xbox 720. That’s according to Xbox UK boss Stephen McGill.

McGill both confirms and emphasises that there won’t be a new Xbox console for quite a long time.

“This generation is here for a long, long time,” McGill told Xbox Achievements.

“I think there’s still a lot of legs left with the Xbox 360, so we’re years away from contemplating what comes next.”

“As you know, with Xbox 360 we constantly innovate with the current console you have, through extra services on Xbox Live that we can pump down the service, then obviously with Kinect; that’s a massive game-changer for the industry, transforming what entertainment in games can be for friends and family.”

This is very interesting news from McGill, because previously Microsoft said that Kinect would add an additional five years to the Xbox360′s lifespan, and way back in January Microsoft stressed that there was no need to launch a new console, as the Xbox360 is “the console of the long future.”

Microsoft has shown that it can be heavy-handed and discriminatory when it comes to policing live.

This all comes after they announced a new code of conduct in March regarding rules for Gamertags that allow Xbox Live subscribers to express race, nationality, religion, and sexual orientation.

Josh Moore a 26 year-old living in West Virginia was banned from Xbox Live for including his Hometown in his profile; Fort Gay.

Live admins deemed this to be a joke or offensive slur, despite Fort Gay being a real town is West Virginia since the 1800′s.

“At first I thought, ‘Wow, somebody’s thinking I live in the gayest town in West Virginia or something.’ I was mad,” Moore said. “It makes me feel like they hate gay people. I’m not even gay, and it makes me feel like they were discriminating.”

Moore was certain that if he contacted Microsoft and informed them of the town’s existence they would revoke the decision, but when speaking to customer services the rep he spoke to didn’t believe him (and refused to Google it at Moore’s request)  and warned him he would remain banned from Live as long as Fort Gay remained in his profile.

It went as far as Fort Gay’s Mayor, David Thompson, getting involved.

Thompson contacted Microsoft on behalf Moore and was told the city’s name doesn’t matter because the word “gay” is inappropriate in any context on Live.

Microsoft’s response goes against that very Code of conduct they brought out in March, which allow gamers to use the words lesbian, gay, bi and trans-gender to express relationship orientation in their profile or Gamer Tag. The company updated the rules after engaging in talks with the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD) for nearly a year. The two sides worked to overhaul the Code of Conduct after Live reportedly banned a number of members who identified themselves as gay.

Finally, the case made its way to Stephen Toulouse, Live’s director of policy and enforcement:

“Someone took the phrase ‘Fort Gay, WV’ and believed that the individual who had that was trying to offend, or trying to use it in a pejorative manner.”

“Unfortunately, one of my people agreed with that. When it was brought to my attention, we did revoke the suspension.”

Moore is back online.

We wonder if these admins are aware that the average multiplayer game has more racial and homophobic slurs than a KKK ralley, yet they stress over such small crap like Gamer Tags. “Sigh.”

It has been confirmed that unless you live in the United States, Mexico or the United Kingdom — and speak English — Kinect will not listen to you. Microsoft will only offer voice recognition for USA English, UK English, Japanese and Mexican Spanish.

If you live anywhere else–South Africa for instance–and you speak fluent English, you still won’t be able to use the feature. It was said that Kinect will be locked to your region, therefore unless you can change your region — it won’t work.

Hopefully we’ll receive an update in Autumn 2011 along with other countries such as Australia and New Zealand.

Microsoft has announced that Kinect will respond to movement as fast as you can push a button. Therefore, it was said that there will be true 1:1 tracking when responding to movement.

Microsoft’s Kinect boss, Kudo Tsunoda said that the device doesn’t need any ‘fixing’ to achieve 1:1 tracking, you’ll be followed as if it was a mirror.

Kudo said, “We’ve done tests back at the office where we have a TV, flash a light on the screen and we’ll have a controller, and have someone there hitting a button, and someone with Kinect clapping as soon as they see the light on the screen, and both things go just as fast as one another.

He added: “We already have the 1:1 stuff working really well and the response time is just as fast as pushing a button or making a gesture.”

Earlier we wrote about Microsoft’s new Xbox controller which includes a transforming d-pad. The enhanced d-pad is something long overdue, and we’re glad that Microsoft has finally done something about this.

The d-pad on the new remote will be able to transform from something semi-flat to to something raised, and all it takes is the twist of the base.

Following the enhanced d-pad, Microsoft has decided to make all of the buttons on the remote grey; a not so welcome change. The colours helped to distinguish which button to press without having to read the letter on it.

Anyway, the shiny remote is scheduled to launch exclusively with the new Plug & Charge kit on the 9th of November in the US. Not sure about a local date just yet, however Europe will only receive it in February — so we might need to wait a bit.

Watch the clip to see how it works.

Rumour has it that Microsoft are looking to release a new Xbox 360 controller with a modified d-pad. According to the source, the d-pad will be able to turn 90-degrees where it will raise up about half a centimeter. This modification is said to help fighting game fans.

For those confused, the d-pad is the funny button set on the bottom left hand-side of the controller. It’s rarely used by anyone normal–Street Fighter fans, are they normal?–mainly because it’s built to be annoying.

We’re not sure if this will be a standard feature on all new controllers, or if it will be a one-off special remote. That being said, there’s not much other news on this.

Microsoft has announced an increase on their Xbox Live tariff. Gold members residing in the United States, or the United Kingdom will have to cough up a few extra pennies to stay connected to the service. And if you’re using a fake address – you’ll need to cough up extra gold as well.

Prices come into effect on the 1st of November, 2010.

• United States

• United Kingdom

With an Xbox Live Gold Subscription you’ll be able to play demos before they are released for the rest of the world; watch ESPN and Video Kinect; Connect to Facebook and Twitter; stream music.

If this interests you, you’ll want to benefit from a $20 discount.

Note: Before complaining to my editor about the title picture, if you look closely you will notice a guitar.

It’s Monday (no make that Wednesday, thanks Eishkom) and I’ve had the 2^nd most awesome news of the day! The 1^st most awesome news involves a certain editor in chief’s mom and… oh wait I can’t print that here. The 2^nd bit of awesome news is Guitar Hero: Warriors of Rock will ship in a month’s time!

Now now I know what you’re thinking. It’s another guitar hero with more rubbish tracks like Band Hero. But it isn’t! Not one tiny bit! The folk at Activision have seen the light and given Taylor Swift a bit of Kanye West.  Something like:

“Yo Taylor, I’m really happy for you, but I’m not going to let you finish because no one wants to play your songs… “

GH: Warriors of Rock is bringing the Rock back (Ed: Thank you Captain Obvious we can all read the name of the game). The full track list has finally been released and well some of those songs make me want to touch myself on my studio they’re so fucking kickass.

You’ve got some classics to jam to like:

• Alice Cooper – “No More Mr. Nice Guy”
• Deep Purple – “Burn”
• Def Leppard – “Pour Some Sugar On Me (Live)”
• Dire Straits – “Money For Nothing” <– OMG JIZZ IN MY PANTS
• Metallica & Ozzy Osbourne – “Paranoid (Live)”
• ZZ Top – “Sharp Dressed Man (Live)”
• Queen – “Bohemian Rhapsody” Wayne’s World Anyone?
• Twisted Sister – “We’re Not Gonna Take It”

Some Megadeth to shred to:

• Megadeth – “Sudden Death”
• Megadeth – “Holy Wars… The Punishment Due”
• Megadeth – “This Day We Fight!”

A song that will make everyone want to play bass:

• The White Stripes – “Seven Nation Army”

A blondie Reincarnation:

• Muse – “Uprising”

And a tune for when you’re feeling emo but don’t want to listen to the music of gaylords:

• The Offspring – “Self Esteem”

I could go on, but I’m sure no-one has read this far.

Our friends at Megarom will be bringing this in around the 28^th September so be on the lookout.

For a full copy of their press release, see below.

FB out!

Press Release

There’s a few Microsoft Kinect accessories which might make your life a little bit easier. Performance Designed Products created a wall mount, TV mount, floor stand and cable extension for the motion control device which launches on the 10th of November.

The idea behind the accessories is simple: put the Kinect anywhere, to play anywhere.

When the Kinect connects to these accessories it looks a bit weird. And freaky. Don’t you think?

Microsoft has revealed to CVG that PC compatibility for the motion control device, Kinect, is a “possibility”, and also that the device has the potential to be a part of non-games industries such as music and film.

Speaking at Gamescom – where Microsoft’s Kinect lost to Sony’s PlayStation Move for the best peripheral of the show award – Kudo Tsunoda, from MS, claimed that Kinect had the potential for “widespread applications” beyond gaming.

He also said that Kinect could even possibly work with mobile phones in the future.

When CVG asked about Kinect possibly coming to PC, he said:

“We’re very focused on Kinect for the Xbox, and launching that. I think it’s cool though – and this is just from me – I’ve been in the video game industry for a while now, and I know that in the games industry lots of times we’ll take things from other industries and bring it into games.

“We take stuff from movies, or take technology from PCs and put it into games, and Kinect really is the first time that the video game industry is pioneering something that I really think has widespread application outside of just video games.

“So, hypothetically, if I worked at a company that didn’t only make games, but also did things with PCs and phones, I think there could probably be some possibility that the tech might get used in other places. But, at least for now, [Microsoft is] focused on Kinect for Xbox.”

Let’s wait and see how Kinect performs when it’s released worldwide in November.

Sooner or later, we all knew something like this was bound to happen.

Spotted at the recent Comic Market in Japan.

Konichiwa

These guys have some balls I tell you.

Nice Tie

[Via: Kotaku]

It has been announced that the Microsoft Kinect — the movement technology — will launch locally on the 10th of November. The release date was revealed at GamesCom in Germany.

Not much was revealed in the press release, attached below.

For the record, Xbox LIVE should launch before Kinect as this was the original plan. Following this, Kinect has been priced at R2000.

More Kinect news here.

Press Release

At some point in time, Kinect will be able to understand sign language courtesy of a new patent that Microsoft just filed. The patent details Kinect’s ability to read American Sign Language (ASL) but beyond this, the software will also be able to interpret lip movement (lip reading) and toe movement (not sure why).
As the patent explains: “Where the user is unable to speak, he may be prevented from joining in the voice chat. Even though he would be able to type input, this may be a laborious and slow process to someone fluent in ASL. Under the present system, he could make ASL gestures to convey his thoughts, which would then be transmitted to the other users for auditory display. The user’s input could be converted to voice locally, or by each remote computer.”

The patent goes on to list an example: “In this situation, for example, when the user kills another user’s character, that victorious, though speechless, user would be able to tell the other user that he had been ‘PWNED’. In another embodiment, a user may be able to speak or make the facial motions corresponding to speaking words. The system may then parse those facial motions to determine the user’s intended words and process them according to the context under which they were inputted to the system.”

It also details the Kinect’s ability to track your skeletal structure. “[Within the skeletal mapping system] a variety of joints and bones are identified: each hand, each forearm, each elbow, each bicep, each shoulder, each hip, each thigh, each knee, each foreleg, each foot, the head, the torso, the top and bottom of the spine, and the waist. Where more points are tracked, additional features may be identified, such as the bones and joints of the fingers or toes, or individual features of the face, such as the nose and eyes.”

Sounds pretty cool. At last, Kinect becomes useful for something – mute gamers insulting the hell out of you with a few deft hand gestures.

[Source: CVG]

Well we know for a fact that there will be a 4GB Bundle that includes an Xbox 360, 4GB of memory, a Kinect sensor, a game and a controller.

Now it seems that there may be another bundle:

This was spotted on the Australian Packaging of the 4GB Bundle.

The 250GB says that it comes with a 250GB hard drive and a headset.

Also, the console in the 4GB bundle has a matte finish, while the console for the 250GB bundle has a glossy finish.

As well as stating “Hard Drive includes game and demos.”

Is this for real? Expect a follow up soon.

The simple answer is to sit down on the floor but that little needs a bit of explanation. You see, Microsoft’s Kinect was developed with the misconception that players would be willing to stand in front of their TV’s the entire time.

Initially it was found that the software could not interpret actions correctly if users sat on their couches even though it works off reading body heat as a marker but anyway, the problem was fixed, it is marketed at Americans after all. One standing issue (did you get the irony) that still remains is that of players sitting down on the floor while playing a Kinect game.

Apparently, there is some difference between the way the software reads things when you’re sitting on a sofa when compared to sitting on the floor.

This is what Blitz Games head Andrew Oliver has to say on Kinect’s issues as part of Edge Magazine’s massive exclusive on Kinect in its latest issue:

“It’s a very clever system [Microsoft has] got,” he said. “They look at the depth data, they work out fairly quickly if it’s a human, and then they apply the algorithms to give you all the bones or whatever.

He added: “Okay, so one big thing that people were asking was whether you could sit on the sofa. The new libraries work, but there are certain things, like in our fitness game, where you sit on the floor and it gets confused.”

However, Oliver suggested that most reading issues with Kinect can be fixed with “just a bit of image processing” on the development side.

“So they’ve given [studios] a generic piece, which is actually pretty impressive and covers most cases – certainly all the standing up, and now sitting down,” he said. “[If developers] want to go further than that, then do it yourself in software.”

There you have it. Wanna cause sh*t with Kinect? Take a seat, sit back and relax. Just not on your couch.

[Source: CVG]

The PlayStation 3 is closing down on the Xbox 360. This has been revealed as Sony’s latest financial results confirm that they shipped 3.6 million less consoles than Microsoft.

Sony has confirmed that it has shipped 38.1 million PlayStation 3 consoles worldwide, whilst Microsoft announced last week that it has managed to ship 41.7 million Xbox 360s worldwide.

Some of you might be saying “3.6 million less! That is such a big number! WTH is this fanboi talking about?”

Well if we compare the sales of to those released in May of last year where Microsoft posted its worldwide sales at “over 30 million” for the Xbox 360,  which was 7.3 million clear of Sony’s 22.7 million shipped PS3s confirmed in March 2009.

So, as you can see Sony has covered some major ground.

The closing of the gap could be due to many  factors, such as Microsoft approaching the peak of its audience before Kinect reaches out to the masses, and of course The PS3 price cuts.

It seems the last and final showdown that will determine bragging rights will be in the hands of those who purchase a 360 for Kinect or a PS3 for Move.

“Sigh”, who would of thought it would come down to casual gamers and motion control.

That’s according to Voodoo PC founder, Rahul Sood, who claims that Microsoft has in fact explored the possibility of constructing a cross-platform network that would allow PC and Xbox gamers to go up against each other but preliminary tests found that “console players got destroyed every time”.

Sood stated in an interview that  the accuracy and speed offered by a mouse and keyboard, especially the kind of lightning fast response times and pin-point accuracy you get from gaming mouses is just too much for console controller to compete with.
The playing field was so unfair that “it would be embarrassing to the Xbox team in general had Microsoft launched this initiative,” he said.

Of course, this makes perfect sense but it was a good idea. Maybe handicaps could be introduced and console gamers get +10 added to their handicap by default just to level the playing field.

[Source: CVG]

Microsoft has announced both the pricing for their Kinect motion peripheral as well as an all-new Xbox360 4GB console bundle that includes the console, Kinect and the game Kinect Adventures – which is a game that takes players through 20 adventures where they’ll do all sorts of exciting activities.

Those who already own an Xbox360 can purchase Kinect and Kinect Adventures together for R1999.99 Estimated Retail Price (ERP). If you’re interested in the console bundle, that’s going to cost you R3699.99, where as if you just want the new, sleek 4GB Xbox360 console on its own, you’ll be able to get it for R2399.99 (ERP).

Steep is the first word that comes my mind – referring specifically to Kinect here.

“Kinect for Xbox 360 offers tremendous entertainment value, transforming our living rooms into fitness classes, dance clubs and sports stadiums through full body, voice and multiplayer games,” said Chris Lewis, vice president, Interactive Entertainment Business at Microsoft Europe. “Whether you’re new to Xbox 360 or an existing console owner, we’re committed to offering Kinect experiences that offer controller-free fun and entertainment right out of the box and these unique products and retail offers provide the most complete and affordable way for all the family to enjoy Kinect this Christmas.”

Just to quickly summarise, your options are:

• Kinect & Kinect Adventures: R1999.99 (ERP)
• The Bundle, which includes the Xbox360 4GB console, Kinect & Kinect Adventures: R3699.99 (ERP)
• Xbox360 4GB console on its own: R2399.99 (ERP)

Microsoft’s Xbox 360 Slim has trumped the PS3 Slim and PS2 Slim launch sales in the United Kingdom.

“Microsoft’s new, improved, slimmer Xbox 360 console, the Xbox 360 250GB (or Xbox 360S) achieves the biggest launch in the UK for a ‘revised’ home console, surpassing the launches of both PS2 Slim and PS3 Slim and recording over two days around the same as the original Xbox 360’s launch sales total back in week 48 2005,” reveals Chart-Track boss Dorian Bloch.

“This is even more impressive when you take into account that the original Xbox 360 was launched across two versions (Pro and Core).”

It’s impressive, yeah – but how many of these are replacements for doomed originals?

[via:vg247]

Well it seems that Microsoft will not be allowed to “legally” sell the Kinect in China.

This is because of a law that also blocks the sale of the Xbox 360 itself in the country.

Microsoft China’s Michel Van Der Be said that the new device will be the latest in a string of gaming hardware to be banned in accordance with China’s Ministry of Culture edict issued in 2000, which prohibits the sale of video game equipment and accessories.

However there is quite an underground market for consoles in China, in which the Xbox has been said to be leading in the current generation.

MS hasn’t said it whether or not it will appeal against the ban, but Van Der Be says the firm will obey local law.

That is one harsh law.

reVelske care to tell us a bit more about this?

[Source: CVG]