At Microsoft's E307 Media Briefing, Peter Moore announced that Xbox Live's Video Marketplace would be going worldwide, or more specifically, to Europe as well as Canada. Apparently, XBLVM will be available in these new locales this fall, a full year since the announcement and launch in November 2006 in the States.
This came hot off of the announcement of Disney partnering with Microsoft to bring HD movies to Video Marketplace tonight. We're very happy to see Video Marketplace have a broader reach, though it will be interesting to see what content discrepancies there are when it launches in the coming months.
Xbox Live Marketplace has a couple of videos and a Gamer picture pack from MLG, or Major League Gaming. The pack costs 80 MS Points and the videos are free. One video is sort of an introduction into the world of competitive gaming, while the other sort follows around one of the top tier players, Walshy, and is a lot meatier than the former. The video follows him around and gives insight into the life of a "professional gamer", and does a good job of representing those who compete. To say the least, he makes a bunch of really cool t-shirt designs. Definitely worth a watch, if you're interested in seeing what MLG is all about.
A teaser trailer for Juiced 2: Hot Import Nights is available in both High and Standard definition on XBLM. It's short and sweet, considering they're 35 and 7 MB in size, respectively. Upon watching the FMV teaser, our initial response was uncontrollable laughter. The trailer seems to highlight some of the street racing "subculture", and features not one, but two gratuitous shots of a girl in a tight tank top and bikini bottom. Give it a watch, because at the very least it will give you a chuckle.
Xbox Live Marketplace has two new multiplayer maps available for Monster Madness, both costing 200 Microsoft points individually. The first is a 4v4 Capture the Flag level called Zack's House, and is a close quarters indoor map. The second map is called High School and is fit for 16 players, and has opportunities for vehicular combat outside, with close quarters action inside. Does this float anyone's boat, and do you think the 200 MS points is a fair price for each map?
FASA has given word on when we can expect the Shadowrun demo to hit Xbox Live Marketplace. As a means to give gamers with Halo 3 Beta withdrawal a quick fix, it will go live on June 6th. It will feature Power Station, and the gametype Raid, with Humans and Elves. It also won't have a time restriction for play, so you may frag to your heart's content, and it doesn't have an announced expiration at the moment. Full breakdown of what's in the demo after the break.
The Crackdown "Free-For-All Pack" and "Getting Busy Bonus Pack" are both now available on Xbox Live Marketplace. Complete with fresh Achievements, you can have a jolly ole time with the new equipment, game modes, and vehicles. So, honestly, if you've taken a look at our videos on the content, what are you still doing here? Apparently you feel the price is right, right?
In Major Nelson's post this morning about the new Crackdowncontent, he put up some Xbox.com videos about some of the new features. Later on in the day, he hosted them up on his fresh YouTube account, and we have them here for your viewing pleasure. The above video shows the "Keys to the City" mode, giving you full control over the chaos and carnage that you cause in Pacific City. After the break we've got videos showing the new Game Types, Street Racing mode and equipment. Enjoy.
Not long after we announced the upcoming Multiplayer Map Pack for Gears of War, we were sent screenshots of the four arenas. We have to say, they look mighty nice. Our favorites being that of Garden and Bullet Marsh, which both really take the "destroyed" beauty motif to the next level. Process looks nice, with the eery yellow glow of the Imulsion surrounding the battlefield, but Subway looks kind of run of the mill in the available shots. What do you think of the levels? The rest of the map shots are available after the break.
On Thursday May 3rd at 4:00 AM EDT, four new Gears of War maps will be hitting Xbox Live Marketplace as part of the "Hidden Fronts" Multiplayer Map Pack. Running you 800 Microsoft Points, you'll be able to do battle on Process, Garden, Subway, and Bullet Marsh. For those of you concerned about the price, fret not, as you'll be able to download the pack for free four months later, on September 3rd, 2007. We've got the map descriptions from the press release after the break, but the question we've got for you is this: Are you going to get the maps now, or wait a bit first to see if it's worth your hard earned points and hold off till they're free in the fall?
Just to make up for ... exposing you to the bleak outlook on the part of the Live community we should best ignore, here's something that will make sure you want to boot to your dashboard every time you start up your 360. Konsole Kingz is bringing us the 360 Queens to Xbox Live Marketplace, in the form of a Dashboard Theme and some gamerpics. All we can say is, "Daaaamn". We have the sneaking suspicion we'll be checking our System blade's preferences far more frequently. The theme will go for 150 MS Points and the picture pack for 80, so that's a fair price for some nice eye candy. Would you want to spice up your 360 with this theme? In case you're too distracted to notice, the rest of the blades can be seen by clicking the "Read" link. Which one's your favorite?
Major Nelson gave word that the Hero and Villian packs are finally available on Xbox Live Marketplace. You can buy the Hero or Villian packs individually for 500 MS Points a piece, or if you're a thrifty fanboy, can get both packs for 800 MS Points. Also available is a trailer for the packs so people can have a look at the content before they buy it. So, now that the wait is finally over, are you going to pick any of these packs up? If so, which ones, and does it have to do with the added Achievements?
For the low, low price of 250 MS Points you can get your hands on eight new vehicles and six new arenas for the Xbox Live Arcade title Novadrome. Not only can you take this online in the multiplayer mode, but they are featured in a new Career mode as well. So, while the game didn't receive the best of reviews, it still had some merit, if only to remind us of Re-Volt, the Dreamcast title and Xbox Live Beta game of choice. Will you be picking this up, given that you actually have Novadrome?
Sonic the Hedgehog has a a few pieces of new content available on Xbox Live Marketplace. If you enjoyed the boss battles found in the game with, you might be interested in this. You can download, for 150 MS points each, "Boss Attack"s for each of the game's lead hedgehogs. Apparently, if you've completed Sonic, Shadow, or Silver's respective episode, you can use this content for what seems to be a game mode akin to Heavy Weapon's Boss Blitz, but for individual characters. Do you play the game, and would you pick this up if you do?
GamerscoreBlog put up a fact sheet about Xbox Live to date, announcing they've hit 6,000,000 Xbox Live users four months ahead of schedule. Along with that, they have some spiffy trivia bullet points that might suit your fancy. First, Xbox Live members have unlocked around 300 million Achievements, netting a staggering total of 7.5 billion Gamerscore. Also, 5 billion MS points have been purchased for use over Xbox Live Marketplace. The top three played games worldwide on the 360 are Halo 2, Gears of War, and Hexic HD, and the top downloaded XBLA games Street Fighter II, Bankshot Billiards 2 and Marble Blast Ultra. So there's some cool news you can use. Or at least keep in mind next time you get an Achievement or use Marketplace.
This week's update for Video Marketplace comes courtesy of Major Nelson. Unfortunately, the two movies we get are only available in 480p, which is kind of a bummer. On the upside, though, we do get South Park's seasons 5 through 8 exclusively this week. The O.C., which had its series finale a week ago. Those of you looking for some octagonal action should enjoy the UFC fights. In light of the addition of more South Park, one of the aforementioned films happens to be South Park: Bigger, Longer, & Uncut. Full list of content available after the break.
At Microsoft's E307 Media Briefing, Peter Moore announced that Xbox Live's Video Marketplace would be going worldwide, or more specifically, to Europe as well as Canada. Apparently, XBLVM will be available in these new locales this fall, a full year since the announcement and launch in November 2006 in the States.
A teaser trailer for Juiced 2: Hot Import Nights is available in both High and Standard definition on XBLM. It's short and sweet, considering they're 35 and 7 MB in size, respectively. Upon watching the FMV teaser, our initial response was uncontrollable laughter. The trailer seems to highlight some of the street racing "subculture", and features not one, but two gratuitous shots of a girl in a tight tank top and bikini bottom. Give it a watch, because at the very least it will give you a chuckle.
FASA has given word on when we can expect the 
For the low, low price of 250 MS Points you can get your hands on eight new vehicles and six new arenas for the Xbox Live Arcade title Novadrome. Not only can you take this online in the multiplayer mode, but they are featured in a new Career mode as well. So, while the game didn't receive the 
GamerscoreBlog put up a fact sheet about Xbox Live to date, announcing they've hit 6,000,000 Xbox Live users four months ahead of schedule. Along with that, they have some spiffy trivia bullet points that might suit your fancy. First, Xbox Live members have unlocked around 300 million Achievements, netting a staggering total of 7.5 billion Gamerscore. Also, 5 billion MS points have been purchased for use over Xbox Live Marketplace. The top three played games worldwide on the 360 are Halo 2, Gears of War, and Hexic HD, and the top downloaded XBLA games Street Fighter II, Bankshot Billiards 2 and Marble Blast Ultra. So there's some cool news you can use. Or at least keep in mind next time you get an Achievement or use Marketplace.
