Nothing brings a group of Xbox 360 community members together like the promise of a free stretch-Hummer limo ride to go grab free grub at In-N-Out Burger. It works everytime.
The Gamerscore Blog and Major Nelson invited any 360 community member in the area to a Wednesday Meet and Eat at a local In-N-Out to end CES with an eating frenzy. Around 40 people showed up, stories were shared, memories were made (pictures here) and faces were stuffed. And after all was eaten and consumed the GSB crew picked up the $225 tab (you better pay next time Major) as everyone was whisked back home with full stomachs. These kind of 360 community gatherings are ever so awesome and it's cool to see that the Microsoft crew was willing to take some time out of their schedule to treat the community to a free burger. Oh and nice hats everyone. Rockin' the In-N-Out paper hat is classic.
If there was one highlight from last night's CES keynote we'd have to say Bill Gates and Robbie Bach's Guitar Hero III-off was pretty entertaining. Actually, neither actually played the game as they each had their own "ringer" to play for them, but that's half the fun. We'll agree that it's a bit scripted, a bit awkward at times and a tad of a stretch, but seeing Bill Gates bringing Slash on stage and watching the over-production of it all is simply priceless. Not to mention the fact that we have Les Paul faceplate envy and hope Microsoft hooks us up with the one they used on stage. Relax, watch and enjoy.
Last night, Microsoft proudly gloated to the masses that they've reached another Xbox Live milestone a full six months prior to their forcast by telling everyone that Xbox Live now has 10 million subscribers. 10 million! The total amount of subscribers does take into account both Gold and Silver accounts and is a worldwide total.
Now, if we were to do a little "how much money does Microsoft make off of Xbox Live subscriptions" calculation and say that if (theoretically) only 40% of all Live accounts are Gold and are subscribing at $50 a year, then Microsoft is making roughly ... $200 million. And that's if only 4 out of 10 million subscribers pay. With all that money one would think Xbox Live would be up and running normally 99% of the time, but as you can tell, it's still semi-borked. Oh well, at least we're 10 million strong and have the capability of starting the world's largest riot if necessary. And that's a comforting thought.
Posted Jan 7th 2008 10:15AM by Dustin Burg
Filed under: News
During their CES keynote, Microsoft took stage and also announced that British Telecom will be the first company to launch the Xbox 360 IPTV service in the UK. British Telecom is the largest telecommunication company in the UK and will eventually allow customers to purchase Xbox 360 consoles for IPTV service. No release date was announced for the program to be up and running, but if history is any indicator of future events then we should see 360 IPTV up and running by around ... 2010. We kid, we kid!
Today, as part of their CES announcements, Microsoft revealed that ABC, Disney and MGM have signed up to offer new content via Xbox Live and the Xbox Live Marketplace. The new content will rollout later this month to the US video marketplace from television channels including ABC, ABC News, ABC Family, Disney Channel and Toon Disney as well as movies from MGM's massive library. Standard and high-definition content from television shows like Lost, Grey's Anatomy, Desperate Housewives, Hannah Montana, The Suite Life of Zack & Cody and movies including Terminator, Silence of the Lambs, Legally Blonde, Barbershop and Rain Man. New video content that'll be sure to empty your Microsoft points account.
Side note: The Microsoft CES keynote is still chugging along, but it is looking like they've announced all their Xbox 360 news already. This is it. So, no HD DVD equipped Xbox 360, but we did get more XBLM content ... that's good, right?
Update: Major Nelson is set to live blog the keynote and is posting pictures to his Flickr account. Also, if any exciting 360 news goes down you can guarantee we'll be blogging about it.
Just a reminder fellow fanboys that you (yes you!) will be able to watch a live broadcast of Bill Gates' 2008 CES keynote tonight at 9:30PM eastern (6:30PM pacific). Tonight we may hear about the rumored Ultimate Xbox 360, maybe some new Marketplace partnerships or even learn that Microsoft will start offering a Blu-ray player peripheral (don't bank on that one). No matter what is announced, we'll get some Xbox 360 news and a first glimpse of what is planned for the 360 in 2008. To watch, simply make your way over to the Microsoft at CES website for a live feed of the keynote and be sure to have either Windows Media Player or Silverlight to watch (insert sad face for non-Microsoft fanboys). Gates walks on stage at 9:30PM eastern tonight, get pumped and watch live! Dahhh!
This Sunday Bill Gates will walk across the CES 2008 stage one last time for his final keynote speech. And just like years before, Mr. Gates will be touching on hot technology topics, Windows news, Zune facts and possibly some Xbox 360 HD DVD details as well. Or so thinks the Seattle Times. They're speculating that Billy will go out with a bang at this year's CES revealing a partnership with Toshiba to release an "Ultimate" Xbox 360 that packs HD DVD and DVR functionality. Not only that, but they also think Microsoft will announce other 360 partnerships as well.
A new HD DVD enabled Xbox 360 would be pretty cool and would help defend against the Blu-ray takeover while at the same time proving that Michael Bay was correct all along. But our other half says we already have enough variety when it comes to Xbox 360 models and an Ultimate version would be kind of overkill. No matter what Billy talks about during the keynote all we really want is any Xbox 360 news that is more exciting than last year's IPTV functionality (of which hasn't come to fruition anyway). Can we at least get that much?
With the release date nearly set, today 2K Games released two (yes, only two) screenshots of that underwater adventure Bioshock. The screenshots don't give us anything new to chew on, except for maybe an enemy we haven't seen yet. They also look like they came from the PC version, due to the whole 4:3 aspect ratio. Not a big problem though, we accept all Bioshock media because we're excited and nobody can rain on our parade. Make the jump for the other screenshot.
Yesterday at CES, Zune Boards received some insider information about Microsoft's mobile gaming plans from Xbox rockstar Peter Moore. Moore told the press that the Zune would be able to play video games on its extra wide screen in the future, but no sooner than July 2008. If the current Zune model is what they're thinking of using to play games, then damned if we won't be jaded. We were thinking more along the lines of an actual stand alone portable to play games ... not an MP3 player with limited input devices. Maybe this is a stepping stone to what may bloom into a full fledged Xbox portable gaming system, but something we wouldn't see for years to come. So Mr. Zune, we've realized that you aren't our Xboy. Yes it's hard, but it would be best if we just went out seperate ways.
Over the past day we've been churning out Xbox 360 news from CES like butter. Facts, numbers, announcements ... it's hard to keep track of everything. Those organized fellas over at Gamerscore Blog put together a complete bullet list of all the Xbox 360 news that has come from CES. IPTV, sales numbers, facts, and Live integration. It's all there. The full bullet list of tidbits is listed after the break, simply absorb the info and walk away with a smirk on your face. Ah heck, walk away from the list with a beaming smile and skip down the streets humming a happy tune!
Chris Grant of Joystiq (he's the handsome lad pictured above), along with Engadget's Ryan Block as well as folks from Kotaku, Gizmodo, and ScobleShow, sat down with Bill Gates at CES yesterday to talk about, well, everything. The group covers issues like net neutrality, vertical integration, and of course, the Xbox 360. On the 360 side of things, Bill evokes memories of the 1990s as he declares the 360 as controlling people's living rooms. With the introduction of IPTV, it would seem that the 360 has finally become the "set top box" holy grail that was sought after in the last decade of the 20th century. Gates also reveals that the majority of Microsoft's often touted 5 million Xbox Live subscribers are of the Gold variety. Other topics discussed include digital distribution, Microsoft's future, and why the 360 will have a larger downloadable library than the PC. It's a good read and 360 fanboys would do well to check it out. For those averse to the printed word, check out a video of the conversation at ScobleShow.
Those lucky guys over at Engadget received some quality time with yesterday's newly announced IPTV service for the Xbox 360. Details are still extremely vague as we have yet to hear specifics, but the Microsoft team is demoing the service at CES. Engadget posted some screen grabs of the service and over at on10 they have a video of the IPTV demo in action. We'll hopefully see how Microsoft plans to roll out the service and what companies have signed up in the coming months. Until we know more, is anyone really excited about getting IPTV running on your 360?
The CES presentation of the Xbox 360 has just finished and we've received a better idea of where the 360 is headed. The rumored IPTV service coming to the 360 is true and will allow cable stations to offer IPTV content through the 360. This service will be up and running this year, holiday 2007. We'll also be seeing Windows Vista integrating the Xbox Live service allowing cross communication between a Vista PC and the 360. Friends lists, game invites, and friend status' all from your PC rolled out this summer. They also gave out a few numbers including 10.4 million Xbox 360s shipped sold so far, 5 million Xbox Live users, and 2.7 million copies of Gears sold. They then compared the Gears of War IP to Halo and stated that they will be supporting the IP for years to come. Noticeably absent was any talk of a larger hard drive or an integrated HDMI port in future 360s, but that's why they call them rumors ... right? That's all we can come up with right now, but stay tuned for more tidbits that we may have missed.
Update 1: We corrected the Xbox 360 sales numbers. They did indeed sell 10.4 million consoles, not ship.
Just a reminder that you can watch the live broadcast of the CES keynote tonight at 6:30 PST presented by Mr. Billionaire himself Bill Gates. Tonight, simply head over to the Microsoft at CES website for a live feed of the keynote, but be warned that it does require Windows Media Player to work. This keynote is where the rumors of the new 360 with HDMI and 120GB HD or IPTV talk will be confirmed or denied. Or maybe we'll hear about a new Zune that is more video game based, finally fulfilling the rumors of the Xboy. No matter what is announced we'll see what's really planned for the Xbox 360 in 2007. Get excited, be prepared, and watch live tonight at 6:30 PST.
Gamers attending the International Consumer Electronics Show are getting a taste of Burnout Revenge during a short (but playable) demo. IGN is sharing their thoughts with a hands-on preview and so far it looks good. While some of the features that will be shipping with the retail version weren't available, the "extremely polished" aesthetics running at 60 frames per second are enough to make even the most skeptical gamers salivate.
Last night, Microsoft proudly gloated to the masses that they've reached another Xbox Live milestone a full six months prior to their forcast by telling everyone that Xbox Live now has 10 million subscribers. 10 million! The total amount of subscribers does take into account both Gold and Silver accounts and is a worldwide total.
During their CES keynote, Microsoft took stage and also announced that British Telecom will be the first company to launch the Xbox 360 
Update: Major Nelson is set to live blog the keynote and is posting pictures to his Flickr account. Also, if any exciting 360 news goes down you can guarantee we'll be blogging about it.
This Sunday Bill Gates will walk across the CES 2008 stage one last time for his final keynote speech. And just like years before, Mr. Gates will be touching on hot technology topics, Windows news, Zune facts and possibly some Xbox 360 HD DVD details as well. Or so thinks the Seattle Times. They're speculating that Billy will go out with a bang at this year's CES revealing a partnership with Toshiba to release an "Ultimate" Xbox 360 that packs HD DVD and DVR functionality. Not only that, but they also think Microsoft will announce other 360 partnerships as well.
Over the past day we've been churning out Xbox 360 news from CES like butter. Facts, numbers, announcements ... it's hard to keep track of everything. Those organized fellas over at Gamerscore Blog put together a complete bullet list of all the Xbox 360 news that has come from CES. IPTV, sales numbers, facts, and Live integration. It's all there. The full bullet list of tidbits is listed after the break, simply absorb the info and walk away with a smirk on your face. Ah heck, walk away from the list with a beaming smile and skip down the streets humming a happy tune!
The CES presentation of the Xbox 360 has just finished and we've received a better idea of where the 360 is headed. The rumored IPTV service coming to the 360 is true and will allow cable stations to offer IPTV content through the 360. This service will be up and running this year, holiday 2007. We'll also be seeing Windows Vista integrating the Xbox Live service allowing cross communication between a Vista PC and the 360. Friends lists, game invites, and friend status' all from your PC rolled out this summer. They also gave out a few numbers including 10.4 million Xbox 360s 
