Posted Sep 20th 2007 5:45PM by Dustin Burg
Filed under: News
It's that time again when Microsoft gives us the digits and we get to trudge through the facts, figures and numbers to learn about everything going down in Xbox 360 land. So, let's jump right in.
After giving the numbers a quick look over, we found the biggest and most informative fact to be that worldwide Microsoft has sold 11.6 million Xbox 360 consoles, which is in line with what we've already expected. Other interesting tidbits found within' the press release include little nuggets like a new members joins Xbox Live once very eight seconds, that the 360's 6.3 game attach rate is the highest in the industry and that US Xbox 360 owners have purchased 24.3 million games which is more than the 19.3 million games both the PS3 and Wii have sold combined. Finally, Microsoft also included three "top ten" charts showcasing the top Xbox 360 and XBLA games played over Xbox Live as well as the top downloaded demos off the XBLM. And it's no surprise to see Halo 2 and Gears of War topping that list, but seeing Aegis Wing up there is a tad puzzling.
Check out more facts and figures after the jump as well as the top ten lists which are posted after the break. Hopefully, after giving everything a read over, your craving for Xbox 360 facts will be satisfied. Bon appetit!
In a recent interview, Peter Molyneux stated that he believed Xbox Live will be "far more impactful" to video gaming than the Wii remote in the long term. As Xbox 360 Fanboys, we can certainly understand his sentiments, though current sales numbers might suggest otherwise. Still, it raises an interesting question. Both the Wii remote and Xbox Live have changed console gaming as we know it. Sure, there have been motion controls before, and there have been online games on consoles, but the Wii remote and Xbox Live represent the most successful iterations of both concepts. The question then is which will have the most impact on the industry, input or networking? Motion controls may bring more gamers into the fold with intuitive input, but networking brings those gamers together with online play and downloadable goodies.
Our instinct tells us the end result will be combining the two (Xbox ThWii-Sixty?) but, for the sake of discussion, why not share your thoughts on the importance of motion controls versus social networking in gaming.
Next Monday, for roughly four hours, Xbox Live will be ::gulp:: down. Yes sir, no Xbox Live for at least four hours on Monday. Messages from Microsoft's "Xbox Live" gamertag were sent out to all Live members notifying them that of the downtime, stating that the powers that be need to "upgrade the service". Below is the exact message that was sent out;
"Xbox LIVE will be unavailable for approximate 4 hours on September 10th 2007 to upgrade the service starting: 02:01 PDT, 09:01 GMT and 18:01 GMT+9. See xbox.com for more information"
We advise preparing some sort of replacement activity now, because when Monday rolls around and you find your Xbox Live down you may be left twiddling your thumbs. And know that thumb twiddling gets boring real quick ... you've been warned.
Next Friday, Xbox Live and Medal of Honor: Airborne are teaming up for a weekend full of giveaways, tournaments and Xbox Live gaming. Starting September 7th through the 9th Operation Live Jump will be in full effect kicking off on Friday with Xbox Live playtime with the Airborne development team and a weekend long Play & Win giveaway. Speaking of which, you should sign up for the Airborne Play & Win here, because they're giving away a prize package every hour for the entire weekend. So, do yourself a favor and sign up for that. Anyway, Saturday continues the festivities when the PMS clan hops online to play some Airborne later in the evening. Then, Operation Live Jump ends on Sunday with a day long leaderboard tournament where the winner will pick up a Xbox 360 gaming rig and some MoH: Airborne goodies. Key in your watches and prepare for battle kids, Operation Live Jump is go next Friday even if the game ends up being an icky mess.
[Update: Our winners have been chosen and comments are now closed. Once we receive verification from said winners, we will post their names for all to see (and envy).]
Well kiddies, it's finally time to start giving away the copious goodies we won in the Wing Commander Arena tournament. We've got lots of exciting stuff to give away, but we've decided to start small and work our way up. Of course, that doesn't mean our first round of prizes isn't awesome, because it is. For our first giveaway, we're doling out 1-year Xbox Live Gold subscriptions and massive amounts of MS Points. In all, we've got 4 prize packages to give away. 3rd and 4th prizes are 1-year of Xbox Live Gold and 1600 MS Points, 2nd prize is 1-year of Live Gold and 3200 MS points, and 1st prize is 1-year of Xbox Live Gold and a whopping 4800 MS Points. How do you win? Easy:
Post a comment below. You can say whatever you like (hopefully something nice), but be sure you only post one comment. Posters of multiple comments will be disqualified.
Entries will be accepted until Friday, August 31st at 11:00AM ET
On Friday we'll randomly choose our four winners and notify them via email. Once our winners are verified, we'll announce them for all to see so they can gloat about their fabulous prizes.
The giveaway is open to U.S. residents only, ages 13 or older (sorry kids, people say some nasty things on Xbox Live)
For official rules, click right here. Now, get to commenting and good luck
Starting August 18th, Microsoft and Xbox 360 will be sponsoring all kinds of musical acts that will be playing at The Gorge Amphitheater in Washington throughout the Summer. The sponsorship will bring different Xbox 360 activities to The Gorge fun and numerous online Game with Fame sessions featuring various bands. So far there are only three dates listed (August 18th, 25th and 31st), with the most promising being the Dave Matthews Band (seeing that they are the only band listed). The Gorge's musical talent will be bearing Game with Fame fruit, so be prepared.
Major Nelson informs us that the problems people were facing on Xbox Live Marketplace today have been rectified. Xbox Live members are directed to sign out of Xbox Live and then sign back in. If anyone out there is still experiencing problems after that, direct your hate-filled diatribes issues to Major Nelson. Feel free to leave them here as well, though we are powerless to help.
Those attempting to download goodies from Xbox Live Marketplace today may be experiencing a few hiccups in the system. We experienced the issue ourselves during our daily content check. When attempting to download content from Marketplace, we were greeted with a message stating that information could not be retrieved from Xbox Live. We're not certain what the issue is, but it seems as though it's only affecting Marketplace downloads at the moment. We've contacted Microsoft for more information. We'll post the news as soon as we hear anything.
Update: As some of you may have noticed, the Live team is aware of the issue and working on it. We'll update as soon as we know more.
July's Artist of the Month Velvet Revolver will be partaking in the Game with Fame festivities this Friday by playing some Gears of War. This Friday, July 27th from 10:00PM - Midnight eastern the Velvet Revolver rockers will be online playing Gears, so we advise sending a friend request to "GWFVelvet" for your chance to play with the band. Once your friend request is sent, sit back, wait for a chance to play and ponder how you'll be finishing off the band. We already know how we're taking out Slash as our chainsaw is already greased and ready to rip.
Breaking news! This just in! The Xbox 360 is a success! As part of their press release blitzkrieg, Microsoft decided to supply us with some Facts 'n Stats ammunition to prove how awesome the Xbox 360 and its community really is. So, we're passing along the news.
Supplied in their Facts 'n Stats are little statistical gems post-marketing spun for easy digestion. Little gems like 18 million Xbox 360 games have been sold worldwide, which is twice as many sold as both competitors combined. And another stating that Xbox Live has garnered 7 million members and that in the last year a new member has joined Xbox Live every 8 seconds. Or how about one of our favorites that since November, sixteen third party Xbox 360 titles have broken into the top ten best selling games (NPD figures) while third party titles on the PS3 or Wii have yet to achieve any top ten status. Fun, isn't it? More Facts 'n Stats enjoyment can be had after the break.
Sweet, sweet news just hit our inbox a little bit ago confirming that Microsoft will be Bringing it Home once again for this year's mini-E3. The Bringing it Home campaign kicks off July 10th and will run through July 13th giving Xbox 360 fans a chance to experience E3 media through Xbox Live and Xbox.com. You'll be able to download free E3 news updates, HD trailers, themes, gamer pictures, and game demos straight off the E3 floor and onto the XBLM. Microsoft also promises a few surprises along the way, so be sure to keep an eye on the Marketplace ticker for the latest updates. Make your way to the break to see what content and which games will be offering up media when Bringing it Home kicks off.
Big rapper and grill connoisseur Paul Wall loves his Madden and challenges you to a few quarters of fun. As part of Xbox.com's Game with Fame, Paul Wall will be playing Madden '07 this Saturday, June 30th on Xbox Live from 7-9:00PM eastern. So, if you're up for some football fun or just want to put the rapper in his place, send a friend request to gamertag GWFPaulWall before Saturday night rolls around. Gaming, rapping, and talking about grills ... now that's what Xbox Live is all about.
This week's Live Top Ten let the dust settle from last week's onslaught of demos. The top three remained unchanged, with Guitar Hero II moving into fourth, pushing the Shadowrun demo down. One of the other demos from last week, Tenchu Z remains in the same spot, and the Arcade game, Prince of Persia actually moved up to eighth. Also, though its demo has been on the list for the past week, the retail version of Shadowrun has made it on the top ten list, and will hopefully continue to climb. Full breakdown of the list after the break.
Last year Microsoft gave gamers unprecedented access to major gaming conferences including the X06, the Tokyo Game Show and E3. And even though this year's E3 has shrunk a little, Microsoft will still be giving gamers and insider's look into what E3 2007 has to offer. Xbox @ E3 will feature trailers, on demand service, blogs and other media on Xbox.com and presumably over Xbox Live. Currently, they have some content up including a look at how the new mini E3 benefits everyone and a must see list that hints at the Halo 3 campaign being demoed at the conference. Take a gander through the current Xbox @ E3 goods and countdown the days to an exciting E3. Bring it on!
Speaking to Eurogamer, Guy Wilday, the head of SEGA Racing Studio, claimed that he'd like to see a pre-release demo of their upcoming title, SEGA Rally Revo, which is set to debut in September. Wilday noted that the team will "look to do potentially 360 and PS3 downloadable demos before release." Not exactly the most concrete of promises, but we'll take what we can get. Wilday further comments that the challenge of creating demos comes from balancing how much of the game one is allowed to play. As Wilday puts it, "We want people to get the experience of the game without giving the game away." Whatever the team decides to do, finishing touches are still being put on the game proper, so the demo will have to wait.
With two major racing titles -- Forza 2 and DiRT -- just released for the 360, are you considering SEGA Rally Revo?
It's that time again when Microsoft gives us the digits and we get to trudge through the facts, figures and numbers to learn about everything going down in Xbox 360 land. So, let's jump right in.
In a recent interview, 
Major Nelson informs us that the 
Sweet, sweet news just hit our inbox a little bit ago confirming that Microsoft will be Bringing it Home once again for this year's mini-E3. The Bringing it Home campaign kicks off July 10th and will run through July 13th giving Xbox 360 fans a chance to experience E3 media through Xbox Live and Xbox.com. You'll be able to download free E3 news updates, HD trailers, themes, gamer pictures, and game demos straight off the E3 floor and onto the XBLM. Microsoft also promises a few surprises along the way, so be sure to keep an eye on the Marketplace ticker for the latest updates. Make your way to the break to see what content and which games will be offering up media when Bringing it Home kicks off.
This week's Live Top Ten let the dust settle from last week's 
