Get ready to rock all morning, all night and weekend long with the Xbox.com and Harmonix sponsored Rock Band 2 Rock the World Live Weekend.
Beginning today through Sunday, October 5th you can experience a weekend full of fun, Play & Win prizes , Game with Developers action and even a Game with Fame session where you'll get the chance to jam with Panic at the Disco in Rock Band 2. But you'll have to register and add some people to your friends list to get the complete Rock the World Live Weekend experience, so get to it and we'll see you rockin' out online.
Gamerscore Blog has posted another update regarding the New Xbox Experience, and this time we get a look at the newly revamped Games Store. When browsing the Games Store in the NXE, each game entry will now list every single download available for that game, handily organized into different sections (previews, gamerpics, DLC, etc). In addition to this, each game listing will also include screenshots and the "back of the box" descriptions you'd find at a retail store. So, basically, you can find out whatever you need about a specific game in a single place on Xbox Live Marketplace. What a novel idea.
Check out screens of the new Games Store interface in the gallery below.
Of the last few days a number of users have contacted us regarding the status of Xbox Live. Many, if not most, of our recent messages point to the service working as expected after the service was forced offline, Tuesday night.
We contacted Xbox Live's Major Nelson (aka Larry Hryb) regarding some of the issues a few of our readers have reported, today. Major told us the Xbox Live technical staff have fixed the issues Live was experiencing on Tuesday and nearly all problems have been resolved in relation to the service. According to Major and the Xbox.com support page some users may experience problems browsing the Video Marketplace but the team hopes to resolve the problem very soon.
We take the question back to the streets. How is Xbox Live performing for you as of right now?
If you're in the market for a 12 month Xbox Live subscription, then we recommend searching retailers for the Xbox Live Vision bundle because it has been clearance priced to $49 from its original $79 price tag.
The bundle - which comes with 12 months of Xbox Live, Vision camera, wired headset, two XBLA games and 200 Microsoft points - has been spotted at retailers including Best Buy, Circuit City and Gamestop at a low clearance price of $49. We can only speculate that the savings is due to the bundle being discontinued thanks to a newer, hipper and snazzier Live chatpad / PGR4 bundle. May the savings-force be with you!
In preparation for the Fall release of the Netflix streaming enabled New Xbox Experience, Netflix just announced that they're adding additional content to their streaming library including a boatload of content from Starz.
Come this Fall, Netflix will add an additional 2,500 pieces of content for streaming (that's 30,000 pieces of content in total), including movies from Starz Play like Spider-Man 3, Ratatouille, Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End, Superbad, and No Country for Old Men. You'll need an unlimited subscription plan to have access to all the Netflix goodies when the NXE releases and, just to whet your appetite, 1,000 hunks of new content are available TODAY with the other 1,500 being added by the time the NXE launches. Happy days!
Update 2: According to Major Nelson's Twitter and various reports from readers, Xbox Live is back online. Again, we'd warn you to expect some rolling restarts as millions of gamers attempt to reconnect. "The storm has passed," Major wrote. "Back to Live you all go." Well, then? Go!
Update 1: Looks like Xbox Live and Xbox.com have gone down again. According to the Xbox.com support page, Microsoft is aware of the issue and is currently working on a solution.
Original Story: Users are emailing us en masse that Xbox Live has just stopped working. Reports are circulating from users across the globe that the online service is no longer allowing players to connect. Xbox Live recently underwent a 26-hour offline maintenance on Monday but throughout the day today users complained of issues from downloading content, playing online games and in minor cases connecting at all.
Xbox.com also appears to be having issues as it is not displaying player profiles and is loading pages slowly. Currently, Xbox.com's support page does not list the service is experiencing any issues other than TruSkill and EXP rewarding problems associated with Halo 3. We'll keep you posted as details come in.
Original Update: According to the Xbox Technical Support phone line Xbox Live is experiencing network issues that are keeping some customers from accessing the service. Microsoft is aware of the issue and is currently working on it and recommends users attempt to reconnect in one hour. Don't shoot the messenger.
Xbox Live is back online. You know, we know it. But how well is the service performing after its 26-hour downtime? Reports indicate that some services are not working as expected but some say the online service is working fine in all areas. Who to believe?! X3F has consulted billionaire scientists, NASA specialists and the world's best sandwich makers for answers and created this poll in response. Uh, the sandwich makers are only here because we're getting a little hungry though ... they aren't voting on this one.
Early this morning when Xbox Live was reactivated from its 26 (or so) hour slumber, Halo 3 users in Matchmaking discovered a problem. Users were angered to find that their Halo 3 TrueSkill and EXP were not being rewarded properly after each match -- that is to say it didn't work at all. According to Bungie and the Xbox.com support page, the problem is being investigated and hopes to be solved as soon as possible. Bungie noted that the issue may appear, at first, to be an EXP ban but users will be able to tell the difference when a very specific warning message is displayed. X3F will update you as soon as it learns more.
Cue the "Welcome Back, Kotter" theme music! Xbox Live has returned to normal saving gamers unable to play their favorite online titles from boredom and saving Microsoft at least a few more hate letters to read. After hitting a speed bump during the maintenance, which only served as a stepping stone toward the New Xbox Experience, the Live service is back online.
Remember there are no new features added to the Xbox 360 or Xbox Live service at this time. We expect some connections to be a little bumpy as millions of fans attempt to reconnect at once but things will smooth over time.
So, the question now remains. Is Xbox Live working for you?
Quick update for anyone who decided to stay up and sneak in a few games of (insert your multiplayer game of choice here). According to Major Nelson, the scheduled Xbox Live maintenance is running later than originally expected. Originally scheduled to end at 11:59PM PT, according the Xbox.com support page, Major Nelson says the team will have an update on the status at 2AM PT. Maybe you should hit the sack and dream of a beautifully performing Xbox Live for the morning because we imagine updating and reactivating a service with 10 million plus Gold and Silver members might take longer than anyone thought.
For more information on the Xbox Live service tune into X3F or keep an eye on the Xbox.com support page.
[Update: The service is now online.]
[Update: Microsoft's support page has been updated thanking gamers for their patience reminding this update is important as the company plans to roll out exciting new features - also known as the New Xbox Experience - in the future. Remember, this is not the new system update but an important stepping stone. Another update coming at 2AM PT as the Xbox support team works "around the clock."]
You fire up your Xbox 360. Set yourself comfortable in a chair. Scroll down the dashboard menu and select your copy of (insert your online shooter of choice here) and... wait... what the?! XBOX LIVE ISN'T WORKING!
Oh, yeah! Remember kids, Xbox Live is down all day today until early tomorrow. The 24-hour downtime on Xbox Live will help prepare for the New Xbox Experience. The NXE will completely change the Xbox 360 dashboard you know and love into something Microsoft believes will be much cleaner and appealing to a wider audience.
So the new dashboard is totally coming out tomorrow, right? Sorry. This downtime is just prep. No new features are expected when the Xbox Live service returns. What will you be playing for the next day?
The NXE (New Xbox Experience) is the upcoming Xbox 360 dashboard update, first revealed to gamers at E3 2008. Designed to be usable and intuitive for everyone under your roof regardless of gaming cred, the NXE is a complete revamp of the Xbox 360 dash we know and love. Still on the fence about the new update? Xbox.com now sports an interactive preview of the New Xbox Experience the way it will be presented when it finally launches later this year. Also you should remember that Xbox Live will be down for 24-hours beginning at 12:01AM PT on September 29 to prepare for the service update -- meaning the new dashboard isn't going to be made available just yet.
Update: According to Xbox.com's accessory page, this new bundle will be available at retailers on October 7th.
By golly, that Live 12 month bundle rumor turned out to be true. Over on Xbox.com, a new listing for a 12 month bundle called the "Xbox LIVE Messenger Gold Pack" popped up and is listed at $69, which is actually a pretty darn good deal. Included in the Messenger Gold Pack is a 12 month subscription to Xbox Live, a Chatpad, a wired headset and a copy of Project Gotham Racing 4. Not too shabby, especially for those in the market for Live subscriptions and Chatpads.
Posted Sep 24th 2008 5:30PM by Dustin Burg
Filed under: News
Kicking off this Friday, September 26th is a weekend full of guns, cars, destruction and mature related themes better known as the Grand Theft Auto IV Cause Chaos Live Weekend.
The GTAIV Cause Chaos weekend fun will include a chance to play with the Rockstar developers as well as a mountain of prizes. No joke, they're giving away everything from Microsoft points and t-shirts to full sized GTAIV dart boards, license plates and replicas of the Statue of Happiness. Head on over to Xbox.com to register, download the free gamer picture off the Marketplace and mark your calendar. Erasing previous weekend plans is acceptable and completely encouraged.
The results are in and Xbox Live has selected the next President of the United States. It's Master Chief. In other news, a completely unofficial presidential election poll has been running on Xbox Live as part of the Rock the Vote campaign. The scientifically engineered vote was based on gamercard download numbers; download a specific candidates card and your vote is cast.
According to the team at GamerScore Blog, Obama-Biden nabbed a 12% lead over Republican rivals McCain-Palin. Independents and "Others" combined account 26% of "votes" in comparison to the Democrats 43% and the Republicans 31%. MS says more than 100,000 Live users have participated to date.
So, what's the point? The point is pretty simple, come November 4 put that game on pause and hit your local polling station. It is your right to vote and deciding to stay in your gaming lair perfecting your Barbie Horse Adventure speedrun isn't a vote. We're not being rude but if you don't vote you're not allowed to complain about anything for the next four years. It's a rule.
In preparation for the Fall release of the 
You fire up your Xbox 360. Set yourself comfortable in a chair. Scroll down the dashboard menu and select your copy of (insert your online shooter of choice here) and... wait... what the?! XBOX LIVE ISN'T WORKING!
