Xbox Live Marketplace Will Offer HD Movies and TV Show Downloads

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Borat would say: "This is very nice". Microsoft announces that the Xbox 360 will become the first gaming console in history to provide HD TV shows and movie downloads.

Starting November 22nd, the 1st birthday of the Xbox 360, you can download TV shows like CSI, Jericho, Numb3rs or Star Trek in HD from the Xbox live marketplace.
You can rent also full length movies in HD. The first available movies include The Matrix, Superman Returns, Batman Forever, Mission: Impossible III, Nacho Libre, and Jackass: The Movie. Read more

Posted on Tue, 7 Nov 2006 10:00:00 CST | by Luigi Lugmayr

Gobs of Changes in the November Xbox Live Update

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There is a huge amount of updates in Novembers Xbox live update. The most notable of the changes are HD 1080p video mode over VGA and component cables, support for the Xbox 360 HD DVD player and playing video from CD or DVD disks.

Another cool addition is the ability to set up automatic download of newly released Xbox Live Arcade trial games. If you are an Xbox fan it seems this new update is chocked full of new things to improve your system. Read more

Posted on Mon, 30 Oct 2006 16:11:25 CST | by Shane McGlaun

Xbox Live is Back Online [Update]

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Major Nelson just posted on his blog (the site is slow as hell, maybe the Major hosts his blog on his Workstation on the MS campus or all Xbox live members are visiting right now) that the Xbox Live service is back online again as of 2:49am PCT Oct. 18th.

It took a bit longer than expected. The scheduled maintenance was for yesterday October 17th. Microsoft is still working on xbox.com, which is still down as of now. Update: xbox.com is also back online now with a face-lift. Could not find any major new features. Major Nelson posts that there are still some issues that the engineers are working on. Read more

Posted on Wed, 18 Oct 2006 05:00:00 CDT | by Luigi Lugmayr

Xbox Live is Down Today for Maintenance

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Microsoft has scheduled another 1 day down time for Xbox Live to do some maintenance. Apparently it is not the Fall Update for the Xbox 360.

Update Oct. 18th
Xbox Live is Online Again.

It is the same story as it happend in May. I actually was not aware of the scheduled downtime, but I got so many Google hits (query: xbox live down) on the story from May that had to I look into it.

The almighty Microsoft is still not able to stage Xbox Live and switch the system with the updated code. They still take it down for the day. It is amazing. Are people getting back the subscription fee for the two days this year the service was offline? They really should. Read more

Posted on Tue, 17 Oct 2006 13:04:22 CDT | by Luigi Lugmayr

Xbox Live Vision on Sale

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Amazon.com started to take orders for the Xbox Live Vision camera for the Xbox 360.

The Xbox Live Vision sells for $39.99 on Amazon.com.

See a recent review of the Xbox 360 camera. The Xbox 360 Vision has a 1.3MP CCD and can record video with 640x480px video at 30 frames per second. Read more

Posted on Thu, 21 Sep 2006 07:00:00 CDT | by Luigi Lugmayr

TGS 2006 and X06 Video Coverage Started on Xbox Live

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Microsoft started today their video coverage of the Tokyo Game Show 2006 and the X06 event that will take place next week.

You can see the coverage on Xbox Live Marketplace on your Microsoft Xbox 360. Microsoft had a press-conference today in Japan before the TGS, which starts on Friday the 22nd.

The Microsoft X06 is taking place in Barcelona, Spain, beginning September 27th. At X06, Microsoft will unveil more plans for Xbox 360, showcasing the breadth of the next-generation line-up of games and the next wave of accessories. Read more

Posted on Wed, 20 Sep 2006 05:00:00 CDT | by Luigi Lugmayr

Xbox Live Arcade Sets 50-Game Goal For Year End

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The whole Xbox Live Arcade thing has seemed to be something that the Xbox people stress every time there's a press event, and yet the list of games has remained lackluster at best. However, Microsoft is now focusing a lot more on that feature and recently announced that 50 games will be available on XBL Arcade by the end of 2006. That more than doubles the current amount of games.

One of these new games will be the much anticipated Lumines Live, bringing over the hot PSP title to the Xbox (more on Lumines Live in Gear Live's recent videocast). Read more

Posted on Tue, 18 Jul 2006 03:00:00 CDT | by Luigi Lugmayr

Xbox Live Arcade Games May Be Headed For Retail

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Maybe the critically acclaimed Table Tennis Xbox 360 game has sent a message to Microsoft's Peter Moore that gamers crave more games that are simplistic in nature. Or maybe he just doesn't anyone to miss out on the excitement of the 35th anniversary edition of UNO. Whatever the reason, Moore recently said that a retail SKU is being planned for the Xbox Live arcade titles. Read more

Posted on Thu, 22 Jun 2006 11:00:00 CDT | by Luigi Lugmayr

Xbox Live Down for 14 Hours Today - Microsoft Maintenance Update

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Xbox Live, Xbox.com and the forums will be offline for maintenance between 2am and 4pm Pacific time.

Update 04/21/08
Xbox Live down for scheduled Maintenance

Update: 01/04/08:
Microsoft gets sued for Xbox Live Issues, Service still has Problems

Update 12/31/07:
Xbox Live still having Problems

Update 12/23/07:
Xbox Live issues confirmed, MS works on resoliving connectivity issues.

Update Nov. 13th
Xbox Live down for Maintenance at 1am
Update Oct. 17th
Xbox Live Down Again for Maintenance

On xbox.com you can currently read in several languages:
"Xbox.com and the Xbox Live® service are currently down for maintenance. We’ll be back soon with amazing new My Xbox® features!"

14 hours of downtime? I cannot help it, but this a very long downtime for a paid service. Looks like Microsoft does not having an appropriate staging environment and no effective way to upgrade Xbox live - Does Bill know about this?

There are no major new features announced, so nothing to look forward too. Read more