Xbox Live 12 Month Gold Card Only $34.99 On Sale On Sears

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Sears has a great early Black Friday deal for Xbox 360 gamers available online. The Xbox 360 Live 12 Month Gold Card is selling for only $34.99 instead of $49.99.
The discount is seen at final checkout. The Xbox live Sears offer ends November 21st.

On Amazon the 12-month Xbox 360 Live Subscription Gold Card is on sale to but it is still priced higher at $39.96.
Read more

Posted on Thu, 19 Nov 2009 03:00:00 CST | by Luigi Lugmayr

Xbox Live Avatar Marketplace Now Available On Xbox.com

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Major Nelson just tweeted that the Xbox Live Avatar Marketplace has launched on xbox.com.
You can customize your Xbox avatar with all kinds of clothing and accessories. A T-shirt cost you 80 points and sunglasses run for 40 points.
A full Halo 3 outfit has a price of 400 points. Read more

Posted on Thu, 13 Aug 2009 08:46:38 CDT | by Luigi Lugmayr

New Xbox Live Dashboard Update Details unveiled

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The Xbox 360 gets another software update in late Summer with a new Xbox Live Dashboard release.
Microsoft has unveiled several of the improvements and new features you will be finding in the next Xbox Live Dashboard release.

The highlights of the new Xbox Live Dashboard include Games on Demand, Netflix improvements, Avatar marketplace and Xbox Live Party improvements. Read more

Posted on Fri, 17 Jul 2009 02:19:32 CDT | by Luigi Lugmayr

Xbox Live is Down for Scheduled Maintenance

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If you woke up this fine summer morning and wanted to get your frag on with some Xbox 360 online you are out of luck. Lest you forgot, today Xbox Live and Zune Services are down for scheduled maintenance.

Often scheduled maintenance means that we are getting new features in Xbox Live, that is not the case in this instance. According to Major Nelson, there will be no noticeable difference once Xbox Live comes back online. Read more

Posted on Tue, 16 Jun 2009 08:35:54 CDT | by Shane McGlaun

Xbox Live Service is Down

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Gamers looking to log onto their Xbox Live account this morning will find that they are unable to do so. The Xbox Live service is experiencing an outage right now and Microsoft says it is aware of the problem.

Other than being aware there is an issue, Microsoft offers no reasons for the outage of the service. Other online Xbox services are up and running including billing (naturally), match making, and the Xbox Live Marketplace. Read more

Posted on Wed, 27 May 2009 07:13:28 CDT | by Shane McGlaun

Star Trek: D-A-C On XBox Live.

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Fresh on the heels of the release of the new Star Trek movie, the first of what's certain to be a veritable torrent of Trek-themed games hits the open market today. Paramount Entertainment, Bad Robot, CBS Consumer Products and Naked Sky Entertainment just announced the release of Star Trek: D-A-C. It is available now for download to the Xbox 360.

This new Star Trek game is billed as a "fast-paced, top-down space shooter" that features both multiplayer and cooperative battle options. At this point, only Federation and Romulan ships are available. There's been no information as to whether or not Bad Robot intends to add any additional races to the game.

Read more

Posted on Wed, 13 May 2009 13:00:00 CDT | by Robert Evans

Marvel vs. Capcom 2 Confirmed for Xbox Live, PlayStation Network

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Long-standing rumors of fighting-game favorite Marvel vs. Capcom 2 coming to Xbox Live and the PlayStation Network were confirmed today on the Capcom Unity blog, with a demo scheduled for release on the PlayStation Network later this week.

The post claims that this will be the “definitive” version of MVC2, based on the Dreamcast code base. Other features include online play with leaderboards and stat tracking, HD upscaling options, widescreen support, custom soundtracks, and no unlocking required to play all 56 characters.

No release date was provided, only a note that the game would drop “this summer.” No pricing information was released.

Read more

Posted on Mon, 27 Apr 2009 21:30:00 CDT | by James Douglas

Guitar Hero Metallic Demo on Xbox Live

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The next version of the hugely popular Guitar Hero franchise is Guitar Hero Metallica that offers up a myriad of Metallica tracks along with tunes from other popular rock bands. The demo for the new title is now available on Xbox Live Marketplace.

The demo lets players play the guitar, drums, and sing to Metallica's Sad But True and Seek and Destroy. Two other tracks featured on the demo include No Excuses from Alice in Chains and Stone Cold Crazy from Queen. Read more

Posted on Mon, 23 Mar 2009 08:00:00 CDT | by Shane McGlaun

Xbox Live Down because of posting TrueSkill Statistics on Halo 3

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Following the downtime of Xbox Live yesterday, some Xbox 360 users are experiencing connection issues right now because Microsoft is posting TrueSkill statistics on Halo 3.
The Xbox support page calls the issues intermittent. Update: Looks like the issue just got more severe as Microsoft updated the support page with: "Users will not be able to connect or log into Xbox LIVE. We are aware of the problem and working to resolve the issue." Update: Xbox LIVE supposedly up again, but still some issues might still occur.

We see quite some hits on our Xbox Live Down stories indicating that currently lots of Xbox users cannot connect to Xbox Live. Read more

Posted on Tue, 30 Sep 2008 23:30:46 CDT | by Luigi Lugmayr

Xbox LIVE Down, No New Updates Coming [Update]

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Right now Xbox LIVE is down as Microsoft gears up to bring us a new Xbox Live Experience. Xbox LIVE will be down for 24 hours , which started at 12:01 AM today. The service will come back up at 11:59 PM PST.

The downtime for Xbox LIVE will affect the My Xbox section as well and the Xbox forums will be read only mode. The bad part about this outage is that according to Major Nelson when Xbox LIVE comes back up there will be no new features available. Read more

Posted on Mon, 29 Sep 2008 15:14:17 CDT | by Shane McGlaun

Rockstar and Microsoft Announce GTA IV Xbox Live Weekend

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Microsoft and Rockstar Games have announced the Grand Theft Auto Live Weekend exclusively for the Xbox console. The event will start on Friday September 26th and run through Sunday 28th and is open to all XBOX Gold members.

The contest will include prizes and players can win entry into the grand prize drawing. The grand prize is an Xbox 360 Elite, 12-month Xbox Live Gold subscription and 4000 Microsoft points. Players will be able to play against other players and the GTA IV development team. Read more

Posted on Sat, 20 Sep 2008 11:00:00 CDT | by Shane McGlaun

Xbox Live 3D Avatars coming this Fall?

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Information about Microsoft working on 3D avatars for their Xbox Live platform leaked. The image and some description of the Xbox Avatars was found on a survey site.

The Wii with its Mii characters has had 3D characters that players can customize and associate with from the get go.
The Xbox characters are supposed to also be highly customizable and also playable in various games. Read more

Posted on Mon, 16 Jun 2008 01:00:00 CDT | by Luigi Lugmayr

Xbox Live down again after yesterday's Maintenance

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The Xbox Live network for Xbox 360 consoles is down again. Microsoft is aware of the problem and posted this service bulletin: " Users may experience difficulties when matchmaking and using client voice communication within Xbox LIVE.

Users may not be able to connect or log into Xbox LIVE. We are aware of the problem and working to resolve the issue.

We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause and thank you for your patience. Read more

Posted on Wed, 23 Apr 2008 02:25:28 CDT | by Luigi Lugmayr

Xbox Live down for Maintenance

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In case you are wondering why you cannot get onto Xbox Live. Microsoft has taking the service down for maintenance.

Xbox LIVE will be undergoing scheduled maintenance from 02:00 to 10:00 Pacific Time. Xbox LIVE will be unavailable during this maintenance. So in case your daily routine involves a morning online battle with your friends, forget about it and get back to bed. Read more

Posted on Mon, 21 Apr 2008 06:44:14 CDT | by Luigi Lugmayr

Xbox Live Gamescore Cheaters punished

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Microsoft took action against gamers who manipulate their Xbox Live Gamescore.

Microsoft's Major Nelson announced on his blog that they have taken action against some accounts that have cheated. Read more

Posted on Tue, 25 Mar 2008 14:00:00 CDT | by Luigi Lugmayr

Foundation 9 Games Hit it Big at Xbox LIVE Arcade Awards

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Foundation 9 Entertainment announced today that its Backbone Entertainment studio dominated the first ever Xbox LIVE Arcade Awards. Three of the developers Xbox LIVE Arcade games swept six of the ten categories in the show.

Among the awards won was Best Overall Arcade Game. "Backbone has been setting the bar for excellence on Xbox LIVE Arcade since the beginning," said F9E Chief Creative Officer Richard Hare. "Winning these awards solidifies our position as the leading developer on the platform, delivering high quality products that gamers love." Read more

Posted on Fri, 7 Mar 2008 12:19:51 CST | by Shane McGlaun

Disney Says Discs of Tron Available on Xbox Live Arcade Soon

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One of the first movies I ever remember that was centered on a video game was the early 1980’s Disney film Tron. I spent lots of time when I was a kid in the arcade playing the video game that the movie spun off.

My personal favorite mini-game was the light cycles. Disney announced today that it is putting one of the mini-games out on the Xbox Live Arcade on February 13th. That’s just in time for geeky Valentine’s Day gift giving. Read more

Posted on Fri, 8 Feb 2008 08:47:40 CST | by Shane McGlaun

Microsoft gets sued for Xbox Live Issues, Service still has Problems

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As reported Microsoft had servere issues with availability of the Xbox Live service over the Holiday. Despite having apologized and offering a free Arcade game, still some users are going ahead with a class action law suit against Microsoft. Read more

Posted on Sat, 5 Jan 2008 12:27:15 CST | by Luigi Lugmayr

Xbox Live Members get free Arcade Game because of bad Xbox Live Performance

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As reported Xbox Live had severe issues during the holidays for many Xbox 360 users. Even today there are still issues, specifically: Xbox 360 and Zune account creation, renewal, recovery, and logging into or creating Windows Live ID accounts can be labeled as not working.

In a statement posted on Xbox Live spokes blogger Major Nelson a statement of Marc Whitten, General Manager of Xbox Live blames the issues onto the huge success of Xbox 360 sales. Read more

Posted on Fri, 4 Jan 2008 00:03:20 CST | by Luigi Lugmayr

Xbox Live is having Problems on last Day of 2007

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The Microsoft Xbox Live support team did not have a quiet holiday as the Live service is still having problems that started on the 23rd of December.

Major Nelson, 'spokes blogger' of the Xbox Live team detailed the issues they are having in this post. Read more

Posted on Mon, 31 Dec 2007 03:37:00 CST | by Luigi Lugmayr

Xbox Live is Down right now [12/23/07, 2am EST]

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When I see the "Xbox live down" keywords in our access log files hitting an old Xbox Live update story, I know that some Xbox users cannot access the Microsoft online platform.

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

It is now Sunday, one day before Christmas at 2am EST and the Xbox Live support page states that: "Users may experience intermittent issues when attempting to connect to Xbox Live. Our engineers are continuing to investigate and are working to resolve this issue. We apologize for any inconvenience." Read more

Posted on Sun, 23 Dec 2007 01:16:23 CST | by Luigi Lugmayr