Xbox 360
Microsoft pulls trigger on 360 price drops
Microsoft on Monday night confirmed all those rumors. Starting August 8, the Xbox 360 Premium bundle (apparently now referred to simply as the Xbox 360 in the company's vernacular) will retail for $349.99. The Xbox 360 Core system will sell for $279.99, and the Elite package will sell for $449.99. The company said the price drop timing is scheduled to coincide with the August 14 release of Electronic Arts' Madden NFL 08.
Finally, Microsoft revealed the pricing of the fourth Xbox 360 bundle: the Halo 3 Special Edition console. Arriving in September with a Spartan green-and-gold color scheme, the system will sell for $399.99. It will include an HDMI-capable system, a wireless controller, a headset, a 20GB hard drive, and a play-and-charge kit. Halo 3 will be sold separately.
As for other nations, there's no word yet on if and when the price drop will arrive. A Microsoft Australia spokesman declined to give a time frame on when any cut would arrive down under.
Ever thought about watching some good ‘ole YouTube, but you were too busy downloading and chatting it up on your Xbox 360? Ever wanted to watch some fool make a fool of himself in a way that only YouTube can provide, but you were too busy having fun on your Xbox 360? Well now you can do everything you’ve always done on your Xbox 360, but now with the added support of YouTube. Because honestly, you aren’t an uber-hardcore gamer until you can do more than three things at one time, while watching YouTube.
The YouTubeDriver installs a handy software icon that is applied straight to your browser. When you visit YouTube and you’re watching a video you can pause the video and activate the YouTubeDriver to convert it as a viable file that can be viewed on your Xbox 360, once you hook it up to your PC and configure your Media Player. You’re probably asking is it really that simple? Well, you can see it for yourself and decide. In fact, we have the video embedded below, so you can check it out to see how easy it is once the YouTubeDriver is firmly implanted on your computer.
After the installation your computer will be ready to provide your Xbox 360 with YouTube clips, trailers and pointless videos. Honestly, I think there are more pointless videos on YouTube than anything else. But then again, I think that’s why the world loves YouTube so much...for pointless videos. Anyway, you can visit the Official YouTubeDriver Website for more information about using YouTube on your Xbox 360 and how the driver works and how you can get your hands on it. As promised, you can also watch the how-to video below, from YouTube, on using the YouTubeDriver to play YouTube videos on your Xbox 360. Wow, that’s a lot of YouTube’n in one sentence.
Nintendo
DS slide-sensor add-on revealed
Now, Nintendo Japan has unveiled a motion-sensing peripheral which uses far simpler technology. Last week, the company quietly launched a new motion-sensing "slide controller" add-on for its DS handheld. As by a video on the site, the add-on clips into the Game Boy Advance cart slot. Photos taken by popular Japanese-game importer NCS show the slide controller turns the entire DS into a mouse via an optical sensor on its underside (pictured).
The DS slide controller comes bundled with a new game for the handheld, Slide Adventure: Mag Kid. According to NCS, the game centers around a small robot, Mag Kid, tasked with reassembling itself in the face of attacks from rogue salvage operations. The robot can defend himself with a dashing attack and also gleans new powers from defeated enemies. The title will also feature 12 minigames which will put the Kid through his motion-sensing paces.
Slide Adventure: Mag Kid is already on the market in Japan, where it retails for 5,800 yen (around $4 cool . Nintendo has not made public any plans to release the slide peripheral or outside its homeland. As of press time, US PR reps for the publisher had not responded to inquiries about the device or the game.
Keyboard Functionality Added to Wii
USB keyboards usable in the Wii Shop and Wii Message Board.
Among the many updates contained within the most recent firmware for Wii - including a lovely digital clock and some changes to the Wii Shop - comes the surprise news that USB keyboards can now be used to type entries into some Channels.
Nintendo patents new handheld tech
The Mario Factory files a patent in the US for a portable gaming system that is controlled by tilt and movement.
By Emma Boyes, GameSpot UK
Posted Aug 7, 2007 7:59 am PT
Everything looks familiar so far...The latest video game-related patent to turn up at the US patent office shows images of a portable which detects when it is moved or tilted. The images accompanying the patent show a handheld that looks not unlike an original Game Boy, although such images are for illustration purposes only and are often not reflective of the final hardware.
The motion-sensing handheld patent was filed on March 30, (published on the Web site on August 2) and explains the handheld's new controller system, "Simulation refers to game control for analogously representing a change caused in the actual space in a form of a game-space state change, based on at least one of an amount and a direction of a tilt, movement or impact applied to the housing."
It continues, "Game control includes the case of simulation on a state change of the game space itself and the case of simulation of an indirect effect upon another object caused due to a change in state of the game space."
Highly scientific diagram of hitting the machine.The patent comes with 75 pages of drawings showing how the portable could register movement from left to right, tilt, and some kind of "impact" on the case.
Nintendo's official comment is, "We file hundreds of patents every year--this is just one of them."
PlayStation 3
PS3 1.90 Exploit found!!
Quote:
hanks to Team PS3HAX, and their leader, H3R3T1C, they have released of what is now a new possible PS3 Exploit.
This is what H3R3T1C has to say:
Quote from: H3R3T1C
I have discovered some odd behavior which may potentially lead to playing backed up blu-ray games. Copying this specifically crafted TIF image to a USB stick, and attempting to open it seems to cause the PS3 some confusion. While the console remains responsive to controls, you’re able to browse the XMB and launch a game. The game won't fully launch allowing time for a disc swap. Once swapped, remove the USB stick, and the new game boots — no errors!
How to use this exploit:
1. Put the .TIF on a USB (download below)
2. Put a game in the PS3.
3. Insert the card with the .TIF exploit and go to "Photo icon" ... let it load.
3. Try to start the game and it should just lock up.
4. Take the USB out and the game should continue loading.
This potential TIFF exploit has been tested on firmware 1.31, 1.80, and the latest, 1.90. Posts your results below and let us know if it worked for you and on which firmware you tested it on.
Sony in Hot Water Over UK PS3 Ad
Advertising Standards Authority fears it could potentially glamorise violence.
Sony is in trouble once again after the UK's Advertising Standards Authority ruled that a PlayStation 3 advert - shown on the internet around the time of the console's EU launch - potentially glamorised violence and could lead to anti-social behaviour.
The ad in question featured a character called Kovac brandishing a knife alongside the words: "Kovac mercenary or misunderstood?" and the PS3 tag line "This is living". After a number of complaints, the ASA investigated and said it broke advertising rules relating to responsibility and violence.
Sony was told it must amend all future ads to avoid a similar incident happening again. In a statement, a company spokesperson said: "We acknowledge the recent ASA ruling in relation to the PlayStation 3 brand advertisement and the recommendation contained within."
