Items tagged with Xbox Live
Time flies, doesn't it? That seems especially true when it comes to Xbox Live Gold subscriptions -- before you know it, Microsoft is nagging you that it's nigh time renew that 12-month subscription you purchased last year, leaving you to wonder where the time went. Inevitably, you end up picking up another 12-month card, so if Microsoft offered a 24-month subscription at a discount, would you bite? Microsoft is determined to find out. Gamers in the U.K. can already head over to GAME and purchase a downloadable 24-month Xbox Live Gold membership for £59.99 (around $100 in U.S. currency). A 12-month subscription typically sells for £39.99 (~$67), so there's a bit of a discount in buying...
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Microsoft closed out 2013 by launching its Xbox One console and selling more than 3 million units before flipping the calendar over to 2014. That's not bad for a gaming system that costs $500 and up, albeit not quite as impressive as Sony selling 4.2 million PlayStation 4 consoles in the same time period, plus an extra week (the PS4 launched a week ahead of the Xbox One). Nevertheless, Microsoft is happy with those figures, and so now the focus shifts on keeping gamers happy with the Xbox One. Xbox chief product officer Marc Whitten revealed to Engadget in an interview that Microsoft's first order of business is to improve the Xbox Live experience. Whitten says customers have complained that...
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We've seen a lot of strange information come out of the Snowden leaks, much of it deeply worrying. We've learned that the government allegedly has enormous siphoning capability, and sucks up data from the Internet at will, gains access to the entire database of cell phone metadata on everyone in the United States, and has even infiltrated the linkages between Google and Yahoo datacenters. Today, we found out that the government has spread that campaign of spying...to Azeroth. Taurrorism. Get it? I'll be here all week, folks According to The Guardian, the GCHQ (British NSA) and our own organization deployed agents to swarm through virtual worlds, attempted to recruit informants out of friendly...
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With the Xbox One and PlayStation 4 both launched, the pressing question is: Which one should you pick? Comparing stats on the two is the typical way websites tackle this issue. I'm not going to. If you've read anything about the two devices, you already know the following: The PS4 is more powerful than the Xbox One. The Xbox One has Kinect. Some people hate Kinect. Some people don't. The PS4 is smaller and has a replaceable hard drive. The Xbox One is quieter, and will eventually support external storage. As of today, the Xbox One's menus and organization are nicer. It also supports MP3 playback. PS4 doesn't. Games look almost identical between the two. Rehashing this for the umpteenth time...
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Microsoft is putting the finishing touches on its transition away from Microsoft Points for the Xbox ecosystem. One of those touches is bringing back the Xbox Live Rewards program, which was temporarily put on hold while Microsoft stopped the Points program. As of yesterday, the system is up and running – with Rewards Credits, rather than Points. Sadly, the punch cards don't let you mix and match: you'll need to buy five map packs to complete a card, for example, rather than watch some TV, buy a few map packs, and buy an app. As before, there are plenty of ways to earn credits, which can be converted into your local currency so you can buy things from Xbox Stores. Buy a new game and play...
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Microsoft is taking the retail release of its upcoming Xbox One console seriously. So seriously, in fact, that it's committed to investing $677.7 million in a data center in Iowa, according to the Des Moines Register. Dubbed "Project Mountain," the investment will help beef up Microsoft's cloud infrastructure to support products like Xbox Live and Office 365. "We are proud to watch tech leaders like Microsoft choose to make significant investments in Iowa,”" said Governor Terry Branstad. "Microsoft’s continued expansion at its West Des Moines location is a vote of confidence that our state is providing the kind of business-friendly environment that can help global companies succeed."...
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We've sure come a long way from playing Pong and other primitive games on the Atari 2600, haven't we? Not only are graphics and the level of immersion leaps and bounds ahead of those primitive times, but unlike back then, today's consoles are home entertainment hubs that offer so much more than just gaming. Heck, you can even order a pizza on your Xbox 360 console! It's true, and it's ultra convenient thanks to Pizza Hut's "first-of-a-kind order app." If you're an Xbox Live subscriber living in the U.S., you can link to your Pizza Hut account and order pizza, wings, pasta, and other grub all from your Xbox 360 dashboard. "The full menu, including new products, can be ordered from the Xbox Live...
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Some Xbox 360 gamers who tried to sign into Xbox Live over the weekend may have run into difficulties doing so. That's because the service was down for a period of time, and it couldn't have come at a worse time for a couple of reasons, especially for Call of Duty: Black Ops II players. Activision's been awarding double XP to Black Ops II gamers since Friday and will continue to do so until 10AM PDT on Monday, so if you holed yourself up for the weekend, you could have earned some major points. "We're still hard at work fixing the issue members are having signing in to Xbox Live. Thank you for your patience during this time. Keep checking back here every 30 minutes for an update on our progress,"...
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Some Xbox 360 gamers are having to cope with an Xbox Live service SNAFU the first weekend after Christmas, one that prevents them from utilizing Microsoft's Cloud Saved Games feature. Everything else appears to be in good working order for the moment. "Xbox Live experienced a service issue today affecting some users of our Cloud Saved Games feature. Our engineering teams are working aggressively to resolve the issue in order to restore storage access back to full performance," an update reads on the Xbox Live Service Status dashboard. "We will continue to report updates on the Dash. We take an issue like this very seriously and are taking extra steps as we resolve it to help protect the integrity...
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Is there a better way to celebrate the day after Christmas than by bashing the skulls of zombies who are intent on eating your flesh? The correct answer is, 'No, there is not, so sign me up!' Lucky for you, The Walking Dead: Episode 1 -- A New Day is free to download and play on Xbox Live (and iOS, if you prefer). This is a great gift from Telltale Games. The Walking Dead series is a lot of fun and has already won several awards. If you've been hesitant to try it out, now is obviously the time, and then you can decide whether you want to splurge on the remaining Episodes. Speaking of which, Episodes 2-5 run 400 Microsoft Points a pop (1600 points for the whole lot), but be advised there's a rumor...
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The next time your spouse says video games are a waste of time, you can point out that a home invasion victim recently used his Xbox 360 to call for help. If that’s not a reason to rush out and buy a console (or three), I don’t know what is. In a pinch? Your headset may be the fastest way to call for help. According to reports, 22-year-old Derick Shaffer was playing video games in his Pittsburgh, PA home when a masked gunman broke into his home. The gunman forced Shaffer to reveal the locations of valuables in the home and then took off in Shaffer’s car, leaving Shaffer bound with duct tape. Apparently, an Xbox wasn’t on the gunman’s Christmas list, which is...
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As addictive as it was in the ‘90s, Solitaire isn’t going to cut it as the flagship game for Windows 8. In fact, no one game really will: Microsoft is making tons of games available. The plan is to bring Xbox Live games to Windows 8, so users can get their game on whether they’re using a desktop, laptop, or even a tablet. The company is releasing so many games for Windows 8 that it’s sending the games in waves. As you might expect, the games will be tied tightly to Xbox Live, which means you’ll be able to keep track of Xbox Achievements, use multiplayer modes, and do other things that Xbox Live users are already able to do. Studios large and small are on board...
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Summertime is a perfect opportunity for school age kids to take their backsides outside and enjoy the sun, running through the neighborhood to do all the they things they can't when stuck in a classroom. But who are we kidding -- today's generation prefers to lock themselves inside and play marathon game sessions, and we can hardly fault them with a heatwave rolling through several parts of the country. Unfortunately for scores of Xbox Live gamers, Microsoft's online gaming service was out of commission for several hours on Friday. Microsoft issued a tweet yesterday afternoon saying it was "aware of the issues some users are having" and that it was investigating the matter. Five hours later,...
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HBO GO, as rumored, has now launched on Xbox. The service officially launched this week on Microsoft’s Xbox LIVE, the online entertainment service for Xbox 360. With HBO GO on Xbox, consumers will be able to instantly access more than 1,400 titles, including every episode of every season of the best HBO shows – streamed to their TVs for convenient, on-demand viewing from the comfort of home. HBO GO is available at no additional cost to HBO customers who subscribe through a participating television provider. “HBO and Xbox is a marriage of the two preeminent brands in their respective fields,” said Otto Berkes, senior vice president of Consumer Technology, HBO. “During...
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While for many Xbox users it only seems like just yesterday that the New Xbox Experience dashboard update was released, followed recently by another update for the release of the Kinect. Now, in preparation for the new Xbox Live features announced this past E3, Microsoft will be releasing yet another stylish new update. The new update, pictured below, will be launching this fall with faster content browsing and faster navigation with Kinect-enabled speech commands. The improvements are aimed at making the dashboard easier for users to browse with the ever-expanding library of content on Xbox Live, including live sporting events from ESPN and Youtube, later this year. “It’s about making...
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Microsoft introduced its free Xbox Live Rewards program to give loyal customers recognition and rewards for using Xbox Live. Members of the program will earn Microsoft Points—the same currency used by Xbox Live—when they use the service to renew a membership, activate Netflix, purchase merchandise, and more. According to Larry Hryb, aka Major Nelson, Microsoft's Xbox Live director of programming, users will also be able to earn points while playing games on Xbox Live. The rewards program is available to anyone with a free Xbox Live membership, but Gold members will have additional opportunities to earn points. The points can be used to purchase content and gear from the Xbox Live...
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Ever heard of Microsoft's Xbox 360? It's a gaming console, right? Well, maybe. Maybe not! The console definitely started out as a game console when it originally launched, offering up far superior graphics compared to the Nintendo Wii and catering to more hardcore gamers. But soon after came the external HD DVD drive, and while that was short lived, Xbox LIVE brought along lots of digital content, from the Xbox Video Store to Netflix integration. Speaking to attendees of BMO Capital Markets Digital Entertainment Conference in New York, Dennis Durkin (which is listed as the corporate vice president and chief operating and financial officer of Microsoft's Interactive Entertainment Business) stated...
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The start of November marks a lot of things, but for Xbox owners, it marks the start of a new Dashboard era. The company's newest Dashboard was announced, along with its new features, months back, with some of them teased as far back as E3 this summer. Today, Microsoft revealed that the new Dashboard update was available to all, and the servers have been under heavy load since the start of the month. The next time you login to Xbox Live, you may be asked to download a software update. That update will bring a host of new items, namely ESPN on Xbox Live, Zune Music, Netflix Search, improved voice chat quality, improved gamertag creation and a streamlined in-dashboard virtual keyboard. The full...
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Enjoying your Xbox LIVE subscription? Exactly how much are you enjoying it? We only ask because starting November 1st, it will cost you even more to maintain it. For the first time since Xbox LIVE's inception, Microsoft is being forced to raise prices for members in Canada, Mexico, the UK and the United States. The price increases aren't huge, but they're notable. The 1 month Gold subscription is creeping up from $7.99 to $9.99, the 3 month Gold is going up from $19.99 to $24.99, and the 1 year Gold subscription is being raised from $49.99 to $59.99. We're sure that a lot of members will be upset, but Microsoft actually sells the increase pretty well. Here's a quote from Major Nelson: "Since...
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Windows Phone 7 is coming this holiday season, and Microsoft just revealed one of its biggest features at the GamesCom event in Germany: Xbox integration. That's right. Microsoft's new mobile operating system will be tightly integrated with one of the world's most popular gaming platforms, giving it a huge leg-up over the rivals. Even though Apple will be pushing Games Center live shortly, Apple has no game console to tie their OS into. And with the popularity of Xbox Live, it's obvious that Microsoft will have the upper hand here. But will it be enough to reclaim that market share they're lost to Android and iOS over the past couple of years? At the expo, Microsoft revealed the first set of...
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Are game consoles the next set-top box? Five years ago, no one would've ever believed that the Nintendo 64 or PlayStation 2 could ever become someone's primary source of in-home entertainment, but now, the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 definitely have that capability. Between the two, users can watch DVDs, Blu-ray Discs, Web programming, movies, TV shows and of course, play games. That's an awful lot of entertainment, but more could be on the way for Microsoft's console. In a never-ending bid to one-up "the other guy," Microsoft is reportedly talking behind the scenes of boosting the Xbox LIVE offering with a dedicated Xbox TV channel that would provide some original content and some reruns. Details...
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While speaking at the Morgan Stanley Technology, Media, and Telecom Conference, Peter Klein, Microsoft's chief financial officer, revealed some interesting numbers about Windows 7, Xbox LIVE, and a few other Microsoft products. More specifically, Microsoft has sold 90 million copies of Windows 7 to date, making it the fastest-selling operating system in history. In addition, Windows XP may finally be on its way out as more and more enterprise users make the switch to Windows 7. "We're now having conversations with the majority of our enterprise customers who are making plans to deploy Windows 7," Klein said. Klein also looked ahead to some of the new Microsoft products that are in the pipeline...
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