After an incident made public last year where an Xbox Live user was banned for self-identifying as a lesbian in her gamertag profile, the terms of service for Microsoft’s online service have come under increased scrutiny by the LGBT community. Microsoft claimed that any expression of sexual preference (including straight) was banned under the TOS, clarifying and stating that it was to prevent potential harassment and hate speech. This claim rang rather hollow with anyone who has actually played the average multiplayer game online, however, since it takes all of about 20 seconds to get called a faggot by some random idiot halfway across the country.
Still, the verbal outcry following the incident apparently caused Microsoft to look into reevaluating their policy, as Xbox Live General Manager Marc Whitten announced Friday on the Gamerscore Blog that the service’s TOS had been altered, finding ways to include, rather than exclude, LGBT gamers.
After five years of waiting for Remedy’s Xbox 360 action/horror/mystery game, Alan Wake, those of you who are getting a little impatient can take heart. UK site MCV has reportedly learned from “a source close to the game” that Microsoft is planning a worldwide release for Alan Wake in May.
The Big M swung the banhammer fast and hard earlier this week, leaving as many as 1 million modded consoles without Xbox Live access, reports Information Week.
It should be noted that this action comes on the heels of the release of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2, whose multiplayer functionality is expected to strain the online service substantially. The move may have been accelerated by the troubling number of pirated copies floating around the internet prior to its official launch on the 10th.
UK site MCV has managed to get ahold of some new info on Microsoft’s controller-free gaming peripheral, Project Natal, including a possible release window and price point.
Recently, Microsoft has been trying to encourage more development support for Natal and has been conducting a “behind closed doors” tour for UK publishers to demo the device and outline their 2010 plans. Not surprisingly, the details of those plans did not stay secret for long.
UPDATE: So it seems that, according to NeoGAF, the images below did not indeed come from the good Mr. ToM MoReLLo and were instead “watermarked” by him and posted on MLG to try and boost his own rep. We’ve updated the screens with the original, non-marked ones. We will, however, leave the link to the MLG thread up, just in case anyone feels like taking a look at it… or calling him out on being a douchenozzle. Either or. - R.T.
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This afternoon brought news of an apparent leak out of a Microsoft HQ play session of Bungie’s closely-guarded new game, Halo: Reach. MLG.com forum poster ToM MoReLLo provided several screenshots for internet consumption, claiming that he “[...] played the game at a Microsoft HQ btw in a office,” putting to rest my own fears that the game was being played in a brothel.
While the validity of these images cannot be confirmed, it appears that Halo: Reach will indeed introduce squad-based gameplay to the series. Several new weapons can be observed and a few old favorites are present as well.
Yesterday I was prepared to give in to my once-a-year habit. Yes, every 12 months I feel that familiar itch. Work seems to stretch on longer; my favorite foods taste bland. Life is agony, and the only way I know how to set the world right is with a fix; with renewing my Xbox Live Gold Membership. Yes, the days feel complete again knowing that I have ensured another year of all the great features Xbox Live provides.
Though, as I slid my credit card from its well-worn slot in my wallet, once again ready to drop $50 like it were, in fact, hot, I happened upon a news story. I rubbed my eyes, convinced that they played jest at my expense, yet the text reemerged just the same: the PS3 was going to begin streaming Netflix movies. I placed the card upon my desk, and began to ponder these events.
As if dropping the price by $100 wasn’t enough, Microsoft is now offering a $50 mail-in rebate whenever you buy an Xbox 360 Elite between now and October 5th. No doubt, Microsoft is hoping to push the system even more as they near the ever-crucial holiday sales period.
The Elite, which is currently the same price as a PS3 Slim, will be at the same pricepoint as the Wii with this rebate. The downside? The rebate is only good in the US. Sorry, rest of the world, you’ll just have to pay full price.
With how widespread the rumblings were of a price drop, (not to mention multiple sales flyer scans) it came with no surprise today when Microsoft announced that the rumors were indeed true: the Xbox 360 will be getting a price cut in both the States and the UK. Starting tomorrow, the Elite will be dropping to $299 and £199.99, where as the Pro will drop to a mere $249 until remaining stocks are gone. In the UK, the price of an Arcade has actually gone up, going from £129.99 to £159.99, which may be the only surprise out of all of this.
Kotaku somehow came into possession of a sales flier for midwest superstore Meijer scheduled to be released on August 30th. The curious thing about this ad? It lists a “new low price” for the Xbox 360 Elite at $299, which just happens to be the current price point for the Pro model. This just feeds into the rumors we’ve been hearing about Microsoft phasing out the Pro model and replacing it with the Elite.
However, Joystiq did some detective work, calling around to various Meijers and inquiring about the drop. Only one employee out of almost a dozen knew about the price cut, and said it was only a “week-long sale”. It seems this rumor will remain just that until the flier hits the stands or Microsoft makes an announcement – whichever comes first.
If we take look at the Venn Diagram of geekery, this video is sure to please those who reside where the circles for “Joss Whedon fandom” and “teh Haloez” overlap.
Why’s that, you ask? Simple enough, inquisitive faceless person. Because the newest Halo 3: ODST vid “Desperate Measures” introduces us to the ODST squad through the eyes of Sgt. Eddie Buck, voiced (and face-modeled, no less) by Nathan Fillion. You may know him better as Captain Malcom Reynolds on Firefly/Serenity, Captain Hammer from Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog or maybe even as Kate’s cop ex-husband from his cameo in season 3 of Lost.
I’m not sure if the cop character was a captain or not, but based on his past roles it could be likely. No matter where you know him from, enjoy the vid below.
The more I see of this game, the more it’s really beginning to draw my interest. I like the idea of playing as people in the Halo universe who are just regular joes, instead of the cybernetic badassery of The Chief. I think this may be moving towards a day-one purchase for me. Your thoughts?
Yesterday I was prepared to give in to my once-a-year habit. Yes, every 12 months I feel that familiar itch. Work seems to stretch on longer; my favorite foods taste bland. Life is agony, and the only way I know how to set the world right is with a fix; with renewing my Xbox Live Gold Membership. Yes, the days feel complete again knowing that I have ensured another year of all the great features Xbox Live provides.
As if dropping the price by $100 wasn’t enough, Microsoft is now offering a 
With how widespread the rumblings were of a price drop, (not to mention multiple sales flyer scans) it came with no surprise today when Microsoft announced that the rumors were indeed true: the Xbox 360 will be getting a price cut in both the States and the UK. Starting tomorrow, the Elite will be dropping to $299 and £199.99, where as the Pro will drop to a mere $249 until remaining stocks are gone. In the UK, the price of an Arcade has actually gone up, going from £129.99 to £159.99, which may be the only surprise out of all of this.
Zuri Grimm
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