These may not have made the cut to appear in Microsoft’s E3 keynote earlier today but gamers will probably appreciate two new features mentioned in a letter from Xbox Live General Manager Marc Whitten. “Cloud Storage for Game Saves and Live Profiles” is first up and provides access to ones profile and saves from any console, at any time with the option to save to XBL servers instead of a memory unit or hard drive. It all sounds very similar to the service offered for PlayStation Plus but as Joystiq notes, so far exact details are scant. The other feature mentioned is support for “Beacons” which go one step further than broadcasting what you’re playing or watching right now by allowing users to flag what they want to play, and lets friends on XBL or Facebook see that so they can meet you for a game. Check out the full letter after the break or over on the ‘stiq, we’ll sit back and dream of a future world where bringing our XBL profile by a friend’s house to keep track of our beatdowns is as easy as just logging in.

Continue reading Xbox Live adds cloud saves, ‘beacons’ that tell friends what you want to play

Xbox Live adds cloud saves, ‘beacons’ that tell friends what you want to play originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 06 Jun 2011 16:21:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Microsoft confirmed the recent rumors and announced a new streaming TV implementation for the Xbox 360 today at its pre-E3 2011 keynote. The Kinect and Bing-powered voice search that can pull in content from online sources like Hulu, Netflix and Xbox Live Marketplace, will also work with live TV from IPTV partners. So far that list only includes Sky in the UK, Foxtel in Australia and Canal+ in France, but users there will be able to search across all the services and view them directly through the console itself. There’s no word on any US-based partners but if we had to guess AT&T’s U-verse will probably be first in line again. One thing you will be able to watch in the US — PPV UFC fights, streamed directly to the Xbox 360.

Update: The official press release is out (and included after the break) where Microsoft mentions its “commitment to expand access to live television programming on Xbox 360 to more providers in the United States and around the world during the upcoming year”. While U-verse’s Mediaroom underpinnings certainly put it in the lead, we can see others like FiOS or Comcast potentially swooping in as well. Finally, would it be too much to ask for some of this universal search magic to extend to the Media Center extender software as well?

Continue reading Microsoft integrates live TV from Sky TV, Foxtel and Canal on Xbox 360 — more providers coming

Microsoft integrates live TV from Sky TV, Foxtel and Canal on Xbox 360 — more providers coming originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 06 Jun 2011 13:07:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Kinect is almost as popular for its hacks as it is for actually playing games, but Microsoft and its third party developers are making a hard push for motion and voice-controlled games on the Xbox 360. Popular EA Sports franchises Madden NFL, FIFA World Cup, and Tiger Woods PGA Tour will all join the motion-gaming parade. No longer will you have to punch obscure sequences of buttons to pick plays, you’ll actually be able to call out running patterns to your offensive line. Plenty of others are also getting in on the shouting and arm-flailing action, including Mass Effect 3, Forza Motorsport 4, Fable: The Journey, and Ghost Recon — in fact, we were told, “all future titles in the Tom Clancy franchise will leverage Kinect.” Crytek also offered a sneak peak at Ryse, a Roman-era brawler that will have you headbutting the air to take out baddies. Looks like you’ll have to start stretching before firing up your console from now on.

The following games will also be coming to Xbox 360 with Kinect Support:

• Minecraft
• Disneyland Adventures
• Kinect Star Wars
• Sesame Street Once Upon a Monster
• Kinect Fun Labs
• Kinect Sports: Season 2
• Dance Central 2

Update: We’ve got a slew of demo videos of Kinect Fun Labs after the break — it’s Kinect hacks for the masses!

Continue reading Kinect support explodes, EA Sports, Mass Effect 3, and more hop on board

Kinect support explodes, EA Sports, Mass Effect 3, and more hop on board originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 06 Jun 2011 13:03:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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The Electronic Entertainment Expo, the gaming industry’s biggest annual get-together, kicks off in earnest on Tuesday, June 7th. Microsoft and Sony, however, will be getting the party started on Monday with keynotes scheduled for 12.30PM ET and 8PM ET, respectively. You can check out our liveblog posts (linked below) for the particular times in your local region — oh yes, we’re going to be liveblogging the hell out of these keynotes. Considering this year’s E3 will be the place where Nintendo previews the next Wii, the other two console gaming leaders pretty much have to give us something juicy to talk about.

Engadget is live from E3: get your Microsoft and Sony keynote liveblogs right here! originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 06 Jun 2011 08:00:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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We’re a few days out from E3, that magical place where dreams are made and fanboys and girls from all walks of life are simultaneously appeased and slightly disappointed. Surprises are expected from all of the big three this year — particularly Nintendo. How will the gaming giant top last year’s 3DS debut? All signs point to the announcement of a Wii followup, which we’ve heard alternately referred to as the “Wii HD” and “Project Cafe.” Rumors, leaks, and the occasional bit of confirmed information have been rampant in the months and weeks leading up to the event. We’ve weaved it all together into one handy guidebook, to make sure that we’re all on the same page, come Tuesday morning.

Let’s start with a genuine bit of information: back in April, the company’s CEO, Satoru Iwata, confirmed that Nintendo is, in fact, working on an HD followup to the Wii that is most likely due out in 2012. A few days prior to that revelation, the requisite blurry images of console concepts surfaced, detailing controllers with embedded touchscreens that display the system’s 1080p gameplay via a technology called Stream Screen. These certainly weren’t the first concepts of the console we’ve seen — and they were apparently first brought to light by the folks at 4Chan.

Continue reading Nintendo Wii HD / Project Cafe rumor roundup: What will E3 hold for the gaming giant?

Nintendo Wii HD / Project Cafe rumor roundup: What will E3 hold for the gaming giant? originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 04 Jun 2011 11:01:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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