Hasta La Gadget!

We’ve known that it was coming for some time now, and today we have a report of an actual launch date for Microsoft’s Xbox Music service. According to The Verge’s sources, the rollout will coincide with the launch of Windows 8 on October 26th. What’s more, the site is also reporting that the service will include a free, ad-supported option in addition to paid subscriptions — rates for the latter leaked out last month. As expected, the service will be available on Windows Phone, Windows 8 and the Xbox 360 at launch, with iOS and Android apps said to be coming at a later date.

Filed under: Internet, Mobile, Microsoft

Microsoft reportedly set to launch Xbox Music on October 26th, ad-supported option on tap originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 03 Oct 2012 10:28:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |  The Verge  | Email this | Comments

Valve, it would seem, is on a roll lately. Not only did it launch non-game software on Steam today, but it recently announced that the Left 4 Dead franchise has topped 12 million sales. An impressive feat, to be sure, especially considering just how crowded the FPS genre is at the moment. Zombie games aren’t exactly a rare thing these days either, but depending on who you ask, Left 4 Dead does the zombie apocalypse best.

The news comes from Valve’s Chet Faliszek, who shared the sales figures in a recent interview with VG247. According to Faliszek, Left 4 Dead was a success because Valve didn’t hype the game before launch, instead allowing players check it out themselves pre-release and letting the gameplay speak for itself. “Telling people a game is great will sell one extra copy,” he said. “Letting people play the game–Left 4 Dead is a good example–is much better.

“All of our pre-release stuff is designed to just let people play it,” Faliszek continued. “We just let the game speak for itself because the Internet has made this thing where, you can’t pull the wool over people’s eyes any more. They’re going to know you’re hyping. But when a game does really well at pre-release, they’re going to know that you’re not just talking a bunch of PR crap. I mean, the Left 4 Dead series has now sold over 12 million copies.”

The same could be said of all of Valve’s games. Though Valve does do a considerable amount of advertising for its own games – Portal 2 comes to mind – Valve typically lets fans hype its games for it. Sure, Valve likes to talk about what its doing to improve on previous iterations or the genre in general, but for the most part, it seems that the studio stays away from “bragging.”

Valve also supports its games for a really long time after release, with Left 4 Dead 2 being the shining example of that. The game was released way back in 2009, but Valve was still supporting it with new DLC campaigns into this year. Left 4 Dead fans have a reason to celebrate with this news as well, since 12 million sales for the franchise means we can probably count on Left 4 Dead 3 at some point in the future. Stay tuned.

Left 4 Dead franchise reaches 12 million sales is written by Eric Abent & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

Mojang’s masterpiece of a block building game, Minecraft, has broken yet another new sales record, and this time around it would be the Minecraft Xbox 360 Edition that makes its mark on the record books. Mojang’s collaboration with 4J Studios has resulted in a blockbuster hit that has surpassed the 4 million mark, where 4J Studios tweeted, “Minecraft: Xbox 360 Edition has passed 4 million sales! Incredible number, thanks to you all!”

Of course, we do not rule out Minecraft Xbox 360 Edition to be the pacesetter in the weeks and months ahead as it is on track to be the all-time best-seller for XBLA titles. We also know that 4 million folks out there are also on the lookout for version 1.82 of Minecraft Xbox 360 Edition that will see the introduction of Creation Mode, too. If you have yet to try out Minecraft Xbox 360 Edition, we strongly recommend you give it a go not for the sake of helping it break new records, but it really does seem to be worth every dime you put into it.

By Ubergizmo. Related articles: Minecraft for Xbox 360 to get new skins, Minecraft items now available for your Xbox LIVE Avatars,

For Mojang, Minecraft is the gift that keeps on giving. Perhaps it would better to call it the cash cow that keeps producing that sweet, sweet money, but whatever you want to call it, it’s safe to say that it’s one of the most popular indie games ever created. That’s evidenced in the latest sales numbers for the Xbox 360 edition: 4 million sales less than 5 months after release. That, ladies and gentlemen, is a success.

It would be considered a success by most studios putting out triple-A retail releases with a $60 price tag, never mind a smaller studio putting a port of an indie game on Xbox Live Arcade. Some were saying prior to release that Minecraft Xbox 360 Edition‘s $20 dollar price was too steep for an Xbox Live Arcade title, but it seems that the fans don’t mind paying it. It’s fun to wonder, however, if Mojang would have enjoyed more sales if it had priced Minecraft at $15.

But no matter, because Minecraft Xbox 360 Edition is still raking in the cash. By comparison, Minecraft.net shows that sales of the PC version are sitting right around 7.5 million, but given Minecraft’s popularity, it probably won’t linger there for long. Combined, both the Xbox 360 and PC versions of Minecraft have sold just over 11.5 million copies, and that isn’t counting sales of Minecraft Pocket Edition on iOS and Android, which are probably equally as impressive.

Those who have been eyeing the PC version might be pleased to know that Mojang is now offering digital download cards for Minecraft at retailers in the US. The cards cost $26.95, the same price as a digital download directly from Minecraft.net, and are available at Target, Walmart, and Best Buy locations across the country. If you haven’t yet experienced what Minecraft has to offer, it sounds like now is the perfect time.

Minecraft Xbox 360 Edition hits 4 million sales is written by Eric Abent & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

Motorola shall not have their way, and Microsoft’s Xbox 360 will live to fight another day – at least this is the result of Microsoft’s defense against a Motorola Mobility lawsuit, where a U.S. court did state that Motorola Mobility cannot enforce an Xbox 360 ban all the way across the pond in Germany. Motorola was granted an injunction against the distribution of a range of Microsoft products, where among them include the console that is still going strong, the Xbox 360. This injunction has everything to do with a German court ruling where Microsoft is said to have infringed upon Motorola’s video coding and playback patents.

Trust a U.S. court to come to the “rescue” where it mentioned that order by the lower German court was “narrowly tailored”, while the current contract between both American companies will be used as an alternative to determine a royalty rate to be paid out. Which do you think is better, a ban or a royalty payout?

By Ubergizmo. Related articles: Motorola wins injunction against Windows 7 and Xbox 360 in Germany, Motorola wants Xbox 360 ban,