Hasta La Gadget!

This week a collection of domain names have been transferred from Chinese cybersquatter (not as dirty as it sounds) to Microsoft, one of them being not Xbox720, but Xbox8.com. This domain name could very well represent the 8th Xbox in the very distant future, but more likely it’s got to do with either the infinity sign or the imminent release of Windows 8 – made ready and willing to work with the Xbox in a massive amount of ways, most of them involving content sharing.

Microsoft also picked up xboxcompanion.com, xboxlivetv.com, xboxphone.com, and xboxtabletcom. These names are for the most part more than likely being transferred as Microsoft owns the rights to the world “Xbox”, but the 8 symbol appears much to indicative of the future to be coincidental. The Microsoft Xbox 720, as it’s been called in the press thus far, will likely be released inside the year 2013 – it at least that’s what we’ve been hypothesizing up until this point.

Now the possibility opens up that Microsoft will be accelerating their plans to release the next-generation Xbox to compete directly with the imminent Nintendo WiiU release. Though the original Wii has thus far tended to a slightly different audience than the Xbox and its most direct competition in the Playstation, the WiiU and it’s Batman-touting gaming skills may well have triggered something in the minds of the engineers behind the Microsoft-backed box.

Have a peek at the timeline below to keep up to date with all things Xbox in the very recent past – stay tuned as Windows 8 continues to gain power before it’s release as well – soon there will be a massive convergence of all things Microsoft!

[via Ingame]

Xbox 8 (Infinity) set for 360 replacement is written by Chris Burns & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

If you’re a fan of the Xbox 360 video game Forza Motorsport 4, the July car pack is now available to purchase. The July expansion pack brings 10 new cars to the mix including some very interesting options. The download pack will cost you 560 Microsoft Points and has both new and old vehicles.

The best of all the cars is the 2011 McLaren 59 GT MP4-12C GT3. This is a race version of the latest supercar from McLaren. Some of the other vehicles in the game are questionable such as the 1973 AMC Gremlin X, which is one of the ugliest cars ever designed.

Another track-tuned supercar available in the expansion is a 2012 Ascari KZ1R. Luxury performance car fans get a 1998 Aston Martin V8 Vantage V600 to drive. One of the more historically important old cars is a 1952 Hudson Hornet, which was a serious stock-car winner in its day. The pack also gets in 1954 Jaguar XK120, 1956 Lotus Eleven, and a 2012 Mercedes-Benz SLK55 AMG. A couple more exciting sports cars include the 1995 RUF CTR2 and a 2012 Spyker C8 Aileron.

You can grab the entire July download pack on Xbox Live now for 560 Microsoft Points ($7 USD).

Things were looking grim for gaming in April, when the International Trade Commission decided that the Xbox 360 violated Motorola patents and the console’s US future was in doubt. The agency hasn’t necessarily reversed its decision, but it just gave Microsoft a significant (and possibly permanent) reprieve. The Commission has remanded Motorola’s case back to the Administrative Law Judge that gave the initial ruling, which very nearly restarts the clock: a new ruling won’t come for months, and the usual review process guarantees even more of a delay even if the decision once more works in Motorola’s favor. Patent suit watcher Florian Mueller is now confident that the Xbox 360 won’t face any real risk of a ban in 2012, at a minimum. If the new decision doesn’t clear Microsoft outright, it still pushes any ruling past a Microsoft lawsuit’s trial in mid-November, when Motorola might be blocked from attempting any ban using its standards-based patents. We’ve rarely seen a majority or total reversal of this kind of ITC patent dispute before it reaches the appeals stage, but there’s a distinct chance of that flip happening here — especially as the ITC is using Apple’s successful dismissal of an S3 Graphics victory as the judge’s new template.

Microsoft catches a break: ITC remands Motorola case, Xbox 360 dodges at least a 2012 ban originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 30 Jun 2012 17:51:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Sony has been monetizing its online gaming network at a stronger rate than its biggest competitor. That is, if you don’t count the cost of Xbox Live or PlayStation Plus. We’re only talking about payments for individual pieces of content, like game add-ons, full game downloads, TV shows, and movies, and other pay-per-title forms of media. More than 15% of PS3 owners have paid for a piece of digital content on their console.

Only 11% of Xbox 360 owners made a purchase decision through their Xbox 360. “Although the digital market is growing, consumers are at present choosing to engage with both physical and digital content, rather than switching from one format to the other,” said Kantar Worldpanel manager Fiona Keenan. Kantar conducted a study to look at premium download behavior on game consoles in the UK. So these numbers apply to that region, though it’s probably a similar case in the US.

There have been other reports to show that PS3 users are more likely to take their consoles online so this statistic shouldn’t come as too much of a surprise. However, Microsoft is being incredibly bullish when it comes to entertainment content on the Xbox 360. It wants your Xbox to be everything – your cable box, your stereo, your pay-per-view set-top box, your Web browser, and your photo album.

[via MCV]

Sony PSN a more reliable revenue stream than Xbox Live is written by Mark Raby & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

Traditional console makers have often sworn up and down that mobile doesn’t make money for game development. That might still be true for some developers, but you’ll get a very different answer if you ask Epic Games. Co-founders Tim Sweeney and Mark Rein have collectively described the currently iOS-only, Chair-developed Infinity Blade as the “most profitable game we’ve ever made” when considering the amount of money and time invested relative to the money coming back. Yes, that includes even the Gears of War series, which most consider Epic’s primary cash cow. Sweeney, like his long-time competitor Johh Carmack at id Software, is also taken aback by the power stuffed inside the latest generation of mobile devices — a 2012 iPad is nearer the performance of a PlayStation 3 or Xbox 360, he tells Gamasutra, and the pace is only picking up. Even more insights await in the interview with Sweeney; click below if you want a hint of what one of gaming’s pioneers has to say about where your tablets, phones and (yes) PCs are going.

Epic Games: Infinity Blade on iOS more profitable by the pound than any other game we’ve made originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 27 Jun 2012 19:22:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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