Hasta La Gadget!

Microsoft knows how important it is to remain secure digitally in this day and age, and they are keen on making sure that your experience on the Xbox Live remains as problem-free as possible, hence the software giant has introduced more security improvements to Xbox Live. According to a blog post from XBL (Xbox Live) general manager Alex Garden, Microsoft hopes that everyone would take heed of their advice and update their respective account passwords. After all, a security chain is only as strong as its weakest link, and majority of the security enhancements and recovery processes with XBL are highly dependent on its members to have “valid, up-to-date security information in place.”

Alex Garden said, “I encourage everyone to take five minutes today to check your security information and update it if necessary. If you have any lost or stolen security proofs, update them now to prevent any interruptions to your Xbox Live service in the future. We only use this information for your security, and never for marketing or advertising.”

We could not agree more, but I sure as heck hope that you have the brain power to remember the numerous passwords and username of so many accounts out there.

By Ubergizmo. Related articles: Xbox LIVE back online, Xbox Live issues, Microsoft hopes to fix it soon,

Harmonix has announced that its downloadable Rock Band spin-off Rock Band Blitz will release on Xbox Live Arcade and PlayStation Network next month. PS3 owners will get it first, with the game releasing for PSN on August 28. Those playing on Xbox 360 will have to wait a day longer, as the XBLA version doesn’t launch until the following day, August 29. Rock Band Blitz will cost $14.99 on PSN and 1200 MSP on Xbox Live Arcade.

Despite having that familiar Rock Band look, Rock Band Blitz is something of a departure for the series. Instead of using those clunky instrument controllers required by Rock Band proper, Rock Band Blitz has players using a standard controller to hit the notes. Truth be told, Rock Band Blitz seems to have more in common with Frequency and Amplitude, two earlier Harmonix titles, than it does with Rock Band.

If you’re like me and you’ve spent more money than you care to count on DLC tracks for the Rock Band series, never fear – Harmonix says that all of those DLC tracks will work in Rock Band Blitz. The game itself comes with 20 tracks, four of which were announced today: “So Far Away” by Avenged Sevenfold, “Jungle Boogie” by Kool & The Gang, “We Are Young” by Fun, and “Sing” by My Chemical Romance. Finally, all of the songs found in Rock Band Blitz are also playable in Rock Band 3, so that’s a nice little bonus in exchange for your $15.

[via Eurogamer]

Rock Band Blitz hits XBLA and PSN in August is written by Eric Abent & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

Playdead’s Limbo took the indie world by storm when it launched on Xbox Live back in 2010, but Sony could have had the game on PSN before it went to any other platforms. Instead, Limbo was exclusive to Xbox Live Arcade for an entire year before it became available on PSN and PC, and even though the game sold well on PSN when it finally did arrive, that period of exclusivity would have netted many more sales. So, why didn’t Limbo hit PSN before any of the other platforms? It’s because Sony botched the deal.

“I maybe shouldn’t say this, but we had issues when we were trying to sign Limbo because of the IP,” said Sony Computer Entertainment executive producer Pete Smith during a talk about pitching a game to publishers at the Develop Conference. Apparently, Sony was in talks with Playdead to bring Limbo to PSN first, but when Sony said that it wanted the rights to the IP, Playdead went to Microsoft instead. Limbo went on to sell 300,000 in its first month on Xbox Live and 500,000 by the end of 2010, long before the game arrived on PSN.

Still, despite losing the exclusivity deal to Microsoft, Smith says that there are benefits to giving up the IP when you have a game you want to see made. “There are obvious benefits to keeping it, but also to giving it up: you’re way more likely to get the deal,” he said. “Remember: 100 per cent of nothing is nothing. A publisher is much more likely to commit to marketing and merchandising if they own the IP.”

This whole admission from Sony makes you wonder how things might have changed if Playdead had given up the rights to Limbo and released on PSN first. Would we have another Limbo title already? Would it have sold more being exclusive to PSN, or less? We’ll never know the answers to those questions, but given the immense popularity Limbo has experienced since release, we doubt that the folks at Playdead care much anyway.

[via Edge]

Limbo could have been on PSN first, but Sony wanted IP is written by Eric Abent & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

Earlier today we reported that Xbox LIVE was facing some issues, with gamers being unable to log in to the service. Microsoft announced that they were working on a solution to the problem and it looks like they did their job pretty quickly. According to a tweet from the Xbox Support Twitter account, the problem has now been solved and users can go back to their multiplayer gaming. Microsoft didn’t share what the cause of the problem was so we can only hope that it doesn’t happen again or that it was nothing serious. For those of you who were worried about not being able to pwn some n00bs in Modern Warfare 3 this weekend, you can catch your breath again.

By Ubergizmo. Related articles: Xbox LIVE mobile gaming arriving on Android and iOS?, Microsoft confirms Xbox 360 Dashboard update bugs,

For a little over an hour now here in the first half of the day on July 6th, 2012, Microsoft’s Xbox LIVE network has been down and out. This problem appears at the moment to be regional, this meaning you very well could be accessing the network provided you’re in the right city, but as it stands, quite a bit of the network is down completely for prospective users. Xbox Support member Khoa (aka KN) has let the Twitterverse know that they are “actively investigating” the cause for the downtime and are planning on having it back up soon.

This update has had masses of user responses from both hardcore users and the very comedically attached. Have a peek at the responses to this official update over at Xbox Support to see the devastation. Note also that Xbox Support has left this lovely little message for moral support for us all:

“We are aware of the issues some users are having with Xbox LIVE and are actively investigating. Thanks for your patience ^KN”

Have a peek at our most recent Xbox-related posts below and let us know if you are experiencing downtime in the meantime!

Xbox LIVE is down for everybody, not just you is written by Chris Burns & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.