Xbox Live isn’t perrrrfect—we wish the streaming half weren’t still paywalled—but for a lot of us, it’s how we game and stream and basically use our TVs in any way at all. So it’s necessary. And a year of it’s $35 today (usually $60). So that’s a pretty good deal! [Buy via Twitter] More »
The NHL season officially starts tomorrow, folks, and after months without the sport, fans are most likely eager as ever to finally see their favorite team take the ice again. On top of that, Microsoft has announced that NHL GameCenter is launching on Xbox Live today, just in time for you to get settled in and start watching the games again.
While there still may be a lot of controversy over the 2013 season, Microsoft and the NHL are hoping to get your minds off of the ending lockout with its new Xbox Live app. Of course, you’ll need a Gold membership in order to take advantage of the new app (as well as any app for that matter), but you’re all set in that respect, you’ll be able to open up the app now and get going.
NHL GameCenter features most of the things you’d come to expect out of a sports app, including live scores, standings, and statistics, a “Season Central” hub that shows you team schedules, and the ability to watch live games and replays, so long as you pay a $50 fee that will last the entire season. Then again, local games are blacked out.
There’s also what’s called the NHL Vault, where you’ll have on-demand access to over 800 classic games. With this, you can watch some of the best Original Six battles from the 1960s or check out the best games from the Stanley Cup Playoffs throughout the years. The app is available now in most countries, except for Norway, Sweden, Denmark, and Finland.
[via Major Nelson]
NHL GameCenter launches on Xbox Live is written by Craig Lloyd & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.
Microsoft’s quest to become king of the living room by continuing the expansion of its console’s entertainment services just grew a little more today. The Redmond-based company has announced that NHL GameCenter is now available to Xbox Live members with a Gold subscription, delivering great news to hockey fanatics ahead of the already controversial 2013 season. Regardless of lockouts and all that, though, the National Hockey League application’s set to bring plenty of content to the Xbox Live folk, including real-time scores and stats, a Season Central hub that shows you the league’s schedule and, naturally, the ability to watch replays and live games (as long as you shell out the $50 fee for the 2012-2013 season, of course). Per Microsoft, NHL GameCenter is available “around the globe,” however countries like Norway, Sweden, Denmark and Finland don’t appear to have made the cut. The rest of you, meanwhile, can download the app starting today.
Update: Below is a note from Microsoft about which countries can expect to see the NHL GameCenter app on their consoles, as well as more info regarding the situation in the Nordic regions.
The following countries are receiving NHL GameCenter: Argentina, Australia, Austria, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Colombia, Czech Republic, France, Germany, Greece, Hong Kong SAR, Hungary, India, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Japan, Korea, Mexico, Netherlands, New Zealand, Poland, Portugal, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, Slovakia, South Africa, Spain, Switzerland, Taiwan, Turkey, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom, United States of America.
The NHL app will not be available on Xbox within the Nordic markets due to an existing digital broadcast agreement already in place between NHL and Viasat Broadcasting. NHL games can be viewed instead via the Viaplay app, which launched on Xbox in December 2012.The Viaplay app is available immediately for download via Xbox LIVE.
NHL GameCenter launches on Xbox LIVE
NHL GameCenter[TM] is now available on Xbox LIVE* around the globe, giving Gold subscribers access to their favorite NHL hockey action right from their Xbox and just in time for the 2013 season to take center ice. NHL GameCenter[TM] for Xbox 360 brings you live games, replays, classic games, and videos from NHL VideoCenter[TM], plus controller-free entertainment with the power of Kinect for Xbox 360.
NHL GameCenter[TM] on Xbox LIVE offers the following features:
Follow the Action from the 2013 NHL Season – Get real-time game scores, player stats and team standings. All Xbox LIVE Gold Members can also follow the action on and off the ice from the NHL VideoCenterTM. Watch the best goals, saves and hits from around the league this season.
· Live Games and Replays with NHL Game Center LIVE – With your NHL GameCenter LIVE[TM] subscription ($49.99 USD for the 2012-13 season), watch live, out-of-market games from the NHL regular season. Miss a game? Watch full-length archived games or condensed replays from this season and last.
· Every game with an HD-Quality Picture – NHL GameCenter[TM] delivers every game in a beautiful, HD-quality picture, and each broadcast gives every fan the option of the Home or Away audio feed. With NHL GameCenter[TM] on Xbox 360, you will feel like your team is the home team.
· Keep Up With Your Favorite Teams – NHL GameCenter[TM] on Xbox 360 lets you personalize the experience to get to the information you care about most. Select up to five teams to follow so you can be sure not to miss a beat on your favorite teams and players. Get the scores, player stats, schedule and live games, right at your fingertips.
· Season Central – A quick calendar view of the league schedule or just your favorite teams is a click away. Season Central is the best way to find out what games are on today, this week, or next month.
· Mini Guide – The Mini Guide gives you a quick preview of all of today’s action right at the bottom of your screen, and makes it easier than ever to switch between games.
· Split Screen – Keep an eye on the rest of the league while cheering on your home team! With Split Screen, you can watch two games at once and do just that. Watch live games on both screens or a live game on one while you catch up with a game recap on the other. You can control both screens independently, pausing and rewinding each separately so you never miss a second of the action.
· Classic Games from NHL Vault[TM] -Relive your favorite moments in NHL history with on-demand access to over 800 classic games from NHL Vault[TM]. Watch some of the best Original Six battles from the 1960s or re-watch the best games from the Stanley Cup(R) Playoffs through the years. You now have the best way to watch these games on your big screen with Xbox 360.
· Voice and Gesture Control with Kinect for Xbox 360 – Focus on the puck instead of looking for the remote. Navigate through Season Central, or play, pause, and rewind that behind-the-back goal, all with the power of Kinect for Xbox 360.
With the addition of NHL GameCenter[TM] to the existing lineup of sports partners, including ESPN, UFC, NBA and MLB, Xbox is taking live sports on TV to a whole new level with personalization features, deeper interactivity, and social connectivity found only on Xbox 360. For more information, visit www.xbox.com.
Filed under: Gaming, Internet, HD, Microsoft
Source: GameCenter
This week the folks at Microsoft have revealed a feature that should very well have been part of the ecosystem all along: the Xbox Live account migration tool. This process allows you to port your Xbox Live account from place to place with minimal hassle – that’s country-to-country, mind you. The pieces of this puzzle you can always take with you are different from those that cannot move region to region – this being the reason why the tool has taken so long to develop.
What you’re able to bring with you region to region is your Xbox LIVE profile, this including gamerscore and unlocked achievements galore. You can bring along time you’ve got left on your Gold membership as well as any Microsoft Points you’ve got saved up. The rest is really up to the region you’re headed to. The following items may not (and most likely wont) be able to move with you:
1. Some services you use now might not be available in your new region. To find info about services, like TV providers, available in a specific region, visit the Xbox.com website for that region. (To find that other region’s website, click the name of your current region at the bottom of any Xbox.com page.)
2. Xbox Music subscriptions can’t be moved. If you have a current Xbox Music subscription, it will be cancelled as part of the move. Any subscription time remaining can’t be refunded.
3. Some content may be blocked in the new region because of legal obligations or regional restrictions. Before you change your region, make sure you’ve downloaded any purchased content you want to keep, like movies or music. Content purchases aren’t refundable.
This information comes from Microsoft itself, and a full Region Change Overview can be found as well if you’ve got some really, really specific questions or concerns. Some of the odd rules here include a limit of 1 region change every 3 months and the fact that you can change a child’s account’s region with a parent’s account staying in the original region so long as the parent signs region change agreements on the child’s behalf.
You’ll be agreeing to a statement such as this: “Clicking ‘I Accept’ means that you have read and understood the effect of moving your account, including the pre-requisites and restrictions, as listed on the Region Change Support Page and have read and agree to the Xbox LIVE Terms of Use and Privacy Statement” and it’ll all be really, really simple from top to bottom to get from one place to another. If you’ve got lots of purchased content, you might want to think twice about moving.
This tool is live for all right this minute, so if you’re about to hit the runway, get prepped at once! Head over to Account Migration at the Xbox LIVE webspace and make it happen! Also have a peek at the timeline below to keep up to date on recent Xbox Live goings-on here on SlashGear.
[via Major Nelson]
Xbox Live account migration tool nutshells the process is written by Chris Burns & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.
Minecraft has undoubtedly taken the gaming world by storm — it’s unique gameplay elements have made it a popular choice among casual gamers all around the world. It turns out that as of December 31, 2012, Minecraft sales in the Xbox Live Arcade store alone reached 5 million during 2012, according to the game’s developer for Xbox 360.
Developer 4J Studios tweeted the news on New Year’s Eve, saying that the Xbox 360 edition of Minecraft “passed 5 million sales.” A week prior to that, Minecraft creator Markus “Notch” Persson tweeted that the game had sold over 453,000 copies on Christmas Eve alone, through both PC copies and the Xbox Live Arcade.
Another tweet from 4J Studios today announced that the development team has returned to work and is working on fixing a handful of bugs brought on by Minecraft’s Title Update 7, which launched last month. The team has promised that a patch for the update will be released sometime this month.
Title Update 7 introduced animal breeding, potion brewing, experience points, enchantment tables, and new biomes and items. Title Update 8, which is still in development, will bring “The End,” a floating island made of Obsidian, a material called End Stone, a home to a high concentration of Endermen creatures, and a boss called the Ender Dragon.
Minecraft XBLA sales reach 5 million in 2012 is written by Craig Lloyd & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.
This past weekend, many gamers were probably spending a good portion of their days indoors as they spent some quality time with the games they were given over the holidays. If you’re an Xbox Live Gold subscriber who was hoping to access your game saves through the service’s Cloud Saved Games feature, then you were out of luck as it was completely offline for the majority of this past weekend.
The issue with Xbox Live’s Cloud Saved Games feature was resolved in time to get some New Year’s Eve gaming in at around 3 a.m. ET. Xbox Live’s General Manager Alex Garden released a statement regarding the outage:
“We want to thank all of our Xbox LIVE members impacted by the Cloud Saved Games service issue for your patience and understanding. It took longer than we expected to get back to full performance as we needed to ensure the integrity of everyone’s game saves. Whether you couldn’t access your game saves for a couple of hours or a couple of days, we sincerely apologize for the delay and inconvenience. We will be automatically applying a one-month extension to the Xbox LIVE Gold memberships of everyone who was impacted. We can assure you we’ll also be doing a thorough post mortem to help prevent this from happening again.”
Garden finishes his statement by informing users they don’t need to contact Xbox Live support for their free month as they know exactly who was impacted by the outage. I guess that’s good news for cloud save users and a complete bummer for those of us who prefer to keep our saved games stored locally.
By Ubergizmo. Related articles: Kid Receives Nintendo 3DS Box Filled With Rocks For Christmas, iCEnhancer Mod 2.5 Casts Grand Theft Auto 4 In A Whole New Light,
Today marks the final day of the Xbox Live Countdown to 2013 sale, and the promotion seems to be going out with a bang. Microsoft and Bethesda have dropped prices on both Skyrim and Oblivion, along with some DLC for each. Skyrim has shaved 50% off its normal Games on Demand price, coming down to $29.99, while Oblivion has dropped down 33% to just $9.99.
If you already have those games and are just looking for some DLC action, there are plenty of deals to take advantage of. Dawnguard is currently 800MSP (50% off), and while Hearthfire was supposed to receive the same 50% off treatment and go down to 200MSP, that hasn’t happened yet. Major Nelson tells users to check back later if they aren’t seeing discounted prices, so it sounds like Hearthfire is still in for a discount at some point today.
Sadly, there aren’t any Dragonborn discounts to partake in today, probably given the fact that it’s brand spanking new. If you’re shopping for Oblivion DLC instead of Skyrim DLC, Microsoft and Bethesda have you covered. The game’s stellar Shivering Isles expansion is being offered for 600MSP (50% off), while Knights of the Nine is also half-off to come in 200MSP.
There you have it folks – the final day of the Countdown to 2013 sale on Xbox Live. These are some pretty excellent deals to wrap-up with, but the entire promotion has been great for players looking to save. Did you pick up anything during the Countdown to 2013 promotion?
UPDATE: Hearthfire’s 50% discount has gone into effect, meaning that you can nab it from Xbox Live for 200MSP right now. Go crazy and build your dream home, folks!
Xbox Live Countdown to 2013 sale wraps with deals on Skyrim, Oblivion [Update] is written by Eric Abent & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.
Microsoft has promised one-month of free Xbox LIVE Gold service to any gamers affected by the Cloud Saved Games system going offline, having finally fixed the issues that caused the unexpected downtime. The free service extension, which will be applied automatically to eligible gamers’ accounts according to Microsoft’s Major Nelson, will be tagged onto the end of current subscriptions.
“We want to thank all of our Xbox LIVE members impacted by the Cloud Saved Games service issue for your patience and understanding” Xbox LIVE general manager Alex Garden said in a statement today. “It took longer than we expected to get back to full performance as we needed to ensure the integrity of everyone’s game saves. Whether you couldn’t access your game saves for a couple of hours or a couple of days, we sincerely apologize for the delay and inconvenience.”
Gamers discovered the problems with Xbox LIVE service last Friday, which prevented those who had their saved game status stored in the cloud from picking up where they’d last left off on the Xbox 360. Others reported issues reaching Xbox.com.
Microsoft hasn’t said exactly what the problem was, though according to Garden the company’s engineers will “be doing a thorough post mortem to help prevent this from happening again.” If you had trouble, Microsoft says it knows who you are and will apply the Xbox LIVE freebie automatically, with no need to call up and request it.
Microsoft promises a month’s free Xbox LIVE for Cloud Saved Games downtime is written by Chris Davies & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.
Welcome to Friday evening everyone. The weekend is about to kick off, but luckily for us, it’s chosen to wait patiently while we recap the news. We heard today that the Samsung Galaxy S IV may ship in April with S-Pen functionality, which is exciting for all of us who love the Galaxy Note II. Speaking of the Galaxy Note II, we saw a leaked press shot of the handset in black today, while Instagram use was seen surging on iOS and Android but taking a hit on Facebook.
Samsung might be headed for a rather large fine ($15 billion to be exact) for trying to secure a ban on Apple products in Europe, and Apple dropped its infringement claims on the Galaxy S III Mini in the patent case against Samsung. One Android developer has unleashed a bunch of fake apps on the Google Play Store, so watch out for that, while Microsoft is trying to get the legions of iOS developers to start making apps for Windows Phone.
Crystal Dynamics confirmed that its upcoming Tomb Raider reboot will indeed have a multiplayer mode, and Microsoft’s Research lead announced that he will be retiring from the company in 2014. Quentin Tarantino was overheard suggesting that Killer Crow will be title of the third movie in his historical revenge trilogy, and we caught a glimpse of a handful of Apple prototypes from the 1980s. After this morning’s leak, more images of the Huawei Ascend Mate surfaced, while one analyst said that the iPad mini is proving to be a big hit over in China.
Fujitsu today said that it probably won’t meet its target for PC shipments in fiscal 2012 and blamed the miss on weak consumer demand for Windows 8, and Xbox Live cloud storage is currently down with Microsoft trying to implement a fix quickly. OneWed has arrived on iPad to give you ideas for your wedding, one very cool YouTube video is giving us a look at two Halo 4 armor abilities that were left on the cutting room floor, and Toyota has introduced its new 2013 Crown line in Japan. That does it for tonight’s Evening Wrap-Up, we hope you enjoy the weekend folks!
SlashGear Evening Wrap-Up: December 28, 2012 is written by Eric Abent & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.
If you’ve been having issues retrieving your Xbox 360 saves from the cloud, you’re not alone. As it turns out, Microsoft is experiencing some problem with Xbox Live at the moment, which is causing a couple of different headaches. The first (obviously) is that Xbox Live cloud storage is currently inaccessible, while the second involves Xbox.com going down for some users.
The Xbox service status page shows that all systems are go except for Xbox Live Service itself. Microsoft has put a little alert on the status page, telling affected users that it has engineers working on the issue. The big M doesn’t disclose what kind of problems its specifically having, but assures that a fix should be implemented soon.
There’s no workaround for this issue – Microsoft simply instructs those who are experiencing problems to check back with the status page for updated support messages, which should be coming in every 30 minutes. It sounds like Microsoft isn’t anticipating that Xbox Live cloud storage will be down for very long, which is good news for people trying to get a little gaming in on this Friday afternoon.
After all, if your saves are all stored in the cloud, this outage means that you can’t continue any of your games. We’ll be watching the Xbox Live status page and will update you if anything changes. In the meantime, are any of you having problems retrieving saves from the cloud?
Xbox Live cloud storage currently down, Microsoft working on a fix is written by Eric Abent & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.
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