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Is your Xbox 360 worth $1 million? For a 21-year-old Yale student, the answer is yes.

Jesse Maiman sued US Airways for $1 million after his tricked-out Xbox 360 console disappeared from his checked luggage, according to the Cincinnati Enquirer.

Maiman packed the Xbox console–which he says includes a specialized hard drive worth $1,000–in his suitcase for a December 17 flight between New Haven and Cincinnati. At baggage claim in Cincinnati, however, the bag was there, but the console was nowhere to be found.

The film studies major sued the airline, seeking $1,700 for the replacement of the console, and between $25,000 and $1 million for “non-economic distress.”

“That thing was my DVD player,” he told the paper.

A US Airways spokeswoman said the airline had not yet seen the suit, but that federal law places a $3,300 per bag limit for lost luggage compensation.

This one’s still a long ways from actually panning out, but Fudzilla is reporting that Microsoft could be about to phase out its standard Xbox 360 Elite console and instead fill out the top end of the scale with limited edition models like the recent Resident Evil 5 bundle. According to the site’s unnamed sources, Microsoft would get the transition started by simply letting inventory dry up beginning sometime in the second quarter of this year, during which time it would apparently limit sales of the console to North America and Europe. Then, once those have all been moved off the shelves, Microsoft would supposedly shift its attention to new, potentially even pricier, limited edition consoles, which themselves could well be limited to select retailers. In other Xbox 360 news, Fudzilla also says that Microsoft could soon be offering a new standalone hard drive that’s bigger than the 120GB drive now found in the Elite, although there’s no indication as to exactly how much bigger.

[Via Joystiq]

Filed under: Gaming

Xbox 360 Elite being phased out in favor of limited edition models? originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 06 Mar 2009 17:33:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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New 360 SKUs always seem to land on Target shelves a bit early, and the new Resident Evil 5 red Xbox 360 Elite limited edition is no exception — there it is, hanging out in Pembroke Pines, Florida. We don’t know if these are just out behind the counter or if the staff is just ignoring that DO NOT SELL BEFORE 3.13.09 sticker, but we’re certain some kind soul will let us know soon.

[Thanks, Morgan]

Filed under: Gaming

Red Xbox 360 Resident Evil Limited Edition spotted in the wild originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 01 Mar 2009 19:02:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Just a few months ago, Mad Catz was known for making generic, mediocre console accessories to undercut companies like Sony and Nintendo. Then they announced their Street Fighter sticks and the gaming world went nuts.

While Matt Buchanan already reviewed Mad Catz’ SFIV FightPad, the company’s two arcade sticks for the Xbox 360, PS3 and PC, coinciding with the release of SFIV, have had more buzz than any gaming accessory in recent memory.

Street Fighter IV FightStick ($70)Mad Catz‘ SFIV FightStick was meant to “recreate” the arcade experience, but also offer programmable turbo along with two extra move-assignable buttons. It’s essentially a joystick that’s designed with the Street Fighter button layout and fancy artwork.

Street Fighter IV FightStick Tournament Edition ($150)
The Tournament Edition stick’s claim to fame is simple. It uses the exact Sanwa joystick and 30mm buttons found in the SFIV arcade cabinet, not a “recreation” like we see in the standard FightStick. The experience is promised to be 1:1 between home and arcades—though it also includes the turbo and assignable button add-on.

So could I tell a difference between the two? In one word, yes.

Honestly, I’m not skilled enough at Street Fighter to argue that a controller is getting in my way of beating Matt Buchanan. But blindfolded, I could discern the difference between the two controllers…beyond the Tournament Edition’s obvious heftier size.
The TE stick has an ever so slightly shorter range of motion than the SE stick (for pulling off quick maneuvers), but it’s also far smoother. Being picky, I noticed more mechanical scraping in the SE stick that wasn’t present in the TE, which rotated with with ease.

The SE’s buttons, while superficially similar, felt far more like plastic, with a hollow, high clicking that wasn’t as soft on the fingers. Whether or not you have ever heard of semi-legendary Sanwa components doesn’t really matter. You’ll feel the difference.

I can’t say I played any better on the $80 more expensive TE stick, but I did find myself preferring it during testing and unconsciously choosing it for casual play. Then again, if I’d never tasted the caviar-esque Tournament stick, I’d probably be fine with the decent steak-esque standard FightStick. Either stick is immeasurably superior to trying to play with the Xbox 360 controller’s gimpled D-pad.
But that doesn’t mean I’m completely happy with either controller because they both share the same ridiculous flaw—they are both horrid for chatting.

In order to fit an Xbox 360 headset into the FightSticks, you need to utilize a little cord/adapter that’s pretty identical to Rock Band’s guitar chatting solution.
Now I’m pretty good with plugging things in—it’s sort of a job requirement—but I had all sorts of chatting issues on both FightSticks with multiple 360 headsets and two different adapter cables. Sometimes people couldn’t hear me and sometimes I couldn’t hear them.

When we’re talking about a $150 joystick—a peripheral that approaches the cost of a full Xbox 360—I want my headset to connect perfectly every time. Even if Madcatz’ solution worked perfectly, which it doesn’t, it lacks any level of elegance. And it’s absurd considering that the FightStick TE is the size of a small child.

One other important caveat is that many FightStick SE ($70) buyers have complained of joysticks that stick and buttons that crack. I had no issues with my testing, but the problems are out there.

So what’s the point of this review? Both FightSticks have already been a wild success for Mad Catz, and hats off to them for filling a niche that has generally been left to scrounging for Japanese imports.

I guess that it comes down to this: as a gamer and a Street Fighter fan, I’m pleased with both FightSticks. But as a guy who’s seen what $150 can buy you in electronics today, I think we can do better. And wireless connectivity would be nice, too.

The $70 FightStick will satiate most players who want a simple 360/PS3 joystick

The $150 Tournament Edition really is a step up in feel and quality, just like an arcade

If you’re interested, both cases can be opened to swap/upgrade components

Both of these sticks are huge, so it’s a commitment

The poor headset connection option can be extremely annoying

At these prices, I really want something wireless

Sony announced a landmark this week for its PlayStation Network: 20 million users worldwide, as of February 20. According to the presser, that breaks down to 5 million in the first 14 months of service, 5 million more 8 months later, and an additional 10 million the 7 months after that. There’s quite a few caveats to consider here, as that includes PSP and PS3 users as well as anyone who wishes to use the official PS forums, whether or not they own one of the aforementioned consoles.

However, more interesting to us is a note about the service generating $180 million life to date in revenue. It’s a stark contrast to Xbox Live‘s reported $1 billion revenue since its 2002 launch, as of E3 2009. Based on figures from leaked to Seattle P-I this week, which said XBL had 10 million subscribers worldwide and a 56 percent Gold subscriptions rate in February 2008, we can do some fuzzy math. Assuming those Gold members paid the $50 annual subscription — or $4.16 monthly, the cheapest per month option — that amounts to $23.3 million for the month, not accounting for discounts or free Gold trials. Presuming no subscription growth for sake of argument — we know it’s growing — that’s $280 million annually, well over PSN’s life to date revenues. Say what you will about mean ol’ Microsoft charging for online play, the numbers seem to go in its favor.

[Via Joystiq]

Read – Leaked XBL data
Read – Comparing XBL vs. PSN
Read – Sony press release

Filed under: Gaming

PlayStation Network snags 20M users, Xbox Live still way more profitable originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 26 Feb 2009 18:06:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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