news via agencyfaqs

Microsoft Xbox 360 will roll out its signature campaign ‘Good Luck India’ to wish luck to the Indian cricket team for the biggest extravaganza in cricket- World Cup 2007. Under this campaign, a larger than life Xbox 360 console will be taken across the country for cricket fans and enthusiasts to sign their good luck messages. This campaign is a critical element of run-up to the soon-to-be launched Xbox 360 exclusive gaming title for India, ‘Yuvraj Singh International Cricket 2007’. The campaign is all set to roll out from 23 February, 2007 to 02 March, 2007 covering New Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkatta, Hyderabad, Bangalore, Chennai, Ahmedabad, and Pune.

Elated about the campaign, Ashim Mathur, Marketing Head, Entertainment and Devices Division, Microsoft India said, “For a country like India which is so passionate about cricket, the ‘Good Luck India’ campaign will serve as an ideal opportunity for cricket lovers to wish the Indian team for the world cup. These signed Xbox 360 consoles will be handed over to the Indian cricket team in West Indies before the start of the tournament”.

The exclusive gaming title ‘Yuvraj Singh International Cricket 2007’ is the most awaited game on Xbox 360 and to extend the euphoria around the same, this mega console would cover historical landmarks like Victoria Memorial in Kolkatta, Necklace in Hyderabad, Palace Grounds in Bangalore, Marina Beach in Chennai, India gate in Delhi, Gandhi Ashram in Ahmedabad, Gateway of India in Mumbai and Shanivar Peth in Pune.

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news via hexus

I've had my Xbox 360 since day one and have never had an issue with hardware failure. I must be one of the lucky ones, because across Xbox forums and over Xbox live we've all heard numerous reports from frustrated gamers who've had to send their consoles in for repair due to overheating issues and freezing problems after the comprehensive Autumn update.

The huge Fall update, which consisted of 85 new features and enhancements,was released on October 31st adding a host of system upgrades including HD 1080p video mode support over VGA and component cables and Xbox 360 Wireless Headset support. Every since the update, the Microsoft help-desk was apparently inundated with callers who have been experiencing problems with their consoles. The console problems weren't exclusively related to the update and there are still reports of consoles failing that were produced in one of the first 2005 batches.

I know plenty of people who've sent their consoles back, but normally they've been returned in full working order and they haven't experienced any further problems. But, if you think you've had it bad, spare a thought for Rob and Mindy Cassingham who despite considering themselves to be loyal 'fan boys' of the console are now at the end of their tether with the numerous problems and the failure from Microsoft customer services to replace their machines; instead they've been refurbishing them and sending the same console back.

The couple bought 4 Xbox 360's from the Zero Hour launch event in the US, where Microsoft debuted the console and afterwards bought a further two consoles from their local store. After a short period, the four consoles that were bought at Zero Hour died and were sent back to Microsoft to be refurbished. Nearly a year and a half later and the couple have now had to send back their seventh unit. Talking to Mercury News, Rob Cassingham said, "When it comes back, I'm going to sell it. I have 12,000 achievement points (rewards for exploits in games). That's a hard thing to give up. I gave up cigarette smoking, so I've been through worse. I've had game systems since the Coleco machine. Intellivision. The first machine I had was the Magnavox Odyssey in 1972. I have never had to send any of them back. The gaming experience has been wonderful. And Xbox Live is great. But the reliability of this thing . . .Why spend money for rims on a car that spends 90 percent of its time in the shop?''

The Cassinghams were urged to contact Peter Moore, the Corporate Vice President, who sped up the complaint and as a result the couple have finally been promised a brand new Xbox 360. "A new 360 was all I really wanted in the first place, but after two failed attempts dealing with Microsoft's overseas call centers, I am very annoyed that it took an e-mail directly to P. Moore to get results -- assuming that they do, in fact, ship me a new 360," said Rob.

He continued by saying, "How do I feel it is turning out? Frankly, I'm conflicted. I am just so gun-shy about the reliability issue. One part of me wishes, when my 360 arrives(?), to immediately sell it and all of my 360-related schwag and put the money into a gaming PC. Another part of me wants to keep the 360 (and absolutely get the extended warranty) and I don't want to turn my back on my LIVE arcade titles I've purchased. I still feel like a chump.''

So, the bottom line is, if you're having no luck with Xbox customer services, email Peter Moore..oh and don't buy a console from the unlucky Cassinghams if you can help it.

Microsoft still claim that the Xbox 360 failures are within industry averages and Peter Moore maintains that he shouldn't be contacted for Xbox 360 issues, phone Xbox support instead!

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news via playfuls

With no ending in sight to Microsoft's denials of any future Xbox 360 price cut, retailers from the United Kingdom decided to take matters into their own hands and offer their customers what Microsoft wouldn't: cheaper Xbox 360s. Way cheaper! As reported by several websites over the last couple of days, including Gamasutra, some UK retailers have initiated an unexpected, unseasonal, and unofficial series of price cuts for the Xbox 360, as well as for the old PlayStation 2.

In particular, the "Core" package of Microsoft's next-gen console is currently enjoying the most consistent promotions, with price cuts of up to £50 (€75 / $98). So instead of the suggested retail price of £199.99 ($390), the Core Xbox 360 is now being sold for £149.99 ($292) in some places. As a side-effect, this means that Microsoft's console is now actually cheaper than Nintendo's Wii, priced at £179.99 ($351), despite it packing way more computing power.

The "Premium" bundle, however, remains at pretty much the same price point, with negligible reductions observed so far. The reason for these marketing manoeuvres is not yet clear, but there are some speculations floating around already, involving the previously-rumoured hardware upgrade for the Xbox 360 (with a larger hard drive and HDMI port). But until Microsoft responds to any of these issues, speculation is all we have.

At the same time, Gamasutra reports on another major price cut for the PlayStation 2, ahead of the European release of Square's Final Fantasy XII today:

"At the same time as the Xbox 360 price cut, Wal-Mart owned supermarket chain Asda, the second largest in the UK, has cut the price of the PlayStation 2 from £69.99 ($136) to just £50 ($98) for a limited period. As with the Xbox 360, the price cut is not official, the only apparent reason for the move being the recent release of prominent exclusives Okami and Final Fantasy XII in the UK."

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news via redherring

Latest Sony PlayStation in Europe won’t play as many PS2 games as models in Japan and U.S.

AMSTERDAM (Reuters) - The European version of PlayStation 3 will play fewer PlayStation 2 video games when it launches on March 23 compared with models launched earlier in Japan and America, Sony said on Friday.

“The backwards compatibility is not going to be as good as the U.S. and Japan models,” a Sony spokesman said.

PlayStation 3 (PS3) was first launched in Japan and North America in November and the model that will be introduced in Europe will be designed differently.

Software will take over some of the functionality that was originally taken care of by dedicated chips, which means far fewer PlayStation 2 (PS2) games can be played on a European PS3 compared with the Japanese and American PS3 models, which play 98 percent of old games.

“Sony is managing expectations by saying now that the new console will play fewer of the old games, and that’s a good thing,” said analyst Alex Kwiatowski at British market research group Vertical Market Technologies.

‘I’m as disappointed as the next game player about the reduced backward compatibility, but even the most nostalgic, misty-eyed gamers will have their steely hearts impressed by the new features that PS3 games provide.’

Over the last 18 months Sony has had a series of public relations disasters, including a recall of nearly 10 million of its computer batteries, PS3 delays, and a software program on Sony Entertainment music CDs that breached computer security.

Hold onto Your PS2

Mr. Kwiatowski said gamers with a PS2 would have to hold onto their device to play their current collection.

The PS3’s graphics and sound capabilities are much improved over the PS2.

“Rather than concentrate on PS2 backwards compatibility, in the future, company resources will be increasingly focused on developing new games and entertainment features exclusively for PS3,” Sony Computer Entertainment said in a statement.

About 1 million units will be available at the European launch next month, as many as were made available in the United States during the first six weeks after the launch last year.

Sony loses money at first on each PS3 sale due to high production costs.

But Nobuyuki Oneda, Sony’s chief financial officer, said in January the company aims to bring the negative PS3 margin to break even toward the second half of the next business year, which starts in April, by component cost savings on chips driving the PS3.

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news via msnbc

Hefty price of the game machine may be scaring away shoppers

TOKYO - Sony is giving away freebies to woo buyers to the new PlayStation 3 video game machine whose hefty price appears to be scaring away shoppers.

The latest giveaway from the Japanese electronics and entertainment company is being promised for the Australia launch for the PlayStation 3 set for March 23 — a Blu-ray Disc version of the Sony Pictures James Bond movie "Casino Royale," for the first 20,000 Australian PS3 buyers.

The PlayStation 3 costs a hefty $790 (999.95 Australian dollars), for the 60 gigabyte hard drive version.

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news via slashgear

Good news for all of you PS3 owners out there. I’m sure you could use some good news after shelling out as much money as you likely did and got so little for it. Anyway, on to the good news.



A piece of software called BRDGen has been released that is capable of copying, or even modifying PS3 games. Oh, and you can copy Blu-Ray movies as well.

This could potentially turn around the poor sales of the PS3. Though I’m not sure Sony would condone the use of this software, it might give people an excuse to buy it. Just imagine if you could actually modify your PS3 games. Add levels, new weapons, who knows? I’m not sure how well that would actually work, but it’s a nice thought.

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news via pocketgamer

The release date for Disney's Spectrobes game is getting closer, and we've managed to get our hands on one of the character cards that will extend your playing experience come March.

You'll get four cards free when you buy the game, and other packs will be available for purchase in the shops.

You'll want to get your hands on them – or swap them with your mates – because by placing the card on the DS' touchscreen and then tapping the numbered holes in the correct order, you'll be able to unleash more spectrobes into your game.

There are 500 types to collect in total, although you'll be able to uncover most within the game itself. You can customise them with various in-game items too.

In the example above, our card will provide a Grildragos Drafly, which is the most evolved form of the Grilda spectrobe (each spectrobe passes through three stages).

To input it into your game, you simply have to tap the sequences of holes – from 1 to 7 in this case – using your stylus and the game will recognise the spectrobe you've unlocked and add it to your in-game library.

Spectrobes is released globally on 16th March. Click 'Track It!' to be alerted when we review it, and check out previous Spectrobes screens and stories.

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news via pocketgamer



No one ever seems to have a good word to say about the men from the council. They're either increasing our taxes, setting up road calming humps, or fining us for putting envelopes into our paper recyling sack (by mistake, we didn't mean it!).

If it was a Ninja Council, we assume the level of compliance from the local population would improve somewhat.

The first Naruto on DS (the previous two titles being GBA games), we don't imagine the latest in the manga spin-off series involves going around cleaning up graffiti or dealing with noisy neighbours. Instead, you'll work your way through 60 missions using a fluid attack system that enables you to combo the jutsu techniques from over 20 characters.

Plot-wise, headstrong ninja-in-training Naruto Uzumaki and classmates Sakura and Sasuke will be doing their best to learn the importance of friendship, teamwork, loyalty, hard work, and beating crap out of their enemies – all under the watchful eye of their teacher, Kakashi.

And after you've attempted to battle your way to the top as your favourite character from the TV show, you'll be able to relax with your friends via the four-way multiplayer battle mode.

Due a 2007 release in the US, there's not yet a confirmed European publisher for Naruto: Ninja Council 3. Let's just hope it can repair the damage to handheld ninjitsu's reputation following the lamentable Shinobido on PSP, which we reviewed earlier this week.

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news via pocketgamer

Most of us at Pocket Gamer are supposedly grown up, which occasionally makes us wonder if we should put childish things away. Then a box set of Futurama or perhaps Family Guy will beckon us into their warm embrace, and we may as well be 14 again.

Fair enough, you think – but surely SpongeBob SquarePants is a step too juvenile? So my guilty secret is out. If I'm honest, I actually enjoy the antics of Bob of the spongey pantaloons, Patrick Star and Eugene Krabs.

Whether that enthusiasm will transfer to the latest SpongeBob SquarePants game remains to be seen, however. There have been plenty of previous game examples – mainly on the GBA, but a couple on DS – and they haven't been too impressive. In fact, most have been downright pants.

This time, as the 'and Friends' part of the title informs us, Bob and Pat will be joined by their Nicktoons chums in the battle against an evil spirit from the Ghost Zone, who plans to destroy their island paradise.

So as well as the SpongeBob SquarePants dudes, you'll be able to choose playable characters from some ten other Nicktoons series, including Danny Phantom, The Fairly OddParents and Jimmy Neutron. There'll also be an option to play through the game in a co-operative two-player mode.

Not surprisingly, the action itself will be strictly of the 2D action platforming and exploration variety, as you make your way up the dreaded volcano, disposing of various cartoon villains as you go.

Until we hear more about why this game will be different from previous examples, we'll not be too excited. But perhaps there's still time to get some good news from publisher THQ: SpongeBob SquarePants and Friends: Battle for Volcano Island isn't due for release until June.

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