XBox Gaming Blog

Merriam-Webster Spell-Jam launches exclusively on MSN Games

It’s another exclusive casual game launch for MSN Games!  We’ll be going wordy this week with a spelling bee game from the undisputed experts (hmmmm… “helped standardize the English language” is not something you’ll usually find on a game-maker’s pedigree):  Merriam-Webster Spell-Jam.

Features include three game modes, over 10,000 words, hot-seat multiplayer functionality, the ability to set different difficulty levels for each computer opponent, and that most useful of all spelling bee options: “can I have that word in a sentence, please?”  (Particularly important, for instance, when you’re not sure whether the guy in charge said “bizarre” or “bazaar”… but I’m not still bitter 25 years later, of course.)  As always, you can download and try this game out for free, and if you like it, the price is a mere $19.95.

More exclusives on the way for MSN Games, but I’ve been forbidden to talk about them yet.  And I liiiiiiike my job, so I’ll drop a note here as soon as they launch.

Catan and Centipede/Millipede Coming To Xbox LIVE Arcade This Week

We’re on a roll!  For a third week, we’re bringing a two-fer to Xbox LIVE Arcade Wednesday.  You’ve been asking for Catan, and now it’s on its way!  And making its triumphant return, Atari bring us a two-for-one download of Centipede and Millipede. 

From the media alert we sent out this morning:

Legendary board game “Catan” arrives on Xbox LIVE Arcade

“Catan” from Big Huge Games is the Xbox LIVE Arcade edition of the legendary multiplayer board game Settlers of Catan. With over 10 million units sold, Settlers of Catan is one of the most popular board games to hail from Europe, and has been translated into twenty-five languages from the original German.

“Catan” will be available worldwide for 800 Microsoft Points and is rated E for Everyone.

Game Features

• Learn As You Play tutorial, making the game instantly accessible even to players who have never played “Settlers of Catan” before
  
• All New 3D “Living World” Board
  
• Play against any combination of 13 historical personalities such as Alexander, Cleopatra and Tokugawa, which provide a range of play styles and difficulty levels that will test players’ wits and strategy
  
• Fans of the board game will enjoy the inclusion of popular house rules like Friendly Robber and Friendly Resources
  
• Multiplayer gameplay over Xbox LIVE for up to 4 players
  
• The ability to taunt opponents with engaging animations and use emotes to compliment (or belittle!) the opposition over Xbox LIVE
  
• Voice Chat enabled
  
• Earn up to 12 Achievements and 200 Gamerscore points

Arthropods Attack! “Centipede” and “Millipede” Invade Xbox LIVE Arcade

The classic version of “Centipede” challenges gamers to defend their villages against an onslaught of centipedes, spiders, army ants and more. Xbox LIVE Arcade gamers will also have access to an “Evolved” version which features pre-rendered, high definition graphics, special effects like motion blur, trails and particle-based explosions that make this classic as enjoyable today as it was in the arcade decades ago.

In “Millipede,” the primary challenge is to obliterate chains of arthropods that creep down from the top of the screen. Scattered mushrooms are the gamers’ main tool to shoot, destroy and redirect the menacing millipedes. “Millipede” also offers up Xbox LIVE Arcade gamers an “Evolved” version of this coin-op classic.

“Centipede” and “Millipede” will be available worldwide as a joint download for 400 Microsoft Points and are rated E for Everyone.

Game Features

• · Two games in one! Enjoy both classic and evolved versions of both “Centipede” and “Millipede”


• · Dolby Digital surround sound


• Earn up to 12 Achievements and 200 Gamerscore points

More information is available at >http://www.xbox.com/games/livearcade.

Lunchtime Conversation - Episode 14 - Hobbits, Pac-Man, and Elite

Another late in the week upload, brings a shorter show with Tony and I chatting about an array of subjects.

We’re still looking for intro/outro music - if you have a band, and you would give us permission, we’d love to have your song as our intro/outro music.

MP3 File: 6.7 MB, 20 minutes

Remember that these podcasts are available via the RSS feed, or the iTunes feed as well.

This week Tony, and Chris talk about:
- Intro/Outro Music: Baroque [n] Consecrator by Phylum Sinter
- Gamercards – proof you’ve played a game
- H2 Vista – Andru from GearLive beat us down
- Lord of the Rings Online Midnight Launch Recap
- Pac-Man World Championships
- Xbox 360 Elite Launches this Sunday
- 120gb HDD launches Sunday
- Mass Effect Delayed?
- Tony’s Theme Song
- Interview – Annie Spencer
- PGR4
- Alan Wake
- Fable 2
- Question - Mike R. - What’s up with backwards compatibility?
- Question - Various - Why isn’t content released in (insert country here) as well as the US?
- Acey Bongos’ Xbox Life - European Xbox Community Manager
- Question - Shamrock - How will MS prevent cheating in cross-platform play?
- Email us at GSBlog@Microsoft.com with questions/comments/audio

Play Brady Quinn on Xbox LIVE Tonight

On the eve of the NFL Draft, you can get a chance to play online with potential number one draft pick Brady Quinn.

From Xbox.com:

 

If you’re a Gold member and interested in challenging the strong-arm quarterback on Friday, April 27, 2007, from 7:30 P.M. to 8:30 P.M. EDT/4:30 P.M. to5:30 P.M. PDT, send a friend request to the gamertag BQuinnGWF.

Over the last few weeks, Brady has also kept a blog here on Xbox.com, “The Gaming Life,” letting game fans know about all the exciting preparations for this year’s NFL draft.

If you get a chance to play with Brady Quinn, we want to hear about it. Send us an email at xlmail@microsoft.com with the subject: “GWF – Brady Quinn.” Be sure to include your gamertag and home town!

You Had Me at Halo…

MTV Game Drop blog author YayforBlair finds true love, and writes about in a post called “Blind Date: Games Edition“…

“Not wanting to set myself up for disappointment, I set my expectations at an all-time low. So imagine my surprise when I arrived at my romantic table on the beach and caught my first glimpse of the angel that was to be my dinner companion…”  [read more]

Xbox 360 Elite and 120gb HDD Launch

With the upcoming launch of the Xbox 360 Elite this weekend and new line of supporting accessories like the new 120GB hard drive, we wanted to outline some answers to what we expect to be common questions about these products.  We also want everyone to have all the facts before they purchase any new items or start moving their information from one hard drive to another.  

Q.  I am a current Xbox 360 owner and want to upgrade my storage to 120GB, should I buy the standalone 120GB hard drive or purchase the new Xbox 360 Elite?
A.  For current owners looking for larger storage options, we recommend you purchase the standalone 120GB hard drive.  This product is designed for current owners and includes a migration kit to move all of your data from your 20GB HDD to the new 120GB HDD.  The Xbox 360 Elite console on the other hand is designed for new owners and therefore does not include a migration kit in the box.    

Q.  Got it, thanks for the advice on which item to buy, but I am pretty set on upgrading to the Xbox 360 Elite, how can I do this?  
A.  We realize that around the launch of the Xbox 360 Elite that some folks may in fact want to upgrade from their current console.  For those consumers interested in doing this, we will be providing a solution to obtain a migration kit from Xbox.com completely free of charge.  You can get more information about obtaining one of these kits from here:  www.xbox.com/en-US/support/systemuse/xbox360/console/datamigration.htm.
Note that there are some differences between migration data from one hard drive to another using the same console and doing this migration to a completely new console.  See the differences outlined in more detail below.

Q.  So how does the migration work and what should I know about it before I start?
A.  Here are the step by step instructions for the migration and some important details to keep in mind:

If you are upgrading to the Xbox 360 Elite:

1. Turn off both of your consoles and remove the 120GB hard drive from your Xbox 360 Elite console.
2. Attach your current 20GB hard drive to your Xbox 360 Elite console, then disconnect all accessories from the console’s controller ports.
3. Connect and turn on a controller, which you’ll need during content transfer.
4. Connect one end of the transfer cable to your 120GB hard drive.
   
5. Connect the other end of the transfer cable to one of the USB ports of your Xbox 360 Elite console.
   
6. Insert the included Hard Drive Transfer Disc and follow the on-screen instructions.
7. To begin using your 120GB hard drive after content transfer is complete, remove your 20GB hard drive from your Elite console and attach your 120GB hard drive.  

If you are upgrading to the standalone 120GB HDD and using your current Xbox 360, the process above is the same except that you don’t disconnect your 20GB HDD and instead attach the transfer cable to your new 120GB HDD.  You then put in the software, follow the on screen instructions and when done remove your 20GB HDD and replace it with your new 120GB HDD.

IMPORTANT NOTES  

• This is a one time transfer process, so you need to make sure you are ready to permanently move this content to your new drive before beginning.  
• Do not start playing games or downloading content on the new 120GB HDD before migration, as this information will be lost and replaced during the migration process.
• If you want to start using your Elite before you have your migration kit in hand, we highly recommend that you remove the 120GB HDD and use your current 20GB hard drive in its place until you are ready to migrate.  
• If you are migrating to Elite, we suggest you watch any movie rentals you may have on your old drive before migrating, as the license for this content is tied to the console it was downloaded on and cannot be moved.
• You should also know that licenses for downloaded content like Xbox LIVE Arcade games and TV shows from Xbox LIVE are tied to the console they were originally downloaded on.
• This means that while all of your Xbox LIVE Arcade games and TV shows will transfer, you will have to be connected to Xbox LIVE (to verify your identity) in order to access that content.  
• This process is permanent, so do not transfer your data if it is important to you to be able to access this content offline.  
• Consumers that purchase the standalone 120GB HDD will not experience any change in the way they access their data online or offline since they are using the same console and only upgrading to a larger hard drive.  
• After migrating, your 20GB HDD will be completely erased, but will remain fully compatible with any Xbox 360.  Content can only ever be moved from the smaller drive to the larger one—and only once.
• Depending on the amount of content to be moved, the transfer process can take about an hour, the software will estimate this time before you begin.  
• If the transfer is interrupted for any reason, your content will remain on your existing 20-GB hard drive. You can restart the transfer process at any time prior to completion.

While I know there are a lot of details here, we want to make sure everyone is fully informed on the details and differences between upgrading to the 120GB HDD and upgrading to Xbox 360 Elite.  In addition to these details, Major Nelson has done a video step by step as well with Albert Penello which will be available later today at:  www.majornelson.com.

Sorry for all the official mumbo jumbo, we have to clearly explain this stuff.  Now let me tell you what it was like for my migration to Elite.  I took my current account and 20GB HDD, which has all kinds of game saves, 50+ XBLA games, TV shows, Shadowrun Beta, etc.  I also had 1.5 GB of free space on my 20GB, so a pretty typical situation I think for a core gamer that would likely be upgrading.  Here is what I did:

1. Opening and setting up the Elite was a breeze, used all my existing connections took about 2 mins.  I did switch out for the HDMI cable and looks great.  
2. Following the instructions above, removed the 120GB from the Elite, connected my 20GB HDD to the console and then plugged the transfer cable into the 120GB drive.  
3. After turning on the box and selecting a couple set-up things like English language, etc I loaded the transfer kit disc in the drive and it auto launched to a simple set-up screen.  It reminded me that I can only transfer my content over once and to be sure I was ready.  It also estimated that based on the amount of data I had it would take 1 hour and 36 mins to make the transfer.  
4. I was then prompted to begin the transfer.  It has a simple progress bar telling my how many minutes I had left.  It actually seemed to take a little less time than was estimated.  
5. I then removed the old drive and put my new updated 120GB drive on the Elite.  

The best part was that it was as if I picked up exactly where I left off.  It transferred EVERYTHING off of my old drive, all my XBLA games, games saves, TV shows, videos, etc.  I quickly jumped to the high def episode of South Park, worked great.  Then I ran to try my XBLA games, also all worked great.  I checked my game saves, they are all there.  I even launched the Shadowrun Beta and it worked fine.  Then I went to see how much free space I had, was about 90GB.  So I went to go look for pre-loaded content and basically found some promotional videos and demos that were preloaded.  I quickly deleted all of the demos and preloaded videos and was left with 95GB of free space.  The extra space feels awesome, cannot wait to hit the store for more high def movies and TV shows.  

Net-net, I really must highlight how I found the process overall to be very simple, easy to follow and worked even better than I expected.  I know that the current solution requires that I be logged into LIVE in order to play my existing Arcade games and TV show downloads.  But I would imagine that a lot of folks are in the same situation as me, where they auto-connect to Xbox LIVE all the time anyway.  Nice thing was that I did not have to download anything again, it all moved over with the cable and SW.  In just over an hour I was done and am thoroughly enjoying my Elite.  

Hope this clears up the questions you all may have had about this, we will try our best to answer any other inquiries or scenarios in future posts.  Thanks!

New titles added to GameSpring

The folks at MSN Games have just added five new games to GameSpring!  That’s five more delicious, full-featured casual games piled on top of an already-brimming buffet table of all-you-can-play goodness.  The latest additions are Abundante!, AquaPark, Super Collapse: Puzzle Gallery, Sparkle, and Zodiac Tower, all puzzle and action/puzzle games.  (For those who’ve been counting, this puts us within a pup’s whisker of 100 GameSpring titles… you just know there’s going to be some serious celebrating here once we hit that milestone.)

With GameSpring’s new quarterly and yearly pricing, it’s as little as $7.99 a month to play every game included in the service.  (My 2 cents’ worth: start with Bookworm Adventures, Diner Dash 2, and Pizzy Frenzy!  Mmmmm, Pizza Frenzy̷

How to be Awesome at Oblivion

I was recently talking to our pal Cesar over at Zune Insider and he mentioned that he had a few tips for Oblivion that he wanted to pass along:

What’s up guys.  I’ve been so busy with the Zune blogging that I haven’t had a chance to play my 360 until recently when I blew the dust off my wireless controller and fired up Shivering Isles, the expansion pack to The Elder Scrolls IV - Oblivion.

Let me just say – wow.  Wow.  I’m celebrating my 1250 gamerscore in this game by passing on the knowledge I’ve gained to you, dear GSB reader. So, here’s what I know:

1. The best spell is a conjuration spell.  Let your conjured baddies to all your dirty work.
2. How to win every fight in Oblivion:
• Have a staff, a healing spell, and lots of running room.
• Use your staff to keep enemies at a distance
• If they get too close, jump to get away.
• Run in a circle casting your healing spell until you run out of magicka.
• Run in a circle until your magicka is back.
• Repeat. 
3. On the Shivering Isles, no one cares if you have your Grey Fox mask on.  Use it – you’ll need to sneak around, whether you’re in the tunnels, in the castle.
4. Whatever you do, do not try to fight Sheogorath when he’s sitting on his throne.  It will only bring you pain or disappointment.
5. Be wary about going toe to toe with a Sewn Atronach.  Dudes go all Jet Li on you and it’s lights out. (See tip #2)
6. Save your game right before you choose to become a Duke of either Dementia or Mania.  You have to do two storylines all the way through; there’s no going back once you choose one.
7. As you’re walking around in any area, choose a spell and keep activating it.  This will raise your skill level in that skill.  Similarly, jump around (jump up jump up and get down actually.)  This will booth your athleticism
8. If you notice the clock and see that you’ve been playing for 9 hours straight, remind yourself: “I’m still cool.”  Ask your boyfriend, girlfriend, or other significant other for validation.  She/he is surely to think you’re cool for playing a Role Playing video game for 9 hours straight.  Yeah… that’s the ticket.

Thanks and go Zune

No Cesar, thank you.

Microsoft releases update to XNA Game Studio Express

Today, Microsoft released an update to XNA Game Studio Express which adds new functionality, enhancements and performance improvements to the software. Officially dubbed the XNA Game Studio Express 1.0 Refresh, this release is an incremental update to the previously released XNA Game Studio Express 1.0.

The most significant new feature is the addition of XNA Packager, a utility which will allow users to build and share game binaries for both Windows and Xbox 360. Users can now easily package and share their games for Windows and Xbox 360 without having to share their project source code. The sharing of Xbox 360 games requires a subscription to the XNA Creators Club, which is available via Xbox LIVE Marketplace for $49 (U.S.) for a four-month subscription, or $99 (U.S.) for an annual subscription.

Additional features included in the XNA Game Studio Express 1.0 Refresh include:

• Official XNA Game Studio Express compatibility with Windows Vista
• Support for 3D audio using XACT
• Support for fonts in the XNA Framework
• Various other product enhancements and performance tuning

Originally released in December of 2006, XNA Game Studio Express is a game development solution targeted primarily at students, hobbyists, and independent game developers. XNA Game Studio Express is based on Visual C# 2005 Express Edition and lets developers create games for both Windows and Xbox 360.

The free update and a full feature list can be downloaded at http://msdn.com/xna and http://creators.xna.com.

…And With the Flashbulbs Blind Them

The Gamerscore Blog crew attended the Lord of the Rings Online Midnight Launch Event last night at Bellevue Mall just a few miles from Microsoft’s main campus.

Fans of the game got to purchase the game early, hang out with some of the development team, and in some cases meet the real-life counter-part to their online avatars.

I spoke with the first two guys in line, and they told me that they EACH have 2-3 accounts in World of Warcraft, an account in EverQuest 2, and subscribe to other MMOs.  That’s pretty amazing to me - I’m not sure how they have enough time in the day to play all of those games.

We hung out for awhile, talked to people, handed out some swag (Habu mice, wired/wireless 360 controllers, USB hubs, and LED bouncy balls), and generally had a good time.  It took a bit longer to get up for work this morning.

Big thanks to GameStop, Turbine, and all of the fans who attended the event.

More photos can be found on the flickr account.