XBox Gaming Blog

Lunchtime Conversation - Episode 20 - GSB Road Show ‘07 - Dallas

MP3 File: 4.0 MB, 12 minutes

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

Audio from the venue.

Shoutouts:

• Jeff - Hydro888 - Gamer University
• Vince - NASCARVinny - Gamer University
• Jimmy - Rukamir
• Rane - Gemini Ace - geminiace.blogspot.com
• Jay - SkittlesDFW - Unclegamer
• Robert - TXPaladin - robowerks.blogspot.com
• Non 360 Owner
• Magboy - Hotmail
• Brian - fohsups
• Daylon - DeaconBlade360 - Unscripted360
• Travis - Soufizzy - GamertagRadio

- Email us at GSBlog@Microsoft.com with questions/comments/audio

Xbox Dad of the Year (North America)

Do you know a great gaming dad?  Uh, except for me?  Trixie’s got a new contest running, as a follow up to the wildly successful My Mom’s a Gamer contest that just wrapped up.  Xbox Dad of the Year will be awarded from those who write a 250-500 word essay describing why your dad (or a dad/guardian you know) should be awarded the title.  Deadline is June 9.

The winners get to publicly share their love for their dad, and take home an Xbox 360, an HD DVD drive, a Wireless Racing Wheel, and a limited edition VIP Accessories Kit.  Sweet.

Alright, I’ll throw a wet blanket on the whole thing by saying this is a US/Canada contest only, open to those 13 and older.  I know there are some good dads that don’t live in the US.

Nick Baker, Xbox 360 Architect

Nick Baker was recently interviewed on Channel 9, the site hosting lots of videoclips from Microsoft employees, mostly developers (and cousin to Channel 10). 

From Channel 9:

What is the XBox 360, exactly? How do you go about designing and building a game console that meets the high standards of today’s gamers and handles the computational pressures of today’s highly realistic games (think real time physics computation, incredibly rich graphics, etc)? Did you know the XBox 360 team saw into the multi-core future before most anybody else?

Well, who better to talk to about all of this (and more) than Nick Baker. Nick is a hardware engineer and Director who leads the team that thought up the XBox 360 hardware architecture. It’s an impressive piece of machinery. In fact, Nick recently won the Outstanding Technical Leadership award for the effort. Here, Nick takes us through the design history and some of the implementation details of the XBox 360. What were some of the design trade-offs? How different is the XBox 360 that you can buy today from what you, Nick and his team were initially thinking?

It’s a very interesting story.

We get pretty geeky here, so be prepared to learn a thing or two about game console hardware architecture, the future of XBox 360 as it relates to multi-core, game programming language evolution in the multi-core, and more.

Thanks, Mykres!

Introducing Surface

Lots of talk around here today about Surface, the new Microsoft product that provides interaction with digital content through natural gestures, touch and physical objects. It’s a tabletop surface that’s perfect for learning, sharing, creating, buying, playing Galaga or Pac-Man (I added that in). I hear it’s headed to hotels, public entertainment venues, restaurants, those kinds of places. No price tag on it yet, but my guess is that it’s in the $5K-$10K range, not the kind of thing you’d buy for your game room.

The unit has five separate cameras, a rear projection system displaying an image onto the underside of a thin diffuser which is the table’s surface. Infrared light is also projected onto the diffuser from underneath so that objects such as fingers are visible through the diffuser by infrared-sensitive cameras positioned underneath the table surface. An image processing system processes the camera images to detect fingers, custom tags and other objects such as paint brushes when touching the surface. The objects seen with this system are reported to applications running in the computer so that they can react to object shapes, 2D bar codes (tags), movement and touch.

I remember when the idea was first presented, must have been four or five years ago, when I worked in the channel marketing team. A small team was created to build the first prototype. I got to play with it a couple of years ago,and it’s come a long, long ways since then.

Check out the videos on www.microsoft.com/surface. Or check out the demo by Bill Gates, linked up on Engadget.  Pretty cool.

From the fact sheet up on our Press site:

Name of Product: Microsoft Surface™

Category: Surface computing

Product

Overview: Surface is the first commercially available surface computer from Microsoft Corp. It turns an ordinary tabletop into a vibrant, interactive surface. The product provides effortless interaction with digital content through natural gestures, touch and physical objects. In essence, it’s a surface that comes to life for exploring, learning, sharing, creating, buying and much more. Soon to be available in restaurants, hotels, retail establishments and public entertainment venues, this experience will transform the way people shop, dine, entertain and live.

Description: Surface is a 30-inch display in a table-like form factor that’s easy for individuals or small groups to interact with in a way that feels familiar, just like in the real world. Surface can simultaneously recognize dozens and dozens of movements such as touch, gestures and actual unique objects that have identification tags similar to bar codes.

Surface will ship to partners with a portfolio of basic applications, including photos, music, virtual concierge and games, that can be customized to provide their customers with unique experiences.

Surface

Computing: Surface computing breaks down traditional barriers between people and technology, changing the way people interact with all kinds of everyday content, from photos to maps to menus. The intuitive user interface works without a traditional mouse or keyboard, allowing people to interact with content and information by using their hands and natural movements. Users are able to access information either on their own or collaboratively with their friends and families, unlike any experience available today. Surface computing features four key attributes:

· Direct interaction. Users can actually “grab” digital information with their hands and interact with content through touch and gesture, without the use of a mouse or keyboard.

· Multi-touch contact. Surface computing recognizes many points of contact simultaneously, not just from one finger as with a typical touch screen, but up to dozens and dozens of items at once.

· Multi-user experience. The horizontal form factor makes it easy for several people to gather around surface computers together, providing a collaborative, face-to-face computing experience.

· Object recognition. Users can place physical objects on the surface to trigger different types of digital responses, including the transfer of digital content.

Features: Multi-touch display. The Surface display is capable of multi-touch interaction, recognizing dozens and dozens of touches simultaneously, including fingers, hands, gestures and objects placed on the surface.

Horizontal orientation. The 30-inch display in a table-sized form factor allows users to share, explore and create experiences together, enabling a truly collaborative computing experience.

Dimensions. Surface is 22 inches high, 21 inches deep and 42 inches wide.

Materials. The Surface tabletop is acrylic, and its interior frame is powder-coated steel.

Requirements: Standard American 110–120V power

System: The Surface custom software platform runs on Windows Vista™ and has wired Ethernet 10/100 and wireless 802.11 b/g and Bluetooth 2.0 connectivity.

Availability: Beginning at the end of this year, consumers will be able to interact with Surface in hotels, restaurants, retail establishments and public entertainment venues.

This Week in Xbox LIVE Video Marketplace

For those of you (in the US) that have been pining away for Team America: World Police in HD, you’ll be able to get it on June 1.  Along with Happily N’Ever After and Freedom Writers (also both in HD). 

From TV, we’re also releasing Babylon 5: Season 5,  Shooting Sizemore, and some new Comedy Central Stand-Up shows. 

There are a handful of short form shows, including Baxter & Maguire, Guacamole, and The Golden Age, and a new, free sneak preview of Criss Angel: Mindfreak Season 3.  Tony always comes in shaking his head, and pondering how he does it.  For him, it really is a mindfreak. 

Gamerscore Blog Road Tour 2007: Dallas

Dallas was the last stop on the Gamerscore Blog 2007 Road Show.

In every city we tried to take a few photos of famous landmarks, but the rain didn’t allow us that, aside from two photos of the birds that attacked Tony as we walked to dinner.

We had the opportunity to hang out with a lot of different folks who I interviewed in an upcoming podcast.  We also tried running a chat along with the stream of the event, and did community-based questions in impromptu interviews - we liked the way it worked, and we may do more with Ustream.tv in the future.

More photos can be found on Flickr.

Gamerscore Blog Road Tour Miami Podcast from Gamertag Radio

Gamertag Radio was kind enough to allow Chris a night off from podcasting from Miami.  To hear coverage from Feelz Good (in Washington DC) and Godfree (in Miami), check it out.

From Gamertag Radio Episode 101:

Subscribe to Gamertag Radio: (>Itunes) (>RSS) (>Odeo) (>Digg it!)

• Audio Download Link: >Episode #101 - GSB Tour, Bomberman Live Interview & Podcasting 101
  

Gamerscoreblog Tour Event Coverage Miami & Washington DC

Get to hear our live coverage from GSB Tour 2007. Feelz Good gives us a live report from Washington DC. Godfree sits down with Xbox community members in the Miami, FL at the event also a short interview with Microsoft’s Tony Hynes & Cpaladino about the tour event that been going on all last week.

Exclusive Podcast Interview Bomberman Live (XBL Arcade)

Are you ready for the return of Bomberman? Were you disappointment with the last game? Then don’t worry this game sounds like it will be taking it back to it’s roots with the multiplayer game mode. Get to hear new details about the game with the Hudson Ent. Team. This game will be out for the Xbox Live Arcade later this Summer ‘07. Get to hear this Exclusive interview only at GTR!

Podcasting 101 feat Vicious (Uncle Gamer) & Nelson (AchievementJunkie)

Last week I had the chance to sit down with the following podcasters Vicious (>Uncle Gamer) & Nelson (>AchievementJunkie) about podcasting. This is a must listen for those that wants to know about creating a podcast, blog, community site, etc.. Get to hear what we had to say about the future of podcasting, how all of us started, dealing with PR, haters & more.

Custom Soundtrack Of The Week: Common - “The Game” feat DJ Premier Prod. by Kanye West

Also we reveal the winner of the Halo 3 Zune! Enjoy!

Shadowrun for Xbox 360 and Windows Vista Now Available in North America

Shadowrun, the new game for Xbox 360 and Windows Vista is now available in North America.  Shadowrun has an estimated retail price of $59.99 (U.S.) for Xbox 360 and $49.99 (U.S.) for Windows Vista, and is rated “M” for Mature.

The Shadowrun demo will be available on June 6 from Xbox LIVE Marketplace.

From the media alert:

The innovative first-person shooter (FPS) gameplay of “Shadowrun,” developed by FASA Studio, thrusts gamers into strategic battles that utilize magic and technology. Players must vie for supremacy, playing as a human, elf, dwarf or troll. Cleverness, cunning and split-second improvisation are rewarded through a unique combination of modern weapons, ancient magic and advanced technology. As the first game to support Microsoft’s Games for Windows – LIVE service, “Shadowrun” gives players on both Xbox 360 and Windows Vista a chance to compete, cooperate and communicate across both platforms with an Xbox LIVE Gold or Games for Windows - LIVE Gold account*.

“Shadowrun” will ship with nine unique maps and an additional three map variations, showcasing dynamic environments set in a futuristic Santos, Brazil, and its neighboring ancient Ziggurat. “Shadowrun” includes six training chapters, letting gamers fine-tune their strategy and lethal combinations against the intuitively smart and talented A.I. bots. Gamers can also play with bots at four levels of difficulty on every map and with every game type.

“Shadowrun” is an online multiplayer-focused game.  On Xbox 360, am Xbox LIVE Gold account is required to play multiplayer in Shadowrun.  On a Windows Vista-based PC, a Games for Windows - LIVE Gold account is required for some types of multiplayer, including cross-platform play and matchmaking.

Mad Tracks Coming to Xbox LIVE Arcade Tomorrow

3D racing party game Mad Tracks will be available for download  beginning Wednesday, May 30, at 9:00 a.m. GMT (2:00 a.m. Pacific Time).

From the media alert just posted:

Players can race through 15 challenges consisting of nine mini-games and six different races behind the wheel of one of 12 sleek compact cars. “Mad Tracks,” from Load Inc., features 12 power-ups to keep engines revved up and players in the fast lane ahead of the competition.

“Mad Tracks” will be available worldwide (with the exception of Korea) for 800 Microsoft Points and is rated E for Everyone.

Game Features

• 15 distinct challenges (6 races & 9 mini-games) provide a full-fledged racing game experience
  
• 12 stackable power-ups (rockets, freezer, oil drop, EMP and more!)
  
• 12 sleek looking cars to choose from
  
• 4 player multiplayer over Xbox LIVE and 4 player local multiplayer via split screen mode
  
• Championship mode & Arcade mode
  
• 2 free gamer pictures
  
• Earn up to 12 Achievements and 200 Gamerscore points

Stream This - Dallas

Live Video Feed of the GSB Road Show ‘07 Dallas Stop:

We may try and allow chats and more interaction by hitting this link:  http://www.ustream.tv/channel/gamerscore-blog