For those of you good at math, you might notice that the TD Gaming Podcast is one episode away from a special number. While we have a surprise in store for loyal listeners, there’s still this week’s news to discuss. For starters, the classic Silent Hill 2 is the subject of the Gaming Flashback, even though none of the podcasters have gotten a chance to actually play it.

There’s also some interesting news to discuss, including:

• Christian group accuses The Old Republic of “warping kids” with pro-gay message
• Rumor: Next Harmonix project being released on XBLA, PSN, and Facebook
• EA Sports: SSX will bring extreme sports videogames back to prominence
• Xbox 720 rumors springing up like wildfire
• PS Vita continues to struggle in Japan
• SNK brings Neo*Geo back as a handheld

There’s plenty of Reader Feedback, but there’s no Question of the Week, because there’s a special episode coming up. Ooooh, what could it possibly be?

The latest episode, which is on the short side after having a really long one two weeks ago, sees Paul returning from the flu with somewhat of a shady attitude this week. Meanwhile, the Gaming Flashback is the 1976 coin-op arcade game Blockade.

The news for this week includes:

• Gabe Newell teases something for E3 2012 with a “3” in it
• Richard Garriott working on Ultima successor
• Microsoft includes “do not class action sue us” clause for Xbox Live
• Bizarre circumstances surround GSC Game World

All that plus Reader Feedback and the Question of the Week, “What was your favorite handheld game?”

This week features a long podcast, as there’s a ton of news to report. Jonah tries air quotes on a pure audio podcast, while Paul refuses to believe The Legend of Zelda: Skyword Sword failed to hit the top 10 in software sales.

In addition, the Gaming Flashback checks out the JRPG Ys.

This week’s news includes:

• Ubisoft polling gamers for next Assassin’s Creed setting
• Electronic Arts bans a user for saying “badass”
• Newell: Piracy is “almost always a service problem” and not price, DRM agitates
• Christwire makes mock petition asking Pres. Obama ban Skyrim
• Holiday shopping madness sees woman pepper spraying for 360
• Microsoft refunds victims of Marketplace phishing scam

All this, and a bunch of reader feedback, as well as the Question of the Week: “Did you buy videogames as holiday gifts for friends and family?” Let us know.

This week’s episode is also abbreviated, as Jordan is somewhere in Pennsylvania looking for a gingerbread house while Paul is still trying to pack his entire NES library into a single suitcase. Jonah and Paul still got in enough time to do a Gaming Flashback on Thief: The Dark Project, and the following news items:

• Steam forums hacked
• Xbox 360 failure rate down to 10%
• Sony revamps< PSN sharing policy
• BioWare and EA send cease-and-desist order to NeoGAF over Mass Effect 3 spoilers

All this and Reader Feedback, too, as well as a new Question of the Week, “If you have the opportunity to read or view a highly anticipated game’s story months before it was released, would you do it or would you deliberately turn it away to preserve yourself from spoilers?” Let us know!

A microphone issue during the podcast made Jonah’s voice thin and tinny. That, and Paul not in the podcast, flying to California to enjoy Disneyland, makes this an episode to forget. It’s unfortunately, since it’s one of the better podcasts in terms of content. The Gaming Flashback this week is Leisure Suit Larry in The Land of the Lounge Lizards.

The news this week includes:

• Netflix drops Qwikster
• Xbox 720 popping up on LinkedIn resumes
• 320GB hard drive announced for Xbox 360
• Rocksteady: Superman “bad fit” for videogame
• Bethesda: We were “forced” to sue Mojang

We also received some great Reader Feedback as well. Next week, we promise to have great sound – or at least not so tinny.

This week, there’s no Gaming Flashback or Gaming History, but there is a ton of news and Reader Feedback as Paul is finally present to react to some hate mail.

The news includes some huge items, like:

• No PSN unless you waive lawsuit
• Netflix adds game rentals to Qwikster
• DC Universe Online goes free-to-play
• Xbox Live officially a part of Windows 8
• Microsoft: Xbox TV this Fall
• Rogers Cable ordered to stop throttling gamers
• Nintendo and Valve say no to smartphone games

The Question of the Week: What was the very first home videogame you ever played?

This week, Jonah Falcon rants about the bosses in Deus Ex: Human Revolution while Jordan Lund expresses a desire for cold, rainy weather. This week’s Gaming Flashback is The Elder Scrolls II: Daggerfall, with the following news items:

• Lord British wants to make another Ultima, EA not so much
• Crytek rebukes “unlawful layoff” claims
• Gabe Newell wants Steam on Xbox Live Marketplace
• DICE addresses console “limitations” in Battlefield 3
• Black Ops map packs hit 18 million sold
• Sony targets teens with new PSP
• Angry Birds PS Mini problems

The guys also read more reader mail, and pose this week’s Question of the Week: What was the worst game mechanic you ever dealt with in a game you liked?

This week’s episode is light on news but heavy on features, as the Gaming Flashback checks in on the coin-op arcade classic I, Robot, while the Gaming History takes a look at the career of Danielle Bunten Berry.

As for the news, the gang comments on the following items:

• New Mass Effect 3 multiplayer rumors arise
• Duke Nukem Forever profitable for Take 2
• Bethesda says Xbox 720 three years away

This week’s Question of the Week: What board games, if any, do you love to play? Let us know!

Bethesda Softworks vice president of marketing Pete Hines is critzing publishers and developers who shoehorn multiplayer into their games that doing such a thing is “a waste of time” and advises, “Just drop it, don’t bother…it’ll make for a worse game.”

In an interview with Next Gen BIZ, Hines states that using online multiplayer as a tool to prevent used game trade-ins and rental simply doesn’t work, and robs developers of valuable man-hours.

Hines stated:

“(People ask us) for a game like Skyrim or Prey 2, why doesn’t it have multiplayer? Well, our question is always the opposite when we talk to a developer. If you’re doing multiplayer, why are you doing multiplayer? What are you trying to accomplish?

“If you’re doing it just to check a box or because every other publisher says you’ve got to have multiplayer, then just drop it, don’t bother, it’s a waste of time, a giant distraction and it’ll make for a worse overall game.

“We want the best game possible. If that’s a singleplayer game that’s 15 to 20 hours, then make that! Don’t waste your time on features that don’t make the game better.”

The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim and Prey 2 are two Bethesda properties that will lack multiplayer, but one of the tools to encourage games to keep both games will be downlodable content and, even more important, good communications with the game communities and nurturing the fandom for both games.

This week is a big episode, as it is chock full of surprising news this week, as well as some long, long reader mail. If that weren’t enough, we take a look back at the IntelliVision game Maze-a-Tron, deal with too much love for Paul, and the mystery that is the popularity of gorillas.

This week’s news includes:

• Electronic Arts buys Popcap Games
• Microsoft: Only Master Chief in Halo from now on
• PlayStation Vita dev costs closer to PSP
• Netflix takes aim at usage based billing
• Expert glitcher hired to clean up Modern Warfare 3′s multiplayer
• Skyrim ‘less confusing’, not ‘more accessible‘

There’s no Gaming History this week, but the Question of the Week is: “What old game do you most want to see remade?” There’s no contest behind it, but you can always take heart in the fact that your question was probably the most awesome.

It’s the Smurfiest post-Fourth of July podcast ever, as Jonah Falcon and Jordan Lund look back at the ColecoVision classic Smurfs: Rescue from Gargamel’s Castle, probably the easiest videogame ever Smurfed.

If that weren’t Smurfy enough, Jonah and Jordan, working without Paul S. Nowak this week, also check out this week’s Smurfy news:

• Xbox 720 with Halo 4 launch in 2012?
• PS4 also in 2012, with embedded Kinect-like motion control?
• Crytek says Kinect development is “really, really easy.”
• Sony working on new PSN redesign?
• Questions over alleged early close of Sony’s Welcome Back offer.

This week has a ton of Smurfy reader feedback, as well as reaction to Sony’s crackdown of Star Wars Galaxies shutdown petitioners. If that weren’t Smurfy enough, the Question of the Week is pretty Smurfy as well, as readers are asked, “What game that you can’t find anywhere anymore do you wish you could play again?”

As usual, hit us up on iTunes and leave some comments!

You might notice that I’ve been pretty silent on E3 2011 previews, despite hustling around the entire time. That is because I’ve been writing almost all of them for Strategy Informer.

So, those of you who are regulars at Gaming Podcast – and judging by hits, there are tons of you – here are excerpts of the previews I’ve written for Strategy Informer for PC, Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 titles, plus a link to the full article.

UbiSoft’s Pre-E3 Briefing:

At the briefing, they showed off the following games: Rayman Origins, Driver: San Francisco, Far Cry 3, Brothers In Arms: The Furious Four, The Adventures of Tintin, Ghost Recon: Future Warrior, Trackmania 2, Raving Rabbids: Alive & Kicking, Just Dance 3, Rocksmith, Your Shape Fitness Evolved 2012 and Assassin’s Creed: Revelations. (Read more…)

Dead Island (PC, PS3, 360):

Getting back to the mood of the game, missions are similarly realistic and grim. Nothing in the game seems artificially tacked on; the flow and the suspension of disbelief are extremely well done. During a mission, sometimes you’ll rescue another survivor and they will have a mission for you to do right there in the middle of your current quest. You can opt to help them, ignore them, or even screw them by driving them off in their vehicle. This is survival, and sometimes, jjust sometimes, you may give in to temptations to make choices that will make you normally wince. It’s a zombie dog eats zombie dog world and in the middle of an apocalypse, sometimes you have to fortify your own safety at the expense of another. (Read more…)

Star Wars: The Old Republic (PC):

The devs showed a scene in which a Jedi subdued a Sith Lord, and the Lord accepted his defeat and desired the Jedi kill him quickly. In one variation, the Jedi took the dark side choice, cursing the Lord and killing him. In the other, the Jedi took the light side choice and spared him, detecting his desire for death was guilt. He urged the Lord to seek out the Jedi Council and turn back to the light side. When the Lord questioned if the Jedi would accept him back, the Jedi replied there was only one way to find out. They shifted to later in the game when the Sith Lord had indeed had become a Jedi, and stripped himself of the title General, for it held no meaning for him anymore. This was a case in which the actions of the Jedi had changed the story of the game. (Read more…)

The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim (PC, PS3, 360):

Dragons are a major adversary in the game, and they are viciously tough. They are also intelligent as well – they have no scripts. They follow a procedural AI that is completely unscripted. In one scene, a dragon swooped down unexpectedly to snatch a badly wounded giant from the player who was about to give the finishing blow, flew high into the air, and dropped the poor giant to his death. Why? Who knows, because the dragon then started fighting the player. It arced around the player, hurled fireballs, landed on the ground to attack with claws, then flew again. The player used one dragon shout to summon a storm that created a hard rain and lightning crashes. This wounded the dragon enough that it could no longer fly, and when a dragon crashes, it’s with an impressive thud. Dragons in Skyrim will be what Big Daddies were in BioShock on the expert difficulty – only there will be no resurrection chamber to save your buttocks when the dragon finishes you off. (Read more…)

Tera (PC):

A Vanarch can choose to be a kind monarch through such actions as lowering taxes and so forth, or can be a merciless tyrant who raises taxes, throws people in jail and institutes that the region is now a PvP anything goes area. Of course, the Vanarch must also be careful not to alienate citizens in his region, or risk being voted out of office. The Political system is a daring social experiment at the least, to see what kind of rulers guild leaders will be over a region populated by other players. (Read more…)

Awesomenauts (PS3, 360):

The game plays like your typical Metal Slug clone, with action-platforming, but bursts of jetpacks can allow them to hover in midair for a while, too. Players battle each other with each characters unique weaponry, while trying to bring down the barriers. Barriers are protected by laser turrets. Turrets also spew little minions who basically serve as cannon fodder – staying behind them to absorb damage while you fire over them. Of course, enemy minions are spewed by the turrets, too. (Read more…)

Star Trek (PC, PS3, 360):

The differences in play styles between Kirk and Spock are as you might expect: Kirk tends toward brute force, while Spock gravitates towards finesse and stealth. The differences are even reflected in the more subtle ways. At the beginning of the demo, Kirk and Spock are using the jets in their exosuits to navigate a minefield while trying to reach a hijacked U.S.S. Enterprise. While Kirk clumsily crashes into the ship, Spock makes a perfect two point landing. (Read more…)

The War of the Worlds (360):

The game features a washed out, nearly black and white look in alien controlled areas, which become more colorful when retaken by humanity. The developers state the game is a puzzle-platformer in the mold of Flashback, Out of This World and Prince of Persia, but fans will also see a resemblance to Limbo as well. The game will feature eleven massive levels and dozens of different areas filled with hostile aliens and fleeing humans, but unlike Limbo, the game will telegraph potential deadly traps, making the game more about near death experiences, rather than trial and error. (Read more…)

Defiance (PC, PS3, 360):

This Earth isn’t too familiar, however. Taking place in the near future, it represents a time when aliens have arrived and have begun to terraform the planet to their liking, so expect a bizarre melding of indigenous Earth plants and animals interacting with strange alien flora and fauna. Humans are trying to stop the aliens from changing the Earth, so many missions come from, say, preventing terraforming equipment from arriving in one piece. (Read more…)

Prototype 2 (PC, PS3, 360):

Prototype 2 takes place a while after. New York City has been cordoned off into three sections: Red, Yellow and Green. The Red section is where the virus is still running rampant, and horrific mutations roam. The Yellow section is a quarantine for those who escaped the Red section, but must remain due to suspicion of infection. Finally, the Green section is the healthy part of New York – but it’s not so healthy in that a militia has been stationed there to protect the citizens from incursion by infected – but rule with a violent iron fist. An example of this is when a curious blob of infection has found itself in a lot, the militia deal with onlookers by giving them a few seconds to disperse then opening fire on the crowd with live ammo and killing them. (Read more…)

Star Trek: Infinite Space (PC):

As captain, you can outfit your ship in a myriad of ways, and there are tons of modules that can be purchased (and will be visually reflected on your ship). You can purchase anything from extra ship’s phaser power to buying a cloaking device. Each station in the game varies in the wares it sells. For example, purchasing from a Federation shop will get you the standard stuff, but of very high quality, while you’ll find lesser quality items from the Ferengi, but they’ll also be selling hard-to-find black market items, too. Being a free-to-play MMO, you can buy items with real money microtransactions. (Read more…)

Payday: The Heist (PC, PS3):

One of the biggest thrills is that unlike Left 4 Dead and other like-minded games, you don’t have to jump into the action right away, and you don’t even have to play with guns ablazing. In the bank heist we tried at E3, you entered the banks with weapons hidden to case the joint, looking for the bank manager, who owns the security pass card to the vault. You have to be careful, though – wander too close to a guard and they’ll see your hidden weaponry and react with force. (Read more…)

My previews aren’t done – I’ll update this page as I add previews.

Activision’s Dan Amrich posted in his One of Swords blog that two million users have signed up Call of Duty: Elite‘s beta, who said the number ”blew his mind” when ”they hit that number in less than two weeks. That should give the dev team at Beachhead plenty to work with to kick off the beta, which officially starts July 14.”

“The official start of the beta is a month away, so there’s still plenty of time for you to sign up. When the studio head at Beachhead said this would be a live beta, he was not kidding — your participation really can make a difference in how Elite evolves,” added Amrich, ”And don’t be discouraged by the big number, thinking you shouldn’t bother because they already have enough people — two million volunteers among 30 million Call of Duty players is a small amount. More would be even better. Once you’ve signed up, just watch your email inbox for an invite.”

The 2M beta applications aren’t necessarily an endorsement for Elite. Rather, users are probably curious to see the beta and if it pleases them. The paid subscription portion reportedly only represents 10% of Elite, anyway, and is aimed at more “professional” and “hardcore” gamers, aka clans.

Users can apply for the beta here.

It’s contest time again! This time, we’re giving away the Xbox Live Arcade version of Defense Grid: The Awakening, a great tower defense title. You can read GameStooge’s review here, which has gameplay videos.

How can you win this addictive title? Very easy – tell us when you first started getting hooked on TD Gaming Podcast. That’s it. Let us know why you tune into Derrick, Jennifer and Don for your videogame podcast pleasure. One entry per IP. Entries must be before Wednesday, September 16 at 12noon EST.

However, there are more copies to win, as 2old2play and GameStooge will also be giving away a code for Defense Grid.

It contains a bit of “rough language,” you have been warned Checkout their other shows at ScrewAttack, this is a play on Project Natal’s Milo concept demo in which animated “Milo” interacts with a real human.

The game industry is doing “okay” in this bad economic time compared to other industries.  Primarily, Nintendo is rocking the house with their games, hand-held’s and consoles while mobile developers are showing some great successes in the industry. Many success stories in our industry are based on small titles, downloadable games of the more “casual” style while a few larger titles are experiencing slower than expected sales trends.

We’ve mentioned this in the past, but the tough economy gives many smaller developers great opportunities for success. While big publishers struggle to look good in the eyes of the investor, tiny developers can produce quality titles for minimal cash investment and time to market. Ten years ago, smaller developers tried to compete with the big boys making larger titles, cloning successful titles or simply asking investors to put it on the line for their game. Today, developers can create a small iphone app, a cute WiiWare title or exploit the XNA efforts of Microsoft for Xbox Live Arcade and actually have a chance.

There are still challenges with these smaller developers when working in the WiiWare and XBLA publishing channels, your game marketing and promotion becomes highly reliant on Nintendo, Microsoft or Sony for PSN. Tom Prata, senior director of Nintendo of America talked to Gamespot about this issue:

“Finally, there’s the problem of promotion. It’s not enough to make a great game if nobody notices it. Prata specifically said Nintendo will be devoting more resources to support the promotion and development of WiiWare games in the future.” (gamespot)

Of course, in the world of smaller game titles and downloadable casual games, you’re going to be at risk of finding a lot of “shovelware” — products that are only released to make a quick dime, often based on some license or popular theme/character. The great game titles will, hopefully, rise to the top and show themselves off amongst all the wanna-be money makers.

Those smaller developers putting a huge passion into their titles actually have a chance in this new industry trend. Game makers, internationally, now have a chance to grasp a small piece of the industry and make their dreams come true. The core audience may see this as a trend of noisly low quality titles, but I believe the industry needs this change to grow a new generation of developers based on niche interests.

While many can wait for their next release of Madden the rest of us will continue to spend a little money to see what the future innovators are going to be bringing to the table.

The famous Michael Pachter, industry analyst has been drawing some strong connections between Xbox 360 gamers and the Netflix subscriber base since 360 launched their Netflix addition. Our family has seen the same thing, we signed up for Netflix a few days after it arrived on the Xbox 360 firmware launch.

Oddly enough, we’ve not used the Netflix addition to the Xbox 360 much after subscribing for Netflix. We’ve utilized the DVD shipment feature and we’re using the Tivo version of Netflix for the living room. Although we’ve found the Xbox 360 Netflix version is much more user friendly and fast.

“Pachter estimates that roughly one million Xbox Live Gold members are also Netflix subscribers, and that 200,000 or so of them signed up for Netflix after the debut of the New Xbox Experience in late November, 2008.” (joystiq)

Prachter believes 35% of all new Xbox 360 purchasers will sign up for an Xbox Live Gold account. He expects “as many as 1 million [XBL Gold members] join as Netflix members in the next year.” We’re fairly certain the Netflix and Microsoft Xbox 360 partnership was a well thought out plan to expand their domination in the industry.

Of course, as we’ve seen, Netflix didn’t just stop at Xbox 360, their Tivo solution is another great way to leverage your downloadable video content. Now, we just have to hope we don’t blow through the 250GB cap Comcast supposedly contains.

Sony’s PlayStation 3 has a 10-year plan. We’ve heard about the plan, we’ve seen Sony’s current execution and we’re starting to see some of the titles making their way to the PS3 for 2009. The Xbox 360? Kaz, Sony Computer Entertainment’s head man, made his thoughts clear when speaking to Official PlayStation Magazine.

“Last time I checked, they’ve never had a console that’s been on the market for more than four or five years and we’ve committed to a ten year life cycle, so you do the math…,” he says. He goes on to state that the Xbox 360 won’t have a larger install base by the end of their 10-year plan has been completed, “unless things go really bad.”

Of course, nobody says Microsoft’s 10-year plan isn’t to push out yet another console. Is that wise? We don’t really know, but you can’t count them out on it. Maybe they’ll only have half the install base but two consoles in the market within the next ten years, nobody really knows.

The one major hole we can see in his comments revolve around their claims that the Microsoft doesn’t have any history of a console being on the market for very long. If I recall, Sony managed to squeek one by on Nintendo with the original PlayStation, which changed everything for the next ten years. Sony didn’t have a 5-year track record when they started taking Nintendo down, why does Microsoft need to have an extensive resume as well?

As for Wii?

“It’s difficult to talk about Nintendo because we don’t look at their console as being competitors. They’re a different world and we operate in our world — that’s kind of the way I look at things…” (kotaku)

Say what you want about Microsoft vs. Sony, but it sure sounds like Sony doesn’t want to acknowlege Nintendo’s success because it casts a dark shadow on their own product. Nintendo and Sony have been battling for years, that’s just the way it is and that’s how the industry sees it. When NPD releases numbers, when journalists write articles about consoles and when the war is finished one thing remains constant: all three consoles are included in the equation.

If the sales continue as they have been for Nintendo and their little white Wii, you’ll be looking at the top-dog for overall console says–best selling console ever. This would push Sony’s PlayStation 2 to the second spot of awesome console victories over the last seven generations of gaming hardware.

Before Sony fans unite to comment storm, remember, the PS2 had a lot of great games and continues to have games coming through for its console. People are still debating the life-span of the Wii product line, regardless to overall sales figures while the PS2 no doubt had a long live and still continues to have a long life, heck 30%+ of gamers still play the darn thing. Sony has been able to utilize the PS2 and its profitability to glide through the initial PS3 sales slump and get the momentum growing for their current generation console.

Yet, some folks are comparing the PlayStation 3 to the GameCube in terms of sales performance.

“During the first 26 month period, the PS3 sold 6.79 million units in the U.S., compared to 6.75 million GameCubes during its first 26 months. While the GameCube finished a distant third last generation, the console was profitable for Nintendo.” (Kotaku)

Before you get out your flame pens, this analogy wasn’t constructed by me, I’m merely the messenger. Again, to defend Sony (read: put on  my flame retardant outfit) Sony’s console is slowly building momentum, depending on who’s statistics you read anyway, and their product will eventually become a profitable sale. The GameCube was profitable as well but boasted “dozens” of great games to play while the PS3 obviously is pushing to become the hardcore gamers console of choice with top tier graphics, blu-ray playback and a free online service. GameCube was really just a cube that played some games, a one-trick-poney as it where.

It still feels odd to say Nintendo is winning and Sony isn’t winning (I avoid the term losing to yet again to kill the flames) and… Microsoft?

Microsoft, in my opinion, is in the best possible situation. They’re not being targetted as the number one console and being critizised for holding such a position and they’re not dragging near the bottom to be poked fun at by the industry and bloggers around the world (mainly, the United States.) They’re stealthing by with good sales compared to the last generation console by “improving its fortunes.” The Xbox 360 “sells 18 percent faster than its predecessor, according to NPD figures, and even turned a profit, something the original Xbox never did” according to VentureBeat.

The PlayStation 3 has many years ahead of it and we’re sure plenty of gamers will eventually buy into the console because the technology within that black box is designed to last many years. Considering only 30% of the United States is rolling with an HD-TV it’s not surprising they’re not jumping at the opportunity to own a PlayStation 3. Why is the news all over the PlayStation 3 and talking trash about it? Sony was the console to beat when the PlayStation 2  reigned the industry, to see the console go from #1 to #3 in a single generation is shocking but not new; we saw Nintendo suffer the same fate when the PlayStation originally launched.

But, is the PS3 like the GameCube? There are too many factors to make that comparison, especially considering the growth in the game industry, the growth of storage and video technology and the general acceptance of video games. Hell, you can buy video games at convenience stores in the United States now, the industry isn’t the same as it was in 2001.

Please discuss…but don’t shoot the messenger.

Rumors float around the Internet questioning when Microsoft will ship a Blu-ray enabled Xbox 360 or add-on device like they did with the, now failed, HD-DVD. At CES 09 Robbie Bach, president of Microsoft’s Entertainment & Devices division, says this request is “way down the list.”

Mr. Bach had some great selling points as to why a Blu-ray player has little value in the world of Xbox 360. The primary reason, of course, being the Xbox 360 developers cannot take advantage of Blu-ray as a development platform for games. This was the price Sony, or the consumer, paid to own a PlayStation 3 since all games are printed on the media and are, in effect, Blu-ray “capable.”

We say capable because not all (any?) PlayStation 3 games currently make full use of the Blu-ray media. Many games will reprint the game on the media for optimization purposes, fill the game with international voice overs for all countries or, otherwise, stuff the media with something that will serve a useful purpose. Sony has near-future-proofed their device by giving game developers years of growth in terms of utilizing the Blu-ray capacity.

Microsoft chose to take the smaller old-style DVD format for games and media. Adding the HD-DVD didn’t add a large deal of risk because, as we saw, they can discontinue the model and not change their core gaming demographic. We still laughed a bit at them, but that was where it ended. Bach also said that it’s not really a great economic time to push a new 360 SKU on potential customers with additional cost just for Blu-ray movies playback.

They could add Blu-ray game development support as well but that would just alienate the “28 million Xboxes” they have already shipped.

“OK, let me get this straight: I’m going to add something to the product that’s going to raise the cost, which means the price goes up, consumers aren’t asking for it, and by the way, my game developers can’t use it.” (gamespot)

Of course, the first thing that came to our mind was “well, you did it for HD-DVD, how is Blu-ray different?” The key areas we can think of really come down to Blu-ray is a Sony technology and they are a direct competitor and, to top it off, HD-DVD allowed them to fight against the PS3 at the media level of the industry. They minimized the risk by making the product a secondary add-on device and, if HD-DVD had won, they’d have the winning format already under production (still not for games).

It seems Microsoft has changed their battle plans a little. They started out talking up the media aspects of the 360, using Media Center, renting movies and TV shows and had the HD-DVD as a subproduct. Today, they’re investing in Netflix for media and everything else favors the games.

Which is fine, we like games.

Microsoft is reporting their European sales are the best they’ve seen in the history of Xbox 360 sales. They’re claiming the sales are double what they were in the 2007 holiday season. They are saying 8-million consoles have been sold to date in Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA).

Microsoft’s fast to push out their press release, probably hoping to overshadow any reports Sony may be releasing for sales numbers. At this point, we’ll have to believe their press release as fact until someone proves it otherwise; Microsoft would hate to be caught in a lie. Unfortunately, NPD figures aren’t collected in Europe so we have to wait for all the other metric gathering companies to release final December 2007 figures.

Sony could, in fact, see a doubling of their sales figures as well, we’ll have to wait and see.

LONDON – 5th January 2009: Xbox® today revealed sales data showing Christmas 2008 was the biggest sales period ever in the brand’s six-year European history, with sales of Xbox 360™ almost double those of Christmas 2007<1>. Eight million Xbox 360 consoles have been sold in Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA)<2> up to the end of 2008, widening its lead over PlayStation 3 in the region to more than one million and setting the scene for further growth in 2009.

GfK-ChartTrack data shows that Xbox 360 was the fastest-growing console of 2008, with sales in the fourth quarter of 2008 over double that of the same period in 2007, spurred on by a mix of value, great games and entertainment, and the recently-launched New Xbox Experience.

Chris Lewis, Regional Vice President, Interactive Entertainment Business EMEA, said:“Christmas 2008 was a resounding success for Xbox 360. 2008 saw us grow faster than any of our competitors and we over-achieved in sales during the crucial Christmas selling period. We reduced the entry-level Xbox 360 ERP in September, understanding the need for great value, and European consumers have responded enthusiastically. With eight million consoles sold since we launched, and consistently out-selling PlayStation 3 in EMEA, we’re poised to build on this success in 2009. This success was only possible through our partnerships with retail and with publishers, with whom we’ve worked closely to build a strong ecosystem in the region and to bring value to our shared customer base. As we move into 2009 and an uncertain economic climate, we continue to be committed to offering the right blend of gaming and entertainment experiences at the right price.”

Nick Gibson, Founding Analyst, Games Investor Consulting, said:“Microsoft appears to have enjoyed an excellent end to 2008 in Europe. According to GFK Chart Track data, the Xbox 360 recorded in excess of 100% growth in December sales compared to 2007 across the UK, France, Italy, Germany and Spain, well ahead of any other console. It also recorded comfortably the highest rate of year-on-year growth for the final quarter of 2008 overall.”

Nick Parker, Founder and Games Analyst, Parker Consulting, said:“I have seen early returns for the December 2008 sales data indicating that Xbox 360 has shown a significant sales increase year on year and furthermore is ahead of its nearest rival in terms of lifetime consumer hardware sales in the EMEA region, with an installed base of over eight million units.”

- Ends -

<1> Sales figures are Microsoft estimates based upon GfK-ChartTrack data

<2> EMEA region includes: UK, Ireland, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, Belgium, Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Finland, the Netherlands, Austria, Switzerland, Portugal, Greece, Poland, Czech Republic, Russia, Hungary, Slovakia, South Africa, and UAE

For press information, please contact:

Nik Thakkar / 020 3047 4087 / nik_thakkar@jcpr.com

Georgina Edwards / 020 3047 4057 / georgina_edwards@jcpr.com

About Xbox 360

Xbox 360 is a superior video game and entertainment system delivering the best games, unique entertainment features and a unified online gaming network that revolve around gamers. Xbox 360 has a portfolio of more than 300 games in nearly 40 countries. More information can be found online at http://www.xbox.com/xbox360.

About Microsoft Game Studios

Microsoft Game Studios is a leading worldwide publisher and developer of games for the Xbox and Xbox 360 video game systems, the Windows operating system and online platforms. Comprising a network of top developers, Microsoft Game Studios is committed to creating innovative and diverse games for Windows ( http://www.microsoft.com/games), including such franchises as“Age of Empires,”“Flight Simulator” and“Zoo Tycoon”; Xbox and Xbox 360 ( http://www.xbox.com), including such games as“Gears of War” and franchises such as“Halo,”“Fable,”“Project Gotham Racing” and“Forza Motorsport”; and MSN Games ( http://www.games.msn.com), the official games channel for the MSN network and home to such hits as“Bejeweled” and“Hexic.”

About Xbox LIVE

Xbox LIVE is the first and most comprehensive unified online entertainment network seamlessly integrated throughout the entire console experience, making it easy for people to find the friends, games and entertainment they want from the moment they power on their Xbox 360 system. Xbox LIVE connects millions of members across 26 countries to enjoy hundreds of multiplayer games, downloadable games via Xbox LIVE Arcade, free and premium playable game demos, music videos, TV shows and movies in the United States as well as new game levels, characters and vehicles for all their favourite retail games. More information can be found online at http://www.xbox.com/en-us/live.

About Xbox LIVE Arcade

Xbox LIVE Arcade on Xbox 360 is the premier destination for digitally distributed high-definition games. Xbox LIVE Arcade is a fast-growing phenomenon with a diverse library of original development and classic titles from the world’s best independent and established developers and publishers. With a dynamically updated library and free trials for every title, Xbox LIVE Arcade makes it easy for every type of gamer— from casual to hard-core— to get instantly immersed in the fun. Xbox LIVE Arcade also lets friends connect and play these incredible games either from the same room or from around the world via the Xbox LIVE online entertainment network. More information can be found online at http://www.xbox.com/en-US/games/livearcade.

About Microsoft

Founded in 1975, Microsoft (Nasdaq“MSFT”) is the worldwide leader in software, services and solutions that help people and businesses realize their full potential.

Note to editors: If you are interested in viewing additional information on Microsoft, please visit the Microsoft Web page at http://www.microsoft.com/presspass on Microsoft’s corporate information pages. Web links, telephone numbers and titles were correct at time of publication, but may since have changed. For additional assistance, journalists and analysts may contact Microsoft’s Rapid Response Team or other appropriate contacts listed at http://www.microsoft.com/presspass/contactpr.mspx.

This weeks gaming podcast rains on a lot of parades, talking about the Sony PS3 and its issues in the market, Microsoft’s scratch disk conspiracy and ugly sales figures for some games. This weeks news includes:

• Sony takes a battering in the press (again)
• Microsoft knew of the 360 scratched disks all along
• Penny Arcade Slams Home
• Little Big Planet misses top 20 in November

This weeks gaming history and flashback cover some religious games. This week we look into the history of Wisdom Tree and Konami’s game Noah’s Ark from 1992. The show is a bit late this week because we were without power from Thursday night until late Monday night, four days without power is humbling.

We’re also asking folks what would be on their holiday wish list if you could have any game or gadget of your dreams. Maybe a hot RPG, or sweet new console, retro-remakes or something entirely different!

This year’s E3 should be interesting as we head back to the no holds barred approach to gaming conferences. While E3 tried to go all PG for the last few years, it’s time to get back to the serious business of hype-o-rama. Microsoft’s on board with it and plans to “break the bank” in terms of hypesville.

Microsoft Game Studio’s producer Phil Spencer said:

“[It's] very exciting, because there’s a lot of stuff on the docket and maybe we’ll break the bank a little bit and talk about things that are further out, which will hopefully get the community excited.”

Microsoft continues to hammer home big announcements at the E3 events even while in the ho-hum lull of the past few E3 events. Last year they nailed Sony with the Final Fantasy XIII announcement and hyped up the New Xbox Experience. What are they going to pull out this year now that we’ve seen Gears of War 2 and have a pulse on some of their Halo ideas?

They’re talking about hyping games further down the pipeline, perhaps to keep people jazzed about what the future holds even in these economic down times. It’s important to keep gamers focused on what is to arrive on the 360 so they don’t sway towards the opposing consoles in moments of doubt.

Of course, this begs the question, will Sony pull out even more hype? Will Nintendo continue to give mediocre showings with “I told you so” sprinkled in their message? Only time will tell.

(Thanks, Eurogamer)

Famitsu Magazine is reporting the Nintendo console, Wii, has managed to sell 7-million units in Japan. This is roughly three times the number of Sony’s PlayStation 3, the console with superior graphics and power.

Japan isn’t about graphics and power or they’re not a fan of the high priced PlayStation 3. The three times factor seems odd, still, considering the PS3 isn’t three times the cost and really isn’t that bad of a console. Unless the titles on Japan’s console are just not as inviting, the PS3 should be keeping pace with the tiny Wii console. Sony is a Japanese company as is Nintendo and both have a very good grasp of the games the Japanese culture is attracted to buying. What’s happening here!?

“The Wii’s 7 million sales put it far ahead of its foes in the ongoing console conflict in Japan. According to Enterbrain figures quoted by GameDaily, Japanese sales of the PlayStation 3 numbered just 2.37 million units as of September 30, when the Wii had sold around 6.83 million units in the territory. Sony estimates the PS3 sold nearly 17 million units worldwide by the same date.” (gamespot)

The Xbox 360 still can’t compete against the PS3 or Wii in overall numbers, regardless to boosts when they put out a game the Japanese actually find interesting. If Microsoft and Sony learn anything from this generation of consoles, it’s that simple makes better. No, we’re not telling the developers to end the goals of hardcore gaming… we’re just wondering if branching out a bit to scoop up some casual gaming interest.

We’ve had some time to look through the New Xbox Experience (aka Fall Update 08) for the Xbox 360. There are some goods, bads and oddities about the latest updated firmware and thought it was a good time to share.

The most important feature we’ve found with the new console software is the addition of Netflix. The ability to play software in the “Instant Queue” is excellent, fast and done with high quality. If you have children this may be one of the must-have product features; add a ton of family movies to the Netflix Instant Queue and your children will have hours of entertainment.

We’re not telling you to sit the children in front of the TV for ten hours, but it proves to be a great way to get quality entertainment without bombarding them with commercials telling them to tell you they need new stuff. This is especially true around the holidays where kids are watching more commercials than actual episodes of Sponge Bob Square Pants.

We were a non-Netflix household and recently bought into their second tier program so we can watch instant shows and get one DVD at a time. The NXE has up-sold at least one new Netflix customer, great job Microsoft!

Avatars are another “feature” to the new console software and it all seems very Wii like. Months ago we were kidding about how they’re cloning some features of the Wii but in reality, it’s more a clone than we thought. The sound track while creating your Avatar feels almost ripped from the Wii in terms of cute settling sounds and silly uplifting music. This isn’t your dad’s console anymore Timmy.

The outfits to dress your Mii, oops, avatar in are very limited and you’ll no doubt see a lot of sameness in dress and overall look to the avatars. But, now Microsoft is showing us how to differentiate ourselves by purchasing virtual items to make our avatars cooler. For 250 Microsoft points you can now buy a Ninja Blade theme pack which includes wallpapers and avatar items. Yay. No, seriously, we’re supposed to buy this crap?

The NXE also supports a full system re-design, out with the blades in with the… Cover Flow? The NXE now acts more like iTunes, the iPod and the Apple OS X more than ever. You’ll breeze through your game list, NetFlix Queue, Friends List and other features as if it were Cover Flow album art. Cool in some ways, frustrating in others.

In some ways, item lists are the fastest and easiest ways to view things. For instance, prior to NXE you could tell who was online in your friends list within a few seconds. Now, with NXE you’ll troll through your friends list four-by-four flying through the “art” of your friends avatars hanging out next to a “room” mimicking the game they’re playing. Cute, no doubt, but not an effective way to see who is online.

The in-game console pop-up windows are much cleaner and easier to browse using a mini-blade style approach to finding information. This new re-design allows you to get more from your console interface while in-game than ever before.

The one neglected feature, in my humble opinion, is the “spit and polish” of the new interface. They took some aspects of OS X and some aspects of Wii and mixed them together to make organizational changes, some good and some bad. However, the interface is very flat, drab and boring. There is no real glossy shine to anything, very little in textures for backdrops and windows fixtures and very anti-vista like when it comes down to drop shadows and beauty. A little more glamor, gloss and reflective surfaces would have made the interface look a bit more next-generation in terms of cool factor.

Overall, it is what it is. You may like it, hate it or just learn to live with it. Some features will be easier to browse around while others will require a bit more work. We’ve noticed about a 10 to 12 second pause between shopping screens for add-ons, arcade game downloads and such, hopefully that will change in the coming weeks. It stands out as a bit different from the competitors, in some aspects, while paying tribute to some of the cooler features of other products.

The Netflix addition is the best part of NXE, but that could have come available without a full user interface redesign. Your thoughts?