Tag Archives: XBLM

Microsoft has published its Deals of the Week and Games on Demand schedule for July 20 – August 2, which includes a mark-down on DLC for Borderlands.

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Dante’s Inferno Avatar items landed on XBL Marketplace this week, as a companion to the Trials of St. Lucia DLC that hit as well.

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Xbox Live Video Marketplace is to launch in Japan, Famitsu reports, thanks to increased recent sales of Xbox 360.

That’s reward for you. No date’s been given for the launch of the service in the country, aside from 2009.

Thanks, Kotaku.

Xbox Live Marketplace has generated $180 million in revenue in the past 12 months, according to this Gama piece.

“Right now we have over 12 million users in over 26 countries, with $240 million in transactions revenue so far, with $180 million in the last 12 months alone,” said Microsoft’s IEB manager Kevin Salcedo.

Salcedo also said, interestingly, that XBLM DLC helps to stop users selling games.

“On average, titles that have downloadable content on XBL marketplace have seen a 16 percent [longer] period of people holding onto that title, which keeps them from selling to secondhand stores,” he added.

Loads of good stuff through the link.

Microsoft just sent word that the first movie of Call of Duty: World at War on June 21-22.

There’s no other detail at all in the note, other than the game’s set in the Pacific theatre of WWII, as we now all know.

Microsoft’s current rent-a-quote, Xbox director of product management Aaron Greenberg, has confirmed that there are now more than 17,000 pieces of content on the Xbox Live Marketplace in the US, and has claimed the figure means the service is as Wal-Mart is to a local Quickie Mart when compared to PlayStation Network.

“We’re at 17,000: the PlayStation Network is just around 600 items,” he said. “This is like comparing a Wal-Mart superstore or a Cost-Co to your local Quickie Mart, right? It’s at extreme ends… In the first year we had more than 600 items. We were way ahead of that.”

Greenberg, speaking in the latest Major Nelson podcast, also mentioned figures for Wii’s online offering.

“I think the Wii the last time we checked is at about 200 items or so,” he added. “They don’t have storage, right? I mean, they have internal but they don’t have a hard drive or anything.”

The Major clarified that the 17,000 figure includes GamerPics, TV shows and everything else on the service, just in the US.

Phew. We were wondering when these were going to turn up. According to the Major, the British Marketplace has now been updated with five – count them: five – Michael Jackson videos. For 200 MS Points each.

For a mere 1,000 Points, you could be rocking out to Bad, Black and White, Thriller, Billie Jean and Beat It, all in the glory of standard definition, in the comfort of your own home. Put down GTA right now and reach for the sequined glove.

Like, what?

According to this, Hollywood producer Peter Safran is to make shows for exclusive distribution via Xbox Live.

Safran said that he expected the shows to be around ten minutes long, to be scripted as opposed to reality TV, and to focus on genre that appealed to 14-34 year-old males, such as comedy and horror.

Americans are the get the content this autumn, and there’s no news on a global release, but Microsoft is apparently expecting the announcement to be the start of a trend.

“We definitely look at this as the first of many,” said Xbox Live US marketing boss Scott Nocas.

There’ll be geek frenzy about this. Wizards of the Coast has confirmed that it’s to release two Magic: The Gathering games on XBLA.

The two games will apparently supplement the already-running Magic: The Gathering Online, whch boasts over 350,000 active accounts.

In case you don’t know, Magic: The Gathering is a collectible card strategy game. One that will never, ever die.

This actually broke on Friday, but someone hopped the embargo. Paramount’s adding new films to XBLM in the UK, including the following, which will be available this “spring”:

• Transformers (available in SD and HD)
• Goodbye Bafana (available in SD and HD)
• Intersection (available in SD)
• Primal Fear (available in SD)
• Clear and Present Danger (available in SD)
• Naked Gun 2 & 1/2: The Smell of Fear (available in SD)
• Naked Gun 33 & 1/3 (available in SD)
• Top Secret! (available in SD)
• Bug (available in SD)
• Hardball (available in SD)
• The Phantom (available in SD)
• Orange County (available in SD)
• 1408 (available in SD and HD)
• Disturbia (available in SD and HD)
• Hot Rod (available in SD and HD)
• A Mighty Heart (available in SD and HD)
• Heartbreak Kid (available in SD and HD)
• Stardust (available in SD and HD)
• In to the Wild (available in SD and HD)

Download-to-rent films will cost from 250 Microsoft Points (£2) for SD movies and from 380 Microsoft Points (£3.20) for HD movies.

Full press release after the link.

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According to this, screens for Conker: Live and Relaoded and Bioware’s Jade Empire, both Xbox titles playable on Xbox 360, have appeared on the Microsoft FTP press server in the US, indicating they’re likely condidates for download via Live Marketplace.

As with other Xbox titles, these are likely to cost 1200 Microsoft points, assuming they do make it to the service. Watch for an announcement soon.

According to this, HD episodes of Lost are now available on XBLM in America, as part of the CES-announced deal with ABC and MGM.

MGM movies are being added later this month – including the full Rocky series – and other ABC TV series, such as Ugly Betty and Desperate Housewives are being made available now. Any of this happening in Europe? There’s a question, isn’t it.