May 2006 - Posts
I was watching this story develop over at Joystiq earlier today when I got a hot tip via email from a blog reader that guess what? There was a store* in the Seattle area that broke the DS Lite street date as well, and they were selling them. He promptly game me the name and the address of the store. After work today, I decided to go on a little mission to see if I could walk away with a DS Lite a full 11–days before the official street date. After fighting with Seattle traffic for about 40–minutes, I arrived at the store…ready to go in for the kill. I walked into the store, and made my way towards the gaming/electronics section. Of course on a Tuesday night around dinner time, this place was kind dead to put it mildly. I wandered up to the video game case, and my heart sank as all I saw was a stack of Electric Blue DS’s. I frantically looked around the case and then just as I was about to give up hope…I saw it. Peeking out from below a stack of those Electric Blue units was a lone white case. Could it be? I crouched down…turned my head sideways to try and see if I was in luck. Sure enough, there it was in plain sight and in black and white on the side of the box: Nintendo DS Lite.
SCORE
Now, how to release it from this glass prison? I looked around for a sales person, but was only able to find a nice lady in an adjacent clothing department. I asked her if she could help me…she said no, but she would find someone. Now that I had found my prey, I was not about let it out of my site. Camping out at the glass case, I waited for the nice lady, or anyone to come help me.
So I waited.
60 seconds..
2–minutes.
4–minutes.
5–minutes
After about 8–minutes, a mid-20’s gentleman who clearly just finishing his dinner (hint: he was wiping his lips with a Subway napkin) wandered over and asked me if I’d like some help.
“Why yes, I’d like one of those” I said, pointing at the white box on the bottom of the stack. Either he was screwing with me or he was not watching my hand motions, but he grabbed one of the blue DS boxes and started to lock the case. “no no’ I said “I want that one…the white box.” Basically grabbing it out of the now unlocked case and handing it to him.
He took it and looked a the box, and then looked at me and said “wow, we’re selling a lot of these today, looks like you got the last one”
After paying the $129.00, I briskly walked out of the store and was on my way home with my shiny new Nintendo DS Lite.
Mission Accomplished.
To add a level of proof to my story, I posted some photos of my new toy next to my custom Xbox 360 hard drive to prove that yes, I really do have it in my hands.
Thanks to blog reader Mike who tipped me off, and thanks to the awfully nice store clerk who unwittingly sold me the embargoed unit.
Next: I need to get Reggie to sign it.
*To protect the retail establishment from getting in trouble, I am not going to say which store it was, but I will say that it a large chain store.
Two new free themes are now on the Xbox Live Marketplace. For you graduates, we have the ‘Class of 2006’ theme, and for Dads we have the ‘Father’s Day Theme’ (complete with tools and ties.)
This content is available in the US, Canada and Mexico only.
Edit: These themes are 150 points each.
On my latest Show, I had BIGVIP from the Xbox PR team on to talk about the upcoming dashboard update. Towards the end of the interview we discussed the Xbox Live Vision Camera. During this portion, he mentioned a release dates. It turns out that the dates discussed in the show are incorrect.
The (current) dates the Xbox Live Vision Camera are scheduled to be released are:
North America: September 19th
Europe and Asia (except Japan): October 2
Japan, Australia and New Zealand: I don’t have confirmed dates yet.
Of course, these could change as well…but that’s what I am being told right now.
I dropped by the On10.net studios and gave Tina a quick walk-through of the new dashboard features. The new dash is coming soon...I don't have the final release date yet, but I will post as soon as it's locked and loaded.
You can watch the show here
Also, you can can also download this video to your iPod or PSP if you are so inclined. (click the down arrow next to the pause button for downloading options.)
You can now download '
Lord of the Rings, The Battle for Middle-earth II' content from the Xbox Live Marketplace. The 'Elves Picture Pack' is available for 160 points and the 'Cinematic Painting Theme 1' for 150 points. This content is available in all Xbox Live regions.
This week, I kick off a new format for the top live list. Moving forward, I’ll provide two lists: One top 10 list for Xbox 360 titles and a separate list for original Xbox games. Both lists are based on WW UU’s on Xbox Live. Sorry, but I can’t share specific numbers or other specifc data.
Xbox 360 Top Live Games
1 Call of Duty 2
2 Ghost Recon 3
3 Oblivion
4 BFMC
5 Final Fantasy XI
6 PGR3
7 EA SPORTS Fight Night Round 3
8 UNO
9 Perfect Dark Zero
10 DEAD OR ALIVE 4
Original Xbox Top Live Games
1 Halo 2
2 Battlefield 2: MC
3 Counter-Strike
4 Pro Evolution Soccer 5
5 Splinter Cell Chaos
6 Madden NFL 2006
7 Rainbow Six 3 BA
8 Star Wars: Battlfrnt 2
9 Forza Motorsport
10 Ghost Recon 2: SS
To follow up on the bunch of E3 videos I uploaded earlier this week, here is the final E3 video that I’ll be posting. This is the complete Xbox 2006 E3 Press Briefing designed to fit on to your video iPod or PSP. Go ahead and relive the best moment of the this years press conference, from Peter Moore’s ‘other’ tattoo, the accessories announcements, to the surprise appearance by Bill Gates. Download and enjoy.
Xbox E3 2006 Press Briefing Video (344 Mb) Run time: 1 hour and 22 minutes.
Don’t have a video iPod? Download the audio (MP3) version of the briefing here.
You can view the original WMV version of this file at Xbox.com.
You’ve heard the rumors for a few weeks, but the truth can now be told: There is a major Xbox 360 dashboard update coming in “about a week.” I have been playing around with it for a couple of days now, and it’s very nice. Background downloading, boot to the dash option, and Marketplace improvements are just a few of the new features and enhancements that are in this update. I can’t say exactly when it will be released (they’re still working on the exact release date/time) but I will discuss the dash update (with an interview) on my weekly blogcast (podcast) this Sunday. I will post more details about the release the moment I have a firm date/time. Until then, you can see a few screen shots and read more details over at Joystiq or Kotaku.
There is a LOT of FIFA stuff now on the Xbox Live Marketplace .
This content is available in all Xbox Live regions.
| Name |
Cost (Points) |
| African Zone Picture Pack |
100 |
| All Zones Picture Pack |
500 |
| Asian Zone Picture Pack |
80 |
| European Zone Picture Pack |
260 |
| North &Central American and Caribbean Zone Picture Pack |
80 |
| Oceania Zone Picture Pack |
20 |
| South American Zone Picture Pack |
80 |
| Germany (GER) Theme |
150 |
| Ghana (GHA) Theme |
150 |
| Iran (IRN) Theme |
150 |
| Italy (ITA) Theme |
150 |
| Sweden (SWE) Theme |
150 |
| Togo (TOG) Theme |
150 |
| Trinidad and Tobago (TRI) Theme |
150 |
| Tunisia (TUN) Theme |
150 |
| Ukraine (UKR) Theme |
150 |
| USA (USA) Theme |
150 |
| Angola (ANG) Theme |
150 |
| Argentina (ARG) Theme |
150 |
| Australia (AUS) Theme |
150 |
| Brazil (BRA) Theme |
150 |
| Cote d'Ivoire (CIV) Theme |
150 |
| Costa Rica (CRC) Theme |
150 |
| Croatia (CRO) Theme |
150 |
| Czech Republic (CZE) Theme |
150 |
| Ecuador (ECU) Theme |
150 |
| England (ENG) Theme |
150 |
| Japan (JPN) Theme |
150 |
| Korea Republic (KOR) Theme |
150 |
| Saudi Arabia (KSA) Theme |
150 |
| Mexico (MEX) Theme |
150 |
| Netherlands (NED) Theme |
150 |
| Paraguay (PAR) Theme |
150 |
| Poland (POL) Theme |
150 |
| Portugal (POR) Theme |
150 |
| Serbia and Montenegro (SCG) Theme |
150 |
| Switzerland (SUI) Theme |
150 |
| Spain (ESP) Theme |
150 |
| France (FRA) Theme |
150 |
Now on marketplace. The theme is 150 points and the picture pack is 60 points. This content is not available in Mexico or Asia.
You can now download the Perfect Dark Zero demo from the Xbox Live Marketplace. This demo will allow single player or co-op play. Mutliplayer over Xbox Live is not part of this demo. This free demo is available in all Xbox Live regions.
Edit: fixed a typo.
Edit: I was wrong...the demo DOES allow Xbox Live Play.
Here is what is in this demo, directly from the PDZ Team:
Outpost, the story mode level included in the Demo, is playable co-op over Live.
Plaza (a new map included in the upcoming DLC) is playable over Live in Team Killcount and Infection game types. (Bots are included in both game modes.) The disabled Live features are Leaderboards and Custom Match. Quick Match works for both game types
You can now download this free demo from the Xbox Live marketplace. (783 Mb)
This content is not available in Germany or Japan.
Just in time for the long holiday weekend…grab a couple of Xbox 360 games on the cheap. Both ‘The Outfit’ and ‘Burnout Revenge’ for the Xbox 360 can be had for US $39.99/each.
Source: The Frugal Gamer.com
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