There have been some interesting updates for those interested in news on Microsoft‘s next gaming console.

A report on IGN tells us the next Xbox’s graphics processing power to be 6 times more than the Xbox 360′s. This new power will be as a result of the graphics card provided by AMD similar to the the Radeon HD 6670.

Kotaku quotes “sources” as stating that Microsoft will be replacing the DVD drives that it ships with Xbox 360s with Blu-Ray drives for the next release of the Xbox.

The disc drive update will mean Xbox games will hold 25GB data as opposed to the 9GB data that DVDs can hold.

Kotaku further goes on to claim from a “reliable industry source”  that “Microsoft intends to incorporate some sort of anti-used game system as part of their so-called Xbox 720.”
It isn’t clear at the moment how Microsoft plans on achieving this. It could be a case of a game being tied to an Xbox Live account, but an easy workaround for this will be to avoid Xbox Live altogether.

Another source talks about a new version of Kinect that will be released with the new console. Perhaps there is some truth to the Kinect rumours after all. Another source also claims Microsoft is interested in making a smaller controller for the new console.

True to form, Microsoft refused to comment on the rumours:

“As an innovator we’re always thinking about what is next and how we can push the boundaries of technology like we did with Kinect. We believe the key to extending the lifespan of a console is not just about the console hardware, but about the games and entertainment experiences being delivered to consumers. Beyond that we don’t comment on rumors or speculation.”

[Kotaku | IGN]

In the process on its “expansive catalog of movies, sports, television and music” for the Xbox 360, Microsoft has released a new wave of apps on Xbox Live.

The new wave of the apps include 4 on Demand, Demand 5 and Dailymotion for the UK, as well as other services globally:

· 4 on Demand (C4). United Kingdom
· ABC iView (Australian Broadcasting Corp.). Australia
· Dailymotion. Available in 34 countries globally**
· Demand 5 (Five). United Kingdom
· M6. France
· MSN Video. France
· UFC on Xbox LIVE (UFC). Canada, United States
· VUDU (Wal-Mart). United State

** Dailymotion will be available in the following countries: Australia, Austria, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Columbia, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hong Kong, Hungary, Ireland, India, Italy, Korea, Mexico, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Poland, Russia, Singapore, South Africa, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland , Taiwan, United Kingdom, United States, South Africa.

It has to be said the streaming quality of 40D and Demand  isn’t necessarily the greatest. It barely streams in standard quality although that may not be a fault of Microsoft.

[Major Nelson]

First we had the updated dashboard for Xbox 360 owners, albeit arriving a little late. Now Microsoft has released a YouTube app to go with it.

The app should be available for download on Xbox Live now and even has Kinect support. It is available for over 24 countries (listed below). The YouTube app wasn’t the only thing that Microsoft released today. All the released services listed below can be found in the apps Marketplace:

• blinkbox (Blinkbox). United Kingdom
• iHeartRadio (Clear Channel). United States
• MSN Video. Australia, Canada, Germany, Italy, Mexico, United Kingdom
• MSNBC.com. United States
• MUZU.TV. Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Netherlands, Norway, Spain, Sweden, United Kingdom
• Rogers On Demand (Rogers Media). Canada
• SBS ON DEMAND. Australia
• TMZ (Warner Bros.). Canada, United States
• RTVE (RTVE.es). Spain
• Verizon FiOS TV. United States
• YouTube. Available in 24 countries globally (Australia, Brazil, Canada, Czech Republic, France, Germany , Hong Kong, Ireland, India, Italy, Japan, Korea, Mexico, Netherlands, New Zealand, Poland, Russia, Spain, Sweden, Singapore, Taiwan, United Kingdom, United States, South Africa.)

[via The Verge]

The Battlefield 3: Back to Karkand expansion pack that has been available on the Playstation 3 for a week now and is now available for Xbox 360 and PC owners.

The expansion pack is free for any one that bought a Limited Edition of Battlefield 3. It will cost 1200 Microsoft points on the Xbox Live for anyone that didn’t purchase the limited edition of the game.

So what’s included in the Back to Karkand update?:

Battlefield 3: Back to Karkand is a huge expansion pack featuring four legendary Battlefield maps reimagined in the Frostbite 2 engine. Three new vehicles (the VSTOL fighter jet, Desert Buggy, and an APC), ten new weapons that you can bring back to the base game, and a new layer of persistence with our all-new Assignments make this a must-have for any Battlefield fan.

The four maps included in the expansion pack are Strike at Karkand, Wake Island, Sharqi Peninsula (video below) and Gulf of Oman. The update also includes a number of bug fixes that are detailed over at the Battlefield Blog.

If you’re unsure how to get the Back to Karkand expansion pack;

• How to go Back to Karkand on Xbox 360
• How to go Back to Karkand on PC
• How to go Back to Karkand on Playstation 3

[Battlefield Blog]

Microsoft has released an Xbox Live app for iOS devices. If you’re an iPhone, iPad or iPod Touch user with an Xbox 360, this is an app for you.

With this app you can stay connected to Xbox Live via your iPhone. It allows you to:

• Read and send messages to friends
• Manage your friends list, invite new friends
• Read and Edit your full LIVE profile (name, bio, motto)
• Change your avatar features/items with the avatar closet
• View and compare your achievement progress with friends

The app is free and can be downloaded in the App Store via this link. Screenshots can be found here (flickr).

This is a nice move by Microsoft, considering it released its Xbox Companion app exclusive to Windows Phone 7 devices.

[Major Nelson]

The Madden NFL 12 Demo has gone live. You can download it from Xbox Live from Playstation Network today.

The demo pits the Chicago Bears against the Green Bay Packers, a rematch of the 2011 NFC Championship game, and includes five minute quarters, four difficulty levels and the option of using Conventional or GameFlow play calling.

The rosters in the demo will represent those prior to the free agency period, but a full updated roster will be available to download when the retail game launches on August 30.

[via IGN]

Microsoft is rolling out a mandatory dashboard update for Xbox Live suscribers today for the release of Kinect (November 4 in the U.S and November 10 for Europe). Many of you may have already received notifications for this update.

Read on for more photos of the dashboard update and a list of some of the new features:

ESPN on Xbox LIVE*

3,500 Sporting Events A Year – Access more than 3,500 live and on-demand global sporting events from ESPN3.com a year, including college basketball, college football and college bowl games, MLB, NBA, international soccer and more.

Out of Market Games – Catch your favorite college team games. Check out the huge catalog of out of market games and enjoy them on the big screen.

The Best Ways to Watch – Enjoy HD programming, DVR controls, plus access to hundreds of clips from ESPN3.com, refreshed daily.

Games at a Glance – Keep up on real-time score information using ESPN.com’s score feed without leaving the game you’re watching. View scores for leagues and games currently in the ESPN.com feed and select “Watch Live” or “Watch Replay” to jump straight into that game.

Predict the Winner – Pick what team you think will win. While watching selected games in college football, college basketball, MLB, and NBA, you will be prompted to vote for your team of choice. You’ll also see the percentage of votes among the Xbox LIVE viewing community.

Voice Chat – Voice chat with up to seven other friends while watching the big game.

My Sports – To customize your ESPN on Xbox LIVE experience, click on the “Events, Highlights and More” slot on the homepage and browse by sport to pick a specific league that you want to follow for the season. The league that you select will now automatically display in your My Sports Channel.

Zune Music*

Zune Pass – Zune Pass is a monthly subscription service that gives you unlimited, on demand streaming of millions of songs at launch from all the major music labels and thousands of independent labels.

Enhanced search – Search the broad library to find your favorite artists, albums, songs and playlists.

Social – Connect with like-minded fans on the Zune online community and get new music recommendations. Zune Social also lets you see friend’s Avatars and listen to their recently played songs or check out their favorite artists.

Smart DJ – Instantly create customized playlists by selecting an artist and have Smart DJ find songs that complement your selection.

Netflix* Search

Experience a streamlined search function making it much easier to find the movies and TV shows you want to watch.

Improved voice chat quality

The audio codec is updated to improve Xbox LIVE Party audio quality. So grab your friends and jump into a multiplayer game or catch a big game with friends via ESPN3.

Improved Gamertag creation

Choosing a new Gamertag? If the Gamertag you’re looking for is already taken, your Avatar will spin a wheel and we will provide five other Gamertag suggestions at a time for you to choose from.

Streamlined in-dashboard virtual keyboard

We’ve taken the existing QWERTY keyboard in-dash and made it easier to use for scenarios that involve repeated text entry, when signing up for LIVE within the dashboard for example.

Improved Xbox LIVE Marketplace UI and browse experience

The Game Marketplace has been re-organized to provide streamlined access to the gaming and video content you want, reducing the number of steps to get to a download.

Easier to get on a wireless network

Trying to connect to a wireless network? Now you can see a list of all the wireless networks within range when you go into network settings.  From there, you can select a new network or further configure the network you’re connected to.

Ability to sign-out other controllers in the sign-in UI

We’re adding the ability to sign-out profiles on other controllers in the sign-in UI within the Guide. This is especially useful when playing games like Rock Band.

New browse experience for 100% completed games

You spent a lot of time and effort earning those Achievements, so we’re giving you a new and better way to browse all of them.

Updated Family Settings

Xbox 360 continues to lead the industry in efforts to create tools that help parents and caregivers choose the right play and viewing settings for their families. We are enhancing the core Family Settings tools for all Xbox LIVE members:

Family Programming

When turned on, Family Programming disables display of all mature content on the dashboard and can be turned on or off with a protected password for individual members (per account). It also highlights all family-friendly entertainment.

Intelligent Default Settings – Your Xbox automatically customizes privacy and activity settings for each member, based on age (child, teen and adult). These settings can later be individually customized.

Title Exceptions – Allow your family members to play specific games above the console’s designated ESRB/PEGI (etc.) rating as you deem appropriate

Source: Major Nelson

As with all of my short posts, the title says it all. The two teams featured in the demo are the Indianapolis Colts and New York Jets.

The full game is due to be released on the 10th of August

It seems as though Rockstar has followed in Treyach’s footsteps and will be introducing a new zombie mode (as well as others) into Red Dead Redemption as Downloadable Contents for the Xbox 360 and Playstation 3. Hopefully this will prove as successful for Rockstar as it did for Treyach. A total of four DLCs have been announced however, these new game modes will not free. The first in the series DLCs, the ‘Legends and Killers Pack’ will be released in August.

All four of the download packs will be 800 Microsoft points (Xbox 360) and $10 (Playstaion Network) each.

Legends and Killers Pack

New active map locations, characters and more:
- Release date: beginning of August 2010;
- 9 new multiplayer map locations — more than doubling the amount of territories in the multiplayer competitive modes;
- 8 new multiplayer characters — play as characters from Red Dead Revolver;
- Introducing a new projectile weapon: the Tomahawk, with corresponding challenges for single-player and multiplayer gameplay;
- New achievements and trophies;
- Pricing: $9.99 (PlayStation Network), 800 Microsoft Points (Xbox LIVE).

Liars and Cheats Pack

New competitive modes, multiplayer mini-games in Free Roam, and more:
- Release date: TBC;
- Attack and Defend multiplayer competitive mode and challenges;
- New multiplayer horse races, complete with mounted combat;
- Play as the heroes and villains of Red Dead Redemption, as well as 8 additional multiplayer characters;
- Multiplayer versions of Liars Dice and Poker from the single-player game;
- Introducing a new weapon: the Explosive Rifle, with associated challenges available in single-player and multiplayer gameplay;
- New achievements and trophies;
- Pricing: $9.99 (PlayStation Network), 800 Microsoft Points (Xbox LIVE).

Free Roam Pack

Delve deeper into the world of Red Dead Redemption with new modes, challenges and gang hideouts to discover:
- Release date: TBC;
- Additional Free Roam challenges;
- New action areas and defensive placements;
- Posse scoring and leaderboards;
- New anti-griefing measures in Free Roam;
- Pricing: TBC.

Undead Nightmare Pack

Ghost towns and cemeteries come alive in a West gone horribly wrong:
- Release date: TBC;
- Brand new single-player adventure, challenges and quests;
- 8 new multiplayer zombie characters;
- Additional animals unleashed in the world;
- New dynamic events and more;
- Pricing: $9.99 (PlayStation Network), 800 Microsoft Points (Xbox LIVE).

Source: IGN

I spent sometime playing a few games on these playlists and it has to be said, it makes the game more enjoyable. There seem to be a lot less campers with the exception of Capture the Flag where noob tubes (grenade launchers) and campers still reign supreme.

Courtesy: fourzerotwo