Do you hear that? It’s the voice of millions of Halo 2 players crying out in unison, then suddenly silenced. That’s exactly what will happen come April 15th when Microsoft flips the switch to cease Xbox LIVE service to all original Xbox titles.
In an open letter on the Gamerscore Blog, General Manager for Xbox LIVE Marc Whitten says the decision was not one that was taken lightly, but was necessary for the benefit of the Xbox LIVE service. With some of the upcoming Xbox LIVE changes, original Xbox titles were found to be incompatible with them.
Given how massive Xbox LIVE is and how it continues to evolve, this news isn’t surprising to me. Cutting off original Xbox titles from the Xbox LIVE service will hopefully make the service that much better. One thing I can think of that would be a suitable update would be the limited number of friends an Xbox LIVE account can have in their friend’s list.
The previous album cover of 'Abbey Road'
In the spirit of Halloween, we got a treat for you guys with our first ever Halloween Caption Contest. Thanks to our friends with benefits, we got a couple of Zombie Apocalypse Xbox Live redeemable codes to hand out. This Caption Contest will feature our ‘Trick or Treat’ edition with our very simple entry rules below. Our Zombie Apocalypse review should shed some light on what to expect in the game. I could ruin it and tell you there’s a lot of blood, gore and a resemblance to Left 4 Dead but I’ll let you tell me what you think.
1. Funniest Caption below wins.
2. Press the “Retweet” button to the right –>
This Caption Contest winner will be selected on Sunday 8PM ET. Good Luck!! For those fans following on twitter @PerezStart keep telling your Twitter peeps, since we’ll have another Caption Contest beginning on Monday.
-Make sure to enter in your email address so the winner can be notified-
UPDATE – Winner has been notified. Continue to caption if you like 
Recent reports are listing the Xbox Live Gold account currently priced at $50, will increase 100%. If speculation is correct and the price tag for an annual subscription will be $100, What extra benefits will be made available to Xbox Live Gold accounts? With the PlayStation Network offering a free service, why would anyone pay that amount? Let the debate begin…
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Today is a good day to be an Xbox owner. Released today is the latest XBox Live Update which brings new features other consoles will surely be jealous of. One of the biggest pieces of news, will be the ability to sit in a virtual theater and watch Netflix movies with up to 7 friends (something PlayStation Home was supposed to feature). Another update brings Games on Demand — which allows you to purchase full Xbox 360 titles — look for this to be ready on Thursday 8/13.
No Twitter or Last.FM yet, but those are coming soon.
So what ELSE is going down over at the new Summer update? We’ll break it down below:
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In an interview at the Executive’s Club in Chicagon, Microsoft CEO Steven Ballmer indicated that a new Xbox console would be released in 2010, with built-in camera support. But shortly after, Microsoft’s Director of Product Management for Xbox 360 and Xbox Live Aaron Greenberg told Kotaku “There will be no new console.”
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For those Xbox 360 gamers looking to game the night away, think again. Starting tonight at 12:01 AM PDT (3:01 AM EDT) the Xbox LIVE service will be down for a scheduled maintenance for up to 24 hours. Why? If you recall, during E3 2009 many new Xbox LIVE features were announced and will be hitting LIVE over the next couple of months. This means downtime for you thanks to Microsoft prepping themselves for the upgrade. Will you see an noticeable changes after the upgrade? No.
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I have to admit, these kicks are pretty cool. But not $2,500 cool, I mean you can by a used car for that money, go on a shopping spree, buy a bedroom set you know stuff like that. Geez first Xbox Live with it’s ridiculous prices and now this. I am waiting for a PS3 sneaker version maybe those will be cheaper or free!
“These are an exclusive pair…only one of its kind. Patent leather back with embedded fiber optic wiring in the shape of the XBOX logo. Battery placement is in the tongue as well as on and off switch that has 2 settings: Strobe or Constant light functions. Gradient lime swoosh faded to black. The toe is painted in a surreal Tiger Camouflage with accents of lime and bright green. These are a men’s size 11.”
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You have weeks where some titles on the “weekly” LIVE Activity are questionable. By questionable I mean, “Why the hell did they download that?”. This weeks Top Live Titles are pretty much the same we’ve seen ALL year with the exception of some Demos. But it looks like Halo 3 is still going strong (why?). Call of Duty for sure belong on this list along with Left 4 Dead.
Xbox 360 Top Live Titles (based on UU’s)
1 Halo 3
2 Call of Duty: WaW
3 Call of Duty 4
4 Gears of War 2
5 UFC® 2009 Undisputed Demo
6 GTA IV
7 Left 4 Dead
8 FIFA 09
9 RESIDENT EVIL 5
10 Bionic Commando Multiplayer Demo
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What was your most outrageous reaction during a gaming session? That will probably pale in comparison to this story.
A 28-year-old Chicago man named Joseph Johnson is being charged with first-degree murder. Joseph was playing video games with 24-year-old Danny Taylor when they got into an argument. Any normal person’s reaction to an argument stemmed from a gaming session should always be to play a round of “Rock-Paper-Scissors” and decide who the true victor is going by the universal ‘2 out of 3′ odds. Unfortunate for Danny, Joseph didn’t know those rules.
Joseph decided shooting Danny in the back of the head was the best solution to the argument. Little did Joseph know that when you shoot someone in the back of the head, they often stop living. The Cook County Medical Examiner pronounced Danny dead at the scene of his home at the Southside Apartments in Chicago.
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For those of you with Silver XBox Live accounts, here’s a special treat at what it feels like to fully experience the NEW XBox Experience. Beginning Friday, May 1st through Monday May 4th every account on XBox will be upgraded to a Gold account FREE.
Made available through its returning ‘Xtival’ special event, Redmond-based Microsoft will take away the pay-to-play restriction tied into Xbox Live Gold account memberships between May 1 and May 4, subsequently granting anyone with an Xbox 360 access to the full and complete service.
Why people still pay for this service, still amazes me. With the already FREE online available for the PlayStation Network and Wii (ok, Wii stinks) one can only wonder. Enjoy the free weekend, listen to the Ape.
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