xbox

An unplanned outage hit Microsoft's Xbox Live service starting Tuesday night, leaving online gamers unable to connect.

The outage started at 8:48 p.m. PDT Tuesday, according to Microsoft. It followed an earlier scheduled maintenance to both the Zune Marketplace and Xbox Live services that ran through the night Sunday and into Monday.

Microsoft said the outage was due to an unexpected issue following the maintenance work. Visitors to Microsoft's Xbox Live support page have been offered the following status update.

"Users will not be able to connect or log into Xbox Live," Microsoft said. &… Read more

Update at 2:10 p.m. PDT: This story now reflects Nintendo's response to a request for comment.

If there's one thing that's sure to get video gamers talking, it's a rumor that there could be a new Wii, Xbox, or PlayStation console on the horizon.

Well, the hot topic of discussion du jour is that there could be a new Wii by 2011, according to a post on the blog What They Play.

That site "has heard from multiple sources in the game development and publishing community that Nintendo is currently showing early presentations of its next home console hardware. Apparently set to hit the market 'by 2011,' the device is said to be the true 'next generation' Nintendo console, and far more than a simple refresh of the current (Wii) hardware."

The post continued, asserting that this rumored new device could have high-definition capabilities, as well as a "greater emphasis on digitally distributed and backwardly compatible content."

For its part, Nintendo said it does not comment on rumors.

It could be mere coincidence (because odds are that even if the rumors are true, Nintendo wouldn't want to confirm them for quite some time), but on Thursday, the company is hosting its annual media day here in San Francisco. And I'd been told that it would "have news" it would be releasing at the event. Until now, I'd assumed the news would be something only minimally consequential, but of course, announcing a new Wii development project would make a few headlines, I would think.

More likely, the news that Nintendo will put out Thursday will be about a new multimedia DS handheld device, such as the one the video game blog Joystiq says could be unveiled at a separate press event in Japan Wednesday night. … Read more

It's every gamers' dream: win money by playing video games. Despite gaming's newfound mainstream acceptance, most people--especially those in the United States--do not recognize gaming as a legitimate competitive activity. In a country where card games like Texas Hold 'em have recently exploded, turning 21-year-olds into online superstars, it's no stretch to assume that more gaming mediums deserve a similar place in public attention.

Enter video game wagering site World Gaming. Conceived by two hardcore gamers, Billy Levy and Zack Zeldin came up with the idea after a heated game of Madden NFL. Now acting as President and Vice President of the company respectively, they have successfully managed to create an online destination for those who would like to try to turn their video game skills into cold hard cash. Says Levy, "For us, WorldGaming.com is the premiere place where people will go for online gaming competition to compete in tournaments for cash and prizes." And it's already happening. The closed beta version of the site has been live for some time now and people are already competing for money.

So how does all this work?… Read more

Update (12:57 p.m.): The story now reflects Microsoft's response to a request for comment.

For Xbox 360 users, the so-called red ring of death is a worst-case scenario that can cause nightmares about total system failure and the inability to play any more Halo 3.

Since the introduction of the console, in late 2005, some users have suffered through a well-documented series of quality control problems and some have endured system failures on machine after machine after machine.

Microsoft has attempted to handle the problems--and last year extended the warranty for the machine, leading some to feel … Read more

Nothing makes you feel better on a Monday morning than thinking about how much smarter you are than an Alaskan governor. After lightly touching on the Katie Couric and Sarah Palin interview, not to mention once again obsessing over the gorgeous Tina Fey, we discuss a handful of stories including the untimely death of a chef, kinky iPod accessories, Krispy Kreme heart attacks, and the future of the digital retirement home.

In a last-ditch effort to alleviate his parents' disappointment, Jeff won't be on the show tomorrow. Instead, we're super excited to have Clayton Morris, rising star of Fox's weekend edition of Fox and Friends. On today's show, we make the best of Jeff's last day and speaks to a number of stories including a notable Web site, VotefortheMILF.com. If you click on that link, the site redirects you to a page featuring a video of the Alaskan governor! In all likelihood, the site probably wasn't created by McCain's people. But hey--if that's all that Palin has going for her, milk it lady! PEW PEW PEW!

A leaked internal memo shows that Blockbuster will be lowering the price of the entry-level 40GB model PlayStation 3 this weekend. Kotaku was able to get a screenshot of the memo, which clearly shows a new price of $360. Also, the store-exclusive Spider-Man 3 Blu-ray/Transformers video game and HDMI cable bundle will drop to $460.

This may seem like a decent bargain, but remember that $40 more will double your hard drive capacity to 80GB. (Confusingly, the "old" 80GB model, which had four USB ports and flash media slots, has mostly disappeared from store shelves. The new … Read more

CNET's Crave on Friday reported on Nielsen's latest VideoScan figures, showing that Blu-ray Disc's market share in the video disc market has slumped in the past week.

According to Nielsen, Blu-ray's market share dropped to just 8 percent of the overall market, giving DVDs a whopping 92 percent ownership.

Granted, those figures show only one week's performance, and Blu-ray may have a huge week soon and capture more of the market, but let's be honest with ourselves: do we really think that will happen?

According to a study released in August by ABI Research, more than half the people it surveyed had no plans to buy a standalone Blu-ray player in the near future, and 23 percent are considering it, but not until 2009.

When your format is limping along with just 8 percent of the market, the last thing you want to hear is that only 23 percent of the population actually wants a Blu-ray player.

But wait! There's always the PlayStation 3, right? Surely, everyone who knows about Blu-ray is picking up a PlayStation 3 to watch their movies. After all, won't that product be the savior for which Sony has been waiting?

Please. According to NPD's latest numbers, Sony sold just 185,000 PlayStation 3 units, which represented a 17 percent drop, compared to July sales numbers. Worse, it barely beat out the PlayStation 2, DVD player and all.

The PlayStation 3 isn't going to be Blu-ray's savior, and neither is that sub-$200 price tag. At this point, I simply don't see how Blu-ray has a chance.… Read more

Blu-ray players may have fallen below the $200 mark, but according to new numbers from Nielsen VideoScan, Blu-ray's market share in the video disc market has slumped in the past week. While Nielsen releases its numbers on a week-by-week basis, and a one-week decline isn't a huge deal, this could indicate a rough holiday season for Sony's hi-def format.

If you've been keeping up with us, you already know that this comes as no surprise. Except for home theater enthusiasts, most buyers are fine with the video quality (and affordability) of DVD. Factor in the floundering … Read more

While nothing has been confirmed by Microsoft, a suspicious Xbox Live in-dash ad definitely points to November for the long-awaited dashboard relaunch. CNET sister site GameSpot reports that an ad for Rock Band 2 blatantly claims to "Check out the New Xbox Experience coming in November!"

We first learned details about the brand new Xbox Live dashboard at this summer's E3 2008 press conference, where it was also announced that the new interface would support personal avatars--think Nintendo Mii characters--and Netflix streaming capabilities. Other new features offered by the update will include the ability to completely install … Read more