I’m sure plenty of you have been waiting for the new DRM Tool from Microsoft to properly transfer your content license to another console so that you don’t have to be connected to Xbox Live in order to play your purchased content. Well, Microsoft released that tool today. You don’t have to worry about getting punked by DRM it seems.Â
I give you the Content License Transfer Tool. One thing I wanted to point from the video below is that movie licenses will not be transferred and you’ll only be able to do this once a year. Yep, that’s one time per 12 months. Those of you getting refurbished consoles should have your licenses transferred for you from now on.
Click here for detailed instructions on using the DRM Tool
Two Part Process
It’s a simple two-part process.
First, you must transfer your authorized licenses on Xbox.com.
Second, you must download the transferred licenses onto your new Xbox 360.
Video:Â DRM Tool Instructions
Why Denis why? It appears that Silicon Knights President and head honcho on Too Human, Denis Dyack, has decided to open the floodgates of hell by calling out the members of the NeoGAF message boards. Fueled by a soaring amount of negativity surrounding Too Human, Denis apparently felt it was time to call out those who are “For” and “Against” his title. Stand and Be Counted.
“I think it is time to draw the digital line. Too Human will be out in August and I think there is going to be a lot of trolls crying here. Either way when the game comes out this forum will likely be on fire. So in order to try to put it out some gasoline on this fire I will ask those interested to stand up and be counted…” (see full quote below)
It’s madness I tell ya the cost of maintaining a good old fashioned geek lifestyle. I mean who knew that pounds of cheetos and numerous pints of soda would amount to so much.
GameStrata, the leading online community for gamers, today released results from a survey of North American video game enthusiasts showing that over their peak gaming years of 18-48 the average gamer spends more than $30,500 on games and gaming hardware. Just ask Rick Chapelle.
Borg assimilation continues. Resistance is futile. Electronic Arts as again extended its $2 billion takeover offer to acquire Take-Two Interactive Software Inc. this week. Thanks for the tip HeadGeek.
Take-Two Chairman Strauss Zelnick said in a statement, “The latest extension of EA’s unsolicited, highly conditional tender offer does not alter the fact that their proposal still significantly undervalues Take-Two, a fact that is reflected in the overwhelming number of stockholders who still have not tendered their shares.”
Someone has a case of the big head it seems as the effect of Grand Theft Auto IV is surely to wear thin and their stock will surely continue its stumble (as it did as of Tuesday). The last time I checked $2 billion was a lot of money and probably more than Take-Two will be worth once the “next big thing” has released and no one remembers Grand Theft Auto IV.
Lost in the shuffle perhaps is the fact that Take-Two houses 2K Sports. If this offer were approved then EA would all but wipe out any sports competition. Some of you may see that as a bad thing but I don’t necessarily. Think about the mixture of minds that this deal would hopefully create. Think about Madden being developed by the minds at 2K Sports and EA both. Touchdown! Get your popcorn ready! That would be a killer NFL game finally…the Ultimate Madden NFL 2010.
It’s time to battle 40 foot waves and catch some crabs. And no I don’t mean the kind that’s a health risk. I mean the kind that you navigate the ocean in a huge boat to catch.  Deadliest Catch Alaskan Storm has arrived. The weather effects are supposedly incredible in this game so I’m ready to be a Crab Boat Captain.
There are tons of things you can do with crabs. You can barbecue it, boil it, broil it, bake it, sautee it. There’s, um, crab kebabs, crab cakes, crab creole, crab gumbo, pan fried, deep fried, stir fried. There’s pineapple crab and lemon crab, coconut crab, pepper crab, crab soup, crab stew, crab salad, crab and potatoes, crab burger, crab sandwich. That’s about it.
Who’s going to head out and catch crabs? Check out the latest screenshots.
“I’m mad as hell and I’m not going to take this anymore!” I can imagine how different this quote would be if Howard Beale was given the chance to play online against some l33t Halo players.
I’ve received a few emails about G4TV’s Adam Sessler and his tirade on how Xbox Live (online gaming) is a pool of racist, ignorant and homophobic gamers. I watched the video and I don’t understand the culture shock really when this has been the case for quite some time. Sessler obviously doesn’t play much online because this particular commentary could be played every single day. It’s not something that snuck up on us and it’s not something confined to Xbox Live.
Online gaming and Xbox Live are home to the very people that make up our society today. There is no hidden requirement or checklist that invites only the “sane and mature” of society. Instead, all of society is welcome to game online. Are there racists in society? Yep. How about rude and immature weirdos? Yep. Are there people in society with behavior problems? Guaran-damn-teed. It’s inevitable to find these types of people in one of the largest interactive platforms today; online gaming.
Because I know you all like numbers so much, here are the latest NPD sales for hardware and software for May. I shall make no ill statements concerning the Nintendo Wii. I’ll just accept the fact that it is a monster and there are apparently a lot of gamers interested in getting fit.
And as one potentially great analyst predicted, the PlayStation 3 did indeed see more immediate hardware results from the release of Grand Theft Auto IV. Will more of my predictions prove true?
“The big surprise is that Sony will move more hardware than the Xbox 360 initially following the release of Grand Theft Auto IV.” - Call Me An Analyst
May 2008 Hardware Sales
Wii - 675,100
PlayStation 3 - 208,700
Xbox 360 - 186,600
May 2008 Software Sales
1. Grand Theft Auto IV (X360) - 871,300
2. Mario Kart Wii (Wii) - 787,400
3. Wii Fit (Wii) - 687,700
4. Grand Theft Auto IV (PS3) - 442,900
5. Wii Play (Wii) - 294,600
6. Super Smash Bros. Brawl (Wii) - 171,100
7. Iron Man (PS2) - 130,600
8. Guitar Hero III (Wii) - 116,800
9. Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Explorers of Darkness (NDS) - 107,000
10. Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Explorers of Time (NDS) - 102,000
I can’t say enough about my anticipation for Alan Wake despite not having much of anything new on it since X06. (yes the one from 2006) It’s set to debut exclusively at some point on the Xbox 360 and PC. I contacted Remedy Entertainment to try to dig up something new on the title. The word I received was that the game was still kicking strong.
“Right now we are fully focused on development and not ready to talk more about Alan Wake. We’re doing well and the game is looking awesome, but it is time to labor away and to keep our nose to the grind. The game has a lot of potential and it deserves to be crafted into all it can be. We are driven by our own quality standard not a timeline. Would love to talk more when we pop our heads above the surface next time.” - Remedy Entertainment PR
I don’t have to dissect this for you do I? You should be well versed after reading my Truth Serum article on PR Speak a little while ago. It’s not a confirmation of the release that I had hoped for but hearing that the game is looking awesome and to know that they’re set on ”when it’s done, it’s done” shines some much needed light on Alan Wake. At the same time, however, one could also interpret this as an inevitable delay for Alan Wake.
Keep the faith Alan Wake fans! Let’s keep hope alive for a 2008 release. Before I go, let me leave you with the demo from X06 that still manages to impress me.
I know all of you little ninjaholics are miffed at the Japan only demo arriving for Team Ninja’s Ninja Gaiden II. Fear not though because just as the game releases to stores next week, so shall the demo. Chris Paladino from Team GSB at Xbox posted details on its arrival by next week. So if you don’t see the demo by June 6th, then send threats of Tenchu Z discs to Chris.
I will say though that after playing the game for a few hours, it is extremely bloody and violent. This of course is in a very good way! I’ve already unlocked 10 Achievements for mastering various arts of kicking ass.
During the Game Developer’s Conference Microsoft revealed some plans for community games, peer review systems and a direct avenue to the Xbox Live Marketplace for XNA Creators. That time is upon us apparently with the release of the XNA Community Games Beta today.
XNA Creators Club premium members can now create their games, submit them for peer review and quite possibly have them available as downloads on Xbox Live Marketplace depending on the peer review turnout.
“Of course, the most significant and highly anticipated update to the site is the added capability to support community games submission, peer review, and distribution over Xbox LIVE Marketplace. We announced this new service at GDC, where it was met with great excitement around the world. Today, I am pleased to invite all our XNA Creators Club premium members to join us in a closed Beta of the new community games distribution service.” Dave Mitchell, Product Unit Manager, XNA Community Team.
If you’ve subscribed to XNA, then this is some great news for those talented individuals out there. I’m sure Microsoft is always looking for the next Dishwasher: Dead Samurai creator. I do want to point out that only premium members will be able to take advantage of the peer review system and thus having access to Xbox Live Marketplace. You can get a premium membership for $99/year or about $49 for a four (4) month membership.
Get more details on this at www.creators.xna.com. It’ll be interesting to see what comes out of this and what gamers can create.
