Xbox LIVE Bringing E3 Home

>> From the official press release:
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For the second year running, fans around the world thirsting for a sneak preview of the Xbox 360 holiday games and entertainment lineup can get together with friends to experience the E3 Media & Business Summit (E3) -- the biggest video game industry event of the year -- in high definition from the comfort of their own homes.
From Tuesday, July 10, through Friday, July 13, Microsoft Corp. is bringing E3 home to owners of the Xbox 360 video game and entertainment system through its second annual E3: Bringing It Home, which offers downloads on Xbox LIVE Marketplace of the hottest content from the show.
Connect to the Xbox LIVE online entertainment network and bring everyone together in the living room to enjoy the E3 experience with E3: Bringing It Home.

Xbox 360 owners will be able to download high-definition content direct from the show including the following:
* Microsoft's E3 2007 press conference -- beginning at 8:30 p.m. PDT on Tuesday, July 10 -- will be available on Xbox LIVE Marketplace in high definition later in the week
* Video updates direct from the show
* A selection of game trailers, themes, gamer pictures and demos will be available from the hottest E3 titles such as these:
* "Ace Combat 6: Fires of Liberation" (NAMCO BANDAI Games America Inc.)
* "Assassin's Creed" (Ubisoft)
* "BioShock" (2K)
* "Blue Dragon" (Microsoft Game Studios)
* "Burnout Paradise" (Electronic Arts Inc.)
* "CALL OF DUTY 4: MODERN WARFARE™" (Activision)
* "FIFA Soccer 08" (Electronic Arts)
* "Guitar Hero III" (Activision/RedOctane)
* "Lost Odyssey" (Microsoft Game Studios)
* "Madden NFL 08" (Electronic Arts)
* "NCAA Football 08" (Electronic Arts)
* "Need for Speed: ProStreet" (Electronic Arts)
* "Project Gotham Racing 4" (Microsoft Game Studios)
* "The Simpsons Game" (Electronic Arts)
* "Tiger Woods PGA Tour 08" (Electronic Arts)
* "WWE SmackDown vs. Raw 2008" (THQ)

In addition to all this content, there will be many surprises, so fans should stay tuned to the Xbox LIVE calendar for updates
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Xbox Live India to be Launched in September

>> From gameguru.in:
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It's been a long time since Microsoft has launched the Xbox 360 in India. Gamers here were waiting for a long time to hear the words "Xbox Live India" from Microsoft. It seems that their wait is over as Microsoft is planning to launch the online gaming service in India.

The Xbox LIVE launch will take place simultaneously from 23rd to 30th September. All of this will coincide with the Xbox 360's first anniversary in India, which also falls on the 23rd. Xbox LIVE subscriptions will be available in 1 month, 3 month and 12 month denominations, and from what we hear, will be quite attractively priced. There may even be an Xbox LIVE bundle in the works, comprising a live subscription, a broadband internet connection and a game.
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N-American Retailers Estimate Xbox 360 Failure Rate High as 33 Percent

>> From dailytech.com:
[QUOTE]
In an effort to gain a more accurate picture of Xbox 360 failure rate, DailyTech decided to poll retail outlets that sell the Xbox 360 and with it the option to purchase an in-store extended warranty. Out of all Xbox 360 extended warranties sold, we wanted to know how many were claimed by consumers with defective consoles, thus giving us a more accurate failures percentage.

After contacting several retailers from various regions in North America, the responses were unanimous: the Xbox 360 is the least reliable gaming console in recent history. Current EB Games or GameStop employees who offered information did so under strict anonymity, as it is against company policy to reveal such information to the public. Furthermore, our sources confirmed that EB Games revised its Canadian warranty policies during early 2007 for consoles solely due to the failure rate of the Xbox 360.

EB Games held conference calls for its Canadian stores informing them of the new policy changes and revealing alarming failure rates of the Xbox 360. "The real numbers were between 30 to 33 percent," said former EB Games employee Matthieu G., adding that failure rate was even greater for launch consoles. "We had 35 Xbox 360s at launch I know more than half of them broke within the first six months (red lights or making circles under the game discs). Two of them were dead on arrival."

The failure rate nearing a third of all Xbox 360 consoles was found at other retailers too. A Best Buy customer service department manager, who wished to remain unnamed, said that failure rates for the console were "between a quarter to a third" of all units sold.
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GT5 Still Awhiles Off

Chatting with US car mag Car and Driver, Kazunori Yamauchi has said he doesn't expect GT5 to be ready until at least Spring 2008. Good news? No. He adds that if the game needs more polish it will get it, and that Sony are willing to push back its release date to the end of 2008 should the need arise. Knowing how obsessive-compulsive Yamauchi is with these games, that's as much confirmation of a Christmas 2008 release date as we're going to need.

He spilled a few additional details, like how it's taking 180 days for an artist to build a GT5 car model and that downloadable cars are a lock. Oh, he also had time to maintain the lie about damage-modelling, claiming they're leaving it out because some car manufacturers don't want to see their cars smashed up. That's funny, I could have sworn that Forza 2 featured nearly every major auto maker under the sun, and their cars get smashed up real good. My mistake!