RipTen Videogame Blog » major-nelson

Xbox Live Arcade House Party Line-up Revealed, Dated and Priced

Garrett Hartman — Mon, 23 Jan 2012 22:00:15 +0000

Microsoft’s Major Nelson, via his blog, has revealed the full line-up for this year’s Xbox Live House Party. This is a particularly strong line-up with two of the Xbox 360′s anticipated titles. The Promotion runs from February 15th – March 13th. Here is the full list with dates and prices below:

Warp – February 15 for 800 MSP
Alan Wake’s America Nightmare – February 22 for 1200 MSP
Nexuiz – February 29 for 800 MSP
I Am Alive – March 7 for 1200 MSP

As a special bonus, those who purchase all four titles during this promotion receive 800 MSP back. Not a bad deal and a worthy line-up makes this a party that should be attended.

Xbox Dashboard Update Takes Color Out of Your Life; Microsoft Working on Fix

Catherine Cai — Fri, 20 Jan 2012 21:15:43 +0000

The recent Xbox dashboard update has reportedly washed out color from videos for some users. No, Microsoft isn’t throwing back to the days of old black and white TV.

Microsoft’s Major Nelson, via his Twitter, stated that Microsoft is on the case for the fix, although there’s still no ETA for when the fix will actually come about.

If you’re one of the unfortunate souls whose Xbox dashboard is currently spectrum-challenged, stay tuned. We’ll let you know as soon as there are any updates. For now, just pretend that you’re playing a videogame on a really old TV set.

[Via Joystiq]

New Modern Warfare 3 Timeline Video Brings You Up to Date

Garrett Hartman — Wed, 02 Nov 2011 19:01:03 +0000

Microsoft’s Major Nelson, aka Larry Hryb, has posted a video on his website to bring you up to date for Modern Warfare 3. The video highlights all of the previous events leading to the beginning of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3.

Activision‘s next big shooter arrives on November 8.

Check out the video below.

Larry Hryb on WhoSay

Microsoft Accepting Applicants for New Xbox Live Dashboard Preview

Garrett Hartman — Thu, 13 Oct 2011 01:26:32 +0000

Looking foward to Microsoft’s sleek new Xbox 360 dashboard? Would you like to be the first of your friends to get it? Well you can, if you are selected as one of the lucky few chosen for the Xbox Live dashboard pre-release preview.

Earlier today, Microsoft’s Major Nelson announced an open call for interested in being preview participants. Those selected to participate will receive an update that will contain select dashboard features. Including the ones listed below:

New design for integrated Kinect and controller navigation
New Beacons to play online with friends
Deeper Facebook integration
New Cloud Storage for Game Saves and Xbox LIVE Profile

Participants will still be able to interact and play games with friends who are not part of the beta.

Click here to register for the Public Preview.

Source: Major Nelson

Xbox Live System Update Oct 11th – What it Changed

Garrett Hartman — Tue, 11 Oct 2011 20:58:35 +0000

What did it change? Very little actually. Not that system updates are normally incredible, but you like to see something change.

According to Microsoft’s Major Nelson, it is simply a routine maintenance update and no apparent new features are being added. His statement below:

Sometime during the early morning hours tomorrow (Pacific Time, Tuesday, October 11th) we are pushing out a mandatory system update. If you are signed into LIVE already, you may be signed out. Once the update has been completed, you’ll be able to sign-in again and back online in a few moments. This is a general system maintenance update and there are no new features that will show up once your system has been updated.

Don’t get too down about it. There are no doubt new things in the works down the road.

Micosoft to Sell 320GB HDDs for $130 Later This Month

Garrett Hartman — Tue, 11 Oct 2011 19:45:13 +0000

Longtime 360 owners with overburdened hard drives may soon have relief in the form of 320GBs to be released later this month.

In an announcement by Major Nelson the new 320GB HDD will cost $129.99 and will also include a download code for a full copy of Lego Star Wars III: The Clone Wars. Unfortunatly for owners of older 360′s (like myself) the hard drive will only be compatible with the Xbox 360s model.

Nonetheless it’s good news as Microsoft finally eases up the price a little on their otherwise overpriced hard drives.

Gears of War 3 First Week Sales Hit Three Million Units

Sam Naylor — Thu, 29 Sep 2011 14:04:15 +0000

Cliffy B’s pockets have started to overflow with money so much that it is contributing to rising sea levels. Gears 3 sold more than 3 million in its first week.

Major Nelson reports that with the huge sales figures for Gears of War 3 the franchise is now “beyond one billion dollars in lifetime sales”.

Whoever made that little gif of Miyamoto and Iwata shouting “It prints money!” needs to make a new one, I think. Congrats to Epic on making such a fantastic series. They deserve sales figures like these.

Xbox LIVE is Coming to Windows 8

Chris Carlson — Wed, 14 Sep 2011 02:15:48 +0000

Microsoft has confirmed that they will be bringing Xbox LIVE to the PC on Windows 8. Major Nelson broke the news today on his blog, along with the keynote and a first screenshot.

“We are very excited about Xbox LIVE coming to Windows 8. Xbox LIVE brings your games, music, movies, and TV shows to your favorite Microsoft and Windows devices. Bringing Xbox LIVE to Windows 8 is part of our vision to bring you all the entertainment you want, shared with the people you care about, made easy. At BUILD we are showing that it is easy for developers to create games for Windows 8 that take advantage of the power of Xbox LIVE. We have much more detail to share about the capabilities of Xbox LIVE on Windows and look forward to the opportunity to do so in the near future.”

Xbox 360 System Update Coming Tomorrow

Chris Carlson — Tue, 19 Jul 2011 01:33:19 +0000

Starting tomorrow, July 19th, Xbox 360 owners will be prompted to download a mandatory system update. The update will be sent out throughout the day and if you’re already connected to Xbox LIVE, you may get disconnected from the service and be asked to download the update.

Major Nelson insisted that no new features will be added and the update is simple preparation for the additional system enhancements coming to Xbox 360 later this year. Rest assured, we’re going to look for hidden features anyway. Just because we can.

Xbox Live Summer Of Arcade Starts Today – Dates and Prices

Justin McCullough — Tue, 12 Jul 2011 21:45:48 +0000

With the drought of summer hitting all of us on the temperature gauge as well as being a barren wasteland for video game releases, Microsoft thought it would be a great time to push out a few Xbox Live Arcade games to keep your thumb on the joysticks until September when some of the bigger games start rolling around. Here’s the schedule they released today to eat up a few dusty Microsoft points:

Xbox Live Arcade

Ms. ‘Splosion Man (Microsoft Studios) July 13 – 800 MSP
Warhammer: 40,000© Kill Team (THQ) July 13 – 800 MSP
Boulder Dash XL (Kalypso) July 13- 800 MSP
Bastion (Warner Brothers Interactive Entertainment) July 20 – 1200 MSP

Game Add-ons

L.A. Noire Reefer Madness Vice Case (Rockstar Games) July 12- 320 MSP
Fallout: New Vegas Old World Blues (Bethesda) July 19 – 800 MSP
Mortal Kombat “Rain” (Warner) July 19 – 400 MSP
Carnival Games Coasterama Pack (2K Play) July 19 – 400 MSP
Dance Central (Harmonix) – July 19 240 MSP each: Taio Cruz “Break Your Heart”; Trey Songz “Say Aah”; Afrika Bambaataa and Soulsonic Force “Planet Rock”.

Deal of the Week

Zombies!

Undead Nightmare Collection (Rockstar Games) July 12 – July 18 - 1000 MSP
Undead Nightmare Collection JP (Rockstar Games) July 12 – July 18 - 1000 MSP
Dead Rising 2: Case West (Capcom) July 12 – July 18 - 400 MSP
Stubbs the Zombie (Aspyr) 12 July 12 – July 18 800 MSP

Grand Theft Auto

Grand Theft Auto IV Ballad of Gay Tony (Rockstar Games) July 19 – July 25 - 800 MSP
Grand Theft Auto IV The Lost and Damned (Rockstar Games) July 19 – July 25 -400 MSP
Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas (Rockstar Games) 1July 19 – July 25 - 800MSP

Games on Demand

G.I. JOE: The Rise of Cobra (Electronic Arts) July 12
R.U.S.E. (Ubisoft) July 19
Kinect: Get Fit with Mel B (Black Bean Games) July 12

Avatar Marketplace

Michael Jackson The Experience (Ubisoft) July 12
The Guild July 14
Call of Juarez: The Cartel (Ubisoft) July 19
Bastion (Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment) July 20
Voltron (THQ) July 21
Halo Collection July 21

Zune Marketplace

Devil’s Tomb – July 13
High Fidelity – July 14
Sucker Punch - July 25
Rango – July 25

Microsoft Launching New Xbox 360 Discs To Combat Piracy

Bryce Wilson — Wed, 30 Mar 2011 03:10:52 +0000

For those of you who frequent the informative blog of Xbox LIVE’s Larry ‘Major Nelson’ Hyrb, you will have no doubt heard that Microsoft is launching a new Xbox 360 disc beta for residents of the United States.

What you may not know however is exactly what the discs are for or what they’re going to be doing.

Whilst nothing was ‘officially’ exposed during the post by Hyrb, Xbox 360 scene hacker ‘commodore4eva’ aka ‘c4eva’ has access to the Xbox 360 SDK and has revealed exactly what the new discs will do, saying;

[2011-03-29 11:11PM UTC] #fw MS will introduce xgd3 – this will add more ap checks, cvi (content integerity) checks, increase the disc size and adds a new layer for protection issues – all in the 20500 sdk! bring it on

Now when he says the disc size is being increased don’t think: “OH MAH GAWD BIGGER GAMES!” as it’s only increasing by a measly 1GB.

With c4eva and the Jungle Flasher team already in the final testing stages of their Xbox 360 Slim custom firmware, I can assure both you and Microsoft that this update will be futile and it wont be long before this is hacked, too.

The Forever Alone Podcast (F.A.P) Episode 1

Dave Oshry — Sun, 20 Feb 2011 10:07:57 +0000

Avert your eyes and cover your ears, the F.A.P is here!! RipTen and HBG have teamed up to bring you the most FAPtastic podcast this side of the interwebs!!

Our first episode is a doozy. RipTen Editor Dave Oshry and HotBloodedGaming editor Kreyg start things off very “PC” by having the HipHopGamer on to talk about Justin Wong and the N word!!

Not only that – Forever alone Kreyg and Never Alone Dave give their thoughts on Crysis 2 and Killzone 3 being leaked.

Not to be outdone – GeoHot stops by to Rap about Sony and we also discuss the fact that Fox News thinks we’re all rapists as Kevin Butler and Major Nelson played battleship on Twitter

Never alone Dave was also kind enough to call in RipTen’s Steph Gutowski and Dani Cantrell to talk about gifts for gamer girls

Selphie = Stephiroth / Moogle = Danzilla

Kreyg (Advice Kreyg) and Dave (Sleazy Gamer) even got their own memes as they discussed their favorite memes of the week – Hipster Mermaid and Scumbag (Selfless) Steve

No, He Doesn't

Yes, He Does.

Last but not least – Kreyg, Dave and the HHG give a big FAP to Big Booty Cammy

So sit back, relax and enjoy as we take you on our first of many FAPtastic journeys:

Also, don’t forget to check out RipTen Radio Down Under

Our Aussie Podcast that’s full of wit, wisdom and vegemite.

Xbox Live Deal of the Week – Discounted Retro Shooters

Garrett Hartman — Mon, 07 Feb 2011 23:35:50 +0000

What can I say? Sometimes Xbox live and Major Nelson have good deals and sometimes they have blow off your doors GREAT deals!
This latest deal easily falls into that GREAT category.

You like shooters? I definitely do, and everyone knows the 360 is the king console of shooters. So what would you like…half price….more than half price?

Check out these deals below!

Duke Nukem Manhattan Project - 400 MS Points Normally 800
Space Invaders Infinity Gene – 400 MS Points Normally 800
Geometry Wars 2 – 400 MS Points Normally 800
Serious Sam HD: The First Encounter – 400 MS Points Normally 1200
Serious Same HD: TSE – 400 MS Points Normally 1200
Galaga Legions – 400 MS Points Normally 800

Source

Major Nelson Details Upcoming Xbox LIVE Marketplace Updates

Bryce Wilson — Thu, 20 Jan 2011 17:22:55 +0000

Xbox LIVE’s Major Nelson recently updated his online blog to include a new post about the latest planned Xbox LIVE Marketplace content. Included in the blog post was a list of upcoming content and Xbox LIVE Deal of the Week announcements.

Check out the full announcement below;

Xbox LIVE Deal of the Week

Week of January 24 – Dance Central:

Dance Central 4 song add-ons – 160 Microsoft Points for each song (33 percent off)

Janet Jackson “Control”

Sean Paul “Temperature”

Ne-Yo “Because of You”

Cameo “Word Up”

Week of January 31 – Get Wet!

Hydro Thunder Hurricane, 800 Microsoft Points (Save 33 percent )

Aqua, 400 Microsoft Points (Save 50 percent )

Hydrophobia, 400 Microsoft Points (Save 50 percent )
**Special pricing available for Xbox LIVE Gold Members.

Xbox Games On Demand:

January 18: Red Dead Redemption, Permanent price reduction in the US and Canada

January 25: The Chronicles of Riddick Assault on Dark Athena

February 1: Dark Void

Xbox LIVE Avatar Marketplace:

January 20: Cool Moves collection (Kung Fu moves, flipping, jumping, and more!)

January 20: Dead Space 2

January 27: Military collection

February 1: Call of Duty: Black Ops

February 3: World Sports

Xbox LIVE Game Add-ons:

January 26: Castlevania Harmony of Despair Playable Character Simon Belmont, 160 Microsoft Points

January 26: Castlevania Harmony of Despair Origins Stage Pack , 240 Microsoft Points

January 26: Bomberman Live: Battlefest Bomb-Up Pack III , 240 Microsoft Points

February 1: Call of Duty: Black Ops First Strike , 1200 Microsoft Points

February 2: Castlevania Harmony of Despair The Legend of Fuma Stage Pack 240 Microsoft Points
February 2: Castlevania Harmony of Despair Playable Character Getsu Fuma, 160 Microsoft Points

Xbox LIVE Arcade:

January 26: Breach, 1200 Microsoft Points

February 2: Bionic Commando Rearmed 2, 1200 Microsoft Points

Current schedule. Subject to change. All content may not be available in all Xbox LIVE regions.

Source: [Major Nelson]

New CoD: Black Ops ‘First Strike’ DLC Announced and Detailed

Garrett Hartman — Mon, 20 Dec 2010 04:25:23 +0000

Microsoft’s Major Nelson unleashed some exciting CoD: Black Ops news on us through his weekly podcast.

Dan Bunting, from Treyarh, joined Major Nelson and announced new Call of Duty: Black Ops DLC. Unfortunately for PS3 owners, the DLC is a timed exclusive for the Xbox 360 which will be available February 1 for 1200 MSP.

The DLC titled ‘First Strike’ will include 5 new multiplayer maps and 1 new zombie map.

Click here for a few screenshots.

Competitive Multiplayer Maps:

- Discovery: based on the Antarctic Reznov mission

- Kowloon: Kowloon rooftops

- Berlin Wall: Checkpoint Charlie

- Stadium: American hockey rink

Co-op Maps:

- Ascension: Zombie Map

Here’s Major Nelson’s Podcast:

http://majornelson.com/archive/2010/12/19/show-381-call-of-duty-black-ops-dead-money-and-bf-bc2-heads-to-vietnam.aspx

No Gears Of War Announcement at VGA’s

Aaron Alexander — Sat, 11 Dec 2010 20:01:27 +0000

Earlier in the year Epic Games let everyone know that they had something Gears related to announce at the VGA’s, well apparently now that’s not the case. Major Nelson wrote about the decision to postpone the announcement on his website, stating that the announcement would re-surface sometime in 2011, and that it would still be announced via the Spike network.

I have just learned of a decision to postpone our planned Gears of War news from Epic Games for the Spike Video Game Awards this weekend. I wanted to share this with you and let you know that while these are never easy decisions, we can tell you that what we have to share for the franchise in 2011 will definitely be worth the wait and we look forward to working with our partner at Spike on sharing this world premier news when it is ready.

I guess Cliffy B said we be surprised and the surprise seems to be no announcement. Some of the rumors indicate that a Kinect based Gears of War was in development, but with no concrete proof we’ll just have to wait for the delayed announcement later next year.

Xbox Live Rewards Announced and Detailed

Dave Oshry — Wed, 01 Dec 2010 20:32:25 +0000

Microsoft has rolled out a new service which allows players to earn rewards and Microsoft points for doing things like taking surveys and watching Netflix . . . sweet!!

You can sign up for the service today!!

Major Nelson had this to say:

It’s a brand new way for Xbox LIVE members* to earn Microsoft points for doing things they already do on Xbox LIVE. Sign up and start earning Microsoft Points by watching movies and sports, playing games and more. Plus, when you sign-up for Xbox LIVE Gold, or renew your membership you’ll earn even more. Sound good? We’re officially kicking off the program later today, but if you want to get in early hit the link below.

We’re all for new ways to earn free Microsoft points – that way you can spend them on awesome stuff like this DeadMau5 head for your avatar!!

Xbox.com to Receive ‘Massive Facelift’

Garrett Hartman — Tue, 19 Oct 2010 14:29:59 +0000

Straight from the mouth of Xbox 360′s Major Nelson in his personal blog. The changes to Xbox.com will take effect tomorrow 10/20. Here’s what the ‘Major’ had to say:

Tomorrow, Xbox.com will be getting a massive facelift and I want to give you a preview of what you can expect. In addition to support for the 9 new Xbox LIVE regions that will happen next month, Xbox.com will get a brand new look as well as some new features.

Here are some highlights:

Browser based Avatar editor: Edit your avatar and preview avatar items before purchase

Combined views for messages, friend and game requests

Improved notification of your account subscription

Leverage Family Reports to understand what your family is doing and how they are using LIVE

Play web games with your Xbox LIVE friends on the web or on Windows Phone 7

Marketplace: More powerful search and more intuitive ways to browse and filter

Those are just a few of the changes, starting tomorrow you’ll be able to explore the entire thing yourself. Until then, I’ve uploaded a few screen shots to get hold you over until then.

Note:In order to prepare for these changes, starting at 0500 ET/0200 PT/0900 GMT on October 20th (tomorrow) Xbox.com and the Xbox forums will be offline and unavailable for a short period of time. When it returns, you’ll see the new site.

The Xbox LIVE service is not affected by this upgrade and will remain available during this time.

Kinect Launch Portfolio Announced By Major Nelson

Garrett Hartman — Mon, 18 Oct 2010 15:08:45 +0000

Microsoft’s Major Nelson announced the Kinect launch portfolio this morning via his personal blog. Seventeen games in total, many of which are Wii-type games. Although considered the “launch profile” a number of the games aren’t due for a couple of weeks after Kinect launches, one even a month after.

Here’s the line-up with listed release dates:

Kinect Adventures
Price: Packed in with the Kinect sensor.
Date: Nov. 4

Kinectimals
Price: $49.99 or $59.99 for the Limited Edition which comes with a plush toy and unlock code.
Date: Nov. 4

Game Party: In Motion
Price: $39.99
Date: Nov. 18

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 1 The Videogame
Price: $49.99
Date: Nov. 16

Your Shape: Fitness Evolved
Price: $49.99
Date: Nov. 4

Dance Central
Price: $49.99
Date: Nov. 4

The Biggest Loser Ultimate Workout
Price: $49.99
Date: Nov. 4

DanceMastgers
Price: $49.99
Date: Nov. 4

EA Sports Active 2
Price: $99.95 and comes with a heart rate monitor
Date: Nov. 16

Zumba Fitness
Price: $49.99
Date: Nov. 18

Kinect Sports
Price: $49.99
Date: Nov. 4

MotionSports
Price: $49.99
Date: Nov. 4

DECA Sports Freedome
Price: No Price listed
Date: “Holiday”

Kinect Joy Ride
Price: $49.99
Date: Nov. 4

Adrenalin Misfits
Price: $49.99
Date: Nov. 4

Fighters Uncaged
Price: $49.99
Date: Nov. 4

Sonic Free Rider
Price: $49.95
Date: Nov. 4

Major Nelson Demos New Xbox controller

Garrett Hartman — Tue, 31 Aug 2010 18:45:26 +0000

Microsoft improves the D-pad as Xbox’s Major Nelson releases a video detailing the new xbox controller. It looks to be much improved.

The new design features include a “revolutionary D-pad” that changes from a “disc to a plus” with just a simple twist. Other changes include muting of color as the xyab buttons have changed from colorful to white and differing shades of gray.

These look to be great improvements. The new raised “plus” D-pad promises to give fighting fans the isolated controls they have so long desired.

The new controller will be available on November 9 2010 for $64.99 in the US and in February 2011 for Europe. Current plans are to sell exclusively with the play and charge kit.

Check out Major Nelson’s video below: