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Seems like updates are all I see whatever I turn on - Steam or the Xbox 360. After initial confirmation about the next Fall Update coming sometime around October, it looks like the update will bundle more than just the usual crap that we don’t really give a shit about - like Windows Live Messenger integration or worse, things like regional restrictions. And the next update should have even more craziness to offer, judging by what’s going on at the official Xbox forums.
The newly “leaked” (and highly suspect) listing for the next update features include support for the Xvid codec, as well as plans for a new XBLA blade, IPTV support, clan functionality, a Picture-in-Picture setting and better slideshow effects. Now we’re pretty sure this is bogus because, for most people, building Xvid support right into the box would mean that they wouldn’t really plonk down those precious MS Points for the Video Marketplace downloads, which is something we’re sure MS would go apeshit over. But if it IS true, HOT DIGGETY DAFFODIL, there’s nothing that would please us more than streaming high quality DVD rips straight to our boxes! And oh, in case you didn’t already figure it out when Doritos ran the Unlock Xbox contest, the update should also see quite a bit of Flash adver-games make their debut on Xbox LIVE. That’s right, the advertisements now come straight to your console as you play ‘em! What fun, huh?
It’s no surprise that Games for Windows LIVE isn’t doing too good these ever. Plagued ever since its launch with ShadowRun and Halo 2 Vista, GFW Live has had none of the polish of its Xbox 360 counterpart, nor the tons of “goodies” that make Xbox LIVE such a pleasure, especially the Marketplace and the LIVE Arcade.
All that should change come November, when Microsoft rolls out Vega, the PC version of the LIVE Arcade, along with 10-20 titles at launch, with the promise of 2-4 new games every month. With users being funneled in from various sources including MSN Games and the official Xbox website, Microsoft is hoping that Vega and the LIVE Anywhere cross-platform service offer enough of an incentive for people to pick up more subscriptions to their services. As with the Xbox 360 versions, developers will earn 60% of the game’s price, whereas Microsoft picks up the remainder, and although Microsoft has put its foot down on expanding the 150 MB size restriction for the Xbox 360, Vega should allow developers to exceed the limit, provided they can justify it.
With Vega and Gears of War coming to the PC by the end of the year, it looks like GFW LIVE may evolve into a platform that a lot of us have been wishing and hoping for. Until then, there’s always Steam and Popcap Games!
Mmm, the PlayStation Store is going to see a lot of action, especially with games like WarHawk and LocoRoco PS3 heating it up to boiling point. But in spite of all that action, Microsoft seems unfazed and confirmed to 1UP at GameFest 2007 that they have no plans for increasing the cap on Xbox Live Arcade up from the current 150 MB. Originally capped at 50MB, so that users can download them off kiosks onto a memory card, Microsoft bumped up the limit at the GDC this year to allow titles like Castlevania: Symphony of the Night to show up on XBLA.
“It [the 150MB cap] really lets you focus on the innovation,” said Katie Stone, senior games program manager and founding member of XBL Arcade.
Nice, now we’ll just wait a couple of more months before MS shoots itself in the foot again, like they did with the “BluRay media are useless right now” idiocy, and then watch the download cap rise magically yet again.