Last week reports surfaced that Yodobashi Camera in Akihabara, a large electronics store in Tokyo, had sold out of all the versions of the Xbox 360 console. Amazon of Japan was also sold out of two of the three versions of the 360. Clearly most retail outlets and Microsoft themselves did not anticipate the increased demand for the 360.

Microsoft of Japan has now announced that the Xbox 360 has sold out across Japan and that no new stock will be available until September.

This news comes after the 360 outsold the PS3 in the land of the rising sun last week, thanks largely to the release of Namco Bandai’s Tales of Vesperia. The hardware sales showed that the title was definitely a system seller, increasing Xbox 360 hardware sales from 5 359 units to 24 962 for the week ending the 10th of August.

Tales of Vesperia sold 108 328 copies in its opening week, earning the 360 a rare appearance in the Top 10 at number 4 as well as the title of biggest first week for an Xbox 360 game in Japan. Media Create data shows that the previous best first week of software for the Xbox 360 was Blue Dragon with 80 000.

The Microsoft Japan press release (translated by Kotaku) reads “We truly thank you for all your patronage in the past. Currently, the Xbox 360 is sold out, and retailers are unable to restock their supply. This is a result of our own sales targets being exceeded by the actual customer sales. We deeply apologize for this inconvenience to our customers, retailers and business partners.”

“Here at Microsoft, we are moving forward quickly with console production, and plan to ship the standard Xbox 360 model out this September. Furthermore, we will sequentially be shipping out the Elite and the Arcade models. We ask that you please patiently wait until the console is shipped.”

“We truly thank you for your patronage hereafter,” added the company before signing off as Microsoft Home and Entertainment HQ.

Hot on the heels of Sony announcing that all instruments for the PS3 versions of three upcoming music games (Rock Band 2, Guitar Hero: World Tour and Rock Revolution) will be compatible, Microsoft has announced that all instruments for upcoming Xbox 360 rhythm games will be compatible too.

In a post on the Gamerscoreblog, Microsoft stated “All the instruments from Rock Band 2, Guitar Hero: World Tour, and Rock Revolution will be cross-compatible. In other words, welcome to the party.”

A game notably absent from the list was Lips, a game from developer iNis that features motion-sensitive microphones and appears to be Microsoft’s answer to Sony’s SingStar series.

Microsoft have announced a new version of the Xbox 360 will be released on the 15th of this month across Europe. The new SKU will come with a 60 GB hard-drive and will replace the current 20 GB version as the standard unit, while the price will remain at £199.99. The package contains the standard wireless controller, headset and month’s free access to Xbox Live Gold.

“No one device offers the depth and breadth of entertainment that Xbox 360 can deliver and we know consumers need increasingly more and more space to store the amazing digital entertainment content we provide,” said senior regional director, entertainment and devices division at Microsoft Neil Thompson. “Now the Xbox 360 has triple the space to house all your entertainment needs at no extra cost.”

Gamers will need that space with the upcoming ability to install games directly to the hard-drive, as well as Microsoft’s current and future plans for additional media downloads.

While Microsoft scrapped their service fees for Games For Windows Live, the PC equivalent of Xbox Live, they insist that no such revised fee plan is in the works for players to gain access to their Xbox Live Gold service - mainly the ability to play online. If anything, Microsoft are more determined that paying for an Xbox Live Gold membership is a good idea.

A Microsoft spokesman said, “For only a few pounds a month Xbox Live Gold members already get access to the best online gaming network in the industry, the ability to play and watch countless demos and trailers before the rest of the gaming community, and video chat and messaging. With the new Xbox experience coming this Fall, we plan to give even more reasons why Xbox Live Gold is the best bargain in the industry.”

While this isn’t really a surprise, rumours have been circling about free access to Gold membership, now apparently put to rest…for the time being.

Source: www.mcvuk.com

Microsoft has revealed that XNA Community Games will be available from 200 to 800 Microsoft Points. The games, developed by XNA Creators Club Premium members, will be available when the service launches this autumn.

Not only can creators choose from three suggested retail price points, ranging from 200 to 800 Microsoft Points, but they will also receive up to 70% of the total revenue generated by the game.

Community games will have to pass a peer-review system before being added to Xbox Live Marketplace. Microsoft anticipates that games created by the community will double the games available on Xbox Live, bringing the number of titles of Community Games, Xbox Live Arcade and retail blockbuster titles to over 1 000 by the end of 2008.

According to Microsoft, “the new Community Games channel is currently scheduled to launch in the United States, Canada and select European markets later this year. Other regions will be added over the course of 2009 and beyond.”

Xbox 360 owners will be able to view and rate community games on Xbox.com, watch trailers and play trials of the game before buying it.

During E3 Bungie were to release information on their next game, now confirmed to be an entry into the Halo universe. Microsoft, however, decided to keep that game under wraps for the time being as they already had quite enough to show at their E3 press conference, including the news that Final Fantasy XIII is also coming to Xbox 360.

Rather, they had an “embarrassment of riches” situation, having so much quality information to dish out, they wouldn’t have been able to dedicate enough time to the Bungie/new Halo game reveal. They will instead focus on this upcoming game at a ‘dedicated event,’ to better announce the game and be able go into detail, rather than skipping over it during a big, diluted press conference.

Bungie team members are said to ‘share the disappointment’ of their fans that their reveal plans were cancelled, but, says Bungie president, Harold Ryan, “When the right time comes, we look forward to sharing this exciting announcement with you. Until then, we appreciate your continued support and patience.”

Xbox Live could be coming to South Africa soon. This is the latest word from Xbox Product Manager John Press who is “confident Microsoft would greenlight an Xbox Live expansion into the country.”

ITweb.co.za reports that 35% of next-gen consoles sold in SA are Xbox 360s while there are already over 4 000 Xbox Live users in SA.

Press posed a question which has, no doubt, plagued many 360 gamers’ minds, “What is Xbox Live and why don’t we have it?” Apparently Microsoft has not launched Xbox Live here because SA is not the “only emerging market out there.”

However, Press reassured gamers that “we are working closely with the people in charge and we want to convince Microsoft that when Xbox Live is launched in SA, they will have a 100% adequate service.” Microsoft SA believe that SA is a feasible market for Xbox Live taking into account the number of sales it has made in the past two years.

Press believes the Xbox 360 is succeeding in SA due to popular titles including Halo 3 and Gears of War. Microsoft SA hope that new games such as Gears of War 2 will increase sales while social titles such as Lips will attract a wider audience.

Source: ITweb.co.za

Xbox Live’s Major Nelson has posted a few screenshots of what 360 gamers can expect their themes to look like in the new Xbox 360 dashboard.

If you have purchased themes on your Xbox 360 in the past it will look something like this when the new dashboard launches later this year.

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Microsoft announced exclusive deals with not only Netflix, the movie and video rental service in the US, but also deals with NBC Universal, Universal Studios Home Entertainment, SCI FI Channel and USA Network of America, as well as Constantin Film and MGM of Europe.

These distribution deals will result in Xbox 360 users being able to buy movies and video from the vast collection of the studios’ catalogues, including the ability to stream Netflix movies and video from their own catalogue of over 10 000 movies and TV shows, all through Xbox Live.

That’s a lot of entertainment!

Microsoft are making good on their promise to allow XNA game developers to be able to put their games up on Xbox Live.

Developers using XNA Game Studio will be able to submit their game to the Creator’s Club, where members will view, rate and classify the games that appear to determine whether or not they should go on Xbox Live.

The aim of this initiative is to drive the growth of the industry through independently developed games, allowing the community to decide on which games they want to see in the Marketplace.

You will need an XNA Creators Club membership to develop games for Xbox Live as well as to view and review community games for the Xbox Live Marketplace - $49.00 will get you a four month membership, while $99.00 will get a 12 month membership.

Microsoft has detailed some of their games to be released on Xbox Live Arcade later this year.

First up we have UNO Rush, the follow up to the original UNO game on Live Arcade, with the same UNO gameplay, only this time it has avatar support, enabling players to represent themselves in-game with their own custom avatars. UNO Rush also features camera support, just like the original game.

For old-school shooter fans, Galaga Legions is a re-make of the original arcade game, Galaga, and features ‘table-turning game dynamics’ as well as the ubiquitous graphics upgrade with more of the Galaga action you’re familiar with, such as many waves of enemies. Galaga Legions is being developed by the same team that created Pac-Man Championship Edition, so it should be a great update.

Geometry Wars: Retro Evolved 2 is the latest in the series of Geometry Wars, which has a multiplayer option for up to four players, including versus and co-operative modes. New enemies and game play modes feature in 1080p HD.

Portal: Still Alive features the original Portal (by Valve Software) in all its physics-based puzzle glory, as well as a new challenge mode.

Lastly, a South Park game is set to debut on Live Arcade in 2009, but no other information is known at the moment.

E3 has officially been kicked off after Microsoft’s Press Event, hosted by Don Mattrick. There were a ton of announcements and it wouldn’t be a Microsoft event without throwing around a bunch of numbers to inflate their egos:

$48 billion on video games this year! 5 million more Xbox units than PS3’s install base! $2.2 billion in third party game sales over the last 12 months! A new Xbox Live member every 5 seconds! More than 10 000 movies and TV shows released on Xbox Live! 1000 titles launching by the end of the year! 3.5 million rhythm-game songs downloaded through Live! 500 million pieces of content downloaded (trailers, movies, music etc.)! In terms of games, the Xbox 360 is outselling the PS3 and Wii combined!

And a promise from Mr Mattrick; they will beat the PS3!

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Microsoft announced that a new Xbox 360 will be available with a 60 gig hard drive, compared to the current 360 with 20GB storage. It will be released in the US and Canada by early August.

The rumours of a price-cut for the current 20GB Xbox 360, to $299.00, have also been confirmed and it now seems this new Xbox 360 is set to replace the 20GB version, with a retail price of $349.00 - the 20GB’s original price!

Coming standard with an HDMI (high-definition multimedia interface) port, and all the comforts of a normal 360 Premium unit (wireless controller, headset etc.), the new 60GB 360 presents stiffer competiton to the 40GB PS3, currently retailing at $399.00.

E3 has already kicked off, it seems.

Microsoft have revealed they are to release a demo and trailer of Too Human today to start their E3 campaign with a bang (or thud, depending).

Silicon Knights’ Too Human, a game combining action and RPG elements, follows the story of Baldur, a cybernetic Norse god, trying to protect humanity from ‘the machines.’ After 10 years of brewing in the bowls of Silicon Knights, and a release date of August 29th (in the UK), Too Human is sure to feature heavily in Microsoft’s E3 proceedings.

You can grab the demo and trailer on Xbox Live later today, though a Gold membership is required.

Rumours have been swirling for the past few weeks that Microsoft plans to cut the price of the Xbox 360.

While Microsoft has yet to confirm the price cut, new evidence from the Wall Street Journal suggests that Microsoft wants to cut the price of the Xbox 360 to boost sales in the wake of the PS3 outselling its console this year.

According to the Wall Street Journal “people familiar with the matter” report that Microsoft will drop the price of the $349 20GB Xbox 360 Pro to $299 from this Sunday.

Keep your eyes peeled because the announcement of the price cut is likely to be confirmed at E3 on Monday morning.