You’d think that being $50 cheaper than a Wii now would boost Microsoft’s expectations and hopes for its system’s success sky high. Apparently not, as Microsoft’s Senior Vice President of Interactive Enterainment Business, Don Mattrick, told BusinessWeek:

“I’m not at a point where I can say we’re going to beat Nintendo,” Mattrick said, followed closely by a big BUT “We will sell more consoles this generation than Sony.”

Settling for second place? Might it just be a clever rouse to lower expectations and be pleasantly surprised if the system takes over Nintendo’s current lead? While it seems unlikely…who knows what kind of damage the $199 Xbox 360 Arcade unit will do when holiday shoppers this year can’t find themselves a Wii of their own.

Via BusinessWeek

[Image Credit: Horeracing.About.com]

written by Carlos Macias \\ tags: business, BusinessWeek, BUT, Don Mattrick, Enterainment, Interactive, Microsoft, Nintendo, Nintendo Wii, place, point, President, Senior, Sky, systme, Vice

…with Microsoft!

Microsoft has just released a new commercial featuring Jerry Seinfeld and Bill Gates. Where’s Windows, or any other product for that matter? It doesn’t matter, says the PR expert. In this day and age, you only need to be smart and out there.

Microsoft reportedly paid Seinfeld $11.47 million to boost Vista. They sure need a boost, but is an $11.47 million Seinfeld the solution? After Bee Movie, I guess I’m not surprised with what Jerry Seinfeld does nowadays. Ah well, we still got nine seasons of his TV show “Seinfeld”, only the best sit com ever made, to remember him by. Edit: Apparently, Sony Pictures Television thinks the show still has legs and have launched a “Seinfeld Campus Tour”.

written by Jesper Sellerberg \\ tags: Bill Gates, Jerry Seinfeld, Microsoft, Vista, Windows

It’s been circulating the rumor-mongering Internets for some time now, but Microsoft has made it official:

• $199 Xbox 360 Arcade
• $299 Xbox 360 Pro (60GB)
• $399 Xbox 360 Elite (120GB)

No word was said about the Arcade unit making its way into waggle-control territory with its own Wii-like peripheral added, which was rumored, as well. For some of our thoughts on the issue, listen to the last episode of R3match Radio where we speculate away.

written by Carlos Macias \\ tags: Arcade, Cuts, Effect, Elite, Internets, Microsoft, Official, price, Sept, Territory, time, Unit, way, word, Xbox

Each week, XBLA received either good titles or really terrible ones.  This week, it looks like we have two iffy games and one pretty good one.  Blazing Lizard’s Pirates Vs. Ninjas Dodgeball (800MP) will be available and I’m sure it will do fine, even though I wasn’t really impressed with anything I saw in the game.  Shred Nebula (800MP), the space-shooter will also hit the scene.  I’d probably say this is the safe bet for the week, because it’s at least a fun game.  Finally, they will be adding Gin Rummy (400MP).  The last time I checked, 80-year old grandmothers were playing the Wii, not the Xbox 360, so I have no idea who the hell is going to buy this game.  

One thing that continues to upset me with the arcade is the lack of quality “arcade” titles.  There are so many great old school games begging to be re-made, but we typically see mediocre titles released most weeks.  Shred Nebula isn’t the greatest game, but it’s still one worth picking up, so this week wasn’t a total loss.  At this point in the game, I expect better games.  XBLA has been around too long for this to keep happening most weeks.

written by Will Snizek \\ tags: anything, Arcade, Blazing, Dodgeball, game, Gin Rummy, Lizard, Microsoft, Nebula, Ninjas, Pirates, Shred, tomorrow, wasn, Week, XBLA

It completely blows my mind that people of the world continue using the technical blunder known as Internet Explorer when the best web browsers are available for free and are one easy click away from downloading. We’re always trying new things on Kezins.com and the biggest problem is getting those new things to work in IE. Like most other arenas, Microsoft doesn’t play fair. They continually change IE and do NOT follow current web standards. In addition to Explorer not looking “right” when viewing a lot of sites, it’s also full of security issues. It boggles my mind why anyone uses it. There’s not one single good reason to use IE.

There’s nothing more frustrating than setting up something new on the site to find out that it works in every known browser but IE. At that point, we have to waste hours and hours of time trying to figure out how to get it to work or to simply drop the new feature because of this. Microsoft recently promised that IE 8 would automatically follow web standards and for a while, we started to believe them again. It turns out their new project does NOT follow standards intentionally. In actuality, a user will be required to manually change the browser settings for this to work. Why does Microsoft play like this? I don’t think anyone has a good answer, but it’s time people stopped dealing with them.  If you are one of those still using Microsoft’s browser, check out the following downloads which are all BETTER options:

Opera: Opera has a few issues, but it’s really fast and still superior to IE.

Safari: I’m actually using Safari as we speak.  

Firefox: Probably the best for security and customization.  

The day people stop using IE will be the day my life becomes a lot easier.  We certainly waste a ton of time making sure things work with Internet Explorer, instead of moving on to more important projects.

written by Will Snizek \\ tags: anyone, blunder, browser, Explorer, Internet, Microsoft, mind, NOT, Opera, Safari, Security, Sucks, time, web, world

Microsoft’s latest cryptic hardware teaser animation is just a black background, a date,  new logo and has the words “Say Goodbye to Laser” in white.  What does this mean?  We do know that Microsoft has an event scheduled for September 9th in Seattle to unveil their new product line.  Some people are guessing that it’s a new mouse, which is a good guess, but it could very easily be something even more impressive. When I first saw the ad, I wondered if it had something to do with digital downloads.  I guess we’ll find out soon enough…

Via SeattlePI

written by Will Snizek \\ tags: Animation, Background, date, event, Goodbye, Laser, logo, mean, Microsoft, PC Hardware, product, Seattle, September, something, teaser, White

Since we already know Bungie is NOT working on Halo 4, I guess they need to stretch Halo 3 for everything it’s worth. The “Hired Gun” at Microsoft Game Studios will be developing Halo 4 and it should come out sometime in 2010 at the Xbox 720 launch. While browsing various blogs on the net, I came across an obviously edited condom photo that was definitely worth posting. The wrapper says “Finish the F**k” which could really have multiple meanings depending on your opinion of the series. The image was posted on Girl Gamers, but they didn’t mention where they found it.

written by Will Snizek \\ tags: Brand, Bungie, condom, Condoms, everything, Finish, fuck, game, gun, Halo, Microsoft, net, NOT, photo, Studios, worth, wrapper, Xbox

Well, not directly, but it did so by suing Immersion, the company who provides rumble for all the console manufacturers’ controllers — including Sony, Microsoft, and Nintendo.

If you guys haven’t heard about the tussle before, this is how it went down:

• Immersion sues Sony and Microsoft.
• Sony refuses to settle.
• Microsoft settles, adding that if Sony settled, they get $15 Million.
• Sony settles, releases DualShock 3.
• Microsoft sues Immersion.
• Gets money back, cha-ching!

For gamers, it shouldn’t matter what companies do to make their money as long as they keep feeding us more quality games but this legal battle served little good. Reason why we got our shiny, rumble-rific DualShock 3s late and why we can’t feel the power of Call of Duty 4’s shots…

Thanks to Kotaku for making sense of the situation for us.

Image Credit: Spokenhub

written by Carlos Macias \\ tags: company, course, DualShock, haven, Immersion, matter, Microsoft, Million, money, Nintendo, shouldn, Sony, Sticks, tussle, Wins

We all know that Microsoft has motion control games, Mii-like avatars and Wii-mote-like controllers up their sleeves. A new rumor has surfaced that the new Arcade bundle headed to shelves this fall will probably include motion controlers and mini-games that use the technology. For now, I’d set this rumor as questionable. Various game blogs have been throwing up motion control rumors for months and they usually turn out to be false. This time, the rumor came from Xbox 360 Fanboy.  They have been credible in the past with rumors, but this one is just worded a little funny.  According to the site, they got this rumor from ”a tip from a source close to Microsoft’s marketing department,”.  Believe it if you want, but there’s really not much behind this one.

written by Will Snizek \\ tags: Arcade, Bundle, control, fall, Fanboy, game, Microsoft, Mii-like, motion, Rumor, Technology, time, Use, Wii-mote-like, Xbox

Press Release

Unique Features for the PC-XB01

• Cooler Xbox 360 alternative chassis
• Black, hairline brushed anodized aluminum chassis
• Sound dampening foam and silent fan (120mm@1500RPM)
• Vertical or horizontal positioning
• Replaces original chassis completely (DIY skills needed)

Lian Li launches PC-XB01: the Xbox 360® Chassis replacement

Lian Li shows Microsoft how it’s done!

14 August 2008, Keelung, Taiwan – Lian-Li Industrial Co. Ltd will launch the PC-XB01 chassis for the Xbox 360 today. The XB01 is a chassis replacement for the XBox 360 chassis, which alleviates heating issues from hot components and reduces noise from vibrating optical drives in the original case design. The PC-XB01 requires DIY knowledge for the transfer of components, but once completed, heat will no longer be a factor in dampening your XBox 360 gaming experience.

Lian Li is an executive upper-class aluminum PC chassis manufacturer, well renowned as the ultimate brand for modding and stylish designs. Those same attributes are incorporated in the PC-XB01. Including an all-aluminum black hair-line brushed anodized chassis. The case has the traditional filed edges to reduce sharp corners, as well as folded and handcrafted aspects synonymous with Lian Li’s superior quality and high safety standards.

The PC-XB01 is 160 x 250 x 415mm (W, D, H), giving lots of space for copious cool airflow. The 120mm (1500RPM) rear fan draws off the heat from inside the case effectively and silently, while the ODD region is encased in stylized foam to reduce noise experienced from spinning disks in standard units.

All the Xbox 360 ports are hidden behind stylish dust covers and the ODD bay also has a spring loaded dust cover for aesthetic appeal and convenience. The unit can be placed horizontally, or vertically, depending on your needs, and the water cooling pipe holes are an option to use should you be inclined to do so. The case is designed to fit the entire Xbox 360 internals similar to the original, with the power transformer attaching from the outside.

The Lian Li PC-XB01 is the perfect complement to the Xbox 360 to alleviate heating issues. The stylish exterior gives your product a sense of class and will fit in with almost any living room environment. Microsoft Inc is very strict on warranties, so it should be noted that you will not be able to return your product if you use the Lian Li PC-XB01 alternative. With that being said, you are less likely to have overheating.

For more details on features for the PC-XB01 please go here:
http://www.lian-li.com/v2/en/product/product06.php?pr_index=261&cl_index=1&sc_index=35&ss_index=87

written by Will Snizek \\ tags: aluminum, case, Chassis, D, DIY, fan, foam, heat, heating, Lian Li, Lian Li PC-XB, Lian-Li Industrial, Microsoft, Noise, ODD, PC-XB, replacement, RPM, Taiwan, W, Xbox