| Set On Stun |

so close -- yet so far

We’ve all seen the sweet bundles Microsoft has been serving up since the COD:MW2 special edition. It was the ultimate “I Want That” console. Now spring is hear and we’ve got the FF13 special edition console and next month Splinter Cell comes out with another special edition bundle. In each instance the console comes with a 250 gig hard drive. So of course the question becomes ….

“Why can’t I get that separately like the 100 gig one?”

Well if you believe the rumor mill then hope springs eternal as of March 23. Unfortunately Microsoft refuses to confirm this rumor. In fact the word from Aaron Greenberg last month in a Joystiq interview was this,

“We did it with the Modern Warfare bundle, which, as people know, was a huge success, completely sold out. We’re excited to bring it back with the limited edition Final Fantasy bundle.” But that whole limited edition element is  “part of what makes it special,” he said.

To get directly to the point — “We’re always evaluating but for now we feel like the 120 is serving us very well as the standard offering, and then having the 250 as a limited edition is a good balance.”

250 gigs? You want it then you have to buy this!

Well gee Aaron that’s a bit unfair isn’t it? Special editions make them balanced? C’mon Greenberg! Especially when you consider the truckload of content Xbox live now offers and will continue to do so. It’s not entirely inconceivable that a gamer could fill that hard drive with full games (rather than own the disc version) movies, demos, TV shows and music. So for Microsoft to say that the only way you can get this is to buy one of these special edition console is in a word — stupid.

So to you Microsoft — WTF!

By the way, you may come across alleged versions of a 250 gig on some random sites but they’re bunk. Add to that you have a company that won’t allow you to say go out and buy a Western Digital 500 G external hard drive and use that for your console and well, once again, it’s stupid.  In a culture of consumerism wouldn’t it make sense to make it available so that you can then offer more stuff for people to then add to their monster hard drives? With that much space why you wouldn’t think twice about downloading GTA or Fable. But alas for now we’ll either have to shell out and extra 100 for a whole new console or be happy with the 120 gig.

Stop by the virtual 7-11 for a cyber slushee first

The block party is on the way. Okay look, maybe I’ve been a bit harsh on Microsoft recently so here’s something nice. As we head into March the folks over at Xbox Live have a big launch plan they are putting into action related to the what they talked about last year — the Xbox Live Gameroom.

Starting March 3, gamers can download a new arcade game every week and the end of the month they can download the app that goes with it. As a bonus you get 400 MS points at the end of it all and well you have three new games. The first two games (Toy Soldiers and Scrap Metal) are 1200 points and the last one, the cherry on top game is the old Perfect Dark (not the one that was part of the early 360 launch– Perfect Dark Zero). This was the multiplayer masterpiece that was originally released to the Nintendo 64.

After all this is said and done Xbox live will be as they call it in their press release, “kickin it old school” in this virtual arcade (replete with old school cabinets) with dowloadable arcade classics that will run anywhere from  240 to 400 Microsoft Points for game downloads  and 40 Microsoft Points for single gameplay. That’s .50 cents for a single play. The games on the roster will be revealed.

Okay so yes you have to spend like $40 bucks to get $5 back but this whole new virtual arcade may just be a good way to get a lot of casual gamers on board using Xbox live  and change up the game a little bit from the usual frag fest that’s online now. It’s a clever move create a central locale for all these games and your avatars. With a solid library of old games the this type of setup creates the instant gratification of the quick play or the re-playability of owning the game both on your console and your PC. This is the kind of move that targets the gamers who grew up with these games who can relive the glory of shooting asteroids and floating polygons. For the new gang of gamers it’s a chance for them to say — “This was a game?”

Updates will be continuously posted and uber promoted on XBL throughout the month.

First of all let m get this out of the way …

JP you ignorant slut!

Now moving on. Natal may sound like all that and a bag of DLC the way JP spins it, but who’s to say we’re not looking at the 21st century “power glove?” Yeah, yeah the big show off  of WinMo7 in Barcelona was all the shizzle for the new revolution in social media and gaming last week but guess what folks, behind the curtain is just a wimpy old Henry Gale trying to trick us all.

Developer Debacle — Natal Ain’t Got Nothing To Do With This

That alleged “gap” JP speaks of that Natal will create will only be filled if Natal has the ability to become the YouTube/game creator of gaming. And honestly we’re soooo far from this with a peripheral that doesn’t even have a firm drop date much less a price point . Addressing the bigger issue is if Natal (version 1) does not come built in with user friendly GUI then all of this is moot. It’s nice to think I can wave my arms around, make some cubist masterpiece and then disseminate it across all my social media but if the device I’m using is chock full of glitches then–

a. It won’t work

and b. Who care if it does? Who cares about my stupid picture in the first  place?

Taking that one step further  if the developers don’t have the tools to make the games they want to make for this device then all we’ll be stuck with is a bunch of gimmicky BS casual gamer games that will pile up like a stack of old gameboy cartridges at a yard sale next to Buzz and Woody. The same developer issues apply to WinMo 7 software and even more so when you consider the simplicity that developers now have in making iPhone apps versus the headaches they may encounter with the Microsoft version.

New and Improved OS

Allegedly Microsoft’s new OS will mix Xbox Live gaming, Zune multimedia, personal media (photos and videos), social media utilities, productivity tools and third-party apps organized into “Hubs.” So that social platform that my octopus loving counterpart envisions looks like it would all be there right? And somehow, Natal, in it’s infancy will be part of this? No &^%$#&*(* way.  The way this new OS reads is like social media and gaming for cats –

“Oooh shiny thing, Oooh dress my avatar, Oooh play bookworm, O0000h nap”

Sure you can use it -- just not on that phone

Join the club or else!

One word, a word that will kill this entire fantastical notion — EXCLUSIVITY!

I’ve been lucky enough to have a few conversations with some game industry watchers about Project Natal and the reactions to it range from, “it’s a gimmick” to “it will revolutionize gaming”.  However, under the surface lurks the visage of Microsoft’s un-stated strategy.

Project Natal could become the means of content creation on the Xbox 360.

It’s very clear that Microsoft is turning the Xbox 360 into a primary device for consumers. We can update our Twitter & Facebook profiles from the console, we can stream Netflix’s digital library at will, we can listen to our playlists on Last.fm and we can enter a virtual world to play classic arcade games.

The underlying theme is that the Xbox Live platform is a strong social network for gamers to consume media that we want.  However, what’s lacked in the platform has been something that’s inherent in all web and mobile based social networks, content sharing.

One of the core things that changed the web into the social web is the ability for browsers to run native applications through the browser and allow the user to participate, modify and share those applications as they interact with it.  The social participatory network that social media sites have mastered have given us all a platform to share the things we love, hate and do to a wide variety of groups.  Twitter is, for the most part, public.  Facebook is experimenting with different ways of balancing personal privacy with our desire to distribute information.

The second aspect of social media collaboration as it’s evolved has been the advent of real-time updates.  Search giant Google has integrated Twitter streams into its search results page:

Click to embigulate

With the social web combined with the real-time web, there has to be a way to consume media in written, audio or video form, there needs to be a way to share that media with another person in your network and there needs to be a way to modify that media in some form.  Traditionally, the modification of media is comments, ratings or tagging. Lastly, there needs to be a way to create new media, let it reside on a social platform where your network can consume, share and modify it.

Natal fills that gap for Xbox Live. It is a way to modify existing media, it will be able to create new media.

Once that media is created, Microsoft’s Xbox Live has already been looking for ways to spread that media to your network, they’ve been collecting data on how Xbox Live users are actually using Last.fm, Facebook and Twitter and presumably, adding a method that’s more intuitive to share your created content via the Natal update.

Another thing to consider is that Apple has dominated the Zune in usability, user penetration and more importantly, the application distribution and development potential.

With Natal, Microsoft has a unique way for developers to create motion specific applications that can be downloaded from the store, played with and the result of that media consumption and creation will need to be shared with your networks.  If I were to create a really cool picture using “Natal Paint”, I should be able to send that picture to my email, to Twitter, to Facebook.  I should be able to make that creation my background image, the ways for Natal to inspire unique user generated creations is absolutely limitless.

That distribution capability is now being tested.  While some, including my partner Shawn has called Microsoft “drunk” or “stupid” when new features come out that only go half way, I think that this is just the foundation for Xbox Live, in combination with Natal, to explode in the ability to create content and then distribute it.

If I were to be able to link my YouTube account to Xbox Live, I could record my motions in video, apply some paint techniques to add some style, upload it to YouTube and Facebook, promote it with Twitter, then Microsoft would have been successful in creating a fully functional social network out of the browser, away from the computer and in front of all the media we belong to.

The integration of Xbox Live into the Zune is just one more way to spread that content. If I’m right, I think that all of the seemingly random and strange things Microsoft has been doing with Xbox Live lately has been a carefully coordinated test-bed to truly launch Natal as a content creation mechanism supported by a network that will share it with the browser based web.

next we should have xbox live on the tssseeeveeeee ... wait .. what?

We saw what a huge (huge) miss the Facebook and Twitter apps were for Xbox live. You think they would have stopped based on the amazingly tepid reception to using these apps via Xbox live. The apparent problem is clear. Xbox Live is a social media application all by itself. You can chat, game, watch movies together, even play games with your avatar. So basically why would you want to bring Twitter into that?

And then along comes this idea …. Xbox Live — on your phone. If you have an Xbox Live account this means you will be able to view your friends lists, gamerscore, and avatars using “compatible” mobile devices, as well as download games to play online. Translation of compatible means software they’re calling Windows phone 7 . According to Ron Pessner, general manager of Xbox Live Mobile,  “It has always been our vision to expand the Xbox Live service to connect people to their games, entertainment and friends wherever they go, and the launch of Windows Phone 7  Series is an important step toward that goal.” A step into what?

For that Microsoft gets this week’s AYFKM!!!!????

Seriously what are they drinking out there in Seattle?

Question: What do you use Xbox Live for?

Answer: DLC, Netflix, demos, online gaming, special videos and previews and oh yeah, Netflix.

Question: Do you care what gamertag Somedeadguy11 is doing when you’re not using your console?

Answer: Not even remotely.

Here’s the thing. Most of your gamer friends, and not just people you do team deathmatches with, you are already connected with —- using other social media! So the notion that having access to your live account on your phone will somehow “enhance” the gaming experince is like saying that the Ipad is not a big Itouch.

Xbox Live Coming to Cell Phones — Is Microsoft Drunk?