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iNXES Brings New Xbox Experience To iPhone

By Ernest DokucloseAuthor: Ernest Doku Name: Ernest Doku
Email: ernest.doku@omio.com
Site: http://blog.omio.com
About: I like gadgets, loads! I like talking about them, writing about them, using them, watching other people use them though binoculars... Some would say it was an unhealthy fascination, but then I'd be all like, "Shh...," and go back to doing gadget-related things. Hit me up on Xbox Live or PSN, I'm EJStyleS. I promise to give you a good match as well as talk about things that aren't gadgets. A bit.See Authors Posts (565)

As Microsoft continues to promise the fabled ‘Live Anywhere’ mobile phone support, 1337pwn.com outdoes themselves by supporting game geeks everywhere with the new iNXES XBox Live Friends app.

Using the New Xbox Experience as their inspiration, the iNXES app replicates the sliding panels, the avatars and the friend list information from the XBox 360 all on the iPhone!

Using gesture-based navigation, the app offers full Gamercard information, play history including achievement progress, sorting by online status and Gamertag, and the ability to send messages via Xbox.com using an easy access shortcut.

It keeps up to date with everything your friends are up to, and if you want to refresh the info give the phone a quick shake!

You can even import all of your friend list data in one go by using the 1337pwn.com site, making iNXES up to date in no time. Granted, it is a tad more sluggish than the XBox 360 version when scrolling between menus, but is a great free way to see who’s online without turning on the old box!

And yes, I am still EJStyleS on Live, take me on at Super Street Fighter 2 Turbo HD Remix (phew, what a mouthful!) if you dare…

Download the iNXES iPhone App here.

Mobile Phone Retailer Launches ‘Games4U’ Site, Spells The End For Second Hand Games?

By Ernest DokucloseAuthor: Ernest Doku Name: Ernest Doku
Email: ernest.doku@omio.com
Site: http://blog.omio.com
About: I like gadgets, loads! I like talking about them, writing about them, using them, watching other people use them though binoculars... Some would say it was an unhealthy fascination, but then I'd be all like, "Shh...," and go back to doing gadget-related things. Hit me up on Xbox Live or PSN, I'm EJStyleS. I promise to give you a good match as well as talk about things that aren't gadgets. A bit.See Authors Posts (565)

With the games industry still practising the insane sales technique of ‘release 80% of the year’s biggest titles in the two months before Xmas,’ it is no surprise to see that some of the casualties in this battle for shelf space are being heavily discounted.

Recent releases like street racer Midnight Club: LA, parkour platformer Mirror’s Edge and even Blighty’s own Lara Croft in Tomb Raider : Underworld have seen their prices slashed by as much as 50% in a bid to force them under the tree this year.

A perfect time for mobile phone retailer Phones 4 U to unveil their online games store, ‘Games 4 U,’ which offers huge savings on over 5,000 titles, and aims to make the most of the relatively credit-crunch resistant gaming market.

Cleverly launched by a combination of word-of-mouth and viral text messages to thousands of mobile phone sign-ups through Phones 4 U stores, this new website offers games, consoles and accessories from all of the major players including Microsoft’s Xbox 360, the Nintendo Wii, Sony’s Playstation 3 and the handhelds like the DS and the PSP.

This expansion of the retailer sector will be music to the ears of game developers and publishers alike, who have taken a large hit from resellers and the second hand market. Shops like Game in the UK and GameStop in the US make huge sums of money by selling pre-owned titles to avid players who trade in old games in order to have the latest titles.

Unfortunately game publishers only see money from sales of brand new titles, resulting in a cycle of developers being robbed of the profits on games they’ve worked on as soon as they begin to circulate in the used market. However, the makers are fighting back with a number of systems to persuade gamers to hold on to those titles…

Read the rest of this entry »

Soulja Boy + Braid = Best Review Of Anything, Ever

By Ernest DokucloseAuthor: Ernest Doku Name: Ernest Doku
Email: ernest.doku@omio.com
Site: http://blog.omio.com
About: I like gadgets, loads! I like talking about them, writing about them, using them, watching other people use them though binoculars... Some would say it was an unhealthy fascination, but then I'd be all like, "Shh...," and go back to doing gadget-related things. Hit me up on Xbox Live or PSN, I'm EJStyleS. I promise to give you a good match as well as talk about things that aren't gadgets. A bit.See Authors Posts (565)

Either rapper Soulja Boy is one of the most shrewd businessmen ever, or he really is as silly as the YouTube coverage suggests…

He managed to set both the mobile phone world and gaming communities alight with a viral video showing off his ‘Xbox 360 T-Mobile Sidekick’, which was later debunked as a $3 theme on a regular handset. The following upload, he admitted it was all smoke and fakery, but got thousands of people to look at his brand new Sidekick 2008 in the process.

Soulaa Boy has since turned his unique turn of phrase to an insightful (if profane) review of the Xbox 360’s Citizen Kane, Braid.

A slightly more objective review of what some have called “one of the most progressive platform/puzzle games…in years” lives here.

I’m not jealous, but this guy seems to be playing ‘Hip Hop Tycoon’ without actually going through the ‘be a good rap artist’ levels first. Sponsorship from shoe and clothing manufacturers, (hopefully unofficial) brand ambassador for T-Mobile and Microsoft, whatever next for the multi-untalented 18 year old?

Source: Giant Bomb

Microsoft: Make Xbox Live iPhone Apps Free…Or Else

By Ernest DokucloseAuthor: Ernest Doku Name: Ernest Doku
Email: ernest.doku@omio.com
Site: http://blog.omio.com
About: I like gadgets, loads! I like talking about them, writing about them, using them, watching other people use them though binoculars... Some would say it was an unhealthy fascination, but then I'd be all like, "Shh...," and go back to doing gadget-related things. Hit me up on Xbox Live or PSN, I'm EJStyleS. I promise to give you a good match as well as talk about things that aren't gadgets. A bit.See Authors Posts (565)

Microsoft have decided that the current spate of iPhone apps which access player stats and achievements have to be given away, rather than charging gamers to get them.

The 1337pwn Friends List coders who managed to bring ‘Live Anywhere’ style functionality to the iPhone (remember them?) managed to develop a more marketable (in that there is no need to jailbreak) version of their popular program to put up on the App Store, and were briefly charging a steep £3.99.

For an app which is essentially a slightly slower version of their site which allows exactly the same functionality, is based solely upon Microsoft’s own Xbox Live data and infrastructure, turning around and selling it was a bit of a cheeky move in our opinion. Microsoft don’t want Apple making profits from their games console? That’s just…weird.

Still inexcusable that their own solution is still far from existance though. With the Leipzig Games Convention running this week, it is safe to say Microsoft will be bringing many wares to display, and that Live Anywhere will not be one of them.

Source: Kotaku

Live Anywhere: “Calm Down, It’s Coming.”

By Ernest DokucloseAuthor: Ernest Doku Name: Ernest Doku
Email: ernest.doku@omio.com
Site: http://blog.omio.com
About: I like gadgets, loads! I like talking about them, writing about them, using them, watching other people use them though binoculars... Some would say it was an unhealthy fascination, but then I'd be all like, "Shh...," and go back to doing gadget-related things. Hit me up on Xbox Live or PSN, I'm EJStyleS. I promise to give you a good match as well as talk about things that aren't gadgets. A bit.See Authors Posts (565)

Way back in the mists of time, we were promised what was essentially Xbox Live for mobiles, then going by the name of Live Anywhere. It promised unparalleled levels of functionality including the sending of messages, queuing up downloads, as well as sharing of Friends Lists and Achievements between mobiles, PCs and Xbox. Well, that was two years ago. The sun is still far from setting on Live, and players are getting restless…

Finally, news! Well, not news, but a sliver of information. Microsoft’s VP of Global Marketing, Jeff Bell, reminded us all of what we don’t have during his talk at the Electronic Gaming Summit yesterday. “Live Anywhere is not abandoned, it’s just not easy to do.”

Not easy to do, Jeff? Then you need to have a chat with the boys at 1337pwn.com. Their application can already reside on your (slightly jailbroken) iPhone, Blackberry, as a widget on the Mac and even directly through your own fair browser. It also allows players to view all current Xbox Live activity of their friends, send messages through a link to Xbox.com, view rankings of the most popular Xbox Live titles, and compare Gamerscores on individual titles with all your friends at once. If you aren’t giddy at the thought of all that, then you are quite literally without a 360.

Only thing missing is friend requests… Why is it not implemented? Ask Jeff. The current state of play is that they can pull all types of information from Microsoft accounts, but not make any changes to them. Hence, no adding friends. Det Ansinn, the application’s creator, said of the situation, “You would think that Microsoft would be pushing towards more social networking features, but they appear to be on a conservative feature track at the moment. I was optimistic when they released the ‘friend of a friend’ and bio functionality in the last XBL update. However, not much has happened since then.” Get a move on Microsoft, there’s people doing it for free already! Well, 1337pwn’s got a nice line in t-shirts and mugs, but hardly about to float on the Stock Exchange, are they?

Source: Kotaku