It would seem that Microsoft is doing all it can to keep the ball rolling in Japan and to kick the new year off right they will be selling two new bundles that would do well in any country they sell it in.
Kotaku reports: Microsoft today announced two new Xbox 360 bundles for Japan: Star Ocean 4 and Resident Evil 5.
Slated for February 19, the Arcade Star Ocean 4 bundle is priced at ¥24,800 (US$265) and comes with a Star Ocean 4 soundtrack and faceplate.
The Resident Evil 5 bundle comes with a 60GB HDD, a 48 hour LIVE Gold member trial member card, and the RE5 deluxe edition with collector's tin and soundtrack. It goes on sale March 5 for ¥34,800 ($373).
With this line up hitting Japan the XBOX is sure to have another grate year for sells.
With another year drawing to a close it's really that time again.. Yep Xmas Holidays..
Hi HQ'ers,
We would like to take this opportunity to wish all our members and guests a safe, merry xmas and a great 2009! From all the guys and girls on the HQ Network we wish you a Merry Christmas and hope that the fat guy (santa) brings you the games and gadgets that you have all been wanting.
Have a fantastic holiday all and spend some time with your family and friends just like I'll be doing.. :) If we can be of any help over the holidays please post your questions in our forums or use the VIP Support functions on each of the sites..
For all you gamers out there be sure to catch up for some clan matches with our other HQ members whether it be on Guitar Hero, Call of Duty, Battlefield or whatever.. Now is the time to introduce yourself. :)
Anyway, from all of the admins/mods and other guys here at xbox-hq.com, 360-hq.com, psp-hq.com, pc-hq.com and soon wii-hq.com we wish you a very merry christmas and a happy new year for 2007..
We hope you all have a wonderful Christmas, or whatever holiday you choose to celebrate.
Microsoft have recently released details of Xbox 360 Console & Accessories sales in Australia and Xbox 360 is #1.
Microsoft have just released figures that show Xbox 360 Gamers in Australia have nearly spent just as much money on the 360 as we all did on the original Xbox 1.
Read the full press release from microsoft below.
Xbox 360 ends 2008 on a high: Closing in on half a million units sold in Australia
Local gaming industry experiences biggest week ever
SYDNEY 19 December 2008 - Microsoft's Entertainment & Devices Division (EDD) today announced that by Christmas, 500,000 Xbox 360 consoles will be sold in Australia*, making the console the most popular of any High Definition next generation platform.
This announcement coincides with the news that last week alone Australians bought over $100 million worth of gaming products, setting a record for the largest week ever in the history of Australian gaming.
Microsoft EDD Regional Director (ANZ) David McLean said, "Although it's a challenging worldwide economic landscape, Xbox Australia has seen an increase of 52 per cent in console sales in recent weeks compared to this time last year. By Christmas, Australians will have spent more on the Xbox 360 than they did on the original Xbox console.
"Xbox users to date have bought more software and accessories per console than users of any other next-generation console," commented McLean. "2008 has been the strongest year in Australia for Xbox since we entered the market seven years ago and we still have two weeks to go."
Local facts
Australians have spent $608 million since the beginning of October on gaming products, which is a 40 per cent increase on the same period last year
Xbox 360 has now sold 25 million consoles worldwide with over 4 million games sold in Australia
Over 50 per cent of Xbox 360 users in Australia are now connected to Xbox LIVE
Australians are turning to gaming as a cost effective form of entertainment and a great option for those holidaying at home
Over 14 million people globally are connected through the Xbox LIVE social entertainment network worldwide. This Xbox LIVE growth momentum will continue locally as broadband becomes faster and ubiquitous.
* All figures quoted are supplied by GFK except for Xbox LIVE figures
For all the latest Xbox 360 information whatever it may be, stay tuned to 360-hq.com and get involved in our website.
Sticking to there promise that the first bit of avatar add-ons will be free Xboxlive has put out the new Formal Wear collection with tuxedo's and gown's sure to pleas any big city type with a high falootin dinner shindig's to go to, so go check them out and get a classie pic for you gamer tag.
Major Nelson reports: Looking to get your Avatar spiffed up for Christmas? We've just unlocked the Formal Wear collection, available right now in the Avatar Editor. In case you missed this tip from before: It is easy to tell what is new when you are in the avatar editor, just look for the gold star. Any item of clothing with a gold star is new since the last time you signed in.
For the gentlemen we have:
Blue Tuxedo (save that one for prom season)
Black Tuxedo
Shirt with Cummerbund
Black Trilby
Bowler Hat
For the ladies we have:
Elegant Ball Gown
Little Black Dress
Formal Trouser Suit
Elegant Watch
Red 60's Shades
Strappy High Heels
Platform Shoes
So there you have it, i want body piercings and tattoos and MS gives me a tux as if i really need that for my avatar.
Nintendo sold 2.04 million Wiis to U.S. consumers last month, outselling its nearest competitor, the Xbox 360, more than two-to-one. As good as the news was for Nintendo, it was as bad for Sony.
While Wii sales more than doubled from the 981,000 units Nintendo sold in November last year, monthly PlayStation 3 sales dropped. Despite commanding a much stronger software line-up, Sony saw PS3 sales decline from 466,000 last November, to just 378,000 this November. The company's previous generation platform also sank considerably, with the PlayStation 2 moving just 206,000 units compared to 496,000 it did during the same month last year.
Microsoft's hardware sales jumped from November 2007. It sold 770,000 in November last year, while it sold 836,000 this year.
Wii - 2,040,000
Nintendo DS - 1,570,000
Xbox 360 - 836,000
PSP - 421,000
PlayStation 3 - 378,000
PlayStation 2 - 206,000
Total hardware sales amounted to $2.91 billion for the month, up 10% from November of 2007.
Stay tuned for all the latest xbox 360 info right here on 360-Hq.Com. :)
I put up a post not to long ago saying the downloadable content for avatars would be free for a little bit and then they will start charging for them and now we have the first bit of proof that the post was true, i got to say i do love the fact they highlite the new stuff in your options so you cant over look it.
Xbox360Fanboy reports: Microsoft just released the new Avatar Winter apparel which is now available via the Avatar customizer. Original blog listed below.
As promised, it looks like new Avatar clothing will be making its way to the Avatar customizer in the near future as an ad on the Xbox 360 dashboard's "Spotlight" channel advertises fresh duds.
The Spotlight ad (photo above) promotes new ski and snowboard apparel stating that the content is "available now", though the items aren't available quite yet. Once clicked, the ad brings you to the Avatar customizer where, sadly, no new snowy clothes are to be found. Keep your eyes peeled though, we expect the new (and free) winter apparel to go live rather soon.
Its no big surprise here but over all it is big news to the gaming world and with the press release below i would guess its a big deal to Microsoft but i knew the 360 had the ability to out sell the PS3 all along and here is the proof some might need to really start to believe.
Microsoft reports: Microsoft Corp.’s Xbox 360 video game and entertainment system kicked off the holidays with record-breaking console sales on one of the biggest shopping weekends of the year in the U.S. Retailers reported Xbox 360 console sales over the Black Friday weekend were on pace to beat previous years, outselling the PlayStation 3 by a three-to-one ratio and estimating a 25 percent increase from Xbox 360 Black Friday sales figures from 2007.
Strong game sales rounded out a historic Black Friday for Xbox 360, with record-paced software sales continuing for key Microsoft titles, such as “Gears of War 2,” “Fable II,” and “Lips.” Xbox 360 continues to have the highest game attach rate of any console at 8.1 games per console.
“We entered into the Black Friday sales period with cautious optimism, knowing that dollar for dollar, Xbox 360 offers more social entertainment value than any other console on the market,” said Don Mattrick, senior vice president of the Interactive Entertainment Business at Microsoft. “Record Black Friday sales in the U.S., coupled with our existing global install base of 25 million and an online community of more than 14 million Xbox LIVE members, have laid the groundwork for continued global sales momentum in 2009.”
Xbox 360 sales have also surged worldwide since the September price drop, outselling the PlayStation 3 week over week across Europe. Console sales in Europe are up as much as 400 percent, with sales nearly double year over year and reaching 7 million consoles sold this generation.
With a mass-market price point starting at $199.99 worldwide (estimated retail price) for Xbox 360 Arcade, a games lineup of more broad-appeal social titles than any other platform, and the recently launched New Xbox Experience, Xbox 360 is leading the industry and inviting everyone to play.
With a lot of fan complaints about the sequel to one of the 360's best selling games, it's developer Epic Games has finally released a patch via Xbox Live to fix some matchmaking issues.
Epic has released an update for its Xbox 360 blockbuster title Gears of War 2, intended to fix the long waits some players have been experiencing in multiplayer matchmaking. In order to get the update out as quickly as possible, the company focused just on immediate infrastructure issues and have left any potential gameplay issues for a future update.
Besides making public matchmaking faster, the update should also stop stats from being lost when playing online (which apparently happened frequently) and addresses an issue where some players were unable to start the story-based campaign if Xbox LIVE was down or unavailable. If you haven’t already downloaded the update, next time the game is loaded you should be prompted to do so.
The long awaited "Jasper" 360's are finally here, were they worth the wait? Are they RROD proof? Only time will tell.
Microsoft never officially comments on its internal redesigns of Xbox 360 hardware, but it is no secret that the company does periodic revisions to make its console perform better, fix bugs and lower production cost. And now, with the holiday shopping season in full swing, many of you will be happy to now that the latest such revision is finally starting to become available in stores – or so it seems.
Code-named Jasper, the new design is a successor to Falcon and brings with it a smaller 65nm GPU that should bring down overall power consumption, heat generation and noise – it should also further alleviate some of the infamous Xbox 360 RROD problems. Multiple Xbox 360 Arcade units have been spotted in the wild with the new motherboard, and notably it appears that the internal flash memory has been bumped to 265MB (up from 16MB), which means the console can update to the NXE dashboard without the need of fitting a new hard drive or memory card.
Along with the 256mb on-board memory the Jasper's sport a new 150w power supply to further prove that there is less power consumption and even less heat production.
Feel free to discuss this in our forums and let us know if you get a Jasper 360!
Looks like Xbox 360 is growing quite rapidly as all of us expected here on 360-HQ. Figures recently released showing that the latest console from microsoft has surpassed the original Xbox 1 already.
Microsoft confirms console has outstripped predecessor's installed base of 25 million
Microsoft has told MCV that the Xbox 360 has now topped its predecessor’s installed base around the globe.
The company previously noted that it expected to achieve the feat at the end of this month – but it has now confirmed to MCV that 360 has already overtaken the original Xbox's total sales of 25 million.
VP of interactive entertainment business for EMEA Chris Lewis told MCV:
“We’ve already surpassed the installed base of the original Xbox – which is a really significant milestone. We’ve been blown away by the appetite of people to consumer digital entertainment experiences."
As reported last week, a combination of blanket Q4 marketing and September's price cut have given Xbox 360 a huge sales boost – prompting Microsoft to claim victory over PS3 in European territories as it announced 360 reaching seven million sales in EMEA.
Lewis added:
“We’re at a price point that is uniquely placed – not least of which because we’re in somewhat of a challenging economic time. Ever since we dropped the price seven weeks ago, we’ve outstripped PS3 on a weekly run rate in all the territories we care about in EMEA – specifically the UK, France, Germany, Spain and Russia.”
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What does the American Dream mean today?
For Niko Bellic, fresh off the boat from Europe, it is the hope he can es