Try this link – http://www.therare.therares.com

Now before I begin, I am by no means insulting Microsoft, or anyone who works at Microsoft, this is my personal opinion at the events that surrounded the “Major Announcement”…

Huge Microsoft announcement coming Tuesday at 1:30 Eastern. That was the news spreading like wildfire thanks in part to a post on GTR. With everyone antcipating the news, it finally came today by a leak on some news sources like xbox360fanboy. 

The overly hyped news was nothing more then a new Pac Man game – Pac Man Championship Edition. With all respect to Pac Man, its a great retro game. However, the major news is dissapointing in a sense because no matter what the creators do, Pac Man will always be Pac Man. HD is great, some new designs are cool, but the major news is nothing that major to 360 gamers.

Either way, in my opinion, this weeks Major Announcement was nothing more then a flaming pile of poo.

Image courtesy of XBLRadio.com

Technorati tags: Pac Man Championship Edition, Pile of Poo, Microsoft

The 360 version of Shadowrun costs $59.99, while the PC version of the same game costs $49.99. (At the time of this article, the PC version of this game was on sale at Circuit City for only $37.99 and came with a free copy of Flight Simulator X). The difference in price in my mind makes no sense.

If I was Microsoft, and my goal was to sell more Xbox 360 systems, then I would have the 360 version either the same price, or less expensive. Either way, it doesn’t look like Microsoft or FASA Studios is going to budge on the price right away, which brings me to my next point.

As gamers, if you continually pay $60.00 for a bad game, then you are not helping the situation. You pay $60.00 because you let them. Many gamers explain how a game is more expensive, and then go on to explain that they are still going to purchase it. The statement alone shows that nothing will be changed, the developers make extra money, and the consumer only helps drive up the cost.

If we want to make a point to developers, then it should be this. We will pay $60.00 for quality games , but if they are going to give us crap for $60.00, then we won’t buy it! Simple econonics dictates that a lower price, helps drive up demand for any given product. If cost is low, and demand is high, it would only help the developers get more sales, and help consumers save more money in their wallet.

Same goes with the Xbox Marketplace. If you don’t think Solitaire or any other game is worth the price, then make a stand and a statement, don’t buy it!

Up until now, the lucky gamers that have the Collector’s Edition of Lost Planet™: Extreme Condition for Xbox 360™ video game and entertainment system from Microsoft have been able to enjoy the extra “Battleground” map which sets players in an abandoned town scattered with rubble from ruined buildings and features indoor and outdoor areas with multi-level vantage points.  Starting on Thursday, June 7, the map will be made available for free download to everyone on Xbox Live® Marketplace.

#2

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“I’m told that tonight, at 12:01am EST (okay, so tomorrow), the division of Microsoft that launched the Xbox and the Zune will unveil something very special . What it is, we do not know for sure, but it’s “something totally new coming out of the Entertainment and Devices division, and it’s going to change the way people interact with technology.” The email (which was not a tip but rather was mistakenly sent to me through official channels) also stated that “you really have to see it to believe it.” How tantalizing.”

I will have information if possible closer to Midnight.

Update 1: Its a table…

“The company plans to unveil a computing device today called Microsoft Surface, featuring a 30-inch screen embedded in an acrylic tabletop. The device’s electronic guts are hidden in the low-slung table’s thick pedestal.

At first glance, Surface is reminiscent of an old-fashioned arcade game table around which patrons played Pac-Man. But there is no joystick here, and no mouse or keyboard either. The device is controlled by touching the tabletop display.

Microsoft says this touch screen will allow people to “interact with digital content the same way they have interacted with everyday items such as photos, paintbrushes and music their entire life: with hands, with gestures and by putting real-world objects on the surface.”

For example, when a digital camera with Wi-Fi capabilities is placed on the display, the table recognizes the camera and, at a touch of the screen, downloads its photos and video clips. The digital pictures can be sorted and sized by “handling” them as if they were physical prints.”

[Via Sherveen, via Gizmodo]