Bungie Weekly Update

Posted by Frankie at 4/27/2007 2:28 PM PDT

Friday, April 27th, 2007
There’s an ancient Chinese curse that says, “May you live in interesting times.” What I wouldn’t give for a week of boring times. Mind you, an ancient Chinese proverb also says you can’t find ivory in a dog’s mouth. What is that all about?

There have been a number of irritating problems for folks trying to download the Halo 2 "Blastacular" maps this week, and for that reason, we have delayed the rollout of the Matchmaking update (and the accompanying rank reset) until next week. We’ve actually figured out why some folks are still having difficulty downloading the maps, and in most cases, those folks probably have some inkling of why their chosen method of getting the maps might have failed…

Some people have reported on various forums that there was initially a glitch in the billing system that allowed people to download the Blastacular maps for free. This bug was quickly fixed but anyone who still attempts to circumvent the billing system will actually end up locking themselves out of the maps entirely with no way to download them. The Xbox Live team is pursuing a fix to enable downloads again for these vagabonds, ne’er-do-wells and hooligans.
In a few other cases, the problem is caused by a kind of disconnect between this generation of Xbox Live and last, as far as age ratings are concerned. Basically the system thinks you’re too young, even if you’re not. Those problems are being fixed as we speak. Again, the reason this has been a less than perfect transition has an awful lot to do with insisting that the maps are made available to both 360 and olde Xbox owners. It has never really been done before, so we apologize for our teething troubles.

Most of our multiplayer activity recently has revolved around testing the Public Beta. As some of you may already know, an internal Microsoft Beta has been running for a while. We’re using that for a very different set of tests than the public version. Number one among those tests is scale.

We have to make sure that Halo 3 scales well to a large population, and that will help us improve and test our netcode, as well as try out one more feature that we’re including in the Beta. A feature that definitely requires a lot of stress testing in a big population. Conspiracy theorists can drop their 128-player game theories at the door. Halo 3 is still a 16-player game, and the reality is that most people prefer smaller games than that.

No, this feature we’re testing is for the moment, just a fun addition, that’s planned to grow into something pretty amazing by launch, and that feature is Saved Films. The version you’ll try in the Beta, is very, very, very limited. We just want you to play around with the general concept. You’ll be reading more about this in the gaming press in the next month or two, and of course you can try it out for yourselves in less than a month.

As for the Public Beta itself, it’s pretty close to finished and a lot of folks have worked really hard to make it happen, with late nights, early mornings and a constant diet of Cheetos and evil. So to those brave men and women who sacrificed themselves on the Anvil of Bungie, under the Hammer of Crunch, we salute thee. Your smeared remains will be remembered.

Although the Public Beta may seem like a simple sampling of the MP levels from the finished game, extracting those and packaging them into a playable bundle, with off-schedule bug testing, gameplay tweaks, code fixing and netcode support, is a herculean task. Hopefully it will pay dividends and players will get tremendous enjoyment from these maps and game types.

Since we’re testing matchmaking, you won’t have the kind of control you’re used to with custom games, but we’ll be there to guide you into a very nice selection of Matchmade game types – and don’t worry, the playlists will almost certainly have your gametype in there, in some shape or form.

You’ll also be pleased to hear that split-screen will be an option, although limited to two people in the Public Beta. We’ve also done something cool with the splitscreen display for HD monitors – instead of stretching the horizontal or vertical axes into big, scary too wide or too tall horrors, we’ve sensibly windowed the action, maintaining lots of screen real estate, but preserving a proper, playable aspect ratio.

Jub-Jub, (codename for one of the secret Multiplayer maps) is coming along beautifully. Steve Cotton has been decorating it with…well, that would probably give away the theme. But I will mention that right now it has birds in it, flying around in a convincingly flock-like fashion, but don’t get too used to that idea. If there was ever something superfluous to gameplay, it would be a flock of birds wheeling around in the far distance. If it so much as twitches, it gets cut.

Perhaps more enticing is the mention of a VERY large map that went from being just about the most empty, soulless placeholder geometry in the entire game, to one of the moodiest, most atmospheric and beautiful maps we’ve ever made. It’s also the single largest multiplayer map. You pretty much need a vehicle to get around in it, so luckily, destroyed vehicles respawn super-fast.

We’re very excited to show off the second part of our Halo 3 image branding. This one is known colloquially as “Emotion” and it’s just a lovely, stirring piece that speaks to both the fiction and the atmosphere of the new game. The more you look at it, the more you get from it. The Chief model was built and posed from the game, and rendered out in this mixed media piece, which is part CG, part painting and a healthy dose of Photoshop thrown in for good measure. The background holds some interesting atmosphere, from the skeletal wreckage of the fallen Mombasa space tether, to those hauntingly familiar eyes in the background. Anyway, that’s enough talk – here’s a pic. This one will be appearing soon enough, in various locations in both landscape and portrait orientations.

Click through for the hugeness, or check out both the portrait and landscape versions in our updated Wallpaper section.

RUMOR BUSTER

I read a bunch of random rumors this week and since they had bunched up, I feared that they would clog the series of pipes comprising the Internet. The last thing I want is for the Internet to back up and spill foul smelling data into your living room, so I will do some Roto-rooting of my own.

May 11^th was mentioned in a San Jose Mercury News blog as an “unveiling” date for Halo 3. Of course Halo 3 was in fact “unveiled” at E3 a year ago. The May 11^th date simply refers to a Public Beta preview for the press so they can get their stories done for the real Public Beta launch a few days later.

Wired Magazine’s editor in chief, Chris Anderson, revealed in his blog a couple of pages of script dialog that he’d recorded. Interweb sleuths thought they’d discovered some plot points. Sad to say that other than the dialog itself and the names of the characters on those script pages, just about everything else is a red herring. So don’t read too much into it.

Then there was the “secret email from the Argo” which folks had mistaken for some sort of Bungie or Halo 3 viral campaign, or ARG. I don’t know what it really is, beyond fan-fic, but it’s not from us. These ARG rumors are going to get really common between now and the fall, so by all means enjoy them, but don’t assume they have anything to do with Bungie or Halo 3.

The strangest rumor of all was that MS was “forcing” Bungie to make Halo 3 60 fps at 1080p. Um, it was one thing to see that on a forum, but it was strange to see it on regular news site.

1080p at 60 fps is awesome for fighting games and barely a stretch for Live Arcade games. But if you want epic battles, dozens of bad guys, huge vistas and colossal structures, with advanced AI, HDR lighting and explosive physics, then you’re not getting those at 1080p at 60fps. Actually, that’s not entirely accurate – Halo 3 will display at 1080p through the Xbox Elite with its scaler and HDMI port, but not natively. We’ve seen it do just that and it looks utterly lovely. So if you have a 1080p TV, enjoy it yourself in a few weeks. Most people, and I mean the VAST majority of people don’t have a 1080p TV, so it would be foolish to sacrifice even a single feature for a bullet point number on the back of a box.

The only number we’re committing to is that our number one priority is to make Halo 3 look awesome, smooth, detailed and innovative, no matter what resolution you run it at. Although that said, it does look significantly better in HD, so maybe you should convince the powers that be, that now is the time for a set upgrade?

Actually, HD resolutions are one of the tougher things to account for when building a console game. PC game makers are used to supporting multiple resolutions and we do have lots of experience in this regard. But when you add it to the test cycle, it becomes this enormous amount of work. Every aspect of the game has to be tested at 480i (normal, ancient TV resolution) all the way up to 1080p resolutions to check for everything from graphical glitches to controller lag. And the odd thing about HD resolutions is that they aren’t even necessarily “correct” to begin with.

For example, most folks running an image at 720p, are doing so on a screen with a native resolution of 1280 X 768. The HD resolutions were all decided on during the heyday of the CRT tube, so the introduction of fixed pixel displays brought along with it new problems and inconsistencies. We have to build graphics and gameplay to work with everything from that ancient wooden RCA in the basement to a 60 inch Pioneer Elite. I think that one of the real payoffs of all this testing is that it looks pretty damned good and “next-gen” even on a cruddy old set. I actually know someone who uses a 360 via a crazy RF adapter. Now that is hardcore!

I’m in the midst of redoing my gaming rig at home, and now that I have my 5.1 sound system just the way I want it, I actually found myself using Halo 3 to adjust the settings. This part is embarrassing, but folks who’ve moved their setups around might be able to relate – I unplugged all the speaker wires, and in the transition lost track of which rear surround was left and which was right. I loaded up the Halo 3 Beta and tossed around a couple of grenades. I had in fact switched the wires by accident. Dur. Thank you grenades.

CONTROL SCHEMER

Last week’s Humpday Challenge brought with it another challenge. Quickly getting used to Halo 2 controls after months of playing Halo 3. I thought I would take a moment or two today to run you through the Beta control scheme (it will certainly change or improve between now and launch, after all) and so below, you’ll see a diagram of the current default scheme. Don’t worry, the Beta will include all the standard setups that you’re used to. And this diagram does not include some of the functions available from the Start and Back buttons, since they require a quick dig-down into the interface.

This layout is subject to change, but will give you an idea of what to expect.

Now, the single hardest thing to get used to, by far, is using RB to board vehicles, open doors and so on. It also reloads depleted weapons. That may sound like a lot of functions, but it isn’t really, since it’s contextual – you won’t reload instead of opening a gate, for example. Once you get used to RB – everything else is a breeze and pretty intuitive. Independent reloading of weapons is a blessing when you’re dual-wielding. It means you can fire one, while reloading the other.

The X-button is second nature. You’ll know when you’re carrying equipment – it’ll appear in your HUD, and all you do to use it is press X. On that note, I saw another meme pop up, and not an unreasonable one at that: You might be able to drop a shield on a vehicle and then drive around shielded. Well, nope. Cool as that might look, it would probably make a vehicle way too powerful. You should try playing around with what you can and can’t do with shields (and whatever else you find) in the Beta. It’s a blast.

One other advantage to the X-Button/RB switcheroo is that a thing that happened to me last week will be avoided – accidental ejection for betrayal. Everyone heads for an Oddball with X held down, tossing grenades at the bad guys, so when an accidental betrayal happens, everyone is mashing “X to eject” the entire time.

Xbox.com’s very own TriXie was the hostess with the mostest at last week’s Halo 2 All Nighter – an event to enjoy and celebrate the new Halo 2 map downloads. You can read about some of the antics and community reactions here: http://www.xbox.com/en-US/games/friendsofxbox/gamerspeak/2007/0427-halo2allnighter.htm

And finally, you'd think I wouldn't go there, but I totally did. I regret nothing.

Seeing as the rise of YouTube and Google video has pretty much made Adobe's Flash the de facto standard for Web streaming, you'd have to be a fool to try and introduce a browser plug-in for a new format. Either a fool, or a company with deep pockets. How deep? Try "This is madness! This is Sparta!" deep. Yeah, it's Microsoft.

Their Silverlight plug-in, which works not only with IE, but with Safari and Firefox (ha ha, Opera users) and essentially provides a browser plug-in that lets everyone stream WMV files like they do with flash files.

The improvement upon flash—and this is why people would want to use this instead of Adobe's—is that it's high-def. We don't have to explain to you how much better it would be to stream high-def TV shows from NBC or ABC if you missed them when they first aired. And with MLB, Netflix and others already supporting the format, Microsoft may already have some hope of dethroning flash. – Jason Chen

Video introduction [on10]

Big names back Microsoft's Silverlight browser plug-in [Seattlepi]

The Halo 3 Multiplayer Beta will go live on May 16th at 12:00 AM PDT and run through June 6 ^th at 11:59 PM PDT. That means that folks who purchased specially marked copies of Crackdown, or won a spot in the Beta through the “Rule of Three” or other regional promotions, will be able to log into their Xbox Live Gold accounts, download and play the Halo 3 Multiplayer Beta and enjoy an early peek at the multiplayer aspect of the game.

If you’ve been sitting on the fence, and are interested, you can still enter the Beta by picking up a specially marked copy of Crackdown, which would ordinarily be a chore, but thankfully Crackdown is an awesome action game which might ironically distract you from the Beta I’m pimping here. Bungie is also giving out a few Friends and Family spots to valued community members, but those are few and far between, so it’s safer to assume you’re not getting in that way.
Now, I will say this again and again – the game you’re going to play one month from now, is Beta software – and while it will look somewhat close to the final game, it IS Beta – and will contain quirks, a couple of roughedges and all that jazz. But we’re pretty confident you’ll find it a dynamic and exciting taste of what’s to come in Fall.

this could be you, in May.

The Beta itself consists of three maps – Valhalla, High Ground and Snowbound – graphically improved since our first MP screenshots – and all three will be playable in Matchmaking only (that is after all, what we’re Beta testing here). All three maps are suitable for a wide variety of gameplay types, and you will have the chance to try all manner of game types, familiar and new.
There are a number of new features you’ll get to test out – including a new grenade type, a completely different class of weapon and some of the enhanced online functionality we plan to bring to the game – but it should be noted, a lot of secret features are hidden in this Beta. We’re keeping a lot of our powder dry for Fall. In May, when your firing the Spiker, sniping vehicles with the Spartan Laser and sticking fools with the Brute Spike grenade, remember that it’s just a peek-a-boo fraction of what’s to come.

And do me a special personal favor – walk down to the beach, the river or the lake in High Ground and Valhalla, and take a look at the water.

There will also be new guns, vehicles and gameplay features to try – including the mysterious “X-Button” functionality. But you don’t have to wait to find out what that is, since you can now view part of its functionality in our latest Vidoc, “Is Quisnam Protero Damno!” a long look at the making of Halo 3’s Multiplayer game.

Here you’ll meet the Multiplayer team and watch a level get built from concept to completion. You’ll see the care and attention that goes into every aspect, and yes, you’ll see a level or two that nobody has ever seen before.

There are a lot of questions raised in this Vidoc, and we’ll be answering them in the next couple of weeks, so keep checking back for more updates. You’re probably not even reading this huh? You’re watching the Vidoc. I give up.

NOTE: All of the game footage in this doc was taken during the Alpha stage and isn’t even representative of what you’ll see in the Public Beta, let alone the final game. You will see frame rate skips, unfinished animation and graphical features that will change come Fall. All the footage is clearly marked Alpha. You’re looking at the features here folks, not the final quality bar – which we’ve set pretty high. Your next taste of that will be in May.

And there’s a ton of stuff in the Vidoc you simply haven’t seen before (including the X-Button) – and it’s well worth the download. Now, there’s nothing like seeing it in 720p in Dolby Digital, so remember this Vidoc is also available today on Xbox Live Marketplace, where big screen TVs can do it more justice than your PC.

Download the Multiplayer Vidoc “Is Quisnam Protero Damno!” here:

NOTE: You must be signed in to "Save As" thanks to Agegate restrictions - otherwise click on the link directly.

QuickTime - 37 MB (320 x 180): Click Here to View
QuickTime - 104 MB (640 x 360): Click here to View

Windows Media - 110 MB (640 x 360): Click Here to View
Windows Media - 32 MB (320 x 180): Click Here to View

Source: Bungie.net : Content : Multiplayer Madness!

An all-new GOW content coming in just a few hours (4PM Pacific). There are several small fixes to multiplayer battle, and an all-new mode known as Annex.

From the media alert:

In Annex, gamers seize victory by keeping control over key map locations, or objectives, long enough to collect a winning number of points. Every map contains two to five identified objectives available for capture, with one objective active at a time. Objectives are based on map weapon-spawn locations and have a potential value of 60 points toward either team’s score. Teams collect those points by maintaining ownership of an objective until all 60 points have been distributed. Every second that a team controls an objective, the team gets one point. When an objective falls to zero points, the next objective is selected at random.

COG soldiers and the Locust Horde alike can visit www.gearsofwar.com for further details.

And while defending their objectives against the onslaught of Xbox LIVE opponents, gamers may notice the following minor adjustments to “Gears of War”:

• VGA Cable Support: Monitor resolution widths greater than or equal to 1280 now render as letterbox. In particular VGA users running at 1280x1024 will now see the game in full 720p (1280x720) resolution in letterboxed form.
• Adjusted Assassination Multiplayer Gametype: Leader no longer has to unlock weapons and now has to be executed to die.
• Adjusted Boomshot: Splash damage to be more effective rendering targets down-but-not-out
• Adjusted Hammer of Dawn: Aiming will be more forgiving of moving targets
• Adjusted Roadie Run: Reduced frequency of accidently grabbing cover while running
• Kill Message Ticker: Ticker can now be seen while down-but-not-out and spectating
• General: Addressed a number of possible exploits in multiplayer

Filed under: Gaming, Home Entertainment

Color us tickled, but we totally missed some of the finest points of all in Microsoft's Xbox 360 spring Dashboard update: they're totally tricking out the video (finally!). No longer will we be confined to our very least favorite video codec, WMV -- the new update will enable Windows Media Connect or Media Center streaming MPEG-4 up to 8Mbps, H.264 up to 15Mbps, and PlaysForSure WMV videos (and, as we understand it, PlaysForSure audio as well). Wow, finally we can actually use the 360 to play video that wasn't recorded off our Media Center or converted by our Zune software (cough, hack). See, was that so hard, Microsoft? Now just hold on to your asses until the week of May 7th, Xbox fans, that's all you've gotta do.

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Okay, I'm no product shot expert, but I was able to get a few pictures of the new Text Input Device this morning. There have been some questions about how it attaches, and how comfortable the controller would be with the keyboard attached. These photos show how that's going to work.

Tony reports that it's hard to tell the difference when it's attached, since your bottom fingers don't actually wrap around the wings of the controller anyway. And it weighs very little, so you can't really tell it's there.

Filed under: News, Xbox Live, Peripherals, Xbox Live Arcade, Xbox Live Marketplace, Video Marketplace

It has been an interesting week of leakage and speculation about the Spring dash update and we now know that it's all true. Microsoft has officially pulled back the curtains on the update's features and when we'll be getting our mitts on the all the goodies. First off, we think it'd be appropriate to recap all the big new features that the update has to offer. Without further adieu, the Spring dashboard update will feature ...

• Windows Live Messenger IM integration.

• More informative achievement notifications.

• A brand new Marketplace blade with updated organization.

• Upgraded XBLA friend interaction functionality.

• Auto-off downloading functionality featuring low power mode.

• Enhanced family settings for chatting.

• Ability to watch videos while downloading off the XBLM.

• Hundreds of other random fixes and tweaks.

Not only that, but Microsoft also announced that they'll be releasing a new QWERTY text-input peripheral (seen here) this Summer that attaches to the Xbox 360 controller. Also, Joystiq separately confirmed that the once speculated "Play Game" feature will indeed be included in the new dash update. Now no more guessing which game is in the drive. The Spring update will go live on May 7th with all the new IM integration and updated features. Full press release after the break and be sure to take a look at Joystiq or Engadget's Spring dash photo galleries.
Is there anything you think should have been included in the update or something you're specifically looking forward to? Also, will you be using the Windows Live Messenger integration through your 360? Fanboys, it's your duty to discuss!

Instant Messaging Comes to Xbox 360, Expanding the Largest Social Network on Television

Xbox 360 owners can connect with more than 260 million Windows Live Messenger users on Xbox 360, Windows-based PCs and Windows Mobile-powered devices beginning the week of May 7.

REDMOND, Wash. - April 8, 2007 - Your Xbox LIVE^(R) friends list is about to get a whole lot bigger. Microsoft Corp. today announced the launch of Windows Live[TM] Messenger on Xbox 360[TM], connecting friends across Xbox 360 consoles, Microsoft^(R) Windows^(R)-based PCs and Windows Mobile^(R)-powered devices. With this update to Xbox 360, friends and families can easily connect and chat directly from their television using Windows Live Messenger, a network of more than 20 billion relationships and more than 260 million active accounts.

Beginning the week of May 7, 2007, the Xbox 360 Spring Update will provide Xbox 360 owners worldwide with access to Windows Live Messenger features, broadening the communication options on the Xbox LIVE social network. Members of the 6 million-strong Xbox LIVE community currently send more than 2 million text and voice messages a day and can now use Windows Live Messenger to text chat with up to six people on their contact list at one time, while playing games, listening to music or watching movies. Text chat adds to the variety of options friends and families already have to communicate with on Xbox LIVE, including voice and video chat.

Current relationships on Windows Live Messenger and Xbox LIVE will be unified on Xbox 360 and users will see at a glance if their existing friends on Windows Live Messenger have gamertags, instantly expanding the breadth of connected experiences they can share online.

"Bringing the largest IM community in the world, Windows Live Messenger, to Xbox 360 makes sense, as Xbox LIVE has really become the largest social network on television," said Jerry Johnson, product unit manager of Xbox LIVE at Microsoft. "For our growing community of 6 million on Xbox LIVE, using Xbox 360 is a very social, connected experience. They are using Xbox 360 to play games, music and movies while simultaneously communicating with one another through video, voice and text chat. With this announcement we are simultaneously expanding the access of Xbox LIVE users to existing friends and family while introducing Windows Live Messenger users to the benefits of Xbox 360."

Beginning the week of May 7, users of Windows Live Messenger on Xbox 360 will text chat using the virtual keyboard accessible on Xbox 360, or by connecting a USB keyboard to the console. This summer Microsoft will launch a QWERTY text-input device, a new accessory that will connect directly into the Xbox 360 controller to support text and instant messaging.

Beyond Windows Live Messenger, the Spring Update for Xbox 360 includes hundreds of new features and enhancements including the following:

• A richer Achievement notification pop-up will showcase the name of the unlocked Achievement and the gamerscore value without needing to leave the game to check the Achievements list.
• Enhanced family settings features for Xbox LIVE communications enable different defaults for video chat and voice chat.
• A new Xbox LIVE Marketplace blade lets Xbox LIVE members access the content they seek - whether it is game content or TV shows and movies (available in the United States) - from one place on Xbox LIVE.
• Updates to Xbox LIVE Arcade allow owners to quickly see which Xbox LIVE Arcade games their friends are playing and join in the fun. Xbox LIVE members can also compare progress of leaderboard scores and Achievements directly with all friends on their friends list. Expanded Tell a Friend capabilities make it easier than ever to boast about Achievements and high scores.
• A new option in Auto Downloads provides faster access to the entire collection of free, trial-version Xbox LIVE Arcade games.
• New progressive download controls provide easy access to optimal viewing options by letting people fast-forward, rewind, pause and resume as their video is downloaded from Xbox LIVE Marketplace.
• Extension of the background download functionality will allow owners to set their Xbox 360 console to turn off automatically after downloads are complete.

The Spring Update is free beginning the week of May 7 and is easily accessible to every Xbox 360 owner through Xbox LIVE or on Xbox.com.

About Xbox 360

Xbox 360 is the most powerful video game and entertainment system, delivering the best games, the next generation of the premier Xbox LIVE online gaming network and unique digital entertainment experiences that revolve around gamers. Xbox 360 has a catalog of more than 160 high-definition games and is available in 37 countries. More information can be found online at http://www.xbox.com/xbox360.

About Xbox LIVE

Xbox LIVE is the first and most comprehensive unified online entertainment network seamlessly integrated throughout the entire console experience, making it easy for people to find the friends, games and entertainment they want from the moment they power on their Xbox 360 system. Xbox LIVE connects millions of members across 25 countries to enjoy hundreds of multiplayer games, downloadable games via Xbox LIVE Arcade, free and premium playable game demos, music videos, TV shows and movies in the United States as well as new game levels, characters and vehicles for all their favorite retail games. More information can be found online at http://www.xbox.com/en-us/live.

About MSN and Windows Live

MSN^(R) attracts more than 465 million unique users worldwide per month. With localized versions available globally in 42 markets and 21 languages, MSN is a world leader in delivering compelling programmed content experiences to consumers and online advertising opportunities to businesses worldwide. Windows Live, a new set of personal Internet services and software, is designed to bring together in one place all the relationships, information and interests people care about most, with enhanced safety and security features across their PC, devices and the Web. MSN and Windows Live will be offered alongside each other as complementary services. Some Windows Live services entered an early beta phase on Nov. 1, 2005; these and future beta updates can be found at http://ideas.live.com. Windows Live is available at http://www.live.com. MSN is located on the Web at http://www.msn.com. MSN worldwide sites are located at http://www.msn.com/worldwide.ashx.

About Microsoft

Founded in 1975, Microsoft (Nasdaq "MSFT") is the worldwide leader in software, services and solutions that help people and businesses realize their full potential.

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Microsoft and FASA Studio have officially announced the Shadowrun beta program. Shadowrun, you may recall, is the launch vehicle for Microsoft's Live Anywhere service, allowing gamers on both PC and Xbox 360 to compete with each other. An FPS that combines both technology and magic, Shadowrun looks to bring something different to the shooter genre -- and answer the age old keyboard and mouse/gamepad question once and for all. Find instructions on how to participate in the beta after the break.

1. Visit http://connect.microsoft.com.
2. Click on "Invitations" on the left-side menu.
3. You will need to sign in using a valid Windows Live ID before you can continue to the "Invitations" page. (If you have already registered for the Connect site, skip to Step 5.)
4. Please read and accept the Terms of Use Agreement then follow the instructions to register for the Connect site.
5. Enter your Invitation ID in the blank field. Your invitation ID is: SHBS-6YMT-YKHC
6. Click "Go."
7. Complete and submit the short questionnaire. Please enter 205 for the beta code when asked at the beginning of the questionnaire.
8. If you are not redirected immediately to the "Shadowrun" Beta Selection homepage after completing the questionnaire, click the My Participations link on the left hand navigation bar then click the " Shadowrun" program link. This will redirect you to the "Shadowrun" Beta Selection Homepage.
9. Once you are on the "Shadowrun" Beta Selection Homepage, you will need to complete the rest of the registration process by signing up for the forums by clicking the Join the Forums button then click the Welcome to the Official "Shadowrun" Community Forum Sign In button.
10. Wait patiently for Microsoft to contact you with further instructions. Check back at http://connect.microsoft.com for further beta announcements.

Filed under: Microsoft Xbox 360, Business

Next Generation tells us about Microsoft's new-and-improved Xbox 360 warranty support, including faster service and something the company calls "cost-free shipping." (As opposed to fat-free, perhaps?)
Microsoft is also offering to replace any first-party 360 game discs that are damaged -- even if it's your fault. The catch? You gotta send in your broken disc ... along with a cool $20. So why does Microsoft label this a "limited time offer?" You'd think they'd be psyched to reap another $20 for the same software you already spent $60 on and weren't allowed to back up. (Thanks so much, DMCA!)

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The X-plorer USB controller included with the Xbox 360 version of Guitar Hero works with Windows XP and Vista, Joystiq reports today:

The five frets control the first five buttons, Back and Start control buttons 7 and 8, the d-pad and strummer control the Point of View Hat, the whammy bar controls the X Rotation, Star Power controls the Y Rotation, and the Z Axis sorta just wiggles when you move the guitar.

What's more, the X-plorer works with freeware Guitar Hero clone Frets on Fire with just a little bit of configuring.

I still wish it was wireless.

360's Guitar Hero controller works with Windows [Joystiq]

Filed under: Microsoft Xbox 360, Business

Good job Gamespot! Um, we mean, bad, bad job Gamespot. MyGamerCard reports that Gamespot accidentally leaked a video of the information they received about a May 7 update for the Xbox 360's dashboard. Highlights include:

• 600 Windows Live Messenger contacts for your friends list
• Contact list will integrate Windows Live Messenger and show joinable session status
• Messenger contacts see what game you're playing and gamertag
• Marketplace has own blade, skin will change independent from theme
• Users will now see what achievement they've unlocked onscreen
• Low-power download mode followed by auto-shutdown
• You can watch partially downloaded video files

Now we wait to see what Microsoft says about this video's authenticity. Maybe they'll just coyly not answer the question until May 7, jump out from behind the couch, and go, "SURPRISE! You had no idea, did you?"
[Via Engadget, Thanks Justin]

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Filed under: News, Xbox Live, Multiplayer, Gears of War

The official Gears of War website has the full skinny on the upcoming free title update, hitting an Xbox 360 near you on April 9th. The game will play very similar to the Halo series' Team Crazy King gametype, with a 15 second respawn time and unlimited lives. The way Annex works is that a given map will have somewhere between two to five control points, located near key weapon locations on the map. Full details available on gameplay after the break.
Control points are shown on the map with a ring around the weapon's area, and on your HUD with a waypoint, using the weapon's icon as an indicator, showing the direction, who's in control (Red: Locust, Blue: Cog, White: Neutral), and how many of the 60 points (given at a rate of 1 point/second) are available for the taking. After the points have been distributed, another "Hill" will be randomly selected next. The speed at which a team gains control of a "Hill" is dependent on how many member of the team are within the ring on screen. A full team can capture in 1 second, three in 2 seconds, half your squad in 4 and a lone cowboy with his chainsaw in 8 seconds. Once you capture it, you can defend it from wherever you see fit on the map, you're not restricted to staying in the ring of death.
The gametype is still round-based, and rounds are won when a team reaches the host determined number of points. This can be somewhere between 120 and 480 points, with increments logically being multiples of either 15, 30 or 60 points. Annex can be played in both player and ranked matches, which brings us to our next thought. How will this affect the "Seriously..." Achievement? Couldn't a group theoretically ignore the control points and simply frag each other until the cows come home? That being said, playing legitimately also seems to be an answer to expediting the process, especially if you have 19 round games at 480 points per round.
What do you think of Annex? Does it change your opinion on the Global Tournament right around the corner?
[Thanks, SubNoiZe]

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Epic's Mark Rein announced in the official Gears of War forum that a new update is just about finished and should be out some time next week. Here's what you can expect:

The next title update for Gears of War is currently going through the certification process. We'll have more detail about the update next week but I can tell you that in addition to fixing a whole bunch of glitches, and providing 720p for VGA users running at 1280x1024, it will contain a brand new multiplayer gametype called Annex. Some folks who got to play it a few weeks ago said they think it is our best multiplayer gametype yet but I'll leave it for you fans to decide what you think for yourself when it shows up soon on Xbox Live. More details next week.

New multiplayer mode fo' free? Shweet.