GamePlay Unlimited

What would the new year be without a fresh batch of rumors? Kaarbo Design let out some images that they had apparently worked on for Microsoft developer Turn 10. The images were removed rather quickly but resurfaced around the web. The images contain what looks to be artwork for various regions of Forza 3. Who knows if these are just basic concept, or if the game is actually in production but the images are interesting nonetheless.

Destructoid is reporting that Microsoft has been granted a patent for a process to " censor audio streams real-time." To dissect this a bit, it seems soon Microsoft will have the technology to permanently mute you on Xbox Live or censor what you are saying possibly using a list of unacceptable words if you are making racist comments or talking a bit too much trash. This could be a great idea if they use it right. a line would have to be drawn where racist comments and just plain curse words are differentiated. Unless MS just wants to censor all words that could be deemed offensive. They could possibly use gamerzone to do this, censoring all bad words in the family zone, but allowing a bit more freedom in the underground zone. Arstechnica has a bit of information from as well, albeit a bit technical: " The automatic censoring filter employs a lattice comprising either phonemes and/or words derived from phonemes for comparison against corresponding phonemes or words ...

The Microsoft keynote just ended, recap below. Stay tuned for videos. Last Remnant Trailer is up first. The game will launch November 20th Star Ocean: The Last Hope -Trailer is playing -Game will launch March 3rd in North America and February 19th in Japan. Resident Evil 5 -Trailer being shown -RE5 will launch on March 12th Resident Evil 5 'TGS 2008 Play God' trailer 99 Nights 2 -Coming to 360 Tekken 6 -Coming to 360 in Fall of '09 Space Invaders -Remake coming to XBLA Araknoid -Coming to XBLA Metal Slug 7 -Coming to XBLA The King of Fighters ’98 Ultimate Match -Coming to XBLA R-Type -Bringing local and XBLA play to the 360 Xbox Live -Live has reached 14 million members New Xbox Experience -Showing off complete Xbox experience -Showing off avatars, you can take pictures of them to use as a gamerpic -Themes, new themes, being showed -Web version of the marketplace, buy on web DL to console -NXE will launch November 19th, 26 countries, localized in 19 languages Halo Wars -Com...

As an update to a story we posted a while back, it has been confirmed to Edge-online via Microsoft Game Studios head Phil Spencer that former Kojima Studios assistant producer Ryan Payton would be joining Microsoft game Studios. It was not confirmed whether or not Payton would be on a Halo team, but you can bet it is true. "Also confirmed to be joining MGS is programming ace Corrine Yu, formerly of Gearbox Software, and her husband, artist Kenneth Scott of Doom house id Software. Microsoft also confirmed that David Wu, former tech director at Full Auto developer Pseudo Interactive, and ex-Bungie content manager Frank O'Connor are also on Microsoft's Halo team."

In an interview with GI.biz , Phil Spencer, the head of Microsoft Game Studios, let slip that there are more halo games coming being worked on by "more than two or three teams." Now whether this means separate games or one game is left to be decided but rest assured, Master Chief and the Halo universe are coming back. " Q: So with the Age franchise, there's a strong echo of Halo, in that it's something you retain the rights to - you just don't need to own the company that's working on it? Phil Spencer: Well, there's more than one team building Halo games right now. There are more than two or three teams building Halo things right now. Some of them we will own, some of them we won't. It's never been, for me, about who you own or don't own - it's about working with the best creative talent in the industry." It seems by the phrase "some of them we will own, some of them we won't" that Bungie may be in on new Halo as wel...

Rumors earlier today had been speculating that Microsoft was gearing up to close Ensemble Studios after the completion of Halo Wars, the upcoming RTS for the Xbox 360. Gamespot now reports that the rumors are indeed true and Ensemble will be closed following the release of Halo Wars. Ensemble was also the developer behind the Age of Empires series. "' The team at Ensemble has made invaluable contributions to the games industry with their Age of Empires and Age of Mythology games and with the highly anticipated release of Halo Wars," the publisher said in a statement. "This decision does not reflect at all on Ensemble’s talent or the quality of Halo Wars--in fact, many people who have had a chance to test drive Halo Wars agree that it is on track to being a fantastic game.'" As for the support of Halo Wars post-launch, Microsoft has stated that it will continue. The "leadership team" from Ensemble will create a new team and continue to support the ...

File this in the huge, most likely not true but very cool, section of the rumor mill. User Dodece from the VGChartz forums states that: " September 25th 7pm EST. Microsoft will start a five hour countdown to relaunch their console. Yes that is right nothing short of a relaunch is acceptable. At the end of the five hours your console will update to the new interface with full functionality. To promote this most historic event with a full fledged media blitz. Microsoft has gone so far as to rent television space as in rent a channel. For those five hours G4 television will cover the event exclusively with live coverage. For those with Live they will be able to download or stream the channel." Not only a 5 hour re-launch event, but there is much more. Also according to Dodece there will be three new channels launched, the first a partnership with Sirius radio which allows users, for a small fee payable with Microsoft points, to stream Sirius radio through their 360. Next a musi...

Want to redgister to vote but have no idea how or where to do it? Want to get the latest on the presidential race and each convention but don't know where to go? Microsoft and Rock the Vote have teamed up to help you out. Check out the official release below. REDMOND, Wash. — Aug. 20, 2008 — A leading gaming and entertainment platform just became a leading platform for change. Microsoft Corp. and Rock the Vote today announced a groundbreaking partnership that will allow Xbox 360 owners to register to vote, participate in presidential polls and voice their opinions to the presidential candidates. It will all happen through Xbox LIVE starting Monday, Aug. 25, the first day of the Democratic National Convention. “Xbox is a natural partner to help us reach out to youth voters,” said Heather Smith, executive director, Rock the Vote. “To realize our goal of registering 2 million young Americans by this fall, we need to go where young Americans are, and there’s no doubt in our minds that ...

Sony fans will have the chance to get a demo of Final Fantasy XIII. How you ask. The demo will be bonus content on the Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children Complete Blu-ray disc which is scheduled to release in Japan in March of 2009. There has been no U.S. date announced at this time. In other Sony news, Sony announced their new service, Life with Playstation, is not ready to release. Do not worry though, Sony says it will be released later this month. It looks like the storage of the Xbox 360 disc may be becoming a problem. John Carmack of id Software is working on a game called Rage, which will be released on PC, PS3, Xbox 360, and Mac. Carmack says the Xbox 360 version will look the worse due to limitations on storage. Apparently the royalty fees to include three discs are too high. He does go on the say the problem is only the storage space, not the hardware. By now everyone knows the Xbox 360 will be getting Avatars. What is on everyone's mind now, will they cost? Well, initia...

As some of you may know, Friday June 27th was Bill Gates' last day as chairman of Microsoft. We here at GamePlay Unlimited would just like to thank Bill for making the computing and gaming industries what they are today. Gates will still remain on board with Microsoft as a non-executive chairman to help guide the company. Take a look back at Gates' work over at Engadget . Again, thank you Bill for all you have done. You wanted to "put a computer on every desk, in every home" and no one really believed it could be done but look at the world today. Thank You, and have a great retirement! We will leave you with the video of Bill Gates' last day from CES earlier this year.

There have been some rumblings around the internet with leaks of news from next month's E3. Mainly from the Microsoft front we have four news items that are still rumored at this point so don't get your hopes too far up. Check out the following for what has been heard so far. First, X3F reports that Forza 3 development is in full swing and the game is going to require two discs. Why two discs? Well the rumor is that F3 will contain over 400 cars and 100 tracks. The game is also rumored to have some sort of an assist system and car deformation. Next, according to NeoGAF , Guitar Hero World Tour is set to have a touch sensitive guitar. "New touch-sensitive guitar Neck Slide opens up the entire guitar neck for unbound solos - shred how you want." The story also has the bundle with instruments priced at $179.99 and lists a few artists already signed on, " Jimi Hendrix, The Doors, Foo Fighters, Smashing Pumpkins, Korn, System of a Down, Ozzy Osbourne, Interpol, Muse ...

In a press release today Microsoft confirmed that Jeff Bell, corporate vice president of Global Marketing for Microsoft’s Interactive Entertainment Business (or simply head of Xbox Marketing), has decided to leave Microsoft to pursue opportunities outside of the company. Bell will remain with the company throughout the summer to help transfer his duties. “The time is right for me to pursue my life’s passion of consumer brand marketing and the creative and services that drive it.” Bell said “Coming from automotive, and now technology and entertainment, I am excited to expand to new industries and categories.” Also, Shane Kim, formerly head of Microsoft Game Studios has received a promotion to the role of corporate vice president of Strategy and Business Development. Taking over for Kim will be Phil Spencer who has been on board at Microsoft Game Studios for six years and is the head of Microsoft Game Studios Europe. “We’re strategically positioning the leadership team to drive every asp...

While most of you readers were sleeping, Microsoft, Square Enix, and Namco Bandai unveiled their lineup of RPGs in Japan. The games were unveiled by Takashi Sensui, general manager of the home and entertainment division at Microsoft. Among the games discussed were Infinite Undiscovery, Star Ocean: The Last Hope, The Last Remnant, Tales of Vesperia, Fable 2, and Mass Effect in Japan. Will this be the year the Xbox takes off in Japan? Only time will tell. The highlights of the event were the announcement that Square Enix's Last Remnant will be releasing on the Xbox 360 first this winter, with the PS3 to follow some time later. Also Enix's Infinite Undiscovery got a lunch date, United States on September 2, 2008, in Europe on September 5, 2008, and in Japan and Asia on September 11, 2008. A system bundle for Tales of Vesperia was announced for ¥37,800 (US $356) in Japan only. The game and bundle is set to release August 7th with a demo coming sometime this month, no word on whethe...

Microsoft announced today that it is dropping prices of all three Xbox 360 SKUs in Europe in order to have "something to offer for every interest and budget." Here is the new pricing setup: Xbox 360 - was: €349.99 / £249.99 now: €269.99 / £199.99 Xbox 360 Elite - was: €449.99 / £299.99, now: €369.99 / £259.99 Xbox 360 Arcade – was €269.99 / £199.99 now €199.99 / £159.99 Here is the full press release from GameScore Blog : LONDON - Monday 10th March, 2008- Microsoft today announced it is lowering the estimated retail price (ERP) for its Xbox 360™ family of consoles in Europe. Now with an entry-level ERP of €199.99/£159.99, Xbox 360 is a mass market entertainment proposition with something to offer for every interest and budget. From Friday, 14th March, Xbox 360, which includes a 20GB hard drive and one wireless controller, will have an ERP of €269.99/£199.99 – a saving of €80/£50 on the current ERP. The Xbox 360 Elite, which comes with a massive 120GB hard drive enabl...

UPDATE : Seattlepi.com covered the Mix08 event in which Microsoft Chief Executive Steve Ballmer spoke reguarding Microsoft's position on many issues. One which included the future of the company and BluRay. "We've already been working on, for example, in Windows, device driver support for Blu-ray drives and the like, and I think the world moves on. Toshiba has moved on. We've moved on, and we'll support Blu-ray in ways that make sense." So what does this mean for the Xbox 360 and it's future? Well I think it is safe to say that some kind of BluRay will make it to the console. It what form is the biggest question. Stan Glasgow, Sony Electronics US president, has stated that Sony is in talks with Microsoft to bring a BluRay player to the Xbox 360. This comes after the fall of HD-DVD, the format Microsoft previously backed. According to the Financial Times, letting Microsoft take advantage of the technology would not only make Microsoft more competitive with...

Free! We all like free right? Well Microsoft has decided to give away developer software to college students in 11 countries. "Microsoft is announcing right now DreamSpark, a new program that gives free developer, designer and related software to college students in 11 countries. DreamSpark goes live today in Belgium, China, Finland, France, Germany, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, the United Kingdom, Canada and the United States, and gives away free stuff like Visual Studio, Expression Studio, and even Windows Server. For gamers and game designers, an exciting inclusion in the program is the XNA Game Studio 2.0 software (as opposed to the free Express Edition), as well as a 12-month free membership in the XNA Creators Club, which means free running of XNA games on the Xbox 360. Source: InsideMicrosoft , Bill Gates talks...