The most played games on Xbox Live that were released for the Xbox 360:
2007 Top Xbox 360 Titles (UU’s)
1
Halo 3
2
Gears of War
3
Call of Duty 4
4
Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six Vegas
5
Call Of Duty 3
6
Crackdown
7
Oblivion
8
Guitar Hero II
9
Forza Motorsport 2
10
Lost Planet
The most played games on Xbox Live that were released for the original Xbox (and are still being played thanks to backwards compatibility on the Xbox 360):
2007 Top Original Xbox Titles (UU’s)
1
Halo 2
2
Star Wars: Battlfrnt 2
3
Counter-Strike
4
Battlefield 2: MC
5
Doom 3
6
Forza Motorsport
7
Madden NFL 07
8
Conker: Live Reloaded
9
Call of Duty 3
10
Rainbow Six 3
And the top played Xbox Live Arcade games (not including free trial games):
2007 Top Xbox LIVE Arcade Titles (Sales)
1
TMNT 1989 Arcade
2
Worms
3
Castlevania: SOTN
4
UNO
5
Bomberman LIVE
6
3D Ultra Minigolf Adventures
7
Sonic The Hedgehog
8
Pinball FX
9
Geometry Wars Evolved
10
Texas Hold 'em
Interesting how many games are on both the Xbox and Xbox 360 lists, with the newer edition of the game appearing on the newer list. Call of Duty 3 even appears on both lists (in addition to Call of Duty 4 on the 360 list)!
The Live Maps traffic Gadget for the Windows Vista Sidebar has returned to Windows Live Gallery. Microsoft had to take it down a few months ago due to security concerns, which was a shame, since it was a pretty good Gadget. The security issue has dissapeared under some nice, safe code, and the Gadget is now back for you to download and provide you with live traffic reports for your area.
At Microsoft, employees are used to spending a lot of time in conference calls. Often, an employee will “show up” to the call early and have to wait around, listening to some smooth jazz, and these two ‘Softies decided to have some fun with it:
Microsoft and Alinean have built the Windows Mobile Messaging TCO Tool, a website that takes some information about your business and tells you how much you would pay to implement Windows Mobile for mobile messaging versus how much the same setup would cost with a BlackBerry system. The tool takes into account the cost of devices and software, the amount of service desk time that would be required, and other costs.
You can see a sample company I computed above. The Windows Mobile setup came out to $800 per employee per year, while the BlackBerry cost $1230. Annoyingly, the big differences came lumped under the “Other” category, with $85,863 being allocated to Mobile Messaging Device Support and Maintenance Contracts for the BB, and none for WinMo, as Microsoft considers those costs part of the Exchange contract.
Look at the numbers above or try out the tool and compare to your own experience. Is the tool giving both sides a fair shake, or is it biased or making bad assumptions? Let me know what you find.
I think I’m obligated to point out the the iPhone’s total cost of ownership calculation is simple: Cost of iPhone plus cost of Windows Mobile or BlackBerry, since the iPhone’s enterprise offerings are still undelivered.
(via Jason Langridge)
Check out this link: WindowsServer2008.com. You’d expect it to take you to Microsoft’s website for Windows Server 2008, but instead it forwards to apple.com’s page showing off the Macbook Air. Looks like some Apple fan, possibly working for Symmetry Technical Consultants Inc. in Florida, bought the domain in October 2006 and is now using it to embaress Microsoft. Wonder how they beat Microsoft to registering it?
I was turned onto this website by a Microsoftie, who remarked that (and I’m paraphrasing), “No Microsoft person does this when it comes to Apple products, and that says a lot about Apple users, if you ask me”. The word “immature” might have been in there, too.
With the Republican presidential nomination all but sewn up, and the Democrats with hopefully no more than another week to go, the next president, whomever he or she may be, is on the way. Whether that excites or horrifies you, I’ll bet that a lot of people are looking forward to the end of George W. Bush’s presidency. I’m no Bush hater, but I will be glad to see this country move on, hopefully with someone bolder and smarter in charge.
If you would like to count down the days, might I suggest this Windows Vista Sidebar Gadget that does all the math for you? Download it here.
Microsoft has released an add-in for Outlook designed to make life easier for professional photographers. Pro Photo Shoot for Outlook, a free download for Outlook 2003 and Outlook 2007, lets you add the details of the equipment needed when scheduling a photo shoot.
The add-in lets you catalogue your equipment in Outlook, creating a database of cameras, lenses, batteries, and other equipment, including the serial number, purchase date and price (and anything else you may need for insurance purposes). When you schedule an appointment in Outlook, you can now use the add-in to select the equipment you need for that appointment, and be reminded to bring that equipment with you when you go on the shoot.
Last week, Bill Gates spoke before the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, calling on the attendees to use a kinder, more creative form of capitalism that better addresses not just the desire for profit, but the need to improve poorer, less successful countries so they can catch up to the world economy.
Mr. Gates isn’t abandoning his belief in capitalism as the best economic system. But in an interview with the Journal last week at his Microsoft office in Redmond, Wash., Mr. Gates said that he has grown impatient with the shortcomings of capitalism. He said he has seen those failings first-hand on trips for Microsoft to places like the South African slum of Soweto, and discussed them with dozens of experts on disease and poverty. He has voraciously read about those failings in books that propose new approaches to narrowing the gap between rich and poor.
In particular, he said, he’s troubled that advances in technology, health care and education tend to help the rich and bypass the poor. “The rate of improvement for the third that is better off is pretty rapid,” he said. “The part that’s unsatisfactory is for the bottom third — two billion of six billion.”
Gates is retiring from Microsoft in the next few months, and will be focusing full-time on his charity efforts. He seems to understand that not only does his money have an effect, but so can his words, and Gates is letting other business and world leaders in on his ideas for a better world. I hope he succeeds. Don’t be surprised, if Gates has enough of an impact with these speeches, to see the billionaire being asked to serve in a major government position, such as the President’s cabinet, or with the United Nations.
Picturepan2, who runs the Chinese counterpart to LiveSide, has launched the new Windows Live Community for China. I believe it’s sort of semi-official, sort of affiliated both with MSN China and LiveSino, the Chinese LiveSide, and includes some great-looking forums, a homepage/blog, and integration of Live services, like the Windows Live IM control. If you are in China, or interested in Live in China and speak the language, this should be perfect for you.
I tried doing forums years ago, but the time and commitment were all wrong. If there’s some interest now, let me know, and maybe together we can build a nice, new, non-crazy community.
